Wait For Me
Three
And it starts
Sometime around midnight
Or at least that's when you lose yourself
For a minute or two
Rory turned the key in her apartment door and narrowed her eyes as she realized it was already unlocked. Pushing it open, she heaved her over packed book bag onto the kitchen counter with a thump and glared towards the living room where loud cheering could be heard.
Great, just great. Tristan had to have all his friends over on the night when she had a deadline and some serious writers block.
Taking a slow, deep breath, she picked her bag up and set it down again but with much more force, sending a crack throughout the entire apartment. The voices instantly quieted.
Becoming angrier by the second, she opened her bag and started pulling her books out much more forcefully than necessary and only spared Tristan a momentary glance when he entered the kitchen.
"Having a party?" The words were lethal and she didn't care. She had a headache coming on and her whole afternoon in the library resulted in only two paragraphs which she had just deleted after rereading them and hating every word. "Didn't mean to interrupt but the library closed. I would have just opened my laptop and went at it on a park bench somewhere but the sun was setting and I was afraid of getting mugged." After taking out her laptop and putting it on the table, she turned towards the living room where the voices had now quieted but the TV still rang loud with the sounds of the football game that was on. "Though I see all the hoodlums I would have to be worried about are actually in my living room."
Oh god, she sounded like her grandmother.
Tristan looked like he was about to laugh but seemed to think better of it and quickly covered it with a cough. He was lucky, Rory thought, because if he had laughed there was a good chance that she would have thrown one of her books right at his head.
"Still having trouble?" Was all he asked, his blue eyes impassive as he watched her, leaning back against the kitchen island with his hands deep in his pockets.
Rory blinked, feigning confusion. "What gave you that idea?" she asked sweetly before collapsing into a chair and staring dumbly at her computer.
"You need a break, Mary." Tristan chastised from behind her. "You've been at it for a week now and nothing is coming up. I've been telling you you just need to relax and not think about it for a while and it will just come to you."
Rory rolled her eyes. "That's so easy for you to say. You're not the one going on the final few hours before my deadline for an article that could have a major impact on my chances for employment after school. I don't think a horse tranquilizer would be able to relax me right now."
Tristan didn't say another word and just headed back towards the living room. A minute later, and a few random apologies from some of the guys as they walked past her, the apartment was empty except for her and Tristan.
"You didn't have to send them home." Rory muttered, now feeling horrible for taking her stress out on him.
"Well…" Tristan began, coming up from behind her and squatting down, leaning over her chair until his chin rested on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her. "We needed some privacy."
"Tristan, I need to…."
His lips were at her ear, his hot breath quieting her and she found her eyes closing automatically as the heat sent need throughout her body. Feelings she had been suppressing all week, telling herself she needed to focus on her work and not sex. "Shhh."
Before she knew what he was doing, his hand was on her computer, clicking out of her writing program and disconnecting the wifi before opening up the webcam and enlarging the screen until all she saw was them. "What are you doing?" Her words were shaky as excitement rushed through her.
"I want you to be able to watch." he told her, his lips against her ear again before slowly traveling down her neck. "I want you to see yourself relax." He nipped at her ear. "I want you to watch me get you off." He teased, nipped, sucked and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the screen and what he was doing to her. "I'm helping you out, baby. Just enjoy the show."
She never knew she'd be turned on by watching the way he kissed her but yet found her breaths getting more shallow as the need built. Watching his mouth work at her neck, his hands caressing the skin under her shirt while she sat there completely helpless to him and forgetting her deadline. Forgetting everything except the fact that he was getting to her in a way he had never before.
A quick movement had his hands rising higher under her shirt until it was up over her head and her bra quickly followed. Yet still he stayed behind her, on his knees now, the back of the chair still separating them except for his hands wrapped around her body and caressing the now exposed skin.
She wanted to shy away, but couldn't. Seeing herself being touched, watching his eyes behind her as they clouded while he made her body come alive. It was one of the most erotic moments of her life. His hands came up to caress her breasts, toying with her nipples until her knuckles turned white from gripping the arms of her chair so hard.
"Tristan…" she breathed, closing her eyes momentarily but then quickly opening them again when he bit her neck.
"Keep them open, baby. Watch how I help you relax." His words moved over her as he kissed down her shoulder and one hand journeyed back down her stomach to slip under the yoga pants she wore.
She couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips and then her eyes met his on the screen as he swore, feeling just how ready she already was for him.
"Tristan…" she pleaded, needing him. Needing to be skin to skin with him, to feel him inside her.
"Patience, Mary." his eyes glinted as his fingers slipped inside her. "Watch." he demanded when her eyes fluttered closed again and she looked back at the screen, watching him building her up higher and higher. His expert fingers moved inside of her and back out again while his thumb circled her clit until she was writhing in her chair.
She came in an instant, the feeling of it quaking through her whole body had her head falling back, yet her eyes were unable to be torn away from the sight of herself. Of him still touching her, driving her higher.
His eyes met hers again before he suddenly spun her chair around until she was facing him and brought his lips down to hers as he pulled off his shirt and started unhooking his pants.
"Get on the table."
Clouded eyes met his momentarily before she moved her laptop to the side and obeyed.
"Rory…"
"Rory? Are you okay?"
"What?"
Edie, the sophomore Yale student who interned part time as Rory's assistant straightened her glasses, looking around awkwardly before meeting Rory's eyes again. "I asked you for your advice on de-stressing when you have a huge deadline and a bad case of writer's block and you just kind of… zoned out." Her voice quieted with the last words, obviously afraid of overstepping her bounds. Her shyness and drive was what had Rory hiring her though she really didn't need an assistant. The girl reminded her so much of herself at that age.
"I umm…" Rory brushed her hair back from her face, suddenly feeling like the room was far too small to be in. Oh, wow. Her hands trembled as she grabbed at her coffee on her desk and despite the fact that it was no longer warm, drank until she felt she could form a coherent sentence. "Sorry Edie, I just have a lot on my mind." she apologized, putting on her best smile. She wasn't about to tell her that old highly erotic sexual encounters with her recently paroled ex was what had her zoning out. "About the engagement party tonight."
Edie's face lit up. "Oh, of course! Being a maid of honor is a lot of work." The girl smiled, instantly forgetting about Rory's episode. "But your vacation is coming up next week, right? And then you'll have a few weeks away and can focus all your attention on the wedding."
Rory smiled, thankful she let her momentary lapse of sanity go. "Yes, but I will still be working from home. It's just going to make Paris feel a lot better knowing I'm not technically at work and can be at her beck and call."
Though she wished that she would still be working so that she could get away when she needed to. She felt guilty for even wishing that Paris and Mike would suddenly decide to put the wedding off for another few months, or years, Rory mused. Yes, a few more years and then maybe she would be okay with the fact that Tristan would not only be at the wedding, but in it. And not only the wedding itself but everything leading up to it, seeing as though Paris had sprung it on Rory the week prior that Mike had asked Tristan to be his best man. So of course he would be the one walking arm and arm with her down the aisle on the day.
"You guys seem like really good friends."
Edie's wistful sigh had Rory meeting the girl's eyes again. "We started out as enemies believe it or not." Rory chuckled at the memory. "But yes, she's one of my best friends." And that reason, and that reason only, had Rory not freaking out when she heard the news. Instead she rationalized it and the fact that in a month the wedding would be over with and things would go back to normal.
She hadn't even seen him in the two weeks since the encounter on the pier. The encounter that had left her reeling and her mind going crazy. And she was thankful she hadn't seen him since she clearly needed time to get herself together. She had avoided Paris's place like the plague just in case Tristan would be there and made up every excuse she could not to attend meetings for the wedding. And Paris, scared to death that Rory would bail on her altogether, had given her two weeks to come to terms with everything. She had, as she so vehemently told Rory after failing at it, tried to get Mike to change his mind and stick with Finn. But he wasn't having any of it and Finn oh so graciously bowed out after just being promised that he could still make a best man toast.
As for how long, and for what reasons Mike had kept in contact with Tristan, Paris still had no idea. And while Rory liked the new subdued Paris, for just this time she wished the old version of herself would come back and force Mike to explain how Tristan and him had gotten so close. Unfortunately, Mike had that way of smoothing things over with Paris and had kept his lips shut, telling her that it would have to be Tristan who explained it. That it wasn't his place to.
"Rory?" Edie peeked her head back in the door and Rory sent her an apologetic look realizing she had once again gotten lost in her thoughts and hadn't even realized the girl had left the room. "Jess left a message asking for you to call him."
"Thank you, Edie." Rory sent her a smile before reaching for the phone and seeing the five missed calls and messages and quickly called him back.
"You are an evil, evil godmother."
Rory laughed at Jess's greeting. "And why is that?" she asked though she already knew what he was referring to as she could hear the loud bang of drums in the background.
"Buying Liam a set of drums? A legit set of drums. For my son. Who is two years old." Jess slowly bit out the sentences. "Who has absolutely no idea about rhythm yet and just likes to bang on things."
Rory sat back into her chair, spinning it to look out the window as she talked, enjoying her fifth floor view of New Haven. "He insisted on them when we went shopping! What kind of godmother would I be if I told him no?" Rory smiled at the mental image of her god son, a head full of untamed black hair and mischievous eyes just like his father, banging on the drums and driving his father slowly insane. "What was it that Luke always told you? That all the ruckus you caused would come back to you tenfold when you had your own kid?"
She swore he growled. "I was sixteen. I should at least have another fourteen years of peace before I have to deal with any kind of karma."
Rory tsked, turning back to her laptop and shutting it down before starting to pack up for the night. "Well from what I've heard you were quite the crazy little toddler too."
"Mmhmm." Was Jess's only reply. He called to his girlfriend that he was going to step outside so he could hear before the drums slowly faded into the background. "So… big party tonight."
Rory sighed, standing up with her briefcase and walking over to the window again. "Yes. Yes it is."
"And are you ready?" Was all Jess asked, knowing her better than almost anyone and being the ear that she had filled with her worries the most the past couple weeks.
She let out a humorless chuckle. "Ready to see Tristan again or ready to see him again amidst the majority of Hartford, and my grandparents, who have no clue that he's out of prison yet by the way."
Jess chuckled. "Man, I wish I could be there."
Rory walked from her office, waving a goodbye to Edie before heading to the elevator. "You could always don a dress and go in my place. With all that hair of yours I'm sure you pull it off. Just keep your back to everyone."
"Ha ha ha." Jess deadpanned. "No really, Ror, are you going to be okay with this?"
Rory leaned back against the elevator wall as the doors shut and she was enveloped in silence. "I've had two weeks and to be honest the only thing they've accomplished is me being a child and hiding from him. I went to the pier and we talked it out. We agreed we would do our best for things not to be awkward and leave the past in the past. No, at the time I didn't know he was going to be Mike's best man but it's just a small detail. I've come to terms that things are how they are and I just need to deal with them."
"And yet again I ask, are you going to be okay?" Jess's all knowing voice made her smile.
"Yeah. To be honest I'm less worried about seeing him again and more worried about my grandmother." Rory admitted as she made her way to her car.
"You'll have to tell me all the details. And Rory?" Jess said and Rory stopped in movement off opening her door. "I'm here if you need me. Despite the fact that you're an evil woman who buys my son toys from hell."
Rory smiled, feeling slightly more at ease now. "I know. Now go support your son. He could be the next John Bonham."
Jess snorted sarcastically but Rory knew that was exactly what he was going to do. "Later, Gilmore."
Rory hit the end button on her phone and climbed into her car, letting her hands rest on the steering wheel for a moment before starting it. It would be fine. So what if she just had a mind blowing memory about their past that had her heart still beating slightly faster than its normal rhythm? She was going to be cool and collected. She was old enough to know that attraction didn't mean that you had romantic feelings for someone. Just look at her and Logan. Despite that one brief lapse of sanity where she thought she wanted more than just the friends with benefits thing, she barely felt anything at all for him. Not that her attraction to Logan was anything compared to the way she reacted to Tristan, but it was the same all in all. She accepted that she would always be attracted to the first man she'd ever been with and that was that. As for her feelings? She was in complete control. Well, mostly.
She started the car and then took a deep breath when her eye caught the dry cleaning she had picked up before work that day hanging in her back seat. With her eyes focused straight ahead, she pulled from the car garage and headed for home, telling herself repeatedly that she chose to buy the short black silk cocktail dress with the dangerously high slit because it flattered her, not because she was interested in making anyone feel the same attraction she'd been dealing with since that day on the pier.
"I'm going to elope. It's final. Go get Mike and tell him, we'll take off tonight. Vegas Elvis it is."
Rory chuckled as she took one of the bobby pins she held between her lips and slid it into Paris's hair.
"Just relax and it'll be over before you know it. You guys should have had an engagement party months ago but you kept putting it off."
Paris narrowed her eyes into the mirror. "Because it's pointless. I changed our relationship status on facebook, we have the wedding website set up, everyone knew we were engaged. I even talked my parents out of throwing a party. This is all Louise's fault for convincing her parents that Mike and I needed this lavish social exploitation." Paris muttered. "The invitations have been out for three months, there's no need to announce our engagement. If there's someone who doesn't know then they're obviously not important enough to attend the wedding so they don't need to know."
Rory laughed and put her hands on Paris's shoulders and met her eye in the mirror. "You get to be gushed over for a night. Enjoy it." she told her and then continued before she could start ranting again. "And think of it as this being Mike's night to show off the amazing woman he won."
"What am I, a carnival prize?" Paris muttered but her voice was now different as a smile graced her lips. "It's funny though how Louise is still raising hell in our lives even though she's not even here to reap the benefits of seeing me pull my hair out."
Rory grinned. "And she hates you for that too, seeing as though you delaying the party for so long now makes it so she can't be here because of her filming schedule."
Paris stood up and walked over to the other side of the room to stare out the window at the cars that were piling into the circular driveway. "Well maybe that was my plan all along." She sent Rory a sideways glance and smirked. "I still can't believe she got a role on that TV show and convinced them to give Madeline a part too. I feel sorry for the PA's who have to deal with their diva demands."
Rory smiled fondly, thinking of her friends and the mark they were making in Hollywood. How even after all the years, the two of them were still attached at the hip. Even the characters they played were best friends in high school.
All of them had made it, out of college and all accomplishing their dreams. And here she was now, maid of honor as her best friend got hitched. Where had the time gone?
"Are you going to cry?" Paris quickly broke Rory's train of thought, her eyes widened as she stared at her. "Why are you crying? Is this because of Tristan? God help me I will…"
Rory waved a hand to stop the rant and laughed, blinking away the tears. "No, Paris. I'm just happy. Happy that you're happy. That is all. Tristan wasn't even a small part of my thoughts." she promised. Though he was now. And she was wondering where exactly he was downstairs and what exactly he was doing.
"If you say so." Paris narrowed her eyes in suspicion once more before turning back towards the mirror. "Lets go make our entrance before any more people arrive because with my luck I'm going to trip down the stairs and fall flat on my face."
"Well if you do I promise to help you up as soon as I stop laughing."
"Some maid of honor you are." she accused and took a deep breath before signaling to Rory to join her at the door. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be. You?"
Paris nodded, standing up straight. "Lets get this torture over with." she said before making her way to the stairs and slowly down them. Rory waited up in the hall until she made it to the bottom, grinning as everyone clapped at the soon to be bride's entrance. Then the clapping turned to cheers and a few whistles as Mike, who had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs for Paris, pulled her into a kiss.
Waiting until all eyes were turned away from the steps now and on Paris and Mike, Rory made her own descent down the curved staircase, eyes scanning over the crowd as she did so, making sure everything was going as planned. She'd have to make a stop in the kitchen, she realized, to tell them to double up on the appetizers per trip as they seemed to be disappearing rather quickly.
Making a mental note to herself, she reached the halfway point of the stairs and turned to descend the rest as her eyes scanned the room once more and then stopped mid step when they came into contact with another pair.
He was standing on the far side of the room, leaning against a wall like he always did. His suit jacket was nowhere to be found and his white dress shirt was untucked and had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing the numerous tattoos that covered his arms. His tie loose and hanging around his neck as if he had already been tugging on it, wanting to be free of its constraints. For a second, she realized what he would have looked like if she had attended Chilton the same time as he had. If she had known him before he had run away and started to live his life on the streets. This is what he would have looked like if she had met him under different circumstances. Well, she realized as heat rose to her cheeks and she descended the remaining stairs, the attraction would still have been very much there.
Quickly grabbing a drink from a passing waiter, she downed it quickly and headed in the opposite direction, hoping that her momentary paralysis on the stairs hadn't been evident to anyone who may have seen her. It was bad enough that Tristan's eyes had been on her and she could have sworn she saw his lips turn up before she had looked away.
"Rory!" Rory spun at the sound of her grandmother's voice and quickly nabbed another glass of champagne from a passing waiter and downed it, instantly regretting it as the carbonation formed a lump in her chest, but she knew she needed the alcohol if she was going to get through the next few minutes.
"Hi, Grandma." Rory greeted, forcing a smile to her lips, "How are you?"
Emily Gilmore hooked her elbow in Rory's and steered her over to a corner while smiling at everyone she passed. "I would be a lot better if I wasn't surrounded by convicts covered in tattoos." she muttered though you would never know she was talking as her smile stayed perfect to everyone around them, never hinting that she was anything but happy. She definitely missed her life's calling as a ventriloquist, Rory mused.
"Well they are Mike and Paris's friends." Rory told her when they were away from the crowd and moved her eyes to study the room. She really needed to get back to the kitchen and tell them about the appetizers. The quiche were flying off the trays but the shrimps seemed to be getting left behind. She also needed more champagne.
"Oh, I see." Emily's smile grew though her eyes told a different tale. "So I'm attending the engagement party of two people who associate with known criminals."
Rory shook her head. She had far too much to do to be pulled into a corner and listen to her grandmother complain about the guests. "No. You're attending a party of your very good friends, the Grants, grandson and his fiancée." Rory corrected and waved as a couple girls she knew from Yale called out her name. "You're also forgetting one major thing grandma."
Emily rested her left hand in the junction of her right elbow, balancing a drink in her hand that she casually sipped on. "What may that be?"
"This isn't your party, it's Paris and Mike's." Rory told her and held up a hand before she could interrupt. "Alsom before you condemn them for being friends with certain people, remember that I lived with one of those people you speak so lowly of, so you're putting me down as well."
Emily quickly hushed her and looked around to see if anyone had heard before turning wide eyes back to her granddaughter. "It's been long enough that most people have probably forgotten. There's no need to bring that up. Thank god he is still rotting in a cell and not here, too. I guess I can at least be thankful for that."
Rory tried not to laugh at the fact that her grandmother's hawk eyes hadn't seen Tristan yet, but it slipped out anyway. "Actually…"
Emily set her drink down slowly and stared at her granddaughter with dread. "Please do not tell me…"
Rory just shrugged and quickly kissed Emily's cheek before slipping away. "Enjoy the party, grandma."
Despite her grandmother's hushed protests behind her, she quickly made her way to the kitchen to let the servers know about the changes in the appetizers and stopped in her tracks as soon as she walked through the door.
"It is positively delicious, doll." Finn purred as he leaned over the kitchen counter and made puppy eyes at Sookie. "You must let me hire you to be my personal chef. I'll pay you any price or in any way you please. What's your pleasure?"
Sookie blushed from her head to her toes, letting out a giggle before walking away to stir her red sauce. "Oh Rory! Hi!" she called when she noticed her and came over to give her a quick hug. "Do you know Finn?" she asked, her smile blinding as she pointed to the Australian who was now stealing appetizers from trays before they could be taken out to the party.
Rory rolled her eyes dramatically and nodded, making her way over to the guy who, like Tristan, had shed his coat and loosened his tie. "Don't like wearing a suit, Finn?" she asked after letting Sookie know to double up on the quiche.
Finn pulled at his tie and mocked being strangled. "I feel naked without my trench coat." he told her, and then batted his eyelashes. "I've been meaning to ask if you're mad at me for the best man switcheroo we pulled."
Rory crossed her arms under her chest and then immediately dropped them and glared as Finn's eyes darted straight to the exposed cleavage that had been pushed up in the process. He raised his hands in defense and just grinned. "What? You can't blame a bloke for his wandering eyes when you're wearing a dress as stunning as that."
Sookie poked her head out from behind the fridge door. "You do look great Ror!"
"Thank you." Rory smiled at Sookie before sending Finn another look. "And you, get out of the kitchen."
Finn pouted, the same familiar pout he had mastered years ago to get his way, and Rory realized she had actually missed him the past five years. As annoying as he had been at times, he had become a good friend to her before everything had happened. "But doll…" he protested. "Sookie needs a taste tester. I'm only doing what I can to help out."
Rory rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling at his argument.
Sookie shut the fridge and dumped the contents she had retrieved from it on the counter. "Well maybe not a taste tester but I sure don't mind listening to that voice of his while I'm working."
"See, kitten!" Finn grinned and opened his mouth as Sookie fed him a cucumber covered in a cream cheese spread and a bit of salmon. "A mutually satisfying relationship."
Rory just rolled her eyes at how easily Finn could still charm everyone and, after letting Sookie know she was doing a marvelous job and to let her know if she needed anything, left the kitchen and made her way back towards the heart of the party.
"Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be." Paris admitted as she and Rory made the rounds for the final time that night.
Rory stumbled slightly before regaining her step. Perhaps she shouldn't have had that last glass of champagne. Or the last three, she chuckled to herself. "You mean the toast Mike made to you, or the party in general?"
"Oh, he'll get it when he gets home for that toast and for kissing me in front of all of those people." Paris muttered and waved goodbye to her cousins, telling them she'd see them in a few weeks at the wedding.
Rory smiled as she pictured the moment again. Mike standing up in the middle of dinner and making a toast to the woman he said saved his life. A speech that had Rory, as well as the majority of the woman and she suspected a few of the men even, tearing up. "It was perfect, Paris. You definitely are a lucky woman."
Paris smiled despite herself. "Well I definitely earned it. I think I did a good job whipping him into shape."
Rory laughed and then excused herself to use the bathroom before she headed home. She looked herself over in the mirror as she washed her hands and bit at her lip realizing just how flushed she looked. Nope, she definitely wasn't going to be driving home tonight, she thought as she unclipped her hair and let it fall down her to her shoulders since most had fallen out already and made her way to the door to let Paris know she was leaving.
After a quick argument on having their private driver take her home, Rory hugged her friend goodbye and exited the house. Most of the guests had already left as well as the staff and the cleaning crew had begun to sweep through the house already. All in all it turned out to be a pretty good night, Rory decided as she slowly made her way down to the end of the drive, enjoying the fresh air and the moonlit sidewalk.
She felt her phone buzz in her purse and after seeing it was her grandmother, who she thankfully had managed to avoid for the rest of the night, she turned it off and tucked it away.
Now that was a miracle all its own, Rory mused, and then realized she had gotten so caught up in the night's events that she hadn't even realized she hadn't seen Tristan either. Did he leave early? She wondered as she finally made it to the main drag and waited patiently under the streetlamp by the bus stop for a taxi to drive by.
A few minutes without a cab in sight had her reaching for her phone to order an uber. Just as she received notification they would be there in five minutes, a familiar purr of a bike stopped next to her.
She slowly put her phone away, her eyes not leaving Tristan's as he pulled to the curb and removed his helmet, looking so odd sitting on his bike dressed in a suit. And now wearing the jacket, she noted, trying to tell herself not to stare but she was far too gone to care.
"Hey."
Rory ran a tongue along her suddenly dry lips. "Hi."
Tristan looked around and ran a hand through his hair, a habit, even though it was now cut much shorter than it had been. "Why didn't you wait at the house for the cab?"
Rory gestured around at the beautiful night. "I wanted to walk."
Tristan watched her for a moment in silence before a grin tugged at his lips. "You're sloshed, Mary."
Rory just shrugged in response and turned the other way to wait for her ride. If she kept looking at him, she might do something stupid. Like walk over to him and grab him by the tie and kiss that grin right off his face.
Oh god, her eyes widened as she sobered up at the thought, becoming very aware that he was only ten feet away from her and her body began to buzz that familiar feeling of need.
"You want a ride?"
Rory spared him a glance, keeping her face impassive even as her heart started to beat faster. She pulled her arms closer as she started to feel the bite of the night air against her skin. "No, thank you."
"There used to be a time you would jump on the back of my bike, no questions asked." Tristan kept his eyes on hers, a small smirk playing on his lips as he rested his elbows on the handles of his bike.
"That time has long passed."
Tristan grinned then. "Not into bikes anymore?" His blue eyes glowed in the night, never moving from her.
Rory bit at her lip. There wasn't anywhere in the world she felt more at peace than on the back of a bike, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "Did you enjoy the party?"
Tristan sat back for a second before swinging a leg over the back of the bike and walking over to her. "Yeah, it was definitely my scene." His reply was sarcastic as he shrugged off his jacket and stopped her before she could protest what he was doing. "You don't have to accept the ride but at least take my jacket. You're cold."
Rory reluctantly allowed him to put the jacket over her shoulders, feeling an instant warmth as the smell she remembered so well enveloped her.
"Even though covering up you in that dress is a fucking crime." She wasn't sure if he meant to say it, his voice lower than it had been, but the words washed over her and she felt her cheeks heat.
"Thanks." her voice was quiet, her head no longer feeling as fuzzy as the awareness of just how close he was standing settled in.
Tristan drove his hands deep into his pockets and glanced down the street before meeting her eyes again. "Mind if I wait with you? You shouldn't be waiting here alone."
Rory began to protest but knew he wouldn't leave anyway. "So… you're the new best man." She hated the way it was obvious her throat was dry. He was standing too close, being too nice. For a moment she actually wished he would be the arrogant asshole she knew before because fighting with him would be so much easier than being civil.
"Is that going to be a problem?"
"Would it make a difference if I said it did?" she asked honestly, now turning to face him fully. Watching his face for any sign of what he was feeling, what he was thinking.
Tristan shrugged. "Honestly, no. This isn't about us. This is about Mike and I. He didn't think I would be out in time for the wedding so Finn was going to take my place but now that I am out, I'm going to make good on being there for him."
Rory just nodded and turned away, shrugging his coat off and handing it back to him as she saw the lit up Uber start down the street.
"Keep it." Tristan offered but she insisted he take it back, which he did reluctantly as the car stopped in front of them.
"Thank you for waiting with me… and harassing me at a bus stop once again." She added as an afterthought, trying to break the tension and sent him a small smile.
Tristan laughed. "This time wasn't as bad though."
"I suppose not." She opened the taxi door and stepped down off the curb to get in but turned as Tristan spoke again.
"Last chance to hop on my bike."
Rory shook her head, her smile growing. "I would say yes but I'm wearing a dress so…"
Tristan's eyes darkened, a corner of his mouth curving upward. "Never stopped you before."
Rory felt her cheeks heat up and quickly looked away before sparing him a final glance. "Goodnight, Tristan."
He watched her for a moment before taking a step back. "Goodnight, Rory."
Rory couldn't help but turn in her seat as the driver pulled away from the curb and watched as the motorcycle roared to life and with one last look at the fading cab, sped away in the opposite direction.
She slumped into the back seat with a sigh and quickly looked away after catching the driver's eye in the rearview mirror.
It was just attraction, she told herself, pushing away all thoughts that there was still something else there and closed her eyes as the cab made its trek back to New Haven.
Attraction. Nothing more.
And so there's a change in your emotions
And all of these memories come rushing
Like feral waves to your mind
Of the curl of your bodies
Like two perfect circles entwined
And you feel hopeless, and homeless
And lost in the haze of the wine