Disclaimers and summary: See chapter one.

The seventh stranger
Chapter 8: The dusty shadow of a passing favor

Awakened by the first rays of morning sun, Rory felt a little disoriented by her surroundings. She woke up completely and realized that she was alone in bed. She closed her eyes for a minute and remembered the events of the previous night, relief washed over her that he already left. Slowly, she got up to go back in her own bed, the suite door opened to reveal Tristan holding two cups of coffee. Fear and panic immobilized her on the side of the bed as Tristan smiled at her with delighted eyes. He walked up to her and sat down beside her, he kissed her lightly and whispered happily, "Good morning Rainbow." He saw her tense at the gesture, Tristan's smile faltered as he gave her a cup of coffee, "I feel it, and you hate me now."

She looked at him and saw his eyes filled with sadness, those beautiful eyes that were filled with happiness just seconds ago. Rory took the offered coffee and she murmured, "I don't."

Tristan took her hand, "Then, can I take you to dinner tonight before I leave for Hartford?"

Rory answered softly while staring at the floor, "I don't think it's would be a good idea, Tristan."

With questioning eyes, Tristan persisted on his demand, "You have to give me better than that Rory. I thought we might have had something here and that we could see where it leads us. I felt something and don't tell me that yesterday didn't mean anything because I know it did!" Rory was still staring at the floor but remained silent. Angry, Tristan asked, "Are you playing some kind of game with me here?"

Without raising her eyes to face him, Rory whispered calmly, "I'm not playing any games Tristan."

"Then why won't you let me take you out on a date? I felt the chemistry between us and I know you did! You can't deny it." Then changing strategy, he said playfully, "Plus, I saw you checking me out."

Tears started to fall out of her eyes when she gathered the courage to look at him, "I won't deny the chemistry between us, but I still can't date you!"

"Why not?"

Her voice shivering, "Because I'm scared!"

He took her hand and looked at her with tenderness and adoration, "I'll protect you and I'll never hurt you."

She retrieved her hand from his grasp while she fought an already lost battle against her tears, "You already have, I'm scared of you Tristan. You were sleeping and you almost strangled me. How can I trust you now?"

Tristan got up and walked to the door, his hand on the handle he changed his mind and walked back to the made out bed and sat beside Rory, talking softly, "That's not fair, you don't even know what I was dreaming about."

Rory bit her lower lip and softly she tried to hide her anger and fright, "And because of that you want me to understand? Understand what? That you have no control over your dreams? That you could hurt me while you're asleep? You want me to try and date you without feeling safe with you? Do you really think that it's fair?"

Tristan's fists closed tightly, the knuckles turned white. He let an exasperated sigh out, "It's not fair." Thinking a little, "I'm going to ask you three questions. I want you to be honest with your answers. Depending on your answers, I'll leave you alone."

Rory looked into his eyes, "Okay."

Tristan took a deep breath and asked his first question, "Did you feel any tingles when I kissed you yesterday?" A soft 'yes', barely audible came out of Rory's mouth, Tristan continued, "If I can explain my dream to you, will you go out on a date with me?"

"Yes."

"Are you and Dean still close friends?"

"No."

"Then, why did he call you yesterday?"

She smiled half-heartedly, "Sorry, you said three."

He smiled back, "Last one was a two parts question!"

She grunted but still answered, "Fine, ever since he got married things has been weird because I loved him as a friend but the night before the wedding he told Luke that I was the one for him. I never went to the wedding, I looked from afar but he thought that I didn't go because it was too painful for me. He never gave Lindsay a real chance to make it work because he hoped I would go back to him. Then Lindsay got tired of trying and filed for divorce and we stayed far away ever since."

"Tell me, has the judge made his final decision?"

"Why are you interested in a guy you hate?"

"He helped me yesterday. He listened, I don't know how much you heard but he knew who I was. I'm a lawyer now, maybe I can help back."

"You would have to talk to him then."

Tristan looked deeply into Rory's eyes, rose his hand to slide it to the back of her neck, he took her hand in his other hand, "I will, forget about tonight, Wednesday night, you and me will go visit a friend of mine. After that we'll grab something to eat and I'll answer your questions regarding my dream. After that, if you don't want me in your life, I'll leave and never come back. Will you do that for me?"

Rory made a mental list of pros and cons, "Why did you call me 'Rainbow'?"

He gave her a wry smile, "Because every time I got close to you, you ran away and because you're as colorful and beautiful as a rainbow."

Rory was out of words, she didn't know what to answer to that. Knowing that he was fully awake and that he couldn't harm her now, she placed both of her hands in the back of his neck, slowly leaned to kiss him softly, "I'll go back to sleep now. I'll see you Wednesday but remember, this is not going to be a date."

A bright smile appeared on his beautiful features; he wrapped his arms around her slim body and hugged her tightly. He kissed her tenderly at first, losing Rory in the kiss; she let her fears escapes for a moment. She groaned when he broke the kiss and murmured, "Thank you."

He walked inside the bathroom as Rory walked inside her room to sleep again.

&&&

A couple of hours later, Gabrielle was sitting beside Tristan, Rory still asleep. Tristan just finished filling her in on the event of the previous night when Gabrielle asked, "So, you're leaving without waiting for her to wake up?"

He hugged his sister, "No, we made our goodbyes already and I think she saw enough of me for today. Tell her I'll be here on Wednesday to pick her up." He stood up and walked out the door.