Everything
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and the characters that you don't recognize from the show.
Summary: When Rory Hayden comes back to Chilton for her senior year, she still sees Tristan Dugrey as her brother's annoying friend that won't seem to leave her alone. But when opinions change, friendships can form, and maybe, it could become something more.
Good to know: Rory went to school in England for a year, then comes back to Chilton for her senior year. She hangs out with her old friends. Lorelai and Christopher are married and they live in Hartford. Dean and Jess don't exist; she's not friends with Paris.
Rating: PG13
Kala – Oooh, you're so smart, that's exactly what I had planned for them to do.
Chapter 16
"So Danny just called." Amber said to her three friends as she sat on her bed.
"Huh, what else is new?" Kelly said absentmindedly from her position on the floor without looking up from her textbook.
"He said that the guys and he would be coming over tonight." Amber said, ignoring Kelly's comment.
Chelsea shrugged, "Okay. Hey, what'd you get for 7b?" she asked, referring to her chemistry homework.
"Ummm, Praseodymium and Dysprosium."
"Same."
"What'd you get for 6f?" April asked, tapping her pencil on the desk.
"Hey, focus!" Amber said, "You're getting off topic here!"
They gave her a weird look, "Aren't we supposed to be doing our homework? This was a study session, wasn't it?" Kelly asked.
"Keyword: was. It was a study session."
"We just started like, five minutes ago."
"Yes, and we worked for five whole minutes, too much if you ask me. So forget about the chemicals, we have to move onto more important things. Like the fact that the guys are coming over tonight."
April frowned, "But they always come over, and we have a test tomorrow."
Amber rolled her eyes, "Test shmest. You're completely missing the bigger picture here, they're coming over tonight!"
"Okay, first of all, you've said that three times already, and second, why is that the 'bigger picture'?" Chelsea said.
She sighed, "You guys are so out of it."
"We're so out of it?"
"Yes, you're so out of it. You really don't know why they're coming over tonight, do you?"
"Apparently not." Kelly said, sitting up.
"Rory and Tristan are out, so the guys are coming over." Amber said as if the true meaning of her statement was obvious.
They stared at her blankly.
"Hello? Nick, right next door!"
Silence.
Amber threw her hands into the air, as if justifying her previous statement.
Nothing.
She let out another exasperated sigh, "Does anyone read between the lines anymore?" she said, dropping her hands, she decided to give it another try, "Tristan. Rory. Out. Nick. Next door. Guys. Here. Tonight."
Then realization spread across their faces.
"Ooooooh."
Amber nodded, with a pointed look on her face.
"So what do you think they're gunna do?" April asked.
"I don't know, Danny was pretty tight-lipped about it on the phone." Amber said, playing with a strand of loose thread on her comforter.
"Whatever they're doing, it'll work, right?" Chelsea inquired.
"Right." Amber confirmed, convinced that their plan would get Nick to leave Rory alone once and for all.
"It's not too late to back out, you know." Tristan said, looking at her face as the two stood on the edge of the bridge.
"I thought you wanted me to do this." Rory said confused, why was he giving her the chance to back out?
He chuckled, "I do, but look at you, you're petrified; we could just skip this if you want." he said, tucking a strand of hair that had fallen out of the messy bun behind her ear.
Sometimes she really wondered how he had turned from a jerk that annoyed the hell out of her, to a sweet, caring boyfriend that made her feel weak in the knees. Now she wasn't saying that he was a completely innocent guy or anything —like Nick had been, for the most part anyway... why was she thinking about him?— Tristan was far from innocent, but there was definitely a difference from the guy he had been before.
Despite her nervousness, she shook her head defiantly. Where was her sense of adventure? This could be fun, it would be fun. "No, I'm gunna do this."
"You sure?"
Two months ago, she would've thought she'd have a higher chance of dancing with mud covered rhinos wearing fluorescent green tutus in Liechtenstein, than go bungee jumping with Tristan Dugrey as her boyfriend. Yet here she was, standing on the edge of a bridge with him, strapped up in safety harnesses, about to make a who knows how far jump; but judging by the quick peek over the edge she had made, it was pretty damn far down.
Reassured by his comforting arms around her, she nodded into his chest, "Yea."
And then they took the plunge.
SweetCherryPie: So... you still...?
NickMac: Well, yea, but not as often anymore. It used to happen practically every other night.
SweetCherryPie: Yea, I mean, it's just so hard to remember to go to the bathroom every night before you go to bed, sometimes it just slips your mind.
NickMac: I knew you'd understand.
SweetCherryPie: Of course, but, you can actually control it, right?
NickMac: Oh, yea, of course! But I just forget sometimes, you know? Plus I've been having some dreams...
SweetCherryPie: Oh yea? What kinds of dreams?
NickMac: Well, they're kinda like REALLY, REALLY scary nightmares.
SweetCherryPie: Do you want to talk about it?
NickMac: Not really, and you'll laugh.
SweetCherryPie: Now why in the world would I laugh? Come on, you can tell me...
Rory and Tristan dangled upside down from the bungee cord, still holding on to each other tightly.
"Omigod." Rory breathed out.
"Now that, was the true definition of fun."
"That scared the living hell out of me."
Tristan shifted his position slightly so that he could look at her face, "But definitely something to remember?"
She smiled, "Definitely something to remember."
And then he kissed her.
"No, he was dinosaur; I'm his sister, I remember these things!" Rory said as the two sat in a coffee shop later that evening after they had finished dinner—which according to Rory, was way too expensive. How they had started debating about Danny's Halloween costume from when he was five, she didn't know, it was just one of those conversations where it flowed from one random topic to another.
"Yes, but I went trick-or-treating with him, I was with him the whole time, I think I would know what he wore. You and the girls were too busy prancing around in your pretty little princess costumes to really pay any attention. He was an alien, antennae and all."
"He was not, he was a dinosaur! And I liked my Cinderella costume!"
"Hey, I'm not saying I didn't like it, I thought you looked gorgeous."
"Yea, uh huh, I wish I could say the same about you... a dead pirate just doesn't cut it for me."
"That's what you say, but really, you were drooling over my god-like body and—"
"Tristan, we were five."
"Doesn't mean you can't appreciate a fine male specimen, in which case, that would be me." he said, pointing is thumb to his chest.
"Ego check Mr. Dugrey."
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, as if pondering something, and the next thing he knew she had her cell phone up to her ear and she began drumming her fingers on the table as she waited for the person at the other end of the line to pick up.
"Who are you phoning?" he asked.
"Danny." she said a-matter-of-factly.
He furrowed his brow, "You're calling your brother in the middle of our date?"
"Well I think he was a dinosaur and you think he was an alien, so the only way that we can wrap this up is by asking the costume-wearer himself."
He chuckled at her determination to win the smallest little disagreement.
"Hey," Rory said when Danny answered the phone.
"Rory! Uhhh, hey."
"Were you a dinosaur or an alien?"
"Huh?"
"What'd you dress up as for Halloween when you were five? A dinosaur or an alien?"
"Ummm, I think I was—" he paused as he motioned for the guys to stop talking about their plans for tonight, "Rory's on the phone." he whispered to them, but apparently a bit too loudly.
"Danny?"
"Oh, right, yea, I think I was, ahhh—"
"What are you doing?" she interrupted him, since when did he ever bother to let the people around him know that she was on the phone?
"Nothing." he lied, cringing at his stupidity; of course she would know that something was up.
"Try again."
"Aren't you on a date?" he said, trying to change the subject.
"Yes. So what are you doing?"
"You're out with your boyfriend and you called me to ask what I was doing?"
"No, I called to ask you whether you were a dinosaur or an alien for Halloween when you were five, but now—"
"I was a pumpkin."
"A pumpkin?"
"Yea, a green pumpkin, I remember how the stem on top of my head almost caught on fire when Mom was lighting the sparklers." He just hoped that she'd leave it at that.
"Danny, stop avoiding my question." she said, looking over at Tristan who now had a bored expression on his face, she had just intended to have a short little talk with Danny to figure out what his costume had been, but that was before she knew he was up to something.
"Nothing, just watching some TV with the guys. Now I suggest you return to your date, 'cause somehow I don't think Tristan's enjoying the fact that you're having a conversation with your brother right this second."
"Why are you being so secretive lately? The last time you wouldn't tell me something it was because—" she paused as realization hit her, "Danny..."
"Look Rory, it's nothing seriously, listen, I gotta go, I'll see ya later, bye."
"But—" she said just as the other line went dead. Slowly, she put her cell phone back in her purse.
"Is everything okay?" Tristan asked, concerned with the sudden change of tone in her voice at the end of the call.
Rory forced a smile, "Yea, of course."