DISCLAIMER: Gilmore Girls isn't mine. All characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB.

AN: M, you're the best! Thanks so much for beta-ing for me. To all my reviewers, thanks so much! So here's the latest installment of When You Least Expect It. Enjoy! R&R please.

When You Least Expect It
04: Romance Novels and White Picket Fences

It had been two months after their first meeting and since they lived in the same city with only a few acquaintances, they hung out with each other often enough that they formed a friendship easily.

They both did wonder how come they couldn't have been friends since their Chilton day. Rory blamed it on Tristan. She said he was a jerk. Tristan blamed Rory. He said she was a snob and had formed stereotypes even before she started. This brought several arguments and banters between them. But finally, just to settle the issue, they agreed to disagree.

He saw her in their usual spot in the café and made his way to her. Her head was bent and it was no surprise that she was reading a book. "Hey, Mary! Mornin'." he greeted. "What's the novel for the day?" he asked, pointing at the book she was holding. She jumped and when she looked up he noticed that her eyes were glassy and her nose was pink.

Shaking her head, Rory closed her book and placed it on her lap table. "Oh, nothing interesting."

This piqued his curiosity. Usually, Rory would talk about whatever book she was reading at the moment. His eyebrow rose. "What is it? Let me see."

"No!"

Now he was really curious. "Why not? Come on. Show me," he said, his hand outstretched, palm facing up.

"Really, it's a boring book."

He grinned. "You're not reading porn, are you? Or those romance novels?" When her cheek's turned a darker hue of pink, his grin widened. "You are! Come on, let me see it."

She held up the book and scowled. "Are you happy now?"

He plucked the book from her, perused it, and shook his head when he was done. Love. Passion. Forever. These were the words that popped out. He couldn't believe that she read these types of stuff. Sure she loved to read. All kinds, different kinds. But he was pretty sure that she was still picky when it came to her reading materials. "You really read this tra—thing?" he asked incredulously.

"Why? What's wrong with reading a romance novel, huh?"

He tried to hide his smile. "Nothing." But he couldn't help himself and started laughing. "Unless you're one of those hopeless romantics who wished that they were like the heroine, who think that there is a man out there just for them."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What's wrong with that? What's wrong with wanting to have romance? To have passion, love, and live happily ever after with someone?"

A sigh escaped her lips as she stared off into the other side of the room. There, a couple sat together, laughing. They looked so in love, laughing and gazing into each other's eyes.

Tristan gave a nod of thanks to the waitress who served them their late lunch. He was starting to wonder what brought this on. "Did something happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, here you're reading a romance novel and crying."

"I wasn't crying!" she defended.

His eyebrow rose. "I'm sorry, but weren't those tears in your eyes I saw? Look, I'm just wondering if something happened that suddenly you're…like this."

Silence stretched between the two for a moment. Rory didn't know what and how to explain it to Tristan so he'd understand, especially knowing that it was the exact opposite of what he wanted. "I got a call from Logan. And he's getting married," she said quietly.

Tristan waited patiently, but when she didn't continue, he started to wonder if she was now starting to regret breaking up with Logan. "Do I need to beat him up and make him see that he's making the biggest mistake of his life by marrying someone else? 'Coz it sounds like you're not over him. Or else it wouldn't bother you," he explained.

"No, it doesn't bother me. Not in the way you think," she explained. Even though they've broken up, she and Logan decided to remain friends, but it wasn't a comfortable relationship. It would never be like her relationship with Stephanie or Finn. "It's just that when he called he sounded so excited and happy. Logan, of all people! He was never into commitment at all, except maybe when we were dating."

"This bothers you because you're still in love with him?" he asked, his voice hollow.

"No, I'm over him." She rubbed her temples. "I just envy him."

"Why?"

"Because he finally found the love of his life. She had always thought that she was like her mother, who didn't need a man to make her happy. But she realized that she wanted it. She wanted to have someone be there for her, with her, to share her life with. "Where's mine?"

Tristan was speechless. He wasn't sure how to answer because he didn't think he believed in it. It never crossed his mind that Rory would be.

"I mean Buttercup has her Westley, Jane has Mr. Rochester. Even Paris! Gods! Paris has Doyle And despite being scary and being…Paris, Doyle just seem to adore her."

"Tsk tsk. What did your mother tell you, Thumper?"

"I know! I'm sorry. I'm really happy for her! But I'm just wondering. Why? Why don't I have that? I just…I want to meet the love of my life who'd turn my world upside down and sweep me off my feet!"

Every woman's fantasy. Rory wasn't an exception.

"I want to get married and be together in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do us part! I want to live in a house with a rose garden and white picket fence. A family with 2.5 kids and a dog!"

Every bachelor's nightmare. Tristan was one of them.

"You don't like dogs."

"Not the point." Rory wasn't finished. And so the rant continued. "And when we're old my husband and I would take walk together and hold hands. He'd still tell me I'm the most beautiful woman in the world for him, and would just tease me about my weight."

Tristan leaned both his elbows on the table and frowned. "You've been watching Brady Bunch reruns, haven't you?"

"No."

"7th Heaven?"

"No."

"Good. I thought I had to make you watch One Tree Hill and The OC," he quipped.

"Tristan!" He could see she was about to cry and he sobered. "Where's my Darcy? My Romeo? My Rhett Butler? When am I going to meet the love of my life? When am I going to have my fairytale that would end with happily ever after?"

"You need to scratch Romeo. He died."

--

Almost a week later, Rory was on the phone talking to Tristan.

"Yeah, I can't wait for this day to be over. Hey, you want to do something tonight? Movie marathon? Dinner?"

Rory continued to type on her computer. "Sorry, I can't."

"What are you doing tonight, if you don't mind me asking?"

They say that if you want something so badly, wish hard and make it happen.

"Well, I…I have a date."

There was a five-second pause. "Wow! You work fast. Who's the guy?"

"A colleague of mine set me up on a blind date. His name is Aaron."

Tristan took a sip of his tea. "Well, good luck! I hope this Aaron guys is 'the one'."

Rory laughed. "We'll see."

"Ok. Have fun later!"

"Thanks!"

Four hours later, Rory was sitting in an elegant restaurant black skirt and cream sleeveless turtleneck. It has been only an hour since he picked her up and she was starting to regret agreeing on going on this blind date. Her date has been talking non-stop and it was making her ears hurt and tired.

"And I have a dog, and he's just the most beautiful thing in the world. He's a basset hound. Do you have dogs? I mean do you know what a basset hound looks like?" Aaron asked.

"Is he like Dino?"

Aaron's eyebrows furrowed. "Who?"

Clueless. "Oh, nothing. Does he look like Odie?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't even know what kind of dog Odie is. But as I was saying my dog is the most beautiful creature on earth. He's really smart too. He can roll over, fetch, and stand on his hind paws..."

"But aren't those what normal dogs usually do?"

"Yes, but Sport does them more gracefully."

Rory fought hard not to move her face muscles. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to roll her eyes of laugh. But being a nice person that she was, she decided to smile and excused herself. Once she was in the toilet, she took out her cell phone and pushed speed dial 3.

It was dark except for the light by the bar, and the music was upbeat. Tristan was having drinks with his friends when his phone started ringing. He saw her name on the screen and answered.

"Rory."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Tris, I need to ask a favor. Could you call me on my cell phone after five minutes?"

Tristan looked at his watched. "What? Why?"

"Please just do it. And just go with whatever I say, ok? I'll explain everything later." She shifted the phone to the other ear.

"All right." He had a hunch that Rory's date wasn't going so well. Why would she call him halfway through it?

Rory returned to her seat and five minutes on the dot, her phone rang. She gave Aaron an apologetic smile and took the call. Although she knew that it was impolite to take a call at the dinner table, she needed to do this to execute her plan. "Hey!

Tristan answered, "Hey?"

She continued her monologue, her voice changing from chipper to worry. "Really? Are you sure?" She paused dramatically. "Ok, ok, I'll be right there in a jiffy." Flipping her phone closed, she turned to Aaron. I'm sorry to cut our date short, but there has been an emergency." She said goodbye and quickly left the restaurant.

She drove home and when she got to her empty apartment, she changed into her pajamas and got ready for bed. But before she went to sleep, she decided to call someone…or two.

"Lorelai's Shop of Horrors!" Rory heard her mother chirp.

Rory smiled. "Hey, mom! So what exactly can I buy from this new shop?"

"We have a lot of stuff to offer! We have Frankenstein costumes, Boogeyman masks. We even have life size posters. Mel Gibson in a bikini to Cher in a dominatrix costume."

"Do you have Michael Jackson in a tutu?"

"Hmmm…no, but we might just have that soon."

Rory laughed. "So how are you guys?"

"Oh, we're fine, except for your dad. Ms. Patty still harasses him." Lorelai had loved Luke. She actually thought they were going get married and share their lives together, but she realized in the end that it always goes back to Chris. It has always been him.

Chris knew her, knew her quirks and idiosyncrasies, and he accepted all of those and loved her for them. They'd come a long way. It had been hard and painful. They tried to stay together even after having Rory, but they were too young to handle the pressure and finally decided not to. Chris went away, trying to make himself worthy of his family, and Lorelai and Rory. And when they thought that everything was going smoothly and decided to give it another try, he got his girlfriend pregnant.

All was lost and she started dating other men and then Luke. He had always been there for her and her baby girl so why not? She was ready to marry him when they discovered he had a daughter. The wedding had been pushed back until she asked him to finally make a decision. That night, she ended up sleeping with Chris. She was sorry for hurting Luke, but it somehow led her back to Chris. It was a ride on a motorcycle on a dirt road. And eventually, they reached the end and the paved road began. It was finally right.

She asked about her half sister and brother. "And Gigi and Adam?"

"Gigi's great. She's enjoying school just like you did. Adam, well he's torturing mommy! It's hard to leave him because he runs and crawls. He can't stay still in one place."

"Why don't you leave him in his play pen?"

"Coz he would cry! Brat! Got it from your dad's side of the family."

Then she heard her dad's voice. "I heard that, Lorelai!" Then her mom giggled. "Is that Rory?"

"Ror, your dad's wants to talk to you."

"Hey, kiddo! How are you?" Chris asked his daughter. He might have missed out on a lot of things when it came to her growing up, it didn't mean he should stop trying. He didn't want to miss out on her adulthood. She'll always be his baby girl.

"Hey, dad. I'm fine. How's everything going?"

"Great! Except for your mom's complaints about Adam. I don't know why since I watch Adam more than half the time!"

"You do not!" Lorelai's shouted over the phone. Chris laughed.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night," he told his wife, smiling at her.

"Oh, you're doing a great job in tiring me at night," Lorelai said coyly.

"Just at night?"

"Ok, fine. Even during daytime."

"And I'll be glad to do it for the rest of my life."

Rory cringed, disgusted. "Ew ew ew…daughter still on the phone! I can hear you, you know! Ok, I think I'll talk to you guys some other time when you're not in your flirting mode," she huffed. A feeling of heaviness settled in her chest as she listened to her parents flirt.

Chris sobered. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. I'll talk to you later, Dad. Love you."

"Love you, too."

"Bye." She dialed another number and waited.

"Hello?"

"Tristan. It's me, Rory."

Tristan leaned back against his pillows. "Believe it or not, I actually know your voice."

"That's a relief. At least you won't mistake me for one of your women lest that you start talking dirty."

He snorted. "So how was the date tonight? What happened?" he asked, and then Rory explained everything. "I'm sorry Ror. But hey, look on the bright side. You don't have to worry about having pets."

She laughed. "It's fine. I mean I don't want to have a relationship with someone who might love his dogs more than me. I don't think I'll be able to stand the competition."

"Come on, Rory. Any boyfriend would love you more than they would love their pets."

Rory smiled, warmth filling her belly. "Thanks, Tris. That's so sweet of you."

"Well, what do I get in return?" he said, his voice low. "Do I get a thank you kiss?"

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her cheeks from turning pink. "I knew it! I knew you'd turn this conversation into something lewd."

He chuckled. "But it's so much making you blush," he said, grinning. "Seriously, Rory, don't worry. Maybe the next guy who comes along will be the one."

"Yeah, maybe."

--