You know, I wish that I had Jessie's girlfriend

I wish that I had Jessie's girl

Where can I find a woman like that

Chapter 5: The Closing Chapter

"Okay, here are the rules," Taylor said over his loudspeaker as the town gathered at the gazebo, dressed in their bathing suits at 5 in the evening. It was still hot out, but the light, humid breeze made it perfect for a water balloon fight.

Rory snuggled up to Tristan's side as they listened to Taylor. She was in her dark blue bikini top, her hair still in the braids and her skirt covering the bikini bottoms, while Tristan and James were in swim trunks, Tristan in black ones with a dragon on the left leg while James was in white ones with green Hawaiian flowers on them.

"All water balloons must stay inside the town square!" Taylor said.

"He says that every year and every year a whole lot of them splash their way on the Doose's Market windows or the Ice Cream Shoppe."

"I bet half of them are you and your mom." Tristan whispered to her.

"You bet right," she laughed, curling her hand on his stomach.

"After the fight, all water balloon scraps must be picked up! A prize to the person who gets the most."

"Kirk," Rory coughed, looking at the bouncing Kirk who seemed to be limbering up for the fight and was unfortunately in Speedos and also wearing swimming goggles. Both men winced at the sight of his pale chest.

"Water balloons have been filled by all of you and have been placed in strategic part of the town square. They are there…" Taylor pointed with two fingers, much like a stewardess, to his side. "There..." He pointed in front of him where four large bins were full of multicolored water balloons. "And there," he said pointing behind him. "Water guns are, of course, allowed, but for the use of getting people wet."

"I'll get you wet," Tristan whispered in Rory's ear, causing her to smack his chest, looking at James who was smirking.

"Now everyone to your positions."

Rory let go of Tristan. "I'll see you guys later."

"Hey, where are you off too?" he asked curling his fingers around hers as she started bouncing away, trying to pull her back to him.

"My position, duh." She flounced off as James and Tristan went to one of the bins and picked up water balloons.

"On my whistle," Taylor said putting a whistle to his lips. Tristan watched as he sucked in air, about to blow, when a water balloon hit the side of his head. He looked over from where it came to see Rory and Lane high-fiving each other at the way they had started the water balloon fight.

He felt the sting of cold water hit his back. Turning to see where it came from, he saw James smirking, holding another water balloon. Nodding, he wiped at his back before launching the one in his hand at James just as he felt yet another wave of cold water hit his shoulder.

Turning he saw Rory holding a Super Soaker, a wicked smile on her face. He grabbed another balloon and launched it at her, but he felt water hit him yet again and saw Lane aiming at him with her own water gun.

"Is everyone aiming at me?" He asked loudly.

"Yes!" They all responded as James threw another balloon and Rory and Lane were soaking him with water.

James laughed as Tristan stood still letting the water hit him, before running after Rory who dropped her gun and left running. He felt Lane sidle closer to him, her hands up in defense.

"I come in peace," she said as they both watched Rory and Tristan running. Tristan caught up with her, picking her up from her waist and holding her, her back to his chest and whispering in her ear, causing her to struggle to get away. "So how long?"

"What?"

Lane laughed. "How long have you been in love?"

James looked at her wide-eyed. "What?"

"Oh come on! Tristan's your best friend, of course he's not going to notice something that's obviously there. And neither will Rory, she's always been oblivious to people's feelings, even her own, so she's not going to notice. So how long?"

James looked at Lane in shock. He'd met her not five minutes ago and she knew everything. "Are you going to tell…?"

She shrugged "Not my secret to tell, is it, but knowing how close you are to Tristan, you're not going to tell him, because you don't want to ruin what he and Rory have. And neither will I. Your secret is safe with me? So… how long?"

James turned back to the couple who were now kissing in the middle of the water balloon fight, completely oblivious that people were throwing balloons at them to get them to move. "Since I met him."

"That is so sweet," she whispered. She grabbed a water balloon and threw it up in the air lightly, catching it, and repeating. "It looks like Tristan and Rory are a bit occupied and forgot all about us."

James sighed. "Looks like."

"So I say we hang together the rest of the day. In about five minutes they'll disappear and we won't see them again till the fight winds down."

James nodded. "Sounds good."

"Great," Lane smiled smashing the balloon on top of his head, running for Rory's gun and handing it to him. "Fair play and all," she said waving her own gun at him.

James nodded, a smile gracing his lips as he ran after the girl. It wasn't who he wanted to be chasing, but it would take his mind off it, and he would have fun.

"Want to get out of here?" Tristan asked as he led Rory away from the fight, both dripping wet.

Rory placed her lips in the middle of his chest, catching the water drops with her tongue.

"I mean we haven't celebrated our engagement and all," he said, leaning down and sucking the water that had landed at the base of her shoulder.

Rory nodded. "Right, celebrate."

He pulled her away and walked towards the empty house. She opened the door and walked him towards her old bedroom, Tristan's lips finding hers and dragging them down her chin, to her neck, and moving down as she closed her bedroom door, making sure it was locked before they tumbled onto the small twin bed.

Having had practice maneuvering their way on her old bed before, Tristan arranged himself on top of her, his thigh between her legs. His lips found the pulse point behind her ear and sucked, causing her back to arch against his chest and his name to roll off her lips in a quiet moan.

He felt her breathing quicken and smirked as she realized just why he'd placed his leg between hers. He continued his work behind her ear, as his fingers worked the knot at the base of her neck to remove her bikini top.

Laughing at his inability to take her top off, she raised her head, moving her hands from their previous position on his shoulders to undo the knot and remove the top, throwing it on the floor.

"Beautiful," he muttered before taking one of her rosy nipples into his mouth. She squealed laughing, as his hot breath contrasted with the cold of the water she still felt. Getting accustomed to the feeling, she felt him move to the other one, repeating his ministrations of licking, sucking, nibbling, soothing.

Her fingers made their way to the tie of his swim trunks and untied the small knot before pushing them down with the palms of her hands. She heard him hiss as her palm made contact with his hardened member, his back stiffening as she stroked him lightly.

"Rory," he growled, leaning his head against her neck, licking the little droplets of water that were still there.

"I don't think we've gone longer than a week," she whispered, kissing his bare shoulder. "I don't think we've ever lasted."

"Rory," he groaned as her hand quickened its pace, her thumb circling his tip, then trailing up.

She smiled against his shoulder. "It's nice."

He groaned. Since when did she become a talker during sex. "What is?"

"To have you at my mercy."

He forced a laugh to escape. "If I knew you liked that kind of thing, I would have let you have your way with me sooner," he forced out.

She turned her head so she could kiss his lips, her tongue tracing the outline of his lips before letting her tongue dive into his mouth, his tongue meeting hers, fighting for the control.

His hands entangled with hers that had his member in its grip, and made her let go. He wanted to be buried inside her when he came. Bringing her hand over her head, his hand delved between them once more, ridding her of the last piece of clothing.

"Condom?" He asked hoarsely.

Her hand reached out for her nightstand, where she kept the condoms for when they slept over. Not being able to reach, Tristan reached over, but she took that moment to shift her leg, so that it was around his waist. Losing his balance at the sudden shift, he overreached the nightstand, and toppled onto the floor, bringing Rory down with him.

Rory laughed into his chest, raising herself to straddle his hips. He pushed her hair out of her face as she laughed.

"That..." she laughed, "Was graceful."

"That," he laughed with her, "Hurt my back."

"Old man," she whispered, kissing his lips lightly. She raised herself up opening the nightstand drawer that was now within the reach and grabbed a condom. She had just closed the drawer again, before Tristan rolled them over, taking the condom package from her hands, tearing it open and rolling it on.

He thrust into her in one swift movement, causing them both to groan from the intimate contact. She moved her hips biting her lip as he pulled out and thrust into her again, harder, faster.

The sounds emitting from her lips spurred him on as he nuzzled his nose to her neck, his tongue grazing the column of her throat as she called his name out in ecstasy, clamping around him, her nails digging into his back and bringing him to his own peak. He groaned out her name as he released himself.

He turned onto his back, bringing her to rest on his chest, her leg thrown over his hips as they regained their normal states of breathing.

She kissed his chest mumbling a quiet 'I love you'.

"Hmm." he stroked her damp hair. He felt her chest move and looked down to see her chuckling softly. "What?"

"Someone once said "Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world.' And this moment just reminded me of that..."

Tristan laughed. "All I heard was 'Shed one's clothes'."

She laughed as she kissed his shoulder. "It reminded me of that because I knew you'd say that."

"Oh really?"

"Really, you're just that predictable, Mr. DuGray."

"Really?" He asked mischievously, causing Rory to look him in the eye. "Is that a challenge, Miss Gilmore?"

She smiled knowing just what was on his mind. "Why yes, Mr. DuGray, it is."

"Well, why don't you open up that condom drawer again and we'll see just how predictable I am."

Rory laughed as she opened the drawer, taking out the box of condoms and setting them by his head. "The gauntlet has been thrown."

He laughed as he flipped her around again and kissed her. "Good thing too, because I wasn't even done with you."

---

"You know you're still welcome here, man," Tristan said leaning against the door jamb of the guest bedroom.

"I know, but I haven't seen my dad yet and he's shelling out for an extra bedroom down in New York. And he's planning a father/son trip for us."

"Sounds fun."

"Plus you and Rory need space and I feel like I'm intruding on it, so I think I'm going to head out."

"Oh come on, you know Rory likes you."

"I know," he said zipping up his bag. "But she probably wants to plan the wedding as well. Who wants to plan with someone else around? It's a special time in your guys life and I'm just here."

"Whatever you want I guess."

James looked at him. He was in his boxers and undershirt, drinking coffee. Rory was in the kitchen on her laptop, finishing up some work that she hadn't finished during their Stars Hollow visit and she needed done before she headed for work in a couple of hours.

"But you'll still coming back for the last three weeks of August, right? We'll do the traditional barbecue at Chase's. I'm bringing Rory this year, seeing as Embry and Derek are breaking the rules and bringing their girlfriends."

"Fiancées now."

"Yeah, that's right."

James shrugged. "Maybe. I'll call and see what my dad has planned?"

"All right," Tristan nodded, grabbing one of James' bags and following him out of the room.

Rory come out of the kitchen and eyed the bags. "Leaving without saying goodbye, James?"

James laughed. "No, of course not." He hugged her and whispered goodbye, but she held him tighter.

"Don't ditch him because he loves me, I don't think he could take it," she whispered.

He held her a bit tighter. Looked like she wasn't as oblivious as Lane thought."I won't. Just take care of him."

She pulled back, wiping her eyes at the understanding they came to. "I will. Bye James."

"See ya, Rory."

Tristan kissed her forehead. "I'll be back in a bit, going to walk James out."

"Babe, put some pants on," Rory said turning him towards their bedroom.

"Right." A few seconds later he came out in his running shorts and followed James out, helping with his bags. They leaned against the descending elevator silently until James broke the silence.

"I'm happy for you, Tristan."

Tristan looked over at him. "Thanks."

"Your life is finally together, you've got a great girl and you'll have great kids."

"Jeez, we're not even married yet and you're giving us kids?" Tristan laughed

"You know what I mean," James said as they got off the elevator and towards the exit to the waiting taxi. "I'm just glad you got the girl is all. I'm glad you found that someone to spend the rest of your life with, willingly. It's great to see that, you give me a ray of hope that someday I will find that someone."

Tristan winced as they put his bags in the trunk. "You're getting sappy on me, man."

James leaned against the cab door and opened his mouth. This was the moment, he could either break their friendship by telling Tristan he loved him or he could keep silent and let it stew.

"Tristan…"

"Yeah?"

"I…" Wincing he sighed. "I think Derek, Chase or Embry should be your best man."

Tristan frowned. "But I want you."

James winced, wishing that those words held a different context "I just… I don't know if I'll be able to come though."

Tristan laughed. "Come on, man, me and Rory haven't even set the date."

"Just… please, choose someone else. Just do me this one favor"

Tristan frowned but nodded. "Sure. I'll choose one of the other guys."

"Thanks… I've got to go now." He opened the door and waved a quick goodbye before getting in the taxi and telling the driver where to go. Leaning his head back as the air from the weak air conditioner hit him, he wondered if he'd able to tell Tristan he was gay. Let alone tell Tristan that his first love had been him.

He doubted it. One thing he was going to do was to tell his dad. If he was going to spend two months with the man, he was at least going to spend it without his father trying tot fix him up with eligible bachelorettes. Hopefully he'd find a bachelor that could make him take his mind off Tristan, even if it was for a short time.

Tristan watched the taxi disappear from view before turning and heading back to the apartment, wondering why his best friend seemed so distant all of a sudden. The frown marred his features the entire ride to the apartment. He opened the door and found Rory sitting on the couch, a huge smile on her face, causing the frown to disappear and a smile to appear on his face as well.

"What are you so happy about?"

"September 29th," she said sitting on her knees and putting her hands on the top of the couch as Tristan walked over to her.

"September 29th?"

Rory nodded. "That's the day we met."

"No, we met on the 20th, that's the day Derek had his get together."

"No, baby, that's the day we got together. The day we first met. September 29th. I remember 'cause I enrolled in Chilton about a month late. Remember, I was a mid year transfer. We met on the 29th. That's the day I started."

"Okay, the 29th," he nodded. "Why are you telling me?"

"Because that is the day of our wedding."

Tristan smirked. "It is and I have no say?"

"Nope, I chose the romantic value of our wedding day and I choose the day we officially met and you hit on me."

Tristan nodded, "Well, I like it."

"Well good, 'cause I wasn't changing it anyway," she smiled. "We're getting married in a year."

"Yes, we are," he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her, but couldn't help the oddness of James's leaving return to his thoughts. He had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing James at the end of August or at the wedding or for years.

Watching Rory pull back and pat his arm, she told him she had to get to work and he better get in the shower to make it into the office. He nodded and watched her leave before standing in the middle of the empty apartment.

He had the perfect life, a fiancée he loved with every inch of his body and soul, a job he happened to love, in- laws that loved him, he was financially stable. But he felt a sudden loss, as if he wasn't quite ready to close the chapter where he'd be able to hang out with his best friend anymore. He wasn't ready to lose that friendship.

Sighing he ran a hand through his hair. He'd call James in a few days and tell him the date of the wedding, making sure he was absolutely positive about not being the best man. Going into their mess of a bedroom, he found his suit rumpled in the corner and pursued to find a semi clean and un-rumpled shirt.

He absolutely loved his life.

End

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A.N: Okay, so I hope you all enjoyed this! I know i had a lot of fun writing it, even if I did complain about it. Here are the requirements that I needed to fulfill for the summer challenge

Word Count: 12163

Pairing: Trory

Rating: M

Time Period: Future

Ickle Word: Precuperation - Noun - The duration of time before a big blowout where someone prepares for the almost certainty of being hung over

Schmoopy – (adj) – To be sweet and adorable and cute to the point where it creates an entirely new word to describe it.

Quote: "Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world." - Ada Louise Huxtable

Random Object: Mirror

Hope you all enjoyed!

Remember leave a review! I love them!

Kassandra