Previously on Gilmore Girls:
"Madelyn, you, me, Paris, who's the sixth?" She said, noticing the empty chair next to Rory. Before she could answer, a voice came from behind her.
"That would be me."
"Brad!" Louise faked her enthusiasm.
"Nice to see you again." Rory said. "Come. Sit."
"Oh, I can't stay long. I've got a show tomorrow."
"Still doing the Broadway thing?" He nodded.
"I just thought I'd drop by and say hello to everyone."
"Hello." Paris said coldly. Doyle looked over at her and she shrugged like she had done nothing wrong.
"Paris. Great party." She just smiled. The eerie quiet from her scared him more than any of her comebacks. "Well, I better be going. It was great seeing you all."
"Bye Brad." Rory said with a sympathetic smile.
"Let's dance." Doyle suggested as he stood up from the table. Paris grabbed his hand and took off for the dance floor.
"He seems the same. It's kind of sad." Maddie said. Rory looked around the party before turning around to face the rest of the table. "Who you looking for?"
"Anyone I recognize." She said honestly.
"Well then, turn your attention to who just walked through the door." Rory glanced at Maddie and turned around again. Tristan was looking around the room when his old group of friends spotted him first and went over to meet him. Politely talking to them, he glanced over and saw Rory watching him. Giving her a smile, he kept talking to the pinheads he used to call friends.
"Oh he looks good." Louise said. "I wonder what he does."
"He's a pediatrician." Rory said, facing the group again. The table got quiet. "What? He just took the cast off of my half-sister's arm."
"We should have known." Louise leaned over to whisper to Maddie. "How could we not have seen this coming."
"They always did have good chemistry,"
"He's coming over." They watched as he walked over to the table.
"Ladies."
"Hi Tristan. I must say, I'm surprised to see you here." Madelyn said.
"I was surprised to receive an invitation, but I figured since I was in town, why not?"
"Living here?" Louise asked.
"Just moved back a couple months ago."
"Rory tells us you are a pediatrician now?" He nodded and glanced at Rory briefly. "That's cool."
"Oooh, men, ten o'clock." Maddie and Louise both looked around Tristan. "Excuse us." Tristan laughed.
"And away they go." He muttered with a small smile.
"Some things never change." She said as he sat down next to her.
"You're not here with anyone?" He asked. She shook her head. "I find that hard to believe."
"What about you?" He shrugged.
"What about me?" He wanted to hear her ask.
"Are you here with anyone?" She obliged him, even though she knew that he was teasing her.
"I'm here with you." He said, unabashedly trying to make her smile. She rolled her eyes.
"I walked right into that one."
"Kinda, yeah." He smiled and they stared at each other just a little too long. The butterflies in Rory's stomach unnerved her to no end. Wanting to change the subject to something neutral, Rory broke the moment.
"So Gigi's arm is much better." Tristan looked at his shoes for a moment, knowing why she changed the subject. He didn't know what to think about the move and what it meant.
"Oh, good. That's good." Rory was surprised when he looked a little upset.
"Tristan! Come on, we're gonna head out, you should come with us." His buddies were beckoning him from across the room. He stole a glance at Rory.
"Yeah, go ahead." She said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, go have fun." She said, too laid back for Tristan's liking. Not having a reason to stay, Tristan decided to leave, but he wasn't going to hang out with the boys. He was going home to contemplate what the Hell had just happened. Rory watched him go and inwardly cursed herself. She didn't know why she had acted the way she did, but she hated the feeling like she was never going to see him again.
OOOOO
"Tristan, wait!" She cried as she ran out the door to stop him from leaving. "Don't go." She threw herself into his arms and he kissed her passionately.
Okay, so that's what he wanted to happen. What really happened was slightly different. And by slightly, he meant massively. She didn't chase him out of the building. She didn't call him later that night. She didn't call later that week. He checked his phone calls so much that even his receptionist was concerned that he was losing his mind.
OOOOO
"I blew it." Rory said to Paris.
"I don't have time to worry about your lack of a love life. I've got open heart surgery in ten minutes."
"Well, then, will you tell me what to do next?"
"Call him, the poor kid is probably waiting by the phone."
"I blew him off like he was nothing, I hardly doubt that he would wait by the phone."
"Then you've never met Tristan DuGray. I have to go." Paris said, hanging up the phone.
"Bye." She muttered into the empty receiver. Hanging up, she quickly dialed a new number. One that she had acquired from Paris. After waiting for a couple rings, he picked up.
"DuGray." He said, sounding busy.
"Hey Tristan, it's Rory." The silence on the other end of the phone led her to continue the conversation. "How are you?"
"I'm good, just a little distracted. I'm sorry." He admitted, shaking his head of the thoughts that were plaguing his mind. "How are you?"
"If this is a bad time I could call back later?"
"No, no. It's fine. What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression at the reunion. It was really good running into you again."
"Oh, don't worry about it."
"I've been obsessing over it all week and I don't know, I think being back in that environment brought out the old me. The one that cares what everyone else at the table thinks. Which is ridiculous because you've obviously changed as much as I have. I'm not that girl anymore. So I don't know what my brain was thinking, but it was thinking none the less."
"Breathe Gilmore." He said, with a chuckle.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry and I hope we can be friends."
"Friends huh?" He said. "I could do that." I think, he added to himself.
"Good."
"But I don't know if you can." He added. "Women love me."
"Really? Love you?" She asked, clearly not believing him.
"They can't keep their hands off of me…really. It's enough to make a man feel guilty." She rolled her eyes.
"Goodbye Tristan." She said. He could hear her disdain through the phone and it made him happy. What was it about this girl when she was annoyed? It brought out the fire in her eyes, which was as much as a turn-on as he could get with her. She always pretended to be mad but you could always tell she was excited by the thought of sparring with him. Sighing, he opened up the chart in front of him. He didn't have time to think about what their relationship status was…he had children to save.
OOOOO
Rory sighed as she thought about what she had said. She had offered to be friends. She didn't really want to be friends, but she couldn't come right out and say that to him, that would be weird. So they would be friends. Maybe she would call him over for dinner with a bunch of friends. That would be a good way to break the ice. The only problem was that all of her friends were couples and that would inevitably lead to them being paired off. In fact, every event that Rory thought of inviting him to ended up the same way. Until she thought of one event that wouldn't lead to that scenario. It might be worse, but what the Hell. It just might work out in her favor.
OOOOO
Tristan looked in the mirror one last time before getting out of his car. He had no idea where he was, but he had followed the directions she had given him and it had led to a park. It was a very well hidden park that was surrounded by forest. Starting to think that maybe she was going to kill him and make it look like an accident, he began looking around for a sign of life. He heard music coming from a distance so he followed his ears to the scene of the party. Sure enough, there were tons of people in jeans and dresses. It was a picnic, albeit a very expensive picnic. Rory spotted him and ran over with a wave.
"You made it!" She said, slightly out of breath.
"Yeah, I wasn't sure I was in the right spot."
"It's a little hidden."
"What is all of this?"
"It's a picnic for some friends of mine. Come on over, I'll introduce you." Taking his hand she led him over to a table.
"Boys," she yelled at them to get their attention. "this is Tristan DuGray, we went to Chilton together. Tristan this is Finn Roberts, Collin McCrae, Logan Huntzberger and Stephanie Edwards." They all waved, except Logan. He didn't seem to like the fact that Tristan was there. Noting the look he was given, Tristan smiled.
"Nice to meet you all."
"You didn't tell us you were bringing an outsider Ace." Logan said, feigning politeness.
"I didn't think I had to, it's not like it's an actual event." Tristan put two and two together.
"Don't worry guys, I won't tell. I come from a long line of Princeton LDB'ers." He said, surprising them all. "That is what this event is, isn't it? An alumni reunion?" Rory smiled and nodded.
"Look at you Sherlock Holmes."
"Well, there are very few reasons for trust fund types to be hiding in the woods." Steph nodded to Rory, clearly approving.
"I'm going to get a drink, Tristan, would you like something?" Finn asked.
"Sure, I'll come with you. You need anything?" He pointed at Rory's glass, but she shook her head. "Okay, be right back." Once they were at a safe distance, Tristan took one last look at Logan. "So what's the deal with Huntzberger and Rory?"
"Oh, it goes way back." Finn said as he handed him his beer.
"And?"
"They were engaged." Tristan choked on the beer.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, they dated for three years back at Yale. At Rory's graduation party, he proposed and she accepted."
"So what happened?"
"Well, Logan got a job in California, Rory got a job in Hartford. They did the long distance thing for a few months before Rory realized she didn't actually want to marry the poor bloke. She never trusted him after he…well, he didn't appreciate what he had."
"Ouch."
"Yeah, Logan was devastated, because by this time he really was in love with her. Rory was devastated, because Logan was devastated. There was a path of devastation." He said, his arm sweeping across the top of the bar dramatically. "But, they've seen each other once a year since then at these parties and they always make nice. Just don't be surprised if Logan doesn't take a liking to you."
"No kidding."
"And you and Reporter girl, you're dating?"
"Reporter girl?" Tristan chuckled. Finn nodded. "No, we aren't. We just re-met a couple of weeks ago. I was crazy about her in High school though. But she was a total Mary back then." It was Finn's turn to spit out his beer.
"Our girl, a Mary?" He said, shocked. Tristan nodded.
"Oh yeah, she was the valedictorian, the small town girl in the big bad society school. She wanted nothing to do with any of us, especially me. But of course, I did everything under the sun to get with her. She let me kiss her once, but I got shipped off to military school and I never saw her again."
"She obviously likes you now if she invited you here."
"I don't know, we'll see."
"Well, I'd put in a good word for you, but I don't know you. Plus, it would destroy any loyalty I have for my best mate." He said, walking back to the table.
"I understand." Finn nodded to get him to shut up before anyone overheard their conversation.