My Brother

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

Setting: See first chapter.

Note: Ode to reviews!

Ding-Dong!

At the sound of the doorbell ringing, Rory froze in the middle of straightening the covers on their living-room couch. Crap. He was here. Tristan was here! Already! Was she ready? Everything that needed to be done to prepare for his arrival was done, she noted with evident relief. But…was she ready mentally? Rory sighed as she realized that she probably wasn't. But would she ever be ready to have Tristan DuGrey in her house?

Lorelai was at the inn, as Saturday was one of their busy days, and that was one less thing to worry about when inviting Tristan in. "Hello, Tristan! This here is my mother, Lorelai, who you probably know from the rumor, which was true, that she kissed my teacher. Tristan, meet Lorelai, Lorelai, meet Tristan!" Rory hadn't even realized what a relief it was that her mother couldn't be there to meet Tristan, as much as she respected and loved her sometimes wild Mom. Another thing taken care of, then.

Realizing and acknowledging that she would never be ready to have Tristan in her house, so why hesitate, Rory walked over to the door and opened it. Tristan stood there with a book, borrowed from the school library, about Mayans in his hand. In the other hand he clutched a notebook and pencil. He was, most surprisingly, ready to get to work. "Hey Rory," he greeted her with a grin. She nodded to acknowledge him but didn't feel up to saying anything quite yet.

They stood facing each other awkwardly in the living room. Tristan looked around and then, after a pause, helpfully asked, "Can I take a seat?" Rory hurriedly confirmed that he could and should, then sat down next to him at the small living room table resting in front of the couch. They looked at each other for a few more moments over the open textbooks, and then Rory cleared her throat.

There seemed nothing much to do other than study, which they were here for in the first place anyway, so she proposed it. Tristan nodded quickly and they both bent over the text-books. They sat next to each other, each scanning the pages about Mayans, occasionally looking up to peek at the other, for half an hour. Eventually they got to writing down notes and discussing things concerning Mayans and the project. Tristan wasn't trying to flirt with her or make her uncomfortable at all. It seemed to be going well so far.

And then, while Rory was leaning over to write something in one of her notebooks, Tristan's arm swept against the side of her arm and she nearly jumped out of her skin, surprised at the warmth of his skin against hers and the shiver it produced. Oh no. What was wrong with her?

After hastily scribbling down the notes in her notebook, she looked up and her eyes met Tristan's piercing blue ones. Again, she shivered, and quickly looked down at her lap. Why was he making her react that way?

After a few more hours of jumping at his touch, his eye contact, and his voice, the clock struck five-o'clock. Lorelai would be home soon, and it was time to tell Tristan to go back to his home. They had, she was shocked to acknowledge, gotten a lot done, though.

"Uh, Tristan, you should probably go now. My mom will be coming home, and it's getting late…" He nodded his assent, helping her out, and she blushed, staring into her lap, as she realized how lame she'd sounded. Tristan really is changing, she thought with surprise as the sudden realization overcame her. He's becoming more productive and acting as though he really wants to get an A+ on this project the same way I do. Who would ever think that Tristan…

She looked up for the second time that day at Tristan, her cheeks still a little red as the aftereffect of her recent blush, her eyes glazed over in thought, and as she did her eyes met his, warm and blue now for some reason. His face was dangerously close and he was coming closer, as though he wanted to kiss her again. Rory panicked at the thought and fell backward on the couch, her head hitting one of the armrests. Ouch.

She lay there looking up at him with wide eyes while he sat perfectly still as though afraid of alarming her further, his own eyes just as startled as her own. They stared at each other for a while, and then he coughed and looked away as though embarrassed. Rory's cheeks turned bright red and she quickly sat up straight as she realized fully what had just happened. And what had just not happened. What had very nearly happened.

"You had better get going," Rory told him quietly, standing up and taking the papers lying on the table in front of them, tucking them into a folder marked Mayans. He nodded hurriedly, as flushed as she was, and got up as well, picking up the book and notebook he'd brought and heading toward the door. Rory found herself longing for the tension that usually existed between them. Anything to replace the awkwardness drifting lazily around the room.

"Uh, Rory…how do you…" Tristan made as though to turn the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. He looked back at her with a weak smile and shrugged to show that he needed help. She stood up and walked over to him, kicked the door, turned the door-knob, opened the stubborn door, and held gallantly for him. "Thanks," he mumbled as he walked out of the house and onto the porch. She nodded distractedly.

She wasn't expecting what he would do next, and so was startled as she felt lips pressed gently against hers. Her eyes flew upward and met those of Tristan, laughing back at her. She didn't pull away.

Instead, Rory softly pushed him backward and he took her hint, backing away from her and breaking the contact between their lips. He looked down at his feet in shame but she found herself oddly calm. She looked up at the sky, at the fluffy white clouds drifting along as though they had nothing to do, nothing to worry about, which they didn't, of course, because they were clouds. Ageless, careless…lifeless.

The deep, everlasting blue of the sky helped to calm her. Whatever happened, the sky would always stay blue, Rory realized. You could depend on that. It might turn dark blue with anger as a storm raged above, ripping it apart violently, or deep, velvety blue during the night, speckled with tiny lights that glimmered back at you mockingly. 'We're so high, so free, and look at you! Trapped, stuck to the earth you walk on!' they had always seemed to call down to her. But no matter what happened, the sky would be blue. If someday something happened and it changed color, Rory decided, that was when she would begin to worry.

Finally, she looked back at Tristan, knowing she had the strength, and found him gazing wistfully at her. She took a deep breath. "No, Tristan. Please. I don't want…don't want anything so intimate between us. So please, please stop trying to build on something that isn't there. I have Dean…and you have…" Rory chuckled softly to herself. "the world. I'm sure that what you're feeling for me can't be so deep that you'll mourn it forever when you have all the other girls in the world at your…disposal. You'll fall in love with someone else. Not that you were ever in love with me. But just know that I'm one of those few that don't want to have a relationship with Tristan DuGrey. And you can't convince me that somewhere deep inside I do." She closed the door, hiding from him the tears that were threatening to cascade down her face and make her words sound misguided.

As she leaned against the sturdy wood of her front door, Rory heard Tristan exhale sadly from outside. "That's where you're wrong," he mumbled, thinking she didn't hear him but needing to say it anyway. "I won't fall in love with someone else, because none of those girls that you say would gladly get down on their knees for me are notable. Not after I saw you." She listened to his retreating footsteps and the rev of his engine as he took off with tears streaming down her face, feeling utterly confused.

(…)

"…and she said, 'you can't convince me that somewhere deep inside I do'," Tristan finished morosely, looking up to see Robert's reactions. His brother looked melancholy, though not surprised. Robert sighed deeply and planted a fake smile on his wise face.

"Well, Tristan…I'm sure she means it." Tristan looked crestfallen, but Robert wasn't even done speaking. "I'm sure she means it when she says that you can't convince her that she feels something, however small, for you. Only she can do that, and you have to give her time. From what you said, it seems as though she does feel something for you, but it confuses her and she doesn't want to feel it at all. She wants to maintain her steady relationship with this Dean, a reliable boy who won't surprise her and will always stay the same; gentle, caring, loving, jealous of anyone who tries to approach her…and boring. But I also think that there's a big chance that someday she will have the courage to look deep and she'll see what's there, if she doesn't bury it too deeply to be fond at all first. Although that may never happen at all. She may decide that all she wants and needs is a simple life with no surprises. No fun, as I see it." Robert took a deep breath and said, softly, "That was my decision." Then he went back to talking about Rory. "And nothing you can do now will influence her. It's up to her whether she decides to stay with her unchanging Dean or risk a relationship with someone like you. And I don't advise trying to change for her. No one is worth changing yourself for no matter what you think. You must hang onto your own identity, the personality that makes you you, no matter what. Because someday it may be all that you have left, Tristan." Robert sighed again and there was a sad smile on his all of a sudden worn-out face as he added, "Not to sound too gloomy."

Tristan nodded thoughtfully, grateful to his brother once again for his sage counsel and guidance. He nodded, smiled weakly in return, and retreated to his room with a, "Thanks, Robert." He doubted that he would ever be content with someone else after he'd met Rory, but his brother's words were no doubt true. Rory was going through a delicate stage of her life, no matter how corny it sounded to say it, and his role wasn't what she needed. It made her panic and rear like a horse to think that she may have feelings for a wild boy like him when all she thought she wanted was a calm yet loving relationship with Dean and a secured position at her beloved Harvard. Someday, it was true, she would crave the company of someone like him, someone who was a bit of a rebel and who sent her heart thumping. And he would be there, ready, when that was what she wanted. But for now, he couldn't change her mind. He had to let her go through her stages, let her live her life, without him, no matter how much it may hurt.

A/N: So what do you think with this recent turn of events? Please tell me! Review! See that button right there, so close that it would be no effort at all to press it...?