A/N: Oh, my god. Okay, thanks to one reviewer (I don't know your name, you were anonymous) Mi Vida means 'my life,' mi Amo means 'my love.' I'm so sorry for those of you that were confused. I don't know how I messed that up…? I'm in my first year of Spanish… that's probably why. Anyways, I'm going to go back to the last chapter and say 'my life.' And keep it mi Vida. Thank you so, so much.

Chapter 17. Falling

They fell on the bed, Rory expecting Tristan to do his thing and remove her clothes, like he had done the past few weeks. But this was different.

He looked up at her with his eyes sparkling. He didn't kiss her, just looked at her with those beautiful eyes.

"Do you want to know something?"

Rory's eyes widened in curiosity.

"I love you."

Her smile faded in surprise. She didn't speak.

"So much," he tried to persuade her.

She struggled with her words. "I… I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. In fact, I'd rather you not. I want you to just know. I don't want to rush you into anything you don't want to say." He pushed a strand of hair off of her face.

She responded into his touch and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she smiled and kissed him softly. "Thank you."

She didn't say anything else, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He laughed bitterly.

"I mean it. You can't hurt me anymore."

He smiled mischievously. "Can't I?"

She backed up while he was forwarding to her. "No," she hit the back wall, "you can't."

He slapped her. As she tried to get out of his grasp, he ran after her and took her waist and slammed her into the wall. She whimpered. "Rory," he started as he strolled around the kitchen, "you're pretty smart…. I just wonder how you could be so stupid around me. Did I do something?"

Tears escaped from her eyes, even though she tried desperately to keep them in. "No," she whispered.

He walked back up to her. He sighed, "Rory, Rory."

"What?" she probed.

"You better watch out what you're saying. Maybe, sometime, I'll test it out."

Then he left, and for the first time in a couple of hours, she felt as though she could breathe again.

She stumbled to the couch and fell onto it.

(Later)-

She woke up with a jolt. A knock on the door.

Rory walked and opened it. She smiled.

"Movie night," they said in unison.

"I need one, come in," she ushered.

"We have Abandon and Double Jeopardy. Along with a bunch of junk food, we know how much you can consume on an 'on' night," Jess said, setting up in the living room.

"I'm going to make coffee," Rory headed back to the kitchen.

"I'll help." Tristan followed her.

Once they were away, he cradled her from behind, his arms around her waist. "Have you been crying?" he asked, noticing her flushed cheeks before.

She shrugged, waiting for the coffee to warm up. She stared at it.

"Rory…?"

"Hmm?"

Tristan hated to see her with Ron. Sometimes, he couldn't even stand it. He had to look away from Rory's playing eyes. He knew she felt upset. But he hated that she didn't see what this "relationship" was doing to him. She was so happy, though. He could tell. But he hated that he was under her spell.

He sighed. "Nothing."

(Later)-

Lorelai trudged into her house, trying not to burst out laughing at the scene in front of her.

The three were on the couch, sleeping, Rory in the middle. The two boys' feet were on the table in front. Rory's legs were draped over Jess's, her head on Tristan's lap. Tristan's head was resting on the couch's arm, in the crook of his own arm. Jess was in an awkward position, bending over Rory, his head on her side.

Lorelai couldn't help it. She ran upstairs, got her handy, dandy, little, digital camera, and shot the trio. She smiled at her work and went back up the stairs to go to bed herself.

A rap on the door was in the background. Rory heard it in her dream state. She murmured incoherently into Tristan's naked chest. She could hear he was asleep.

"Rory…" someone called her. "Rory…?"

She pushed the voice out of her mind and tried to get back to her sleep. But her bedroom door was being knocked on.

"What!" she shouted, not thinking about her state of dress, or rather, undress.

The door opened, and her eyes widened at the figure that was in the door.

She covered herself up, as she tapped on Tristan's chest with her hand, trying hard to wake him up. Once he did, she looked up to the door at the other widened eyed male, then back to Tristan, just to, again, look back up to Jess.

"Please, understand."

He laughed. "Understand?" He got mean, again. "Understand!"

She took the sexy lingerie out of his hand. "It's just something my mother gave to me as a joke! It's nothing!"

"You whore! I knew it!"

"You don't know anything! This isn't anything. This is just a misunderstanding. If you'd just listen for once-"

It was, of course, a gift from Tristan.

"No," his voice growled. "You listen to me. If you can bitch around with others, you can bitch around with me."

She panicked. "What? What do you mean?"

"Put it on."

She saw his eyes.

"Ron…?" she pleaded.

"Put the fucking thing on!"

She did, her tears streaming freely on her face.

He took her hands and made her take off his jacket.

"Please," she pleaded, "please don't do this."

"You did this to yourself."

"Please, Ron," he made her take of other articles of his clothing, "please."

He forced her on the bed as she sobbed. She wanted this whole thing to be over with. So she let him rape her. There was nothing she could have done. Nothing.

She was left huddled in a ball on her bed, stripped. Ron dressed quickly after the deed was done, about only an hour since he had gotten there.

Rory knew that Tristan would drop by. She needed him. He was always there for her. He's the one that taught her how to feel again.

But hours passed and Tristan didn't come… and that's what hurt her the most.

(The next day)-

She needed to see Tristan. She needed to. She needed to hug him, and make love to him, and feel again what it was like to want to have sex again.

She walked down the halls at school, drifting in her mind. She could stop thinking about the last night. How it hurt so much, how he took everything of hers. Her pride, her dignity.

She walked out into the courtyard. She finally saw him. He looked at her with exhausted eyes and she clued him to go to their usual place, behind the school, right next to the fence, where no one went.

He got there before she did and when she saw him up close, she saw something else in his eyes, not exhaustion.

"Hey," she put her hand next to his cheek, "Baby, what's wrong?"

He pulled away and she tried to caress him once again. He grabbed her wrist and hastily threw it back at her.

She began to get tears in her eyes. "Wha-What?"

"Stop it, Rory. Just stop."

"Stop what! What am I doing?" Tears escaped and streamed down her drained face.

"We can't do it anymore."

What was left in her world came crashing down.

"I can't do it anymore."

"Tristan…?" She sobbed, "What?"

"Rory, please. We can't. Whenever I see you with," he gritted his teeth, "him, I can't stand it. I can't. I just can't."

"Tristan, please, please!" she pleaded. "Just tonight. Please, just tonight!"

"I'm sorry."

"Wait!" she called as he started to turn. "Please, please don't do this."

"It's something that has to be done."

And he left. Just like that.

"I love you too," she finally got it out.

"Rory, don't say anything you're not ready to say. Please."

"I know it! I do!"

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her.

"I love you so much, Rory. I'm never going to go."

She finally knew what she needed to do. She needed to break up with Ron.

A/N: Really fast, I know. But it needed to happen like this. There will be just one more chapter for this story. Maybe I'll split it into two. What do you think? And then it's on to the sequal! I'm so excited. Review!

Paige