AN: I realized I left some things very unclear, so I wanted to clear a few things up with this chapter. That's why this is done so fast.

ShotswithMrsKim: Tristan's thing isn't so much with Rory being mad at her mom... it's in the changes he notices in her. When he looks at her, he see's more of the Chilton him than Rory. Tristan has grown up a lot (That will become more evident as time goes on), and at this point in Rory's life, it seem's like her maturity level is going down. You'll see why more in the next chapter. As for Rory and Lorelai... well, they both have some growing up to do in this fic. Tristan will help.

flowersinthespringtime: They can't exactly take them to the alter with shotguns, but they can do other things to ensure that the couple gets married... read on and you'll see what I mean.

rish: Thank you!

Photoboothromance: Thanks for letting me know you're still reading! I appreciate it!


Chapter 4

They walked into the lawyer's office together, both more than nervous. They each tried to keep their faces blank, not wanting to clue the other into their inner freak outs.

Rory walked over to the receptionist and told her who she was.

"He'll be with you in just a few minutes." Sally, the receptionist told her.

Rory went and sat down beside Tristan. Neither said a word to the other.

After ten minutes of silence Sally told them, "Mr. McCrae will see you now."

She ushered them inside the office, where they shook hands with Andrew McCrae.

"It's nice to meet you sir." She told him, shaking his hand, "Colin has wonderful things to say about you."

Andrew laughed at that. "I'm not too sure about that, but thank you Miss Gilmore." He looked over at Tristan.

"Tristan DuGrey." Tristan said, also shaking Andrew's hand.

"It's nice to meet the both of you. It's just unfortunate it had to be under these circumstances." He told them, sitting down while they did the same.

"Now, Colin gave me the papers last night, and asked that I personally look this over as a favor to him. I must say, your families both seem rather… adamant about this match." He said, looking across his desk at the two.

Rory nodded. "Yes, both our families feel this is for the best, however we don't agree."

Andrew nodded. "Yes, yes, I can see why. Now, I must tell you, while I understand that you're both hopeful to get out of this situation, there doesn't seem to be much, well, you simply don't have a lot of options. Your families both know what they're doing legally. You have a little room to maneuver, but very, very little." He informed them, watching as their faces both fell.

Tristan recovered first. "You said we do have a little maneuvering room. What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, first, let me explain exactly what this document says. Basically, if the two of you do not marry within the next six months, you both lose your trust funds and inheritances. Also, Miss Gilmore, you will lose all your financial backing for school. In the case of a separation, divorce, or annulment, you both forfeit everything." Andrew told them, looking at each of them as he spoke to them.

Rory bit her lip. They sure knew how to hit her where it hurt. All she did was steal one lousy yacht and date a guy that no one wanted her to be with. Now, either she married the former bane of her existence, or she lost everything. The money wouldn't be so hard to live without. It was the threat of being left with no money for school that got her, and her family knew it.

Tristan shook his head. He didn't so much need the money. He would be okay without it, but he knew he could never turn his back on his family. Rory may not care about the scandal or how her family was perceived, but he learned long ago that hurting his family only hurt himself in the long run. He grew up and changed since he had been send to military school so very long ago. He didn't want to cause another rift in his family. He almost laughed aloud at the irony of the situation. It almost seemed as if he and Rory had completely changed perspectives over the years.

"You said there was some room to maneuver though, right?" Rory asked hopefully, breaking into his thoughts.

Andrew sighed. "I'm afraid that the maneuvering is small, and doesn't affect the marriage itself. There are certain small things that can be changed though."

"Such as?" Tristan questioned, now intrigued.

"Your families both want you to be a major society couple, a very smart business move on their end. Basically, things such as how involved in things you are, and how involved in your families you are can be changed. I've had my secretary draw up a copy of items that you can change. You can go over it together and get back to me on it."

"Thank you." Rory told him, standing up with Tristan and taking the papers Andrew offered.

"We'll get back to you soon." Tristan told him, shaking his hand again before walking out the door with Rory.

-GG-

Rory and Tristan went to a small café where they ordered lunch and began to look over the terms of the contract that they would be able to change.

"I can not believe them!" Rory huffed, shaking her head.

"Well… they certainly are thorough." Tristan commented lightly.

"They not only want to dictate who we marry, but they want to dictate our marriage! Look at their terms! Throw six major functions a year, attend four a month, go to family dinners, one week with your family, and one week with mine! They're even dictating our vacationing and holidays and children's birthday parties!" She said heatedly, smacking the table for punctuation.

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down!" Tristan said, throwing his hands in front of him in a sign of peace. "Mr. McCrae said we can negotiate all that. Now, let's talk about something else."

"Like what? The weather? Cause that's oh so important to me right now." Rory sarcastically retorted, rolling her eyes.

Tristan sighed. The girl was seriously trying his patience. "Nooo… how about let's talk about ourselves? Get to know each other. After all, we are spending the rest of our lives together."

Rory narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, finally relenting. "Fine."

She certainly wasn't making this easy on him. "Okay, why don't you start out by telling me what's going on with you and your mom?" He asked, watching as her expression darkened.