Once a Disaster, Always a Disaster

Tristan Dugray's appearance spread excitement through Erik, Michael, and Charlie.

Rory had no desire to see him again. Their encounter had been short, but when she was near him, she always felt like she was on display.

Mallory had witnessed her boyfriend and his friend's antics before—and she did not want them to be repeated on Rory Gilmore. Erik had let it slip the night before that they'd made a bet that Tristan couldn't get a girl and Mallory had found it amusing—the idea of Tristan Dugray failing since it was nearly impossible—until now when she was ninety-nine percent sure Rory was it's victim.

Sending a glare Erik's way, she felt like she had feed Rory to these boys. She was ashamed to say her boyfriend was one of them.

Mallory leaned over and whispered in Erik's ear, quietly so no one else could hear, "You warn Tristan not to mess with Rory and her boyfriend or you can forget about me doing anything from me."

Erik's eyes widened at Mallory's threat. He stood up and headed over to the counter, dragging Mallory along with him. "Mal," he whispered. "Tristan could actually lose this one."

"Find another girl; stay away from Rory Gilmore."

"Mal…" Erik whined.

"We'll discuss this later," she whispered back. Nodding her head towards Tristan, she said, "Now go call off the hound dog and let's get out of here."

"Mallory, the guys are going to make fun of me so much if I call this off because you told me to. They say I'm whipped enough as it is."

Mallory gave him a small smile. "Show them how whipped you really are by calling this whole thing off."

Erik sighed and walked over to meet Tristan.

At the look on Erik's face, Tristan raised an eyebrow. "What's the problem, buddy?"

"Mallory knows about the bet and apparently, our love life—if you know what I mean—depends on whether or not this is carried out. How 'bout"—

Tristan shook his head. "No, we already agreed. No backing out of the bets."

"Tristan, this has nothing to do with being afraid that I'll lose the bet. I'm confident that we'd win. This has to do with my love life—or lack there of after you're finished with irritating Rory and her boyfriend."

"I had no such plans," Tristan said. "Just like I have no plans in stopping this bet. Just tell Mal that it's out of your hands now."

Erik shook his head. "She's not going to accept that."

Tristan shrugged, not caring about Erik's predicament. "Too bad, but forfeiting this bet is your only option, meaning you'll have to pay up…and complete actions that Michael, Charlie, and I will have to discuss. By wimping out" —

"I am not wimping out," Erik interrupted. "The bets still on—Mal will just have to learn to deal with it."

Tristan smirked. He left Erik, heading to the table. Erik followed, scowling, knowing that Tristan just worked him to agree into the bet once again. Forfeit and wimp were not a part of Erik's vocabulary.

The encounter between Dean and Tristan didn't go over too smoothly.

"Is this Rory's infamous fiancé that I've heard so much about?"

Dean looked confused, but before he could comment, Rory interrupted, scowling for letting it slip out the night before that Dean was her fiancé before he proposed.

Note to self: when you make up lies, make sure the one you lied to doesn't meet the one you lied about.

Of course, since Dean would be proposing before the night was over, she wouldn't have to worry about having to lie about it any longer.

"His name's Dean. Dean, this is…excuse me, but what's your name again? Dustin?"

Tristan smirked. "Like you could forget; it's Tristan."

"What the hell kind of name is that?" Dean asked.

"I was thinking the same about yours," Tristan said.

"Wow…look at the time," Mallory pretended to look at the non-existent watch on her wrist. "It was nice to meet you Dean and I'll see you back at the dorms, Rory, but we must be going."

She took a hold of Erik with one hand and Tristan with the other. At request, Michael and Charlie dutifully walked out with them after they all shared a chorus of goodbyes.

Dean turned to Rory, one eyebrow raised, "You have an interesting group of friends, Rory."

Rory just smiled weakly, not bothering to point out that they weren't quite her friends—especially Tristan.

It was silent for a minute before Rory asked, "So, what'd you want to talk to me about?"

Dean paused for a minute, as he seemed to try and put words together.

Here it comes, Rory thought.

"You've heard me talk about my Uncle Speed, haven't you?" Dean asked.

Rory shook her head, confused. "You have an uncle named Speed?"

"Its nickname," Dean clarified. "He races cars—after he fixes them up."

Rory nodded, wondering why this was relevant to his news. "And…?" she prompted.

"And…he's offered me a job. In Chicago." He paused for a moment, studying Rory's face to see if he could decipher her reaction. "I've accepted the offer. I'm leaving in less than a month."

"What…but…what?" Rory started to sputter.

"I'm leaving, Rory."

"I got that part," Rory snapped.

Dean ignored her and continued on, "Stars Hollow to Yale is one thing, Rory, but from Yale to Chicago? It's almost 900 miles away."

"So are you…breaking up with me?"

Dean shook his head. "No, I'm not. If you would let me finish…" Dean trailed off. Rory didn't say anything this time so Dean continued on, "I'd like you to come with me."

"Come with you? To Chicago? Now? WHY?"

Dean nodded. "We go well together, Rory; like peanut butter and jelly."

Rory ignored his comment for the time being as she continued on her rant, "But…my mom…school…"

"Your mother can visit us; after all, she visits you here. And there's college in Chicago to," Dean tried to reassure her.

"Have you gone crazy, Dean?" Rory asked. "As you've said, Chicago is about 900 miles away. Stars Hollow is close enough where my mom and I can meet and spend the day together, but still go back to our respective homes. And school? I'm not leaving Yale to go to what…I don't even know of a college in Chicago."

Dean was silent. It dawned on Rory then that he'd just asked her along—no proposal or even a hint of a proposal. He'd just said that they went "well" together; like peanut butter and jelly. He expected her to move with him to a foreign city (to her, at least) and go to a school mediocre to Yale, live almost 900 miles away from her mother…and for what? Because they went "well" together and that peanut butter couldn't be away from jelly? News flash! Peanut butter can be eaten without the jelly.

"What would I be along as?" Rory couldn't help but ask. "Support? Jelly?"

"My girlfriend, of course," Dean answered.

"Dean, we've been going out for a long time now."

"Yes, which is why I think we're reading to take this big step."

Big step? Moving to the same city? It was a big step—especially with no proposal and the fact that they hadn't even slept together yet.

"I…just…I…I don't know, Dean. This is a lot to think about. I just…don't know."

"You don't know? Dean asked. "Either you do, or you don't."

Boy did those words sound familiar.

"Dean, this isn't about fear this time." Okay, maybe a little—fear of going insane if she agrees with it! "This is about moving to a foreign city where you're the only person I know. I'd be leaving behind…everything. My whole life is here."

"I wouldn't be," Dean pointed out.

"I'm nineteen! I just can't go off gallivanting to Chicago because you got a job. What about your college?"

"Stars Hollow C.C. can transfer the credits."

The way Dean said it, Rory wasn't even sure that Dean would be showing up at a college in Chicago.

She wanted to tell Dean that she couldn't go—she just couldn't. But she loved him and he seemed to give an ultimatum—come with we or we're through. She couldn't believe that she was willing to marry him this morning, but moving to Chicago was…impossible. Was she willing to give him up?

Dean sighed. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have expected an answer tonight. I'll let you talk to your mom…make one of your pro-con lists…and then you can get back to me; alright?"

Rory nodded. "Okay."

"I'm still free to hang out tonight, if you want to," Dean offered.

Rory nodded once again. "Alright, what would you like to do?"

Dean shrugged. "Is there a movie theater around here?"

Rory nodded. "They're playing Rosemary's Baby tonight."

"Our first conversation," he remembered.

Rory smiled, "I was so nervous. You told me that you were watching me in a non-creepy way and I was telling you about the round cakes."

Dean laughed. He started to lead Rory to his car, but she shook her head.

"Let's walk—it's not too far from here."

Dean nodded, taking Rory's hand in his as she began to lead him.

Throughout the walk, they reminisced about their past. They'd gone since Rory's sophomore year—minus the few months they'd been apart due to the fact Rory hadn't been able to say "I love you" to Dean—so there were a lot of good memories to look over. Rory fingered the bracelet she wore on her wrist, the one Dean had given to her on her sixteen birthday. He'd been her first boyfriend, the first "I love you" outside of her mother. To Rory, it felt like it was closure; like Dean knew Rory wouldn't be able to leave this life behind to create a new one.

---

Mallory came home later that night, around eleven, and found Rory in front of the television watching a Meg Ryan chick flick that should never be viewed and was swallowing a large tub of ice cream.

Mallory raised an eyebrow, asking a question without the words.

"I think we just broke up," Rory answered the silent question. Tears formed around Rory's pretty blue eyes and Mallory sat down next to her to comfort her, rubbing her back reassuringly, as Rory poured out the story.

Author's Note

This was supposed to be broken into two chapters—one of Tristan meeting Dean and the next of the news—but I had a hard time writing the meeting between Dean and Tristan to where it would be long enough for an actual chapter. I'm not too big of a fan on conflict…so writing it just doesn't go over too well. So I just wrote it roughly otherwise it would take longer out to get this…and I didn't want to make it months of waiting again.

Also, I'm considering rewriting the first chapter. It was written first when I was about thirteen (I'm now seventeen) and I cringe every time I glance at it.

Oh and if you live in Chicago…I'm sure there's good colleges there so don't be offended by Rory's thinking. I tried to research on a few colleges there that Rory and Dean could discuss, but I didn't get too far in my research. Rory would probably know, but unfortunately…I don't know.

I hate to say this, but the next update might not be so soon, as I'm stumped on where to go from here. Suggestions would be welcome if you have any ideas…I'll try to be as quick as possible.

Review replies: (sorry I can't do everyone, but I don't have the time right now)

vm1fan225: I know; I'm terrible at updating. But just to be correct, it's been 4 chapters in a span of almost three years—which still, not so good, but I mostly work on original stories so this isn't a top priority to me. I'm working on updating more and they should be more frequent.

Smile1: Mallory's definitely different from Rory and I think by adding her in, it mellows Rory out a bit. I'm glad you think Rory was in character the last chapter and I hope to continue on that path. Rory deserves her own group of friends. In my opinion, she's such a likeable girl; it's unlikely for a girl like her to not have friends. Paris was originally supposed to be her only friend at Yale, but I wanted a way to get them to go to the party so Mallory became Rory's friend, but not too good of a friend. I think that's definitely changing, though. Thanks for thinking that I'm creative. :) And I HATE jealous Dean. I was re-watching season 1 via the DVDS and I liked him soooo much before he became all jealous. Still not a Dean fan, but he'd tolerable if he's not so jealous. So…hopefully in my story, he's tolerable. He'll be in the story more…whether he continues to be Rory's boyfriend or not.

Thanks for reviewing: Trory Lover, Courtney, omeomy, blazergrl17, nancerz-, KarahBella, Lauren, Princetongirl, Robin2, tickle582, cosmopolitan, tristian'jess'loganluver.

Thanks for reading and please review!