NO LONGER:

TITLE: No Longer

PAIRING: L/L, J/P, R?

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, just this story and the made up stuff about this show…such as Tristan Dugrey this late in the show or them getting married.

SUMMARY: Tristan divorces Rory, but fate disagrees.

AUTHOR NOTE: Please read the important author's note at the end of this chapter. Thanks, and enjoy this chapter!

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Mary Once More:

It was the night of Rory and Tristan's date. No wait—nice dinner, strictly not a date. Uh huh, sure it wasn't. Rory was at her house with Dana and Tori getting ready. She was searching through her closest complaining of nothing to wear.

'I thought this wasn't a date.' Tori pointed out.

'It's not.' Rory defended.

'Then just put something on!' Rory frowned.

'I haven't gone out with a guy in a long time! I forget everything!'

'Its just dad.' Dana said.

'That's the problem. I didn't like your dad too much when I first met him, but he grew on me. Last week at the restaurant when you two were at the table, I realized that by going on this date—err uhh…outing, that something inevitable would happen. I'm just scared. I gave him my heart and he still has most of it. He still has that spouse power over me. I'm powerless when I'm with him.'

'You'll be just fine. Everything will be perfectly perfect. Just keep kissing to a minimum when around me.' Dana said and Rory rolled her eyes.

'How about the maroon dress?' Tori asked. Rory looked and smiled subconsciously. It was a maroon with spaghetti strap dress that fell just above the knees. The bodice was form fitting and it spread into a flow-y ruffled bottom. She had only worn it once and that was five years ago. She took it off its hanger and held it up to her body in front of the mirror. She turned when she saw Dana advance towards her.

'I've never seen this set before, but it'll look gorgeous with that dress.' Dana said holding up a turquoise stone earring and necklace set. Rory bit her lip not saying a word as she put the set on, then slipped the dress on and sat down at her makeup table. The girls waited as she applied little makeup and put on maroon shoes that conveniently had the same blue as her jewelry. She stood up and twirled for them. They gaped at her. She looked young 30's in the outfit and absolutely stunning.

'So?' Rory asked but the doorbell rang.

'Get your purse, I'll get the door.' Dana said leaving. She opened the door to reveal Tristan.

'Hey come on in, mom just got finished.' He nodded and smiled. Dana shook her head. He was wearing a turquoise/light blue dress shirt and a black pant/jacket set with no tie. He looked many years younger as well. She was taken out of her daze when she heard footsteps on the stairs. The attention was on Rory as she descended the stairs. Tristan managed to speak.

'Ready to go?' she nodded.

'Umm I have my cell, call if you need anything.' The two girls nodded at their mother and practically pushed them out the door. When the door was closed behind them, they started to walk to the car. Once inside they started to talk.

'I just need to get this out.' Tristan blurted.

'Okay…?'

'You look really beautiful tonight.' He said sweetly.

'Thank you. You look very handsome.' She said smiling.

'You think so?' he asked looking in the mirror and running his hand through his hair smirking.

'Just go!' Rory said hitting him softly. He laughed and started the car heading towards the restaurant. The car was given to valet as they walked inside and they were immediately ushered to a small table set for two in a quiet part of the room. He pulled the chair out for Rory and then sat in his own chair. They immediately looked at their menus and ordered. Dinner went smoothly although it was on the quiet side. Their plates were taken away. They looked at each other before Rory put her head down.

'You okay?' he asked concerned. She lifted her head up and sighed.

'I guess.' She shrugged.

'Look if you're tired then—'

'No, I mean yes I am tired, but I need to do this.'

'You need to?'

'I never thought we'd meet again like this.'

'Me neither.' He agreed. A tear rolled down Rory's cheek. Tristan was surprised.

'Okay obviously you're not okay.'

'No, I'm fine.' She wiped away the tear.

'You wanna get the check now?' she asked. He gave her a look then sighed and paid the bill, which was quickly brought to them. He put his hand on the small of her back and steered to the valet stand. He noticed her distressed face and drove to his house. When she noticed they were stopped, she got out without thinking. She got to the door and noticed it wasn't her home.

'Tristan?'

'We need to talk—in private.' She bit her lip and went inside with him. Once inside the tears started again. Tristan opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Rory as she plopped down on the couch.

'You asked me if I was okay. Well, I lied. I'm not.'

'Okay…' he sat down next to her.

'I'm scared. While preparing for tonight I realized that back before Dana was born or up until then, I wanted to get re married and that scares me because you still have this power over me. I hate it but I feel so safe because of it.' He pulled a ring box out of his pocket and opened it revealing a large perfect cut diamond in the center with two smaller ones on both sides. An engagement ring. He handed it to her.

'Are you asking me to marry you?'

'No.' he said shaking his head.

'I-uhh, I don't get it.' She said wiping away her tears.

'I bought this about 15 1/2 years ago.' He explained.

'What?'

'I was going to ask you to remarry me the day you would come home from the hospital, but for said reasons, I didn't. You were saying how you wanted to re marry me, so I just wanted to show you I was feeling the same way.'

'Well I must say, this ring is much nicer than my first one.' She joked. He smiled.

'So yea, I felt I should show that to you.'

'Thanks. For tonight, this summer, really everything.'

'Your welcome, Rory.' He said sincerely. He pulled her to him and brought her into a comforting hug. Tristan felt a deep feeling arise again and he knew Rory felt it to because her body tensed and she pulled away.

'I can't believe I let you go.' He said his thumbs on the backs of her hands comfortingly. She looked down as her body relaxed against his soothing touch. He hooked a finger under her jaw and made her look at him in the eye.

'What are you thinking about?'

'My life, the girls…you.'

'Me? What about me?' he asked.

'Everything.'

'Everything?' he asked smirking. She laughed and hit him softly.

'You are such a pervert!' she said. His smirk turned into a curious grin.

'So what does everything include?' he asked. They were both silent.

'Rory?'

'You used to call me Mary.' She blurted. He looked at her funny.

'You were never fond of it.' He said after a moment.

'No, I wasn't but it turned into a nickname. When we weren't together anymore it stopped, why?'

'It didn't seem appropriate. Mary had always been a way of you being mine. My Mary. I don't have you anymore.' He explained searching her eyes. She swallowed.

'You have me now.'

'I thought we agreed this wasn't a date?'

'We did, but this is a dare.' She said. He was sure she was thinking of something important.

'Rory, what's going on?' the tears spilled again. She stood up; he rose too watching her closely.

'I thought I could do this, but I can't. My heart hurts, Tristan!' she cried in frustration as she wiped her eyes.

'What happened to you, Rory? You used to be this amazing individual! From what I can see, you've trapped yourself in a depressed hole!'

'What happened to me? I lost one of the only things that was keeping my life together. The one man who was there for 24/7 was suddenly gone. I'd lost the only man I will ever love.' She sounded hopeless.

'Love. You said love, not loved. You still love me? He asked taking a step closer to her.

'You're a real asshole if you didn't know that.' She said turning around and staring at the wall. He walked the rest of the way to her and turned her around.

'So…?' she asked.

' We must both be assholes then.' She looked at him confused. He took a deep breath.

'I feel the same way, Rory.' He said.

'What?' she whispered.

'I love you! And quite frankly I've never stopped.' Her face seemed to get a happy look to it. Without thinking she stepped forward and kissed him on the lips. He was shocked and before he could process it, Rory had started to apologize.

'I'm uh—uh I'm sorry, I didn't meant to—' Tristan cut her off by crashing his lips to hers. He brought her closer to him by bringing his arms around her waist. She immediately responded to the kiss as hard and moved her arms around his neck bringing his face closer to hers. He tongue searched old territory re-marking it as his. She moaned quietly from the sensations he was making her feel from the assault of her mouth. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers allowing them to catch their breath.

'I forgot how incredible it feels to kiss you.' Tristan said and Rory blushed.

'Right back at ya.' He took her hand and brought her to the couch. They sat.

'Rory, I need to know if you're willing to try to agree to this.'

'Yea, I am.'

'Good, then may I call you my girlfriend?' Rory smiled.

'I'd be delighted if you did.' He kissed her softly once again before he enveloped her into a hug.

'I will always love you, Mary.' He whispered into her ear. She smiled and kissed his chest before nestling into his embrace. She felt safe, safer than she had felt since the day after Dana was born. They sat content for the first time in 15 years.

A/N: All right this is an IMPORTANT author's note, please read it…

To my amazing loyal reviewers:

I am reaching out ALL of you once again. I would like to know how you want this story to not necessarily end, but in which direction I should take it, which would happen to lead up to the end. I've listed some possibilities below, and I'd like you to tell me which I should/shouldn't do. If you think of more ideas tell me! I'm open to everything, although I can't promise I'll use it! Also I may use many ideas and combined them. Please let me know your thoughts!

1. Something goes wrong – a character dies perhaps (not on purpose – like an accident)

2. Rory and Tristan get married again

3. Rory gets pregnant…again (could be Tristan's child, or look at next idea for other branch of this topic)

4. Someone cheats on someone (not necessarily Rory/Tristan – Rory could get pregnant from some one else while cheating)

5. Rory and Tristan drift apart

6. Tristan moves in with Rory, Dana, and Tori

7. An event happens that brings Rory/Tristan closer or apart

So some of these I don't want to do (like the cheating option), but I'm going to leave it all up to you guys. Remember, you can give me more options! The future of this story lies in your hands (wow, that sounds kinda strange…lol)