The following Thursday afternoon, Rory sat in her dorm room listening to
music and staring up at her ceiling. She knew midterms weren't going to
study for themselves, but in all honesty she hadn't been able to
concentrate much since Tristan left last weekend. His leaving was getting
harder and harder on her. She couldn't get the conversation they had out of
her head, the one about what happens if he would move to New Haven. She had
been so busy trying not to push him into that decision that she hadn't
given any thought to what it would be like. When he asked if they would
live together, it completely threw her, and she knew that had hurt him.
Men had never been a part of the Gilmore living scenario. She knew that Luke was practically living with her mom now, but she had no idea if that was permanent. He didn't stay when she came home, but that was probably due more to the fact that Luke wasn't comfortable with all that. Her own problem had nothing to do with loving Tristan; in fact, she felt at times that she wanted to be with him as much as possible. But now that feeling was taking her into unchartered territory of issues she would rather not deal with.
"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be studying?"
"I'm just thinking."
"About what? Let me guess? You're playing your 'I miss Tristan and I'm too depressed to do anything but lay here and dwell' music."
"Wow, I had no idea Suzanne Vega implied so much to you."
"What happened with you two, anyways?"
"Nothing. It's just relationship stuff."
"Come on, Rory. I know both of you pretty well. I'd like to help if I can. After all, you set me up with Marty, and I sort of owe you."
"You don't owe me anything. I'm glad you guys are getting along so well."
"We really are. We've started talking about summer plans."
"That's cool. We can barely get past planning two weeks in advance."
"Is that the problem, the distance?"
"Sort of. We were talking last weekend, and he asked what would happen if he did transfer, if we'd move in together."
"And?"
"And, that's a big deal."
"But you guys are in love, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"So is it that big of a leap for him to think it's in the realm of possibilities that if he moved up here basically to be with you, that you two would be living together?"
"You make me sound crazy. It's much more complicated than that."
"Gilmore, you are crazy."
"Thanks, Paris, you've been enlightening," she said, putting her headphones on and closing her eyes.
Paris just shook her head and sat down at her desk to work on a paper she had due for midterm. She couldn't understand why Rory would worry about that. Obviously if Tristan was thinking about transferring, they were serious. He had been dead set against going to Yale, she knew that. She'd been at the party where he had announced to his family that he was going to UNC, and the fight that had ensued. His mother had cried, his grandfather yelled, and his dad just stared coldly at him. Tristan had been through so much to this point, she just hoped he and Rory would work out whatever problems they were dealing with and be happy. He really deserved it.
Paris grabbed the phone when it rang, as Rory was still in her own little world on her bed.
"Hello?"
"Paris?"
"Hey, Tristan."
"Is Rory around?"
"Yeah, she's right here. Can I ask you something first?"
"Sure."
"Are you really thinking of transferring?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Rory mentioned something about you guys talking about it, you know, as a hypothetical. I just wondered if you were actually considering it."
"I don't know. I mean, yeah, it's crossed my mind. It's just sort of complicated."
"'Cause I know this is hard on Rory, when you leave, she's obviously not good at dealing with it."
"Didn't you say she was right there?"
"So?"
"So, I'm guessing she wouldn't like hearing this conversation."
"She's laying on her bed listening to depressing music on her headphones."
"How do you know it's depressing?"
"Because she was listening to it without the headphones when I got here."
"Let me guess, you annoyed her and she put them in."
With that comment, she hurled the phone in Rory's direction, and Rory jumped as the phone beaned her in the leg. She pulled off her headphones and glared at Paris.
"Geez, Paris!"
"Oh, phone for you, Rory," Paris offered sweetly.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
"Man, what did you say to her? She just bruised me while giving me the phone."
"I may have implied she was annoying at times."
"Nice. Maybe you should cease from doing that when you want to talk to me."
"I'll make a note of that."
"So, what's up?"
"I can't just call to hear your lovely voice?"
"Of course you can. What do you want?"
"Right. So I don't need you to pick me up tomorrow."
"You aren't going to ditch this party and not come are you?"
"No, why?"
"'Cause if you did, I'd come down there."
"Hmm. Tempting. You need to come back down here. When can we arrange that?"
"Why aren't I picking you up?"
"I asked Gramps if he could."
"Oh. You two going to have a heart-to-heart?"
"Rory, we're not women. I'm going to tell him why the things that transpired did so."
"You're going to tell him what you told me?"
"Yeah. I am. Then I'm going to talk to dad."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I'm hoping Gramps has some wisdom for me."
"What are you going to get out of talking to your dad?"
"I don't know. Understanding, closure, a deeper hatred, I have no idea. I just feel like I'll be able to focus more clearly after this mess is settled with my family."
"Okay."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired."
"How are you feeling about what happened last weekend?"
"Oh, no, it's not that. Really, I'm remembering that fondly. Hoping for a repeat."
"That can be arranged anytime for you. Is the conversation we had, freaking you out still?"
"About the moving in together thing?"
"Yeah. That just came out, it was a thought. I was thinking out loud, that's all."
"I know," she assured.
"You seemed really freaked."
"It's just a really foreign concept to me, living with a guy."
"It's not like I've ever lived with someone either."
"Yeah, but you had a mom in your house. I've never had any guy in our house at all. Well, other than a couple of times Mr. Medina and my dad crashed on our couch."
"That's right, your mom had a thing with Mr. Medina. That's so weird to me."
"Tristan, focus here."
"Sorry. I hadn't thought of it that way. Are you saying you can't ever see yourself living with someone?"
"No, I'm not saying that at all."
"Okay." He sounded relieved.
"So, when will I see you this weekend?"
"I'll come by Saturday for breakfast. 12:30 sound good?"
"See, you learn so fast."
"Bye, Rory."
"Bye."
Rory hung up the phone and smiled. This week was almost over, she'd gotten almost nothing accomplished and she just wanted it to be over. Tomorrow she would go home and hang out with her mom. She could really use that; it seemed like forever since she and her mom were alone. She really couldn't wait to see what was up with her and Luke. Knowing it was all happening and having no deals was torturous.
Lugging two bags of laundry and another two with books and clothes, Rory made her way up the stairs of the front porch and rang the doorbell.
Lorelai opened the door, still putting on her shoes and gaped at Rory.
"You've never rang the doorbell before. Were you afraid Luke would be walking around naked?"
"Eww, no, my hands were full and I didn't want to look for my key."
"Oh. That makes sense. Let me help you." Lorelai grabbed two bags and threw them into the front room.
"Gee, I could have done that."
"Cranky girl."
"Yeah, well, it's been a long week."
"But it's over, and you're here."
"Yeah. I am," she stopped and sat on the couch with her mom. She looked at her, and bit her lip.
"Yes?"
"It's just, is Luke going to be here this weekend? I mean, like sleeping here?"
"No, probably not. Why, is that a problem? He doesn't really walk around naked."
"Quit saying the words Luke and naked together. And no, I just wondered. I know you said he was staying here a lot."
"Well, he has been."
"It's fine, I just wondered, if you guys were living together officially or what."
"We've not really talked about it. He sleeps here most of the time, cause I have the bigger bed. He has a single bed, for God's sake."
"That's small."
"I know. You probably don't want to hear about our bed sizes, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty much no."
"Sorry. What's with all the questions?"
"I just wondered, I mean, you've never lived with a guy before. Is it weird at all?"
"I hadn't thought about it. I mean, it's a little strange, he cooks here for us, and I never even knew our stove worked so well. But it's pretty nice, having him here."
"Good. That's good."
"Rory, are you sure you're okay with all of this? I mean, it's Luke. We love Luke."
"No, this isn't about you and Luke at all. This is about Tristan."
"What about Tristan?"
"He mentioned the possibility of us living together, and I sort of freaked out."
"Why?"
"Why? Because living with a guy is a huge deal to me. Look at how I grew up. My own father slept on our couch like four times my entire life."
"Oh, honey. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to give you a complex."
"You didn't give me a complex. Well, okay, you did, but you didn't mean to."
"Nice. I thought Tristan wouldn't transfer, how are you living together?"
"No, we're not—he was talking hypothetically."
"So, you're hypothetically freaking out."
"Yeah. And he didn't take the freak out too well."
"When did you have this chat?"
"Last Friday, after we, you know," Rory trailed off.
"Good timing. Never talk about big stuff post-coital."
"Now you tell me."
"Does the idea of living with him freak you out?"
"I don't know. I know I want to be around him all the time, and it hurts really badly when he leaves or I have to leave after a weekend together. So I would imagine being with him permanently would be the opposite of that."
"So the fact that you want to move in with him is freaking you out?"
"Maybe, a little."
"Or are you more afraid that he won't transfer at all, and it won't be a possibility."
"I hate you. You know me better than I know me."
"I made you. I wired these freak outs."
"Could you give me a heads up next time?"
"Sure. Sure. Not a problem."
"Thanks, Mom. We should get going to dinner."
"If we must. Mom's going to make me bring Luke some Friday, I know it."
"You're going to tell Grandma about Luke?"
"I told her last weekend."
"Wow. You're really breaking new ground everywhere with this relationship. I'm so proud of you."
"Come on, freak."
Rory smiled and let her mom push her out the door and into the Jeep. She loved talking things out with Lorelai; they got so simple and clear in her mind. But how does she tell Tristan that? 'Oh, I'm afraid you won't transfer and all this really won't work?' Or she could go with, 'I desperately want to move in with you. While we're at it, why don't we get married and start having babies?' God, she sounded like a freak, her mom was right. Always right. So much of this seemed like it was up to Tristan, whether or not he wanted to transfer. Would talking to his family change his mind in any way? She didn't think so, the way he put it, he just wanted to get them off of his back. Peace, that's what he was seeking. She knew that. But waiting for the right time for them to get to be together was seemingly impossible. Maybe their timing was just off, and it wasn't meant to be for them. With that sobering thought, they had reached her grandparents. She pasted on a fake smile and spent the rest of the evening engaging in pleasant conversation.
Men had never been a part of the Gilmore living scenario. She knew that Luke was practically living with her mom now, but she had no idea if that was permanent. He didn't stay when she came home, but that was probably due more to the fact that Luke wasn't comfortable with all that. Her own problem had nothing to do with loving Tristan; in fact, she felt at times that she wanted to be with him as much as possible. But now that feeling was taking her into unchartered territory of issues she would rather not deal with.
"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be studying?"
"I'm just thinking."
"About what? Let me guess? You're playing your 'I miss Tristan and I'm too depressed to do anything but lay here and dwell' music."
"Wow, I had no idea Suzanne Vega implied so much to you."
"What happened with you two, anyways?"
"Nothing. It's just relationship stuff."
"Come on, Rory. I know both of you pretty well. I'd like to help if I can. After all, you set me up with Marty, and I sort of owe you."
"You don't owe me anything. I'm glad you guys are getting along so well."
"We really are. We've started talking about summer plans."
"That's cool. We can barely get past planning two weeks in advance."
"Is that the problem, the distance?"
"Sort of. We were talking last weekend, and he asked what would happen if he did transfer, if we'd move in together."
"And?"
"And, that's a big deal."
"But you guys are in love, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"So is it that big of a leap for him to think it's in the realm of possibilities that if he moved up here basically to be with you, that you two would be living together?"
"You make me sound crazy. It's much more complicated than that."
"Gilmore, you are crazy."
"Thanks, Paris, you've been enlightening," she said, putting her headphones on and closing her eyes.
Paris just shook her head and sat down at her desk to work on a paper she had due for midterm. She couldn't understand why Rory would worry about that. Obviously if Tristan was thinking about transferring, they were serious. He had been dead set against going to Yale, she knew that. She'd been at the party where he had announced to his family that he was going to UNC, and the fight that had ensued. His mother had cried, his grandfather yelled, and his dad just stared coldly at him. Tristan had been through so much to this point, she just hoped he and Rory would work out whatever problems they were dealing with and be happy. He really deserved it.
Paris grabbed the phone when it rang, as Rory was still in her own little world on her bed.
"Hello?"
"Paris?"
"Hey, Tristan."
"Is Rory around?"
"Yeah, she's right here. Can I ask you something first?"
"Sure."
"Are you really thinking of transferring?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Rory mentioned something about you guys talking about it, you know, as a hypothetical. I just wondered if you were actually considering it."
"I don't know. I mean, yeah, it's crossed my mind. It's just sort of complicated."
"'Cause I know this is hard on Rory, when you leave, she's obviously not good at dealing with it."
"Didn't you say she was right there?"
"So?"
"So, I'm guessing she wouldn't like hearing this conversation."
"She's laying on her bed listening to depressing music on her headphones."
"How do you know it's depressing?"
"Because she was listening to it without the headphones when I got here."
"Let me guess, you annoyed her and she put them in."
With that comment, she hurled the phone in Rory's direction, and Rory jumped as the phone beaned her in the leg. She pulled off her headphones and glared at Paris.
"Geez, Paris!"
"Oh, phone for you, Rory," Paris offered sweetly.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
"Man, what did you say to her? She just bruised me while giving me the phone."
"I may have implied she was annoying at times."
"Nice. Maybe you should cease from doing that when you want to talk to me."
"I'll make a note of that."
"So, what's up?"
"I can't just call to hear your lovely voice?"
"Of course you can. What do you want?"
"Right. So I don't need you to pick me up tomorrow."
"You aren't going to ditch this party and not come are you?"
"No, why?"
"'Cause if you did, I'd come down there."
"Hmm. Tempting. You need to come back down here. When can we arrange that?"
"Why aren't I picking you up?"
"I asked Gramps if he could."
"Oh. You two going to have a heart-to-heart?"
"Rory, we're not women. I'm going to tell him why the things that transpired did so."
"You're going to tell him what you told me?"
"Yeah. I am. Then I'm going to talk to dad."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I'm hoping Gramps has some wisdom for me."
"What are you going to get out of talking to your dad?"
"I don't know. Understanding, closure, a deeper hatred, I have no idea. I just feel like I'll be able to focus more clearly after this mess is settled with my family."
"Okay."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired."
"How are you feeling about what happened last weekend?"
"Oh, no, it's not that. Really, I'm remembering that fondly. Hoping for a repeat."
"That can be arranged anytime for you. Is the conversation we had, freaking you out still?"
"About the moving in together thing?"
"Yeah. That just came out, it was a thought. I was thinking out loud, that's all."
"I know," she assured.
"You seemed really freaked."
"It's just a really foreign concept to me, living with a guy."
"It's not like I've ever lived with someone either."
"Yeah, but you had a mom in your house. I've never had any guy in our house at all. Well, other than a couple of times Mr. Medina and my dad crashed on our couch."
"That's right, your mom had a thing with Mr. Medina. That's so weird to me."
"Tristan, focus here."
"Sorry. I hadn't thought of it that way. Are you saying you can't ever see yourself living with someone?"
"No, I'm not saying that at all."
"Okay." He sounded relieved.
"So, when will I see you this weekend?"
"I'll come by Saturday for breakfast. 12:30 sound good?"
"See, you learn so fast."
"Bye, Rory."
"Bye."
Rory hung up the phone and smiled. This week was almost over, she'd gotten almost nothing accomplished and she just wanted it to be over. Tomorrow she would go home and hang out with her mom. She could really use that; it seemed like forever since she and her mom were alone. She really couldn't wait to see what was up with her and Luke. Knowing it was all happening and having no deals was torturous.
Lugging two bags of laundry and another two with books and clothes, Rory made her way up the stairs of the front porch and rang the doorbell.
Lorelai opened the door, still putting on her shoes and gaped at Rory.
"You've never rang the doorbell before. Were you afraid Luke would be walking around naked?"
"Eww, no, my hands were full and I didn't want to look for my key."
"Oh. That makes sense. Let me help you." Lorelai grabbed two bags and threw them into the front room.
"Gee, I could have done that."
"Cranky girl."
"Yeah, well, it's been a long week."
"But it's over, and you're here."
"Yeah. I am," she stopped and sat on the couch with her mom. She looked at her, and bit her lip.
"Yes?"
"It's just, is Luke going to be here this weekend? I mean, like sleeping here?"
"No, probably not. Why, is that a problem? He doesn't really walk around naked."
"Quit saying the words Luke and naked together. And no, I just wondered. I know you said he was staying here a lot."
"Well, he has been."
"It's fine, I just wondered, if you guys were living together officially or what."
"We've not really talked about it. He sleeps here most of the time, cause I have the bigger bed. He has a single bed, for God's sake."
"That's small."
"I know. You probably don't want to hear about our bed sizes, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty much no."
"Sorry. What's with all the questions?"
"I just wondered, I mean, you've never lived with a guy before. Is it weird at all?"
"I hadn't thought about it. I mean, it's a little strange, he cooks here for us, and I never even knew our stove worked so well. But it's pretty nice, having him here."
"Good. That's good."
"Rory, are you sure you're okay with all of this? I mean, it's Luke. We love Luke."
"No, this isn't about you and Luke at all. This is about Tristan."
"What about Tristan?"
"He mentioned the possibility of us living together, and I sort of freaked out."
"Why?"
"Why? Because living with a guy is a huge deal to me. Look at how I grew up. My own father slept on our couch like four times my entire life."
"Oh, honey. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to give you a complex."
"You didn't give me a complex. Well, okay, you did, but you didn't mean to."
"Nice. I thought Tristan wouldn't transfer, how are you living together?"
"No, we're not—he was talking hypothetically."
"So, you're hypothetically freaking out."
"Yeah. And he didn't take the freak out too well."
"When did you have this chat?"
"Last Friday, after we, you know," Rory trailed off.
"Good timing. Never talk about big stuff post-coital."
"Now you tell me."
"Does the idea of living with him freak you out?"
"I don't know. I know I want to be around him all the time, and it hurts really badly when he leaves or I have to leave after a weekend together. So I would imagine being with him permanently would be the opposite of that."
"So the fact that you want to move in with him is freaking you out?"
"Maybe, a little."
"Or are you more afraid that he won't transfer at all, and it won't be a possibility."
"I hate you. You know me better than I know me."
"I made you. I wired these freak outs."
"Could you give me a heads up next time?"
"Sure. Sure. Not a problem."
"Thanks, Mom. We should get going to dinner."
"If we must. Mom's going to make me bring Luke some Friday, I know it."
"You're going to tell Grandma about Luke?"
"I told her last weekend."
"Wow. You're really breaking new ground everywhere with this relationship. I'm so proud of you."
"Come on, freak."
Rory smiled and let her mom push her out the door and into the Jeep. She loved talking things out with Lorelai; they got so simple and clear in her mind. But how does she tell Tristan that? 'Oh, I'm afraid you won't transfer and all this really won't work?' Or she could go with, 'I desperately want to move in with you. While we're at it, why don't we get married and start having babies?' God, she sounded like a freak, her mom was right. Always right. So much of this seemed like it was up to Tristan, whether or not he wanted to transfer. Would talking to his family change his mind in any way? She didn't think so, the way he put it, he just wanted to get them off of his back. Peace, that's what he was seeking. She knew that. But waiting for the right time for them to get to be together was seemingly impossible. Maybe their timing was just off, and it wasn't meant to be for them. With that sobering thought, they had reached her grandparents. She pasted on a fake smile and spent the rest of the evening engaging in pleasant conversation.