AN: I am so sorry you guys! School & real life totally got in the way, so I haven't had a chance to actually write. Not to mention, I've been so stressed I couldn't calm down enough to write. Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Also, the revenge will start to come out in the next chapter.
Rory scurried around her dorm to dress. She and Tristan had been up late the night before going over their plans for today. Her stomach growled though she ignored it. She didn't have time to eat, she needed to finish putting her hair up. Tristan was going to be there any minute.
Today was the day they were scheduled to go to a meeting with their families. The prenuptial agreements would be signed. It was literally the end of their lives as they knew it, and they were not about to go down without a fight.
She hurried up and put her earrings in, grabbing for her heels just as she heard a knock on the door.
-GG-
Tristan knocked on Rory's dorm promptly at 10:30 Wednesday morning. It was almost two full weeks since their day in the park. They had used their time wisely. Meetings had occurred and documents were drawn up. They planned, plotted, argued and fought. They finally came to an agreement.
Rory opened the door, greeting Tristan with a tense smile as she grabbed for her folder and purse.
"Are you ready for this?" He asked her as they started out the door towards his car.
She shot him a look. "Is anybody ever truly ready to go sign their futures over?"
"Yeah, well, according to our families…" He trailed off, shaking his head.
Several previous days were spent going over law books, talking with other lawyers. They searched and searched for a loop hole. They spent hours in the dusty back part of the Yale law library, going through old archives to find something to help them. Finally, they realized they exhausted their every option to get out of the contract. Simply put, the marriage was going to happen whether they liked it or not.
Once that realization had been met they quickly began going over every little detail of the contract with Andrew McCrae, who Tristan had officially hired to help them. They spent the remaining precious days they had scrambling to come up with their own stipulations to put into the contract. They figured if they couldn't get out of the situation they may as well put their marriage in their own terms as much as possible.
Once they were in the car Rory glanced at the time. "We need to hurry or we'll be late."
"Yes, Lord knows one wouldn't want to be late for an event such as this." He dryly replied.
She glanced at him sharply. "I don't want to go do this either, but if we don't then we won't have a chance to negotiate the terms. Do you really want to sign the papers as they drew them up, and spend the rest of our lives adhering to those terms?"
With that in mind Tristan stepped a little harder on the gas, hurrying them to the law offices of Durmbay and Klondike, where the meeting was scheduled to take place.
-GG-
Twenty minutes later Tristan and Rory walked into the large building to meet up with Andrew McCrae in the lobby.
"There you two are!" Andrew said, walking over.
"Sorry we're running late." Rory told him, smiling at him politely.
"It's no problem. You're here and you actually have a few minutes to spare. Now, do you both have your lists of terms? I have copies in case you forgot them. It will help to have them in front of you." Andrew said, nodding in recognition when they both held up their folders filled with documents. "Ok, well, if I know your families as well as I think I do, this is going to be a long day."
Tristan and Rory met eyes and nodded. They had expected it to be a long day.
"Are we ready to go in yet?" Colin asked, coming up to the group.
Rory looked at him with surprise evident on her face. "Colin? What are you doing here?"
Colin laughed at her. "Well, you know I'm assisting my dad lately, you know, helping out and learning this stuff. You know I've been assisting on your case."
She nodded. "Yeah, sorry, I just didn't know you'd be here. I've been busy lately."
Colin gave her a small hug. "Hey it'll be ok. Everything will be just fine."
She smiled at him, grateful for his attempt at comforting her. During the time she was with Logan she grew very close to both Colin and Finn.
Andrew cleared his throat, breaking up the sweet moment between the two friends.
"Are we all ready?" He asked, nodding towards the open door where the secretary stood.
Rory squeezed Tristan's hand, nodding. "We're ready."
-GG-
The four of them walked into the meeting room. None of their faces held a single trace of amusement.
To Rory and Tristan this was not just a game. They were certainly going to get some amount of satisfaction from annoying their families with the determination to hold this marriage and wedding on their own terms, but it was also more than that. They knew the results of the arrangements made today would be held over their heads for the rest of their lives.
Entering the room, Rory noted that her father, her grandfather, and Tristan's father and grandfather were all there, with their respective lawyers present.
"Andrew, what are you doing here?" Richard asked, noticing the four as soon as they came in the room.
"Hello gentlemen." Andrew greeted. "Mr. DuGrey and Miss. Gilmore here have asked for my legal representation and guidance in this matter." He explained, biting back a laugh at the looks of shock on the four other men's faces.
"My son here, Colin, will also be sitting in on this meeting."
"What is the meaning of this?" Edward DuGrey asked his son.
Tristan led Rory over to the table and pulled out a chair for her. "You all have your own lawyers here. Rory and I thought it would be in our best interests to have someone here to help us, as well." Tristan explained, his tone flat and cold. "Now shall we get down to business?"
The families shared shocked glances. Clearly, none of them expected either Tristan or Rory to be thinking clearly enough to hire a lawyer.
"Yes, let's get down to business." Janlan finally suggested, breaking the silence.
They all took their seats, each prepared for the long battle of wills that would occur over the next few hours.
-GG-
Three hours later stomachs were grumbling, schedules had been cleared, ties were loosened and shirt sleeves were rolled up.
"You two are making this extremely difficult." Edward gritted out between clenched teeth. His patience had been shot over an hour ago.
"You could all make this very simple for us, dad." Tristan reminded his father, pointing to the list he had written on yellow legal paper.
Edward huffed. "And hell is going to freeze over."
Rory sighed, rubbing her temples. Everyone in the meeting room had been at odds since they sat down. Rory and Tristan, along with Colin and Andrew's help and advice, were going tit for tat. They refused to budge on any of their lists of demands for the prenups.
Rory and Tristan were arguing on every possible point in the lengthy documents. They didn't want to give up any ground in the papers, knowing that the results decided in that very room would continue to follow them forever.
Currently, they were arguing over the amount of social events Rory and Tristan would be required to throw every year in order to come into one of the trusts. Their families were smart. They were very, very smart. Rather than just putting demands in the documents, they held onto everything with money.
For instance, monthly family dinners were in exchange for one trust fund. Vacations were controlled by yet another account. The lists went on and on.
Rory shook her head, listening as Tristan and his father had a heated discussion. Finally, she could take it no more.
"Stop! Just stop!" She pleaded, grabbing the aspirin bottle someone had left on the table and shaking a few onto the palm of her hand.
Realizing she had everyone's attention, she quickly swallowed the pills with a drink of the water that had long ago been brought into the room.
"I need food." She informed everyone, her grumbling stomach accentuating her point.
Richard nodded, his own stomach feeling rather empty. "Shall we have some food ordered in?" He asked the rest of the men at the table.
Everyone nodded in consensus.
"I could go for an egg roll." Chris voiced, having skipped breakfast that morning to make sure he wasn't late for the meeting.
-GG-
A half hour later the group was spread across the room, munching on Chinese as they tried to relieve a little stress before continuing the grueling process.
"So, how do you think it's going so far?" Tristan whispered his question to Rory before he took a large bite of lo mein.
She shrugged, stabbing a piece of general tao's chicken. "Well, we got them to go down on their demands of weekly family dinners. Now they're just monthly. I think that's the biggest thing so far."
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah… but I don't want to have to throw a social event every month, either."
"God no!" She responded, feeling the urge to beat her head on the heavy oak table until she forgot about everything.
Rory went to reach for a soda but an already opened soda can was quickly thrust into her hands. She shot Colin a confused look but he just winked and shook his head.
She went to take a sip of it, smelling the alcohol it was laced with. Rory jerked her head over to look at Colin in surprise, but he just grinned, discreetly lifting his flask up for her to see.
As Janlan and Richard suggested they get back to the meeting, she leaned over towards Colin.
"Bless you." She whispered, to which he bit back a laugh.
Tristan looked at her, not understanding what was so funny. She pushed the can into his hands, motioning for him to drink. Taking a sip, he grinned. Maybe they would make it through this meeting after all.
