Chapter 4

Colin POV

I couldn't believe that Tristan was here with Rory. Logan had told me that Tristan was in love with her but I didn't know that they were actually together. The three of us sat down together in the booth and I waved the waitress over. I asked her for another glass, a bottle of scotch and a martini for Rory. Tristan's phone rang and he excused himself, making his way outside. "You didn't tell me you were bringing someone with you?" I asked Rory, with a hint of sarcasm.

Rory looked up and glared at me. "Jealous?" She asked me.

It was true that when Rory turned down Logan's proposal back at Yale that I'd actually been relieved. She'd spent time on the campaign trail before she'd found out that she was actually a double heiress. She quickly realized that living out of suitcases on the road wasn't what she actually wanted. So, with the help of her Dad and family names she applied to Harvard Law. It was mere coincidence that we ran into each other. But we spent some time together, I helped her study. When we both would get summoned to Hartford for Society functions, we were each other's dates. Of course there were a couple of nights where we were something else but I couldn't think about that now. It was long over. Logan and I had gotten into it the weekend of his wedding when he'd found me and Rory making out in a coat closet. That had been a horrible conversation. He'd felt betrayed. It was a few months later that Rory took over her family firm and I found out that my father was dying of cancer. When I found out that he wasn't responding to treatment anymore, I called Rory and she came to comfort me. She sat with me all night while I cried. She stayed with during the funeral knowing that I wouldn't have gotten through it without her. Things went back to normal, until I felt the burden of being the CEO of a major law firm. It wasn't until a few months ago that I decided that I didn't want any of it. I picked up the phone and asked Rory to meet me, in the very booth we sat now and I asked her to buy me out.

"Me jealous? Of course not." I said.

She looked over at me with her does eyes. I was weak to those eyes. I had been since the day I met her. "It just would've been nice to have a heads up." I lied. No it wouldn't have. It would have been better had she come by herself. Then I could have told her the truth about why I wanted the merger. I could have told her the truth about how I felt.

A few minutes later, the waitress brought drinks and Tristan made his way back to the table. "Hey, I'm sorry but I gotta run. Janlan needs to see me." Tristan said.

"Oh. Ok." Rory said. She handed him her car keys. "Here take my car. I can get Colin to drop me off." She told him.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's no problem." I told him, trying to hide my excitement that I'd finally get to be alone with her.

"Yeah, ok." Tristan said, before leaning over and giving Rory a quick kiss before leaving.

Once I saw that he was out of the building, I looked back over at Rory. I ran my finger across the top of my glass. "When did you two get together?" I asked, slightly bitter.

"We're not." She said. She sighed. "I'm not sure what we are. Apparently, my dad promised to make him a partner if he could get into my good graces." She told me.

"And is he?" I asked.

"Do you know what you sound like, right now?" She asked causing me to look over at her. "You sound like a jealous ex-boyfriend." She said.

"What if I am a little jealous? We've been through a lot together, Rory." I said.

"I know that." She said barely above a whisper. She looked down at her martini. "I don't really know what you want me to say, Col." She said, hearing her shorten my name was like music to my ears.

"I need to tell you something." I said and she looked at me.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember when Logan walked in on us at his wedding?" I asked.

"Of course. I'd never seen him so mad. Not even when we had that fight before you guys went to Costa Rica." She said.

"Well, after you left to go back to the reception he and I had a long talk. And let's just say that we haven't exactly talked since then." I told her.

She looked at me shocked. "That was a year and a half ago!" She snapped.

"I know." I said.

"What was said?"

"Well…" I said as I started my tell of my conversation with Logan.

***Flashback***

"What the hell are you thinking?" Logan asked me when Rory had walked out.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"You are at my wedding, making out with my ex-girlfriend in a coat closet." He growled.

"It's complicated." I said, looking down to the floor.

"How complicated?" He asked me.

I walked over and leaned against a wall. I sighed. "Rory and I have been seeing each other occasionally since about eight months after she graduated." I told him. He was going to be pissed but it didn't matter anymore. He was married now…to my ex.

Logan ran a hand over his face. "How did it start?" He asked.

"You sure you want the answer to that?" I asked him and he glared at me. "Fine. It started shortly after she started at Harvard Law. We would hang out and in turn I'd help her study. Then it became about needing date for Society functions. Neither of us wanted to be set up. We were both so focused on school, we didn't need the distraction… I guess. One night, we came back from Hartford and of course we were both drunk. One thing led to another and I kissed her. The strangest part was that I had spent so much time wanting to kiss her that it had been incredibly better than I ever could have imagined." I told him.

I heard him growl. "I know that feeling. What else?"

"Here's the part you're really not gonna like. I've had feelings for her since day one." I told him.

"Tell me your joking?" He asked me. I shook my head. "I can't believe this. So your telling me that for the last couple of years you've periodically been hooking up with my ex?"

I shoved my hands into my pockets. If he decided to hit me, I'd give him one free shot. "Yes. But keep in mind… you just married mine." I said.

Surprisingly, he didn't hit me. "Is that it?" He asked and I nodded.

***End Flashback***

It hadn't been it, but I couldn't tell him that. Rory deserved to be the first one to hear about my true feelings. "Wow. That's umm…I don't know what to say." She said, downing the last of her martini, before she poured herself a shot of scotch. She only drank it when she was nervous.

"There's more. There's something that I didn't tell him. But only because I think that you deserve to be the first to know." I told her. She watched me. I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "I've like you since the day we met. That second day, when Finn claimed that he was looking for someone. He wasn't, he lied. It was me. I was looking for you. I was coming to apologize for being rude to your friend. I wanted to make it up to you. I was going to ask you out to dinner, even though I was sure that you'd turn me down. But then you got into that debate with Logan so I just apologized and then went to find Finn." I told her.

She tried to pull her hand back, but I wouldn't let her. "What are you saying, Col? That you've had feelings for me this entire time? Watched me date your best friend, even though you were clearly miserable?" She asked me.

I was trying to find the right words, to what I wanted to say to her. I nodded. "Yes. And then when you said no to Logan, I thought that just maybe… I might have a chance. But then you said that you were going to steer clear of relationships for a while, so I decided to take what I could get. If that meant pizza and study sessions… or being your escort to Hartford, then I was willing to accept that." I told her.

"Why haven't you said anything before?" She asked me, when she quit trying to pull her hand away.

I shook my head. "Because it didn't matter about me, Rory. All that I cared about was your happiness. I still do." I told her.

"So why tell me now?" She asked me.

I let go of her hand and leaned back. I tried to find the right words. "Because I love you Rory. When you walked in here with Tristan, I can see how much he loves you. I thought that you should know before you jumped into something, that you might regret later on." I told her. And it was the truth.

She nodded. She looked back down at her glass. "I'm sorry about your friendship with Logan." She said to me.

I shrugged, even though she wasn't looking at me. "It's fine. I still have you and Finn." I said and she looked up, giving me a small smile.

Rory POV

When Colin dropped me off at my condo, I sat on my front porch for a while thinking about everything that Colin had said.

I wasn't sure how long I'd sat there, but I finally pulled myself together and made my way inside. Tristan was sitting in the living room on the couch, with a beer in front of him. I stood in the doorway and looked at him. "You okay?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know." He said before he looked up at me. "Are we okay?" He asked me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. I walked into the living room and sat on the armrest of the chair.

"That was… some intense tension tonight." Tristan said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"What happened between you and Colin?" He asked me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said standing up and making my way to the kitchen. I needed more alcohol. I pulled the vodka out of the freezer and poured myself a glass.

"I think you do." Tristan said, following me.

I let out a sigh, as I feel the liquid burn my throat. "Colin and I are friends." I tell him the half-truth.

"I think it's more than that. He didn't seem to happy that I'd come with you." He said.

He stands on the other side of the kitchen and we stare at each other not saying a word. "What do you want me to say? My past with Colin is…complicated. More complicated than I ever knew." I say. I down the rest of the vodka in my glass.

"How complicated?" He asks and I glare at him. "You slept with him?" He asks, coldly. I turn to the counter and pour some more vodka in my glass. I take another drink as I hear him walk across the kitchen. He takes the glass from my hand. "I think you've had enough." He tell me.

I never look at him. "What do you want me to say? It was after you and I had met up in Boston but before I applied to Law school. Then some after." I say.

"Do you love him?" He asks me quietly.

I sigh. I knew this was coming. "I don't know." I said.

"Do you love me?"

"I don't know anything right now." I tell him honestly.

"Okay. Umm…I'm gonna go. Call me when you figure things out." Tristan says. I don't hear anything else until it's the front door slamming shut.