Disclaimer: I own nothing.

That night, Tristan took Rory out to a local pub to meet his friends. As they walked in, Rory immediately caught sight of the loud table in the back full of people. Some were playing pool or darts, others just sitting around the table chatting.

"Hey!" She heard someone shout their way.

"Hey guys." Tristan said smiling. He was convinced he had the greatest group of friends in the world. These guys were his true family. "Everybody, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory, this is everybody." He said as they sat down.

"Nice to meet you," a man said as he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"The pleasure's all mine." She smiled back.

"That would be Ty. He's the one you need to watch out for. I'm Noah." The man next to her said. "This is my girlfriend Laura," He gestured to the girl beside him.

"Hi Rory, I've heard so much about you!" She smiled and stuck out her hand. Noah continued.

"Those guys playing pool are Matt and Eric. They used to room with Tristan before he got his own place off campus." Rory glanced over to see Tristan hugging Matt. He glanced her way and they both smiled at each other.

"So tell us about yourself Rory." Ty said with a grin.

"Well, Tristan and I went to High School together. We drove each other crazy. He got sent off to Military school and I went to Yale. His cousin and I were actually dating, that's how we remet."

"Wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You were dating Logan." He said in all seriousness.

"Yeah," She smiled. "Actually, we were going to break up the weekend I met Tristan. He and I got to talking and now, here we are."

"It's funny how things like that work out." Laura said dreamily. "It's just like a romantic movie!" Rory laughed and soon they were talking like old friends. Tristan came over to check up on her and grab a beer.

"How are we doing?" He whispered in her ear.

"I'm having a blast." She said with a huge smile on her face. He looked at her then looked at his friends.

"What are you telling her?" He said in an accusing tone.

"Nothing." They all said with straight faces as Noah walked backwards slowly up to the bar. Tristan leaped over the chair in front of him and grabbed Noah by the arm.

"We might have divulged a few pieces of information." He said with an innocent look on his face. "The problem is, you don't know which ones." He laughed teasingly.

"Whatever they tell you, it's a lie." He pointed his finger at Rory as he let Noah go.

"Oh I hope not." She smiled wickedly. He kissed her as he walked by and continued his game of pool. As the night wore on, people slowly left in couples or by themselves. Soon it was just Rory, Tristan and Ty.

"Well, we should probably head back." Tristan said as he looked around. "I'm assuming they want to close this joint."

"Ok." Rory said as she stood up and stretched.

"Ty, you coming?" Tristan asked.

"No man, I think I'm going to wait around a little longer." He said with a sleepy smile. He had a few in him.

"Alright," Tristan laughed as Rory looked concerned. "It's ok," he whispered. "His brother owns the place." She nodded and they walked out into the warm night air.

"So I had a lot of fun tonight." Rory said as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Good, I'm glad." He smiled. "Those guys, they are my family. It's really cool having you meet them. It's like the best of both worlds." They walked awhile in silence. Rory looked up at him and smiled.

"So, do all your girlfriends meet 'the family'?" She said as she quoted with her hands.

"No, you're the first one." He said kind of quietly. "I haven't wanted them to know about any of the other girls. I knew they weren't going to last. You, however." He paused. "Well, I just hope that there won't be a need to introduce any other girls to them." She smiled.

"I hope so too." As they got back to his house, she was starting to get tired. She walked into the bedroom and threw on her pajamas. She crawled into bed and fell asleep. Tristan walked in and smiled. Now that was a sight he could get used to. He crawled in next to her and watched her as she slept. He was never a strongly religious person, but he said a prayer to whoever would be listening that his life would always have her in it.