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Chapter 23

A few weeks had passed since the car accident and Rory had recovered well. Things had gone on as normal and Rory was getting ready to go to Washington for 6 weeks as part of being part of the school presidency body at Chilton. Paris had shanghaied her into being her Vice President and in turn, they had both shanghaied Tristan and Jess to become part of the school's governing body so that they could go with them as well.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Luke said as Rory came out of her room with a huge suitcase, followed by Lorelai.

"I think so. I double checked..." Rory started but stopped when she saw her dad smirking. "You're teasing me!" She pouted.

"You could fit both Katie and LJ in that suitcase and then more stuff." Luke chuckled.

"Hey, a girl can never have too much stuff!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Don't I know it." Luke smirked at his wife. He then turned back to his daughter. "You ready to go then?" He asked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah. Tristan should be here in a minute and Jess and Paris are meeting us at the airport." She said.

"Ok." He nodded. "Katie, LJ! Come say bye to your sister!" He called.

A patter of feet came rushing down the stairs and Rory was nearly knocked off her feet as her siblings launched themselves at her. "Whoa!" She laughed.

"Bring a present!" LJ said.

Rory smirked. "Nice to know what I'm best at." She laughed ruffling her brother's hair.

"I'll miss you." Katie said.

"I'll miss you too." Rory said hugging her sister. "Be good for mom and dad ok? I'll be home soon."

They nodded and then ran off to go and play again.

Rory heard the doorbell ring. "That'll be Tristan." She said.

"I'll get it. Here, let me take that and I'll get it in the car." Lorelai said, leaving Rory and Luke alone.

Rory turned to her dad. "So I guess I'll see you in 6 weeks." She said.

"Yeah..uh..have fun." He said gruffly.

"I've never been away from you for more than 6 weeks before. Weird huh?" Rory said quietly.

"Yeah..I'm sorry I can't come to the airport with you but your mom will get you to security." Luke said.

"It's fine, don't worry." Rory assured him. She then sighed. "I'll ring you lots."

"Good." Luke nodded. "And take care. Stay safe." He said.

Rory nodded and went forward to give him a hug. "I will." She said. "I'll miss you dad." She said quietly.

"Back at you kid." Luke sighed putting his arms round his daughter and hugging her tight. "Have fun."

"Thanks dad." Rory gave him a smile. "I guess I should get going. You don't want to see Paris when someone's late for something." Rory joked.

Luke chuckled. "I don't know how Jess copes then."

Rory laughed. "Aw well they're still in their honeymoon stage. He's still trying to impress her." She grinned.

Luke smirked. "Go on. You should go. Take care."

"I will." Rory said hugging him one more time and then disappeared outside.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Lorelai asked as the four teenagers were about to go through security.

"I'm sure." Rory nodded.

Lorelai blinked back tears. "I didn't think this would be so hard." She said.

"It's only 6 weeks." Rory said quietly. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I know. I just...I'll miss you. It'll be weird not having you around." She said.

Rory hugged her. "I'll ring you when we land." She promised.

Tristan came over and put his arm round Rory. "I'll look after her." He said.

Lorelai gave him a small smile. "I know you will. Stick together ok? The four of you." She said.

"We will." Rory nodded.

"Gilmore! Unless you want us to miss the flight and ruin the whole trip, we have to go now." Paris called from over where she was standing which Jess, who was stifling a smirk.

Rory rolled her eyes. "I should go." She told her mom, who was laughing as well. "See you in 6 weeks." She said hugging her again and then heading off through security with Tristan and the others.

"Bye kid." Lorelai said quietly watching them until they went out of sight.

She got home after making sure Rory's flight had left safely. She let herself in and smiled when she saw Luke playing with Katie and LJ on the carpet in the living room. "Hey." She said softly.

Luke looked up. "Oh hey! I didn't hear you come in." He said. "They get off ok?" He asked.

"Yeah. I stayed until the flight disappeared from the board." Lorelai nodded.

Luke could tell she was battling with her emotion so he got up. "Katie, it's your go. Keep going with LJ. I'm going to make a start on some food." He said and then led Lorelai into the kitchen. "You ok?" He asked.

"It's so stupid." Lorelai said. "It's only 6 weeks and I'm acting like a big baby."

Luke pulled her into a hug. "No you're not. It's natural. It's going to be weird not having her around." He said softly.

Lorelai sighed. "She's going to have so much fun though. She was so excited."

"Yeah." Luke said. "Do you still think it's ok we let them all go?" He asked.

Lorelai had to smile at that. "Always the protector." She said. "They'll be fine. It actually makes me feel better knowing the boys will be there. They'll make sure the girls are ok."

"Yeah you're right." Luke admitted.

"Plus the girls are sharing a room and the boys are sharing the other so you don't have to worry about that." Lorelai said.

"I wasn't worried." Luke said quickly.

"Sure you weren't." Lorelai smirked.

Luke sighed. "I just...I want her to be safe. I like Tristan. I genuinely do but I just want her to be safe." He said.

Lorelai smiled. "Me too." She said softly. "Rory's sensible. She'll be fine."

Tristan celebrated his birthday a few days into the trip and Rory and Tristan were in the girls' room having some time alone while Paris had made herself scarce and gone to spend some time with Jess.

"It's your birthday and you bought us takeout." Rory said eating a slice of pizza. "I swear it should have been the other way round."

Tristan chuckled. "It's fine. You already got me a present." He said.

"I know but it's your birthday. I should treat you all day! Not just part of the day." Rory said.

Tristan smirked. "It's fine. I like to treat you. Let it be my gift to you on my birthday. It's my birthday so I should be able to do what I like." He grinned.

Rory laughed. "Fine, you win." She said leaning back on the couch next to him, tucking into the pizza.

"Talking of which, I have got something I want to give you." He said.

"What?" Rory asked.

Tristan pulled something out of his pocket. A small box.

Rory turned to look at him when she didn't get an answer and she froze when she saw the box. "Tristan..." She said.

Tristan opened the box which had a beautiful silver ring with a single gem on it. "I wanted to give you this." He said.

"A ring? Tristan, are you...?" Rory said shocked.

"It's a promise ring." Tristan clarified. "I know it's way too early to talk about that kind of stuff but I wanted to give you something that showed you I was committed to us. That I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you. When I thought I may lose you...after the accident..." Tristan said pausing a moment to regain his composure while he thought back to that horrible memory. "I knew then and there that you're the only one for me. I love you and I want you to know that. So I went out and bought this ring so I could prove to you I was serious about us." He said.

Rory was speechless. She felt tears in her eyes as she listened to Tristan's heartfelt speech. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Say you believe me." Tristan said quietly.

"What? Of course I believe you." Rory assured him quickly. "I love you too, Tristan. This is so sweet of you. I...God I just love you so much." She said softly.

"So you accept the ring?" Tristan asked.

"Yes I accept it." Rory smiled. "Thank you."

Tristan smiled and put it on her finger and then leant in to give her a kiss. "Thanks for a great birthday." He smirked.

Rory smiled and looked her boyfriend in the eyes. She glanced down at her ring and then back up at Tristan and bit her lip. "Tristan?" She said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I...I'm ready." She said.

"Ready for what?" Tristan asked.

"I'm ready." Rory repeated. "I'm ready...to you know...move to the next step." She said quietly.

Tristan suddenly understood what she was talking about. "Rory.." He said softly. "You don't have to. Not because it's my birthday or because I gave you the ring. I didn't give your ring because I wanted...that..." He said.

"I know." She assured him quickly. "But you saying everything you did just then...I feel exactly the same. You're the only guy I ever want to be with and I...I want to do this with you. With my amazing boyfriend. I'm ready." She said.

Tristan looked at her for a moment and saw that she was serious. "Are you sure?" He asked softly.

Rory nodded. "Just give me a minute to...uh...freshen up. I might take a shower. Paris will be late out with Jess." She said. She looked at Tristan. "I won't be long." She said nervously.

"Ok." Tristan said just as nervously. "Rory..." He started.

"I'm sure." Rory said softly, loving him even more for being so concerned.

"Ok. Go do what you need to do. I'll be here." He said.

Rory nodded. She leant down and gave him a kiss before disappearing into the bathroom. She took a huge breath. She turned the water on in the shower but didn't start getting undressed to get in. Instead she got her cell out and rang a number.

"Hey kid!" Lorelai said cheerily.

"Hi mom." Rory said nervously. "Uh..is dad there?" She asked.

"No he's out with the kids at the moment." Lorelai said.

"Can you talk?" Rory asked, dreading the conversation that was about to happen.

"Uh sure. Is everything ok?" Lorelai frowned, suddenly noticing her daughter's unusual tone.

"Yeah I just...I need to talk to you about something but it's going to be awkward but I promised I would always talk to you first." Rory rambled.

"Ok..." Lorelai said confused. "Rory, what's going on?"

"Tristan got me a promise ring." Rory said quietly. "And then he told me that he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He was so sweet and he told me that he loved me and I told him I loved him too and in that moment, I just...knew..." She rambled again just wanting to get it out.

"Knew what?" Lorelai asked.

"Knew that I felt the same way and that...and that I was ready..." Rory said quietly.

"Ready for what?" Lorelai asked but suddenly it dawned on her and her mind went to the conversation she had with Luke a few days ago. "Oh..." She said.

"Before you ask, I am sure about it. But I didn't want you to think I'd hidden it from you or anything. I promised you I'd talk to you when I was...ready...so here I am, callling you..." Rory said nervously, not know what reaction she was going to get.

Lorelai let out a breath. "Ok..uh..wow. This was so not the conversation I was expecting to have with you today." She said trying to get her head round it.

"I love him, mom." Rory said softly. "I really love him and I know he's the one. Didn't you have that moment when you just knew and then you just suddenly realised you were ready?" She asked.

Lorelai thought back to her first time with Luke and she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as she remembered how amazing it was. "Yeah I do." She said softly.

"Well that's how I feel with Tristan. I want to share this with him." Rory said quietly.

Lorelai let out a big breath. "Look hon, you're 18. I can't stop you from doing what you want but the one thing I will say is please just be safe." She said.

"I will." Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. "You're really sure?" She asked softly.

"I am. I've never been more sure about anything in my whole life." She said quietly.

"Ok." Lorelai said. "I guess I should...uh...let you go..." She said awkwardly. "Hang on, is that water I can hear?" She asked.

"Yeah." Rory said. "Tristan thinks I'm taking a shower." She admitted.

Lorelai had to laugh at that. "Ok. Well I guess I'll say goodbye then." She said.

"Ok." Rory said suddenly feeling nervous again.

"Rory?" Lorelai said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for calling." She said softly.

Rory smiled. "I promised." She said.

Once Rory hung up, she turned off the shower and after taking one last look in the mirror went back out to the living room where Tristan was waiting. "Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." Tristan said. "Rory..."

Rory went over and held out her hand. "I don't believe I've showed you my room yet." She joked.

Tristan had to smile at her try at making things more normal. "I don't believe you have." He said.

Rory led him into her room and kissed him as they got closer to the bed. They soon found themselves falling onto the bed and before long were removing each other's clothes, deepening their kiss as they did.

"Any regrets?" Tristan asked nervously as they lay under the covers together, snuggled up.

Rory smiled at his concern. He had constantly kept asking whether she was ok throughout. She turned to look at her boyfriend and gave him a kiss. "None at all. That was amazing. You were amazing." She said softly.

"So were you." Tristan said softly.

Rory snuggled closer to him. "Thank you for making it so special." She said.

"Thank you for making my life so special." He said.

Ok so I was soooooo nervous about this chapter so please review and let me know what you thought! Hope you liked it! :)