Passenger
Author - Chantelle
Pairing - Rory/Tristan AU(kind of)
Rating - PG-13
Author's notes - Wow, I'm happy that you're all still reading this story. I want to say a big thank you to all the people who have taken the time to review this story. Also, listening to 'Jack Johnson - Taylor', 'Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love', 'Phantom Planet - California' and 'Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms' have helped me to not go crazy when I decided to delete this whole chapter and start it again. Okay, here we go. Chantelle
CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE AND A CHARIOT MEANS NO FRIENDS
"What do you mean you had to leave school to visit a friend?" Carter DuGrey was furious.
"Dad, she was in the hospital." Tristan had naively hoped that the school would not have rang his father. 'How stupid was that?' He thought as he watched as Carter sarcastically nodded his head.
"Of course, it was a she. There's always a girl with you. Do you know how embarrassing it was to receive a call from Chilton, asking where my son was? I had to lie because you can't keep it in your pants!"
"It's not like that..."
"Yeah, right. If you get this little tramp pregnant, you will be paying for the abortion...Oh my god, is that why she's in the hospital?"
"No, Dad! Don't talk about Rory that way! She's not like that." Tristan was getting angry and he knew this wasn't going to turn out well.
"Don't try and feed me that line. They are all the same. Your mother was like that, so it's only natural that you would be attracted to the same kind of girl." As he watched his father take a sip of his scotch, Tristan attempted to stifle down the anger that was threatening to bubble up towards the surface.
"I know mom hurt you, but not every girl is like that. Rory's definetely not. She's different, and I told you to stop talking about her that way!"
"Are you trying to tell me what to do now?" Tristan saw the look in his father's eyes and knew what was coming. He began to mumble out a "No, sir", when Carter's fist connected, full force, with Tristan's stomach. He buckled over in pain.
"I know what kind of girls you are with. This Rory is as big a tramp as any of them." Tristan painfully straightened up and tried to catch his breath before replying.
"She is not, dad! She's smart and..."
"Still disagreeing with me, huh?" He backhanded his son hard across the face, knocking him to the floor.
"One day, you'll realise that I know more about life than you think I do." Tristan remained silent, knowing not to antagonise his father any further when he saw that look enter Carter's eye. The same look that usually preceded a swollen eye and stitches.
"Now, get up and go to your room. Go study or something. Just get out of my sight." As his father dismissed him, Tristan watched as he poured himself another scotch. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 'Then again, this isn't exactly a rare occurence,' Tristan thought to himself as he climbed up the stairs to his room.
***
Lorelai watched as Rory rolled over in bed. She had been watching her daughter sleep for the past ten minutes, wishing that she would wake up.
"Rory, I'm bored. Wake up." Lorelai gently shook her arm. Rory's head shot up off of her pillow.
"Aah! Mom, what the hell are you doing?" Lorelai tried to suppress a grin as she looked at Rory. She had a severe case of bedhead hair and her eyes were as large as saucers.
"As much as I would like for you to sleep in, you have made it more than abundantly clear that you want to go to school today. So..." Rory rolled out of bed, looking around her room for her Chilton uniform.
"I thank you for that. But did you have to be sitting an inch away from me when you did it? Are you sure that Sting never wrote a song about you? My therapy bills are going to be huge." She had located her clothes and was heading towards the bathroom. Lorelai followed behind her.
"Honey, if this is what makes you need therapy, I haven't been doing my job well enough," she said to her daughter through the closed door.
"Trust me, there are many other things on that list." Lorelai smiled.
"I was just checking. I mean, you could borrow some items off of my extensive 'How to Raise a Child, by Emily and Richard Gilmore' list. Just make sure you let me keep the last two. They are gold." She rested her head against the door and absently tapped her finger on it. "Rory, this is really the last time I'm going to ask. Are you sure you want to go to school today?" She heard Rory sigh.
"Mom, for the seventh time, yes. I already have three days to catch up on. I don't think I could handle any more." Rory opened the door and saw Lorelai putting her hands up in defeat.
"Okay, okay, I'm just making sure. Anyway, I'm certain that Tristan, who I will be calling from now on 'damn fine, sexy boy which Rory never mentioned to her mother', will be more than willing to help you catch up." Rory scowled. She didn't like the tone in her mother's voice.
"Firstly, you are terrible at choosing names. I admit into evidence the fact that you gave your only daughter your own name. Secondly, Tristan and I are just trying to be friends and even that is pretty tentative at the moment." Lorelai was about to say something else on the subject, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Who the hell..." As she pulled open the door, she saw Luke standing there holding two coffees.
"Hey, Lorelai."
"Luke, you are a god," she said as she reached for the coffees. "Rory, lookie, lookie. Luke has actually brought us coffee." She turned her attention back to Luke.
"To what do we owe the pleasure? Did you come to your senses about the fact that coffee is something that shouldn't be rationed and that the absolutely fabulous Gilmore women should be the first on the list of your enlightened beverage giveaway?" She asked with a knowing smile on her face. Luke began to shuffle back and forth while the two women watched in amusement.
"Well, since it is Rory's first day back...I thought it would be alright to have 'one' coffee. And I thought afterwards I could take Rory to school..."
"That's okay, Luke. I was just going to go on the bus..." She glanced at her mother, who was giving her a pointed look. She began again. "I mean, don't you have to be in the diner?" Luke looked a little downcast.
"Actually, I decided to open a little later today. But, if you don't need a ride..."
"No, no. Of course I will go with you. I'll take any reason not to go on that stupid bus." Luke smiled as Lorelai mouthed a 'thank you' towards Rory. All three adults stood at the doorstep in an awkward silence.
"I'll just go and get my things." While Rory hurried around the house, Lorelai kept smiling at Luke.
"What?!"
"Nothing."
"It's not nothing. Stop smiling...it's disconcerting."
"Luke, why, if I had known that your vocabulary was larger in the morning, I would have been coming for coffee at dawn." Luke scowled.
"Well, that's a reason for monosyllabic conversation, if ever I heard one." As Lorelai was about to open her mouth with a comeback, Rory rushed back to them.
"Got my stuff. Let's go. Seeya mom." Rory kissed her mother on the cheek and prepared herself for what was sure to be a strange conversation on the way to Chilton.
***
After dodging many questions about Tristan and thinking that she had convinced Luke that she didn't need a lift home, they reached Chilton.
"So, you're sure that you don't need a ride? I can close early..."
"I'm really fine, Luke. I've got a lot to catch up on, so I'm using the library after school."
"I can wait..."
"Sorry, Luke. I've got to go," Rory said as she saw that the grounds of Chilton were empty. "I don't need a ride!" She said as she jogged away, so that Luke couldn't have a chance to respond. Rory wasn't sure what was going on with Luke, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to drop everything he was doing, just for her.
As Rory walked down the deserted hallway, she began to get nervous. She knew everyone was going to stare at her as she walked in. Although the bruise had healed a little, it still stood out prominently on her face.
'Great. Center of attention for the wrong reasons, yet again.' As she opened her locker, a slip of paper floated out. She picked it up and read it. A small smile appeared on her face.
'Welcome back, Mary.'
'Well, at least I've got one friend in this place.'
***
Tristan couldn't keep his leg from bouncing up and down underneath his desk. He had first period English with Rory, but she hadn't shown up yet. He really had hoped that she would be in school today. Also, he had made sure that the seat beside him remained empty, despite the strange looks he received from people he had chased off.
His reverie was interrupted when the door opened and everyone's eyes were drawn to the girl standing there. Tristan winced as he saw the bruise over her cheek and eye, but hid it quickly as she looked straight at him.
"Sorry I'm late, sir," she spoke to the new English teacher, Mr. Foreman.
"That's okay, Rory. Your mother has already contacted the school about your situation." As he said that, whispers could be heard around the classroom. Tristan just glared at all of them.
Rory noticed that there was a chair empty beside Tristan, so she quickly slid into it and got out her notepad.
"So, back to the lesson, literature cannot be defined..." But Tristan tuned out the rest of Mr. Foreman's speech, as he stared at Rory. She was unaware as she scribbled furiously in her notebook.
'She really seems to be okay. But why hasn't she said hello, at least? Maybe she was high on painkillers when we called a truce. Maybe...' But again his thoughts were disrupted when he felt Rory slide a note underneath his hand.
'Thank you for the welcome note. I needed it.'
Tristan smiled as he read her neat, round handwriting over and over. He glanced back at Rory, but she had just continued to write notes.
'Oh well, at least it's a start.' He then decided to turn his attention to Mr. Foreman and whatever he was talking about.
"I would like you all to pair up and choose something that you consider to be literature. It can be anything, but remember, you must justify your choice as to why it should be classed as literature. Your report will be written into a two-thousand word essay, which is due in three weeks from today." Mr. Foreman put the chalk away and began to gather his things. "Okay, class have a good day." As everyone was getting up to leave, Rory turned to Tristan.
"So, do you want to be my partner?" Tristan was shocked. He was not used to her asking him for anything. When he hadn't answered after a minute, Rory decided that she had done the wrong thing. She quickly gathered her things and stood up.
"I understand. You were probably hoping to pair up with some girl you've had you eye on." Those words penetrated Tristan's happy daze as he realised what an idiot he must have looked like by just sitting there. He quickly grabbed his stuff and followed her out of the door.
"Wait, Rory!" He jogged up to her. 'How does she move so fast?' He thought as he reached her.
"Sorry. I kind of tranced out back there. It's just kind of surreal, you know. I mean, us, being friends and all."
"Look, Tristan, if you don't.."
"But I do." Rory smiled. "And I think that we should get started this afternoon."
"You're very eager. But you do realise that I am also using you for your class notes that I missed out on?" Tristan turned them both around to walk towards Rory's locker, and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"Mary, you can use me for anything you like," he leered. Rory shrugged out of his grasp.
"You are incorrigible, you know that."
"But you like me anyway." Rory scowled at that.
"I do like your idea of starting early on this assignment, though. Where do you want to get together? Your house?" Tristan quickly dismissed that idea. He had no desire for his father to ever meet Rory.
"I was thinking your place, actually. You can show me the Stars Hollow that I keep hearing so much about." Tristan hoped he didn't sound too excited about the fact that he was going to be able to see Rory Gilmore's house. Rory shrugged.
"Okay with me. You're the one that is going to have to drive."
"Your enthusiasm is just too overpowering for me, Mary. But I will redeem myself. You better believe it." They gave each other a small smile. "So, we'll meet after school, here, at your locker and we'll go from there." Rory nodded in agreement as she walked off to her next class, leaving Tristan behind watching her.
***
"So, Rory, what's going on between you and Tristan?" Rory had hoped to avoid Paris all day, but she had made the mistake in thinking that Paris wouldn't go out of her way to find her. Now that last period was over, all Rory wanted to do was go home.
"I don't know, Paris. What is going on between us?"
"Don't play dumb, Rory. Everyone has been talking about your little conversation in the hall today. I don't know what was said, but Tristan had his arm around you." Rory let out a breath in exasperation. 'Couldn't the Chilton gossip grapevine have slowed down a little bit today?'
"Not that it is any of your business, Paris, but Tristan and I have decided to be friends." As they came up to Rory's locker, they both noticed Tristan leaning up against it. As he saw Rory approaching, he straightened up.
"Your chariot awaits, my fair lady," he said as he gave a small bow. Paris scowled and turned to Rory.
"Friends. Right. You could at least have the decency to tell me the truth. You're always trying to be my friend...well, I am not friends with people who lie to me." She then walked off in the opposite direction. Tristan saw the hurt look that crossed over Rory's face and knew that it had to be his fault. He fidgeted with his thumbs and then ran his hand through his hair as he decided what to say.
"I'm sorry, I..."
"It's not your fault, Tristan. I don't think that Paris and I will be having any sleepovers any time soon. And that has nothing to do with you." She looked up and smiled at the worried look on his face. 'Why didn't I realise before that he was such a nice guy...Oh, that's right, he was making my life hell.'
Rory grabbed the books she would need and closed her locker as Tristan just watched and contemplated her behavior. 'I will NEVER figure her out.' She turned back to him with an expectant look on her face.
"So where's this chariot that you were telling me about?"
To be continued in Chapter Four - Weddings, Moonface and the Four C's
Author - Chantelle
Pairing - Rory/Tristan AU(kind of)
Rating - PG-13
Author's notes - Wow, I'm happy that you're all still reading this story. I want to say a big thank you to all the people who have taken the time to review this story. Also, listening to 'Jack Johnson - Taylor', 'Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love', 'Phantom Planet - California' and 'Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms' have helped me to not go crazy when I decided to delete this whole chapter and start it again. Okay, here we go. Chantelle
CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE AND A CHARIOT MEANS NO FRIENDS
"What do you mean you had to leave school to visit a friend?" Carter DuGrey was furious.
"Dad, she was in the hospital." Tristan had naively hoped that the school would not have rang his father. 'How stupid was that?' He thought as he watched as Carter sarcastically nodded his head.
"Of course, it was a she. There's always a girl with you. Do you know how embarrassing it was to receive a call from Chilton, asking where my son was? I had to lie because you can't keep it in your pants!"
"It's not like that..."
"Yeah, right. If you get this little tramp pregnant, you will be paying for the abortion...Oh my god, is that why she's in the hospital?"
"No, Dad! Don't talk about Rory that way! She's not like that." Tristan was getting angry and he knew this wasn't going to turn out well.
"Don't try and feed me that line. They are all the same. Your mother was like that, so it's only natural that you would be attracted to the same kind of girl." As he watched his father take a sip of his scotch, Tristan attempted to stifle down the anger that was threatening to bubble up towards the surface.
"I know mom hurt you, but not every girl is like that. Rory's definetely not. She's different, and I told you to stop talking about her that way!"
"Are you trying to tell me what to do now?" Tristan saw the look in his father's eyes and knew what was coming. He began to mumble out a "No, sir", when Carter's fist connected, full force, with Tristan's stomach. He buckled over in pain.
"I know what kind of girls you are with. This Rory is as big a tramp as any of them." Tristan painfully straightened up and tried to catch his breath before replying.
"She is not, dad! She's smart and..."
"Still disagreeing with me, huh?" He backhanded his son hard across the face, knocking him to the floor.
"One day, you'll realise that I know more about life than you think I do." Tristan remained silent, knowing not to antagonise his father any further when he saw that look enter Carter's eye. The same look that usually preceded a swollen eye and stitches.
"Now, get up and go to your room. Go study or something. Just get out of my sight." As his father dismissed him, Tristan watched as he poured himself another scotch. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 'Then again, this isn't exactly a rare occurence,' Tristan thought to himself as he climbed up the stairs to his room.
***
Lorelai watched as Rory rolled over in bed. She had been watching her daughter sleep for the past ten minutes, wishing that she would wake up.
"Rory, I'm bored. Wake up." Lorelai gently shook her arm. Rory's head shot up off of her pillow.
"Aah! Mom, what the hell are you doing?" Lorelai tried to suppress a grin as she looked at Rory. She had a severe case of bedhead hair and her eyes were as large as saucers.
"As much as I would like for you to sleep in, you have made it more than abundantly clear that you want to go to school today. So..." Rory rolled out of bed, looking around her room for her Chilton uniform.
"I thank you for that. But did you have to be sitting an inch away from me when you did it? Are you sure that Sting never wrote a song about you? My therapy bills are going to be huge." She had located her clothes and was heading towards the bathroom. Lorelai followed behind her.
"Honey, if this is what makes you need therapy, I haven't been doing my job well enough," she said to her daughter through the closed door.
"Trust me, there are many other things on that list." Lorelai smiled.
"I was just checking. I mean, you could borrow some items off of my extensive 'How to Raise a Child, by Emily and Richard Gilmore' list. Just make sure you let me keep the last two. They are gold." She rested her head against the door and absently tapped her finger on it. "Rory, this is really the last time I'm going to ask. Are you sure you want to go to school today?" She heard Rory sigh.
"Mom, for the seventh time, yes. I already have three days to catch up on. I don't think I could handle any more." Rory opened the door and saw Lorelai putting her hands up in defeat.
"Okay, okay, I'm just making sure. Anyway, I'm certain that Tristan, who I will be calling from now on 'damn fine, sexy boy which Rory never mentioned to her mother', will be more than willing to help you catch up." Rory scowled. She didn't like the tone in her mother's voice.
"Firstly, you are terrible at choosing names. I admit into evidence the fact that you gave your only daughter your own name. Secondly, Tristan and I are just trying to be friends and even that is pretty tentative at the moment." Lorelai was about to say something else on the subject, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Who the hell..." As she pulled open the door, she saw Luke standing there holding two coffees.
"Hey, Lorelai."
"Luke, you are a god," she said as she reached for the coffees. "Rory, lookie, lookie. Luke has actually brought us coffee." She turned her attention back to Luke.
"To what do we owe the pleasure? Did you come to your senses about the fact that coffee is something that shouldn't be rationed and that the absolutely fabulous Gilmore women should be the first on the list of your enlightened beverage giveaway?" She asked with a knowing smile on her face. Luke began to shuffle back and forth while the two women watched in amusement.
"Well, since it is Rory's first day back...I thought it would be alright to have 'one' coffee. And I thought afterwards I could take Rory to school..."
"That's okay, Luke. I was just going to go on the bus..." She glanced at her mother, who was giving her a pointed look. She began again. "I mean, don't you have to be in the diner?" Luke looked a little downcast.
"Actually, I decided to open a little later today. But, if you don't need a ride..."
"No, no. Of course I will go with you. I'll take any reason not to go on that stupid bus." Luke smiled as Lorelai mouthed a 'thank you' towards Rory. All three adults stood at the doorstep in an awkward silence.
"I'll just go and get my things." While Rory hurried around the house, Lorelai kept smiling at Luke.
"What?!"
"Nothing."
"It's not nothing. Stop smiling...it's disconcerting."
"Luke, why, if I had known that your vocabulary was larger in the morning, I would have been coming for coffee at dawn." Luke scowled.
"Well, that's a reason for monosyllabic conversation, if ever I heard one." As Lorelai was about to open her mouth with a comeback, Rory rushed back to them.
"Got my stuff. Let's go. Seeya mom." Rory kissed her mother on the cheek and prepared herself for what was sure to be a strange conversation on the way to Chilton.
***
After dodging many questions about Tristan and thinking that she had convinced Luke that she didn't need a lift home, they reached Chilton.
"So, you're sure that you don't need a ride? I can close early..."
"I'm really fine, Luke. I've got a lot to catch up on, so I'm using the library after school."
"I can wait..."
"Sorry, Luke. I've got to go," Rory said as she saw that the grounds of Chilton were empty. "I don't need a ride!" She said as she jogged away, so that Luke couldn't have a chance to respond. Rory wasn't sure what was going on with Luke, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to drop everything he was doing, just for her.
As Rory walked down the deserted hallway, she began to get nervous. She knew everyone was going to stare at her as she walked in. Although the bruise had healed a little, it still stood out prominently on her face.
'Great. Center of attention for the wrong reasons, yet again.' As she opened her locker, a slip of paper floated out. She picked it up and read it. A small smile appeared on her face.
'Welcome back, Mary.'
'Well, at least I've got one friend in this place.'
***
Tristan couldn't keep his leg from bouncing up and down underneath his desk. He had first period English with Rory, but she hadn't shown up yet. He really had hoped that she would be in school today. Also, he had made sure that the seat beside him remained empty, despite the strange looks he received from people he had chased off.
His reverie was interrupted when the door opened and everyone's eyes were drawn to the girl standing there. Tristan winced as he saw the bruise over her cheek and eye, but hid it quickly as she looked straight at him.
"Sorry I'm late, sir," she spoke to the new English teacher, Mr. Foreman.
"That's okay, Rory. Your mother has already contacted the school about your situation." As he said that, whispers could be heard around the classroom. Tristan just glared at all of them.
Rory noticed that there was a chair empty beside Tristan, so she quickly slid into it and got out her notepad.
"So, back to the lesson, literature cannot be defined..." But Tristan tuned out the rest of Mr. Foreman's speech, as he stared at Rory. She was unaware as she scribbled furiously in her notebook.
'She really seems to be okay. But why hasn't she said hello, at least? Maybe she was high on painkillers when we called a truce. Maybe...' But again his thoughts were disrupted when he felt Rory slide a note underneath his hand.
'Thank you for the welcome note. I needed it.'
Tristan smiled as he read her neat, round handwriting over and over. He glanced back at Rory, but she had just continued to write notes.
'Oh well, at least it's a start.' He then decided to turn his attention to Mr. Foreman and whatever he was talking about.
"I would like you all to pair up and choose something that you consider to be literature. It can be anything, but remember, you must justify your choice as to why it should be classed as literature. Your report will be written into a two-thousand word essay, which is due in three weeks from today." Mr. Foreman put the chalk away and began to gather his things. "Okay, class have a good day." As everyone was getting up to leave, Rory turned to Tristan.
"So, do you want to be my partner?" Tristan was shocked. He was not used to her asking him for anything. When he hadn't answered after a minute, Rory decided that she had done the wrong thing. She quickly gathered her things and stood up.
"I understand. You were probably hoping to pair up with some girl you've had you eye on." Those words penetrated Tristan's happy daze as he realised what an idiot he must have looked like by just sitting there. He quickly grabbed his stuff and followed her out of the door.
"Wait, Rory!" He jogged up to her. 'How does she move so fast?' He thought as he reached her.
"Sorry. I kind of tranced out back there. It's just kind of surreal, you know. I mean, us, being friends and all."
"Look, Tristan, if you don't.."
"But I do." Rory smiled. "And I think that we should get started this afternoon."
"You're very eager. But you do realise that I am also using you for your class notes that I missed out on?" Tristan turned them both around to walk towards Rory's locker, and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"Mary, you can use me for anything you like," he leered. Rory shrugged out of his grasp.
"You are incorrigible, you know that."
"But you like me anyway." Rory scowled at that.
"I do like your idea of starting early on this assignment, though. Where do you want to get together? Your house?" Tristan quickly dismissed that idea. He had no desire for his father to ever meet Rory.
"I was thinking your place, actually. You can show me the Stars Hollow that I keep hearing so much about." Tristan hoped he didn't sound too excited about the fact that he was going to be able to see Rory Gilmore's house. Rory shrugged.
"Okay with me. You're the one that is going to have to drive."
"Your enthusiasm is just too overpowering for me, Mary. But I will redeem myself. You better believe it." They gave each other a small smile. "So, we'll meet after school, here, at your locker and we'll go from there." Rory nodded in agreement as she walked off to her next class, leaving Tristan behind watching her.
***
"So, Rory, what's going on between you and Tristan?" Rory had hoped to avoid Paris all day, but she had made the mistake in thinking that Paris wouldn't go out of her way to find her. Now that last period was over, all Rory wanted to do was go home.
"I don't know, Paris. What is going on between us?"
"Don't play dumb, Rory. Everyone has been talking about your little conversation in the hall today. I don't know what was said, but Tristan had his arm around you." Rory let out a breath in exasperation. 'Couldn't the Chilton gossip grapevine have slowed down a little bit today?'
"Not that it is any of your business, Paris, but Tristan and I have decided to be friends." As they came up to Rory's locker, they both noticed Tristan leaning up against it. As he saw Rory approaching, he straightened up.
"Your chariot awaits, my fair lady," he said as he gave a small bow. Paris scowled and turned to Rory.
"Friends. Right. You could at least have the decency to tell me the truth. You're always trying to be my friend...well, I am not friends with people who lie to me." She then walked off in the opposite direction. Tristan saw the hurt look that crossed over Rory's face and knew that it had to be his fault. He fidgeted with his thumbs and then ran his hand through his hair as he decided what to say.
"I'm sorry, I..."
"It's not your fault, Tristan. I don't think that Paris and I will be having any sleepovers any time soon. And that has nothing to do with you." She looked up and smiled at the worried look on his face. 'Why didn't I realise before that he was such a nice guy...Oh, that's right, he was making my life hell.'
Rory grabbed the books she would need and closed her locker as Tristan just watched and contemplated her behavior. 'I will NEVER figure her out.' She turned back to him with an expectant look on her face.
"So where's this chariot that you were telling me about?"
To be continued in Chapter Four - Weddings, Moonface and the Four C's