Can't Bet With Love

Part Three:

"So, Mal," Rory started, "where's the infamous Erik?"

They'd just arrived at the party and Rory was starting to get a little nervous. She was wondering if this was the right idea after all. Could she still back out now? She and Paris could go out to dinner to celebrate instead…

Mallory scanned the room before her eyes finally landed her boyfriend. At the sight of him, Mallory grinned. He was a sight to see with his light blue eyes, his tousled brown hair, and body, tan and fit from spending time in the sun and at the gym. "Come on," Mallory said. "I'll introduce you guys to him."

"Is Tristan with him?" Stephanie asked, looking around the room.

"Yeah, why?" Mallory asked.

"I'll come," was all Stephanie said, offering no response towards Mallory's question. However, Mallory didn't need a response. She knew Stephanie's reason for asking. Mallory just smiled.

"Erik!" she called out as she was just a few feet away from him, Rory, Stephanie, and Paris trailing behind her.

Erik turned at the sound of his girlfriend's voice, a grin on his face. "Hey baby," he said. He put his arms around her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "You look nice," he whispered.

"Thanks," Mallory said. She slipped her hand into Erik's. "You know Steph"—Erik nodded—"but these are two of my other friends, Rory and Paris."

Erik's smiled at both of them, dimples intact. "Nice to meet the two of you." He gestured towards his three friends that gathered around him. "This is Charlie, Tristan, and Michael. This is Tristan and Michael's apartment so therefore it's their party."

Michael nudged Tristan before speaking. "Hey Rory," he casually said, not letting it be known that he had been affected when she had declined. "Nice to meet you, uh, Paris."

Tristan and Charlie said hi as well before Tristan was dragged off by Stephanie onto the dance floor. Rory could definitely see what they had meant earlier by calling Charlie shy. Tristan had given them a cocky smile that told other people that he knew he was hot. His smile was sort of a "come get me, you know you want me" sort of look.

Erik and Mallory left soon after without anything more than a "see you later." They headed of the opposite direction of where the crowd was. Rory looked a little confused as to where they are going.

Michael noticed Rory's confusion and grinned. The girl was so innocent it was endearing. Tristan had broken many girls like her before, but for some reason Rory seemed different than the rest of those girls. "They're going to my bedroom," he explained to her.

"Ooh." Rory nodded, now understanding why they had rushed off. Silence filled the air as she awkwardly stood there with Paris, Michael, and Charlie. "I'm going to go get myself a drink."

"I'll show where they are," Michael said.

"I don't think the kitchen would be that hard to find," Rory replied.

"They're out on the back deck," Michael said. He motioned for Rory to follow him, which she did. Paris and Charlie followed as well, not wanting to be left alone together.

The back slider that led out to the deck was open and Rory saw several cases of beer. She had originally been thinking of water, but she didn't decline when Michael handed her a can. She was celebrating after all. When Michael offered Paris one, she declined

"Oh come on," Rory said. "We're celebrating."

"What are you celebrating?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Rory's boyfriend is proposing," Paris answered.

Michael almost dropped his beer when he heard this. Tristan sure had his work cut out for him. Though he'd gone for and succeeded in wining over several girls that were engaged and even one who was married before, but with Rory, as Michael's mentioned before, it just seemed different. Michael wondered if for once Tristan Dugray would actually lose a bet.

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"Hey," a voice said. The voice's owner had snuck up behind Rory, surprising her.

She turned around and the blonde guy… Tristan she thought his name was… was standing there, offering her an unopened can of beer. "Thanks," she said, accepting it.

Tristan's familiar smirk was on his face and he opened his mouth to say something. By the way he was looking at her, running his eyes up and down her body like she was a piece of meat, Rory had a sinking suspicion that he was about to hit on her.

"Sorry," Rory said. "I'm not interested, I have a fiancé."

Tristan's smirk didn't waver. "Then where's the ring?"

Shoot. "It's"—she started to say.

"Don't flatter yourself, Gilmore," Tristan said. "I never said I was interested."

Rory ignored his comment, everything he said except for her last name. "How'd you know my last name was Gilmore?" she asked. She didn't remember it being mentioned when Mallory had introduced her to all of them.

"Michael's mentioned you," Tristan said. "You shot him down. Smart."

"I'm a good judge of character," Rory said. She took a sip out of her drink before handing it back to Tristan. "Which is why I'm leaving now."

"Hey," Tristan started, but Rory ignored him.

Rory found Paris and headed over to her. "I'm ready to go," Rory told her.

"Praise the Lord!" Paris said, setting down her drink.

There was nobody to say goodbye to since Mallory and Erik still hadn't reappeared, Steph was on dancing with some guy Rory had never seen before, and both Michael and Charlie were out of sight. And Tristan… she wasn't even going to waste any more conversations with him.

Little did she know how wrong she was.

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Author's Note: Thanks to those of you that have reviewed for the first and second chapter: gilmorgal669, sleepneeded911, shadowgoddess1, SeleneA, lunatix988, fallenangel14 (I don't exactly like the idea of making a bet over Rory either, but it makes for a good story for me to write. Hopefully you'll be pleased with how it ends.), girldevil, bonebaby, mischa, katie, smile1, laura, kiki, mar0506 (keep in mind that Tristan has no clue that Rory is going out with Dean. And a little boring? Ha, you're being nice. It's was a LOT boring!), Callista NicTeryn, catherine (thanks :) as for whether or not Dean will propose…well, you'll find that out in the next chapter), aurabell, and omarion. I hope this chapter was more exciting then the last chapter!

I'm not at all getting the characters personality's right. Sure, I still watch Gilmore Girls (and I will tell you how disappointed I am with Rory sleeping with Dean—especially when he's married—but also because she's supposed to be with Tristan. Or Jess—I'm a fan of his as well.) but I've kind of veered away from being a huge fan and sadly I don't know the characters all the well. Oh and for the sake of my story, Rory never slept with Dean so she's still a virgin.

I also am only a high school junior so that makes me sixteen-years-old. I've never been to a college party so I have no clue what it would look like so sorry that I'm not exactly descriptive in this chapter. And I know my dialogue sucks. For some reason I'm really stuck on things to say… and ideas with this story. So if you have any, they would be welcome.