Chapter 3- Where Do Things Go From Here?

A/n- Yes I am back! I'm on spring break, so I will hopefully get another chapter out before school starts again. Anyway- thanks to all the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Tuesday- After School- Chilton Courtyard

Rory was sitting in the courtyard waiting for the next bus to come. She had missed the 4 O' clock bus because she was lost in thought, just staring into space. It wasn't until the bus was out of the driveway that Rory realized she had missed it. She still had 20 minutes to waste before the bus came, but she couldn't read because she couldn't focus. For the first time in her life, her thoughts were filled with those of a certain boy with a guitar.

Away in the shadows of a large tree sat Tristan DuGrey. He was watching Rory stare off into the thin air. Sure it seemed stalkerish, but this was the only chance he would get to see her without actually having to talk to her. He just wasn't ready for that type of interaction. Yes, he did want to talk to her, but no, he was NOT in the mood to find out if it would all turn out ok. He also knew that he needed to do something really special for Rory, and when he meant special, he didn't mean expensive. He knew she wasn't the type of girl to be swooned by some shiny piece of jewelry (well, it's not like jewelry would hurt….). He wanted to do something memorable, one of a kind, and perfect, just like her. If only he could decide what that something special would be….

Tuesday- After School- Gilmore- Danes home

"Mom?" Rory called as she entered the house.

"Yeah sweetie?" was the reply Rory got from the kitchen

"How do you tell someone that your amazed?"

"Huh? Rory, what are you talking about?" Lorelei asked confused.

"Well, I didn't get to talk to Tristan yet, mainly because I didn't know how to tell him….that…."

"That you what?"

"That I… oh I don't know! Why can't I know how I feel!"

"You could always just say 'Hey Tristan! Wow, that guitar thing was cool, do you mind if my mom borrows it sometime?'" Lorelei said with hope in her eyes.

"Mom, for the last time, I do not think he will let you borrow his guitar!"

Thursday- Chilton- Lunch

"EARTH TO RORY!" Paris shouted to the lost girl sitting next to her.

"Wha, Huh? Oh, sorry guys," Rory answered sheepishly. "Was I really gone for that long?"

"Why are you so distracted Ror?" Louise asked.

"Oh no reason, just school, ya know?" Rory answered, hoping they would believe her. "I'm gonna go take a walk to the courtyard, ok?" Rory added while walking away from the table.

Once Rory was out of ear shot, Louise bet the other two that it was a guy that was filling Rory's thoughts.

In the courtyard, Rory saw a crowd of students surrounding the bench that she liked to sit on and think at. Slowly turning to an underclassman, most likely a freshman, Rory questioned her about what was going on.

"Oh who knows for sure! All I know is that some of the varsity soccer players were saying that this was the place to be at lunch today!" the freshmen chirped back before turning back to her friends.

Suddenly, one of the said soccer players motioned for everyone to quiet down, and all that could be heard next was the opening chords of another song. Becoming quite curious, Rory started peering over people to try to get a look at who was playing. When that didn't work, she began to push her way through the crowd. This task was one that was more difficult than she would have thought it would be. As she finally got closer to the guitar player, she heard a voice start singing.

Do we go forward?

Or take large steps back?

Is it worth the risk?

Am I worth a shot?

I really wanna know cuz

I don't hide from you forever.

(Chorus)

Where do things go from here?

Do we just hide away,

Or let it all show?

Is there a sign I could get

Or a message to read?

Cuz right now I need to know

Where things go from here.

I would do anything I could,

To find the answer I need.

I gotta know if I should go forward

Or take it into reverse.

Which way do you want?

(Chorus)

Where do things go from here?

Do we just hide away,

Or let it all show?

Is there a sign I could get

Or a message to read?

Cuz right now I need to know

Where things go from here.

(Bridge)

I don't want to forget the times we shared,

But I want to know what the future holds.

I wanna get this right this time around.

(Chrous)

Where do things go from here?

Do we just hide away,

Or let it all show?

Is there a sign I could get

Or a message to read?

Cuz right now I need to know

Where things go from here.

Where things go

How we know

Where we go

How to show

Just where things go…

By the end of the song, Rory made it to the front of the group. Once she heard the voice, she knew exactly who was singing, and more importantly, she knew exactly what they wanted to say to her. Looking into the face of the singer, she noticed how he was staring at her, and how he was probably looking for her the whole time.

"Right, so let's all give it up for Tristan DuGrey!" the soccer player from before yelled as the crowd began to cheer. Only two people didn't notice what was going on, and I bet you can guess who they were.

"Excuse me, but what is going on here?" Headmaster Charleston shouted angrily over the clapping.

At once, everyone stopped and began to disperse. Still, Tristan and Rory were stuck in their spots, neither realizing that same thing had happened on Monday in class.

"Ah, Mr. DuGrey, how wonderful to see that you are causing quite the commotion again. But Miss Gilmore, I am shocked to see you taking part in the problem," Charleston started. "Miss Gilmore, MISS GILMORE!" well I guess you could say that finally got her to stop staring at Tristan.

"Oh Headmaster, I am so sorry, I was just thinking, and I guess I didn't realize… I'm going to stop talking now," Rory quickly said.

"Right, well, Miss Gilmore, if you were not part of Mr. DuGrey's little stunt, I would suggest that you get out of here before you get into some trouble youself seeing as the bell will ring any minute now," Charleston stated before shooing her on her way. "Mr. DuGrey come with me."

As Tristan was walking away, he was able to mouth to Rory to meet him in the courtyard after school. For once, Rory was relieved that she would get to talk to him.

Thursday- Chilton Courtyard bench- After school

Rory slowly approached the bench, but once she found that she got there first, she was quite happy. She knew exactly what she needed to tell Tristan, and she figured that by being there first, she would get to start to conversation. Boy was she wrong by a long shot. 5 minutes later, Tristan finally made his entrance, only to find Rory sitting on the bench with a smile, on her lips.

"Where do things go from here?" was out of Tristan's mouth before anything else could be said.

To say the least, Rory was overly ready for that question. She figured that he would ask that since he had already sung about it in front of a large percentage of Chilton's student body. Even though she was prepared, she couldn't seem to get the right words out of her mouth. First she opened her mouth, closed it, and then repeated that several times before watching Tristan take a seat next to her.

Turing to speak to him, Rory finally figured out what to say. "Where ever the road takes us."

"Would that road happen to lead to me taking you out for coffee?" came Tristan's reply in a small but confident voice.

"Yes, but only if I get to pick where."

"Oh, but of course! I knew you wouldn't have it any other way." After a few minutes of sitting in a comfortable silence, Tristan spoke up again. "So, could we try that coffee thing now?"

With a smile and a laugh, Rory jumped up, grabbed Tristan's hand and shouted 'Away we go, boy who promises coffee!'

Rory decided on Luke's for coffee. She knew it was a little risky, but she knew that it would be the best place for two reasons:

If Tristan tried something stupid (which she doubted he would), she had the whole town on her side to help her get rid of him,

If I turned out that the two of them actually had an awesome time (which she was praying that they would), she would be able to show him off to Luke and her mom.

Once they were almost at Luke's, Rory thought of something to ask Tristan.

"Hey, do you think my mom could borrow your guitar sometime?"

A/n- so there was that chapter. Now the way I see it, I could stop right here and say THE END, but if I get people reviewing saying to continue, I will, but if not, then this is the end! So, please review!