Thank you for your reviews so far! Here's another chapter! :)

Chapter 4

Lorelai was sat in the kitchen drinking coffee waiting for Jess and Rory to get ready for school listening to the music blaring out of Rory's room. Jess came down first and grabbed a pop tart to eat before Rory came out. "Finally!" She exclaimed. "Turn the music off and let's motor." She said.

"That's not me." Rory said, opening the door to find Lane.

"Where does your mom think you are?" Lorelai asked.

"Um sat on a bench contemplating the reunification of the two Koreas, probably." She said, turning off the music.

"Not here skanking to Rancid?"

"Wouldn't be included." Lane said.

"School!" Lorelai said. "You too missy." She said taking Alice's hand.

They left the house and Lane ran off to get to Stars Hollow High. They then bumped into Babette and Morey pulling a trailer with Cinnamon in it.

"Cinnamon!" Alice beamed and ran over and started petting her.

"Oh hiya hon!" Babette smiled.

"Cinnamon's travelling in style now." Rory said.

"Oh yeh, we thought since she's getting older we would make sure she was comfy." Babette said.

"Nice." Rory smiled.

Later that day, while Rory went to see Lane after school, Jess went back to the house with Tristan as they agreed to hang out. Jess stopped when he saw an animal hospital van outside Babette's house. "Oh crap..." He said.

"What?" Tristan asked.

"This isn't good. Cinnamon..." Jess said.

"Who's Cinnamon?" Tristan asked totally confused.

"Our next door neighbour's cat. Alice loved that cat. We knew she was getting old but not this..." Jess said. "We need to find my mom...Come on!" He said rushing off to search for her. He headed to Luke's first and was relieved to find her in there with Sookie. "Mom!" He said rushing in.

"Hey!" Lorelai smiled. She then saw his face. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Alice?" Jess asked looking round.

"Upstairs, why?" She asked.

"It's Cinnamon. There was an animal hospital van outside Babette's." Jess said.

"Oh no..." Lorelai said. She turned to find Luke. "Luke!" She called.

He came out of the kitchen. "What?"

"It's Cinnamon. We need to get Alice." She said.

"Oh. Yeh." He said understanding.

They got Alice and then walked over to Babette's meeting up with Rory on the way. Lorelai glanced at Luke when they saw the animal hospital van outside.

"What's going on?" Alice asked. "Why are we going to Babette's? Are we going to see Cinnamon?"

They all exchanged glances and Luke got down on the floor infront of Alice. "You know how Cinnamon was very old, right?" He said gently.

Alice nodded.

"And when animals get old, they gradually end up going to heaven..." Luke said. "Like my parents.."

Alice nodded slowly but tears started to prick her eyes. "Has Cinnamon gone to heaven?" She sniffed.

"She has, I'm sorry sweetheart. I know how much you loved her." Luke said gently.

Alice wiped some of her tears away.

"Now you don't need to go in if you don't want to. If it will make you sad." He said. "Cinnamon might still be in there.."

Alice sniffed. "I..I don't want to go in..." She said quietly.

"That's fine. You can go sit down over there." He said pointing to a couple of chairs in Babette's garden. "Come here." He said gently holding his arms out.

Alice went over and hugged him. "Will Babette be mad if I don't go in?" She asked quietly.

"No sweetheart, she won't. They'll understand." Luke said gently. "Are you going to be ok?"

Alice nodded and went over to the chairs, wiping her tears.

"Come on hon, let's give her a minute." Lorelai said to Luke. "We should go in."

Luke just nodded and stood back up.

"Well done. You were great." Lorelai gave him a small smile.

Luke sighed. "She's still upset."

"That's natural. She loved that cat." Lorelai said. "Come on."

Jess and Rory followed them in but Rory noticed Tristan trailing behind and then she saw him stop and slowly walk over to Alice. She slowly went back down and stood a bit away from them.

Tristan went over to Alice and sat down next to her. "You ok?" He asked.

"I'm sad..." She sniffed.

Tristan nodded. "You know Cinnamon has gone to a fun place. There will be a lot of cats for her to play with. She'll be happy." He said.

Alice looked up at him. "Really?" She asked.

Tristan smiled. "I bet she's met my cat."

"Your cat?" She asked.

"Yeh I used to have a cat just like Cinnamon but she's gone to the fun place as well now. I bet her and Cinnamon are already best of friends."

Alice smiled a little.

"Cinnamon wouldn't want you being upset." Tristan smiled.

Alice looked up when she heard movement. "Rory!" She said. "Tristan says Cinnamon's gone to a fun place. And that she's having fun and is happy. Is that true?" She asked.

Rory glanced at Tristan who sort of looked embarrassed that he'd been caught. She then smiled at Alice. "Yeh that's true."

Alice looked up at the house. "Should I go and tell Babette and Morey that? Will it help them to know?"

Rory smiled at her sister's thoughtfulness. "I think they would love to know that."

Alice got up and went up to the house slowly and disappeared inside. Rory looked at Tristan. "Thanks." She said.

Tristan shrugged. "I was a bit older than her when I lost my cat. That's what my mom told me and it helped make me feel better."

Rory smiled and slowly walked over and sat down next to him.

Meanwhile, Alice went inside the house. "Cinnamon's gone to a fun place where there's lots of cats to play with and she's happy." She said. "Tristan told me. He said Cinnamon wouldn't want us being upset." She insisted going up to Babette.

Babette gave her a watery smile. "Well I'm sure that's true. She is happy, darling."

Alice went over to Luke and reached for his hand. "Are your parents in the same place as Cinnamon? A happy place?" She asked.

Luke felt a lump in his throat and looked down at his daughter. He gave her a small smile. "Yeh. Yeh they are."

Rory and Tristan looked up when everyone came out. Alice ran over to them. "We're having a party to celebrate Cinnamon. Will you come?" She asked Tristan.

"Oh well...uh..." Tristan said, glancing at Rory.

She gave him a small smile. "Yeh come." She said.

"I'll be there." He smiled at Alice.

Alice smiled at him and ran back over to Lorelai. Luke walked over to Rory and Tristan. "Tristan right?" He asked.

"Uh yes sir." Tristan said.

"Alice told us what you told her. Thanks." He said gruffly. "She seems a bit happier."

"Happy to help." Tristan said genuinely.

Luke just nodded and then walked off to the others.

"Wow you just got the Luke approval." Jess smirked joining them. "That's big."

"Really?" Tristan asked.

"Oh yeh, he's very hard to please." Rory smirked and ran off to see Babette and Morey.

That evening, the wake was held at Babette and Morey's. Rory heard a knock at the door and as she was closest to it, she went to open it. She saw a brown, floppy haired boy come in with a crate of drinks. "Oh hi..." He said.

"Hi.." Rory said awkwardly.

"I was told to bring these here." He said.

"Oh thanks. You can put them in there." She said.

"Ok." He smiled at her and went into the other room. He returned a bit later to leave. "I'm Dean by the way." He said.

"Uh Rory." Rory said.

"Nice to meet you." He smiled.

"You too." Rory said and watched him leave. Just as he left, Tristan came in. Rory smirked. "You came." She said.

"I promised Alice." He said.

Rory grinned. "She's already got you under her thumb."

"She's a cute kid." Tristan smiled.

"Yeh she's great." Rory smiled. She stood there awkwardly for a bit. "Well come on in. Jess and Alice are through here." She said.

Tristan followed her through. "Is it me or do I have a feeling you're thawing to me?" He smirked.

Rory rolled her eyes. "So you're nice to my sister. Doesn't mean I still don't think you're the most annoying person at school."

Tristan grinned. "But that just makes it fun, doesn't it?"

"You think too much of yourself." Rory said.

"Better than thinking too little of myself." He smirked.

"How is it that you can turn from being a nice guy to a jerk in like a minute?" Rory asked.

Tristan shrugged. "Have to mix it up a bit or people will think I'm too boring. It would ruin my rep." He joked.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Come on. Alice has been waiting for you." She said leading him over to them.

Tristan smirked but didn't say anything else. He followed her over to where Jess and Alice were standing.

"Are you two friends now?" Alice asked seeing them.

Tristan chuckled. "I'm working on it." He said.

Rory just shook her head but she felt her cheeks go a bit hot. She caught Tristan's eye who was smirking at her but she just looked away quickly. What was going on? This guy was the most infuriating guy she met! So why was she feeling like this? She managed to distract herself when Morey started playing piano but she could feel Tristan's eyes on her.

Hope you liked it! Review and let me know! :)