CHAPTER 9

Tristin was on pins and needles since Wednesday afternoon. He received a cryptic message from Logan predicting a phone call from Rory. Despite the call being welcome, Logan's message felt like a set up for something he preferred not to be part of.

"Hi, this is Logan. Don't ask why I'm calling. Rory's going to be calling you some time today and I want you to spend time with her just until I straighten some things out. Promise me that you won't tell her about this. Thanks, I owe you one, buddy," Tristin remembered Logan saying.

He paced the marbled Grand Central Station floor nervously. He started fretting when he glanced at his watch and realized that she was fifteen minutes late. The thinning population in the tourist attraction made him uncomfortable.

"Where are you?" he huffed, shoving his hands deeper in his winter coat.

He knew that there might be some traveling delays due to the unexpected snow dump the night before. Again, he glanced at his wristband. Anxiety was getting the best of him.

"Hey!" a soft voice behind him called his attention. "I'm sorry I didn't call."

He turned around and saw Rory's face flushed from the cold. She was bundled up in a gray heavy wool pea coat and a pair of dark pants. Her chocolate brown boots made her legs look longer and shapelier.

He wished she were his. He would've picked her up off of her feet, swung her around and planted a big kiss on her lips. He would've scolded her for being late and making him worry about her.

What was he thinking?

"Hi," he grinned back at her. "I was worried there for a second," he told her as he openly received the hug she offered.

"I had to catch the later trip. My last class ran longer than usual. I'm sorry," she meekly apologized.

"Well, you're here in one piece. That's all that matters," he said as he took her overnight bag from her.

"So," she dragged the word out. "Where are we starting?"

Where should they start? Sophomore year? Last Thanksgiving? Tristin was transported back to their conversation earlier that week. Rory sounded like she was surprised to hear him on the end of the phone despite the fact that she called him first. They talked and teased each other about their stressors, namely Christmas break and finals.

"Oh, I will be so glad when I am done with this semester. It makes me realize that I don't want to be a grown up anymore," Rory let out.

"Why don't you come to new York this weekend? It'll get your mind off of school. Besides, you need a break from postcard America," he suggested, the latter comment referring to Stars Hollow.

"What's in New York?" she asked as she played with the pencil on her table.

"Other than the Empire State Building? Me," he said frankly.

"You? I thought you went to Stanford or some west coast school?" she asked.

"You're getting me confused with your other boyfriend, Rory," he teased. "I go to Columbia."

"How convenient," she said sarcastically.

"So, are coming up?" he asked again.

Rory deliberately made him wait with bated breath. She had no reason to stay in her dorm room if she didn't have to. She also told her mother that she was staying away from Stars Hollow so that she and Luke can have some quiet time. Why should she feel guilty for taking Logan's suggestion to hang out with an old friend?

"Yes," she said nervously.

"Great," he responded. "You'll have fun in my playground."

"Earth to Tristin!" Rory brought him back to the present. "Are you okay?" she asked him, laying a hand on his arm. He looked into her expressive corn-blue eyes. Her expression softened him. He swore under his breath. She should not be allowed to have this kind of effect to any man, especially him. He can't claim her as his own.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he collected his thoughts. "Are you hungry?"

"Famished," she said. "Do you know any good places to eat?"

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Twenty minutes and a bag full of take out food later, Rory and Tristin tumbled into his little off-campus apartment.

"Home away from home," he whispered as he turned on the lights.

It wasn't much more than a matchbox of a room. His bed was right by the window. There was a TV that took space across from his bed. Two beanie bags substituted as couches. Two barstools occupied the space under the breakfast nook. A stovetop oven and a full-sized refrigerator completed the room.

"It's not much but it beats a barracks room," he told her. "I've got a bathroom to myself and hot, running water."

"I love it," Rory said, walking around the small space.

Tristin dropped her bag in the hallway closet while he deposited the food on the breakfast nook. He shrugged off his coat and draped it over the chair.

"May I?" he asked Rory, referring to her coat.

Rory looked at him for a moment until she realized what he was asking. "Oh, sure. Thanks," she mumbled as he helped her out of her coat. Rory all of a sudden realized she was comparing Tristin to Logan. How come she doesn't remember Logan being so chivalrous?

"So, what can I help you with?" Rory asked, trying to avoid uncomfortable silence.

"Nothing," he said, retrieving a coat hanger from the closet. "You're a guest so you get to be treated like one."

"Really? This will be interesting," she replied, taking a seat on the barstool.

"Are you saying that I cannot impress you?" he challenged Rory. He retrieved two Smirnoff Ice drinks from the refrigerator.

"Uh, not if you're just putting take out on plates. Even my mom can do that," Rory guffawed.

"You know what? Your mom amazes me," he chuckled.

"She does, huh?" Rory asked, taking a sip from the bottle. "She's taken a liking to you, too."

"Even if she knows I took her precious daughter away from the party?" he delved. "And after she cornered me at the mall..."

"She thinks you're pretty good in the BS department. She gives you a ten for handling her with kid gloves," Rory reported.

"Wow," he chuckled. "Is your mom dating anyone?"

"Ouch!" Rory said. "You want to be my step dad?"

"We can be guests on Jerry Springer," Tristin teased. "You, me, your mom. It'll be a blast!"

"You'll stoop that low for a laugh, won't you?" Rory asked.

"Only to see you smile," he said sweetly.

"I told you not to say things like that," Rory warned him.

Tristin chugged down the remains of his bottle. "I know, I know. But if your boyfriend is not around to make you feel good, I should at least make an attempt to fill his spot for a moment or two."

Rory stroked the neck of the almost empty bottle. She was still confused as to why Logan didn't want her around for a family gathering. She was disappointed that Logan makes her feel like she's an embarrassment and not worthy to take home.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Tristin asked her quietly.

Rory looked up and smiled at him. "Nah, just thinking about Logan."

Tristin hummed. "Good one. Gave yourself some space before we got too "intimate"," he added, making quotation marks with his fingers.

"It's nothing like that," Rory corrected him. Tristin took out several plates, bowls and napkins. He also took out more drinks from the refrigerator. He uncapped the drinks and set a freshly opened bottle in front of Rory. "Besides, I am immune to your charms, remember?" she teased.

"So enlighten me," he encouraged her.

"How much do you think have I changed since you last seen me?" Rory asked.

'Your hair, the way you talk, the way you move, the way you make me feel like I can be vulnerable around you,' Tristin rambled off in his head. "Not much, I think. You're still feisty, very introspective, not impulsive..."

"I, too, am impulsive!" she retorted.

"Tell me one impulsive thing you've done," Tristin dared her.

"I've jumped off a seven story scaffolding with an umbrella," she said immediately.

"You did what?" he asked, almost spitting out his drink.

"A Mary Poppins bit," Rory said proudly. "Dress and all."

"Did you have a suitcase and a brain with you when you did it?" Tristin mocked.

"Yes, and everything was safe," Rory said. "After all, I am sitting in front of you."

"Am I to expect that Logan was the one who got you to do something more dangerous than getting a paper cut from your novel of the week?" Tristin deduced.

"Actually I haven't really been delving into my books recently," Rory admitted, a frown breaking on the plane of her face. Come to think of it, almost a year!

"Wow, I'd give the boy credit for getting you to do something... daring," he carefully chose his words.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Rory asked.

"Rory, can you do anything bad?" he asked, setting a plate of food in front of her. He handed her a pair of chopsticks to eat her meal with.

"I'm not perfect, you know," Rory informed him.

"But close to it," Tristin said with gusto. "Tell me this," he asked between bites, "if we were in an alternate universe and we went our separate ways in better terms, would you trust me like you do Logan?"

Rory paused and thought. She twirled her noodles with her sticks. She had to think out of the box to give him a proper response. Could she have given him the same trust? Without being too direct, she said, "I rode away with you even if I knew I would get into trouble last Thanksgiving. If I can trust you in this universe, who knows what could happen in other worlds?"

Tristin looked away and cleared his throat. "I can't believe that I'm saying this but I think I'm jealous of him."

"Why'd you say that?" she asked.

"Because you glow when you talk of him. You love him so much that you're selling him to me," he said.

"Am I?" she asked, blushing.

"Be careful, Rory. I might try to find a chink in his armor so that I can be the one you'd talk about like that," he playfully threatened.

"You won't," she countered.

"Try me," he dared.