Disclaimers and summary: See chapter one.

The seventh stranger
Chapter 9: I still can feel those splinters of ice

Rory sat silently in Tristan's Porsche as he drove her to an unknown destination, an uncomfortable silence surrounded them and she felt nervous, tentatively, she asked, "Where are you taking me?"

His eyes never wandered away from the road in front of him, "To meet one of my friends, in Hartford."

She glanced sideway at his tense features, "And after that?"

He sighed, "We order take out somewhere and we talk in private." Rory moved uncomfortably in her seat but remained silent for the rest of the drive.

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Tristan parked the car and broke her reveries, "We're here, Rory."

She looked at the building in front of her and asked nervously, scared of his answer, "Is your friend in the hospital?"

Tristan glanced sadly at the hospital, a flicker of guiltiness in his eyes, "Yes, and he's been for a while. Come and meet him then we'll talk. Just don't be offended if he decides not to speak at all."

With a last look at the car, she wished she could just drive away from the truth but followed him.

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They entered a private room with the sound of a small TV echoing, Tristan took Rory's hand in his as he walked to a sitting form in a wheel chair. He gestured Rory to sit down in front of the unmoving figure and sat down beside her. Rory observed the person in front of her, his eyes never leaving the TV screen situated a little above her head to acknowledge their presence. Beautiful bright green eyes surrounded by handsome features; dark haired, probably six feet tall when standing up and a very muscular chest. Rory's observations were broken when she heard Tristan's voice, "Hey Jeremy! I've got good news for you." The green eyes lowered their gaze to look at Tristan, his eyes emotionless, "I went to London; this specialist will fly by if you accept. He thinks he might be able to help you."

Jeremy shifted his gaze to look at Rory for a moment momentarily before he shifted it back to Tristan. His lips barely moved as he asked, "Who is she?"

Tristan smirked, "Rory, well you know, Mary."

Green eyes flickered with amusement, "She hates you."

Uncomfortable to be talked about but being ignored, she spoke on her behalf, "It's nice to meet you Jeremy." Jeremy locked his eyes intensely with Rory's but remained quiet. "I don't hate him; I just don't know him that well."

Jeremy's attention shifted back to Tristan and he stated, "You haven't told her."

Tristan smiled sadly, "But I will, the minute we leave you."

Jeremy nodded slightly in understanding then switched back the topic, "Tell your specialist I'll see him but please, after this one, stop trying. It's too painful to get my hopes up and then have them squashed again."

Tristan nodded knowing that it was the last of his intentions to accept that request, "I promise, it's the last one I'll bring to you."

Jeremy blinked once in acceptance of his answer and concentrated on observing Rory for a couple of minutes. He told her barely above a whisper, "You're even more beautiful than he described you but you're scared of him." He saw her squirm in her seat, "Don't be, he would never hurt you. Now go on and talk. You're making me miss my show."

Rory stood up and said, "It was nice to meet you Jeremy; I hope I see you again."

While they walked out of the room, Jeremy mumbled, "I hope so too."

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"Why are you bringing me to a motel room?" Rory asked uncomfortably.

He unbuckled her seat belt, locked his eyes with hers, "Because we need to talk and I don't want any witnesses to hear what I have to tell you." Tristan exited the car with the takeout food and saw that Rory was frozen in her seat. He walked back to the car and opened the door, "Don't worry, I'll be a perfect gentleman. I won't try anything on you and I'm fully awake."

Rory hesitated but curiosity made her follow him inside the room he had rented in advance, "Tristan, this is killing me, just tell me what this is all about."

Tristan sat comfortably on the bed with his hamburger and fries on his legs. He motioned her to sit in front of him and she replicated his position with her food. He took a bite of his hamburger and introduced the topic, "What I'm going to tell you is only part of what has been hurting me and I'm only going to tell you what's been hurting you for now. But there is more that I won't talk about. I just want you to promise me that if you decide to give me a chance after tonight, you won't be pushing me to talk if I say that I'm not ready."

She took a bite of her hamburger and smiled at him, "I promise but only if I decide to see you again."

Tristan pushed his food aside, "When I got in military school, Jeremy was my roommate. We were exactly the same before we went there. We were rich, attractive, popular and looking for trouble sometimes for a reason, sometimes for no reason." He saw her put her food aside but she kept her coffee in her hands. "He was happy that I got there. He thought that the pressure would get away from him. You have to understand, it was guys only. We had the right to get out once a month with special permission from our parents, plus it had to be approved on our behavior. We had two dances a year with the catholic school across town that had girls only but all exits were checked and to go to the bathroom, the line up was inside the ballroom."

Rory raised an eyebrow questioningly but remained silent, sipping her coffee.

"When I got there, there were six guys that needed to get their sex fix a couple of time a week. With no girls around…" Rory's eyes opened wide and she felt cold shivers all around her skin. "…they picked on the weak ones until they decided that they needed more of a challenge." Tristan's eyes were now hard while tears threatened to escape Rory's. "I was one of their targets, five or six against one in the shower; it's just too hard to get away." Tristan eyes filled with hatred and Rory contained herself not to scream, "One day, Jeremy and I talked; we decided that if we were to stick together at all times, they wouldn't take us. They left us alone for a while but that was just to get more guys on their side."

Rory wanted to take Tristan in her arms but he lifted a hand to stop her intentions, knowing that he wouldn't be able to continue if she held him. "One day, after practice, I think it was a month after I got into that hellhole; they cornered us, and there were thirteen against us. We fought as much as we could but, we both ended up in the hospital." Tristan's head dropped, as if reliving it all over again, when his eyes met hers again, they were filled with hatred, pain and revenge, "We both got into the hospital, I stayed there for weeks but Jeremy is still there. I got pulled out of that school, father wanted me to go back to Chilton but I asked him to send me somewhere else. I graduated early, got into Princeton, and now I'm working."

Rory leaned over and took Tristan in her arms, she held him tightly even as she felt him stiffen in her embrace but she didn't break free. She forced her voice to be strong as tears fell down her eyes, "What happened to these guys? Are they still free?"

His voice emotionless, he stated, "They're in jail, but Jeremy is still in a wheelchair because of that. That's what I was dreaming about. It haunts me Rory. Ever since then, I haven't had a really good night sleep except when you held me last weekend after I hurt you."

Rory's tears wetting his shirt, she held him tighter, with one hand, she unmade the bed and forced him to lie down. She lay down beside him still holding him until they both fell into dreamless sleep… well at least for Tristan.