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 12: I think I could need, this in my lifeCole had returned shortly after his encounter with Cecily Claymore, and had filled his roommate in on what was happening. Tristan, in return, mentioned the Rory and Jess thing. So, while their girls were going through, what could possibly be, heart breaking situations, what did the two boys do? They went to eat.
However, upon arriving in the dining room, they found a rather desolate looking Rory Gilmore eating alone. After getting food of their own, they joined her.
Tristan sat across from her. "So…" Did one jump right into this? "How did it, uh, go?"
Rory was in the middle of making a smiley face out of her mashed potatoes – she sure as hell wasn't going to eat them – when Tristan's voice startled her. She looked up at Cole who was still standing. "It went."
"That well, huh?" Cole asked as he finally decided to sit beside her.
She shrugged. She didn't even know why she was feeling depressed. It wasn't like she and Jess had gotten into a fight. But when she had returned to her dorm room, the fact that she and Jess were over, it finally sunk it. "It was okay, I guess."
Okay wasn't really good, which for some reason pleased Tristan. That was probably quite horrible of him. "What happened to Vaughn?"
"I don't know. She didn't feel like dinner and she didn't feel like sitting in our room." Rory waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. She felt bad for Vaughn but was too depressed to be the sympathetic ear to her roommate's problems. It wasn't like Vaughn was very forthcoming when it came to Cecily Claymore. She stood up and picked up her empty glass. "I'm going to go get something to drink."
Once she was gone, Tristan gave Cole and expectant look. "What?"
"You should go after her." Some would think he was sending his roommate out to be murdered. But things were too freshly ended with Vaughn for him to go after her, and if anyone knew about Vaughn's mother's issues - it'd be Cole.
"After Rory?" he asked and when Tristan shook his head, Cole's jaw dropped incredulously. "You want me to go find Schuyler? Excuse me; do you not know the history? You're the boyfriend, you go."
"Actually I'm not." Tristan leaned back in his chair. "And I don't know the history, which is why you should go."
"You're not?" That was…well, interesting. At least he didn't have to see the two of them kiss anymore. Cole ran a hand through his hair. "Look, the last person Schuyler would want to see after seeing her mother is me."
"Actually you are," he paused as he let that sink in for Cole. "She'll want something to hit. And I'm sure there's nobody she'd like to hit more than you."
"Sadist."
"Who is?" Rory asked as she came back with her drink.
"DuGrey," Cole answered as she sat down. If there weren't a little voice in his head telling him that it was through his guidance that Cecily had even found Schuyler, he wouldn't have even considered searching for her. Damn his twisted sense of honor. He sighed and mumbled, "I'm going to go look for Schuyler."
Tristan watched him get up. "Good luck."
Cole sighed and walked away from the table. He was going to need it.
~*~
Rory wasn't exactly sure why Tristan had suggested they take a walk after she had finished making her dinner look incredibly inedible but she was pretty sure that it had something to do with the fresh air. She'd never walked through the campus at night because she was usually in her room studying. The serenity and lavishness of the Yale campus at night had eluded her for three weeks and she was grateful to Tristan for bringing her outside.
She shuddered a bit when a cool breeze ruffled the trees. Like an idiot, she had forgotten to wear a light jacket. She hugged herself. "It's getting a little cold."
"Do you want to go inside? Steal my jacket?" Tristan asked her, as the wind blew leaves across their feet.
"You shouldn't have to suffer because of my stupidity."
"You'd be amazed by how much body heat my…body contains." Yeah. That did sound even more stupid out loud.
She gave him a playful shove, her spirits already lifting. "You're such a dork."
"Always happy to amuse," Tristan resumed his original position beside her. This was nice, he wasn't sure if he could have done this type of playful teasing back in high school. But he was glad he could appreciate it now. He threw an arm around her shoulder. "You know Gilmore. I think you've suffered enough as it is today, let me buy you a coffee."
She unconsciously snuggled closer, accepting the warmth he was offering. He smelled…intoxicating. Soap and cologne. She sighed deeply. "You're too kind, sir. But after all, you still owe me for the ice cream."
Tristan ignored the rush of heat coursing through his body. He focused on ice cream, because that was cold. And safe, and cute like a teddy bear. "You want one, or the other, or both? I could buy you Ben & Jerry's if you'd like."
"Coffee sounds nice." Maybe it was the way he smelled or maybe it was the prospect of coffee but a flurry of those warm and fuzzy feelings spread through her. She rested her head lightly against his shoulder as they walked towards Starbucks.
Keep walking, and ignore any impure thoughts. That was Tristan's new mantra. "Has it ever not sounded nice to you?"
She scrunched her nose and pondered. "I don't think so. Well maybe when I was sick with the flu and nothing stayed in my stomach. That's when coffee didn't sound appealing. Just don't ever tell my mom I said that."
"My lips are sealed, I think I may like having this juicy tidbit to hold over your head."
She had forgotten how much fun their repartee had been and if she was honest with herself, and Rory Gilmore rarely was when it came to him, she missed it. She pouted. "You're mean."
"Only because your lips are so loose." Wow, what a wrong thing to say.
Rory didn't really know how to interpret that so she just giggled nervously and was grateful that they had arrived at Starbucks. She pulled away from him so that she could open the door. They stepped in and she took in a deep breath. "This is what heaven must smell like."
"And let me guess, the walls of heaven also happened to be lined with books?" Tristan questioned as they stepped up to the counter. "Heaven's own version of Barnes and Noble."
"In my dreams, most definitely." She smiled widely, imagining the particular version of heaven. The guy behind the counter, the one Vaughn said was cute, grinned back at her. She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Hi."
"Hey," the guy returned looking between her and Tristan. "What can I get you?"
"A medium coffee, black." It was pretty much the only way he'd ever had coffee. "Rory?"
"I'll have the same thing, but with cream and sugar." Once the guy went to get their orders, she turned to Tristan and made a face. "How can you drink it black?"
"Uh, I swallow."
She rolled her eyes and slapped him lightly on the chest. She really needed to stop finding ways to touch him. "So, why did you send Cole after Vaughn? I mean, I think she'd appreciate it more if you went…being the boyfriend and all."
"I'm not," He paid the cashier after their coffee was handed to them. "The boyfriend, that is."
"Oh." She accepted her cup of coffee from his hands and didn't know if the feeling coursing through her was relief. Why would she be relieved? Her conscience scrambled for answer - because it was weird thinking of them together. She took a sip of her coffee, ignoring the fact that it was scalding hot. "I didn't know. Um, what happened?"
"Nothing." Tristan shrugged. "We decided to be friends."
"Well, friends is good. Actually, it's really good. Friends is better than…well, not being friends. In fact, I think that friendship is the best thing for you. Not that dating wasn't but well, dating obviously was…I don't even know why I'm rambling!" she exclaimed and laughed nervously.
He bit back a laugh. "You always ramble. It's very endearing."
She didn't know why but suddenly she was grinning widely even though she could feel her cheeks grow hot. Why was it that he had the power to make her blush so much? She glanced at him as they made their way out of the Starbucks. "Thanks."
"I only speak the truth," Tristan decided it was better if he just drank his coffee. Talking always seemed to get him in trouble with Rory Gilmore.
She rolled her eyes again. "Of course. Tell me, do you always mean it when you tell a girl she's beautiful?"
"Yes, because otherwise I only hint that they're beautiful. No lies ever pass my lips with that one."
She let out an incredulous laugh. "So you're telling me that all those girls you dated in high school were treated to nothing but the truth? Even when you were breaking it off with them and trying to be as gentle as possible?"
It was just a game in high school. Not just to him, but to the girls as well. That's why he had dated him. "Tell me, Rory did you ever study Watergate?"
"The word 'duh' comes to mind. Where are you going with this?"
"Well, when Woodward and Bernstein were trying to figure out how high the corruption went. Well, they went to that one guy- the one that resigned because his wife told him to, and they wanted to connect it to Halderman. So he confirms that Halderman did have a part of it, except Carl and Bob misinterpret it as he had testified about it." It was shocking to Tristan how much he had actually learned during his time at Chilton. He hadn't realized it until now. "So when they printed it, the guy denied testifying about it. He explained this to them by saying that no one asked him about Halderman. So he didn't lie." He had a point to this, right? "Well, that's what it's like. You only offer the information that they want. No need to go further than they're beautiful, and say that they have the IQ of three year old. Just tell them what they ask."
Rory blinked twice. That was pretty impressive; she always believed Tristan wasn't really paying attention to what the teacher was saying. She looked up at him, not hiding her surprise. "I don't know what to say to that really. Although the analogy…very well thought-out."
"Thank you." He knew she looked shocked. He was quite shocked himself. "I have no clue where that came from. Other than to say, I caught the last half of All The President's Men a month ago on television."
She laughed and took another sip of her coffee. "I finally figured out what's so interesting about you, Tristan DuGrey."
"And what is that?" Tristan sounded rather casual when he said it, but he was surprised by how much he wanted to hear her answer.
"Just when I think I have you pegged; you completely take me by surprise." She glanced up at him to gauge his reaction.
"I'll take that as a compliment then."
"It was meant as one. Makes you an original in my life." It was funny how easy the words stumbled out of her mouth when a year ago, she would never have imagined being this nice to him.
"The same goes for you." After all Rory Gilmore was one of the few people he's met that didn't like him. And definitely the only one to tell him. Over and over again.
She glanced over at him and studied his profile, almost as if trying to figure out what had changed about him simply by looking at him long enough. "Tristan, can I ask you a question?"
"Other than the one you just asked?" Tristan shrugged. "Go for it."
She took in a deep breath, hoping that the question wouldn't offend him. "Junior year, why'd you do all of that stuff? I mean, everything that got you into trouble?"
"I don't know." And he didn't. "It was stupid, I was young and I learned from it." And he didn't wish to take it back; Tristan hadn't much liked himself at that point in his life. It had been good for him to get away from Hartford and the role that had been picked for him.
They stopped under a tree she turned to face him fully. "I guess I can understand that."
"Well, we're young Gilmore," Tristan told her, "We have our whole lives ahead of us to be perfect. Why not screw up now while we can still fix it?" He winked at her. "Are you in the mood for something truly reckless?"
Her eyes widened when she saw the familiar, mischievous gleam in his eye. That could only mean one thing where he was concerned – trouble. She was about to decline when all of a sudden a voice in her head (one that sounded exactly like the voice she had heard the night Jess crashed her car) whispered to her, 'Why not?' She looked at Tristan and felt her lips curve into a smile. "I'm game."
Tristan looped his arm around hers and tugged her forward. "Just a disclaimer before we begin, that anything that may or may not happen to you- remember you agreed to come with out coercion."
She let out of a nervous laugh as she quickly followed him, swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat. "As long as you don't kill me, I won't complain."
"I can promise you that," he assured her before continuing to lead her away from the tree.
"Good to know." The last time she'd done something that had been even remotely daring was when she had wrecked Jess' car with the deviled eggs. Risqué Gilmore, the voice jeered her. But Tristan had spent his high school days living as dangerously as he could and now she was his accomplice. But she wasn't in Stars Hollow anymore. People weren't going to say that that hoodlum had spoiled her. She would never have to face her mother's disapproval because Lorelai would never find out. It was…freeing.
