Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rory watched him go with sorrowful eyes… she had never felt so guilty. She felt like a little kid who had just gotten caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. She watched his blonde head disappear into one of the many rooms and sighed, stuck between doing the right thing and doing something incredibly stupid. Cautiously, she walked along the same path that Tristan had just walked through while her brain debated whether or not she was doing the right thing. Her mind screamed no while her heart screamed the opposite.
Rory found him in the only opened door and stopped, her eyes scanning the room. To her pleasure, she found herself in the library and Tristan was seated in one of the armchairs, his back to her and his eyes glued to the window overlooking the DuGrey's exceptionally beautiful garden.
She walked inside hesitantly, praying that her heels would co-operate and remain soundless. She took one last look around the massive room and inwardly approved, if it were not for the current situation, she would have dived in and started reading. Instead, she found herself standing behind his chair, her hands shaking and her stomach queasy.
Tristan was oblivious to her presence and continued to stare out of the giant, French window. Both his hands clutched the arms of the chair tightly, his knuckles turning white.
"It's beautiful."
He hid his surprise and closed his eyes, pleased and horrified at the same time to hear her voice. He sensed uncertainty in her voice, perhaps laced with nervousness. Tristan's jaw clenched and his fists formed a tight ball.
"It is," he replied curtly, refusing to turn around.
Rory sensed that he didn't want her around and turned around, preparing to exit the library.
"Where are you going?" Tristan finally turned his body and he watched her inquisitively.
"It seems like you want to be alone," she replied over her shoulder.
There was a long pause before he answered her, "No stay, your being there just took me by surprise," he replied.
Rory stopped; she shut her eyes and prepared herself. Turning around, she met his subdued face and nodded timidly. Retracing her steps, she took a seat across from him. She shifted uneasily, watching as Tristan sat back down.
"So why did you follow me?" he bluntly questioned.
Rory turned pink, "I… just didn't like how it ended back there."
"Which part? The part with my dad or the part where I caught you eavesdropping?"
"A little bit of both actually," she replied reluctantly, "Listen, I'm really –"
"Don't tell me your apologizing again."
"So what if I am?" she cried defensively.
"Don't. I don't need your pity."
"I'm not pitying you," she lied, "I just feel bad about what I did."
"Mary's finally done something bad and thinks apologizing profusely will help her conscience, huh?"
Rory's already pink face deepened to red, from both anger and embarrassment, "You're a jerk, you know that?"
"I've been called that a few times. On the other hand, I've also been called charming, handsome, amazing in bed, and I've even been referred to as god a few times. Now which one should I believe? You, my father and Paris or Christina, Mary Anne, Madeline, Vanessa, Susan and countless other beautiful ladies?"
Rory rolled her eyes, "You are so full of yourself."
"Now if it were up to me," he ignored her sentence, "I would believe the latter."
"Of course you would," she muttered darkly.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Tristan pretended to be shocked.
"It means that you're an egotistical, self-centered asshole and you believe that you can do no wrong! It means that you think so highly of yourself that you don't realize that so many people are only nice to you because they're afraid of what you'd do if they weren't."
"I don't like it when you swear, it's so unbecoming," he unknowingly winced from her outburst.
Rory pursed her lips, contemplating her next move. She angrily grabbed her purse from the side table and stood. Tristan stood also, watching with mild interest. Glaring daggers, she walked past him to the door.
"Where are you going?" he called.
"I'm leaving… it's painfully evident that you and I can't have a civil and normal conversation."
"But we were having a civil and normal conversation."
Rory spun around so quickly Tristan was surprised she didn't topple over.
"You call that a normal conversation?"
He nodded, "Let me rephrase that… for us it was normal and civil."
Rory's eyebrows furrowed, adjusting to what he had just said. She leaned against the doorway and rested her left hand against her hip.
"You don't have to say it Mare – I know I'm right," he grinned cheekily, making his way closer to her.
"Oh don't worry, I wasn't going to," she replied hastily, intently watching him.
"You have to love our quirky relationship, I know I do," he responded.
Rory studied him for the first time since she had arrived and noticed the little cut close to his lip. He had managed to wipe the blood but the cut was still terribly red. The tie around his neck was loosened and he had unbuttoned the first couple of buttons of his white dress shirt. Half of his shirt was untucked and hung loosely over his black dress pants.
"I wouldn't even call what we have a relationship Tristan," she managed to reply… he was getting awfully close.
"Oh? So then what would you call it?"
Rory shrugged, "We go to the same school, we have a few classes together and our grandparents know each other. We're simply acquaintances."
"How many acquaintances do you know that have kissed?" he whispered, he now stood in front of her. He too was leaning against the doorframe and his other arm was stretched, blocking her from re-entering the library. "I don't know about you, but I know none."
Rory rolled her eyes; she pushed his stretched arm out of the way and walked back into the library, eager to get away from him because of their extremely close proximity to one another. She walked to the closest bookshelf and examined the books; she fingered the books softly, hoping to find a book to her liking.
"You're ignoring my question," he said, following her.
"The fact that we've kissed – just once – well, that's a minor detail. It doesn't change the fact that we're only acquaintances and that's all we'll ever be," she murmured, adamant on finding a book.
Tristan let out a throaty and husky chuckle, "You are in so much denial!" he accused.
"Me?" Rory exclaimed, tearing her blue eyes away from the books, "Are you sure about that?"
Tristan nodded, "Positive."
Rory started to laugh, her blue eyes sparkling deviously. "You should look at yourself before you start accusing me of being in denial."
"Okay so we're both slightly in denial about something… even you have to agree with that."
Rory didn't respond… her eyes glued to the books.
Rory had finally found a book that interested her and she stopped moving. Pulling the book out of the shelf, she examined the cover before opening the thick book, her eyes immediately started reading and almost instantly, she became oblivious to her surroundings. Tristan took this as a sign and stepped closer. He watched her intently; noticing how cute she looked when reading. Her blue eyes would constantly go from left to right and she would bite her lip from time to time. He inwardly groaned because of the tiny action and decided to act upon his urges.
Tristan stood in front of her and smirked at the fact that she hadn't even noticed. He decided to be bold and held his arms out, his palms resting flat against the spines of the books. His outstretched arms were on either side of her shoulders and he hovered over tiny frame, waiting patiently for her to notice.
Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, Rory looked up from her book and shrieked, surprised to find him so close. She wriggled but it was no use, he had her trapped. She dropped her book and glared at him, momentarily forgetting about what she had just dropped.
"What do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.
"I don't want to be just acquaintances Mary," he whispered, his eyes intently focused on her slightly parted lips.
She froze at the sound of his voice. "You're um – too close," she murmured, her cheeks burning.
"A little claustrophobic, aren't we?" he teased, his fingers now playing with a strand of her rich brown hair.
Rory didn't respond – she didn't have time to as his lips descended onto hers. Rory's eyes were as wide as saucers and she refused to respond.
Tristan noticed what she was doing and thought nothing of it. Instead, he decided to tease her. Pressing his body closer to hers, he nipped and teased her bottom lip, knowing that it was only a matter of time before she would give in.
His arms left their place against the bookshelves; one encircled her tiny waist while the other rubbed the length of her arm continuously. Rory bit back a moan and in spite of herself, she found her lips and body responding to his touches. Tristan smirked inwardly and now ran his tongue along her bottom lip. Her mouth parted slightly and he ceased the glorious opportunity by sliding his tongue into her hot mouth.
She responded eagerly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him even closer. He moaned at the gesture and deepened the already passionate kiss.
Pleased by her response, he took another risk. His lips left hers and he smiled at her aggravated moan. He removed his tie and threw it over his shoulder and he started to kiss her slender neck. He placed butterfly kissed up and down her snow-white neck, he could feel her squirming impatiently. Smiling, he ran his tongue along a particularly sensitive spot, making her shiver. He sucked and nipped the said spot, determined to leave his mark.
"Tristan…" she moaned, her hands now resting on his rock hard chest, "We should stop…" she whispered.
His lips stopped, and he sighed. He rested his head on her shoulder, his breathing heavy and ragged. "Do you want to?"
Rory closed her eyes, her head resting against a shelf. She felt tingles at the spots where he had kissed her and her lips were red and swollen. She knew that they had to stop… and she knew that what they were doing was incredibly wrong and foolish. Yet, a small voice in the back of her head screamed for more. The small part of her ached to be touched by him once again and longed to have his lips on hers one more time. She cursed inwardly, knowing that that small part was going to grow and soon become uncontrollable.
Rory had come to a decision… she decided to throw all caution to the wind. Knowing that she was going to regret her decision later did not stop her.
"Well… do you?" he whispered, Tristan lifted his head up from her shoulder and met her eyes.
Slowly, Rory shook her head.
He grinned genuinely before stepping back from her. Rory eyed him questioningly but didn't argue. He took her hand in his and he led her out of the library to the staircase.
"Where are we going?" she asked, her head wildly looking in all directions.
"Somewhere more comfortable," he whispered back.
He ran up the stairs and Rory struggled to keep up with him. She bit back a laugh at how eager he seemed.
They reached a closed door.
"Where are we?" she asked, her eyes landed on the brass doorknob.
"Welcome to my bedroom Mary," he murmured close to her ear softly.
Rory swallowed the ball in her throat and inhaled deeply, trying to calm the uneasiness in her stomach. She watched as his occupied hand twisted open the doorknob and he pushed open the door; he entered and pulled her with him.
His room was just as how she pictured Tristan DuGrey's room to be. It was large, masculine and lived in. What surprised her were the numerous books scattered throughout his room. There were a couple stacked on top of one another on his study table and some on his bedside table.
She continued to examine his bedroom while Tristan eagerly devoured her neck Her breath caught in her throat as his tongue left a wet trail along the side of her neck and up to her earlobe. His lips began to make their way to her pink lips and Rory eagerly waited, her hands playing with his blonde spikes as she did so.
Before Tristan's lips met hers, Rory's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. Her right hand caressed the side of his face softly before allowing him to meet her eyes. Licking her lips, she smiled softly before uttering a word.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she whispered.
Tristan let out a deep breath and pointed to the bathroom at the other side of the room. She gracefully disentangled herself from his tight hold and preceded to the bathroom, her purse clutched firmly. Once reaching the bathroom, she closed the door leaned her back against it, finally breathing normally. With her eyes closed, she opened her purse, searching for the one thing she needed at that moment.
Grabbing hold of her cell phone, she dialled the number and waited patiently, her stomach filled with fluttering butterflies.
"Leave a message… I'm not here or I'm just not answering because I don't like you! That or I've misplaced the phone again. I'll get back to you as soon as I can depending on how much you annoy me. Michel… don't even bother leaving a message, you just end up wasting my time with your incessant whining!"
Rory listened to her mother's voice mail and felt a wave of nausea hit her full force. She blinked back all regret, knowing she was in too deep to turn back now.
"Hey mom!" she pretended to be cheerful, "You're probably running around looking for the phone right now… but anyway, I'm just calling to tell you that… it's um – almost midnight and I'm still here at the party… but I'm getting ready to go. So the real reason I'm calling is that um – it's way too late and I'm way too tired to drive all the way to Stars Hollow so I called grandma and she said it was okay for me to stay there for the night. You're probably with Luke right now so I won't even bother calling you tonight… I'll call you tomorrow morning! Bye mom – love you!"
Rory closed her phone and sighed deeply. Placing her phone back into her purse, she took one last deep breath before opening the door.
She emerged from the bathroom, finding Tristan in the same spot. He had discarded his jacket so he stood there with only his dress shirt and black pants. She stopped halfway to where he stood, suddenly shy. Tristan once again took initiative and walked to her. Using both his hands, he placed each on her cheek and swooped down, meeting her lips with his in a slow and tentative kiss.
Rory kissed back timidly, her mind whirling with unwanted thoughts. Her legs quivered beneath her and if it were not for Tristan's firm grip on her waist, she would have fallen a long time ago. Her hands rested on his shoulders as she deepened the kiss by being the first to part her mouth. Tristan eagerly responded, glad that Rory was gaining confidence. They both started to move across the room… he had only one destination in mind.
Her legs gave away and Rory staggered back, only to find herself landing on a soft mattress. She was now lying on the bed with Tristan hovering on top of her with a look of hunger in his eyes.
"No regrets?" he whispered, his lips millimetres away from her earlobe.
"Not right now," she moaned as his lips caressed her lobe whilst reaching for the first button of his shirt.
-
"And we – we – had sex," Rory kept her head down, refusing to meet her mother's eyes.
Tension surrounded the Gilmore residence… no one dared to speak. The Gilmore girl's were in the living room, Rory sat on the couch while her mother was seated on top of the coffee table. Lorelai was silent throughout Rory's story, her breathing occasionally laboured as questions were slowly and excruciatingly being answered.
Lorelai stood from her spot and made her to way where Rory sat. She didn't bother to sit… she just looked down at her daughter, her eyes deceiving her emotionless face.
"Let me get this straight," Lorelai started, her voice wavering. "You lie to me about spending the night at your grandmothers… then when I confronted you about it, you make up another lie about how you actually spent the night at Paris Gellar's house."
"Mom –"
"Am I right? Yes or no," she interrupted.
"Yes," Rory meekly whispered, tears glistening her sapphire eyes.
"And then while I thought that you were at your grandparents house, you were actually having sex with Tristan DuGrey!"
"Mom –"
"Days later, you then allow yourself to be whisked away by him to god knows where he could have taken you…"
"But he didn't take me anywhere! He brought me back here," Rory replied.
"You've had your turn to talk, now it's mine," Lorelai whispered scathingly.
Rory nodded reluctantly, her eyes permanently glued to the floor.
"Not only that, but you end up skipping half the school day. You've never skipped school before, but you were willing to skip for him?"
"It wasn't like that!" Rory argued, tears falling gracefully from her eyes.
"God Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed, her frustration boiling over, "You've lied to me more these past few days then you have in all of your seventeen years."
"I'm sorry!" Rory begged, sobs wracking her tiny body. Her hands covered her face and her shoulders shook.
Lorelai paced around the room, not knowing what to do or how to react. She had so many words to say to her… but she couldn't find the right way to begin.
"I'm going to go," she whispered, unable to look at her daughter.
Rory looked up suddenly, her face tear stained and red. She followed her mom to the front door quickly.
"Where are you going?" she asked, grabbing her mother's elbow to stop her.
"Out, I need to think…" Lorelai responded softly.
"No…" Rory whispered, "No! You can't leave."
"Why not?" Lorelai turned to face her.
"Because – because… you need to yell at me, ground me, punish me!" her voice escalated in volume, "You haven't done that yet and you need to!"
"What I need to do is leave before I say anything that I'll regret later," Lorelai replied calmly.
She hated to see Rory in the state that she was currently in… all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around her daughter and calm her down until she fell asleep. However, another part of her was so angry, so frustrated at Rory for making so much mistakes… for lying to her… for forcing Lorelai to lose trust in her daughter.
"No!" Rory said vehemently, sob's still threatening to overtake her tiny body, "I want my punishment! Ground me… tell me I can't watch anymore television… tell me I can't talk on the phone anymore… anything but this," she begged, her voice shaking.
Lorelai closed her eyes, tears threatening. "I need to go… I'll be back later," she whispered.
Rory dropped her hold on her mother's elbow and watched Lorelai walk out of the door resignedly. Rory bowed her head and closed the door. Her back was to the door and she lifted her head up, her watery blue eyes meeting the ceiling. Her body was shaking violently and she slid down against the door. Tucking her legs close to her chest, she buried her face against her knees, allowing fresh tears to flow freely from her eyes.
What was she going to do now?
--
AN: Whew… finally finished this chapter. The longest chapter yet…and the most dramatic I think As for Tristan and Daddy DuGrey, their encounter will be talked about in the next chapter. And to wonderful Kellie (jmarit17), I will not be sending Bible Boy to military school… that'll just ruin the fun, won't it? Something happens to him yes, but not that.
And once again, thank you all for the wonderful reviews. You guys rock so much!