A/N: Well, here it is… The story is coming to an end. I'm almost crying. But I'm excited to get the sequel out, I've been working on it since chapter eight. Have fun reading! Oh, shrtscrqt, he didn't find about them, but he jumped to conclusions when he found the slutty underwear. He raped her. He raped her well.

Chapter 18. Tears of Freedom

They had gotten into another fight, her and Tristan. It was the last night. She had to leave his house, it was so bad. Now, she couldn't even remember what it was about. She didn't want to think about it.

She sat up in her bed and sighed. Ashe grabbed her cell phone, and turned it on. When the screen came up, it said she had a message from Tristan.

She sighed, but still pressed the button to hear it.

She cried suddenly when she finally put it to her ear. He was strumming on the guitar and singing. "I am thinking it's a sign / That the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they're perfectly aligned."

When she finished listening to the message, she called him back, sobbing.

"I thought you'd like it," he said, no 'hello?'

"I love you so much."

"I love you more."

"I don't think it's possible."

"Sure, it is."

She was right there. On the bed, sleeping. She looked dead. She might as well have been, after what Ron had done to her.

She opened one eye slowly, her other being swollen from a bruise. He rubbed little circles on her hands as he was holding them.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What (pause) are you doing (pause) here?"

He could tell it was hard for her to get just those words out.

It hurt him as much as it hurt her.

"Come on, Rory," tears were in his eyes, "You know I care about you."

"But – But," he saw the tears in her eyes as well, "You left!"

He could hardly hear her voice, it was so hoarse.

"Do you need water?"

"I saw you leave. I saw you." The tears fell onto her cheeks and streamed down her face.

"Here," he handed her a glassful.

"You said you loved me – you said you wouldn't leave."

"Drink, I can hear how dehydrated you are."

"Why are you avoiding talking about it?" She drank from the plastic cup.

"Rory, I need you to understand. Please."

"How can I understand? You lied to me," she was choked up on her tears.

"Rory, please. I couldn't do it. You have to understand. It hurt too much. I got too emotionally involved."

He looked down at his hands, now in his lap.

"Why was that so bad?"

He stood hastily. "Because you had a boyfriend waiting for you. He might have been a son of a bitch, but you were his."

She winced. "Ow," she touched her stomach.

Tristan ran out to the hallway and called in a nurse.

"Well, good afternoon Miss Gilmore. I see you're finally awake. You have major bruises on a god fraction of your body. One of your rib bones has been fractured. That's why you have to stay here, your grandmother insisted on it. I need you to stay in this position that we have you in. Is that okay?"

Rory nodded.

"Good. Now, we injected you with some medication, but it doesn't really ease the pain away. You'll have mood swings also. Would you like to have me find your mom?"

She sighed. "Yes please."

The nurse smiled one more time and exited the room.

"I'm not anybody's possession. Not even yours. Well, anymore."

"You're right."

They stayed silent for a few seconds.

"You made me feel. And then you hurt me…."

"Rory! God damn it! Seeing you with him was tearing me apart! To the point where I would be depressed unless I was with you alone. Do you know that feeling?" A tear fell down his cheek.

"Yes, Tristan, I do. I felt it when I was with you. Why do you doubt so much?"

She suddenly erupted in uncontrollable sobs.

His face immediately turned to sympathy. He quickly went to her side. "Hey, baby, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

He tried to see to some place where he could cradle her, but there was none. Ron had beaten her up pretty bad.

"It just hurts so much…"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraid it's going to hurt for a long time." He sat next to her bed. "Rory, why'd you do it? …. It was so stupid…"

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. She paused and just gazed into his eyes. "I just wanted to be with you," she whispered.

"Rory!" Lorelai broke through the room, almost in tears.

Tristan sighed and stood, yet again, on the sidelines.

Later

He held her hand as they talked. It was the first time she had seen him in a while.

"I got you some books from your house."

"You did?"

"Yeah," he took some out. Consisting of The Metamorphosis of Ovid. She chuckled a little.

"Ow, don't make me laugh, Jess."

"I'm not trying to; I simply made a friendly gesture, bringing you these great, fine, pieces of literature."

She smiles up at him. The bruise on her eye has gone down and it's only been a couple of days.

He turns serious. "They treating you well?"

"As well as anyone could."

He nodded. "Good."

She returned the nod.

"Tristan was talking to me and he said that the police had asked multiple times to talk with you. Tristan's paying them off for the time being…. You have to speak with them sometime."

She bowed her head. "I don't think I can without…"

"You're tough, Rory. You can get through anything. Just look at your position now."

She smiled as much as she could. "Thank you."

"Anytime, babe, anytime."

He kissed her forehead and exited the room, seeing Tristan waiting patiently by the window.

"How is she?" Tristan asked him, standing up quickly.

"The same as twenty minutes ago." He slapped his arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Jess chuckled. "No, you're not. I can see the darkness in your eyes."

"It's just… the longer Rory isn't ready to talk to the police, the more time Ron has to get away. That bastard deserves more punishment than anyone."

"You should go to school."

"I did. Two days ago. Everyone was talking about me and Rory and Ron. I could hear them whispering while I passed in the halls."

"Go tomorrow. You need the break from this environment."

Tristan bowed his head, knowingly. "I'm gonna go in there."

"I'll see you at Luke's tonight?"

"Sure."

"Make sure you come this time. I mean it, you need to get out of here."

"What about Rory?"

"I'm sure she can handle one night with just Lorelai."

He walked toward the door and cracked it open. "I'll see you tonight."

A week after that

"Rory?" Tristan asked as he went through the door yet again.

She opened her eyes and smiled. "Hey," she whispered.

"I need to talk to you for a sec."

He sat by her and grabbed her hands and held them affection-ally.

She smiled over to him, her eyes glowing.

He didn't smile. "I know this is going to be really hard for you. Hell, it'd be hard for me. But there are cops outside the door. You need to talk to them."

Her smile faded as tears filled up her eyes. "Do you think I can do it?"

"Of course, Rory. You can do anything."

She sadly smiled. He gave her a kiss and nodded as he exited.

The room was filled again in a moment.

"Hello officers…"

A/N: Well, that's it. It might have been a little rushed, I think. I just really want to post the first chapter to the sequel. All my chapters are on average, 4 pages. But since I've been working so hard on this first chapter, it's 6 and a half! I'm so proud of myself. I'll post it tomorrow. Wait, it is tomorrow, right now. 12:35 am. Can you believe I'm writing for you this late? I love you too much. Review!

Paige