26 - Matchmaking Gone Awry?

Mary? Why the hell is Tristan calling her 'Mary'? Marty thought, a little perplexed by the nickname that the blonde man had given the reporter. And just how the hell do they know each other anyway?

"It's been the better part of ten years and you still insist on calling me that?" Rory frowned, her initial annoyance with Tristan now turned into something more akin to disappointment. "So pathetic."

"You wound me with your words, Miss Gilmore," Tristan gasped in mock hurt, hand held up to his chest. "Why, if I was not such a forgiving soul-"

"And here we go," Andy and Rory groaned at the same time, like they expected this sort of response from him. The two women shared a glance and smiled at each other, as though in understanding. Marty found this momentary repoire between the two a tad disconcerning, but decided to simply shrug it off.

"Okay, that wasn't at all creepy," commented Lexie, unknowingly echoing Marty's earlier thought while inviting herself into the conversation. "Now, what did I miss?"

"Apparently, Rory and Tristan here know each other," the blonde answered, smirking at her ex-boyfriend's shocked expression. "Right, Trissy?"

The reporter quirked an eyebrow at the blonde man, clearly amused at his reaction to being called by this moniker. "Trissy? Really?"

"I gave him that nickname!" Lexie cried out with a proud grin, her hand lifted up in the air.

"And you wonder why we never dated, Keaton," Tristan griped at the bubbly brunette.

"We never dated because you were a giant man-whore when we first met, Dugray," the band manager retorted. "And I've made it my perogitive never to date man-whores and douche-bags ever since that cheating jackass Rodney back in the eleventh grade. Luckily for you though, Andy wasn't so discriminating on who she dated in college. She truly was a dumb blonde back then."

"Did you just take a snipe at me, too?" Andrea scoffed, shoving the laughing brunette. "Traitorous whore."

"Oh, you know I only snipe at you out of love," Lexie said while patting the blonde girl's arm in a condescending fashion, then hiked her thumb at the other blonde in their little group. "Trissy, on the otherhand, I eviscerate for fun!" The brunette then turned to smile at Marty with an overly sweet expression on her face, which made the tall architect nervous all of a sudden. "Besides, you've got yourself a wonderful new gentleman at your beck and call now, Miss Walker soon-to-be Harrison!"

"Okay, before this conversation veers too far off course and tumbles even further into the realm of absurdity," a slightly uncomfortable and impatient Marty interupted, his curiosity on how his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend knew Rory finally getting the better of him. "How do you two know each other?"

"We went to Chilton Preparatory Academy together," Rory answered simply, adding with a casual shrug. "Well, before Trissy got himself sent off to military school in North Carolina, a third of the way into junior year, that is."

"Which is where we met," Lexie piped up, then quickly ammended. "At the University of North Carolina, I mean, not at military school. I mean, can you imagine me in a military school?"

"With your total lack of discipline and self-control, I'd have to say no," Andy stated, sticking her tongue out at her best friend's shocked expression.

"Well, as much fun as this trip down memory lane is, I could use another drink," Tristan declared, his nearly empty held up for all to see. "Anybody wanna come with? Mary?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass," the reporter stated, her attention shifting over the balcony to gaze over the crowd on the ground floor below them. With this single simple action, a bored looking Rory had effectively thrown a wrench in the matchmaking scheme that Andy had devised. It was quite clear that she was not at all interested in Tristan, which surprised Marty since the blonde man seemed to fit her usual dating criteria to a tee. The guy was cocky, obnoxious, immature and, as much as Marty was loathed to admit it, intelligent. Hell, he was simply a taller and more likable version of Logan, only without the constant need to show people that he comes from a wealthy background, or the insufferable brainless lackeys following him all over the place to feed his already over-inflated ego.

Now that I think about it, Dan could easily be put in some of those catagories, too, Marty realized with a frown, not understanding why Rory hadn't already thrown herself at the tall blonde. She had seemingly been drawn to his annoying older brother during Dan's visit a few weeks ago, so what had changed between then and now? What was he missing here?

"I'll go with you, Tris," an over-excited Lexie squealed, her sudden high pitch jolting the architect from his meandering thoughts with a wince. "I need a new one myself as well."

"Fine, let's go, Keats," the tall blonde sighed before offering his arm to the bubbly brunette, who latched herself onto Tristan like an overzealous child would. "Ow, not so rough!"

"Oh, don't be such a whiny bitch," she chided playfully, then waved at the group. "TTFN!"

"That girl should come with a warning label of some kind," Marty commented with a shake of his head, brown eyes watching the pair approach the bar. He turned his attention back to his fiance, who was now watching Rory continue her bored vigil over the crowd dancing down on the main floor. Seeing that Rory looked deep in thought and probably didn't want to be disturbed at the moment, he decided to attract the concerned blonde's attention by laying a hand on her slender shoulder. "Babe?"

Tearing her eyes from the brooding brunette, Andy glanced at him. "Yeah?"

"Dance with me?" Marty asked, his hand now held out for her to take.

"Well, if I must," she joked, a lithe hand slipping into his grasp and allowing Marty to lead her down onto the dance floor. Despite the fact that the DJ was playing an up-tempo song, Andy flung her arms onto his shoulders and remained close to her fiance as they swayed accordingly to the music. He could tell that something was bothering the curly haired blonde, but refused to try to get her to talk about it. Andy would only do so when she was ready, which just so happened to be after the song ended and the couple were halfway back up the stairs to rejoin their friends. "I think I pissed Rory off."

"No, you didn't," he assured the blonde, even if he wasn't completely sure if that was true.

Andy frowned, "Then why is she all broody?"

"Rory is probably just missing her mom right now, who she's very close to," reasoned Marty with a shrug. "And seeing as she's a long way from home and it's the holidays..."

"Guess that explains why she always seems so lonely and withdrawn as of late," she sighed, her brow furrowing slightly in thought. "But my meddling can't have helped matters."

"It'll be fine, babe," Marty smiled, convincing himself that his explanation was correct. He reached out and took hold of her hand once again. "Come on, let's get back to everybody. It's almost midnight, and I'd like to ring in the New Year by making our engagement public knowledge."

"Now that sounds like a great plan, darling," Andy beamed, obviously liking the sound of that. As the soon-to-be married couple approached where they had last left Rory standing alone, they found their other brunette friend there all by her lonesome instead. "Hey, where are the others?"

"Rory got a call on her cell while you were away, and Tristan just left to go check up on her," answered Lexie, leaning lazily against the balcony rail. "They're probably both freezing their asses off on the outside balcony as we speak."

"Well, it looks like my matchmaking may not turn out to be such a bust after all," Andy assumed with a triumphant smirk.

"Guess not," Marty agreed, trying to ignore the knot that had formed in his stomach.

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