A/N: And im back in the game! Ah, I suck, I know. But I'm back and noone was hurt and that's what really matters.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. Hoping to have this finished in the coming weeks so thank you so very much for your patience. This chapter has been six years in the making, so please read, enjoy and review if you can.

"You took me to your house? Really, Tristan, I'm not going to sleep with you. Shockingly enough, unlike other girls, just taking me to your bedroom is not going to do the trick." Rory admonished as Tristan pulled up his car outside his house.

He sighed mockingly, putting his hand on his chest. "Of course, I forget. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink and all that. But seriously, you haven't been here before. How did you know it was my house?" He pointed his finger at her. "Rory Gilmore, have you been stalking me? Look, I've told you once and I'll tell you twice, there's plenty of the TJ to go around, all you gotta do is ask."

Rory pretended to be sick. "Please, oh God, may I never have to hear you refer to yourself as 'the TJ' again." she laughed, "And it doesn't take a genius to realize this is your house. The BMW in the driveway with the 'DuGr3y' vanity plates was a bit of a giveaway. You know, I would make a joke about thinking that your family had a little too much class for vanity plates like that but let's face it, we all know I don't think that highly of you."

She laughed again as she stepped out of the car and began to walk up the drive. "Hey, I resent that!" Tristan called after her. "I have plenty of class!" She ignored him, walking further up the drive. "You better watch that smart mouth of yours, Miss Gilmore" he threatened, a cheeky grin beginning to make its way on to his face.

"Or what?" She yelled back to him, not turning around from her walk up to the front door.

"Or I may just have to come see if you're still as ticklish as I remember!" He shouted and this time she turned around, a surprised look on her face.

"You wouldn't dare!" She protested.

"I would!" Before she had a chance to reply, Tristan had set off running towards her. She shrieked with surprise, running away down the side of the house. He laughed, chasing after her and she couldn't help but laugh too. It was ridiculous, really; two grown adults chasing after each other for a tickle fight. They could barely run they were laughing so hard and eventually they had to stop so they could breathe.

Tristan moved closer, slowly, extending his hand. "A truce" he proposed and Rory accepted, shaking his hand as she caught her breath. Standing up straight, she shrieked as Tristan grabbed her waist quickly, pinching her in her most ticklish spot.

She laughed, slapping his hand away. "OK, you win. Now go fetch me some water, boy."

He smiled and they made their way around his house in silence. Rory's waist still felt warm where he had touched her. She pushed the thought away, embarrassed, fidgeting with her shirt as she sat down at a stool around his kitchen bench.

"So what's your grand plan for this afternoon?" she asked, focusing on other things. "You said I was going to be a hard act to follow after yesterday, so what mastermind plans have you conducted for this afternoon?"

Tristan looked guilty. "Ah, to be honest. I don't have a grand plan." He admitted. "Actually, I was hoping we could just hang out today. I'm just so tired from the play this week, I didn't really have the imagination or energy for anything else today."

She put her hand on his shoulder, "You're getting old, DuGrey." She laughed.

"It would appear so." He sighed. "So I was thinking, it's a nice day. Maybe we could put together some lunch and eat out in the garden?"

"Tristan Janlen DuGrey. Did you just suggest we have a picnic?" She shook her head. "My, my, this is serious. It would appear you are getting not only old, but - dare I say it - soft!"

Tristan smiled devilishly, quickly holding onto Rory's hand which hadn't moved from his shoulder. "Oh, but how wrong you are, Miss Gilmore. I would be more than happy to demonstrate for you how less than soft I am..."

Rory laughed, snatching her hand away. "Ugh, in your dreams, Tristan."

He winked and moved away towards the cupboard, collecting food for their picnic. Rory tried to ignore the flutter she had felt when he winked at her, confused by the way her body was reacting to him today. She hadn't had any coffee since earlier in the morning; she was probably just getting the shakes from her caffeine withdrawal.

"Any coffee in that cupboard of yours?"

Rory and Tristan burst into the backstage dressing room, gasping for breath for the second time that day.

Tristan spotted Mr O'Donnell and approached him to apologize, "Mr O'Donnell, I'm sorry we're late. There was traffic and -"

"Oh, Christian, I would just love to hear about the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and just how truly impossible it is for you to be punctual. Perhaps afterwards we could paint each other's nails and braid our hair and hold hands and skip off into the sunset but in case you failed to notice which it seems as though you have, I am trying to put on a production here and you, young man, are wasting my time. Now go get dressed."

Mr O'Donnell stormed off in the way only a drama teacher can and Tristan turned to find Rory smirking at him. "Nice one, Christian. Why bother apologizing with him?" She teased.

"Are you smirking?" He asked in disbelief.

Rory's smirk grew. "Never. I don't smirk. This is just my watching-Tristan-get-annihilated smile."

Tristan matched her smirk and raised his voice, "Well, maybe, Rory, if you hadn't insisted we go for ROUND TWO, then we would have left my bed a little sooner and we wouldn't have been late at all."

There was a time when Rory would have blushed furiously and ran to the nearest dark corner at a blatant lie like that. But that time had passed.

She too raised her voice, putting her hand on Tristan's arm and in her very most patronizing voice, saying "Well dear, maybe if round one hadn't been so well, brief, I wouldn't have needed to insist."

Satisfied that enough people around them had heard, Rory patted his arm and left him, her watching-Tristan-get-annihilated smile firmly in place.

"That was a cheap shot you pulled earlier, Rory." Tristan said, approaching her at the end of the performance.

"Oh, like your comment was profound?" She retorted.

They smiled at each other, neither willing to back down. "You want a ride home?" He offered.

Rory shrugged, "It's totally out of your way."

He smiled, "I don't mind." Rory smiled too, secretly happy to have a few moments more with Tristan.

So naturally, the time passed faster than usual as he drove. It felt as though they had laughed the whole way home, sharing stories about all the silly things the cast and crew had done over the past few weeks.

Finally, they pulled up to her house. Tristan got out of the car with her, walking her to the door as he finished his story.

"So then, Mr O'Donnell told Carla she was colder than the Arctic Circle and she actually asked him if the Arctic Circle was a gang! Can you believe that?" Rory laughed out loud, shocked that Tristan could continue to find such unbelievable stories about his on-stage counterpart's stupidity.

Their laughter gradually subsided but they both stayed where they were; the night over, but neither quite willing to leave.

As the silence began to grow heavy, Rory grew strangely nervous. "Well, I'd better go." She mumbled.

"Wait." Tristan stopped her. He stayed quiet for a few moment. "It's just... Listen, I've had a great time this week." He said quietly, taking a step closer.

"Of course, me too." She replied quickly, nervously. "But why do people say 'listen' before they start talking? I was already listening, you know, you didn't need to remind me." Rory felt her heart pounding in her chest as she rambled nervously. If only Tristan wasn't standing so close.

"I mean, imagine if you had to say 'listen' every time you wanted to say something. That would just be a waste of time. 'Listen, hello', 'Listen goodbye.'"

Rory knew by now that what she was saying had stopped making sense but she couldn't stop herself talking. Tristan was standing so close. She could smell his skin and talking like this was the only way she could stop herself from reaching out to see if he felt as good as it looked.

"It just isn't an economical use of words. Not to mention that it presupposes that I don't value what you have to say. Because I do, you know. I do value what you have to say."

Tristan chuckled. "Are you done?"

Rory blushed. It hadn't felt like there was a single centimeter between them but apparently there had been as Tristan managed to take another step closer. She could feel the heat radiating off of him and this time she had no words to defend herself.

She stared into his chest, afraid to give him eye contact. She saw him raise his hand and felt him slowly place it on her cheek. "Rory," he whispered.

She knew what would happen if she looked up. She swallowed, willing words to find their way from her mind to her mouth but for once, she was quiet. His hand felt warm on her skin and it took all her self control not to reach out and touch him.

Her heart thumped wildly and she was sure by now that Tristan could feel and possibly even hear it beating right out of her chest.

"Rory," he whispered again, moving his hand into her hair and this time she couldn't stay still.

She looked up and closed the space between them, pressing her lips against his. He seemed surprised at first but recovered quickly, pulling her as close to him as possible as she ran her hands through his hair.

It was as though all of Rory's senses had been dulled but her sense of touch was intensified like never before. She couldn't hear, see, smell or taste a thing but every last nerve ending was screaming for her to touch him more. His lips were so soft and her skin buzzed where he had touched her.

The cool and calm Tristan she knew was nowhere to be seen either. As he scrambled to bring her as close as he could, Rory could feel his heart beating as erratically as her own.

She quickly began to feel lightheaded and she realized she had stopped breathing. She broke away from him reluctantly, resting her forehead on his and breathing loudly. He kept his hands in her hair, not moving away.

They stayed like that for a few moments, gathering their breath before they were jolted out of their reverie by the sound of Tristan's cell phone ringing in his pocket.

He didn't answer it but Rory moved away anyway. "Rory.." he started.

"It's getting late. I should go inside." She explained nervously as his phone continued to ring.

Tristan fidgeted, trying to find away to stabilize the situation. His mind was completely blown but he was desperately seeking a way to stop Rory from freaking out. "OK sure." he agreed, "Can I see you again tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'm busy." She lied quickly, "I have an appointment". She knew how false it sounded even before she finished saying it. She didn't even know why she was lying but she was focused on putting as much distance as possible between her and Tristan.

He looked worried, "Well, can I pick you up tomorrow morning?".

"No, no thank you." She looked away as the sound of his cell phone ringing once again filled the air. "You should get that." She said, moving towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Rory..." He pled but she quickly went through the door, shutting it firmly behind her.