" Evil one! The Evil One! On my couch! He's on my couch!" Rory came out of her bed room,
walked up to her ranting mother, and smacked her in the back of the head.

" Stop that, and shut up." Rory frowned, scanning the room. After a moment she saw him.
Tristan, who was hiding behind the couch, allowed her to take him to a chair accross the
room from her mother.
" Morning. How are you? You doing okay?"

" I might be after your mom stops jumping around screaming at me. I feel like Satan. I'm serious."
He tried to hide it, but his voice cracked, and his eyes filled.

" Maybe I could get you some tissue?" He nodded quickly. His hands rubbing his eyes furiously
to hide the pending tears. Her mother followed her to the bathroom.

" The evil one cries? Since when?"

" Since his girlfriend dumped him, and his parents died, in the same week!" Her mouth dropped
open. Rory reached over and shut it. He face softened as she explained.

" He called real late last night, and he sounded horrible, so I went a picked him up in Hartford,
brought him here, and went to bed."

Her mother looked sorry, "Oh my, I feel awful. I was making fun of him, and his parents were...I
didn't know, he must think I'm a horrible person!"

" No, he doesn't. He might think you need to be institutionalized, but that's all." She went back into
the living room, where Tristan was curled up on the couch, eyes closed, and breathing deep., trying to calm down.

" Tristan? Are you okay?" Rory wondered briefly how many times she was going to ask that today,
as she placed the tissue in his hand.

" No." He half opened eyes. " No one else can know about this tomorrow. At school. No one will ask,
no one will care. They'll see me and think I didn't get enough sleep. But they can not know. I don't want
their false sympathies. I want nothing from them."

"Someone's gotta care Tristan. Someone in that school has to care." She placed her hand over his again,
much the same way as she had the night before. He turn his palm face up and gripped her hand gently.

A smiled played on his lips. The kind she'd never seen. Sincere, but sad, the first one she'd seen on him that
looked... real. Not the confident smirk she was used to. It was almost, like he was defeated.

" Only you Rory. It's always just you. No one else has the moral capacity to care." He turned his head to
look out the window behind the chair. Sighing he continued.

"Maybe it's because they live with stuck up parents, and you live in a small town where everyone knows
you and everyone loves you. But you care, they don't. The End. I just hope I can make myself different,
not as cold as the others. I could be okay, without parents, better off even. Or something like that."
Shaking himself and removing his hand from hers he looked around the quiet room.

"I just need coffee at the moment. Thank you. I'm done being a jerk now. Sorry."

" Oh! He wants coffee. Redemption granted! Can we go to Luke's?" Loreili made her eyes big and
forged a pouted lip. " Pretty please?"

" Tristan? Wanna go?" She said it softly, hoping it would sound appealing. she knew it would be good for
him to get out, and to have a break from thinking too hard.

" Sure." He went for his bag and made for the bathroom. " I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Lorelei clapped her hands together. " That's my kind of guy!"