"Rory", Tristan whispered tenderly in her ear; but she didn't stir.

He brushed his hand lightly over her cheek, and then over her bruised eye; guilt hitting him once more.

"Rory" he whispered again; and this time Rory moaned a little, and rolled her head to look over at Tristan.

"Hello" she said, awkwardly- embarrassment washing over her as she noticed what little clothing she had on.

They were still lying in the grass, they had been for half an hour or so.

Tristan smiled at her, and grabbed a bundle of her clothes, passing them to her.

"Thanks" she said quietly, sitting herself up and slipping her cardigan on.

"What's the time?" she asked, turning her back from Tristan while she pulled her school skirt on.

"Err- 3:00" he said, as he began pulling his clothes on as well.

Rory turned her head slightly, peering over her shoulder to see if he had finished dressing yet.

She saw his tanned chest, though he had some bruises, the muscles were still clearly visible; the muscles in his bronze arms were too.

Then she noticed that she was staring, and quickly turned her head away awkwardly.

Tristan saw her turn away, embarrassed; and he frowned a little, pulling his shirt on, he was finally dressed.

"Rory" he said, putting his hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to look turn and look at him.

Rory did so, tentatively meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, bowing his head a little.

Rory turned her body, fully, to look at him.

"For what?" she asked timidly, not at all sure what he meant by his apology.

"For what just happened- you regret it now, I can see that- you weren't ready-" he trailed off as he spoke to her with a flat tone.

Rory looked away, ashamed; yes, it was true, she felt undeniable guilt.

The thought of poor, heartbroken Dean, her long-term boyfriend, who she hadn't even shared as much with as she had with Tristan today!

And skipping school? She regretted that aswell, at first it had seemed like a good idea, and she had acted on her impulse.

But that wasn't like her; she was the organized, structured girl who never acted on a whim!

Was it her newfound feelings for Tristan that had made her do all this? Or was it more? Was she rebelling against her usual personality of order and precision?

Tristan looked up at her, only to see her face was turned away.

He nodded slightly, coming to the realization; "I'm sorry," he said once more, rising to his feet.

Rory noticed him move, and looked up to him, rising to a stand herself.

She wanted to say something; but what? The truth was she wasn't sure what she felt!

She'd said that she loved him, but she still wasn't 100 sure that Tristan truly meant when he said those words to her.

Maybe this was one big plan of his?

Rory sighed under her breath, if this was a plan he'd conjured up, he succeeded; he'd made Mary a virgin no more!

"C'mon, I'll take you home" Tristan said, already turning and walking back towards the car.

Rory looked after him- why had this all happened? She thought sadly to herself, as she too turned and headed in the same direction as Tristan.

Only a little while ago she was so blissful, and now, she had come crashing back down to earth; different, painful thoughts filling her head.

And she blamed it all on impulse!

Rory sat down at the kitchen table, now in her pyjamas and a coffee in hand.

Tristan had dropped her off an hour ago, and she was glad to be away from him- the silence in the car was deafening!

I guess silence can be the most powerful sound of all, she thought to herself, taking another sip of strong coffee.

She glanced up at the clock on the wall, 4:30; Lorelai would be home in an hour or so, what was she going to say to her?

When Rory had gotten in the door, the first thing she thought to do was call Lorelai; she must have bee worried sick about her- the school would have called, and she would have had no idea where she was!

Sookie had answered Lorelai's mobile, and had warned Rory that she wasn't in the best of moods.

"Mum?" Rory asked tentatively.

"Oh I'm sorry! Who is this I'm speaking to?" Lorelai had said, "This couldn't possibly be my daughter, because if this was my daughter, she would have made this phone call hours ago! Letting me know where the hell she was!" Lorelai said anxiously.

Rory had stood, phone to her ear, not sure of what to say next.

Lorelai sighed; "We'll talk when I get home" Lorelai said, and then hung up.

Rory cringed as she took the last sip of her coffee, remembering the conversation she'd had earlier.

She could tell Lorelai knew whom she'd been with; was that part of the reason for her anger? Or was it simply because she had worried about her daughter's whereabouts?

Rory's thoughts were put to an end when she heard the phone ring.

She got up slowly from the seat; it could be her mother, but Lorelai had said she would talk to her when she got home.

It could be Dean; which might be a sign that he was willing to talk to her calmly about their situation; she was also eager to see how he was after the fight.

Or it could be Tristan on the other end; wanting to come over, seeking answers to the million questions he probably had for her.

Rory put her hand down, ready to pick up the ringing phone; hesitated for a moment, and then picked it up, slowly raising it to her ear.

"Hello?" Rory asked tentatively, closing her eyes as she waited for the response.

"Rory? Oh my god! Are you alright" Lane's voice came out- panic stricken.

Rory let out a sigh of relief, glad to hear her friend's voice. "Lane! I'm fine, its so good to hear from you" Rory said easily, as she allowed her body to slide down onto the floor, leaning her back up against the wall- the phone still glued to her ear.

"Rory! I heard what happened- I saw what happened aswell! Well- I don't mean I actually saw the fight, but I did see how Dean looked! God, it must have been bad" Lane began, anxiety still in her tone.

"Lane" Rory began "We need to talk"

Lane sighed on the end of the line "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it? One being ok, and ten being practically the end of you're life as you know it?" she asked Rory.

Rory thought for a moment "twelve and a half" she said finally.

"We need to talk" Lane said sadly.

Ok, a quick authors note;

I'm thinking of wrapping the story up in the next few chapters, I got a few 'so, so' responses after chapter 7, and I'm not all that pleased with how chapter 8 went- so be prepared, as this story comes to an end, for some 'edge of you're seat' story lines.

Thanks! And please read the other stories I have done 

Thanks so much