A/N: Everything here is pretty much the property of the Palladinos, and i own nothing other than my own original characters.

Weeks

Tristan entered the party like a returning king. The shop had had nothing for Han Solo, so he was outfitted as Indiana Jones, complete with bullwhip, leather jacket and a hat, that, if he did say so himself, was rather dashing. With no real warning, he hadn't let his five-o'clock shadow grow, but he thought he looked fairly Indy-like. He really hoped Rory would be there to see him. Not that she was the kind to notice superficial things like that, and not that she would ever consider dating someone like him, but he hoped she might just notice that he wasn't totally repellent.

As he came through the door, Tristan was conscious of the stares. The kids in the circle knew who he was, even if he didn't come out to their events. His very unwillingness to mingle had made him mysterious and thus attractive to them. But he wasn't overly interested in that. He followed Alex, dressed as a young Obi Wan, over to the bar, got a drink, and leaned against it as he looked the room over. It looked like a pretty typical gathering for the social circle. Lots of carefully, expensively groomed kids in elaborate costumes, drinking expensive drinks, trying to impress each other with their style and drink their way into each others' beds. It took him back to his days at Chilton: he might not know the people here, but he knew their types. He turned to ask Alex something, only to find that a pretty blonde dressed as Leia (in her notorious bikini) had already reached him.

"Hey sexy," she crooned, sliding her arm along his shoulder, "soo glad you could make it."

"Hi Steph. How could I miss the chance to see you like this?" Alex smiled down at her, and let his hand rest gently on her bare waist. "You look great!"

"So do you. I've always liked an aura of authority…" she purred. This was obviously Alex's girl of the week. Tristan began to move away and leave them alone, but Alex interrupted.

"Have you met Tristan?"

"Tristan? The mysterious Tristan DuGrey? Nice to meet you." She smiled and looked him up and down. "And well worth the wait. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of you."

"I'm sure you will," Tristan responded seductively, falling back into his old society habits. He had no interest in seeing her, but there was no point in being openly rude. He rethought his plan for the evening. Maybe flirting a little was not an option in this crowd—if the women were this predatory he was unlikely to find anyone who interested him. Unless Rory were here.

"Alex! Hello mate!" A tall Australian ambled over to them, dressed as Luke Skywalker at the end of the final movie. "So glad you could make it. Have I met you?" He looked quizzically at Tristan.

"Hey Finn," laughed Alex. "This is my roommate Tristan. DuGrey."

"Oh, of course! Have a drink!"

"I've got one, thanks. Great party." replied Tristan, amused at the obvious drunkenness of the Australian.

"Oh, that's nearly gone- you must have another, mate!" declared Finn. "And do you know any redheads—ones that I haven't met yet? I don't know who you've been hanging out with while you were avoiding us, but some of them must have red hair!" he grinned. "I like redheads!"

"We all know your love for redheads, Finn," said the blonde Han Solo who had just approached the group. "But I'm shocked you've sunk to asking strangers for introductions. Logan Huntzberger, nice to meet you." He offered his hand to Tristan.

"He's not really a stranger Logan," said Finn, "he's a DuGrey. He's one of us." Tristan looked a little uncomfortable at this description, but let it slide. Technically he was one of them, regardless of how he felt about the situation.

"Ah, the mysterious DuGrey!" Logan gave Tristan a measuring look, one which Tristan returned. This smug man was who he could have been, if it hadn't been for Rory. He felt a sudden shock of gratitude to her. It had hurt so much to hear her say she hated him, but it had changed his life in so many good ways. "Glad you decided to join us." Logan continued smugly. "I never was clear on why you stayed away, but it's nice that you've cleared it up."

"I make it a practice never to explain these things," Tristan smugged back at him. "but I always enjoy a good party."

Alex and Steph slipped off to dance, leaving Tristan alone with Finn and Logan. Finn drooped onto the bar and ordered another drink while Tristan and Logan considered each other. Recognizing a formidable opponent in Tristan, Logan decided against playing condescension anymore, and relaxed slightly. "Get you a drink?" he asked

"Thanks, I'm good," Tristan replied, gesturing with his half full glass. He was willing to play nice as long as Logan did. "Nice shindig. Yours?"

"LDB actually," said Logan, turning to survey the party. "but I planned it. The theme was Finn's idea though!"

"You rang?" Finn finished at the bar and turned his attention back to the conversation.

"Excellent choice for a theme" Tristan complimented him. The range of costumes was fantastic, and of course, the sheer quantity of gold bikinis was not a bad thing.

"Why thank you! Lots of gold bikinis, which was my goal" grinned Finn. "Not enough redheads though," he continued sadly, "and I miss reporter girl. She really livened up these events." He looked at Logan reproachfully, or as reproachfully as possible in his state of drunkenness.

"I told you Finn, I'm going to get Ace back. This has all been a big misunderstanding."

"Ace?" asked Tristan, intrigued that Logan, of all people, was chasing after a girl.

"His ex-" confided Finn "he 'accidentally' dumped her by telling his sister that they broke up. She was a peach, that girl. Might have gone after her myself if Logan hadn't gotten to her first. Might go after her now if he keeps up like this!"

"Finn!" said Logan sharply, clearly not amused at the notion of his friend chasing after this 'Ace', whoever she was.

"I have to agree with him" commented a brunette Luke from Tattoine, sliding up to the bar. "She's an incredible girl, and if you don't get her back, someone else is going to snatch her up. I mean, the way she stole that yacht!"

"Poetry!" enthused Finn "Pure poetry! Not a hesitation, not a blink, just, 'let's steal a yacht'! And those genes! Her mother is a major hottie- THAT'S what you'll end up with in twenty years. Well, sixteen, whatever. Not a redhead, but hot enough to make up for it. Mmmm, Gilmore…"

Tristan snapped to attention. Had Finn just said Gilmore? Could Rory, his Rory, really have dated Logan? She had refused to even think of spending time with him, but she had dated this? This rich, arrogant, smug blonde alternate universe version of himself? Had she changed that much? And then he realized. If Rory had changed enough to be willing to date this, she had certainly changed enough to be willing to date him. He had to know. But the conversation had continued.

"I can't believe I thought you were right when you said early Luke would get the girls" muttered the brunette Luke. "No one will even talk to me. They start to giggle."

"Maybe that's because that linen is kind of transparent Colin" suggested Finn "or maybe they just think you're funny."

"It is not transparent!" screeched Colin, checking quickly to make sure nothing inappropriate was visible.

"I'm sorry to interrupt" Tristan broke in "but steal a yacht? What happened here?" Hoping that one of them would give a real name, he prodded gently. "I think I need to meet this Ace." Logan glared at him and refused to respond, while Fin was happily distracted.

"Ah, reporter girl! A marvel of a woman. She took young Logan and made a man out of him—at her very own suggestion, they stole a yacht during his sister's engagement party." He leaned confidentially on Tristan's shoulder. "They got caught, and while Logan here got off scott-free, Miss Gilmore got stuck with hours and hours of community service. Had to take a semester off to deal with it I believe. A princess among women that one! And –oh a redhead! I'm off!" he dashed away, closely followed by Colin, demanding to know what Finn had meant about transparency.

Tristan looked at Logan. "Rory? Gilmore?" he asked, half fearful, half hopeful.

"Yes." Logan looked at him sharply. "Do you know her?"

"We went to Chilton together for a while." Tristan kept his face calm, but his mind was racing. Mary. His Mary had dated this man? Had stolen a yacht? Had taken time off of school?

"Funny. She never mentioned you." Logan glared at this interloper, this man who knew Ace, who came from his world. He had never really thought of Marty as a threat, he knew he could beat him out in looks and charm and money. And he was fairly certain that Finn and Colin were only joking when they said they would go after Rory if he didn't get her back. But Tristan? Tristan could be dangerous. "Must not have made much of an impression."

"Oh, she remembers me all right. Ah, my Mary…" Tristan sighed, meaning to indicate their familiarity with the nickname, but forgetting who he was talking to, the shared knowledge they had. Logan smiled nastily.

"Not really a Mary anymore" he said chummily "but an excellent girlfriend!" Even to score off of Tristan he couldn't be actively insulting to Rory, but he sure as hell wanted Tristan to know that he had been with her in every sense of the word. Rory was his, and he was going to fight to the end to keep her.

Logan's words hit Tristan like a gunshot. She had said she wasn't a Mary anymore, but he had never considered that he might meet the man who had made it so. Had assumed it was the bag boy, and, while he hated the bag boy, he also knew that he was out of the picture. Logan—Logan was obviously very much in the picture. He controlled his reactions though.

"Oh? Well, she always showed me a lot of passion, and she was very young back then." He responded, knowing Logan couldn't ask Rory straight out, knowing it would drive him crazy wondering what their relationship had been. Knowing as he said it that it was a weak shot. But he smirked anyway, sure that it would still hit.

Logan's eyes narrowed. He didn't like this man, standing there so confidently asserting a prior claim on his Ace. He didn't like being challenged in his territory, where he was king. He didn't like knowing that it was his fault Ace wasn't speaking to him, that it would be his fault if he never got her back. But mostly he didn't like the fact that Tristan DuGrey had a right to be there, and there was nothing he could do about it

"Enjoy the party." He said, knowing that he had lost the battle, but more determined than ever to win the war. "I need to circulate, make sure everything is going well."

"I will. Thanks." Tristan replied calmly. He was pleased to have routed Logan, but he was aware that the challenge Logan presented was a not inconsiderable one. Logan walked away and Tristan watched him go, considering.

Rory had dated this man. Rory had stolen a yacht. Rory had gone to jail, and to court, and had done community service. Rory had taken time off of school. Rory had changed a lot. She was no longer the girl from Chilton who he had known was too good for him. She was possible. He just had to figure out how to get her to wait for the next fifteen weeks. His eyes narrowed.

Surely she would wait for the next fifteen weeks.