A/N: Wow, the reviews, what can I say? Thank you so much to everybody who
took the time out to review, it means a lot. Sorry it took me so long to
get this out, I had a pretty hard time writing it and I can happily say
that questions are answered in this chapter!!!!
People seem to be getting fed up of the cliff hangers but the only thing I have to say about that is that I only intentionally put one cliff hanger into this story and that was in A Near Miss. If they are annoying you I apologise but I don't feel that I'm putting any in, not anything big anyway. On with the story:
Tristan ran after Rory, who despite the fact that she was in heels was pretty fast. Rory couldn't believe Nate. How could he stand there and pretend like everything was okay when he had hurt her probably more than even Dean had? She knew Tristan was following her but she didn't wait for him, she didn't want him to see her like this, she didn't want to tell him. Eventually she stopped in a little garden at the back of the church. She heard footsteps as Tristan slowed down to a walk and came up behind her.
'Are you okay? Rory?' he asked, has voice filled with concern.
'I'm fine, I just need a minute. Go back to the others before Brad decides to deck someone.'
'Can't do that.' He said simply.
'Why?'
'I don't want to leave you on your own.'
'I told you I'm fine.'
'Really, I hadn't noticed.'
'Look Tristan, I appreciate you being worried but can you just go?'
Tristan could hear the tears in her voice. That's when he grabbed her and spun her around to face him.
'Rory, just talk to me please. I want to help.'
'You can't, no one can.'
'I can try.'
'I can handle Dean, I can handle Teri but what I can't handle is talking about what is wrong so will you please just drop it?'
'No I can't. What is it about that Nate guy huh? What did he do?'
'Tristan please.' Rory begged, tears falling down her face.
Tristan's heart broke at the sight of Rory crying but he knew he had to continue, he had to know.
'Rory I'm begging you here. Just talk to me.'
'He is just a person from my past that I thought was a friend. I was wrong. We should get back.'
'What did he do to you Rory?'
'Tristan, I really can't talk about this.'
'Well you have to sooner or later.'
'Fine, make it later then.'
'No, how about sooner?'
'You wanna know? You really wanna know? Fine here goes. I have known him my whole life, I thought of him as a big brother, he looked out for me y'know? One night, we were all at a party, he and his girlfriend broke up, I had a fight with Dean, and we were talking then.'
'Then what Rory?'
'He kissed me. I pulled away, it was like kissing my brother and I was still with Dean.he called me a tease and a whore.he grabbed me and he started kissing me again. I tried to pull away but he was too strong. He had jerked up my skirt, my top was torn. Someone knocked at the door. He just swore and yelled at the person to piss off, I screamed for help. He slapped me and told me fuck up and he was about to - but then Amy's brother mark burst in, he had heard me screaming. He hit Nate and took me home, I begged him not to tell anyone, and he said he wouldn't. Amy and Nate got together a while after and then I knew I had to tell her.'
Tristan was on overload. His hands were clenched into fists and he was muttering something about killing him and making him pay. He couldn't believe this, he felt like such a jerk all those innuendos and Mary references, that time at her party where he grabbed her and kissed her, the fight they'd had about her being attracted to him.it all made sense. Rory was looking at him with fear in her eyes. She didn't know how he was reacting and he hadn't said anything.
'Tristan? Say something. Please.'
He didn't say anything, instead he pulled her into his arms and held her tight, Rory cried and he kissed her hair, telling her everything was going to be fine. All the time, in his head he was torn between kicking himself and killing Nate in the most painful ay imaginable.
Rory sobbed into his shirt and he knew he had to say something, comfort her in whatever way he could.
'I am so sorry Rory.'
Rory was caught off guard, of all the responses, she hadn't expected that.
'Why are you apologising, it's not like you did anything wrong.'
'All those times I was a jerk and-'
Rory cut him off by putting a finger to his lips.
'I liked it that way; you treated me like I was normal, like I was better than normal. You acted like you wanted me but you were willing to wait.'
'That wasn't an act Ror, but all those Mary references.'
'I don't want them to stop. I am a virgin Tristan; I came close to not being one but not by choice. It's cute that you have a nickname for me.'
Tristan half smiled, cupping her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. She wiped away the tears that were still spilling.
'I'm meant to be the one doing the comforting thing, not you trying to make me feel better.' He said. Rory attempted a weak smile but it failed. They stayed like that for a minute before the church bell began ringing, signifying the beginning of the funeral.
*
The funeral mass was over and they were now gathered at the Stephens- Taylor estate for the wake. Rory and Tristan had slipped in at the back of the funeral and even though he moved to the back of the church, she had pulled him with her to the front where she was expected to sit. As luck would have it, Nate had been on the edge and Tristan made sure it was him, not Rory, who sat beside him. For the whole service, Rory could feel the anger coming from Tristan and she knew that he was trying his hardest to stay calm.
Now they were at the wake, emotions were running high. The gang felt uncomfortable, like they were intruding and Rory just wanted to escape but she couldn't. Amy's parents had thanked her for coming and her brother Mark had made sure to stop by to speak to her. He asked if she was okay and if Nate had said anything. During the whole thing, Rory's old friends had stayed far away, not now though. Disgusted by Rory fawning all over Tristan, Dean couldn't help himself. He went to speak to her.
'Rory, can I talk to you? Alone?' he asked pointedly looking at Tristan.
Tristan didn't look happy and he made a defensive step towards Dean but Rory looked at him, her eyes pleading. He nodded and let go of her hand. Rory moved away with Dean, Tristan never took his eyes off the pair.
'What the hell are you doing here Rory?' Dean asked for the second time that day.
'I have a right to be here.'
'What, parading your new friends? They didn't even know Amy.'
'They know me.'
'Lets just make a big party of it then, I'll distract everyone while you and Ken over there slip away, you guys can use Amy's room, I'm sure nobody would mind.' He spat.
Rory looked like she had been slapped in the face but she recovered herself quickly.
'Leave Tristan out of this Dean. This has to do with us. What the hell do you want?'
'Not much, just an explanation really, you think its okay for you to just ignore me for weeks and move without telling me? Then come back here flaunting a new boyfriend at Amy's funeral? What kind of heartless bitch are you?'
'I'm heartless? I do believe you were the one that cheated on me with my best friend. Don't you dare try to tell me how to act, what's right and wrong.'
'Look, I know you're still pissed about that but I really didn't wan to hurt you. We were going out for nearly a year and we got to second base, c'mon Rory.'
'Did you ever wonder why at first I was willing but then I went cold? Did it ever occur to you that maybe there was something wrong? I didn't think so, typical of you Dean, just enough brain power to use one thing at a time and what you were using was a little below your head.'
She left Dean standing there, amazed, this was a side to Rory he had never seen before. She had been right though, it had never occurred to him that there was a reason behind her coldness.
He followed after her, grabbing her arm. She jerked away and Tristan, who had been watching the exchange, walked over and placed a protective arm around Rory. The other friends on both sides had seen the exchange also and both groups moved towards the three teens. Rory could see that thing would easily escalate and she had caused a big enough scene by returning, she didn't want anything else to happen in the presence of Amy's family.
She motioned for everyone to follow her which they did, knowing why she was leaving the house. When she got outside, she made sure to pick an isolated place where they would disturb nobody, she had a feeling things were going to get ugly.
'What the hell did you mean back there Rory?' Dean demanded of her.
'Nothing, just forget I ever said anything.' She told him, looking around at the group forming around them.
'No, I want to know what you were talking about.' Dean said forcefully.
'Man, she doesn't want to tell you, she doesn't want to talk to you. Leave it.' Brad interjected, defending Rory out of habit, not because he knew what was going on.
'Stay the hell out of this.' Nate yelled at him.
'Nate, why don't you just do us all a favour and jump off a cliff?' Rory bit out.
'That would make things nice and easy for you wouldn't it now Ror?' he replied.
'If you think I care what you do you are sorely mistaken.' She told him.
'Would anyone care to clue us in here?' Elizabeth asked.
'No, we wouldn't.' Rory told her before looking to Tristan for support.
'It's probably too complicated for you to comprehend anyway.' Madeline said looking at her.
'What the hell would you know bitch?' Jane asked, venom in every syllable.
'Aw, love the comeback, very fresh-man of you.' Louise said patronisingly.
'Well come on Rory, we're all waiting here.' Billy smiled at her.
'This is nobody's business but Rory's.' Nate interrupted.
Tristan sighed, knowing he shouldn't do what he was about to do.
'You'd love that wouldn't you asshole? For Rory to shut up right now and keep your little secret. You're a sick fuck who deserves to be locked up.'
Everyone looked at Nate for an explanation but instead he just laughed.
'Let me guess, she gave you some little sob story about how I'm a jerk and you lapped it up because that would explain her behaviour, why you haven't gotten any wouldn't it?'
Tristan looked at Rory and back to Nate, next thing, he flung himself at Nate and punched him, square in the jaw. Nate fell backwards into Billy's arms. He stood up and touched his jaw and felt the blood at the side of his mouth. Instead of hitting Tristan back he just looked at him.
'Did I hit a nerve?'
'The only thing that got hit was you. Call Rory a liar again and it won't just be me who's doing the hitting.'
'I'm so scared.' Nate smiled 'Look around man, you are on our home ground, we could have the shit kicked out of you they'll be feeding you through a tube.'
'I'd like to see you try.' Alex told him, a weird smile on his face. Michael went to grab him but Alex turned and hit him before Michael got a clear shot at him. Billy went to jump him but Mike grabbed him and Brad punched him in the gut. Nate moved towards Tristan but Dean had had enough, he wanted to know what Rory had meant and why the hell his best friend seemed to be involved.
'Enough!' he cried, 'Everyone fuck up!'
Maddy, Louise, Paris and Lane were in the middle of a verbal cat fight with Jane, Elizabeth and Teri. Dean hadn't yelled quick enough however and when he looked around, he saw Rory picking Tristan up for the ground. Billy and Michael were restraining Nate. When he stood back up, Rory had to beg Tristan to stop and just to make sure, Alex and Brad had him by the arms holding him. Mike had taken it upon himself to separate the girls.
'Rory, what the hell are they talking about?' Dean asked. Rory stayed silent. Tristan looked at her in disbelief and Nate had a smirk on his face. He could see that she wasn't going to say anything. He had won.
'Rory, tell him or I will.' Tristan demanded of her.
'It was bad enough telling you Tristan, I can't do it again.'
'If you don't then he wins. He's not worth protecting Rory.'
Rory looked from Dean to Tristan and to Nate. She knew Tristan was right, she had to tell them but she didn't know how.
'Rory, tell me. Better coming from you that Ken doll over there.' Dean said.
Rory looked away before looking Dean in the eye.
'Do you remember the party where we had our first fight? Anna dumped Nate that night?'
'Yeah, I remember.'
'Nate and I were talking when he kissed me, I pulled away but then he tried to rape me. He nearly did but Mark came in and hit him. He took me home and I made him swear not to tell anyone.'
Dean looked from Rory to Nate and he was torn. He didn't know who to believe, his ex whose story fit the time frame of the decline of their relationship or his best friend who had been like a brother to him. Rory saw his hesitation and she couldn't believe it, he doubted her. She took Tristan's hand and looked at Dean before walking away slowly, her friends following her. They made their way back to the waiting limo and drove home. Nobody spoke for the rest of the ride.
A/N: there it is, my longest chapter to date to make up for my lack of updating in the past few days, I hope this is okay for everybody, this chapter dealt with, what I would think anyway, a sensitive subject so I hope that nobody was offended and I would really appreciate feedback on how I handled it. Thanks again for the reviews and for reading this story. Katie xxx
People seem to be getting fed up of the cliff hangers but the only thing I have to say about that is that I only intentionally put one cliff hanger into this story and that was in A Near Miss. If they are annoying you I apologise but I don't feel that I'm putting any in, not anything big anyway. On with the story:
Tristan ran after Rory, who despite the fact that she was in heels was pretty fast. Rory couldn't believe Nate. How could he stand there and pretend like everything was okay when he had hurt her probably more than even Dean had? She knew Tristan was following her but she didn't wait for him, she didn't want him to see her like this, she didn't want to tell him. Eventually she stopped in a little garden at the back of the church. She heard footsteps as Tristan slowed down to a walk and came up behind her.
'Are you okay? Rory?' he asked, has voice filled with concern.
'I'm fine, I just need a minute. Go back to the others before Brad decides to deck someone.'
'Can't do that.' He said simply.
'Why?'
'I don't want to leave you on your own.'
'I told you I'm fine.'
'Really, I hadn't noticed.'
'Look Tristan, I appreciate you being worried but can you just go?'
Tristan could hear the tears in her voice. That's when he grabbed her and spun her around to face him.
'Rory, just talk to me please. I want to help.'
'You can't, no one can.'
'I can try.'
'I can handle Dean, I can handle Teri but what I can't handle is talking about what is wrong so will you please just drop it?'
'No I can't. What is it about that Nate guy huh? What did he do?'
'Tristan please.' Rory begged, tears falling down her face.
Tristan's heart broke at the sight of Rory crying but he knew he had to continue, he had to know.
'Rory I'm begging you here. Just talk to me.'
'He is just a person from my past that I thought was a friend. I was wrong. We should get back.'
'What did he do to you Rory?'
'Tristan, I really can't talk about this.'
'Well you have to sooner or later.'
'Fine, make it later then.'
'No, how about sooner?'
'You wanna know? You really wanna know? Fine here goes. I have known him my whole life, I thought of him as a big brother, he looked out for me y'know? One night, we were all at a party, he and his girlfriend broke up, I had a fight with Dean, and we were talking then.'
'Then what Rory?'
'He kissed me. I pulled away, it was like kissing my brother and I was still with Dean.he called me a tease and a whore.he grabbed me and he started kissing me again. I tried to pull away but he was too strong. He had jerked up my skirt, my top was torn. Someone knocked at the door. He just swore and yelled at the person to piss off, I screamed for help. He slapped me and told me fuck up and he was about to - but then Amy's brother mark burst in, he had heard me screaming. He hit Nate and took me home, I begged him not to tell anyone, and he said he wouldn't. Amy and Nate got together a while after and then I knew I had to tell her.'
Tristan was on overload. His hands were clenched into fists and he was muttering something about killing him and making him pay. He couldn't believe this, he felt like such a jerk all those innuendos and Mary references, that time at her party where he grabbed her and kissed her, the fight they'd had about her being attracted to him.it all made sense. Rory was looking at him with fear in her eyes. She didn't know how he was reacting and he hadn't said anything.
'Tristan? Say something. Please.'
He didn't say anything, instead he pulled her into his arms and held her tight, Rory cried and he kissed her hair, telling her everything was going to be fine. All the time, in his head he was torn between kicking himself and killing Nate in the most painful ay imaginable.
Rory sobbed into his shirt and he knew he had to say something, comfort her in whatever way he could.
'I am so sorry Rory.'
Rory was caught off guard, of all the responses, she hadn't expected that.
'Why are you apologising, it's not like you did anything wrong.'
'All those times I was a jerk and-'
Rory cut him off by putting a finger to his lips.
'I liked it that way; you treated me like I was normal, like I was better than normal. You acted like you wanted me but you were willing to wait.'
'That wasn't an act Ror, but all those Mary references.'
'I don't want them to stop. I am a virgin Tristan; I came close to not being one but not by choice. It's cute that you have a nickname for me.'
Tristan half smiled, cupping her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. She wiped away the tears that were still spilling.
'I'm meant to be the one doing the comforting thing, not you trying to make me feel better.' He said. Rory attempted a weak smile but it failed. They stayed like that for a minute before the church bell began ringing, signifying the beginning of the funeral.
*
The funeral mass was over and they were now gathered at the Stephens- Taylor estate for the wake. Rory and Tristan had slipped in at the back of the funeral and even though he moved to the back of the church, she had pulled him with her to the front where she was expected to sit. As luck would have it, Nate had been on the edge and Tristan made sure it was him, not Rory, who sat beside him. For the whole service, Rory could feel the anger coming from Tristan and she knew that he was trying his hardest to stay calm.
Now they were at the wake, emotions were running high. The gang felt uncomfortable, like they were intruding and Rory just wanted to escape but she couldn't. Amy's parents had thanked her for coming and her brother Mark had made sure to stop by to speak to her. He asked if she was okay and if Nate had said anything. During the whole thing, Rory's old friends had stayed far away, not now though. Disgusted by Rory fawning all over Tristan, Dean couldn't help himself. He went to speak to her.
'Rory, can I talk to you? Alone?' he asked pointedly looking at Tristan.
Tristan didn't look happy and he made a defensive step towards Dean but Rory looked at him, her eyes pleading. He nodded and let go of her hand. Rory moved away with Dean, Tristan never took his eyes off the pair.
'What the hell are you doing here Rory?' Dean asked for the second time that day.
'I have a right to be here.'
'What, parading your new friends? They didn't even know Amy.'
'They know me.'
'Lets just make a big party of it then, I'll distract everyone while you and Ken over there slip away, you guys can use Amy's room, I'm sure nobody would mind.' He spat.
Rory looked like she had been slapped in the face but she recovered herself quickly.
'Leave Tristan out of this Dean. This has to do with us. What the hell do you want?'
'Not much, just an explanation really, you think its okay for you to just ignore me for weeks and move without telling me? Then come back here flaunting a new boyfriend at Amy's funeral? What kind of heartless bitch are you?'
'I'm heartless? I do believe you were the one that cheated on me with my best friend. Don't you dare try to tell me how to act, what's right and wrong.'
'Look, I know you're still pissed about that but I really didn't wan to hurt you. We were going out for nearly a year and we got to second base, c'mon Rory.'
'Did you ever wonder why at first I was willing but then I went cold? Did it ever occur to you that maybe there was something wrong? I didn't think so, typical of you Dean, just enough brain power to use one thing at a time and what you were using was a little below your head.'
She left Dean standing there, amazed, this was a side to Rory he had never seen before. She had been right though, it had never occurred to him that there was a reason behind her coldness.
He followed after her, grabbing her arm. She jerked away and Tristan, who had been watching the exchange, walked over and placed a protective arm around Rory. The other friends on both sides had seen the exchange also and both groups moved towards the three teens. Rory could see that thing would easily escalate and she had caused a big enough scene by returning, she didn't want anything else to happen in the presence of Amy's family.
She motioned for everyone to follow her which they did, knowing why she was leaving the house. When she got outside, she made sure to pick an isolated place where they would disturb nobody, she had a feeling things were going to get ugly.
'What the hell did you mean back there Rory?' Dean demanded of her.
'Nothing, just forget I ever said anything.' She told him, looking around at the group forming around them.
'No, I want to know what you were talking about.' Dean said forcefully.
'Man, she doesn't want to tell you, she doesn't want to talk to you. Leave it.' Brad interjected, defending Rory out of habit, not because he knew what was going on.
'Stay the hell out of this.' Nate yelled at him.
'Nate, why don't you just do us all a favour and jump off a cliff?' Rory bit out.
'That would make things nice and easy for you wouldn't it now Ror?' he replied.
'If you think I care what you do you are sorely mistaken.' She told him.
'Would anyone care to clue us in here?' Elizabeth asked.
'No, we wouldn't.' Rory told her before looking to Tristan for support.
'It's probably too complicated for you to comprehend anyway.' Madeline said looking at her.
'What the hell would you know bitch?' Jane asked, venom in every syllable.
'Aw, love the comeback, very fresh-man of you.' Louise said patronisingly.
'Well come on Rory, we're all waiting here.' Billy smiled at her.
'This is nobody's business but Rory's.' Nate interrupted.
Tristan sighed, knowing he shouldn't do what he was about to do.
'You'd love that wouldn't you asshole? For Rory to shut up right now and keep your little secret. You're a sick fuck who deserves to be locked up.'
Everyone looked at Nate for an explanation but instead he just laughed.
'Let me guess, she gave you some little sob story about how I'm a jerk and you lapped it up because that would explain her behaviour, why you haven't gotten any wouldn't it?'
Tristan looked at Rory and back to Nate, next thing, he flung himself at Nate and punched him, square in the jaw. Nate fell backwards into Billy's arms. He stood up and touched his jaw and felt the blood at the side of his mouth. Instead of hitting Tristan back he just looked at him.
'Did I hit a nerve?'
'The only thing that got hit was you. Call Rory a liar again and it won't just be me who's doing the hitting.'
'I'm so scared.' Nate smiled 'Look around man, you are on our home ground, we could have the shit kicked out of you they'll be feeding you through a tube.'
'I'd like to see you try.' Alex told him, a weird smile on his face. Michael went to grab him but Alex turned and hit him before Michael got a clear shot at him. Billy went to jump him but Mike grabbed him and Brad punched him in the gut. Nate moved towards Tristan but Dean had had enough, he wanted to know what Rory had meant and why the hell his best friend seemed to be involved.
'Enough!' he cried, 'Everyone fuck up!'
Maddy, Louise, Paris and Lane were in the middle of a verbal cat fight with Jane, Elizabeth and Teri. Dean hadn't yelled quick enough however and when he looked around, he saw Rory picking Tristan up for the ground. Billy and Michael were restraining Nate. When he stood back up, Rory had to beg Tristan to stop and just to make sure, Alex and Brad had him by the arms holding him. Mike had taken it upon himself to separate the girls.
'Rory, what the hell are they talking about?' Dean asked. Rory stayed silent. Tristan looked at her in disbelief and Nate had a smirk on his face. He could see that she wasn't going to say anything. He had won.
'Rory, tell him or I will.' Tristan demanded of her.
'It was bad enough telling you Tristan, I can't do it again.'
'If you don't then he wins. He's not worth protecting Rory.'
Rory looked from Dean to Tristan and to Nate. She knew Tristan was right, she had to tell them but she didn't know how.
'Rory, tell me. Better coming from you that Ken doll over there.' Dean said.
Rory looked away before looking Dean in the eye.
'Do you remember the party where we had our first fight? Anna dumped Nate that night?'
'Yeah, I remember.'
'Nate and I were talking when he kissed me, I pulled away but then he tried to rape me. He nearly did but Mark came in and hit him. He took me home and I made him swear not to tell anyone.'
Dean looked from Rory to Nate and he was torn. He didn't know who to believe, his ex whose story fit the time frame of the decline of their relationship or his best friend who had been like a brother to him. Rory saw his hesitation and she couldn't believe it, he doubted her. She took Tristan's hand and looked at Dean before walking away slowly, her friends following her. They made their way back to the waiting limo and drove home. Nobody spoke for the rest of the ride.
A/N: there it is, my longest chapter to date to make up for my lack of updating in the past few days, I hope this is okay for everybody, this chapter dealt with, what I would think anyway, a sensitive subject so I hope that nobody was offended and I would really appreciate feedback on how I handled it. Thanks again for the reviews and for reading this story. Katie xxx
