Chapter 4: I'm goin home
A month had passed and still no news…every day Rory was going crazy. She had almost lost her job because she couldn't concentrate on anything, once she explained everything to her boss he very generously cut her some slack but she knew it wasn't fair to the paper…
"Rory Gilmore" She answered her phone as she filed through some papers at her desk
"We would just like to inform you that Tristan Dugrey will be arriving in Hartford at 9:30 pm tomorrow night" the ma non the other line said
Rory froze as tears sprang to her eyes "what?" She whispered
"Tristan Dugrey will be at the Hartford Airport tomorrow night at 9:30" the man repeated
"Uhm" She choked "May I know who I'm speaking to?" She asked her voice wavering
"Sure this is Ryan Reynolds" he said
"Okay. Is there a number I can reach you at?" She asked
"I unfortunately do not have a direct number you can reach me at, but call this number back and just dial extension 4937 and my secretary will put you through" he said
"Thank you" She said before hanging up and looking down.
"Rory? Are you alright?" she heard her boss ask
Rory's head snapped up "He's coming home" She whispered with a smile
Michael grinned "Take the next week off Gilmore…you deserve it" he said sincerely happy for her
Rory's eyes widened in surprised "No Mike…I couldn't" she said feeling terrible about how much slack he was cutting her
Mike chuckled "You truly are one of a kind" he muttered "Just take the time off…spend time with him. He'll need that"
Rory nodded "Thank you" she said as she gathered her things
"Logan?" She asked into the phone
"Ace" he said distractedly as he said something to a business associate
"He's coming home" She said happily
"Excuse me" Logan said still distracted
"Tristan. He's coming home!" Rory exclaimed "Tomorrow night at 10…he'll be here"
"You're kidding" Logan choked
"No" Rory said taking offense to that comment "Swing by on Thursday and come see him?" She asked
"Of course…do you want me to come pick him up at the airport with you?" he asked
"No…I think he'll be all tired out…I'm sure he'll want to talk and everything" She said dreading it already
As if sensing her worry "Rory. He loves you more than life…you guys will be great." He assured "Don't worry about it okay? Once you see him…it'll just come naturally. You know that"
Rory smiled "Yeah I know" She said softly "Well I'll let you get back to work. I'll call you once he lands tomorrow and then you can come see us on Thursday" she said
"Sounds good Ace. I'm glad he's coming home…"
"Me too" She said and clicked the phone shut
Rory waited anxiously at the bottom of the escalators at the Hartford airport. She had gone through 3 cups of coffee and a muffin since she had gotten there an hour early because of her anxiousness. Finally she saw him. Walking down the hall towards the stairs…still wearing his uniform… he looked miserable but beautiful nonetheless to her. He managed a weak smile when he made eye contact with her. She noticed his hair had grown out, it was dirty…he was dirty. As he walked down the stairs, closer to her she felt tears pool in her eyes as she looked him over. Cuts and bruises covered his cheeks, minor ones, but they were there all the same. When she finally broke from her thoughts she realized he was standing in front of her. Looking up into his eyes, she felt her tears fall
"Mary" he said softly making her choke on a sob and launch herself into his arms.
"Idiot idiot idiot" She sobbed
Tristan closed his eyes as a few tears rolled down his cheeks as well. He was relieved…relieved that he had made it home…relieved that he had his Mary back in his arms again. Finally when she composed herself realizing they were at the airport she pulled back "Come on, lets go home" She said taking his bag from him ignoring his protests
"Just please" She said when he tried taking his duffel bag from her while they walked to the car. "I got it Tristan…god you…I…" She stuttered as she felt the emotion rise within her again. Luckily the sign said it was okay for them to cross at that moment, breaking her from her thoughts.
Once in the car Rory sat behind the wheel, not being able to turn on the ignition "I hate you" She whispered her shoulders heaving with silent sobs "I hate you so much"
Tristan watched her sympathetically. Reaching over he took her hand in his "I missed you Mary" he whispered
"Tristan" She sobbed not knowing what she wanted to say
"I know…I'm here now" he said softly understanding her struggle "Calm down" he whispered
"Are you hungry?" She asked sniffling afterwards
He shook his head "No I just want to sleep" he said quietly
She nodded "Okay" while she pulled out and began driving home.
"Hey you're awake" Rory said coming into the bedroom after a few hours. As soon as Tristan and Rory got home, he had padded straight to the bedroom and fell into an exhausted sleep.
Tristan's head snapped up from his pillow "Leave me the fuck alone" he bit out
Rory took a step back "Tristan…" she said softly, tugging at the ends of her sleeves nervously
"JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE RORY! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT WAS! JUST STOP PRETENDING LIKE EVERYTHINGS OKAY" he shouted picking up a book that was on the counter and throwing it at the wall in front of him
Rory was trying desperately not to cry in front of him. He was upset…he had a right to be. She thought to herself.
"Shit…shit shit shit shit!" He shouted, getting louder each time as he sat and clutched his head in frustration. "Fuck!" he shouted knocking the lamp over
Rory took a step towards him, stopping when his eyes snapped to her "Don't come near me Rory" He pleaded tears in his eyes as well
Rory shook her head, not wanting to listen to him and continued on towards the bed, carefully sitting down on the edge of it, next to him.
"Rory" he protested
"Hey, what happened to Mary?" She whispered
Tristan didn't smile "you should go. Before I do something…go"
Rory shook her head "I've been waiting for this day for a long time." She said softly running her fingers through his shortly cropped hair "I'm here Tristan" She whispered kissing his forehead, closing her eyes as he clutched her forearms so hard she knew there would be bruises, but it didn't matter…he needed her.
"I'm sorry" he said quietly
"Come on, you hungry?" she asked
"Starving" He said "But…I'd rather just stay here"
"I can bring you something" Rory offered "What do you want?"
He shook his head "What time is it?"
"Late" She answered
"I have a doctors appointment tomorrow" he said "It's early so I should sleep" he added lying back down and closing his eyes
"Okay…" She said, lying down next to him making his eyes snap open
"What are you doing?" he demanded
"I'm going to sleep too…I'm tired" She said confused
"Not here you're not" He said seriously
"What?" She asked
"Stay away from me Rory…" he sighed
"No" She stated defiantly turning towards him and closing her eyes "Go to sleep Tristan" She said knowing he was about to talk
Sighing he closed his eyes, trying to get to sleep.
"What the hell" Rory muttered waking up when she felt Tristan thrashing around in his sleep. She looked over and saw his fists were clenched, he was physically shaking and his face was fierce…like he was in pain.
Rory panicked…what did she do? Are you supposed to wake someone in this state? "Tristan" She whispered thinking it would be best, obviously she was wrong. His eyes snapped open and he bolted up, his fists bunching up the sheets into tight balls. She made the mistake of touching him; she touched his shoulder as a sign of comfort. Immediately feeling the contact his head snapped towards her and he stood up, backing away from the bed.
"Where are you going?" she asked softly
He shook his head, turning away from her facing the wall. Angrily he punched the offending piece of stucco several times, trying to get his anger out. What scared Rory though was that he kept going, she saw his knuckles visibly pool with blood. She didn't know what to do….she couldn't go and stop him; for the first time in her life she was afraid of him. Not realizing what she was doing she stood up and carefully walked past him to the door and walked out. When Tristan was finally calming down, he looked over and noticed Rory was gone…he couldn't say he was expecting that. He was surprised…shocked…heartbroken.
"Logan?" Rory whispered once she was standing outside of her apartment building
"Ace? It's like 4 in the morning what's up?" he asked groggily
"Could you come pick me up?" She asked
"Where are you?" he asked more alert
"Outside my building"
"Get back inside right now Rory" Logan said annoyed slipping out of bed and slipping into a pair of pants "What the hell are you thinking standing outside at this time of night?"
"Just come get me" Rory said softly and hung up
"Hey" She said slipping into his car
"What's wrong Rory?" He asked
She shook her head "He's changed Logan…I don't know what to do you know? I mean he's have panic attacks…it's all too much" She whispered
Logan shook his head "You don't get to run out on him Rory…" He said sternly but with no anger behind it "He is your life…and you're his life. What did you expect? He was held prisoner for over 3 months, who knows what they did to him there. But you can't leave him alone!" he exclaimed softly "You know he'd never hurt you…not intentionally. You have to help him…"
"How?" she choked desperately
"Well first of all you can't leave him alone, and second get him a therapist…no matter what he says, he needs one. I'll help you find one" he assured "But he's going to be fine…you just have to help him get there"
"I'm terrible…he was so violent, not towards me" She said quickly seeing Logan's worried eyes "But he was punching the wall and I just snapped…the night before he kind of freaked out too. I didn't know what to do…so I called you" she said
"You're not terrible. The only way you could be terrible is if you left him completely Rory…he needs you right now. And never once has he fallen short when you needed him…" Logan reminded
"Yes I know" Rory said softly hating herself even more
"Look I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad about yourself okay?" Logan said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder "But you guys will get through this…if I believed in the whole soul mate crap, you guys would be it…" he smiled
Rory nodded "Could we get some coffee?"
"Yeah sure" Logan said turning his ignition
"Tristan…I'm so sorry. I just" She paused "I got scared" she pleaded searching his tired eyes for anything. She could tell he hadn't slept all night after his little outburst. He was still in his pajamas, his eyes bloodshot, his hair still messy from the pillow and he was draped lazily across the bed.
"You came back? Rory?" She heard him ask desperately, not even looking back at her
Her heart broke form him…god how could she ever believe he was dangerous? Gently she slipped into bed with him and crushed her body against his, feeling tears on her neck she pulled back "I'm sorry…so sorry" She said sincerely, tears threatening to fall.
"I wont hurt you…I would never hurt you" He cried quietly looking down at himself and shaking his head
"No. you wouldn't" She whispered "I love you…god I'm terrible I know…but I'm back. You are my life, and we'll get through this okay?"
"You were so scared……………of me" he said finally like he hadn't heard her.
"Tristan…hey it's me. I'm here. Look at me" Rory said, cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look at her "Hey babe…" She whispered, a few tears running down her cheeks when he finally looked at her "Its me…Mary"
"I could never forget this face Rory…I know who you are" he said quietly, lifting an arm up and stroking her hair back.
"I know that. But you weren't responding" she said, rubbing the stubble on his cheeks gently.
"Why did you leave? I needed you" He whispered, looking expectantly at her with sad eyes.
"I shouldn't have left. I feel terrible; you just caught me off guard. I promise though, I'll be here from now on…no matter what" She promised
"Were you afraid I was going to hurt you?" he asked afraid to know the answer
"At the time yes" She said, watching tears slip down his cheeks "But it thought about how stupid that was. Listen…I know you'd never hurt me; you're the sweetest man I know Tristan and I trust you" She finished
"But I did scare you. I should move out" He said sadly
"What? No. you're not going anywhere" Rory said strongly "I love you!"
"I love you too. But I don't want you to be uncomfortable" he said
"I'm not. You." She stated "Are mine, and are going to let me take care of you"
Tristan lips tugged upwards into a small smile "I'm yours huh?" he asked softly
Rory smiled as well "Of course" She said simply "And I'm yours"
A/N: Wow that was sort of along wait huh? Review please :)