A/N: The song in my last chapter was Girlfriend by Nsync. If you want to know the name of a song I use, then it will be the name of the chapter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't know that it was so cold
And you needed someone
To show you the way
So I took your hand and
We figured out that
When the tide comes
I'd take you away
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Monday Tristan walked up to Rory in the hall. "So, tell me something, Mary," he said, leaning against the locker next to hers. "What are we?"
She closed her locker and turned to face him, "You tell me."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Well, it depends."
"On?"
"What do you want to be?"
"I don't want to feel like an idiot."
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
"Trust me."
"Never."
"Ouch."
"Sorry."
"Liar."
"Actually, I am sorry."
"Really?"
"No."
"Oh, that's nice."
"Isn't it though?"
"Hm." The bell rang, giving them five minuets to be in homeroom. Rory turned to walk away, Tristan followed her, "Hey, you never answered my question!"
She turned around, "I was waiting for your opinion."
"But Mary."
"What Tristan?"
"I asked you first, therefore, you have to tell me."
"Really?"
"Really." she leaned against a locker behind her, thinking, until Tristan put a hand on either side of the locker, trapping her and asked, "Rory, what do you want us to be?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"I guess," she paused, looking at him slowly, her mind running in overdrive, making pros and cons in her head. Pro: she liked him, he liked her, they liked each other. He was much better for her than Dean and he had a better sense of humor than her ex. Con: He was a playboy. He went through girls like they were nothing, he loved the game. But she had to admit, what she was feeling for him romantically outweighed how scared she was to get hurt. "I guess I want us to go out."
Tristan felt his heart beat faster, "As in I'm your boyfriend, you're my girlfriend?"
"Yeah," she whispered, "Like that." Before his lips captured hers in a strong kiss. She felt her stomach disappear like it had on the roller coaster that weekend. His hands slipped to her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck, their lips moving together slowly until some one cleared their throat. Rory broke away, hearing Tristan protest with a groan. She looked up and saw Blake and Madeline on one side of them, Louise and Baker on the other, and Paris and Henry behind Tristan. Rory blushed and looked at her feet, removing her hands from Tristan. He smirked and leaned against the locker beside her, looking at their friends.
"A lip lock as soon as you start going out, that's new." Blake said, "Very different from Bean."
"Shut up." Rory said, blushing a deeper shade of crimson.
"Ignore him, Rory. It's great that you two are going out." Madeline said, elbowing Blake.
He grabbed his side in mock pain and laughed, she stuck her tongue out at him and he pulled it into his own mouth. Rory's face contorted, "Eww. Sister here, Blake." he ignored her and backed Madeline into a locker. "I'm being ignored." she said indignantly.
Louise tilted her head to the side, "Rory, if you were doing that, would you listen to Blake?"
Rory looked at the same angle as Louise, "Hm, no."
"Neither would I."
"Well," Baker said, turning Louise and backing her into the wall, "We can make that happen." he captured her lips, putting them in the same position as Blake and Madeline. Tristan wrapped his arms around Rory from behind and kissed her neck.
Paris turned to Henry and patted him on the shoulder, "Well Henry, I love you and all, but I think it would be best if we just exit right about now." she said, looking around at the three couples.
"Yeah, I think so too." he followed her to their homeroom, leaving the others each in their own world.
AFTERNOON, HAYDEN'S
Tristan sat on the floor, pulling Rory down to sit between his legs. He nuzzled her neck gently and she leaned her head to the side, giving him more room. "Are you guys coming tonight?" Baker asked the twins, they were all in the basement, listening to music and talking.
"I think our grandparents are making us. you know, to finalize our 'entrance into society'." Blake said, his head in Madeline's lap, laying on the sofa.
"I'm bringing Lane. My parents want to meet her." Henry said, Lane sitting on his lap.
"What about you, Jess?" Madeline asked.
He shrugged, "Yeah, I'm going with Paris." she nodded and leaned back on his chest.
Rory turned to her little brother, "Shane, is your girlfriend coming?"
"Yeah. She's been to a bunch of these things."
"Just warning you guys, elite parties suck." Tristan told them, the five who were experienced in the area nodded in agreement.
"Every one is fake-nice," Louise explained, "So don't take any compliments to hear and ignore the insults. They never mean it, people say things because it's expected."
Rory's eyes closed and she leaned on Tristan's chest. "Tonight's going to be hell." she said, loud enough for only him to hear, he tightened his grip on her.
THAT NIGHT, HATRFORD COUNTRY CLUB
The Haydens sat in the parking lot, all five dreading what was about to happen. "Dad, there's still time to bail."
"I agree with Shane, we should just leave, we won't be missed."
"Yeah, Blake's right, Shane has a good idea. There are enough people here. Besides, there's probably no coffee here."
"Ah! My daughter is right! No coffee equals bad and bad is not good." Lorelai said, facing Chris.
"Do you seriously want to face your parents is we don't show up?"
"No."
"Exactly. Let's go." The other four grumbled but climbed out. Rory was wearing a long sleeveless, flowing light yellow dress that almost swept the ground and Lorelai had on a strapless black knee length dress. All three guys were wearing suits. Chris walked in first, followed closely by his family, his wife, youngest son, and the twins came in last and at the same time.
Rory looked around in shock, it was packed. Beautiful and elegant, women seemed to glide, weightless, across the polished floor. The men all had confident strides, with looks of power and assurance. The teenagers walked with ease, each knowing how to please and compliment an adult. They had looks of boredom, as if they were used to this. The small children moved timidly and with respect, perfectly bred and raised. But all looked cold, that was what she noticed. All were cold and unforgiving, impersonal and detached from the real world. Each lived in their own, the public had made them believe that they were above every one and every thing, nothing could harm the elite. And they believed it, their world had no feeling. If the eyes of most had ever had a sparkle, it was now long extinguished, no feeling belonged in society. Feeling was weak. And the weak were hunted and drained of everything they had.
Rory jumped upon some one wrapping their arms around her waist from behind. "Hey." Tristan whispered into her ear.
A delicious tingle ran through her body, "Hi." she whispered back, pushing to him slightly, wanting the comfort of his warm embrace to hide her from the coldness of the room.
They walked through the room, mingling as they were instructed to do. Blake had been led away by Madeline a few minuets earlier. After half an hour of talking to other Chiltonites, Emily came over, "Rory! I've been looking everywhere for you. My, you do look lovely." she took her granddaughter's hands and looked her over, "That used to be your mother's dress, didn't it?" Rory nodded. "Did you know it was mine before I gave it to her?"
"No, I didn't."
"It was my mother's too. You look exactly like her." Emily smiled, remembering, "It's been in the family for years."
"Well, it is a beautiful dress grandma."
"Yes. It was always my favorite."
"Do you know my friend, Tristan Dugrey?" she asked, pilling him to her side.
"Oh, Tristan, it's lovely to see you again." Emily gushed.
"You too, Mrs. Gilmore." he said, kissing her hand lightly.
She smiled, "Well, aren't you a charmer?"
"I'd like to think so."
Emily smiled, "So, how long have you two been friends?"
"Well, actually grandma we're," Rory paused and Emily looked at her, "Well, we're, um, we're dating."
Her grandmother smiled, "My dear, Rory! That's wonderful! Much better than that other boy, Dan."
"Dean."
"Yes, Dean. Much better. I never liked him, but I do like Tristan."
"Um, thank you Mrs. Gilmore." Tristan said, nodding.
"Um, yeah, I like him more too, grandma." she said, surprised by the woman's excitement.
A woman came over to get Emily, "Well, I have to go. It was wonderful to see you Rory," she hugged her granddaughter, "And Tristan, I hope to see more of you." she said before turning to leave. Rory nodded and followed Tristan to a corner of the room.
"Um, where are your parents?" she asked.
"You don't want to meet my parents." he said, not looking at her.
"Oh." she said, looking down at her hands.
"No! No. It's not you." he grabbed her hands, "It's them, they aren't exactly the nicest people in the world, and they aren't often polite. I just don't want you to have to meet them." he assured.
"Oh, so they wouldn't like me?"
"If they were capable of feeling then they would, but they don't care about anything enough to get to know any one. And I don't want them to offend you in any way."
She smiled, leaning forward to kiss him gently, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Protecting me."
He smiled capturing her lips in a slow, passionate kiss. He pulled away after a few minuets and stood up, she followed the movement. He wrapped one arm around Rory's waist, guiding her through the room. They passed by a young couple, the man had Tristan's face and the woman had his hair and eyes. "Tristan, son," the man said, clapping him on the back, "Who is your friend?" although he didn't sound interested at all.
Tristan closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again as the woman turned, looking at Rory as coldly as her husband. She was beautiful; she had high cheek bones, a body to die for, her bronze skin clashed horribly with Rory's pale one, and she had amazing eyes, empty, but hypnotic. Cold. It was one word to explain the two. They'd only said something because it would look strange if your son passed and you said nothing to him. "Mom, dad, this is my girlfriend, Rory Hayden. Rory, these are my parents."
Tristan's father shook her hand stiffly, but his mother made no movement to touch the girl. Rory bit her lip and pulled the hand back shakily. "Any relation to Christopher Hayden?" she asked icily.
"Um, yes, he's my father, ma'am." Rory tensed and Tristan rubbed small circles into her hip soothingly.
"And that would make Lorelai Gilmore your mother?"
"Yes." she said, wanting to run as far away from this woman as she could, she was shaking internally under the intense stare, but her pride kept her from making any movement.
Mrs. Dugrey pursed her lips and said cattily, "Lovely woman, good at everything, Lord knows she beat me at every single thing we both did. And I suppose you and your brother are the same, good at everything, eh?" hate burned in the woman's eyes, and Rory wasn't sure if it was from hate for her or her mother. She decided it would be best not to answer.
"Okay, well I'll see you two when we leave, bye." Tristan's grip tightened around her waist as he led Rory through the back doors and to a garden, a few people stopped them to talk to him, but he only exchanged pleasantries and introduced her before moving on.
A smile spread over Rory's face as the cool November air encircled her. "I thought you'd like it out here." She smiled and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sorry. I really didn't want you to have to do that."
She snuggled closer to him, "It's okay, I'll live."
"Like I said, they can't feel. They're so cold. All of society is."
"Don't worry about it, really. I'm okay. Besides, they weren't that bad."
Tristan laughed, "You don't have to lie to me. I know she's a bitch. I hate her."
"Don't hate your parents."
"I can't help it."
"Mm." she leaned her elbows on the rail over looking the grounds. He kept his arms around her waist, kissing her neck gently.
"I'm so glad I have you."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure how I'd end up with some one like me." he kissed down her shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone who grew up in society. I don't want to end up like my parents." he whispered, his voice cracking. She closed her eyes as he kissed her temple, "You can stop it, no one else."
Rory leaned her head to the side, exposing more skin. He kissed a trail down her neck and over her shoulder, causing a soft moan to escape her red lips. The trail went over and behind her ear, nipping it playfully. When he got back down to her neck, seriousness returned. He focused on the junction between her neck and shoulder, kissing and licking it gently at first. But soon he began to suck her neck and bit it, causing her back to arch and another moan to escape her. They'd known each other for three weeks, and already he could make her blood turn to liquid fire and her veins boil with heat. She'd dated Dean for a few months and he'd barely ever kissed her more than PG. But she was sure that Dean wasn't even capable of what Tristan was doing, at least not to her.
She'd always know that one day she would be introduced back into society. She'd always wondered what it was like to be in the elite. What she hadn't expected was what she found. A few people who could love and feel. The younger ones mostly, but others, the adults, showed no emotion. She hadn't known this elite world was so cold. And all she wanted was to take Tristan away from it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All you wanted was somebody who cares
If you need me you know I'll be there
If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted was somebody who cares
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't know that it was so cold
And you needed someone
To show you the way
So I took your hand and
We figured out that
When the tide comes
I'd take you away
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Monday Tristan walked up to Rory in the hall. "So, tell me something, Mary," he said, leaning against the locker next to hers. "What are we?"
She closed her locker and turned to face him, "You tell me."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Well, it depends."
"On?"
"What do you want to be?"
"I don't want to feel like an idiot."
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
"Trust me."
"Never."
"Ouch."
"Sorry."
"Liar."
"Actually, I am sorry."
"Really?"
"No."
"Oh, that's nice."
"Isn't it though?"
"Hm." The bell rang, giving them five minuets to be in homeroom. Rory turned to walk away, Tristan followed her, "Hey, you never answered my question!"
She turned around, "I was waiting for your opinion."
"But Mary."
"What Tristan?"
"I asked you first, therefore, you have to tell me."
"Really?"
"Really." she leaned against a locker behind her, thinking, until Tristan put a hand on either side of the locker, trapping her and asked, "Rory, what do you want us to be?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"I guess," she paused, looking at him slowly, her mind running in overdrive, making pros and cons in her head. Pro: she liked him, he liked her, they liked each other. He was much better for her than Dean and he had a better sense of humor than her ex. Con: He was a playboy. He went through girls like they were nothing, he loved the game. But she had to admit, what she was feeling for him romantically outweighed how scared she was to get hurt. "I guess I want us to go out."
Tristan felt his heart beat faster, "As in I'm your boyfriend, you're my girlfriend?"
"Yeah," she whispered, "Like that." Before his lips captured hers in a strong kiss. She felt her stomach disappear like it had on the roller coaster that weekend. His hands slipped to her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck, their lips moving together slowly until some one cleared their throat. Rory broke away, hearing Tristan protest with a groan. She looked up and saw Blake and Madeline on one side of them, Louise and Baker on the other, and Paris and Henry behind Tristan. Rory blushed and looked at her feet, removing her hands from Tristan. He smirked and leaned against the locker beside her, looking at their friends.
"A lip lock as soon as you start going out, that's new." Blake said, "Very different from Bean."
"Shut up." Rory said, blushing a deeper shade of crimson.
"Ignore him, Rory. It's great that you two are going out." Madeline said, elbowing Blake.
He grabbed his side in mock pain and laughed, she stuck her tongue out at him and he pulled it into his own mouth. Rory's face contorted, "Eww. Sister here, Blake." he ignored her and backed Madeline into a locker. "I'm being ignored." she said indignantly.
Louise tilted her head to the side, "Rory, if you were doing that, would you listen to Blake?"
Rory looked at the same angle as Louise, "Hm, no."
"Neither would I."
"Well," Baker said, turning Louise and backing her into the wall, "We can make that happen." he captured her lips, putting them in the same position as Blake and Madeline. Tristan wrapped his arms around Rory from behind and kissed her neck.
Paris turned to Henry and patted him on the shoulder, "Well Henry, I love you and all, but I think it would be best if we just exit right about now." she said, looking around at the three couples.
"Yeah, I think so too." he followed her to their homeroom, leaving the others each in their own world.
AFTERNOON, HAYDEN'S
Tristan sat on the floor, pulling Rory down to sit between his legs. He nuzzled her neck gently and she leaned her head to the side, giving him more room. "Are you guys coming tonight?" Baker asked the twins, they were all in the basement, listening to music and talking.
"I think our grandparents are making us. you know, to finalize our 'entrance into society'." Blake said, his head in Madeline's lap, laying on the sofa.
"I'm bringing Lane. My parents want to meet her." Henry said, Lane sitting on his lap.
"What about you, Jess?" Madeline asked.
He shrugged, "Yeah, I'm going with Paris." she nodded and leaned back on his chest.
Rory turned to her little brother, "Shane, is your girlfriend coming?"
"Yeah. She's been to a bunch of these things."
"Just warning you guys, elite parties suck." Tristan told them, the five who were experienced in the area nodded in agreement.
"Every one is fake-nice," Louise explained, "So don't take any compliments to hear and ignore the insults. They never mean it, people say things because it's expected."
Rory's eyes closed and she leaned on Tristan's chest. "Tonight's going to be hell." she said, loud enough for only him to hear, he tightened his grip on her.
THAT NIGHT, HATRFORD COUNTRY CLUB
The Haydens sat in the parking lot, all five dreading what was about to happen. "Dad, there's still time to bail."
"I agree with Shane, we should just leave, we won't be missed."
"Yeah, Blake's right, Shane has a good idea. There are enough people here. Besides, there's probably no coffee here."
"Ah! My daughter is right! No coffee equals bad and bad is not good." Lorelai said, facing Chris.
"Do you seriously want to face your parents is we don't show up?"
"No."
"Exactly. Let's go." The other four grumbled but climbed out. Rory was wearing a long sleeveless, flowing light yellow dress that almost swept the ground and Lorelai had on a strapless black knee length dress. All three guys were wearing suits. Chris walked in first, followed closely by his family, his wife, youngest son, and the twins came in last and at the same time.
Rory looked around in shock, it was packed. Beautiful and elegant, women seemed to glide, weightless, across the polished floor. The men all had confident strides, with looks of power and assurance. The teenagers walked with ease, each knowing how to please and compliment an adult. They had looks of boredom, as if they were used to this. The small children moved timidly and with respect, perfectly bred and raised. But all looked cold, that was what she noticed. All were cold and unforgiving, impersonal and detached from the real world. Each lived in their own, the public had made them believe that they were above every one and every thing, nothing could harm the elite. And they believed it, their world had no feeling. If the eyes of most had ever had a sparkle, it was now long extinguished, no feeling belonged in society. Feeling was weak. And the weak were hunted and drained of everything they had.
Rory jumped upon some one wrapping their arms around her waist from behind. "Hey." Tristan whispered into her ear.
A delicious tingle ran through her body, "Hi." she whispered back, pushing to him slightly, wanting the comfort of his warm embrace to hide her from the coldness of the room.
They walked through the room, mingling as they were instructed to do. Blake had been led away by Madeline a few minuets earlier. After half an hour of talking to other Chiltonites, Emily came over, "Rory! I've been looking everywhere for you. My, you do look lovely." she took her granddaughter's hands and looked her over, "That used to be your mother's dress, didn't it?" Rory nodded. "Did you know it was mine before I gave it to her?"
"No, I didn't."
"It was my mother's too. You look exactly like her." Emily smiled, remembering, "It's been in the family for years."
"Well, it is a beautiful dress grandma."
"Yes. It was always my favorite."
"Do you know my friend, Tristan Dugrey?" she asked, pilling him to her side.
"Oh, Tristan, it's lovely to see you again." Emily gushed.
"You too, Mrs. Gilmore." he said, kissing her hand lightly.
She smiled, "Well, aren't you a charmer?"
"I'd like to think so."
Emily smiled, "So, how long have you two been friends?"
"Well, actually grandma we're," Rory paused and Emily looked at her, "Well, we're, um, we're dating."
Her grandmother smiled, "My dear, Rory! That's wonderful! Much better than that other boy, Dan."
"Dean."
"Yes, Dean. Much better. I never liked him, but I do like Tristan."
"Um, thank you Mrs. Gilmore." Tristan said, nodding.
"Um, yeah, I like him more too, grandma." she said, surprised by the woman's excitement.
A woman came over to get Emily, "Well, I have to go. It was wonderful to see you Rory," she hugged her granddaughter, "And Tristan, I hope to see more of you." she said before turning to leave. Rory nodded and followed Tristan to a corner of the room.
"Um, where are your parents?" she asked.
"You don't want to meet my parents." he said, not looking at her.
"Oh." she said, looking down at her hands.
"No! No. It's not you." he grabbed her hands, "It's them, they aren't exactly the nicest people in the world, and they aren't often polite. I just don't want you to have to meet them." he assured.
"Oh, so they wouldn't like me?"
"If they were capable of feeling then they would, but they don't care about anything enough to get to know any one. And I don't want them to offend you in any way."
She smiled, leaning forward to kiss him gently, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Protecting me."
He smiled capturing her lips in a slow, passionate kiss. He pulled away after a few minuets and stood up, she followed the movement. He wrapped one arm around Rory's waist, guiding her through the room. They passed by a young couple, the man had Tristan's face and the woman had his hair and eyes. "Tristan, son," the man said, clapping him on the back, "Who is your friend?" although he didn't sound interested at all.
Tristan closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again as the woman turned, looking at Rory as coldly as her husband. She was beautiful; she had high cheek bones, a body to die for, her bronze skin clashed horribly with Rory's pale one, and she had amazing eyes, empty, but hypnotic. Cold. It was one word to explain the two. They'd only said something because it would look strange if your son passed and you said nothing to him. "Mom, dad, this is my girlfriend, Rory Hayden. Rory, these are my parents."
Tristan's father shook her hand stiffly, but his mother made no movement to touch the girl. Rory bit her lip and pulled the hand back shakily. "Any relation to Christopher Hayden?" she asked icily.
"Um, yes, he's my father, ma'am." Rory tensed and Tristan rubbed small circles into her hip soothingly.
"And that would make Lorelai Gilmore your mother?"
"Yes." she said, wanting to run as far away from this woman as she could, she was shaking internally under the intense stare, but her pride kept her from making any movement.
Mrs. Dugrey pursed her lips and said cattily, "Lovely woman, good at everything, Lord knows she beat me at every single thing we both did. And I suppose you and your brother are the same, good at everything, eh?" hate burned in the woman's eyes, and Rory wasn't sure if it was from hate for her or her mother. She decided it would be best not to answer.
"Okay, well I'll see you two when we leave, bye." Tristan's grip tightened around her waist as he led Rory through the back doors and to a garden, a few people stopped them to talk to him, but he only exchanged pleasantries and introduced her before moving on.
A smile spread over Rory's face as the cool November air encircled her. "I thought you'd like it out here." She smiled and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sorry. I really didn't want you to have to do that."
She snuggled closer to him, "It's okay, I'll live."
"Like I said, they can't feel. They're so cold. All of society is."
"Don't worry about it, really. I'm okay. Besides, they weren't that bad."
Tristan laughed, "You don't have to lie to me. I know she's a bitch. I hate her."
"Don't hate your parents."
"I can't help it."
"Mm." she leaned her elbows on the rail over looking the grounds. He kept his arms around her waist, kissing her neck gently.
"I'm so glad I have you."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure how I'd end up with some one like me." he kissed down her shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone who grew up in society. I don't want to end up like my parents." he whispered, his voice cracking. She closed her eyes as he kissed her temple, "You can stop it, no one else."
Rory leaned her head to the side, exposing more skin. He kissed a trail down her neck and over her shoulder, causing a soft moan to escape her red lips. The trail went over and behind her ear, nipping it playfully. When he got back down to her neck, seriousness returned. He focused on the junction between her neck and shoulder, kissing and licking it gently at first. But soon he began to suck her neck and bit it, causing her back to arch and another moan to escape her. They'd known each other for three weeks, and already he could make her blood turn to liquid fire and her veins boil with heat. She'd dated Dean for a few months and he'd barely ever kissed her more than PG. But she was sure that Dean wasn't even capable of what Tristan was doing, at least not to her.
She'd always know that one day she would be introduced back into society. She'd always wondered what it was like to be in the elite. What she hadn't expected was what she found. A few people who could love and feel. The younger ones mostly, but others, the adults, showed no emotion. She hadn't known this elite world was so cold. And all she wanted was to take Tristan away from it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All you wanted was somebody who cares
If you need me you know I'll be there
If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted was somebody who cares
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~