Fate Can't Deny

by No Platonic Love

Imagine the worlds of Gilmore Girls and A Cinderella Story merged. You don't have to, just read about it. Logan and Rory at Yale, Tristan and Sam at Princeton. What could happen? Whatever does, Fate Can't Deny.... AU

3. Love Just Is

First off, thank you to everyone that review the first couple of chapters. We appreciate the feed-back, keep it coming! longivity101, we'd be pleased to answer your question. You see... in the first chapter we hinted at the fact Sam had an interview at a paper, which is why she left the dorm with Finn and Tristin. But not wanting to get into too much detail with it... We assumed she was hired on the spot. In this story mostly everyone is up for 'writing' as a career, and Sam is no different. We hope that clears it up!

And 'thatsmydog' whether it's TristAN or TristIN it does not matter. Because IN CASE you haven't noticed, Gilmore Girls is a T.V show and we thereby do not read it... we watch it. And by watching it we don't learn to spell character names. And for future reference, I think if we were ever going to right Michel, we'd have it under control. But thanks for the diss and the review?

Next two chapters are indefinitely written, as for when we plan to post...we'll just see.

Enjoy!

We love you all,

Samantha and Ella

Fate Can't Deny: Love Just Is

An irritating ring was responsible for Tristin's early awakening that day. "Can't someone get that?" he called out into his obviously empty dorm. A limited amount of sunlight peered through the blinds of his hospital white dorm room. The glow of the sun bounced of the walls and empty boxes that were casually thrown in random places throughout the room. Raising his head slightly Tristin's mind caught a glimpse of the reality. Weary eyed from sleep he sat himself up. Shaking his head he attempted to rid himself of the sleep that still hung around him. Running his fingers partially through his already distressed hair, the phone rang again continuing in its irritating and predictable chimes. Tristin made his way slowly but surely out of bed. When his bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor a chill sent up through his body. But he continued in the direction of the phone paying no mind to the icy feeling.

"Took you long enough," a voice said on the other end.

"Mom?" he responded, in a wave of tired confusion.

"So I was at the Gazette yesterday…" Sam began.

"Oh you…it's early," Tristin pleaded into the phone.

"I told you I'd call you," Sam argued with a slight hint of amusement. She'd had her coffee already and despite that she'd been programmed as a morning person and not by choice Tristin had not.

"Do rich pick on the poor?" he attempted to make a point. It was too early for points.

"Well in so many words, yes," she responded. "Which is exactly why early risers pick on…non-early risers?" her combination of words seemed insane even before they left her mouth. "You grew up rich; didn't you guys have a club or something? Masking it with a semi-caring motto like 'help poverty eat the poor'. No wonder your food always tasted better. Cannibals."

Tristin's eyes had fallen shut as he stood there phone in hand. Drowsiness had failed to lift itself from his eyes. On the other end Sam shuffled about her single dorm, which in comparison to Tristin's was a result of a lot more decorating and personalisation. Co-ordinating picture frames, lamps, mirrors, candles and exotic scarves that had been passed down to her by her Aunt Rhonda, filled her room that had been painted a pale yellow by a previous resident. She piled her books in a neat stack, holding the phone between her head and her shoulder, freeing both her hands. The sound of rustling papers rose Tristin from his wakeful doze. Unconsciousness had rid his memory of the fact that he was on the phone.

"Coffee," Tristin muttered into the receiver.

Sam smiled to herself. "Fine I'll spare you."

"You're oh so kind," Tristin said with bitter sarcasm.

"Praise me later. I'll see you in class," Sam added before hanging up and placing her phone on the top of her pile of books. She slid it entirely into her book bag. Slinging her back over her shoulder, Sam left her dorm an hour early and made her way to the dining hall.

---

6:30

Logan groaned, rolling over in his bed, he'd been tossing and turning ever since he'd crawled into bed around 1:30. For some reason Logan hadn't bee able to find the relief of sleep. It frustrated him to no end because he knew exactly why he couldn't sleep, and the reason had brown hair, blue eyes and was currently asleep in her dorm.

Logan finally gave up on sleeping when the first rays of sunlight broke through his curtains. He pushed himself out of bed, ignoring the rush of cold air that hit his naked chest; he stood and walked over to his door. Quietly, not wanting to wake Collin who he was rooming with this year, Logan slipped into the small kitchenette. He turned on the coffee maker first thing, a habit he'd picked up from spending the whole summer with a Gilmore Girl. While waiting for the coffee he sat down at the small table and rested his chin in his palm. His thoughts instantly returned to Rory. How could she plague his thoughts like this? He'd done countless dangerous, exciting and life-threatening with the LDB but none of them had him loosing sleep at night…well a couple of them during them in-between but then again those were the ones that he brought Rory with him. Once again the reason why he couldn't sleep was linked back to her. How could she have this much affect on him?

Fortunately for Logan, whose head was staring to hurt from the puzzling thoughts, the coffee machine chose that moment to beep, signalling the brew was done. Logan jumped up and grabbed from the machine and set it on the table. He went to the small fridge and was about to pull out the cream but decided against it. He knew that black coffee would help him stay awake later on in the morning, when his all-nighter came back to bite him in the ass. As he sat by himself in the quiet dorm, his thoughts couldn't help but drift.

The past summer had been one of his favourites – maybe even his favourite. This surprised Logan because he'd spent most of it in Connecticut…but he knew it was the company he'd kept rather then the places he'd gone that had made it so great. Rory had been by his side most of summer, going with him to numerous functions and parties, aiding him in throwing Honour's birthday party and planning the upcoming wedding, she'd even spent the week with him in his dorm when he'd been sick. But more importantly she'd been by his side at night, nestled under his arm, every curve of her body fitting into his; like they were two pieces to the same puzzle. The whole summer seemed to blend together; her smile, her laugh, her sparkling blue eyes. But the evening before Rory had told him that she wanted to go back to her new dorm so she could get it ready for Monday. And so instead Logan had gone out with Collin and Seth, with plans to go to the pub. Only they hadn't made there, instead spent the night in Seth's dorm playing poker and darts and catching up with each other. They'd only gotten to see each other through the LDB during the summer. The time had passed quickly and Logan had gotten back to his own dorm and poured himself into bed around 1:30. It was an odd feeling not having a warm body next to his during the night, a feeling Logan could truthfully say he didn't like one bit. He'd gotten so used to having Rory there with him, like during the summer, that last night he hadn't been able to sleep because of it.

Groaning Logan looked over at the small clock that was lying on the top of one of the many people around the dorm. 6:45 Logan got up fro the table, coffee in hand and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower in hopes that it might help erase his train of thought and his sleepless night.

---

It was about quarter after seven when Logan left his dorm. He walked out of his hall and into the courtyard, passing a few people who were out enjoying their last free hours. Logan didn't know where he was heading but his feet seemed to guide him straight to Brantford hall, where Rory's dorm was for the second year in a row. He thought of going to her room but then thought that might freak her out. Logan then remembered the key she'd given him earlier that summer and so he headed for the door to her dorm. Easing it into the lock he stealthy opened the dorm and walked over to Rory's room. After closing the door behind him, he looked around noting that she really had gotten a lot of work done. Her dorm was looking almost finished, unlike his that was still packed away in boxes.

He walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. Rory had obviously found sleep the night before, as she was passed out underneath the blankets, clothes still on. A half smile spread itself across his face as he let one hand reach out and push a strand of hair from her face.

Rory rustled a little, unconsciously beneath his touch. Logan's smile went from half to whole. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, unsure of his own intentions. Was he going to wake her?

Her eyes began to flutter open and it was no longer his choice.

"Morning beautiful," Logan greeted her.

"If you don't have coffee you must have a death wish," she grunted pulling the blankets up her chin.

"I'll be right back?" Logan asked, narrowing his hazel eyes on her.

Rory shut her eyes tight and rolled over, giving her back to him. "You better be."

Logan chuckled, raising himself to his feet and out the door. As he stepped out into the hall his phone rang from his pants pocket. "Hello," he said as he pressed the phone to his ear.

"Ugh…"

Logan let a smirk settle on his features, and a laugh pass through his lips. "Hello Finn," he replied, already knowing what had happened to Finn…or who.

"Logan…Mate?" Finn moaned as if he didn't know he'd called him.

"What's her name?" Logan asked knowingly, heading in the direction to the closest coffee cart.

"Right, like I would know," he answered his voice weary. "All I can 'member is flashes of red."

"So you've finally gone insane?"

"Or she had red hair?" Finn added a possibility.

Logan laughed, but not so much at Finn, but the fact he'd been just another Finn, only a year ago. "How're you?" Logan asked, suspicious of such a random phone call. But when he thought about it, he was pretty sure Finn had no clue who he was calling.

"I love this school," Finn said. "Princeton," he added suspecting whoever it was on the other end didn't know which he was referring to.

"There's a lot of school to love," Logan said, reaching the coffee cart.

"Women everywhere…it's…it's like feeding time at the zoo," Finn frowned, flustered.

Logan covered the receiver with his hand and placed his order to the guy working the coffee cart, 4 large coffees's to go.

Finn didn't have patience for the moment of silence on the other end. "I miss our old partying rendezvous," Finn pouted, leaving Logan confused on how to respond. He remembered the way it used to be, but that wasn't the case anymore. Ever since Rory happened, ever since his innate fear of the 'g' word had dissolved he could no longer see himself skipping back to that role. "It's why I called. I'm inviting you to a party here," Finn finished, his voice curiously muffled, causing Logan to wonder where he was exactly and what he was doing.

"At Princeton?" Logan asked handing over money for the coffees.

"Sure mate," Finn replied his words slurred together. "Bring the reporter with you."

Logan laughed. It had been a year since Logan and Rory had committed to each other and he didn't think he'd heard Finn call Rory by her name more then a handful of times. That didn't mean Finn didn't like her, au contraire. Finn had been the first one to offer congratulations when Logan had announced that Rory was his girlfriend. The natural born flirt had taken to her quite nicely, loving having a girl around who could keep up with his quick wit and random topic change.

"You mean Rory?" Logan stated, as he walked back to Rory's dorm, coffee in hand.

"Who?"

"Never mind Finn," Logan relayed not wanting to confuse his Australian friend anymore. He opened Rory's door and looked in cautiously, making sure Paris wasn't anywhere in sight. When the coast was clear he continued on into Rory's room, to find her in the same position as before.

"You coming then mate?" Finn asked on the other end.

Logan sat the coffees on the table beside Rory's bed and brought one to her, knowing the scent alone would wake her up. True enough she heard a slight sniffing noise before she turned her head towards the coffee, a smile spreading across her face. She sat up in bed and grabbed the cup, guzzling down the beverage not even caring about how hot it was.

"I'll ask her, and call you back later," Logan answered, earning a confused look from Rory.

"Sure mate…see ya," Finn said into the phone.

"Bye Finn," Logan replied and turned his phone off, leaning over to place it on the table. He sat back down, letting his hand run up her bent leg, loving the way it jerked at his ministration. "Morning beautiful," Logan echoed his earlier words, a gorgeous smile on his face.

"Hey," Rory said her voice scratchy from sleep. She was already three quarters of the way finished her coffee and so she rested it on the top of he knee, looking from Logan to his phone and then back again. "Was that Finn?" she asked thinking that who he's said goodbye to.

"Yeah…just invited us to a party," Logan told her, ready for the complaining to start since Rory wasn't the party girl, but she still seemed caught up around the beginning of his sentence.

"Where is Finn? I haven't seen him in forever," Rory asked, finishing the coffee and putting the empty cup back in the tray and grabbed another one with a giddy smile on her face.

"Well for the last half of the summer he went back to Australia to visit with his family and then he went straight back to Princeton after that," he told her, unconsciously drawing circles on her covered leg with his finger.

Rory looked shocked to hear that. "Finn goes to Princeton? Since when?" she asked, coffee poised just below her mouth as her arm froze.

"Since forever Ace…" Logan trailed off. "I thought you knew that," he finished.

Rory just shrugged her shoulders, sipping leisurely at her second coffee. A sudden frown then marred her features. "Did you say something about a party?" she asked.

Logan shook his head. "Guilty as charged…" he told her, bending his head down and looking up at her.

Rory melted a little at his boyish charm. "Never plead guilty," she advised/

Logan interrupted her "Never go to sleep in your clothes" he told her, pulling down the blanket to expose the same outfit she'd had on yesterday.

"I was tired…" Rory pouted, reaching for the blanket again, but failed. She gave up, leaning back against the head-board. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"What? A guy can't come and see his girlfriend?"

Rory looked over at her digit-clock. "Not at 7:30 in the morning" she said, shaking her head. "You know Logan… We do sleep here, and we like it! It keeps us pretty! And stops us from killing our psycho boyfriends!"

Logan laughed, "So about this party…" he asked.

Rory rolled her eyes, knowing he wanted to go. "Where is it?" she asked.

"Princeton" he told her quietly.

Rory smiled innocently "Well, I'm sure you'll have fun"

Logan frowned. "Oh c'mon Ace you've got to come!" he whined.

"Why?"

Logan tried to think of a reason that would appease her. "Well Finn's going to invite all these hot girls. Which is a problem, because none of them are you" he said, his smirk growing in size.

Shaking her head, Rory pushed herself up to him " That was corny" she told him, but a smile was playing on her face.

Logan leaned forward "But it made you change your mind didn't it?"

"Yes" she agreed, grudgingly. Jumping off the bed, and over to her door. She paused while opening it. "You better not be planning on getting me drunk" she said, pointing a finger at him.

"Why go away to Princeton? When I could just do that here?" he asked, smartly.

Rory turned around and head towards the bathroom. "You're a comedian Huntzberger!" she shouted, before closing the door.

The dining hall was next to empty when Sam got there. A mixture of scents filled the air, each one as good as the next. Muffins, eggs, bacon, coffee.

When Sam decided on her breakfast of a muffin, yogurt, half a grapefruit, coffee and a glass of orange juice she made her way to the window seats. Everything seemed cleaner, newer, fresher without a crowd of rowdy college students. At this time, the only students there were a few odd early risers like herself, along with partiers, that never actually went to sleep and were struggling about with a glazed over look of the night before.

"The early bird gets the worm" Sam whispered to herself, looking out the window at the sun, just barely breaking the tops of the trees. The once bright-green leaves, were fading , as fall was just around the corner. They had turned a paler green, but was equally beautiful all the same.

Redirecting her attention to the tray in front of her, she'd failed to notice that someone had sat across from her at the four person table she was seated at. His head was laid against the surface of the table, which disabled Sam from recognizing whom he was. Or whether or not she knew him.

"You know...Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy" Sam told the figure. Slowly his head rose, and Sam came to recognize him as Tristin's new roommate.

A smile of relief made its way to Sam's face. She'd heard too many horror stories about campus creeps.

"Harsh" he muttered, his accent barely present.

Sam could tell he was just one of those all-nighters, and maybe his accent had retired for the night. She saw minor regret in his eyes, as he slowly lost the battle of slumber, right in front of her eyes. Beside him an open flip-phone sat on the table, suggesting he'd recently used it but was to absent minded to close it. Reaching across the table Sam made it her duty to help the strange roommate, whose name still remained anonymous to her. The sound of his phone closing woke him from his mild doze.

Sam held it out to him, helpfully. "Calling someone?"

"Was...Yes," he said. " I just can't remember who" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Lack of sleep will do that to you"

"She...I mean it...IT was so worth it." He respond almost cutting her off. "Sleep? Sleep? What is this 'Sleep' you speak of, and where may I get some?" It seemed to have taken a short while for her words to process through his mind.

"Lucky that you do know what 'partying' is then, so at least you can say you know something. Unfortunately you forfeited 'Sleep' in return for such part knowledge."

He looked up at her, his eyes desperately struggling to focus on her face. His face twisted in formation with his effort.

"Oh yeah, that's hot" she laughed, sipping her coffee.

"And Paris Hilton chimes in!" His head fell forward again, hitting the table with a rather large thump.

Sam took in a sharp breath, cringing with the imagination of what pain that may have caused. "How'd that feel?"

"Ow..." He gnarled. "Party. Saturday Night. Nine. Be there or be..." he paused mid-sentence. Lifting his head once more, his eyes were already focussed on her. "My mistake, you're already square. I guess it doesn't really make a difference then ?" He shot at her, grinning groggily. "Don't I know you?" he finished.

Sam rolled her eyes in response. "I met you a couple days ago...in your dorm" she attempted to refresh his memory.

"Sally!" he burst out. "With the boyfriend!"

"Sam" she corrected.

"Yeah...well..."

"Party?" Sam asked transferring, his attention from her tray, that still remained untouched, and away from the topic of 'boyfriends'.

"You see... When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much.." he joked.

"I know!" But where? When? Yada yada..." Sam laughed.

"Finn!" a voice called from across the caf. Finns head jerked around, to locate who was calling. His eyes fixed on a small redhead a few tables over. Sam watched as they gestured flirtatiously, she found the two of them rather amusing.

Without so much as another glance at Sam, he stood up. "Saturday night. Shouldn't be hard to find, just follow the kegs and gangs of topless girls. If you were sane you'd be one of those girls too" he added before making his way over to where the redhead sat. "See you there, Sarah" his accent emphasized the fact he'd got her name wrong, again.

"Sam" she muttered, even though there was no chance he's heard her . As she took a bite of her muffin, any recollection of the party disappeared into Sam's sea of thoughts. She looked down at her watch 8:15 it told her. She took her time returning her dishes and tray. With nothing else to do, she walked over to the English building, in search of her first class of the day.

The door was open, so Sam took it upon herself to get a good seat before anyone else arrived. Which was unlikely since she was over a half hour early.

She took a desk in the middle row, centre. Setting her book bag down on the desk her eyes scanned the room around her. All the desks were the same, like clones evenly spaced in a line up. The only things that might separate one from another would be the odd scribble of boredom, left by a prior student.

Sam moved her bag down to the ground beside the desk, as she took her seat. Removing a notebook, a pencil, and her walkman from her bag. She looked down at her notebook on the desk in front of her, something caught her eye.

"3 words, 8 letters, 1 meaning" was written off to the left of her desk. Sam's eyebrows raised beneath her blonde bangs. The phrase echoed in her mind, as she took a black hair elastic and gathered her locks in a ponytail on the back of her head, leaving her shorter bangs behind, hanging in her brown eyes. All the while her eyes remained locked on the graffiti, tracing every curve of the letters. Placing her earphones on her head, she continued to open her notebook, flipping through the pages of artwork, poems, thoughts, and reminders she'd written previously. Landing on a blank page, she imitated the words on her desk.

Sick and tired of this world,

There's no more air,

Tripping over myself,

Going nowhere,

Waiting,

Suffocating,

No direction,

I took a dive and...

Trust, Knowledge, Security, Change, Life, Answers, she listed on the page. Her eyes shifted from her page to the desk. Love she added, finishing the list.

I've been wondering why,

It's only me,

Have you always been inside,

Waiting to breathe,

S'Alright,

Sunlight on my face,

I wake up with you,

And...

I'm alive.

Sam hadn't noticed the students that began filing in and taking seats around the classroom. Her eyes were focussed downwards and her head was being filled with music and thought. She'd managed to seclude herself in a now room-full of people.

It was only when the professor entered the class and passed by her, to get to the front of the class that her attention was diverted. She pulled off her earphones, and left them laced around her neck. Straightening her posture, she focussed her attention to the front of the room. Mainly the green chalkboard.

Mentally Sam compared this green of the chalkboard to those she'd examined earlier this morning Turning her head to the left she saw a row of long windows, parading the entire wall. Only they were covered with putrid coloured drapes.

The professor had been talking since his sudden entrance, Sam knew she was surely hearing him, just not listening. His tone raised.

"You" he cut in. Sam was brought back to reality. She turned her head back towards the front of the classroom. "..In the powder blue shirt" Sam looked around her, unaware of the actual clothing she wore. For a girl, it was surprising that was the last thing ever on her mind. Tristin had told her once, that this was one of the things he respected most about her. "You, Miss" he confirmed pointing at her.

"..oh...OH!" she responded, straightening her back and fidgeting with the books displayed on her desk. She removed the headset from around her neck,

"What was the last book you read?" he asked, leaning against his desk that was "conveniently" stationed directly in front of her.

Sam's eyes shot up and down her new teacher. "The Night-Coloured Pearl" she told him, along with the rest of the class. "By Tzunami Renivaro" she finished, her voice unsteady.

"And what was it about?" he questioned her, crossing his arms across his chest. Sam gazed around, at the students surrounding her, uncomfortable with being singled out so suddenly, and so soon in the course. She neglected to notice Tristin sat diagonal ly behind her, his eyes fixated on the back of her head. Just like his heart had been so obviously fixated on her, but not even he knew.

"Strength, Endurance..." she said. "Mental, and Physically" she tried to ignore the feeling of multiple pairs of eyes judging her every move, and word. "Love" she finished the summary.

"Ah, Love: The irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired - Mark Twain" he quoted. Turning around he picked up a piece of chalk and began to write. "Our topic today is..." he said aloud, while scribbling on the board. "Love"

Facing the class again, his eyes were drawn as if magnetically to Sam. "Thank you Miss..."

"Montgomery"

"Miss Montgomery" he repeated. "Manny authors use love as a hook, to draw readers in. And many more authors mask their own love tales in side those stories. So my question for all of you is: What is love? When do you show it? Do you show it? How do you show it? Is it worth the risk?" The class was silent. The professor's attempt at starting a class discussion had failed.

"I'd have to disagree" Sam let out. "Not all authors write about love in the past tense, having experienced it. Some authors prefer to write in their own vows to never fall in love, to never experience it. Characters who make promises to themselves, they will never fall in love. Because they've seen too many others around them go through heartbreak."

"But that still involves Love. It's a given. "Tristin cut in. Sam recognized his voice and was in disbelief. She turned her head to confirm and was met with his goofy smile. Tristin looked up at the professor. "I agree with you" he said. "All authors incorporate love, because it's something every reader can relate to."

"But..." Sam endeavoured.

"You are mistaking love, for lack of romance." He told her, as if he knew all.

"Romance has nothing to do with it. That's a misconceived notion brought forth by two twits in tights... they go by the names of Romeo and Juliet. You don't always need a romantic tale to consider love in a relationship. Believe it or not, but it's people with the control over their hearts and no corny love poem, song or flowers have any effect on it."

"Romance is the foundation. Without romance there would be nothing to build love on. Just think of all the movies out there, that centre around the characters 'falling in love', it's the progress that matters most," Tristin exclaimed.

"You can't find the feeling of love in those platitudinal 'Romantic Comedies'. True love can't be acted out, especially the way they do it on the big screen."

"Which is how?" He asked, pointedly.

Sam fumed silently for a moment, before finalizing her argument. "They portray love through actions, words. Through the way a man talks, or through the way a girl dress'. I mean no one can relate to the whole 'see-through shirt coloured bra' combination. It doesn't exactly scream 'I'm out to find true love!' it says more 'desperate woman trying too hard.' You've got to make him work for it." She concluded.

Tristin smirked. He could see the fire burning in her eyes, she was really getting into this, and he loved it. "You just proved my point. Those don't represent love, because they represent romance. You can't fall in love with someone, at first sight, and you just don't have to love one person forever."

"It just doesn't make sense not to though. Your heart is mean to be given to the one person you want to spend your life with. To the person you can honestly say you love and trust. If you knew that you'd fall in love again or re-marry, we wouldn't have any reason to have love or marriages."

"Yeah, but you don't know, that you may fall in love again. Love, is spontaneous, falling into love with someone right away, because you're "destine" isn't logical."

"Love isn't supposed to be logical. It's dangerous, to rationalize your feelings" Sam told him. A frown began to mare her features. The other people in the class, including the teacher were watching the debate with rapt attention. Their heads swivelling back and forth, as if they were watching a tennis match.

"But you have to rationalize them If you don't then when it comes to that point in a relationship you won't be sure of what you're feeling. If you had just classified that first feeling you had towards someone as love, down the road when you really do fall in love you'd be at least able to identify it."

Sam just glared at him, as if daring him to say something else. When he didn't she opened her mouth. "True love is something you feel right away, and it can't just die. It only ever dies because of the people that don't know how to stay in love. It dies of blindness and errors, of betrayal. It dies of illness and weariness, those are all things people control. If they have fear or doubts, it's not love that failed. It's the couple that's failed love." Tristin couldn't help to suddenly feel Sam's comments were in one way, directed at him. "And th number one way a person can fail love is not expressing. Not telling those you love, you do. Or by faking it, to fail love is to fake an emotion, to abuse it to the very extent where it no longer means anything to anyone. Including yourself" Sam finished turning to face the chalkboard, where the professors eyes still switched between the two students.

Tristin's eyes fell away from Sam. He knew what she was referring to. He did love her, but he didn't know it, he couldn't know it. Tristin couldn't bring himself to utter the words. He was both scared and scarred from the past.

The professor arose from his shock, and spoke up. His words cutting the tension between the couple like a knife. "Anyone else?"

Sam hadn't uttered another word throughout the discussion. She hadn't meant to really say all that. She didn't want Tristin and her to fight out their personal problems in class, even if they were masked with an in-class topic. Sam had always wanted to keep her school work from clashing with other things in her life. She wasn't even paying attention during the teachers lecture, only when he dismissed her did she look up from her desk again. This isn't the way she'd planned on starting the year. Sam wasted no time gathering together her stuff and heading out the door. She could feel Tristin's eyes on her but she didn't want to him. Only because she was sure he understood that their debate had been about them in particular.

Sam was just past the classroom door, when Tristin stepped in front of her. The two stood in silence at one another, while the rest of the class filed out. Sam opened her mouth to say something. Tristin seemed surprised when nothing came out. She shook her head, looking down to avoid eye contact. She attempted to walk around him, but he shifted in response to her actions, ending up in her path again. She stepped in the other direction, but he repeated.

Sam stopped and looked at him narrowed eyed. "Dugrey, if you don't move I swear to god I will stab you in your sleep" she warned before pushing past him.

She had to get away from there. Anywhere on campus...he'd find her. So Sam made her was briskly out to the parking lot, to find her Cadillac.

We are all the same,

Human end...

All our ways, and all our pain,

So let it be...

Let us see.

Tristin remained in the hallway, he'd barely moved since Sam had brushed him aside. Other then now, he stood his back leaned against the wall. Few people passed through, and those who did, neglected to notice the blue-eyes boy, who masked a great deal of colliding emotions inside. He sighed in a heap of regret. Using his foot as leverage, he pushed himself away from the wall, and began to stroll off in the direction of his dorm.

There's a love that can fall down like rain...

As she set sat in her car, gearing the ignition that wouldn't start. Sam felt a wave of tears sting her eyes. One final try. She fell back onto the seat , closing her eyes tightly preventing the waterworks.

Let us begin to wash away the pain,

No one really knows what they're searching for...

Looking into the rear view mirror she saw her eyes full of tears, creating distress on her other features.

We believe,

We believe...

Letting her hair down she reached under her seat to retrieve her baseball cap. Putting it on she hoped it would stop anyone else from noticing her pink nose or the tears that had begun to stray down from her eyes, marking a path down her cheeks.

We believe,

We believe...

Grabbing her keys from the ignition and her book bag from the seat beside her she exited her car. Sam didn't know where she was going. She didn't know the buildings good enough, to know where to go. Where she ended up was the library. She found solace in the thousands of old volumes. Trailing her hand down the spines of the books, while walking down the rows. Sam found herself in one of the library's corners. Stationed there, were to large desks supplied with what seemed to be brand-new high-tech computers.

She sat herself in front of one. Using an online search engine she found over 10000 hits on used-car sales. If her Cadillac wouldn't work she'd have to find something that would.

So this world's,

Is too much,

For you take,

Just laying down,

And follow me,

I'll be everything you need...

In every world.

The door cracked while opening, creating an unholy sound amongst the still room. Tristin clogged his way through the door, careful to close it behind him. He made no effort of staying quiet, despite the face Finn had been spotted passed out on the couch. Lined up parallel to the back wall. Tristin studied his position.

"How the hell..." he muttered, tilting his head in effort to identify which body part went where. Finn remained, showing no signs of life, as his mind wandered in the land Unbeknownst to man. The only was Tristin was sure he was alive was the hum of his breathing, and random snored, that slightly slowed his breathing every once and a while.

Giving up , Tristin set his books from this morning on the desk next to his computer. It'd been the only thing actually intact the day he'd moved in.

Beams of light highlighted his already blonde hair, and bounced mercilessly off his white t-shirt. If you hadn't known any better, you may have mistaken him from an angel. Looking down at the computer screen. A small notice appeared in the bottom right corner of the screen.

We believe,

We believe,

We believe,

In this love.

'Don't answer it' Sam thought to herself. How much harm could it do? Her day had already been sent to the gutter. She was prepared for the worst. Her phone rang, repeatedly... She pushed it off to the side. She continued scrolling down the list, clicking on links, until she came across, a dealer ship parting with a Cadillac not so different from her own.

She felt something creep up her should as she was reading. Startled she jumped up, knocking her book bag and all its contents onto the ground beside her. Relieved to see when she looked up that it was Tristin, his trademark smile beaming down at her, as she sat on the edge of her chair, one more scare away from falling off. She rolled her eyes at him before getting up, to gather her books off the ground. Tristin met her there, as he gathered her things. He notice one of them had flipped open... there he read it. The riddle Sam had found on her desk, was copied into her notebook. Of course he had no idea of what the meaning had been. He looked over at Sam, her blonde hair shadowing her features as she moved back and forth gathering a few lose papers. She hadn't seen him reading it. He quickly closed it and handed it over to her. In silence she accepted the notebook, stacking everything together, and replacing it into her bag.

"You've got to admit, that was funny..." he finally said. "Even though I didn't do it purposely."

She paused and looked at him, his blue eyes pending. "Hilarious" she muttered, in a miserable tone.

"About earlier..." he began.

"Don't worry about it" she interrupted, "You made your point".

"No.. I didn't" he pled, "Everything I said... I said for a reason."

Love just is ...

Whatever it may be

Love just is...

You and me

Nothing less

And nothing more

I don't know what I love you for

Love just is

"Then, what are we doing?" she asked. "What are you doing with me?" His features froze, he hadn't expected such a question. Her eyes began to burn, she knew why but she couldn't let herself be so vulnerable. She'd let herself love, and it was all about to go to hell. Her eyes searched his face for an answer... but there was nothing. She sat back down at the computer, and continued like nothing had happened.

Tristin was desperate, he was losing her. He couldn't lose her, not like this...'Not ever' he thought. He knelt down beside her, his blue eyes concentrated solely on her the side of her face. She'd hidden herself quite well beneath the baseball cap. By now, she couldn't read anything, but she kept her eyes settled on the screen.

"A while ago, a long while ago... I thought I was in love. I was young, I met her and she just appealed to me. She was smart, beautiful but she kept to herself, she never tried too hard to be accepted so she never was. But that never bugged her... At the time I was King of the School, I would take advantage of any girl in my path. I had a new flavour ever week. She killed off that part of me, without realizing it. But before... I ever had a chance. My dad shipped me off to military school. I got over her... eventually, but my standards changed. She was the kind of girl that went to school to learn, and not to impress anyone around her. She wanted to make something of herself unlike, the rest of the egotistical student body. Who'd most likely live off their inheritance." He paused his eyes searching for her face. But her head remained towards the screen. He lift up his hand, and gently pushed her head in to meet his. He felt a tear hit his finger. She faced him, but avoided I contact. Squeezing her eyes shut, more tears proceeded to fall down her face.

When you ask to stay, and then disappear

It seems your gone but your really here

When every move seems out of place

But every kiss is filled with grace

He swallowed his guilt and continued, bracing his hands on either side of her face. "I left Military school, and ended up in L.A. Where I ended up falling into the same pattern of an egotistical relationship. I masked myself once again in fear of finding another Rory" he let the name slip. But at the time, Sam paid next to no attention to the similarities, of the Gilmore girl she'd met the day before. "Shelby was my way out.." Sam pulled one of his hands off her face, but Tristin kept the other, cradling her face. She wiped the tears from her cheek "But then I met you," A smile of hope crossed his face, his blue-eyes seemed even bluer to Sam as he said this. "You were...You are everything and more. I thought love was over for me. But you..." the corners of Sam's lip, turned up a little. To him, she looked more beautiful then ever, her tears had lightened the brown of her eyes, as if they were shimmering. "You.." he repeated, mesmerized on how much her simplistic beauty effected him. Sam let out a weak laugh.

"What about me?" she asked, her eyes trying to read his face.

He smiled, "8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning..." Sam's eyebrows furrowed, Tristin smiled at her endearing expression.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, before she managed to emit a sentence "How did you..."

"Sam" he disrupted " I Love you" he whispered leaning his forehead against hers.

Some things never get defined

In your heart or in your mind

It don't make sense what can you do

So I won't try making sense of you...

She smiled, her eyes sparkling at Tristin once again. He said he loved her. And he did. "I Love you, too" she said back biting her bottom lip.

"My name's not 'too'" He joked, smirking at her.

Sam raised her eyebrows in response. "Oh sorry, my mistake. I thought you were my OTHER boyfriend" her smile faded. She'd just used the 'b' word. Her eyes widened like deer in headlights. He'd said he loved her, 'It's okay to call him that now' she tried to convince herself. 'I can...call you..."

"Your boyfriend?" he asked, his smile continuously broadening. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides it's a hell of a lot better then anything beginning or ending in 'ass'" he added.

Her embarrassment faded, and she turned her attention back towards the computer screen. "What are you looking for?" Tristin asked, over her shoulder, as he pulled up a chair next to her.

"A new car. My Not-so-trusty Cadillac, is deceased." she told him, forcing a pout onto her face. Tristin curved his arm around her waste empathetically, as Sam looked at a mid-condition Red Cadillac for sale, just a few town's away. "Hey, if you get the chance. Do you think you could go check this one out for me? Make sure the engine works, check the interior, make sure the stereo works, and the trunks big enough.."

"The trunk?" the one thing he didn't understand out of that list of demands.

"Yeah...you know. For your body" she smiled. "Just in case"