Author's Note: 3 years. It's been three long years and I still know exactly where I want this story to go. This story is going in the same direction that it was when I first sat down to write it and I love that! Usually after a break, something in the story has changed, but not this one! I've been woefully out of the habit but worry not! Here's an update. Try not to die of shock.

This is dedicated to the Guest who reviewed, letting me know good stories never die.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE MOUNTAIN

He paused and looked at her and couldn't help but kiss her at the astounded look on her face. "It's just you Rory Gilmore." She smiled up at him. "Now it's your turn to tell me something."

"Like what?" He brushed his knuckles across her cheek bone.

"Why did you break up with Dean?" She furrowed her eyebrows at his question. She had expected something a bit more general, unfortunately for her. She took a deep breath and tried to think of the right words.

"He just..." She sighed. "I was..." She furrowed her eyebrows again. "I don't think I was in love with him." And then just like that as the words left her mouth she wanted to put them back in and cover it with her hand to stop that from happening until it hit her that they were true. She wasn't in love with Dean. He watched her reaction closely and she spoke and watched her epiphany cover her face. "There was a lot of issues between us that couldn't be resolved." He nodded in silence and touched her hair gently. "Now it's your turn." He smiled to her.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." Her eyes turned wide and he kicked himself as the words came tumbling out in the most intimate moment they'd shared fearing the worst.

It's been a week. A whole week of little to no talking. How could he have been so stupid?! What was he thinking?! He could only kick himself so many times. He'd tried to stay out of the cabin as much as he could but there was only so much space he could give her. She hadn't been much in the way of conversation either and he knew it was all his fault. Today was the day, though. They were going to talk about this. He was going more than a little stir crazy and now with everything else on his mind, he needed her.

"I started us a fire." His voice echoing in the silent cabin startled her, causing him to chuckle. "And some coffee for you." She smiled tightly at him as he motioned for her to come sit next to him. He could tell she was panicking, looking for any excuse to get rid of him. But the coffee was strong and warm and who was she to say no to that.

It had been a week since he's come in telling her he'd found some other smaller cabin several miles up the mountain while he was looking for fire wood. A week since he told her he was falling in love with her. A week since everything that had happened between them. She felt her knees go weak thinking about it.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." Her eyes turned wide and he kicked himself as the words came tumbling out in the most intimate moment they'd shared fearing the worst. She sucked in a deep breath and he could see her wheels turning, making her pro con list. He waited patiently, not wanting to spook her out of her process.

"Okay." His brows furrowed, head turning to the side like a dog.

"Okay?" The word was repeated slowly, like maybe he missed some hidden meaning. She sighed and he could see the fear in her eyes. He brushed her hair behind her ear and considered her carefully. "It scares the hell out of me too Mary."

And like that her lips were on his, but this kiss was different. This kiss was full of everything that neither of their teenage selves knew how to express. The instant warmth that filled their conjoined sleeping bag seemed to make her brave as their skin pressed together. Her breath came hard and fast as he rolled up on top of her, never breaking their kiss, his hand behind her head. She never thought the weight of someone else on her could feel so right. He ran his other hand through her hair and down her side and up again. Not much separated them now and as she pulled away to look into his eyes, she gave him a small smile. She felt him tense above her. "You're sure?" Without a word, her lips were back on his.

There had been a lot of supplies in the cabin he'd found. The first trip, he came back with food and coffee (thank God for the coffee), a ton of extra blankets and batteries. The second trip he'd found a tent. It would help keep them warm and he said he felt more secure in it. She'd given up on asking him to take her too. If this cabin had so much there, why didn't they just move there? He argued it was too steep of a hike and too hard now that he'd brought so much. She had been too cold to argue.

Now sitting here next to the fire, with him staring at her she wondered how she could have let him convince her to come up here with him in the first place.

"Come on, just a little hike." She looked at him incredulously.

"Away from the group?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her to which she scoffed.

"Seriously, Tristan." He shrugs to her then, like he doesn't have a care in the world.

"I saw a cabin on the way up the mountain. I want to go check it out but I can't leave without a buddy." At the word "buddy" he winked at her making her laugh.

"Alright, alright. Let me get my stuff." If she had taken a second look at him she might have thought twice about the "little" hike.

"It's been two hours Tristan!"

"I'm going to guess by your accusatory tone that you're angry Mary. But I'm telling you, we're close!" If looks could kill, he'd have a huge hole in his back right about then.

"And I'm telling you, you've said that five times." She could just barely make out the shrug of his shoulders that he let work as his answer.

"Look! There it is!" The excitement in his voice made her heart jump and forget all her anger. He stopped to let her get closer to him and he took her hand in his. "Come on Mary, let's warm up." He grinned at her impishly when she blushed.

When night started to fall quickly and the snow started up again, he told her it wasn't safe to hike in the dark.

"We have to stay here?" Her hands flailed out as she motioned around the nothingness of the room they were standing in. "I knew this was a bad idea Tristan. Why would we come up so late?"

He stood there, considering her. "I didn't realize the hike would take so long. It looked a lot closer. I will radio our camp and let them know we're stuck." Taking the radio out, he looked up at her with a grimace. "Batteries are low." Her eyes widened with a look he could only describe as pure rage.

"This is DuGrey and Gilmore to base. I repeat, Gilmore and DuGrey to base." After a few seconds of silence and fumbling around with the stations, they got a response.

"This is base. DuGrey, are you and Gilmore alright?"

"We're fine. It's snowing here though so I think we will have to stay the night."

"The night? DuGrey, it's coming a blizzard. We tried to radio you to let you know the weather is too bad but we couldn't get you on the right channel. We will check again tomorrow but we may not be able to get up to you for 48 hours." Ah. That was her look of pure rage.

"48 hours?"

"Yes sir. You guys try to keep warm, base out."

"Base out?! Base out?!" Her voice came out a high pitched shout that made him chuckle.

"Don't worry. They can't go home without us Mary. May as well get comfortable."

It was cold. No, strike that, it was freezing. Below freezing actually.

"How did you ever convince me to do this? Now we're snowed in, lost, and our walkie talkie batteries are dying!" She was trying to think of a time she had been this angry with someone but was coming up with a blank and he was simply contented to ignore her. "Would you say something?"

He huffed out a breath but didn't turn from unpacking their bags.

"I hope you are keeping warm with all that shouting." Truth is she really wasn't. She doubted that it was possible to keep warm in any fashion in this place. She opened her mouth to say something else before he stopped her.

"Look around. See if you see anything useful. Blankets, food, firewood, batteries, anything like that would be helpful." She nodded at his back and silently set to her assignment he had given her. He turned just took take the sight of her, flushed from anger and the cold, and felt that familiar feeling he got every time he saw her. This was going to be a very long weekend.

"Mary?" His voice broke her out of her memory and she glowered at him.

"Can't call me that anymore, now can you?" He winced at her tone and looked hurt for a second before he sighed.
"We can't keep going like this Mary. I told you I loved you. You said it back. We..." He searched for the right word.

"We had sex Tristan. I know. I was there." For a second he debated which was colder, her tone or the room.

"Yes. But I want to talk about before that." She sat her, now cold, coffee down and stood.

"Goodnight Tristan. Hope you enjoy your hike tomorrow." And like that she slid into their tent and he could hear the zippers coming undone. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his ever growing hair. It had been two weeks since they'd gotten stuck up here with no contact from base and they were both a bit edgy. There was only one thing to do. He braced himself for the backlash and followed her into the tent.