Library Liaisons

Summary: Rory and Tristan are stuck in the Chilton library for the weekend. Alone. Oh, dear.

A/N: I have finally crawled out of the grave to update. Things should get cleared up in this chapter, for concerned readers who have been fretting about either Tristan and Rory starving, or pulling a Lord of the Flies and killing each other and...yeah. Then there would be no snogging. That would be very bad news indeed.

Friday: Day One

Well, Mary." he drawled, finally breaking the stunned spell of silence. "I guess we may as well make the most of a bad situation."

His smile seemed to indicate that he did not find it to be a bad situation at all.

Instinctively, Rory scooched away from him. She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the absolutely infuriating (and damn good-looking, a very small part of her mind thought) boy who could not, or would not, take things seriously.

"Tristan." she said deliberately. "We're locked in a dark room without any resources or connections to the ouside world...and all you can think about is that?"

"Oh, come on, Gilmore." he said leisurely, as his fixed her with a smoldering gaze. "You heard what you just said. Alone in a dark room...with no one watching. Who wouldn't think of it?"

He presented her with his trademark smirk.

"Food." Rory said dryly. "Most people would be worried about food."

"Hey, this is Chilton, remember?" said Tristan carelessly. "This isn't your average run-of-the-mill public high school, Mary. We've got all the amenities."

He took her hand before she could protest and lead her to a room she had never seen before. Holding his hand was not an altogether bad feeling, she thought absent-mindedly.

"This," he said. "Is the librarians' lair. There's enough food in here to last us for months...pity it's only going to be for the weekend." he couldn't resist adding.

Rory saw this was true. There was a comfortable old coach littered with several bottles of water. It seemed very cozy. Even in the dim she could see many neatly stacked rows of cereal bars, cookies, and junk food. She was somewhat heartened to see several bottles of frappuccinos.

"At least we won't starve." she commented, before looking at him shrewdly. "Tristan...how did you know about this place, anyway?"

He grinned at her suggestively until her face flushed. "Use your imagination, Mary. What would Tristan Dugrey use a discreet room like this for?"

"Nevermind." she said quickly. "I don't even want to know."

"The bathroom is connected to this room." he said, after what he deemed a sufficiently awkward pause. "So we've got all the necessities. You can breathe now, Mary."

"All right, genius." she countered. "How will we shower?"

Tristan bit his lip, clearly stymied. Then his eyes lit up. He pointed wordlessly to the center of the library.

There stood a larger than life sculpture of a naked Aphrodite set in solid bronze, water gently tricking from her hands to pool at the bottom of the fountain.

"That?" she choked. "You expect me to shower in a priceless gift from Rockefeller?"

"I promise I won't look." he reassured her. "Or at least you won't see me looking."

She glared at him.

"That'll suffice, Mary?" asked Tristan, blithely ignoring her expression. His face fell suddenly. "Oh, no--I've just thought of something."

"What is it?" asked Rory worriedly.

"Well, keeping warm might be a problem." he said slyly, words positively oozing with innuendo. "I'm pretty sure the school won't leave the heater on. I guess we'll have to stick pretty close..."

He leered at her outrageously.

"You...are so..." she sputtered.

"No need to sing my praises, Mary." he told her with a lopsided smile, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm already yours."

She walked away from him hastily, her cheeks flaming. He was so impossible! She knew he was watching her even now, head tilted, legs crossed, leaning against some wall, and smirking that damnable smirk.

Rory quickly stuffed a Pop Tart she'd snarfed into her mouth and flipped open a book to read in the fading light.

"Oh, Mary?" he called to her from the other side of the room. "I'm going to take a shower now."

She choked on her Pop Tart.

And somehow she found she just could not concentrate on the book she'd been reading.

Some indistinguishable time later Tristan sauntered over to where she was sitting, his hair still slightly damp from the shower. Oddly enough, he smelled faintly of peppermint.

"It's my shampoo." he confessed. "You can use it if you want. And my toothpaste, too."

He looked at her earnestly, hair tousled and eyes bright and...stop it, Rory Gilmore. she told herself firmly. You are not going that route.

Rory put down her copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream. "You bring toothpaste to school?"

"What?" he looked clearly affronted. "You think it's easy being this perfect? I've got to take care of maintenance, you know."

She giggled suddenly, imagining Tristan furtively brushing his teeth inbetween classes.

"Hey, listen." he said, serious for once. "We should really try to help each other out since we're in this together."

"Agreed." she said. "And Tristan...erm, no funny business, okay?"

"All right." he consented, then reconsidered." Well, not any more than necessary, that is."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

He only smirked in return.

"My offer still stands, you know." he said, smiling lazily, like the cat that ate the canary. "It's pretty drafty in this room. You could sleep with me."

Rory's eyebrows shot up alarmingly.

"Sleep by me." he quickly amended. "In the vicinity of, around, etc. But I wouldn't mind the other one either, of course."

"I'm fine over here." she said vaguely. "See you in the morning."

"That's not a proper goodnight!" he protested.

She looked at him questioningly. "What did you have in mind?"

He suddenly came forward, his eyes level with hers. He had flecks of grey in his eyes. She'd never noticed that before.

"Tristan--"

He brushed a swift kiss across her cheek.

"Goodnight, Rory." he said, before heading toward his own side.

Neither of them slept well that night.

TBC

A/N: Not a whole lot of snogging in that chapter, but fear not, my hot-blooded little friends, that will quickly be amended. Up next, Saturday brings, among other things, interesting encounters in the shower...

Reviews are love, people.