I'm sorry about the long wait! I had a week off work and went abroad to visit my mum so had limited wifi service! Anyway, I'm back now so here's the next chapter! This one might be a bit Rory centric but I wanted her storyline to be part of this story as well. :)
Chapter 5
Rory was watching the doorway of the hall at Yale, waiting for her mom and dad to show up. They were coming to watch her journalism panel, probably the first school event that her dad had come to so she was excited for him to come for once. He had seemed to have accepted mom and Luke as well so she hoped that would continue. Suddenly she was brought out of her daze by a familiar voice.
"I wondered if I would ever see you again, Mary."
Rory turned round. "Tristan?" She said surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Same thing as you. It's a journalism panel." Tristan replied with his trademark smirk.
Rory frowned. "But...you...?" She stammered confused.
"I'm the Princeton representative." Tristan explained, amused by her shock.
Rory recovered a little and then smirked. "Ah so you're the pompous Princeton guy everyone's talking about. Figures!"
Tristan smirked. "Well I'm glad I have a reputation!"
"So you go to Princeton?" She asked.
"Seeing as I'm pompous Princeton guy, I'd say that was a safe bet yes." He nodded.
"Tristan!" Rory rolled her eyes.
Tristan smirked. "I applied to Princeton after military school. Figured you were right. I wanted to show my father I could make something of I applied for college and got accepted into Princeton."
"Wow, well congratulations." Rory said sincerely. She would never admit it but she did have a soft spot for Tristan. After his apology for making her life hell in the first year at Chilton, he was actually ok. Yes, he still tried to mess with Dean but she knew now that her and Dean hadn't meant to be. She took in Tristan's appearance and saw that his hair was shorter and he was a bit bulkier but he still looked and seemed like the same Tristan she knew. "So how was military school?" She asked. "Did you hate it?"
"Actually no." Tristan admitted. He chuckled when Rory looked surprised. "It was hard at the start. I tried to get away with stuff but at military school, you can't get away with anything and I soon learnt that the hard way. Once I found that out and actually started working, I made some good friends there and the teachers treated us well if we were good. It was good for me." He said.
Rory smiled. "Well I'm glad. I knew you could achieve good things if you stopped being a..." She started saying but stopped.
"A jerk?" Tristan smirked.
"I was going to say ass but sure, a jerk works too." Rory grinned.
"Language, Mary!" Tristan exclaimed in mock horror.
"Hey, I work for the paper now. I've learnt how to say ass." Rory joked.
He chuckled. "I see that. Well I look forward to kicking your ass in this debate, Mary." He smirked.
"You wish." Rory said. She was then distracted when she saw her mom and dad arriving. "I have to go say hi to my parents."
"Sure, go. I'll see you up there." Tristan said heading towards the stage.
"Hey Tristan?" Rory said.
"Yeah?"
"You shouldn't really be calling me Mary anymore. It's not factually correct." Rory smirked. She grinned at the expression on his face and then turned to greet her parents. "Hey!" She smiled.
"Hey hon!" Lorelai smiled. "You ready?"
"Yep!" Rory grinned. "Do you want some gossip?"
"Oooh always!" Lorelai grinned.
"Guess who pompous Princeton guy is!" Rory grinned.
Lorelai looked up at the stage and then gasped. "Is that...?"
"Yep. Seems like he got his stuff together and actually went to college." Rory said.
"Why, who is it?" Christopher asked, feeling out of the loop.
"Long story, don't worry." Lorelai said, missing the regretful look on Christopher's face. "So have you talked to him?"
"Yeah, only briefly. Sort of makes me less nervous for this panel knowing someone on it." She said.
"Good. Because we were going to do the wave if we needed to." Lorelai joked.
"Please don't!" Rory rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I better go. I'm glad you could come." She smiled and then headed up to the stage.
"Well, I have to admit, I forgot just how like Paris you were in debating." Tristan said as the panellists started getting up after it had finished. He held his hand out. "Well played."
Rory shook it. "Why thank you. I knew hanging out with Paris would have its perks eventually." She joked.
Tristan chuckled. "So..uh..I think we're all going to get a drink later? You want to join?" He asked.
"I can't." Rory said. She saw the disappointment in his face. "I'm sorry. I would do but I've got newspaper stuff to do. I need to be there. And then I need to pack. My boyfriend's sister's getting married tomorrow and we were going to go together."
"Oh ok. Fair enough." Tristan said, hiding his disappointment in hearing she had a boyfriend. "It was nice seeing you, Mary."
"What did I say about calling me Mary?" Rory rolled her eyes.
"I know but you'll always be Mary to me." He smirked. "So..uh..good luck with everything at Yale yeah?"
"Thanks. And good luck at Princeton too." Rory smiled. "I'm glad we got to catch up."
"Me too. Bye then." Tristan said.
"Bye." Rory smiled. She watched him head out with the other panellists and then headed over to her parents.
"Hey! You were amazing!" Lorelai gushed giving her a hug.
"Thanks!" Rory grinned.
"Yeah you were great kiddo." Chris smiled. "So have you got time to go for a meal with us?"
"Sorry, I have newspaper stuff to do. Rain check?" She said.
"Oh sure." Chris said. "We just got rain checked." He said to Lorelai as they watched Rory walk off.
"The joys of having a student as a daughter now." Lorelai joked.
"So..uh..do you want to go grab a drink?" He asked.
"Oh..uh..I can't." Lorelai said.
"Of course not." Chris sighed.
"April's coming to stay with Luke tonight and I said I'd help him get ready." She said.
"Oh. Ok. No worries." Chris said.
"It was good of you to come to this though. It meant a lot to Rory." Lorelai smiled. "So..uh..see ya Chris."
"Bye." Chris sighed wistfully, watching Lorelai leave.
She couldn't believe it. How could she have been so stupid? How could she think she could ever change him? Rory collapsed onto a stool in a bar near Yale, totally dejected. He had cheated on her. With an entire bridal party. "Scotch please. And keep them coming." She said to the bar man.
She sat there for what seemed like hours, just drinking and feeling sorry for herself. It just made her feel angrier though. Angry that she actually thought Logan loved her. Angry that she had trusted him. She pushed her glass across to the bar man. "Another please." She said.
"I think you've had enough." A voice said from beside her.
Rory frowned as she turned to her side. "What's it to you? I'm allowed to drink if I want to."
"Not if you've have 5 in a row." Tristan said. He gave the bar man a small smile. "A big glass of water please."
"Hey! You can't tell me what to do! You don't have the right to come in here and butt in to my life." Rory said angrily, slurring a little. "You...You can't just tell me what to do. I...I can drink if I want..." She said but somehow she felt the fight leave her.
"Here, drink this." Tristan said quietly, handing her the glass of water. He watched as she silently started to drink it. "Are you ok?" He asked hesitantly. He then grimaced as she gave him a look. "Ok, silly question." He said holding his hands up.
Rory sighed. "I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled.
"Ok." Tristan said, going quiet.
Rory looked at him. "That's it? You're not going to ask?"
"You said you didn't want to talk about it." He shrugged.
"Yeah. But I also wanted to be by myself but you made sure that wasn't going to happen." She snapped. She glanced at him when he hadn't said anything to that and sighed. "Sorry." She said quietly.
"It's fine." Tristan said.
Rory suddenly felt tears prick her eyes. "I've just had a crap day, that's all."
"I figured." He nodded.
"I...I found out that my boyfriend cheated on me." She said quietly, sniffing slightly.
"Oh..." Tristan said.
"With an entire bridal party." Rory said.
"Ouch." Tristan said. He saw how heartbroken Rory looked and he felt his blood boil. "What a jerk." He said.
"He's an ass." Rory said angrily.
Tristan smirked slightly. "A real ass. A jerky ass." He said.
Rory glanced at him and smirked slightly. She then sighed. "I just...we were so happy. I thought...I thought he loved me."
"I'm sorry." Tristan said sincerely.
"It's not your fault." Rory said quietly. She finished the glass of water. "You're right. Drinking isn't going to help. I think I might just go home for the weekend."
"Good idea. Wait, you're not going to drive are you?" He asked concerned.
"No, I'll get the train or the bus or something." Rory said.
"Ok. Good." He nodded.
"What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you heading back to Princeton?"
"Yeah tomorrow. I was going to catch up with Paris before I go back." He said.
"Paris?" Rory asked surprised.
"Yeah, we sort of kept in touch since I left Chilton. We've known each other a long time and she's been a good friend to me." He said.
Rory smiled. "Yeah she is a good friend." She said.
"Here." Tristan said handing her a piece of paper.
"What's this?"
"My number and my email." He said.
"What?" Rory asked surprised. "Tristan..."
"It's not what you think. I don't want to jump in and try and win you round. I did that at Chilton and it didn't end well. Plus it would make me an ass." He smirked.
Rory smirked, wiping some tears off her face. "A jerky ass."
Tristan chuckled. "I just thought, if you ever need a friend to talk to, well you've got my number and email. It would be nice to keep in touch. That is, if you want to?" He asked cautiously.
Rory smiled and took the piece of paper. "Yeah, that would be nice. Thanks." She said softly.
"You want me to take you to the bus stop?" He asked.
"No, it's ok. But thanks." She gave him a small smile. "See you around."
"Bye." Tristan smiled as he watched Rory walk out.
"Mom?" Rory called as she entered the Crap Shack later that day. She froze when she saw a young girl in the lounge. She cringed. She'd forgotten April was coming this weekend. "Oh..hi..." She said. "You must be April." She said, forcing a smile on her face.
"You must be Rory." April smiled shyly.
"That's me. It's nice to meet you." Rory smiled.
"You too." April said.
Luke came through from the kitchen. "Rory?" He said surprised. "Were we expecting you?"
"Uh..not exactly. Sorry. It was a spur of the moment visit." Rory said sheepishly. "I should have called."
"No, it's ok." Luke said quickly. "You're always welcome. It's your home. Your mom will be thrilled to see you."
"Is she here?" Rory asked, really needing a mother daughter chat right now.
"No, she's got a meeting at the inn. She was going to meet us here for dinner." Luke said.
"Oh. Ok. Well I guess I'll just get some studying done while I wait." She said heading to her room.
"Are you ok?" Luke asked following her.
"What? Yeah! Me? I'm fine." Rory said forcing a smile on her face again.
"Rory..." Luke said softly, seeing right through her.
"God, sometimes I wish you didn't know me so well..." Rory sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table.
"Are you ok?" He repeated again.
"I will be. I just...I want to talk to mom." Rory said quietly.
"Ok." Luke said studying her closely but not wanting to push her. "You want a burger?" He asked.
Rory perked up. "Yes please. I've missed your burgers." She said.
Luke smirked, glad to see some of the old Rory back in her. "I'll make you one now while we wait for your mom."
Rory was silent just watching Luke cook and she smiled at how normal it felt having him in the house. "Logan and I broke up." She suddenly blurted out.
"Oh." Luke said. "I..uh...I'm sorry." He said awkwardly.
"He cheated on me." Rory said quietly.
"What?" Luke said angrily. "When? What was he thinking? How could he...?"
"Luke, it's ok..." Rory said softly.
"No. No it's not ok! He's hurt you! Does he know how lucky he was to have you? Where is he? I'll go give him something to cry about if you want." He said angrily.
Rory had to smile at that. "Thanks but beating up another of my boyfriends probably isn't going to make me feel better. Does he deserve it? Yeah. But it won't stop his cheating being true."
Luke looked sheepish. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine. I would love to see you beat Logan up right now. But I don't want to see you going to jail. And neither would mom." She said.
Luke sighed. "Sorry."
Rory smiled at him. "I'm ok, Luke. It'll take some time, but I'll be ok." She said softly. "And eating one of your burgers and drinking some of your coffee would really help right now." She joked.
Luke rolled his eyes but smirked slightly. "Just this once, I'm not giving you any lectures." He said plating up her burger and then turning on the coffee machine.
"Thanks." Rory smiled. She tucked into her burger and then glanced up at him. "So...that was April in there huh?"
"Yeah..." Luke said.
"She looks like you." Rory smiled.
"You think?" Luke asked surprised.
"Oh yeah, I could definitely see you in her. Plus she was changing our salt and pepper shakers. She's basically your clone." Rory joked.
"Yeah?" Luke said, pride evident in her voice.
Rory smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad you're able to spend this weekend with her."
Luke smiled. "Yeah me too." He said softly. "Are you staying the night?"
"If that's ok?"
"Of course." He nodded. "I'd love for you to get to know April as well. I think you'd like her. She likes reading plus she's super bright like you." He said.
"Luke.." She laughed. "You don't need to try and sell her to me. She's related to you. I'm sure I'll love her." She smiled.
Luke smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I just...I know this has been a big change for everyone. I just...I want April to feel like part of the family."
"She will." Rory smiled. "Hey Luke?" She said after a moment as she watched him go back to cooking their dinner.
"Yeah?" He asked glancing round.
"Thanks for the comfort burger and coffee." She said quietly.
"Anytime." He smiled softly.
Rory smiled and she took out her mobile and then took the piece of paper she had in her pocket out. She took a deep breath before typing in the number and then sending a text.
Thanks for earlier. I'm home now and am feeling a bit better. x
She felt a buzz after a minute.
You don't need to thank me. I'm glad you're feeling better. Enjoy your time at home. x
Rory smiled and put her mobile away and continued eating just watching Luke move round the kitchen easily, waiting for her mom to return home.
So I hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming as I really love reading them. I really appreciate receiving them as well so thank you so much for your support so far! :) Sorry about this being a bit Rory heavy but I wanted to get her storyline going as well. Next chapter will be more balanced. :)
