Disclaimer: Amy and Daniel Palladino, along with the rest of the WB, own Gilmore Girls. I'm just borrowing the characters.
Ms. Vaughn- Oh, I liked the long review! Thank you! I like weird words, so it was all good. I saw 'sardonically' in a fic once (I can't remember which one) and I just thought it was an awesome word. So thank you, again!
four51- Thank you. It takes a long time, and actually quite a lot of research to try to find references that I think would suite, so thank you!
More thank you's to OTHlover04 and smile1.Thank you all so much. I loved your reviews!
A/N: Ok, my vacation pulled a total mindfuck on me, so I just, I don't know. But it's bad, and made me forget stuff. So sorry that it took a while to update. Plus, the Philadelphia airport is cold, so that had something to do with it. Oh, and the rating went up, mostly due to my own bad language, as you can see above.
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"That's Tristan?" Lorelai whispered to Rory. "I always thought he'd be a brunette."
Tristan got up and strode over to the three Stars Hollow residents. "Are we going to this thing or not?"
"If by 'we,' you mean Luke, my mom, and I then you're correct," Rory replied.
"Mary, this town meeting was all you could talk about all day, and now you're denying me?" Tristan teased.
Luke came out from behind the counter, and Lorelai took his hand. She grabbed her coffee and fries in the other hand. Luke turned off the lights, signaling that he no longer wanted to argue about this and just wanted to go to the town meeting.
Rory walked next to her mother. "Bye, Tristan."
He just smirked and followed after her. "Don't think you're getting rid of me that easy, Mare. What do you say, Ms. Gilmore, should I be allowed to go? I'll be on my best behavior." He gave Lorelai his most charming smile.
They were outside by now, just starting their short walk to the meeting. Lorelai pondered Tristan's well covered-up plead. She knew what was going on, but wouldn't mention it to her daughter. "Only if you promise to call me Lorelai."
Tristan gave Rory a self-satisfied smirk. She just rolled her eyes and asked her mom, "Why do you feel the need to punish your only daughter?"
"Well, he promised to be on his best behavior. And besides," Lorelai whispered, "he has way too much of Christopher's charm for his own good."
The rest of the way was walked in silence, until they got to the meeting, three minutes late. Lane, Gil, Zach, and Brian were standing up wearing some of their best clothes.
"Hey," Rory said to Lane as she passed by her. "What's going on?"
"We're trying to get Taylor to let us play at the Christmas Festival this year," Lane replied.
"Isn't that in a month?" Rory asked.
Lane rolled her eyes. "You know Taylor. He always wants to plan ahead."
"Good luck," Rory whispered, following her mom and Luke to where Dean was saving them seats. She smiled shyly at him, forgetting Tristan was behind her, until Dean's face went ashen.
"What's he doing here?" Dean asked as Rory slid in next to him. Luke and Lorelai sat next to her, followed by Tristan at the end. Lorelai reached over Luke to give Rory her coffee and fries, then offered some to Tristan.
"My mom let him come. I think Joan Crawford's invaded her body," Rory said.
"Quiet, please!" Taylor snapped at them. "We will now vote for the band to play, if they agree not to play any of that loud ruckus they call music."
Rory looked back to see Brian holding Zach back. "We don't want to play your stupid Festival if we're not allowed to play what we want," Zach hollered.
Lane looked at him, stricken. "Zach!"
"Let them play, Taylor. Music is free speech," Morey said from the back.
Taylor sighed. "Who thinks this band should play?" Most of the hands went up, much to his dismay. "Fine, they will play. But one mistake and I'm bumping you."
Lane had a look of pure glee on her face. Though trying to remain cool, she had a huge grin on her face and was hugging the rest of her band mates.
"Onto the next issue," Taylor was saying. "I feel that we need to have the businesses inspected for termites and other pests. This will mean closing down some businesses, of course-"
"I'm not shutting down my diner, Taylor," Luke interrupted.
"I agree!" Lorelai shouted. "The coffee stays!"
"Luke, this is an important matter. Your diner is a hotspot for bugs, and my soda shop is in danger of becoming infected also," Taylor tried to reason.
"There's nothing wrong with my diner, and you should've thought of that before you took the spot next to me," Luke replied, irritated.
Rory dared to glance at Tristan, to find him staring straight ahead, much to her surprise. She didn't know why, but she didn't like it that he wasn't looking at her or trying to get her attention or making snide remarks.
Ms. Patty, from her spot next to Taylor's podium, voiced her opinion. "We shouldn't shut our businesses down just because you don't like bugs, Taylor. None of us can afford it."
While Ms. Patty and Taylor continued to bicker, Tristan leaned over to Lorelai and whispered, "I thought Rory said there was going to be fighting?"
"Be patient." She pointed to Luke. "If Taylor doesn't cave soon, seeing as he's outnumbered, Luke may jump up and try to strangle him."
"Does this happen a lot?"
"Only on days ending with the letter 'y,'" came the reply. "I think now would be a good time to talk about you and Rory."
Tristan was startled by her abruptness. "Excuse me?"
"Don't play dumb, I've seen how you look at her. Rory is a special girl. She's been hurt." Lorelai looked over at Dean for a split second, something Tristan didn't miss.
"Ms. Gilmore-"
"Call me Lorelai or I will be forced to hurt you," she interrupted.
Tristan flashed her a smile. "Ok, Lorelai, I have no intention of hurting Rory."
"So stop being a pain in the ass and be nice. Use that Dugrey charm," she teased. On his off look, she elaborated, "Your grandfather used to come to parties at my parent's house. They were the only ones I didn't try to get out of. And that's saying something, considering Chris wasn't at any of these parties."
"Is Chris Rory's dad?" he asked. "This is the second time you've mentioned him today."
It was Lorelai's turn to look surprised. "You heard that?"
"Well, you don't talk softly and I was right behind Rory."
Lorelai grinned. "We're gonna be great friends, you and I."
It was then that Luke jumped up from his seat and yelled, "That's bullshit, Taylor! I'm not closing my diner so you can feed your paranoid delusions!"
"Where will Lulu and I have our wedding reception?" Kirk added loudly.
"You're engaged?" Babette squealed. "That's great, sugah!"
"Well, not yet, I still have to ask her," Kirk admitted. "Luke, will you be my best man?"
"No," Luke growled. "And you're not having the reception in my diner."
Ms. Patty clapped her hands together. "This is great. Do you want a spring, summer, fall, or winter wedding? Oh, we have so much to plan. Do you have the ring?"
"People, people," Taylor called out. "Can we get back on topic, please?"
He was ignored, his plea forgotten, as Ms. Patty and Babette grabbed Kirk's ring box and started showing it around. Kirk was torn between trying to get it back and telling everyone not to tell Lulu. Taylor was banging his gavel on the podium in vain. And in the middle of all the chaos, the town troubadour was there, writing a song and strumming along with his guitar.