Author's Note: Sorry for the amazingly long wait. I had some trouble finding my muse lately. Thanks for all the reviews and for sticking by this fic. I was very surprised and happy to see it had been nominated at the Proud and Prejudiced Fanfiction Awards so thank you whoever nominated me. It means a lot.
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Chapter Eight
After her confrontation with Dean, Rory felt a lot lighter. She felt guilty that breaking his heart made her feel better, but him knowing about Tristan made her feel less guilty for moving on so quickly. She didn't regret how things turned out and she wanted to enjoy being with Tristan instead of worrying about seeing Dean in the street.
She spent the next few weeks enjoying just being with Tristan and getting to know him in a completely different way. He was surprising her more and more every day. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he did or said something that completely surprised her, but in a good way.
As she got to know Tristan better her feelings for him also started to grow. It was a little surprising how much she loved being with him. She didn't remember feeling this happy when she started dating Dean. Tristan stirred all kinds of feelings in her. She had always been good at concentrating, but lately every time she was studying, or watching TV or doing pretty much anything at all really, she would start to think about him.
"Tristan…" Rory laughed as he started kissing his way up her neck. "We're supposed to be studying."
"I am studying," he joked, kissing her again.
They were sitting in Rory's living room, and had been studying. Or Rory had been studying and Tristan had been staring at her. Now he was doing his best to distract her.
She tried not to give in to him, but after a while she couldn't help it and she turned her face and caught his lips in a kiss. Tristan took that as encouragement and deepened the kiss, drawing her closer to him.
This wasn't the first time in the last couple of weeks that they had found themselves in this position and Rory wondered why she had given in to Tristan's pleas to study with her. He clearly wasn't studying and he was doing his best to corrupt her as well. And the really scary thing was Rory was enjoying being corrupted a little too much.
When they finally came up for air Rory was breathing heavily. Tristan grinned at her and she raised her eyebrows.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"What?"
"I knew studying with you would be fun."
Rory rolled her eyes and grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at him as she got up. "You are so hopeless. I told you this wasn't a good idea."
"I think it was a great idea."
"You're going to me my downfall," she told him as she walked into the kitchen to put some coffee on. Lorelai would be home soon and she didn't want her to find her and Tristan doing anything suspicious.
"Aww, come on, Rory. A few odd kisses with your extremely gorgeous boyfriend are not going to make Harvard look at you any differently."
"I have a gorgeous boyfriend?" she feigned innocence. "Where?"
"Ha. Ha. You're so funny, Gilmore."
"I think so."
He came up behind her as she started pouring the water and wrapped his arms around her waist. She fit so perfectly against him. He was just holding her and she turned her head to kiss him quickly.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"I know. It's so unlike you."
"I just wanted to hold you. Is that so wrong?" he asked, pretending to be offended.
"No."
"Plus I thought if I just held you, you might be impressed with my restraint now and reward me later," he added.
Rory rolled her eyes. "You wish." She shrugged out of his grasp and went to get something from the cupboard.
Lorelai got home at that moment and smiled as soon as she saw the coffee that had just been made.
"Coffee, oh how I love thee," she greeted, ignoring the two actual people in the room.
Tristan just grinned. He had gotten used to Lorelai's antics. In fact he had spent so much time over at the Gilmore's lately Lorelai asked him to start paying rent. She was only joking of course…or at least he thought so, he never could tell with her.
But Rory was glad that her mother had warmed to Tristan a little. She knew all it would take was a few conversations and that boy could charm the socks off of anyone, even her mother.
"What have you guys been doing?" Lorelai asked.
"Studying," Rory answered. Tristan just started grinning and Rory glared at him.
Lorelai noticed and rolled her eyes. It was quite amusing watching Rory and Tristan interact. Tristan reminded Lorelai a lot of herself when she was that age, which was probably why she couldn't help like him. But Rory was different and Lorelai never thought she would fall for someone like Tristan. And she was falling, every day she could see the smile on her daughter's face grow just a little wider. And she was glad because she hated seeing Rory upset.
"Come on, Ror. Let's go study some more," Tristan said as he walked back into the living room.
"Why did him just saying that perfectly innocent sentence fill me with such dread?" Lorelai mused.
Rory smiled. "Relax, Mom."
"Yeah, easy for you to say."
-&-
Rory was working in an empty classroom, trying to get some work done while she had some free time when Tristan walked in.
"Do you ever give it a rest?" he asked, a smile on his face.
"When the teachers stop giving us so much work, I'll stop doing it," she told him.
Tristan took a seat on the row next to her in his usual place. They had English together in the classroom in a few minutes. Rory finished what she was doing and went to put a book back on the shelf. When she headed back to her seat Tristan grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto his lap.
She fell against him as she tried to catch her balance. "Tristan!"
"What?" he asked as he started planting kisses over her face, starting with her cheek and slowly moving to her lips.
"Let me up, someone will walk in," Rory protested, but he didn't let her go. His arms were around her body, but she knew if she really tried she could move them.
He turned her face so he could kiss her properly and she felt her resolve melting. She tried not to kiss him too much in school because it was embarrassing, but sometimes she couldn't resist.
"We…" Rory started, only to be distracted by his kiss. "…Should…" Kiss. "…Really…" Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
"Really what?" Tristan asked, pulling away just when Rory had completely given in to him.
"You're so annoying," she told him noticing his smirk.
"But you like me anyway," he pointed out.
Rory rolled her eyes as Tristan pulled her close for another kiss. She forgot what she was saying as his lips caressed hers, making her forget where she was.
"Uhum!"
Rory sprang off of Tristan's lap so fast he couldn't help laughing. She sighed with relief when she realized it was Paris who had interrupted them and not Mr. Medina. She was only slightly less embarrassed though.
"You guys really need to get a room," Paris told them.
"We had one," Tristan muttered before turning to greet the intruder. "Nice to see you too, Paris."
Paris just ignored him and took her seat. She had actually been bordering on okay to Rory lately. After the initial shock of finding out Tristan and Rory were together wore off she realized she already knew they would get together eventually. And Paris wasn't the type to let her feelings for a boy get in the way of academic excellence.
Tristan tried to pull Rory back into his lap, but she was having none of it. She took her seat in front of him and he just shrugged. He leaned forward and ran his hands along the bottom of her hair, and then let his fingers brush underneath her hair to the nape of her neck. Rory felt tingles run down her spine as Tristan's fingers caused her mind to numb as she enjoyed the sensation.
"Stop it," she hissed as the other students started to walk into the classroom.
"Why? Am I getting you all flustered?"
"Tristan, I'm serious."
He laughed, pulling his hand away from her. He loved that the innocent of touches seemed to affect her like this.
Rory sighed in her seat. This was going to be a long afternoon.
-&-
"So, are you coming to Chris's party tonight?" Brandon leaned forward in his chair to whisper to Tristan as Mr. Medina spoke to the class.
Tristan unconsciously glanced at Rory, who was actually listening to Mr. Medina before answering. "I don't think so."
"Come on, man, don't tell me the rumors are true."
"What rumors?"
"The ones that say Tristan DuGrey is whipped," Brandon said.
"I am not whipped."
"Yeah, right. You've been missing off the party scene for over a month. I get that you have some weird obsession with the Gilmore chick, but you've got her now. The chase is over. Time for life to resume as normal."
"I am acting like normal."
"The Tristan I know would never pass up a party for a girl. Especially if he wasn't getting any."
"Yeah, well, maybe I've grown up a bit."
"Or your little girlfriend has you wrapped around her finger."
Tristan glared at his friend. "She has not."
"Prove it."
"By coming to this party? That doesn't prove anything except that I let an idiot like you get to me," Tristan told him.
"All I'm saying is I see you changing a hell of a lot to be with her. I don't see her changing at all."
"She doesn't need to change."
"Neither do you," Brandon said seriously. "Why don't you bring her tonight? Who knows, she may even have fun."
"Rory? At Chris's party? I don't think so."
"What? She's too good to hang out with us?"
"Actually, yeah." Tristan grinned. "Fine. I'll ask her."
cough"Whipped."cough
Tristan glanced at Mr. Medina before using his book to hit Brandon over the head.
-&-
Although Tristan tried not to let it, what Brandon had said really got to him. He wasn't whipped, right? Sure he had been spending a lot of time with Rory lately, and he may have stopped going to parties with his friends, but that didn't make him whipped, it just made him sensible. The parties were fun and everything, but they weren't really designed for guys who had girlfriends. Or girlfriends they didn't want to cheat on at least.
But he did kind of miss it. Brandon was right; he hadn't spent much time with his friends in a month. He had been too busy spending time with Rory. Not that he minded of course, but he realized that he was making Rory his whole world. If he ever lost her he'd be left with no one. And he really didn't want that to happen.
And it wasn't like the guys he used to hang out with were all jerks. There were some good guys that went to Chilton with him and if Rory got to know them she would agree.
There was no reason he couldn't spend time with his friends and Rory, though. If she was a part of his life, she would have to get to know his friends eventually. He'd spent time in her town, hung out with Lane a couple of times, and even her Mom. It was only natural that she did the same.
"Here," Rory said, handing him some papers as class ended.
"What's this?" Tristan asked.
"My notes. You were so not paying attention today. What's wrong?" she asked as they headed out together.
Tristan just smiled. He loved that she actually noticed him now. She cared if something was bothering him, and she was ready with her notes without him even having to ask. Not that he would have asked anyway, not having notes didn't tend to bother him too much.
"Nothing's wrong. I just can't concentrate with you two feet away from me," he said, putting the charm on.
Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't put this on me," she warned. "I don't want to be responsible for you failing."
"It's too late for that, babe." He put his arm around her shoulder as they started walking together.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" she asked.
"Well, it's only Friday night, are you sure you don't have some urgent work to do?"
Rory hit him as he teased her. "Shut up."
"I love it when you get feisty." Tristan laughed. "Anyway, you know Chris McIntyre, he's having a party tonight."
"Oh."
"We could go?" he suggested. "It might be fun."
"I doubt it." She saw his smile drop a little and quickly carried on. "But you could go. It's fine with me. Not that you need my permission or anything."
"I don't want to go without you."
"Tristan, I don't do Chilton parties."
"Why not?"
"I just don't."
"They're not that bad. If I recall correctly it was a Chilton party that started this whole thing between us."
"Exactly why I fear them," Rory joked.
"Ha. Ha," Tristan deadpanned. "I promise you won't end up running out in tears this time. Please?" He started to pout, in that really sexy way that used to annoy her, but now just made her smile.
Then he slowly pulled her body against his, his lips brushing against hers teasingly until he kissed her properly. She melted against his touch, forgetting what they were talking about. When he pulled away and gave her 'the eyes' again she just sighed.
"God, I am too easy!"
"I wish," he joked earning him a whack on his arm. "Kidding!"
She rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret this."
-&-
"You're going to a party? Rory Gilmore? My daughter? Of her own free will? When she is not under emotional stress?"
Rory rolled her eyes. It wasn't really her own free will. Once Tristan gave her 'the look' and kissed her slowly, drawing her in to him she pretty much forgot about her own free will. Damn him.
She couldn't really tell her mother that though, so she improvised. "Yes. I am a normal teenager, incase you hadn't noticed." Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Okay, so it might have taken a lot of convincing." Not as much as Lorelai might think, but still a little.
"I don't know if I should be worried, or happy."
"Happy. Let's stick to happy."
"Well, I'm all for fun and parties, but are you even going to enjoy yourself? This doesn't sound like something you would like."
"Won't know until I try," Rory said, repeating what Tristan had said to her earlier.
"True. But that doesn't include things like sex, drugs and drink. Those things you don't need to try."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, why are you acting like I've lost my mind or something?"
"You're dating Tristan DuGrey, anything is possible."
Rory laughed. "Well, I draw the line at that."
The doorbell rang and Rory smiled instantly. Lorelai just rolled her eyes. "Speak of the devil."
Rory continued putting last minute touches to her outfit while Lorelai went to answer the door. A couple of minutes later Tristan appeared in her room. He stood, leaning against the doorframe, watching her for a couple of minutes.
Rory knew he was watching, but ignored him, pretending not to care that he was in her room.
"Glad to see my presence has such an affect on you."
Rory glanced at him, pretending to only just notice him. "Oh, you're here."
Tristan laughed and came inside, subtly closing the door behind him.
"My Mom is home you know."
"I know."
He walked up to her, clearly showing her he didn't really care about Lorelai being around. He pulled her into his arms and leaned down, capturing her lips in a slow sensual kiss.
Rory's heart rate was racing by the time his lips left hers. "Hi," she said, smiling at him.
"Hey. You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"You act like I'm dragging you to hell or something."
"Well…"
"Let's go Gilmore, before I change my mind and ravish you right here and now."
"And my mother would so appreciate that."
-&-
Tristan parked the car and turned off the engine. The party was already in full swing, the loud music could be heard clearly from inside the car. "If you really don't want to go in, we don't have to."
"No. I'm good," Rory assured him.
"You sure?" Tristan asked again.
Rory was fidgeting in her seat and playing with her hands and something was definitely bothering her.
"I'm sure." She smiled before leaning over and kissing him.
What was supposed to be a quick reassuring kiss turned into something more as Tristan's arms came around her waist pulling her closer to him. His tongue quickly sought entrance into her mouth and she felt herself giving in to the desire to touch him.
The knock on Tristan's window brought them back to reality and they pulled away from each other. Tristan muttered some curses before rolling his window down.
"What?!" he practically shouted at the intruder, who happened to be Brandon.
"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" Brandon smirked.
"What do you want, Brand?"
"Just reminding you that the party's inside the house," he said pointedly.
"I think I prefer this party."
"Come on, man. Everyone's waiting for you."
"I'll be there. Now get lost."
Brandon laughed. "Hey Rory," he called over Tristan's shoulder.
Rory smiled at him, feeling more and more embarrassed. "Uh, hi."
Tristan rolled his window back up as Brandon left. "Sorry bout that. Now where were we?"
He tried to pull Rory back to him, but she pulled away. "We should go in."
"I think I prefer making out with you in the front seat," Tristan joked.
"Yeah well, we can do that any time."
"We can?" he asked, suddenly grinning. "You do realize you can't take that back."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Let's go." She turned to open her door.
"Wait." Rory turned back to him. "I just want to tell you that this party isn't really like Madeline's party. Chris is known for throwing some really wild parties because his parents are always out of town. It's pretty wild."
"I think I can handle it."
"Okay. Good."
They got out of the car and started walking towards the party. Tristan pulled her close to him and Rory wrapped her arm around Tristan's waist.
She was slightly worried about this party. Normally she didn't care about anyone at Chilton or what they thought of her. She wasn't popular and she didn't mind. She was at Chilton to get the best education she could and to hopefully secure her place at Harvard so whether or not people liked her never bothered her before.
But Tristan had become important to her, and she wanted to fit into his life. She wanted his friends to like her. She didn't want to make him choose between her and his friends. And she knew that he had been.
When they walked into the party Rory was actually surprised. Tristan wasn't kidding about this party being nothing like Madeline's. Madeline's party was somewhat organized and respectable. This party was crazy. The music was so loud, people she barely recognized were dancing on any available surface, including some tables, and most of them looked so drunk that they would probably not even remember the party the next day. Yes, it was the wasted youth of America.
"Tristan, who are these people?"
"I don't know," Tristan said. "Don't worry, Chris doesn't really care who turns up."
They made their way through the crowd and had to keep stopping when Tristan bumped into someone he knew. Rory held onto his hand tightly, for fear of losing him. They walked through the house to a back room that was a bit quieter than the rest of the house. It had a pool table and some large couches.
"Tristan. You made it."
A tall guy, with spiky black hair greeted Tristan. He was in the middle of a game of pool, the cue in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
"You've outdone yourself, Chris."
"Yeah well, someone's got to give these people something to do on a Friday night," Chris said before turning to Rory and smiling at her. "You must be Rory. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly."
"Likewise."
Rory was introduced to a few more of Tristan's friends who seemed nice enough.
"So, what do you say to a game of pool, Tristan?"
"Do you really want to lose that badly?"
"Stop trying to bullshit in front of your girl, DuGrey. You know you can't beat me."
Rory smiled inwardly at the boy's behavior. What was with all the make macho posturing?
"I guess I'm just going to have to prove you wrong."
Tristan turned to Rory and she smiled before kissing him softly. "Go ahead."
She took a seat on one of the sofas by the pool table with a few of Tristan friends and watched as Tristan and Chris played together. Rory watched him curiously, noticing the difference in him when he was with his friends. He was such a typical guy sometimes, but instead of finding it annoying, she found it to be cute. And she could see that Tristan was happy and enjoying himself.
Half an hour later Tristan was standing smugly by the pool table grinning at Chris. "What was that you said, Chris? I couldn't beat you?"
Rory laughed as she got up and went over to Tristan. "Okay, Tristan, no one likes a show off."
Tristan turned to her, pulling her into his arms. "But you like me," he teased.
"I don't know. I'll have to think about that."
"Liar."
Tristan grinned at her as he lead her to the middle of the house which was the designated dance floor. They danced for ages and Rory had to admit she was having a pretty good time. She had spoken to some of Tristan's friends and they didn't seem so bad. People were actually talking to her and they actually seemed genuine. And best of all she was with Tristan and he was in a really good mood.
It was a few hours later when Tristan and Rory found themselves in a corner of the house. Tristan was sitting on a bean bag chair and Rory was in his lap for lack of anywhere else to sit.
"So, this isn't so bad is it?"
"Well, not for me. But I just wonder if Stacy Hargrove is going to remember her own name tomorrow," Rory pointed out. Stacy had passed out minutes before.
"Never mind her. As long as you're having fun."
"I am," Rory assured him. "I just don't know how you do this all the time. It's giving me a headache."
"That's 'cause you're not used to it. But you're right, it does get old after a while. But I guess we just don't know how to do things small."
"That's an understatement, I don't even recognize half the people here."
Tristan grinned. "Well that's because you don't notice people unless they get in your face and harass you for six months."
Rory laughed. "So, is that what that was? Trying to get me to notice you?"
"Yep. And it worked I see."
Rory rolled her eyes. "A simple 'Hi my name's Tristan' would have worked too. And lending me your notes instead of leering at me would have been a bonus."
Tristan laughed. "Okay, I admit I was misguided."
"Just a little."
Rory laughed, leaning in to kiss Tristan softly. As her lips touched his she felt herself lost in his world. There was no quick kisses with Tristan because once his lips touched hers everything else seemed to fade away. His tongue caressed hers and she felt herself drinking him in.
She pulled away breathlessly and noticed Tristan's eyes were staring back at her, full of something that made her blush. The look in his eyes was so powerful. She could see how much he wanted her in just his look.
"Rory I…" Tristan started to say something but was cut off when someone called his name.
"Tristan!" Rory and Tristan both looked up suddenly at the intrusion. It was Chris. "We've got a bet going on over here and we need your input like now."
Tristan sighed. Couldn't people see he was busy? Rory laughed at Tristan's expression.
"Go. I'll catch you in a bit. I'm just going to find a bathroom."
"You sure?" Tristan asked, clearly not wanting to leave her alone.
"Yes!" she stressed. "You don't have to stay with me all the time."
"Ever think I want to stay with you?"
Rory smiled. "I'll meet you in the back." She kissed him quickly and then stood up.
Tristan watched her leave and wondered if maybe Brandon was right. Maybe he was whipped. But when he was with Rory he didn't really care. She was amazing and she was actually with him. Nothing else seemed to matter.
-&-
Rory managed to find the bathroom quite easily, although it was more like the size of her living room than a bathroom. It was so spacious and beautifully decorated she almost felt bad that it would be destroyed by people throwing up in it, as they surely would do after the amount they had been drinking.
She started to make her way through the crowds of people back to Tristan when someone stopped her by coming in front of her and blocking her path.
"Rory," the guy said. She recognized him as Adam Freeman, one of the guys she had been introduced to earlier while she and Tristan had been dancing. He had been a little drunk then, but now he looked extremely pissed.
"Uh, hi."
"Where are you going? You want to dance?"
"Uh, no, thanks. I'm just going to meet Tristan."
Adam leered at her, his alcohol breath too close for comfort. Rory tried to take a step back but he just came closer.
"He won't mind," Adam assured her. "We share all the time. I'm sure once Tristan's had a go he won't mind…"
Rory glared at him disgustedly. "I really have to go now." She tried to walk past him, but he blocked her way again. "Listen, Adam, I really just want to find Tristan so please let me go."
For a second Adam seemed to move out of her way so Rory started to leave, but suddenly Adam grabbed her arm and turned her again.
"What's so great about Tristan?" he muttered.
Rory didn't get a chance to answer because Tristan seemed to appear out of nowhere and punched Adam straight in the face, causing him to fall on the floor. The music suddenly stopped and everyone turned to Tristan and Rory.
"Are you okay?" Tristan asked Rory.
Rory nodded. "You didn't have to hit him," she mumbled.
"See?" Adam spoke up, having heard her. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. You never had a problem sharing before, DuGrey. What's so great about her? Or is she just off limits until you get what you want?"
Tristan was about to lunge at Adam again when Rory suddenly stood in front of him, blocking his path. "I want to go home, Tristan. Now."
Tristan clenched his fist, trying to get his anger back in control as he nodded at Rory. She turned and walked out, knowing that he would follow her.
Tristan turned back to Adam. "Stay away from her, Freeman. And don't ever talk to me again," he said before following Rory outside.
-&-
Rory and Tristan had gotten in the car in silence and had been driving for a few minutes before Rory spoke up. She knew Tristan was angry so she had wanted to give him time to calm down.
"How's your hand?" she asked finally.
"Not as bad as his face."
"You know, violence never solves anything."
"The guy was coming onto you, Ror."
"And I would have handled it," she assured him. "You don't have to treat me like a china toy you know. I won't break."
"I know."
"Do you? Because sometimes I wonder."
Although she didn't particularly like being leered out by random guys it kind of bothered her how quickly Tristan came to her rescue as if she couldn't take care of herself. And she hated guys fighting, especially over her.
"I just worry."
"Tristan, you of all people should know that I can take care of myself. If anything Adam was just a drunk version of you in Chilton."
Tristan glared at her. "I would never grab you like he did."
Rory sighed, realizing she had said the wrong thing. "Okay, you're right, you wouldn't. Probably because you know that I'd kick your ass," she teased, trying to make him smile.
It worked, at least momentarily. "About what he said…" Tristan started but Rory cut him off.
"I trust you. You don't have to explain anything."
"I would never do that to you, Ror," he said seriously, needing her to believe him. He needed her to know that he wasn't with her for sex.
"I know."
Tristan had a reputation and she knew it. But she also knew half of it wasn't true, and the half that was just wasn't him anymore. She knew in her heart that she could trust him. She didn't know what made her so sure, but something told her that he cared about her, and that was good enough for her.
"Maybe we're not meant to mix social circles," he suggested after a while.
"I think that would be wise."
"Besides, with you there all I could think about with kissing you. I could care less about everyone else."
Rory laughed. "I told you to go without me."
"Well, then I would just be thinking about you."
"You're hopeless."
"No, we're hopeless."
-&-
-&-
Chapter Eight
After her confrontation with Dean, Rory felt a lot lighter. She felt guilty that breaking his heart made her feel better, but him knowing about Tristan made her feel less guilty for moving on so quickly. She didn't regret how things turned out and she wanted to enjoy being with Tristan instead of worrying about seeing Dean in the street.
She spent the next few weeks enjoying just being with Tristan and getting to know him in a completely different way. He was surprising her more and more every day. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he did or said something that completely surprised her, but in a good way.
As she got to know Tristan better her feelings for him also started to grow. It was a little surprising how much she loved being with him. She didn't remember feeling this happy when she started dating Dean. Tristan stirred all kinds of feelings in her. She had always been good at concentrating, but lately every time she was studying, or watching TV or doing pretty much anything at all really, she would start to think about him.
"Tristan…" Rory laughed as he started kissing his way up her neck. "We're supposed to be studying."
"I am studying," he joked, kissing her again.
They were sitting in Rory's living room, and had been studying. Or Rory had been studying and Tristan had been staring at her. Now he was doing his best to distract her.
She tried not to give in to him, but after a while she couldn't help it and she turned her face and caught his lips in a kiss. Tristan took that as encouragement and deepened the kiss, drawing her closer to him.
This wasn't the first time in the last couple of weeks that they had found themselves in this position and Rory wondered why she had given in to Tristan's pleas to study with her. He clearly wasn't studying and he was doing his best to corrupt her as well. And the really scary thing was Rory was enjoying being corrupted a little too much.
When they finally came up for air Rory was breathing heavily. Tristan grinned at her and she raised her eyebrows.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"What?"
"I knew studying with you would be fun."
Rory rolled her eyes and grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at him as she got up. "You are so hopeless. I told you this wasn't a good idea."
"I think it was a great idea."
"You're going to me my downfall," she told him as she walked into the kitchen to put some coffee on. Lorelai would be home soon and she didn't want her to find her and Tristan doing anything suspicious.
"Aww, come on, Rory. A few odd kisses with your extremely gorgeous boyfriend are not going to make Harvard look at you any differently."
"I have a gorgeous boyfriend?" she feigned innocence. "Where?"
"Ha. Ha. You're so funny, Gilmore."
"I think so."
He came up behind her as she started pouring the water and wrapped his arms around her waist. She fit so perfectly against him. He was just holding her and she turned her head to kiss him quickly.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"I know. It's so unlike you."
"I just wanted to hold you. Is that so wrong?" he asked, pretending to be offended.
"No."
"Plus I thought if I just held you, you might be impressed with my restraint now and reward me later," he added.
Rory rolled her eyes. "You wish." She shrugged out of his grasp and went to get something from the cupboard.
Lorelai got home at that moment and smiled as soon as she saw the coffee that had just been made.
"Coffee, oh how I love thee," she greeted, ignoring the two actual people in the room.
Tristan just grinned. He had gotten used to Lorelai's antics. In fact he had spent so much time over at the Gilmore's lately Lorelai asked him to start paying rent. She was only joking of course…or at least he thought so, he never could tell with her.
But Rory was glad that her mother had warmed to Tristan a little. She knew all it would take was a few conversations and that boy could charm the socks off of anyone, even her mother.
"What have you guys been doing?" Lorelai asked.
"Studying," Rory answered. Tristan just started grinning and Rory glared at him.
Lorelai noticed and rolled her eyes. It was quite amusing watching Rory and Tristan interact. Tristan reminded Lorelai a lot of herself when she was that age, which was probably why she couldn't help like him. But Rory was different and Lorelai never thought she would fall for someone like Tristan. And she was falling, every day she could see the smile on her daughter's face grow just a little wider. And she was glad because she hated seeing Rory upset.
"Come on, Ror. Let's go study some more," Tristan said as he walked back into the living room.
"Why did him just saying that perfectly innocent sentence fill me with such dread?" Lorelai mused.
Rory smiled. "Relax, Mom."
"Yeah, easy for you to say."
-&-
Rory was working in an empty classroom, trying to get some work done while she had some free time when Tristan walked in.
"Do you ever give it a rest?" he asked, a smile on his face.
"When the teachers stop giving us so much work, I'll stop doing it," she told him.
Tristan took a seat on the row next to her in his usual place. They had English together in the classroom in a few minutes. Rory finished what she was doing and went to put a book back on the shelf. When she headed back to her seat Tristan grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto his lap.
She fell against him as she tried to catch her balance. "Tristan!"
"What?" he asked as he started planting kisses over her face, starting with her cheek and slowly moving to her lips.
"Let me up, someone will walk in," Rory protested, but he didn't let her go. His arms were around her body, but she knew if she really tried she could move them.
He turned her face so he could kiss her properly and she felt her resolve melting. She tried not to kiss him too much in school because it was embarrassing, but sometimes she couldn't resist.
"We…" Rory started, only to be distracted by his kiss. "…Should…" Kiss. "…Really…" Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
"Really what?" Tristan asked, pulling away just when Rory had completely given in to him.
"You're so annoying," she told him noticing his smirk.
"But you like me anyway," he pointed out.
Rory rolled her eyes as Tristan pulled her close for another kiss. She forgot what she was saying as his lips caressed hers, making her forget where she was.
"Uhum!"
Rory sprang off of Tristan's lap so fast he couldn't help laughing. She sighed with relief when she realized it was Paris who had interrupted them and not Mr. Medina. She was only slightly less embarrassed though.
"You guys really need to get a room," Paris told them.
"We had one," Tristan muttered before turning to greet the intruder. "Nice to see you too, Paris."
Paris just ignored him and took her seat. She had actually been bordering on okay to Rory lately. After the initial shock of finding out Tristan and Rory were together wore off she realized she already knew they would get together eventually. And Paris wasn't the type to let her feelings for a boy get in the way of academic excellence.
Tristan tried to pull Rory back into his lap, but she was having none of it. She took her seat in front of him and he just shrugged. He leaned forward and ran his hands along the bottom of her hair, and then let his fingers brush underneath her hair to the nape of her neck. Rory felt tingles run down her spine as Tristan's fingers caused her mind to numb as she enjoyed the sensation.
"Stop it," she hissed as the other students started to walk into the classroom.
"Why? Am I getting you all flustered?"
"Tristan, I'm serious."
He laughed, pulling his hand away from her. He loved that the innocent of touches seemed to affect her like this.
Rory sighed in her seat. This was going to be a long afternoon.
-&-
"So, are you coming to Chris's party tonight?" Brandon leaned forward in his chair to whisper to Tristan as Mr. Medina spoke to the class.
Tristan unconsciously glanced at Rory, who was actually listening to Mr. Medina before answering. "I don't think so."
"Come on, man, don't tell me the rumors are true."
"What rumors?"
"The ones that say Tristan DuGrey is whipped," Brandon said.
"I am not whipped."
"Yeah, right. You've been missing off the party scene for over a month. I get that you have some weird obsession with the Gilmore chick, but you've got her now. The chase is over. Time for life to resume as normal."
"I am acting like normal."
"The Tristan I know would never pass up a party for a girl. Especially if he wasn't getting any."
"Yeah, well, maybe I've grown up a bit."
"Or your little girlfriend has you wrapped around her finger."
Tristan glared at his friend. "She has not."
"Prove it."
"By coming to this party? That doesn't prove anything except that I let an idiot like you get to me," Tristan told him.
"All I'm saying is I see you changing a hell of a lot to be with her. I don't see her changing at all."
"She doesn't need to change."
"Neither do you," Brandon said seriously. "Why don't you bring her tonight? Who knows, she may even have fun."
"Rory? At Chris's party? I don't think so."
"What? She's too good to hang out with us?"
"Actually, yeah." Tristan grinned. "Fine. I'll ask her."
cough"Whipped."cough
Tristan glanced at Mr. Medina before using his book to hit Brandon over the head.
-&-
Although Tristan tried not to let it, what Brandon had said really got to him. He wasn't whipped, right? Sure he had been spending a lot of time with Rory lately, and he may have stopped going to parties with his friends, but that didn't make him whipped, it just made him sensible. The parties were fun and everything, but they weren't really designed for guys who had girlfriends. Or girlfriends they didn't want to cheat on at least.
But he did kind of miss it. Brandon was right; he hadn't spent much time with his friends in a month. He had been too busy spending time with Rory. Not that he minded of course, but he realized that he was making Rory his whole world. If he ever lost her he'd be left with no one. And he really didn't want that to happen.
And it wasn't like the guys he used to hang out with were all jerks. There were some good guys that went to Chilton with him and if Rory got to know them she would agree.
There was no reason he couldn't spend time with his friends and Rory, though. If she was a part of his life, she would have to get to know his friends eventually. He'd spent time in her town, hung out with Lane a couple of times, and even her Mom. It was only natural that she did the same.
"Here," Rory said, handing him some papers as class ended.
"What's this?" Tristan asked.
"My notes. You were so not paying attention today. What's wrong?" she asked as they headed out together.
Tristan just smiled. He loved that she actually noticed him now. She cared if something was bothering him, and she was ready with her notes without him even having to ask. Not that he would have asked anyway, not having notes didn't tend to bother him too much.
"Nothing's wrong. I just can't concentrate with you two feet away from me," he said, putting the charm on.
Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't put this on me," she warned. "I don't want to be responsible for you failing."
"It's too late for that, babe." He put his arm around her shoulder as they started walking together.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" she asked.
"Well, it's only Friday night, are you sure you don't have some urgent work to do?"
Rory hit him as he teased her. "Shut up."
"I love it when you get feisty." Tristan laughed. "Anyway, you know Chris McIntyre, he's having a party tonight."
"Oh."
"We could go?" he suggested. "It might be fun."
"I doubt it." She saw his smile drop a little and quickly carried on. "But you could go. It's fine with me. Not that you need my permission or anything."
"I don't want to go without you."
"Tristan, I don't do Chilton parties."
"Why not?"
"I just don't."
"They're not that bad. If I recall correctly it was a Chilton party that started this whole thing between us."
"Exactly why I fear them," Rory joked.
"Ha. Ha," Tristan deadpanned. "I promise you won't end up running out in tears this time. Please?" He started to pout, in that really sexy way that used to annoy her, but now just made her smile.
Then he slowly pulled her body against his, his lips brushing against hers teasingly until he kissed her properly. She melted against his touch, forgetting what they were talking about. When he pulled away and gave her 'the eyes' again she just sighed.
"God, I am too easy!"
"I wish," he joked earning him a whack on his arm. "Kidding!"
She rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret this."
-&-
"You're going to a party? Rory Gilmore? My daughter? Of her own free will? When she is not under emotional stress?"
Rory rolled her eyes. It wasn't really her own free will. Once Tristan gave her 'the look' and kissed her slowly, drawing her in to him she pretty much forgot about her own free will. Damn him.
She couldn't really tell her mother that though, so she improvised. "Yes. I am a normal teenager, incase you hadn't noticed." Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Okay, so it might have taken a lot of convincing." Not as much as Lorelai might think, but still a little.
"I don't know if I should be worried, or happy."
"Happy. Let's stick to happy."
"Well, I'm all for fun and parties, but are you even going to enjoy yourself? This doesn't sound like something you would like."
"Won't know until I try," Rory said, repeating what Tristan had said to her earlier.
"True. But that doesn't include things like sex, drugs and drink. Those things you don't need to try."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, why are you acting like I've lost my mind or something?"
"You're dating Tristan DuGrey, anything is possible."
Rory laughed. "Well, I draw the line at that."
The doorbell rang and Rory smiled instantly. Lorelai just rolled her eyes. "Speak of the devil."
Rory continued putting last minute touches to her outfit while Lorelai went to answer the door. A couple of minutes later Tristan appeared in her room. He stood, leaning against the doorframe, watching her for a couple of minutes.
Rory knew he was watching, but ignored him, pretending not to care that he was in her room.
"Glad to see my presence has such an affect on you."
Rory glanced at him, pretending to only just notice him. "Oh, you're here."
Tristan laughed and came inside, subtly closing the door behind him.
"My Mom is home you know."
"I know."
He walked up to her, clearly showing her he didn't really care about Lorelai being around. He pulled her into his arms and leaned down, capturing her lips in a slow sensual kiss.
Rory's heart rate was racing by the time his lips left hers. "Hi," she said, smiling at him.
"Hey. You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"You act like I'm dragging you to hell or something."
"Well…"
"Let's go Gilmore, before I change my mind and ravish you right here and now."
"And my mother would so appreciate that."
-&-
Tristan parked the car and turned off the engine. The party was already in full swing, the loud music could be heard clearly from inside the car. "If you really don't want to go in, we don't have to."
"No. I'm good," Rory assured him.
"You sure?" Tristan asked again.
Rory was fidgeting in her seat and playing with her hands and something was definitely bothering her.
"I'm sure." She smiled before leaning over and kissing him.
What was supposed to be a quick reassuring kiss turned into something more as Tristan's arms came around her waist pulling her closer to him. His tongue quickly sought entrance into her mouth and she felt herself giving in to the desire to touch him.
The knock on Tristan's window brought them back to reality and they pulled away from each other. Tristan muttered some curses before rolling his window down.
"What?!" he practically shouted at the intruder, who happened to be Brandon.
"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" Brandon smirked.
"What do you want, Brand?"
"Just reminding you that the party's inside the house," he said pointedly.
"I think I prefer this party."
"Come on, man. Everyone's waiting for you."
"I'll be there. Now get lost."
Brandon laughed. "Hey Rory," he called over Tristan's shoulder.
Rory smiled at him, feeling more and more embarrassed. "Uh, hi."
Tristan rolled his window back up as Brandon left. "Sorry bout that. Now where were we?"
He tried to pull Rory back to him, but she pulled away. "We should go in."
"I think I prefer making out with you in the front seat," Tristan joked.
"Yeah well, we can do that any time."
"We can?" he asked, suddenly grinning. "You do realize you can't take that back."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Let's go." She turned to open her door.
"Wait." Rory turned back to him. "I just want to tell you that this party isn't really like Madeline's party. Chris is known for throwing some really wild parties because his parents are always out of town. It's pretty wild."
"I think I can handle it."
"Okay. Good."
They got out of the car and started walking towards the party. Tristan pulled her close to him and Rory wrapped her arm around Tristan's waist.
She was slightly worried about this party. Normally she didn't care about anyone at Chilton or what they thought of her. She wasn't popular and she didn't mind. She was at Chilton to get the best education she could and to hopefully secure her place at Harvard so whether or not people liked her never bothered her before.
But Tristan had become important to her, and she wanted to fit into his life. She wanted his friends to like her. She didn't want to make him choose between her and his friends. And she knew that he had been.
When they walked into the party Rory was actually surprised. Tristan wasn't kidding about this party being nothing like Madeline's. Madeline's party was somewhat organized and respectable. This party was crazy. The music was so loud, people she barely recognized were dancing on any available surface, including some tables, and most of them looked so drunk that they would probably not even remember the party the next day. Yes, it was the wasted youth of America.
"Tristan, who are these people?"
"I don't know," Tristan said. "Don't worry, Chris doesn't really care who turns up."
They made their way through the crowd and had to keep stopping when Tristan bumped into someone he knew. Rory held onto his hand tightly, for fear of losing him. They walked through the house to a back room that was a bit quieter than the rest of the house. It had a pool table and some large couches.
"Tristan. You made it."
A tall guy, with spiky black hair greeted Tristan. He was in the middle of a game of pool, the cue in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
"You've outdone yourself, Chris."
"Yeah well, someone's got to give these people something to do on a Friday night," Chris said before turning to Rory and smiling at her. "You must be Rory. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly."
"Likewise."
Rory was introduced to a few more of Tristan's friends who seemed nice enough.
"So, what do you say to a game of pool, Tristan?"
"Do you really want to lose that badly?"
"Stop trying to bullshit in front of your girl, DuGrey. You know you can't beat me."
Rory smiled inwardly at the boy's behavior. What was with all the make macho posturing?
"I guess I'm just going to have to prove you wrong."
Tristan turned to Rory and she smiled before kissing him softly. "Go ahead."
She took a seat on one of the sofas by the pool table with a few of Tristan friends and watched as Tristan and Chris played together. Rory watched him curiously, noticing the difference in him when he was with his friends. He was such a typical guy sometimes, but instead of finding it annoying, she found it to be cute. And she could see that Tristan was happy and enjoying himself.
Half an hour later Tristan was standing smugly by the pool table grinning at Chris. "What was that you said, Chris? I couldn't beat you?"
Rory laughed as she got up and went over to Tristan. "Okay, Tristan, no one likes a show off."
Tristan turned to her, pulling her into his arms. "But you like me," he teased.
"I don't know. I'll have to think about that."
"Liar."
Tristan grinned at her as he lead her to the middle of the house which was the designated dance floor. They danced for ages and Rory had to admit she was having a pretty good time. She had spoken to some of Tristan's friends and they didn't seem so bad. People were actually talking to her and they actually seemed genuine. And best of all she was with Tristan and he was in a really good mood.
It was a few hours later when Tristan and Rory found themselves in a corner of the house. Tristan was sitting on a bean bag chair and Rory was in his lap for lack of anywhere else to sit.
"So, this isn't so bad is it?"
"Well, not for me. But I just wonder if Stacy Hargrove is going to remember her own name tomorrow," Rory pointed out. Stacy had passed out minutes before.
"Never mind her. As long as you're having fun."
"I am," Rory assured him. "I just don't know how you do this all the time. It's giving me a headache."
"That's 'cause you're not used to it. But you're right, it does get old after a while. But I guess we just don't know how to do things small."
"That's an understatement, I don't even recognize half the people here."
Tristan grinned. "Well that's because you don't notice people unless they get in your face and harass you for six months."
Rory laughed. "So, is that what that was? Trying to get me to notice you?"
"Yep. And it worked I see."
Rory rolled her eyes. "A simple 'Hi my name's Tristan' would have worked too. And lending me your notes instead of leering at me would have been a bonus."
Tristan laughed. "Okay, I admit I was misguided."
"Just a little."
Rory laughed, leaning in to kiss Tristan softly. As her lips touched his she felt herself lost in his world. There was no quick kisses with Tristan because once his lips touched hers everything else seemed to fade away. His tongue caressed hers and she felt herself drinking him in.
She pulled away breathlessly and noticed Tristan's eyes were staring back at her, full of something that made her blush. The look in his eyes was so powerful. She could see how much he wanted her in just his look.
"Rory I…" Tristan started to say something but was cut off when someone called his name.
"Tristan!" Rory and Tristan both looked up suddenly at the intrusion. It was Chris. "We've got a bet going on over here and we need your input like now."
Tristan sighed. Couldn't people see he was busy? Rory laughed at Tristan's expression.
"Go. I'll catch you in a bit. I'm just going to find a bathroom."
"You sure?" Tristan asked, clearly not wanting to leave her alone.
"Yes!" she stressed. "You don't have to stay with me all the time."
"Ever think I want to stay with you?"
Rory smiled. "I'll meet you in the back." She kissed him quickly and then stood up.
Tristan watched her leave and wondered if maybe Brandon was right. Maybe he was whipped. But when he was with Rory he didn't really care. She was amazing and she was actually with him. Nothing else seemed to matter.
-&-
Rory managed to find the bathroom quite easily, although it was more like the size of her living room than a bathroom. It was so spacious and beautifully decorated she almost felt bad that it would be destroyed by people throwing up in it, as they surely would do after the amount they had been drinking.
She started to make her way through the crowds of people back to Tristan when someone stopped her by coming in front of her and blocking her path.
"Rory," the guy said. She recognized him as Adam Freeman, one of the guys she had been introduced to earlier while she and Tristan had been dancing. He had been a little drunk then, but now he looked extremely pissed.
"Uh, hi."
"Where are you going? You want to dance?"
"Uh, no, thanks. I'm just going to meet Tristan."
Adam leered at her, his alcohol breath too close for comfort. Rory tried to take a step back but he just came closer.
"He won't mind," Adam assured her. "We share all the time. I'm sure once Tristan's had a go he won't mind…"
Rory glared at him disgustedly. "I really have to go now." She tried to walk past him, but he blocked her way again. "Listen, Adam, I really just want to find Tristan so please let me go."
For a second Adam seemed to move out of her way so Rory started to leave, but suddenly Adam grabbed her arm and turned her again.
"What's so great about Tristan?" he muttered.
Rory didn't get a chance to answer because Tristan seemed to appear out of nowhere and punched Adam straight in the face, causing him to fall on the floor. The music suddenly stopped and everyone turned to Tristan and Rory.
"Are you okay?" Tristan asked Rory.
Rory nodded. "You didn't have to hit him," she mumbled.
"See?" Adam spoke up, having heard her. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. You never had a problem sharing before, DuGrey. What's so great about her? Or is she just off limits until you get what you want?"
Tristan was about to lunge at Adam again when Rory suddenly stood in front of him, blocking his path. "I want to go home, Tristan. Now."
Tristan clenched his fist, trying to get his anger back in control as he nodded at Rory. She turned and walked out, knowing that he would follow her.
Tristan turned back to Adam. "Stay away from her, Freeman. And don't ever talk to me again," he said before following Rory outside.
-&-
Rory and Tristan had gotten in the car in silence and had been driving for a few minutes before Rory spoke up. She knew Tristan was angry so she had wanted to give him time to calm down.
"How's your hand?" she asked finally.
"Not as bad as his face."
"You know, violence never solves anything."
"The guy was coming onto you, Ror."
"And I would have handled it," she assured him. "You don't have to treat me like a china toy you know. I won't break."
"I know."
"Do you? Because sometimes I wonder."
Although she didn't particularly like being leered out by random guys it kind of bothered her how quickly Tristan came to her rescue as if she couldn't take care of herself. And she hated guys fighting, especially over her.
"I just worry."
"Tristan, you of all people should know that I can take care of myself. If anything Adam was just a drunk version of you in Chilton."
Tristan glared at her. "I would never grab you like he did."
Rory sighed, realizing she had said the wrong thing. "Okay, you're right, you wouldn't. Probably because you know that I'd kick your ass," she teased, trying to make him smile.
It worked, at least momentarily. "About what he said…" Tristan started but Rory cut him off.
"I trust you. You don't have to explain anything."
"I would never do that to you, Ror," he said seriously, needing her to believe him. He needed her to know that he wasn't with her for sex.
"I know."
Tristan had a reputation and she knew it. But she also knew half of it wasn't true, and the half that was just wasn't him anymore. She knew in her heart that she could trust him. She didn't know what made her so sure, but something told her that he cared about her, and that was good enough for her.
"Maybe we're not meant to mix social circles," he suggested after a while.
"I think that would be wise."
"Besides, with you there all I could think about with kissing you. I could care less about everyone else."
Rory laughed. "I told you to go without me."
"Well, then I would just be thinking about you."
"You're hopeless."
"No, we're hopeless."
-&-