Title: Girl Like That
Authors: Mrs. Witter (Jamie) and ChristineCS (Chris, duh)
Disclaimer: Jamie and I, despite the harem we own (we know it creates mass confusion about the ownership thing), do not own Gilmore Girls, their characters, matchbox twenty, their songs or Rob's awesome writing talent therefore we claim no ownership to the lyrics in the chapter title. We also don't own Mark Paul Gosselaar or Emile De Raven, but you'll have to think about why that is added. We do however claim ownership on our own writing. So consider yourself warned.
Rating: PG – 13
Pairing: Rory/Tristan
Chapter 3: It seems to me - you'll always be, everyone else's girl
Water was a funny thing. For one, it turned Vaughn's hair until a normal light red color that was normal. And it also made her hair slightly wavy instead of curly. She pulled the brush through it one more time before opening the door to her dorm room, after years of having to share a bathroom; it wasn't a big deal to walk down the hall to take a shower. Which is why the girls that was in there at the same time, complaining about it, seemed more ridiculous than they would in everyday life. Vaughn had closed the door, when she noticed Rory sitting at the desk by the window.
"Studying hard already?" Vaughn asked, as she began to rummage through her pajamas.
Rory tucked her hair behind her ear and turned to look at her roommate. "Actually, I was just staring at the textbook, pretending to study. I come to college and lose my ability to concentrate on my homework. Go figure."
Vaughn pulled out her green pajamas and looked over her shoulder at Rory, "That's what I came for. Go figure."
She laughed lightly and looked at the textbook sourly. The words seemed to make no sense and her eyes were beginning to hurt. Sighing, she resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to finish the required reading tonight. She wondered why she was feeling so out of the loop. She turned to Vaughn and furrowed her brows. "Is it possible to miss someone you hardly knew?"
Vaughn thought about it for a moment, "As possible as it is to not miss somebody you've always known." She set her pajamas down; she wasn't in the mood to change yet.
Rory thought about that for a minute. That statement alone gave her some idea about what Vaughn's relationship with people in her life in New York must've been like. She wondered if it was her parents or her friends that Vaughn didn't miss. The next question that came to her mind, slipped from her mouth before she could stop it. "Why don't you like Cole?"
There were so many answers to that question that Vaughn could have laughed. However, she knew that it wouldn't have made much sense to an outsider. They barely made sense to her. So she sat down on the floor and sighed. "I suppose you want more than the explanation that he's Cole?"
"If that's the explanation you feel comfortable with, then okay," she replied with a small grin. "Believe me, a reason like that in my book, is always safe. It's kind of like that with Tristan."
She tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear, "Really? I can't picture Tristan as anything other than adorably charming. But it's not that he's just Cole, it's this family thing. It's stupid and it's clichéd. But he's still an ass."
Rory let out a shocked giggle. "Cole? An ass? And Tristan? Adorable? You obviously don't know Tristan like I do. Cole is so nice."
Vaughn rolled her eyes, "Montgomery is only nice when he wants to be. And that's not often. As for Tristan, I guess I've always had a soft spot for the charmers. It probably comes from all the repressing of sexual desires they drilled into us at St. Helene's."
Rory frowned inwardly. Up until now, Vaughn had said Tristan was charming and adorable. But now it was about sex? If the two of them hooked up (the possibility of it was unsettling) then how odd would it be for her? She furrowed her brows, studying the blonde's face contemplatively. "Are you into Tristan…in that way?"
She blinked, "Uh, yeah. Have you not seen him? It's kind of hard to look at him and not picture him in that way. But not in a serious, I want to see him in a marriage bed kind of way."
Maybe she was finding it so hard to believe that Vaughn, who seemed to level headed and smart, was so drawn to Tristan. But then again, Paris was smart and yet she harbored a crush on Tristan for years. Louise and Madeline had drooled over him from a distance on many occasions. He had been the most sought after guy at Chilton. Or maybe it was just her. Of course she knew he was good-looking, seeing him today only reminded her just how much. Vaughn was still staring at her so she blinked and replied, "oh."
"You don't ever picture him that way?" Vaughn asked. It didn't matter what the personality was, if the guy was attractive enough you got at least a flash of a guy like that. Cole was a testament to that, at least.
Had she? She didn't know. That year, everything had been so crazy. He'd driven her crazy. But had she ever thought of him in that way? A memory flashed in her mind's eye: That intense look in his eyes as he leaned forward - and she found herself moving closer too. That one moment when his lips touched hers. It was a nice kiss. Not at all crying material. Oh yeah, it had happened. She shrugged, a little uneasy. "He's Tristan."
Vaughn laughed out loud, she hadn't seen someone so oblivious to a man's appeal since the nuns at St. Helene's. Even then, that was questionable. A thought occurred to her, "You've had a boyfriend…right?"
It was Rory's turn to laugh. "Yes. Two, in fact."
Well that was a relief. Sort of. "What were they like?"
Hmm. She'd never had to actually describe her boyfriends to someone. It was a little weird. "My first boyfriend, Dean, was tall. He had the nicest blue eyes. He was really sweet. The first time he kissed me, I ended up shop lifting cornstarch from the local grocer's. He built me a car."
"Tall's good," Vaughn nodded, "I like tall. But then again, pretty much anything is tall to me. What was the second one like?"
She smiled a little, thinking of Jess. It still hurt; the memory of their goodbye was still ringing in her head. But he had a life to lead and she had her dreams to pursue. She had loved him, still did. "He was the complete opposite of Dean. Jess was intense and kind of a bad boy. My mother hated him. We started off rough and maybe that's why it didn't last. He lives in Boston now, with his dad."
Bad boys. So much more interesting. "Was that where he was originally from? Boston?"
"Brooklyn. He used to live with his mother until she sent him away to Stars Hollow to live with his uncle, Luke." She felt a little pang as she thought of the owner of one of her most favorite places in the world. Shaking her head a little, she smiled at her roommate. "What about you? What were your boyfriends like?"
"Well number one was, like," Vaughn racked her brain for a memory of Baker. But had been three years so it took a moment. "Well, Baker wasn't like Mr. Perfect, like your Dean, or Mr. Screwed Up Bad Boy, like your Jess. He wasn't very tall. Taller than me. He was this artist type. I got drawing lessons from him, actually. Don't ask me why I needed them."
Rory grinned. "I won't. But I would like to see your drawings." She curled up on her bed and smiled. "What about Cole? Did you ever have a thing for him?"
Vaughn guffawed; she'd rather commit…well some atrocious crime than have a thing for Cole Montgomery. "Cole? No. I was twelve; both of us were, when at last I really saw him. Though," she leaned forward, "he has this older brother, Nicky. He was always 'wow', doesn't look like Cole much though. He has this dark mahogany hair, and like these nearly black eyes. I use to stand in awe whenever I saw him."
Rory's eyes widened in disbelief and she sat up on her bed, incredulous. "I'm sure his brother is good looking. But you are seriously telling me that you don't find Cole attractive? Have you seen those eyes?"
"Many times, they are amazing eyes," really amazing. It's one of the reasons she didn't look him in the eye too often, beside the whole height thing, it was hard to stay angry with eyes like that. "But there comes a point where personality overrides looks."
Now that was a statement that made Rory even more curious about what went on between the two. But she respected Vaughn's privacy and hoped that one day it would come out. She rather liked Cole and didn't want to have any tension between him and her roommate. But she understood what Vaughn was saying. "That's what it's like with me and Tristan. We just clash."
That was something Vaughn understood all too well. In a way, though it wasn't exactly the same thing. "It's like that with Cole, just once upon a time not so much. But it's over, and I'm over it."
~*~
"You never close you eyes anymore when I kiss you liiips," Cole sang as he put away his textbooks and shut down his laptop. First day of classes went smoothly except for the whole Schuyler thing. But he wasn't going to let her ruin this college experience. He hadn't seen her for six years so now; it didn't matter where they stood. "And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertiiips."
He had heard the singing when he was outside the door, but Tristan had hoped that it was an auditory hallucination. Unfortunately, when he had swung the door open, his ears were still assaulted by Cole's singing voice. No hallucination at all. "We're really going to have to work on that nasty habit of yours." He shrugged his light jacket off and threw it onto the bed.
Cole turned around and grinned at his roommate. It had been a couple of days but he already loved bugging Tristan. "Ah, DuGrey! Join me in a rousing rendition of a classic!"
"Uh, that's okay, I was taught to preserve the classics," Tristan shucked off his shoes. "Not destroy them."
"Oh ye of little faith," he replied and then sighed. "Fine, I'll stop. But you have to answer a question. Is there something about Rory Gilmore that you don't like?"
No, that had been the source of his problem in high school. "No, but I'd ask her the same question about me. I'm sure there's a list of less than wonderful traits and stories about me that she remembers from Chilton."
"She doesn't seem like that kind of a person," Cole mused and sat down on his bed, facing Tristan. "She was happy to see you."
That was true; Rory Gilmore was too…nice to be that bitter over such small things. "Unlike a certain strawberry blonde's reaction to you, Montgomery. I can see you have a great way with the ladies. One day I can only aspire to make someone hate me as much as she appears to hate you."
He shrugged. Tristan didn't know how difficult Schuyler was - how annoying. Even thinking about her left a bitter taste in his mouth. "The feeling is very much reciprocated, believe me. That girl has serious issues. Don't change the subject on me, man. What happened between you and Rory?"
"We only knew each other for like a year, so not a lot," well it was a lot at the time. But not so much anymore. "She came to Chilton, took an instant dislike to me. I was obnoxious - it's understandable. Then decided I was worth befriending, later not. Also understandable. It was a cycle until I got shipped off to military school."
"Sounds bumpy." But he got it. Schuyler and him had been friends – too long ago for him to remember too clearly but he knew there was a time when they both had actually enjoyed each other's company. Like when they were four. An odd question popped into his head. "Do you like Schuyler?"
"Sure," what wasn't to like? She was cute, funny and intelligent. "I thought she preferred to be called Vaughn."
Cole smiled wryly. "One of the things she hates most about me, I suppose. Girls hate it when you call them something they don't want to be called. Ever experience that?"
All too well, in fact Tristan could still feel the impact of Rory's exclamation of what her name was on the day of Medina's test. "Yeah, try calling Rory 'Mary' one of these days."
Cole laughed because he understood that prep school insult. There were a few girls who his friends had dubbed as Mary. "I see that about her. It's kind of endearing. Plus, she's awfully pretty."
Of course she was, it was the first thing Tristan had noticed about her. She was pretty in a natural way, not the manufactured way like all the other girls. "Gee whiz, Montgomery, you think so?"
He rolled his eyes and stood up and stretched. "I think I'm going to ask her out."
Tristan's head snapped up at that, but he covered his surprise as quickly as possible. "Haven't you already done that?"
The look that passed fleetingly over Tristan's face didn't go unnoticed by Cole. He wondered what it was about but then shrugged it off, thinking it was surprise. "Well yeah, I guess. But that was just coffee. I was thinking the whole dinner and movie route. Is she that kind of a girl?"
Well she wasn't the concert kind of girl. "I guess," Tristan shrugged. "Oh wait, she liked this one with a Louie in it. Had to do with friendship or something."
So she was a classics girl. Nice. Cole grinned and flopped down on his bed. "I thought you preserved classics, DuGrey."
~*~
Rory hated vending machines. The one she was standing in front of had eaten her seventy-five cents and was refusing to dispense her Snickers bar. She banged on the glass (not hard enough to break it but enough to turn her hand red) and then scowled at it. Sighing she rummaged through her purse, looking for another seventy-five cents to try again.
Tristan leaned against the side of the vending machine, trying to hide his amusement. He held his hand out, filled with three quarters. "Need some?"
She was so startled that she dropped her purse, sending it contents splattering to the floor. She bit back a scream of frustration and bent down to pick her stuff up. "The stupid machine ate my only quarters. This place is cursed."
He crouched down to help her gather the contents of her purse. "It's a vending machine, it wouldn't be one if it didn't eat silver and copper. That's why I go to a store."
She reached for the wallet he had picked up for her, smiling. "I'm kind of surprised you're talking to me."
"Did you do something wrong?"
"You tell me," she replied as they both stood up. "It just seemed like you weren't so happy to see me yesterday. Not that you would be happy. But since we know each other and we did go to school together and we were kind of fri…are you mad at me or something?"
Tristan scratched his head, mussing his blonde hair slightly with the action. "Uh, no. Have you been deprived of caffeine or something? 'Cause I was happy to see you yesterday, surprised. But pleasantly surprised."
"Oh so when you basically don't look at someone or direct any comments towards her then you're pleasantly surprised," she said with mock understanding. "I get it now."
"And when he offers you seventy-five cents, he's over it," Tristan offered. He had never met a girl that made less sense than Rory Gilmore. "And I'm, um, sorry for being overly inattentive to you?"
Now she felt like she was being senseless. What was is about Tristan DuGrey that had her confused? She had obviously read too much into his behavior. She wasn't used to this…normal Tristan. She was half-expecting him to pull one over on her or something. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She wasn't going to let him drive her crazy. She started laughing and opened her eyes. She grabbed the quarters from his hand. "It's okay. I need sustenance."
Tristan let out a sigh of relief that he couldn't contain if he wanted to. "I can tell. If this doesn't work, we're bringing you to a store, by the way. Never give a vending machine more than a dollar-fifty."
"Words to live by." She slipped the quarters into the slit and punched in the numbers. This time, the machine whirred and the Snickers bar fell to the bottom with a thump. She smiled triumphantly. "You have magic quarters, Tristan! I'm going to live off of your inheritance."
He shrugged; the quarters were shiny and new. Vending machines liked that. "Then it's a very good thing I have enough to support this whole floor. Otherwise we might have to look elsewhere for quarters."
The two of them started to walk away from the vending machine and towards the exit. She opened her candy bar and since they were his quarters, she broke off half and shoved it in front of his face. "Have some. And quick because this offer lasts for a limited time."
Tristan blinked before extracting the piece of candy bar from her fingers and popping it into his mouth.
She smiled at him brightly, licking the caramel off her fingers. "I was heading to the library. What about you?"
He returned her smile, "The library. Looks like you're stuck with me a little while longer, Gilmore."
