breaking the rules
Note: This fic was originally written for the Trory Summer Ficathon. I was requested by Priya to write a fic including the following things: 1. Chilton Years, 2. A camping trip, in which R/T share a significant night, 3. S’mores, 4. Tristan mentioned (or actually in) leather pants.
~*~
"So, Mary, you, me, the backseat of the school bus. What do you say?"
Rory Gilmore turned to look at Tristan DuGrey who was sitting behind her in their last period English class, and rolled her eyes. Tristan was familiar with this look as he'd been at the receiving end of it many times in the last year. Ever since he had returned from military school for his senior year actually.
"I say keep dreaming," Rory shot back.
It didn't matter that she didn't really know what Tristan was talking about this time, she knew him well enough to know it was another leer aimed at her. It was funny though, it didn't seem to bother her as much as it once had.
Ever since Tristan had returned to Chilton he and Rory had formed a weird relationship. It was essentially the same as their previous one in which Tristan called her 'Mary', teased her mercilessly and leered at her at every available opportunity. The difference now however was that Rory was no longer the young new girl who took everything personally. She now knew that although Tristan was still annoying as hell, he didn't mean anything personally, and if she just ignored his teasing he was actually a pretty decent guy.
Rory knew the day Tristan had walked out of her life that their relationship had changed. She had almost been sad that he had been shipped off to military school, not that she would ever admit that to him. When he came back she was actually happy. Tristan came back a little more grown up, although essentially the same and Rory was ready to actually give being his friend a chance.
This hadn't really gone over well with Dean however who always hated Tristan. But at the moment that didn't matter because they were in the "off period" of their long on-again-off-again relationship.
"Aww, come on Ror, who else are you going to sit with?" Tristan tried again.
"Well, it would help if I knew what you're talking about."
"The senior class trip."
"Isn't it a camping trip?" Rory asked.
"Yeah."
"And you're going? Tristan DuGrey is going to go camping and rough it?"
"Yes. Why is that so hard to believe? I did go to military school."
"Oh, yeah. I forget sometimes since it obviously had no effect on you."
"They tried to wear me down, but I resisted," he told her. "So, what d'you say? I'll make it a memorable trip."
Rory rolled her eyes again. "I'll sit with you, but only because my other choice is Paris. And you can get those backseat fantasies of yours out of your sick little mind."
"You wound me, Ror."
"If only."
~*~
"You're going camping with Tristan," Lane stated, raising an eyebrow in question. She was sitting on Rory's bed while Rory packed for her trip this weekend.
"No. I'm going camping with the whole of the senior class."
"Including Tristan."
"Yes, including Tristan," Rory muttered, frustrated. Lane just gave her a look, which just made Rory even angrier. She was already having trouble finding all her camping gear. "What?!"
"Nothing," Lane said innocently.
"Don't give me that, Lane. You don't have a 'nothing' face. You have a 'something' face."
"Well, you and Tristan have been spending a lot of time together lately."
"How many times do I have to tell you Tristan and I are just friends? It's bad enough when Dean accuses me of cheating on him, I don't need you to do it too."
"I'm not saying you're cheating on Dean. Not that you would be anyway because you're not together right now, right? What is this, break up number fifty-two?"
Rory rolled her eyes. "Like five. Stop exaggerating."
"Whatever. The point is, you're not together, so if you chose to acknowledge those feelings you have for a certain rich blonde guy that you've been trying so hard to ignore, it wouldn't be the end of the world."
"I do not have feelings for Tristan."
"Why the hell not? The boy is fine."
"Lane!"
"What? Just because he's not my type doesn't mean I can't appreciate how good looking he is."
"Please do not talk to me about Tristan's good looks."
"Ha. So you did notice."
"I'd have to be blind not to," Rory muttered. "But that doesn't mean anything. You know we are so different. I could never have a serious relationship with Tristan. He's too…"
"What? Nice? Funny? Hot?"
"He's too…Tristan!"
Lane laughed at her friend. However much Rory wanted to deny it she and Tristan had this intense chemistry. It had always been there and lately it was overflowing. You could practically feel the sexual tension between them. And whether Rory wanted to admit it or not, Tristan was the only guy who ever challenged her. Lane saw the way they were together and she knew it was only a matter of time before Rory stopped hiding from it too.
"Well that clears it up."
"Lane, you're supposed to be helping me pack, not talking about Tristan."
"I can do both."
"Well don't. I will see enough of him this weekend without you talking about him too."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"I see what you're doing and it's not going to work."
"What's not going to work?" Lane asked innocently.
"You're trying to get me to say nice things about Tristan."
"Lane!" Lorelai appeared in the doorway of Rory's room. "You can't make her say nice things about Tristan. He is Evil. E-vil!"
Lane just laughed. "She's just saying that because of his questionable intentions towards you."
"Tristan does not have…"
"Lane's right. No boy should be allowed to look at my daughter that way." Lorelai shuddered.
"He doesn't look at me any way! Now can we please stop talking about Tristan and help me pack!"
She turned around to look in her closet so she didn't see Lorelai and Lane smirking at her.
~*~
Rory was sitting in the school bus early Friday morning. The class trip was taking place over the weekend in the woods about two hours drive from Chilton. They would be returning on Sunday night. Although it was supposed to be a fun trip for the seniors, Chilton preferred their students to work for their fun, hence a camping trip.
It was almost time for them to leave and the seat next to her was still empty. Paris was sitting behind her muttering something about some homework she could be doing this weekend. After a few minutes the bus driver turned the engine on and Rory was almost worried that they were leaving Tristan behind, when she noticed him get on the bus. He walked to the back and slumped into the seat next to her. He mumbled a hello before covering his face under a hat. He was obviously not a morning person.
"Well hello to you too," Rory mumbled.
Tristan opened one eye and glanced at her before going back to sleep.
Rory realized that it was actually a good thing that Tristan wasn't a morning person because she didn't think she could handle their bantering and his leering at six in the morning.
She started to read a book she had brought with her for the journey, but after a while her eyes drifted back to him. He looked so cute when he was sleeping. He didn't have that permanent smirk on his face and he actually looked relaxed, like he was finally letting his guard down.
She knew he didn't let many people close to him. She had only been privy to his real personality a few times. It took a long time for him to drop his act around her, but he finally had and sometimes that scared her. When he was his usual cocky self she could deal with him. She would banter back and ignore his leering and things would be okay between them. But when he let his guard down, even accidentally, she saw this whole other side of him and she could feel herself getting pulled towards him. It made her confused and scared because she couldn't deal with the possibility that there was more to Tristan than she first thought. And that he might just be exactly what she was looking for.
She closed her eyes briefly and the memory of just last week came back to her. She and Tristan had been in his room alone together, and things were fine, they were normal even; how that changed she doesn’t even remember.
"Mary, would you put the book down for just one second. I need a woman's perspective."
Rory glanced up from her book briefly, before going back to reading. She was sitting on Tristan's bed reading while he paced in his room. A year ago she never would have dreamed to be sitting in Tristan's room so comfortably, but lately things had changed. At first they used to come to Tristan's to study but after a while Rory started to go to his place on Friday's to hang out and then he would drop her straight to her grandparents house for Friday dinners.
"You can't buy Katie's affections," Rory told him, not looking up.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"You screwed up. Fix it."
"I know that," Tristan admitted. "But how?"
He was getting frustrated. Katie had been the first girl he had started seeing since he told himself to stop thinking of Rory all the time and it took her all of a week to figure out that his affections lay with his best friend rather than her. But Tristan was determined to get her back. He wasn't going to spend the rest of his young life celibate just because Rory Gilmore was too dense to realize what was right in front of her.
"I don't know. You won't tell me what you did wrong. Was it the leather pants? They really don't work for you, you know," Rory joked.
"What are you talking about? I look hot in leather pants. Actually I look hot in pretty much anything."
Rory scoffed. "Do you want me to buy some storage room for that ever inflating ego of yours?"
"Face it Gilmore, you're the only one who doesn't realize what's right in front of her."
He meant to say it in a teasing voice just to get a rise out of her, but it came off a little too seriously. She looked at him in question and he found himself walking over to her and sitting down on the edge of the bed, directly in front of her.
She looked into his eyes, trying to read what he was saying, but the look in his eyes scared her. The usual smirk was missing from his face; instead he was just looking at her curiously.
"And what is that?" she asked, managing to find her voice.
He seemed to think about the answer. Rory felt herself drawn towards him while she waited for him to tell her exactly what she was missing. But she had a feeling she knew what…or who it was.
Tristan leaned closer to her, his hand lifting up and slowly caressing her cheek. She leaned in to his touch, forgetting that this was Tristan and she had already promised herself not to do this. He leaned closer still, cupping her face in his hands.
"Me," he whispered in a low husky voice, his breath falling against her skin. And she knew he was about to close the short distance between their lips and kiss her.
But he didn't because the bedroom door flew open just as his lips touched hers.
"Tristan your Mom said…"
Paris stopped dead in her tracks as Tristan jumped back from Rory. Rory blushed furiously, trying to calm her beating heart.
"Uh…We were going to work on that project, weren't we?" Paris asked.
"Uh, yeah. Of course," Tristan muttered, not looking at Rory.
"Yeah, I was just leaving anyway," Rory added.
She grabbed her bag and jumped off the bed and out of the room so fast that Tristan didn't get a chance to say anything, let alone ask her how she was planning to get to her grandparents house.
Looking at Tristan now she wondered if things might have changed between them if Paris hadn't walked in. They had ignored the almost-kiss and gone back to normal, but she just couldn't shake the feelings she got every time he was near her now. She knew things had been changing between them for a while now and it was only a matter of time before she would have to choose.
~*~
"…And finally there is to be no mixed sex tents. Girls and boys must be in their separate tents by eleven. That said, enjoy your weekend," Mr. Medina finished the list of the rules.
Tristan came up behind Rory as the students all picked up their gear and started moving towards the camp site. "I guess that means our plans for a late night tryst in your tent are cancelled," he joked.
"When was that ever the plan?"
"Remember Mary, it was in the plan you made yesterday. First there would be making out in the backseat of the bus…"
"Which you slept through."
"…then a little romance through the day. And then finally you would give yourself to me in a night of incredible passion."
"You know, your delusions are really starting to worry me," Rory said seriously. "Paris, what do you think, is it time for the psych ward?"
Paris glanced at the pair, barely holding in the urge to roll her eyes. "I think it was time for that a long time ago," she told Rory.
"See Paris agrees with me," Rory said.
"That's because she's evil. The only thing that makes me crazy is you, Ror," he whispered in her ear as he passed her and walked off with some of the guys.
He had been so close that she was momentarily distracted and stopped walking. Why was this happening to her lately? She had made it through most of high school without feeling anything for Tristan, for it to happen now, when she was almost free, was just not fair.
"Gilmore, are you coming or what?" Paris called back to her.
Rory realized she wasn't moving and quickly ran to catch up with Paris, putting all thoughts of Tristan at the back of her mind for now.
"You know it's only a matter of time," Paris told her when she'd caught up.
"'Till what?"
"'Till you give in to him."
"What? No! Tristan and I are just…"
"…Friends, yeah, I got the memo. Doesn't change how he feels about you though. And how you obviously feel about him. I know what I walked in on last week. I'm not stupid."
"You didn't walk in on anything. We were just talking," Rory lied.
"With your lips attached to each other?"
Rory glared at her friend. "It was a mistake. Actually it was a non-mistake, because it didn't even happen."
"Because I walked in. What if I hadn't been there?"
"I don't know," Rory sighed. "Would it bother you? You know…Tristan and me?" she asked. "I mean, I know you've liked him for a pretty long time."
"Liked. Past tense. Tristan was my first crush, but that's all it was. I got over it a long time ago. Don't worry about me, Rory. "
Rory digested this information, realizing that one of the reasons she had stayed away from Tristan was because she didn't want to hurt Paris, who had become one of her best friends. It wasn't the only reason though.
"Well, it's good you're over him. But there's still nothing between us."
She walked ahead effectively ending the conversation so she didn't notice Paris rolling her eyes at her oblivious friend.
~*~
Tristan lay in his tent that night, staring up at the shadows that kept moving above him. Brett, his tent mate was sleeping soundlessly, but Tristan couldn't sleep.
It was almost one a.m. but he couldn't sleep knowing Rory was only a few feet away from him. However much he tried not to think about her, he couldn't stop. It was her fault really, if she didn't look so damn cute all the time he really wouldn't be thinking about kissing her. And if she hadn't looked at him with those eyes last week he wouldn't have tried to kiss her.
But the fact was she did look cute all the time, and she had looked at him that way last week and he would have kissed her if Paris hadn't walked in at the wrong moment. And he knew that all of those things were just wrong and should not have happened.
Because that moment ruined everything for him. It brought him right back to where he had been a year ago. Pining over Rory Gilmore.
Tristan didn't do pining. He didn't like pining. DuGrey's just did not pine. This is why he had decided last year that he was going to be friends with Rory and ignore any extra feelings that he may have for her. And he had been doing well. He had dated and messed around and been the old Tristan for a whole year, while Rory kept him at arms length.
But last week something changed. When she looked at him with those cute blue eyes of hers, he could have sworn he saw a flicker of something close to desire in them. And that was all it took for him to forget everything he had promised himself he wouldn't do.
Not that it mattered anyway. Rory had made it clear to him that all she wanted from him was friendship. And if he hadn't already known that, it was even more obvious by the way she had ran out of the room last week.
That was her problem though. She was always running from him. Ever since he'd known her, from her very first day at Chilton she had been afraid to get close to him. And now that she was close to him, she was running from what that meant.
A faint light outside his tent caused Tristan to stop his musings for a second. Someone was definitely out of their tent past curfew. Not being able to resist his curiosity, Tristan quickly grabbed his shoes and headed outside.
When he realized who it was sitting on a log, a small torch the only light illuminating her book, he just knew that fates were against him. He just wasn't meant to walk away from this.
"Breaking the rules, Mary?" She jumped at his voice, almost dropping her book. "I didn't think you had it in you."
"Tristan!" she hissed, trying to be quiet and angry at the same time. "Don't scare me like that!"
Tristan just grinned, walking over to her and sitting down. She was sitting on a long log they had put by the non existent fire, with a blanket draped over her shoulder.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"I was trying to read, before someone interrupted." She glared at him, but Tristan knew she wasn't really angry. "What are you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep."
She noticed him shiver slightly and felt bad. She knew getting this close to him was risky, but he was going to freeze if she didn't. To his surprise she scooted closer to him and draped one side of her blanket around him.
He smiled at the gesture and huddled closer to her so the blanket went around both of them.
"Why couldn't you sleep?" Rory asked him.
"Don't know. I was just thinking."
"About?" she asked.
He turned to look at her and his eyes must have betrayed him, because she seemed to tense up.
"Nothing really," he lied. "So, do you have any food?" he asked suddenly.
It was such an obvious change of topic that they both knew they were avoiding the subject, but for now it seemed to work.
"Didn't you have enough s'mores earlier? I saw you eat like five!"
"So, you were paying attention," Tristan teased.
"Only because your appetite was scaring me," she said. "I think I have some junk food in my tent, but you'd have to incur the wrath of Paris if you wake her, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty."
Tristan laughed. "I think I'll pass."
They fell into an easy silence and Rory started to read her book again. But she didn’t get very far because she could feel his eyes on her. Sitting this close to him, she could feel his body heat. His thigh was pressed tightly against hers, one of his arms was around her waist, and she knew if she just looked up, his face would be mere inches from hers.
She stood up suddenly, startling Tristan and dropping her book in the process.
"I should go to sleep," she announced.
"Okay," he agreed, though he was confused about her sudden announcement.
She leant down to pick up her book at the same moment that Tristan did and they ended up reaching for each other rather than the book.
It was that quick that it happened. Suddenly she was being pulled towards him and Tristan was kissing her. His lips captured hers so fiercely that she felt her head spin. His arm came around her waist, holding her so she couldn't move even if she wanted to, which she didn't. Her hands snaked around his neck, caressing the skin there as his tongue sought entrance into her mouth.
His kisses were crazy and passionate and so unlike anything she had experienced before. The way he kissed her, it was like she was the only person in his world. And she was. This was nothing like their first kiss so many years ago; because this time neither of them were thinking about anyone else.
She whimpered against his mouth, feeling like she was losing herself in him. She didn't know how he could do this to her with one kiss. But she didn't want to think about it. Right now all she wanted to think about were the sensations Tristan was causing. His touch was electric and her whole body was tingling. She never let herself think about it before, but she knew that it would be like this with him. She knew it would be explosive.
Tristan was holding on to her so tightly as if he was scared to let go. He couldn't quite believe that she was kissing him back. It felt like he was dreaming or something. Because Rory Gilmore did not ever let him kiss her like this. But it wasn't a dream, because his dreams paled in comparison to this.
His lips left hers for a moment as they both tried to catch their breath. Rory's eyes were drawn to his and she let go of him suddenly. His eyes were so filled with lust and desire that it scared her.
She stumbled backwards but didn't miss the disappointment in Tristan's eyes when he realized what she was doing. She was running. Again.
But her legs were shaking and she felt dizzy and she wasn't fast enough for him. He wasn't going to let her run this time. She was half way to her tent when Tristan grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.
"You can't run from this, Rory," he told her.
Her chest was heaving and her heart was beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. He was inches away from her, and his hand still held onto her arm loosely.
She wanted to turn and run from this. She needed to. Because this scared her. Tristan scared her. She knew she had been running from it for a long time because she knew that once she gave in, once she realized that he was all she wanted, it would be over for her. She would lose all sense of control.
"I have to," she told him.
She started to move again, but Tristan quickly blocked her path.
"No."
"Tristan, let me go." She didn't know why, but she could feel tears build up in her eyes.
"I can't do that." His eyes were so desperate and pleading and she just needed to get away from them.
"Please."
"What are you so afraid of?" he asked.
"You! Us. This thing between us."
"Why?"
"Because you'll only end up hurting me," she told him.
Tristan looked at her, confusion masking his beautiful features. And then he stepped aside. Rory glanced at him, but he wasn't looking at her anymore, and then she went into her tent, leaving him behind in the cold.
~*~
Two hours later Tristan found himself outside Rory's tent again. He knew she was probably sleeping by now, but he couldn't rest until he spoke to her.
"Rory," he whispered. "Rory!"
He could see someone move inside the tent and then the tent entrance was opened.
"Tristan? What are you doing here? It's almost four in the morning!"
"I know. But I have to talk you. Come with me?"
Rory wanted to say no. She knew going anywhere with Tristan right now would be dangerous, but she couldn't say no when he looked at her like that.
"Okay, wait there."
A few minutes later Rory emerged from her tent wearing a sweatshirt to keep her warm and holding her blanket which she handed to Tristan who had once again left his tent wearing nothing more than his sweat pants and a t-shirt.
They walked in silence, away from the tents for about ten minutes until they came to an opening in the woods.
"So, err, you wanted to talk?" she said, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute.
"Yeah…"
He had so much he needed to say. A lot of it he didn't want to have to say. He didn't want to have to spell out how he felt. It would only make him weak. But he was also sick of waiting. He was sick of being so pathetic when it came to her. He had never wanted someone as much as he wanted her and he wasn't going to let her go because he was too proud to tell her how much he cared.
Rory could tell there were a lot of thoughts racing through Tristan's mind as he paced in front of her, but she didn't know what they were. That was the scary thing with Tristan. As friendly as they had become over the last year, she still had no idea what he was thinking most of the time. He was always surprising her and challenging her. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he went and did something else that completely threw her world upside down.
"You were right," Tristan said finally, breaking Rory's thoughts and surprising her once again.
"What?"
"You were right. I probably will end up hurting you. I screw up, Rory…"
"Tristan…"
"No, let me say this. Look, I screw up, I admit it. I make bad decisions and end up getting in trouble. I'm not a good guy. I'll never be like…Dean."
"I don't want…"
"But," he cut her off. "I know that I like you, Rory. More than I've liked anyone else," he admitted.
"Tristan…"
"I know you feel something," he continued, trying to regain some of his pride. "I feel it every time I'm with you. And you can keep being scared of it and running from it, but where will that leave you? Maybe you'll run from this. But what about the next person that challenges you? What about the next person that really makes you feel something? Are you going to run from that too?"
Rory stood there, a few feet away from Tristan in a stunned silence. She really wondered how he knew her so well when she had so much trouble figuring him out. How did he know how scared she was of him? How did he know that the thought of being with him caused her to run from him?
Tristan approached her slowly, stopping just a few inches from her. "I can't promise I won't hurt you, but I can promise I'll do my best not to. You just have to trust me."
Rory didn't know what to say to that, so she did the only thing she knew would convey what she was feeling. She closed the gap between them and kissed him. He was a little surprised at first but quickly kissed her back, his arms snaking around her waist to hold her tight.
Rory pulled away and looked at him for s second. "You do realize you just asked me to trust Tristan DuGrey of all people?"
Tristan grinned. "Yep."
Rory sighed. "What am I getting myself into?"
She didn't let him answer as she claimed his lips once more. This time Tristan took control and kissed her so passionately that her legs really did feel weak. She was leaning against his body for support, sure that if she let go of him she would fall.
The blanket that Tristan had draped around his shoulder fell to the ground and he quickly laid it out on the floor before pulling Rory down with him.
She fell against his body so she was half lying on him, but at the moment she wasn't even aware of it. Her whole body was heating up as Tristan's mouth worked against hers. She didn't even notice as he lifted her large sweatshirt over her head, leaving her in a small tank top.
As she lay there her top rode up and Tristan's hands caressed the soft skin at the small of her back, holding her in place. He turned suddenly so she was lying on her back, his hands moving to her stomach. She could feel her rough fingers against her skin and a soft sigh of contentment escaped her lips.
Tristan's lips moved to her neck next, softly kissing her as she let him explore her body with his hands. Her own hands had made their way underneath his t-shirt and she could feel his muscles rippling underneath her touch.
Briefly she realized that she should be embarrassed, lying here in the moonlight with Tristan's hands touching her, even if it was just her stomach. But she didn't. She felt no embarrassment or nerves that had always stopped her from letting Dean touch her. With Tristan she felt safe. The way he was touching her and caressing her made her feel special and wanted and she knew she trusted him. She trusted him so much that at this moment she would pretty much let him do anything.
She sat up suddenly, pushing Tristan away. He fell back against the blanket looking really confused.
Damn. This was what happened when she let her mind think. She was quite happy letting her body and heart do the talking for her. Whenever she over thought things she always ended up pushing people away.
"Rory…" Tristan took her hands. "Sorry. We can stop…I didn't mean…"
"No," she said suddenly, telling her mind to shut up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
She kissed him again forcefully as if telling herself that this was what she wanted. He was what she wanted. And he was.
But however much Tristan loved kissing her and touching her, he wasn't going to move too fast. He pulled away slowly.
"It's okay, Ror. We can just lay here."
Rory smiled. "Tristan?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
And then she pushed him back down and kissed him, letting herself get lost in this moment. Because in this moment he was her everything.
~*~
"I can't believe you slept with him!" Paris exclaimed loudly as she and Rory walked towards the bus.
Rory looked around quickly. "I did not sleep with him!" she hissed. "And would you mind keeping your voice down? You know what Chilton is like."
"So, you mysteriously disappear on Friday night and get back at dawn looking slightly worse for wear…"
"I thought you were asleep?"
"I was faking it."
"And then you avoided me all of yesterday and mysteriously disappeared again last night."
"I didn't sleep with him," Rory said again, but the blush creeping up her cheeks told another story. "And I didn't avoid you yesterday. Tristan just kept dragging me off to…"
"Don't finish that sentence."
"Spend time with him!" Rory glared at her friend. "I'm sorry for ditching you."
"It's okay, Gilmore. I'm used to not having friends," Paris said seriously, though she was only teasing.
"Paris!"
Paris laughed. "It's okay. Look, I'm happy you two finally got a clue. I don't need the details."
"Nothing happened, really." Paris just rolled her eyes. "Okay something happened but not that."
"Really, Gilmore, I don't need to hear it."
"Don't need to hear what?" Tristan asked, sneaking up on the two girls and draping one arm around each of them.
"Tristan! How many times have I told you not to do that?" Rory scolded.
"I don't know. Care to remind me?"
He leaned over to kiss Rory and Paris just threw her arms up in disgust. "Uggh! I'll see you guys on the bus." She didn't get a reply because Rory and Tristan were already deep in lip lock. "Or not," Paris mumbled as she got on the bus.
"So, did you miss me?" Tristan asked as he pulled away.
"In the four hours since you left me at my tent?" Rory pretended to think about it. "Not really."
"You wound me, Mary."
They got on the bus and made their way to the back and sat down.
"You'd think that after this weekend you would stop with the Mary already."
Tristan grinned at his girlfriend, throwing one arm around her and pulling her close. "You'll always be Mary to me, Gilmore."
"Well you'll always be an arrogant spawn of Satan to me," Rory shot back.
"I love it when you talk dirty."
"Am I going to have to put up with this the whole way home?" Paris mumbled from behind them and they both laughed.
As the bus started up and they left the camp site behind Rory turned towards Tristan. "You knew you'd wear me down eventually, didn't you?"
Tristan grinned, wondering if she even realized just how many times he had given up on her.
"Of course I did, I am Tristan DuGrey after all."
"Could you get any…"
She didn't get a chance to finish because Tristan silenced her with his lips. Rory kissed him back while wondering why exactly she hadn't done this sooner.