8. Warning Sign

After all the nurses checking in on her, she was finally left alone in her room to 'rest'. That's what they called it, the nurses.

'Rest' was something that would not be going on in this hospital cubicle. She had too much to think of, too much to worry about.

Rhett's words were still slicing her heart. Tristan's touch still burned her skin. Jess's reasoning still making her wonder whether or not shutting Tristan out of her life was really healing her wounds. Her own thoughts still questioning all of her decisions.

It seemed like forever until she was tired. She closed her eyes to sleep, but all she could see were his hands on her, his lips caressing her skin, his –

"You wouldn't see me, so I came to you."

She kept her eyes shut. "Get the fuck out of my room."

"That's no way to treat a guest." He closed the door behind him.

"It's past visiting hours."

"I snuck past. They don't really ask questions around here."

"How the hell did you know where to go to find me, Tristan?" she looked at him.

"Jess was talking about how he got lost getting to the third floor. I have been wandering around for forty-five minutes, checking every room."

"Fuck you."

He laughed. "You already have. Time to find a different insult."

She glared at him. "Shut up," she whispered. "And leave me alone," she said, not much louder.

"Not until you talk to me."

Her eyes welled up with tears. "I have nothing to say."

"I have everything to say."

"I don't want to hear it," Rory said, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I'm done with you."

"You wouldn't be crying if that's what you wanted."

"It doesn't matter what I want now. It's what needs to be done."

"I need this."

"It's not just me you're hurting this time. I have a kid."

"We have a kid," he corrected.

She laughed sarcastically. "So what – you leave for the hardest years to raise him, and return now when he's all grown up?"

"Not just now. I've regretted it and wanted to come back ever since I left."

"Then you shouldn't have ," she replied pointedly.

"God dammit, Rory! I made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. I was wrong. I just want a chance. Just one chance. I'll do anything. What the hell do you want me to do to fix this? What do I have to do?"

She looked down. "I told you to give me time. And you came back in two days? This isn't some little fight we had when we were kids. This is huge. I need time to think. To figure out what I should do. Why can't you understand that?"

The door swung open. "Who are you? You aren't supposed to be in here!" a nightshift worker stated.

"Please, sir – " Tristan pleaded.

"No, you need to leave now."

Tristan looked at Rory.

"Just give me time. I'll call you." She gave him hope.

He nodded but didn't smile. The guard ushered Tristan out.

Once he shut the door, he asked Tristan, "What's your excuse?"

"I love her."

The night watchman laughed, "And let me guess. She doesn't know it."

"No, she knows it. She's just not able to accept it yet."

-

"Mom!" Rhett shouted with a smile as he rushed to hug her. "They say you can leave at the end of the week! Isn't that great?"

She smiled slightly, still shaken up from the previous night. "Wonderful."

"All your students were worried. Asking about you."

"That's sweet of them." She watched as Jess walked in.

"Yeah. Do you want anything to eat? We snuck some fast food across the nurses."

"I'd love some."

"Okay. But we need to get water from the cafeteria. Jess was throwing a tantrum at how the drinks were more expensive than the meals."

"Water, for me, please."

"Okay. Be right back." Rhett walked out.

"You okay?" Jess asked in his 'protective' voice.

"I'm alright."

"I didn't mean… I didn't want… He shouldn't have been here."

Rory nodded.

"Did he leave?"

"Is he here now?" Rory asked sarcastically.

"Rory…"

"Jess, we talked. I listened, he listened. I'm fine."

"He called me up this morning. He seemed… distant."

"It was one hell of a talk."

"Can I ask what was said?"

"He asked me what he could do to get a second chance. I said leave me alone for a while. The security guard came in and took him out. That's it. I'm fine."

Jess decided to drop it.

-

It was eleven o'clock at night. Rory was trying to sleep. She didn't get much sleep the night before, thinking of Tristan. Trying to analyze the situation in her head to where one side would seem more appealing than the other.

The door opened and she knew exactly who it was.

"Tristan, I – "

"Just hear me out. That's all I'm asking."

Rory cocked her head and looked curiously at him.

He took that as the answer he was looking for and scooted the chair next to her bed, then sat in it.

"I know I'm probably the last person on Earth you want to see right now, and I probably deserve it. But the way I see it, you can't make this decision without me here, talking to you for a while. You need to get to know me. If you say no, I'll go away. But how can I expect you to make the right decision without getting to know the person I've become since we were seventeen? You can send me away at any time, but I think you'd be doing yourself a big mistake."

"That's a little arrogant. You really think you can win my heart over with one conversation?"

He smirked. "I'm planning on it. And it doesn't even have to be one conversation – I hear you're spending three more nights in here."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Jess."

"He can't keep his fucking mouth shut." She paused. "What is there to fill me up on, then?"

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Oh come on, you must have had something planned when you came over here, begging me to learn about your life now. So let me have it."

"I…"

"I mean, it's a pretty proud thing to say – that if I just listen to you, I'll run straight back into your arms. You must have prepared something."

"I thought I'd wing it."

"You're not doing a very good job."

He laughed, embarrassed. "I understand that."

She paused, narrowing her eyes at him. "I think you'd better go."

"I hated working for my dad." This got her attention. "It was so tedious, not to mention I had to take more orders from him. He wants me to be the 'official heir to the business'."

She smiled. "He said that?"

"Yeah. I mean, the money is great, the people are nice, but I don't think I'd like to be under my dad's nose my whole life."

"Yeah," she said, listening.

"You're teaching?"

"Yeah."

"I can see you teaching. You always had a fetish for those whiteboards during high school."

She gasped and blushed. "I did not!"

"You so did." A moment passed, both involuntarily reminiscing the past. "Anyways," he said, after a minute, "I eat Indian food, religiously. I still hate mushrooms. I always wear that shirt you got me, during your fifth month – the blue one with the white stripes."

"Have you dated?" she asked suddenly.

He took a breath. "Yes."

"Sex?" she whispered, obviously preparing her for the answer.

Another deep breath. "Yes."

She looked down. "Oh."

"It was stupid, really. I didn't – "

"I don't really want to hear all the details."

"Rory?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I don't want to lie to you."

"Was there anyone serious?"

"A possibility."

She looked down again. "What happened?"

"I couldn't talk to her like I could talk to, well, you. I broke it off. I guess I just couldn't settle."

She nodded.

"What about you?"

She looked back up at him. "No."

"No sex?"

"Well," she paused, "Jess never told you?"

Tristan cocked his head. "No…"

"Just a few months after you left… Jess and I… It was a one time thing. I… no. It wasn't… He wasn't you."

Tristan's eyes got big. "Whoa. That's… You and Jess?"

"Yeah. Since then, nothing. No dates, no sex, no serious boyfriends. Nothing. Just me, Jess, and Rhett. Kind of… like a family."

It was Tristan's turn to look down.

"Sorry, that wasn't… I didn't mean…"

"It's okay. I understand."

Rory bit her lip. "Maybe someday, you can be a part…" she stopped, not letting herself finish.

Tristan looked back up at her with hope. "Someday."

A/N: Okay, long chapter. Yay! The whole thing at the end, if you didn't get it, she means someday he could be a part of the family. But if I wrote that in on the sides, as like "What she meant to say was…" it'd be kind of lame. So anyways, I'm like getting no reviews. Four or five a chapter. Is it getting boring? I tried to spice it up with a lot of TRORY action in this chapter, but if it is, maybe you could tell me or give me suggestions? Because I really don't know what's going on here. I consider 10 reviews a chapter a good story (and not just for me, for anyone), so that means, is this a worth while piece? You're breaking my spirits here, guys. Thanks to you who review, and I hope more than five people are reading this, but if it is that small amount, I thank you for keeping with me this long. If you haven't reviewed in a while, could you? Just this chapter? Any other chapter past this one, you can go back to your old ways, but I'm really getting discouraged. Okay, no matter what, a new chapter will be up in the next couple of days. Thanks for reading!