"He what!" Logan exclaimed. He was inside Luke's coffee house, a place he had not been seen around in a long time. However, Colin hadn't returned from vacation yet, and when he had waited for Tristan that morning he was left standing alone. Finally he went in search of Rory.

"He went to master Charleston, and he got Tristan kicked out."

"For being in your room?"

"Yes."

"But you've hung out in our room loads of times. Why can't boys go in girls rooms?"

"I don't know! It's the dumbest rule I've ever heard!" Rory fumed. Tristan had been gone for almost day now, and she was long past sad. She was angry. Angry at just about everything she could possibly be angry about.

She was angry at Marty, of course. She was also mad at headmaster Charleston, for allowing such an asinine rule to exist, mad at Tristan for not fighting to stay, mad at Paris for not getting the automatic lock on the dorm room door fixed, mad at Jess for not being there during the ordeal. Mad at Logan for having known Marty this long without having deleted him.

"I can't believe he's gone." Logan mused, still in shock.

"Logan, I like my angry place right now!" Rory warned. She couldn't stop seeing red now. If she did, she'd be a weepy mess.

Logan nodded knowingly. "Got it."

The pair sat in silence, glaring off in different directions.

Suddenly the diner door opened, and there stood Jess. He carried one bag over his shoulder, but other than that seemed somewhat under prepared.

"My, aren't we packing diet?" Logan bratted. Jess smiled crookedly and raised one eyebrow.

"Aw, you waited up for me? How cute." Logan turned beet red, and stood gruffly.

"Whatever."

Jess watched Logan leave the diner with obvious amusement.

"Something you aren't telling me?" Rory asked distractedly. Jess only smiled.

"Yep."

"Good for you." Rory said around her scowl. She took a sip of her coffee, trying to find someting wrong with it. She had run out of things to be mad at.

"Ouch, if looks could kill." Jess said mildly. Rory recounted the story of the other night with as much accuracy as she could manage through her anger. When she finished her tirade Jess sat down on a stool next to her, thinking hard.

"Is Tristan allowed to visit?"

"No."

"Letters?"

"Mail comes once a week."

"Phone?"

"Jess we have no phones to the outside world here!"

"Hmm." Rory rolled her eyes and lay her head down on the counter in front of her. Her hair fell over her closed eyes and she tried to imagine that the past couple days had never happened.

"You've got to talk to him."

"What?" She asked, lifting her head. "I've already told you. I can't."

"Not Tristan." Realization dawned on Rory and a slow grin spread across her face.

"Oh," she said with an evil glint in her eyes, "That."

-

"Rory?" Marty said in shock. He was at a cafe, reading when Rory walked up to his table and threw his book on the floor.

"Do you hate me?" she asked him. He stared at her, horrified.

"No! Rory, I--"

"Then why do you want me to be unhappy?" she asked. He stuttered, searching for words.

"I just wanted you to...it was Tristan. He--"

"I have been trying to think of a reason why you would do this, I really have." Rory continued relentlessly. "I can't think of anything except that you are a horrible, horrible person."

"Rory you don't know, I was--"

"You think that taking Tristan away will change anything? I hate you, Marty. I loath the very sight of you. Every time I see you I think to myself, 'gosh, I hope I never get that desperate.' What kind of person does this? Honestly! I can't even think of words to describe how small you are to me. You make me sick. Watching you right now is even making me queasy. Go to hell, Marty."

Marty opened his mouth once, then closed it.

Rory couldn't voice everything she was feeling, her words sounding weak in her mind.

"Rory, you're wrong about this." Marty finally spoke.

"...What?" Rory asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

"You'll understand someday, and then you'll--"

"Thank you!" Rory shouted. People in the diner glanced over at the pair. "THANK YOU! You want me to thank you for ruining the one great thing about my life right now? God! Go drink fucking bleach! I hope you fucking choke on your own fucking bile, you disgusting creep! Go eat too many pills, you fucking ass monger! You're nothing! You are a cyst on the ass that is my life! Go fucking die somewhere! I hate you, you motherfucking dipshit! Fucking die!" Tears stood in her eyes, but she didn't care. She was past caring.

"Rory..." he pleaded, his voice anguished.

"Die!" she shrieked, and kicked the table he sat at. It didn't actually fall down, but his coffee toppled over. Not exactly dramatic, but it sure made her feel better. She knew she was getting hysterical, and needed to escape. With one last hateful glare, she turned and ran away from him.

-

Whispers ran all through the school. No one knew exactly why Tristan had been kicked out, apparently Logan knew how to keep a secret. Rory walked the halls swiftly, trying her best to ignore the hushed stares at her.

All anyone knew was that if Tristan was gone, Rory must have had something to do with it. It just made sense, since they were together so often. But why? Had she become jealous of him with another girl? Had he not called her, and she went insane?

Nobody knew what had happened, but everybody knew that something important had changed in their school. Nobody was brave enough to talk to Rory, either. No, they were perfectly content to gossip and whisper, guessing at what could have happened to their beloved king.

It made Rory sick. She went through her classes with a permanent surly scowl marring her face, and even Paris told her she seemed somewhat highstrung.

She knew she was only cloaking her sadness in fury. It was obvious to everyone, including herself. She didn't care, though. With Lorelai gone and now Tristan, she couldn't face both truths at the same time. She didn't even want to think about her dad right now. Mixed up with the sadness and loss and misdirected anger, she couldn't run the risk that her oppinion of him would lower even further. He was her father after all, as Jess said.

Instead, she focused her energy on blocking the world out.

Paris, of course, was one of the few people who knew the truth.

She had listened to her friends story with an increasingly icy look on her face, and then immediately excused herself from the room. Rory hadn't taken any notice.

The next day, Marty was walking around with a black eye and a broken nose. Rory was never actually sure if Paris, Logan, or Jess did that. All of them seemed likely candidates.

At least things seemed to be looking up for Jess and Logan. Though Logan remained hostile in public, the pair spent more and more time together. If you saw one, the other must be near. Logan would never admit what was going on to anyone, he was still having problems accepting it himself. He wasn't doing anything wrong, of course, he had just...doveloped a taste for coffee.

Okay guys, the next chapter is coming sooner and it will be longer, I swear! Maybe I'll end this thing next chapter even.

No, I'm not going to make the Jess Logan thing a large part of the story. Not every couple has to be a focus, and I really think it would take away from what will happen with Rory and Tristan.

I'm sort of into endings that are happy but twisted in some way, so, yeah. :)

R&R please, your comments last chapter were great!