Hello to all the readers. I want to say thanks to all of you who have reviewed, especially those of you who have reviewed more than once. If it weren't for you guys this story would never have continued. So this chapter, and that may come after this one goes out to the reviewers. So on with the next chapter.

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"You better call Mary, or else I'm going to have to hunt you down at Yale." He told her trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Maybe I'll just let you hunt me down then." She looked in his eyes again and placed a quick but sweet kiss on his lips.

It took all of his willpower to not deepen that kiss with Rory. He just knew that he couldn't do that to her. It was time to say goodbye, not to tell her how he felt.

"So...I guess it's time to go. Goodbye Tris."

"Goodbye Mary, be careful out there."

After another minute of staring in his eyes she got in her car and once again left it all behind.

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Chapter 22

Tristan watched as Rory's car drove away. He just stood there hoping it would eventually come back but it didn't. After a while he turned around and headed into his apartment. It seemed so empty without her. Ever since she had moved in with him the apartment had been filled with new sounds and new scents. It had been filled with her laughter and the sound of her singing voice when she was in the shower. The air had been filled with the scents of her shampoo and her perfume. Now as he looked around he noticed how empty it really was. The sounds were gone and wouldn't return but he was sure there was still a hint of strawberry shampoo in the air.

Unable to stand being in the living room they had spent so many moments in he headed to the one part of the apartment that she had spent no time in, his bedroom. He headed for his bed where he planned on sitting and watching some television. That's when he noticed what seemed to be a photo envelope on his pillow. He picked it up and took out the stack of picture. A smile came to his lips when he looked at the image of himself and Rory lying in the grass at the park where he had tackled her.

When he looked at the other ones tears came to his eyes. There in front of him were pictures of Rory and him sleeping on the sofa. They looked so peaceful. He saw the look on his face and he knew then that Rory must have seen it too when she had looked at the pictures. It kind of made him wonder why she hadn't showed him those pictures before. Why hadn't she said anything when she'd seen the feelings written all over his face? Maybe all she really felt for him was friendship and she hadn't wanted to ruin things between them by asking him about it.

The rest of the stack of pictures was mostly all of them on their fun day. Rory's smile was captured on all of them. She had been so happy that day. She had even managed to get him to have some fun. Hell, what was he going to do without her around? He knew that his life would become what it had been before she had appeared in his life again. He would spend all of his time at work, he would barely go out, and he wouldn't have any fun at all.

When he finished looking at the pictures he noticed that there was a piece of paper in the envelope. He saw his name in Rory's handwriting and decided to read it.

Dear Tristan,

By the time you finally read this I will be on my way back home. I thought that I'd give you these pictures as a souvenir of our fun together. I really suck at saying goodbye and at writing letters so I guess in a way this is my attempt at saying what I should have said to you a long time ago.

Tristan, I've fallen in love with you. There, I've said it. I think those pictures that you just looked at made me finally realize it. When did those feelings start? Well, I think they possibly started back when you first kissed me. I just never wanted to face up to them because I was afraid. Then you left Chilton and I knew that it would never happen for us.

When I first saw you in North Carolina it made me so happy. I couldn't believe how much you had changed and I was so proud of you. Those feelings did come back but with everything that had happened I just couldn't act upon them. In a way I was still blind to how I felt about you. I really thought it was just friendship.

Unfortunately, I faced those feelings too late. Now I'm going back to school and you're living in North Carolina. I just wanted you to know how I feel and I wanted to thank you for making me see that I could have feelings like this again.

Goodbye Tristan,

I will miss you so much.

Love, Rory.

Tristan couldn't believe what he had just read. Did this letter say that Rory loved him? Did he really read that she'd had feelings for him in high school? Tears were running down his cheeks now and he knew he couldn't do anything to stop their flow. How could he not have seen how she felt? Why hadn't he told her that he had always loved her? Maybe now he wouldn't be in this situation. He knew that eventually she would have gone back to school so really did it matter that he hadn't told her?

There was nothing he could do. It was over...even though it had never even begun. He just lay on his bed thinking of her and what might have been had the circumstances been different.

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Rory had been driving for nearly three hours when she finally decided to stop for some dinner. She'd been thinking about Tristan the whole way and now she just needed to stop before the tears that were threatening to fall impaired her vision. There was a small diner that actually looked like it would serve some good food. So she went to her bag to get the new book she had started the day before and headed for the door.

In the diner she ordered a cheeseburger and fries with coffee of course and for dessert she had chocolate ice cream, which was Tristan's favorite.

She remembered her first movie night with Tristan back at the apartment. He had bought all sorts of junk food including chocolate ice cream. When they had gotten down to the ice cream he had had a hard time sharing it with her. Instead he had bought a pint of strawberry banana for her. They had had a little ice cream fight then, smearing ice cream all over each other's faces. That memory, as well as every other one they had shared brought a smile to her face. Unfortunately, along with that smile came a little sadness when she remembered that they wouldn't share any memories anymore. She wasn't living in North Carolina anymore, she had left him there and now she wasn't with the man she loved.

As she ate her burger and fries she couldn't help but wonder what he was up to at that moment. Did he miss her as much as she missed him? Would he go back to dating again? He hadn't dated one single time when she'd lived with him. Did he miss dating? He'd probably have plans for the next month. It saddened her. If things would have been different she could have gone out on dates with him herself.

She wished that somehow she could have stayed in North Carolina. Back there she'd still get to see Tristan every day and they could spend some time together. Her feelings for him would have been revealed and she would actually know how he felt. Deep down she knew that she had to get back home. School was important to her, her mother was important to her but there was no Tristan in Stars hollow. She also knew that he couldn't have gone with her even if she would have asked him. His life was in North Carolina. He had a store to take care of and it was far from his family, which was good for him because they had never gotten along. How was she going to forget about the man she loved? It had taken her forever to forget about Dean and then about Jess, she was dreading the time it would take to forget Tristan. She didn't really want to forget about him but she knew that if she didn't she'd keed on wondering what could have been.

As a way to stop thinking about it she picked up her book and decided that it was the only thing that would help her stop thinking. But, right where her bookmark was there was also a folded up piece of paper with her name on it. She recognized the hand writing as Tristan's and wondered what it could be. When she unfolded it she realized it was a letter.

Dear Rory,

By the time you read this you'll probably be at home in Stars Hollow. I just couldn't let you leave without this letter. Ever since we met again in the bookstore I've been agonizing over how to tell you this and I never found the perfect moment before you had to leave. I didn't want to say anything once I found out you were leaving because it might have complicated things.

What I'm trying to say is that I am head over heels in love with you. The truth is that ever since your first day at Chilton I've known that you were deffinitly the girl for me. Weird huh since I was always annoying you and giving you a hard time? Well, it was my way of getting close to you. I knew that you'd never give me a chance and that we'd never have a decent conversation even if I tried because I was probably the biggest jerk in the world.

When I kissed you at Madeline's party it was the best kiss of my life even if you ran away from me. Was I really that bad? Then when you told me you hated me it absolutely destroyed me. I do know now that it was all because of Dean and that you didn't mean it so don't feel bad okay? When I left Chilton to go to Military school it was the worse time in my life becausee it meant that I wouldn't get to see your beautiful face every day. It was during that time that I became the person I am today. I knew I had to change for my Mary...you know you'll always be my Mary right?

At Military school I kept on thinking about you every single day. I realized during those months away that if I ever wanted to have a meaningful relationship with a woman that I had to change. So I have you to thank for that. Every night when I went to sleep I'd pray that someday we'd meet again and that you'd see the man I had become.

When I first saw you in the bookstore and you ran away I was scared that I wouldn't see you again. I was scared that you really did hate me. Living with you made me love you even more. Trust me, I didn't think it was even possible. If it weren't for you I still wouldn't even know what real fun is. I know you had to leave and I'm glad that you'll be with your mom again. I just hope that our goodbye wasn't forever.

I love you Mary and I can't wait to see you again.

Love,

Tristan

The tears were flowing freely by then. She couldn't believe that he had been in love with her from the moment he had met her. It all made sense to her now. He had always been around her, teasing her when he could have been with any girl in school. She just wished that fate would be on their side and that they'd find each other again someday. She was tempted to turn the car around and ehad back but she knew that it couldn't happen. Maybe once she'd finished school but not yet.

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A/N: Okay you guys this ends chapter 22. I promise it is not the end. In the next chapter we take a look at what they do once they're apart and later on we find out if they end up back together again. You didn't really think it would end so badly did you? Now you have to review and give me your opinions, please. :)