Rory was sitting in her room alone, Lorelai was at the inn because Sookie had caught something on fire and Michael was being, well Michael. Rory was on the internet waiting for someone to get on when all of a sudden an IM popped up
HELLONEARTH: hey
COFFEELOVER2: hi
Rory didn't know who the screen name belonged to so after a moment of hesitation she decided to find out.
COFFEELOVER2: who is this?
HELLONEARTH: Mary, i'm disappointed, you don't remember me
COFFEELOVER2: omg, Tristan?
HELLONEARTH: so you do remember me
COFFEELOVER2: stop your smirking
HELLONEARTH: Mary, you can't see me, how would you know if i was smirking
COFFEELOVER2: because i know you tristan, your smirking
HELLONEARTH: so u know me huh?
COFFEELOVER2: oh god, what do u want anyway?
HELLONEARTH: i'm hurt, can't i just want to talk?
COFFEELOVER2: no
HELLONEARTH: y not?
COFFEELOVER2: because it's you we're talking about
HELLONEARTH: what's that suppose to mean?
COFFEELOVER2: just what it sounds like
HELLONEARTH: fine then
COFFEELOVER2: are you leaving now?
HELLONEARTH: yes i am
COFFEELOVER2: yippie
HELLONEARTH: harsh
COFFEELOVER2: yup
HELLONEARTH: fine
COFFEELOVER2: ok, you can leave now
HELLONEARTH: fine see you tomorrow
COFFEELOVER2: not if i'm lucky
HELLONEARTH: fine be that way
COFFEELOVER2: i will
But when she hits the send button, the message "HELLONEARTH is currently signed off" popped up. Rory couldn't believe that Tristan actually signed off on her, she just sat there with her mouth hanging opened for a while. After she finally regained some sense she shook her head as if it would help to clear it, then muttered "he actually signed off"
"who did?" came a sudden voice from the her doorway, this made Rory jump and turn turn around with a start, she had been after all, home alone.
RORY: what are you doing here?
She asked to the person now casually leaning against her doorframe with a sideways smile stuck into its normal place. She sounded somewhat amused but mostly startled and nervous.
PERSON: well i started thinking about you home all alone and scared so i thought i'd drop by
Rory slightly smiled at the thought with her eyes cast downwards but when she looked up, the small smile was no longer evident, in its place was, instead, a look mixed with discomfort and hesitation.
RORY: Jess, you really shouldn't be here
JESS: oh right, boyfriend thing
RORY: Jess, you know he doesn't like you as it is and if he finds out you were here, well
The sideways smile Jess had been wearing disappered and in its place was now a look of slight disappointedness but more annoyance than anything else. Rory had known beforehand that he wouldn't take it the way that she was hoping, she really didn't want to make him leave but at the same thing she wasn't exactly in the mood for a fight with her boyfriend. No matter the reason, however, she felt bad for making Jess feel anything but welcome around her.
JESS: Rory, i'm not scared of Dean, but since YOU want me to leave, i will
RORY: you know i didn't mean it like that
JESS: whatever, i'm gonna go
Rory had sounded desperate, willing Jess to believe that she it wasn't that she didn't want him there. But Jess just went with what he heard, and that was that he wasn't wanted there so he turned around and did what she had wanted. Rory tried to call after him
RORY: jess!
But he had already left, she sat there a few minutes thinking, pondering what she should do to make it up to Jess and show him that they were still friends, then she thought about Tristan and how he had left too. As she was thinking about this, she got aggravated and threw her hands up in frustration "errr, god, all the boys leave"
"all the boys?" intervened a new voice, coming from not far behind her, so just as before, she jumped in her seat and turned her head around to see who the voice had been coming from, though having already registered it, it was somewhat unnecessary.
RORY: Dean, what are you doing here?
DEAN: i knew your mom wasn't home and i wanted to make sure that you were ok here by yourself
He said while shrugging, Rory normally would have smiled slightly but for some reason, she really didn't feel like it right now. So, instead, she shrugged herself and glanced at her computer.
RORY: oh yeah, i'm fine
DEAN: ok now what was the 'all the boys leave' comment about?
RORY: oh, that? nothing, just talking to myself
Rory didn't really feel like talking to Dean right now, she wanted to give her attention back to the computer and find someone interesting to talk to. Dean found Rorys comment somewhat strange but didn't really think much of it and decided he didn't really have anything else to talk about.
DEAN: ok, well if your ok than i guess i should go, i don't want to get in trouble with your mom for being here while she's not
RORY: ok, well then i'll talk to you tomorrow sometime
DEAN: ok, bye
He leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips before heading towards the door, however, he stopped in his tracts when he heard the sound of an IM popped up onto the computer screen.
HELLONEARTH: i know you told me to go away but i'm lonely in this big old house and i need someone to talk to
DEAN: who's that?
He asked after having turned around and now looking at the computer screen and the IM now, not so luckily for Rory, set in the exact middle of the screen.
RORY: oh, just someone from school
She casually shrugged, hoping that one of them would leave, but no such luck, Dean pulled up a chair and sat down beside Rory while Tristan continued to type.
HELLONEARTH: please talk to me, i'll stop callin you Mary
Dean turned to stare at Rory, he looked infuriated and certainly not like he was going anywhere anytime soon. Rory refused to look at him, she knew this wasn't going to be exactly pretty, actually, the furthest thing from it, that was a dead give away of who she was talking to.
DEAN: your talking to Tristan!
RORY: Dean, calm down, he was just talking to me, there's nothing wrong
She had finally turned to look at him and was frustrated herself right now, she really didn't feel like getting into something with Dean right now, he was mostly a nice guy and protectiveness can sometimes be cute but with him it was majorly overdone and got annoying very quickly.
DEAN: Rory, i hate that guy and i'm not comfotable with you talking to him
RORY: Dean, i go to school with him, i'm gonna have to talk to him sometimes
DEAN: i really don't like the idea of him talking to you and i understand sometimes it's unavoidable but right now you don't have to
Rory sighed, sick of this conversation already and willed Dean to just get up and leave without saying anything else but she knew he would never do that so she closed her eyes for a moment and when she reopened them, looked at the screen.
HELLONEARTH: Rory?
HELLONEARTH: see i called you by your real name, now will you please talk?
HELLONEARTH: did i do something?
COFFEELOVER2: right now isn't the best time
HELLONEARTH: why? is something wrong?
COFFEELOVER2: everything's fine, i gotta go
Rory reached forward and turned off the computer screen, then turned to Dean to see if he was finally satisfied. He was still looking at where the IM had been, even though it was now just a black screen
RORY: ok, i'm not talking to Tristan, everything's fine, you should go before my mom gets home
DEAN: yeah, i should get going, i'll see you tomorrow
And after Dean had walked out of Rory's room, her following close behind, and was about to leave, the phone rang, so he stopped where he was, standing right beside the door, and waited to see who it was. Rory picked up the receiver and quickly put it up to her ear.
RORY: hello?
PERSON: hey, is there anything wrong there?
'oh god' Rory thought 'sooo not good timing'
RORY: hold on a second
She turned towards Dean, who was standing there waiting to figure out who it was, and put her hand over the receiver before speaking to him.
RORY: you can go, everything's fine, it's just someone from school wanting the homework
DEAN: ok, then i'll see you tomorrow
And he finally left after giving his girlfriend one last suspious look. Rory slowly lowered her hand from the receiver and spoke into it.
RORY: why are you calling me, Tristan?
TRISTAN: well you signed off in a hurry, i just wanted to make sure everything was ok
RORY: yes, everything's ok...and why do you care all of a sudden?
Rory was suddenly suspious herself as to why Tristan was talking to her and acting like he cared.
TRISTAN: i've always cared
RORY: oh god Tristan! you can't even be serious for two minutes! i thought we were having an actual conversation
Tristan had, as always, riled Rory up just like he wanted. However, right then the doorbell rang and Rory spun around in surprise, she had still been standing in the front entrance with her back to the door.
RORY: hold on, someone's at the door
TRISTAN: you know you shouldn't open the door to strangers
RORY: ok, i won't but i don't think anyone's gonna hurt me, it's stars hollow
Rory silently laughed and rolled her eyes in amusement then opened the door to find Jess standing there with coffee.
RORY: Jess?...come in
JESS: i brought some of luke's coffee
Jess held up the coffee to show that he came with in peace which made Rory laugh and nod her head before moving aside to let him pass into the house.
RORY: thanks and i'm sorry about earlier, i didn't mean it in that way
JESS: i know...so who's on the phone?
RORY: oh yeah, phone, hold on a second
Rory just remembered that she had been talking to Tristan and picked the phone back up again from where she had set it on the small table beside the lamp. She turned away from Jess and spoke into the receiver again.
RORY: i've got to go
TRISTAN: why do you always have to go when we start talking?
RORY: well right now i have a guest over
TRISTAN: let me guess, Dean?
Rory rolled her eyes, you could tell Tristan hated Dean just as much as Dean hated Tristan, and actually smiled before answering.
RORY: actually no
TRISTAN: wow, who then?
Tristan sounded amazed but Rory just shrugged, more so to herself since he couldn't see her, and answered casually.
RORY: Jess
TRISTAN: wow, Rory has another guy in her house?
Tristan was even more amazed now, and somewhat impressed though he had said it in a joking tone.
RORY: oh shut up, he's just a friend
TRISTAN: yeah, i'm sure
Rory shook her head, that was Tristan, always talking like that, like nobody could be just friends with anyone of the opposite sex. But she didn't really want to get into that kind of thing right then with him, Jess was still waiting patiently for her and besides, he had brought over coffee and she really wanted that beverage right about now so that would involve getting off of the phone with Tristan.
RORY: well he just brought coffee over so i'm going to hang up now
TRISTAN: so coffee's the way to your heart
RORY: you found my weakness
She replied with fake enthusiusm, right then someone knocked on the door so Rory walked over, giving Jess a shrug indicating she didn't know who it was, and opened it to see Dean standing there, this confused her, it hadn't even been 20 minutes.
RORY: Dean? What are you doing here? You just left
DEAN: what's HE doing here!
Dean sounded extremely mad so Rory turned around and saw he was talking about Jess, she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before turning back to her overly protective boyfriend.
RORY: Dean, you know Jess is my friend
DEAN: so what, he can be here when your mom's not home but I, your BOYFRIEND, can't!
RORY: Dean, it's not like that, he just got here, he's not staying
DEAN: and who the hell are you on the phone with? It's not someone from school that wanted the homework like you said because if it was, the conversation would be over by now!
Rory sighed heavily and curled her fist that was not holding the phone with annoyance that made her want to hit something, even though she never would because that just isn't a Rory thing to do. Slowly she uncurled it and then looked up at Dean, noticing somebody walking up behind him, it was her mother. She let out a little sigh of relief for the interuption.
LORELAI: what's going on here?
Lorelai asked after walking up the steps and looking at everybody, Rory didn't exactly know how to explain the situation and all she really wanted was to be able to collect her thoughts for a moment without being interupted by person after person.
RORY: ummm...
JESS: i just came by to bring over some coffee from Luke's for you two, i should get going
Jess jumped in when he saw Rory struggling, trying to help her out, and he leaned over Rory to hand the cups to Lorelai to prove his story. Lorelai gave Jess a big smile and anxiously grabbed the coffee from his extended hand, then putting it near her mouth and taking in the oh-so-familer aroma and taking a sip before lowering it.
LORELAI: you brought coffee, good boy, good excuse, you are free to go
Then she turned to Dean to let him explain the reason that he was there, all this time Tristan is still on the phone listening to everything that is going on. Dean was still glaring at Jess and it took him a minute before he realized that Lorelai wanted an explaintaion from him so he quickly went into his story, not being able to hide the evident anger at the whole situation.
DEAN: i came by to check on Rory and HE was here and Rory was on the phone so i wanted to figure out what was going on
LORELAI: well now you know, so i think you should be going home
Lorelai never had much sympathy when it came to guys and Rory. Dean nodded and glanced one more time at Rory before slowly walking away. Suddenly Rory remebered that Tristan was still on the phone waiting for her. Lorelai saw Rory quickly start to lift the phone back up to her ear and gave her a suspicious look.
LORELAI: and who are you on the phone with?
RORY: someone from school
She replied a little too quickly for it to be believable but Lorelai decided not to comment on it. She did, however, want some food and coffee.
LORELAI: well hurry up, i want to go to Luke's
RORY: ok, i'll just be a minute
And she walked into her room, having Lorelai yell after her 'ok but i'm timing you'. She laughed at her crazy mother and finally put the phone all the way back up to her ear.
RORY: sorry but i should go, i just had to straighten something out
TRISTAN: i heard...a friend from school huh?
RORY: yeah well, you could have gotten me in a lot of trouble with everyone if they knew who i was talking to, and besides, you are from school
Rory tried hard to explain her excuse, not sure why she felt she had to explain in the first place. Tristan found this highly amusing, so much so that Rory could hear the smirk through his voice.
TRISTAN: why would you get in trouble?...so they know who i am?
RORY: leave it to you to make it sound like that but yes, they know who you are, though they know you by a different name
She added the last part with a little smile of her own. This didn't bother Tristan however, in fact, it made him all the more playful and gave him more information to aggravate her with, which was, afterall, something he loved to do.
TRISTAN: so you do talk about me
RORY: keep in mind that it is in a very BAD way
She desperately tried to fix everything, convince him that it's not like she talked about how much she loved him or anything like that. But she already knew it was useless, with Tristan if you let one thing slip then you can't take it back and no matter what you say, he always finds a way to put his own kind of twist onto it.
TRISTAN: yes, but you talk about me all the same
RORY: you're impossible
Rory made one last attempt to get Tristan to give up but he just completely ignored her statement and continued on with his own subject.
TRISTAN: different name? what would that be? god?
RORY: try 'the evil one' 'Deans worst enemy' or the most famous one and my personal favorite, 'spawn of satan', that seems to be most peoples favorite but you can take your pick
TRISTAN: you have your own little nicknames for me, aww, how sweet. But you know that now you can't complain about me calling you Mary
RORY: oh yes i can, because you earned yours, i did nothing to get mine
She persisted on a desperate attempt to secure her actual name once and for all. But instead of helping her case at all, Tristan simply used the wording to his own advantage. Rory could hear the smirk through his voice once again.
TRISTAN: that's exactly the point, Mary, you did nothing
RORY: errrr i have better things to do then be sitting here fighting with you
TRISTAN: 'Deans worst enemy'? That's not nice, what did I do to him?
RORY: Don't act offended Tristan, it doesn't become you. Anyway, most of the town gave you that one simply because they can tell how much Dean hates you
TRISTAN: so your boyfriend hates me?
RORY: yes, very much so
TRISTAN: why, does he relize i'm competition?
RORY: competition for what?
TRISTAN: for you
RORY: whatever tristan, you know that's no competition
TRISTAN: so you've finally came to your senses and decided to be with me?
RORY: maybe in your dreams, but this is reality
TRISTAN: yup, in my dreams we're together
She sometime wondered why she even bothered trying to argue with Tristan, she never actually won the little banters, he always had a come back waiting no matter what she said to him. He was just so damn persistant, then again that's part of what made the banters so entertaining.
RORY: you never give up do you?
TRISTAN: nope
RORY: well, your just wasting your time but whatever
TRISTAN: we'll see about that
RORY: if you say so
TRISTAN: if i say so?
Rory could tell that Tristan was going somewhere with this but she wasn't even going to waste her breath on trying to stop him, whatever she said, he would still find a way to get to his point sooner or later, most likely sooner, in the conversation.
RORY: yup
TRISTAN: so if i say that we're going out...
RORY: then the 'if you say so' doesn't apply
TRISTAN: why not?
RORY: because that will never happen
TRISTAN: why?
Tristan made himself sound disappointed and genuinely confused, figuring this might get Rory started on one of her little 'you're so frustrating' episodes. However, she never skipped a beat.
RORY: because for one, i have a boyfriend and two, i just can't stand you
TRISTAN: i'm hurt
RORY: oh i'm soo sorry
She said in mock sincerity, sarcasm dripping from her words. But as it was Tristan she was talking to, he totally ignored the sarcasm and mock part of the sincerity.
TRISTAN: you should be
RORY: yeah, so anyway i've got to go
TRISTAN: again with the go thing, you've said that like 3 times already and we're still talking
He sounded way too satisfied with this aparent fact, it made Rory crazy how no matter how hard she tried to return his tauntings and deflat his ego, it just simply never seemed to have any effect on him.
RORY: fine then i will actually go this time
TRISTAN: no, i didn't mean for you to go
For once he sounded seriously disappointed, this kind of threw Rory for a loop and it took her a minute to finally get out what she was going to say. It probably sounded really lame but at the moment she couldn't really think of anything better.
RORY: well i really have to go anyway because otherwise my mom is going to come in and drag me out of here
TRISTAN: why would she do that?
RORY: she wants to go to Luke's
TRISTAN: who's Luke?
RORY: he's our coffee supplier and food supplier
TRISTAN: food supplier?
RORY: he owns a diner and we go there everyday and have at least two of our meals there
TRISTAN: two meals everyday there!
Tristan was shocked, what in the world was Rory doing eating two out of her three meals at a diner? Rory laughed at the sound of Tristans surprise.
RORY: yup, we don't cook, or should i say can't
Tristan quickly recovered from his shock as if nothing had been amiss.
TRISTAN: well maybe i'll have to teach you some time
RORY: we were actually having a decent conversation there and then you say something like that and i remember why we don't talk
TRISTAN: but we do talk
RORY: not voluntaraly
TRISTAN: so what are you saying? you don't like talking to me?
RORY: that's exactly what i'm saying
TRISTAN: ouch, who taught you to throw comebacks like that
RORY: my mom
TRISTAN: who taught her cause i know she didn't learn from her parents
RORY: it was instinct, who taught you? Not your parents
TRISTAN: mine is instinct too
RORY: so why'd you ask if you knew it could be ins...oh nevermind...oh yeah, how'd you get my phone number?
She didn't even feel it was worth it to finish her question, who knew what Tristan would reply for an answer, probably something that made no sense and was totally irrelavent, or, knowing him he would somehow find a way to twist something she had said around. Instead she asked what she had been curious about from the beginning of their conversation.
TRISTAN: a friend
RORY: a friend being?
TRISTAN: secret, bye mar
Aparently no matter how curious Rory was about the subject, she wasn't going to get an answer from him.