Chapter 4: Reconciliation

Rory and Tristan had been sitting at a small coffee shop in Hartford for 3 hours now, filling each other in on everything that's happened in each other's lives in the past 3 years since they last saw one another.

"I still can't believe you actually stole a yacht!" Tristan exclaimed to Rory as she sat there with his trademark smirk on.

"Yeah, that's what everybody says. So I guess I've changed from your perfect little Mary, huh?" Rory said with a look of seriousness in her eyes.

"You'll always be my perfect Mary, that'll never change." Tristan gave her a genuine smile and she knew he wasn't lying.

A little later at Rory's mom's house in Stars Hollow…

"Wow, I had a lot of fun tonight, I'm really glad I ran into you at the party." Rory said with a big grin.

"I had fun too, we should hang out more often, Rory." Rory nodded, and he continued, "So, are you sure you're gonna be okay going into your moms house right now? I mean I can come with you if you want and everything, I know this is probably hard."

Rory smiled at how concerned he was. "No, I'll be okay, I need to talk to my mom, and get everything worked out with her, but I'll give you a call tomorrow and we can go get lunch or something, sound good?"

Tristan nodded, "Yeah, that sounds great, I'll see you then." With that, Rory gave him a hug, and when they pulled away they got caught up in each other's eyes. Before they knew what they were doing, they were leaning in to a kiss. Just a small caring kiss, but one that still sent tingles through their entire bodies and it was obvious just how much passion was in that one tiny kiss.

When they broke away, Rory looked down and blushed a little. Tristan smiled at this, glad he could still make her blush. "So, um, I will definitely call you tomorrow then, goodnight Tristan."

"Goodnight Rory." With that, Tristan drove off and Rory headed to her mother's front door wondering what had just happened.

She wasn't sure if she should knock or just let herself in, since she didn't actually live here anymore and her mother and her weren't on the best of terms, she opted for knocking since it was late anyway, she didn't want to totally freak her mom out.

A few seconds after she knocked, she heard mumbling, a loud thump, and then the door swung open to reveal a very sleepy looking Lorelai. Once Lorelai noticed who was at the door though, she seemed to bounce right out of that sleepiness.

"Rory, what…. are you in trouble? What's going on? Is everything okay?" Lorelai spit out immediately worried something was wrong since her and Rory weren't on speaking terms at the moment.

Rory sighed, "No, no, I'm definitely not in trouble, everything is fine, I just… well, I... um… do you think we could go inside?"

"Oh, um, yeah, come on, we'll go in the kitchen and make some coffee." Lorelai was very confused to say the least.

In the kitchen, Rory took a seat at the table while Lorelai put on a pot of coffee for the two of them. She then made herself look busy so the silence would not be so awkward. When the coffee was done, she poured two cups and sat down at the table across from Rory, setting one cup in front of Rory.

"So… did you have something to talk about?" Lorelai asked in anticipation.

"Ok, I've been practicing this in my head for about an hour now, and you can probably tell I'm a little nervous, so please just let me talk with no interruptions so I can get this out before I lose my nerve." When Lorelai nodded in agreement, Rory continued. "Ok, so I was at this party tonight at a friend of grandma and grandpa's, grandma made me come along. So I'm just standing there when Tristan comes up to me. Tristan as in Evil Tristan, Spawn of Satan, Bible Boy, yes that Tristan. Well we were talking and he has actually grown and matured a lot. So then I tell him my boyfriend is Logan, and he proceeds to tell me that he doesn't want to hurt me, but I'm a good person and deserve the truth, and then says that Logan has been coming to these parties with a different girl hanging all over him every time. I tried to tell him about our casual relationship we did have up until recently, but he then pointed over to his right where I looked and saw Logan on the dance floor with some blonde airhead making out like nobody was around! So I marched up to Logan and told him it was over. I guess it was a long time coming and I am sort of relieved for the easy way out because we've been arguing a lot lately mainly because I just sit in the pool house and sulk and he thinks its stupid of me because 'I made the right choice by leaving Yale and it's not a big deal that me and you aren't talking." Yeah, well, needless to say that irritated the hell out of me because he had no clue what he was talking about! So me and Logan are done, which got me thinking about my decisions I've made lately while I've been with him. I can't stand living so close to grandma, it's just too much! She expects so much of me! I hate not talking to you, mom! You are my best friend in the whole world, and I hate myself for letting a guy come between us! Logan had a bigger influence on me than I thought. I was stupid to think of dropping out of Yale and I've changed my mind, I don't want to drop out, I'm going to talk to another journalist, get a second opinion, if they don't think I've got what it takes either, then I'll find something else to major in, but right now, I really want to do that, and I'm so sorry for not including you in the decision process and pushing you away like I did. I love you so much mom, and I've missed you so much, and I want you back in my life like it used to be, and if you make me go back to grandma I'll go crazy! Please don't make me go!" By this time, Rory was crying and she was kneeling my Lorelai's side while Lorelai started crying also and grabbed Rory into a big hug. After sitting like that for about 10 minutes, they both stood up and looked at eachother.

"Ok, are you done now Rory? That was the longest I think I've ever been quiet in my life, Luke would be really proud, mention it to him tomorrow! Anyway, I love you sweets, and of course I would never make you go back to my mother! I'm just so glad you made the decision to go back to Yale and I'm even happier you broke up with Logan! I'm glad we can go back to the way things were now babe! Now there's something extremely important I've been dying to call and tell you, but hadn't gotten up the nerve yet, and then I want to hear more about Tristan!"

Lorelai and Rory sat up for 3 hours talking about the engagement, Tristan, and everything else that's been going on. Rory missed out on a lot of Stars Hollow gossip while she was gone. They finally went to bed around 3:30, with a plan to go to her grandparent's in the morning to get all her things from the pool house so she could move back home. Both went to sleep with a smile, glad that things were finally back to normal and they had each other back in their lives.