Note: Thanks everybody forgiving me so many names for the inn. I'll try to use some of them in the story.

Chapter 18:

Rory watched Logan drive away. They just had breakfast together and now he was leaving to visit his parents. An unpleasant feeling took hold of her and she wrapped her arms around her. During breakfast they had talked about the meeting and what to expect from it. Logan had tried to reassure her, by telling her that everything would turn out just fine, but somehow she had the feeling that things wouldn't turn out fine at all for the two of them. The whole not approving of his parents had made her consider the implications of a future with Logan and she didn't know if she was ready for that. Why couldn't things just stay like they were? They were happy like this. Why did it all have to change?

Tristan walked up to Rory. He had been awake for quite some time and went down early to get some breakfast. When he got downstairs he had seen Rory and Logan sitting together and decided not to disturb them. They seemed to be having an intense conversation. So instead of having breakfast he decided to take a run in the woods. When he returned 40 minutes later, he saw the two of them kissing goodbye and saw Logan get into his car. That's also when he saw the sad smile on Rory's face.

He walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Are you all right? Why the sad look on your face?"

Rory turns to Tristan and smiles an even sadder smile.

"I'll tell you later, ok? I just need some time alone to process everything and I really need to get some more sleep, because I only had four hours of sleep last night. So I talk to you later, ok?"

Tristan nods. "Just know that you can talk to me. I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

"Thanks Tristan! I'll see you later." And with that Rory leaves for her room, leaving Tristan behind to finally get some breakfast. The run had made him even hungrier than before.

xxx

Three hours later everybody was awake and having a late breakfast or early lunch, whichever way you look at it. Rory had tried to get some more sleep, but that wasn't possible with Lane and Paris awake. They were complaining about the huge hangover they were having. Paris was fuming that she was gonna make Finn pay for spicing their drinks. Rory had told them that it was their own fault, since they had let him spice their drinks, but Paris kept saying that knowing Finn he also spiced their drinks when they weren't watching. So Rory and Stephanie dragged along in Paris' and Lane's quest for Finn. He searched his room, waking up Colin but didn't find Finn. So they continued to look for him and found him sleeping under one of the tables in the dining room.

"Colin, why didn't you bring him up to your room?" Rory asked Collin who also had joined them.

"I couldn't find Finn in the end of the evening, so I figured he probably was off with Gloria. Besides, I was kind of busy myself."

At this Stephanie started blushing slightly, but nobody seemed to notice, because Paris and Lane had just returned with a bucket of water, which they emptied over Finn. Finn shoots up with a loud roar and bumps his head into the table, making everybody laugh out loud.

When Finn sees Paris and Lane standing there with the bucket, he fumes.

"Ohh, you girls are soooo dead."

He jumps up and starts running after them, making them cry out for help and laughter. By this time almost everybody had come down to see what all the fuss was about. When Paris saw Jess, she tried to hide behind him.

"Please help me Jess!" Paris said, while standing behind him.

But Jess just steps aside. "You're on your own on this one, Gellar!" After which Paris just starts running again.

After a couple of minutes Finn gives up but swears that he will get them later on.

Since everybody is now downstairs, they decide to get something to eat.

xxx

It is quiet for the moment, since everybody seems to be eating or walking around the premises. Lorelai decides to go through her mail and flips through the envelopes. She stops when she sees a handwritten envelope and recognizes the handwriting. It's her dads. Why would her dad write her a letter, when he could just talk to her on the phone? She opens the letter, curious about the content. She starts reading the following.

Dear Lorelai,

Please don't throw this letter away before you read it. I know that you're very angry with me and I'm sorry to trick you into reading this, by making your father write the address on the envelope. I just had to do this since you're ignoring all my phone calls and returning all my letters.

I'm very sorry that I hurt you so much. Although you probably don't believe it and I hardly ever say it, I want you to know that I love you very much and that I want to see you happy. I only did what I did because I want the best for you. Is it so bad for a mother to want the best for her daughter? But I can see my mistake now. I thought you could do better than Luke. It is not that I don't like him, it was just his background. I thought you could do better, but now I can see that doing better doesn't imply that you would be happier and that is really all I want for you. I hope you made up with Luke by now and if not I will go talk some sense into him and offer my apologies. I just hope you will take my apologies. And I promise you that from now on I will really try to let you make your own decisions. I don't know why that is so hard for me, considering you have done so well for yourself and Rory. Maybe it's because it feels like you don't need your mother anymore.

I just hope you accept my apologies and let me back in your life. Just know that, if you don't want to I won't bother you anymore from now on.

Love,

Emily Gilmore

Lorelai swallowed away the lump in her throat. The words really sound sincere. She doesn't know what to do with them though. She knew she couldn't just forgive and forget, but she didn't want to cut her mother out of her life either. Maybe she could just try to forgive, but make sure she never forgets.

A lot of people start to emerge from the dining room and Paris walks up to Lorelai with a stack of paper in her hands.

"Lorelai, here are my notes on the performance of the inn so far. I made three different lists. One is about the things that could be done better. One is about things that are missing. And one is about all the good things about the inn, the things that make a difference."

Lorelai looks at the stack of paper.

"Thanks Paris! Are you sure you don't need some more paper?"

Paris doesn't pick up on the sarcastic tone in Lorelai's voice. "No thanks Lorelai. The inn is well supplied for."

"Ok Paris, well you better get ready, cause the scavenger hunt is starting in 30 minutes."

xxx

30 Minutes later everybody is gathered around Lorelai.

"Listen up everybody! In a couple of minutes the scavenger hunt will begin. I want everybody to pick somebody to team up with. This other person has to be of the opposite gender though and preferably not your current significant other. The purpose of this game is to get to know each other a bit better and to get to know the area. Once you have picked your partner you can come to me to get your information bag. In this bag you will find some food and drinks and some riddles and leads to locate your prey. The prey you're looking for are staff members from the inn, dressed in fox costumes. It is your job to find all the foxes and get a stamp from them. You will find a stamp card in your bag. The first couple to return with a full stamp card is declared the winner. So hurry up, you all, cause in ten minutes the hunt will begin."

Everybody starts talking all at once.

Tristan immediately takes Rory's hand. "You're all mine for the afternoon, Mary!" And he gives her a big smirk, which only makes Rory smile.

Marty finally decides to take a dare and asks Lisa to be his partner, which she accepts happily.

Jess wants to team up with Paris, but she tells him that they can't, because it is against the rules. He asks her 'so what?', but she replies that she always plays by the rules. Jess doesn't want to be in this fox hunt anyway and decides to stay at the inn and read his book.

Finn wants Gloria to be his partner, but she's already going with Zach, so he walks over to Paris.

"No way Finn, you're not gonna be my partner." She says, shaking her head.

"Why not, love? You don't seem to have a partner yet." Finn replies.

"He is gonna be my partner." She says, while she points at Brian. Brian looks all confused, but feels like she not the kind of person to disagree with, so he just nods.

"What? You don't even know who he is." Finn exclaims.

"Sure I do, he is in Lane's band. It is B…."

"Brian!" Brian says to help Paris out.

"Yeah Brian!" Paris states, while she stands there with her arms crossed.

"And who am I supposed to go with then, love?" Finn asks.

Lane doesn't have a partner yet, so she steps forward. "I'll go with you Finn, as long as you don't play any tricks on me." She warns him.

"All right love, I'll be happy to accompany you." Finn bows to her and then gives her a naughty smile.

"Oh my god, what have I gotten myself into?" Lane replies.

"So is everybody ready?" Lorelai asks and everybody nods yes. "Let the hunt begin!"

xxx

40 minutes later, Tristan and Rory were walking at a slow pace through the woods. They already had found two of the seven foxes and were now in a more quiet part of the woods. Occasionally they could still hear Lane and Finn making loud noises though.

"So how's Julie doing?" Rory asks Tristan.

"She's fine! She asked me to say hello to you for her."

"Oh that's nice. I really like her. The two of you make such a nice couple."

"Well, I really like her too. But we are no longer a couple though." Tristan says.

"What? The two of you broke up? When? Why didn't you tell me Tristan?" Rory asks him.

"We broke up at the airport. We're still best friends, but she decided that it would be better for us to remain best friends instead of lovers. We really love each other as a friend or family, but the spark just isn't there anymore. I was going to tell you, but you seemed to be going through a difficult time yourself with Logan and his parents, so I figured I would tell you later."

"Wow, I'm sorry! I wish you would have told me though. I want to be there for you. And as for me, yeah I'm going through a rough patch, but that doesn't mean that I cannot be there for my friends." She looks up to him.

"Yes, I know that. I just needed some time alone and I thought you needed the same. But what's up with the sad face I saw on you yesterday evening and this morning. I thought you and Logan were okay, in spite of his parent's wishes?" Tristan asks Rory.

"We are okay, I just don't know if we are gonna be okay. He is having lunch now with his parents. He was told not to bring me along, so I'm probably the topic of discussion."

"Don't worry about that! You know Logan cares for you and he will stand up for you. You shouldn't doubt that." Tristan says, while wondering why he is sticking up for Logan right now. Logan isn't good for her.

"No don't worry, I don't doubt that. And I also don't care anymore about what they think of me, but it did start me thinking about my future and Logan's future. I don't know if the two are compatible." Rory had stopped walking and was looking very sad right now.

Tristan grabs her hands. "Well you're right to not care about what they think of you. If they can't see the great person that you are, than that's their loss. But I guess you are right to worry. I understand their point of view. I came from the same background as Logan. We were raised the same way, with the same expectation from our parents. I just didn't want to lead that kind of live, so I broke all contact with my parents, but somehow I don't see Logan do the same thing. He fits in perfectly in that kind of life. So I guess, for the two of you to be together, one of you has to make some concessions in your future."

"I know. I've been thinking the same thing. I cannot see myself happy, living like my grandma, being the perfect society woman. I've got different plans for my future. But I also cannot see Logan leave that same society world." Rory sighs. "Everything was going great. Why do we have to worry about all of that? This way the two of us don't even get a chance."

"I know it isn't fair. But just think of the hurt it will cost, when you postpone thinking and dealing with this to the future. I think it is good for the two of you to think things through. And if you truly love each other, you wouldn't mind making any concessions. Think about that."

Rory gives Tristan a hug. "Thanks Tris, for being here for me."

'I'll always be here for you, Mary!" Tristan whispers back.

"Well enough of the serious talking for now. Let's find the next fox. I think I finally figured out the next lead." Tristan says.He was looking at the small lake before them. The lead on the paper said: Can you split the water like Moses could, or do you have to get all wet?

"I think the next fox is on the island in the middle. It seems like we are in for a swim." Tristan says to Rory.

"No I don't think so. You swim. I don't have my bathing suit on and I'm not good at any form of sports."

Tristan bends to her ear and whispers. "I'm guessing you could be great at one particular sport, Mary!" Then he picks her up and runs into the lake, making them both soaking wet.

"We're both wet now, Mary. So we can swim together. And don't worry about drowning. I've got my lifeguard degree and would love to save you." He smirks.

xxx

A/N: Ok, I have to cut the story here, cause I'm running out of time. Next chapter will cover the rest of the day and………Luke! Please review!