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. Nor do I own anything involving the Matrix. 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.
Broadway89: Gosh, I don't mean to make people cry, I promise that things will get happier soon. Thank you so much for saying I have talent, I just try my best and hope that people will like it.
Rish: Thank you for reading and enjoying. The irony with the baby is that Rory had gone to Boston for the abortion at the same time that Tristan went to Yale to talk to her.
Rockrose: I've got a plan for an alternate, I hope to put it up in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your input.
LoVe23: Yes, this is the original story as I had intended it to be, but don't worry, there is a happy ending, I'm a sucker for happy endings. Thanks for taking the time to review.
Red Dots are Awesome: Yeah, the abortion was kind of necessary for the story, which is unfortunate, but it made more sense to me when I considered the ending. Thanks for reading.
Mamashirl: The alternate story is officially in the works, hopefully it will be up in a couple of weeks, I want to finish this version first.
C.M: Sadness seems to be a bit of theme with me, but it gets happier soon. Thanks for reading.
Chelle5: Thanks for your input. I except that I'll start posting an alternate in a couple of weeks so look out for it.
FairyGirl07: That's funny, I did a really similar thing. For as long as anyone in my family could remember, all I wanted to be was a Paediatrician and then during our final exams of high school, I got up one day and told my mum I wanted to be a lawyer, quite seriously to. That lasted for all of one day and I was back to wanting to be a doctor. You've still got plenty of time to decide though, it's good to keep your options open. Thanks for reading.
Bethany Inc: I'm starting to think we need to get you some help. As amusing as sporking someone sounds, I think you'd need a lot of rage to spork someone to death! Just kidding, compared to most of my friends, you sporking seems completely ordinary! And see I've updated, pretty soon too! Thanks.
Photoboothromance: I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother, my condolences to you and your family. I'm going to stick with Du Gray for continuities sake and my mum's name is similar and she leaves a space, so I guess I'm used to it. And I still maintain that IMDB is unreliable, if you check out other stuff on it, mistakes, including spelling, are rampant. Once again, my sympathies.
Mrs Boyscout: I did entertain the thought of her faking it, but I think Rory has more integrity than that. Although that could be the third version I write! Thanks for reading.
Fallen Heart: Thank you for reading and reviewing and loving the updates! Read find out what Tristan does.
Yourlastkiss: Thank you. Hope I don't pull too much of M. Night Shamalyn, or whatever his name is. After Sixth Sense, there was no way for him to make movie without everyone picking the twist too early.
The chapter is for photoboothromace, we're thinking of you and your family…
Chapter 17Paris hurried along the path, eyes darting about, in search of the familiar blonde hair and distinctive form of Tristan. When she finally saw him, her supposedly cold heart broke a little. There he sat on a bench at the edge of the car park, hunched over, elbows on his knees, studying the gravel. Without saying a word, she sat down next to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly after a moment.
"I'm fine," he responded, his tone neutral, "But then again I'm not the one who had an abortion."
"Rory has a right to choose," Paris began her well-practised pro-choice speech.
"Oh save it, Par, you're preaching to the converted," Tristan sighed, cutting off, "And that's not what I'm talking about."
"Well what's your problem? Like you said, you're not the one who had an abortion."
"It's just a bit overwhelming. I broke up with Ivory, I broke her heart, but it was more important for me to be there for Rory."
"And that's not important now?"
"Of course it's important! I just need some time to think," he stood abruptly.
"Where are you going?"
"Right now, the airport's looking good."
"You're just going to leave?" Paris demanded, incredulous that Tristan would leave at a time like this.
"I have to, I need to," Tristan said, walking towards his car.
"What about Rory? You gave up a lot because you wanted to support her. If this is your 'support', don't bother coming back!" Paris shouted after him.
"I might have been a father!" Tristan shouted, spinning around so fast Paris felt slightly dizzy just watching him, "It's not the fact she had an abortion that upsets me, it's the fact she didn't tell me. I feel like a human yo-yo! First I'm a father and then I 'might' be and then I'm not. You know what I did at the airport just a few hours ago?"
"No. What?"
"I was in a bookshop and I picked up a book of baby names! I, Tristan Janlen Du Gray, was looking at baby names!"
"Trist– "
"I can't do this, Paris," he turned back to the car.
"Okay," Paris replied, understandingly, "Alright. Do you want me to tell Rory anything?"
"Tell her – tell her whatever you want."
He didn't wait for her acknowledgment before climbing into his car and driving out of the parking lot.
--
She walked slowly back to the suite, internally debating whether or not to make up an excuse for Tristan's departure, she was so lost in thought that she collided with another student.
"Watch it!" she exclaimed.
"Ow!" the student replied.
"Finn?" Paris asked, finally recognised.
"That's me," he answered, walking around erratically, "And I didn't know you had an identical."
"What are you talking about?"
"No, wait, there are three – no four, oh fuck it, you're like Agent Smith, and you've all got the same expression, kinda pissed off looking," he was hunched over slightly, so even though he normally towered over her, he had to tilt his head slightly to look at her.
"Are you drunk?" Paris frowned irritably.
"Hmm, no, I don't think so…" Finn responded, finally looking up properly and Paris gasped.
"Oh God, Finn, what happened?"
There was a bruise below his right eye that was starting to look more and more purple, blood trickled from his lip and his hands were cut and bruised as well.
"Oh, new job description, punching bag."
"This is the point at which you're meant to say 'you should see the other guy'."
"Hmm, well, if you want to see the other guy, you're more than welcome too," Finn responded, "But I need a drink, something strong and manly."
"Come on," Paris said, dragging Finn into the suite.
"Oh, is the bar this way?"
Paris forced herself not to respond, Finn needed first aid not snappy comments, although it took all her will power not to tell him off.
"Paris?" Lorelai asked, "Did you find Tristan?"
"Yeah, he's going back to Stanford, he needs some time," Paris replied, not meeting Rory's searching gaze.
"What happened to you?" Lorelai asked, noticing Finn.
"I heard black eyes were in this season," Finn responded, wincing as he sat while Paris rushed off to find the first aid kit.
"Finn, you didn't get into a fight with Logan did you?" Rory asked worried, reaching for his hand, careful not to touch the cuts.
"Actually, now that you mention it, Logan was there… curious."
"Finn!"
"Your honour needed defending and I thought I was the man for the job."
"And Logan hit you?" Paris asked, setting the first aid kit on the table.
"Good God no!" Finn exclaimed, "Logan's not much of a physical guy."
"Then how, what – "
"It's kind of embarrassing," Finn squirmed in his seat.
"Well?" Rory prompted.
"I was telling him off for doing all that to you and then I kind of tripped and fell… down a flight of stairs, I kind of hit a brick wall," he grimaced.
The three women shared a glance.
"Don't you dare laugh," Finn ordered.
Rory, Paris and Lorelai tried not to laugh, instead focussing on the floor, Lorelai made the mistake of looking at Rory and all three burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Finn," Rory said, unable to suppress a smile.
"It's just, you fell down a flight of stairs – "
"And you hit a brick wall!"
"Oh give me that," Finn grabbed the gauze pad from Paris, glaring at the three women, "I try to do the right thing and this is the thanks I get."
"Okay, okay, we'll stop," Paris said, calming down, "And you might want to the plastic off that first."
She took the gauze from him, opened it the packet and started cleaning the cuts.
--
Rory felt better than she had in a long time and after her mother, Finn and Paris had left with various errands to attend to, she decided to clean her room and make a fresh start. She was in the middle of sorting through her clothes when there was a knock on the door.
"Tristan?" she asked, surprised to see him again. "I thought you'd left already."
"I did, I was – I was sitting in this departure lounge, on those really uncomfortable chairs, staring at that hideous carpet with questionable stains," Tristan rambled, walking into the suite, "They announced that the plane was delayed, in fact it hadn't even left wherever the hell it was coming from, Miami, I think. They said there was a storm or something, while here it was completely clear skies. It was absurd. And then it hit me, I'm a jerk. I'm an absolute jerk. I was a bastard to Ivory and my sister and to you."
"Tristan – "
"I stayed with Ivory even though I knew that we couldn't stay together," Tristan barrelled on, "I lead Arabelle on, letting her get too attached to someone considering what I knew about Ivory and I. And then you, you were in this horrible situation and I left you completely in the lurch, which is completely and utterly wrong especially since I told you I would support you."
"I made a decision for myself," Rory said, trying to convince herself it was true, "And it doesn't matter if you had been there or not."
"I said that I would be there for you, no matter what you wanted to do and I went about it all wrong. You came all the way to Stanford and it completely threw me. I didn't want Ivory to find out like that, but I should have treated you the way I did."
"What's done is done."
"I won't let it continue like this. I wish I could go back to the beginning and start again."
"You didn't have to sleep with me," Rory pointed out.
"Look, I didn't go to New York for sex, I don't need to go to New York for that. But when a strong, independent woman comes up to me and asks for it, you can't expect me to refuse. In fact, if I do remember correctly, you didn't want me to refuse. Why did you?"
"Did I, what?"
"Go looking for sex? I mean, I won't pretend to know you, but I would never have pegged you for the one-night-stand kind of girl."
"I was trying to get Logan off my mind."
"By having sex with a stranger, even if I turned not be stranger exactly?"
"I wanted to get rich, blonde guys out of my life."
"So you used me for sex?" a faint smirk appeared.
"Like you haven't done that before," Rory scoffed.
"I'll have you know, I have never had sex with a woman I didn't care about," he replied indignantly.
"You cared about them just enough to get you into their pants. Even at school, you had a different girl every week."
"No, I did date lots of girls in high school, but I did not date a different girl every week and I didn't sleep with all of them."
"I thought – "
"Yeah, a lot of people think they know me, but they have no idea," Tristan snapped.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean make you upset."
"I know," Tristan replied, "I'm just tired of battling people's prejudices."
"So what do you want to do now?" Rory asked.
"I'm not sure, I want to be here for you, even after everything that's happened," Tristan admitted, "But I think we need to spend some time apart."
"We never really spent any time together," Rory retorted, "And I have to admit, I'm scared to be alone now."
"And I understand that," Tristan nodded, "And I want you to understand that I care about you, more than you can imagine, but we need to do this the right way."
"The right way?"
"Rory, I've just broken up with my girlfriend and you have had plenty of drama in your life too. I need, no, actually we both need to take a break from relationships. You need to spend some time by yourself, being single, come to terms with everything that's happened."
"You want to have a relationship with me?" Rory asked, a little surprised.
"Friendship, relationship," Tristan replied, "Or nothing, if that's what you want."
"I need time," Rory answered.
"That's what we both need," Tristan nodded, "When you're ready or whenever you, we can talk. You have my number, when you're ready."
He gave her a hug before taking his leave once more.
"I'll see you later, Rory."
"Have a safe flight, Tristan."
--
AN: Was that too sappy? I don't like to be to sappy… anyway, hope you enjoyed it, there are only a handful of chapters left.