OMG I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE! SORRY SORRY SORRY! BAD KATIE!!!! Thanks so much for all of the reviews as per usual, I am astounded by the response. You may or may not be happy to know that this story is coming to an end. You also may or may not be pleased to know that I have another in the works and am considering a sequel to this but I haven't decided anything yet, I'll let you guys decide after you read the last chapter which will be coming very soon! In the meantime here's the next part!

Rory opened her eyes slowly becoming aware of the world around her. She was out on the deck, the sun was shining and there was a blanket over her, all of these were familiar to her, she had woken up like this many times but now there was an unfamiliar weight on her stomach and continued around her waist. She looked down to see an arm and it was then that realisation dawned on her. She looked to her right where a still sleeping Tristan laid peacefully, his lips curved into a small smile.

She was lying on her back and he on his side, she turned to face him and lay him down flat on his back before curling up on his chest. As she lay there, the events of last night played as a silent movie in her mind, them talking, her kissing him, him kissing her and getting the blanket. They had laid in silence after the sunset and had kissed again. It quickly became heated and Tristan had pulled away, telling her they were going too fast, that he was taking advantage.

That was when she knew her mom had been right; she hadn't made a mistake in telling him. He had assured her over and over last night that he was perfectly happy to take things at whatever pace Rory wanted, that he was just happy to be able to hold her hand. She smiled at the memory; he had been so sweet and sincere. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to have any difficulty in falling for him, but he was right, they had to take things slow.

She heard a groan coming from Tristan who was beginning to show signs of waking up. Rory couldn't help but smile, he was so cute; once you got past the player exterior he showed the world. She was pulled from her train of thought when his arms once again snaked around her waist and his lips softly brushed her hair. He mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'morning.'

Rory looked up at him and smiled, his eyes were sleepy, his hair was messy and he had a lazy grin.

'Morning.' She giggled.

In reply, Tristan rolled over so she was pinned beneath him and captured her lips in a sweet kiss. Rory sought to deepen the kiss and Tristan readily complied, savouring the feel of her mouth on his. He couldn't believe it, he had just woken up with Rory in his arms and now she was underneath him, kissing him, he could get used to this. Oxygen soon became an issue however and they broke the kiss, grinning at each other.

'Hey.' He smiled.

'Hey.' She blushed.

Tristan loved that she blushed so easily, he loved that he had the power to make her blush, he had never had to try with any other girl, no matter what e said, they would take it, never blush. Rory was different, he got back whatever he gave with her despite the fact that she blushed at most of the things he said. He realised he had to take his time with her, she had been through too much to be comfortable with the level of physical contact he was used to having with girls but he was okay with that, he respected it. But, he conceded, it would be hard. He kissed her sweetly again before standing up and grabbing her hands to hoist her up.

'C'mon,' he smiled 'let's get back before you start suffering from coffee deprivation.'

Rory grinned; he knew her way to well.

'It's not my fault if I need coffee to live.'

'Whose fault is it then?' Tristan asked disbelievingly.

'My Mom's, she was the one that gave me coffee as a baby.'

'Who would give their baby coffee?'

'My Mom, obviously.'

'Was she insane?'

'There is no was about it, she still is.'

'I see.'

'You became her favourite person when you gave me that voucher for my birthday.'

'So she helped you spend it then?'

'Gone in a week.'

Tristan couldn't help but laugh, she and her mom had drunk a hundred dollars worth of coffee in a week, and that was only in Starbucks which was in Hartford, meaning they probably spent more in Stars Hollow as well.

'I think I'll have to cut you off, it can't be healthy.'

'Blasphemer! That is evil, take it back now or you lose all kissing privileges.'

Tristan looked horrified.

'I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, coffee is wonderful and you should have all the coffee in this world.'
Rory grinned and stopped walking. He pulled Tristan to her and kissed him sweetly and way too briefly for his liking.

'Apology accepted and kissing privileges restored but speak ill of coffee again and you will be punished severely.'

'Yes ma'am.'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rory and the girls were sitting in Rory's room; they had kicked the boys out and were partaking in some serious girl-talk. Rory told them about the whole Nate thing and she cried some more, she told them about Amy and finally, about Tristan. When she said that they had finally gotten together, Paris triumphantly stuck out her hand. The girls rolled their eyes and took money out of their pockets and handed it to her. Rory looked at them, confused.

'Guys, what's going on?'

'I won the pool.' Paris told her as if that explained everything.

'What pool?' Rory asked.

'We had a pool going on how long it would take you and Tristan to get together. Paris said six weeks. It's been five and a half.' Louise explained.

'You guys had a pool going on my love life?'

'It's not as bad as it sounds, it's just we could tell you liked each other but we just wanted to see how long it would take for you to give in to Tristan.' Lane told her best friend.

Rory laughed, she couldn't believe this; they had been so sure she would fall for him.

'What made you so sure I'd give in?'

'Rory are you blind, ever since Tristan noticed the existence of girls, he has gotten whoever he wanted, he didn't even like half of them, but you, you were a challenge, he never had to try with anyone but with you he did try. When Tristan DuGrey puts effort into something, it pays off.' Paris told her.

Rory was about to say something but she was cut off by a knock on her door. Bessie came in and looked sadly at Rory.

'Rory, you have a visitor at the door.'
'Who is it?'

'Dean.'

'What the hell is he doing here?'

'I don't know honey but he wants to talk to you.'

'I'll be right down.'

Rory's friends looked at her in disbelief, after yesterday how could she even entertain thoughts of speaking to him? They didn't need to say anything however as Rory didn't give them the chance.

'I have to do this, I'll regret it if I don't. Don't worry I'll be fine.' She told them before leaving the room.

She found him on the doorstep, looking at his feet. He looked up as she approached.

'Rory.'

'Dean what the hell are you doing here?'

'Can we talk?'

'What do we have to talk about?'

'What you said yesterday.'

'What about it?'

'Can we go somewhere more private or at least to where Bessie is out of earshot?'

'I guess.' She said, leading him out to the porch where there was a swinging seat.

They both sat and ignored the fact that they had spent a lot of time on this very seat, making out, or just lying, holding each other. They were silent for a few minutes until Dean got the courage t speak.

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Look at your reaction yesterday and you might know the answer.'

'I'm sorry about that.'

'Are you saying you believe me?'

'Yes.'

'What made you change your mind?'

'I spoke to Nate and there was just something, he tried to tell me you came on to him and were just trying to cove your tracks, but why would you do that, it's not like it matters now and if that was the case why didn't he tell me when it happened?'

'Wow, you used your brain, I bet that hurt.'

'I deserve that I guess.'

'You deserve a whole lot worse.'

'I do. God Ror, I wish you had told me.'

'What would it have achieved?'

'I would never have cheated on you for one.'

'Don't say that, you don't know that, even if that was your reason for cheating, if you had really cared about me you wouldn't have done it.'

'C'mon Ror, I'm a teenage guy and I had a girlfriend who would barely let me touch her? No matter how much I cared it was frustrating.'

'That leads us back to my question yesterday. Did it not occur to you that there was something wrong?'

'No, funnily enough, I thought that if there was something wrong my girlfriend would tell me.'

'And I have to live with the decision to not tell you so don't try and lay a guilt trip on me.'

'Do you ever wonder what if it never happened?'

'I used to but not now.'

'Do you think we would still be together?'

'No, I've accepted that, I've realised something, I loved you Dean but I wasn't in love with you.'

'But you love Ken Doll?'

'I don't know; he didn't become my boyfriend until last night.'

'Yeah right.'

'It's true, we've liked each other for weeks but I wouldn't give in, he reminded me of you and I didn't think I could trust him.'

'But now you do?'

'He's been my rock for the past few days, I really can't describe it, he's a great guy and I do think that I will love him, I can already feel myself falling but I think we need to date for a while before I go making declarations of love.'

'Was the night Amy OD'd for the first time the night I lost you?'

'What does it matter?'

'I need to know.'

'No, it was the night Nate tried – I didn't want to tell you, I didn't think I could trust you to tell you, that's when I knew I wasn't in love with you.'

'So you just pretended for another six months?'

'No, I did love you just not in that way, I thought maybe it was too early, that I would be in love with you if I gave it time.'

'I guess it's my loss then huh?'

Dean stood up and turned to face her.

'Just so you know, nobody is talking to Nate everyone feels horrible for how they treated you, I know you'll never be able to be out friend again but try not to hate us.'

'I don't hate you, any of you, except Nate.'

'Good to know.' Dean smiled 'Listen if you're ever in town, call us.'

'Yeah, same to you guys if you're ever in Connecticut.'

They nodded at each other, knowing they wouldn't call, yet more empty promises made in a relationship full of them. Too much had been said and done on either side to make up for the past, or to have a future, but the least they could do was pretend.

'Goodbye Rory.'

'Goodbye Dean.'

As Rory watched him leave, she felt a single tear run down her cheek. The last tie to her childhood was walking away. There was no going back now, but, she realised as she smiled, she didn't want to go back.

A/N: hope you enjoyed, don't know about the rest of ye but I felt it was a good idea to end the D/R thing on a semi-friendly note, I kind of turned him into a jerk but I wanted to show he had some kind of heart or else Rory would never have gone out with him in the first place now would she?