Chapter 21: Naked Confessions

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters. Oh and this chapter does contain a sex scene intended for mature audiences only! You have been warned.

A/N: I know it's been forever… but I promised a few loyal readers that I would finish this story, so I intend to keep my word!

Previously:

"I'm not bleeding, anymore," Rory said, turning a little red.

"Oh. So it's…"

"Over." Rory whispered.

Tristan set both down on the coffee table and joined Rory on the couch. They both felt a sense of finality. Maybe their wounds could finally heal, or at least turn to scars. Rory wished she had scars rather than open bloody wounds. Maybe now she could finally move past this nightmare. Of course, she didn't want to move past this nightmare and into the next one. Tristan leaving.

"He promised me he'd never leave me," Rory thought, hoping he would stick to his promise and find a way to stay.

It seemed hopeless, though.

Being at Chilton was a surreal experience. It seemed so meaningless, now. Her baby was dead. Tristan was leaving. Rory felt like her world had collapsed, but she was still supposed to care about the arbitrary things of high school. Rory felt like she had aged over the last few weeks. Her classmates seemed like a bunch of immature children. She didn't have the luxury of childhood, anymore. Her mother told her that pregnancy qualified her for womanhood, and she was right. Ready or not, she was a grown woman capable of growing life inside her. A life that had been taken far too soon. Rory wondered if she would have made a good mother. Her mom was a teenage mother and was the best mom in the world, and she did it all without any support. Rory was going to go through the same thing with her mother and with her boyfriend. Rory knew Tristan would have stayed by her side.

Now, she wasn't so sure if that was going to happen. The week was quickly coming to a close, and Tristan was getting closer and closer to being sent off to military school in North Carolina. How would they ever make their relationship work? Rory also wondered about what kind of relationship they would even have. Did Tristan love her? After their cuddle session in the shed, he had started pulling away from her. She didn't know where he was going or what he was doing, but he was completely shutting her out. Deep down, Rory was afraid he was going to break up with her when he left. She didn't think she could bear any more loss, right now.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Fortunately, people had already grown bored of gossiping about her. Now, they just ignored her or gave her dirty looks. It felt like the beginning of school all over again. Tristan was suspended for fighting, so she ate lunch alone. Even her relationship with Lane was strained right now. She just couldn't talk about music and boys like nothing had ever happened, and Lane couldn't possibly understand what she was going through.

The loneliness felt like it was crushing her. She could barely eat. She couldn't sleep. She thought she would feel relieved to not be pregnant anymore, but all she felt was empty and so very alone. Her life was suffocating her. All of these expectations, and she didn't care about any of them. Why should she care? It's not like any of it truly mattered. You are born, you live, and then you die. What was the point?

She tried talking to her mom, but her mom just wanted her to move on and get past this. She really wanted to. Rory wanted to care about school and her future, but it all seemed so pointless right now. Why should she care?

Rory knew that if anyone could read her mind they would send her to a therapist, but Rory knew it wouldn't help. Nothing could help her. She felt like she was screaming, but no one could hear her.

While Rory was at school, Tristan tried desperately to work on getting emancipated. His cousin was working on getting him to see a judge, but was having trouble getting a hearing before he was scheduled to be shipped off.

Tristan was deeply troubled by Rory's deteriorating emotional condition. She looked like a zombie. Her face looked drawn, and she just looked so tired. She wasn't crying anymore, but Tristan could feel her sadness. He felt completely out of his depth in this situation. What could he do? And what if he had to leave? That thought scared him most of all. He felt like he was the only one that truly saw how badly she was hurting. He felt it in the way she was withdrawing from him a little each day. She did everything that was asked of her, but her eyes looked dull. The sparkle was gone, and he feared it may never come back.

Today was the last chance he could get a meeting with a judge, otherwise it would be too late. He would be at military school and wouldn't be able to come back until summer vacation. That was months from now. He feared what would happen to their relationship in that time. What would happen to Rory? As he was thinking all these things, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Tristan, it's Dawson. Judge Hatfield has agreed to view your case, but you need to get to the courthouse in one hour. He only has a short window of time."

"Thank you so much, I'll see you in an hour," Tristan said.

Rory walked in the door at 4:30 pm. Lorelai was still at work, so she had the house to herself. She didn't know where Tristan was, and at that moment, she didn't care. She just needed time to be by herself. Being around people was exhausting. She decided to run herself a bath. She hoped the hot water would make her feel better.

As Rory soaked in the tub, she had the sudden urge to just go underwater. Taking a deep breath, she plunged her head into the hot water. She could hear the gentle lapping of the water, but everything else was muted. It was so peaceful under here. She had a sudden ridiculous desire to become a mermaid, so she could stay underwater forever. It was so peaceful under here. It felt so different from her life above the surface. Rory stayed under so long, her lungs began to burn with the need for oxygen. She didn't want to surface. Her heart began pounding, and she felt a little dizzy. A sudden thought occurred to her. What if she just didn't come up? How long would it take for her to black out? On some level, Rory knew these feelings were very scary, but it was hard to make herself care at that moment. It would be so easy just to fade out of this life. No more stress, no more worries. At that moment, she felt two hands plunge into the water and pull her up.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Tristan yelled.

Rory gasped for air and sputtered and coughed. She still felt lightheaded and held onto the sides of the tub to keep from falling back in.

"I don't know. I was just taking a bath, and I liked how it felt under the water."

"Rory, I am so worried about you. I think you should go see a shrink."

"You think I'm crazy? Wow Tristan. Nice."

"Of course I don't think you're crazy. I think you're grieving, and I don't know what the hell to do for you. Rory, I am scared for you. I just want you to feel better. You are not the girl I fell in love with."

Rory froze and stared at Tristan with her mouth hanging open.

"What did you just say?"

Tristan couldn't believe the words he had been trying so hard to say just tumbled out of his mouth. Well, there was no going back, now.

"I love you, Rory. I love you so much. I'm sorry I haven't said it, but I just didn't know how to say it. I've wanted to say it for so long. Oh Rory, I love you so much," Tristan babbled.

"I love you, too," Rory replied, quietly.

Rory couldn't believe that this was how they were exchanging the L-word for the first time. She was naked in the bathtub, and Tristan had just saved her from attempting to drown herself. Rory felt better knowing how Tristan felt. Deep down she was glad he pulled her out of the water. Things just seemed immeasurably awful for a second, but this was a tiny sliver of light replaced just a bit of the darkness that threatened to consume her. Tristan loved her. He truly loved her, and he cared about her. They made a child together in love, and nothing would ever change that.

"My mom is working late tonight."

"Oh she is."

"Yeah. Why don't we go to my room, and you can help me pick out something to wear."

Tristan smiled, and grabbed a towel. Rory stood up, and he felt himself getting hard just looking at her wet, naked body. It had been so long since they were together. So much had happened, but in this moment, he just wanted to make love to her.

Rory closed her eyes as Tristan dried off her body. He wrung the water out of her hair and then slowly rubbed the soft fabric over her shoulders. He dried each arm, and then moved on to drying her breasts. He spent extra attention on each peak and she groaned as she felt her nipples stiffen. He ran the towel down her stomach and dried each leg off. Up and down her thighs the towel went. Rory parted her legs to allow him more access to her sex, but he would stop an inch below each time he traveled up her inner-thigh. Rory was panting with need while he teased her relentlessly. Tristan stood up, and Rory groaned in protest, but he placed a finger to her lips and shushed her. He stood behind her and dried her long brown hair again with the towel and moved down her back, this time.

Rory was going crazy as he dried her back and buttocks off. He then dried the backs of her legs and repeated the same up and down motion that he had done with the front. Always stopping just shy of her sex. Rory squirmed as he continued his torturous assault. Finally, he gave her what she wanted. He brought the towel between her legs and rubbed her clitoris. The towel seemed rougher on her sensitive vulva, and she relished in the pleasure Tristan gave her. Suddenly, Tristan stood up and dropped the towel. Before she could protest, he replaced it with his fingers and wrapped his arm around and grabbed her left breast. Rory moaned and leaned against him as he pinched her nipple and rubbed her clitoris. She could feel his penis poking her, and he ground himself against her a couple times as she arched her back. Without warning, Tristan plunged two fingers into her.

"Damn Rory, you're already wet."

"Tristan, I need you. Please," Rory moaned in a breathy voice.

Rory turned around and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head. Then she unbuttoned his pants and pulled them and his boxers down while he stepped out of his shoes. Tristan peeled his socks off and stood there just as naked as she was. He kissed her, and pushed his hot tongue into her waiting mouth. Breaking away for just a second, he pulled a foil packet out of his wallet and put the condom on quickly. Then he pushed Rory against the bathroom door and entered her with two strokes. Rory felt better, immediately. Her right leg was hooked around Tristan's waist and he was supporting it with his left arm.

Rory felt the sweet sensations with every thrust, and before long she felt the familiar quickening inside her. Tristan continued to thrust into her at a demanding pace, and before long she felt herself shatter around him. She called out his name, and Tristan followed soon after. They poured out every intense emotion they had in that moment, and they slid to the bathroom floor feeling utterly spent.

"Wow," Rory said.

"You can say that again. Oh by the way, I guess this is a good time to tell you. I'm not going to military school."

"What?" Rory asked, incredulously.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up until it was a done deal. My cousin is a lawyer, and he just got a judge to emancipate me from my parents. My father no longer has the legal authority to send me to military school. The downside is, I have no money, no way to earn money, no place to live, and absolutely no idea how I'm going to change any of that."

"You're staying?" Rory asked.

"Yup."

For the first time in weeks, Rory felt a genuine smile. Tristan loved her and he was staying. She didn't know how anything else was going to work out, but deep down she knew it would, somehow. For right now, though, everything was okay. Tristan returned her smile and whispered the three words she so wanted to hear in her ear.

"I love you."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter… I know it was a long time coming!