DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything involving Gilmore Girls.

Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know I haven't updated in quite a while! I had finals and then I had the fun task of packing everything up and coming back home for the summer. Now I have my parents breathing down my neck about finding a job and so on… Anyways, thanks so much for all the great reviews and I hope you continue to read!

Rory rolled over in bed and groaned when she looked at the clock and saw that it was only 4:00 in the morning. Try as she might, she just couldn't fall asleep, and she had a pretty good idea why. After Lorelai had gotten home, Rory had spent hours dodging her questions about the phone call she had received from Chilton about Rory skipping. Instead of telling her mom the truth, she simply insisted that she did not feel well, which in turn made Lorelai force Rory to go to bed early. Every time Rory closed her eyes, Tristan's thin, pale face flashed before her eyes. Even worse, his words were repeating over and over again in her head.

I don't need any false kindness, Rory. That is the worst thing you could ever give me.

At first, Rory couldn't help but be angry at his brush-off. Why wouldn't he want her help through this? But, the more that she laid awake thinking about it, the more the guilt began eating away at her. Tristan was right; she had gone from vocally despising his presence to pitying him. She tried to think what it would be like to have someone do that to her. Suddenly, she had an image of Paris coming to her house and sitting at her sick bedside going over missed homework. Rory shook her head in disgust and shot up in bed. How could she possibly help him?

Tristan sat up in bed, clutching the plastic bowl on his lap. He was so tired, but between his dreams and having uncontrollable nausea, it really wasn't worth trying to sleep any more. He briefly considered watching TV, but reconsidered when he realized that the remote was on the other side of the room. Glancing around, he saw a card sitting on his night table. "Get better soon, son. Love, mom and dad," he read aloud and then threw it across the room.

"What a crock of shit." Over the years Tristan had met many fellow cancer patients at the oncology office, all of whom were accompanied by loving parents and siblings. His were off cruising around the world, having a hell of a time. His neglectful parents only gave people more reasons to give him that 'aww, poor kid' look that he despised. He had learned, however, to brush it off as nothing. He didn't need anyone but himself.

Rory got out of bed a few hours later and went to school. She wasn't able to concentrate in class all day with Tristan's empty seat serving as a constant reminder of the pain that he was going through while she sat in a classroom full of kids that considered school the most painful thing of all time. Her curiosity about her fellow classmates' concerns about Tristan was answered when she heard a group of girls talking.

"Tristan got suspended again, huh? I wonder what he did this time."

Rory silently shook her head and used every ounce of restraint to stop from turning around and giving the girl a mouthful. If Tristan didn't want anyone to know, then she had to respect that. She sat thinking to herself about how many times Tristan had been "suspended" in her time at Chilton and couldn't help but wonder how many of those suspensions were actually real. As soon as the final bell rang, she gathered her things and began walking towards her bus stop. Instead of stopping, she kept walking until she had reached the DuGrey mansion that was only a mile from school.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the intricately designed door knocker and waited. A moment later, a maid answered. "May I help you?"

"Um, yes. I was hoping that I could see Tristan." Rory said unsurely.

The maid gave her a weary look and said, "Sorry miss, but that isn't possible. Mr. DuGrey isn't feeling up to visitors."

The maid gave her a tight smile and began to close the door, but Rory shot her arm out and said, "Wait, please. I won't stay long… Tristan would want to see me." She knew that she was lying, but she really didn't care.

Maybe it was the look of desperation in Rory's eyes, but the maid relented and opened the door wider to allow Rory inside. She pointed up the stairs and said, "Second door on the right."

Rory gave her a thankful smile and said, "Thank you."

She slowly headed up the stairs, very much aware that she was walking up to Tristan DuGrey's bedroom; a place she never thought she would be. She stood in front of his door for a good 5 minutes before she mustered the courage to knock. A moment later, she heard a tired sounding Tristan say, "Come in Louisa."

Unsure if she should continue, Rory hesitantly opened the door and peeked her head in. "Um, it's Rory actually."

Tristan immediately scrambled to place his bucket under the bed and said, "Rory, what the hell are you doing here?"

Rory blanched slightly at his tone, but stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. "I came to say that I'm sorry."

"For what?" Tristan asked as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"For making a horrible situation worse." Rory said quietly. Tristan opened his mouth to interject, but she held up her hand and continued. "I had no idea that trying to help you would upset you, but I understand now and I promise I will leave you alone."

Rory turned to leave, but stopped with her hand on the door handle when she heard Tristan say, "You just don't get it, do you?"

Still facing the door, Rory said, "I'm trying to Tristan."

Tristan sighed and said, "And I appreciate that, really I do, but there are just some things that you can't make better."

Rory turned around and said, "I never said that I could make you better Tristan. I just wanted you to have someone to help you through it. I've never had cancer, but I can say that it is something that no one should have to go through alone."

Rory was on the verge of tears and quickly turned towards the door. "Wait!" Tristan said.

Rory turned around, wiping at the tears that were coming down her cheeks. She couldn't believe that she was crying. Oh yeah, she was being a huge help to Tristan; He didn't need a side order of guilt right now.

Tristan motioned for her to come closer, and Rory walked towards his bed, stopping a few feet away. "Rory, come here." He patted the spot next to him on his huge king size bed. Hesitantly, Rory sat down as gently as she could and looked at her hands, waiting for him to say something.

Finally, he said, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be taking all this out on the one person that cares enough to even show up."

Rory couldn't help herself and said, "About that… Tristan why does everyone think you're suspended? Don't any of your friends know?"

"A few of them know, yeah. They don't say anything though. I think they prefer to just ignore it."

"So, you're really not as big of a badass as you would like us to think, huh?" Rory said, trying desperately to lighten the mood.

Tristan laughed quietly and said, "Oh, trust me, Mary, I am."

Rory laughed and hit him on the shoulder. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't think, I…"

Tristan shook his head in half amusement and half annoyance. "Rory, it's okay, I'm not going to break."

"Right, sorry." Rory said. She just couldn't seem to say anything right. She was so afraid that she was going to upset or hurt him.

"It's okay, I'm kinda used to people walking on eggshells around me."

Rory smiled slightly and looked around the room, not knowing what to do in the uncomfortable silence. Tristan's room looked just as she had always thought it would. There were posters of bikini clad women, trophies, and rock posters that Lane would actually approve of. The one thing that she had never imagined was the teddy bear sitting right in the middle of his bed. She smiled and said, "Why Tristan DuGrey, I never would have thought I would see this in your room."

"Been thinking about it a lot, Mary?"

Rory blushed and quickly said, "No, I just…"

Tristan laughed and said, "Relax Mare, I was just kidding. And by the way, this bear was given to me by a little girl named Abbie that I met at the hospital."

"That's really sweet." Rory said, surprised.

Tristan shook his head solemnly and said, "Yeah, she was a sweet girl."

Rory's face fell and she said, "Was?"

Tristan nodded and said, "Yeah, she gave this to me right before she passed away. She told me that it kept her safe and that since she wouldn't need it heaven, I should let him keep me safe."

"Oh, Tristan, I'm so sorry." Rory unconsciously grabbed Tristan's nearby hand and gave it a squeeze.

Tristan gave her hand a squeeze back and said, "Thanks."

"So, I guess I should go. I told the maid that I wouldn't bother you for too long."

Tristan smiled and said, "I'm actually surprised that she even let you in. She never does that."

Rory smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, I lied little."

"Oh yeah?"

Rory nodded and said, "I told her that you really wanted to see me and she fell for it."

Rory stood and wiped at an imaginary wrinkle on her skirt and said, "Well, I hope I'll see you in school soon."

"Yeah, me too." Tristan said.

He watched as Rory moved towards the door and he said, "Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't a lie." Tristan said, smiling at her.

Rory smiled brightly back and said, "Good," before finally making her way out the door.

So, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Not a whole lot happened, but I think that Rory and Tristan made some progress here. It is really difficult for me to get out what is going on in Tristan's head. And I know that he just keeps coming off as stubborn and defensive, but this was pretty close to home for me. So, please review and let me know what you thought and thank you so much for reading even after my little hiatus!