Disclaimer: I don't own a thing

This is my first fic…So be brutally honest, if you love it, tell me and if you hate it, tell me!

Rory slipped out from underneath Logan's arm and got dressed. She tiptoed out of the room with a blanket around her like a shawl. She found him on the porch swing, reading. He had a pen behind his ear. He was wearing glasses and looked extremely focused. She can't remember ever seeing him focused on anything. She took the mental picture and smiled. She would sit here forever and just watch him if she could.

"Hey," He said as he looked up, removing his glasses.

"What are you reading?" She asked. He held up the front cover. "The Great Gatsby." It was torn and well-used.

"I thought it fitting." He smiled and her heart jumped.

"In more ways than one. I don't think there could have been a better choice actually." She smiled at him.

"Come, come, sit down." He said as he swung his legs over the swing, making room for her.

"So, how did it happen. How did you get to be who you are today?" She said curious.

"Jump right into it then?" He said. She smiled and nodded. If there was anyone who would understand his story, it was Rory. He nodded and smirked. "Well then, where to begin?" He glanced her way.

"The night you left. The last thing you said to me was and I quote 'So I'd kiss you goodbye, but your boyfriend's watching." He finished it with her. "That's right. Did you mean it?"

He smiled, "Of course I did. I was crazy about you Rory. You knew that. You and I…we always clicked. Even when we were driving each other crazy."

"I missed you a lot when you left." She smiled. "And I would have let you kiss me, I can't say I wasn't disappointed when you turned and walked away." He stared at her.

"Really, hmm. Well you should have told me. I definitely could have made that happen for you."

"I bet." She started playing with the edge of the blanket. "Military school did this miracle work then?"

"In a way. I had to be myself, and that actually was a pretty hard thing for me to be. I had grown up in a world where you chose your mask to match your outfit." She giggled. "But I did well in military school. I really liked it actually and I made some great friends."

"Did you learn to read there too?" He smiled as she looked at his book.

"No girls and a lot of thinking time."

"Ah." She smiled.

"Enough about me, how did you wind up at Yale dating Logan Huntzberger?" He said in a shocked voice. "Who might I add, is the quintessential high school version of me. What happened to Bagboy?"

"Well, I got accepted to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but Yale was the winner, and it was closer to my mom. Dean got married and then told me he was separated, we slept together, and we had a 'fling'." She said using her hands to gesticulate. The hurt was evident in her voice but she kept her composure. Tristan was completely caught off-guard. He grabbed her hand.

"I'm so sorry." She let the silence reign for a little while and she said, "Don't tell Logan, he doesn't know anything about Dean. He saw us break up a couple weeks later, he was at a party my Grandparents threw for me. He and Finn and Colin cheered me up."

"They got you drunk." He said knowingly.

"That too." She said with a grin. "He took good care of me. We started dating, no strings attached, but it got serious."

"And now? He's bringing you home so it must be pretty serious." He asked still holding her hand.

"Now," she paused "Now he's getting bored, it won't be long before he cheats and I break up with him." She said matter of factly. He frowned.

"Well if you know he's going to do it, why drag it out?" He asked knowing she was probably more right than he wanted to admit.

"Don't bother defending him." She smiled. "I just want to enjoy it while it's here. We have fun together, but it's not serious."

"You've changed, but you haven't changed at all." He said as she blushed. "No, it's a good thing. You've grown up. It's a little sad; I miss the naïve creature at Chilton. You seemed so…Unjaded."

"Things change, for the better I think." They talked for hours. They laughed at each other's funny stories and shared each other seriousness when the time came for it. As they sat, she realized he never let go of her hand. They were close, figuratively and literally. It was like they had known each other their entire lives. You and I…we always clicked. She heard his voice in her head.

"Rory" Tristan looked down. Without even seeing it, she noticed he had let go of her hand. It felt cold.

"Hmm?" She said looking at him. He was looking at the glass door. Logan was walking towards them. He opened the glass door.

"What the hell are you guys doing up this early?" He asked still half asleep. "It's 5."

"I could ask the same for you." Tristan said with a smile.

"I couldn't sleep so I came out here, and I saw Tristan was up." Rory smiled at him.

"Military time. Couldn't beat it out of me if I tried." He shrugged.

"Come on Logan, Let's go back to bed." Rory said as she stood up. She winked at Tristan over her shoulder.

They were barbecuing in the backyard with Finn and Colin that night. Rory was sitting on Finn's lap and flirting shamelessly. Tristan sat back with a beer in his hand and laughed at the two of them. This was the Rory he had never seen, but loved all the same. It was who she should have always been. It was funny how they complemented each other like that. She helped him get his life together and he helped her loosen up. The 3 musketeers thought it was their doing, but he knew she would have never hung out with them if he hadn't come along first. She had admitted it herself.

"Rory love, Tell Tristan here he's burning the burgers." Finn said. Rory came over and sat on his lap.

"You're burning the burgers?" She said with a smile. He glanced at Logan.

"Logan, Are we burning the burgers?" He said with a smirk. Logan glanced over at Rory on Tristan's lap. He felt a pang of jealousy, but he knew that was unfair. They weren't going to last long and he just didn't want her to be with someone else, especially Tristan. He saw them talking last night, he knew they were going to end up together. The way they looked at each other, it was undeniable.

"I don't think so. Finn are we burning the burgers?" Logan said with a smirk.

"Damn Yankees." He said as he grabbed the tongs out of Tristan's hands. As Rory got up to sit on Logan's lap, Tristan joined Finn at the grill.

"So. How long have you been in love with our Reporter Girl?" Finn said discreetly.

"Going on four years now." He knew it was obvious, and he didn't care anymore.

"She's perfect. Beautiful, smart, legs that most guys would kill to…Well, she's perfect." Finn smiled. "Most guys would go nuts to have a girl like her."

"So why doesn't Logan?" He asked rhetorically.

"Don't worry mate. She'll be on the market soon enough. In fact, if you asked me, I would say that your being here has sped up the said break up. She's going to be coming to you for comfort. Can't say I wouldn't kill to see that girl on the rebound." He smiled and winked at Tristan as he flipped the burgers.

Logan kissed Rory as she came over to sit by him.

"I see I'm last on your lists of laps to sit on," he said curtly.

"Oh but baby, I always save the best for last. It makes the other boys feel important." She said as she kissed him again. She followed him into the living room.

"Rory, what are we doing here?" he asked in all seriousness. "I know you were lying to me about Tristan." She flushed as she got angry.

"We didn't do anything, Logan. Besides, you think I don't know about all the girls you've been with the past couple of weeks?"

"I haven't been with girls, I've been with a girl, you!"

"Oh please, she called your cell phone Logan, and I answered it." He looked shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. "Why did you look the other way?"

"Because I don't care. That's the main problem with this relationship Logan. I don't care, and you don't care!" she wanted to bring Tristan into this but she didn't.

"Then I guess we are just wasting our time." He said standing up and walking into the backyard.

"I guess we are." She went to grab her stuff. She started throwing her clothes into her bags when Tristan walked in the room.

"The food is…done." He said as he trailed off.

"Yeah well, so are me and Logan." She said as she stuffed her clothes into her bag.

"Hey. Are you ok?" he said as he walked closer to her. She leaned into him.

"Yeah, Just help me get out of here?"

"If you're leaving, I'm coming with you. I don't want to stay here and wait for Logan to kill me in my sleep." She smiled. "The question is, Where are we going?"