AN: I love you guys, seriously, you're awesome! Thanks for all the reviews! Hope this chapter is an improvement over the last one; enjoy!
Rory stared at her face critically in the mirror in her bathroom. She wasn't a vain person by nature but there were times when she knew that appearances were important and tonight was one of those times. Knowing that she had been accepted into the social scene at school, she knew that the next test would be how she acted at parties. Rory was an expert at partying; it was a requirement of being friends with Logan.
She was just evening out the amount of eyeliner on her right eye when she noticed her father leaning against the doorframe.
"Hey." Rory surveyed his outfit and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're looking well dressed this evening."
"Got a date," Chris remarked casually. "I was just leaving actually. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. Have any plans for tonight?"
"Nice change of subject there, very subtle." She gave up on her eye make-up and flounced past her father and into her room. She sat on her bed, knowing that Chris would be walking through the door after her at any moment and he didn't disappoint.
As soon as he walked through the door he was bombarded by questions. "So, who's the girl? Is she pretty? Do you work together? Because you know what they say about business and pleasure."
Chris laughed. "Her name is Lisa, yes she's pretty, no we don't work together and yes I know what they say about business and pleasure; I learned my lesson after that ugliness in Houston."
Rory pulled a face remembering as well. "So, what time will you be home?"
"Probably around eleven." He paused looking at his daughter's clothes and make-up. "And what are your plans for this evening?"
"My friend's having a party," she remarked casually, getting up from her bed and rummaging around the top of her dresser looking for the necklace that she wanted to wear. "I'll be home late."
Chris nodded and looked at his watch. "Okay, I have to go or I'll be late. Call me if you need anything, I'll keep my cell on. You can drink as long as you don't drive. Be good."
Rory smiled innocently. "I'm always good."
"Says the girl who got drunk at a party thrown by her grandparent's friends and proceeded make a fool of herself." An eyebrow rose.
She rolled her eyes in response. "That doesn't count because I wasn't blamed in the end, the bartender was. The crime doesn't count unless the accused is convicted"
Chris shook his head. "I'm not going to stand here and argue with your twisted sense of logic." He kissed the top of Rory's head. "I'll see you later."
"Bye daddy."
It was almost an hour later that Rory pulled up on the street where the flyer said the party was located. She knew that it was the perfect time to arrive; there wasn't enough time for anyone to get unbelievably drunk but it was still late enough for her to make an entrance and Rory loved making entrances.
Smoothing her jean mini down and heels clanking on the pavement, she made her way up the driveway towards the house that had music blaring. Half drunken teenagers leered at her as she made her towards the front door and she smirked in response.
Opening the door, she was hit with loud music, cigarette smoke and the sight of her fellow students making fools of themselves. She grinned; this never changed, not matter what city she was in.
"Hey! You made it!" Abby rushed up to Rory, eyes wide and excited. "Come over and see Alex and everyone!" She grabbed Rory's arm and pulled her over to a corner where Alex and a group of people had congregated.
"Hey Rory," Alex smiled, eyes glazed. "You look hot." He turned to Abby when he saw her offended look and placed a sloppy kiss on her temple. "But you're hotter." He handed a red plastic cup to Rory, filled with an unidentifiable liquid and she grinned in thanks.
"Cheers." She took a long sip of her drink and smiled at the people surrounding her. "So what's going on?"
It has half an hour later and Rory had a nice buzz going on. She was leaning against the wall talking to a guy that she thought was named Cory but she wasn't sure.
"So then I told him 'no way would I do that!' You know what I mean?" Rory nodded in response, smiling falsely at him. As he went on with his drunken ramblings, her eyes surveyed the now rambunctious group of teenagers, until they met the smirking blue eyes of Tristan Dugrey from across the room.
He was staring at her, plastic cup in hand and, when he saw that she was looking at him, he smiled and raised the cup, toasting her. She continued to watch him as Cory (Cody?) went on with his story, unaware that he was losing his audience. Tristan placed his drink on a nearby table, and gestured towards the front door, before walking out of it himself.
"Sorry, I have to go," Rory murmured, interrupting Cory's story and putting her half-empty drink down. She found herself crossing the room and leaving the party after Tristan without knowing why exactly.
Walking into the fresh air, she looked around before spotting Tristan leaning against a car in the driveway, smiling smugly at her.
"Knew you'd follow me," he said arrogantly but then he smiled at her and suddenly the arrogance didn't matter.
"Yeah, don't know why though," Rory smiled, walking closer to him.
"I know why." He paused for a moment to make it suspenseful. "You want me."
Rory laughed. "Yup, that's exactly it, you're on to me." She looked back at the house and suddenly partying didn't look so appealing anymore. "You want to get out of here?"
"Yeah, sure." If Tristan was surprised by her suggestion he didn't show it. "There's a café a couple blocks away. We could walk there if you want."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
They walked down the driveway, weaving their way through haphazardly parked cars before they arrived on the street. Tristan immediately turned to the right and Rory hurried to stay beside him, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.
"Cold?" Tristan asked, turning his head to look at her.
"A little, I'll be fine though."
He nodded and they continued on in silence for a while before Rory couldn't take it anymore. "So, seriously, why did you get me to leave with you?"
"Seriously?" When Rory nodded, he shrugged. "You looked bored and I thought that I could liven up your life." He smirked. "You know, the two of us could have our private party." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively making Rory laugh.
"Wow, you really are a cliché guy, aren't you?" At his pout, she swatted his arm. "You are!" She insisted, laughing.
Tristan shrugged, grinning. "I suppose but these things are clichéd for a reason. Obviously they were just so good that they became clichéd."
"Sure," Rory said skeptically, tossing her hair. "But I want my man to be original."
She grinned at Tristan who laughed and smiled back. He put his hands in his pocket and leaned in to whisper in Rory's ear, his breath hot against her neck. "I can be whoever you want me to be."
At this Rory burst out laughing. "God, I tell you to be original and you become more clichéd than ever."
"You said you want your man to be original; you said nothing about me." He paused and smirked. "Unless you want me to be your man…" He trailed off suggestively.
"Yup, that's it. Ever since I saw you, I have wished that you were my man." Rory retorted sarcastically, eyes filled with laughter. There was a moment of silence before Tristan broke it.
"So what were you and Doug talking about?"
Rory looked puzzled. "Who's Doug?"
"The guy that I rescued you from."
"I thought his name was Cory?"
Tristan rolled his eyes in response. "I can tell that the two of you really hit it off, should I be expecting the wedding invitations any day now?" He laughed as Rory pushed him as hard as she could and he barely moved.
Their banter continued as they walked, their half-drunk and, in Rory's case, giggly voices filling the quiet night. Rory had long since taken off her painful heels and was walking barefoot, glad that the streets of Hartford's finest were kept meticulously clean. Tristan's hands were kept in his pockets, although when he got passionate about a topic, the hands came out and gestured wildly.
It was almost half an hour later that the two of them came across the dark café. They walked up to the door and looked at the front door where the closed sign mocked them.
"They can't be closed already," Tristan complained. "Wait, what time is it?"
Rory shrugged. "Don't know." She fished through her purse until she found her cell phone and glanced at the time displayed on the screen. "Almost 2:30."
Tristan nodded. "Wow, didn't think it was so late. That would explain this place being closed though." He gestured towards the café and smiled ruefully. "Sorry about this."
She grinned. "Don't worry about it, I had fun." She paused. "I should be getting home though. Share a cab?"
"What about your car?"
Rory waved a dismissive hand. "I'll pick it up in the morning."
Tristan nodded. "Okay, sure."
Rory called the number that she had written down on a piece of paper and stuck in her purse earlier that evening. "They should be here within 20 minutes."
They sat down on the curb to wait, both deep in their own thoughts. "So, this was fun. We should do it again sometime." Tristan gazed at Rory out of the corner of his eye as he said this, looking for a reaction.
"Do what? Leave a party half way through, walk forever and then arrive at our destination only to find that we walked all that way for nothing?"
"Well, not exactly like-"
"Definitely." Rory interrupted grinning, looking at Tristan who smiled back.
Half an hour later, the cab pulled up to the dark house and Rory jumped out of the backseat, smiling at Tristan who got out after her.
"Wait here," he told the driver and walked over to Rory. "So, I had fun."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Yup, we've already gone over this; I had fun, you had fun, we should do it again some time." She leaned forward and kissed Tristan on the cheek, lingering longer than necessary. "Call me."
He smirked. "I don't have your number."
Rory mock gasped. "The great Tristan Dugrey doesn't already know my number? I'm disappointed in you." She rummaged through her purse until she found a pen and, leaning forward and grabbing Tristan's hand, she clumsily wrote her number on his arm.
Tristan grinned. "I'll never wash this arm again," he claimed dramatically. Rory giggled and swatted his chest.
"I'll see you around," she promised, kissing him once again on the other cheek.
Leaning in until his mouth was beside her ear, he whispered, "Count on it."
He smiled at her one last time, backing up towards the idling car before getting into the cab and telling the driver to go. Rory watched as it drove off down the dimly lit street before digging through her purse until she found her keys. Opening the door and laying her purse on the table in the entrance, she made her way upstairs to her room.
Tiptoeing her way down the hall as not to wake her father up, she was surprised when the hall light turned on.
"Hey, you're home. Didn't expect to see you until morning." Rory turned to see Chris standing there, smiling tiredly at her.
"Hey daddy." She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Yeah, I caught a cab with a friend. I need you to drive me tomorrow to pick up my car."
Chris nodded. "I can do that. Now get some sleep, it's late or early or something." He shook his head, trying to clear his sleep muddled mind.
"Goodnight dad."
"'Night Ror, sweet dreams."
Rory smiled in return and made her way towards her room. She cleaned her face, brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas before climbing into bed. It was only when she found herself wrapped up in her warm sheets, comforted in the anonymity of the dark room that she acknowledged to herself that when sweet dreams were mentioned, a certain blond-haired blue-eyed boy came to mind.
