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Rory sighed, twirling her necklace as she searched for the person she most wanted to find, or least. She was still deciding. Everything hinged on his reaction. Every corner she turned, every door she opened, that was one more hitched breath, one more worried thought. "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid… He doesn't want you, MARY." She practically spat at herself. She began pacing the library she had stumbled upon, found one of her grandfather's good books, sat down on the comfy couch, and began reading. She was no longer searching. She gave up. She wondered when this party was going to end. Or rather, when this obligation was going to end.

In the main room

Lorelai furrowed her brows, deep in thought. She had searched, also for Tristan. She wasn't going to let him mess up, again. After he left that fateful night, Rory had been completely devastated.

Flashback

As Tristan walked down the long, unending hallway, wishing he could turn back and plant a soft kiss on those oh-so gorgeous lips, Rory was silently starting to cry, although she did a good job holding back the tears until she got home. Lorelai held her, not knowing exactly what was wrong, but she was equipped with the knowledge of what happened the last time someone forgot to wallow after a break up. Lorelai had asked her daughter if her and Dean had had a fight. Rory had replied curtly with the response that her and bagboy were just fine. Lorelai had been baffled. She had only remembered one person ever calling Dean bagboy. And then it clicked.

"Rory, sweetie, did you and Tristan have a fight?" Lorelai asked, slightly amused.

"We didn't have a fight… He almost kissed me." Rory managed to choke out between sobs.

"Almost? What do you mean?" Lorelai was thoroughly bewildered now.

"He came to tell me that his dad was making him leave, and he turned to go saying 'I'd kiss you goodbye, but your boyfriend is watching.'" Rory was wailing by now.

Lorelai had known that her daughter and Dean had their fair share of problems, but didn't every couple?

End Flashback

Over the next month, Lorelai had watched as her daughter drifted further and further away from her first love, finally ending it. The next three years had incredibly fast for both Gilmore girls, and neither had a love life to speak of. Well, Lorelai did, but it had been hard for her to talk about it with her daughter, when she was so incredibly lonely.

Lorelai was pulled out of her reverie by a tall, blonde man pushing past her, obviously searching for something. It took Lorelai all of a minute and a half to realize that that man was not searching for something, he was searching for someone. And that that man, was not just any man, it was Tristan DuGray, king of Chilton, and dweller of her daughter's heart.

"Bible Boy! Wait up!" When Tristan made no move to stop, or even turn to see who was calling him, Lorelai altered her expression. "Tristan, I know where Rory is hiding!" She cried. At this, Tristan's head jerked in her direction, and he made a beeline for the elder female.

"She's hiding from me?" Tristan's heart began to sink.

"Okay, so maybe the wording was a little off, but it got your attention didn't it?" Lorelai shrugged.

"So you don't know where Rory is?" Tristan couldn't take much more of this woman's babbling, he had to find Rory and he had to find her right then.

He began turning, and was going to go back to his searching when he heard a voice call after him. "Where did you find her at the last party?" It was then, that he knew exactly where to go. If only he could find the library.

Tristan searched, opening door after door, and he didn't even stop at this strange man's request to join a sub-party. "Care for a drink, love?" Wow, that was one gone Australian. After what seemed like the 150th door, Tristan was asking himself if there could be a bigger house in all of Hartford. On door 207, Tristan stumbled upon a room full of books. All books. It was Rory's dream room. In the far corner, there was a leather love seat facing the wall, and Tristan walked towards it.

"She's reading again, how novel." Tristan almost laughed at his child-like antics.

Rory turned, startled, and gasped when she saw she had a visitor. "Tristan? You're here?"
"What, were you looking for me, Mary?" Tristan smirked.

"Maybe." Rory started to blush, but couldn't take her eyes off of his gorgeous body.

"Like what you see?" Tristan laughed.

"Eh. Not really." It was Rory's turn to smirk.

Although it had been nearly 3 years since they had last seen each other, the two fell easily back into the playful flirtatious bantering that they were known for in high school. Rory had curled into one corner of the love seat, and Tristan sat at the other end. They started out by talking about where they were in life, and ended up at the night of Romeo and Juliet.

"I can't read Shakespeare without thinking of you." Rory confessed.

"Well aren't you just a Taylor Swift? I'm sure Shakespeare would be honored." Tristan laughed. He hadn't laughed that much in three years, and it felt good.

"Huh?" Rory was confused, Tristan knew Taylor Swift?

"What you don't have a letter you wrote me 3 summers back?" Tristan countered.

"I never pictured you as a country boy Tristan. And yes, I do." Wow, Rory had a lot to learn. She reached back into her purse, and pulled out a letter in an envelope marked simply, Tristan. "I was going to mail this to you," Rory confessed, "but I didn't know where to send it."

"What can I say, Trace Adkins knows his stuff." Tristan joked as he pulled out an envelope of his own marked simply, Mary.

The two exchanged envelopes and were silent for a time, each lost in their own little world of reminiscence.

At last, Tristan was the first to speak. " I never knew you felt this way, Mare. What do you say, we go get coffee or something tomorrow?" He knew fully well that the or something was not needed, a Gilmore girl was hooked at the word coffee, always.

"I would love to, Bible boy." Rory answered with a grin.

Where had he heard that before? It clicked. "Rory, how long have you had that nickname for me?"

"Since you dubbed me Mary, why?" She responded, intrigued.

"Because I think your mom tried to get my attention using that name, and then realized I had no clue what it meant." Tristan chuckled.

After the party, both spent their night staring at the ceiling. Neither could sleep for the visions of coffee dancing in their head.

Okay, okay…. I know…. bad ending….. but I had to end it somewhere or this would be longer than the already 8 pages it is…. So sorry…. more updates to come, I'm not done with this story yet……. And I have ideas as to where its going….. I think it might be finished by 2007.

Reviews please? Oh, and did anyone catch that cameo appearance? Love to all.

If I don't update before the 25th, I hope you all have a safe and Merry Christmas.

3 Roscette29