Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls isn't mine...
New Neighbours
Chapter Twenty-One:
She's Worth It
Chapter Twenty Recap:
"I already liked you," he admitted and her gaze snapped back to him. "It was after the first days of school when he told me about…what he wanted to do. I'd already met you and…I thought this could give me the chance to get to know this girl better. You were so different, so unique…" he was rambling but she couldn't say she minded.
"I never wanted you to find out. I know that sounds horrible but it's the truth. I wasn't using you, I was using my father. God, you know how much I hate him Rory!"
"I believe you, Tristin," she whispered.
Rory squealed as his arms were suddenly around her and she was pressed against his chest. She let her hands grab a hold of his shirt, holding onto him for dear life. With her face buried into his neck and the scent of him invading her senses, Rory let a sigh escape her lips.
"I love you, Mary," he whispered into her ear and Rory pulled away from him. She looked straight into his eyes and she could see the wealth of emotion glittering in their depths. She leaned against him, bringing herself up on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his.
"I love you," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck as his went around her waist more tightly.
Chapter Twenty-One:
She felt like she was in the eye of a hurricane.
Everything was calm, peaceful. There was light and air, she could finally relax, if only for a while.
She'd survived the first half of the storm, came through with only minor scars. But she had the feeling that this second half was going to be worse.
Tristin had already left for school; it was after all still only Wednesday. But neither Rory nor Lilly were going to Chilton for the rest of the week. They would have nearly three week to deal with everything that had happened.
It wasn't the ideal way to spend your Christmas, but at least she would have the time to think, to process.
Rory broke herself out of her thoughts; they were too heavy, too serious. They weighed down on her, a intangible burden she wanted nothing more than to forget about.
It was still early in the morning, gentle rays from the sun bathing her room in warm tones. Rory stayed in her bed, comfortable and rather unwilling to move. She knew she should get up; their family had a lot to talk about.
Especially considering Tristan had spent the night with her, something she was sure her parents didn't know about yet.
With a sigh, she slowly pushed her blankets down, exposing herself to the cold December air that was slipping into her room. She walked over to her balcony, fingers tracing over the glass panes, glittered with frost.
There was snow on the ground below her balcony, a beautiful white expanse, undisturbed as of yet. A smile brushed its way across her face, snow was the only thing she really liked about winter. It was always too cold to go sit anywhere outside and so Rory had never really developed a taste for winter.
But snow was different. It was fluffy and white and it made everything sparkle.
Rory was broken away from her examination of the snow blanketing the ground when a knock sounded on her door. She walked over to it, pulling the sweater she'd slept in the night before over her hands to keep them warm.
The door opened to reveal Lilly and their mom, each sipping at some coffee. Lorelai handed an extra mug to Rory, and she couldn't help seeing the gesture as a peace offering, which she accepted readily.
"Thanks," she whispered, taking a large sip of the heavenly beverage, not paying any attention to how hot it was. "I guess we should talk."
She knew she had to be the one to bring it up. So much of what happened was directly related to her, she was after all in a very serious relationship with Mr. Dugrey's son.
Lorelai smiled and walked over to sit down on Rory's bed. The twins copied her actions, each pulling a blanket off to wrap around themselves.
"I know things are hard right now," Lorelai started, watching each girl for a minute and seeing how tried they looked, knowing she herself felt the same way. "God knows something like this has never happened to us before but…we need to stick together, you know? We need to talk to each other more now than we did before."
Lilly laughed. "I thought we were already as bonded as we could be," she mused.
"We probably are," she agreed, "but lately I think we've been keeping some secrets from each other."
Rory nodded her agreement to her mom's words. She wasn't sure when it all happened exactly but her and Lilly had a slow falling out with Lorelai. It was subtle, something they didn't realize until it got to the point where they were fighting with each other.
"I slept with Blake," Lilly suddenly admitted, not meeting anyone's eyes and picking at the comforter she had lying on her lap. "The night before last."
Rory bit her bottom lip, studying Lorelai's reaction. She didn't seem surprised, not even disappointed, she just seemed to accept it.
"I slept with Tristin, the same night," Rory admitted also and then closed her eyes, shaking her head. "He might have also stayed over last night."
That finally got the reaction she expected.
Lorelai snapped her attention to Rory, eyes wide and nose wrinkling. She let her gaze slip down to the bed she was sitting on, suddenly not feeling as comfortable on it as she had before.
Rory gasped and reached forward, clasping her mom's hand. "We didn't…I mean we just slept beside each other," she tried to clarify and saw her mom relax a little.
"You were safe?" she asked both of them to which they nodded. "And they were…nice to you?" she asked her voice awkward and the twins nodded again.
They were all quiet for a moment, none of them knowing exactly how to break the awkward silence enveloping them. It ended up being Lorelai herself who finally said something, or at least started to quietly laugh.
Rory shared an amused yet slightly puzzled look with Lilly. "Mom?"
Lorelai brought a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes bright. "I'm just so happy I don't have to have this conversation ever again!" she exclaimed, making them all start to laugh along with her.
Rory grinned, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Lorelai, hugging her gently. She was glad there were no hard feelings between them. She couldn't be sure what she would have done if Lorelai hadn't been able to accept everything that had happened as of late.
Now all she had to do was get her dad back on her side, and help save her family from disaster.
- - -
No one likes an intervention.
Of course, they usually are associated with a group made up of family and friends who are trying to save someone they love from a bad future.
Still, the tension hung in the air like a veil.
It had been almost two weeks since she'd spoken to her dad about Tristin. Two weeks since they'd had their biggest fight ever.
She can hardly remember what they said to each other. Every word blended into the next one, every minute became longer, until the whole day felt like it had lasted an entire year.
But they'd gotten through it. Her and her dad. She no longer felt buried under guilt at being romantically involved with Tristin, and her dad no longer looked at her with disappointment echoing throughout his body.
They'd seen eye to eye, through an equal goal of wanting what's best for each other, for their family. It had taken a long time to convince her dad that Tristin was what was best for her, but in the end he'd caved, given her his blessing.
But now came something entirely different.
"Are we sure we can do this?" Billy asked and Rory frowned over at her older brother.
"Of course we can," she told him from her spot leaning against Lilly on the couch in their living room. "He's no match for us."
Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Except for the fact that he managed to bankrupt us without us even knowing," she pointed out.
"Okay, good points everyone," Christopher interrupted, holding his hands up and silencing everyone. "Arthur Dugrey pulled a number on me, I admit, but he didn't do it thoroughly enough. It's why we have a chance to get everything back," he explained for the hundredth time.
"I'm just saying, what if we're just burying ourselves further down?" Billy asked, rolling his eyes as both Rory and Lilly through pillows at him.
"Have some faith, dear brother," Lilly told him, smiling confidently.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sweetheart," Chris said and was about to carry on when they heard a car door slam outside the house.
Four pairs of widened eyes each snapped towards Christopher, they all swallowed nervously, gripping something close to them.
"Showtime," Lorelai whispered.
- - -
"What do you mean you're going after him?"
Rory sighed and wrapped her arms around her legs, leaning her chin down on her knees. She closed her eyes for a second before meeting his blue ones again.
"I'm not really doing much, but my dad is," she told him, frowning as she tried to think of how to explain it. "He says your dad didn't do as good a job as he'd thought at first. That they'd gone through all the boring mumbo jumbo numbers and they'd realized that the company wasn't completely dead…yet."
"So…he's going to what? Sue?" Tristin asked, wondering how he felt about this situation.
"No, my dad doesn't want to go to court. The company might not be dead but it wouldn't survive a trial." Rory smiled at him and moved over so she was sitting in front of him, hands splaying out over his knees. "I guess it'll be more of an intervention."
Tristin couldn't stop the short laugh that escaped his lips. "I'm sorry…you're going to talk him into giving you back the company?" he asked incredulously.
Rory frowned, dropping her hands from him and leaning back. "My dad can be very convincing you know," she told him, a fire in her eyes. "Plus, if that doesn't work we can always revert back to good old fashioned threats."
Tristin felt his eyes widen before he could stop them. He watched as she rushed to reassure him but he brought a finger to her lips, silencing her. "Rory, you know as well as I do that this…situation is hard. We're on opposite ends here…not that I agree with my dad or anything but…"
"You don't want anything to happen to him," she spoke against his finger, her eyes soft and understanding.
Tristin nodded. "At least not anything he doesn't deserve. I just…I hate my dad, I do. He's a jerk and a criminal but he's still my dad."
"Tristin…" Rory trailed off, feeling tears sting her eyes and her throat constrict. "You know that if this is to much for you, you don't have to…"
"Don't have to what?" he questioned softly, trying to meet her eyes but she was looking intently at the bed beneath her.
"We don't have to be…together…I mean if it's complicating things to much…" she tried to get the words out without choking but was finding it increasingly hard.
Tristin brought her forward, having her practically sitting on his lap as he hugged her body against his. He was about to say something but paused for a few seconds to consider just how quickly things were changing. She had, on her own, managed to tear down his defences, had fixed herself a huge place in his heart and had made his arms crave to feel her wrapped up in them.
And yet here she was telling him that she would let him walk away from her. Something he knew he could never do. But to join her family in their fight against his own father? He'd be a fool if he let her go, he'd be a fool to pretend he didn't want to bring justice to his dad.
"Never," he whispered softly into her ear.
As he looked down into her eyes, he watched her face erupt into a wide and warm smile.
He knew he would do anything to be with her.
Dipping his head, he pressed his lips against her forehead and closed his eyes as she leaned into his kiss. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and sighed as her head came to rest softly against his chest again, her fingers stroking him through his shirt.
"I'm with you on this, you know?" he asked, smiling at the surprise in her eyes. "I can't keep ignoring what my father has done, what he will do. I just hope it doesn't end too badly..."
Rory could feel her heart swell from his words, bringing warmth to her body and a confidence she hadn't possessed before. She leaned her head back and let her lips curve into a wicked smile.
"Either way, there is one benefit about you going up against your dad," she whispered, hoping her teasing voice will help ease the tension she could feel in him.
Tristin's eyes focused on her mouth and the tempting way her lip-gloss glistened in the soft light shining in from the window. .
"Which is?" His voice was low and husky as he stared at her lips, instinctively licking his own.
Rory leaned towards him until her lips were practically brushing his and then whispered.
"You get me."
Tristin smirked and captured her lips with his own, kissing her hungrily as she giggled against his mouth. He knew his relationship with his dad would be shot to hell and it would take a lot to keep the tattered pieces of his relationship with his mom together, but having Rory as his girl seemed to make it all worth it.
She hadn't pushed him; she hadn't asked him to be on her side or to go against his dad. She'd accepted the fact that he might not have been able to and only seemed to be tempting him in the direction she wanted him to go.
But if it meant he got to keep her in his arms and her soft lips against his, then he could do it.
He could go against his dad and finally help bring honesty and integrity back into the Dugrey name.
Tristin pulled back and looked deep into her eyes as they sparkled with her wide smile. Slipping his fingers into hers, he inhaled deeply and blinked down at her.
She was worth it.
- - -
A/N: So I hope everyone realized that last part was a flashback to when Rory was explaining what was going to happen, to Tristin. If you didn't then that's what it was!
The big confrontation will be the next chapter, if anyone has any ideas for it they would be greatly appreciated because….it's going to be the last chapter! I'm sorry to finish this story because it's my first fanfic and I'll miss it but…anyway.
Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed and stuck through it all.
Hugs
and Kisses,
-Ella
