AN: Thank you all for the reviews! I love them! Sorry it took so long, I got sidetracked. Anyways, let me know what you think. The next chapter should be out much sooner than this one!


Chapter 3

Rory woke up, and within seconds wished she didn't. Her head pounded. Her body felt new levels of pain never before achieved. Her mouth was dry, and her eye sight was blurry.

"Ace, you awake?" A whispering Logan asked.

"Ughhh…" She muttered, trying not to move.

"Ace, your phone has been going off for twenty minutes. Come on, wake up." He urged, rolling over.

She pulled a pillow over her head and ignored him, going back to sleep.

-GG-

Tristan took a deep breath and dialed the number his grandfather gave him.

"Hello, Richard Gilmore's office, who may I ask is calling?" The secretary on the other end of the line asked him.

"This is Tristan DuGrey." He replied, tapping his fingers lightly against the table top.

"Tristan! How are you?" Richard asked once he came on the line.

"I'm doing fine Richard, and yourself?" He asked, rolling his eyes. He just had an arranged marriage set up for him, how did he think he was?

"Wonderful. Emily and I are very excited about the upcoming wedding. Now what can I do for you?"

Tristan shook his head and clenched his fists. If he had anything to say about it, there would be no wedding. Rory obviously didn't want to marry him, and he personally didn't want to be stuck the rest of his life with someone who hated him. "I was wondering if I could have Rory's number. There are a few things I need to discuss with her."

-GG-

An hour later Rory was awake and showered. She was back in her room, feeling miserable. She hated the things she said to her mother the night before. But still, she hated the way her mother had been treating her. She and Logan were in an adult relationship, but no one seemed to understand that.

She reached up and grabbed her phone, debating calling her mom. She started to dial, then hung up. As much as she regretted the comment she made about her mom getting pregnant at 16, her mom still arranged her marriage. That was unforgivable.

-GG-

Tristan picked up the phone, looking at it. He needed to call Rory. He didn't want to be stuck in a loveless marriage anymore than she did. At one time in his life, he would have been thanking his lucky stars and whatever higher power he could that she was the one he was stuck in this mess with, but no more.

She had obviously changed. The girl he loved in high school would never have treated her mother like she did. She obviously wasn't the Rory he remembered. People changed over the course of five years. He knew he certainly did. He grew up and became a man. Rory seemed to have grown into a spoiled debutante.

He stayed up most of the night before and decided that they would need to see a lawyer together. They needed to find out how iron clad their families had made this. Knowing the DuGrey's and the Gilmore's, it was probably pointless, but at least they would try.

He quickly dialed her number, listening to it ring.

"Hello?" Rory answered, slightly distracted by a book.

"Rory? This is Tristan."

She set her book down and frowned. "Um, hey. What's, I mean, why, um, how are you?" She stuttered, unsure of what to say to her sort of fiancé.

He laughed slightly. "Listen, I'm calling because I think we should meet up over coffee or something. Talk about this thing."

She thought for a minute. "Yeah, you're probably right. When and where?"

"There's a coffee shop near Yale that I know of, Toffee's. Say an hour?"

"Ok, I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye."

-GG-

An hour later Rory walked inside Toffee's and looked around. Spotting Tristan she walked over to his table, smiling slightly when she saw that he already had a coffee waiting for her.

"Thanks" She said, taking a long sip.

"You're welcome. I remember you used to drink coffee like alcoholics drink liquor, so I figured that a coffee would be a good way to start out a not so good meeting." He told her, watching her.

She nodded. "Yeah. So…"

In all honesty, she had no idea what to say to him. Should she start out with 'Hey, how have you been the past five years?' or go on to 'So… we're engaged.'

He appeared to be having the same problem. "So…"

Finally, he shook his head. "Listen, we're both obviously two very different people from when we used to know each other. I don't think either of us particularly likes this situation, so I think we need to work together." He told her, watching her reaction. In truth, he knew nothing about this gorgeous creature with the captivating blue eyes that was sitting in front of him.

Sure, he knew her name, her old nickname, and that she was smart. He knew she used to be closer to her mother than anything. He knew the old Rory. Tristan would be the first to admit that he knew nothing about the new her.

She looked at him, nodding as he talked. No, he was right. She certainly didn't like their situation. "I guess you're right. We should work together."

"Good. Now, there are a few ways we could go about this."

"I'm listening." She told him, taking another long drink of coffee.

Tristan fiddled with his coffee cup. "I think we should go to a lawyer."

"I completely agree. I actually had a friend that's majoring in law look over the documents… but he doesn't think there's much hope." She said, referring to Colin's advice the night before.

"That's not very encouraging." Tristan sighed, frowning.

Rory smiled sympathetically. "I know how you feel. He said he'll talk to his dad for me… show him the papers. He actually has my copy now. He said his dad will help me as much as he can."

"I actually was going to go to my lawyer's today and drop the documents off. Do you want to handle this together or separately?"

Rory paused. On one hand, she could handle this alone and try to lead as normal a life as possible. On the other hand, he was every bit as involved in the situation as she was.

"Together." The words left her mouth before she had even completely made up her mind.

"Good. Who's the lawyer?" Tristan asked her. He was glad she agreed with him. He thought things would be much easier if they were in complete agreement on everything. They were in this situation together.

"My friend Colin's dad... Andrew McCrae."

Tristan raised his eyebrows. Andrew McCrae was one of the most prominent divorce lawyers in Connecticut. "It's good to have friends in high places, I guess. Can you make the appointment?"

She nodded, pulling out her cell phone and dialing the number Colin gave her. She looked up at him as she waited for the other line to pick up. "Colin said his dad can probably squeeze me in today. Is that okay?"

Tristan smiled. "The sooner we get this started, the sooner we're both free." He told her, wanting out of the mess.