Title: The ultimate curve ball
Author: Joy
PLEASE READ: (Think old time newscaster) This is a Trory. I repeat...this is a Trory. That is all. Now back to our regularly scheduled author's notes.
(Third time updated these notes.)
A/N: First, I'm not pissed off. I just don't understand the confusion, but then I remind myself you haven't read the rest of this story so maybe at this point things look like they'll be a Rogan. Secondly, I want to explain my rational, so here goes: I didn't have Rory drop Logan immediately, because I don't think she would have done that. At the very beginning of this piece, Rory thinks things are over with Logan. She believes he is done with her, not the other way around. She contemplates ending things but chickens out.Rory does really like Logan at this point. She gets drunk and cries over him in the actual time line. Just because Tristan showed up and said all the right things does not make those feelings go away... I have try to portray the situation as Rory also using Logan to protect herself from her own commitment issues. Tristan will eventually rule the day but that doesn't mean there isn't a significant process to get there. Now for those of you who want to jump ship because Logan will not be getting the girl, I can only say he has his own process to go through. I like his process. I like how I make him grow and change...you might like it too...so stick around.
5. Intimacy issues
Rory stood grumbling to herself while watching Logan grumbling to himself as he walked back to Finn and Colin. Soon enough her gaze was impeded by a cup of coffee and a sunflower in her face. "Did I remember right Mary?" Tristan asked sweetly.
She turned to face him not seeing Logan looking on the scene as well. "You are really good at the wooing thing. Were you always this good or did I just keep you at arms length so much I didn't notice?" she asked sincerely taking his offered gifts.
The audience of the trio was not lost on Tristan. He adjusted his bag to be more comfortable. "I had the ability... but arrogance normally accompanied the behavior so you would have never noticed."
"Well I am noticing now," she whispered before kissing him lightly.
"Good... How did things go with Huntzberger?"
"Frustrating as usual. He can admit he's jealous...sort of...but he can't commit so..."
"Ah..." he said with complete understanding since he did understand...he just also knew the boy was an idiot. Girls like Rory come along once in a lifetime...twice, if you were lucky. Apparently Tristan was lucky.
Tristan's eyes flicked to the side to see three angry looking guys glaring at him. Another guy honing in on one of Huntzberger's conquests was not allowed. Young Mr. DuGrey decided a change of location was in order. He offered his arm to Rory who blushed a bit, took him up on his offer and they began to walk away from the hostile LDB members.
"Sorry about the my Mary, stuff. I get a little possessive when it comes to someone else calling you by a nickname," Tristan explained winking at her.
"Actually...truth be told...it was pretty cool to see someone stand up to the self proclaimed 'Master and Commander'." Rory tilted her head to him.
Tristan stared in confusion, "He called himself that?"
Rory smirked, "Yes, after our first debate."
"And you slept with this guy?"
She hit his arm, "Hey, he can be charming."
He shook his head, "I hope should hope so...Master and Commander, huh?"
"I thought he was a prick at the time."
"I think he's a prick now."
Rory glared at Tristan fondly, "I think you called your self god in front of me once."
Tristan thought it over, "I was seventeen the last time you saw me. I had a hormonal imbalance...its called testosterone." Rory laughed with him at the absurdity of the situation.
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Colin looked the guy over. "That was a good move Logan...you have to admit. Coffee and her favorite flower. He knows what he's doing."
"That...and he knows her," Finn offered.
"A little too well," Logan grumbled.
Finn tilted his head, "Ya know mate, you look a bit alike."
"Thank you Finn..."
"No really... something with the hair...the cadence of his walk... he's a grown up version of you," Finn stated pointing ahead.
"Ironic," Colin offered, "since he is younger than us."
"Shut up," Logan said as he walked after the couple with his buddies in tow.
Finn shook his head, "Logan, mate, what are we doing?"
"Trying to find a time to get her alone."
Colin looked at his friend, "You just did that...she wasn't really thrilled with you as I recall."
Logan sighed, "I can't loose her."
This pissed Finn off, "What the hell do you think you have been doing for the last few weeks? Forming a lasting relationship? You don't want to lose her...That's crap. You don't like feeling out of control."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Logan snapped at the Aussie.
"You just spent two weeks ducking the girl...and making us do the same might I add. I like Rory. I like having her around. You want to screw up your relationship with her, fine. But I'm not ducking her anymore," Finn announced. "You can just deal with it."
Logan glared at Finn then turned on Colin, "Do you feel the same?"
Colin shrugged, "Rory is awesome. She's not brainless. She can carry a conversation without using the word 'like' in every other sentence. Now I personally don't hold the animosity that Finn does about the situation. But this was the first time you asked us to duck a girl too."
"Look mate, I am not saying I am not going to help you fix this. But I swear, if you pull this crap again I will beat you myself," Finn stated.
"Great to know my best friends love me so much," Logan said sarcastically, never losing sight of the girl in question, who at the moment had another guy's arm around her.
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Rory felt safe under Tristan's arm. She felt safe with him. He didn't used to inspire that feeling in her. Though she would admit at Madeline's party, she did feel safe with him. He could have told everyone he made out with the Mary...but he didn't and she some how knew he wouldn't.
It was so odd how fast things could change. Rory had been worrying about Logan an hour before and now she was thinking about how much time she was gonna get before Tristan disappeared.
Tristan noticed Rory lost in thought and felt there were a couple basics that needed to be covered before they would be on the same page. He stepped away from Rory a moment so he was facing her head on. "Things are going really well at the moment, right?"
"Yes," she agreed.
"Okay...and you are willing to go out on dates with me correct?"
"Yeah...what's this about?"
"Alright...then please don't misunderstand what I am saying as too forward or crass..."
"Okay?" she questioned getting quite confused.
Tristan sighed, "I'm not going to sleep with you if you are sleeping with him."
Rory blinked rapidly. She hadn't even thought that far ahead. It was actually pretty stupid not to since she had just told Logan she would 'date' them both. Rory hadn't seen Tristan in years but she had kissed him a few times in an hour period. Tristan's line of thinking wasn't from left field. "I...I hadn't thought about it."
"Oh..." Tristan said suddenly. "I was being too forward."
"No...you weren't. You were making a perfectly reasonable statement. I just... You're right. The causal relationship thing isn't for me. I wouldn't sleep with two different guys. I just am having a hard time thinking this through."
Tristan tugged her to him in a warm, chaste embrace, "So we'll go on a few dates and then you can tell me if I am worth the risk."
"Tristan it isn't that..."
"Rory," he said her real name. "You are knowingly dating a guy that is wrong for you because you are afraid of being hurt. This really isn't about him. It's about whether or not you are ready for something more to come along."
"I don't know that he's not right for me," she stated strongly feeling like she was arguing with her mom again. Tristan's face displayed a moment of hurt before slipping to his impassive. Rory quietly stated, "No offense to present company."
He tilted his head to the side to regard her, "Does your mom like him?"
Rory so did not want to go there. "Mom doesn't know him," she tried to defend.
"In theory does your mom like him?" Tristan asked clearly.
"She's not liked some of my other boyfriends," she commented trying to justify things.
He smirked, "Who weren't right for you either...obviously because you broke up." She pouted slightly. "These guys that your mom didn't like, did they treat you well?"
Rory paused significantly causing Tristan to smile in triumph. She groaned, "Well my mom hated you."
Tristan stared at her hard, "I was a sixteen year old terror that had caused problems for her daughter, of course she hated me... I'm different now...But we have established that your mother seems to dislike guys that aren't good for you...so conversely she would like the boyfriends you've had that treated you well...like Dean when we were younger?"
"What are you getting at?" Rory said defiantly.
"If Lorelai doesn't like him, there is probably a reason," he stated simply. "Come on Mary deep down you know this isn't for you?"
"But it was my idea."
"So you could have him?" he asked.
"Yes," Rory commented.
"Are you done with that yet?" Tristan challenged, but she only stared at him confused. "You have had the college experience of casual dating. Are you done with that experiment yet?"
Rory bit her lip, "I don't want to hurt you, but I do really like him."
Tristan smiled at her softly, "I know that Rory. But I have to point out one basic thing, you aren't willing to do that I am."
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"I want you. Only you. Now I am willing to forgo relationships with all other girls even though I know you are seeing these other guys...mainly Logan. I just won't sleep with you until you are committed to me. In your situation, you prey on Logan's jealousy to get his attention and to prove that you can play his game...that you are strong. You are not willing to trust Logan with your heart because you know he's not trustworthy," he stated straightforwardly.
"I'm scared," she admitted biting her lip. "You're being too good to be true."
"Well then, I will have to leer at you I suppose," he teased.
"Might help," she laughed.
"Actually time will help," he replied seriously.
"Well how much time do we have?" Rory asked quietly.
"I'll make time," Tristan answered. "Benefit of negotiated purse strings."
"And the distance?" she questioned.
He sighed, "The distance is there...but we'll see how long it stays there."
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Logan dragged Colin and Finn trailing after Rory on her 'walk' with this other guy hoping to catch her in a moment where Colin and Finn could distract Tristan look enough to get Rory away from him. However that was not in the cards. The two were inseparable with tactical contact at a constant. This Tristan guy was fond of having his arm around Rory's waist and kissing her brow. They had a serious talk on their walk. Logan could tell by the body language. He could only hope that the conversation was not about how to get rid of him.
"Come on man...lets get you some alcohol. He's won the day not the war," Colin offered.
"That's right...to the pub we go," Finn cheered.
"To the pub we go," Logan said with a sigh.
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The world is always on time, as an old southern man used to say. It seemed to Logan the world was too slow, since he couldn't escape the past and couldn't seem to make progress with Ace. It seemed to Rory the world was too fast, because there would never be enough time with BB, the one that sparked her curiosity, before he would have to leave for another state. But for Tristan, it seemed the old man was right...the world was right on time. He lost the girl when he was too young and too stupid to appreciate her, and he now had a moment to get the girl when she needed to be reminded of who she really was. It's funny to think if he was lucky, one day he might be the old southern man.
TBC...
A/N: My Granddaddy used to say that the world was always on time. It seemed to fit.
A/N2: My Granddaddy also used to call me Sweet Magnolia Blossom. Southerns are the only people that make nicknames longer than actual names.
So...Everyone still with me? Good. I really appreciate all the reviews. It makes my day.
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