Author's Note: I know. I'm a terrible person. Don't hate me please. This has been the busiest year of my life so far, for those of you who are Aussies think HSC. This story has unfortunately been last on my list of priorities but I've just gotten the first lot of exams over and seem to have some spare time on my hands.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to someone else that is not me whether it be CW or the WB or Ms Amy. P or that new guy…
Chapter 15: Intoxication
Half an hour later Rory had spotted his car on the side of the road, yet she couldn't see those icy blue eyes or blonde hair she longed to see.
She parked a few metres away from his black jaguar and sat for a moment, letting the dust settle. Taking a breath she opened the door and tentatively walked towards the car finally seeing a dark figure slumped to the side of the midnight car.
"Hey Tris…"
He looked up but didn't say a word, instead nodded, acknowledging her presence.
She frowned for a moment before setting herself down next to him, gazing into the darkness. As he had looked up at her she hadn't seen the sparkling blue she was so used to, instead a stormy grey-blue, so intense and so sad she had almost flinched in surprise.
They both sat in silence, just boring their eyes in to the night sky in wonder at what they were to say to each other.
Tristan finally broke the silence.
"My parents hate me…"
"Tris…"
"….they think I'm a nuisance"
Tristan took another breath as the words poured out,
"… and I've spent my entire life having people give up on me and leave me."
Rory took his hand.
"Tris… I'm not leaving, and I'm not giving up on you"
Tristan finally raised his head, and turned to Rory with his stormy-grey eyes.
"I know…"
They moved to a small grassy area further away from the road where Tristan had simply lain down on his back, Rory sitting beside him shivering slightly. At the sight of her shivering, Tristan had sat up, took off his jacket and wrapped it protectively around her ignoring the icy wind that he could now feel, before lying down again.
"Thanks.."
"No problem.."
Tristan paused, studying Rory's face, seeing the concern and fear etched on her face. He took a deep breath and spoke. He knew she had been waiting for him to open up first, she didn't want to push it. Taking a breath he began;
"My parents are on a tropical island half the time, and whenever they do grace me with their presence it's only to put me down and tell me I'm not good enough to live up to the bloody Dugrey name," he scoffed. "Like I want it anyway…"
He glanced at the small flickers of sympathy wash across her face.
"I grew up thinking that I was worthless and that I would amount to nothing. Nothing I did would earn any points with them, the most I ever received was silence and a beating…"
Rory squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"When I came to Chilton every immediately thought I was their God. Just because of a damn last name. No one bothered to get to know me, they didn't bother looking beyond the façade of a rich Hartford brat…." He took a breath.
"But… at least they thought I was something. Someone. They even looked up to me. It was new, but the only way I could keep the attention meant I ended up doing some pretty stupid things… girls, cars, money, rebelling, to keep all the attention on me. So I could be someone instead of the worthless pathetic loser that I still thought I was…"
"Tris.. you're n-"
"…and then you came to Chilton and changed everything"
He paused, letting it all sink in.
"You came to Chilton and all I could think about was how everyone would think of me if I got with the new Virgin Mary. I thought you'd just be like the rest of them, fall for my apparent charm and wit"
He almost cracked a grin.
" Obviously it didn't work. You were the only one who didn't care what my name was, didn't care how much money I had, all you cared about was the actual person behind everything and you looked down on me for the hateful person I'd become…"
"You're not anymore you know that?"
"Maybe"
He closed his eyes, as if trying to hold onto the memories.
"You on the other hand… you were.." he paused, trying to think of the right word.
"….intoxicating."
Rory inhaled sharply.
"You worked hard, you had dreams, you had people who loved you, you had a happy life. It all just drew me in. You didn't care what people thought. You didn't care that you were competing with the most intimidating person at school, and you didn't care that people would talk behind your back just because you weren't some rich brat. You didn't care that you were from some little anonymous town. You weren't afraid to be yourself."
Rory felt her chest constrict, stung by his words. Not because they were hurtful but the honesty in his voice was so intense. He told her not because he loved her, not because he was her friend…
Just because that's what he felt was the truth.
Rory, still feeling the emotions of his words bent down and left a chaste kiss on his forehead before lying down next to him, her head on his chest listening to the slow beat of his heart. That was all he was going to say for tonight, but she knew that he had opened up to her more than he had to anyone before her. It was both exhilarating and terrifying, on the one hand she had gained his utmost trust, opening up to her fully. On the other hand it represented a new beginning to their relationship that could end disastrously, with a betrayal of trust, hurt and pain beyond anything.
A cold chill woke Tristan up. He felt a weight on his chest and realized he and Rory, still wrapped in his jacket, were still lying in peace on the side of the highway. He got up as gently as possible, smiling gently at Rory's ability to sleep through anything, and glanced at his watch.
3:34am
Making a quick decision he bent down and picked Rory up gently, and laid her in the seat of his car, preparing to take her home. Making a quick check that she was warm enough he began the quiet drive back to Stars Hollow.
As he fell into the comfortable silence of the drive, only broken by Rory's gentle breathing he felt the weight of his problems beginning to drift away. While it wasn't as if they'd been solved, he'd found someone to share his burden with rather than bottle up his emotions and feeling like he'd explode with torment any minute.
While he was almost ecstatic with this lightness he felt, it was a terrifying thought that he had let someone into his life like he just had. He had someone he could rely on, someone he could come to anything about, someone who he could be so sure that would be there for everything. But it was also someone who could hurt him more deeply than ever before. Rory could be the one who healed the scars, but could also be the one to open new wounds.
"Morning, sleeping beauty…"
Rory groaned, recognising her mother's voice. Her eyes fluttered open and putting a hand on her head she took in her surroundings.
Home. Had she not been out in the middle of a highway earlier?
"What happened…?"
"Tristan brought you home, and got a driver to bring your car too incase you're wondering"
Her hand flew subconsciously to her necklace at the mention of Tristan. She fiddled with the locket as she talked.
"Where is he now?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me what happened."
Knowing that she couldn't keep this from her mother she shared the events of the night. Leaving some details privy to only her and Tristan. This was his story too, and she couldn't share everything with her mother, even if she wanted too, it wasn't her place. As she finished her story she couldn't help but notice a small smile grace her mother's features. She couldn't quite place the expression, it was almost as if she had been waiting all along.
She looked quizzically at her mother. "What….?"
"Nothing. Just… there's nothing in the way now."
"In the way? For what…?"
"For… " Lorelai paused, thinking of the right phrase, "….for starting another chapter"
Rory furrowed her eyes.
"You know you're confusing me even more right?"
Lorelai simply smiled knowingly at her daughter and gave her a hand out of bed.
"He's in the living room, he's still asleep on the couch. I didn't let him drive home last night, you guys came back pretty late…so I didn't exactly want to be responsible for him driving into a tree from fatigue"
Rory became silent as the events of last night came back to her. The emotion, the intensity of it, the honesty and her newfound responsibility. She walked slowly and silently out of her room and crouched down beside the couch.
There was a new feel about him, he seemed more free and relaxed. And as she watched the rise and fall of his chest she couldn't help but feel at ease with him. She simply sat there on the floor and watched him sleep.
"You shouldn't stare at people while they sleep…"
A sleepy voice broke the silence. Tristan shifted slightly on the couch before slowly opening his eyes. The stared at each other for a moment.
"Hi…"
"Hi…"
"Sleep well?"
"Yea…"
There was another pause before Rory spoke up.
"I want to… thank you"
Tristan's eyes questioned her.
"…for opening up to me. And, trusting me… and just being there for me even when I haven't been there enough for you because I didn't care to look hard enough."
Tristan opened his mouth to speak but Rory silenced him.
"I think I may have been taking you for granted, just assuming you'll always be there for me, there to share my problems without thinking about what happens to you when you're not with me. And it took all that… drama from yesterday to make me realise it and it kills me that I haven't been a better person. It really hurts, especially when you seem to have this impression that I'm this perfect person with all the good in the world… but I'm not"
Rory paused, holding back the tears and unsure of what to say next as he moved from the couch to sit beside her. He watched her carefully as she sat with her knees to her chest, hugging them and bathing in the soft morning light.
"I should go…"
Rory looked up surprised. She had expected him to say something at her heartfelt words, she didn't know what but something to acknowledge that he had heard her confession and how sorry she was. All she felt now was shock, disappointment and sadness.
But he had already stood up and was searching his jacket for his car keys making a step towards the door once he had found them. He had turned to say goodbye but was only met with confusion and sadness and a wave of realisation washed over him.
"Smile Rory."
She almost did.
"I heard you, I just…" He let out a breath "I just need time to myself. I just need to… think. I'm not going anywhere. Look... Come here"
And all he did was envelop her into a gentle hug, but even the simple gesture let a wave of relief pass over her as she rested her head gently against his chest and felt him place a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
"I know you said you know you're not perfect but I see differently. Every little quirk about you just fits in neatly, the dimple that only appears when you're especially happy, your crazy addiction to Willy Wonka, your even crazier addiction to coffee…"
Rory cracked a small smile.
"… the way you bite your lip when you're concentrating and even the fact that you could not do any physical sport if your life depended on it…"
Tristan still held her tight.
"Your flaws make you perfect, and the fact that you think you're not, I think…"
He broke their embrace, but still had her close, blue met blue as he spoke with the gentlest voice…
"I think that's why I'm in love with you"
A/N: Well? Was it worth the wait? Do you hate me? The long long wait I apologize for again and again. And as always, read and review (: