Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Gilmore Girls.

What's Missing?

Tristan stared at Rory in shock. He never thought that she was related to Richard and Emily Gilmore. Covering his surprise, Tristan smiled at Rory then said to the others in the room, "I'm also her tutor."

Emily returned to the room then and accusingly looked at Lorelai. "Why does she need a tutor? Rory is one of the brightest young women you could meet."

"It's for German, grandma. I'm having some trouble understanding the language so Tristan offered to help me." Rory looked over to Tristan and saw that he was having trouble keeping his sarcastic comments to himself.

Tristan noticed Rory scrutinizing him, and decided to prove her wrong. "Your grand-daughter is very smart, Mrs. Gilmore. In fact she's one of the smartest girls I ever met."

Emily was about to respond to Tristan when Natalia entered the room and informed everyone that supper was ready, and Emily did not want the food to suffer even one second of sitting on a table with no one to eat it. Or stare at it.

Rory stared at her plate as she listened to the conversations taking place at the table. She couldn't bring herself to look at Tristan. She had tried so hard to keep her grandparents a secret from everyone at Chilton, because she preferred being ignored by everyone who thought she was there on scholarship. She had seen the look of surprise on his face and it bothered her. Rory could feel his eyes on her, studying her. She knew if she looked him in the eye, he would be able to read her. She didn't want him to know she was embarrassed, although she suddenly realized her lack of eye contact must have already given it away.

"Rory," Emily interrupted her granddaughter's thoughts.

"I'm sorry, grandma, what?"

"Mrs. Dugrey asked you a question."

"I'm so sorry, I must have gotten distracted. What was your question Mrs. Dugrey?"

"I was just wondering if your tutoring sessions with my son are going well? Is he a good teacher?"

Rory looked at Tristan for the first time since they sat down for dinner. "Yes Mrs. Dugrey, he's a wonderful teacher. I've only had one session with him, but I think it went very well." As Tristan began to smirk, Rory blushed and turned away. She hated when he smirked. He always looked so full of himself. As much as Rory hated Tristan's smirk, she couldn't help glancing back at him and was surprised to see that a real smile had replaced it. Tristan quickly tried to cover his smile, but Rory was sure of what she had seen and gave him a quizzical look.

As the adults continued a steady conversation, Rory continued to glance at Tristan, while Tristan openly stared at Rory. She knew he was playing a game with her, just as he did with all of the other girls, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was different to him than the others. By the end of the meal she had decided that if she were different, Tristan would have stopped staring long ago. Rory vowed that this was one game Tristan would never win. She refused to be taken advantage of.

After the two families had finished dinner, they split into groups. The men went to smoke cigars and talk about business, while the women had coffee. Rory decided to escape questioning about her life and ended up on the back porch. It was a beautiful night and all the stars were out. Rory was studying the sky when she heard someone walk up behind her. She guessed who it was and said, "Do you have to follow me everywhere?"

"Are you sure you don't just anticipate my every move?" Tristan said, but under her withering gaze, smiled and said "I didn't know you were going to be out here. I'll go if you want." Rory turned away and when he didn't receive an answer, Tristan silently left her.

Rory was surprised to turn around and find that he had actually gone. 'Maybe I was wrong,' she thought to herself. She was even more surprised to find that she wished he had stayed. Rory remained on the porch for a few minutes, then decided to go find Tristan. 'He must still be outside. There's no way he would risk being pulled into a conversation with either of his parents. She walked around to find the door to her grandparent's pool house open, with Tristan watching TV inside. "How did you get in here?"

Tristan smirked, "Couldn't help but track me down, huh Mar?"

"Tristan."

"Calm down. Your grandfather wanted to show my father some gadgets or something, I wasn't really paying attention. He left the door unlocked when we left."

"Oh," Rory said dumbly. "So, umm, where's Alexa?"

"My mom didn't think she would be able to sit through the dinner, so she's at home with the nanny. She would have had fun with you though. She has been able to stop talking about you since she met you."

"Really?" Rory asked, surprised.

"As amazing as Alexa is, sometimes she doesn't get the attention she deserves. My parents are so busy during the day, and they don't like to have distractions at business functions, which they seem to have every night of the week. Usually when I bring girls over, they're more focused on.."

"Good excuse, Tristan," she cut in.

Tristan looked at Rory guiltily. "Everyone gets their priorities confused sometimes. I'm a guy, and.."

"If you say, you have needs, I'm going to have to throw up right now."

"Well then, I guess I'll stop talking."

"What exactly is it that you're looking for?"

"What do you mean?"

"What void are you trying to fill with all these girls? You date them and have sex with them.."

"I don't have sex with all of them."

"I'm not finished. For a few weeks everything is fine with you and some girl. You pretend like you care, but when you realize that yet again, the feeling just aren't real, you move on. What are you missing that you think can be found with this searching? I can promise, whatever it is, you won't find it this way."

Tristan stood there shocked, trying to absorb everything that Rory had just said. Was she right? 'No,' Tristan though, 'I'm just having a good time. This is what you're supposed to do when you're a teenager.' To Rory he said, "I get it. You're jealous, and you're trying to get me to try a serious relationship with you. Well, Mar, we can try. See if it works."

"Unbelievable." With that Rory turned on her heal and walked out of the pool house. She found herself back inside the house looking for her mother.

"Rory," Emily said when she saw her, "where have you been?"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't feeling well. I thought if I got some fresh air I would feel better, but I don't. Mom, is it alright if we go?"

Lorelai cheered inside and said, "Of course, sweetie. If you're not feeling well, it would be best if we get home."

Emily supported Lorelai's decision and said goodbye to her daughter and granddaughter.

Tristan sat in the pool house contemplating what Rory had said. He never expected her to say something like that. He knew that only someone who truly cared about him would call him on his "dating around". But he also knew that she was wrong. He wasn't looking for anything. He was just having a good time.. With a lot of different girls. "There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing." He said aloud.

"What is it that you are doing, and why is there nothing wrong with it?" Tristan heard his mother say.

"Oh, I was just talking to myself."

His mother saw that Tristan wasn't going to talk about whatever he had just meant, so she just said, "We're ready to leave."

Tristan followed his mother into the main house. "We had a wonderful time tonight, Richard. I hope your granddaughter feels better soon." Tristan heard his father saying.

"Thank you, Alan. I think it was a productive evening. I'm sure I will be seeing you soon." When Richard saw Tristan, he said, "It was nice seeing you again Tristan. You seem to have grown into a fine young man."

"Thank you Mr. Gilmore." Tristan said as he reverted back into his own thoughts.

A/N- I'm sorry it took me FOREVER to update. I was in London for school last semester with no way to update, and since I got back I was distracted with getting back into the groove of things. I won't make it a habit of waiting 7 months each time.