I don't own Gilmore Girls or the song Goldfinger by Ash.

Do you remember the time I knew a girl from Mars?

I don't know if you knew that

Oh we'd stay up late playing cards

Henri Winterman cigars

And I still dream of you

I still love you girl from Mars

"Tristan has been really distant lately."

Rory didn't look up from her homework, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Vicky closed her text book and rolled over onto her back. "For the past few weeks we've barely been talking at all. I have to idea why."

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged, biting her lip, "He gets in these moods. I wish I knew what makes him like this,
though."

"Can't help you." Rory pulled her hair back and tied it into a knot at the back of her head. She probably could help, actually. It was most likely his parents that were putting him in his mood. He hated his parents and had been forced to move back in with them months ago. His father had cheated on his mother, but they refused to get a divorce because they didn't want to make the information public. They now either didn't speak or fought nonstop and didn't even look at Tristan anymore. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy about living there.

Well, it was that, plus the fact that he was crazy about his girlfriend's little sister, but that wasn't something either of the girls knew.

FRI DAY

Rory sat out on the sun soaked lawn of Chilton, painting a flat for the play. School had ended over an hour ago, and she, Tristan, and a boy named Jarod were the only ones left. That was,
until his ride showed up five minutes later. He stood and waved bye to them. Rory watched his car slide out of the driveway and onto the street. Her legs were stretched out in front of her as she leaned to the right to get back to painting. She was wearing basketball shorts, but they were Devin's, so they were a few sizes too big everywhere and slid up her leg when she sat down. That was what she was focusing on when cold grey paint was splattered on her thigh. She jumped three feet in the air, dropping her own paint brush.

Tristan laughed, and Rory's eyes narrowed, "That was not very nice." he just grinned and flicked his brush at her again. Her eyes closed and she twitched as the liquid landed on her bare arm. She opened her eyes to his smug smile, "You're dead."

He grinned, "Yeah?"

She nodded, "Oh yeah."

Rory dipped her brush into the can of paint, and Tristan stood up, "Come on, you don't really want to get into this." he said, backing up.

She smiled, standing, "Oh I think I do." he kept backing away and she kept going forward. "Tristan..." she called in a singsong voice.

He shook his head, "No." they were now only two feet apart, and Rory held into the handle of her paintbrush, snapping it in his direction. Tristan stood still as the paint hit him in the face and got all over the front of his shirt. Rory grinned as his hand raised slowly to wipe off his mouth,
"That wasn't very smart." She laughed as he walked closer, but she didn't see the brush in his hand until paint was smeared into her hair.

She fell silent suddenly and her jaw dropped, eyes wide as he looked her straight in the face and streaked her hair with paint. She pulled away and grabbed his wrist, trying to get the brush away;
but he was pulling back, both of them laughing so hard that their efforts were only halfhearted. Tristan grabbed her arm and wrenched his wrist away, swinging her around so that his arms were tight around her and her back was pulled against his front. They were still laughing as she dropped to the ground, dragging him down with her and then crawling out of his grasp. She dunked her hand into the paint can as he grasped her ankle and pulled her away from it. She rolled over and grabbed the front of his shirt with her clean hand before smearing the paint all over his jeans and then his arm.

Tristan pinned her down and straddled her. She groaned and kicked, but he just reached over her head, pulling the paint can to himself. Her eyes widened, "Tristan no!" she moved to push the can away, but he caught both of her wrists in his left hand.

"Uh-uh." he scolded, swirling his index finger in the paint. It was hard to take her seriously when she was still cracking up. He pained a huge 'T' on her shoulder, a dot on her nose, and two horizontal lines under her eyes, like a football player. Their laughter slowed down, but Rory was still giggling and he was still grinning. She wiggled her hips. She knew it was a low blow, knew that it wasn't fair, but were they really fighting fair? Tristan was five inches and a good forty pounds heavier than her, and she was pinned under him without the use of her hands. No way were they fighting fair. But wiggling her hips definitely got his attention, and when he was caught off guard she pulled her hands from him, grabbed both his sides, and threw her weight to the right. They rolled and now she was on top.

She grabbed his hands, pinning them on either side of his head. Rory leaned over him and slid her nose and both of her cheeks over his face, smearing the paint on him, and their laughter came back. They both knew perfectly well that he was letting her do this and could easily push her off. Rory pulled her face away, now both of her cheeks were covered in a thin layer of grey paint, and Tristan had spastic smears all over his face. She released his left hand and dipped her right into the paint can, holding it over him and letting droplets fall on his face. Talk about crazy Chinese water torture. He pushed her hand away and she grinned, both of their laughter having gone. Tristan sat up, forcing Rory to slide lower so that she was now in his lap, straddling him. Their faces were inches apart.

Without even thinking, Tristan took Rory's face in his hands and pulled her lips to his. She responded on instinct, pulling him closer and opening her lips slightly, allowing him to pull her bottom lip between his teeth. Rory felt her stomach melt. It had been so long since she'd kissed him, and she hated to admit that she missed it. She missed him. His hands slid slowly from her face down her body to rest on her hips, and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss if it was possible.

Her mind slowly registered what was going on, and she abruptly pulled away and slid off of him in one fluid movement. Tristan was still, his mind still back at their mouths melding together,
but he gradually came to and realized that she'd pulled away. He looked over at her, "What?"

She shook her head, scratching the back of her neck. "No. No, no, no."

He shook his head, confused, "What's wrong?"

"You-Vicky-" she rubbed her eyes, "Fuck."

"Rory-"

"No." she buried her face in her hands, "Oh shit." he reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away and stood up, "I have to go."

"Rory, wait-" he stood as well.

"No. Don't." she looked up at him, obviously confused, "Just..." she had nothing to say, "I'll talk to you tomorrow night."

Tristan's arms fell limply by his sides, "Bye." he said lamely as she walked away, pulling out her cell phone to call her mother to pick her up. He sat back down heavily, burying his face in his hands. Why was he still with her sister? He'd wanted to end it with her the moment he saw Rory again, but he couldn't. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to hurt Vicky. It wasn't that he liked her, but she was his friend and he didn't want to make her cry. But kissing Rory-he'd forgotten what she tasted like, what she smelled like, what it was like to play with her. He and Vicky didn't play. They just made out and talked about mindless things. She was only physical in the sexual sense of the word. They couldn't wrestle unless it was foreplay.

Tristan stood up and pulled out a cigarette; he had to end it with Vicky soon.

NEXT MORNING

Rory sat behind the reception desk at the inn, watching Michel try to make a little girl stop crying, but it wasn't working. She smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. He looked up and wrinkled his nose at her, pointing to the little girl, who was now bawling and screeching for her mommy. Rory laughed lightly and shook her head. Michel mouth something at her in French, and Rory's eyebrows arched as she stood up, walking into the kitchen. "No! No! I was just kidding. Come back here! Don't leave me!" She heard him yell something in French, but she ignored him. The swinging door closed behind her and she made her way over to the counter, sitting on one of the swivel stools and greeting Sookie warmly.

The bubbly red head smiled at her, "Rory! Are you exited about dinner tonight?" she asked.

Rory nodded, "Of course."

Sookie grinned, "I can't wait. I have a new sauce I want to try for the duck..." but Rory tuned her out. It wasn't that she was so exited about dinner tonight, but she didn't was Sookie to think she didn't love her cooking. The truth was, she didn't know what to do about tonight. Since they'd had that first dinner over a month ago, she and Jess had been hanging out a lot. She, Devin, and Vicky worked at the inn every weekend and on her lunch break she and Jess would walk around the town together. He also came to Hartford to do different things with her and her brother. The three of them, Tristan, and Vicky had even gone to a movie last weekend, and it had been kind of weird between him and Tristan. She just couldn't figure out why.

She leaned her elbows on the counter, watching Sookie gab away, but not hearing a word. Her mind was on the drama project. The stage crew had been staying after twice a week to work on the set. That meant that she and Tristan were together for two hours after school. It wasn't that it was awkward as much as it was hard. That is, it hadn't been until yesterday afternoon. Every time she thought about it she wanted to scream. She wanted to ask him why he'd chosen Vicky over her, yet he still acted like she was the one he wanted. It just didn't make any sense. She hated being around Tristan and Vicky at the same time, but she didn't mind him by himself. But there was this...thing with Jess. She didn't know if she liked him as a boyfriend or as a brother more. There had definitely been something there, she just didn't know what it was. Rory looked up at Sookie and realized that she was still talking, in fact, she was asking her a question, "-don't you think so?"

She nodded, "Definitely."

Sookie's face fell, "So you don't like my strawberry jam?"

Rory's eyes widened, "What?"

"You agreed that my blueberry jam tastes better on shortcake than my strawberry jam. You don't like my strawberry jam? Why don't you? Is there too much sugar? I knew I put too much sugar in the last jar I gave you guys-"

Rory but off her babbling, "No. I love your strawberry jam. The sugar was perfect. It was great."

Her face changed immediately, "Really? You liked it?"

She nodded, "I loved it."

THAT NIGHT

Rory sat in Sookie's livingroom, her legs crossed under her jean miniskirt. It was actually Vicky's skirt that was held up with a sparkly neon pink belt. Her arms were crossed as well and she was looking out the window, chewing on her bottom lip. Devin was next to her, his elbows resting on his knees. Tristan looked over at her brother from his place next to Vicky, "Is Jess coming?" he asked.

Devin looked up, "Yeah, he is." Tristan glanced over at Rory before nodding and looking back at the TV screen where SLC Punk was playing. She narrowed her eyes, looking between him and her brother. He just shrugged, turning to the screen as well. Five minutes later the door opened and Luke entered, followed by Jess.

"Hey Luke." Vicky called into the foyer.

"Oh, hey Vicky. Where are your mom and Sookie?"

She pointed to the kitchen, "In there."

He nodded, "Thanks."

"Uh huh."

Jess walked into the livingroom. He nodded to Vicky and hit knuckles with Devin. He held Rory's hand and kissed her cheek lightly. "Hey." he glanced minutely over at Tristan and grinned to see that the blond was fuming.

She smiled, not seeing Jess glance over at Tristan, "Hi."

He moved over to sit in one of the empty recliners and looked over at Tristan. Devin had told him the whole story about Tristan and Rory, and in Jess's opinion, any guy that chose Vicky over Rory needed some serious tests run on them, because they weren't in their right mind. They sat watching the movie until Sookie called them into the dining room to eat. Vicky stood up first,
and Tristan followed, casting a long glance at Rory before making his way out of the room. She touched her bottom lip lightly and ran her fingers through her hair. It had taken two hours to get all the paint from her hair. Devin glanced at the other two and made a gagging sound before laughing to himself and going into the dining room.

Jess stared at Rory, raising his eyebrows slightly. She looked at the doorway her brother had left through before grinning and following him. Jess's jaw dropped, but she shook her head reassuringly and motioning for him to come as well. They took their seats at the table, passing around their plates. There were more people here than there had been last time they'd had dinner. Now Rune, Miss Patty, Babette, Maury, and Kirk had warranted invites.

"Sookie, doll, this sauce is amazing. What In the world is in it?" Patty asked.

She grinned, "Family secret. I can't-"

"Mine's dry." Kirk announced, cutting her off.

The table went silent, and Sookie looked up at him, "What?"

"My chicken is dry. I don't know why."

"Wha-you...chicken? This is duck! And it's not dry!" Sookie yelled in disbelief. Within five minutes the argument had escalated and both of them were standing, their chairs overturned. As everyone else tried to restore calm, Rory caught Jess's gaze and they both crept silently from their chairs. They made their way quickly through the living room and Jess held the front door open for Rory.

"How did you know that would happen?" he asked as he followed her out of the house.

She grinned, "I told Kirk it was chicken. Besides, something like that was bound to happen within the first half an hour with him there."

Jess laughed, "Very nice."

"Thanks."

They walked through the streets of Stars Hollow in a comfortable silence until he finally spoke,
"So what do you want to do tonight?"

She shrugged, "Well, I'm thinking that no matter what we do, we'll get away with it-"

He grinned, "Why do you think that?"

"Jess, darling, you are the only criminal in Stars Hollow, but you've never actually been caught"
she thought for a moment, "Well, actually, I would get away with anything we did, whereas everyone would know that you'd done it."

He smiled at her sarcastically, "Thanks Rory."

"No problem." she smiled and they kept walking, making their way gradually to the bridge. They sat down slowly and watched the swans move lazily across the lake. It was almost dark and the sky was slowly fading to black. Rory laid on her back and stared up at the stars that had appeared, and they just laid there, not talking or moving. Her eyes continued to stray in the direction that they'd come, and Jess knew that she was thinking about Tristan. He glanced over at her, chewing on the inside of his cheek. She was gorgeous, he'd give her that. She sat up as well and looked over at him, waiting for him to say something.

He looked like he was about to say something, but they his face changed, and he leaned forward. Rory body stopped as Jess's lips landed on hers. Nothing else was touching, but there was something there she didn't like. It wasn't a long kiss, only a few seconds, and he pulled away. She inhaled deeply, her breath shaky, and Jess looked at her expectantly. They sat there for several minutes, neither speaking until he asked her, "Anything?"

Her head cocked back, surprised and slightly offended. But then she sat for a moment and actually thought about it, "No." she sounded confused. She'd expected something to be there with Jess. She'd wanted something to be there with Jess.

He nodded, "Yeah, me either."

Rory just sat for a moment, looking over at him. He didn't seem surprised or upset at all. How much time had he spent thinking about this? "What..." she trailed off, "What does this mean?"

He laughed lightly, "Rory, you're like a sister to me. You're gorgeous, I know that. Any guy who looks at you knows that. Tristan still knows that. You're not over him and he's not over you-" she opened her mouth, but he refused to be cut off, "-and I know that you were using me and you as an excuse not to be with him." she looked down guiltily, "There's nothing between us, Ror. It's not worth it and you know that."

She nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Jess looked out over the lake, "So tell Tristan. He's still crazy about you."

Rory closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, "I know."