AN: I realize it's been like a week or whatever. In my defense, I wrote two one-shots, one of which being my Trory Spring Exchange Fic, which will be up for display sometime near the end of this month at the Seasonal Passions site. Check in there soon as the fics should be rolling in soon! Back to this story, thanks to all who've been reviewing, as always I hope you enjoy this new installment.
Rory sat at the huge dining table across from Tristan, and both were being closely watched by his grandfather. The room was mostly silent, interspersed with Janlan's attempts to coax more conversation out of the younger couple. They'd been quiet since their arrival just an hour before, and he wondered exactly what was going on between them. He knew very well that Rory had been in Paris during Tristan's confrontation with his father—and that they'd had some sort of disagreement before their departure for Paris as well. But when last he spoke with his grandson, he said that everything had been cleared up. The sullen, tight-lipped people in front of him didn't give off airs of everything being fine.
"So, Rory, how is your internship going?"
"Oh, fine."
"What do they have you doing?" Janlan attempted to continue to probe her for information, to at least get them through the main course without this painful lull in conversation.
"Well, actually, my supervisor has me doing more research and less grunt work," she admitted, putting her utensils across her plate to signify her satiation.
"When did this happen?" Tristan suddenly looked up at her, and Janlan also perked up at the interest his grandson took. Perhaps now something could get accomplished.
Rory gave him a deer caught in headlights look. "Uh, just a couple of days ago."
"You had your meeting?" he continued.
"Yes."
"Meeting?" Janlan asked.
"Just with my supervisor, you know, a performance review. It's not a big deal," she assured them both.
"You were freaking out about it before, and now it's no big deal?" Tristan inquired.
"Can we talk about something else?" she requested, clearly uncomfortable with all eyes on her.
Janlan cleared his throat and attempted to think of anything else to talk about. He saw his grandson's inability to take his eyes off of Rory and how Rory seemed unwilling to meet Tristan's gaze. He needed to divide and conquer.
"Well, I don't know about the two of you, but I'm not feeling up for dessert tonight. I think I'll take a walk. Rory, would you care to join me?" he asked, standing up to help Rory out of her seat, ever the true gentleman.
"Actually, I was hoping to speak with Rory," Tristan interrupted, also standing up.
"Well, then you should have made your claims sooner, son," he said with authority. "Rory?"
"Of course," she nodded, tossing a look of uncertainty to Tristan. She'd promised herself—and her mother, who wouldn't let the topic drop—that she would talk to Tristan about Mr. Hall's offer this weekend. She couldn't make the decision without at least mentioning the possibility to him, and she only had one more week in which to decide.
Once they got outside, Rory fell into step silently with Janlan as he headed out toward the gardens. He allowed her a moment of quiet, getting her away from the house and any prying ears.
"So, care to tell me exactly what was going on in there?"
She shuffled her feet as she kept to the slower pace that Janlan had set. "What do you mean?"
"Is this about Paris?"
She shook her head and smiled sadly. "No, it's just—it's nothing. Just something he and I need to discuss."
"I see. He's unaware of whatever is happening?"
Rory nodded. "For now."
Janlan steered her elbow to turn down yet another pathway, and let her take he lead down the narrow-most part. "Well, in that case, I wanted to make sure you were okay with the family issues you stumbled upon in Paris."
"I'm fine. Tristan explained everything to me."
"I'm sure he did," he paused. "But I know his father much better than he does. I'm going to do my best to keep the two of you out of Kieran's line of fire. He's not taking this lightly, but mainly right now it's his lawyers speaking with mine. He's trying to prove that Tristan signed some loyalty contract to his company, but the bottom line is that anything Tristan would have signed can be proved to have happened when he was a minor and under supervision of his parents—thus negating the whole deal. Tristan is going to be free to work for me or whomever he chooses in the future. I have a feeling the future is on his mind a great deal lately."
Janlan's double meaning wasn't lost on Rory, and she blushed as she could feel his gaze focus in on her. It was all she'd been thinking of as well, but it all seemed a big jumble in her thoughts. It wasn't fair to Tristan if she stayed in London, and she couldn't see not being with him or not taking the internship options. At least, not good options. She stopped along the path, feeling the pressure to confess. The bottom line was that she needed to talk to Tristan, as sweet as his grandfather was being. The tension at dinner had been insurmountable, and she couldn't really blame him for his tactics.
"I should probably talk to Tristan."
"Do you mind if I do so first?"
Rory shook her head. "No, of course. But, can you not mention anything about my needing to talk to him?"
Janlan paused for a moment, choosing his words. "I won't bring it up, but I believe he knows something is going on. Either that, or there's something he has on his mind that he needs to discuss with you as well."
"I'll just go and get him," she smiled weakly, leaving Janlan near the walled off garden that Tristan had taken her to on their first outing to the property. She found him sitting in the parlor, drinking brandy out of a snifter. He looked up when her shadow fell across the floor in front of him.
"Hey," he smiled, outstretching a hand to her.
"Hey. I wanted to talk to you, but your grandfather called dibs on you," she giggled softly, moving to sit on his left knee.
"Promise you'll wait up for me?"
She kissed his cheek. "Of course. Now, give me that, and I'll see you when you get back up to our room."
He handed her the remainder of his drink and kissed the top of her head after she took his place in the chair. She took a whiff of the fragrant alcohol and watched as he slipped out the front door, off to meet his grandfather.
XXXX
"You rang?"
"Is there something you need to tell me?"
"What makes you ask?"
"Cut the question game, Tristan. I realize this whole scene with your parents has made you consider your future. What are you seeing as your options?"
Tristan let out a sigh and ran one hand through his messy blonde locks. "Cutting straight to the point tonight, are we?"
"You've known me to be any different in the past? Where do you think you get your attitude?" the older man joked.
"You didn't interrogate Rory like this, did you?"
"What do you take me for, a fool?"
Tristan smirked. "What did she tell you?"
"None of your damn business."
Tristan looked taken aback for a moment, but didn't want to hear the old man tell him that the whole damn world didn't revolve around him. He already knew this to be true.
"I have been giving my future some thought. I came out to London trying to buy myself some time, but it hasn't worked out that way."
"Now you've got all the time in the world. My lawyers will see to that."
Tristan nodded gratefully. "And I appreciate that."
"Listen. You're 21 years old. You think that you can take a year off here and bum around for six months there and it won't matter because you've got your whole life to figure things out, am I correct?"
"I wouldn't go that far," Tristan protested.
"I was young once too, remember. But what I want you to think about now is that there are things that only come along once in this life. You think you're immortal and your chances are innumerable, but that's not how life works."
"What are you talking about?" Tristan asked, feeling his stomach tighten in understanding.
"You've kept me apprised of all the issues the two of you have been working your way through. One moment you two seem indestructible and the next you're letting her storm off, each time for all you know could mean her walking out of your life forever. And when the two of you came in this evening, it was clear to me that there are things unsaid between the two of you."
"What are you, my Jedi master?" he snarked.
"Shut up and listen for a moment longer," he instructed. "This girl isn't something that is going to come around again in your life. What aren't you telling her?"
Tristan rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and nodded. "I'm trying not to scare her off. She isn't ready for more right now, and it's all I can think about."
"Don't put words in her mouth. What are you thinking about? Do you see a future with her?"
"Yes. I do."
"Then make her talk. And don't keep her in the dark. You're free from your family concerns. Leave that to me. You concentrate on more important things."
Tristan nodded and patted his grandfather on the back. "I get it," he assured him. "Can I go talk to her now?"
"If you know what's good for you," Janlan said, pulling his grandson in for a hug. "One last thing."
Tristan looked up, his attention held.
"No matter what happens, never let her be able to doubt how you feel for her."
"I'll see you in the morning," Tristan shoved his hands into his pockets, and turned to walk back up to the house.
XXXX
Rory was still up, true to her word, but she was nestled underneath the covers with a book occupying her attention. She looked up and placed the now closed book on the pillow next to her upon his entrance into the room.
"I'm making progress. Once upon a time, you would have kept reading."
She shook her head in amusement. "Did you come up here to give me a hard time?" she chided him.
"Never," he held up three fingers in a sign of honor. "Come on, get up."
"Up? But I thought you were coming to bed," she winked at him knowingly.
"There is time for that later, my dear," he assured her. "I thought we'd take a walk of our own. They're very popular tonight."
"Okay. Just let me grab a sweater," she paused as she swung her legs out from under the covers. "And some pants."
"Must you?" he came up in front of her and ran his hands up underneath the T-shirt that was covering her as best it could.
"If you keep that up, not much talking or walking will get done," she warned him.
He groaned, but knew she was right, stepping back with raised hands to let her finish pulling her clothes on. He took her hand once she was ready and then pulled her under his arm as they continued to walk out into the chilly night air.
He cleared his throat once they reached the walled garden, and she looked at him before he led them inside. "So, there are some things I've been wanting to talk to you about," he began.
She put her hand up and pressed a finger to his lips. "No, wait. I need to go first."
He furrowed his brow at her insistency and the urgency in her voice. She swallowed hard, and moved back from him in order to pace back and forth a bit. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this for days now. I know I should have told you as soon as I found out, but I just didn't know how. Part of me felt like it was my thing to figure out, but the more I thought about it the more I saw that was selfish of me—after all, this affects you too," she babbled, until he caught her shoulders with both hands, steadying her in front of him.
His face was unreadable. His eyes were warm and concerned, but his lips were set in a straight line. She took another deep breath, now just wanting to tell him as quickly as possible and get it over with.
"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be," she admitted, now looking directly into his eyes.
"Oh my God," he breathed in realization, and pulled her in to his chest. "Rory, this is going to be fine."
"What's going to be fine?" she asked, not getting the conclusion he was busy jumping to.
"I've been giving this a lot of thought, lately, about what I want out of life. And maybe we haven't got this all planned out as much as you'd like, but Rory, I've known for quite some time that I want to be with you. I want to marry you," he leaned down to kiss her lips that were parted in shock from his revelation.
"You want to marry me? But, what—why?"
"I know what you're thinking, you're worried that this is because you're pregnant, and not because I really want to, but I can't imagine going one more day without waking up next to you," his voice was full of sincerity, as were his eyes.
"We can't get married," she blurted out, her mind reeling from the last five minutes of their conversation.
"Rory, I know right now this is overwhelming, but just--," he began, but she cut him off, her voice much louder than his.
"Tristan, I'm not pregnant, I've been offered a job in London. They want me to stay in London!" she blurted out.
