The Only Way to a Girl’s Heart

Rory stormed out of Tristan’s apartment and angrily fumbled through her bag for her keys. She jammed them into the lock and banged the door open, slamming it closed for good measure. "Damn it!" Rory took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Only he could make her this angry. She felt like she was still sixteen.

She threw her keys across the room in frustration and stalked over to an end table. There was the base of the phone. But no actual communication device. She threw up her hands. "When will we learn that cordless is not the way to go?" She needed to talk to her mother. So naturally she tore her living room apart. It was the Gilmore way. Throw pillows and cushions went flying; books and magazines were tossed to the floor. Eventually she found it hiding on top of a basket of laundry. "Ha! I’ve foiled your evil plan!" She snatched it up triumphantly and dialed home and got no answer.

She then tried the Inn. A familiar accented voice answered "Independence Inn, how may I help you?"

"Michel! Is my mom there?"

She got a long-suffering sigh in return, "Your mother left 20 minutes ago. And I wasted a perfectly good greeting on you. I can only muster up so much politeness is dealing with the uneducated masses."

"Oh. Well, we all know how difficult that is for you." Rory hung up. She could not deal with Michel at the moment.

She dialed the diner. "Luke’s," came the simple reply.

"Jess! What are you doing there?"

"Rory? What’s wrong?" he could tell that something wasn’t right.

She shook her head distractedly but realized that Jess could not see her. "Nothing. I just really need to talk to my mom."

"Lorelai and ‘Uncle’ Luke left a few minutes ago. I’d tell you to use your imagination but those therapy bills can be a little overwhelming."

"Ah. Gotcha. Thanks." She hung up, forgetting the exchange in a moment. She racked her brain. Who to call? She needed to talk to someone. Someone who knew her well enough to understand the motivations behind wigging. Her mom was...occupied so that left... "Lane! I can call Lane."

She dialed yet another number. A male voice answered. "Hello?"

Rory couldn’t hold back any longer. "Tristan!"

There was a pause. Finally, "Purple monkey dishwasher!"

Rory was confused. "What?"

"Who is this?"

"Henry, this is Rory."

"Oh. I’ll get Lane." After 6 years Henry had learned to interpret the peculiarity borne of living in Stars Hollow. He knew, without being told that Rory needed to talk to Lane.

Rory waited impatiently, twirling her hair as Henry called Lane and handed the phone off without a word. Lane’s curiosity was peaked as Henry had said something about mental patients. "Hello?"

"TRISTAN!"

Lane held the phone 6 inches away from her ear. When no more sound was emitted she tentatively brought it back, "Placebo."

"God. No wonder you two are married. I bow to the masters of inane replies."

"Sorry. Late 90’s techno/Brit rock. I was dusting off some old C.D’s.

"Tristan. Classmate circa 2000 - 2001. Evil. Neighbor. Spaz.

"Sorry. You lost me again."

Rory groaned and sank to the floor. She flopped onto her back and stared at her ceiling. "Look, I know you’re a newlywed and all but would you mind coming over? I need to talk to you. Please? Pretty please with something fattening on top?"

Lane smiled, "Sure. I’ll be there in 20 minutes or so."

Across the hall Tristan was also staring at his ceiling. He hadn’t moved from his previous position. His mind was spinning. In less than a half an hour his world had been flipped on its ass. Rory Gilmore lived across the hall. Rory Gilmore was as startlingly beautiful now as she had ever been. Rory Gilmore did not hate him. She had never hated him, in fact. She had missed him.

Tristan couldn’t decide if these were good developments or not. On one hand he had left his home, school and friends because of her. On the other was that really such a bad thing? He could honestly admit to himself that leaving had made him better person than he would have been if he had stayed. He wasn’t perfect. Who was? But he wasn’t as selfish or materialistic as he once was. In a way he owed that to her.

While he was being honest he could feel all of the old sensations. All of the clichés that had scared the hell out of him 6 years ago. His heart raced and his palms grew damp and he couldn’t think straight. He felt sixteen again.

His cell phone rang, snapping him out of his haze. He fished it out of his pocket and flipped it open, "Tristan DuGrey."

"Tristan!" His grandfathers’ voice boomed. "Are you all settled?"

Tristan began pacing. "Settled is the last thing I am. Rory Gilmore is my new neighbor."

Janlen recognized the name in an instant. That was the name of the girl who changed his grandson’s life. He answered cautiously, "Really. That’s nice. At least you’ll know someone in Boston."

Tristan laughed mirthlessly, "Nice? Maybe if I hadn’t just alienated her all over again. I swear, the second I saw her it was like nothing had changed. All the anger and resentment surfaced. I couldn’t help it."

"Well then Tristan, what are you going to do about it?" Janlen hung up. He believed in being concise.

Tristan pondered the older man’s words. How could he fix this? He was struck by an idea. Without analyzing he raced out of the apartment, passing the movers in the hall. "I have a situation. I’ll be back soon." The last half was lost as he made his way into the stairwell. He had a plan.

Rory heard a knock at her door. "Come in!"

Lane entered and looked around, bemused. The normally neat apartment looked as if a tornado had passed through it and Rory was still lying on the floor in the middle of it, staring listlessly at the ceiling. Lane walked over to Rory and stared down at her. "Who are you and what have you done with Rory Gilmore. She’s kind of tall, pretty with more neuroses than Ally McBeal."

Rory glared up at her friend, "Funny Lane. Were you watching lame, old sitcoms today too?"

"Rory, dear. I love you. But your insults suck when you’re morose."

"Sorry. I have a crisis. This is no time for lame jokes."

Lane sat down next to her friend. She reached over and tugged Rory into a sitting position. "So talk. We married girls need to live vicariously through our single friends."

"Okay." Deep breath. "Do you remember Tristan?"

Lane squished up her face ant thought for a second, "It does ring a bell. Elaborate, please."

"Tristan Dugrey. Chilton alpha male. Called me Mary. Any more bells?"

"Ding, ding, ding. Even though I never met the boy. You had quite the list of names for him. But you left out several important details, the piano smoochies, the PJ Harvey tickets and the fact that he liked you. In fact if my memory serves me correctly you were extremely upset when he left."

Rory studied the carpet intently. "Yeah well, he could have been a good friend. I would have done the same thing if it were Paris or Madeline."

Lane watched Rory closely and decided to leave that alone. For now at least. "Okay. Why the hysterics over an old classmate?"

"Right," Rory shook herself, "Guess who I ran into in the stairwell this morning?"

Suddenly Lane recalled what Rory had said on the phone, "Tristan. Tristan’s your new neighbor. Got it. I can understand that being a shock but you were frantic on the phone. And now your like the before picture in a Prozac ad."

Rory stood up and began pacing. She felt all the anger and exasperation returning. "He hasn’t changed at all! He is still the most infuriating..." She trailed off and groaned, "Lane, I pulled a Lorelai."

"You didn’t." Lane had known Lorelai and Rory for a long time. She knew they had a tendency to go off on uncontrollable tangents when provoked. Lorelai exploded at least once a day, while Rory’s were few and far between. In a way that was even worse. They usually involved the screaming of private thoughts. Thoughts Rory would never have shared otherwise.

"I’m afraid I did. I hadn’t seen him in years, and all of a sudden he was just there. He got all cold and icy on me and I just blew up. Damn! Why is he so annoying?"

Lane reached up and grabbed Rory’s arm to stop the pacing. "Stop it. You’re making me dizzy. What exactly did you say?"

Rory slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned again. "I don’t remember. Something about how upset I was. Oh God. I think I said I missed him! He probably thinks I was just another slut who wanted a piece of him. That I would have gone out with him if he hadn’t left. Lane what am I going to do? I’m such a moron."

She sank down to the floor again and covered her eyes dramatically. Lane patted her head sympathetically, "Rory, you're freakishly smart. I’m sure it’s not such a huge deal. Why don’t we turn on a movie and ingest mass quantities of junk?"

"Sounds good. But the only thing I have in my fridge is jam. For toast. But I don’t have any bread. I desperately need to go shopping. Mom cleaned me out last week."

"That’s all right. We can go out."

"No we can’t. HE’S out there."

"So now he’s stalking you?"

"No. It’s just..." There was a knock at the door. "Who can that be? I wasn’t expecting anyone."

They waited a few seconds and the person knocked again. Still Rory didn’t get up. "Aren’t you going to answer it?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Don’t want too."

"Well, then I will. Maybe it’s Publisher’s Clearing House and you’re ‘already a winner!’"

Lane walked to the door and opened it a crack. There was a blue shirt. Her eyes traveled up into a pair of equally blue eyes. For once in her life Lane had absolutely nothing to say.

"Lane? Who is it?" No response. Rory got up and walked to the door. She opened it all the way and standing on the other side was none other than Tristan DuGrey. "Hello Tristan."

"Hi."

Lane snapped out of her stupor. "Nice Seinfeld imitation Rory."

"Seinfeld?" questioned both Tristan and Rory.

"You know, ‘Hello Newman.' All disdainful."

Now they were just staring at her. Lane pushed away the reference in favor of her original train of Tristan related thought. "Tristan?" she hissed, "that’s Tristan?"

Rory’s gaze had not wavered. "Yep, speak of the devil."

Tristan smirked, "And he instantly appears."

Rory rolled her eyes and was about to make a biting retort when a hand clamped over her mouth. "Mmmlurrghp," all that came out was gibberish.

Lane glanced at Tristan and smiled apologetically, "Excuse us." She promptly closed the door and dragged Rory a few feet back.

Rory was livid. "What was that!"

Lane ignored the question, "That was Tristan? Tristan DuGrey, super jerk?"

"Yes."

"Tristan? As in diabolical Tristan? The most nefarious boy in all the world? Prince of Darkness? Spawn of Satan? Chilton bad-ass?"

"How can he be Satan and Satan’s son?"

"Rory."

"Lane."

"I just can’t believe he looks like that and you never gave me a visual."

"Lane. Married. To Henry."

"I know. And I love Henry. But if looking at guys like Tristan is wrong, I don’t want to be right." Rory rolled her eyes yet again. "If you keep doing that your eyes will roll out of your head." Lane clapped a hand over her mouth. "I sound like my mother!"

"Um, I can still hear you." Both Rory and Lane fell silent when Tristan’s voice floated through the door. Then they began to giggle. They went back to the door and vainly tried to control themselves. They cleared their throats, straightened up and opened the door. "Hi."

"Hi, " they chorused still a little embarrassed.

Lane glanced between the two. "I was just leaving."

Rory grabbed her arm. "No! No you weren’t."

"Well I am now." She grabbed her purse, disentangled herself and slipped out past Tristan. From over his shoulder she mouthed "Call me," and disappeared down the hall.

"Hi."

"Hi. For the third time."

"Right. Sorry," Rory paused awkwardly.

"So I still make you nervous, Mary."

"Why you arrogant..." Rory trailed off when she glanced up at him. Instead of the self satisfied smirk she expected to see she saw a genuine smile. A smile that made her stomach give an odd little lurch. She found herself smiling back. Rory made a snap decision. "Would you like to come in?"

Tristan let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. "First I’d like to apologize."

Rory quirked one eyebrow, "Really. Should I get a camera for this historic occasion? The great Tristan DuGrey making an apology?"

He let out a short laugh. "Yes. Believe it or not Rory, I’m not really as bad as you think I am."

His blue eyes caught hers and held. Rory suddenly felt a little unsteady. She managed to form words. "I do believe you." She did. And that was what scared her.

Tristan tore his eyes away from hers and ran a hand through his hair. Yeah well, I’m sorry. For everything I did when I was 16."

Rory cut him off. "Forget that Tristan. It was a long time ago. I forgave you a long time ago."

"Thank you," he smiled gratefully. "I’m also sorry for today. I never expected to see you again and it threw me. Threw me right back in time apparently. I was a ‘super jerk.’"

"You know eavesdropping is a very bad habit."

"Right. Sorry."

"It’s fine. I should apologize too. I’m sorry I flipped out. I suppose seeing you threw me too. Forgiven?"

"Of course."

"Then let’s just pretend that you just moved into the building and have come over to meet your new neighbor." She stepped back and shut the door in his face again.

Tristan decided to follow her lead. You can take the girl out of Stars Hollow but you can’t take the Stars Hollow out of the girl. He knocked.

Rory promptly opened the door. "Yes. Can I help you?"

"Hello, my name is Tristan DuGrey. I’m your..."

"Tristan! Why I haven’t seen you in ages!" Rory covered her heart in exaggerated shock.

Tristan followed suit, "Rory Gilmore, you haven’t changed a bit. Small world."

Rory smirked mischievously, "The smallest."

They both burst out laughing. "You know. I thought this would be much harder. I guess I can keep my bribes for myself." The look on his face was complete innocence.

Rory was intrigued. "Hmm. Bribes you say. What kind of bribes?"

"You know, the edible kind."

"Oooh. Gimme!" Rory jumped up and down clapping.

Tristan grinned at her glee and picked up a shopping bag that had been beside the door. "I’m afraid the ice cream may be a little melted."

"Ice cream!" She snatched the bag out of his hands and hurried into her kitchen. "And chocolate, and gummi bears! Mr. DuGrey I think I like you."

"Well there’s one thing left." He disappeared out into the hall and a minute later popped into her apartment with one arm behind his back. "But you probably don’t want it."

Rory scoffed, "Let me be the judge of that."

"It’s only a rather large cup of coffee." He brought it out from behind his back.

Rory squealed, "I love you!"

Tristan ignored the pang in his heart, "Why Rory, we haven’t even been on a date. Yet." The teasing smirk was back.

"Not you narcissistic man. The coffee."

"I’m a little worried about you Rory. I know you like coffee. But it is just a beverage."

"Hey!" Rory was indignant. "Coffee is not just a beverage. Is the Mona Lisa just a painting? Everest just a mountain? Metallica just a band?"

"Yes, yes and yes."

"You poor deluded individual," Rory shook her head sympathetically.

"You’re quite strange, you know."

"So you’ve told me." Their eyes locked again and the electricity was back. They both remembered the night of Madeline’s party six long years ago. Rory shook the feeling off quickly. Sure her entire body felt tingly. The apartment was drafty. It wasn’t because she suddenly remembered how he had looked at her that night. How gentle and undemanding their one kiss was. How she had kissed him back. She turned abruptly and began putting the goodies away. "So Tristan, what have you been doing all these years?"

Tristan had watched Rory closely. He knew she had remembered their kiss. He also knew she desperately wanted to change the subject. In an effort not to hurt their tentative relationship he obliged. He began to talk. Smoothly glossing over the reasons he left that summer he told her about Exeter. He told her about Princeton. He talked of his family and friends, mostly his friends. He told her his life story for the past six years, winding up with his reasons for being in Boston.

Rory listened, fascinated. He was different. Not as hard and bitter or as egotistical. He was funny and intelligent and everything she always thought he was underneath the perfect, rich boy exterior. New Hampshire had agreed with him.

"So now I’m here. The company has large offices here. Grandpa wants me to learn the ropes while I work on my masters. My grandmother says that he should get to enjoy his retirement. He’s still been running the company from the shadows even though my father is technically CEO." A tiny bit of the old bitterness surfaced but he squashed it quickly. "I start classes at Harvard next week. What about you? Do you keep in touch with anyone from Chilton still? I never bothered after I left."

Rory lead him into the living room and they sat down. "Well I moved to Boston to go to Harvard right after I graduated, obviously."

"Your dream. Were you valedictorian?"

"Yes. Well co-valedictorian. For the first time in Chilton history. Paris and I had identical G.P.A’s, she made the speech though, I figured it was fair since she’s been there longer. Plus, I was never one for huge crowds. She went to Harvard, too. We actually became friends there. Once we were no longer competing for anything, it was easier. Her is the Sciences, me in writing. You might run into her sometime. You can’t cure cancer without some extensive education, I suppose. I get e-mails and the odd phone call from Madeline and Louise, too."

"Yeah? Where are they?"

"Louise went to Sarah Lawrence as planned and Madeline went to NYU and they both live in New York. Louise is a writer, and Madeline is working on her first short film."

"Louise a writer? Huh. I always figured her for a trophy wife."

"Hey. Be nice."

"Sorry. Old habits die hard."

"That’s fine. So do Louise’s apparently. She’s a gossip columnist. She wants to be Liz Smith. Anyway, the only other Chiltonite I know now is Henry. I always was a bit of a loner, you know.""Henry Kwan?"

"Correct. Lane is now Mrs. Lane Kim - Kwan. He’s in Med. school too."

"They’re married already?"

"Yep. They knew the only way Mrs. Kim would relax was once Lane had a ring. So he proposed right after we graduated. Mrs. Kim was so ecstatic she really loosened up. Lane moved here, went to college and is now working at a P.R agency. She has visions of being a publicist for the rich and famous."

"When did they get married?"

"This summer. It was a grand Stars Hollow production. Glitter, doves, thrones and all. I’ll dig you out some pictures."

"That would be great. What about your family?"

"Well Grandpa retired years ago. He and Grandma spend most of their time traveling. My mom got married and I now have a little brother Luke jr. a.k.a. Junior, he’s only about a year old."

"So Mr. Medina became your stepfather after all?"

"No. They were engaged for a few months. My mother married our coffee guy, Luke. She decided to name him Luke and nickname him Junior to continue in the Lorelai/Rory tradition. She really likes her morphine. They still live in Stars Hollow. My mom now owns The Independence Inn. The stories I could tell you..." Rory smiled as she trailed off.

Tristan smiled as she watched her. Her eyes sparkled and her face glowed. He forgot they hadn’t seen each other in years. He forgot that he was supposed to be over Rory Gilmore. He slapped himself mentally. He could not go down that road again. Last time he felt something for her his heart got smashed and he left the state. He was terrified of what could happen this time around. He had heard the weather in England kind of sucked.

"So anyway, I decided to get my masters in journalism. I start at Northeastern next week."

"What about," Tristan cleared his throat, "Dean? Does he live in Boston?"

"Nope. Dean is in Chicago. He’s an accountant."

"Really? That’s an interesting twist."

"Why?"

"Remember the dance?"

"Oh. Yeah. That is a little odd. Well Dean and I broke up, mutually, after junior year. Then there was this thing with Jess but that ended before I left. I dated at Harvard but nothing serious. I’m now just a boring single girl. It’s nothing like Sex and the City."

"Unfortunately for me," he couldn’t resist a leer.

Rory smacked him in the face with a pillow. "That is called aversion therapy. It works well with dogs, so I think I’m going to try it with you."

"Ouch Mary. That wounds me. Kiss it better?" The pillow hit him again. Much harder this time. He started laughing and she hit him again. "You know pillows can be used in a much more constructive manner."

"I give up. Go away. Shouldn’t your teenage hormones have receded by now?"

The phone rang before he could answer. "Hello?"

"Hey babe! What’s the matter?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Well when I got back to the Inn Michel said, ‘Your offspring called, she was insufferably rude.’ Then he muttered something in French. At first, I thought he might mean Junior, but then, since he can barely walk, he couldn’t possibly dial. Then I wracked my brains for any child I may have forgotten about and came up empty. Because for someone to be so rude, that Michel, Mr. Rude Universe called him or her insufferably rude they would have to be extremely rude. Like, ruder than you have ever been in your entire life. So since we haven’t done some Disney-type body switch I want to know what’s wrong." Lorelai breathed in audibly.

"Nothing is wrong now. Not a problem in sight. The problem is fixed. Rory got up and walked away from Tristan.

"Really? Because Jess said..."

"Jess is wrong, I’m fine now."

Tristan sneezed in the background. "Rory? Who is in your apartment?"

"A friend."

Lorelai’s juicy information radar pricked up. "A male someone?" She managed to cram truckloads of innuendo into the word "male." Tristan himself would have been proud.

Rory sighed knowing she had been caught. "Yes, mother."

"Oooh! Rory’s got a boyfriend! Rory’s got a boyfriend! Hold on! I’m going to go into the kitchen and put you on speakerphone so Sookie can hear too. Maybe there’s some chips. You can’t listen togossip about boys without chips."

Rory sighed yet again she had a feeling this would be a long conversation. She placed the phone against her shoulder and turned to Tristan. "I’m sorry, but my mother is certifiable. This is going to take quite some time."

Tristan understood. Lorelai Gilmore’s antics were famous among the country club set. "No problem. I have some unpacking to do yet. See you soon, Rory."

He left her apartment and entered his own. Rory heard his door close and returned to her mother who had apparently reached the kitchen already. Sookie had joined in the singing of "Rory’s got a boyfriend!" And crashes could be heard as she searched for chips. "Ow! I’m okay, I’ve got 9 other toes!"

Finally the noise stopped. "Moppet, spill. Starting with what he looks like. I need a visual."

"First of all He. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend!" Rory enunciated carefully. The call waiting beeped. "Hold on. Hello?"

"Is he still there?"

"Hello Lane. I’m fine, thanks for asking."

"Is he still there?"

"No."

"Good. I’m coming back up."

"Didn’t you go home?"

"Please, and miss the recap? I don’t think so. I’m in your lobby. Did you know your doorman was a roadie for The Cure?"

"No. And I didn’t particularly want to either."

"I’ll be there in a minute. Bye."

Rory braced herself, than got her mother back on the line. "I’m back."

"Who was that?"

"Lane. She’s downstairs."

"Oh. So what does non-boyfriend boy look like?"

"Mom, do you remember Tristan DuGrey?"

There was a pause. "Not really. Should I?"

"Well in the Crap Shack he was referred to using different names."

"Like..."

"Well, Beelzebub, Satan, Mary-boy, Bible boy, The egomaniacal wonder... Then after he left before junior year I never really mentioned him again."

"Oh. That Tristan. What does he have to do with your non-boyfriend?"

"He is my non-boyfriend." Lane entered the room. "I mean he’s the person that was here."

"Really? What does he look like?"

"Mom, aren’t you going to ask me why he was in my apartment after all this time?"

"Later. First I want to know what he looks like."

"Fine. He’s blond and kind of tall."

"Is that all? Have I taught you nothing child?"

Lane grabbed the phone away and ignored Rory’s protests. "Lorelai, you have no idea. He’s about six feet tall, messy blonde hair, great tan. I haven’t seen him naked but I wouldn’t mind if I had, if you know what I mean."

"And I do."

"And he has incredible eyes. Kind of smoky blue and intense. Totally hot."

Lane handed the phone back to Rory and ignored her glare. "So were you having sex with him?"

"Mother! Where did that come from?"

"Please. I trust Lane’s description. A guy that hot isn’t a friend. Plus, you are twenty-two. I’d be stupid not to ask."

"Yes he is. He is just a friend."

"Sure."

"He is!"

"Whatever."

"Mother, I’m hanging up now."

"Hey, I don’t blame you for jumping his..."

"If the next word out of your mouth is what I think it is I swear I’m never speaking to you again. Ever."

"Sorry honey, your mother never has been subtle."

"Thanks Sookie. I love you mom. I’ll talk to you soon." She hung up and turned to Lane. "What were you thinking? Telling Mom and Sookie? You know it will be all over Stars Hollow tomorrow that I‘m sleeping with some ‘hot’ guy. Taylor and Patty and everyone will be calling all night."

"I know!" Lane fell back and giggled gleefully. "Listen, I talked to Henry. I told him about Tristan and he thinks we should all go out tonight. Catch up on old times. We’ll call Paris and make it a big reunion."

"I guess..."

"Great! Go invite him."

"Excuse me? You go. It was your idea."

"You know him better."

"I barely knew him 6 years ago. It’s not like we painted each others’ toenails."

"You kissed him. I didn’t. Therefore, you know him better than I do."

Rory really couldn’t argue with that so she capitulated and got up to talk to Tristan.

When Rory began talking to her mother she got the strangest look on her face. It was complete aggravation tempered with extreme affection. It seemed to pretty much sum up their entire relationship. Tristan wasn’t stupid and he sensed that he should leave. So he did. He needed some time to think. His brain was having trouble processing the events of the last few hours. He was stuck on one thought in particular.

Rory Gilmore was back in his life.

Worse, he was pretty sure he still felt the same way about her. In high school he was far too young to understand what love was. He was now twenty-two years old. Completely legal and mature. He still reacted to her as he had never reacted to anyone else. He wasn’t in love with her, yet. He was sure that he could be eventually, though.

That thought scared the hell out of him. He had had very few examples of lasting love in his life. One, to be precise. His grandparents. They had loved each other for most of their lives. Even now that they were in there eighties that fact was evident. A person would think that a good example like that could inspire faith. Tristan however had countless other examples of relationships based on mutual gain. His parent’s relationship was like that. A business merger from the start. They had done their duty, conceived an heir then moved into separate wings of the house. They lived completely separate lives. His father traveled the world with his mistresses, women barely older than Tristan himself. His mother shopped and attended various society functions. She had her own affairs with the tennis instructors, or lifeguards or masseurs she picked up at the club. The DuGreys were hardly an isolated instance. At Chilton and Exeter everyone had parent’s like that. It was the price they paid for their money. For their cars, credit cards and Ivy League universities. Money was poison.

Rory didn’t see things that way. Whatever she had lost, being born to an unwed, teenage mother she had gained in being taken away from the world of the rich. She wasn’t the least bit jaded or cynical. And Tristan knew he was. It scared him that he could inflict that on her.

He was pulled out of his musings by a knock on his door. He got up and answered it. There was the subject of his contemplation looking somewhat hesitant.

Rory peered at him, "Are you okay?" He didn’t look quite right.

"Fine. I’m fine."

Rory wasn’t entirely convinced but she decided to drop it. "Well, Henry suggested that we go out. You, me, Paris him and Lane, I mean. Not us because we’re not... Anyway, what do you say? It’ll be fun. Think of it as your introduction to Boston. We can go to this club a few blocks away. We’re regulars, it’s like our Peach Pit."

He looked at her for a minute. And all his reservations were gone. "Sure, why not?"

"Great! We can leave, say sevenish?" Tristan nodded in agreement. "Okay. See you then." Rory opened her mouth to say something else. Then thinking better of it and turned on her heels and re-entered her apartment.