Gilmore Girls

Uncanny

A/N: I know I'm not painting a great picture or Tristan and Rory's relationship but don't be misled. That's all I'm going to say. Oh, and Tristan isn't going to have an affair because it's too cliché and too neat but the thought did cross my mind. Happy reading. Evie. xx

Summary: The voice on the answering machine. The picture on the entertainment. Both are eerily, uncannily familiar. L/R/T in London.

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Gilmore Girls in anyway.

Chapter Six

Rory knocked three times in quick succession on Logan's doorjamb before sticking her head around the corner. Logan looked up from the computer and lifted his chin in greeting.

"I'm heading home," she said. "Are you coming?"

"Nah, I've got to fix this up first," he replied. Rory bit her lip and made her way into his office, closing the door behind her. She motioned to the seat and he nodded to she sat, leaning towards him.

"Is this because of what I said the other day?" she asked. She pushed on before he could reply. "Because if it is, you're being stupid. You haven't spent a full night at home in over a week. Tristan is seriously starting to doubt your existence and I am beginning to worry about you. are you eating? Are you even sleeping?"

"I'm doing both," he answered, nonchalantly.

"Where?" she asked.

"Around," he replied. "Trust me, Ace. I'm fine. I am getting all my nutritional needs and I am sleeping. I'm even showering and changing."

"How would I know? I never see you do any of those things," she retorted. "Just come home with me. I'll feel better if you do."

"I can't," he replied.

"Logan, I can't be worried about you and the paper. My stress levels are just not that high," she sighed.

"Look, Rory, I just have to get this done and then I'll come home," he answered. "I'll be two hours tops. I promise."

"Really?" she asked, fixing him with her patented 'don't mess with me' look.

"Really," he replied. He made a shooing motion with his had. "Now go. I'll see you at home, okay? you can even save me some dinner, reheat it and watch me eat it."

"Fine," she said, standing up. She re-buttoned her gauzy red and white polka-dotted shirt and straightened her black skirt. "It's raining so don't walk. Take a cab. You aren't used to the rain like I am."

Not for the first time, Logan was struck by her accent. After four years in England, it was inevitable that she would pick the accent up sooner or later. With Ace, it had been sooner. It started out with certain words and then her entire vocabulary came with an English tinge. Logan and Tristan hadn't picked up accents because they went back to the US frequently but Logan knew that she didn't go home much. He only knew of two two-week visits in the whole time she had been there. Four weeks out of two hundred and eight weeks wasn't much but Rory said she didn't have a life there anymore and that all the important people came over to visit her anyway. And who wouldn't want to visit a foreign country?

He watched her stare at him and he was amazed at how much being English suited her. She was a true English rose the only problem being she wasn't English. She had had the fortune of being accepted easily into the country. Logan hadn't but a friend had told him that the English was a club even most English couldn't get into. That was one of the reasons she had left him. He had been ready to go home and she had decided that England was home. Finally, Logan couldn't look at her anymore and he turned his head away.

"I'll see you at home, Ace," he said with finality. She rolled her eyes but went to the door.

"I mean it, Logan," she said, standing in the doorway. "Take a cab."

-

"No Huntzberger?" Tristan asked as Rory entered the apartment. She shook her head and dropped her oversized bag on the kitchen table. She dragged herself over to Tristan and draped herself across his back, her hands clasping together on his stomach.

"He said he'd be home later," she murmured. She kissed the back of his neck. "I am exhausted."

"Go get changed. Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes," Tristan told her. She pulled away and sighed inaudibly and began to walk away. She heard him turn and felt his fingers on her back. "Hey."

She turned to him hopefully and was not disappointed. He grabbed her and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. She shook her head and he grinned, turning the stove off. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him and carried her down the hallway to the bedroom. She laughed when he set her down and her arms moved around his neck. They kissed again and Rory pulled him towards the bed. Tristan's phone rang and they both groaned.

"Ignore it," she whispered, peppering his neck and face with kisses.

"Cant," he said, finally. He wrenched himself away from her. "It could be my dad."

He grabbed his phone and exited the room. She heard him answer to find out that it was indeed his father.

"Great," she muttered. She stood up and changed into navy track pants and a grey Yale sweatshirt. She removed her make-up and threw her hair up into a ponytail before plodding out to the kitchen. Tristan was standing, the phone to his ear, finishing off dinner. She sighed and brushed her hand against his back as she reached above his head to grab two glasses which she put on the bench. There was no use using the dinner table if there was only going to be two of them. She pulled out three plates and set them near Tristan who covered the receiver.

"Is Logan eating with us?" he asked, in surprise.

"No, he asked me to keep some for him," she told him. He nodded and began to ladle the rice and chicken dish onto the plates. She covered one plate in cling wrap and put it in the fridge before taking the other two plates and some cutlery to the bench. She set one in front of Tristan who had sat down and ate the other one. Tristan began to eat, talking between mouthfuls while Rory ate in dejected silence, staring out the window at the pouring rain. She finished her food and stacked the empty plates in the dishwasher before kissing Tristan on the cheek and excusing herself. She took the book she was currently reading, a collection of Pushkin's greatest stories, and settled herself on the window seat.

"Hey," Tristan said, eventually. He slid in next to her and snaked an arm around her. She snuggled into him.

"Tristan, what's happening with us?" she asked, closing the book and placing it on her lap.

"What do you mean, Mary?" he asked. He began to rub on her leg but she grabbed his hand and held onto it instead.

"Don't you see what's happening?" she said, quietly. "Tristan, we are falling apart. Logan isn't here because he's giving us time alone but have you seen how we spend that time? We eat dinner together, we watch some TV then you go into the gym and leave me out here alone. We don't talk, we don't do anything together, we just eat, sleep and then we get up and do it all over again."

"You want to talk?" Tristan asked. "Fine. We'll talk. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know what's going on," she told him. "I want to know why you answered the phone. This is the first time I've seen you all day. This is the first time we've even come close to doing anything and you answered the phone. And it was your father of all people. I mean, there is no greater buzz kill than your parents interrupting. And since when have you put him before me?"

"I'm sorry," Tristan said. "It's just that you've been so stressed ever since Logan came that I thought you'd just want to relax and I figured you'd want time to yourself because you never have any."

"I don't want that. I want you," she whispered. They were quiet for a moment. "Having Logan here is putting a strain on our relationship, isn't it?"

"Not really," he answered. "Rory, all relationships have flat periods. If they didn't and you had nothing to work through or if you didn't have to find a reason to stay with someone, love wouldn't be worth having. You have nothing to say right now because you know that I'm right."

"I guess," she whispered. Tristan grabbed her chin and turned her face to him.

"You've been trying to find a reason to leave me, haven't you?" he asked. Her eyes widened and she tried to pull her face away but he wouldn't let her. "Oh, Mary. My Mary. You have, haven't you?"

"No," she choked out. "I haven't. I love you, Tristan. I don't want to leave you."

"Good," he said, kissing her. "Because I don't think I could survive if you left."

They were silent again as he kissed her eyelids, her nose and her cheeks.

"Tristan," she whispered. "Is this Logan's fault?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, do you think that this would have happened even if he hadn't come?"

"Sure. It was inevitable," he answered.

"Because if it is Logan's fault, I could ask him to leave. He would. It's not like he doesn't have other friends in London," she pushed on.

"Logan is your friend and you've missed him. I know you like having him here because you miss having your friends and family around. You can't blame this on him," Tristan answered. "This is no-one's fault but our own. Besides, if you asked Logan to go and he left you'd be devastated."

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, confusion crossing her face. Tristan looked at her and said nothing.

"You know what I mean," he said. He kissed her and stood up. "I'm going to go out for a little while. I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?" she called after him. he grabbed his jacket and shrugged.

"Wherever the night takes me," he replied.

-

"Come on, Huntz," Tristan said, walking into his office. "Let's go."

Logan looked up and rested his hands on the keyboard.

"What are you doing here?" Logan asked. He had thought they would take advantage of his absence for once and although the thought made him sick, it would make Rory happy.

"Taking you out for a drink. If we're all going to live together, it's about time I got to know instead of eating dinner with you and then saying goodbye as you waltz outside the door. Grab your coat. Let's go."

"I can't. I'm not finished," Logan said, gesturing at the screen.

"Logan, it's past 8.30. This will still be here in the morning," Tristan replied.

Logan decided to give in before Tristan brought out the Rory card. He knew he couldn't say no if Tristan told him that it was her idea or that it would make him happier and he also knew that Tristan would not hesitate to bring her into it. In the two seconds it took him to make up his mind, he decided that if Rory was going to come into play, and she would as she was the only real link these two had, she would come in on Logan's terms and leave on his term's.

"Okay, let's go," he said. Tristan's face slackened. He hand expected to win so quickly. "You're right. This stupid proposal will be here tomorrow and besides, it'll make Rory happy to know that we're making an effort. That's why you're here, isn't it? Because she asked you too?"

"Do you want a drink or not?" Tristan asked slowly. He clenched and unclenched his jaw as the two males stared at each other. Logan nodded and stood up. He removed his jacket from the closet and slid it on.

"You're buying the first round," he said, buttoning his coat. He turned on his heel and left the office with Tristan trailing behind.

-

There was something cliché about it. Two young men sitting in a smoky English pub, the soccer blaring in the background while the rain poured down outside. It was cliché but it was surprisingly fun. Tristan turned out to be deeper than Logan had expected and after a few drinks, they got on splendidly. There was no lapse or silence in the conversation even when it turned to Rory, as Logan had known it undoubtedly would.

"You know, Tristan, you have to do something to deserve Rory. That's how I know there must be some good in you somewhere. You're with her and she wouldn't even look twice at you if you weren't worth it," Logan slurred. Tristan stared down into his rapidly emptying beer mug and shook his head.

"I'm not so sure about that," Tristan answered. "She was in a bad way when we met up. I think she would have loved me even if I was Bill Clinton. She was just happy to see a familiar face."

"No, Ace would never have stayed with you if that was true," Logan replied. He thought about it for a moment. "What do you mean she was in a bad way when she met you?"

"She was devastated and lonely when we found each other. I was just the rebound boy she held onto. I was just a link to home, I was comfort. Sometimes I still think that's all I am," he explained. "Logan, we met the day that she left you. I ran into her on the Tube and we started talking and she poured out your whole story and she came home with me that night and we've been together ever since."