Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Gilmore Girls, actors, characters, plots, etc, that would be the wonderful people at WB. Although if I did, I'm pretty sure they'd be some big changes coughChadcough. Anyway if you do feel inclined to sue me, some people have strange urges and we must accept them for who they are, I'm currently flat broke so all you will get is a used textbook, on organic chemistry.
AN: Hey everyone, my personal life's been a bit of a roller coaster this week, it's amazing how much everything can change in twenty-four hours. One minute you're planning a party next you're making funeral arrangements. Anyway, I'm posting a new chapter, which I realise you already know so I'm just going to stop there…
Reviews for Chapter 7:
Whyshouldicare1: I'm glad you like it. Tristan's back, okay so that's a bit redundant considering I've already posted the next chapter!
GGluvr1987: The tricks are over, at least for now! The magic's gone, Rory's back to reality, so no more tricking readers.
Reviews for Chapter 8:
Danger1Zone1988: Updating, updating. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Rish: Logan needed to be a jerk to justify Rory's reaction and as for Tristan, you'll just have to read and find out.
Bethany Inc: Who is the father? That is the question! Maybe it's someone else… Thanks for reviewing. PS, I love A 1967 Red Corvette, it's in my favourites!
Fallen Heart: I tried to make my twists more unpredictable, although I made a lame attempt at a hint, Rory eating the apple, I should have thought it out more. I always thought Paris and Tristan would have an interesting dynamic as friends.
Xoxocmmxoxo: I'm glad to officially found yourself a committed story reader, much better than an unofficial find! You'll just have to wait and see who the father is. I've always had the impression that Tristan is maturer than Logan. Logan reminds me of Chilton-Tristan.
Rockrose: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I always imagined Paris and Tristan to be friends, they seem to understand each other, especially considering their backgrounds.
Emmy: The father of the child seems to be a popular question, but I do love a good mystery, so you'll just have to wait!
Lara: Thanks for reading and reviewing! More is here.
Jersey Jae: Lots of votes for Tristan for the father! But you never know what's around the corner.
FairyGirl07: I'm glad my twist was not expected! Thanks for reviewing.
Ec: Thanks for taking the time to review, I'm glad you like it.
Troryforever: More is here, hope it's soon enough. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Finnlover: You're intrigued? That's good, that's very good, I was aiming for intriguing. The mystery deepens…
TristanLover: Scroll down for more. Thanks for reviewing.
Aphi72: I wasn't sure if the Serendipity reference worked, but I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.
GGluvr1987: You have got to be my most excited reviewer, you deserve a prize! Thanks for reviewing.
LoVe23: Just because you're such a loyal reviewer I'll give you an extra tidbit, Logan and Rory are not completely finished, okay so that wasn't much of a hint. More Tristan below. Thanks.
Mamashirl: Sorry for leaving you and everyone else hanging on a cliff! I don't like to do that to people, but extenuating circumstances prevented me from not cliff-hanging.
Elizabeth: I'm so sorry for ending the last chapter there, personal situations got in the way of my writing. I really don't mean to write cliffhangers, it kinda, sorta happens! Thanks for reviewing.
Emily: It is kind of sad she had to be pregnant for Tristan to come back, but as I told someone else, the magic and the carefree life Rory led is over, it's back to reality for Miss Gilmore. Plus it's a crazy twist!
Whisperofinsanity: Maybe OTH-Chad could be sent to military school and he can become GG-Chad once more! Or, maybe OTH-Chad can finally finish HS and move on to Yale where he can miraculously age a few years and bump into Rory! Or,… okay I should stop there, I have an over-active imagination. Thanks for reviewing.
IloveGG: Thanks for taking the time to read and review my little story.
This chapter anyone who wants Tristan… get in line, and while you wait, read this… Chapter 9She had been walking down the stairs, empty coffee mug in need of a refill in hand, when she had heard a car pull up in the driveway. Peaking through a half-closed blind, what or rather who she saw made her heart stop. Rory. She was torn between the immediate instinct to run out there, pull Rory out of the car and hug her daughter with all her strength and love. But, part of her wanted Rory to come to her, to acknowledge the pain she had inflicted on her and be sorry for it.
Rory sat in her car, that her grandparents had given her, staring at her childhood home. Her safe haven, her most cherished place, the place that belonged to the most important person in her life. The person she hadn't spoken to in over six months. Her mother. Closing her eyes, she could see so clearly, as if it had happened yesterday, the events that had occurred the last time she had been here. The anger, the yelling. She had told Lorelai things she knew were false, that she had no right to say. And now, more than ever, she needed her mother.
She was a mother first and she couldn't bear the thought of leaving her daughter out there in the cold. Not to mention, she couldn't very well hold a grudge against her own daughter. Emily held grudges against her more than enough, for her to know what it was like to be on the receiving end and that was something she couldn't bear to inflict on anyone else, much less her own flesh and blood. Spurred on by her maternal instincts, she nearly ran to the door, flinging it open to find her daughter, standing on the porch, one hand out-stretched to open the door.
"Mom," Rory greeted the older Gilmore softly.
"Rory," her mother replied, eyeing her daughter warily, suddenly recalling her daughter's last words to her the previous time they had stood like this on the porch.
The silence stretched between the pair. There had once been a time when silence was a foreign concept when the two were in the same room together, but now, now foreign concepts were the norm.
"How are you?" Rory asked, all too aware of the sudden drop in temperature
"I'm fine," Lorelai replied, stiffly, "And you?"
"I'm okay… can I come in?"
Lorelai moved aside slowly, giving just enough room for her daughter to squeeze past her.
"Is that new wall paper?" Rory asked, taking in the familiar scents.
Coffee, dried flowers, perfume. Home.
"Uh, yes," her mother replied, "Luke did it for me, I thought it could with a change. Wouldn't want to be a stick in the mud of change."
Rory winced hearing the edge Lorelai's sarcastic tone.
"Mom, I'm sorry," Rory began, "I should never have said those things to you."
Lorelai remained silent, staring hard at her own daughter, not so much to intimidate Rory, but to keep herself from pulling her daughter into a long-awaited hug.
"I was completely and utterly wrong in saying that you were jealous of me going to Yale, I know that's not true at all. You are a wonderful mother, the best mother in the world and don't know how I could survive without you."
Rory finished her apology and waited with bated breath for her mother's reaction.
"Coffee?" the older woman asked, a sort of peace offering.
"Yes," Rory replied automatically before she remembered the catalyst for the trip, "Uh, actually, I can I just have a water."
"Sure," Loralie responded slowly, something niggled persistently at the back of her mind, "Is everything alright?"
"No, not really," Rory whispered, she could feel the tears pressing against the back of her eyes, "I'm pregnant."
Loralie started, part of her was flooded with relief, at least her daughter wasn't dying. But at the same time, her heart constricted at the thought of what her daughter had endured by herself, but at the same time it broke to think of what this will do to Rory's future, all her dreams. And not to think of her own hopes that Rory would have a different life to her's.
"Mom?" Rory asked cautiously, Lorelai had turned white.
"Oh, honey," Lorelai breathed, pulling Rory into a hug.
They held each other for a while before Lorelai lead her daughter to the sofa.
"I'm so scared," Rory whispered, tears threatening to fall.
"It'll be alright," her mother whispered back.
"I'm sorry," Rory continued, "If I had listened to you, this wouldn't have happened."
"Logan?"
"We broke up a couple of days ago, but I don't know what to do now. I don't know how to tell him."
"It will all work out," Lorelai murmured back.
"Will it?" Rory asked, tears streaming down her face.
Lorelai could not answer that, instead she held her daughter while she cried, her own heart breaking at the thought of her daughter's pain. Eventually, Rory began to feel drowsy, the emotions and stress of the last week catching up with and Lorelai suggested she take a nap in her old room.
The last thing Lorelai had imagined would happen to her daughter had happened and she had been completely powerless to stop it. She had never felt so alone and helpless, not even when Rory had stormed out of her life, at least then, she could pretend that Rory was completely all right, but this was big, so huge, it was actually growing. Lorelai shook herself, this was far from the right time to be making silly jokes. What she needed right now was a giant mug of coffee and someone to talk to. Luke.
Lorelai pushed the door to the diner open, the bell jangled as always. Kirk sat at his usual table, complaining to Lane about something or other. Miss Patty and Babette were gossiping, heads bent close together, occasionally peaking over the top of the menu propped up in front of them. Considering her situation, Lorelai would have completely missed what had caught the attention of the towns' grapevine queens, if not for the conversation she caught Luke and the object of the attention were having.
"I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find Rory Gilmore?" a young blond man was asking Luke.
"That would depend on who you are," Luke replied, as gruffly as ever.
"Logan," Lorelai stated, her voice cold with anger causing Luke to look up sharply, as did everyone in the diner.
The young man in question looked blankly at her.
"Who?" he asked after a moment.
"Don't play stupid," Lorelai snapped, "After everything you've done. And don't think your Huntzberger name will win you any points in this town."
"Logan Huntzberger? I'm afraid I'm not him, no actually, from your reaction, I'm glad I'm not him," he replied, "I'm Tristan Du Gray and I'm guessing you're Lorelai Gilmore, mother of Rory Gilmore?"
"Are you sure you're not a Huntzberger?" Lorelai asked suspiciously.
"No, and I'm not even related to one."
"In that case, I apologise for my earlier behaviour, today's been intense," Lorelai answered, sighing with relief.
"I understand completely," Tristan replied, nodding.
"Good, in that case, you won't mind me asking you to move, you're sitting on my stool."
"Not at all," he answered, sliding off the said stool.
"Lorelai, you can't just ask patrons to move like that," Luke interrupted, before turning to Tristan, "You don't have to move."
"Why not?" Lorelai asked, sitting on the newly vacated stool, "Am I not a patron?"
"Did I say patron? I meant 'paying customer'," Luke retorted, placing two mugs of coffee in front of them.
"It's okay, really, I don't mind moving stools," Tristan said, sitting on another stool, "But if you don't mind, could you please tell me where I can find your daughter?"
"Now's probably not a good time, but if you wait a bit, I can take you to her," Lorelai replied, some of the tension easing off her shoulders as she sipped her coffee, "So tell me – Tristan, was it? How do you know Rory?"
"We went to Chilton together for a while, but that was before I was sent to military school," he grimaced as he recalled his time at Fitzgerald Academy.
"Bible Boy," Lorelai smiled, remembering Rory's frustration with the boy who kept saying her name wrong.
"Huh? Oh because I called Rory 'Mary'?" Tristan gave a small smile as he realised what she was remembering, "Truth is, it's a compliment. So many girls in high school try to look older, sluttier, thinking that's how to attract guys. Sure it'll attract guys in the short term, in lust, but not the guys who want serious relationships, looking for love."
"Like yourself?" Lorelai asked, sounding sceptical.
"Me? God, no," he laughed, Lorelai detected a hint of bitterness, "My half-sister just turned fifteen, she scares me shitless, excuse my French. Anyway, I'm trying to keep her a 'Mary' for as long as I can."
"Careful, it's always the quiet one…" Lorelai began, before trailing off uncomfortably, "So what made you decided to drop into our little town and visit Rory, speaking of which, how did you know she was in town?"
"The Gellars are old friends of the family," he explained, "And I saw Rory at an event a few weeks back, just wanted to catch up."
Lorelai had the distinct impression he wasn't telling her the whole truth, but she let it go. Her maternal instincts told her that she could trust him.
"Well, I'm done with my coffee, how about we see if Rory's up for a mini-Chilton-reunion?"
As she stood up, Tristan flicked a couple of notes on the table, more than enough to cover the cost of their coffees before either Lorelai or Luke could protest. Ignoring them, Tristan held the door open for her and like any woman would, she was charmed.
"I see chivalry is trying to make a come back," Lorelai muttered dryly, okay, she wasn't completely charmed.
"All part of the service," Tristan smiled back.
"I should hope so," Lorelai remarked, "Because if I was getting the extra-special-royal treatment, I would seriously question what a relative stranger would want with my daughter."
"Well, truth is, I saw her picture on a website for mail-order brides," Tristan joked, holding the car door open for Lorelai, "I was wondering if she was still available?"
"With a car like this, anyone could be available," Lorelai couldn't help but return the smile, seeing his expensive imported sports car.
--
Time has a way of being most inconvenient and just as Lorelai had lead Tristan into the house, the phone started ringing.
"Make yourself at home," she said waving a hand towards the living room, "I should answer that."
She rushed out of the room, searching for the source of the ringing. Tristan glanced about the room, taking in it's home-liness, for the a lack of a better word. There were pictures of Rory and her mother on every surface. Empty coffee mugs of all descriptions dotted about everywhere. The tv remote was precariously perched on a the edge of a terracotta pot, the plant appeared to have died quite some time ago. Everything was so different to the place he had called home for most of his life.
"Mom?" A voice called sleepily from the other room, causing him to whirl around startled.
And there she stood, Rory. He had no words to describe her, he had no idea what to say to her.
"Oh, hey, you're up," Lorelai said, rushing back into the living room, she smiled apologetically at them, "Michel called. Sookie, um, I don't, was doing something involving some brownies and pumpkin or maybe it was cherries and anyway, she's twisted her ankle and something's on fire. So I've got to go to the DragonFly. Oh and Rory, this is Tristan, you went to Chilton with him."
And with that she bustled out of the room, leaving Rory and Tristan slightly stunned and staring in her wake.
"So, hi," Rory said to Tristan, lifting her hand in an awkward and somewhat misplaced wave.
He had always been able to charm the pants off anything. He could get the most conservative of fathers to, not only allow him to date the precious daughters, but also leave with recommendations of restaurants. The most uptight of mothers would set him up with their daughters, with just a winning smile. Women would swoon with just one look. He always knew exactly what to say to get extensions from the most hard-nosed of professors. It was in his genes, it was his talent, and at exactly that moment, it failed him.
"You're wearing my t-shirt," he blurted out.
--
AN: Okay, so another chapter, this one has more Tristan, hope you liked it. I'm sorry for the erratic updating, my grandfather passed away unexpectedly on Monday morning (Australian time) and I posted the previous two chapters because I had already written them. My updating will continue to be erratic considering the holiday season, which I hope you will all have a safe and happy time.