AN: To the reviewer who promised me cookies for an update... I prefer Snickerdoodles... LOL... Enjoy

Ch 26

It had taken Rory nearly five minutes to open her locker after leaving Tristan. She kept spacing out and turning the knob past the desired numbers. Once she'd gotten in and grabbed her books, she made a mad dash to her next class, barely entering the room on time. The smile on her face from before hadn't faltered a bit.

She took her seat and heard whispered voices. All of them talking about her showdown with Summer earlier that morning, but for the first time in as long as she could remember it didn't phase her at all. She could honestly care less what they said about her at this point. She was far too happy to let it affect her.

Concentrating on anything after lunch had proved to be impossible. Her attention was unattainable throughout the rest of her classes. All she could think about was Tristan. It was almost too much to take in and she couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed. She knew she'd missed him; it was obvious given the way she'd been acting, but she hadn't truly understood how much until he'd been standing there in front of her.

Paris had tried to gain Rory's attention several times throughout the rest of their classes, but it had proved futile. Still, Rory was smiling, and no matter how happy it made her to see her friend happy, it was driving Paris crazy that she didn't know what had happened to cause the euphoria. Her several whispered What happened? or Why are you so happy? , were all answered with 'Nothing'. Whatever it was that happened must have been really good. Paris smiled, knowing that at least now she'd have something good to report back to Tristan.

By the time the last bell rang Rory was a bundle of nervous excitement. She knew Tristan was waiting for her and she couldn't stop smiling. She rushed to shove her books in her bag before rushing out of the room, with Paris hot on her heels.

Once out of the room, she heard loud voices and loud whispers but none of the could penetrate her mind. She was too focused on getting out of the Chilton and getting to Tristan. She didn't know where they were supposed to meet, but she hadn't expected to find him leaning against her locker. Her mind flashed back to all the other times she'd found him there, in the same exact position. Normally those occurrences had forced a frown to her face, but this time all she could do was grin wider.

xxxxxx

After leaving Duncan's he'd stopped briefly by the house to check in with his grandfather. He'd quickly showered and changed his clothes, trying to erase the grime he was sure he'd accumulated on the flight over. He'd been in such a rush to get to her after he'd gotten out the airport, he hadn't even bothered to think about showering first.

He spent a few minutes reassuring his grandfather that he had kept up his end of the deal so far, and then told him he'd be eating dinner with Rory. Janlen had smiled and told him he'd already assumed as much. Tristan wasted no time in leaving after that.

Once he was sitting in his car outside of Chilton, he took time to be hesitant. He couldn't remember if they'd agreed on a place to meet. His conversation with Rory was slightly blurred, since he'd been unable to concentrate on much other than the fact that he was with her. He racked his brain and finally decided they hadn't picked a place. He sighed and got out of the car. He'd told her he didn't care if people knew he was there, and he didn't to an extent. Still once he entered Chilton, he saw people's eyes on him. Whispers were running rampant already, and he'd barely made it through the main entrance. He couldn't imagine how bad it would be by the time he got to his destination, her locker.

He made it there in no time and leaned against the locker he'd spent so much time standing beside, begging for her attention. He'd heard from Paris that Chilton seemed to be the roughest place for Rory, since it was so full of memories of him. He assumed since most of their interactions had occurred in front of her locker that this would be a particularly tough place for her to be.

It hadn't occurred to him that this locker would be a space of discomfort for him as well. He had faced the majority of her rejections at this locker, and even knowing what he knew now about her feelings, it still hurt. He saw a familiar head of brown hair in the crowd and wiped the frown he didn't realize his mouth had formed and replaced it quickly with a smile. He lounged against the locker in a familiar manner and smirked widely as Paris came into view.
Her look of complete shock told him that Rory still hadn't told her a thing about him being there. He wasn't surprised by it though; she'd already shown him once that she hadn't wanted to tell Paris of his arrival. He watched as Paris' shock changed to anger and knew he was in trouble.

He turned his attention back to Rory who was now standing in front of him. "Long time no see, Mary." he said smiling once more.

Paris watched a million emotions flicker past Rory's eyes. She couldn't believe that Tristan chose such a public reunion. Then Paris finally realized that of all the emotions she saw playing out across Rory's features, surprise wasn't one of them. She couldn't help but feel a sharp twinge of betrayal. She'd been the one who called him. She was the one who'd gotten him back in Connecticut. Granted, Rory didn't know that but still, she'd been the one holding Rory together the last few months. Rory should have told her he was here. Tristan, however, had no excuse. He knew all the work she'd put into this and for him to just show up and not even tell her was wrong. Still, Rory was looking at Tristan and he was looking back at her, and Paris knew she couldn't feel too betrayed. He'd only done what she asked. He'd found a way to help fix what he'd broken…Rory.

Rory smiled widely. "It's been what, three hours?" she asked coyly as he moved from in front of her locker so she could access it.

Tristan smirked and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Felt like forever."

Rory shivered as she felt his breath ripple across her skin. Her fingers fumbled and she missed her combination once more. She pushed him away slightly so she could concentrate and groaned in frustration when she was still unable to open her locker.

Tristan laughed and reached over, quickly spinning her combination into the lock and opening her locker. "I swear every time I'm near you, I get deja vu." he quipped.

Rory blushed slightly as she realized he'd once again slipped into an old pattern from before. She pushed her books into her locker and closed it quickly. She turned to face both him and Paris and was suddenly unsure of what to say. She could tell Paris was surprised by Tristan's presence and the fact that Rory wasn't. "Paris..."

"Why didn't you tell me he was here?" Paris hissed.

"I'm not sure. I just... I don't know... I wanted him all to myself for a little while," she admitted.

Paris turned to Tristan who was now talking to some random guy who'd approached him. "I guess I could understand that."

Rory sighed in relief. "He took me by surprise. I was in the library and he was suddenly just there. I actually worried that I'd imagined him for a brief moment."

Paris smiled. "You really did think you were going crazy didn't you?"

Rory nodded. She turned to look back at Tristan who had now attracted a small crowd, and laughed when he shot her and Paris both a look saving 'Save me". She shook her head at him, as if to say "they're your friends" and then turned back to Paris. "I can't believe he's here."

Paris nodded. "Me, either." she agreed. "You seem happy to see him though."

Rory smiled. "I am. You know I am."

Paris smiled. "Yeah, it's nice to see you smile for a change. How long is he staying?"

Rory frowned. "Just the weekend."

Paris shrugged. "That's better than nothing, right?"

"Of course. It's weird though..."

"What is?"

"I get the impression that the only reason he came back was to see me." Rory admitted, "I know that seems cocky or whatever, but it's like he knew I needed him and that's why he's back."

Paris looked down at the ground for a split second and hoped Rory hadn't noticed the guilty expression on her face. "Is that a bad thing? I mean, he's here right? Who cares why?"

Rory looked back over at Tristan and couldn't deny Paris was right. "Right." she agreed. She smiled widely as Tristan's attention turned back to her and he turned away from his group.

"You ready to go?" he asked,

She nodded. "Yeah, you?"

"I'm more than ready for some real face time with you," he admitted.

Rory blushed slightly. "Me, too."

Paris suddenly felt invisible, but it didn't bother her the way it usually would. Any other day, she'd be screaming for some attention; but, she knew it was pointless in this situation. Tristan only had eyes for Rory, and Rory only wanted to see Tristan. She reached over and touched Tristan's shoulder. "It was good to see you again, Dugrey."

Tristan nodded and pulled her into a hug. "You, too, Paris," he said before leaning down to whisper, "Thank you for calling me. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. I'm just glad Rory's not sulking anymore," she responded quickly before releasing him. She turned to Rory and smiled warmly. "Call me later ok?"

Rory nodded and waved at Paris before allowing Tristan to wrap his hand around her wrist and lead her out of the busy hallway. Her heart raced as she felt his fingers slip past her wrist and entwine with her own. They were almost to the exit when Summer appeared in front of them.

"I had to see if it was true." she replied icily.

Tristan smiled. This had been the main reason he wanted to pick her up at school. He wanted Summer to see him with Rory, for no other reason then to finally drill it into Rory's head that she was more important to him than Summer ever was. The added benefit of pissing Summer off was nice as well. He hoped that after this Summer would take the hint; or at the very least, Rory would be able to ignore her easier. "And now you have, you can leave," he told her calmly, his tone matching hers.

Summer flinched as his scornful words resonated within her. Her eyes then quickly darted downward and took in the warmly entwined fingers. Reacting with a disdainful eye roll, she seethed at Tristan, "Am I really supposed to believe you want to be with someone like that?"

Tristan shrugged. "What you believe is really irrelevant. The only person whose opinion matters to me is Rory's. As long as she knows that people like you mean nothing to me, I'm ok."

Rory smiled at Summer pleased with the look on her face before turning back to Tristan. "There's no need to be mean, Tristan," she said in fake admonishment.

Tristan sighed. "Well, I thought since she seemed so confused, I should clear it up for her." He squeezed her hand a little tighter. He wasn't supposed to know about her problems with Summer; and if they stayed any longer, he wasn't sure he could stop himself for laying into her. He smiled at Rory sweetly, "We should go though, I'm only here for the weekend and we have a lot of stuff to do before dinner tonight."

Rory nodded. "You're right, we should go," she said before softly saying, "Go on, I'll meet you outside."

Tristan nodded. He figured Rory would want to say something to Summer without him around. He squeezed her hand again, reassuringly. "Nice seeing you, Summer, let's hope it doesn't happen again," he said coldly before leaving with Paris.

Rory turned to Summer and sighed. "You know, you could have saved yourself a lot of public embarrassment if you'd just backed off months ago."

Summer rolled her eyes angrily. "Oh, shut up!" she snapped venomously, "You're fooling yourself, Rory. People like Tristan, they use people like you. You matter now, but don't kid yourself, in a few months you'll be yesterday's news."

Rory shrugged. "Try and have a nice weekend, Summer," she said calmly before following out to meet up with Tristan.

Summer watched furiously as Rory walked away from her. I hope he crushes her she thought bitterly before storming off in the other direction.

xxxxxx

It hadn't taken long for Paris to snap at Tristan once they were away from Rory. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Tristan sighed. He knew before he'd gotten back to Connecticut that this was going to happen, so he'd prepared an answer. "I didn't want you to have keep it from Rory. You were already keeping the fact that you'd spoke to me a secret, I didn't think you needed one more."

Paris shook her head. "You let me get blind-sided," she said angrily. "Do you know how angry I am right now? I mean, I called you. I told you everything. I'm the reason you know enough to know you needed to be here, and I don't even get a phone call telling me you're showing up here."

"I'm sorry," he said honestly. "I should have told you. You risked a lot to call me and tell me what was going on, and I didn't respect you enough to do the same. I'm really sorry."

Paris inhaled a breath deeply and let it go before trying to speak again. "It's ok, I guess," she said despondently. "I just wish I'd been warned. When are you going to talk to her about all the..."

"Problems she's been having since I was banished to military school?" he asked

Paris nodded.

He shrugged. "I think tomorrow, that way we can have a nice night tonight and then if she decides she doesn't want to see me..."

"Or that she hates me for telling you anything..."

"Right, she can have all day Sunday to deal with you and me," Tristan reasoned.

"Makes sense."

Tristan nodded again and smiled as he saw Rory heading in their direction. "Any advice on how to survive Stars Hollow?" he asked quickly.

"Don't alienate Jess, and don't let Luke see you touch Rory at all," she told him quickly before smiling at Rory. "Everything with Summer, ok?"

Rory nodded. "Everything's fine. I told her to have a nice weekend," she smiled coyly.

Paris laughed and looked down at her watch. "I should head home, I'll talk to you later, ok?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I'll call you."

"Don't leave Connecticut without telling me goodbye this time, Tristan," Paris instructed.

Tristan laughed. "I won't." He turned back to Rory after Paris was gone and smirked. "Ready to go?"