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Chapter 3
"Oh look who's back from suspension!" Juliet said to Rory as they walked along the hallway at Chilton at the end of the day.
"Tristan got suspended again?" Rory said.
"Oh come on, you can't say you didn't notice." Juliet said.
Rory shrugged. "Just thought he'd got the message and left me alone."
"Uh huh." Juliet said not convinced.
"What did he do?" Rory said.
"Took apart Mr. McCaffey's car and put it back together in the science building hallway."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope." Juliet said smirking slightly. "He didn't do it by himself. Duncan and Bowman were there too."
"How did he fall in with those guys?" Rory said, glancing over at Tristan with Duncan and Bowman.
"Don't know. The new year started and there they were, all three of them, side by side." Juliet shrugged. "I tried to tell him they were bad news but he won't listen."
"Well then...he deserves everything he gets right?" Rory shrugged.
Juliet shrugged. "I just know he's better than those guys. You know he is too."
"Yeah but if he won't listen, what are we meant to do?"
Juliet sighed. "I don't know." She admitted.
"Come on, we better get to rehearsal or Paris will kill us." Rory said.
"Urgh fine!"
"It won't be that bad." Rory smirked.
"You just keep telling yourself that." Juliet joked.
"So how's rehearsal going?" Lorelai asked her daughters as they sat at Luke's.
"Rubbish." Rory grumbled.
"Tristan joined our group." Juliet explained.
"How did that happen?" Lorelai said.
"His ex girlfriends are in all the other groups." Juliet smirked slightly.
"Huh, so you get punished for your good taste?" Lorelai joked.
"Exactly what Paris said!" Juliet grinned. "But nah, Tristan's not that bad."
"Yeah, it's alright for you. You're not the one he likes annoying." Rory said.
"He's just got into a bad crowd, that's all." She shrugged. "If he got away from Duncan and Bowman, I think he'd be better."
"Unless he gets expelled first." Rory commented.
"It's gotten that bad?" Lorelai said surprised.
"Like I said, he's got into a bad crowd." Juliet sighed.
"Burger, burger, burger." Luke said handing them their food.
"Hey." Lorelai smiled at him.
"I'm working. Us older guys do that." Luke said gruffly.
"Oh my god, why are you being so mean to me?" She exclaimed.
"I'm not being mean." He said.
"Yes you are. You're being mean." She pouted.
"Rory, Juliet, am I being mean?" Luke said.
"Well, I wouldn't pay you to put on a red nose and work a birthday party right now." Juliet joked.
"Thank god for that." He rolled his eyes.
"Why are you so mad at me?" Lorelai insisted. "Yes I went out with a younger guy, but I genuinely didn't realise he was that young!"
"I just think it's embarrassing." Luke said.
"What is so embarrassing?"
"You running around with that kid."
"I wasn't running, he's not a kid. We had dinner. You say Chuck E. Cheese, I'll break your nose!"
"Hey, I'm not going to say anything. You go live your life as you please. I got work to do." He said walking away.
"Wow, this Paul thing is really bugging him." Rory commented.
"I don't understand why he's being so mean about it. Make jokes, sure! But now he's just being mean." Lorelai grumbled.
"Oh come on, Mom..." Juliet said.
"What?"
Juliet sighed. "Mom, Luke's so into you."
"Stop..."
"Mom..." Juliet said.
"Juliet, he's not. He just likes running hot and cold on me."
"See it from his point of view. He's watched you with Max, he's watched you with other guys and now you've suddenly gone out with this young guy..." She said cautiously. "Yes, I know you didn't realise how young he was. We believe you, mom. But see it from Luke's point of view. He's obviously thinking will she go out with anyone other than me..."
"Jules..." Rory said softly.
Juliet glanced at her mom and saw her stunned expression. "I'm sorry, mom." She said softly. "I just...he's not being mean, mom. He's just...Luke."
"Let's change the subject." Rory said.
"Yeah, ok." Juliet sighed.
Juliet was leaving Chilton when she heard Tristan talking to Duncan and Bowman down the side of the school.
"Yeah, so I'll meet you there." Tristan nodded. "You got the keys to the safe?"
"Yeah I got them." Duncan smirked.
"And your dad will definitely be out?" Bowman said.
"Relax guys! I promise you. We do this and we're going to be rich. Screw my dad. He doesn't deserve the money." Duncan said. "So are you guys in?"
"We're in." Tristan nodded.
"We'll be there." Bowman agreed.
"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then." Duncan said giving them fist bumps before leaving.
Juliet watched Bowman leave as well before Tristan started walking in her direction. "Whatever it is you're about to get yourself into, don't do it." She told him.
"Gilmore..."
"No, don't Gilmore me." Juliet said. "Tristan, you're better than this! You're better than them. I heard safe and I heard Duncan's dad. You are going to get expelled for this." She exclaimed.
Tristan shrugged. "Only if we get caught."
"Which you will! Do you really think Duncan's dad won't notice his safe is empty? Come on, Tristan!"
"Why do you care so much?" He exclaimed. "I've got nothing keeping me here anyway!"
"Wow. Thanks." Juliet said quietly.
He sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Look, I don't care if you care about my friendship at all. But I thought you were serious about Rory!" Juliet snapped. "Maybe Rory was right. Maybe you were just playing with her and annoying her just for laughs. Maybe I got you all wrong."
"Juliet..."
"No, forget it, Tristan! If you don't show up for the play tomorrow, I guess we'll know what you've chosen. If you want to throw your life away, that's your choice. I'm sick of trying to help you." Juliet said before walking off, leaving Tristan standing there.
The following night, Juliet and Rory were at Chilton with their mom and Sookie dressed up for their play when Paris walked up to them. "I need you." She said dragging them away.
"What's going on?" Rory said.
"He's not here." Paris said.
"Who's not here?"
"Tristan! I've looked everywhere. I called his home, his cell, I called three girls I know he's seeing." Paris exclaimed. "He's not here!"
Juliet sighed. It looked like Tristan had clearly gone along with Duncan and Bowman. "Paris, calm down." She tried.
"Weren't you listening? He's not here. We're on in twenty minutes and we don't have a Romeo. We are going to fail!" Paris panicked.
"We're not going to fail." Rory said.
"Do you think Harvard accepts people who fail Shakespeare? They don't. I don't have the numbers on it or anything but I feel pretty secure in saying you fail Shakespeare, you don't get into Harvard."
"Ok, maybe he's just in one of the bathrooms smoking." Rory said.
"Good idea. You check the east men's rooms, I'll check the west ones." Paris said racing off.
"He's not coming..." Juliet said.
Rory glanced at her. "What? How do you know?"
"I heard him with Duncan and Bowman yesterday. They're planning this huge thing with Duncan's dad's safe." She sighed. "I tried to talk him out of it...but clearly he didn't listen to me..."
They returned a few minutes later with no luck.
"I knew he was going to do this but no one wanted to listen to me. It was all, let's make Tristin Romeo, he's hot!" Paris snapped.
"What about Brad?" Rory asked.
"Brad transferred schools." Paris said.
Just then, Juliet saw Tristan walking up to them in his own clothes, her heart sinking. "Paris..." She said quietly gesturing to Tristan.
"Where have you been? You have to get dressed, we're on in ten minutes!" Paris exclaimed.
"I'm sorry..." Tristan said.
"I knew it! You screwed us over! I knew we couldn't trust you!" She snapped.
"Paris, just chill for a minute!" He said.
"Seriously? You show up late, not dressed! You clearly aren't doing this. And you want me to chill out?"
"Paris, I left my clothes here, that's why I'm not dressed yet." Tristan explained. "I got caught up with something, got in a fight. But I'm here and I will go and get changed now." He said.
"Well hurry up!" Paris snapped, storming off.
Juliet glanced at Tristan. "You didn't go through with it..." She said quietly.
"No. I didn't." Tristan said.
"Why not?" Rory asked.
"Well...I was made aware that I was better than those guys and if they want to throw their lives away, I shouldn't feel like I should be a part of it." He shrugged.
"I thought you weren't listening to me..." Juliet said.
"Well I was." He said. "And I realise I do have reasons to stay here." He said, glancing at Rory and then back at Juliet.
"Well I'm glad you're here." Rory gave him a small smile. "You're better than those idiots."
"Thanks." Tristan gave her a small smile. He glanced at Juliet. "Friends again?"
Juliet rolled her eyes but smiled and surprised him with a hug. "I'm just glad you saw sense."
"Come on, we better go or else Paris will kill all of us!" Rory smirked.
"Yeah, let me go and get changed. I'll see you out there." Tristan said before walking off.
"See, he obviously does listen to you." Rory told Juliet.
"Nah...I mean yeah he did, but I think he did it for you too." Juliet shrugged.
"Jules..."
"Rory, Tristan came here to do a boring play for school when he could have been causing trouble. He did this to prove to you that he's not an idiot. And that he does care." She said.
"He did it for you as well. Your friendship clearly means something to him." Rory pointed out.
Juliet smiled slightly. "Maybe."
"Come on, let's go get this A for Paris." Rory smirked.
"Enjoy your second kiss with Tristan." Juliet smirked.
"Shut up." She rolled her eyes as they walked off to go and get ready.
"You two were so good!" Lorelai enthused as Rory and Juliet ran up to her and Sookie after the performance.
"Thanks!" Juliet grinned.
"So we were thinking Luke's to celebrate?" Sookie smiled.
"Sounds good!" Rory said. She glanced round and saw Tristan in the hallway. "Just give me on minute." She said before walking over to where Tristan was. "Hey..."
"Hey." He smiled at her. "So...Paris should be off our case at least. We smashed that."
Rory smirked. "Yeah, I definitely do not want to endure the wrath of Paris."
Tristan chuckled. "Well I almost did."
Rory glanced at him. "I'm really glad you decided to come."
"Yeah?" He said glancing at her.
"Yeah." She nodded smiling slightly. "I always thought you were better than those jerks. You could do so much, Tristan. You just need to believe it."
"I know." Tristan said. "I owe you for not letting me make the biggest mistake of my life."
"I think you owe Juliet." Rory pointed out.
Tristan glanced over at Juliet who was subtly watching them and gave her a small smile. "Yeah I know."
"She cares about you." Rory said. "I'll admit I didn't always understand it, but your friendship meant a lot to her."
"Well...it does to me too." Tristan admitted. "I owe her a lot. I'm pretty sure I would have been on my way to military school right now if I hadn't had her voice in my head telling me to leave Duncan's dad's office."
"Well...I better go. My mom and Sookie are taking us to Luke's to celebrate." Rory smiled.
"Sounds nice." He smiled.
Rory hesitated before glancing up at him. "Do you want to come with us?"
"What?" He said surprised.
"I mean...we did smash the performance. You should celebrate too." Rory said.
Tristan smiled. "If you're sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Come on." Rory smiled. "And by the way, for the record, I do care as well..."
Tristan glanced at her and smirked slightly. "Well I think that showed by the fact you didn't cry after we kissed this time..."
Rory rolled her eyes. "I will never live that down."
Tristan chuckled. "Not while I'm around."
Lorelai, Rory, Juliet, Tristan and Sookie walked to Luke's and went inside. Lorelai saw Luke standing at the end of the counter. "Hey, you guys get a table. I'll be right there." She told them.
"Sure, mom." Juliet smiled as she saw her mom walking over to Luke. She spotted Jess coming out of the kitchen. "I'll be back." She told them and went up to the counter. "Hey." She smiled at Jess.
"Hey." Jess said. "How was the play?"
"We smashed it!" Juliet grinned.
"I had no doubt." Jess chuckled. "That Tristan?" He asked gesturing to the table.
Juliet glanced over and saw Rory and Tristan laughing together and chatting with Sookie. "Yeah, that's him." She smiled.
"Huh." He said. "So he showed up then?"
"Yeah. Seems like he did listen to me." Juliet said. "Although I'm thinking it was more to do with Rory."
"Nah, I'm sure you made an impression on him too." Jess said.
"You think so?" Juliet said glancing at him.
"Anyone would be mad not to." Jess shrugged.
Juliet smiled slightly. "You softy."
Jess rolled his eyes. "You think they'll make up?" He asked gesturing to Luke and Lorelai.
"I hope so." She said.
"They better. Luke's been miserable and storming all over the place lately." Jess grumbled.
"Poor you!" Juliet laughed.
Meanwhile, Lorelai had walked up to Luke who was trying to fix a watch. "Hey..." She said hesitantly.
"How did it go?" He asked.
"Oh, you know, I think Shakespeare will recover." She tried to joke.
"That's good." Luke said looking back down at his watch.
Lorelai sighed. "Hey, are you good at dating?" She asked.
"What?" Luke said glancing up at her, slightly confused by the dating.
"Dating, do you have that down?" She repeated.
"Ok, if this is about that kid, then..."
"No, it's not about anything. It's just a question." She said.
"Well, I don't know if I have it down. Considering I live with my nephew, I'd say probably not." Luke said.
Lorelai smirked slightly. "I don't have it down either." She admitted. "I've never been very good at it really. I've never even really liked it. Too much 'what if'. I like things I can count on. I mean...uh...actually, with Max, it was the first time I was finally like 'Hey, here it is, that one person who will always be there for me.' And then I turned around, and it's suddenly...'oops'" She laughed nervously.
"Why are you telling me this?" Luke sighed.
"I don't have very many people in my life who are in my life permanently forever. They will always be there for me. I will always be there for them, you know? There's Rory, Juliet, Sookie and this town and...well...you." She said glancing up at him hesitantly. "I mean, at least I think I've got..."
Luke smiled softly. "You do."
Lorelai let out a breath relievd. "Good." She said. "Just checking." She gave him a small smile.
Luke reciprocated the action. "So...tell me about Romeo and Juliet." He said.
Lorelai grinned. "Well, it's so depressing because everybody dies but the clothes were so cute." She said.
"Life can be funny that way." Luke smirked.
Lorelai laughed. "Rory and Juliet were so good though..." She smiled proudly.
"I'm sure they were." Luke smiled. "Who's the guy with Rory?" He asked.
Meanwhile, Juliet was still sat with Jess at the counter. She watched as she saw her mom and Luke laughing. "I think peace is restored." She grinned at Jess.
"Thank god for that." Jess said dryly.
"Hey, want to join us?" She asked him, gesturing to the table.
"Nah I'm cool."
"Alright fine, I'll just leave you all by yourself. It'll be boring." She joked.
"I think I'll be fine." He smirked.
"Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't offer!" She grinned.
"Have a good night." Jess said.
"Wow, and with a straight face you said that." Juliet teased.
"I'm out. Bye." He rolled his eyes.
"Night Jess!" She grinned before going back to the table just as Lorelai returned as well and soon they were all eating their celebratory burgers.
I hope you enjoyed it! Please keep your reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. Thanks again for your continued support! :)