Chapter 19

She didn't even bother asking how her mother had gotten the number. She found that it didn't matter. The fact was that Lorelai had gotten her a number to reach Tristan and all of a sudden Rory wasn't so sure she could call him. Rory stared at the number for hours after Lorelai had left the room before deciding to call it. She dialed the first six numbers but when it came to the last four she couldn't make herself dial them. After seven failed attempts she sat the paper on her desk and went to sleep.

xxxxxx

When Paris showed up Friday night she immediately went straight into Rory's room. Looking at Rory did weird things to her brain she concluded because she had never felt so worried for a person. "Get up!"

"Paris..."

"I don't want to hear it. You did what you did and it's over now. You and I both know he's not going to blame you for whatever it is those two morons accused you of. Now get up and get in the shower. You look like hell."

"Paris seriously..."

"Seriously Gilmore get up and get in the shower. When you get up I'm quizzing you for the Calculus test we have Monday, which coincidentally is the same day you get to go back to school." Paris barked.

Rory not wanting to cross Paris, simply got up and did as she was told.

Paris was alone in Rory's room for five minutes before she noticed the scrap of paper on Rory's desk. She picked it up and looked at it closely before darting out of the room with it. "Lorelai…" she said when she found her.

"Yeah?"

"Is this a current number?" she asked waving Tristan's number in the air.

Lorelai nodded. "Yes."

"Has she called him?"

"No." Lorelai said shaking her head.

"Why the hell not?"
"I think she's scared."

Paris sighed. "She shouldn't be," she said before turning and heading back into Rory's room. She told herself she wasn't going to call him so she was surprised when she found herself pulling out her cell phone and making quick work of the ten digits. She waited for him to answer and almost hung up several times knowing that Rory would be back any minute now. She had pulled the phone away from her ear to do just that when she heard it. "Hello?" said a voice she wasn't sure she'd hear again.

She released a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Tristan." she said calmly.

xxxxxx

Tristan pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it for a second before replacing it. "Paris?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"How did you find me?" he asked shocked with confusion evident in his voice.

"Lorelai."

Tristan scrunched his face up, more confused than before. "Lorelai? Rory's mom?"

Paris smiled at his confusion. "Yeah. She managed to track you down somehow."

If Tristan had thought he was surprised before he didn't know what he was now. "What?" he stammered out "Why?"

Paris sighed. 'This is it.' she thought. 'This is the moment where I'm about to betray my best friend.' The realization that Rory might not immediately appreciate her interference wasn't enough to stop her though. She knew Lorelai had tracked him down for the same reason she had called him. Someone had to help Rory before she got any worse. "Because of Rory." Paris rushed out before her mind told her to stop.

That was it. Tristan knew that at that moment he could have been knocked over with a feather. He smiled at the thought of Rory but frowned immediately when the thought that something had happened occurred to him. "What about Rory? Is she ok? What's wrong?" he asked quickly.

Paris smiled. "Guess it's safe to say you still have a thing for Gilmore..."

"Paris!" Tristan snapped "Is Rory ok?"

Paris sighed. She knew she still had a chance to back out. She could say yes and lie to him. Tell him it was a mistake that she shouldn't have called him. But she was worried about Rory . Ever since the scene with his parents at the Gilmore's party, Rory had been even more withdrawn than usual. But in all honestly, she wasn't sure what telling Tristan would accomplish. "She's going to kill me for talking to you. I just wanted to hear your voice and make sure you were ok," she said trying to back out of talking about Rory.

Tristan groaned. "I'm fine. Military school sucks. What's wrong with Rory?" he said impatiently. He knew it couldn't be good if Paris was trying to prolong it.

Paris bit her lip in thought. "It's just..." she said trying to figure out what she was going to say "She's a mess."

"What's wrong?" Tristan asked worriedly.

"She's just a mess." Paris repeated.

"You said that already." Tristan pointed out.

Paris sighed. "And I shouldn't have said that."

Tristan was growing impatient. "Paris!" he snapped.

"Her grades slipped before Christmas..."

"Slipped? How bad?" Tristan asked concerned considering he knew how important her grades were to her.

"Not enough to make a difference but enough to be noticed." Paris said, "She rarely pays attention in class anymore. Summer's made her a personal punching bag vocally."

Tristan looked down for a moment taking a deep breath. He was sure he was the reason for that. "Why?"

Paris rolled her eyes. "Because you talked to Rory before you left. And Rory viewed that conversation as personal and won't share it."

"That's because it was personal." Tristan said calmly, "Has she told you what I said?"

Paris shook her head. "Just that you were in Military School in North Carolina."

Tristan nodded. "Oh." He hadn't been expecting the reaction she had to him leaving and he hadn't thought she would share her reaction with anyone and it made him smile a little that he was right about her. "And how are her grades now?"

"Fine." Paris said.

"Ok…then what else aren't you telling me, because I hardly think you can qualify that as a mess."

"She called Summer a brainless slut."

"Summer is a brainless slut." Tristan pointed out.

"That's not the point. The point is that she called her a slut. Rory Gilmore, teddy bear from Grandma called someone a slut, in public, in front a teacher." she said deliberately.

"Ok, so it's definitely out of character..."

"She would barely speak to Lorelai for months. And when she would, it was mean or scathing."

Tristan frowned. "Now that doesn't sound like Mary at all."

"Her eyes get misty when someone calls her Mary." Paris said, knowing now that there was no going back, that she had crossed the line marking the point of no return. She was going to tell him everything she knew.

Tristan paused. "She's never liked the nickname..."

"Lorelai said she won't go near a piano. Now I don't know the significance of that but it must mean something since Lorelai brought it up..."

Tristan swallowed hard. That night was burned into his memory. He could still remember how good it felt kissing her even if it was only for a few seconds. "I do." he said softly.

Paris nodded. "I figured you would."

Tristan felt his mood deflating the more Paris talked. He hated that Rory was upset because of him. "Is that it?" he asked while thinking 'Please let that be it. I don't want to be the cause of her pain.'

Paris took a deep breath. "She's cut classes. She dumped Dean and ran away from her grandparents and..."

"Wait!" he interrupted, "What do you mean she ran away?"

"She stayed over at her grandparents after dinner one night; and in the middle of the night, she climbed down the drain pipe and ran away."

"Who found her?"

"I did." Paris said "I didn't realize she was spiraling so fast. This was before I knew anything about where you were. I just knew she was spiraling. I can't believe I didn't notice how badly though."
Tristan sighed sadly. "Where was she?"

"Chilton. I found her at Chilton lying on a bench sobbing and shivering in her sleep the next morning."

Tristan took a deep breath covering his mouth with his hand. "Was she ok?"

"Yeah."

"What else aren't you telling me Paris?"

"She cries at the drop of a hat. The teachers are watching her like a hawk, waiting for her to snap at someone, and dart out of the room crying. People calling her Mary is doing more damage than the fighting with Summer is. She zones out staring at her locker. I caught her standing in front of yours."

Tristan frowned. "She was standing at my locker?" The last time Rory had stood at his locker, she had begged him not to tell Dean about the kiss. He remembered her telling him it meant nothing.

"Tracing the numbers." Paris added, "She doesn't eat lunch at school anymore. She just picks at it and stares at your old table."

Tristan opened his mouth to talk but found no words. "I don't know what to say."

"She's not adjusting to your absence very well." Paris pointed out immediately feeling stupid. Of course he knew that by now.

"Has she said anything else about me to you?"

Paris nodded. "Yeah. But I'm not telling you what. It's between me and her. And honestly I've already told you way to much to begin with."

"Paris..."

"She just misses you." Paris said softly.

Tristan felt tears prickling his eyes. Blinking them away rapidly, he frowned at their presence. "I miss her too." he choked out after a while.

Paris nodded. She knew that he would. "She cares about you. She always has."

Tristan shook his head. "She sure had a funny way of showing it."

"She had a boyfriend."
"Not for a while she didn't." he said, his memory flicking back to the night at Madelyn's party.

"She's not happy." Paris said softly.

Tristan sighed not bothering to blink away the new tears. "I can't help that Paris. I'm in North Carolina and she's in Connecticut."

Paris nodded. "I know." she said before hearing the bedroom door open. She looked up and saw Rory walk in. "I have to go." she said quickly.

"Wait Paris!" Tristan snapped.

"I'll call you later," she said before shutting her phone and looking at Rory nervously.

"What's with you?" Rory asked curiously. "Who were you talking to?"

"Nothing. And Louise." Paris said before opening her Calculus book. "Should we get started?"

Rory nodded and sat down and the two of them began quizzing each other for their Calculus test.

xxxxxx

Tristan could kill Paris for ending the conversation like that. He was unsure what to do with his newfound information, but he knew he had to do something. If Rory was really doing as bad as Paris said she was he had to do something. He couldn't bare the thought that she was miserable. It occurred to him that he had completely glazed over Paris telling him that Rory had broken up with Dean. He smiled at the thought, knowing that Dean had never been good enough for her.

He needed more information and it appeared that he'd have to wait for Paris to deliver it. He looked at the clock in his room and realized that it had only been ten minutes since Paris had hung up on him and he had no clue how long it'd be before she called him back. Groaning he realized it was going to be a long day.