AN: Sory for the long wait...I don't own gilmore girls or the song Pretty Girl by Sugarcult.


New Neighbours
Chapter Nineteen: Sad Love

Previously:

"Rory, what's wrong?" Tristin asked and she turned around to find him no more than foot away from her. "Why'd you go home in the first place?"

Rory shrugged, "My dad called the school, he wanted us to come home," she explained as if it was nothing.

"Why?" he asked and brought a hand forward, rubbing it along the length of her arm.

"I really don't want to talk about it," she told him again meeting his narrowed eyes. "Please?"

Tristin watched her for a moment, his gaze intense and boring through her but then he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, sure. You want to…watch a movie?"

Rory smiled at how great he was being. She could tell he was confused and that he wanted to know what had happened but he wasn't going to push her into telling him. She moved closer to him and let her arms go around his neck, laying her head against his chest. Rory felt his arms com around her waist and pull her even closer to him and she couldn't help but sigh out at the warmth that his embrace sent throughout her.

Rory pulled away from him after a minute and she let their eyes meet. She couldn't stop the sudden onslaught of feelings she felt going through her. She recognized the same emotions in his intense blue eyes and Rory suddenly smiled shyly. She interlaced her hand with his and walked around him, tugging on his hand so that he would follow her.

She led him up the stairs and into his bedroom, where the two of them had spent many evenings and weekends just lying around. She smiled reassuringly at him and then closed the door.

"Rory?" Tristin asked, watching her as she stood in front of him again, her eyes were determined and deep but he could still see the hesitant way she moved.

Rory bit her bottom lip and then moved closer to him. She laid her hand on his cheek and let their lips connect slowly, letting out all her pent up emotions in the kiss. It started out sweet but soon grew more passionate as Tristin snaked his arms around her and pulled her tight against him, stroking one hand down her back and the other gripping her hip.

Rory moaned as she threaded both her hands through his hair, kissing him harder as every thought flew out of her mind. She'd wanted this for a while now, wanted to show him how much he meant to her. She completely forgot about her parents and about the bankruptcy and Tristin's father.

It was only him and that was all she needed.

---

Rory groggily opened her eyes the next morning, bringing one hand up to her forehead and swatting away the bright rays of the sun. She could still feel her body protesting against being awake and so she was about to turn around and let sleep take her again when she felt a weight lying on her stomach. Rory turned around slowly, peering over her shoulder and smiled upon the sight of Tristin's sleeping figure.

She couldn't believe the night before, every action, every word, fresh in her mind.

She always thought her first time would be perfect. Candles, romantic music, him telling her he loved her. No one would ever believe her if she told them that, it just didn't fit. She wasn't the kind of girl who wanted that perfect night, a romantic setting. It didn't fit.

But last night had been perfect. Just because it had been with him. There weren't candles or music and although Rory wasn't sure if she did love him she never told him and he didn't either.

But the passion between them had replaced everything. The feelings he'd made her feel had overwhelmed her and made her forget about everything else. It had only been the two of them and it had been the best night of her life.

But everything came crashing down around Rory as her cell phone rang from her pants pocket. She rolled over on his bed, gripping the sheet to her body and blindly reaching around for her pants. When she found them she quickly answered her phone, hoping the ringing hadn't woken Tristin up.

"Hello?" she asked keeping her voice quieter than usual.

"Rory?" Lilly's voice came over the other end and Rory sighed in relief, she'd been dreading the fact that it could have been either of her parents.

"Yeah, what's up?" She tried to act normal, all the while knowing their situation was anything but.

"Oh you know not much," Lilly shot back and Rory smiled as she lay back down beside Tristin, making sure not to disturb him. "Where are you?"

Rory paused for a second before biting her bottom lip. "Tristin's," she replied nervously, knowing she couldn't hide something like this from Lilly but not knowing how her sister would react.

"Cool," Lilly stated and Rory narrowed her eyes as she heard a little guilt in her sister's voice. "Me to."

"What?"

Lilly laughed, strained. "No, I'm not at Tristin's…I'm at Blake's," she corrected and Rory nodded before her eyes widened at the hidden information.

"Really?" she asked incredulous, eyes wide.

"I guess we really are alike, huh?" she asked in a rhetorical fashion.

Rory nodded although she knew Lilly couldn't see her. "Have you heard from mom and dad?" she asked after a minute of silence.

Lilly sighed, "Not exactly. Mom left a message on my phone; she wants us home as soon as possible."

"Right," Rory agreed and pushed herself into a sitting position, reaching for her clothes. "Did she sound mad?"

"Maybe a little," Lilly said and the two of them didn't say anything for a minute or two. "I guess I'll see you at home?" Lilly finally asked.

"Yeah…bye," Rory said, ending the call, and setting her phone down on the bed beside her.

She'd felt so happy earlier this morning but she should have known that just ignoring what had happened wasn't going to work for long. With a groan she started to put her clothes back on, sending sidelong glances at Tristin every couple of seconds, wondering if she should wake him up before she left.

"I at least owe him that," she whispered to herself and walked over to his side of the bed and sat down. "Tristin?" she asked, letting one hand rest on his chest, tapping slightly to try and wake him up. "Tristin!"

"Rory?" he asked groggily and opened his eyes, glassy from sleep and Rory smiled at the sight of him waking up. He looked more than adorable all scruffy and confused.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she greeted and bent down to brush her lips against his, pulling back before he could deepen their kiss.

"You're dressed," he stated looking over her form and then meeting her eyes again.

Rory smirked. "Thanks mister states the obvious," she teased sarcastically but her eyes still held affection in them, letting him know she was only joking. "I kind of have to go…home."

Tristin furrowed his brows for a second, remembering something from the night before. "Are you okay? Last night…" he started and sat up in front of her.

Rory cut him off with a finger against his lips. "Last night was perfect," She told him and smiled. "No regrets."

Rory saw Tristin open his mouth again, ready to say something else when her phone rang once again. She frowned and walked over to where she'd put it down before, recognizing the number on the small screen as her brothers.

"Hey, Billy," she answered, looking apologetically at Tristin.

"Hey, kid," he greeted and she could tell by his voice that he already knew about everything. "How you holding up?"

"Okay," she said, not wanting to give too much away as she was still in the room with Tristin.

"You sure? You know you don't have to act all strong with me," he assured her and Rory smiled.

"Billy, I'm sure," she promised. "How about you?"

"Big change, something to get used to," he said vaguely but Rory was used to his nonchalant attitude to their fathers business. "I'm worried about you, is all. When he told me about his dad's plan…I should have known it wouldn't work."

Rory nodded along to what he was saying for a second before she stopped and her eyes clouded with confusion. "Wait a minute…what? Who's plan?"

"Tristin's dad…" Billy supplied slowly, like he was talking to a small child. "When he told me about his plan to have Tristin date you for some business deal…I can't believe I went along with it. I should have known you would get hurt."

Rory felt her breath stop, her heart start to pound in her chest. She could barely hold the phone anymore as she felt her hands turn clammy. "What?"

There was a long silence on the other end and then Rory heard him sigh. "You didn't know?" he asked, cursing under his breath.

"What are you talking about, Billy?" she asked and heard her voice was throbbing slightly but she paid no attention to it. "What plan?"

"Tristin told me a while ago…" he started. "His dad didn't think Chris trusted him enough so he asked Tristin to date you, to put in a good word with Chris," Billy told her and Rory felt her eyes fill with tears, her heart breaking with every word he said. "Tristin told me that he didn't want to, that he didn't have a choice but…"

"Don't," she interrupted and brought a hand to her mouth, holding it over her lips. "Thanks Billy," she muttered before hanging up her phone and gripping the plastic in her hand.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring at nothing, not being able to see through her tears before she felt him. His hand resting on her shoulder, his presence standing behind her, the heat from his body radiating out towards hers.

She snapped away from his touch, shoving her phone into her pants again and finally meeting his eyes. Her blue eyes were watery but there was a fire lit inside them, so strong Tristin stepped back from her.

"I can't believe you," she muttered, her voice like venom. "Don't follow me," she stated before stalking past him and hurrying through his house, feeling more disgusted with herself the further she went.

It wasn't until she got inside her car and started the engine that she let her tears fall uncontrollably. She'd always believed that you got to choose how you felt. You got to choose when you were happy or in love or when you just wanted to be alone. And right at that moment, even through all her anger towards Tristin and herself and their families…she chose to be sad.

---
Pretty girl is suffering,
while he confesses everything
Pretty soon she'll figure out
what his intentions were about

And that's what you get for falling again
you can never get him outta your head
And that's what you get for falling again
you can never get him outta your head

Its the way that he makes you feel
its the way that he kisses you
its the way that he makes you fall in love

She's beautiful as usual
with bruises on her ego and
her killer instinct tells her to
be aware of evil men

And that's what you get for falling again
you can never get him outta your head
And that's what you get for falling again
you can never get him outta your head

Pretty girl
Pretty girl
Pretty girl is suffering
while he confesses everything
pretty soon she'll figure out
you can never get him outta your head

its the way that he makes you cry
its the way that he's in your mind
its the way that he makes you fall in love

Its the way that he makes you feel
its the way that he kisses you
its the way that he makes you fall in love, love

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