The Best Of You – Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. So please don't sue. Thanks.
Rory stumbled into the kitchen the next morning; she rubbed her eyes from sleep and noticed her mother hovering over the coffee maker. Yawning loudly, Rory took a seat and waited for her mother to pour her a cup of steaming coffee.
"Hello my wonderful, darling daughter."
"How many cups have you had?" Rory asked, bewildered but not at all surprised.
"Don't you worry about that," Lorelai smiled, handing her a pack of strawberry pop tarts, "It's Sunday."
"Is it?"
Lorelai nodded. "What are you thinking of doing today?"
Rory shrugged, "Read."
"But you're seventeen… soon to be eighteen."
"Mom, it's too early in the morning. Do you have a point? If you don't then don't even bother… I won't be able to understand you."
"You're eighteen… eighteen year olds don't stay home on a weekend to read."
"Again… do you have a point? And I'm seventeen" Rory stifled another yawn.
Lorelai shrugged, "Not a particularly good one. Just have fun while I'm at the Inn okay?"
Rory nodded, "I will, and don't you worry about that."
"But I do… I fear that you don't have enough fun," Lorelai answered, finishing her fourth cup.
"What are you talking about? I do so have enough fun!"
"No you don't… you prefer to be cooped up in this messy house with your nose in a book rather then…"
"That's fun!" Rory playfully argued, smiling at her mother.
"You have not met Lorelai Gilmore's expectations."
"Well I'm sorry that I failed to meet the expectations of being Lorelai Gilmore's daughter."
"You're wrong kiddo… you have greatly surpassed them," Lorelai winked, kissing her daughter's forehead. "I'm going to be home late tonight, there's money under the lamp."
"Got it."
-
Soon after Lorelai had left for work, Rory headed for the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. After that, she slowly walked to her bedroom, tying her hair in a high ponytail in the process. She was eagerly anticipating some alone time with a wonderful novel.
Reaching for the doorknob, she froze in her place once hearing a loud crash inside her bedroom. Rory's eyes widened and she started to panic. Taking baby backward steps, she turned quickly to grab the first thing that she came across… Rory looked down to see what she had grabbed and inwardly groaned. "Pop tarts?" she hissed to herself… before grabbing something more suitable. Rory held the frying pan tightly before cautiously heading for her bedroom door. Her hands were shaking, and as she forced down the lump in her throat, she gently twisted open the doorknob. Rory opened the door with one hand, and she held the frying pan in the other.
Rory's grip on the pan loosened, causing the pan to drop on the floor loudly. She was at a loss for words.
"Tristan? What the fuck are you doing here?" Rory tensed at the sight of the blonde roaming around in her room.
Tristan turned, he hid his emotions well and instead cast her his infamous smirk. "Hello."
"What are you doing here?" Rory glared.
"Surprised to see me?" he questioned, pulling out a book from her bookcase.
Rory's blood boiled as she watched him casually flipping through the pages of a Jane Austen novel. She grabbed the book from his grasp forcefully. "Why are you here? In my bedroom? And through my window Tristan… through my damn window?" she was now yelling.
"I was going to knock… but I heard footsteps and ran to the side of your house. I saw an opened window and a lovely opportunity presented itself… even lovelier that the room I fell in was yours."
Rory didn't respond, instead, she was glaring like no tomorrow.
"I take it you don't like surprises," Tristan replied.
"No!" Rory inhaled slowly, calming her raging nerves. "I'm going to ask you nicely… what are you doing here?" she asked the question as if she were asking a little boy.
"Well I," he started "think that we," he pointed to her and himself "should talk."
"About what?"
"You already know."
"I don't have time for this Tristan… just get the hell out of my house," Rory forced herself to sound angry and hateful.
"Not until we talk," he took a step toward her.
Rory took a step back, choosing not to respond.
"You forced me to come to your town Rory… come to your house. I called you eleven times. The eleventh time was to warn you"
"And I didn't answer any of those phone calls. I don't want to talk to you. For the guy with the third highest GPA in Chilton, I'd think you'd get the point. Oh… I forgot… you're Tristan DuGrey, nothing stops you from getting what you want. Not even breaking and entering, which I might add... is an all time low... even for you."
Her words hit Tristan like a ton of bricks… but he acted as if they were nothing to him. "You know what I think?" his voice was almost venomous… as if he was daring Rory to ask.
"What? What do you think?" after hearing the sound of his voice, she immediately regretted her words.
Step by step, Tristan approached her slowly. Rory made no sudden movements. "You're in denial…"
"No, I'm not."
"You are," Tristan smiled innocently, "You loved every minute of it, as did I."
"Stop it," she whispered.
They were now inches apart; Tristan licked his lips as he inhaled her scent. "Admit it," he whispered in her ear.
Rory pushed him away roughly. She watched him stagger back, though not falling. Her eyes blazed dangerously and her hands could not stop shaking. "Get out!" she yelled ferociously, tears steaming down her rosy cheeks.
Tristan held his hands up, surrendering. "And for the record, I didn't regret it… and I hope you didn't either. I came here to tell you that… I'm sorry for scaring you and making you so angry." he said, "See you Monday,"
-
"Michel! Go tend to the Richardson's… apparently, their five year old daughter absolutely loves you and will only stop crying if you go say hi," Lorelai grinned wickedly at the French man.
Michel glared at her, but ultimately surrendered. He refused to tell anyone, especially Lorelai, but he had a soft spot for tiny Mary Richardson. Keyword: tiny. "This is the last time."
"Lorelai!"
"Hey Sookie," she greeted her best friend with a large smile, "How are things in the kitchen?"
Sookie beamed, "Wonderful. You should really try the trifle I just made… prepared with Jackson's finest produce of course," she beamed even more as she mentioned her husband.
"I'll be glad to… but let me just make one quick phone call."
Sookie nodded and went back to the kitchen excitedly, she couldn't wait to see how her salmon mousse had turned out.
Lorelai sighed, "I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered to herself. She picked up the phone quickly and began dialling. She tapped her manicured nails against the wooden surface impatiently.
"Hello, Gilmore residence."
"Emily Gilmore please," Lorelai spoke quickly, thinking the moment would pass by faster.
"May I ask who's calling?"
Lorelai sighed, "Her daughter."
"One minute please."
To Lorelai, the minute felt like an eternity. She only tapped her nails louder against the wooden desk.
"Lorelai… well it's nice to hear from you."
"Hi mom, I don't have much time," Lorelai lied, "I just wanted to call you to thank you for um… last night."
"Last night?"
"You know, for letting Rory spend the night after she attended Tristan DuGrey's eighteenth birthday party."
"Lorelai, what in heaven's name are you talking about?" Emily questioned quickly.
"Mom… ease up will you… I'm thanking you for goodness sake! I appreciate what you did," Lorelai replied, she was losing her patience.
"Lorelai, this joke is not at all humorous. Not in the tiniest sense."
"You're joking right?"
"I do not joke Lorelai. You're the one joking"
"I know what you're doing," Lorelai laughed suddenly, "You're trying to make this so much harder for me then it should. Well guess what mom; I don't understand what you're doing! I'm thanking you and… and… just quit the act okay. I'm sure you've had your laugh."
"Now you listen to me Lorelai Gilmore, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you do!"
"Rory did not sleep here last night."
Lorelai laughed again, "I never knew you to be such a joker mom, I'm pleasantly surprised."
"I'm not joking Lorelai… though by the sound of things, I wish I was."
--
Hmm, how will Lorelai react? And why the hell did Tristan do what he did? That and more Trory angst in the next chapter.
(I felt like a soap opera advertisement just typing that!)
AN: Holy bejeezus! Thank you guys for all of the reviews! Damn, you guys are the best. To answer a few questions, as the story develops, I will include flashbacks to what happened that night. And questions will undoubtedly be answered.
To clear a few things (I really should have put these in the first chapter but silly me forgot), the story's set in their senior year of Chilton, Tristan never left for military school and yes, the kiss at Madeline's party did happen. Also, in this story, Rory and Jess are only friends… nothing previously happened between them. Hope that helped!
Read and Review! ;)