DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. These are fictional characters created by someone who isn't me, but used in an even more far-fetched situations to satisfy my own sick ends.

AN: Okay, wow, you guys with the opinions! I love it, I really do. I promise, they will interact. This won't be the longest of stories, probably, and they will interact. As for whoever requested two chapters at once, well, I only have two hands, one mind, and no time. But a nice thought, I'll grant you. Anyhow, here's the next installment, and I hope it satisfies.

He couldn't believe this was going well. Even if it was the first ten minutes of the date, usually too early to tell; though he liked to think his senses were fairly keen by now as to how these things would turn out. His mother had actually set him up on a date, which bothered him at first. He was never set up on dates. Tristan Dugrey on a blind date was like a millionaire on food stamps. Granted, it had been over a month since his last date, but he'd been busy with work. When his mother called to see how he was, she was concerned that he wasn't focusing enough attention on looking for someone to help further the family line. She hadn't given him much choice in meeting Heather, whose name she drilled into his brain, going on and on about how her parents were very well known in all the social circles throughout the Northeast, and how she herself had gone to summer camp every year with her mother. To say the least, he was not excited to be meeting this woman. He'd spent every summer with this type of girl—privileged, pampered and uninteresting. They were interchangeable, but his mother had been so persistent about this girl. When he called her to make plans, she suggested a sushi bar that he'd heard good things about. At least she was adventurous in her eating habits. That had to bode well, he decided and they made definite plans.

Heather was someone he probably would have hit on if he'd run into her while going about his daily routine. She was well groomed as he expected, she had actual opinions and he found himself enjoying the conversation they were having while they waited for their food to be made in front of them. It was rare that he could get a girl to a sushi bar, but to enjoy her topics of conversation more than the show of the preparations was downright next to impossible to imagine.

Rory ran her hand through her hair for the fifteenth time, waiting for Brian to pick her up for their date. She'd met him three days ago, while on assignment. He was waiting to interview the same person she was, but for a news magazine he worked for. They got to talking and he waited for her to finish her interview, hanging around just to ask for her number. She gladly obliged, thrilled to be able to announce to her family and friends that she could in fact get her own dates. Not to mention someone who was educated, attractive and someone she could talk about different aspects of work with. At long last, she heard the door buzz and grabbed her purse to meet him downstairs.

She enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant immediately. She'd had sushi before, but had never been to a sushi bar. Brian raved about the place, he'd known about it forever and said it was the best in the city. He gave his name at the front, and they were immediately taken to be seated. Rory was happy, glad for once to be on a good date. He was dressed nicely, smelled incredible and seemed genuinely cool to be around.

"Heather?" came his incredulous voice, and Rory's head snapped up to see Brian moving away from the hostess who was leading them. He moved over to another table, where a blonde was standing and rushing towards him. A sense of dread came over Rory, though she wasn't sure why. It just seemed like an omen to see some other woman rushing into this guy's arms like that. And hanging onto him like a suction cup clings to glass. 'Geez, get a room,' came her thought as a few moments passed and the two continued to hug past the appropriate length of time.

When they finally pulled back, she smiled brightly at him, and Rory coughed.

"Oh, Heather, this is Rory."

"Nice to meet you. You two should join us!" came her response as she turned excitedly back to Rory's date. Rory felt all excitement that she'd allowed to build up inside of her dwindle down to nothing. She numbly followed as he accepted, and glaring as the hostess rearranged the table so she and Brian could sit next to Heather and the poor sap she'd come with. She looked at the empty chair, wondering where her date was, as it would be odd to come to a sushi bar alone. They had just been seated when Heather began introductions again as the other man rejoined them.

"Brian, Rory, this is Tristan. He's the son of one of my mother's friends."

He couldn't believe his eyes or ears. So much was wrong with this picture. Not that he didn't enjoy the fact that Rory Gilmore was sitting at their table, but the fact that Heather and this Brian punk were chatting warmly and all but sitting on top of each other really pissed him off. Didn't she have the decency to respect who was buying her dinner? Not to mention the fact that she introduced him as the 'son of her mother's friend?' This girl had nerve. Couldn't she form the word 'date'?

Heather and Brian were busy explaining the fact that they had grown up together, their parents summering together every year in the Hamptons (where else, they joked) and hadn't seen one another since college. This sushi bar was one they used to come to all the time when they were visiting the city. At least, this was the information Rory would have heard if she hadn't been staring at Tristan so intently. She watched as he glared at his date, feeling probably the way she felt when he failed to mention to the attractive blonde that they were on a date, as was obviously what he'd been on until moments ago.

She noticed now that she was finally in closer proximity to him after all these years that he had definitely filled out. His shoulders were a bit broader, his jaw more defined and just as sexy as he had always been. He carried himself with confidence, and not just the cocky self-loving arrogance that he had in high school. This was more of a cool, austere confidence. The type that came only with age and experience. She'd seen him a couple of times over the last month, from across crowded rooms, and unable to fully appreciate the changes in his features until now.

He saw that she was checking him out, probably noting the differences that the years had brought to him. She was a detail freak; at least she had been years ago when he knew her. His 'date' was obviously reunited with a long lost love, and he knew it was a lost cause. His only consolation to losing out at this almost promising evening was the fact that he could sit near Rory and finally appreciate the fact that this woman had become more beautiful over time. He knew she was still attractive, he could see that on the chance sightings they'd had over the last month. Up close she was damn near breathtaking. She had always given him the impression she knew something she wasn't telling him, but now she seemed to exude elegance along with wisdom.

She was beginning to wonder how long they could sit there and not speak. Heather and Brian obviously had no problem ignoring them, and of course were oblivious to the fact that they badly needed to get a room, as they weren't the only two people in the restaurant. As their food was so grandiosely presented in front of them, Rory gave a smile his direction before expertly picking up her chopsticks and dipping her California roll into soy sauce. He watched as she maneuvered the utensils and enjoyed her first bite of food. He was impressed, as she seemed to thoroughly enjoy her food, and finally looked up as blush crept across her refined features.

"What?" she asked, looking back at him slightly embarrassed.

"Hello to you, too," he tilted his head, continuing to smile at her.