SUMMARY: How far are you willing to go for love?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any part of Gilmore Girls or its characters – the only thing I came up with was the story line, and a few characters. Chapter title is borrowed from 'Something Beautiful', by Robbie Williams.
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Chapter 2: All your friends think you're satisfied, but they can't see your soul…
"This is how life should be."
Roused out of his daydream, Tristan turned his head slightly, squinting his eyes against the glare of the late afternoon sun as he did so. "Abso-freakin-lutely." After all, what was better than lazing by the pool on a warm Saturday afternoon? He sat upright in his chaise longue and reached for his iced tea. "This beats sitting in Mr Engel's Calculus class any day."
Indeed, it was a beautiful day: not too hot, with a perfect cloudless sky overhead. And Tristan was doing what he always did on days like these – lounging outside by his family's Olympic-size pool as he soaked up the warm rays of the sun, with no one but Anna to keep him company. He lived for days like these.
Beside him, Anna grinned. "No kidding. So," she glanced at Tristan, her eyes partially hidden behind her Chanel aviator sunglasses. "I heard you're going out with Missy Adams tonight."
Tristan smiled slightly. "What about it?"
She yawned, stretching languorously in the afternoon sun. "I didn't know you were interested in vapid blondes."
"I'm not," Tristan shrugged. "She asked me out, so I said yes. We're going to Josh's party." He stared at Anna for a moment, trying to gauge the expression in her inscrutable eyes. "It's no big deal."
"You do realize this chick's had the major hots for you since fifth grade, right?"
"I'm aware of that," he admitted. "So what, though? It's just a date."
"I'm just saying she might think this is the start of something more," Anna elaborated, rubbing more sun block on her tanned arms.
Tristan gave her his trademark smirk. "Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle."
"If you say so," Anna sighed. "Just be warned we're talking about the same girl who committed your entire class schedule to memory AND can't stop talking about how perfect you two would be together."
Tristan rolled his eyes. "As I said before, it's nothing I can't handle."
"Okay." Anna got up and made her way to the DuGrey swimming pool, which lay shimmering in the sunlight just a short distance away. Easing herself into the pool's liquid embrace, she sighed happily. Submerging herself briefly, Anna resurfaced and threw a cheeky grin at Tristan. "By the way, I have it on good authority that a certain Mademoiselle Gilmore is single again."
"What?" Tristan sat bolt upright, pushing his sunglasses onto the top of his head. "Who told you?"
"No need to worry yourself over that insignificant detail." Anna swam up to the pool's edge, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Who knows? If you play your cards right, you might actually stand a chance with Rory this time."
Tristan winced, not wanting to remember his many (failed) attempts at capturing Rory Gilmore's interest. But his curiosity was piqued, and he waited to hear more from Anna, who was now swimming unhurried laps up and down the pool. He watched her for a moment, silently wondering why she'd chosen to share that interesting little bit of news with him.
After all, when it came to Tristan's growing infatuation with Rory, Anna had always been less than enthusiastic, although she'd always remained deliberately vague whenever he demanded to know the cause of her disapproval. Tristan had long ago decided Anna simply resented the idea of anyone – especially Rory Gilmore – coming in between the two of them. He didn't blame her, of course. They had known each other all their lives, and in a world of overwhelming social obligations and betrayals, their friendship was one of the few things that kept him sane.
"She'll be at Josh's party tonight."
Tristan blinked, forcibly yanking himself out of his earlier ruminations. "Pardon me?"
With practiced ease, Anna hoisted herself out of the pool, both feet still dangling in the water. "Josh's party tonight…Rory's going to be there."
"That's highly doubtful. She avoids any and all Chilton gatherings like the plague."
"You've been misinformed then." Reclaiming her empty seat beside Tristan, she lay back and closed her eyes.
He stared at her, suddenly wary. She didn't move, seemingly oblivious of Tristan's searching gaze.
"I just thought you'd want to know," Anna said unexpectedly, rolling over on her side to look at her best friend.
"Why?"
Anna shrugged. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are interested in Rory. And given the turtle-like speed with which you're presently moving vis-à-vis capturing her attention, I figured you'll need all the help you can get."
Tristan raised his eyebrows, perplexed by Anna's matter-of-fact tone. "Since when were you so–"
"Altruistic?"
"Supportive," Tristan clarified.
"Oh. Well," Anna grinned. "It comes with the whole best-friend territory. Besides, I know you prefer to spend all your time fooling everyone around you into thinking it's just a silly little infatuation, but you certainly haven't fooled me."
Despite himself, Tristan felt his lips curl into a smile. "Quit trying to psycho-analyse me, Whittington."
"I don't have to, DuGrey. You're not as enigmatic as you'd have people believe."
As Tristan took a moment to mull this over, he couldn't help wondering if there was any truth to what she'd said. Out of necessity (and perhaps even by choice), Tristan had always taken great pains to maintain a sort of detachment in his dealings with other people. It wasn't discourtesy per se; it was simply an aloofness that enabled him to stay at least partially ahead of the crowd and its many wagging tongues – or maybe it stemmed from that ever-present desire to ensure his private life remained private.
Tristan was well aware of the many stories about him that were floating around Hartford. Not that he cared about what people had to say about him, of course. As far as he was concerned, his life within the confines of Chilton and his life outside of it were two contrasting entities, both of which he vigilantly strove to keep separate. But even for Tristan DuGrey – who many believed to be invincible – too much gossip did tend to have its consequences.
"Whatever," he finally said, swiftly changing the subject. "Are you going to Josh's party?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Anna replied, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "The Flavour of the Week wanted me to go with him, but who knows? I might suddenly come down with a mysterious ailment at the last minute."
Oh yes, Anna's Flavour of the Week. Tristan had been so caught up in his own personal affairs that he hadn't spent much time talking to Anna. Consequently, he had no idea who Anna's latest willing victim was. "So who's the guy?"
"Brad Landon," Anna waved a dismissive hand. "He won't last."
"Why?"
She gave him a pointed look. "He's about as fascinating as a can of dog food. I don't know what I saw in him."
"You mean, other than the chiselled abs and the surfer-dude good looks?" Tristan laughed.
"Oh please," Anna scoffed. "I never said I wanted a commitment from Brad." She tapped her chin, giving a great show of being deep in thought. "But the moment I change my mind, rest assured that I'll go beyond skin deep." She looked at him, reflectively. "You know, I've always wanted to ask…"
"What?"
She sat forward, her hands clasped on her knee. "What makes Rory so special?"
The bluntness of her question took Tristan by surprise. He'd talked enough about his attraction to Rory for Anna to be able to deduce the true extent of his feelings. That was how it had always been: he would deliberately avoid saying more than was strictly necessary, and Anna would somehow always be able to figure it out on her own. But she had never questioned him directly as to his reasons for feeling the way he did about Rory.
"She's…different." Seeing the blank expression on Anna's face, Tristan attempted to explain. "I've never met anyone like her. She's not like you and me."
Anna frowned deeply. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That's kind of not the point. What I mean is…" Sighing in frustration, Tristan shook his head. "You know me. I hate getting into situations like these."
"What sort of a situation?" Anna sweetly inquired. "Falling for someone, or admitting it?"
Both, to be honest. But Tristan kept silent, unwilling to divulge more than he already had.
"Tristan, Tristan, Tristan," Anna glanced at him reproachfully. "Give me some credit, will you? I'm not an idiot."
"Meaning?"
"You like her because she's nothing like you, and because she doesn't want you." She shook her head. "You always want what you can't have."
That sounds about right, Tristan thought ruefully. He watched her for a moment, secretly wondering if Anna knew more than she was letting on.
"So, still going to Josh's party with Missy?" Anna quirked her eyebrow, the slightest hint of a knowing smile passing across her face.
"Now that I think about it, going stag does seem mighty appealing."
"Smart boy," Anna nodded approvingly. "So here's the plan. We'll go to the party – sans dates – and you will proceed to sweep Rory Gilmore off her feet with your wit and charisma. Agreed?"
"I don't know…" Tristan looked at her, uncertainty clouding his brilliant blue eyes. "Anna, you of all people should know: she hates me with a passion. I think it'll take way longer than just ONE night to make her change her mind."
"Don't worry about it," Anna waved away his doubts with an unconcerned flick of her wrist. "After all, who can resist a DuGrey?"
"Obviously, she can," he pointed out.
"Admittedly, you got off on the wrong foot with her," Anna conceded. "And obviously, she's not a big fan of Tristan-DuGrey-Egomaniac-Extraordinaire."
"Hey, I resent that," Tristan protested, only vaguely offended.
"She strikes me as the sort who's more into Mr-Sweet-and-Sensitive," Anna blithely continued, ignoring his objection. "So be that."
"Anna, when have you ever known me to be sweet or sensitive?"
Exasperation flickered in her bright green eyes. "Quit trying to pass yourself off as such a badass, will you?"
"But I am a badass," Tristan shrugged, grinning slightly. "Just ask anyone in Hartford. Besides, you're cute when you're annoyed."
"You're incorrigible!"
"And you love me for it," Tristan teased, reaching over to pinch her upper arm lightly.
"You wish." Anna swatted away his hand, attempting to look stern but failing utterly. "So…let it be known that tonight is the night Tristan DuGrey will finally make his move."
Hearing Anna's confident words, Tristan fell silent once more, his mind racing with all the possibilities that lay before him. He'd make his move, all right. He just hoped he wouldn't crash and burn because of it.
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