Disclaimer: I don't own a thing

A/N: Wow! I was really impressed by everyone's ideas for the blind date! Haha. I wasn't that creative. Both Tristan (duh) and Logan (she already broke up with him!) are out of luck, but I appreciate everyone's thoughts! I love to hear them. Okay, read on!

"That was the best night of your life, huh?" Rory asked.

"It was the first night I got you. It was perfect."

"The next day was the saddest day in the history of our relationship." She said, surprised that he could pick it as the best night of his life.

"What can I say, I'm a guy." He shrugged. "It was the night of our first real kiss, our first make-out, our first, second and third time we…" He smiled as she got the point. "And when I woke up and you were lying next to me…" He stopped. "I was a goner." She smiled, liking the effect that she had on him, even now.

"That blind date did not end well, by the way." Rory said with a smile as she recalled how miserable she had been.

"He wasn't me." Tristan smirked proudly.

"I was trying to get over you, that was the point." She said, trying to defend her action. "You never tried to get over me?" Tristan shook his head.

"There wasn't any point in trying. Like I said, I was a lost cause."

OOOOO

"Ever since you've gotten home from Christmas you've been a mess. What happened up there?" Nate asked as he threw the basketball at Tristan.

"You remember Rory, the girl who was at Mia's wedding?"

"Mystery girl. Her name is Rory?" Tristan nodded as he shot a basket.

"We met again in Connecticut at her grandmother's annual Christmas party." Nate was listening but still playing the game. Tristan loved that about him. "We spent New Year's Eve together."

"Together?" He asked as he dribbled the ball in front of him.

"Together." Tristan said, fully meaning what Nate wanted to clarify.

"So it was bad?" He asked, not understanding Tristan's melancholy.

"No. It was..." He stopped as Nate made his shot. "If I had only lived those eight hours, I would have been okay with dying."

"That good?"

"The best I'll ever get."

"So why the face?"

"This girl, woman, is everything I've ever wanted since I was sixteen. I had almost forgotten about her and then she just waltzed back into my life. Now, I can't stop thinking about her."

"So do something about it." Nate said, stopping the game.

"I can't. She travels all the time. She's a reporter on the Obama campaign."

"Well he can't campaign forever." Nate pointed out.

"But the long distance thing, she doesn't want that." Tristan said. "And the election isn't over for another ten months. A lot can change in ten months." He said, preparing himself for the fact that he might have to get over her again.

"You've loved this girl since you were sixteen and you think ten months is going to make a difference?"

"I never said I loved her." Tristan said.

"I know you did not just say that." Nate said, tossing the basketball to the side. One look at Nate's face and Tristan knew.

"Oh my God." He slumped down onto the bench. "I do." He said, his hands covering his face.

OOOOO

"Tristan's in love." Nate said to Cora that evening. "With the mystery girl."

"What?" Cora said, feeling left out. "Tell me everything." Nate explained the situation to his wife and watched as she reacted to the story.

"So now, he's a lovesick fool, thousands of miles away from her and a straight up mess."

"Cyber-stalking her too I bet." Cora added. "She does write for a blog, doesn't she?" Nate nodded. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean what are we going to do? We're going to leave him alone." Nate said, not liking his wife's plan on meddling.

"We can't just leave him out there, alone and cold."

"He's not an abandoned pet. He's a man, who is respecting his girl's choice to not have a relationship."

"Even though it's killing him."

"The women we love always kill us, one way or another." Nate said. "That's why they have to include ''til death do us part' in the marriage vows." He laughed at his own statement, knowing it was true, but Cora just hit him with a pillow and turned over, ignoring him for the rest of the night.

OOOOO

Rory sighed as she looked in the hotel mirror one more time. She hated herself for doing this. It wasn't like her to use another guy to get over someone else. It wasn't fair to the other person, but tonight, it had to be done. There was a knock on the door and Rory grabbed her purse, heading for the door. She took a deep breath and opened the door to the stranger.

"Rory?"

"Yes. Hi…" She paused, not knowing his name.

"Robert." He smiled his fake Ivy League smile and Rory already hated him. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He said as he gave her his hand.

"You too." She shook it reluctantly.

"Well, shall we?" He asked as he stood away from the door, clearly signaling that she should follow him.

"Let's." She said with a fake smile.

OOOOO

"So then I said, 'What do you expect me to do, treat it?" Robert laughed heartily at his own joke, which truth be told, Rory didn't even hear. He hadn't stopped talking since he had introduced himself. She vaguely recalled her first Yale date when she had stopped the conversation nearly every time she spoke. Maybe it was better that she hadn't spoken yet.

"Would you two like to see a dessert menu."

"Yes." Robert said happily, still content from making himself laugh.

"No. I've got to get back. I still have a story due for tomorrow's edition." Rory said. "I'm sorry." He smiled.

"I've got such a dedicated girl." He excused the waiter with a beam. Ah! Rory couldn't even speak. The audacity, the arrogance, the other A words in her Oxford dictionary that she couldn't recall right now. She was calling her mother as soon as she got back to the hotel to describe this horrible event, which she had assured her was a good thing. Rory got the feeling that Lorelei had liked Tristan, but was being supportive of her decision to try her hand at dating.

"I'm sorry. If you want to stay, I could get a cab." She said as she stood up, not bothering to insult his feelings at this point.

"Nonsense, I can take you back to your room." The way he said it made Rory's stomach churn.

"Really, I'll be fine." She started walking towards the door, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Do we have a problem here?" He asked, his voice getting dark for the first time that night.

"If you don't take your hands off of me this instant, we will." Rory threatened. He let her go and watched as she stormed out of the restaurant, more concerned with looking like a fool than losing what he considered to be a clearly disturbed woman.

OOOOO

"That jerk. He's lucky I wasn't there or I would have killed him." Tristan said angrily as he interrupted her story.

"Tris, it was a long time ago." She said.

"He grabbed you." He said, as if touching her was the biggest sin that any person could ever commit.

"I was a big girl. I took care of him myself." She said. "And then I went home and called my Mommy." She added with a laugh.

OOOOO

"No!" Lorelei cried as she covered her eyes. "Oh, babe, I am so sorry."

"This is fate telling me that I'm never supposed to date. I didn't get the message the first time I tried. This is the last date I go on."

"Don't say that, you might regret it later."

"I am a relationship type of girl, let's just face facts. I don't date well."

"So now what?" Lorelei asked.

"Now, I try to get over Tristan solo. I just need to stay busy with work, you know? Take my mind off of it and it will disappear into the past." Lorelei didn't say anything, which Rory took as agreement. "I'll talk to you later Mom. I'm going to bed."

"Okay kid, sleep well." She closed her phone and threw it on the bed, still angry about the night's events. Why did this have to be so hard?

OOOOO

The next few months Rory spent every day working hard, Super Tuesday came and went, work had never been better or busier and Rory still spent every waking calm minute thinking about Tristan. She wondered where he was or what he was doing.

On the rare occasion when it dawned on her that he might have given up entirely on her, she pushed the idea jealously out of her head. She knew it was possible that he could have a girlfriend, that he could be completely okay with their one night and that he maybe didn't even remember it anymore. That was the worst part about being so far away from him, she had no idea what he was thinking. At least when Logan was sleeping around, she knew about it.

'Stop it Rory,' she told herself. 'Even if Tristan was sleeping with other people, it wouldn't be cheating on you. You didn't want to have a relationship and now…' She didn't finish her thought.

With all of these thoughts running through her head at any given time, it was a miracle that she made it to April, where a sudden rest was going to come which everyone was looking forward to. She hoped that Obama would take the time to visit his home state of Hawaii and she could relax on the beach, far away from her computer and phone.

"Gilmore!" She heard a voice yell at her and she turned around. "I've got an assignment for you."

She looked inquisitively at the envelope that had found its way into her hands. "Paper wants it by the end of the week. Thanks again for doing this." She had done some freelance writing while she was on the trip, especially for others who were busy with their own stories. It was extra cash and people were always willing to share the workload. She opened it and read the headline.

North Carolina Strike against Obama to take place on Tuesday

Rory closed her eyes, unable to believe what Fate had just dealt her. A vacation, a trip to North Carolina to write a story, and a whole week to do it.

"You are very welcome." She said with a smile.