-1Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, or any of the characters. I just use them in my own twisted plots.

A/N: I am overwhelmed by the huge number of reviews! I get warm fuzzies every time I see new reviews. I'd like to thank Christi for all her help on this story.

Rating: PG-13

Previously:

Rory's heart sank as she watched Tristan's father walk away. Tristan was leaving her in a week. Seven short little days. He would be gone.

"Let's go," Tristan said quietly, knowing she was disappointed in him.

"Why would you punch Mike Durcan? I mean, he's a total jerk, but why would you……… Oh, it was him. Wasn't it?"

Tristan nodded, but remained silent. Rory almost started crying right then, but held her tears in. She'd cried enough for the rest of her life.

"Um, we should head to Stars Hollow, or Mom will start to worry."

"Okay."

As they walked towards Tristan's car, he reached out and took Rory's hand. She couldn't hold back and one single tear trickled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, not wanting him to see. He did see and it broke his heart.

Chapter 19: Silence and Tears

Rory didn't say a word on the entire ride home. She was too upset to open her mouth, because she feared that she would start crying if she did. So, Rory kept her mouth shut in a tight line and stared out the window. Tristan was partially ashamed for what he did, but on the other hand he wouldn't have changed anything. Besides, he had a plan for how to get out of this. He didn't want to tell Rory in case it didn't work out, but he was going to try.

The teens finally pulled into Rory's driveway and they trudged into the house. Rory hoped to hear the reassuring voice of her mother, but the house was deathly silent. Sighing, Rory walked into the kitchen table and saw the note.

Rory and Bible Boy,

I'm working late at the inn, tonight, and then I have class. Take care of my little girl, Tristan. Or else. I don't really know what I'll do, but it will be painful… trust me. Eat whatever. I'll be back as soon as I can.

Love,

Your absolutely magnificent mother, AKA Lorelai the Great, for Tristan

"Great," Rory thought.

She was really hoping for a buffer. Rory didn't want to talk to her mother, but by having her here it would make the unbearable silence end. Rory did the only thing her raging hormones would allow her to do. She smashed the note down on the table and stalked into her room, slamming it shut behind her. It was too much for her to bear, and she leaned against the back of her door and slid down to the floor. Rory pulled her knees up and buried her head in her arms. The tears she held back all day long finally came to the surface.

She sobbed almost silently, except with the occasional gasp for air. It was the kind of cry that made her chest ache. Her head felt swollen, like it would explode at any moment, and she couldn't breathe.

Tristan was bewildered by her actions. They were holding hands in the parking lot, and now she shut herself in her room. He picked up the piece of paper she smacked onto the table and read it.

"Great," he thought to himself. "I'm all alone with her. I don't know what to say! How can I explain that I had to do it?"

Tristan walked over to her bedroom door and raised his hand to knock. At that moment, he heard her take a gasp and let out a little sob. She was crying. He felt like slitting his wrists. Tristan quietly turned her door knob and began pushing the door, but it was stuck. He gave it a shove, and heard a muffled cry on the other end.

"Rory?" Tristan quietly called to her.

Rory felt the door opening, and she dug her heels into the floor to keep him out. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to see him. She just wanted to be left alone. When he called her name, so sweetly, she just felt anger building up within her. She stood up and swung the door open.

Tristan regretted interrupting her the moment he saw her face. Her face was flushed, and she had tear streaks all the way down her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy, and her entire body was shaking uncontrollably. On top of that, she was still sobbing.

Rory knew she looked ridiculous, but at this point it was out of her control. She looked at Tristan with all the anger and sadness she had buried in her soul.

"L-l-leave me-he alone!" she screamed, her voice broken up by sobs.

She slammed the door behind her and collapsed on her bed to wallow in self-pity. Rory hated her life. It wasn't fair. So, Rory laid on her bed and cried for her child. She cried for losing Tristan. She cried because she loved him so much, but he didn't love her back. But mostly, she cried because she would never get the chance to make him love her. Tristan sat down and listened to her cry. That was his self-inflicted punishment. After all, it was all his fault.

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After an hour, Tristan had had enough. He couldn't stand it any more, so he decided to get something done. Tristan picked up his phone and called his lawyer to set up a meeting. Since he was suspended from school, he had the rest of the week to try to get out of this. The rest of the week to get emancipated from his parents.

He had plenty of grounds. After all, his mother was a drunk and his father didn't care about him at all. That was evident by all the time his father spent away from his family. The list of girls he had cheated on his mother with, and his father had even beaten him a few times. Tristan had been smart enough to take pictures of his bruises in case it ever came to this. All he had to do was get a judge to agree with him and then he could stay with Rory.

Tristan exited the kitchen and took out his cell phone in order to call the best lawyer he knew. His cousin, Dawson Knowles. Dawson was a cut-throat lawyer, and since Tristan was related to him, he knew that Dawson would do whatever he could to get him emancipated.

"Dawson Knowles speaking. How may I help you?" Tristan's cousin greeted.

"Hey Dawson, it's Tristan."

"Tristan! Hey man, what's going on?"

"I'm in a bit of trouble, and I was wondering if you could help me out."

"What sort of trouble," Dawson asked, concerned.

"Okay, I got into a fight at school and my dad is having me sent to military school. That is, unless I can get emancipated."

"Emancipated! Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I really am. I was wondering if you could have it done this week."

Dawson almost choked. "You want me to get a hearing set up, and have all the paperwork done in a week! Are you crazy?"

"No, but I am desperate. Please tell me you can do this. Please."

"Well, how about you come by my office tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll set up a meeting with a judge on Thursday if I can. I'm not going to make any promises, but you're just lucky this isn't the most difficult legal thing to do."

"Should I bring all my evidence?"

"Evidence? You have evidence?" Dawson inquired.

"Yeah, Dad's given me a few nasty beatings in his drunken stupor, so I decided to take pictures of my bruises. Just in case, you know."

"Well, this actually will probably speed up the process, then. I'll say it's for a minor's safety."

Tristan smiled, sure this would work. "Thanks Dawson. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Tristan hung up the phone and had a burst of hope. This would work. It had to work. At that moment, Rory's door swung open. Tristan watched his girlfriend walk into the bathroom. He heard the water running, and after a couple of minutes, she emerged, drying her face.

"I'm going to change my clothes and then we can get something to eat, okay?"

"Alright, Rory."

Her door shut again, but it was opened a couple of minutes later. He saw that she had put on a little makeup, which was odd for her. Rory didn't need any makeup, and she only wore it on special occasions. Rory was using it as a mask. She was trying to hide her feelings and her pain behind a layer of cosmetics, and it really bothered Tristan. She looked nice, but she didn't look like Rory. He didn't say anything to her about it, but it really showed him that she wasn't as stable as she let on. Rory was cracking. He had a feeling it was only a matter of time before she completely broke.

"Is Luke's okay?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," Tristan told her.

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Luke hadn't heard from the Gilmore's since "the incident." He wondered how Rory was doing, but he was afraid to go over there. Luke was sure that she wasn't ready for visitors. He busied himself in his work, and tried to ignore all the gossip. Everyone knew about the baby. In a small town like Stars Hollow, nothing stayed secret for long. Luke looked up as the door rang, and he was shocked when he saw the customers.

"Rory. Are you okay?" Luke asked, concern etched into his face.

Rory was so sick of everyone asking her that. "Yeah, Luke. I'm fine. We'll just sit at the bar."

"Can I get you something?" Luke asked.

"I'll have some coffee," Rory ordered.

"I'll just have some water," Tristan said, quietly.

Tristan began looking at a menu, and Rory looked around at all the staring eyes. Everyone knew. Her mother told her otherwise, but she knew just by looking at everyone. She didn't care, though. She set her gaze, and stared right back at all of them. They quickly turned away. Satisfied, she turned back around just in time for her coffee to be served.

"So, how are you, really?" Luke asked, in a very low voice.

Rory looked at him, and she almost lost her composure right there in that chair.

"I'm…"

Rory ended it with a shrug. How was she supposed to finish that sentence? Was she supposed to tell Luke that she was so depressed that the thought of eating even made her want to vomit? Was she supposed to tell Luke that the man she loved was being sent away from her? Was she supposed to tell Luke that she wished every day it had been her instead of her baby?

"Rory, can you come upstairs for a minute?" Luke asked her.

Rory nodded and followed the man that was like a father to her up the stairs to his apartment. She stood in the kitchen awkwardly, waiting for Luke to close the door. Luke shut the door quietly and faced Rory. He still thought of her as the little girl he made mashed potatoes for when she had the chicken pox. But she wasn't a little girl anymore. She had grown up so much over the last few months.

"Rory, I know you're hurting. Do you want to talk about it?"

Rory was taken aback. No one had asked her that. Everyone had just assumed that she wanted to be alone. She pondered his question and really thought about it. Did she want to talk about it?

"I don't know," she told him, honestly.

"I just don't know what's going on, anymore. I feel like I'm going to snap at any moment."

"Then snap," Luke told her.

"I can't. You don't understand. It's all going to hell."

Luke raised an eyebrow at her use of language, but decided to let her get it all out.

"What's going to hell, Rory?"

"My life. Everything. It's all falling apart. I had a plan! I was going to finish high school at the top of my class and get in to Harvard. I would become a journalist and if I met somebody fine, and if not then I'd travel the world. But now… everything's changed."

Luke remained silent and let her rant.

"I was pregnant, Luke. I was so scared. Oh my God, all I could think about was how hard it was going to be telling everyone. I was so caught up in my life that I let myself get too stressed out. I didn't worry about my child, and now it's dead. Luke, my baby is dead and it's all my fault."

"No it's not, Rory," Luke told her, firmly.

"Oh yes it is. And now… Tristan's leaving me."

Luke gritted his teeth. "What?!"

"It's not his fault. His father is sending him to military school because of the fight, but that's not his fault either."

"Could you tell me what is his fault? Because it sounds like all of this is his fault," Luke said, growing angrier by the second.

"No it's not. I was so mad at him, but it's not his fault. It's my fault. Everyone found out about the miscarriage. And this guy drew a picture on the board," Rory's voice broke at that second and hot tears dripped down her cheeks.

"He drew that p-picture. Tristan was s-so mad. H-he beat the c-crap out of h-him for it. Now, h-he's l-l-leaving m-m-me. I can't do th-this all alone."

At that point she was crying, and Luke walked over and gave her a hug. Rory buried her head into his chest and bawled. She couldn't take this anymore. She had to get out. Rory had to get out of there.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Rory opened the door and ran down the stairs and out the door. Everyone stared at Luke as he came down. Tristan just sat their, completely stupefied as to what happened.

Luke turned to Tristan. "She's not doing so good. I'd go after her if I were you."

Tristan understood and ran out of the diner. He had no idea where she would be, but he had to find her.

"Rory!" he screamed, then he tripped over something.

He looked down and saw it was a small paperback book. He knew which way Rory had gone and he began to run. He'd run forever if he had to.

A/N: What did you think? Please tell me! I live for reviews. It's sad, but true.