Disclaimer: I own nothing.
--
"You're here."
She turned swiftly at the sound of his voice, "I'm here," her voice stammered slightly.
"Thanks for coming."
"It was my pleasure – no actually, scratch that. You forced me to come to this little event – now can you tell me why you wanted me to come to this little shindig so badly?"
He looked around, her question ringing in his ears. "Where's Huntzberger?"
"He's… he couldn't come," she replied quickly, "Now will you stop avoiding my question."
He set his drink down onto the table and looked her dead in the eye. Tonight, her blue eyes were fierce and icy.
"Honestly, it's just a small gathering of friends Rory – and I consider you as one of my friends, if not my closest friend. You would be even angrier with me if I didn't invite you."
"No, I would have been grateful… utterly grateful for that," she replied smoothly, catching sight of the ridiculously tall and beautiful brunette a mere five feet from where they stood.
"Okay, let's sit and I'll tell you," he reasoned with her.
"Alright," she cast him an unnerving glance before following him to a nearby-unoccupied table.
She sat with her back straight, somehow knowing the seriousness of the pending conversation. Butterflies unwillingly fluttered in her stomach and she fought to keep her leftover pizza down. The fact was that… she had something to tell him also.
"You're scaring me Dugrey," she joked, taking a seat opposite him.
"You have no reason to be scared, it's me who should be scared shitless."
"Why?"
"Because of what I'm about to say – and do," Tristan laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously.
Rory smiled inwardly, he was rubbing the back of his neck… that meant he was nervous. The question was, about what?
"You're nervous."
Tristan smirked, his unusually calm face sweaty. "I am."
She set her purse down in front of her and paused to collect her thoughts, "You're freaking me out a little here Dugrey."
"I'm freaking myself out a little Gilmore."
"Okay, just spit it out because I have something to tell you too."
"No, I think that you should go first."
Rory's eyes widened and her knees buckled nervously. She couldn't possibly go first… her revelation was too big to go first… too shocking. His news could not possibly be as large as hers.
"No… you're going first."
"For heaven's sake Rory, we're twenty four year olds – not six. I'll tell you part of my news first and you'll go next… we'll take turns."
"Alright, and after you buy me an apple martini."
"Only if you'll buy me a gin and tonic," he smiled.
Rory smiled back, she couldn't really control herself. His smile was contagious… especially the smile that he seemed to save just for her.
"You've got yourself a deal, buster."
Tristan nodded before licking his dry lips, he fought to find the right words. "I think that… I mean I know what I finally want in my life."
"You do?" she uttered the two words, her voice sounding different to her ears.
"Yeah," he grinned, "I want a family Rory… I want the big house, the white picket fence and all that clichéd crap. I want it all."
"Tristan, I know you want all that… what I don't understand is why you felt it necessary to repeat them to me once again."
"As I recall, I told you I wanted those things but knew that those things were far from reach. Now… not so much."
Rory swallowed the big ball lodged in her throat and fought to remain calm. Could he… did he?
"What I'm trying to say is that I've finally found the right girl for me… she's been right under my nose all along… I've taken her for granted," his voice shook with every word.
"Oh?" she bit the flesh in her cheek to keep from smiling.
"Yes 'oh.' Now it's your turn… tell me your news and after I'll finish off mines."
"We're actually on the same boat Dugrey… I now know what I want also," she cracked a smile.
"You do?" he smirked, leaning back against the wooden chair.
Rory nodded, "I do."
"Does what you want happen to have a healthy head of blonde hair?" he winked suggestively.
"What are you? Some kind of psychic?" Rory laughed at her question, feeling at ease because it seemed as if… they both wanted the same things… that she could finally tell him how she felt.
--
"Hey," he whispered softly.
The brunette beauty turned around and smiled wearily. She allowed him to kiss her quickly before turning away before the kiss deepened into something more.
"What's wrong Ace?" Logan inquired curiously, noticing his girlfriend's unusual behavior.
"Nothing's wrong Logan," she replied, digging through the stack of paperwork before her.
"You're acting rather unusual, tell me what's up," he urged, his arms wrapped around her petite waist from behind.
"I'm just stressed – my deadline for this food poisoning story is almost here and I still haven't interviewed the chief executive of Highland Poultry to get his statement, plus I still have to call Emily Peters, mother of Molly Peters who was the very first person to get food poisoning after eating Highland Poultry chicken and –"
"You need to relax," he murmured, his lips nearing the nape of her soft neck, "Let's go out… have some lunch… then maybe back to my place. What do you say?"
Rory closed her eyes, relishing the warmth coming from his body. She nodded slowly, putting off what she really had to go until later.
"Sounds great."
-
"Lunch was absolutely wonderful, thank you," Rory set her coat down onto his large bed and slowly made her way to his bedroom windows.
Silently, she looked out of the window overlooking the beautiful Huntzberger garden.
"Something's wrong with you."
Rory turned around quickly, finding Logan a few feet away from her.
"And I think I know exactly what it is."
"What? What are you talking about Logan?"
"It's because Melissa was at the same restaurant."
Rory shot him a puzzled look, "Melissa? As in your ex-girlfriend Melissa? She was there?"
"You didn't notice?"
"No," she told him truthfully.
"You don't have to lie Ace, that's why you've been quiet all day. I thought you forgave me for that."
"I did! And Melissa is not the reason I'm acting the way I am. I've just had a lot on my mind."
"Like what? Tell me Ace. If this relationship thing is to work then you have to tell me so that we can work it out together!"
Tears clouded her vision as soon as the word 'relationship' was uttered from his lips.
"You really want to know what's going on with me?" she whispered threateningly.
"Yes I do," Logan whispered back, only difference was that, he was confident with his answer.
"Alright…" she paused, "I think that we should – take a break."
"Take a break?"
"Yes… from this relationship. I think we should –"
"You're breaking up with me?" Logan spat out, not quite believing the unfortunate twist of events.
Rory fingered his satin drapes before opening her mouth to answer. Her insides were torn and tears threatened to spill from her damp eyes. It was harder then she had expected.
"Please understand Logan. I love you but-"
"But what? You don't break up with people you claim to love Rory! You don't really love me… this… this… this is about Dugrey isn't it?" he was now yelling.
With every word, his voice raised a significant amount and it scared her.
"Don't bring Tristan into this."
"But I'm right, aren't I?" Logan whispered, his fists clenching.
"About what?" Rory's voice competed with his.
"You have feelings for him."
"I don't-"
"Just tell me the truth. You could at least give me that," Logan interrupted, his eyes now cold and his face void of any unwanted emotions.
After much thought and deliberation, Rory shut her eyes tightly only to open them seconds later. "I do have feelings for Tristan… and I'm ending things because it's not fair to you."
Logan shut his eyes quickly at her revelation, somehow feeling defeated. "How long?"
Rory shrugged, tears now falling freely. "I don't know… when I saw him again at your birthday party after so many years, I thought he was still the same arrogant, selfish kid that he was in high school. And then we formed a friendship… and he's changed so much… and…" she was at a loss for words, Rory didn't really know how to describe it all.
"He's got someone, you know that?"
"Yes and that's my problem… not yours."
"I don't want you to get hurt," Logan reasoned, running his hand through his hair.
"I won't."
"You sure?"
"I think so."
--
"It just so happens Dugrey that," Rory smiled as the waitress handed Rory an apple martini, "I too know what I want… or should I say, who."
Tristan smirked, taking a sip of his own drink. "Tell me."
"Nope, it's your turn," Rory mimicked his smirk.
Tristan frowned at the cliffhanger and sighed, all of the nervousness he had once felt quickly coming back.
"Come on, don't chicken out on me now," Rory teased.
"I'm not… I'm just thinking about how good we have it now."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we both know what we want and we're both going for it. I think that's fucking awesome," Tristan replied, grinning childishly.
Rory let out a soft laugh, "I guess it is, isn't it?"
"It is! You and Huntzberger and Alicia and I."
If Rory had been standing up, she would have found herself on the ground after the comment had slipped past his lips. Three words flashed in her mind: What.The.Hell?
"Pardon?"
"Rory… this is great, don't you think? You finally realizing that Logan is the one for you and me finally realizing that I want to spend the rest of my life with Alicia."
Rory turned her head, shocked and appalled. From the corner of her blue eyes she spotted Alicia Montgomery, the tall and beautiful brunette whom Rory absolutely despised because of one reason. And that reason was that she and Tristan were together. Now, the hate had reached a whole new level.
"The rest of your life? I'm not following you."
Tristan finished off his gin and tonic, "I want to ask Alicia to marry me and I need your help planning the perfect proposal."
--
Hello all… yes, this is another story but I haven't left my others out. New chapters are coming for both camping trip and the best of you. I say by the weekend probably.
So yeah, I've missed all of you very, very much. Last I updated, I was recovering from my little car accident scare but I'm all right now. Everything's been resolved so I'm happy about that! And plus, I just got a new job so I've been very busy saving up money for college next year.
Anyway, I'm not sure about this story. Whether it's going to be a trory I mean, I guess we'll just have to see right? Plus I was getting tired of writing stories where Tristan was doing the pursuing… in this story, Rory's going to be the one pursuing and Tristan's going to be the pursued.