The Best Of You - Chapter 20
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"You used too much hairspray."
"No I didn't. Stop being so paranoid… hold still. You look so pretty."
She bit her lip to keep from smiling. Her mother was right and Rory could do nothing but thank her over and over again. Swallowing the nausea back, she felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach and she smiled wryly. Tonight, she was adamant on having a good time.
It was the night. The night millions of girls around the country anticipate and dream of over and over again. Rory inhaled and turned to her mother. Lorelai's smile was wide and she fought to keep her laughter inside.
"Why are you so nervous, kiddo?"
Rory shrugged and turned back toward the full length mirror, "I don't know."
"You'll have a great time."
"I know I will," she nodded.
"And he'll have a heart attack after he sees you," her mother laughed before spraying a little more hairspray on a ringlet.
"He better," Rory mumbled, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from her dress.
She looked at herself in the mirror and she couldn't help but take in and critique her appearance. Despite her nervousness and slight fear, she knew that she looked fine… even more so. Her long chestnut hair had been curled and fell over her shoulders in loose curls. Rory looked down at her dress and grinned, knowing that Lorelai had outdone herself with this one. The dress was a turquoise color made of silk. The straps were thick and criss crossed at the back. The dress flowed down past her knees and she had on matching stiletto heels with a studded front.
"This dress is really… wow, mom," she had no words.
"The dress is only as pretty as the person wearing it, babe," Lorelai winked, fastening a simple diamond necklace over her daughter's bare neck.
"He's late," Rory muttered, looking up at the clock on the wall.
"Wow, you trained him quickly," Lorelai replied, spooning a spoonful of mocha ice cream into her mouth.
Rory grinned, "My boyfriend's a quick learner."
Lorelai couldn't help but frown, "Did not want to know that."
"Why…? Oh! Ew, do you have to turn everything I say into something dirty?"
Lorelai shrugged, "It's automatic. My mind processes things differently, I guess. Want some ice cream?"
Rory bit her lip, seriously contemplating her mother's offer, "Maybe a spoonful or two," she reasoned with herself.
Ten spoonfuls of ice cream later, Rory had become both nervous and slightly frustrated. She had told him to be late… but not this late.
"Mom, he's late."
"I know."
"Like really late."
"It's only been twenty minutes hun. Give the guy a break. Maybe something happened with his car, like a flat tire or something."
Rory's eyes widened, "What if…"
Lorelai swore under her breath, "I was joking. Tristan's fine… he's fine! He probably knows that this night is important for you and wants to give you as much time as you need to get pretty."
"Well, I'm done and I'm pretty so he needs to get here now before I finish off this pint of ice cream," she practically growled before taking in another spoonful.
Lorelai took the carton away and placed it on the table, "Okay, take a deep breath and go reapply your lip-gloss."
"But -"
"Go."
Rory turned toward her bedroom and walked to the door slowly, hoping that Tristan would arrive. She entered her room and closed her room, wanting just a few minutes of silence to herself. As she applied the shiny gloss to her lips, she couldn't help but think about the past few months. This caused her to smile and even blush.
The past two months had been wonderful for them. After that day in school, both didn't look back. Neither would allow them to.
"So I can safely say that the entire school hates me now."
"You're being ridiculous. No they don't," he replied softly.
"Okay let me rephrase that. I can safely say that fifty percent of the school hates me now."
"Actually, I would say about sixty percent. Females outnumber the males here."
Rory rolled her eyes and moved away from his comforting grip, "What a nice thing to say to your girlfriend. Really, you've made me feel so much better."
"Girlfriend?"
Rory's eyes widened and she felt her whole face go hot, "Well… aren't I? I mean I assumed that after…" she stumbled over her words.
Tristan smirked and kissed her lips fully, "You are," he cleared his throat, "My girlfriend I mean. I just wanted you to get all flustered."
"Why?"
"Because you're adorable when you're embarrassed."
-
Licking the last of the ice cream from her spoon, Lorelai was ready for another spoonful but was interrupted by a low string of curses coming from her porch. Curiously, she walked to the door and brought her ear close to the wooden door. From outside, she could hear a male voice cursing violently. Her curiosity was peaked and she opened the front door only to reveal a crimson Tristan DuGrey rubbing his ankle.
"Hi," Lorelai greeted slowly.
"Hello," he replied back, regaining his composure.
"You're in troublleee," Lorelai sang.
"What? Why?"
"You're late. Very late and you made Rory eat too much ice cream."
"You didn't get my text?" Tristan questioned wide-eyed.
"What text?"
"The text I sent you."
"You didn't send me a text."
"Yes, I did."
"No you didn't. My phone hasn't beeped all night."
Tristan sighed, "Go check."
Lorelai walked back into the house, "Fine. But I know that I'm simply wasting my time because," she paused and looked back at him while blindly reaching for her cell phone, "You didn't send me a text."
Tristan watched the mother of his girlfriend look down at her phone, after catching sight of her eyes widen he smirked.
"So… did I or didn't I send you a text?"
Lorelai kept her eyes to her phone. 1 New Message from: E.T. Pressing read, she grinned sheepishly. Text me when ror is ready. Will be waiting outside. -T
After reading the text, Lorelai looked up, "Some evil person put my phone on silent. That's why I didn't hear it," she replied.
"You sure that the evil person wasn't you?"
"Of course not. How could you say such a thing to your girlfriend's mother?"
"Because it's true. Are you sure you didn't… say put your phone on silent to prevent it from disturbing you whilst you help Rory get ready?"
Lorelai grinned, "Rory's been talking about me way too much."
-
Upon hearing bickering from outside, Rory stepped out of her bedroom barefoot because her feet were starting to hurt from all of the pacing that she had been doing. She crossed the kitchen and immediately recognized her mom's voice and Tristan's. As soon as his voice was heard, her anger for him was quickly replaced by happiness.
She stopped at the doorway to the living room and swallowed the lump in her throat as she caught sight of her boyfriend. Tristan was wearing a simple yet elegant black suit with a white shirt and… she grinned, his turquoise tie matched her dress perfectly, she had no doubt that her mother helped him pick it out.
"Okay, you're seriously delusional if you think that plain cheese pizza is better than pepperoni pizza."
"What? Cheese pizza is a classic."
"Yes but adding pepperoni to it is Perfection with a capital P."
Tristan laughed, "You're crazy."
"Plus it's meaty. I love meat," she grinned at the double meaning.
"Okay, I did not need to hear that."
"You have a dirty mind. I was only stating the obvious. Pepperoni is meat and I love pepperoni pizza therefore, I love meat."
"Mom, stop flirting with my boyfriend."
Tristan's head shot up quickly at the sound of her voice. He had no words as his eyes reached her tiny frame standing a few feet away. He looked at her from head to toe and grinned before meeting her eyes.
"You look beautiful," he replied hoarsely.
Rory blushed both from his compliment and how he was looking at her, "… My shoes."
"Your shoes?"
"I need to put to them on," she sat on the couch and began to strap on her heels. Rory looked up at Tristan and grinned embarrassedly, "And thank you. You don't look so bad yourself. Nice tie."
Tristan grinned back, "Thanks. Your mom helped me pick it out."
"I assumed," she replied, laughing slightly.
"Here," he whispered, taking the white corsage made of roses out of its container. He placed it around her wrist while Rory pinned on his boutonnière.
"Ready to go?" he whispered.
Rory nodded wordlessly.
"Wait! Wait!" Lorelai was yelling as she ran down the stairs, she froze and her eyes looked at the two teenagers in awe, "You did not."
"Didn't what?"
She waved the camera around, "I wanted to take pictures of Tristan giving you your corsage and you pinning his boutonnière! Do it again… I need the pictures!"
"Mom, the moment is over!"
"I don't care. I need these pictures. Not only for future memories but also for your grandma. This was the only way for me to not get her to come over and take the pictures for herself. Now hurry, take that off."
Rory looked at Tristan, asking him for help through her eyes.
Tristan smiled, "Your mom's right."
"Tristan! You're supposed to be on my side," Rory pouted.
Lorelai was grinning from ear to ear, "Okay, flowers off!"
Fifteen minutes later, the teenagers were finally ready. Lorelai held the door open and looked outside in search for the limo. What her eyes found was far better.
"Nice ride, bible boy," Lorelai complimented, referring to the classic red 1969 Chevrolet corvette convertible parked outside.
Rory's eyes followed and she grinned, "I agree."
Tristan shrugged, "It's my dad's. You said a limo tonight would be too cliché so I went for the next best thing."
"I love it," she said, walking outside first.
Tristan laughed and followed her out of the door. He stopped, suddenly remembering something and turned to Lorelai, "My mom wants copies of those pictures. I promised her after she threatened to follow me to your house. She had a driver ready and everything."
Lorelai chuckled and nodded, "Bring her home at a reasonable time."
Tristan nodded before making his way to the car and Rory, who was already seated and buckled.
-
The Chilton prom was over and neither Tristan nor Rory was ready to go home. They opted to skip the numerous after parties, wanting to spend time alone instead.
"Where to now?" Tristan asked in the car.
Rory shrugged, "Just drive."
"Yes dear."
Rory laughed.
They had been driving for forty five minutes and neither knew where they wanted to go. Along the way, Rory had spotted a McDonald's and forced him to stop, using begging eyes and a pout to persuade him.
"Stop here," she said.
"It's a park," he argued.
"Yeah."
Tristan agreed and parked the car soon after.
"Let's walk," she smiled, her large M&M McFlurry was already half empty.
Tristan followed her out of the door and walked by her side. He took hold of her free hand and kissed her quickly. Tasting the sweet taste of vanilla ice cream, he licked his lips before kissing her again.
"That was definitely better than the ice cream," Rory whispered, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.
Tristan smiled in response and took her hand again. They began walking down the dimly lit pathway, chatting about the night's events.
"And when Madeline and Louise got their dates mixed up."
"They shouldn't have brought identical twins. I don't know what they were thinking."
"I think they unintentionally switched."
"How do you know?" Tristan asked.
"Because one of them had a freckle on his cheek. When we got there, he was with Louise but when we left he was with Madeline."
Tristan laughed, "Should I be worried that you noticed that?"
Rory shook her head, she stopped walking and lead him to a bench, "Paris was the one who told me. You have nothing to be worried about," she whispered.
Her face inched its way closer to his, stopping until their lips were mere millimetres apart. Licking her lips, she kept her eyes on his before connecting her lips to his waiting ones. Taking her hand off her ice cream, she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him closer.
Tristan shivered from the gesture but still continued to kiss her fervently… not having any real opportunity to the whole night.
Minutes later, they both pulled away, breathless but yearning for more.
"I'm sorry I didn't plan anything after prom like everybody else," he whispered.
"What? Like bringing me to a $300 a night hotel room?" she questioned.
Tristan almost reddened at her response, "What's wrong with that? It's a good place to… talk."
She laughed, "The night's been perfect so far. Thanks to…"
"Me?"
"Ice cream," she finished.
"You're too sweet, baby," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
Rory sighed and rested her head against him.
"Tonight was perfect. Thank you," she said softly.
Tristan looked down at her and kissed her cheek briefly, "Thank you."
-
"So what now?" Rory asked him an hour later as they were walking back to his car. At that moment, questions filled her head about the state of their relationship. So far, they only had the rest of the school year and then summer. After that, their future was uncertain.
"What do you mean?" he asked her.
"There's tonight, there's tomorrow… then graduation and then what?" Rory asked thoughtfully.
Tristan watched Rory take her seat in the passenger's side and opened his own door. Sliding in the convertible, he pondered her question thoughtfully. Turning the keys, the loud engine was heard and Tristan waited a few seconds before answering her question.
"… then Yale," he responded, meeting her eyes.
"You got in?" she asked incredulously, her insides soaring.
"I got in Mare," he winked, backing out of the parking lot.
-End
--
Okay so… that was it. It's almost been two years since I started this story and it's finally complete.
Also, there will be no sequel to this story… I wanted a happy ending but I didn't want it to be so final and cheesy.
I hope you guys liked it! And thank you for your continued support and the awesome reviews!