Disclaimer: They are not mine. I own nothing but my ideas.
Midnight MusingsRory tore her eyes from Tristan's and moved once more to look out over the pond. Eventually, her head came to rest against Tristan's chest and she gave over to sleep once again. This is how Finn and Alison found them as the party wound down.
"You know mate, your ego is really taking a beating. Every time you have the girl of your dreams in your arms she falls asleep or cries. I don't know how you can take it." Finn interrupted Tristan's silent guard over Rory.
Alison could only giggle, "Look at my big bro now. The car is waiting out front."
Tristan wondered how he could get the slumbering Rory out to the car with minimal fuss. He tried to wake her and she took a healthy slug at his direction then grabbed onto his coat lapel refusing to leave her sleep. He then decided to see if she could stand in her sleep, when he succeeded in rendering her upright, with the support of Finn and Alison, they eventually "sleep walked" her to the car.
The ride home was silent, when they arrived, Finn and Alison quietly left for the living room and some après drinks and companionship. Tristan was wordlessly given the job of getting Rory into bed. By herself of course.
After sticking her in the washroom with her nightclothes and waiting 10 minutes, Rory emerged still half in her dream world. She headed straight for the turned down bed (who knew Tristan could turn down a bed?) and clamoured on. Without bothering to cover herself she promptly snuggled into the mattress and whispered a good night.
Tristan came across to the bed from his vigil spot on her chaise seat to tuck Rory in. While pulling the sheets up he whispered a "good night dearest Mary" and proceeded to kiss her on the cheek. Rory however had other plans, she moved as he moved in and he ended up getting a corner of an ear.
Still Rory smiled. "Stay with me?" She whispered, not even facing Tristan.
"Are you sure?" was the tentative reply.
"Just sleep." She waved a hand vaguely in his direction and upon contact with his chest, pulled down hard until Tristan was lying next to her on top of the sheets.
Rory woken a few short hours later to find Tristan laying beside her with her lying half on top of him, treating him as a body pillow. There was an odd sound somewhere in the room…a light musical tone. Playing the oompa looma song? Her mind still foggy with sleep and comfort tried to triangulate the source of the sound. Her cell phone. Who knew she still had reception half way around the world?
As she picked up the phone, "MY CHILD!" Lorelai's voice much to boisterous for the very early hour of the morning led Rory to wince and tear the phone from her ear. "Finally, you will entertain your mother won't you? The one who spent countless…well 36 hours in labour with you, the one who endured cravings and the oddest toddler on the planet and somehow gave you the wondrous genes that allow you to read all the books you want without needed glasses?"
"Mom, what is it? I was sleeping."
"Alone?"
Rory whispered. "No"
"You slept with the hottie!" Rory could hear her mom's glee dance in the background.
"Wait, you're still my daughter, no…bad picture. Wait. Want to hear what I did today? Well I got Luke to drive me out to the Jelly Belly Factory near Silicon Valley, and the Durham group got me this really cool suite at the Hilton…so my afternoon involved Luke, a bellybutton full of jellybeans and…"
"EWWWWWWWWWWWW. Mom that was an overshare. Is there a point?"
"Well so eventually we went out on the town and he said I should get some culture while I'm here. But I was all hyper off the sugar. Now I can't stop bouncing off the walls and Luke is giving me a dirty look."
"How is it going for you?"
"I guess we haven't spoken in a while since I left for Singapore."
"Yes, and bible boy?"
"We're good."
Rory gazed over at Tristan's prone form. The man was such a bed hog. Lying on his back in a now crinkled tux he was spread out like a starfish occupying as much space as he could. She giggled.
"We went to a ball, I can't even remember if we danced, but we talked and it was horrible, but magical." Rory continued.
"Aw…well if it's right then its right. Don't think too much. Think a little, but not too much. Too little thinking and you end up with a thousand daisies, too much and you end up waiting 10 years to make a move." Lorelai just had to insert her little bit of mommy wisdom.
"Ooh, my chocolate is here. Room service and concierge is the best. I had them run out and get me some Ghirardelli's chocolate sauce, and a paintbrush." Lorelai let out a semi-maniacal giggle.
"Did you just giggle mom? Don't go all evil on me now."
"Semi-evil daughter, semi-evil, not evil enough to get convicted or committed, but just enough to keep it interesting. I've got to go now." Lorelai abruptly hung up but not before Rory heard a weird squeal and a breathy "Oh Luke."
With a slight shudder and a smile, she looked over where the moonlight now bathed the sleeping prince. Oddly refreshed, Rory took her phone and used the backlight to search the bookshelves in the room carefully. Looking for an old tattered tome she vaguely thought she spotted earlier.
Bingo. She thought. Great Expectations, not normally one of her usual picks for a late night read, she usually preferred a junk novel. Not that she usually read them otherwise. Or something soothing like Anna Karenina. She curled in an armchair facing the bed and simply stared at the man in her bed. All felt right with the world, that anticipation and crisp smell of things to come invaded her senses. She turned a well worn and loved page to start at the beginning.
Tristan's cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Groaning and wondering where the sound was originating from Tristan realized he was neither in his own bed or in only his boxers. The now unfamiliar feeling of waking in a strange place in all states of undress brought Tristan to his senses with unbelievable speed. He tried to remember how much he had consumed the night before. Only 2 glasses sipped. He sat up and realized he was still fully dressed, relief filled his features, so nothing happened last night with Rory. However, he noticed that her pillow was cold. She had left, but his phone alarm rang at 6 so he'd be at the lawyers at 7 before meeting with the company board members. He looked around the room and saw her curled up on the couch. His favourite novel lying open in her lap. He loved Great Expectations, others found Dickens dry and extremely long winded, but he revelled in the language and easy pace just floating along with the mundane of the every day. Such a different world than his own, yet comforting in its own manner.
Tristan picked her up and placed her gingerly back in the bed. If she keeps this up, I won't have to do squats at the gym. The girl is deceivingly heavy when she's asleep. With that he pounded at his lower back to try to release the kinks and pulled the covers up around Rory who had curled around into a little ball, and had stolen his pillow. As he wasted precious seconds which he needed to get ready, he saw her turn her head into his pillow, breathe deep and the cutest little baby smile spread across her face. Snuggling down even further into the pillow she whispered. "Love you."
Trying hard no to think too much of her unconscious admission, he tried to reason that she was likely dreaming of ice cream, coffee, or even Oompa Loompas. Anything she could love other than another guy, the possibility of which made Tristan sad, or himself. The possibility of which made Tristan crazy with hope. Hope he knew from experience was dangerous to harbour due to its volatile damaging potential.
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A/N: First of all, sorry it took so long, homework comes first, and then I had some problems getting the chapter going again. Another thing, who knew Microsoft World could spell check Ghirardelli's? Thank you everyone for your kind responses. Anyways on to the reviews I'd like to comment on.
Shirleyytb: Thank you for your view on the story. I actually never thought of Tristan's actions could be interpreted as a buy-off. I was hoping to convey that he just wanted to treat her like a princess, but didn't expect anything in return. Totally unrealistic I know, but I want the perfect romance novel hero.
As for the Lorelai-Rory or Lorelai-anyone conversations, I'm frankly a little afraid and tentative of writing them. There's that weird quirky quippy quality (wow say that 10 times fast ) to all of their banter, and I'm not sure how to pull it off. Everyone can tell if you've done it well, cause we're so used to seeing it on the show, but to write it without plagiarizing and yet keeping the character confines of the show…
Thank you for reading, please review. Comments and criticisms welcome.
Oh, and thank you for those who have been reviewing every chapter. You know who you are.