AN: Wow! What a response! That was amazing. I didn't realise I would get that number of views and PMs for Ch. 26. OK, firstly, I'm sorry if I led anyone to believe otherwise but the story isn't finished yet so keep reading or I wll hunt you down! He he he. Thankyou to everyone who reviewed to say they liked the writing if not the content, LOL. And can you all please let me know, I've heard from one reviewer that alot of people think this story has gone downhill, just wondering how many people agree and what I can do - apart from bring Rory miraculously back to life, I know you all want that ; p - to change that! Cheers!

Joise: Yes, both Tristan and Louise blame themselves in the last chapter.

Love 23: I love you!

Disclaimer: I don't own GG and quite frankly, I doubt you do either ; p

Louise had walked up behind him softly, he didn't notice her until he spoke.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered.

He half turned, but didn't say anything. She laid her hand on his shoulder.

"I am so sorry Tristan…I know…I think I know how you felt about her,"

Tristan nodded gently, although he didn't know understand how Louise could how he felt about Rory when he didn't. All he knew at the moment was the hollowness in everything. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"It's not your fault," Louise went on quietly.

He wheeled on her, fury blazing in his eyes.

"How is it not my fault Louise? Huh?"

Louise took a step back.

"I…we didn't know…"

"I shouldn't have worried about checking my email that night…I should have known when he wasn't in the room."
"I knew…" Louise whispered, not knowing why she was saying this,

"What?"

"I knew…Jay told me he knew it was Matt…it was my fault…I left her alone"

Suddenly Tristan's anger deflated and he pulled Louise into a hug, holding her close as she cried against his chest.


Tristan and Louise were needed at the police station again that afternoon for still more questioning.

"Why did you go looking for Miss Gilmore?"

Tristan took a deep breath,

"Louise…she was with me, she realised her mobile was gone and so was Matt. She was already suspicious of him and when she found out that…" He trailed off.

The detective nodded

"And so you went to Miss Gilmore's dormitory and couldn't find her…why did you go to the woods instead of alerting the supervising teacher?"

Tristan shrugged back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. His tie had been loosened and his suit jacket slung across another chair.

"I don't know…I can't explain it. I suppose…after Liz, we both just started running"

"And you found Mr. Mulchrone kneeling over…Miss Gilmore?"

Tristan felt strangled as he nodded silently.

"Uh…yes…yes…"

"And what happened then?"

"I beat the shit out of him is what happened…he kept saying this shit, I don't remember it that well but it was something about her deserving…deserving it because she was just like every other girl…"

"And Miss Gilmore?"

Tears started to spill slowly down his cheeks and he swiped at them furiously.

"She…Louise was with her but…we were too late she was already…" He trailed off for a moment, "dead…she was already dead."

The detective looked up at him sharply, hearing the inflections in his voice.

"Thank you Mr. DuGrey, that should be all for now,"

Tristan nodded but turned as he was leaving.

"Detective Corry?"

"Yes?"

"What's going to happen to him?"

"Well…Mr. Mulchrone just turned 18 which means he can be tried as an adult…" The detective replied.

"So?"

"So we're putting the little bastard away for the rest of his natural life,"

Tristan smiled ruefully and closed the door behind him. Something told him nothing about Matt was natural.


Jay, Tristan and Louise sat in a row in the courtroom. It was Matt's bail hearing. As he was led into the room Tristan felt his face growing hot and clenched his fists. Lorelai hung her head in front of them. He was led to the dock and sat down, he looked pleasantly out at the people in the near-empty courtroom. When his eyes settled in Tristan he smiled benignly and Jay leaned forward in his seat, Louise laying her hand soothingly on his thigh. He was charged with two counts of Murder One, as they read the charges Matt nodded in time. He had plead guilty, it was the only plead he could make when Tristan and Louise had found him like that. The designer Psychiatrist his parent's had hired had identified some disorder, some purity disorder where Matt was convinced that these girls were "dirty" and that they threatened his own cleanliness.

His lawyer argued that Matt belonged at home, in a loving environment, not in jail in the lead-up to his trial. He argued that Matt needed psychological help and supervision. Tristan breathed a sigh of relief when Matt was denied bail. Tristan, Jay and Louise stood outside the courthouse. They were to drive back to school but none of them wanted to be back there, not with all the rumours, the stares in their direction. Tristan had driven and as they climbed into the car they all knew where they were headed. Jay and Louise stayed by the car as Tristan made his way to her grave. The flowers that had been heaped upon it had quietly died, and he began to scoop them off. Her flowers should never be bruised and lifeless…she shouldn't have been. Jay and Louise eventually joined him by the grave, standing side-by-side near him.

"He's in jail…" Louise whispered to the earth.

Jay glanced over at her but Tristan knew what she was trying to do.

"The detective's promised us he'll get life"

He already did…Tristan thought bitterly…two of them. Louise's voice was started to shake and Jay gently squeezed her hand. She smiled at him uncertainly, it was the first touch she'' received from him since the night she and Rory had snuck out. Her voice became stronger.

"We're gonna get him Rory…me and Tristan and Jay, we're all testifying…" She trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Tristan added.

Jay looked at him sharply but Tristan's attention was focused on her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again to her grave, "I should have been there, I could have been there…"

Louise held back a sniffle and Jay laid his hand on Tristan's shoulder.

"Come on…let's go back" He suggested.

Tristan nodded and stood from his crouched position.

I miss you

The unsaid words echoed around the still cemetery as the three made their way back to the car.


Tristan stood outside the hall, his face set like stone. It was the final week of full-dress rehearsals for "The Crucible" but he couldn't shake off his dream that morning, he'd had it again, the dream about the day in the cemetery.

I miss you

Why hadn't he ever been able to tell her, to just tell her how he was beginning to feel. Was it because he didn't have to understand it? Perhaps she could have understood it. Perhaps, once he'd poured out everything hat danced around his mind at night when it drifted to her, she could have turned around with an cheeky smile and said,

"Duh Tristan…you're falling in love with me!"

And he could have smiled in dawning recognition, taken her in his arms…they could have tumbled into bed and not left for hours. Of course, now that wasn't going to happen, he couldn't tell her, couldn't touch her, he could only regret what he'd let pass him.

AN: R&R to let me know wat you think!