Charlie found Rory exactly where he expected her to be.
In a coffee shop right next to the book shop, head buried in a copy of some obscure novel that Charlie wasn't even going to bother trying to pronounce.
Dropping into the uncomfortable metal chair opposite her Charlie had to admit that she had definitely changed over the years. And for the better. Whilst the Rory he remembered, however sharp her tongue had been, had always appeared slightly innocent and naïve, this Rory was grown up and confident.
A confidence that, unlike Charlie's, was probably legitimately earned.
"Hey Rory," Charlie started as she didn't seem to notice his presence.
She glanced up from her book and narrowed her eyes at him. Without saying a word she looked back down at her page.
"So, you're not talking to me now?" Charlie said, sighing.
"I don't recall there ever being a time that I did speak to you voluntarily."
"Rory, come on," he tried, patting the page she was trying to read with his finger. "I just want to talk. Let's try this again. Hello, Rory."
"Hello, Tristan," she replied tightly.
"So," Charlie peered round the student crowded coffee shop, desperately looking for a subject to discuss, "how's things?" He mentally kicked himself, not the stellar opening to what was sure to be an awkward conversation.
"Not you telling Paris, that's for sure," Rory said, determinedly marking her place in her book and placing it on the table as though she realised she wasn't going to get out of this conversation. Charlie noticed that there weren't even pictures on the book cover, meaning that it was the sort of book he immediately bypassed in the shop. If he was ever in a book shop, that was.
"How do you know I haven't told Paris yet?" Charlie defended himself, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward. He grinned inwardly as she leant back to avoid him, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks.
She arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow in reply. "If you had told Paris she would be on the phone this very instant still being mad at you," Rory sighed. "And taking it out on me."
Charlie sighed. "I just don't see why I have to talk to Paris," he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "There are a ton of people that I was closer to at school. Hell, there's my parents!"
"Your parents don't know where you are?" Rory exclaimed incredulously.
Charlie scoffed. "I figure it's payback for all the trips to Europe they took when I was a kid."
"You went to Europe a lot?" Rory said enviously. "I would have killed for that."
"No," said Charlie, waving a finger, "my parents went to Europe a lot. I stayed at home with my nanny or my Grandfather."
"Oh," said Rory in a small voice, "that must have sucked."
"Yeah," said Charlie, shrugging it off, "the stupid thing is that Europe's pretty big so whenever they said 'We're going to Europe' I pretty much had no idea where they were."
"I'm sorry."
"Ancient history," Charlie smiled the smile that he'd used successfully on a million women.
Unfortunately it didn't work quite as well on Rory. "Yeah, but it still bothers you. I mean your parents have no idea where you are."
"Neither does anyone else," Charlie offered.
"Well, give it an hour and Paris will know, right?" Rory nudged.
Charlie groaned inwardly, debating whether however cute Rory was made up for the fact she could be supremely annoying.
"Look, once again, why do I have to tell Paris?"
"Because," cried Rory, waving her arms and drawing the attention of the other patrons, "she's one of my best friends and I can't not tell her when your name comes up!"
"My name comes up in conversation?"
"No!" yelled Rory, noticing the waiter's glare, she continued more quietly, "But if it did I wouldn't feel right not telling her. You and she were friends for a long time, you know?"
"I know that, Rory," Charlie sighed, "but it really isn't the easiest thing in the world to pick up my phone and call her."
"How about I sit next to you while you do it?" Rory offered with a grin.
Charlie couldn't resist, his inner high-schooler rising to the surface. "I tell you what, you sit with me and have a coffee and I will call Paris when we are done."
He could see Rory wavering. "Fine," she said, a gin tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Charlie stood to go get more drinks when he turned back to the table. "Are you saying yes because you want me to call Paris or because you actually want to talk to me?"
"Actually it's mainly just the fact that you're going to be buying me coffee."
"Wow, I don't remember you being this interested in music when you were at school," Rory remarked, adding her coffee mug to the growing pile on her table.
Charlie shrugged, taking a sip of his drink and eyeing the impressive amount of caffeine that the slim girl had already consumed. "It wasn't really something my parents would ever have encouraged, you know? I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to be a classical concert kind of musician and anything else was something they couldn't understand."
Rory smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, I remember thinking you were one of those trust funds brats who were headed straight for law school."
"And you were exactly right," Charlie said with a laugh.
"Well, you're definitely different now," Rory said with a blush and an appreciative glance that Charlie didn't miss.
He suddenly felt bad. He liked Rory, she was as easy to speak to as Jen or Joey and yet she was Rory Gilmore. He'd had a crush on her for a year and a few hours in her company were reminding him why.
And it didn't seem fair to her that she continue thinking that he was some sort of new, uber Tristan.
"I'm really not," he said in a small voice.
"What?" Rory asked, a confused expression crossing her face.
"That different," Charlie explained, "I mean, yeah I'm different in what I do and I'll admit that I'm not quite as arrogant but I'm still quite a lot like the Tristan you knew," he exhaled slowly, "however much I hate to admit it."
Rory sipped her new coffee contemplatively. "You see, I get that about you and the thing is, the Old Tristan? I probably wouldn't hate him quite so much anymore," she put her coffee mug down and grinned at him, "so the New Tristan? I'm really liking."
Charlie couldn't help but grin back. "Oh, but what about Dawson?"
Rory burst out laughing. "Dawson? God, no."
Laughing along with her, Charlie felt at ease. Rory pointed happily at him.
"Hey, I made you laugh! Didn't think you had it in you," Rory glanced around the table, "Okay, I think that even I have had enough caffeine for the day. Want to walk me home?"
"Would love to," Charlie said, rising and happily offering her his arm.
Rory looped her arms through his, smiling. "And then we can make a certain phone call."
"Rory!" Charlie exclaimed, groaning.
"What? You promised!"
Charlie glanced around the dorm room as Rory let him in. Her suitcase was open at the end of the bed, a sharp reminder that she was only visiting, though Rory quickly walked forward and shut the lid.
"Hiding your unmentionables?" Charlie said, waggling his eyebrows up and down.
"Did you really just say 'unmentionables'?"
"I don't know what came over me."
Rory laughed lightly and shook her head. "Sit there," she motioned to her bed and shot him a stern look as Charlie flopped across it.
He was so busy making himself comfortable he missed Rory pressing speed-dial on her phone and holding it to her ear. "Hey," he exclaimed with a fair amount of alarm in his voice, "who are you calling?"
"Paris," the 'duh' was implicit. Rory smiled as the other girl answered. "Hey, Paris." There was a long pause. "No, I've not finished Caleb Godwin I only started it yesterday and I have stuff to do. Yes, I'll finish it. No, I won't try and steal your notes. Promise." Rory turned and gestured frantically at Charlie who was listening to the exchange with a grin on his face. "Actually there's someone I want you to talk to."
Before Charlie could protest she had thrown the phone at his head.
Scrambling to grab it he shot Rory a look full of hate and then hesitantly spoke into the mouthpiece. "Hey, Paris."
There was a very long pause on the other end of the line."Paris?" Charlie tried again.
"Tristan?" Paris said, her normally confident voice full of disbelief.
"Well, actually it's Charlie now. See, I changed my name…"
"You changed your name? What were you thinking?" She yelled down the phone at him.
"Yes, I changed my name. And I go to Boston college, studying music…"
"Music?" Paris yelled again. "Oh my God, I need…I need to go."
And then she hung up on him.
Charlie moved the phone from his ear and looked at it in disbelief. "She hung up on me." He sounded as though he wasn't entirely sure what had just happened.
Rory leaned forward and took the phone from him, smiling sympathetically. "You know that means she's run off to get plane tickets and will probably be here tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Charlie sighed, he suddenly realised how close Rory was to him, "Want to go get dinner while we wait?"
Rory smiled and nodded sweetly. "That would be nice."