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Disclaimer: I wish I owned Tanc and Matt, but sadly I do not. And Chad, that would be awesome!

Chapter 16: The truth

When she opened it and saw the blonde boy standing out there, staring back at her, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh my God."

"Looking good Mary."

-

-

Rory let out a squeal and basically ran into his waiting arms.

"Wow, I know I'm hot, but cool it, babe," Tristan said with a laugh as he embraced her back.

She pulled back to look at his face and slapped him softly on his forearm. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a smile and couldn't help herself from hugging him again and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Well, I'm taking a week off from school-"

"-You are taking a week off from Princeton? Just like that?" she asked, a look of inapprovement on her face. "You can't do that Tris."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I can, some people are taking notes for me. Relax Mare, I can handle it."

She shook her head, a little amazed by his casual attitude. He had always been like that, even back at Chilton. It was one of the things that were so different about them.

"So, are you going to invite me in or do you want me to jump you out here, in a public hall?" he asked as he looked around, seeing a few people walking by. "It's cool with me, I always like public displaces of affection."

"You are such a boy," she said with a smile and grabbed his shirt by the collar, dragging him inside.

"What did you expect me to say when you are standing there in that tiny tank top and those short boxers?" he asked in an innocent tone as he looked down at her, smiling only slightly. "I mean, it been a long time since I had a piece of that."

She shook her head. "You've never had a piece of this," she said with a laugh.

"Well... No. But I would like to." He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

She just grinned back, a smart response ready. "I thought that you had realized that you can never have this." She twirled around and finally struck a fabulous pose.

"So you say, and my heart breaks a little every time I hear it," he said dramatically and held his hand to his heart. "Do not wound me anymore, Mary. My weak heart can't take it."

"Stop that," she said and laughed. "Now tell me, why exactly are you here, in my dorm, with me?"

"You dragged me in," he reminded her. "Apparently you couldn't wait for me to jump you, which is quite understandable. After all, I'm a hunky dude. I'm a badass hunky dude."

Rory slowly lifted one eyebrow. "Tell me you didn't just quote "She's the Man."

"What?" he asked and shrugged. "Amanda Bynes is hot."

"She plays a dude."

"So?"

She shook her head, giving up. Guys really were from Mars. "Boys are weird," she muttered under her breath, before turning her attention back to the blonde boy standing in front of her. "Just answer the question, Tristan. What are you doing here?"

"All right, I might have been a little down and just wanted to be with someone that I knew and liked. Well, most times anyways," he added with a faint smile.

"Trouble in Paradise?" she asked. "Did something happen with Sandy?"

He frowned slightly. "Sandy? No, I'm talking about Alicia. I broke up with Sandy weeks ago."

"You did?" Rory said surprised. "But you were so into her!"

"Yes, turned out that after the fifth date, she's quite boring. Actually, I think I only liked her for the sex…" He grinned as he thought back. "The sex was real good."

The brunette shook her head appalled. "Pig," she muttered.

"I know," he simply replied. "But I really do like Alicia, she's hot and interesting. Kind of reminds me of you," he flirted and winked at her.

"Flatter will get you everywhere," she said with a smile. "So, what happened?"

"Well, her boyfriend caught us going at-"

"-her boyfriend?" Rory interrupted and shook her head. "You couldn't find someone that didn't have a boyfriend? Just a normal sweet girl, who is not a total bimbo?"

"I'll have you know that she is a brunette, no highlights at all," he told her proudly. "And you have no right to bitch about it, since you - a normal sweet girl - turned me down. I tried and I, sadly, failed."

She shook her head slowly. "Why am I friends with you, again?"

"Because of my dazzling good look?" He suggested. "Or my charming personality? It's a tough choice."

Rory pretended to think. "Nah," she said after a few seconds and shook her head. "It's the money. Got to love the money."

Tristan snorted. "Fine. Pretend not to care about my hot body. See if I care," he said in a slightly offended voice. But a few seconds later, he was smiling once again. That was until he took a closer look at her. Suddenly he let out a sight, and he took his shoes off and began taking his shirt off.

"Tristan… What the hell are you doing?"

He looked up at her, his face nonchalant. "Well, even if you are seriously bubbly, I know there is going to be some major talking slash wallowing." At Rory's confused look, he explained. "You've got look on your face, so I figured I might as well get dressed for some serious 'movie-nighting'."

Her mouth opened slightly, as he just continued to remove his clothes before disappearing into her room.

She was quiet for a few seconds, before finally letting out, "What look??!"

-----

Tristan stared at Rory, his eyes narrowed. "Is it your grandparents?" he asked her, waiting for some reaction.

But she just shook her head and muttered a nonchalant, "No."

"All right then. Paris? It's Paris, isn't it?" Rory opened her mouth, but he kept on talking. "She has to be driving you crazy with all her freakish stuff. I told you, never share a dorm with Paris Gellar. But did you listen to me, oh no!"

"Actually," Rory finally managed to get a word in. "She's been pretty normal lately, in a quiet good mood. It's weird."

"Maybe she's having sex. It always works for me."

"And thank you for that info," Rory said slightly grossed out.

The blonde just smirked. "You are welcome, baby. So it's not Paris. Could it be your mother? It is! You had a fight, am I right or am I right?"

"Deadly wrong," she answered with a roll of her eyes. "Why don't you just stop this?"

"You told me to guess, so I'm guessing."

"I never actually thought you would keep on guessing for like…" she paused and took a look at her watch. "15 minutes!"

He shrugged. "You could just tell me."

"No."

"Well, then! Jason?" he guessed. "He's being a jackass, teasing you?"

Rory only snorted and laughed. "Like I'm not use to that."

"So it must be a guy. You found some jackass, that cheated on you? With your best friend. Dude, don't tell me he has a thing for Paris! She's screwing your boyfriend! It all makes sense!"

She couldn't help but smile. "You are just strange, my friend."

"But you didn't deny it this time! It is a boy."

She sighed and snuggled deeper into the bed, not wanting to talk about it. She felt slightly silly of feeling this way about a guy she was having a no strings-relationship with. She wasn't supposed to care whether or not he was sleeping with someone. She was suppose to being just that!

And yet, here she was with Tristan DuGrey, the amazing guy with blue mesmerising eyes, that cute smirk and a body to die for… The guy she had known since forever, one of her best friends, that knew her better than anyone… And the guy that had always had a little crush on her… Here he was, lying in her bed with her in nothing but a pair of boxers and a wifebeater…

And they were talking about her crush on some other guy.

She must be crazy. Or maybe she just really liked Logan. Neither option sounded very good at the moment.

"He really hurt you?" Tristan asked, pulling her away from her thoughts. He had seen the sad, almost devastated, look on her face.

She shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "No. Maybe. I don't know," she finally answered. "I'm just confused."

He nodded his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She cuddled into him and closed her eyes, really needing a friend. They sat there for a while, neither saying anything, just relaxing as Tristan drew circles on her back.

It was about a half hour later, that there was a knock on the door. Tristan looked down at Rory and couldn't help but smile as he saw that she was almost asleep. Her eyes were half closed and her mouth slightly open. He untangled himself from her and slowly moved out of the bed and went to the door. With a frown he opened it and came face to face with a somewhat familiar looking guy.

"Yeah?" Tristan asked and raised an eyebrow, wondering what this boy was doing at Rory's dorm so late.

Apparently the guy hadn't suspected Tristan to open. "What the h-" he began but was cut of as the door opened wider and Rory appeared, standing next to Tristan.

She seemed shocked at first, but that soon turned to uncomfortable. She crossed her arms over her chest, almost trying to hide herself. "-Logan?" she said questioning.

Logan looked at her, saw her skimpy top, her almost not there boxers and her messy hair. His eyes then moved to Tristan and took in his state. He was also out of normal clothes, his body only covered in a pair of boxers and a white wifebeater.

The expression on his face turned angrier, if possible, and even a little hurt.

"Ace, um, I need to speak to you," he said, eyeing Tristan meanwhile.

She nodded her head slowly, her face expression a bit curios. But also, her eyes seemed a little sad.

Tristan noticed and looked between the two, silently wondering who this guy was. "Introduction first!" he said, breaking the silence, and held his hand out. "Tristan DuGrey, Rory's best friend and secret lover."

"Tristan!" Rory elbowed him in the side, but Tristan just smirked. The blonde guy's expression was priceless.

"And you are?" he went on.

"You have already met," Rory told him, her eyes never leaving Logan. "At grandma's party."

Tristan frowned and took another look at Logan. "Huh," he said nonchalant. "Strange. I really don't remember you. Must have been quite trashed."

Logan smiled slightly, his smile fake and forced. "Yeah, well…" he said. "So can I speak to Rory alone? It's quite important."

Tristan turned to Rory and when she nodded her head, he sighed slowly. "Well, guess I'll just disappear then." He kissed Rory's forehead and sent Logan a quick look before going back inside.

After that there was an awkward silence. Neither said anything, but just continued to stare at each other hoping the other person would begin.

"So, I'll just find something to..." she trailed off and motioned to her clothes.

Logan nodded his head as she disappeared through the door and came back a minute later, now wearing a pair of loose hanging grey sweats and a big T-shirt.

"So…" he began slowly, running his fingers through his blonde hair. "I talked to Finn. He said you spent the day together…"

"Yeah?"

"And, um, that you saw me, sitting with a girl… Holding her hand."

Rory nodded her head, but didn't say anything.

"And then you suddenly had to go," Logan continued and raised an eyebrow. "Wh-why? I mean, why didn't you come by, why didn't you say hallo?"

"I had things to do," Rory said vaguely as she shrugged her shoulders. "I had an article to write and this boring book."

"And that couldn't wait?" Logan asked her, his voice a bit hurt.

She stared at him. "No." her voice was firm. "I know this may sound strange to you, but some of us actually care about school and getting a good education. Not everyone likes to waste their life on drinking and partying."

Logan drew his brows together. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"What is that-" Rory stopped and just shook her head. "You know what, never mind. Just say what you wanted to say, I really don't have time."

Logan let out an irritated laugh. "Right. Lover boy is waiting." He shook his head and turned serious again. "The girl, the one you saw me with. I'm not with her. She's a friend, nothing more. Well, actually, she's kind of like my sister, I've known her forever. Just the thought of us.. It's creepy."

"Great," Rory said, a big false smile plastered on her face. "Why should I care?"

"You were jealous," he said, pointing out the obvious. "You thought something was going on with me and her, and that made you jealous."

"I did not!" Rory protested. "And I wasn't jealous, I don't care how many blonde bimbos you sleep with. It's you choice. If you want to get a million diseases, fine. Whatever. Just don't pass them on to me."

Logan rolled his eyes. "So why did you go? Even Finn and Steph thought it was weird!"

"They think everything is weird!" she reminded him. "As I said, I just had stuff to do. People to see."

"Don't you mean stuff to see, people to do?" Logan muttered under his breath, but Rory heard him.

"Grow up, Logan!" she said, her voice cold. "We are not together, so why don't you just stop that crap? We are bed buddies, friends with benefits, just two teenagers with sexual needs that need to be filled. Nothing more!"

Logan seemed a little taking aback by her harsh words, and suddenly she felt bad. The anger on his face seemed to disappear and instead he looked just... completely broken. Kind of the way she felt.

"Right." He nodded his head slowly, avoiding making eye contact with her. "I guess I just thought it was something more. My mistake." He turned around and started to leave.

"Logan…"

"No, you are right. Why would you be jealous?" he began and looked at her over his shoulder. "It's not like you really care about me. Which is fine. We made a deal. A deal is a deal."

She sighed and took a few steps closer to him. "Logan, it's not-"

"I'll see you later, Rory."

With that he walked away, leaving Rory standing alone in the empty hall.