Chapter Eight: Don't Be a Stranger

"What the hell is your problem, Rory?" he hissed, slamming his fist down onto the table next to her, earning glances from just about everyone on that side of the pub and a wince from Rory, "We need to finish talking."

Rory braced herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, "Go home." She seethed, casting a glance at Finn, before turning to face Tristan, "We have nothing to talk about. Your member did all the work for you. I should have known you'd be a jackass."

"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Rory!" He yelled, shaking his hands in the air, "I fuckin' love you! I was stupid! I got it, I understand! Just give me another chance!"

"Rory, love?" Finn said lowly, leaning over and touching her elbow, "would you like me to get him out of here?"

"Shut the hell up," Tristan snapped at Finn, pulling Rory's chair out, and helping her out of the chair, "C'mon, Rory, we need to talk."

"I'll call you," she told Finn, biting her lip before she sighed, throwing a rueful look at him, before grabbing her jacket and leading Tristan out of the pub, "Talk," she said, once they were outside the gates and on the sidewalk. "You want to talk, well talk."

"Why are you doing this?" he pleaded, looking at her with watery blue eyes, "I understand… I just… I want another chance, Ror… c'mon… we worked great together."

"Tristan, please," crossing her arms over her chest, she blinked a few times, focusing her gaze on the sidewalk. "I don't want to do this. I didn't want to get hurt---"

"I'm the one who fuckin' got hurt, Rory!" he growled, gripping her shoulders, "that night, you came into my bedroom… it was what I had been waiting for since you frickin walked into Chilton… I knew…I knew you didn't want it to be anything more then a one night stand…"

"Tristan.. I—"

"No.. I'm not finished. I was fine being un-exclusive, being allowed to love other women the way you let me love you, and I was… but I really.. I really started feeling something for you… Why me, Ror? Out of all the men in Hartford, why me? Why'd you have to break my heart?"

"I'm not the one who cheated, Tristan!"

"I know, Rory… Jesus, I know.." Stroking her cheek, he sighed, before pulling his hand away, and shoving it into his jacket pocket, "I didn't think twice before those girls, Ror."

"Tristan, you cheated… and you hurt me… You just.. You did the same thing my father did to my mother! I can't trust you… God, I wish I could, but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you slept with other girls while I sat at home and thought about you. Because I actually gave our relationship my all… Because I swore off dating other guys for you… Placed you upon a pedestal, and thought you would be faithful to me."

"Just one more shot, Rory… That's all I'm asking you… it's all I want is one more chance to make you believe I'd give the world for you."

Rory bit her lip, and glanced around the vacant atmosphere she and Tristan stood in. She let her eyes linger on the bright street lamp, and trace over towards the apartment buildings on the other side of the street before back at the pub. She sighed, and finally looked at his face, taking her time to make eye contact, before taking a step and a half back, "No," she whispered, pulling her entire lip into her mouth, "No…" she said again, "I don't want to be with you anymore, Tristan."

"But just this morning things were perfect!" He ran his hands through his hair, and turned around once slowly, trying to comprehend her answer. He took a step towards her, and sighed, about ready to lose his cool in front of Rory Gilmore, "Please…"

"No…" She said again, pulling her jacket on, and zipping it up, looking away from him, "Tristan.. I really think you should go home…"

"Ror---"

"I'm only going to tell you once again," she said softly, looking up and letting her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, "Please go home, Tristan… I don't want you to come back… I don't want to talk to you anymore… Please… just go."

"That was twice…" he said, joking lightly.

Rory let out a watery chuckle, shaking her head in frustration before meeting his gaze full on, "Go home."

---&---

Finn couldn't believe his ears when he had heard whoever that blonde was, speak to Rory like that. In fact, Finn could hardly believe his eyes when he had saw Rory walk out of the pub door with that jerk without so much as a fleeting glance in his direction. Firstly, he didn't believe Rory would ever listen to a guy like that – but sometimes, his intuition about people tended to be wrong.

Finn glanced around the pub, letting the chocolate pools he had for eyes, settle on every person who looked at the door as if asking in their minds the same question he had in his: What the hell was wrong with that jerk?

"I wonder who he was—" Colin muttered, watching Finn stare at his beer, "he seemed like a jerk. She's to good for him."

"Maybe he was having an off day," Logan mumbled, shrugging his shoulders, "anyhow – it's late, and my father is making me drive down to Providence to check up on a paper tomorrow. So, I'm off. See you in the morning Colin, and Finn—" he said, getting up, and shrugging his jacket on, throwing a smile at his friends, "I'll see you whenever I get home, because Lord knows you'll still be asleep when I leave. Later," he bade goodbye to his friends, and crossed the pub, walking out into the chilly November air.

"Finn," Colin said, "there's a redhead over there, and she's eyeing you from what I can tell."

Finn smirked, and glanced around the pub, catching the eye of the redhead, before turning back to Colin, "Cheers, mate," he grinned, shrugging his jacket on, and standing, "I'll see you when I see you."

"Bye."

---&---

Rory watched Tristan as he drove off down the street. She groaned, chewing on her bottom lip, before glancing in the direction towards Yale, "And I'm free, yet again."

"Free from what?"

Rory turned quickly, eyes wide with alarm, and her heart thumping inside her chest with such a pace she hadn't even thought possible, "God," she groaned, patting the skin above her head, "Don't do that."

"Do what?" He asked, tilting his head, and raising an eyebrow.

"Sneak up on a girl like that! You nearly gave me heart failure."

"Well that," he said, walking up beside her and draping an arm around her shoulder, "would have been cause for the flags to fly at half mast."

"And whys that?" Rory asked, shivering slightly as he guided her back towards Yale.

"Because you are to much of a looker to die so soon," he laughed.

"I actually feel my heart breaking as we walk, Logan," she deadpanned, shooting him an annoyed look as they continued walking down the sidewalk. "Where are we going?"

"Well, I'm walking you back to your dorm, you're just doing the guiding."

"Who said I needed a chaperone to make it back to my dorm, Huntzberger?"

"Why I did, of course," Logan smirked, before ruffling his hand through her hair, "Wouldn't want anyone to attack you while you're walking home… now would you?"

"No, I guess not."

"You only guess? Why, and here I thought you were a journalist. I hope your guess was well educated."

"It was educated very well, thank you."

"So anyway," Logan started, leading her through the front, tall gates that surrounded the perimeter of the Yale campus, and up the front path, past many oak, and elms trees red, gold, and bronze with color, "free from what?"

"Another boyfriend," she replied, letting out a long, deep sigh. "That was Tristan… my boyfriend.. Well, ex-boyfriend now."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That someone broke your heart," he replied easily.

"We both broke each other's heart," Rory told him, letting her eyes water at the thought of what he had done to her, "But the breaking up was my doing. He wanted to give it another shot… but I just… I can't comprehend why he did what he did."

"What'd he do?"

"He cheated on me…" she bit her lip, shaking her head, "He was with me while my parents went through their divorce because my dad cheated on my mom."

"I heard about that."

"Yeah, and so I couldn't… well, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

"This is me," Rory said after a few moments silence as she led him to her dorm, "number five."

"I'll see you around, alright?"

"Alright. Night, Logan; thanks for walking me home."

"No problem," he said, turning and walking in the direction they had come, "Oh, and hey Rory?"

"Yes?"

"Don't be a stranger," and after had said that, he disappeared around the corner, leaving Rory alone in the dark hallway of her dorm building.

She smiled slightly, slipping her key into her door, and opening it before walking inside and closing it with a snap. She sighed, her eyes scanning over the vacated living room she shared with Paris. Kicking her shoes off, she placed her keys on the key hook, before crossing over the creaking floorboards and walking into her room.

Oh yes, tonight was definitely a very interesting night.

---&---

Author's Note: I was sitting in class the other day, thinking about anything other then what my professor had decided to lecture about to us, and I just happened to think about doing a Trory spin-off of this story, as someone had suggested. Now, I hadn't really given a Trory spin-off to this story, but I suppose it all depends on how far I go with this. Now, I'm not shooting the idea down entirely, I'm just letting you all know that I'm thinking about it.

Revew.!