It was strange seeing her outside of her usual school uniform in regular street clothes. Not that it was regular, the jeans were plain and she wore a glimmery olive green shirt that was sparkly and...

"Your shirt looks like astro turf." I said, then paused and nearly shoved my hand over my mouth. How could I say that! I felt like thumping my head against the door jam.

I half expected her to slam the door in my face. Not that I didn't deserve it. I'm on her porch, we're going to a movie! TOGETHER!! And what pops out of my mouth? 'Your shirt looks like astro-turf'. I wanted to crawl under a rock and just...die.

"Really?" She grinned. She suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me inside. "MOM! Tristan agrees with me! I get to change!" She released my hand and dashed into her room.

"No! No! You told him to say it!" Lorelai ran out of the kitchen and banged on the closed door.

"Did not!" She yelled back.

I paused, looking between them. "Um...did I miss something?"

"Yeah, I told her this shirt looks good on her and she argued that it looked like astroturf which is such a lie. So we agreed if you said something about it that she got to change."

Isighed with relief and beamedbrightly. "Really?"

She grinned easily at me. "If I was you I'd be trying to get on the mother's best side."

"No problem. I'll bring you back coffee."

She smirked slightly. "So, what movie are you going to?"

"We're gonna go see National Treasure. That Nick Cage flick."

"Oh, I don't like that guy, he has a receding hairline." She flicked a hair in place in a way my mother would pay her hairdresser big bucks to do.

"What shirt are you wearing?" Lorelai yelled.

"The blue one!"

"The blue-blue one, the white-blue one, the green-blue one, the powder-"

"The yellow-blue!" She cut Lorelai's list off.

"Fine, have a great time at time at the movies." Lorelai flopped on an armchair and toyed with the I, Robot DVD. "I'll just be here..all by myself..."

Rory came out and rolled her eyes. "Go with Luke and see it mom."

"But if I ask him then it'll seem like I'm foward and all the people in there will point! They'll point and say 'see that! That's Lorelia Gilmore the jaded proxy!'."

Rory pulled on her jacket and smiled at me, then looked to ber mom. "Or, they'll just point to me and chant love child, love child!"

Lorelai fell back on her chair "I'm all alone there's no one here beside me. My problems have all gone, there's no one to..." Her singing was a squealing imatation of Donkey on Shrek. She closed her eyes in a mock swoon.

"Does she want us to stay and watch with her?" I asked underbreath.

"All by my seeee-eeelf." Lorelai switched songs, but kept the same off-tune melody.

"Do you mind?" She whispered back.

"YES!" Lorelai bolted strait up. "Please, please, please, please!"

"Mom we are going-"

"Please, please, please, please."

"I get to choose the pizza toppings." She sighed.

Lorelai gleefully skipped into the other room, patting me gratefully on the back in passing.

I looked at Rory. I was looking forward to this now. I was already completely enamored by Lorelai.

"You don't mind do you? She's been trying to get me to stay all night so she can play practical jokes on you."

"Practical jokes on me?"

Rory reached behind me and grabbed a piece of paper taped to my back. Caution: Taken by Lorelai Gilmore. I realized she'd stuck it there when passing to the kitchen.

"Sneaky little devil isn't she?"

Rory picked up her books. "Careful now, I'm still her spawn."

"The spawn of the Satan-ess was the virgin Mary? Now my bible didn't mention that."

"Come on, Bible boy." She grabbed the DVD and ushered me into the TV room.

Rory sat on her pillow and watched Will Smith shoot the head off a robot. A sense of De JaVu swam over her. For one, her first date with Dean had been him coming over to see a movie. And secondly the last time she'd seen this movie was in the theaters with Dean. And Dean hadn't paid the least bit of attention to her.

She adjusted her seat and glanced every so subtly over at Tristan. He wasn't at all engrossed in the movie. He was looking to his other side and his fingers were slowly wrapping themselves around the edge of the pillow in front of him.

WAP!

Before I could even get a firm grip on the pillow one flew across my face and knocked me back slightly in surprise.

"You were gonna hit my mom with a pillow!" Mary accused jabbing her finger in my chest.

"She put salt in my coke!" I yelled back.

"Oh, you tasted it? Good, because you didn't make a face and I wasn't sure if I put enough." She grinned at Rory. "That was classic."

"No fair." I folded my arms. "Two against one."

"But you have the powers of the dark side." Lorelai cruched a handful of popcorn noisly.

"Ok." I ticked each off on my finger. "You put a sign on my back, you put a tack on my pillow, you put salt in my soda, and you let your daughter hit me with a pillow. Obviously my dark powers are no match for yours."

Rory sighed happilly and took another sip of her drink. "So, what has happened in the movie so far."

"Who cares? I'm winning." Lorelai ate another handful of popcorn.

I took a third slice of pizza and smirked. "Well I am-"

"I don't like movies, there's no talking while watch-age. We're gonna play poker." Lorelai interrupted, turning the movie off. "To the kitchen."

"I bet you marked the cards." I argued, standing. "Why poker?"

"Because rich boys are terrible at poker and I want to win your Viper."

"Puh-leeze I'll kill you."

Rory put a hand on my shoulder and my heart skipped a few beats. "She's really good. I wouldn't risk it."

"Are you worried about me?" I asked with a smirk.

Her lips twisted a devilish smile. "No, I'm looking foward to this."

My forehead rested against the table and I groaned. "You have to be kidding me."

"I won! I won so I get your car for the weekend and you can take my jeep. We made a deal!"

Rory was already doubled over in laughter and rolling around in her chair.

"That is so-how did you get a royal flush?"

"It has a full tank of gas I hope?" She reached across the table and took my keys, daintily dangling them above my head. She let the light catch the chiseled edges and smirked at me. "Mine, mine, mine."

"Wait a second!"

"Well, it's eleven now. Time for the children to run home." Lorelai tossed the keys and caught them. She skipped out of the room. "Make sure to use premium gas on my jeep!"

"Same to you!" I yelled after her.

I sighed and looked over at Mary who was getting her breath back from her laughter. "Come on, I'll walk you to your car." She grabbed some keys off a hook and handed them to me.

I acted shocked. "House keys? Mary I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment!"

She rolled her eyes and opened the side door. "Come on Satan."

She led me to a beat up jeep and opened the door for me. I ran my hand over two dents on the side. "Is this where you hit that deer and blew up in class?"

"The deer hit me." She protested loudly.

I got in and looked at the controls. "I don't know how to drive stick." I lied.

She blinked. "You're so kidding."

"I'm a rich boy! I have a valet!"

She shoved me. "Get in the other seat, we're gonna learn how to drive." She got in the drivers seat and shut the door. "Ok, look." She started the engine and put her hand on the stick. "First you take it out of break."

I leaned foward to turn on the radio.

"Tristan! Pay attention! I don't want you wrecking what I'm going to drive someday." She took my hand and put it on the stick, then put her hand over mine.

"Ok, look." She pushed our hands forward into first gear. We started down the street.

"Mary."

"What?" She turned to face me.

"I can drive stick."

"Then why did you-" She trailed off and tilted her head. "I'll see you Monday Satan." She took her hand off mind and opened the door.

I leaned forward to kiss her, but stopped. My face hovered an inch from hers. "Platonic?" I whispered.

She pecked my cheek and hopped out and ran down the street without turning back.

I leaned back against the passenger seat and sighed.

Rory dashed into the house and closed the door behind her. She couldn't believe she'd just done that. Too many thoughts raced through her mind and created a tornado.

Rory grabbed her Mom's jacket and rifled through the pockets to find another royal flush neatly tucked in there. "Mom you're such a cheater!"

Lorelai poked her head out of her room and grinned. "We have a Viper for the weekend!"

King lifted the weight once more, the bulk struggling against his arms.

He took his towel and wiped the filmy layer of sweet sweat off his forehead. He reached for his jacket and slipped it back on. He checked the envelope again.

It was addressed to Ken Doll. King had snatched it away, letting Tristan keep the letter. But there was one valuable piece of information on this letter. A return address.

A vivid memory flashed back to his mind:

"Whoa! Is Tristan DuGrey's heart in..." Drew grabbed the envelope with the return address. "Stars Hollow?"

He had snatched the envelope in passing. So if Tristan liked someone there...

The jeep was a mess. Empty coffee cups were littered in the back seat, the radio only got FM stations, and there was a peeling bumper sticker on the dashboard. I wasn't sure how that had ever gotten there.

I came into our driveway and parked it next to the BMW, Rolls, Jag, and Limo. I almost laughed. It looked like a junk job compared to the others.

"What the heck is that?" My valet looked at me, his eyes round in fear. "You didn't get your Viper stolen did you?"

"I lent it to a friend."

"A friend?"

"Completely platonic." I replied, and waltzed up the steps to my bedroom.

I hope you guys liked it! I try to update at a steady pace.