Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or One Tree Hill (Two quotes from that TV show in here...)

He'd Be a Fool Not To

Rory finally grew impatient; Tristin was a new concept to her and wasn't accustomed to the Gilmore way. "Tris…" she began. "I know you're new and all, but here we don't sip the caffeine."

"You inhale it," he finished, in a playful manner.

"10 minutes tops."

"For two cups?"

"Coffee is coffee my friend," Rory said, rising to her feet, to make her way towards the four cups of coffee sitting on the counter. "To go?" she asked Luke, who nodded his head.

With barely half of his coffee's done, Tristin took one desperate sip before following Rory. In this town, he was scared of being more than 2 feet away from her.

As the two of them turned to walk out, Rory shouted her thanks to Luke and ended up trudging right into a frantic Lane.

"I'm late!" she exclaimed, naturally Rory assumed for her shift and disregarded any other possible meanings. Lane's eyes then shifted from Rory to Tristin, who was standing about a foot behind her. "Who brought Brad Pitt?"

Rory blushed at her words. She knew that, without having to turn around, Tristin was wearing his famous trademark smirk. "Actually, Lane this is Tristin," she told her and then turned to face Tristin. "Tris, this is my best friend Lane."

Tristin reached forward and grabbed Lane's hand, bringing it to his mouth and brushing a kiss across it. "Nice to meet you, Lane."

The Korean girl was at a loss for words as she gazed up at Tristin, a goofy smile on her face. "Hi," she finally said, still in some kind of trance.

"Lane!" Luke's gruff voice jolted Lane awake and she hurried past Rory and Tristin, turning around to face them. She looked at Rory. "Call me later," she advised before waving and running into the diner.

"So that's your best friend?" Tristin asked as the two started walking to his car.

"Yeah, that's Lane," she told him, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. She had known that her mom wasn't going to like Tristin that much, but she'd never thought of what she'd do if Lane and Tristin didn't get along.

"I like her," he said, opening the passenger door for her and then running around to the driver's side.

"You don't even know her," Rory told him, glad that he had once again settled her nerves.

"But that's not my fault, is it Mary?" he asked.

Rory just smiled at him before she looked up at the road. "Turn down here," she told him, directing him to her house.

"You're kidding right? That was like a two second drive!" he exclaimed stopping the car.

Rory was already out the door and around the front hood. "Well we don't have a lot of town here," she told him. She looked at the house noticing that it was quiet. "I guess my mom's not home yet. The jeeps not here either so we can put off the…" Rory suddenly trailed off her blue eyes widening.

"What's wrong Mare?" Tristin asked, noticing her expression. "Isn't it good that your mom's not here?"

Rory shook her head, bringing her hands to her forehead as she walked back to the car, falling back against the hood. "No, the jeep…I…"

Tristin frowned, not having understood practically anything of what she just said. "Rory you're not making any sense," he told her gently.

Rory looked up at him, her blue eyes peeking at him from behind her hands. "My mom didn't drive the jeep today…I did," she said.

"What?"

"I drove the jeep! To school!" she pushed off the car and started to pace, before whipping around to face him. "That means it's still in the parking lot!"

"But when I came up to you, you were waiting to get on the bus?" he said, confusion marring his face.

"That's because I forgot that I'd driven the jeep today!" she explained.

"Okay so it's just an honest mistake, Rory," he tried to placate her.

"My mom won't see it that way, trust me," she told him.

"Listen Rory, it will be okay," he said, calming her down a bit.

Rory stopped her pacing and turned to face Tristin. "You called me Rory," she said, making him smile.

Tristin walked towards her. "I know," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder, the weight was comforting to Rory and it helped compose her even more. "Here, I'll drive you back and you can pick up the jeep…you're mom won't know."

Rory nodded, placing her own hand on top of his. "You're really good at that."

"Good at what?"

"Calming people down when they're freaking out…especially me."

"Well I must be a natural because I haven't had much practice," he laughed.

"Well I freak out a lot so you'll be a pro in no time," she told him, a small smile playing on her face.

Tristin took her hand in his and he led her over to the side of the car. He let Rory walk a bit faster then him so he could drop behind her. And when he did he whispered into her ear, making her shiver. "Is that a good thing?"

Rory closed her eyes against the effect of having him at her ear. She could feel the heat emanating off his body and his voice sent delicious tingles down her spine. "Maybe," she finally answered. Rory then stopped just as they reached the passenger door and she leaned her back against it, looking up at him. "Thanks Tristin," she started, "you've done more then enough for me today." A slight blush was caressing her cheeks but she kept eye contact with him.

"Don't worry about it Mary," he said.

Rory was about to turn around when the sound of a car turning into the driveway drifted into her ears. Her whole body visibly tensed when she recognized it as Sookie's car, and the person sitting in the passenger seat as her mom. The car stopped just a few yards from Tristin's car but Lorelai stayed inside it for a minute talking to Sookie before she climbed out.

When Lorelai had been ready to leave the Independence Inn earlier, she'd set out to find Sookie to see if she'd be able to give her a ride home. Sookie had of course said yes. The one thing Lorelai had expected to find was her daughter and Tristin standing on the driveway. She knew she'd told Rory that she would try and accept Tristin, but she didn't think she'd have to deal with him right away. She didn't think Rory would have brought him here this early, especially not after their very recent fight. She turned to Sookie and saw the apprehensive look in her friend's eyes. She also told her that she'd give him a chance so she plastered a very fake smile of her face and thanked Sookie for the ride and said that she'd see her tomorrow. After Sookie reciprocated the goodbye, Lorelai opened the passenger and stepped out of the car. She walked closer to where the two teens were standing, both looking very nervous. She didn't know how exactly to handle this situation, she just hoped that her smile would fool Rory into thinking she was okay with this, and she hoped her face didn't crack from the effort of keeping it in place.

Rory could tell instantly that her mom wasn't happy about Tristin being there. She'd known that she wouldn't be, but she did feel a little better because at least her mom was trying. She sent her mom a small smile, hoping that it might help the situation. "Hey mom," she said, not letting any form of relief that her mom hadn't blown up her into her voice, because she knew that it could all end badly still.

Lorelai silently counted to ten and walked over to them. "Hey Rory," she said, trying to sound somewhat normal. She looked over at Tristin, who was standing a little behind Rory, he looked very tense to her and she took a tiny bit of pride in that.

"Umm…mom this is Tristin," Rory started seeing her mom just stare at him. She then turned around to look at Tristin. "Tristin this is my mom."

With years of perfect breeding behind him, Tristin stuck out his hand for her to shake. He almost slipped up by calling her Mrs. Gilmore but luckily caught himself before the name could leave his lips. "Hello Lorelai."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow at that. "Hi Tristin," she said and turned to her daughter. "I see you taught him well."

"She also told me to give you this," Tristin said, handing her the coffee that he'd been carrying.

Lorelai had to give him brownie points for the coffee, she knew that. "Thanks," she said awkwardly.

The three of them stood there, not one of them knowing what to do. That was until Lorelai finally looked at the car they were all standing beside. She'd never understood why but she'd always had the obsession with very expensive cars, and she could tell this was one. She walked closer to it and let her hand run over the metallic blue paint, as her eyes took in the rest of the open top Porsche. "Pretty car," she whispered.

Rory watched as her mom practically drooled over the car. She couldn't help but let a laugh pass from her lips. "Mom it's just a car," she said.

Lorelai turned to her, a sheepish smile gracing her face. She backed away from the car and walked passed the two turning back around when she was a couple feet behind them. She was just about to do the one thing that would make Rory believe that she was really trying to like Tristin when something caught her eye. The driveway was empty. Well except for the Porsche… "Rory where's the jeep?"

Rory's blue eyes widened at her mom's question. She felt the ball that had been growing inside her stomach tighten and her mouth go dry. She'd never been able to lie to her mom and so she knew she'd have to say the truth but she didn't think she could.

"Where is it?" Lorelai repeated her question when Rory didn't answer her.

Tristin saw that Rory was panicking and so he did what he thought might help her. He was already behind her a bit and so he pressed his right hand against the small of her back, slowly moving it up and down in a soothing way.

Rory jumped slightly at the feel of his hand on her back but then she relaxed into his touch. The comforting sensation his caress was giving her was enough to tell her mom the truth. It was like she was drawing strength from him. "The jeeps at school mom," she got it out, even though it was almost inaudible.

But to Lorelai it was like she'd screamed it. She didn't know how to react at first. But then when she looked up she remembered the Porsche. At first it had just been sitting there all innocent and pretty but now Lorelai hated it. It was the reason why her jeep was still at Rory's school…Lorelai focussed her eyes on Tristin. 'No he's the reason why,' she concluded. That thought made anger spread through her veins. She looked down at Rory and couldn't hold in her temper anymore. "It's at Chilton still? It shouldn't be at Chilton, it should be here!"

"Mom…I'm sorry," Rory said, her eyes drowning in tears.

"Rory you can't do this!" Lorelai exclaimed, cutting up the promise she'd made to Rory and burning the little pieces it fell into. "I gave you the jeep to drive to school today. I trusted you to bring it back!"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," Rory exclaimed, not letting her tears fall. She'd cried too much during the weekend and she didn't want to start again.

"Oh I know you weren't thinking, because if you were you would have never done something so stupid!" Lorelai set the coffees she'd had in her hand, down on the ground as she folded her arms across her stomach.

Rory didn't stop the anger she felt at her mom's accusations, from entering her voice. She no longer felt the need to cry anymore as she felt determination settle deep inside her. "Something stupid?" she asked, repeating her mom's words. "I forgot I drove the jeep today, I'm not used to having it."

"That doesn't matter Rory. You would have never forgotten about it a couple months ago!" her hands flew from her stomach and into the air on their own accord.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rory asked, even though she already knew what it meant. She just wanted to hear her mom say it.

Lorelai was silent for a moment before she continued her voice was strict and knowing. "I think you know exactly what I'm saying. And I think if you'd given this any sort of thought you'd agree with!"

"Oh not this again, I thought we already had this fight?" Rory asked, she couldn't believe that she and her mom were fighting about this for the second time in less then a week.

"We did, I'm just here for round two. Hey, do you want me to go down to the market and pick up some silly string, you know in case it gets real ugly?" she asked sarcastically.

Rory decided to ignore her comment and focussed on her earlier question. "Mom I already told you that I have given this a lot of thought. You know me, I don't just jump into things without thinking them over!"

Lorelai looked down at her shoes and then back up at Rory, her eyes held this sad flare to them. "Do I know you anymore Rory?" she asked, her voice sombre. "Because you don't look like the same girl to me."

Rory was speechless. She couldn't believe what her mom was saying. "What?" she asked after a minute or two of silence.

"You're not the same girl Rory." Was all Lorelai said, she didn't elaborate, like she thought Rory should understand exactly what she was talking about.

Rory nodded her head a little, a wry smile creeping onto her face. She couldn't explain, not even to herself, but she felt like this cold wind had just blown over her. She could feel it all the way inside of her and it made her even angrier. "I grew up mom," she told her, her voice taking a bitter edge.

"You're still a kid though Rory. You're not old enough to grow up yet!" Lorelai yelled. "You're just a kid. No matter how responsible or mature you act sometimes you're still a kid."

"I'm more of an adult then you are half the time!" Rory shouted back at her.

"So you think you're grown up? Does this seem grown up to you? Yelling at me?" she asked.

"Oh my God mom, that's like the pot calling the kettle black!" Rory burst out.

"This isn't about me Rory it's about you! It's about how you changed in the past couple of days! Days? Do you hear that Rory?" Lorelai asked, but it was obviously a rhetorical question because she kept on going without waiting for an answer. "You used to be amazing, nice and sweet, 'ready to please everyone', you were this totally unique…Rory."

"I haven't changed who I am mom. I'm still the same person. So maybe it's not me who has the problem maybe it's you," she told her, crossing her arms over the chest.

"No, you just don't see that you've changed. Can't you here yourself though? You never used to talk to me, let alone anyone else, like this," Lorelai said, disappoint tingeing her voice.

"Okay, fine! I have changed," Rory acquiesced. "But did you ever stop to think that maybe I wanted to? That maybe this is for the good? I did this for myself, and I have to say I'm proud of it, because I never felt I had this kind of strength and courage before. I just found it and I'm not giving it up because you don't like it, so you're just going to have to deal with it!" she yelled, her voice growing in volume.

"Deal with it?" Lorelai asked, like it was some impossible task. "I can't deal with it Rory!"

Rory didn't pay any attention to that outburst though. "Well then, why don't you ask yourself the same question then mom? Can't you hear yourself?" she asked, stretching her arms out, gesturing around her. "Can't you remember what you promised me you'd do?"

"I was wrong when I promised I could do that," she admitted.

"So then you shouldn't have told me you could in the first place! Don't you understand how happy I was when you said you'd try? And now you've just stomped all over that promise like it was nothing! Well guess what mom, it meant a lot to me!"

"I know it meant a lot to you and I'm sorry…"

"You're sorry?" Rory interrupted, her tone unbelieving. "You know you should buy apologies in bulk if you're going to handing them out this often!"

"I know that I told you I would give this a chance but Rory you've got to understand that this isn't going to be good for you! He isn't good for you!"

Tristin was still standing behind Rory, his hand still pressed against her back, but he knew he'd been forgotten by both Gilmore's. He hadn't been sure what this fight was about at first but now he was certain. It was about him. He lowered his eyes to the ground, his jaw ticking. He felt guilt flood through him. He was the reason why Rory was fighting with her mom. He could tell she hated doing it to. Even though she was maintaining her position and her anger, he could tell that her mom's words were hurting her a lot. With his hand against her back, he felt her tense up every time her mom said something; he'd seen her shoulders tremble more than once. He didn't want to leave Rory alone but he knew that he probably shouldn't be here, he might even be making it worse. And so with that thought he carefully removed his hand from Rory's back and went to turn around.

"Excuse me? Where do you think you're going?" Lorelai asked. Her hard gaze focussed on him instead of Rory for a moment.

Tristin turned back around, his whole body going tense. "I just thought…that maybe…I should leave you two alone."

"No! I think you should stay," Lorelai replied, taking a step forward. "I mean, I know that this is all about you, Rory's know it and I'm pretty sure you've caught on by now."

"Mom!" Rory hissed. She quickly took a step to her left, standing between her mom and Tristin. "That is not fair mom! Tristin doesn't deserve to have you scream at him when he only came here in the first place to meet you!" she yelled at her before turning around to face Tristin. "I'm sorry," she mouthed the words to him.

"It's okay," he mouthed back, sending a smile her way. "I think I should go," he whispered, low enough for only her to here.

Rory nodded. Part of her didn't want him to leave. Even though she'd mostly forgotten that he was there, he was presenting her with a sense of safety during her fight. Like she could do anything as long as he would be there, waiting to catch her if she fell. But then again the other part of her was more then embarrassed that he'd been there for her whole fight, plus, having him undergo the wrath of Lorelai Gilmore the Second. It still hurt to see him walk away though. She watched as he climbed into his car and backed out of the driveway, sending a wave in her direction before he was out of sight.

Lorelai had stood, silently fuming, throughout their exchange. She hadn't heard a word of what they said, only because she'd blocked it all out. She did notice however, that when her daughter turned around the small smile on her face and twinkle in her eye vanished and were replaced by anger.

"You had no right to yell at him like that mom!" Rory continued, glad that she hadn't lost her nerve when Tristin left.

"Like hell I had no right! That boy is the reason were standing here screaming at each other Rory!"

"No the reason for that is you! Because you can't accept change!"

"Not all change is good, and this sure doesn't look like a good one to me!" she told Rory. "Why can't you see that? We never used to fight Rory, never. But now we've fought twice in the span of a week!" When Rory didn't say anything Lorelai persisted. "This guy is ruining everything Rory! He's not the guy for you. He isn't…"

"He isn't Dean?" Rory asked, finishing her mom's sentence. "He isn't safe?"

"That's part of it," Lorelai said. Rory was about to open her mouth to reply but Lorelai beat her to it. "Listen Rory I'm not saying that I want you to be with Dean. I'm sure there's someone out there that will be able to make you happy."

"I am happy mom!" Rory yelled, sounding anything but happy.

"Really, cause it doesn't seem like it to me."

"Well do you see Tristin around here mom? Because I sure don't! He's what makes me happy!"

"He was here just a couple minutes ago, and we didn't seem any different then," Lorelai said stubbornly.

"Maybe not but he makes me happy mom. I wouldn't put up with all this, I wouldn't risk all of this if he didn't. I want you to be okay with this mom, but I have to say that if you aren't…" she trailed off preparing herself to say this, "I'm not going to stop seeing him."

Lorelai had thought that was coming, she'd known she wouldn't get Rory to break off this thing with Tristin quickly because her daughter cared about him and was increasingly stubborn. But it still hurt to hear that she would still date him even if Lorelai wasn't okay with it. Lorelai didn't say anything, she just stared at Rory before she brushed past her and started walking down the driveway.

"Where are you going?" Rory screamed after her.

"I'm going to get my car!" she yelled over her shoulder. She whipped around, pausing in her strides and pointing an accusing finger at Rory. "And you're going inside Rory! You're grounded!" she yelled, the words feeling foreign on her lips.

"What?" Rory asked, not quite believing that. Lorelai had never grounded her before, not that she could remember.

"Bread and water!" she exclaimed. "Hardcore grounded!" And with that she turned around and stalked down the driveway, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

---

Rory didn't move she just stood there, in the middle of the driveway, tears spilling from her bloodshot eyes. Her body felt cold, but she did nothing to warm herself. She didn't think she could move, not without falling. Her legs seemed weak, like jelly almost. She was surprised that she hadn't collapsed yet. She finally moved when a distant rumble sounded over her. She looked up, noticing for the first time the storm clouds gathering above, matching her mood perfectly. Rory knew her mom wouldn't be coming home anytime soon. And so with much effort she walked over to her front door and opened it. The warmth inside the house didn't affect her at all as she walked to the kitchen. She felt like an automaton as she wrote out a note to her mom, just in case she got home before her.

She walked by her room and caught her reflection in the mirror. She looked miserable. Her cheeks tear stained, her eyes sad and her hair a mess. She then remembered that she'd left her backpack in Tristin's car. Her gaze floated over to the cordless phone that was sitting on the counter but she decided she'd call him later; right now she just needed to get out and clear her mind.

Rory slammed the door, pausing on the porch just long enough to sigh, as she remembered the fight. The only voice she could hear at first was her mom's. When she'd first gotten here she'd been so happy. Everyone seemed to accept Tristin, even Luke. But she should have known that her mom would be against it. She'd seen it all in her eyes when she gotten out of the car.

Raising her head defiantly, she started down the steps and down the driveway. It wasn't even close to night yet, but the storm clouds hanging above had turned it dark and cold as she walked down the sidewalk that led into town. Above her the small peak of sun left was rapidly being blotted out by heavy clouds. The street wasn't busy like it usually was but Rory really wanted to be alone right now. And so she crossed over and turned down the path that led to the bridge. This place was quiet and she welcomed it – solitude and time, to think without her mom pushing her over the edge.

Staring blankly ahead, she let her feet lead her to the wooden planks. There was a pale flash in the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance again, louder this time, closer this time. But her eye's seemed to linger on where she'd seen the lightening. Had her mom been right? Had she really changed everything, including herself, in some awful way? Her brows knitted into a frown as she thought about it, going over everything her mom had said to her.

Lorelai really had brought up everything. No fault of hers was left unchecked, her personal change, her attitude, her boyfriend, and through it all she'd kept strong, pretending she was like stone, pretending it didn't hurt her even when it cut her to the bone.

Coming out of her reverie, Rory stared out at the water, no longer calm like it usually was. She hated fighting with her mom; she hated it more then anything. But right now, she hated that her mom was making her rethink herself. She didn't want there to be truth in what her mom said. As she stood still letting her eyes wander blankly over the water, a large drop of rain hit her and it was soon followed by another and another until she moved her eyes to the bridge, watching as the wood turned darker and darker as the rain seemed into it. Thunder echoed overhead and she raised her eyes to the outline of trees, watching the lightening turn them into silhouettes as it struck the ground. Her Chilton uniform started to cling to her skin as it soaked through and the air turned colder.

The rain grew harder, but Rory didn't turn away. She lowered herself down onto the bridge and let her mind drift elsewhere. What right did her mom have to tell her when she was happy? She'd only wanted her mom to try and accept him; she didn't think that was too much to ask. She'd been happy before and she'd thought her mom would see that and let it go.

Thinking over her own words, she felt the growing wind blow through her, chilling her to the bone. She felt empty almost and wrapped her arms around her chest and looked around the bridge, the rain dulling her senses until she couldn't make out anything. Looking back to her left, she frowned as something moved and taking a deep breath she got up and moved in that direction.

Clearing the line of trees, she looked up and ran her hands over her hair, closing her eyes and welcoming the cleansing feeling of the cold water washing over her face. She squinted through the rain, as she recognized the thing that had moved to be a person.

"Rory!"

The voice drifted into her ears, muffled and beaten at by the rain, but still familiar. She felt a small spark, her insides heating slightly as the person came closer. He stopped by her side and knelt down beside her. Rory didn't waste anymore time and threw herself in his arms.

As Tristin let his arms snake around her waist, Rory let her tears spill over onto his shoulder. She couldn't fool him like she could her mother. She couldn't pretend she was strong and that she wasn't hurting. She felt his wet hand touching hers and she wrapped her fingers tightly around his, the connection sending sparks through her. Tristin pulled back a tiny bit to look down at their hands and then up into her eyes, and she smiled weakly at him as she tried to stifle her tears. Tristin pushed her wet hair behind her ear with his free hand then cupped her cheek. Leaning into it, Rory swallowed hard as her eyes slipped closed.

Opening them again, she freed her hand and trailed it up his arm. Tristin smiled at her and she felt it warm her up inside, heating her body as his eyes showed her concern and love. Running her fingers around the back of his head, she pulled him close. He smiled and brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly as he wrapped her up in his arms.

Kissing him, Rory gave into her emotions, heat coursed through her and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Tristin lifted her gently off the bridge and into a standing position, causing the rain to run down her back and making her shiver. He shrugged of his coat and slipped her arms into it and ran his fingers through her hair as he once again leaned down.

Rory was oblivious to the rain as they stood together, wrapped up in each other's embrace and losing themselves in a kiss. She'd almost fallen before, but Tristin had caught her.

And it was then that she realized he would always be there to catch her.

---
Thanks for all the reviews and to everyone who read the last chapter. I'll probably update once more before the weeks over but after that I'm going on vacation for two weeks.

Hugs and Kisses,
-Ella