Sorry for the delay. Had a family gathering this weekend so didn't have time to write. Also, just to let you know, I've just started a new job at a school so if I don't update as often as I normally do, I'm sorry! Will try and get an update up every few days though. Anyway, thanks for your continued support and reviews. Here's the next chapter! :)

Chapter 15

Rory opened the front door to find Tristan standing there with a bunch of flowers. "Oh hi, I'm here to pick up my date." He said with his trademark smirk.

"Oh really? What's she like?" Rory played along.

"Oh she's just the hottest girl in the whole world. Maybe I got the wrong house." He joked.

"Hey!" Rory laughed hitting him playfully on the arm. "So not funny!" She said.

Tristan chuckled. "Here, maybe these will make up for it." He said handing her the flowers.

"They help but I think I might need something else too for you win me back." Rory joked.

Tristan leaned forward and kissed her passionately. "Will that do?"

Rory blushed a little but grinned. "That, sir, has just won me back round."

Tristan laughed. "Good. Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, just give me a minute. I just need to wait for Jess to get here as he's watching Katie and LJ today as mom and dad are working and then they're going out on their own date tonight." Rory smiled.

"Cool." Tristan said following her in. "Hey you two." He smiled at Katie and LJ.

"Hi." They replied shyly.

Just then Jess came through the front door. "Sorry. The bus was running late." He said. "Hey." He said to Tristan.

"Hey." Tristan smiled.

"Sorry if I held you up. You can go now if you want." Jess said.

"Are you sure you'll be ok with them all day?" Rory asked.

"Well what am I if not an amazing babysitter?" Jess smirked.

Rory rolled her eyes. "If you see mom and dad, tell them I won't be back too late." She said.

"Ok." Jess said. "Have fun."

"So what exactly have you got planned for today then?" Rory asked as they walked out of the house.

"Wait and see." Tristan said.

"Ah a man of mystery. I like it." Rory grinned. "Is this a new car?" She asked as Tristan led her to a pale blue car.

"Sort of." Tristan said.

"Sort of? How can it be sort of a new car?" Rory asked confused.

"You really do like asking questions, don't you? You're going to be a great journalist." Tristan chuckled.

Rory grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Come on, get in. I'll take you to our first destination." He smirked.

"So what do you guys want to do then?" Jess asked.

"Play cars!" LJ exclaimed as he started whizzing his toy cars along the floor.

"Why don't I watch you play cars?" Jess tried to compromise as he sat down in the armchair, taking a book out of his pocket.

"No. Play cars!" LJ said stubbornly.

Jess glanced at Katie. "Your mom and sister taught him that pout, didn't they?"

"Yeah." Katie giggled.

Jess sighed. "Fine. 10 minutes of car playing and then I'll put the tv on for you." He said getting down onto the floor and joining his cousin. He glanced up at Katie who was reading a book for school. "Don't think you can get away with it. If I'm playing, you're playing." He smirked.

Katie grinned and abandoned her book to get down on the floor to play with her brother.

"I can't believe you planned a picnic for me." Rory said as she lay down on the blanket looking up at the sky, after eating too much of the lunch Tristan had bought.

Tristan lay down next to her and put his arm round her. "I knew you liked the lake and I know you like food so I thought this would be the perfect option." He smirked.

Rory laughed. "Definitely the perfect option." She said snuggling up next to him. "Thank you. Can we go by the festival tonight and see the bonfire?" She asked.

"That was going to be the second part of the date, yes." He said.

"And what about until then?" Rory asked.

"I figured we could just chill here." He said.

"I like that idea." Rory smiled closing her eyes, enjoying the closeness with her boyfriend. After a few moments she opened her eyes again and glanced at Tristan who was looking relaxed. "Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure." Tristan said, with his eyes closed.

"You promise you won't be mad?" Rory asked nervously.

Tristan opened his eyes to find Rory having sat up and was fiddling her thumbs nervously. "I promise." He said.

"Do you...you know...expect more after all this?" She asked quietly.

"Expect more?" Tristan asked confused.

"Well I know when couples have been dating for a while, it's only natural for it to lead onto more. And I know you are more experienced at it than I am, well I'm not experienced at all. But I know it's what people do but I don't think I'm ready..." Rory rambled quickly.

"Rory.." Tristan said softly, understanding what she was talking about.

"But I really do love you Tristan and I don't want to lose you but I just don't think I'm ready to...move onto the next level..."

"Rory, I don't expect you to." Tristan interrupted her, knowing she could ramble for a long time.

Rory finally met Tristan's eyes. "I know you wouldn't force me to do anything or push me into anything but...I just feel bad. Don't all couples...?"

"Have sex?" Tristan finished for her.

"Yeah." Rory said quietly blushing a little.

Tristan sighed. "I know I had a reputation before at Chilton and you're right when you said I'm more experienced but none of what I've done meant anything to me. They were stupid mistakes. I was depressed and getting drunk and hooking up with girls was my defence mechanism." He said. He looked at Rory. "Rory, you are the first girl who means something to me. I love you and I want our first time to be special. And that's not going to happen if you're not ready. So please, stop worrying about it because I would wait 30 years if I had to." He said sincerely.

"Really?" Rory asked touched.

"Really. I don't want to lose you either. You're the one for me and I'd be an idiot to let you go." He said.

Rory let out a big breath. "You're the one for me too. I just...I guess I felt bad that I wasn't ready to do it when I know you would be." She admitted.

"I'm only ready to do it when you are. Plus if I made you do it, not only would I be disgusted by myself, I'm pretty sure both your dad and Jess would hunt me down and kill me." He joked.

Rory smirked at that. She looked at him lovingly. "Thank you." She said softly. "I'm so lucky to have you."

"Come here." Tristan said and hugged her. "I love you, silly. Don't ever think I don't. And stop worrying."

"I love you too." Rory said softly.

The day went relatively quickly. Luke and Lorelai had gone out to the festival having fed the kids and made sure they would be good for Jess.

"It's been a while since we've done this, hasn't it?" Lorelai said as she leant her head on Luke's shoulder as they sat on a bench in the square taking in all the madness around us.

Luke took his gaze away from the diner apartment and turned to his wife. "Yeah it has." He smiled, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry I've not been great company recently."

"Oh no, hon, you don't have anything to be sorry for." Lorelai said. "We all miss her. We knew it was going to be hard." She said softly. "She would have loved this wouldn't she?" Lorelai giggled as she saw Taylor and Harry nearly get into a fist fight over forgetting the matches for the bonfire yet again.

Luke chuckled. "Oh yeah. She definitely would have loved this."

Lorelai smiled. "We'll get through this together. As a family." She said.

"Thanks for dragging me out to this. It's been nice." Luke admitted. "You're right, it has a while. We should do it more often."

Lorelai smiled. "Definitely." She looked up at her husband and gave him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled. He then nodded over to the other side of the square. "Look who showed up."

Lorelai followed his gaze and smiled when she saw Rory linking arms with Tristan and laughing at something he said. "They look happy." She said.

"Yeah. They do." Luke admitted.

Lorelai smiled. "She really likes him."

"I know." Luke said looking over at his daughter and Tristan. He watched how Tristan tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and then gave her a quick kiss. "And I think he feels the same."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Yeah he does. Rory's lucky to have found him. He's a decent guy."

"Yeah." Luke said grudgingly.

Meanwhile, over at the other end of the square, Rory had also spotted her parents. "Hey look over there." She said at Tristan.

Tristan looked over and saw Lorelai and Luke smiling at each other and looking relaxed. "They look happy."

"Yeah." Rory smiled. "I'm glad they chose to come out. I think it's done them good."

Back at the house, Jess had just cleaned up dishes after dinner. LJ had gone back to play in the living room while Katie had stayed at the table. Jess glanced back at her. he'd noticed she hadn't said much during dinner. "You ok?" He asked.

"Do you miss her?" Katie asked quietly, looking up at her.

Jess sighed, immediately realising what had been on her mind. "I'm pretty sure we all do." He said softly. He saw her blink back tears. "Hey, now come on, you know she wouldn't want us being upset." He said.

"We used to bake on Saturdays." Katie sniffed.

"You and Grandma?" Jess asked.

Katie nodded. "We'd go over to the apartment or she would come here and after dinner, her and I always used to bake." She said. "It was really fun."

Jess watched her for a moment and then made a split decision, getting out a baking tray from the cupboard. "Come on then." He said.

"What?" Katie asked.

"Let's bake." Jess said. "Let the tradition continue. And who best to bake with than your favourite cousin?" He joked, winking at her.

Katie giggled and nodded. "What should we bake?"

"Anything you want. How about brownies?" He said.

Katie nodded. "Ok."

About 10 minutes later, the two of them had just put the batch in the oven. Jess glanced over at Katie who looked happier but still not completely herself. He saw some flour on the counter and smirked. "Hey, cheer up. We just made the world's best brownies. We should be celebrating!" He said flicking some flour at her.

Katie laughed and threw some back at him and it soon turned into a full scale flour fight.

Jess chuckled as it finally came to an end. "Ok well we both look like snowmen." He joked.

Katie giggled. "Dad's going to kill us."

Jess smirked. "Not if we clean up. Go on, why don't you go get cleaned up and then help LJ get his pyjamas on and I'll get cleaned up myself and clean up in here? Then you two can pick a film and we can watch it before you go to bed. Deal?" He said.

"Deal." Katie grinned and rushed off.

Thirty minutes later, the three of them were sat on the couch watching the film, Jess sat in the middle, and that was where Luke and Lorelai found them when they returned.

"Oh my, look at that." Lorelai whispered.

Luke had to smile when he saw LJ and Katie snuggled into Jess, all three of them having fallen asleep. "You get the kids to bed and I'll take Jess home." He said.

Lorelai nodded and they went over to wake them up. Lorelai took Katie and LJ upstairs to bed.

"Come on, I'll give you a lift home." Luke said.

"It's fine. I'll get the bus." Jess said.

Luke shook his head. "No arguments. I don't want you getting the bus in the dark. I'm taking you."

"Ok." Jess smirked.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Rory had just driven into the driveway. Tristan got out and opened the door for Rory on the other side.

"Such a gentleman." Rory teased.

"I try." Tristan smirked.

Rory smiled at him. "Thanks for today. It's been amazing. Really. Best anniversary ever." She said softly.

"I'm glad." Tristan smiled. "But there is one more thing before we say goodnight."

"What?" Rory asked.

"Your present." Tristan said.

"You didn't need to get me a present." Rory said.

"Says the girl who got me the most amazing present in that personalised watch." He said looking down at his wrist lovingly. "T and R forever." He said running his finger over the carving.

Rory ducked her head. "Well it was our anniversary." She said.

Tristan smirked. "Exactly. Which is why...here." He said giving her some keys.

Rory looked up at him confused. "Keys?"

"Car keys." He corrected.

"Car keys?" Rory asked just as confused.

"Belonging to this car. It's for you." He said.

Rory's eyes widened. "You bought me a car?"

"No, I built you a car." Tristan admitted.

"What?" Rory asked surprised.

"You wondered where Jess and I were going all the time. My Grandpa had this car workshop where he used to work on old cars and get them to working condition again. I started work on this one and finished it yesterday. I did it for you." He said.

Rory blinked some tears away, remembering the conversation she had overheard between him and Jess. She knew how much his grandfather meant to him and how special she realised this was. She launched herself at him. "I love you so much." She said kissing him.

"Happy anniversary." Tristan smiled.

"Happy anniversary." Rory grinned.

Luke drove into the driveway after dropping Jess off at home. He was surprised to see Tristan sat on the porch steps. He got out and went over. "Hey. I thought you would have left by now." He said.

Tristan smirked. "Sorry."

Luke chuckled at how what he said must have sounded. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I was just confused. You dropped Rory off before I left."

"Forgot my house keys." Tristan admitted.

"Can't you ring your parents and let them know so that they can let you in?" Luke asked confused.

Tristan snorted. "Learnt that lesson after the first time. Besides they're not here. They went off on holiday yesterday." He shrugged.

Luke was surprised. "They went on holiday without you?"

"Didn't want to go anyway. They do it a lot. I don't care. I prefer without them but with no keys, I can't get back in." He said.

Luke looked at him for a moment. "Ok come on, you can stay at the diner apartment." He said.

"What? No I can't do that. I don't want to impose." Tristan tried to protest knowing how the apartment was his mother's.

"No arguments. Rory would kill me if she knew I was letting you sleep on the streets. Come on." He said already walking back to his truck.

Tristan didn't really have much of an option other than to follow him.

Once they got to the diner, Tristan followed Luke upstairs. He walked in awkwardly and saw Luke looking around quietly. "Honestly, I'm sure I can ring a friend or something." He said.

"My mom made me promise to give you a chance, you know." Luke said.

"Really?" Tristan asked, smiling a little.

"Yeah. She was real good at emotional blackmail." Luke said chuckling a little. He glanced at him. "She would want you to stay here. She definitely wouldn't have wanted you on the streets."

"But this was her place...I know how much it means to you and your family. It feels...wrong." Tristan said.

"Look, I know you and I got off on the wrong foot but you've really proved yourself and I know you care about Rory. And she feels the same about you so in my eyes that means you're family too. And family stick together." He said. "So take the damned apartment before I really do have to kill you." He smirked.

Tristan chuckled. "Ok. Thanks."

Luke nodded. "I'll be in the diner early tomorrow so if you want any food in the morning, just come down." He said. "There should be some spare clothes in the drawers if you need any. Some of Jess' are still here."

Tristan nodded and watched as he went to leave. "Luke?" He said.

"Yeah?" Luke said turning back.

"Thanks." He said sincerely.

Luke could see the gratefulness and sincerity in his face. "Thanks for making my kid so happy." He said gruffly. "See you in the morning, kid." He said before leaving.

Tristan smiled a little as he watched him leave. He sighed and went over to a bed and lay down on it, suddenly feeling tired. He closed his eyes, thinking over what a great day it had been with Rory. He couldn't believe him of all people had just celebrated a four months anniversary. It was a great feeling.

So I hoped you liked it! It's a bit longer as I had some many ideas for it. Please keep the reviews coming as I love hearing what you think and I really do appreciate you taking the time to comment as well so thank you! :)