Disclaimer: I own the world, or haven't you heard? Nah, just kidding. I don't own them, okay? Get off my case. They belong to Amy Sherman Palladino and the WB. The flashback on this chapter does not belong to me either.

Rating: R

Pairing: R/T

Chapter 1: Nothing Gold Can Stay

Lorelai Gilmore was dressed in a somber black suit, sitting in the middle of her kitchen in Stars Hollow, staring into her mug of coffee when Rory found her. The younger Gilmore felt something clench her heart as she watched her mother's sad expression but managed a small smile. She walked over and placed a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Hey mom. You okay?"

"He hated that I drank so much coffee," she said almost absently, giving her daughter a small smile. "Just like he hated my way of doing business and the clothes I wore and the inappropriate stuff I said. God, that's all part of who I am and if that's true then - "

"Don't finish that sentence," Rory warned her softly, tears welling up. "Because you know that Grandpa loved you. Very much."

"Sweetie," Lorelai said in a strangled voice. She took a minute to blink back tears and then ran a hand through her hair. "He was so disappointed in me. I know we tried…after some time we were at this understanding that what happened in the past was dealt with…but I just got this feeling - " Her mother trailed off again, tears running down her cheeks freely now. "I wish things were different."

"They were great, Mom. He was happy."

Lorelai smiled softly through her tears. "I know. But Dad and I weren't like you and Chris, you know? We couldn't even say 'I love you' or hug each other without feeling awkward. So we didn't. And now, I just feel so foolish for letting something as stupid as awkwardness get in the way of telling my father that I loved him. That no matter how much we couldn't understand each other, I loved him. And now…I can't."

Lorelai rested her head on her daughter's stomach and let her tears take over. Rory felt her own tears surface as she stroked her mother's hair and murmured. "He knew you loved him. He did."

After a few minutes, Lorelai pulled away and wiped her eyes delicately with her hands. She let out a small half-laugh. "This is so not the time for me to fall apart. I need to make sure everything is in order. I need to get to Hartford. Mom is just a mess."

"I know," Rory sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I've never seen Grandma so out of it. She's never fallen apart before. She looks so lost."

Lorelai stood up and placed her hand on Rory's arm. "He was the love her of life. If there's anything I am sure about regarding my parents, it's that they loved each other very, very much. Imagine losing someone so integral to your life. The only man for you."

Tousled blonde hair, a soft, smirking mouth and startling blue eyes crossed Rory's mind and she met her Lorelai's gaze with a small, sad smile. "It would be devastating."

The older Gilmore kissed Rory on the forehead and grabbed her keys from the table.

Jake Danes, Rory's five-year-old half brother, walked into the kitchen holding his father's hand. Luke kissed his wife's forehead and patted Rory on the shoulder, not comfortable with hugs.

"You ready to go?" Luke asked Lorelai, holding up the car keys.

Lorelai nodded before turning to her daughter. "Luke and I are gonna leave now. Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"I need to read the eulogy once more," she replied softly. "Make sure it's perfect. You guys go ahead. I'll see you there. Drive safely."

Rory took in a deep breath and then headed for the living room. Sitting down on the couch, she pulled out the piece of paper she had written her eulogy on and thought of one of the last conversations she had had with her grandfather.

"Thanks for the present Grandpa," she said as she rested the phone between her shoulder and her ear. "I still can't believe I misplaced my first and only edition of Wuthering Heights."

Richard chuckled. "I thought that hooligan friend of yours took it."

Rory giggled. "I wouldn't be surprised if Jess did. So how've you been lately? Grandma says you get tired very often."

"Your grandmother worries too much," he shot back indignantly. "I'm capable of taking care of myself. I'm fine I keep telling her but she won't listen. All Gilmore women are stubborn. I just don't know what to do with you."

"We do it because we care," she stated smiling. "You're the most important man in our lives, Grandpa."

"Now that's not true," Richard argued. "Your mother has that baseball cap wearing husband of hers and you, my darling granddaughter are caught up with that DuGrey boy."

She tensed a bit at the mention of Tristan but managed to sound nonchalant. "Tristan and I aren't together, Grandpa. We've never been together. You're the only man in my life, I promise you that."

"Famous last words, Rory." Richard simply laughed.

Rory buried her face in her hands and cried.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Who did you call?" Paris asked her fiancé as they sat side by side on the plane to Hartford. When Jess looked back at her with a look of feigned confusion, she elaborated. "This morning. That very secretive phone call you made from the bathroom."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, flipping the pages of his magazine.

"You're not a very convincing liar, Jess," she stated with an eye roll. "You called Tristan, didn't you?"

He sighed and closed the magazine on his lap. "Yes. I did."

Paris hid her smile and just arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

Jess turned to the blonde and looked at her irritated. "I know the guy has been a jerk to her. They do something to each other and it's unhealthy. I don't like it. But I also think she wants him there no matter what. Right now, I just want her to feel comfortable. Somehow, he does that for her."

Paris knew that under the careless, macho exterior was the heart of the man she loved and she loved it when that man made an impromptu appearance. She merely smiled and kissed him softly on the lips. "That's all I wanted to hear. I just hope that this little matchmaking scheme of yours - "

"It's not a matchmaking scheme," he protested.

"Okay, whatever. I just hope this time doesn't end the way it always does for the two of them," she stated and took a sip of water from the plastic cup. "But knowing those two, I wouldn't bet my diploma on it."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

It was funny how huge, tragic moments like this could turn someone like him, who usually didn't think much about life, death and love into a brooding philosopher, Tristan thought as he sat in the limo from the airport to the church. Actually, that wasn't true. Lately everything that happened to Tristan DuGrey made him sit alone in his car, or room or office with a glass – or bottle if the occasion called for it – of brandy and think long and hard about who he was and what his life had come to.

Richard Gilmore's death obviously made him think of Rory and the first time he'd talked to her – almost ten years ago…

"Hey, Mary."

"Me?" She looked at him startled, her blue eyes wide and innocent. She looked so out of place in that snooty, rich school and yet somehow, she had managed to fit in and catch up with grace, wit and expertise.

"Yeah, you."

"My name is Rory," she said naively.

"I'm Tristan," he replied always amused, always intrigued.

"Hi."

"So you new?" he asked and in retrospect knew it was a dumb question.

"Yeah, first day."

"Remmy's class is rough," he wanted to hear her say or do something more. He was surprised that she was so unaffected by him. She wasn't blushing or batting her eyelashes. It was baffling and amusing all at the same time.

"Yeah, it seemed very intense."

I could make other things very intense for you, he had thought. "I could loan you my notes, if that would help."  

"Really? That'd be great." She looked so grateful.

Of course, he had to turn it into something other than gratitude. So he walked forward, invading her personal space and leaving her no choice but to back up against a wall.

"Yeah? How great?"

"I don't know. Mr. Remmy said that getting someone's notes would be…" she trailed off, obviously uncomfortable with his forwardness.

"I could even help you study. If you want." Studying wasn't the only thing on his mind. It rarely was when it came to girls.

 She looked flabbergasted. "Uh, I kind of view studying as a solitary activity, but thanks."

So she was going to be a little tough to coerce. He was happy for the challenge. He smiled and walked away. "Bye Mary."

A wistful, almost amused smile flitted over his lips. God, he was such a jerk to her back then. You're still a jerk to her now, his conscience reminded him. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Rory Gilmore had a way of bringing out the worst in him. Maybe seeing her again isn't such a great idea after all.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Lorelai," Victor Adams, an ex-business partner of her grandfather's said as he greeted Rory near the entrance of the church. He grabbed her hand and kissed it softly. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Rory said softly.

Her mother was motioning her to come to the front of the church and she excused herself. She kissed her grandmother on her cheeks and the three Gilmore women sat down in the first pew as the funeral service began.

Father Michael, a longtime family friend stood on the podium and addressed the gathering. "I have known the Gilmores for twenty years now and it is with a heavy heart that I will perform my duties today."

He continued to speak for the next few minutes but his words didn't quite reach Rory's ears. She was too busy staring at the mahogany casket that lay in the front of the church, surrounded by flower bouquets and wreaths. Somehow seeing all that made her grandfather's death all the more final and heart wrenching.

"…Richard's granddaughter, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore to the podium to give the eulogy."

Her name snapped her out of her thoughts and she slowly made her way to the front. Father Michael kissed her forehead and she stepped up to the podium, facing the people who had come to pay their respects. Her gaze fluttered over to Emily, Lorelai and Luke who were smiling at her softly and then to Paris and Jess who both gave her an encouraging nod. She took in a deep breath and knew that she had to do this for her grandfather. "I didn't get to know my grandfather very well until I was sixteen years old…"

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Tristan stood at the back of the church, listening to Rory give the eulogy and felt his chest constrict with pain for her and her family. He had met Richard on many occasions and the patriarch of the Gilmore family had always treated him with kindness and warmth. He knew how much Rory loved her grandfather so he knew how difficult it was for her to be standing in front of all those people, bidding Richard Gilmore a final farewell.

But Rory was one of the strongest women he knew and although the pain and loss was clear in her voice she seemed to deliver the speech without much hesitancy. 

"…Grandpa loved to read. We had countless discussions – and some heated arguments on all kinds of books… and if he were here, I know for a fact that he'd probably be bored out of his mind." Her grin wavered a bit as she stared down at the podium for a minute.

Tristan smiled slightly as the congregation chuckled softly in remembrance.

"And I also know that he'd want me to share his love of the written word with all those people who came to say goodbye to him. Richard Gilmore always got what he wanted in life.  And he won't have anything denied to him in death, either. Grandpa, I hope I made the right choice with this poem."

She took a minute to take in a few deep breaths before she continued.

"Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; the leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief. So dawn goes…" Rory's voice caught in her throat and a small sob escaped her lips. After a pause and tears streaming down her cheeks she continued. "So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay." She looked over at her grandfather's casket and smiled slightly, sadly through her tears. "I wish you could stay, Grandpa. I love you."

Sniffles and murmurs could be heard throughout the church as Rory stepped down from the podium. Then, suddenly she looked up and the distance between them seemed to shrink as their eyes locked. She broke her gaze and walked over to her mother and to her family. He saw her whisper something to her mother and then slowly made her way to the back of the church - to him.

His pulse quickened but he managed to remain unaffected as she stopped a foot away from him, her expression unreadable. For what seemed like an eternity, she just held his gaze without saying a word and he wondered if she was going to ask him to leave. In a moment, she answered his question by closing the space between them, sliding her hands underneath his trench coat and hugging him like there was no tomorrow.

Tristan's own arms immediately wrapped around her tiny waist possessively and burrowed his face in her hair. Somehow everything that had happened between them seemed insignificant and unimportant and all that mattered was this moment – having her in his arms, holding her like he was never going to let go and making sure she was safe and protected.

He just wished that this was how they could stay.