AN: Thanks for all the reviews you guys! Someone asked how may chapters I'm planning on making this. and truth is i don't know! I know that i'm in the middle of writng part 16 and that's not even half done. so it's going to be a while before it's done! Thanks again and i hope you like this chapter!
Part Nine: Lunch With An Old Friend
They walked into the Hard Rock Café and went up to a waitress behind the podium.
"Hi, we're five and we're also waiting for someone." Rory said.
"Name of the person you're waiting for?"
"Tristan DuGrey." Rory responded.
"Right this way." The waitress led them up the stairs and towards a secluded table. Rory saw the blonde set of hair before they reached the table. She squealed and ran up to him.
"Mary." He said with a smile and hugged her as she lunched herself into a hug. He picked her up and twirled her around. The waitress put down six menus and walked away. "I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes and open your mouth." She raised an eyebrow.
"Last time you said that your tongue found its way into my mouth and that is not something I wish to experience again thank you very much!" She heard Logan, Colin and Finn laugh. Tristan smirked.
"Trust me Mary, you'll like this."
"Yep, said that last time, too."
"Come on." Rory smiled and closed her eyes and opened her mouth. Next thing she knew she felt something round and coffee flavored in her mouth. She opened her eyes and Tristan showed her the wrapper.
"Coffee flavored lollipops. You are the best, Tristan." She said taking the lollipop out and kissing his cheek.
"So, which one of you is the groom?" He asked turning to the three guys standing behind Rory.
"Tristan, please, not now." Rory said sliding into the booth. Tristan took Gigi from Finn as he sat down. The little girl ignored him.
"Gigi, what's the matter, huh?" Tristan asked.
"Tristan not bring me candy! You bring Rory candy, but not Gigi!" She said hitting her little fists on his chest. Tristan smiled. Logan looked amazed. That was the longest sentence he's heard the little girl say all day.
"Well, since you're hitting me I don't think I want to give you your present." Tristan said. The girl smiled and held out her hand for him to give her her present. She widened her eyes and gave him a smile and he rolled his eyes. "You, little Gigi, are going to be just like your sister. You are going to break so many hearts."
"Whose heart did I break?" Rory said.
"Mine, for one." Tristan teased. He reached in his pocket and handed Gigi a lollipop. She kissed his cheek and ran for Rory so she could open it. "Jess's."
"Jess broke mine, DuGrey, get it right." Rory smiled as he sat down next to her. "Tristan, this is Logan Huntzberger, Colin Michaels and Finn Romestead."
"You know, I just got back from Fiji. I couldn't turn around once without your, guys, names popping out somewhere."
"What did you three do?" Rory asked, with interest.
"They sank a yacht." Tristan answered.
"Correction. I sank the yacht. Give credit where credit is due, man!" Finn interjected. Rory rolled her eyes.
"Want to tell me why you sank the yacht?" Rory asked. Finn shook his head.
"It's going to the grave." Finn said. Rory laughed. They ordered their food when the waitress came and lapsed into a silence.
"So, Mar, what are you doing in New York?"
"My dad had a business meeting and Gigi's sitter is sick, so he invited me to come and take care of her."
"And you three?"
"Business." Logan answered vaguely. Tristan nodded as he wrapped an arm around Rory.
"Tristan, stop." She said pulling out of him embrace, knowing that it was Tristan's way of proposing a challenge to Logan. "How's Nick?" She said nudging him. Tristan groaned and shook his head.
"Mary."
"Oh, come on, how is he?"
"He's just dandy." Tristan said with a light lisp making him sound like the stereotypical gay man. It was a joke between them. Rory had gone to Harvard to visit him and opened the door to his dorm to see him and his roommate in towels and only towels. Tristan denied any activity and she believed him, but she couldn't help ragging on him every time they met. "What about the bag boy?" Tristan asked. Rory stopped laughing and took interest in her hands. "Oh, this just got interesting."
"Tris."
"Come on. Have you told him yet?"
"No. I haven't told him yet."
"He's gonna find out sooner or later."
"You don't think I know that? Jeez, Tristan, I just found out I'm getting married in a month to a complete stranger, I haven't had time to tell my boyfriend, let alone spend time with him. He works, you know? Lindsay took him for all he had after the divorce."
"And whose fault was that?" Rory glared at him and got up.
"I'm going to the bathroom and when I get back asshole Tristan better be gone." She growled as she stormed towards the bathroom. Tristan sighed and turned back to the guys who had been quiet during their exchange. Gigi had made herself comfortable on Finn's lap and was sucking on her lollipop.
"So, Logan, right?" Logan nodded. "How long have you known?"
"About the marriage?" Tristan nodded.
"Four years." He responded.
"And you're over it, right? You got used to the whole aspect of having to marry a complete and total stranger?" Logan frowned, not knowing where the conversation was headed.
"No, I'll admit I haven't really gotten use to the idea, but I know there's not much I can do. It's all under contract. What can I do?" Logan said. Tristan nodded.
"Look, all I'm saying is that you've had four years to get used to the idea and you still haven't gotten accustomed to it. Rory's known for, what, two weeks? She's getting married in a month and really had no say or control in the matter. Rory likes control. She strives for it. And when she doesn't have it she breaks. I don't like seeing Rory break."
"You love her." Colin stated. Tristan nodded easily.
"I did. Back in high school. You've got to be stupid not to. After my parents shipped me off to the military school Rory and me kept in touch. I hate to admit it, but she's the one that kept me sane during those months of drills and manual labor. I finally escaped and we were still friends and have been ever since. Like I said, Rory likes control and this situation is way out of her control range. As long as you don't bug her about it and let her deal with things at her own pace, then she'll be, in a way, fine. Just don't push her." Tristan got up. "I'm going to go check on her. I'll be right back." Tristan went to the girls' bathroom and knocked on the door.
Rory looked up from the mirror at the door when she heard the knock..
"Rory?" She sighed and looked under the stalls. No one else was in the bathroom.
"You can come in, Tris." Tristan walked into the bathroom and locked the door so no one else would walk in and complain about a boy being in the girls' bathroom. He frowned when he saw that she was sitting on a small couch.
"You girls are lucky having a couch and all we have are the urinals." Rory rolled her eyes as he sat next to her.
"Is asshole Tristan gone?" Tristan nodded.
"That was way out of line and I'm sorry. You trusted me with that personal information and I threw it back in your face when I promised I wouldn't. I'm sorry." Rory looked up at him and frowned.
"You know, Chilton Tristan wouldn't talk like that." He shrugged.
"People change."
"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while, Rory playing with the hem of her shirt and Tristan examining the bathroom. She knew that he was waiting for her to tell him the things on her mind but was letting her do it on her own time and when she opened her mouth it all came out. "Everything is just out of control. I can't think and I can't figure out when my perfect life came tumbling down at my feet. I don't even know when I started getting friendly with my future husband. My god, does that mean I'm cheating on Dean!" Rory ranted. Tristan took her shoulders and shook her lightly.
"Rory, calm down. Look, you're not cheating on the bag boy, but you've got to tell him. There's nothing wrong with you getting friendly with Logan. I mean you're going to have to be living with him some time soon, so you at least want to know the basics about him and his friends just like you want him to know the basics about you and yours, otherwise you wouldn't have brought him here to meet me!"
"You're very full of yourself, you know that?"
"How so?"
"Thinking I brought Logan to meet you. Who says that I didn't bring him so he could play referee when you made a move on me, huh?"
"Now, who's full of themselves?" Rory laughed.
"Everything is still falling apart, Tristan. I can't get a hold of my life."
"Everything will piece itself back together sooner or later, but for now you've got to take baby steps." Tristan stood up and held out a hand for her. She smiled and took it.
"California really did you some good, you know that?" Tristan smiled one of the smiles she knew he saved for their meetings.
"What can I say, the sun, the sand, those beautiful beach bunnies." Rory slapped his arm as he unlocked the door and opened it. They walked out and got the evil eye out of a lady who had been waiting.
"You know what she's thinking, right?" Rory looked up at him with her big blue eyes.
"What?"
"She thinks we were going at it in the stalls." She frowned, then hit his arm.
"You know sometimes I think you changed for the better and then idiotic statements like that remind me that you're the same old Tristan from Chilton." She shrugged as he slid into the booth, her right behind him. Their food had already been delivered when they sat down.
"See, that's why you're Mary."
"Shut up, Bible boy."
"You wound me with your harsh words." Rory was about to respond when her cell phone rang. She glared at Tristan and fished her cell out of her purse and looked at the caller ID. She flipped it open.
"This better be an emergency, Paris." Tristan smiled and started for the phone, but she slapped his hands away. "The sheets? Why do you need to know where my clean sheets are?" Tristan stopped and listened to the conversation. "Paris, why so you need to know? Oh! Oh! EWWW! I told you not on my bed! Oh, you just ended up going straight instead of to your left. God, he's my editor! Oh! Gross!" Rory yelled. The guys all seemed interested in the conversation. "Don't snap at me! You're the one who had sex in my bed after I told you not to!"
"Geller has a boyfriend?" Tristan whispered. Rory nodded.
"Look, the sheets are in the last drawer of my dresser. Please, refrain from using my bed again and get the sheets dry cleaned, better yet, burn them. I don't want Doyle's Doyle-ness on my sheets... Oh, I have no doubt in my mind it was good, Paris, but it was MY bed! God, I will never be able to sleep in that bed again, let alone look at Doyle without mental images running through my mind. My bed, Paris! Fine, yeah. Tomorrow. Okay, see you later." Rory hung up the phone.
"Paris?"
"She had sex on my bed." Rory stated.
"And this is an everyday occurrence?"
"Her having sex or her having sex on my bed?"
"Her having sex."
"Yeah. She lost her virginity senior year. I'm guessing you didn't watch her C-SPAN break down."
"C-SPAN isn't really my idea of fun TV enjoyment." Tristan said. Rory rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I should have known." The rest of the meal was spent talking. Tristan and Rory explained to the guys how they met each other.
"Tristan made my life a living hell in high school."
"Oh, come on Mary, you know you wanted me."
"In your dreams, Tristan."
"Every night Mar." Rory rolled her eyes.
"Ok, I've got to ask. What's with calling her Mary?" Colin asked
"As in Virgin Mary." Rory responded.
"She was the new girl at Chilton, the vision or pureness and innocence thus dubbing her the Mary."
"I've been trying to convince Tristan to change it." Rory said with a blush.
"What do you prefer, Magdalene?"
"Shut up." She said elbowing his ribs.
"Rory was what we called innocent in high school. The thought of sex made her blush." Tristan said.
"It did not."
"Rory, any undertones that me and the guys shot at you, you turned into a cherry. Just a few second ago you blushed when I explained the concept of the Mary."
"Shut up! I did not." Tristan rolled his eyes as the guys laughed. The waitress came for the bill and Tristan reached for it.
"My treat, Mar. You buy next time." Rory frowned.
"Didn't you pay last time?" She said grabbing the check.
"No, you did."
"I could have sworn you did seeing as how you ended up making out with the waitress."
"We got that one free, so your turn was revoked and now it's back to me." He slapped her hand and put his credit card inside. Rory shook her head. The waitress took it and came back with the receipt which he signed. Rory looked to see Gigi sleeping in Finn's lap.
"She really likes you, Finn." Finn smiled and looked down at Gigi.
"Yeah, well, I like her too, love." Finn picked her and slid out of the booth as well as Logan, Colin, Tristan and Rory. They walked out and she looked at Tristan as they stopped on the sidewalk.
"So, I'll see you at the wedding?" Tristan asked with the smirk.
"I guess."
"Come on Mary, cheer up. Remember what we talked about."
"Ugh."
"I'll see you in two months."
"What, not coming to the engagement party?" Tristan laughed.
"Can't. I wish I could though. but I got some exams." He kissed her cheek. "But I'll go to the wedding, no way will I miss Mary's wedding." Rory sighed and kissed his cheek back.
"Yeah, I'll see you then."
"Talk to you later, Mar." He said as he turned and walked down the street. Rory watched him, then gathered her bags and walked towards the guys.
"Let's get going." She said ushering them down the street.
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AN:
Okay there it is! Hope you liked it and the next part will beposted onSunday!