Thanks so much for all the reviews, I'm glad that people seem to like this idea! This story will be a Rogan I promise and Tristan will be nothing more than a friend... I hope that this chapter's okay, it's my 4th version of it (I just couldn't seem to get it right the first three times!)

Enjoy!

Rory looked around at her recently unpacked dorm room. Everything was in its proper place and it looked as if she had never left, as if the summer didn't exist and it was all a figment of her imagination. Lorelai had left only minutes ago, the two of them having spent the day together unpacking everything into the room that would be her home for the rest of the school year. Rory didn't want to admit it but after spending the summer in the Dugrey's mansion, her dorm seemed unbearably small; suffocating almost.

She sighed and fell back on the couch, suddenly tired. She had been up early the previous day to finish getting her stuff together and to do last minute errands. She had arrived at her dorm to see that Paris hadn't arrived yet which she found unusual. Deciding not to dwell on it, she realized that she was hungry, prompting her to move. Getting up and stretching a little, she heard her cell ring.

"Hello?" she asked, holding the phone up to her ear and leaning back on the couch.

"Rory, sweetheart! How are you?"

She smiled slightly, having expected this phone call. "Hi Cynthia. I'm fine thanks, how are you?"

Rory could practically hear Cynthia Dugrey's pout in response. "Awful, I want you and Tristan home!" Cynthia paused, the wheels turning in her head. "Tristan says that he's too busy at school during the first month to come home at all."

Rory nodded, even though she knew that Cynthia couldn't see her. "Yeah, the first month of school is pretty hectic. It's hard getting into a new routine."

Cynthia sighed. "Yeah I suppose." Her voice was pleading as she continued. "You couldn't call him and convince him to come home for a weekend, could you? You know that my son would do anything for you."

Rory laughed. "I'm not going to bug him, Cynthia. He put up with me all summer. Actually all of you did." She reflected on the last couple of months for a moment before continuing. "So, is there a special reason that you want Tristan to come home already? He just left a few days ago."

"Actually…" Cynthia's voice was that of a scheming woman. "I'm holding a party this weekend and I wanted the two of you to be there so I could show you guys off."

Rory was silent for a moment, knowing that in the end she would be persuaded to be at this party. "So what's it for?"

"What do you mean?"

"The party," she clarified. "What's it for?"

Cynthia's voice was dismissive. "I don't know, just a party. Do I need a reason?" She laughed.

"And what does Eric think of this party that you're having?"

She laughed. "Rory, darling, Eric and I have been married for many years, he's used to it by now. He said that as long as I keep it small, its fine."

Rory nodded and murmured in agreement. Although at the beginning of the summer, Cynthia was quieter and more demure, eager to be in Tristan's good graces, soon she had opened up more and became more of the socialite that she was. At first it had unnerved Rory but she had become used to it and realized that there was more to her friend's mother than what first appeared.

"So, I can expect you there, right?" Rory was shaken out of her thoughts by Cynthia's voice.

"You can expect me where?"

"At the party on Saturday night. Tristan won't be there but I'm sure that you can find someone to talk to."

Rory sighed, knowing that Cynthia was stubborn and there was no way she would get out of this short of a death certificate. "I'd love to come."

"Excellent! Now, will you be bringing a date?"

"Nope, just me."

Cynthia sighed. "A lovely girl like you should be able to get a date." Her voice was sly as she continued. "Unless you're saving all your dates for a certain special someone."

Rory laughed. "Tristan and I are never going to be more than just friends."

"That wasn't what I meant!"

"Sure, it wasn't," Rory replied sarcastically.

"But would it really be that bad? Then you would officially be part of the family!"

"Bye Cynthia." She grinned, used to Cynthia trying to marry her off to Tristan. It had become a usual occurrence over the summer.

"Would I really be that bad of a mother-in-law?"

"I really have to go. I'll see you on Saturday night."

"Fine." Cynthia sighed dramatically before brightening. "Come early. I found some fabulous dresses in your size that would look fantastic on you."

Rory sighed. "You don't have to keep buying me clothes."

"I know but I want to. I will see you Saturday evening."

Rory was met with the dial tone before she could respond. Sighing, she stretched and got up off the couch resolving to get a cup of coffee. Everything else could wait at the moment.

-

Tristan Dugrey rolled his eyes into the phone and continued pacing his room, much to the amusement of his companions who were watching him from the couch. "I know I know mom and I wish that I could be there but I have things to do before classes start. I don't have the time to come home this weekend."

"Rory will be there," Cynthia pleaded with her son even though she knew that it was all in vain. Tristan got his stubbornness from his father.

"And that's great for her but I have no time to come home. I'm sorry but I'll come home next month like I promised." He looked up when one of his friends cleared his throat and gestured towards his watch. "But anyway, I have to go. I'll call you later."

"But…" Cynthia sighed and gave up. "Okay, fine. Stay safe, okay sweetheart?"

"Sure mom," Tristan replied uncomfortably. He was still kind of uneasy about the maternal characteristics that his mother was displaying. "Bye."

"Bye."

Tristan hung up the phone before turning to face his friends that had congregated in his room. He grinned. "Who's ready to party?"

In a minute they were out the door and on the way to a local club. There were eight of them and had been since the beginning of freshmen year. They had all ditched the tour the first day and had all ended up getting lost on their way back to campus. From then on, they were friends.

Tristan found himself walking beside Caitlyn, a close friend of his. He was unsure of what to say to her after what had happened this summer. She was perfect; smart, funny, nice and completely gorgeous. Of course she just happened to have feelings more than friendship towards him and had let him know it right before he had left for Hartford. Tristan hadn't known what to do and so he told her that he needed some time to think about it.

"So how was your summer?" Caitlyn finally ventured, her voice quiet, hands shoved in her pockets.

"It wasn't bad. Yours?"

She shrugged. "I've had better, I've had worse. What did you do?"

"Not a lot. A friend of mine was going through some shit and stayed with us for the summer." Tristan felt like she was quizzing him and put his hands into his pockets awkwardly. He felt like he was twelve and on his first date again.

"Oh, that was nice of you to let him stay; I'm sure he appreciated it."

Tristan nodded and smiled slightly. "Yeah but I'm sure she regrets it now. My mom has been trying to turn her into the daughter she never had."

Caitlyn nodded, trying not to let the surprise show on her face when Tristan mentioned that it was a girl that had spent the summer at his house. She hated that she let a man feel so insecure about herself, she hated that she had let her feelings for him develop into something more.

"So what's going on Tristan?" she finally asked, turning to face him. "Sometimes it seems like you want something more but then you leave for the summer and I don't hear from you once." She tried to make her voice sound as undemanding as possible but was unsuccessful.

Tristan sighed; he had known that the topic would resurface eventually and honestly he didn't know what he felt. When he had been shipped off to military school all those years ago he had believed himself in love with Rory Gilmore. As the years went by, the feelings diminished until he rarely thought of her and he had pushed her from his mind. And then he saw her again and everything became distorted and he didn't know what to think. After spending the summer with her, he realized that whether those feelings had once been more or not, he no longer felt anything more for her than friendship. But then again he wasn't sure if he felt anything more for Caitlyn than friendship either.

"I don't know," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for not calling this summer but I was spending time with my family."

"And another girl," Caitlyn remarked bitterly before she could stop herself.

"You're not my girlfriend, Caitlyn. You have no right to get mad at me for being friends with a girl." He sighed. "And that's all Rory is; just a friend."

"But do you want her to be more than just a friend?"

Tristan made an aggravated noise. "No, I only have platonic feelings for her." His voice was quiet when he continued. "But I can't do this Caitlyn; I can't have you constantly jumping down my throat. I think we should just be friends." He tried to ignore the hurt look on her face and turned his head away.

She nodded. "Okay," she murmured, looking at her feet as they arrived at the club five or so minutes after the rest of their group had.

He opened the door for her as it had been drilled in his head since he was young that it was the polite thing to do. Following her inside, they immediately headed towards the table that their friends had claimed as theirs without saying a word.

Tristan sighed as he settled back in his chair a drink in hand. Caitlyn had gone straight to talk with the girls, completely ignoring him. He could only guess what she was saying. He hated this, hated that relationships between friends could never stay platonic, hated that he had had to hurt her. He knew that their friendship would never be the same.

"So, I'm guessing that it didn't go well?" Curtis, one of Tristan's close friends asked, leaning on the table slightly, ignoring as it wobbled. He had been one of the people that Tristan had spent the previous spring break with.

"Something like that." Tristan leaned back and took a deep swallow from his drink. It was going to be a long night.

-

Rory rushed around the room, from the closet to the bed and back again. The first week of school was always hectic and after her lazy summer she was a little overwhelmed by the amount of work that was already piling up. She sighed, realizing that she had wasted the summer, that instead of moping over Dean and hanging out with Tristan, she should have been working at furthering her career. She smiled knowing that that it wasn't true; that she wouldn't have given up her summer with the Dugreys for the world.

The phone rang and Rory dashed around the room, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. "Yeah?" she asked when she had finally found it.

"Well, that's an enthusiastic greeting!"

Rory smiled. "Hey mom."

"That's not much better! Honestly, what kind of daughter have I raised?" Lorelai asked in a teasing voice.

"An unenthusiastic one?" Rory asked sarcastically.

Lorelai nodded seriously. "Exactly. I blame Yale."

"You blame Yale?"

"You were enthusiastic until you went there. They're sucking all of the enthusiasm out of you! I'm going to write a letter and complain!"

Rory smiled. "You're going to write a letter to the Yale administration to complain about my lack of enthusiasm?"

Lorelai paused. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Rory laughed. "You do that." She stood up from the bed that she had been sitting on and moved towards the closet, looking for her shoes.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Lorelai asked. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I saw you last night at Grandma and Grandpa's!"

Her voice was dismissive as she replied. "That was Friday Night Dinner. Friday Night Dinners don't count. I thought that you could come up for a movie night or to do your laundry or something."

Rory bit her lip. "Actually I'm supposed to go to the Dugrey's house tonight for a dinner party thing."

"Oh."

"But I can come after!"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I'll sneak you some dessert," Rory promised.

Lorelai grinned. "Deal."

They talked for a few more minutes before hanging up and Rory went back to gathering her stuff together. She knew that she was going to be late since she was supposed to be there early to see the dresses that Cynthia had bought her. She sighed as she threw more clothes into her overnight bag. Rory hated being late.

-

It was almost seven when Rory was finally standing outside of the Dugrey mansion, make-up bag in hand. She hadn't had time to do her make-up at Yale and so she had decided that it would be simpler to do it here. Reaching forward, she pushed the doorbell, smoothing a piece of hair behind her ear as she waiting for an answer. Finally the door opened revealing Eric Dugrey.

"Rory!" he exclaimed, moving forward for a hug. "It's good to see you again."

She smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "It's good to see you again too." She glanced at the wineglass held tightly in his hand. "Getting the party started early?"

He laughed. "You know how stressful these supposedly casual get-togethers can get." He looked around suspiciously before leaning in to whisper, "Its ginger-ale." Leaning back he suddenly remembered his manners. "Look at this, my wife will have my head for making you stand out in the cold for so long. C'mon in." He gestured towards the entry hall as Rory stepped in.

She laughed. "It's hardly cold outside, Eric. It's barely September." She looked around at the impeccably clean house as the maid took her coat. "Where can I find Cynthia?"

"She's upstairs, fretting over her outfit, no doubt." His attention suddenly caught by something one of the caterers was whispering in his ear, he gestured towards the stairs. "Go on up."

-

Almost an hour later Rory was walking around mingling with the guests in her brand-new dress courtesy of Cynthia Dugrey. The party wasn't that big, only about fifty people or so and Rory was surprisingly having fun. She had spent almost twenty minutes debating with a group of men her grandfather's age about current events then had turned around and spent ten minutes talking about the latest fashions. It was an odd mixture of people but somehow it seemed right.

"Hi!"

Rory looked to her right to see a pretty blonde girl about her age grinning up at her. "Hi," she replied, smiling politely.

"I am so glad that there's someone my age here!" The girl gushed before bringing her glass of champagne up to her mouth. "I've been ambushed at least three times by people who have 'darling grandsons that I just have to meet!'"

Rory laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean." She looked around at the party. "But this isn't so bad; my grandma's parties are usually worse."

The girl sighed sympathetically before nodding. "I guess you're right; my parents usually throw these parties full of eligible men to set me up with." She paused, looking up at Rory. "I am being so rude, I'm sorry." She smiled. "I'm Stephanie."

"I'm Rory; it's nice to meet you."

"You too." She took another sip of her champagne before realizing that her glass was empty and made a face. "Come to the bar with me?"

Rory nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Before the summer, she would have shied away from this girl, away from the party and gone to another room to read the book that she had smuggled in her purse. Instead, she was heading towards the bar with a tipsy socialite, ready to get a drink. Maybe Tristan had had more influence on her than she'd thought.

"Champagne?" Stephanie asked, offering a glass to Rory and interrupting her musings.

"Thanks."

"I love your dress, by the way," Stephanie commented, eyeing the garment enviously.

Rory tugged at the somewhat revealing neckline uncomfortably. "Thanks, I like yours too."

"Thanks." Stephanie sighed. "It's being wasted here though. No guys here to ogle at me in it."

Rory laughed. "True but at least this way you won't have to make awkward conversation with a dozen guys with their mothers eavesdropping to make sure that you're suitable."

Stephanie laughed. "I like you." She signaled for another glass of champagne. When she got it, she held the drink up ceremoniously. "And I'll drink to that. Cheers!"

They clinked their glasses together. "Cheers," Rory murmured quietly.

-

It was just over an hour later and Rory was still talking to Stephanie, having found that she enjoyed her company.

"I cried the whole way through," Stephanie was saying. "I mean, it was such a sad movie. Good but sad."

Rory nodded in agreement. "I know, I cried too. Especially at the end."

Stephanie opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a voice.

"Rory!"

Rory turned and smiled at the approaching figure. "Hi Cynthia. It's a great party."

The hostess beamed, clearly in her element. "Thanks, it is isn't it?" She turned to Stephanie. "And it's so good to see you again, dear. It's been way too long!

"It has been, hasn't it?" She smiled politely. "My parents were just saying the other day that they don't see you enough."

Cynthia nodded. "Yes, I must give your mother a call sometime. They're away this week though, aren't they?"

Stephanie nodded. "They're in France but they send their regards."

Cynthia nodded again although her eyes were already glancing past the two girls. "Well I'll leave the two of you young girls alone. You don't need an old woman like me boring you. Stephanie, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Rory, I'll call you this week." Before either of them could reply, Cynthia was gone leaving a faint trail of her perfume behind.

Rory looked down at her watch and realized that she had been at the party much longer than she had planned. "I think that I'm going to head out too. I promised my mom I would go home for the weekend."

Stephanie nodded. "Your home is in Stars Hollow, right?" she asked, making sure that she had remembered correctly.

Rory smiled. "Yeah. It was great meeting you."

"You too. I haven't had so much fun at one of these parties in ages. We should hang out again. Can I get your phone number?"

"Definitely." Rory dug through her purse until she found her eyeliner to use as a pen, picked up a napkin that had been lying at her elbow and scribbled down her phone number. "Here. I'll see you around."

She waved good-bye to Stephanie and made her way towards the front door. She was starving and couldn't wait for some real food.

-

Almost a half an hour later Rory slid into a seat at Luke's diner across from her mother. She loved that no matter how long she stayed away from home Luke's and Stars Hollow always stayed the same. She smiled when almost immediately after her arrival Luke appeared with his order pad in hand.

"I'll just have a burger and fries please Luke," she said at his unasked question, smiling up at him. "Oh and of course coffee."

He rolled his eyes and nodded, not bothering to try to convince Rory against coffee. He was tired after spending the last half hour trying to convince her mother with no avail. "Be back in a minute."

"So how was your night?" Lorelai asked, sipping from the mug of coffee in front of her and smiling at her daughter.

Rory shrugged. "It was alright. I made a new friend."

Her mother grinned at her. "Aw, my baby's making friends all by herself now. She's all growed up."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Thanks mom."

"So is she society?" Lorelai leaned forward, eager to get the gossip.

"Is who society?"

"Your new friend."

"Oh." Rory shrugged. "I guess so. She grew up in Hartford and goes to Yale."

"Society," Lorelai stated decisively. "Wait if she goes to Yale how come you don't know her?"

"She-" Rory was cut off by the arrival of her dinner. "Thanks Luke."

"No problem."

She picked up the burger and moaned when she took a bite. "New Haven needs a Luke's," she said, a pout on her face.

"I know, honey, I know," Lorelai replied, sympathetically patting her daughter's hand. "So nice dress, where'd you get it?"

The mother daughter duo slipped into an easy catch-up session on everything that had gone on since they had last seen each other. It was late when they succumbed to sleep after they had spent hours giggling over the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie. Life was good.

-

Stephanie stepped into the dimly lit campus pub knowing that that was where her friends would be. Slipping her jacket off of her shoulders, she tried not to wince when she noticed that Finn was not with them and was instead leaning on the bar flirting with a pretty redhead. Steph and Finn had been in an on/off relationship for almost a year now and were currently in an off period. Sighing, she made her way towards the back where she could see Logan and Colin nursing their drinks.

"Hey guys!" she said brightly, trying not to show that her good mood had ebbed away after seeing Finn.

"Hey," Logan replied, already signaling a waiter. He smiled charmingly at the young girl in the waitress uniform making her blush. "Drink?"

Stephanie waved a hand dismissively, sliding into the empty seat next to Colin. "No, I've already drunk my share tonight."

"Party that bad?" Colin asked sympathetically, sipping at his scotch as Logan ordered another round.

"It was kind of boring but I met this really awesome girl there."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Now I know that Finn can be a jerk sometimes but don't tell me that he's completely turned you off of guys?"

She rolled her eyes and pushed at his arm. "I meant that she seemed like someone that we could be friends with."

"Is she hot?" Colin asked, looking more interested in a blonde that was eyeing him than the conversation.

"Why am I friends with you guys?" Stephanie asked jokingly.

"Because you love us," said a voice from behind her and she stiffened recognizing it to be Finn's. She turned around slowly and smiled up at him trying not to look affected by his presence. It was getting increasingly difficult as their relationship grew more and more complicated to pretend like she didn't care.

"Hey Finn."

"Hello love." He surveyed her face through narrowed eyes and Stephanie could tell that he'd taken advantage of standing beside the bar. But then again he always did. "We need to talk." Without waiting for her to respond he grasped her arm and pulled her up, leading her out of the pub and out into the dark street.

Stephanie let him, already knowing how this conversation would go, how everything would end. This always happened, it was inevitable and had almost become routine. She knew that no matter what he did or how much it hurt her, she would always take him back, always forgive and forget. It was a vicious cycle and she hated it.

But she loved him.