A/N: Thanks to all my reg-revs! You guys rock!!!!!! Here's the second last chapter!!!!!!

Tear

Chapter 16:

The Sharp Hint of New Tears

"Come on, slowpoke!" Rory's playful cry pierced the icy December air and Tristan wasn't sure of whether or not he should hurry to the door or jump back behind the wheel of the car and return to the safety of New Haven.

It was a chilly, bright Friday, four days before Christmas Eve and Tristan, in a whirlwind of begging, packing, and a million "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" renditions, now found himself standing in the driveway of Rory's childhood home.

"Alright, I'm coming!" He called, pulling the last couple of bags out of the trunk of Rory's brand new SUV, thanking God that his voice wasn't noticeably shaking. As he slowly made his way up to the front porch, Tristan found that his palms were sweating profusely and his stomach was alive with a thousand butterflies.

God, he was nervous. Beyond nervous, in fact.

He was about to meet Rory's mom.

Rory was practically jogging on the spot as she waited anxiously for her mother to open the door. Everything was perfect, Tristan was spending Christmas in Stars Hallow with her, her mother, who was dying of anticipation, would finally get to meet him, and Christmas cheer was everywhere.

A grin took control of Rory's mouth and she glanced over at her boyfriend of three months as he readjusted the duffel bags in his hands. Rory stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick, sweet kiss. "Don't worry," she said calmly, "everything will be fine."

Tristan gave her a nervous smile and nodded his head, mumbling,

"Of course everything will be fine." Rory hid her smile. He sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself instead of her.

Rory remembered walking into his apartment with her spare key two weeks ago after getting off the phone with her mother to find him sitting quietly on the couch, deep in thought. He always got like that around the holidays. Rory thought back to Thanksgiving and remembered asking him to come back with her, but he had declined insisting that he had to work. Rory had commented on how unfair that was and, reluctantly, he admitted that he was the restaurant's holiday guy.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, slightly confused by the title.

Tristan found his hands in his lap very interesting and hesitated before answering. "I mean…well, whenever there's a holiday, most of the workers have family to go back to, but I…I'm always available, so I'm working all this weekend." Rory had known instinctively what he was going to say before he had stopped himself.

He didn't have anyone waiting for him. She knew, since he had run away from those horrible people he called parents, that he didn't have anywhere to go on such family-centered events. With her heart breaking, Rory had leaned over and kissed him.

"Okay," she said, pulling back a moment later. "But you tell your boss that you get all of Christmas off this year because you're going to Stars Hollow with me, okay?"

Tristan was quiet for a moment before finally nodding and raising his gaze to hers. "Okay…I'd like that a lot."

He had smiled shyly and Rory had returned with a grin and hugged him, feeling protective of the guy with his arms wrapped lovingly around her.

As Christmas drew closer, Tristan had become more and more tense and it took a lot of persuading on Rory's part to convince him to keep his promise.

"It'll be great!" Rory had been raving in the car on the way here. "We'll drink yucky eggnog and sing every Christmas carol we can think of! Everybody's going to come over and Sookie will cook! And we'll go out into the Town Square – they always have fun stuff going on at Christmas – and you'll meet everybody, too! And then we'll watched Scrooged, because we can't break tradition and then we'll stay up all night wondering about what presents we're going to get! Then, on Christmas morning, the one day when Mom and I wake up early, we'll open our presents and have a snowball fight on the way to Luke's! You'll love it Tristan, you really will!" Rory had been out of breath by the time she finished her babbling but she was giddy with excitement.

Tristan, on the other hand, had silently given her a tense, nervous smile and kept his eyes on the road. Rory had noticed how his knuckles turned white from his grip on the steering wheel.

He was scared.

Rory hadn't known what to do then and she was just as baffled now. But in her heart she understood his apprehension. She had seen that image of his Christmas when he was six. She had seen the joyless day and the disappointing evening. She had felt the unsurpassed loneliness. And she was determined to make this year different, to show him the magic of Christmas for the first time. Rory shuddered at the thought of her caring, sweet boyfriend being subjected to such a horrible holiday for the past twenty years.

Presently, it was hard to ignore the merriment that was permeating her soul. From the huge Christmas tree in the Town Square, to the lampposts decked with large, red bows and the wreaths on every door…everything just screamed Christmas and Rory was in paradise.

The sound of feet thundering around inside the house brought Rory out of her joyful trance and, before either of the two could prepare themselves, the door was suddenly thrown open.

In a flurry of hair curlers, frenzied shouting, and flying hands Hurricane Lorelai tore out of the house and tackled her daughter. The flurry of movement was too fast for Tristan's eyes to catch and all he could comprehend where the rushing colours accented with the occasional "Mini-me!", "Great one!", and delighted bouts of giggles.

After what seemed like forever, the laughter subsided and the two Gilmore women detached themselves from one another. Lorelai stepped back and turned to face him and Tristan saw the spitting image of his girlfriend. The same bright smile, same laughing eyes, the same luxurious long brown hair…at least he assumed it was under those crazy torture styling devices.

"So you're the Hot One my daughter tells me about!" Lorelai exclaimed, smiling. "I see that not only has she acquired my good looks but my good judgment as well!" Rory, after living her whole life with this crazy woman, had warned Tristan about her wildly insane behaviour, but both were left flushed from the pointed statements.

Lorelai, with a scrutinizing mother's eye, examined the blushing young man in front of her. This guy had Rory jumping over the moon every time she saw him and Lorelai's only concern was that he wouldn't be able to resist submitting to the Hartford behaviour he had been unfortunate enough to have grown up with. She knew, better than anybody, how heartless Hartford socialites could be but she had escaped it all and she was hoping Tristan would continue to follow her path.

But upon witnessing the sputtering 20-year-old, she felt the few worries she had had begin to fade away.

"I…um…I, well…" Tristan stammered. He was meeting Rory's mother for the first time and she calls him hot? What was he supposed to say to that? "I'm flattered…but I don't think I deserve the…Hot One title." He finished lamely, cursing his wit for running away with its tail between its legs.

"Do not speak blasphemy, young man!" Lorelai held up her hand, adopting a deep, male voice, then let it fall again. She stuck out her hand and resumed in her usual, cheerful voice. "Welcome to Stars Hollow, Tristan."

Tristan, deciding to be bold, took her hand and leaned over it, placing a kiss on the back of her hand. "It's a pleasure, Lorelai," He said, straightening up again. "Rory's told me all about your…escapades."

Lorelai was impressed by his sense of humour and she played along, knowing that if she commented on the formal greeting that he would revert back to the shy, quiet guy Rory loved just as much. "I'm impressed! Rory, just where did you find him? A wide vocabulary and he has manners!"

Tristan laughed and Rory stood back a little, watching her crazy mother and her now calm boyfriend interact with a blissful smile on her face.

Lorelai continued on. "One of the few things Hartford society is any good for!"

Rory's smile faltered as she heard Tristan suck in a quick breath. She watched, wishing she could turn back time and erase what her mother had said, as Tristan's grin disappeared and the light in his eyes went out.

Lorelai realized her mistake a moment too late and glanced back and forth between her daughter and her boyfriend. Rory had told her about how cruel Tristan's parents were to him and Lorelai understood; she had suffered through meeting his father. Even her parents, the esteemed Richard and Emily Gilmore who would bend over backwards for anyone who was part of their distinguished society, disapproved strongly of William and Priscilla DuGrey. Lorelai noticed Tristan's sad eyes as they darted around, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

"I…I'm so sorry, Tristan. I didn't mean to bring up any painful memories for you."

Tristan was already bending down to pick up the duffel bags at his feet when he responded. "That's okay. It's no problem."

Both the Gilmore's could see that it wasn't okay but they could tell how badly Tristan wanted to drop the subject so neither of them decided to press him.

"Why don't we head inside." Rory turned to Tristan as they passed over the threshold. "I'll give you the five second tour of the house and the five minute tour of our lovely town."

He nodded quietly, gracing her with a lopsided half-smile.

"You guys can put the bags down there," Lorelai instructed. "I'll put some order to this place sometime during the next fifty years."

Tristan bent over to drop the bags and Lorelai mouthed a quick, 'I'm sorry' to Rory, who nodded and gave a thumbs-up. She knew Tristan better than anyone and all would be forgotten.

The mood had risen again and they were all smiling as Rory and Lorelai paraded Tristan through the house and reenacted memorable events that happened in each room over the last twenty years.

Tristan was bombarded with funny pictures, colourful, cluttered rooms, stuffed animals, an array of mismatched furniture and confusingly overflowing wardrobes…and he loved every second of it. The two Gilmores shouted at him from both sides, eager to reveal the 'best part', in a confusing, hilarious narrative of Rory's life that had Tristan laughing non-stop.

The mess, the smells, the light streaming through the windows, and the dirty cartons from last night's take-out on the counter. To Tristan it looked so much like a house that was truly a home. It was everything, along with Rory, that he could ever want.

"And this-" Lorelai started breathlessly.

" – is the end of the tour." Rory finished as they flopped, in various, careless positions onto the couch, and pulled him down in between.

Tristan couldn't help but grin as he thought of the crazy mother-daughter duo. They were so in tune to each other; they knew what the other was going to say before they said it and they were capable of having extremely minimal worded conversations that left Tristan's head spinning. They were a team, best friends, true family.

For Tristan, it was bittersweet to think about but he tried to keep his thoughts away from his family history and decided that he was overjoyed that Rory and Lorelai had been blessed with each other and that he had been welcomed into their world.

"So, what do you think?" Rory questioned from her position, leaning against the arm of the couch with her legs stretching across his, her feet resting in her mother's lap.

"I love it!" Tristan answered, enthusiastically. "It's perfect."

"You think so?" Lorelai joked, "because Rory keeps insisting that I should get off my lazy butt and straighten up once in a blue moon."

Rory rolled her eyes in playfully objection as Tristan shook his tousled blond head. "No," he answered; his bright eyes surveying the room like a child see a Christmas tree packed with presents. "I like the clutter. It looks lived in. It looks like a home."

Both Lorelai and Rory resisted the urge to hug him as their thoughts simultaneously drifted back to the impersonal, cold mansions that dominated Hartford. "I agree." Rory murmured.

"Completely." Lorelai added.

A content silence settled over them, a silence that was soon broken by the insistent ringing of a telephone.

Lorelai groaned out loud. "No! Not the phone!"

"Is that bad?" Tristan questioned, confused.

"Of course that's bad! If the phone is ringing we have to answer it to get it to shut up and if we have to answer it we have to find it first!"

"Go get it, Mom," Rory ordered.

"No, you go get it," Lorelai insisted.

"I'm younger!" Rory protested.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Lorelai.

"So age before beauty, right?" Rory grinned triumphantly, knowing she had won.

"Ugh!" Lorelai groaned. "You lucky you're smart and pretty or else you would have been punished severely for your obviously inherited disrespectfulness!"

"Um…disrespectfulness isn't a word, Mom."

"Silence, insolent fool! I will not tolerate such a cruel tone!"

"Well, then go."

"No!"

"Or we can let the machine get it!" Rory chirped, causing Tristan to chuckle at their antics.

Another groan. "No we can't, evil child of mine. What if Bono is finally returning my calls?"

Both Tristan and Rory laughed at the chance of that and Lorelai added one final last thought. "Or what if it's my mother? God knows how much I love avoiding her calls, but if I miss out on some important Christmas details she'll have my head put on a platter and you'll be eating me for Christmas dinner! You know, just like those pigs with the apple thing and – "

"Mom?" Rory interrupted.

"Hmm?"

"Go!"

Lorelai rose reluctantly, mumbling about 'disrespectfulness' and 'young kids these days'.

Rory grinned and focused on Tristan. She was about to ask him what he thought of her mother when she noticed his odd behaviour. "What are you doing?" She questioned, completely bewildered. Tristan was swinging his head from side to side, looking at her then quickly shifting his gaze to where her mother had been sitting over and over again.

"I'm sorry, it just the way you guys talk. It was challenging to keep up with conversation so I decided to just watch and listen but now my head won't stop doing this." Finally, Rory understood that he was playfully making fun of her and her mother's rapid, confusing way of conversing.

Tristan let the charade fall and laughed as Rory reached out and messed up his hair. "You're such a nerd!" She cried out.

"Oh, I'm the nerd?" Tristan questioned, mock indignation covering his face. "We'll see about that!"

Suddenly he pounced on her and was reaching for her sensitive spot. "No, Tristan! No tickling! Please this isn't fair!" Rory protested, half laughing, half screaming.

But he was relentless. He knew where she was most ticklish and there was no way he was showing any leniency now. "Beg for mercy!" He demanded, a devilish grin heightening his handsome features.

"Never!" Rory cried back, tears pouring down her laughing face.

"Mercy or we move on to harsher tactics!" Tristan threatened, never stopping the tickling.

"No! Not that, anything but that!" Rory knew what he would do and she wanted to avoid that torture.

"Then swallow your pride and cry mercy!" Tristan had adopted an English accent and pushed the words out between his laughter, changing his position so that he was lying on top of her.

"I'll never surrender!"

"So be it! Breathe your last!" Tristan stopped tickling and transferred his grip so that he was holding both of her slim wrists in one hand. He then used his other hand to pull up Rory's shirt just enough to reveal her belly button.

"No!" Rory screamed, but Tristan's selective hearing had not picked up on the one word he was waiting to hear.

So he did the one thing he could do. He swooped down and placed his open mouth on her warm skin. Pausing just a moment to hear her suck in a sharp breath between giggles, he blew out as hard as she could.

Rory roared with laughter as the funny feeling raced around her tummy and more tears poured down her face.

"Alright…," she cried as soon as she could breathe again, "…Mercy!"

Tristan gently pushed himself off her and his caring hands helped her back up into a sitting position. "I knew you'd see it my way!"

"I did not! That was extreme torture…I had no choice!" Rory struggled to regain her composure and salvage her dignity but her cheeks were still flushed with laughter and her eyes alive with happiness.

"Exactly…I win!" Tristan cried triumphantly.

"What do you mean you win?!" Rory cried incredulously.

Lorelai laughed quietly from her position in the doorway and wiped the tears from her eyes as she watched the two twenty-year-olds carry on. She had walked into the room to give Rory the phone when she heard Tristan shouting about mercy. She decided to watch as he moved on top of her daughter and she was about to interrupt when she saw what he was planning to do. Lorelai herself had tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard as she observed Tristan lovingly torture her daughter. She had also seen his gentle, caring grip on her wrists. Rory could have easily freed her hands but she too was enjoying the moment of levity. Lorelai watched while they returned to their previous positions and noticed how Tristan tenderly brushed Rory's hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tiny voice screaming at her from the electronic in her hand. She jumped and moved the phone back to her ear, "Oh! I'm sorry, Lane, but Rory was a little…held up. I'll get her now."

The couple on the couch turned at the sound of Lorelai's voice, laughing softly at her play on words. Rory got up with a final, "We'll finish this later", and took the phone from her mother and moved into the kitchen.

"So…" Lorelai started, watching as Tristan sprang up from the couch and began pacing, stopping only to look at the various picture of her and Rory thrown around the room.

He bravely turned around and faced her. "I…I'm sorry if you found that…inappropriate. I –"

Lorelai grinned and shook her head. "Tristan, it's okay. It's good to see the two of you smiling." Tristan nodded silently, and Lorelai noticed that even his ears were red.

He turned around again and picked up a photo frame. Lorelai didn't need to see it to know which one it was. "That was Rory's six birthday party. I made a cake and all her little friends came over…" Her voice drifted off as she thoughts flew back. Suddenly a smile crept over her features and her eyebrows twitched as she tried to suppress a laugh. "Of course, that was also the day that she sneeze while she was eating and spaghetti came out of her nose!"

Tristan laughed softly and put down the frame. He took another step and reached for another. "What about this one?"

Lorelai walked up beside him and stared at the photo. "That was three years ago… on Christmas Eve." Lorelai watched the sad smile take over his face.

"She's looks happy," He murmured, observing his girlfriends flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and blissful smile. He also couldn't help but take notice of the reindeer nose fastened to her face and the piece of holly Lorelai dangled above their heads as she pointed to her cheek, demanding a kiss.

"Yeah…" Lorelai whispered, thinking back to that night. "She really was."

Tristan slowly put the frame back down. "She loves Christmas the most doesn't she?" He questioned, already knowing the answer.

"That she does." Lorelai confirmed, just as softly. She regarded Tristan quietly thoughtfully for a moment. "What about you?"

Tristan looked up at her, startled. "Well,…I…My family was never…too big on holidays. I…I don't really have a favourite, I guess."

Lorelai, after twenty years of raising a child, could see beyond Tristan's façade, she could read between the lines. She understood that his family had never taken part in any holidays, that he didn't have a favourite because he had never really experienced one, and because it was too painful to think about that.

"Tristan, Rory probably told you that my parents are very respectable members of Hartford's high society." Tristan nodded, feeling apprehensive about where this was going. "I lived through it, too, although I think I was more lucky than you. I…I know what it's like and, just like you, I got away from it all. And, no matter how much she wants to, Rory could never understand what it's like. And I know we've just met but what I'm trying to say is, if you ever need someone to talk to about it…" She leaned over and hugged Tristan, who reluctantly returned the embrace. She pulled back and stared into his lonely eyes, patting his arm reassuringly, "I'm here for you, too. Okay, kiddo?"

Tristan was silent for a moment, looking at Lorelai from under lowered lashes. The two Gilmore women were the most caring, admirable people he had ever met. He had wanted Rory do understand him completely and still love him and, thanks to her loving nature, he had gotten his dream. Now, he wondered if it was too much to wish for a real family.

He smiled softly, understanding that he may not have them forever, but he was lucky enough to be here with them now. "Yeah…okay."

"Good," Lorelai responded, letting her serious smile fall into a cheerful grin. Taking Tristan by the arm, she spun on her heel and headed for the kitchen. "Come on. Let's go find that crazy daughta o' mine and then we'll hit the town."

~~~~~~

"And this is where I've eaten almost everyday of my life before I moved to New Haven," Rory explained as they concluded the Stars Hollow Tour.

Not surprisingly, it had taken them a whole twenty minutes since they were stopped every three seconds by crazed townspeople desperate to know just who 'that charming young man' was. Because of this, Lorelai and Rory were forced to make up distractions in order to save an overwhelmed Tristan. Some of them had been rather simple, like insisting to Kirk that they had just witnessed an alien spacecraft land in his front yard. They then resuced him from sharing his thoughts on the Civil War and it's effects on cows by swearing to Taylor that they had just seen juvenile delinquents pressing their faces to the glass of Ye Olde Soda Shoppe.

"They what?!" He had cried, spinning quickly to check. By the time he turned back they were already gone.

Others, like Miss Patty, had presented quite the challenge. For that one, Lorelai had had to resort to paying a little girl, ahead of time, insist that she had seen a George Clooney/Brad Pitt look alike enter her dance studio asking for her. Tristan was lucky that the little girl was such a good actress. He had been about two inches away from getting his butt pinched.

"A hardware store?" Tristan questioned presently, that look of bewilderment stealing across his face for the umpteenth time that night.

"Don't ask," Rory grinned, taking him by the hand and pulling him through the door.

"You'll see," Lorelai added, ushering him in from behind. "Prepare yourself."

The overcrowded dinner fell absolutely silent as the trio burst through the door. Tristan, shocked and startled, froze instantly, causing Lorelai, who, of course, wasn't looking where she was going, to smack into the wall that was his back. She stood on tiptoes and peered over his shoulders. Ah! It's worse than I thought it would be!

"Rory," She whispered quickly. "Boothus backus; his faceth walleth."

Tristan barely had time to wonder what the heck Lorelai had just said before Rory pulled him to the farthest booth, pushing through her crazy neighbours and ignoring the whispers that started up immediately on their heels.

Tristan, on the other hand, was feeling the pressures of their stares and tried to avoid their gazes, following Rory blindly and never letting go of her hand. He had always hated being in the spotlight but he had been able to mask his fear…a skill that had faded with time.

After what seemed like forever, they finally made it to the booth and Rory moved to let Tristan slide in first, facing the wall, and slid in behind him.

"I'm sorry about that," She whispered, taking hold of his hand. "Small towns, their townsfolk may look normal, but trust me, they're not."

Tristan laughed. He had seen ample evidence to support that tonight. "Hey, it's no problem. I've always wanted my fifteen minutes of fame."

Rory laughed at his joke and they sat in content silence until Lorelai appeared, followed by Luke bearing food.

Lorelai set down the three coffees and…gracefully threw herself down across from them and Luke stiffly put the food down and turned to Tristan.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want from Rory?" His questions came out, one after the other, without giving Tristan any time to answer.

Rory had prepared Tristan for meeting Luke as well. "Tristan DuGrey, sir. Lorelai and Rory graciously invited me to spend Christmas here with them. And I don't want anything from Rory, other than her love and company…sir."

Luke blinked at the kid who was staring to bravely at him. Of course, underneath it all, Tristan was practically shaking. He knew that this guy was basically the closet thing Rory had ever had to a full time father. His approval would mean a lot to her.

"Huh," Luke huffed, a rare gleam in his eyes. "You just might survive, kid." With that, he turned on his heel and returned to his work.

Silence. And, then, "Wow!". Lorelai.

"That is the closest I have ever come to seeing Luke actually like someone!" Lorelai virtually screamed. "It is so official, you're part of the team now, Tristan!"

Lorelai gave him a high-five and Tristan laughed as relief flooded him.

"That was amazing!" Lorelai carried on. "Hey, Rory? Wanna bet that my man Tristan here could easily convince Luke to give us coffee for life?"

Her daughter rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously! I think Luke might have the hots for him! I knew it! All that flannel! Hey, maybe…"

Rory reached for the coffees as her mother babbled on. She pushed one towards Tristan, who accepted it with a soft smile, and drank deeply.

He had met and charmed her mother.

He had toured the town.

He had survived meeting Kirk, Miss Patty, Taylor, and Luke.

He deserved it.

~~~~~~

"Alright, the living room's prepped and ready!" Lorelai shouted as she finished tucking the sheets around the couch for Tristan to sleep on.

"Okay!" Rory called back, spitting out the last of her toothpaste and moving aside to let Tristan do the same.

They had stayed coherent through a hilarious viewing of School of Rock and had already changed for bed. Rory was decked out in her Christmas pajamas, a soft red tank with matching flannel bottoms cover in cute reindeers with ear muffs and candy canes in their hands. Tristan wore dark green pajama pants, a change from the usual boxers, and a gray muscle shirt.

Rory shut off the tap and turned to leave, only to walk right into a muscular chest. Strong arms wrapped around her as Tristan leaned back against the door.

"I'm tired," he mumbled into her hair.

Rory laughed as she snuggled in. "Well, you had a very eventful day."

Tristan snickered playfully. "You can say that again." Silence fell as Rory listened to his thrumming heartbeat, thinking of a night alone.

Ever since that night at the pond they had taken to the habit of sleeping in the same bed. Nothing ever happened…well, not too much, but Tristan always seemed to sleep easier. He was beginning to see spirits less and less often, he hardly ever tossed or turned and his nightmares had virtually disappeared. And on the rare occasion that he did suffer through one, Rory was always right there to comfort him and soothe him back into sleep.

Tristan sighed, his thoughts on the same wavelength, as Rory pulled back and reached for the door handle. She didn't get far before she was pulled right back. "Don't go."

Rory giggled as she heard the playful pleading in his voice.

"Stay with me," he carried on.

"And do what? Sleep in the bathroom?"

"Mmhmm," he mumbled into her hair. She could tell that he was already half asleep. "That shower looks mighty comfortable."

Rory laughed as his half-false desperation. She had offered to tell her mom that Tristan had trouble sleeping when she wasn't around and that Lorelai wouldn't mind letting them sleep together but Tristan had refused. "I don't want her to think of me as one of those guys that only stay with a girl for one reason," he had explained. True to his word, she hadn't been able to make him budge.

"As tempting as that sounds, you've got to get to bed…on the couch." Tristan groaned playfully and let her pull away.

She reached up for a deep kiss. Her hands took hold of his chiseled chin and she pressed against him, loving his nearness. Tristan wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss, resorting to nibbling on her lip in the way he knew drove her crazy.

For several moments, Rory forgot who and where she was. For a couple of moments, she was in the clouds.

Finally she pulled back, placing one last quick peck on Tristan's swollen lips. "Good night, Tristan."

He snorted. "Ha! Now you expect me to fall asleep, after that you think that I'm capable of focusing on something other than you! You are cruel, Rory Gilmore."

"And I love you, Tristan DuGrey…but go to bed."

Tristan laughed and kissed her once more.

"Good night." Holding her close once more, he whispered into her hair, "I love you, too, Rory."

"Sweet dreams, Tristan."

~~~~~~

Tristan turned over restlessly for the thousandth time in three hours. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get to sleep but, God, was he tired. He had tried daydreaming about Rory and him until he was too exhausted to think anymore, he had tried closing his eyes and picturing his thoughts floating away on little clouds, and he had even resorted to counting sheep. Nothing worked.

It wasn't the couch he was sleeping on; no sharp objects were poking into his back. It wasn't too cold or too hot under the blankets. There was just this restless, anxious feeling pouring off him in waves.

Sighing, whether from annoyance or exhaustion he couldn't tell, Tristan got up from the comfy couch and struggled, in the darkness, to make in to the kitchen.

A glass of water, that would help. If he could find a glass and accomplish filling it without waking Lorelai or Rory.

Tristan stubbed his toe on something and twisted quickly to avoid walking full into the chair he had just discovered. He stumbled as quietly as he could, reminding himself that Rory was sleeping peacefully in the next room.

After he regained his footing, he took careful steps around the table, reaching his hands out to feel for cabinets. He could flick the light on but he was worried that it would seep under Rory's door and wake her up. Usually, she wasn't a very light sleep, but, all the same, he didn't want to disturb her.

So for a few moments that seemed like forever, he opened a few doors and reached tentatively inside, careful not to knock over any glass if he found some.

He gave up moments later and turned, deciding to head back to his makeshift bed. The red numbers above the stove caught his eye. 2:35. God, he needed to get some sleep.

Turning into the hallway, Tristan resumed his slow, quiet steps.

He was just coming to the stairs when a cold feeling swept over him.

~~~~~~

Lorelai turned over and glanced at the clock. 2:37. Ugh! For some strange reason she had just woken up. There hadn't been a noise…at least, she didn't think there was. Her windows were tightly shut and her open door showed that their were no lights on.

Hmmm…that's strange.

Lorelai had this funny feeling in her stomach, a nagging impression that she couldn't shake.

Rory.

And Tristan. She should go check on them.

Tearing the sheets back, Lorelai pushed herself wearily out of bed and searched blindly for her housecoat. Finally succeeding in find the darn thing, she threw it around her and headed for the stairs.

The house was eerily quiet.

Lorelai ignored the thought and took another step down the stairs. From the light coming in through the half-shaded windows, she could see that the bed she had made for Tristan was vacant.

He had probably moved into Rory's. Lorelai wanted to smile at that thought, she really did…but she couldn't.

Oh well, at least that means I can turn on the light without waking him.

Lorelai reached back for the switch and hit it on. She then turned back and froze.

There, beside the stairs, staring straight at her was Tristan. He had one elbow on the railing and his body leaned against it in the most majestic way. His lips were spread into a soft, all-knowing smile. An frighteningly familiar smile that Lorelai had only seen in one person…

"Tristan?" She called softly, trying to keep all fear out of, and forcing normalcy into, her voice. What if her daughter, without knowing, had brought home a crazed murderer? "What are you doing up, kiddo?"

"Waiting for you, cara."

Lorelai could feel her blood running cold at the nickname. Dear. The nickname that her Pappy had used to call her by.

But that's not possible, a little voice in her head cried. Pappy died years before Rory was even born!

Lorelai had pushed the man, all memories, and the feelings of betrayal that he had instilled away. It wasn't possible; it was just Tristan playing a joke. But how could he know that name? Rory didn't know and Lorelai herself certainly hadn't told him.

But she could see it now. That stance, that smirk…only Pappy could do that, only Pappy could look so regal and so mischievous at the same time.

"Come closer, cara. Pappy needs to speak with you." The man at the bottom of the stairs continued. It was Tristan's voice, Lorelai could tell, but something was different about it, something was…off.

Without thinking she walked down to the landing until she was directly in front of him, staring down at his eyes.

He held up his hands and she took it, letting him lead her down and around to stand in front of him, just like he had countless times when she came down the stairs for dinner.

He rested her hands on her shoulders and, to Lorelai, the once blue eyes were a dark, wise green.

"Ah, cara," He sighed. "There is something I must tell you."

"What?"

He smiled gently at her and was quiet for a long time. Finally, he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For what, Pappy?" Lorelai couldn't believe this was happening. Her daughters boyfriend was acting and speaking to her just as her grandfather had before he died.

"For not telling you I was sick."

Suddenly, all her anger and feelings of betrayal came back ten fold. She remembered her father and mother sitting her down to tell her that her beloved Pappy had died, that they had seen it coming for many years. She remembered screaming at them, demanding to know why she had never been told. Her parents had been too ashamed to look her in the eyes and she had fled from the room.

All at once, Lorelai was crying again. "Why did you, Pappy? Why?"

"It was a mistake, cara. I am truly sorry. You couldn't imagine how much I've missed you."

"You couldn't imagine how much it hurt to hear about your cancer from my parents!" She hurled back.

He only smiled at her, with those loving, insightful, playful eyes and pulled her into his warm embrace. "Rory's incredible," he murmured, pulling back slightly. "I'm so proud of you both."

Lorelai pushed him away. "How could you leave me?" She cried in despair.

He smiled again and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I love you both, cara. Always. Forever." He whispered.

Lorelai pushed him away angrily. "How could you leave me?" She repeated.

She was met with confused, frightened blue eyes. "Lorelai?" Tristan questioned softly and she could tell that, whatever had been in his voice before, in his eyes, was gone.

Suddenly she was sobbing. She pushed Tristan again and again, calling for her grandfather to come back.

Rory came rushing from her room and wrapped her arms around her mother, stopping her flailing hands from hitting Tristan again. "It's okay, Mom," she murmured comfortingly. "Everything's going to be okay."

Her mother responded with another sob and a soft cry of "Pappy."

Rory gently turned her mother towards the stairs and gently pulled her up to her room. She lay her down and kissed her forehead, holding her hand until her tears stopped and she fell back to sleep.

Rory sighed, exhausted, as she closed the door to her mothers bedroom and headed back down the stairs, leaving the light on. She knew what had happened. Another ghost had taken control of Tristan but in a different way this time. Rory felt the weight of the world on her shoulders as she passed by the vacant couch, thinking that her great-grandfather's spirit had contacted her mother.

They would have to explain everything to her mother now and Rory could only pray that she would somehow understand.

Following the light to her bedroom, Rory turned the corner and stopped in her tracks.

There, on her bed, sat Tristan. His legs were pulled up to his chest, crossed at the ankles, and his arms surrounded them as he rocked himself back and forth, tears streaming down his beautiful face.

She walked slowly over to him and caressed his cheek. He hesitantly raised his head and stared up at her through his tears.

"I'm so sorry, Rory." He pushed out in between sobs. "I don't understand what happened. I –"

She kissed him softly. "It's okay, Tristan. I know." She clicked on her lamp and shut off the light, pulling back the covers as she lay down and motioned Tristan to lay next to her. He obeyed and she wrapped her arms around his shaking body.

"It was like…like he was inside me, Rory. I…I couldn't control what was happening. I was so afraid…"

Rory's grip on him tightened and she kissed his forehead. "Shh, Tristan. Everything will be better in the morning."

He sniffled softly, trying to swallow his tears as he buried his face in her neck. "I love you, Rory," He murmured.

"I love you, too, Tristan," she whispered back, trying to hide her own tears. "Rest now."

~~~~~~

There ya go! One more chapter left!!!!!!!!

About my next story (if it happens): all I can say is that there is a young rookie detective who never gets a chance and a murder that occurs. The detective and the surviving victim's lives are thrown together as they the detective tries to figure out who the murderer is before he comes back for the one who got away…will they be too late?

It may sound lame but, with the details, I really like it.

Review plz and tell me what you think!!!!!!

Madz!!!!!!