Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Pairing: Trory

Au (obviously )

A/N: sorry about the delay, I am officially the world's worst updater.  hope it was worth the wait! R/R

xoxoxoxoxox

Rory led Tristan down the street at a leisurely pace- content to just be with him- no words necessary. When he put his arm around her shoulders to tug her closer she reveled in the peace that stole over her and snuggled deeper in to him.

"Rory?"

"Hmm?" she answered with a contented sigh.

" Where are we going?"

"Can you keep a secret" she said looking at him with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Of course!"

" Good, so can I!" she said triumphantly.

Tristan chuckled, " OK Mrs. Smarty-pants. I was just wondering if it would have been more practical to bring my car."

" Fret not" She said " we're almost there.

" Sure." Tristan said sarcastically.

xoxoxoxoxoox

Suddenly Rory came to an abrupt halt. Tristan, who was lost in thought trying to figure out their destination, stopped a few steps ahead of her an looked back, confused."

" What

's up Mare?" He asked, his blue eyes filled with concern.

" I- well, nothing really, it 's just.. Hmm- I don't know" She stuttered.

"Well: Tristan said with a chuckle, " that certainly cleared things up."

Rory gave him a glare that was softened by a small smile and stepped forward. " You'll understand in a minute" she said cryptically.

A few moments later, she steered him into an art gallery that seemed to focus on photography. She walked through the maze of rooms and hallways as if she'd done it a million times before. He followed behind her wordlessly, taking in his surroundings. As he entered the last room down a very long hallway, he started to understand why she had been so hesitant; All around him were black and white photographs- some of the people he recognized, and some he didn't, but they all captured his attention individually and collectively.

Rory didn't say anything , she just watched him as he walked slowly around the room, looking at every single picture- pausing at some, laughing at others. He saw pictures of his high school classmates, his hometown, and what he could only assume was her hometown, her friends. When he came to a complete stow, Rory know he had seen it. She carefully watched him trying to gauge his reaction.

Tristan was dumfounded- he didn't know what to say. It was a collage of sorts ( A/N think of the Polaroid collage in White Oleander)- it took up an entire wall- and every single picture was of him, Rory or him and Rory. Pictures of times he wished he could go back and relive: her first day at Chilton, her struggling with her locker, trying to convince it to open,- he could practically hear her calling in Harold.. There were even pictures of him and her in Stars Hollow when they were practicing for Romeo and Juliet- and he thought Paris was consumed by her academic career that night. Every situation conceivable was photographed and hung on a wall in front of him for him to relive and in some cases regret. Every frame and picture was a different size, yet they fit together like a puzzle.

"Who took these?" he asked softly.

" Paris" She answered. " I'm surprised you didn't know about this gallery. Actually this room is a collection of her work and mine. I took photography my junior year at Chilton, and I was hooked.:

" I don't understand, how are they here?" He asked " Why not in a gallery somewhere in Hartford?"

"Because she wanted to be an unknown. In Hartford or really anywhere in Connecticut her name would be recognized as well as the people in the photos. She wanted her work to be appreciated, not blown off."

Tristan nodded his head in understanding- he knew that feeling all too well. Rory watched as he stepped closer to the wall looking at on of the pictures incredulously. " How did she talk this picture and we had absolutely no clue she was ever there?"

Rory chuckle "we were a little preoccupied"

It was a picture of them at Madeline's party. They were on the piano bench just about to kiss. The backlighting form the lamp gave a silhouette affect, and you could all but see the kiss take place, the look of longing, hesitation and wonder in their respective eyes.

" I'm surprised this is the first time I saw this picture." He said wryly, looking back at her.

Rory came up to stand beside him. " she told me that she had taken it as blackmail- to ruin and embarrass me. But you left before she could and there seemed no reason to go through all that trouble."

" She's really good." He said, looking at a picture of himself. Somehow she had captured the essence of that which he truly was in that photo. He was standing by his locker, surrounded by his buddies and a throng of girls, yet he gazed over- for what he was sure was only a split second- towards Rory at her locker with a look of longing and rejection.

" Yeah, she is." Rory said as she took his hand and led him over to a section of her photographs. She pointed to one near the top. It was a picture of Richard and Lorelai dancing goofy at her graduation party. " That was the last time I saw my grandfather alive," she said, " That dance was a bet- I bet my grandfather that he wouldn't get out there and do the macarena with my mom. Much to my surprise he did it. It was one of the happiest nights of my life. If you look closely you can see my grandmothers shocked and disapproving expression in the background."

Rory laughed softly " She said she'd never forgive him for acting so foolishly in public at a function that was celebrating the 'intelligence and ability' of the Gilmore line- but she didn't really mean it. You should have seen her the next day. That morning we got a call fr5om her saying she couldn't find him. At first it was kind of funny, I mean, how do you lose a sixty-eight year old man. It took a minute for me and mom to realize that it wasn't a joke. He was nowhere to be found. There was no note, no real signs of a struggle or anything. What really shook her was that his studies , or really his files, were in shambles, strewn about everywhere; his laptop was missing, and the safe hung open behind the desk. She glanced over at Tristan "She was never quite the same after it was all over. Even now- she seems lost, wandering like an abandoned puppy. Do you want to know the worst part? There's nothing I can do- there's nothing anyone can do. She's the only one that can forgive herself, accept that what happened was not her fault and move on. But I don't think she knows how."

"Did they ever find who took him, Rory? Did they catch them?"

"No,' she replied, "they never did. They came so close, but then all of a sudden-nothing, case closed. It was weird. They said the trail went cold; I was too distraught to question them, or to suspect anything.

Tristan turned to Rory and gently pulled her into his arms, holding her in a comforting, undemanding embrace.

"Thank you, Rory. For sharing this with me." He whispered, pulling back to look into her eyes.

"It was noth-" Rory started to say but was cut off by Tristan's fingers on her mouth.

"Don't you dare say it was nothing because we both know that's not true. It's a huge something, Rory, and I'm honored that you trust me enough to share it with me."

Rory just nodded, unable to speak. Tristan was tempted to kiss here then and there, but she was much too emotional right now, so he fought the urge and kissed her forehead instead.

"C'mon," He said " Lets get my car and I'll take you home."

"OK." She said looking up at him, " Thanks for listening and understanding."

" No thanks required" Tristan said with a wink. He slung his arm around her and kissed her temple as they walked back through the gallery toward the door and the busy city streets. Once they were on the street he asked her "So, you got room for ice cream?"

Rory looked at him as if he had three heads, " Is Michael Jackson white?"

" Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer, huh?" he said with a grin

"Absolutely." She replied. And with that they walked down the street toward the closest ice cream shop, with Rory thinking that she was glad she had turned around and met him, and Tristan thanking his lucky stars that he got a second chance.

TBC……

SOOOOOOOO…..what do you think? R/R! por favor!