Chapter Three

Rory needed to have her head examined. She was going to go home and tell her mother to admit her into the mental institution because she was having the weirdest thoughts about Tristan. He was on the other side of the lunch hall talking to his friends, facing away from her, and suddenly she wished he would turn around and come and talk to her.

She never cared if Tristan talked to her or not. She liked not having friends at school. She didn't care if Tristan was standing with his other friends. Right?

As if sensing her thoughts he turned and gave her a lazy smile. Rory jumped out of her thoughts and quickly put her head down, pretending to read as if she hadn't just been staring at him.

Tristan laughed at her behavior. He said a quick goodbye to his friends and headed over to Rory's table.

"Hey Gilmore." He took a seat opposite her and grabbed an apple from her tray, taking a huge bite from it.

She glared at him. "I'm busy."

"Yeah, sure you are. Why do you keep fighting this? We're undeniable."

"Undeniably not going to happen," she shot back.

Tristan just laughed. "So, when are we going to work on that project? I'm free today."

"Uh…Well I guess we could do it today."

"We have to present by Friday so I think we should get it done," he said sensibly.

"Wow, I'm impressed. You actually care about something other than the girls you're always chasing."

"I gave up, remember? You're the only girl for me, Ror," he teased. "And I study. How do you think I got the fourth highest GPA in our class?"

"You have the fourth highest GPA?"

"No, I made that up," he said sarcastically. "Why do you find it hard to believe I'm not a complete idiot?"

Rory suddenly felt bad. It's not that she didn't think he was smart; you had to be to go to Chilton. But she also thought it was more to do with the fact that he is a DuGrey.

"I don't think you're an idiot. I just didn't think you cared about school."

Tristan smiled and then felt weird. Was he having a normal teasing-free conversation with Rory Gilmore? That couldn't be right.

"So, can I come over after school? You can show me that town of yours while you're at it."

"Fine, if you must. But you're going to have to spend more than five minutes there this time, you do realize that?"

"I think I can handle it."

"But you'll be meeting my mother."

"Still not worried."

"Famous last words."

******

Tristan and Rory pulled up outside her house after school. Tristan was about to head towards the house when Rory pulled him in the other direction.

"We need reinforcements," she told him as they headed to Luke's.

They went inside and Luke smiled when he spotted her. "Hey Rory," he said to her before turning his critical eye on Tristan. "Who are you?" he asked, giving him a dirty look.

Rory cut in. "Uh this is Tristan, from Chilton. We have to work on a project together."

"Right," Luke nodded, although he shot Tristan another suspicious look as he went to give out an order.

"Friendly people," Tristan muttered to Rory.

She just smiled. "He's just a little protective. He wrestled Dean in the street when he found out we broke up."

Tristan suddenly grinned. "I think I like this guy."

Rory elbowed him. "Behave."

"What? I'm behaving," he said, trying to keep his look sincere. "Any man who can beat up the bag boy is okay with me."

Rory just rolled her eyes at him. She would never understand his complete dislike of Dean.  

"Can I get two coffees to go?" she asked Luke as he came back around the counter.

Luke mumbled something about stunting growth, but started pouring.

They got the coffees and left Luke's. On the way home Rory started pointing out different things around town to Tristan, with an accompanying story from her childhood. He was completely enraptured by her life. It was so different from his own. It sounded like Rory had a great childhood despite not having the creature comforts he was so used to.

And if the memories she was telling him about weren't enough, they also ended up bumping into Miss Patty which had been rather funny. By the time they reached Rory's house Tristan had quite an impression of the place.

"Interesting town," he commented as they walked into the house.

"You should be here when we have town meetings."

"You have town meetings?" he asked, sure she was kidding.

"Yeah. They're quite amusing. We discuss all kinds of important issues," she joked.

"Sounds great."

Rory put her bag and the coffee down on the table. "We can work in here," she said motioning to the living room.

She cleared away any extra things that were lying on the table and Tristan started to take out his books.

"You set up and I'll be back in a minute," she told him.

She left Tristan in the living room and went into her room. He shrugged out of his jacket and loosened his shirt button, trying to relax.

He took out the books he needed for the project and then realized he was missing one. He got up and walked towards Rory's bedroom and straight in without even thinking about it.

"Rory have you got…"

He stood frozen for a second, the door wide open, Rory standing there with nothing but a pair of jeans and a light blue faded bra covering her.

"Tristan!"

Snapping out of his mental pause he quickly shut the door.

 Rory half naked. Rory in a bra.

He couldn't get the image of it out of his head. In that spilt second he had memorized every inch of her skin.

Her jeans were slung low on her hips, the perfect white skin of her flat stomach exposed to his eyes.

God, he wanted her. And she had looked ready to kill him.

Why hadn't she told him she was changing? Why didn't he just knock? Stupid Tristan, think first, act later.

Not that he was all that sorry that he saw her. It was an accident after all. But she would be beyond embarrassed and would probably kick him out now.

Rory was contemplating it. She stood in shock for almost a whole minute after he had closed the door. What the hell had he been thinking barging into her room like that? And then he had looked at her like that, the look she often saw him give her, but it was so intense that time.

It was only for a split second, but she had noticed him take note of her body as she stood there in front of him. She had barely even let Dean put his hand under her top let alone see her half naked, and now Tristan had done it, without even meaning to.

Knowing him he probably planned the whole thing. Stupid impulsive guy that he was.

Knowing she couldn't hide forever she snapped herself out of her thoughts and pulled on a t shirt, before returning to the living room. She was however doing her best not to look at him.

"Listen, Rory I'm really sor…"

"Uh…what did you want?" she asked quickly, obviously not listening to him.

"When?" Tristan asked, confused at her random question.

"Before, you know, when you…"

"Walked in on you half naked?" he finished for her, grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't help it; she was just so easy to tease. And she had looked really mortified; it was only natural that he teased her about it, that's how their relationship worked.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"Ever heard of a lock?"

"It's broken."

"My lucky day."

Rory glared at him. "Let's just get to work."

"Fine by me," Tristan agreed knowing when not to push it.

They sat together in silence for a couple of minutes. Rory was obviously not talking to him, but he could see her glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. She was trying to act cool like it didn't bother her, but he knew it really did.

"You know, I didn't really see much," he mentioned, trying to get a rise out of her.

"Good."

"Just a little glimpse of blue…"

Rory looked mortified. "I can't believe you."

"Hey, it's not my fault your lock's broken."

"It's your fault you went wandering around my house without permission."

"I needed to ask you something," he protested.

"What?"

"Oh yeah, do you have that text book Medina gave us last week. I don't have mine."

She picked up the textbook in question and passed it to him. Their hands touched briefly and Rory felt a weird sensation. She wanted to snatch her hand back, but she knew he was watching her, and she didn't want him to know how much he was affecting her.

It was going to be one long afternoon.

******

"So, why did Dean break up with you?" Tristan asked.

They had been studying for a couple of hours and had been getting along really well once they stopped talking about the color of Rory's bra. They actually made a great study team, despite her insistence that studying was a solitary activity.

Rory turned to him, expecting there to be a smirk on his face or something. But he just looked curious. Kind of like the night they had kissed.

"He told me he loved me," she told him truthfully.

"And then he dumped you? That makes so much sense."

"I…uh…couldn't say it back."

"So?"

Rory just shrugged, but Tristan understood.

Dean expected all or nothing. If she didn't love him, that was it. What kind of logic was that? Rory was sixteen and she wasn't the type of girl to go around telling people she loved them unless she really meant it. If Dean had really loved her, he would have stayed with her.

"Moron," Tristan mumbled.

"You don't know him," Rory defended. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because he's an idiot, Rory. You deserve so much better than him."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"It's true."

Tristan was watching her so intently; she didn't know what to think. But she couldn't stop looking at him either. They seemed stuck in that intense gaze, not able to look away from each other. Rory noticed that when Tristan wasn't putting on an act his eyes were really soft and inviting. She could get lost just looking into them.

Why was there always this intense pull between them? Maybe that was why they were always bantering, because when they stopped everything else around them seemed to fade away.

She didn't know if it was her or Tristan that was moving closer, but there seemed to be only inches between them. He was watching her carefully, his eyes drawn to her lips. He moved closer still and was just about to do something stupid when…

"Rory, I'm home!" Lorelai called out as she opened the front door.

Tristan and Rory both jumped away from each other, putting as much distance between themselves as possible.

"Hey Rory…and boy I don't recognize," Lorelai greeted, stopping suddenly when she noticed Tristan.

His manners immediately kicked in and Tristan stood up. "Tristan DuGrey, ma'am." He held out his hand and Lorelai just laughed while shooting Rory an amused look.

"Ma'am? Boy, do I look old enough to be called ma'am? It's Lorelai."

Lorelai was quite intrigued. First Tristan turned up at their house the other night and now he was inside her house looking quite…she was going to say comfortable, but from the tension in the room she would think the more appropriate word was uncomfortable. But there was definitely something going on that Rory wasn't telling her.

"We were just working on a project for school," Rory clarified quickly before her mother got any other ideas.

"Well don't let me stop you," Lorelai said, but Rory was already standing up.

"Actually Tristan was just leaving."

"I was?"

"Yeah, we're finished for today."

Tristan took that as his cue to start gathering his things together. Lorelai watched in amusement, while Rory glared at her as she and Tristan headed for the door.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow." Tristan said as he walked out of the house.

"I guess it can't be avoided," Rory teased, trying to bring some humor back into their conversations.

"Later Gilmore."

Rory stood and watched him until he got in the car and pulled away and then she sighed loudly. Tristan was surprising her every day. She never thought she and Tristan would become friends, yet she had been enjoying his company an awful lot lately.

Maybe a little too much.

******

"You almost kissed again? Rory, there is definitely something going on here," Lane said excitedly. Although she had only seen Tristan once she had taken an instant liking to him.

"Nothing is going on. And we didn't almost kiss. We just had a moment."

Rory was sitting in her room on the phone to Lane. Tristan had left a little while ago and Rory had avoided her Mother's questioning looks.

"A moment in which you would have kissed if your mother hadn't interrupted," Lane clarified.

"Tristan and I are barely friends, let alone more. I'm not ready to date anyone else, least of all Tristan DuGrey."

"Why are you so hard on him?"

"Uh, hello? Were you not listening all those times I complained about him?" Rory asked her friend. It was unnerving that Lane had suddenly become Tristan's biggest supporter.

"Yeah, but it's obvious it was because he likes you."

"He doesn't. He likes some other girl. It was just Tristan being Tristan. He can't seem to control himself around girls," Rory explained, trying to convince herself more than Lane.

"So, who's this other girl he likes?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

"Hmm."

"What?" Rory asked, knowing from Lane's tone that she had a theory.

"Well did it ever cross your mind that the girl is you?"

"No!" Rory lied. "Look, it's always been a game with him. He's been trying to get me to go out with him since I started school because I'm the only girl who doesn't give him the time of day. It's just a game. That is not liking someone."

"Doesn't seem like he's playing a game lately though, does it?"

"Well…no. But we're just becoming friends. I don't want to ruin that. He's actually not that bad."

"Right. Not that bad. That's all you think of him?"

"Yes. Even if he does like me, which he doesn't. I don't like him. I can't date him. And we're not discussing this anymore."

Lane laughed. "Fine. No more Tristan talk. I've got to go anyway. Ma is on the warpath again."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Rory hung up the phone and lay back on her bed. Today had been beyond weird. First Tristan had seen her half naked, which was so beyond embarrassing she didn't even want to think about it. And then they had almost kissed again. Why were crazy things always happening when he was around?

Rory decided that she and Tristan were sort of friends now and she wasn't going to let any of these weird occurrences ruin that. She did like him and she'd started to enjoy having him around. So she was going to let Tristan be her friend and stop thinking crazy thoughts about him.

If only it were that easy.

******

The next day Tristan was with his friends when Rory walked into school. As soon as he spotted her he walked through the crowds to get to her.

"Hey, Rory. Wait up," he called.

Rory stopped and smiled at him. "Hey Tristan."

"Hey, listen, we're cool right? About yesterday…"

"We're fine," Rory cut him off quickly.

"Great." Tristan smiled. "So, you want to do it again today?"

She was taken aback by his question and felt herself blushing instead of being annoyed. Tristan couldn't contain his smirk.

"I meant study," he clarified, and Rory relaxed. "We haven't finished the project remember?"

"I knew you meant study," she lied feeling really stupid for jumping to conclusions. "You can come over again if you want."

"Sure. I'll see you later."

She watched him leave and tried to calm her flushed cheeks. Why did he have the ability to rile her up so much? It hadn't used to bother her when he teased her before. He used to annoy the hell out of her, but she never really gave him a second thought.

It was completely different now that they were actually friends. She couldn't just forget about him when he wasn't around. He had the ability to get under her skin so well.

The rest of the morning passed her by uneventfully. She didn't have any classes with Tristan and she was grateful because it gave her a chance to get her thoughts about him back into the realm of normal by the time she saw him again.

That was at lunch, when Tristan had followed her outside to eat, using the opportunity to tease her mercilessly.

"You know the blue really suits you. But it's kind of plain. Maybe you should take a trip to Victoria's Secret," he suggested, eyeing her up. "I could come if you want."

"In your dreams, Moron."

"Every night, didn't I tell you?" Rory rolled her eyes, but that didn't stop him. "Maybe some red, now that would look really hot."

"Tristan, I am not having this conversation with you," she said, slowly, making it very clear that she was getting pissed.

"But you looked so shocked, it was funny."

"It was not funny." She threw an empty wrapper at him and he just laughed. He liked it when they were relaxed together, and despite Rory's embarrassment he could tell she was smiling.

"Come on, Ror. You know I've pictured you naked a million times before," he admitted, only half joking.

Rory hid her face in her book. "Tristan!"

He laughed. "Okay, I'm sorry. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything but me."

"But I like talking about you."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"You fascinate me," he answered truthfully.

Rory smiled at him, knowing he was being sincere. "I'm not that interesting," she told him. "I would think with your enormous ego you'd talk about yourself all the time, but you never do."

"I talk about myself," he argued.

"No, you don't. I don't really know anything about you," she realized for the first time. Ever since she had started hanging out with him she had realized that there was more to him then meets the eye. But she didn't really know anything real about him.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

She was right; he didn't really talk about himself. Partly because he was actually fascinated by Rory and he loved learning new things about her, but also because he'd never felt comfortable sharing himself with another person. He was so used to hiding his true self and playing the role society had placed him in.

"Anything you feel comfortable telling me."

"My favorite color's blue."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Not something like that. Something about yourself." The bell rang and she started to gather her things.

"I'll get back to you on that," Tristan promised.

"Okay. See you in English?"

"Sure."

******

"I spend every second Sunday with my grandfather," Tristan said out of the blue. They were studying at Rory's house again. And this time there had been no distractions. They had been getting along really great.

"What?"

"Something you didn't know about me. I spend a lot of time with my grandfather. And not because I'm forced to. He's a really great guy. He's been kind of sick lately so I try and spend as much time with him as I can."

Rory seemed surprised, not about his grandfather, but at the fact that he was sharing something about his life with her. For some reason she hadn't expected him to do it. He was so used to playing the role of "King of Chilton" that he rarely showed his real self. And the fact that he was doing it with her made her feel really good for some reason.

"What about your parents?" she asked.

"We don't really get along," he said, not elaborating.

Rory sensed that he wasn't ready to talk about that so she quickly changed the subject.

"I hope Paris doesn't make us dress up for this whole King and Queen thing," she said.

"Knowing her, she probably will. Paris doesn't do anything by halves."

"Yeah. She's…uh...intense. But she can be okay when she wants to be. Are you sure you couldn't give it a try with her. Who knows, she may get your mind off this other girl?"

"I don't think so. Paris is great, but I've known her since I was nine. I just can't think of her that way."

"Fair enough."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I don't think Paris is my type," Rory joked.

Tristan laughed. "I meant is there anyone you want to be with now?" He didn't know why he was asking this question really. He didn't want to know if Rory was interested in some other guy. He was enjoying the fact that she wasn't with Dean.

"No," Rory answered although she sort of felt like she was lying. But she dismissed all the weird feelings she'd been having for Tristan lately as nothing. "I only just broke up with Dean a few weeks ago. I don't think I'm ready to move on."

"You never know Gilmore; the perfect guy could be right in front of you if you just took notice of him."

Their eyes locked and Rory felt like he was trying to tell her something. But he wasn't, right? They were just friends. Yet she knew Tristan was the one sitting right in front of her, but she was too scared to notice.

"I…uh…we should really finish this."

And the moment was broken again.

For now.

******