A/N: I know this chapter may be a little short, but longer chapters are on the way. This chapter is really that meaningful, it's just there. I'm also sorry for the wait, I've left my notebook, which has all my writings in it, at school. The story will get better later on, and there will be some positive Tristan/Rory interaction, too. I've also decided what ship the story's gonna end with.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters, blah blah blah, you know the drill here.

Chapter Two — The Dixie Chick

The car ride home was awkwardly silent until they reached Stars Hollow. Upon entrance into the small town, Lorelai held a pretend microphone to her hand, driving slowly through the town.

"Welcome to Stars Hollow, I'm Lorelai Gilmore and I'll be your guide for the day. Let's start by taking a look to our left, where you'll see Luke's Diner." She looks back at Dean. "If you want good coffee, you go there and nowhere else."

"Mom," Rory said. "I don't think a tour of Stars Hollow is necessary."

"Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing the rest of the town." Dean said, and then looked from Rory to Lorelai. "That is, if you two don't mind."

"Are you kidding? I've never gotten to be town tour guide before. This'll be fun!" Lorelai said in a chipper tone. "There's Miss Patty's. We may want to keep you away from there, though."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Just trust me."

The 'tour' continued for about ten more minutes before they reached the house.

"And welcome to the House of Gilmore." She unbuckled her seatbelt and looked back at Dean with grin. "It has nothing to do with the House of Wax."

"Good, because then I think I would've had to bolt." Dean said, returning the grin.

Lorelai looked over at Rory as Dean exited the car and said quietly, "I like this guy." They both then left the car, Lorelai heading for the front door and Rory standing beside Dean.

"Sorry about the tour." Rory apologized.

"It's okay, I kinda liked it." Dean grinned looking at her. "Your mom seems really cool."

"She is." Rory nodded in agreement.

"You too are pretty close, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Rory said with a nod. "We're best friends."

"Rory! Dean! Come on! I just ordered some pizza, so get inside." Lorelai called from the house.

Dean looks up and says, "Pizza sounds good." Then walks towards the front porch, Rory following shortly afterward.

Okay, so maybe I was wrong. Dean thought as he took a bite of his pizza. Okay, I was completely wrong. This place isn't that bad. Neither is she. She's definitely not like any of the other girls at Chilton.

Dean looked around the living room, where they'd decided to work on the project. On ground beside him stood their castle, which was much more impressive than the one he'd made before. Beside the castle lay his Chilton jacket and tie, and on the table was a large, almost-empty box of pizza.

Dean took another bite of his pizza, and then looked up to see Rory emerging from her room, de-uniformed. He couldn't help but think that she looked pretty.

"Looks like we're almost done." She said, taking a seat next to him on the floor and reaching into the pizza box to grab a slice.

Dean looked at the castle and nodded. "Just need to do some final adjustments and we'll be good."

"And you didn't want me to help you," She took a bite of the pizza.

"I just didn't want you to have to worry about it."

"I would've worried about it even if you hadn't agreed to redoing it. It would've been all my fault that you got a zero on your project."

Just then, Lorelai popped in wearing a wide grin, as always, on her face.

"So you guys are almost done here, huh?" She said, her gaze falling on the completed castle.

"Yeah, just need to do some touch-ups and that sort of stuff." Dean replied.

"Okay, well Rory, I'm going to Luke's and bringing us dinner." She paused. "Should I make it dinner for three?"

"No," Dean said quickly. "I don't want to bother you guys anymore, I'll just eat when I get home."

"You sure?" Rory said looking at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, I need to get going soon anyway."

"Do you need a ride?" Lorelai asked.

Dean pulled out a cell phone and shook his head. "No, I'll just call my driver." He held the phone to his ear, rose and walked to the other side of the room as he began talking. Lorelai looked at Rory and said quietly, "Driver?"

Rory simply shrugged and Dean came back.

"He'll be here in less than an hour." He informed the two Gilmores.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go then." Lorelai said, walking out of the room and out of the house.

Dean bent down and began cleaning up the mess they'd made. Rory tucked her hair behind her ears and bends down to help. Before long, the mess is cleaned and the two are sitting on the couch.

"Thanks for the help." Dean said and looked at her.

"Oh, it was no problem." Rory smiled. "I mean, I did break your first one. I'm glad you let me make it up to you."

Dean heard a horn beep from outside and smiled.

"That's my ride." He rose, putting on his Chilton jacket and slinging his bookbag over a shoulder. He then bent down, picked up the castle and smiled at Rory. "I'll see you at school."

Rory nodded. "Yup. School."

Dean soon left and Rory sighed, sitting back down on the couch. After a moment or two, Lorelai entered the house carrying two brown bags with the 'Luke's' logo on them.

"Hey, Dean gone yet?" She asked, holding out one of the bags to her daughter.

"Yeah, he just left," She stuck her head inside and smiled, taking in the smell of Luke's burgers and fries. "Coffee?"

Lorelai held out a cup to her and then took a seat beside her, opening her own bag and pulling out a burger.

"Why were you at Luke's for a half hour?" Rory asked after taking a sip of coffee.

"You know those lines at Luke's." Lorelai said, waving it off.

"Actually, I don't." Rory responded, raising an eyebrow.

Lorelai bit off a large piece of the burger and began chewing slow. Rory grabbed her mother's shoulder and gave it a short shake.

"Stop avoiding the question!" Rory said in an irritated voice.

Lorelai gulped and said, "I'm not, I'm not. Jeez, can't a girl enjoy her burger?"

Rory cast her a look.

"I don't know, Rory," Lorelai began. "I thought you two wanted to be…you know…alone a little bit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory asked. "You wanted me to hook up with a guy I just met?"

"No, of course not. I just thought you two could be friends." Lorelai said, holding up her right hand. "I swear. Besides, you need friends, it's a new school, you need someone to bail you out of tough situations."

Rory crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back on the couch. "I can't believe you thought I wanted to hook up with a boy I first met."

Lorelai scowled and reached into the bag, pulling out a fry and throwing it at Rory.

"Hey!" Rory cried.

Lorelai simply smirked and grabbed the remote, turning on the TV.

Jeez, Abrams is boring, thought Tristan DuGrey as he sat slouched in his seat at the back of the room. He lightly tapped the eraser end of his pencil on his Trigonometry book, looking bored out of his mind. He glanced over to the seat next to him, where Dean Forrester sat, leaned forward, his nose buried in his class work. Tristan smirked and looked up at the teacher, who was sitting at her desk dreading a book, glancing up from time-to-time to check for talkers. Tristan looked back at Dean and leaned forward, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"So how was it last night?" Tristan asked in a hushed voice.

Dean looked up slowly, his eyes darting from Tristan, to Mrs. Abrams, and to Tristan again.

"What do you mean?" He finally replied.

"You know what I mean." Tristan said, smirking. "You, Mary, her town, her house. How was it?"

"Oh," He said and paused, as if not sure whether he should share the information with his friend or not. Finally he shrugged and said, "It was okay."

"That's it? It was 'okay'?" Tristan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What else do you want me to say?" Dean asked.

"You didn't make a move or anything"

"Of course I didn't." Dean answered quickly. "That's more your territory, remember, Tristan?"

"Still," Tristan continued. "You didn't try anything?"

"No." Dean said firmly, looking back down at his nearly finished paper.

"So you two seriously just worked on that stupid castle the whole time?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Dean responded, reinforcing his words with a nod.

"Good," Tristan said simply, sitting back in his seat and looking back up at the front of the class.

This response puzzled Dean, who leaned forward and asked, "What do you mean, 'good'?"

"I mean, since you didn't try anything, that means she's fair game." Tristan responded casually with a slight shrug.

"Game? Is that what this is about?"

"You wouldn't mind if I made any moves, though, would you?" Tristan asked.

"So she's just your next conquest, Tristan?" Dean asked in an angry tone.

He shrugged and cast Dean a smirk. "She not just a conquest, Forrester. She's gonna be different from the others. She likes to play hard-to-get."

"Unbelievable," Dean muttered shaking his head and sitting back in his seat.

"Look, you're all for that romantic, sappy, commitment stuff. I'm just up for different kinds of relationships," Tristan explained with a lopsided grin.

"Yeah?" Dean said looking over again. "Well you better be careful, Tristan, because if you hurt her, you'll have me to deal with, too."

Tristan snorted and suppressed a laugh. "You? What can you possibly do to me? Besides, it's just a girl man. You're gonna let a girl come between us? After we've been friends for years?"

"This girl's different, Tristan," Dean said. "She's just…different."

After a moment, Tristan said, "So you do like her."

"I like her as a friend, Tristan. She seems really nice and she doesn't you to go around messing with her."

Tristan held up his hands, as if surrendering. "Whatever you say, Dean-o, whatever you say."