Title: Sister Christian

Name: Joy

Email: [email protected]

Rating: PG

Chilton was busy as the students left for a long weekend. Much hustling and fussing could be seen and heard from the hallways. Tristan pulled a bag from his locker. It was slightly wedged so he had to tug pretty hard to get it out; the backlash was he nearly hit Rory with the bag.

"Oh sorry- Hey Rory…" Tristan said distractedly.

"No problem… Going on a trip?"

"Yeah, my sister and I are going to see my grandmother for the weekend," he responded.

"For some reason I thought you were an only child… I guess that's because I'm one," Rory said as she and Tristan walked out of the school.

"I am in some ways… She's my half sister- we have the same father. It's his mother we are seeing. She was nine when I was born so we are each an only child but not."

Thina Dugrey sat on the roof of her restored 57' Chevy convertible, waiting for her little brother. He emerged from the halls of her former high school with a bag and a girl. She smirked slightly at the sight. Her well-worn jeans and Pink Floyd t-shirt did not fit at Chilton but then again she never fit a Chilton. She slid off the car and grabbed some clothes from the back of the car. "Think fast," Thina yelled at her brother causing him to drop his bag and grab the clothes.

Tristan looked at his sister in question. "You're not allowed in my car with that hideous straight jacket on. Go change and I'll behave myself," she said with a sweet smile.

Rory watched dumbly at the strange exchange. "I must have scared him, 'cause he is normally good with introductions… Hi, I'm Thina, Tristan's older sister."

"Oh sorry… this is Rory. Rory this is my sister," Tristan finally managed.

"Nice to meet you," Rory said quietly. "I guess your dad likes the unusual T names, huh?" trying to make conversation.

"Yeah… Tristan go get changed. I'll keep your friend entertained while your gone. I won't even embarrass you," his older sister said pushing him toward the school. All he could do is hope for the best and change. "My dad wanted to name me Christian if I were a boy, but I wasn't. Since I was a girl and he felt Christian was a boy's name, he found Thina, which means Christian. I like it because it's unusual. Tristan on the other hand was named because he was a sad baby."

"Excuse me? He was a sad baby so they named him Tristan?" Rory asked

"People are wrong when they say babies are a blank slate at birth. There was tons of stress around his birth because his mom pregnancy with him had triggered my parents' divorce. His folks married on the day my parents' divorce was final. The name Tristan means sad and that is what he was… I can still see his little face in my head… They didn't give him a name for a month. I personally think that was cruel," Thina responded.

"What was cruel?" Tristan appeared from the entrance of the school, wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt that made his eyes seem more brilliant.

"The fact that dad wouldn't give you a name right away," his sister answered.

"Why are you talking about that?" he looked at her in annoyance.

"Because I was explaining the T name thing… Besides I didn't tell any embarrassing childhood stories or anything," she said batting her eyes.

A loud sound came from about ten feet away in the form of the public bus pulling away. "Oh no! I missed the bus- my mom was supposed to meet me at the bus stop," Rory said in frustration.

"Hey no big deal… I made you miss the bus; I'll drive you home. Tristan you don't mind right?"

A smile spread across his face, "No not a bit." A car ride with Rory and his sister. Well his sister had to be part of the equation… this time.

"Trist you get in the back so our guest can have the front seat… I'm not playing chauffer… So where do you live?" Thina asked.

"Stars Hollow… I'll give you directions," Rory said casually as Tristan took the opportunity to snag a notebook from his bag to jot down the directions and any other important details about Miss Gilmore.

When his sister noticed his actions, she fused, "Kid! Studying is not allowed in this car!"

"Studying would involve books, which I don't have. I'm reviewing and making notes… You two have fun doing the girl talk thing…"

Thina rolled her eyes and took a look at the long empty road in front of her. She then swiveled in her seat, kept the steering wheel steady with one hand and grabbed his notebook with the other. Tristan went voice a complaint but was soon silenced by his sister who examined the page and then stated, "That is a topic worth review and making notes!"

"You can be such a child!" he said in frustration.

"Really?" she said with a laugh and left Tristan to lick his wounds.

The three traveled in relative silence with the radio as a diversion. U2 came on singing 'In the name of love/ Pride' at which Rory was mouthing the words and Thina was singing. When the chorus hit, Thina sang her lungs out. She looked at Rory and smiled. "Come on I know you know the words. It's fun… You are young in a convertible driving fast with people who will not make fun of you- SING!"

"I would… but I don't trust that no one in this car would make fun of me… He may have gotten better, but I'm not giving him any ammunition…" Rory said plainly.

"Ammunition, huh? We've talked about you being a little prick… This is what happens- people don't trust you," Thina said into the rear view mirror to her brother.

"I… I'd love to hear you…" Tristan responded.

"Sure you would," Rory answered.

Thina stared Tristan down in the mirror prompting him to roll his eyes and sit back with a huff. Thina flipped through the stations until she found a suitable song for Tristan to beg for forgiveness with and yet ham it up. It soon came in the form of the Motown hit 'Ain't too proud to beg.' Thina and Tristan both started singing it full force driving down the street. Tristan pretended to be holding a microphone as he sang to Rory,

"Now I heard a crying man,

Is half a man with no sense of pride.

But if I have to cry to keep you,

I don't mind weepin' if it will keep you by my side.

Ain't too proud to beg, sweet darling.

Ooo, don't leave me girl. (Don't you go)

Ain't too proud to plead baby, baby.

Please don't leave me girl. (Don't you go)"

Rory laughed at the DuGrey siblings and eventually did join into the merriment. She had never seen Tristan behave this way… He was out and out silly. He also hadn't asked her out in a while, so she figured he was content with them being friends. "Oh!" Rory exclaimed. "Turn at the chicken." Thina did as she was instructed and they headed to the center of town. They pulled up just before the bus did and Lorelei Gilmore was waiting for her daughter with coffee in hand.

"Wow… Nice ride," Lorelei said as Rory got out of the car.

"I made her miss the bus so driving her home, was the least I could do."

"Thanks Thina. It was nice to meet you… Mom this is Thina and Tristan…"

"DuGrey…" Lorelei finished. Thina just stared at her a moment and then jumped from the car and hugged the elder Gilmore for all she was worth.

"Lorelei… I haven't seen you in years… Wow, Rory's yours," Thina said with great enthusiasm while Tristan and Rory just tried to process that the two women knew each other.

"You're so grown up… Wow! You obviously didn't get stuck in the staunchly crowd," Lorelei said eyeing Thina's clothing.

"Nope… Thanks to you… I paid my way through college and took care of my grandparents. When our grandfather died, I got controlling interest in his investments and stuff… the inheritance Dad thought was owed him. I now run a homeless center in Hartford. I have to laugh whenever my Dad freaks about the money I spend on the 'ingrates' of the community. We are off to see our grandmother for the weekend. I'm planning on doing my best to deprogram my little brother from the 'money good, women good, alcohol good' speeches he gets at home."

"Yeah, your dad was always really into those three things," Lorelei responded. "Out of curiosity, what do you mean by 'thanks to me'?"

"The last time you came over to say goodbye you told me to be true to myself no matter who adults told me I was. You said that choices come with responsibilities and gifts; you had both. I held fast to that piece of sage sixteen year old advice for sixteen years now. It has served me well."

"Oh yeah… Well, here is my gift," Lorelei said kissing her daughter's head.

"Hey," Thina said digging through her car for a pen and paper before absconding a page from Tristan's notebook and his pen, much to his annoyance. "Give me your phone number I would love to catch up… as long as it's not weird for you…"

"I'd like that. It's always good to find solidarity with other rebels of the snooty blue bloods we were born to. Thanks for driving her home," Lorelei said giving Thina another hug as Tristan moved to the front seat.

"Bye Rory. I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Yeah… Thanks again for the ride."

The Gilmore Girls walked back through town toward their home. "Hey kid," Thina said turning to her brother, "I could probably get us a meal with them if you want. I'd love to talk to Lorelei and I know you wouldn't mind being alone with Rory."

"That's OK. That was enough communing for the time being. Plus I really don't want to get into a fist fight with her ex."

"Why would that happen?"

"Because the last time we were in the same room we got into a fight," Tristan said looking at his shoes.

"Why?"

"Because, as you would put it, I was being a little prick… I have gotten any girl in the school for so long that when Rory kept turning me down, she became a challenge… Before you say anything, its not like that anymore. I promise."

"So you like her?" Thina said as they drove out of Stars Hollow.

"I don't know if I want to talk about this."

"Come on. We have hours to kill before getting to grandma's."