A/N: Lane and Jess don't live with the Haydens, they just come in without knocking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But it ain't that easy for you to back up and leave him
But you and me we got ties for different reasons
I respect that and right before I turn to leave
She said, "You don't know what you mean to me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tristan sat across from Rory at lunch on Friday, thinking over what had happened between them in the past week. Of course, he'd only known her for a week, not a lot of time at all but he could tell she was different. That never been kissed feeling he'd gotten upon first meeting her had intensified. She was untouchable, and that didn't sit with him well. Blake and Madeline were staring at one another, but if the other would look then they would turn their head, as if they weren't looking. Paris was complaining about how one of her teachers wouldn't let her do any extra credit, and Louise was talking to Henry. And Rory, Rory was looking down at a notebook in her lap, twirling a strand of hair absent-mindedly.
Her head shot up suddenly, as if she'd felt his gaze. They held eye contact for a moment before she looked back down, her stomach doing back flips and a warm feeling racing through her. Tristan leaned back in his chair, 'Lorelai Leigh Hayden' he said to himself. She wouldn't be with her current boyfriend for much longer.
"So, are you guys going to Alex Larson's party tonight?" Louise asked.
"I am." Madeline answered immediately.
"Tristan?"
"What would a party be without your king?" Tristan asked, smirking.
"Bearable."
"That's cold, Mary."
"Sorry."
"Liar."
"Are you going, Paris?"
"No."
Rory's head snapped around and she stared at the girl, "No. Paris, you have to go."
"Why?"
"Because, all of them will be wasted, I want someone to talk to."
"Jess and Lane will be there."
"Thank you Blake, I know that. Jess will be wasted and Lane probably can't go because of her mom. So," she said, turning to Paris, "You have to be there."
"Maybe."
"Please, please, please Paris! They'll all be making out and ignoring me."
"I guess I'll go."
"Good."
"Ror," Blake said a few minuets later.
"Hm?"
"Please say you didn't tell your dumbass boyfriend about that party."
"Oops."
"Rory!"
"Blake!" she said, mocking him.
"Why would you tell him about it?"
"I have my reasons." Blake shook his head, muttering under his breath. Tristan smirked to himself, he'd finally get to meet the boyfriend.
HAYDEN MANSION
Rory and Lane were in her room, trying on numerous outfits. "Here, try this one." Rory handed Lane low dark blue hip huggers and a red shirt with a black zipper across the front.
"So, tell me about Hartford guys." she said, pulling the shirt over her head.
"Well, most of them are nice I guess. And they definitely look better than most guys in Stars Hollow."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah."
"Is there a certain one that you're thinking about?" she asked, smiling at the blush creeping up on her friend's face. Lane threw Rory a black shirt that had purple stars on it and purple fishnet sleeves and thumb holes. Her pants were black and slightly baggy, they unzipped down the shin and had purple stars.
"Not really." She tossed a green army shirt to Lane.
"Liar."
Rory shrugged, "I have a boyfriend." Lane sighed, mumbling.
"What?"
"It's just, Rory, sorry but, he's a jackass."
"Lane!"
"What? You know it and I know it. Why do you think Jess and Blake hate him so much?"
"Brotherly protection."
"Other than that."
"I don't know."
"It's because they can see it too. Look, just watch him tonight, okay?"
"What do you think I'll see?"
"How he is when drunk and around other girls."
"Fine, whatever. I like these." Rory said, talking about their clothes.
"Yup, me too." They linked arms and walked out of her room to the living room where the guys were waiting.
Five minuets earlier the door bell had rung. Jess and Blake smiled to each other and went to the door. Jess threw it open, "BEAN!" Dean rolled his eyes and stepped inside.
"Fag."
"I can't believe my sister's dating you."
"Why?"
"Well, I should have said, I can't believe she's STILL dating you."
"What the hell are you talking about Hayden?"
"After what you said I would have dumped your ass."
"Shut up."
"What are you talking about?" Jess asked in a stage voice.
"You know, when he said he loved her." Blake answered in the same manner.
"I'm warning you two."
"What are you going to do? We've put up with you for too long Forrester. I know exactly why you told Rory you loved her."
"And why is that?"
"You want her, all of Stars Hollow High knows. You said that because you hoped that if she thought she loved you then she would sleep with you."
"No, see, I'm not like you two, I don't say things to girls just to get into their pants." he smirked, but stepped back as Blake lunged forward. Jess grabbed him and held him back as Lane and Rory appeared at the top of the stairs.
He let go of Blake and whispered to Dean, "I swear, if you hurt Rory or try to pressure her into ANYTHING, you'll be dead."
He whispered back mockingly, "You'll kill me?"
Blake leaned forward, "Remember Wes Stanton?" a look of horror crossed Dean's face and the other two nodded.
"Watch it, Forrester." Jess said as Rory and Lane came up to them.
"Ready?"
"Yup, let's go." Jess held his arm out to Rory before Dean could and she took it, rolling her eyes. Blake put an arm around Lane's shoulders and Dean walked out after them. Jess was the oldest out of all of them and he'd turned sixteen a few months ago, so he was driving. They took the Black Pathfinder that belonged to Chris. Dean, Rory, and Lane were in back, in that order, with Blake in the passenger's seat. Blake giving directions and the music, which Dean complained about, were the only sounds.
When they got there the party was already in full swing. There were drunk teenagers all over the place, Jess almost hit a few that got out of the way at the last second. He didn't swerve because he said that 'If you go to that stupid prep school then you should be smart enough to get out of the way of a car, because if you get hit then the car's not goin' down, you are.' He parked the car and they jumped out, Madeline came over.
"You guys made it. Hey Rory, Blake, three people I don't know."
"Yeah, Maddy, these are our friends Jess and Lane." Blake introduced them.
"Hey, I'm Madeline."
"Hey." the oriental girl smiled and Jess just nodded.
"But, um, who's the third person I don't know?"
"Just some annoying kid who follows us around." Blake said, getting a glare from Rory.
"He's my boyfriend, Dean."
"Hi Dean."
"Hi."
"Maddy, who all's here?" Rory asked.
"Louise is inside dancing, Paris is scaring everyone by asking every person she sees if they know where you are, Henry is playing air hockey, and Tristan is looking for Mary." Rory nodded, understanding what she meant.
"Want to dance?" Blake asked, Madeline nodded and followed him inside.
"Who's Mary?" Jess asked.
"I'll introduce you to her later. But first I want you to meet someone. You too Lane."
"Me?"
"Yup. Come on." She walked inside and the other three followed her. Rory looked around for people, she spotted Louise dancing with Baker Haulk. She waved to the dance floor and the blond girl smiled, mouthing 'Hey'. Rory turned and saw Henry walking up the basement stairs. "HENRY!" she screamed over the music, he turned hearing his name. She waved, motioning for him to come over. Lane grabbed Rory's arm, "Rory, he's really cute."
"I thought you would like him." Henry had weaved his way between the mass of teenagers and was now with them.
"Hey Rory."
"Hey, these are mine and Blake's best friends, Lane and Jess." Henry nodded to Jess and smiled at Lane, who was too shocked to say anything. "Can you show Lane around for me?"
"Of course." he held out his arm and Lane took it, turning to Rory and mouthing 'Thank you' as he led her away.
"Are you planing on getting rid of me like that?" Jess asked, amused at the fact that Rory was playing match maker.
"Yes, I am." she said, scanning the crowd for any sign of Paris. Dean grabbed a sealed, unlabeled bottle off of a table they passed.
Someone came up to them, "Hey Ma-" Rory covered Tristan's mouth before he could say Mary and Dean find out that he'd been looking for her.
Rory kept looking around, "PARIS!" she called upon seeing the girl enter the room. Paris saw her and nodded, making her way over. Rory jumped suddenly and wiped her hand on Tristan's shirt, "You licked me!"
"Don't put your hand over someone's mouth unless you plan on getting either licked or bitten." he looked down at his chest, which Rory's hand was still on. But she wasn't paying attention to that when Paris ended up next to them.
"Hey, I've been looking for you."
"Sorry, we got here later than I thought. Paris, this is my friend Jess Mariono. Jess, this is Paris Gellar."
"Hi." Paris held her hand out to shake Jess', who held hers and kissed the knuckles.
"Hi." she smiled and bit her lip before taking her hand back.
"Paris, can you show Jess around for me?"
"Sure." she took his hand and Jess turned nodding to Rory as thanks before following Paris.
Rory turned back to face Tristan and was met with his over confident smirk, "What?" he looked down to his chest and Rory quickly removed her hand. "Um, Dean, this is my friend Tristan Dugrey. Tris, this is my boyfriend, Dean Forrester." They nodded to each other.
"Tris?" Dean asked.
"Um, no, no. Tristan."
"You called him Tris."
"Yes, it's a nickname."
"Ah." he took another swig and drained his bottle.
"What was in that?" she wondered out loud.
Dean shrugged, "Don't know, don't care."
She turned to Tristan, who tilted his head, looking at the bottle, "I'm not sure, but given the things that are here, I wouldn't have drank the whole bottle."
Dean shrugged again, "Let's dance Rory."
"Okay, I'll see you later Tris." Dean pulled her to the dance floor as a slow song came on. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she put her hands on his shoulders, looking at Tristan, who was talking to Baker and Louise. He looked up just as she had at lunch, their eyes met for a moment and a small smile slid onto his face as he turned back to the couple. Rory smiled when she turned back to Dean. They danced a few minuets until his hands slid a little too low for her comfort. But Rory, thinking that maybe he hadn't realized his hands had moved, didn't do anything. A few seconds later his hands slipped into her back pockets. She pulled back and stepped away from him. "Dean, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Rory, come on, we're fifteen."
"Your point?"
"Look Rory, I just, I want to be with you."
"Okay, but you don't just do that to someone."
"Sorry. Come on." he held his arms out.
She shook her head, "No, later."
"Oh, so you're going to find 'Tris'?" he spat the name as if it was something vile.
"Better than being with you."
"Whatever Rory, whatever."
"Later Dean." she walked off to the side, looking for someone to talk to when she saw Tristan. "Hey."
He turned, "Hey."
"You look bored."
"I am. See, there's this girl, that I really want to dance with, but she has a boyfriend, so, you know, it doesn't really work."
She smiled, playing along, "Does this girl have a name?"
"Mary."
"Mary?"
"Yeah."
"I think I may know her."
"You probably do." Rory smiled, looking down at her hands. "Why do you go out with him?"
"What?"
"Why are you going out with Dean?"
She shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I like him."
"You guess?"
"Yeah."
"And he supposedly 'loves' me."
"Do you love him?"
"No. I mean I do like him, don't get me wrong, I like him. But I definitely don't love him."
Tristan looked down, mumbling, "He doesn't deserve you."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because, Rory. I mean, why do you put up with him?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Rory I saw him okay, I saw him. He knew what he was doing and he wanted to see how far you'd let him go."
"He's been drinking, he made a mistake."
"One hell of a mistake."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Rory, he knew exactly what he was doing! He's not completely out of it. He wanted to see how far he could push you, and you're acting like nothing happened!"
"Why do you care so much?"
"I care about what will happen if he pushes you too far!"
"You don't even know him!"
"I know you!"
"Stop, okay! Just stop!"
"Stop what?"
"Caring! I've only known you for a week and since then I've been so confused."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have a boyfriend. A perfect boyfriend. He's sweet and he barely ever drinks. And he loves me! I've never wondered if a guy liked me, I've never had every thought consumed by one person. But now, I meet you, and everything I thought I knew is changing. I don't like Dean as much anymore. I don't care what he thinks anymore. The first time he said he loved me, all I was thinking about was you. But I can't just leave him. We have too much history. I can't just forget that. He was drunk, and I can't hate him for that. I can't just leave him no matter what I think about you. It's not fair to Dean. But I keep thinking about you and it scares me."
Tristan shook his head and laughed bitterly, "Rory, you have two guys that want you, but you can't have both. Pick one and let the other move on. Now choose, which one do you want more?"
She stared at him, sapphire on sapphire, "Don't you know?"
He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head again and backing away, "Fine, I hope you're happy with him, and just so you know, I've never cheated on a girl in my life, unlike him." he turned, walking to sit with Louise and Baker. Rory watched him walk away, he couldn't see. He didn't know it was him.
Rory looked around and saw Dean sitting on a couch with some girl on his lap, another drink in hand. She made her way over and stood in front of him, he looked up, "Rory, babe, what's up?"
She shook her head, "Nothing much."
"Look, Ror, I've been thinking, I do love you," he hiccuped, "But, I want to see other girls too. Be with you, and them. You know, like," hiccup, "An open relationship."
Rory nodded, as if thinking it over, "You know what? That might work, you seeing other girls."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Because we're over."
"What?"
"We're over, I don't want to go out with you anymore. Have all the Chilton whores you want, I won't stop you. I can't believe they were right about you!"
"Who?!"
"Lane, Jess, Blake, Tristan."
"Tristan, huh? Well aren't we buddy buddy with Tristan?"
"You know what, bite me Dean. I'm through with you. I don't care what you think, we're over. Don't talk to me anymore, I don't want to see your face." She turned to walk away, but turned back, "Oh, and get a ride back to Stars Hollow. You'll need one." She walked away, leaving a speechless Dean sitting there. Tristan had been watching the whole confrontation from across the room. Rory headed to the door, pausing next to Tristan, "You thought wrong." was all she said before storming outside and falling asleep in the back seat of the car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Cause I-I never been the type to break up a happy home
But there's something 'bout baby girl
I just can't leave her 'lone
So tell me, ma, what's it gonna be
She said, "You don't know what you mean to me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But it ain't that easy for you to back up and leave him
But you and me we got ties for different reasons
I respect that and right before I turn to leave
She said, "You don't know what you mean to me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tristan sat across from Rory at lunch on Friday, thinking over what had happened between them in the past week. Of course, he'd only known her for a week, not a lot of time at all but he could tell she was different. That never been kissed feeling he'd gotten upon first meeting her had intensified. She was untouchable, and that didn't sit with him well. Blake and Madeline were staring at one another, but if the other would look then they would turn their head, as if they weren't looking. Paris was complaining about how one of her teachers wouldn't let her do any extra credit, and Louise was talking to Henry. And Rory, Rory was looking down at a notebook in her lap, twirling a strand of hair absent-mindedly.
Her head shot up suddenly, as if she'd felt his gaze. They held eye contact for a moment before she looked back down, her stomach doing back flips and a warm feeling racing through her. Tristan leaned back in his chair, 'Lorelai Leigh Hayden' he said to himself. She wouldn't be with her current boyfriend for much longer.
"So, are you guys going to Alex Larson's party tonight?" Louise asked.
"I am." Madeline answered immediately.
"Tristan?"
"What would a party be without your king?" Tristan asked, smirking.
"Bearable."
"That's cold, Mary."
"Sorry."
"Liar."
"Are you going, Paris?"
"No."
Rory's head snapped around and she stared at the girl, "No. Paris, you have to go."
"Why?"
"Because, all of them will be wasted, I want someone to talk to."
"Jess and Lane will be there."
"Thank you Blake, I know that. Jess will be wasted and Lane probably can't go because of her mom. So," she said, turning to Paris, "You have to be there."
"Maybe."
"Please, please, please Paris! They'll all be making out and ignoring me."
"I guess I'll go."
"Good."
"Ror," Blake said a few minuets later.
"Hm?"
"Please say you didn't tell your dumbass boyfriend about that party."
"Oops."
"Rory!"
"Blake!" she said, mocking him.
"Why would you tell him about it?"
"I have my reasons." Blake shook his head, muttering under his breath. Tristan smirked to himself, he'd finally get to meet the boyfriend.
HAYDEN MANSION
Rory and Lane were in her room, trying on numerous outfits. "Here, try this one." Rory handed Lane low dark blue hip huggers and a red shirt with a black zipper across the front.
"So, tell me about Hartford guys." she said, pulling the shirt over her head.
"Well, most of them are nice I guess. And they definitely look better than most guys in Stars Hollow."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah."
"Is there a certain one that you're thinking about?" she asked, smiling at the blush creeping up on her friend's face. Lane threw Rory a black shirt that had purple stars on it and purple fishnet sleeves and thumb holes. Her pants were black and slightly baggy, they unzipped down the shin and had purple stars.
"Not really." She tossed a green army shirt to Lane.
"Liar."
Rory shrugged, "I have a boyfriend." Lane sighed, mumbling.
"What?"
"It's just, Rory, sorry but, he's a jackass."
"Lane!"
"What? You know it and I know it. Why do you think Jess and Blake hate him so much?"
"Brotherly protection."
"Other than that."
"I don't know."
"It's because they can see it too. Look, just watch him tonight, okay?"
"What do you think I'll see?"
"How he is when drunk and around other girls."
"Fine, whatever. I like these." Rory said, talking about their clothes.
"Yup, me too." They linked arms and walked out of her room to the living room where the guys were waiting.
Five minuets earlier the door bell had rung. Jess and Blake smiled to each other and went to the door. Jess threw it open, "BEAN!" Dean rolled his eyes and stepped inside.
"Fag."
"I can't believe my sister's dating you."
"Why?"
"Well, I should have said, I can't believe she's STILL dating you."
"What the hell are you talking about Hayden?"
"After what you said I would have dumped your ass."
"Shut up."
"What are you talking about?" Jess asked in a stage voice.
"You know, when he said he loved her." Blake answered in the same manner.
"I'm warning you two."
"What are you going to do? We've put up with you for too long Forrester. I know exactly why you told Rory you loved her."
"And why is that?"
"You want her, all of Stars Hollow High knows. You said that because you hoped that if she thought she loved you then she would sleep with you."
"No, see, I'm not like you two, I don't say things to girls just to get into their pants." he smirked, but stepped back as Blake lunged forward. Jess grabbed him and held him back as Lane and Rory appeared at the top of the stairs.
He let go of Blake and whispered to Dean, "I swear, if you hurt Rory or try to pressure her into ANYTHING, you'll be dead."
He whispered back mockingly, "You'll kill me?"
Blake leaned forward, "Remember Wes Stanton?" a look of horror crossed Dean's face and the other two nodded.
"Watch it, Forrester." Jess said as Rory and Lane came up to them.
"Ready?"
"Yup, let's go." Jess held his arm out to Rory before Dean could and she took it, rolling her eyes. Blake put an arm around Lane's shoulders and Dean walked out after them. Jess was the oldest out of all of them and he'd turned sixteen a few months ago, so he was driving. They took the Black Pathfinder that belonged to Chris. Dean, Rory, and Lane were in back, in that order, with Blake in the passenger's seat. Blake giving directions and the music, which Dean complained about, were the only sounds.
When they got there the party was already in full swing. There were drunk teenagers all over the place, Jess almost hit a few that got out of the way at the last second. He didn't swerve because he said that 'If you go to that stupid prep school then you should be smart enough to get out of the way of a car, because if you get hit then the car's not goin' down, you are.' He parked the car and they jumped out, Madeline came over.
"You guys made it. Hey Rory, Blake, three people I don't know."
"Yeah, Maddy, these are our friends Jess and Lane." Blake introduced them.
"Hey, I'm Madeline."
"Hey." the oriental girl smiled and Jess just nodded.
"But, um, who's the third person I don't know?"
"Just some annoying kid who follows us around." Blake said, getting a glare from Rory.
"He's my boyfriend, Dean."
"Hi Dean."
"Hi."
"Maddy, who all's here?" Rory asked.
"Louise is inside dancing, Paris is scaring everyone by asking every person she sees if they know where you are, Henry is playing air hockey, and Tristan is looking for Mary." Rory nodded, understanding what she meant.
"Want to dance?" Blake asked, Madeline nodded and followed him inside.
"Who's Mary?" Jess asked.
"I'll introduce you to her later. But first I want you to meet someone. You too Lane."
"Me?"
"Yup. Come on." She walked inside and the other three followed her. Rory looked around for people, she spotted Louise dancing with Baker Haulk. She waved to the dance floor and the blond girl smiled, mouthing 'Hey'. Rory turned and saw Henry walking up the basement stairs. "HENRY!" she screamed over the music, he turned hearing his name. She waved, motioning for him to come over. Lane grabbed Rory's arm, "Rory, he's really cute."
"I thought you would like him." Henry had weaved his way between the mass of teenagers and was now with them.
"Hey Rory."
"Hey, these are mine and Blake's best friends, Lane and Jess." Henry nodded to Jess and smiled at Lane, who was too shocked to say anything. "Can you show Lane around for me?"
"Of course." he held out his arm and Lane took it, turning to Rory and mouthing 'Thank you' as he led her away.
"Are you planing on getting rid of me like that?" Jess asked, amused at the fact that Rory was playing match maker.
"Yes, I am." she said, scanning the crowd for any sign of Paris. Dean grabbed a sealed, unlabeled bottle off of a table they passed.
Someone came up to them, "Hey Ma-" Rory covered Tristan's mouth before he could say Mary and Dean find out that he'd been looking for her.
Rory kept looking around, "PARIS!" she called upon seeing the girl enter the room. Paris saw her and nodded, making her way over. Rory jumped suddenly and wiped her hand on Tristan's shirt, "You licked me!"
"Don't put your hand over someone's mouth unless you plan on getting either licked or bitten." he looked down at his chest, which Rory's hand was still on. But she wasn't paying attention to that when Paris ended up next to them.
"Hey, I've been looking for you."
"Sorry, we got here later than I thought. Paris, this is my friend Jess Mariono. Jess, this is Paris Gellar."
"Hi." Paris held her hand out to shake Jess', who held hers and kissed the knuckles.
"Hi." she smiled and bit her lip before taking her hand back.
"Paris, can you show Jess around for me?"
"Sure." she took his hand and Jess turned nodding to Rory as thanks before following Paris.
Rory turned back to face Tristan and was met with his over confident smirk, "What?" he looked down to his chest and Rory quickly removed her hand. "Um, Dean, this is my friend Tristan Dugrey. Tris, this is my boyfriend, Dean Forrester." They nodded to each other.
"Tris?" Dean asked.
"Um, no, no. Tristan."
"You called him Tris."
"Yes, it's a nickname."
"Ah." he took another swig and drained his bottle.
"What was in that?" she wondered out loud.
Dean shrugged, "Don't know, don't care."
She turned to Tristan, who tilted his head, looking at the bottle, "I'm not sure, but given the things that are here, I wouldn't have drank the whole bottle."
Dean shrugged again, "Let's dance Rory."
"Okay, I'll see you later Tris." Dean pulled her to the dance floor as a slow song came on. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she put her hands on his shoulders, looking at Tristan, who was talking to Baker and Louise. He looked up just as she had at lunch, their eyes met for a moment and a small smile slid onto his face as he turned back to the couple. Rory smiled when she turned back to Dean. They danced a few minuets until his hands slid a little too low for her comfort. But Rory, thinking that maybe he hadn't realized his hands had moved, didn't do anything. A few seconds later his hands slipped into her back pockets. She pulled back and stepped away from him. "Dean, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Rory, come on, we're fifteen."
"Your point?"
"Look Rory, I just, I want to be with you."
"Okay, but you don't just do that to someone."
"Sorry. Come on." he held his arms out.
She shook her head, "No, later."
"Oh, so you're going to find 'Tris'?" he spat the name as if it was something vile.
"Better than being with you."
"Whatever Rory, whatever."
"Later Dean." she walked off to the side, looking for someone to talk to when she saw Tristan. "Hey."
He turned, "Hey."
"You look bored."
"I am. See, there's this girl, that I really want to dance with, but she has a boyfriend, so, you know, it doesn't really work."
She smiled, playing along, "Does this girl have a name?"
"Mary."
"Mary?"
"Yeah."
"I think I may know her."
"You probably do." Rory smiled, looking down at her hands. "Why do you go out with him?"
"What?"
"Why are you going out with Dean?"
She shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I like him."
"You guess?"
"Yeah."
"And he supposedly 'loves' me."
"Do you love him?"
"No. I mean I do like him, don't get me wrong, I like him. But I definitely don't love him."
Tristan looked down, mumbling, "He doesn't deserve you."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because, Rory. I mean, why do you put up with him?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Rory I saw him okay, I saw him. He knew what he was doing and he wanted to see how far you'd let him go."
"He's been drinking, he made a mistake."
"One hell of a mistake."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Rory, he knew exactly what he was doing! He's not completely out of it. He wanted to see how far he could push you, and you're acting like nothing happened!"
"Why do you care so much?"
"I care about what will happen if he pushes you too far!"
"You don't even know him!"
"I know you!"
"Stop, okay! Just stop!"
"Stop what?"
"Caring! I've only known you for a week and since then I've been so confused."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have a boyfriend. A perfect boyfriend. He's sweet and he barely ever drinks. And he loves me! I've never wondered if a guy liked me, I've never had every thought consumed by one person. But now, I meet you, and everything I thought I knew is changing. I don't like Dean as much anymore. I don't care what he thinks anymore. The first time he said he loved me, all I was thinking about was you. But I can't just leave him. We have too much history. I can't just forget that. He was drunk, and I can't hate him for that. I can't just leave him no matter what I think about you. It's not fair to Dean. But I keep thinking about you and it scares me."
Tristan shook his head and laughed bitterly, "Rory, you have two guys that want you, but you can't have both. Pick one and let the other move on. Now choose, which one do you want more?"
She stared at him, sapphire on sapphire, "Don't you know?"
He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head again and backing away, "Fine, I hope you're happy with him, and just so you know, I've never cheated on a girl in my life, unlike him." he turned, walking to sit with Louise and Baker. Rory watched him walk away, he couldn't see. He didn't know it was him.
Rory looked around and saw Dean sitting on a couch with some girl on his lap, another drink in hand. She made her way over and stood in front of him, he looked up, "Rory, babe, what's up?"
She shook her head, "Nothing much."
"Look, Ror, I've been thinking, I do love you," he hiccuped, "But, I want to see other girls too. Be with you, and them. You know, like," hiccup, "An open relationship."
Rory nodded, as if thinking it over, "You know what? That might work, you seeing other girls."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Because we're over."
"What?"
"We're over, I don't want to go out with you anymore. Have all the Chilton whores you want, I won't stop you. I can't believe they were right about you!"
"Who?!"
"Lane, Jess, Blake, Tristan."
"Tristan, huh? Well aren't we buddy buddy with Tristan?"
"You know what, bite me Dean. I'm through with you. I don't care what you think, we're over. Don't talk to me anymore, I don't want to see your face." She turned to walk away, but turned back, "Oh, and get a ride back to Stars Hollow. You'll need one." She walked away, leaving a speechless Dean sitting there. Tristan had been watching the whole confrontation from across the room. Rory headed to the door, pausing next to Tristan, "You thought wrong." was all she said before storming outside and falling asleep in the back seat of the car.
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'Cause I-I never been the type to break up a happy home
But there's something 'bout baby girl
I just can't leave her 'lone
So tell me, ma, what's it gonna be
She said, "You don't know what you mean to me."
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