DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything involving Gilmore Girls.
Hello all! Thanks again for all the reviews! They were oh, so kind! Please continue to read and review!
After Rory had closed the door, Tristan fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. For some reason, he was able to get the best sleep he had in a long time. His mind seemed to calm down and he no longer had nausea looming over him. He woke up the next day and smiled to himself when he didn't have the usual morning reflex to throw up. This is going to be a good day, he thought.
"Hey kiddo, is everything alright with you?" Lorelai asked as she stared curiously at her daughter who seemed to be in a staring contest with her pop tart.
Rory shook her head and said, "Mom, Tristan is sick."
A confused expression came over Lorelai's face and she said, "Since when does the evil Chilton King being sick bother you?"
Rory glared at her and said, "No, mom. He's not just flu sick. He has cancer."
"Oh." Lorelai really wasn't sure what else to say.
Rory sensed her mother's uneasiness and said, "Don't worry, mom. I just needed to finally say it. Admit it, I guess."
Lorelai rubbed Rory's back and said, "I really am sorry about Tristan. But I don't think you should let yourself get beat up so much about it."
"How can I not?"
"Hun, I know that you are a sweet kid who is always trying to help people, but up until a few days ago I thought you hated Tristan. I can tell that you have been really upset the last couple of days and I guess it just surprises me." Lorelai watched as Rory's blank expression grew to one of anger.
"Just because I wasn't his friend doesn't mean I want to see this happen to him!" Rory stood and walked across the kitchen, crossing her arms over her chest.
Lorelai looked at her daughter and could see that she was on the verge of tears. I think I may not know the whole story here, she thought. She stood and wrapped a reluctant Rory into a hug and quietly said, "I'm sorry, hun. I didn't mean it like that. If you ever need anything, you know that I'm here, right?"
Rory nodded and pulled back. "Thanks, mom." She offered Lorelai a small smile in an effort to show her she was okay. "I guess I should get going to school, considering I missed the other day and all."
Lorelai smiled and said, "That's my girl."
Rory sat on the bus, staring out the window at the passing trees. Even her own mother had noticed that it was strange that Rory was reacting so strongly to Tristan's cancer. The more she thought about it, the more Rory herself realized that she didn't understand why this hurt her so much. Sure, it always hurt her to know of someone else's pain, but this hit her way too close to heart. Why was she letting his sickness invade her every thought and action?
As soon as she stepped off the bus, Rory could tell something was going on at school. Everyone was huddled into groups and passing around pieces of paper. When she made it to the entrance, a girl handed her a sheet of paper and said, "Awful, isn't?"
Rory looked down and to her horror, she saw what everyone in the entire school was so interested in. The paper read: Please keep Tristan DuGrey in your thoughts as he struggles with Leukemia. Help us send our best wishes with cards and visits.
Rory sighed in anger when she saw Paris Gellar's name on the bottom right-hand corner. She shook her head in disbelief when under her name, it said Chairman of the "Students Working Together to Fight Cancer" group. She quickly made her way to Paris' locker, where Paris was busy talking to a group of students. Rory pushed her way through the students and loudly said, "Paris, what the hell is this?"
"Geeze, Gilmore. I know that you hate DuGrey and all, but I didn't think you would object to this." Paris said as she stepped back and into a locker to try to get away from a very angry Rory.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Tristan wouldn't want the entire school to know his business?" Rory asked angrily.
Paris scoffed and said, "And just what do you know about what Tristan wants. I'm just trying to help him here."
"Oh, yeah. Getting all these kids to show up at his house with cheesy get well cards is really going to help him. You know what, Paris? You really should have thought this one through first." Rory threw the paper at Paris and turned and walked away.
Paris and the rest of the students just looked on shocked as the quiet Rory Gilmore stormed down the hallway. Rory went to her locker, grabbed her things and headed for her safe haven: the library. She sat at a table and placed her head on the table, closing her eyes. If Tristan had hated her sympathy, how would he like an entire school's worth? She really couldn't believe that Paris had done this, and even worse, how much it increased her own guilt over the "help" that she practically pushed down his throat. All she could feel was an overwhelming feeling of sympathy and respect for Tristan and all that he had to deal with in addition to the sheer misery of actually fighting cancer.
Tristan was lying on the couch, watching a movie when he heard the doorbell ring. His immediate reaction was that it was Rory; and he really hoped that it was her. After yesterday, he couldn't help but think that it was good for him to have her in his life. He couldn't tell for sure, but he had a feeling that she was the reason he was able to sleep so soundly last night. Something about her presence brought a calming feeling over him. He heard the maid going towards the door to answered it, and waited to see if it wasn't actually Rory. The minute the door opened, he knew it wasn't Rory.
"Trissy! Oh my god!" Tristan groaned upon hearing the high pitched, overly sweet voice.
He didn't bother trying to sit up and said, "Christina, what are you doing here?"
Christina, a former flavor of the week of Tristan's, came and sat on the edge of the couch next to Tristan. "I came to see you, of course. How are you feeling?"
Tristan gave her a confused look and said, "I'm fine… Why?"
"Oh, you are so brave. Sitting here with cancer and lying so you won't worry me."
Tristan's eyes almost bugged out of his head. How did she know about his cancer? He knew that the grand total of 3 people at school who did know wouldn't tell anyone. Wait, make that 4 now that Rory knows, he thought. But there was no way that Rory would tell someone, right? "How did you know about my cancer?" He asked.
Christina rummaged through her bag and pulled out the paper from school and held it out to him. "Don't worry, baby. Everyone is going to help you through this."
Tristan groaned as he read the sheet and then groaned even louder when he got to the bottom. "What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Christina asked in a concerned tone.
Tristan crumpled the sheet of paper and threw it across the room in anger. "No, I'm fine. But I think you better go now, I really need to get some sleep." He said, praying that she would take the excuse and leave him the hell alone.
"Oh, of course." Christina stood and gave him a kiss on the forehead and said, "Get better soon, babe."
"Uh, thanks." Tristan said. He laid back down, listening to the sound of Christina's heels as they got further away.
"Love the hat, by the way. Very GQ." Christina said just as she left the room.
How stupid could this girl be, anyway? He couldn't believe that she had said it. He honestly couldn't tell whether she thought he was wearing the hat to be stylish or if she was smart enough to pick up on the only real reason he would be wearing a snowboard hat inside a house in the middle of spring. He heard the front door close and sighed in relief that she was gone. He gripped his forehead as his headache grew at the anticipation of how many more classmate visits he had in store for him. He really was going to kill Paris. He thought for a second on how she even knew about the cancer. He had hoped that it was his gossipy mother who blabbed to Paris' mom and that it wasn't Rory. Rory definitely wouldn't do something like that. He had no idea why, but he felt like Rory was the only one that he could trust.
Rory once again walked to Tristan's house and wasn't surprised when she saw 4 rather expensive cars lining his driveway. She got to the door, and couldn't decide if she should still go in with all those other people there. Just as she was about to turn to leave, the front door swung open and out walked Paris. "Gilmore, what are you doing here?" Paris asked defensively.
"I came to see Tristan. What else would I be doing here Paris?" Rory said in an annoyed tone. She was fighting the urge to slap the smug look off of Paris' face.
"I just thought you hated him, that's all. But he just said that he doesn't want anyone else coming to see him. So you better leave." Paris tried to sound in control of the situation, but Rory could tell just from Paris' body posture and voice that Tristan had really laid into her about her little school project.
"I think he might want to see me." Rory said, trying desperately to sound confident. She was pretty sure that he would want to see her. After all, he said that he wanted to see her yesterday.
Paris laughed and loudly said, "And why would he want to see you? You really think he's up for teasing his little Mary right now?"
Rory smiled as an idea popped into her head. "As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he wants to do. Tristan really is such a teaser. If you could only hear some of the things he says to me."
"What?" Paris asked angrily. Just then, Tristan slowly walked up behind the two girls and wrapped his arm around Rory's waist.
"You here to cheer me up, Mare?" Tristan asked as he rested his had-covered head on Rory's shoulder.
Rory smiled victoriously at Paris and said, "Absolutely, Tris. Someone has got to after what Paris over here did." Rory grabbed Tristan's hand and led him into the house, neither saying another word to Paris before shutting the door behind them.
As the door shut, Rory nervously dropped Tristan's hand and said, "Thanks, she was really giving me a hard time."
Tristan smiled and said, "No problem. I actually rather enjoyed it."
Rory laughed and said, "You would."
"Hey now, is that any way to treat a cancer patient?" Tristan asked as they made their way into the family room and laid down on the couch.
Rory faltered for a moment and then remembered that she didn't want to treat him like a breakable object and said, "Well, yes, actually, that is how I would usually treat you. Did you want me treat you any differently, because I could have sworn we had a discussion about this…"
Tristan held up a hand and said, "Nope, you know I don't. I like that you are starting to feel okay with being normal around me."
Rory smiled and sat next to him. "Well, not completely normal. After all, there are no classrooms here for me to duck into to get you to stop pestering me."
"Thanks." Tristan said as he smiled at Rory's teasing face.
Rory coked her head in confusion and said, "For what?"
"For making me smile."
So, before you all say that what Paris did was a little extreme, I have to say that this actually happened to me. It was extremely unwanted and embarrassing and it was done by someone at my school very similar to Paris. So, I hope that makes it all seem a little more realistic. Anyways, please review and let me know what you thought!