Disclaimer: I don't own anything

The big day had finally arrived. The reason for all of the family and planning that had taken over his…or rather, their house for the last couple of days. Tristan was standing with a drink in his hand, talking with a few of the guests.

"It really is a gorgeous day for an engagement party." The people next to him commented before being interrupted by the precocious girls he loved so much.

"Uncle Tristan!" Looking down he smiled at the two girls walking towards him and set his drink to the side.

"Hello!" He said as he picked the girls up. "You look beautiful!"

"Thank you."

"Mom, Dad, I would like to introduce you to our flower girl, Ava and her little sister Abby."

"Nice to meet you." Ava said as she shook their hands, clearly having practiced for the occasion.

"You too." His father said, surprised by the little girl's manners.

"What a beautiful dress, Ava." Tristan's mother commented. Ava didn't respond, simply looked at Tristan for guidance.

"What do you say?" Tristan whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." She told them quietly. Richard quietly tapped on Tristan's father's shoulder and took him away, no doubt to discuss business of some sort.

"Good girl, now go take Abby over to Aunt Rory, she wants to see you. She's right over there, do you see her waving?" She nodded.

"Okay." She said as Tristan set them down. The little girls went running over to Rory who immediately bent down to look at their matching dresses, causing Tristan to smile at the scene before picking his drink back up and turning back to his mother.

"Those girls adore you." He smiled. "All three of them." She added.

"That's because I am wrapped around their finger and will do anything they ask. All three of them." He grinned and she couldn't help but wonder when the last time she saw him smile was. It had been years.

"You really are happy here aren't you?" His mother said, as if not realizing it before today.

"Of course I am." He nearly followed it with, my whole family is here, but he caught himself. His mother got the message anyway.

"Do you ever think you will move back to Connecticut?" She asked. Tristan shrugged.

"I don't know. I will definitely be visiting more now that Rory's come into my life." He said, knowing that she wouldn't be able to be away from her mother for that long of time. "Her mother is her best friend, and frankly, I would be impressed if she lasts a year down here." His mother smiled.

"Well, let's hope so. I miss you being so far away." Tristan took a sip of his drink, preferring not to speak on the matter. The truth was, Tristan had no idea how Rory felt about living down here with him. She had demanded that he keep his job, saying that she had no reason not to join him in North Carolina because she had to find a new job anyway, so she might as well find one in Raleigh. Happy that he could stay, he didn't question it any further. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if Rory would be missing out on her own world that was so distinctly tied to the hamlet of Stars Hollow.

OOOOO

"Do you want to get married?" Rory asked, completely out of the blue one night as they talked on the phone.

"Excuse me?" Tristan asked, nearly choking on his own spit.

"Do you want to get married someday?"

"To you?" He asked, wanting to know what she was thinking.

"To anybody. We've been dating, and I do use that term loosely, now for almost four months and I have no idea how you feel about the subject." Tristan paused to ponder his words carefully.

"I never thought I did, but now." He stopped and Rory held her breath. "I think that it's a strong possibility." Rory's heart was racing as she considered what he was saying. "Ror?" He asked, clarifying that she hadn't hung up on him.

"I'm still here." She told him. He waited for her to continue. "You really changed your views on marriage because of me?" She sounded surprised at the idea.

"Of course I did. I wouldn't give you up for anything." She smiled at his admission, wanting to hear more, but knowing that he wouldn't give her any. "Have you ever considered marrying me?" His voice wavered with nerves, unsure if he wanted to hear her answer.

"Yeah." While he had sounded sure of his decision, her shy confidence reminded him of why he had nicknamed her Mary to begin with. He could practically hear her blushing through the telephone. "I've thought about it."

"And did you like what you saw?" He asked.

"Of course I did, it was my imagination." She told him. "We live happily ever after." She freely admitted.

"Oh really. And was this in a kingdom far far away?" Tristan teased.

"Far far away from me. We were in North Carolina." She said as if it was the most natural answer on earth.

"Here?" Tristan asked, not sure if he heard her correctly.

"Well, yeah. I mean, you already had a job, a home, a family all in place. I had been traveling all over the country for over a year. It just seemed natural. I wanted to settle down and you were already settled." Tristan smiled as she laid out their future plans in past tense, just to keep up the pretense that they were still imagining, but they both were paying attention.

"But what about your family? What about your job?" He asked, wanting her to realize what she was potentially giving up.

"The only thing I need to write is a pencil and paper. And I have been away from my family for over a year, I think I'm more than capable of living apart from them." At her switch to the present tense, Tristan realized that they weren't pretending anymore. They were actually discussing this. It was a possibility that made his heart beat faster.

"Ror," he paused, unsure of how to express himself, "we're into new territory here aren't we?"

"I think we are." She said, knowing that they were talking about taking the biggest step of their lives. There was silence as they both thought about what this meant for their relationship.

"You really think you could marry me?" Tristan wanted to know.

"I really do." She smiled.

"Well, we've got more than enough time to think about it." He said, not wanting to make too many decisions before they were even engaged.

OOOOO

"Tristan!" Rory cried as she opened the front door. She was met with the sound of silence so she figured that he was still at work. She had told him she would be in town tomorrow, because she had some work to take care of. The truth was, she had quit her job after the election. She was going to move down here and work for the local paper. Of course, it wasn't spontaneous. She never did anything spontaneously, but it was a surprise to Tristan, which she was very uneasy about. She hoped that he would be okay with the situation, but if he had sprung the news that he was moving into Stars Hollow on her, she didn't know what her own reaction would be. She removed her scarf and jacket and sat down on the couch. She picked up her book and started reading.

OOOOO

Rory put down her book hours later. Tristan still wasn't home. She stood up and started walking around again. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was eleven. There was no way that he was still at work. She debated calling him, but it was even too late to do that. He thought she was still in Stars Hollow. Still pacing, she paused when she heard the keys in the door. She watched as Tristan came stumbling in, shushing the person coming in behind him.

"You're going to wake the neighbors." Tristan said, clearly drunk.

"I am your neighbor." Nate said as Rory listened with amusement. "Okay, let's get you to the…." He paused as he finally noticed Rory who was standing there, watching their entrance unfold.

"Hi." She said with a smile.

"Hey baby!" Tristan said as he let go of Nate. "What're you doin' here?" He asked. "Look Nate. It's Rory."

"I see that."

"I'm here to see you." She told him while watching Nate instead of bothering with Tristan. "Why don't you let Nate take you to bed and I'll be there in a sec." Tristan didn't answer, just kept his arm around Nate.

"Be right back." He said with a guilty smile as he helped his friend to his room. Rory sighed. This was not what she had in mind.

"You would think I would have learned my lesson by now." She told Nate as he emerged again. "Spontaneity does nothing for me."

"Don't be too hard on him in the morning. It's kind of a tradition, of sorts." Rory looked at him confused. "Today's the anniversary of Janlan's death." Rory's mouth formed an O as realization hit her hard. "When it happened, Tristan had just started college and he was…well, in such bad shape that I'm going to spare you the details. But every year I take him out and get him hammered because I know he's going to do it anyway so I might as well be there to make sure he stays out of trouble." Rory smiled softly at his generosity.

"You are the best friend he could ever have." She told Nate. "I can't even imagine what he would do without you."

"I think he's doing pretty well on his own." Nate said with a wink and Rory glanced down at her shoes, uncomfortable with the compliment. "If he gives you any trouble, call me." He said as he opened the front door.

"Thank you." She said again before turning to the hallway. Bracing herself with a deep breath, she started to walk towards the bedroom. She found Tristan, facedown on his bed, asleep and snoring loudly, clothes still on. She knew there was no point in trying to help him into a more comfortable position so she put a blanket over him, grabbed one for herself and headed back to the couch.

OOOOO

Rory listened as she heard the shower turn on, glad that Tristan was up. She went to work fixing him the perfect hangover cure that Finn had introduced to her when she needed to take care of Logan.

"Good morning." She said as he graced her with his presence in the kitchen.

"Jesus!" He jumped back, completely surprised that she was there. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Here, drink this." She said as she handed him the cure-all concoction that Finn had so ingeniously devised.

"How long have I been unconscious? You weren't supposed to be here until this afternoon."

"I got done early so I took an earlier flight." She told him.

"And when did you get in?"

"About four PM yesterday." She said with a smile as he started choking on the drink. Unsure if it was because she had been here over twelve hours or if it was due to the drink, Rory paused. "Are you okay?"

"What's in this?" He sputtered as he spit it back out into sink.

"You don't want to know, but it works."

"I'd rather be hungover." He stopped to look at her, standing in his kitchen taking care of him like he was twenty again. "God, I'm so sorry." He said, sobering up instantly. She smiled at his reaction.

"It's okay. You didn't show me anything I haven't already seen, trust me." That didn't seem to make him feel any better. He thought back to Logan briefly, but let it slide, not wanting to open that can of worms.

"Did I see you last night?" He asked, trying to remember. Rory nodded.

"You mean, you don't remember?" She asked, pretending to be taken aback. He was suddenly extremely nervous about his behavior the night before. "I'd never had a threesome before, but she was just so sexy I couldn't resis…" As Tristan realized she was kidding, he threw a towel at her.

"That's not funny." He said as she burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore.

"Your face." She was doubled over now, finding it hard to breathe. After a while, she calmed down and Tristan still had the same look on his face.

"I was here when Nate practically carried you through the door. You were unconscious before you even hit the mattress. You did wake up in the clothes you went to bed in." She pointed out.

"Have I apologized to you yet?" He asked, feeling horrible that she had to see him like that. Weak, helpless, completely unconscious.

"Yes, and once was more than enough. I don't understand it, but if that's your way of dealing, then by all means…" She said, cutting herself off.

"I'm glad you are here." He told her, wanting her to know how much her understanding meant to him.

"Good. I'm glad you feel that way, because I'm thinking of staying." She said so nonchalantly, Tristan was convinced that he misheard her.

"I'm sorry?" He said.

"The Raleigh paper liked my work on the strike that I did this past spring and offered me a position. I took it." He stood staring, his jaw on the floor, unable to process the thoughts that were making their way through his brain.

"You're moving to Raleigh?" She nodded. "When did this happen?"

"They offered me a position this spring, but I told them I couldn't consider anything until my contract in Hartford ended in November. They kept my name on file and called me this week."

"They must have really wanted you."

"I got a lot of offers." She said. "Look, I know that I just sprang this on you, but I figured you would be happy with me being closer. We can actually go out on a date now." She said with a smile.

"Do you have a place yet?" She shook her head.

"I was waiting on your reaction first."

"You want to move in with me?" He asked, a big smile on his face.

"Do you want me here?" She asked.

"Is that a real question? Of course I want you here." She thought about it. She had hoped he would ask, but she didn't want it to seem like she was planning on it.

"It's a big step Tris. You should at least think about it for a minute."

"Are you kidding? I would marry you tomorrow if you wanted." As soon as the words left his mouth he knew that it was a mistake. But Rory smiled.

"I'm ready when you are."

"Noted." He said, discarding her fake offer while waiting for the first answer. "Now move in." She sighed and glanced at him once more. "Please?"

"Okay, but only if you are one hundred percent sure." She said.

"I am." He assured her. He couldn't help but follow up his statement with a question. Was she?