Disclaimer: See prologue page. I also don't own Hear You Me, after which this chapter is named. That song belongs to Jimmy Eat World (very awesome band, by the way)
Chapter 4: Hear You Me
Jess and Tristan sat on couches facing each other. Jess looked at Tristan and studied him. He looked decent enough for Rory. Maybe he was.
"Age," Jess shot to Tristan.
"Twenty-one," Tristan replied.
Jess nodded. "Tattoos?"
Tristan nodded. "Yes."
Tristan showed Jess the Chinese symbol for 'strength', which was tattooed on his forearm.
"Piercings?" Jess asked.
Tristan shook his head. "Never."
"Do you smoke, drink, or do drugs?" Jess asked.
"I drink occasionally. I don't get drunk. I've never smoked or done any sort of drug -- with the exception of coffee," Tristan responded.
Jess eyed Tristan cautiously. "Am I going to have to kick your ass?"
Tristan shrugged. "I hope not. I don't want you to."
Rory and Shelly stood on the other side of the door listening to the conversation. Rory smiled as Tristan spoke those words.
Shelly gently rested her hand on Rory's shoulder. "He's so in love with you."
Rory looked at Shelly. "He is, isn't he?"
Jordan sat at the kitchen table. "You girls are pathetic."
Shelly turned around and glared at Jordan. "Eat your sandwich."
Jordan shook his head. "I'm just going to wait until after lunch to find out what's going on."
"Jess is grilling Tristan," Rory replied.
"And Tristan is doing quite well," Shelly added.
"How do you know Shelly and Jordan?" Jess questioned.
"I work with Jordan," Tristan replied.
Jess nodded. "You do know that they're listening in on us, right?"
"Yeah," Tristan said. "I figured since it's so quiet in the kitchen."
Shelly and Rory ran away from the door and began getting out bowls and opening drawers and cabinets.
Jess sighed. "She's crazy."
"She's a wonderful person," Tristan added.
Jess saw the glimmer in Tristan's eyes. He knew this guy was nothing like Dean.
"She told you about Dean," Jess stated.
Tristan nodded. "Yeah. He's an idiot. Did you kick his ass?"
"Along with the rest of the town," Jess replied. "And after Rory went into Crescent View, I had a little talk with him."
Rory and Shelly were now looking at one another. Rory winced at the mention of Dean, and folded her arms to her chest. She hated it when Jess talked about him or Crescent View.
Shelly went to put her arm around Rory, but Rory backed away, shaking her head.
"No," Rory whispered.
Shelly looked at Rory. "Rory, it's --"
Rory shook her head. "No. It's not."
Jordan watched cautiously. He knew what would happen next. He stood up and walked to the living room where Jess and Tristan were talking.
"Hey, Jordan," Jess greeted. "What's wrong?"
"She's going to run," Jordan replied.
They heard the back door slam. Tristan was the first one to run to the kitchen, where Shelly was standing.
"Where is she?" Tristan asked. "She doesn't know where she's going. She'll get lost out here."
Jess didn't need anymore proof as he watched Tristan move into frantic mode.
"Jess, you and I'll take my truck and search all the stores in town," Jordan said. "Tristan, you take your truck and look at all the places you think she'd go."
Tristan nodded, his hands shaking. "Okay."
Jess looked at Tristan and nodded at him. "We'll find her."
Shelly grabbed the phone. "I'll keep the phone and stay here in case she calls or comes back."
Jordan nodded. "Okay. We'll be back when we find her."
"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "When we find her"
Rory ran. She didn't know where to go. She just needed to get out. She didn't want to hear about any of it. She'd experienced it, she didn't want to relive it.
This wasn't the first time she'd run. At home, whenever her mother or father had mentioned Dean or the disgrace she'd brought to the Gilmore name because of Crescent View, she'd run and find a place where she could be alone for awhile. Usually she'd hop a bus and go to the bridge in Stars Hollow. Now she was in Texas and she didn't know where to go.
She looked around as tears began to cloud her vision. Then, she remembered the one spot where no one could find her.
There's no one in town I know
Jordan and Jess had search every place where they thought Rory would go. They had not yet seen her.
"I thought she'd stopped running," Jordan stated.
Jess shook his head. "No. She still runs. I don't know why she's doing it now."
"She heard you and Tristan talking about Dean," Jordan responded. "She'd just yesterday told him about all that had happened."
Jess nodded in understanding. "We have to find her, Jordan."
Jordan sighed. "I know."
You gave us some place to go
I never said thank you for that
I thought I might get one more chance
Rory began sobbing. Everything was now coming back to her. The feel of his hands tightening on her wrists, the smile on her father's face when Dean was around.
"What a perfect match you two are!" Christopher beamed.
It was too much to bear. She needed something -- anything else to focus on right now. She couldn't find anything. All she could see was Dean's face. It was too much, too much.
"Stay away from Jess, Rory," Dean said, tightening his grip. "You won't like me very much if you don't."
She needed Jess most when Dean was beating her for being with him.
She couldn't focus. Everything was a blur. It was a collage of faces -- mostly Dean's -- that had made her life even more difficult.
She sat down and curled up against the massive oak tree.
What would you think of me, now,
So lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
Now I'll never have a chance.
Tristan was near tears when he saw her. She was curled up against the tree where she'd told him everything. He got out of the car silently, and tried not to slam the door. He didn't want to scare her.
He saw her look up at him with tears in her eyes. She was scared, but she looked relieved at seeing him.
"Hey," she whispered as he sat down next to her.
He opened his arms to her and she leaned into him and began to cry.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
Jess and Jordan drove past the tree where Tristan had told them he was going. They saw his truck and they saw Tristan holding Rory.
"Let's let them be," Jess suggested.
Jordan nodded and drove on. "Okay."
So what would you think of me now,
So lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that.
Now I'll never have a chance.
"I couldn't take it," Rory whispered. "All I could see was Dean, and I got scared. I had to run."
Tristan held her close. "It's okay. I understand."
She held tightly to him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Tristan responded, stroking her hair.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
"Did you find her?" Shelly asked.
"She's with Tristan under the oak tree," Jordan replied, dropping his keys on the counter.
Jess sighed. "I'm such an idiot. I knew she'd get scared. I should have known she would run."
"It's not your fault," Jordan assured him.
"It's that asshole Dean's fault," Shelly said. "She's okay, though?"
Jess nodded. "She's with Tristan. She's fine"
Tristan held Rory tightly. "Are you feeling better?"
Rory buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Yeah. I'm better."
And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
God wouldn't let it live.
"How about we carve our initials in the tree?" Tristan asked.
Rory looked at Tristan. She was drying her tears as Tristan stood up and took out his pocketknife.
"Kind of like marking territory?" Rory asked.
Tristan shook his head. "No. Just so we can remember this summer."
Rory smiled. "Okay."
She stood up next to Tristan as he engraved the 'T.D.', and then he handed the knife to Rory.
Rory thought back to the days when she would take something like this and carve into herself. She thought back to the day she came back from Crescent View. Everything would be okay.
She washed away all of her hurt as she began to carve her initials into the tree.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
Rory lay against Tristan as the sun began to set. She looked up at their initials and the heart enclosing it. She wanted to remember everything about this summer.
Tomorrow would be a better day. She would allow herself to be free. She would live the rest of the summer as though she'd never been hurt.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
A/N: How was it? I hope it wasn't too melodramatic. I wanted to show how Rory is still affected by what happened to her, but I also wanted Jess to realize that he couldn't always save Rory. Hopefully I did this.