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Lorelei grabbed his hand and led him to the door. "It's now or never." She said as she pushed the doorbell. Tristan took a deep breath.

"Now or never," he whispered to himself.

They were greeted by a servant and escorted into the living room for drinks. As Tristan turned the corner he saw his mother discussing the DAR with Emily and his father talking business with Richard. It seemed to be going well.

"Tristan! How lovely of you to join us." His mother said.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I tried to get here as quickly as I could but I'm afraid when you are an intern, your time is not your own."

"Don't apologize young man. You should be commended for your strong work ethic. Too many of your peers simply float by on their parents' money. It's refreshing to see someone actually stepping out on their own and finding a new path." Richard said as he got Tristan a drink.

"Well thank you sir." He turned to sit next to Rory. "Hello." He said quietly as she kissed his cheek.

"It's going well." She whispered to the new guests.

"The night's not over." Lorelei whispered back as she joined them on the couch. "Who couldn't love you? We're the antagonists in this picture." She said as Tristan muttered an Amen.

"So Lorelei, what do you do?" Tristan's mother asked, breaking the quiet tension.

"I own the Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow."

"Oh how lovely, I've heard wonderful things about it. I must admit I've never been there myself, but I've always wanted to have a luncheon there sometime."

"Sookie, the chef there, is absolutely amazing. You should try her pancakes." Tristan said with a smile.

"Don't be silly darling. It's unbecoming."

"Tristan, Rory was just telling us how much you two are enjoying living in the city. Do you think you'll stay there after college?" Emily asked.

"I really can't say. I would love to live in New York, but a lot can happen in a year."

"What about you Rory, would you like to stay in New York?"

"I'll go where my job takes me." She said quietly. The room silently processed this information. It was very clear to each party that a wedding was already expected and a great union of the Elite was in the works.

"Well, shall we continue this conversation in the dining room? Dinner's ready." Emily announced. The room slowly emptied leaving Tristan and Rory alone.

"They're being nice." Tristan said, still trying to process the concept.

"I told you it was going well." Rory said.

"No, something's going on. I don't know what it is, but this cannot be happening."

"Maybe they are finally deciding to let you live your life." Tristan rolled his eyes. "Or, we both come from society, have good last names and are successful and they just want to take all the credit so they can one up their neighbors."

"I think that's more along the correct lines. I've just never seen them like this before."

"Come on, they're going to wonder where we are."

OOOOO

An hour later, Tristan was arriving in New York. Rory and Lorelei had left together. She left him a note on his car that she was spending the night in Stars Hollow. His knuckles were white from clenching the steering wheel. How could he do this? Tristan thought to himself. He realized he was shaking so he took a couple breaths but nothing helped. Lorelei's words echoed in his mind, "He's not worth it." He couldn't help it, he was furious.

"Tristan, just answer the damn question so your mother can get on with her life. Are you going to marry this girl or not."

Of course he was going to marry her. He knew it the very first moment he saw her. However, this was his father, so the question couldn't stop with just that.

"I mean, she's not going to take after her mother and just ruin a young man's life, is she?"

Tristan and Lorelei both got up from the table. Tristan's eyes were filled with anger and sorrow. She walked over to him and hugged him.

"He's not worth it." She whispered. "Just leave and let it go."

Tristan couldn't let it go.

"How dare you come into these people's home and insult their family! These women are the best women I've ever met and no one in our family even deserves to know how great they are."

Lorelei hadn't left yet. She smiled as Tristan finally stood up to his father. She was secretly very proud of him for ignoring her request. As she listened to his huge speech from the foyer, Rory came running out to catch her before she left.

"Mom, wait!"

"Not now honey, Tristan's making the best speech since Barack Obama."

"But I wanted to tell you something." Lorelei turned to see her daughter's eyes were filled with tears.

"What is it?" She asked, now concerned that something was wrong.

"I'm late."

OOOOO

Rory and her mother quickly scrawled a note on a napkin and left it on Tristan's windshield. As they sat on the way home contemplating what this meant, Lorelei finally asked the question.

"How late?"

"Only a couple days, but it's really unusual for me to be late at all."

"Have you been safe?" she asked

"Every time." Lorelei sighed.

"When was the last time you two, you know." Rory thought for awhile.

"Two weeks ago." She put her hand over her mouth to stifle any sound that might come out.

"Well, when did you realize this?"

"Just now, when he said, what he said. Oh my God. What about Yale? What about Tristan. Oh God he's probably a wreck right now and I left him all alone."

"Honey….Breathe…You have to breathe. You don't know what's going on, you don't even know if you are pregnant. For all we know, this is just a thought pushed into your head by Satan himself." Rory tried to keep from panicking. Lorelei was right. She didn't know anything, therefore she had no reason to panic.

"Do I tell Tristan?" She asked her mother.

"Do you want to know for sure before you tell him?"

"I don't know." Just then her cell phone rang. It was Laura.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rory, it's Laura. Look, I just got a call from Tristan looking for Noah and he sounded like something was seriously wrong. I know that it's none of my business but I want to know that everything is ok and Noah is off locking himself in the bedroom. Is everything ok?"

"Tristan's father insinuated that I was just like my mother and would ruin Tristan's life by getting pregnant if we didn't get married soon." Rory listened to Laura start to swear.

"Laura, Laura!" She calmed down long enough to listen to Rory. "Listen to me. I have to ask you a question. Can you keep a secret if I tell you one? I need your advice."

"Sure. Anything."

"I didn't realize it before tonight, but I'm late. Not very late, just a little late. Should I tell Tristan, or wait until I know for sure what's happening?"

"Oh my God."

"I know." There was a long pause.

"Well, I would wait until you're really late. And then I would let Tristan know. Because, you don't want to get him worked up over nothing right?"

"Right. That makes sense."

"Hey Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to be?"

"I don't know. It wouldn't be a bad thing. It would just be different than how I wanted it, you know?"

"Yeah. I understand. Hold on a sec." Rory heard Noah's voice and then Laura picked up the phone again.

"Tristan thinks that you took whatever his father said personally. That's why he's a mess, not because of his father, but because of the effect on you guys."

"Mom, turn around. I'm going back to New York tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, turn around." Lorelei followed direction while Rory continued her conversation.

"I hope you get everything figured out. Either way, I want an update on the situation and as soon as you know what's going on. I want to be the first person you call."

"Ok, thanks for everything Laura."

"Bye."

"Take care." Rory sighed as her grandparent's house came back into view. She hugged her mother and got back into her own car. This was going to be the longest ride she'd ever have to take.

OOOOO

When Tristan unlocked the door, the empty apartment seemed incredibly lonely. What's that phrase, he thought, silence is deafening? That's how it feels. He hated not knowing what Rory was doing or thinking right now. He was too tired from his tirade earlier to do anything but fall into bed. Within in a couple of minutes of him falling on top of his bed, he heard the door open.

"Tristan?" It was Rory. He sat up and immediately followed the sound of her voice into the living room.

"Mary," He said, sighing in relief at the sight of her. She ran into his arms and squeezed him.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Stars Hollow?"

"I was, until I realized that you needed me a lot more than I needed my mom, who by the way, sends her thanks for standing up for us."

"Why did you need your mom?" He said, pulling away with concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing now." She said as she pulled him in close again. "Now, all I want to do is sleep."

"Sleep. We haven't been doing much of that these days, have we?" She shook her head.

"Family is mentally and physically exhausting." She said as she walked towards the bedroom. At least, that's what I hope is making me so tired.

"Hey Mar," Tristan said as he changed into his PJ's.

"What Tristan?"

"You could never "ruin my life"." He whispered sincerely. She smiled through the tears in her eyes but she didn't respond. If nothing happens by tomorrow night, I'll tell him, she thought.

OOOOO

The next morning, Rory woke up with excruciating cramps. She took her cell phone into the bathroom and called her mother and Laura with the false alarm news. When she had finished with her calls, she turned on the shower, letting the thundering rain drown out the sound of her own tears.