Title:
Miss Me?
Author: DaxisSteele
Rating: PG
Summary: Senior year, One bus, two enemies, 14 hours together.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Characters do
not belong to the author.
Chapter Three: Miss Me?
"Hey, way to go DuGrey. Finally got little Mary falling all over you huh?" Hank Morrison looked down at Rory with her head in Tristan’s lap.
"Shut up Morrison."
"You’re holding out on me aren’t you? I know you were late for the bus. You were in some broom closet making out with Rory weren’t you?"
"Don’t you have someone else to bug?" Tristan was not about to let the sophomore wake her up. He knew she would be embarrassed about their current position.
"I knew it. Hey everyone. DuGrey finally got some loving from Rory Gilmore."
"I never said that." He was frustrated now. He knew the rumors would be all over school by the next morning and that was the last thing he needed considering her feelings toward him. "We’re just friends."
"Right Tristan. You don’t have any female friends. You only have girlfriends."
"Drop it Morrison. There is nothing going on here so back off." He shouted it to ensure that everyone around them heard dispelling any rumors before they started. Rory smiled slightly at his break in usually smooth composure. For all of their feuding he had become a decent guy over the last two years at least when no one was looking.
Rory pulled herself slowly into a sitting position knowing if she stayed where she was any longer there would be viscous rumors around the bus by the end of the trip. As it was she knew theories were already being created about what was going on in the back of the bus. Tristan sighed wishing she didn’t have to get up. "Sleep well?"
"As well as can be expected."
"I know, dreaming about me must make you restless with desire." He smirked. Rory’s heart sank at the reemergence of Evil Tristan. Why couldn’t he just pick a personality and stick to it?
"Desire to go postal maybe." She scowled.
"Admit it Rory, you dream about me when you go to sleep."
"Hmm, oh wait I do remember this one dream I had about you. Let’s see you were standing under a waterfall, umm you looked so hot. And then you came over to me and reached over..." Rory smiled as Tristan unconsciously began to lean in, his face smug. "And then you kissed...no, sorry that wasn’t you. It was Josh Hartlett. Hmph, sorry to get your hopes up." She patted his cheek. "Better luck in your next lifetime. Maybe you’ll come back as a hottie." She smiled and turned to stare out the window.
"That was harsh." His heart fell at her comment but he fell into the usual banter quickly to hide his feelings from her. "That’s ok Mary, I know it must be hard to be hopelessly in love with a God like me. I know it hurts that I can’t fit you into my busy social schedule with all the beach bunnies falling all over me." He smirked as she cringed at his retaliation not understanding that the knowledge did hurt her. He had every beautiful girl in school falling all over him and there was no way she would ever win him, not the way she wanted him. She sighed and played the game like she always did. It was getting so tiring.
"Ego check your Godliness, you have been unattached for two years now."
"For lack of interest, not for lack of options my dear Mary. No one seems worthy of my attentions." Another pang of pain ripped through her heart.
"Keep telling yourself that DuGrey." He flinched behind her. He hated it when she used his last name, it was so impersonal, so unlike the warm caring person she was inside. He shook his head knowing he was the only person who brought out this mean streak in her. Even Paris was graced with kindness in the face of the cruelty with which she regarded Rory. Not that he deserved kindness anymore than Paris did but it hurt all the same that she at least made an attempt to be Paris’ friend. She pulled her headphones on and shut out the world again trying to hold back the tears at the constant reminder that she wasn’t good enough to hold his interest. Tristan always went for super model types, brainless beauties. She would never hold his attention, she was just the girl next door. She couldn’t stand to look at him so she watched the world fly by out the window of the bus. Night was falling and they still had eight hours to go. It would be dark soon though and she wouldn’t have to look at him.
She practically jumped for joy when they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant for dinner. For thirty glorious minutes she could get away from him. Locking herself in the bathroom she began to regain her composure and enjoy her brief moment of solitude. She sighed and went to order her food.
"Did you miss me?" Rory rolled her eyes. The routine didn’t change, an unwelcome chin on her shoulder and the same stupid line.
"You’re getting stale DuGrey, get some new material."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Because everyday for the last two years you have come up and asked me if I have missed you in the ten minutes since I saw you last and every time I say, not especially. I would have thought you would have come up with something new." She sighed unable to handle the sparring match she knew was coming. She was tired of this, tired of the class mates and their rumors, tired of Chilton and tired of Tristan. She wanted out.
"Because one of these days you will finally admit that you do." He smirked like the true ego maniac he was.
She sighed again turning to face him, her face reflecting the serious nature of her response. "Yes Tristan, I missed you. I missed you so much that I couldn’t decide what to order because I was thinking about you." She reveled briefly in his shock. "Then I remember what a jerk you are and the microsecond of missing you was squashed like it always is." She grabbed her food and headed to the parking lot.
"Rory wait." He ran up beside her. "I know we joke around a lot but you’ve never been that cruel. What was that about?"
"Because I’m tired Tristan. I am tired of coming home ready to crack because of the latest thing you said or did that hurt me. I’m tired of you breaking my heart." She was losing her battle with the tears and craving to get away from their audience so she turned and sprinted for a spot away everyone, especially him.
Tristan stood dumbfounded. He knew he had been a jerk at times but he never imagined he hurt her that badly. He thought they were at least friends, not good friends but friends nonetheless. When had things gotten so bad between them. He never meant to hurt her; he loved her. He had accepted that this love hate relationship was the best he could hope for but he hadn’t expected even that to backfire.
He forced back the tears and jogged through the darkness to find her. He couldn’t let this go. He had to fix this now or he would never be able to live with himself. He didn’t care if he got stuck in this town trying to find her; he wasn’t letting her get away.
She didn’t feel like moving, moping was so much better. She sat crying over her food wondering why she was so upset. Just because he had tormented her for two years didn’t mean that he liked her. She had been fooling herself into thinking she had the chance he flat out told her she didn’t on the bus. She was just another challenge to add to his trail of ex-girlfriends and conquests. For over a year they had played this game. Every time she got a glimpse of the boy she had fallen for he was blinked out by the boy who teased her and hurt her constantly. The footsteps on the gravel brought her out of her sulk. "Go away." She heard the steps get closer despite her order. "I said go away." Her head fell into her hands as she tried to hide the tears falling from her eyes.
"Rory please." She looked up to see Tristan kneeling in front of her in the glow of the street lamp she was leaning against.
"What tormenting me in public isn’t enough, you have to finish in private." She was fighting to keep the tears at bay.
"I never meant to hurt you. I..." He paused not sure he could go on. "I thought that’s what you wanted?"
"I’m not that masochistic."
"God, how did this get so far out of hand." He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I would never intentionally hurt you Rory." He raised her chin to look him in the eye. "Annoy you yes, but never hurt you."
She met his eyes for the first time finding them watery and blood shot. "Then why are you so mean?" She whimpered.
Her tears were breaking his heart. "Because you terrify me." He forced a smile. "I don’t know how to act around you."
"Try hi, how are you." She wiped a tear away from his cheek.
"Hi, how are you? I love you." He rambled out before he could think.
"That’s not funny." She pulled her hand away. He caught it in his and held on for dear life, not willing to let her pull away.
"I’m not joking." He brushed his fingers through her silken hair and let his hand come to cradle the base of her skull. "I’m in love with you and it scares the hell out of me. I didn’t know how to love. It didn’t happen in my family, it was cold and dark in my home and when you wanted nothing to do with me I panicked."
"Why didn’t you tell me?"
"I didn’t know how. First you were with Dean, and then you hated me. I didn’t know how to tell you without ruining the friendship we had but it seems like I ruined it anyway." He dropped his head and stared at her tiny feet.
"You didn’t ruin anything. I was scared I was just another conquest. I was too scared to tell you how I felt." She raised his chin as he had hers. "I love you too."
"Please tell me this isn’t a joke." She rubbed the pad of her thumb over his lips to silence him.
"No joke." She kissed him gently. "We better get back to the bus."
"Where does this leave us?"
"Together."