AN: You all want the Troriness; I know…I'm getting to it. I have a lot of ideas of how it's going to happen and I promise it will be soon.

Rory spent Friday night in Stars Hollow because Lorelai didn't want her to be alone. At the end of the summer, Rory had finally started to get a little better – she was even able to sleep in her own bed again. Lorelai wasn't exactly sure what her daughter was so afraid of with bringing Brian to Stars Hollow. Brian wasn't Dean, he wasn't married and he wasn't going to lie to her. Maybe she was just afraid to see Dean while with her new boyfriend. Rory wanted to move on, but she couldn't move on seeing Dean with his pregnant wife.

Saturday morning Rory had slept in, when she woke up Lorelai was nowhere to be found. Then she found a note: Rory – meet me at Luke's. – Mom. She quickly showered and dressed then walked across town to the diner. When she walked in there was a cup of coffee sitting on the table with a stack of blueberry pancakes waiting for her.

"We knew you'd be up soon…and hungry," her mom greeted her.

"Thanks mom. Thanks Luke," she yelled to the man behind the counter.

"Are you feeling better, sweetie?"

"A little, I had a dream last night…"

"Was it about Dean?"

"It was about what happened, but it wasn't Dean."

Rory's tone said it all, the man in her dream wasn't Dean, and it wasn't Brian either. Lorelai only hoped that the man that was in the dream didn't hurt what Rory was forming with Brian. That was a heartbreak she hadn't gotten over…Jess just left her without saying a word. When he came back, he expected her to drop everything and leave. All summer Rory thought that if she had gone away with Jess, nothing would've happened with Dean. She wouldn't be feeling so miserable about herself. Lorelai continuously told her that what happened couldn't be changed, not to think about Jess.

After breakfast Lorelai had to go to work at the Inn. Before leaving she went over and gave Luke a kiss goodbye; although they'd been together for a few months, it was all still very weird for Rory to see. She stood up; ready to walk out of Luke's and head to Lane's house when Dean and Lindsey walked in.

"Rory, hi. I didn't know you were going to be in town."

"Hi Dean. Lindsey. I'm here for the weekend; I have to go to Lane's now."

"Bye Rory," Dean responded softly.

Rory couldn't even look at him without tears coming to her eyes. Luckily she was able to hold in the waterworks until she got outside and started walking to Lane's. Dean acted like nothing happened; like he never told her that he loved her and wasn't happy with Lindsey. They sure as hell looked happy going into Luke's!

Lane opened the door to find her best friend in tears standing there looking at her. She didn't know what to do, so she hugged Rory and invited her inside. Zack was sitting on the couch playing video games completely oblivious that there was someone at the door. Lane led Rory towards her room wishing her friend would tell her what was going on. This was something serious otherwise Rory would have told her before the waterworks began.

"I saw Dean at Luke's when I was leaving."

"I thought you two were friends…what happened this summer?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Rory said, crying.

"Ror – what happened?" Lane's tone was suddenly very serious.

"The night of the opening of the Inn, Dean came over and…and…he told me it was over."

Lane couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her best friend had slept with a married man…a married man whose wife was now pregnant. Lane understood why Rory hadn't said anything sooner, the entire town would know.

"Was he with Lindsey…at Luke's?"

"They were smiling and happy. He acted like nothing happened! I can't take this anymore, Lane."

"It'll be okay, Rory. Tell me about your new guy."

"He's amazing."

Lane was happy to see a smile on Rory's face at the mentioning of Brian. For the next couple of hours Rory told Lane everything about the dates she'd had with Brian already and Lane told Rory she had some good news as well.

"I'm not going to California."

"How is that great news?"

"Dave's coming back! Well, sort of…he's going to U. Hartford. He's gonna come back to the band too."

"Lane, that's great. I can't wait to see him again."

The girls discussed double dating once Dave got back and Lane noticed an uneasy tone to Rory. Suddenly she realized that everything with Brian wasn't perfect; there was something Rory was holding back. She wasn't sure if it was another guy of if Rory was just still that upset over Dean.

"Ror – is there something you're not telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just sound a little uneasy and I wasn't sure if it was just over Dean."

"Well…there is something else. Do you remember when I was at Chilton, the guy who harassed me constantly?"

"Tristan?"

"Wow, it's funny how you remember him and I didn't when I first saw him. He's at Yale now and he's the same as he was when we were 16. I guess he's just getting to me."

Lane didn't want to touch that subject, especially since she'd never met Tristan. She remembered how jealous Dean got after the dance and how convinced her was of Tristan having a thing for Rory. The closest she came to meeting Tristan was when she saw him saying goodbye to Rory at the Romeo and Juliet performance. There was definitely something between them that Rory would never realize and even if she did, she would never admit it to anyone – including herself.

Their conversation was interrupted when Rory's cell phone rang; it was Brian. He asked her if she wanted him to come to Stars Hollow to pick her up to make things easier on Lorelai. In response, Rory called Lorelai who said that it was a great idea and then returned to Brian. She asked if he could pick her up at Lane's house and gave him directions. She couldn't wait for her best friend to meet the guy who stole her heart.

About two hours later, Brian showed up at Lane's door. Zack answered it and was completely puzzled because he had no clue that Rory was even over. He walked over to Lane's room and just stared at Rory wondering how she got into the house. Zack never was a bright one, but Lane needed him in the band. Lane looked at Brian and saw that he was a very attractive guy and completely into Rory.

"Do you want to get some coffee before heading back to Yale?"

"I'd love to."

Rory had found herself a guy who loved coffee and Lane could tell he was someone who was going to make her happy. But for some reason she couldn't stop thinking that Tristan was going to get in the way of this relationship. She wanted to see Rory happy, nothing else, so she pushed the thoughts away. The girls hugged good bye and Brian and Rory headed to Luke's for coffee and at the Dragonfly to say goodbye to Lorelai before they made their way back to New Haven.

Paris had been sitting in the room all day thinking up ways to get Tristan for herself. Rory was with Brian; that should be enough to get Tristan to see they had no chance. But no, of course not, he was Tristan. The DuGrey charm had never been enough for Rory and the more she turned him down the more he wanted her. In the beginning Paris thought it was just an infatuation, but after seeing the way he looked at her, she knew he'd fallen. All those other girls he was with – he was trying to make Rory jealous. Paris knew she was just another ploy.

The night before she felt amazing when Tristan kissed her, but she knew there was a reason he stopped. It had to be his conscience; she'd known him too long. Paris began to wish she was one of those whores that Tristan always slept with. At least that way she'd get to be with him.

Rory walked into the room to find Paris staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"Hey Paris."

"Hey. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, time with my mom and Lane usually can cheer me up."

"That's good. Did you tell Lane…"

"I did, I should've told her so long ago. But on a happier note, Dave's coming home so Lane's very happy."

Rory wanted to know what was bothering her roommate, but Paris didn't seem very willing to tell. Rory changed her clothes into a pair of sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt to get rid of the chill of the September air. She then asked Paris if she wanted coffee, which she declined, and went to a cup of her own. In the coffee shop, Rory saw Tristan hitting on an attractive blonde who turned him down. She let out a little giggle and realized that the girls of Yale were too smart for his charm.

"Are you laughing at me, Mary?"

Tristan looked at Rory and how dressed down she was…she still looked absolutely beautiful. Everything about her body was left to the imagination and his went a little overboard. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her; she was beautiful at Chilton, but that was nothing in comparison to the girl standing in front of him. Even in sweatpants she could make him want her. Snap out of it DuGrey, he told himself.

"I'm just amused that Yale girls aren't like Chilton girls. They don't fall at your feet because of your looks."

"So you're saying that I'm hot?"

"I said no such thing, Tristan."

"Why Mary, I always knew you wanted me."

"Because I would want someone who doesn't even know my name."

"Listen, Rory, maybe you and I should hang out – catch up on the past few years. I'd love to know what my Mary's been up to."

"I don't think that'd be the greatest idea. I have a boyfriend."

"You assume I'm asking you on a date, now who thinks highly of herself?"

"I thought military school was supposed to help you grow up."

"Ouch, Mary, you wound me," Tristan responded holding his hand to his heart.

"I vaguely remember a conversation where you told me you were going to start looking for girls with substance. How's that going?"

"This is Yale, doesn't everyone have substance?"

"But that's not why you'd date them, Tristan, is it."

"It's nice to see you still think you know me so well."

"I know a girl who'd love to date you."

"If you're talking about Paris I think I'm getting a little déjà vu – only you didn't kiss me any time recently."

Rory just looked at Tristan wondering what made him bring that up. She hadn't remembered that party too well; mainly because she'd tried her hardest to forget about it. That was the first time Dean broke her heart – Tristan had his heart broken too, they kissed and chocked it up to a bad night. He looked at her and noticed that he'd hit a soft spot. A mature guy would have apologized for mentioning anything, but when it came to Rory, Tristan was an eight year old boy. He was never sure exactly what it was about her; probably her innocence, but something made him regress around her. Anything that he'd learned in military school about self discipline was thrown out the door. This girl got to him in a way that no one else ever had. It took 4 years for him to finally forget her, why did she have to come back into his life?

Before Rory had a chance to respond, her cell phone rang. Brian was calling to see if she wanted to go out for a little that night around 9ish. They had returned to Yale around 3:30 and it was just after 4. She agreed to go…she decided that night she would tell him about the guys in her life. Maybe telling Brian about the relationship with Dean and about Jess would make her feel a little better. It was still too soon to tell him about what happened with Dean though; she would leave it at him getting married.

While Rory was on the phone, Tristan took the opportunity to leave, kicking himself. To get his mind off Rory he saw an attractive brunette from one of his classes walking across campus and decided to have a little fun. He approached the girl and with a few compliments had himself a date for that night. It was nice for him to see that the DuGrey charm still worked even though it couldn't get him the girl he wanted.

A couple of hours later, Rory was running around the dorm room getting ready for her date with Brian. During the course of the week, she and Brian didn't see very much of each other because of conflicting class schedules so they wanted to make up for it. She felt like she'd known him so much longer than a week. Brian had planned something out that he didn't tell Rory about, all he told her was to dress casual. Casual to Rory meant a pair of jeans and a fitted sheer red shirt over a small white tank top. It was a little chilly out, but she figured she'd be fine like that.

Brian arrived at the room to pick her up and complimented her on how great she looked. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to find her, but he knew there was a reason she'd been single all through her freshman year.

"You look great."

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself," she responded staring at his grey shirt that clung to his well toned body.

Brian laced his fingers in Rory's and led her out to his car. Throughout the car ride they talked about various things but never about their destination. Rory didn't want to be surprised but she knew that Brian had someplace great planned. They finally stopped at a park somewhere a few towns away from New Haven. It was one of Connecticut's colonial towns, but a larger one than Stars Hollow. There was no one there on the beautiful autumn night; that was what Brian wanted. He led Rory to a spot under a tree where they could just sit and talk. Brian sat down and invited Rory to sit beside him where she rested her head on his chest and he put his arm around her. Everything felt so right for both of them, they knew they'd found something special.

"I thought this would be a good way for the two of us to just sit and talk."

"It's so beautiful – look how clear the sky is." Brian smiled.

"It is beautiful, Ror, so are you," Rory blushed as Brian continued, "I want to know more about you. Have you ever been in love?"

That came out of nowhere and Rory wasn't quite sure how to react. She loved Dean but especially after the events of that summer she wasn't sure she was in love with him…as cliché as that sounds. She knew though, that she was in love with Jess. If she didn't care about him so much she wouldn't have been hurting so much after all the times he left her.

"Yes," she whispered, "have you?"

"Yes I have…but I was burned. She kept things from me and I lost her to another guy who was always on her mind."

From that comment, Rory knew that she couldn't hide Dean or Jess' existence from him, but it was still too soon to tell him about that night. Lorelai would never tell a soul, Paris and Lane could be trusted, and Dean wouldn't sacrifice Lindsey's baby.

"Tell me about her?"