A/N: How was that for a quick update? Anyway, thanks for the great reviews! I already have the next chapter written, so review quick, it'll get the next one out much quicker!

Chapter 5: Jealousy

It felt like I had been running for hours, and I never caught up to him. I had eventually lost sight of his back too. That boy could run. So I kept going, only slightly slower, for I could barely breath. When I reached the other side of the campus, I saw Tristan sitting on a bench, sipping at his cappuccino like nothing had happened. "Tristan Dugrey!" I yelled out squeakily as I started walking and holding my side, on top of trying desperately to catch my breath.

"Mary! Nice of you to finally show up," he replied grinning from ear to ear.

"Where did you learn to run like that!" I asked, doubling over and holding my sides, still not able to catch my breath.

"Mary, now why did I have to leave you in high school? Military school, we ran for miles every day. I'm used to it," he replied pulling me down onto the bench, so I was sitting right next to him. I leaned my tired body against him and laid my head on his shoulder, trying desperately to stop panting.

I was surprised when he stayed quiet and just waited for me to catch my breath, which I did after about ten minutes. "Never do that to me again," I said finally.

"Sorry Mar, didn't know you were this out of shape, or else I would have stopped a long time ago," he said putting his arm around my shoulders and squeezing me gently. I picked my head up from his shoulder and looked at him quizzically.

"And why would you think I was in shape?" I asked.

"Well, you and your mom eat so much junk food, I figured there was some way you guys got that off, I mean look at your figure, I thought it was impossible to do nothing and look like that," he replied.

I blushed and looked across the sidewalk, "A lot of people think that."

"And you proved me wrong, again," he said. I turned my head to look at him and he was smiling, not his normal smirk, actually smiling. I noticed he did that more.

"Why didn't you smile more in high school?" I asked suddenly. Tristan looked at me confused, so I elaborated. "I mean, in school all you did was smirk, you never smiled, well maybe once I saw you smile, but it was really rare. Why?"

"If you didn't notice, I wasn't really the happiest person in the world in high school," he replied, "I didn't exactly like to smile much. Or really laugh for that matter."

"Oh," I replied looking over at him. He had taken the arm he had around my shoulders back and was now staring at his hands. I reached over and grabbed one of his hands and laced my fingers through his, "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"I don't want to bore you with another 'My daddy was never around' stories," he replied after the shock of me grabbing his hand blew over.

"I don't mind, really. I always kind of wondered why you were the way you were in high school," I started. "The few times I was alone with you out of school, you were so sweet, but then once we got back to school or other people were around, you were a jerk," I replied honestly, and squeezing his hand.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I always wanted to be nice, but I don't know," he said running his hand through his hair, "You kind of scared me. You were the first girl who didn't instantly have a crush on me, or fall at me feet when I asked them out, you were different."

I nodded, "That's what Paris has been trying to tell me for the past, what, five- seven years," she replied with a slight laugh. "It's a shame I never believed her fully, well, until now." Tristan nodded with a laugh.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said bending over, "Here's your coffee."

I grabbed it quickly and started gulping it down, "Thank you!" I yelled and then finished off the other half of the drink. I heard Tristan start laughing beside me. "What?"

"You are the oddest girl I ever met," he told me with a smile, letting me know it was a good thing. "Now you said you had a friend to talk to?"

"Off to Finnigans!" I yelled skipping off to Finn's dorm room, that he unfortunately shared with Logan.

"Mary! I thought you didn't run?" Tristan yelled as he jogged up to me.

"I don't, I'm skipping," I replied grinning at him, and then got serious, "Gilmore's never run."

"Sorry, my mistake," he replied, putting his arm around my shoulders again, ceasing my skipping.

"Hey!" I whined, trying to skip, but failing.

"Oh, don't be so whinny, I got tired of watching you jump up and down," he replied with a laugh and leaning on me slightly, making sure I didn't skip.

"We're here!" I yelled, and tried to skip again, but he only leaned on me more. "Okay, now that's hurting me!"

"Stop trying to skip and I'll stop leaning on you," Tristan told me. I sighed in defeat, muttering an okay, and putting my arm around Tristan's waist. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I said okay, okay?" I huffed angrily.

He smiled down at me and laughed, "Alright, Mary." We got to the door and I knocked eagerly.

"Just wait until you hear this story," I replied happily. The door swung open to reveal the blonde haired boy I was wishing wasn't home.

"Ace!" he said happily, until he saw the other person with me, "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is my old friend from high school, this Tristan, Tris, this is Logan," I replied nervously.

"Oh, ya, we knew each other before you got shipped off to Military school, how was that by the way man?" he asked in a condescending way.

"Logan, don't, I actually wanted to talk to Finn," I replied trying to look around him.

"No, Mar, its fine," he told me, squeezing my shoulders in a comforting way again. "It was alright, was really hard at first, but I got used to it."

"Mar, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Logan asked, "You do know her name is Rory, right?"

"Its an old nickname, what is it to you? You didn't call her Rory either," Tristan replied, getting a little aggravated.

"Ya, well, she's my girlfriend, not yours," Logan replied, getting even more angry then before.

"Actually, Logan, I'm not your girlfriend, you made a point not to have me be your girlfriend, so if you would move and let me see Finn, I'd appreciate it," I replied trying to move passed him, but he wouldn't budge.

"Dude, she asked you to move," Tristan said in an unbelieving tone.

"Yeah, and I didn't, whats the big deal?" Logan asked.

"The big deal is, she doesn't deserve to be with a jerk like you, in fact, she deserves to be in a real realationship and actually go out with her boyfriend on Valentine's Day, not just sit at home and wish she was when she was really at home, alone," he replied angrily, taking his arm from around my shoulders so he could use his arms to emphasize his point.

"Hey! She agreed to the no-strings-attached deal! If she didn't want to do it, she didn't have to!" Logan tried to defend himself.

"Guys I am here!" I yelled. "And Logan, The no-strings thing goes both ways, why do you get to be all protective and jealous when I'm with a guy, but I have to be all cool when your with another girl?" I asked. When he didn't answer I glared at him, "Exactly," I replied turning around and leaving with Tristan.

"But I thought you wanted to talk to Finn!" Logan yelled after us.

"So I'll talk to him later," I yelled back. Tristan was being dragged along behind me, until we got outside the building, where I suddenly stopped.

"Ror, what's wrong?" he asked moving in front of me. I didn't answer, just moved forward and started crying into his chest. "Don't worry, it'll be fine, some how everything will work out," he told me softly while putting his arms around me.

"How do you know?" I asked between sobs.

"I just do, everything happens for a reason Ror, you have to just keep believing in that," he told me, tightening his arms around my back, bringing me closer. I nodded into his chest and put my arms around him to as he began to rock me back and forth. "You want to get back to your dorm?" he asked. I just nodded and he started guiding me back to my dorm room. Little did I know, that Logan was watching the whole thing from his dorm, getting madder and madder by the second.

Paris was sitting on the couch, chewing on her finger nails, something she never did. She just couldn't believe the fact that Finn had kissed her. He had always joked about liking her when she was around him, but god! He kissed her! The phone starting ringing, which jolted her out of her reverie. "Hello?" she said into the receiver.

"Paris, hey its me, Logan, is Rory around?" he asked.

"No, bye," she said annoyed, getting ready to hang up the phone.

"Paris wait! I want to talk to you!" he yelled into the phone.

"And what about Huntzberger?" she asked, basically spitting out his name.

"About Rory, what else?" he retorted getting mad.

"Don't get all snippy with me Huntzberger, or I'll hang up before you can say anything at all," she replied angrily.

"Alright, sorry. Anyway, Ace came by today, and she was with some blonde haired guy, who was he?" Logan asked curiously.

"First off, if Rory came by today with him, then she would have introduced the two of you. Therefore you know his name is Tristan. Second off, why do you care?" she asked.

"Well, they seemed kind of, hands on, and all, she's supposed to be going out with me," he replied.

"No, you're the one that doesn't want to go out with Rory, you're the one leaving her alone on Valentine's Day, you're the one going out with a bunch of girls, and Rory's the one sitting at home with me or by herself, and if she does get another date, you try to get her to leave or scare her date off! You're a jerk Huntzberger," Paris retorted angrily.

"Paris, I thought you liked me as Ace's boyfriend?" he asked.

"You're not her boyfriend! You're a jerk that talked her into casual dating said jerk! And no, I don't like you. You're the reason why all rich people have a bad name. You do whatever you want, because you know you can get away with it," she yelled at him through the phone.

"Fine Paris, just tell me if they're dating," he replied angrily.

"If she knows what's good for her they are," Paris replied hanging up and sitting back on the couch. She was sitting on the couch trying to sort out her thoughts again, when she heard the door start opening. Looking up, she saw Tristan holding me crying, and watched him guide me towards my bedroom without even noticing her.

When we got into my room, Tristan shut the door behind him with his foot. "Sorry, I just don't want to worry Paris," I replied trying to stop the tears from falling down my face.

"Don't worry about it Mary, just as long as your okay," he replied honestly. I looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm so glad we could be friends Tris, I don't know what I would have done without you. Well, I probably would have gotten sucked into Logan's little game again," she replied putting her head back on his chest.

"Yeah, we're friends, just friends," Tristan echoed my words, not letting me know that my words got to him. I moved back on my bed with Tristan and we just laid there in silence, a comfortable silence. Until Paris barged in.

"What are you guys doing?" she yelled, then saw us just laying there. "What are you guys doing?" she asked calmer.

"Nothing Paris, geez, we're just friends, nothing more," I stated. Paris looked at Tristan, and saw the visible hurt in his eyes, "Right Tristan?"

"Right," he barely chocked out, giving Paris a weak smile.

TBC…

Was this chapter good enough? I wasn't sure, but decided to post it anyway…