Chapter Title: Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith.

Summary: They had the summer ahead of them. A lot can change in a summer.

AN: I finally got around to updating this. It's been over a month, but I finally figured out where I want it to go.

Don't wanna close my eyes

Don't wanna fall asleep

Cause I'd miss you baby

And I don't wanna miss a thing

Tristan pulled into a Motel 6 wanting to get take a shower before heading out. Rory lay on the bed remembering all the things they had done since they left. Had it really only been a two weeks since they left? They hadn't done much; they spent more time on the road than anything. He came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel. He pulled his bag onto the bed watching Rory. He smiled to himself wondering why she was with him. He wasn't anything special. Hell, for the first year and a half they had known each other she had claimed to hate him. Then they had become friends, it had taken him another eight months to get up the nerve to ask her out. Granted she had a boyfriend the entire time, but he didn't care. He had made it clear that he cared for her. He considered himself lucky to be apart of her life. All you had to do was look at her and you could tell she was special.

"Tristan?" She asked pulling him from his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He said looking down at her.

"I love you."

"I love you too Mary." He said with a smile.

Ten minutes later they were headed to the Lincoln Memorial. Rory stood beside the Reflecting Pool and Tristan got a picture of her without her realizing it. He took a step back taking her in. She really was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. And he wasn't giving her up anytime soon. They walked around the side of the building to the Arts of War exhibit. This was what Tristan was looking forward to. He took everything in wondering why his parents had never wanted to go here. This was a part of national history, why wouldn't they have wanted him to see it?

Rory moved ahead of him to the Arts of Peace exhibit. She was glad she had come back here. She had spent part of the summer before here. And she had felt like she was in her element then. She was glad that she was getting the chance to share it with Tristan. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him and smiled. He kissed her forehead before they started walking again.

"We can go see the Washington Monument. It's just across the street."

"I've always wanted to see it."

"And after that, we can go see White House." She said pointing to a building around the corner. You could see the white bricks standing out just beckoning people to come and see them.

They crossed the street and Rory was taking pictures when she felt something cold on her neck. She turned her head and saw Tristan behind her holding a bag. He had two cups in his other hand.

"What is that?"

"I stopped at a vendor. We are having lunch at the Pavilion." He said pointing just ahead of them.

"You know what, I didn't do that when I was here last." She said with a laugh.

"You were waiting for me weren't you?"

"No, I was waiting for Brad Pitt." She said with a smile.

He pulled her to him then brushed his lips against hers. He looked down at her not wanting to let her go. She pulled away taking his hand. She led him across the street and across the grass to the Pavilion. Tristan took in their surroundings.

"Wow." He said tilting his head up to look across the street.

"It's bigger than you thought huh?"

"It's huge." He said staring at it in awe.

"I wish we could go inside." She said standing next to him.

"I do too." He said sitting down at a picnic table.

They ate in silence then decided to do more sites seeing. Tristan wanted to stop at the National Museum of History. So they went there first. They took some pictures. He didn't really want to see anything.

"You're a freak, why didn't you want to see anything?"

"I just wanted some pictures. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, freak." She said the last word under her breath trying to hide her smile.

He pulled her to him and picked her up off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he bunched his fingers in her hair. He leaned in brushing his lips against hers then applied more pressure. She moaned against his lips as he ran his fingers across her neck. He pulled away with a smirk. She rolled her eyes before he put her down. They walked down the street hand in hand. When he mentioned that he wanted to go the National Archives building Rory knew something was up. He pulled her inside looking for the exhibit on the Bill of Rights.

"Okay, now I know you're a freak."

"What?" He said giving her an innocent look.

"You just wanna do this because National Treasure is your favorite movie."

"No I don't! This is a part of our history. It's interesting."

"Okay, what else do you want to see while we're here?"

"Nothing." He said just above a whisper.

Rory laughed before shaking her head.

"Come on. Lets go back to the motel. We've seen enough for today." She said taking his hand.

XXXX

Later that night they were talking about what they wanted to do the next day when Tristan looked down at Rory. She had never seen him look at her like that.

"What?" She asked giving him a weird look.

"Where do you see us going?"

"Meaning…"

"Where do you see us in a year, ten years from now?"

What was she supposed to say? No one had ever asked her that before. And he was the last person she had thought would ask her that.

"Rory?" He asked looking at her expectantly.

"I don't know. No one's ever asked me that."

"That's what I thought." He said falling back onto the bed.

She had given him the wrong answer and now he was mad. She knew he was. But what was she supposed to do? She wasn't the kind of girl that talked about the future. He knew that. She lived for the moment and took things as they came. She looked over at him and could tell for sure that he was expecting her to at least say something.

"Tristan, I'm not the kind of person that likes to talk about that kind of stuff. You know that. But as long as we're together, what does it matter?" She asked hoping that would calm him down.

He rolled over on his side with a sigh. He propped his head on his arm before opening his eyes.

"I shouldn't have asked you that. I know you have issues dealing with that. I didn't mean to push you, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You think of us having a future together?"

"Yeah." He said lacing his fingers with hers.

"What do you see?" She asked rubbing her thumb across his wrist.

"I see us getting married. And maybe having a couple kids, no more than three. I can see us growing old together." He said staring into her eyes.

She smiled knowing he had meant it. Even if he had taken her by surprise, he was doing that more and more lately. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. She laid her head on his chest listening to him breath. His breath evened out letting her know that he had fallen asleep. She smiled moving closer to him, his arms tightened around her in his sleep. He made her feel safe, and loved. She didn't want to miss out on anything when it came to him. She drifted off to sleep feeling his heart beat next to hers.

AN2: I know it's a fluff chapter. I wanted Tristan to do something no one would expect him to do. Not even Rory. I've never even thought about the future with a guy. Isn't that sad? But I know some people do. Let me know what you guys think.