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 so we don't own the lyrics in the chapter title. We also don't own Mark Paul Gosselaar or Emilie 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 7:  I hang on everything about you

There were very few things in the world that managed to surprise Cole Montgomery. They were abstract things mostly, like why Iceland was green and Greenland was covered in ice. Or how Veronica seemed to have a knack for saying the worst things at the worst time. The most recent surprise was the fact that his roommate had asked Schuyler Vaughn out on a date. Willingly. "You asked her out?"

"For the millionth time, yes." Tristan searched for his wallet. "Is that so hard to believe, Montgomery?"

He frowned and leaned back in his chair. "As a matter of fact, yes."

"Get over it. She'll be here in a minute."

Vaughn tugged on a strand of her hair and released it, just to watch it not bounce. She didn't care how many people said it was a crime for her to get rid of the curls, she loved her hair straight. Almost transformed her into a different person. Plus it was a lot easier to pull the top of your hair into a barrette, like she had to done tonight. Now that she had ensured her hair would not curl until the next time she showered, she stepped up to the door, and knocked.

"Why is she picking you up anyway?" Cole asked as Tristan went to open the door. Because he was curious to see how Schuyler dressed for a date, he followed.

"It's the new millennium." He opened the door and found Vaughn smiling a little anxiously, her hair straightened and her legs encased in leather. "Wow."

"That better be for me and not my lack of curls," Vaughn warned him teasingly.

"It was for both." He grinned and turned to his roommate, who was staring at Vaughn as if she was a figment of his imagination, his lips parted slightly. "Cole?"

Here it was - surprise number two of the day. Schuyler Vaughn. In leather. He blinked twice and shook his head, looking away from Claymore and at Tristan. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"No, he's Cole. He'll never be okay," Vaughn informed Tristan, "Are we ready?"

"I am and you definitely look like you're ready to have some fun," he answered. He turned to Cole once again and smiled. "Don't wait up for me, buddy."

"Wasn't planning on it," he replied and then nodded in Schuyler's direction. He needed to say something to remind himself how annoying she was, regardless of her attire. "Watch out for that one. She bites."

"Not unless provoked," she promised Tristan. "Or if you want me to. I can be quite indulging sometimes."

Okay, that was enough. Cole shoved Tristan out of the door and started to close the door. "The two of you are making me sick. Have fun."

When the door slammed on his face, Tristan turned to Vaughn. "Has he always been like this?"

Vaughn shook her head and tried to stifle a laugh. "No, he used to be worse."

The two exited the dorm room and Tristan gave her another once over, still a little stunned seeing her like that. "I understand where it came from, you know."

"That he was born an asshole?" Vaughn questioned as they stepped out into the parking lot, and followed Tristan to his car. A silver Mercedes Convertible. Wow, that was nice. "Oh, I wanted one of these. I had to settle for a BMW instead."

Tristan opened the passenger side door and smiled. "She's my baby. And I meant that I understand why Cole was acting the way he did. You look incredible."

She grinned at him before slipping into the passenger seat. "Thank you." Vaughn settled into the seat, screw paradise, this is where she wanted to be. "So did you name her?"

"Isolde." He smiled, shut the door and walked over to the driver's side. When he slipped in, she was grinning widely. "What?"

"Nothing." She buckled her seat belt. "I just think you're a romantic, Tristan DuGrey."

He turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the parking space. "That's the first time anyone has ever called me that. I'll take what I can get, though."

"Well then I guess I must be the first person to hear that you named your car after your namesake's true love," Vaughn giggled, though she had attempted to stifle it. "I love it."

"It's surprising that you know the legend, I only know it because I was curious about my name." He pulled out of the campus and onto the main road. "I reckon you read a lot, then."

"Some, but I love mythology," Vaughn replied with a sigh, really she needed to stop before she got dorky. "Tell me, did your mother name you Tristan because of the sorrow she went through? Are you really supposed to be a Mark?"

He grinned. "Oh no, that's just too commonplace for a DuGrey."

"Of course, why I didn't think of that is beyond me," Vaughn did an exaggerated hair flip. "After all my brother is only named after the greatest artist that ever lived, and I am named after a Vice President. I should know better by now."

"But then again, Jane just doesn't suit you."

"God no," Vaughn agreed. "Had I been named that, I would have jazzed it up myself."

His forehead creased as the car sped down the highway. He hoped the direction Cole gave him were accurate. "How many ways are there to jazz up Jane?"

"Well you just gave me that name, it'd take a moment or two to figure something out," she replied, "And what's my middle name? A middle name can be very crucial in these situations."

"Jane Ellen," he answered automatically. She lifted her eyebrow curiously at his speedy reply. He shrugged, smirking a little when he replied, "girl I knew."

Vaughn shifted in her seat, so she could face him more. "Well then if I were to go with the middle name, I could go with Ellie. Which, is a name I love by the way. Or if worse came to worse, just be called Clay, which would be derived from my last name."

"Vaughn suits you better." He smiled meaningfully. "It's prettier."

She smiled at him. "Thank you. And Tristan suits you well too, minus the whole definition of it." She paused. "I'm not good at the whole complimenting thing."

He glanced at her briefly as the exit he was supposed to take inched closer. "You're fine. Well his singing may be mind-numbing, but Cole's sense of direction is great."

"It's because everyone keeps telling him to go away," Vaughn explained. "When he does, he needs to go somewhere, and Bam! A whole new world."

He chuckled. "Why is there so much bad blood between the two of you?"

Vaughn sighed, "It's such a cliché, I'm sure you don't want to hear it."

He nodded as he left the off ramp and maneuvered the car through a particularly long U-turn. "It's okay. You don't have to share. I'm sure it's personal." 

She shrugged. "It's not actually between us. So it's not, like, personal to me."

"Oh. Then, I don't get it. You haven't seen him in ages."

"Six years," Vaughn stated. "Well six years ago, my mother and his father had this, um, thing. And my dad sort of found out, and then we all sort of found out. And then the divorce sort of happened, and I sort of got sent to Boarding School. Catholic boarding school."

"So the tension between your families hasn't settled? Are you uncomfortable around him?" Tristan pulled into the parking lot of restaurant Cole had recommended. He hoped she liked Italian.

"It's not really that. But that's the part I don't like to get into," Nope, because it brought back that feeling of betrayal. Vaughn crossed her arms over her chest. "Ooh. Italian."

He sighed with relief, turned off the ignition and turned to her with a smile. "Well, no more bad memories. Tonight, we celebrate out first pseudo-successful week at Yale."

"I am so for that," she replied, trying to regain her earlier, happier mood. "And also looking for away to fill my hungry stomach."

~*~

Her mother would be so disappointed in her. Sure, Rory had left her room. But instead of being in her room, reading a book, she sat in the common room, reading a book. But still, it was a Friday and she was doing nothing. She could almost hear her mother's voice. But really- what was there to do? Her only female friend was with one of her only male friends at Yale. So that didn't leave her many options to go out and do something. So she'd have to be content with herself, and Holly Golightly.

"I'm disappointed in you, Rory Gilmore."

"Wow, it's amazing how my mother's voice in my head has suddenly turned into Cole Montgomery's," Rory looked up from her book and at Cole, who was standing before her. "And amazingly, they're saying the same thing."

He sat down next to her and wagged a finger at her. "That's probably because we're right. It's a Friday night and you're sitting by yourself reading. Now tell me, there has to be some miniscule part of you that dying to party, right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm doing a little dance inside right now," she replied dryly.

He made a clucking sound with his tongue. "Sarcasm, Gilmore, does not solve anything."

"It provides me with great amusement," Rory countered.

"So does Charlie Chaplin." He moved closer and slung an arm around her shoulder, hoping she wasn't one of those girls who jumped at the slightest touch. "There are so many things that we can do with our time, you know."

She nodded, "Right. I could be watching the movie instead of reading the book."

He shook his head. Okay, so he was going to have to be more blatant. "Or you could do something with me."

"You mean I'm not right now?" Rory teased.

He grinned, letting his arm rest lightly on her shoulder. "That you are. And see how much fun we're having? I was thinking more a long the lines of dinner and a movie. Maybe some dancing. A proper date."

A date? Like one of those things she hadn't had since Jess and her broke up. Was she ready for that? Her mother kept pushing her to think that it was time to move on. And she liked Cole; he was fun to be around. And it'd get her out doing something, other than reading Jess's handwriting in the margins. She was getting pathetic. "All right. I think I may just let you do that."

He hadn't missed the hesitation that had passed over her face but let it go. She had agreed. He wasn't losing his touch after all. "Great. How does tomorrow sound?"

"Tomorrow sounds like it could work."

He nodded and leaned back against the sofa as she returned to her book. "So...um, Tristan and Vaughn. Didn't see that coming."

"Me either," Rory answered, putting her book down on the table in front of them. "She just doesn't seem like his type."

He snorted, resting his elbows on his knees. "She doesn't seem like anyone's type. Unless you have a high threshold for pain. Tell me, is Tristan a masochist?"

"Not that I know of," Rory wasn't really interested in that part though. "Why are you two so insulting of each other?"

" Family stuff." Cole shifted uncomfortably as she turned to face him fully. It was hard to pinpoint the exact reason Schuyler hated him but if he had to guess, he'd say it was after her parents divorced. They had always fought as children but it was natural; they were both hardheaded. But the ice between them was something he didn't quite understand. He told himself that he didn't care. "Not a big deal."

"Oh. I understand, I think."

He figured that he needed to clarify. "My father slept with her mother."

"Oh, wow," Rory's mouth was still open, but she didn't really notice. "Wow."

"That pretty much sums it up. Worst part is, my parents didn't divorce after my mother found out, like Schuyler's did." Maybe that's why she resented him.

"Still, wow. When was this?" It was probably rude and intrusive to ask, but her curious nature got the best of her.

"Six years ago. The Claymores shipped her off to that Catholic school and I went away to Browning. The rest, as they say, is history. We used to be friends. Kind of."

That explained a lot. "I can't imagine that."

He laughed a little. "I've pretty much blocked it out too." Time to change the subject. "So you and Tristan had a rough start, I hear."

"Yeah, you might be surprised to learn that calling a girl Mary, after the Virgin Mary I might add," Rory replied, "Not a turn on."

"I'll bet. But now, you're okay?"

"With Tristan?" Rory asked. "Sure. Not one Mary since I've seen him again."

"Give him time."

"No, he's matured since I last saw him," Rory told him, "I think his Mary days are over."

Cole looked at his watch. "Have you had dinner yet?"

Rory shook her head, "You offering?"

"Of course," he replied as he stood up and offered his hand. "I'd never pass up an opportunity to have dinner with a beautiful woman. This can be our pre-date."