CHAPTER 9

"I am so sorry," Luke apologized as his hand ran up and down Lorelai's back.

Lorelai's sobs became sniffles. Pulling away from Luke, she said, "You would've not known unless I told you."

"So when were you planning on telling me this?" he asked.

"I just did!" she said staring at him incredulously.

Luke let out a frustrated sigh. "I meant why not last night? I felt like an ass thinking that you think I crossed this imaginary friendship line and screwed everything up between us."

"Well, I didn't tell you because I myself wasn't supposed to know. It just happened. And I--," she stuttered, "Was shocked. I mean, this is my Rory. She was supposed to be the smart one between us. Plus, it's her life. I mean, she's nineteen. I was a mother to a three-year old when I was her age. She's allowed her privacy."

"Stop. Don't you ever let me hear you berate yourself again. Do you understand?" Luke said as he was inches off her face. He wanted to kiss her and her pain away. "As for Rory and Dean…"

"Yes, what of Rory and Dean?" Lorelai asked in frustration.

"Well, I think she knows what happened between them is wrong," Luke concluded.

"Well, Einstein, I think we both know that. I just hope she's not compounding the problem by running away from it," Lorelai pointed out.

"Who else knows?" Luke asked.

"Unless something happened at the Forrester household, it's you, me and the two idiots involved," Lorelai snorted.

Luke was starting to get furious. "Do you want me to talk to Dean?"

Lorelai was touched with his protectiveness. "No. Not yet. Maybe Tristin was right. They need to figure this out on their own. I guess I am glad that they're thinking about it apart from each other."

Luke just grunted. He took off his blue baseball cap and ran his fingers through his hair. He is used to baggage. This kind, however, is a little more complex than others he had handled.

"Hey," Lorelai broke his thought. "I'm glad I finally got to tell you."

"I'm glad you did," Luke said.

"Hmm, this is decadent," Rory exclaimed between chocolate éclair bites.

Tristin smiled behind his mug. Between them, they polished off a twelve-cup carafe of coffee and half of a freshly brewed batch.

"Do you realize that you have consumed enough calories to run a marathon without stopping for power bar bites?" Tristin said matter-of-factly.

"But I'm starved!" Rory whined. "Besides, it's not like there's a man out there pining away for me," she said with a tone that dropped to a degree of seriousness.

"I seriously believe you're delusional," Tristin matched her tone.

Rory flashed him a weak smile as she put the remainder of her éclair on her breakfast plate.

"Yeah, well…" her voice trailed.

"What happened to baggage boy?" he baited.

Rory shot him a chilling glance.

"Well, we broke up. And that's that. It's long, done history," Rory said.

"For someone who's very articulate, that statement didn't make any sense at all," Tristin pushed.

"Well, we broke up, like, weeks after you left and he met Lindsey and they got married, okay?" Rory said starting to get distressed. "Now, can we move on to other subjects?"

"For the record, he was an idiot the first time he broke up with you. He is a jackass for leaving you for another girl the second time around," Tristin voiced out.

The playful mood in the air soured. Tristin was not sorry for telling Rory how he felt about the guy. The only thing that would give him more satisfaction is beating him down for breaking Rory's heart. She did not deserve it.

"He doesn't know that he had a good thing going," Tristin said before taking another drink from his cup.

"It's water under the bridge. Many things happened and things got complicated," Rory said vaguely. She felt that she had once again betrayed Dean by doling out half-truths. She could have told him about Jess and the breakup. She could have told him about college and why they were doomed not to make it for now. She wanted to defend Dean but her guilt prevented her to do so. Rory dropped her head when she realized she parted with information Tristin may use as ammunition against her when he wanted to be mean.

Pregnant silence followed.

"So, enough about me. What's happening in the world of Tristin DuGrey?" Rory asked.

At first, the conversation felt scripted. He started talking about how things went down with Bowman's father after he got sent to military school. He opened up by saying how he did not want to leave Chilton but he wanted to get away from his parents. His father and mother were going through a messy divorce and he was getting heat from both ends. It did not help that his father was implicated in an FCC investigation which eventually got dropped. Military school accomplished one thing for him: freedom. He did not like the rigidity but he was glad to be away from it all. Slowly, he opened up. He talked about how he reinvented himself. He got into trouble the first couple of weeks but settled down when he realized his antics in Chilton were not cutting it in the academy. He ultimately made new friends who eventually went into the Citadel and West Point and other universities. He rarely got in touch with Chilton alums with the exception of Louise and Madeline whom he ran into during Spring Break.

Rory started laughing again when Tristin talked about the crazy antics he and his buddies pulled when they were allowed a night out in the town. He raved about the banks of North Carolina. He even mentioned how he and his friends decided to take a road trip to become extras on a Dawson's Creek episode before the television series ended.

"So did you guys get picked?" Rory asked.

"Well, we were in the background somewhere screaming when the characters Charlie and Joey were on stage singing. That was fun!" he quipped.

"Wow. I can say that I know someone who was on TV," Rory said.

Tristin laughed.

"So, are you in college?" Rory asked.

"Yeah. I ended up in Princeton," he said as his voice dropped to a whisper.

"Oh," Rory said. "Why Princeton? I mean, I always pictured you as a guy that would forgo college and head off to California and learn how to surf or work in a bar in Hawaii," Rory went off rambling.

"So you admit you think about me," a semi tease came out of Tristin. He was secretly amused with her choice of words.

Rory blushed. "Well, you know what I mean!"

"Well why Yale? I thought you were hell-bent into getting into Harvard. Got the rejection slip?" Tristin asked.

"I am surprised that you remembered Harvard!" Rory admitted. "Things got hairy between dad's new family and mom-"

All of a sudden, a wave of panic flashed in Rory's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tristin immediately asked putting his cup down.

"I forgot to call mom!" she said running back to Tristin's room.

"I told her you were with me," he said while he ran behind her.

Stopping immediately and spinning around to face him, she said angrily, "And you didn't bother to tell me? Mom's probably worried sick!"

"I told her that you were fine and that I'd look out for you while you're with me. She wanted to follow me here…" he said.

"You saw my mom!" she asked almost shouting. "When?"

"I drove to Stars Hollow this morning when you were asleep. I figured you had an argument with your mom and you just wanted to get away."

"Oh," she said pausing. "I thought you just ran out for breakfast."

"I did. Just thought that I'd get it in Stars Hollow," he stated.

Rory proceeded to the room. She picked up her cell phone and flipped it open. No messages. She hesitated for a second before speed dialing her mother.