Disclaimer: I'm not putting this up one more time…I don't own Gilmore Girls so in further chapters refer to either this chapter or anyone's before.
Author's Note: This will finally have the Trory fluff you've all been waiting! Yeah!
Oh yah and the stuff written in bold are Tristin's P.O.V.

New Neighbours
Chapter Seven: 20 Questions

"Why don't we get dressed, Ror?" She asked but didn't even wait for an answer before dragging me by the arm, up the stairs and into her room. "Okay so what should we wear?"

"Well, where are we going?"

"I don't know…Why don't we spilt up?" She didn't look me in the eye when she said and hurriedly crossed the room to open her closet.

"Lilly you can't be serious! You can't leave me alone with Tristin for a whole day…I'll kill myself!"

"Oh come one it won't be that bad. Please Rory, do this for me," She was begging, her azure eyes pleading with me.

"Fine but if you come home and fine my corpse instead, it will all be your fault!" I said the last as I made my way through the bathroom that led into my room.

"You're such a drama queen!"

I didn't answer her; instead I went into my room and fetched an outfit for today, changed, did my hair and was back in Lilly's room in 15 minutes. I sat down on her bed waiting for her to get out of her closet.

"What are you wearing?" She asked as she came out of her closet and looked at my outfit. I had kept it casual and comfy. I was wearing a pair of camouflage cargo pants, a black tank top with a dark green cardigan, black skateboarding shoes and beaded necklace. "So were going casual?"

"Well I went casual but I don't know for you this is kind like a date, isn't it?"

"Well yeah I guess but I don't know what to wear. I can't go all out and wear a pretty dress and pearls. Even though I really don't like pearls, I mean they're way to fancy…Well maybe if you're going to a nice restaurant and you have to look elegant and stuff but were not going to any fancy restaurant so I shouldn't wear pearls and…"

"Whoa! Lilly calm down, take a breather," I said while pushing her gently towards the bed. She sat down and I went further into her closet. "So you want casual but still date worthy right?"

"Yeah."

A couple minutes later I came out holding a black long sleeve that had two, finger painted daisies on it. I tossed it over to her and then a pair of semi-tight denim. I when back into her closet grabbed a pair of black high tops and tossed them at her.

"There," Was all I said before making my way downstairs. I walked into the foyer to look for my purse and found it buried in the closet. After grabbing mine and Lilly's I made my way into the living room. "So are you guys ready?"

Blake, who was sitting on the couch, looked around the room once, "Umm…Where's Lilly?"

There was a loud crash from upstairs, a pretty impressive string of curses and then Lilly showed up at the door. "Dad, we really need to do something about those stairs."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with them," Dad answered while walking over to the staircase Lilly had just bounded down.

"Yes there is!"

"Okay then why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"There's too many of them," Lilly said coming to stand beside me and dropping her head onto my shoulder in defeat.

"Well the next time I'm free I'll think about lowering the entire second floor of the house a couple of feet so that there aren't so many stairs," He said very sarcastically while pretending to write it into his palm pilot.

Lifting her head of my shoulder, her eyes lit up. "Thanks daddy," Returning her attention to the other teens in the room she asked excitedly, "So are we ready?"

Not Ten Minutes Later

"Hurry up Tristin!" I screamed from the drive way.

"Well isn't someone eager to see me," Came his husky from beside my ear.

Ignoring the shivers running down my spine, I removed his hands that were resting on my hips, even though my body was screaming not to. "No, someone just wants to get this day over with as soon as possible."

Looking out of the corner of my eye I couldn't help but let my gaze travel up her body. The pants she was wearing fit her nicely, showing of her curves and her top…well it's very form-fitting. But what really caught my attention was that all she was wearing on her face was lip gloss. She wasn't all done up with her usual heavy, black eyeliner and dark red lipstick. I like her natural look, somehow she looks even more beautiful right now then any other time I've seen her.

"Tristin!" I screamed at the boy beside me. He had been staring at me for the past minute or so and it was getting kinda creepy.

Falling out of his trance Tristin let a smirk spread across his face. "Want something Mary?" He asked leaning in to me.

Letting out an exasperated shriek I pushed him backwards and walked hurriedly towards my car. Jumping into the front seat I put the keys in the ignition, threw my seatbelt on and slammed my foot on the gas. The car jerked to life and sped down the driveway. I stopped it at the end and put it into park, waiting for Tristin.

He was jogging up to the front seat and when he got there be bent down, resting his hands on his knees. "What the hell was that?" He demanded.

Cocking my head to the side I showed a smirk of my own. "You were getting annoying."

"And do you always drive away from people when you find they're being annoying?"

Closing my eyes I let out a breath and counted to ten. "Are you coming or not?"

Smirking he walked around to the passenger's side and opened the door. "Well not yet but I'm sure with a little help from you…"

His sentence was cut off when I put the car into drive again and pushed down the gas. He stopped talking immediately and yanked his foot into the car and slammed the door shut. He looked at me with wide eyes for a second. He opened his mouth to say something but never did because at that moment I pulled out of the drive and made a sharp turn to the right.

"Now Mary that wasn't nice," He playfully whined after putting his seatbelt on.

"Tristin you're already treading on thin ice and I wouldn't want you to fall in and drown…No wait I would!" I smiled sardonically at him with an evil glint in my eyes.

"Now Mary that's no way to treat your friends."

"You're not my friend Tristin," Was the scathing remark I sent towards and if I had been looking at him I would have seen hurt flash in his eyes.

He recovered quickly and scooted closer to me before putting his arm around my shoulders. "You wound me Mary."

I then made the mistake of looking at him. His blue eyes were captivating, drawing me in and swallowing me whole. I almost forgot I was driving a car but a loud honk from behind pulled me back into reality. Speeding the car up I let out a sigh. How come he can affect me like that?

"Come on Mary I want to be your friend," He expressed in a small, pseudo hurt voice.

"Well to bad because I can't be friends with someone like you."

"And why not?" I can't believe she hasn't noticed my arm yet…God this feels so right; me having my arm around her…

I looked at him again. "Because I can't be friends with someone who refuses to call be by my name and hits on me every two seconds!"

"Okay then why don't we make a deal? I'll stop hitting on you, if…you'll stop being mean."

"Mean! I'm not mean!" I exclaimed with a small smile on my face.

"Oh I'm sorry I though I was talking to the girl who almost broke my leg!"

"Okay first off; you deserved that and second; that would not have broken your leg, not even close."

"All right. So do we have a deal?" Tristin asked hoping she would say 'Yes'.

I studied his eyes for a minute. All I could see was sincerity and hope. I caved. "Fine! We have a deal!"

"Great!"

THE WEST-HARTFORD PARK

I lie back against the hood of my car and close my eyes. The sounds of kids playing in the park, and dogs barking drifted to my ears. I always loved this place; it was so peaceful even with the screaming little kids.

I couldn't help but smile as I looked out of the side of my eye. Tristin was beside me, reading a YM magazine. He had horrified look on his face while reading some article.

"Okay now I'm scarred for life!" He let out while throwing the magazine into the front seats.

I laughed, breaking out it a huge smile. "Poor Trissy!"

His head snapped to the left. He had this look of confusion, wonderment and happiness on his handsome face. "Trissy?"

"Well since you call me Mary, I thought it would only be fair to repay the gesture. But you'll probably have many nick names, Bible Boy!"

"Okay so I get Trissy but Bible Boy?"

"Well you call me Mary, as in the Virgin Mary. So I can see that you get your encouragement from the Bible. Therefore you are now dubbed, 'Bible Boy'," I said with a serious expression on my face.

Tristin just looked at me for a minute before erupting in laughter. His laugh was low and guttural, and it sent shivers down my spine. "You my friend are very odd!"

"And you don't even know the half of it," Then came an idea. "Oh my God, we are so playing twenty questions!"

Groaning, Tristin couldn't help but smile a genuine smile, as he felt himself falling harder and faster for the unconventional girl beside him. "Fine, we'll play, you go first."

"Okay…What's your full name?" I asked while turning my head to the right, so that I could see him.

"Tristin Janlen Dugrey. What about you?"

"Lorelai Leigh Hayden."

"Isn't your step-mom named Lorelai to?"

"Yeah she is. My mom, my real mom, named me Lorelai because she loved the name. But then when my dad met Lorelai so I shortened it to Rory," I explained to the boy lying next to me.

"Wow, small world. Anyway, how about family?"

"Well there's my dad, Christopher Hayden, and my step-mom, Lorelai Hayden. My sister, whose full name is Britney Lillian Hayden; we call her Lilly for short though and my older brother, Billy Tyler Hayden. Then there're the grandparents, Janet and Peter Hayden. Janet; the world's biggest shopper and Peter; well no ones gotten him out from behind his newspaper long enough to get to know him…"

Tristin started laughing again but couldn't help but agree, even in the short time he'd been with her grandpa.

"Then there's my mom's side of the family, my real mom. Her name was Mackenzie Martin. She was English and all her family lives in London, England. We've met some of the family. Starting with our grandparents, Abigail and William Martin, who are the nicest and coolest grandparents in the world, but you, would really have to meet them to know why. Then there's my Aunt Adelaide and Uncle Malcolm, and my cousin's Mariabella and Roderick." I paused, taking a breath. "What about you"

"Well I don't have any siblings, so it's just me, my mom; Katherine Dugrey, and my dad; Arthur Dugrey…"

"Oh my God, was that your dad at my house?" I interrupted him.

"Yeah."

"Man, I feel sorry for you!" I couldn't even think about having to live with a father like that.

I saw Tristin's eyes darken considerably. I feel so bad for him…I bet he doesn't want my pity… "So what about philosophies?" I asked him, changing the subject.

He looked over at me again, grateful for the new question. "You mean something I really care about?" At my nod he continued. "Well my biggest philosophy is to never be my dad."

I smiled at him, my attention drifting towards the playground that was now empty. Huh! Where'd all the kids go? At that moment I heard a distant rumble.

"Was that…"

He was cut off, because all of a sudden rain started to pelt down on us. "Crap!" I screamed as I jumped off the hood of my car and ran to the back. "Tristin help me get the top up!" He ran to the back on his side and together we pulled the top of my car up, protecting the insides. After making sure that it was secure, I opened the drivers door pushed a button and when the chair was down, jumped into the back.

"Well, well, well, aren't we cozy back here," Tristin said in that overly self-assured voice.

"Tristin I thought you said you would stop that," I reprimanded him.

I didn't say anything back to her knowing another innuendo would fall off my lips. God, why can't I just talk normally with her! It's like no matter what everything comes out in 'Jerk'!

I watched Tristin as he climbed over the seat with an observant eye. Knowing that he wasn't endangering my car I turned my attention to the outside. If I hadn't been watching the rain cascade rapidly down the glass window pane, I would have seen Tristin loose his footing while trying to climb into the already crowded backseat…But then again I had been.

He fell on top of me almost; his head coming to rest on my shoulder, buried in a mountain of my hair. His chest was pressed up against my side, and his legs were tangled with mine. His hands came to my hips, trying to support his weight and he lifted his head to find we were inches from each other.

The quick drumming of the rain echoed my heartbeat. Tristin was staring at me intently, his eyes shining dark and dangerous, daring me to so something bold. Kiss him. Conscientiously, I touched a finger tip to his chest, with the intention of pushing him away. I could feel his heart beating just as rapidly as my own. I looked back into his eyes, and I saw an intense passion, and watched as his gaze flickered to my lips. My tongue darted out to moisten them. I heard him groan.

Like a moth to a flame, I move closer; captured by the challenge in his eyes. Masculine and spicy; his scent teased me. I let my gaze fall to his mouth; just inches from mine. I knew that all I had to do was tilt my chin, and reach my tongue out to his lips and…What the hell am I doing? I closed my eyes, swallowed, and took a deep breath. Flattening my hand on his chest, I pushed him away.

I slowly moved out from under him, closer to the glass. The rain outside had died down, it all matched my mood; dreary and gloomy. I knew instantly that he was mad, frustrated with me. His movements were quick and jerked.

His teeth were clenched and he was beside himself with aggravation. That was great! Just great…The first time I get to actually touch her, feel her, she rejects me! She was the one who leaned forward, she was the one who had the upper hand, yet she was the one who pushed me away. I look over at the girl beside me; she was staring fixedly out the window, obviously deep in thought. I could tell she was annoyed…But at me! I can't believe her! "So what are your philosophies?" I asked her trying to kill the silence.

My head whipped around at his question. Why the hell is he talking to me? "Look Tristin about what happened…"

"Yeah I know. It was a mistake; you weren't thinking clearly…ummm…you were caught in the moment…Yeah that was it!" His voice was bitter and he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"I'm sorry," It came out almost inaudibly.

A couple of minutes passed by when out of the blue Tristin turned around. He pulled one leg up onto the seat and laid his left arm on top of the seat. "Okay so you're telling me a girl like you doesn't have any philosophies?" His smirk showing itself again.

I turned around at that comment and sat Indian style with my back against the drivers' seat. "A girl like me?" The awkward silence that had been engulfing the car now vanished.

"Well you know, you're different then the girls at school. I mean all they care about is 'Who's dating who' and appearances!"

"Yeah I don't buy into all that stuff. I mean I could really care less if I'm wearing last months clothes or if I'm dating the social reject."

"So then what do you care about?" Tristin asked. I could tell he wasn't mad anymore, and he even sounded truly interested.

"Animal rights," It came out softly but determined.

"Animals rights, huh. You don't see that often."

I watched as she pushed herself forward and crawled closer to me on the seat. She sat down again in the same position. The backseat of her car was small, probably meant for children. The two of us were crammed in their pretty tight. I felt, rather then saw, her lean forwards. My breath hitched as her voice drifted into my ear; soothing and flirty.

"Then I guess I'm something you don't see often, huh?"

She pulled back a bit, her eyes meeting mine. They were twinkling with mischief. I don't get you Rory, one minute your pushing me away and the next your openly flirting with me, My thoughts were cut off when I felt her hands on my knees; such an innocent gesture but it sent flames through my body. God I think I love you, Mary.

"Yeah you sure are!" I wanted to tell her how much she affected me but I knew not to, not yet. She laughed and a broad, pleased smile was plastered to her face.

"Why thank you dear sir." She expressed in a fake English accent and I couldn't laugh at how bad it sounded.

"You're welcome Milady." I played along with her, and thanked her in my own version of the English accent. I then picked up her hand –the one 'innocently' resting on my knee- and softly kissed it. I kept my eyes connected with hers wanting to see her reaction. At first I saw confusion cloud her eyes, and then when my lips touched her silky, pastel skin I saw a small flash of fear, but it was gone almost instantly. I gently placed her hand back down an offered her a reassuring smile. She returned the gesture but with a small shaky smile. What did I do Mary?

"So…Why do you fight for animal rights?" I asked her, hoping that conversation would help reduce some of the tension in the car. She looked surprised by my question and faltered a bit at first.

"What? Oh…Ummm, I guess it's because they can't fight for themselves. I trust that everyone has a fair chance in the world, but when you can't talk, and you don't have anyway to tell someone you need help, then how do you have that chance. " Even though I was talking I couldn't stop thinking about the almost kiss. When I felt his soft, big lips on my hand it scared me because of how much I wanted him to kiss me on the lips. I can't be thinking like this! I mean I can't like Tristin! He's annoying, egoistic, and preppy and he's a jock…A preppy jock that just happens to be extremely good looking!

To say I hadn't just fallen in love with her all over again would be a complete lie. I couldn't rap my mind around the fact that she was that pure.

"Wow, I mean I can't understand how you can actually think like that!"

"What do you mean?" I asked him with a small smile playing out on my face.

"I don't know…its just weird how you can spend all day with the people at North Brook and not be affected by them."

I looked at him closely, his blue eyes were as clear as day; windows to his soul. I saw reflected in his eyes the same happiness that I felt inside. I smiled. "You know you're not so bad Tristin…At least when you're away from your friends."

He didn't say anything back to me. A content sigh escaped my mouth as I glanced outside again. The rain had cleared up and there was the beginning of a rainbow slightly overhead.

I was deep in thought about what she had said. 'You know you're not so bad Tristin…At least when you're away from your friends.' It was like everything was beginning to get clearer, because I now knew that Rory might like me…even if it was only in a friendly way. Wait a minute…

"You know if you just hung out with them for awhile you'd see that they're not that bad."

I sent him a disbelieving look as I reached my hand down and blindly tried to locate the button that lowers the seat. It didn't take long for me to find it. Once the seat was all the way down I slowly and carefully climbed over it. "Oh I'm sure they're great guys…Guys who would jump anything if it had breasts!"

I heard him laugh again and my heart skipped a beat. God I wish he would stop doing that! It was beautiful outside. Everything was shining in the bright sun and the rainbow was right overhead. I was about to lean back against the car, when I felt an arm curl around my bare waist. My sweater had raised a couple of inches when I climbed out and the feel of his skin on mine sent electricity throughout my body. In fear of having him see the feelings he raised in me I closed my eyes tightly. The feel of his arm on my waist was incredible; the connection was so deep that it almost felt dreamlike.

"The cars wet, Mary," Tristin whispered almost inaudibly. I didn't trust my voice at the moment so all I did was nod. This is insane. I finally stop thinking about the almost kiss and he has to do something like that!

I nudged her forward a little, since she was still leaning into my arm. Part of me wanted to push her out of my grasp and take a couple steps away from her but then again the other part of me –my heart no less- was screaming at me to throw caution to the wind and pull her soft and shapely body against mine. But I knew I couldn't to either so I stuck to memorizing the feel of her warm skin on mine. God this is damn near impossible! I knew that I had to let her go soon before it was too late but instead my grip tightened around her waist and my fingers gripped her harder.

"Tristin?" She asked very quietly and turned around in my grasp. Her blue orbs were wide with fascination and longing. Damn you! It was the last straw…In a second my arms snaked around her petite waist and I crushed her to my chest.

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! What do I do! Oh my God! I couldn't think of anything else to say to him. It was like the moment I looked into his eyes –which almost black with hunger- my whole body froze. My mouth felt completely dry and the butterflies in my stomach had turned into bats. I could feel my knees turning to jelly and if he wasn't holding me so tight I'm sure I would have melted to the floor already. God he must workout! I couldn't help but let my mind drift to the fact that I could clearly feel his 6-pack underneath my palm that was hidden –rather comfortably- between our bodies.

I caught her eyes and couldn't help but sigh into them; they were like deep, blue pools of water; a smooth surface belying the terrifying undercurrent. I could feel an intense fiery heat forming in my abdomen and I knew that this special girl had just become a big part of me. I'll never let anything happen to you, Mary.

"Uh…Rory?"

"Yeah?" I chided myself when I heard my own voice; all soft and low and raspy. Stupid Tristin why do you have to be so damn comfy!

Chuckling I looked down at the girl nestled in my arms. "You know Rory one might think you actually liked me…with the way you're holding on to me."

I couldn't help but let out another content sigh as his laugh reverberated inside of me. I don't think I've ever been this comfortable in my life… I made no intention of pulling away from Tristin and instead wound my arms tighter around his neck.

"Mary…you know…I do…have to…breathe…" Tristin managed to choke out.

I immediately let go of him and took a couple steps back. "Right…Umm…Sorry."

"So next question?" Tristin asked as he turned and walked over to the passenger's side door.

Smiling, I walked over and got inside the car, buckled up and turned the keys, which I had left in the ignition. "So do you have a job?" I asked the boy next to me as I pulled out of the park and onto the street.

"Yeah I work at my dad's business. He says when I'm old enough and after he retires, that all take over for him." He laughed wryly at the thought and I saw his fists clench.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. No matter how many times I changed the subject everything kept going back to his dad.

"What about you?"

"Well I have two jobs."

He turned to look at me and I could see that once again he was relaxed because of the way his eyes held that mischievous twinkle. "Two jobs? Well aren't we the working lady!"

My smile could only grow at that comment. "Don't you ever call me that again!"

"Okay, okay sorry!" He said wearing the most adorable innocent look and raising his palms in the air as if surrendering from the police. Wait a minute did I just think Tristin's cute? Okay now I know I'm completely insane!

"So where do you work?" Tristin asked while he turned on the radio and tried to find a decent station.

"Well really I only have one job because the second one I don't get paid for and it's not charity work. See I write songs for my brother's band." I explained to him. Tristin had settled on Kiss.

"Yeah? That's pretty cool. So what else do you do?" Just as he asked that The Reason by Hoobastank blasted through the surround sound speakers in my car.

"Oh no we are not listening to this song, no siree bob!" I had major issues with that band. "Watch the wheel." And then I turned around and fetched the purse I had left back there last week. I heard Tristin gasp and felt him lean over and take the wheel. Latching onto the shoulder strap I brought the purse into the front and took out my disc man.

"Hey you know I could do…whatever you're doing; so that you could, you know, take the wheel back!" He said in a panicked voice, obviously not wanting to be a 'backseat driver'.

"Hey a girl's purse is private!" I warned him. "Besides I found what I'm looking for anyway." He let go of the wheel once my hands were at quarter to three and lent back into his seat.

"Yeah I know a girl's purse is private…What do you guy's keep in their?" He asked as he moved to pick it up. My reflexes were faster though and it was flung into the backseat before he could do anything. "Guess it can't be anything breakable then…"

With a small smirk playing out on my face I shrugged my shoulders and pressed play on the CD player. Without warning Billy Idol started to blast through the speakers. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw him jump a little and lean forward to turn down the volume a notch.

"So again I ask where else do you work." He repeated his earlier question when he had settled into his seat.

I looked at him shortly before letting my gaze go back to the road. I figured out where we were instantly and got off the highway at the next exit. "Why don't show you instead?"

He looked confused so I motioned with my hand fro him to look ahead. We were stopped at a red light and in front of us was a sign that read; Above and Beyond Animal Sanctuary Exit 711.

"You work at an animal sanctuary?"

"Yeah. Thought it kinda fit with the whole fight for the animal's thing I've got going on." I asked him as I turned left.

He looked at me and smiled a half smile. "Yeah."


-Hey guys I know you probably hate me for stopping here but I thought it would a little bit too long for them to go to the sanctuary in this chapter. I hope you guys liked this one because I spent a lot of time on it…I'm gonna make them friends but there will be a lot of chemistry between them.

Anyway thanks to all you guys,

-Ella