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, Cole/Vaughn
Chapter 19: You crossed that line, you can't come back
Rory knew there was a reason she shouldn't be doing this - this, being making out with a hot guy in the middle of the afternoon. Any minute now, the reason would pop into her head as to why it was a bad idea to be smushed together with a very aroused Tristan DuGrey on her bed. Just as soon as she could detract her tongue from his mouth and disentangle her limbs from his person. That would get rid of the heady fog in her brain and her synapses would work again and she wouldn't be distracted by the amazing things his hands were doing under her shirt.
And then, as his lips latched onto a rather sensitive spot behind her ear, the logical part of her brain shut down completely and all reasons flew out the proverbial window.
Yes, she thought with an appreciative moan, running her hands up his back to delve into his hair. So good. "Mm, Tristan…" she murmured when he nibbled her collarbone.
Tristan lifted his head and grinned, eyes clouded with lust. She stared at him; face flushed and wondered why he pulled away. "You're so funny."
So not what she was expecting. Frowning, she squirmed a bit, the rational side of her returning full speed now that there was no lip contact. "Funny, huh?"
He missed the slight surprise in her voice and nodded. "Yes."
Well, I'm glad I tickle your funny bone, she thought maliciously but outwardly, remained calm as she sat up, straightening her T-shirt and her hair. She managed a tight smile over her shoulder as he lounged back. "That's sweet of you to say."
He laughed then, sitting up and curiously studying her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've offended you."
Since it wasn't a question, she didn't feel the need to answer it. Instead, she lifted her abandoned text book from off the floor near the bed and opened it to a random page. "We really should get back to studying."
"I kinda liked what we were doing," he answered, lowering his voice as he pushed her hair back and kissed the side of her neck, "much better."
"Why? Do you need a laugh?" She hadn't meant to sound so…snarky.
This time, he chuckled against her skin. "I did offend you. I didn't mean it that way."
Rory looked at him sideways. "There aren't many interpretations to 'you're so funny', Shakespeare."
"Yeah but I meant it in a good way."
"Uh okay," she replied, unconvinced. "You obviously don't know women as well as you think you do, buddy. It's a good thing you're hot." Damn it, she hadn't meant to say that. Obviously, her brain wasn't fully functioning yet.
A Cheshire grin spread across his face. "Excuse me? Did you just say I was hot?"
"What?" she replied innocently, returning her gaze to the text in front of her. "You're hallucinating."
"Admit it, Gilmore. You think I'm sexy."
"Delusional. The word you're looking for is delusional." He laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist again and nuzzling her neck. "Tristan, stop, we have to study."
"Education is overrated," he murmured and placed searing, open-mouthed kisses against her skin. "And you're letting my hotness go to waste."
She giggled and pushed him off. "Your ego needs its own zip code, you know that? Now, I'm serious. Finals are in a week." He relented and let her go, grabbing a text book off of her headboard. They settled on the bed, side by side and tried to concentrate on the words in front of them. After ten minutes of studying (or reading the same paragraph three times) Rory was the first one to break. "Are you going home this weekend?"
Tristan looked up from balancing his pencil on his finger. "No. Why?"
"I'm going to Boston," she informed him. "Dad's been asking when and Sherri is driving me nuts with email and text messages…so I thought I'd drop by the weekend. Visit them, Harvard, Paris-"
"Jess," Tristan added, glancing at her profile. He wasn't sure why he said that and why he sounded so…weird about it.
She nodded slowly. "Yes, he's there too. And I think there's something going on between him and Paris."
Okay, so she was over it. No need to push the Jess issue. This wasn't even an issue anymore by the sound of it. "Doesn't seem her type."
It was Rory's turn to laugh. "How would you know?"
He shrugged, grinning slightly. "I don't. Just a feeling."
"Well, you're not my type," Rory said sweetly. "But I'm dating you."
"Is that what we're doing? Dating?" he asked, surprised as he leaned in closer with a leering smile. "I thought we were just making out."
"Oh that's it!" she exclaimed, grabbed the pillow from behind her and launched it at him. Laughing, he ducked it easily and encircled her waist, pushing her back onto the bed, landing on top of her. She was giggling now, as he trapped her wrists with one hand and used the other to tickle her sides. Face flushed, she tried to wrench free. "Tristan, stop, I'm not ticklish."
"Then why are you laughing?" he asked, amused as he continued to attack her, running his fingers up and down her sides. She shrieked with laughter, writhing under him. "His voice lowered to a suggestive murmur. "Keep that up Gilmore and you won't be laughing anymore."
The laughter subsided as the look in his eyes went from amusement to something else entirely, something much more exciting. He lowered his mouth to hers and once again, their textbooks were forgotten as they both got lost in the kiss.
- & -
Vaughn attempted to balance four textbooks, two notebooks and a binder without dropping any of them as she unlocked the dorm door. She figured that all of this would be enough to distract her from her Montgomery problem. It shouldn't really take that much to distract her thoughts away from that annoying ass otherwise known as Cole Montgomery, but she wanted to make sure. She pushed the door open further with her knee and slipped inside. Everything was fine until the scene before her filled her eyes. Tristan. Rory. Doing stuff to each other.
"Jesus," she exclaimed, before dropping everything on the floor. Hopefully both sounds would be enough to make them stop.
The sound of the books thudding to the floor had Rory pushing Tristan off of her, making him land on the floor unceremoniously. If she hadn't been trying to hook her bra, she would have laughed at the picture of Tristan DuGrey, shirtless and on his ass, looking completely bewildered. But the horrified expression on her roommate's face was enough to block out all funny thoughts. Blushing furiously, she muttered, "Oh my…hi, Vaughn."
While Rory was unsuccessfully trying to look as if she hadn't just been felt up, Tristan was stewing in his own embarrassment. He usually didn't blush very easily but Vaughn walking in on them was very awkward, considering that he had made out with her not too long ago. It was all just…too much. "Hey Vaughn."
Vaughn just wrinkled her nose at him in response. She wasn't feeling too generous towards the male species lately, and turned her attention onto her roommate. "I'm so disappointed it you, Gilmore. Finals are in a few days. Hit the books, not the sack."
Rory blushed again, shooting Tristan an evil glare when he chuckled at Vaughn's comment. Her roommate had been rather surly for the past few days. Ever since she and Cole had disappeared together and Rory suspected that they had fought…and it was major. "We were studying."
Tristan snickered as he slipped on his T-shirt. "Yeah. Anatomy."
"That is so junior high, Tristan."
"You both are making me want to gag," Vaughn sighed and leaned against the wall. "Go fight or something."
"Jeez," Tristan stated as he stood up, straightening himself. He glanced at Rory and raised an eyebrow, "What's gotten into her?"
Rory sighed. "Easy. Your roommate. She's been like this ever since they left us that day."
Tristan ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Vaughn who was scowling fiercely. "Come to think of it, Cole's acting strange too. He's actually concentrating on his work. And he's stopped singing. It's kind of freaking me out."
"Maybe it's a sign of depression and upcoming suicide; you should go check that out." There that would solve two of her problems quite easily right there.
"Oh," Tristan said suddenly, a wicked grin on his lips. "I know what happened."
Rory looked at him surprised. "You do?"
"It's so obvious, Rory. After all, you were the one that started all the UST talk." Tristan leaned closer to Vaughn and perused her face. "He kissed you, didn't he?"
Technically…"No." She had to go and be the stupid one and kiss him.
"Felt you up?" he ventured, unconvinced. "Come on, Claymore. I know these things."
Rory came to stand next to him and stared at Vaughn. "Tristan might be on to something. You can tell us, Vaughn. If he didn't kiss you then why are the both of you so upset?"
"I'm not upset, I'm stressed over the finals you guys are preventing me from studying for," Vaughn wondered if that made sense. Nothing was really making sense to her anymore.
Tristan looked as if he wanted to cross-examine her and if that happened, Vaughn could easily suffer from a nervous breakdown. So Rory quickly stopped him. "Right. Exams. We all have to study for those pesky things. Tristan, you should go."
"But I -" His protest died on his lips as she shoved his textbooks and jacket in his arms. He tried again as she pushed him towards the door. "Ror, we need to -"
"No! I'll talk to you later," she answered before he could finish and then, slammed the door on his face.
Vaughn looked at the now closed door, and then down at her books. She should pick them up. She looked over at Rory, "I kissed Montgomery." Well, oops.
Rory squealed in glee. She just knew it was the other way around. As much as she enjoyed making out with Tristan, it was worth it to shove him out of the room so she could hear the juicy tidbits from Vaughn. "Ooh, tell me everything!"
"Um, it was a kiss. And I kicked him out." Simple enough explanation.
"Oh. Not good." She should've known that with Cole and Vaughn one step forward meant two steps back. It was frustrating. Rory sighed, reached into her desk drawer for a chocolate bar and handed it to Vaughn. "Tell me what happened."
- & -
Georgia Hayden stood up in excitement, extended her pudgy arms and took a step forward to grapple her sister. And promptly fell on her butt. Unaffected, she giggled at herself and puckered her lips for a kiss.
"Good thing you have a diaper," Rory stated as she crouched down to kiss the tip of Georgia's nose. "Extra protection."
The baby babbled in agreement and lifted her arms. "Up!"
Rory picked her up and then searched the living room of her father's apartment for her other shoe. The mess the two sisters had made would have to be cleaned before Sherri got home and had an anxiety attack. Christopher had to run an errand and Rory was watching her sister until her returned. Hopefully before Jess and Paris got there. She hoped to have some time with her friends while she was in Boston even with finals looming over her and the three of them had finally worked out their schedules and agreed to meet for dinner. Promptly, there was a knock on the door and Georgia, who loved company, squealed.
"Coming!" Rory yelled as she crossed the living room and stepped into the small foyer to open the door. Jess stood on the other side, looking a little uneasy. When Jess had left New Haven, she had gained a sense of closure but it was still awkward being around him now that he wasn't a big part of her life anymore. "Hey Jess! You're right on time. Come in."
Georgia reached out to him, undaunted by strangers, and latched onto his shoulder. This brought Rory several steps closer to him, so that the only thing between them was the one-year-old dangling in mid-air. The baby laughed and swung her legs.
Jess smiled crookedly. "Hey kid."
"Sorry," Rory said pulling her sister away. "She's very friendly. My dad should be home any minute and Paris isn't here yet so we'll have to wait anyway."
Jess closed the door behind him and followed the girls into the living room again. "Okay."
Rory put Georgia on the floor and she toddled away to play with her abandoned stuffed bunny. When she turned to Jess, he was standing neat the couch, avoiding her gaze. Sighing, she pulled at the sleeves of her sweater and tried to think of something to break the ice. "I finally finished The Sun Also Rises."
He arched an eyebrow. "And?"
"I'm sticking to my guns."
He shook his head. "You're cracked."
Before either of them could say anything else, Christopher came into the living room, Paris and Tristan following him inside. "Look who I found lurking outside our building."
Rory's eyes widened in surprise as her boyfriend grinned at her. "Tristan! What are you doing here?"
"It's nice to see you too, Gilmore," he said as he pulled her into a hug. It was nice to hold her again, even with her ex-boyfriend staring at him oddly. "Yale just isn't the same without you."
"Oh gag me," Paris muttered as she rolled her eyes. Jess and Christopher chuckled.
Tristan shrugged and admitted, "That and Cole was driving me insane with woe-is-me shtick. He doesn't do 'being in love' very well."
"Figures," Rory returned and then glanced at Jess who was now talking in hushed tones. If she ever doubted that there was something going on between the two of them, she didn't now. Yeah, it was pretty weird. Turning to her father, who was gathering Georgia in his arms, she said, "Dad, we should get going. We kinda made a mess…"
"Go ahead honey. You kids have fun."
They bustled out of the door and Rory re-introduced Tristan and Jess while putting on her jacket. The two guys nodded in acknowledgement and she had the sudden feeling that it was going to be a very long night.
