Chapter 5
I do not own nor am affiliated with Gilmore Girls.
Recap:
Without warning, Rory began thrashing in her seat and before he knew it, she was shouting, "Dean, Stop!! Please don't!! I'm not ready!! Please! I do love you!! I'm just not ready for sex!!"
Tristan quickly pulled off the side of the road and threw the car into park. He then reached over and shook Rory. Her face was pale and her skin was wet with sweat despite the cool evening temperature. When Rory didn't respond to his shaking he called her name and shook her over and over again. Just as he was starting to panic, her eyes opened. They were tear streaked and bloodshot. However, what scared him the most was the terrified look in her eyes.
Tristan grabbed a hold of her and pulled her to her chest stroking her hair, the whole time chanting "Everything will be okay. You are safe now; Dean can't touch you. I won't let him." Tristan repeated this softly in her ear until her sobs calmed and she caught her breath. They sat holding each other tightly for the next two hours. Tristan occasionally whispering to her.
"I haven't told anyone the truth yet. I had a nightmare. I still can't believe Dean would do that. I feel like I did something to make him do it!" Rory said sadly. Tristan sat rubbing her back soothingly encouraging her to continue. "I mean, everything was fine with us while we were dating. Then he came to the house the night of the Bainbridge Dinner. I was in my room getting music when he came into the house. When he entered my room I smelled the alcohol but I didn't think he would ever do anything like that to me. I trusted him." With that, she started sobbing again.
"Don't worry babe, he can't hurt you again! I will make sure of that! Nothing you did made him do what he did. It was wrong! He needs help. It had nothing to do with you!" With that, Tristan buried his head in Rory's shoulder and let a single tear drop down onto her jacket. He was fuming inside. He could feel his face heating up and all he wanted to do was punch someone or something. He wanted to kill Dean for what he did to his sweet Mary. He should have known that she wouldn't have just gone out and had unprotected sex.
"Come on Mary, let's get you home." Tristan said when he finally got his emotions under control.
He felt Rory stiffen. "Please Tristan" she whimpered "don't make me go back to that bedroom! Take me home with you?" Then the tears started back up. "Nevermind, don't feel sorry for me, I'll be fine. Home is good. I can sleep in my bed." She said angry with herself for letting
"Rory, shhh…it's ok, we can turn around, go back to New Haven, stay at my house. It will all be okay. I promise." With that, Tristan turned the car around and started the drive to his apartment. By the time he got there, Rory was sound asleep in her seat. Tristan picked her up and carried her to the elevator. Once he got her into his apartment, he pulled the blankets on his bed down and laid her down, taking off her shoes and jacket, and covering her up. He then grabbed her small bag and found her phone. He walked into the living room and called Lorelai.
"Lorelai, its Tristan. I am sorry to call so late. I have Rory here at my apartment in New Haven. I know this is strange, she is already asleep so I was just going to let her stay here tonight. I will have her call you when she wakes up tomorrow. Thanks for understanding Lorelai." With that, Tristan returned to his room and placed his phone in Rory's bag. He then went out into the living room and began making the couch up into a bed.
Tristan lay staring up at the ceiling, thinking about Rory and all that she must be going through and about how all he wanted to do was kill Dean, make him feel the same pain that Rory is currently feeling. Make him pay for what he has done. While Tristan lay thinking he suddenly heard noises coming from his room. He quietly listened to be sure that Rory was okay. Then he heard it, the screaming. She was having another nightmare. Tristan got up and ran to his room. He grabbed Rory and held her to him until she woke herself up.
She held onto Tristan with all her strength, and once again found herself sobbing into his shoulder. "He forced himself on me. One minute I'm standing there holding those CD's and the next thing I know, he has pushed me onto the bed, then he held my hands back and ripped my shirt off….I couldn't stop him. He was too strong, too heavy, and too much bigger than me. Why couldn't I stop him? Why? He kept going. I told him no, I said it sooo many times! Why didn't anyone hear me! Why?! I just want this to have never happened! It hurt so badly! I feel so dirty! What did I do to deserve this?!" Rory exclaimed finally letting herself get angry with Dean. Finally letting the truth of the situation out.
Tristan's heart broke for her. He boiled over with anger and regret for not finding Rory sooner and being there for her. "Rory, I can't tell you why. But I can say that you did nothing to deserve this. You are an amazing person and there was nothing that could have stopped this. But we can go to the police tomorrow and report it. Get Dean the help he needs before he finds another victim. I love you and for the life of me, I can't figure out why someone would do that to anyone, much less a person like you." Tristan said, stroking her back and smoothing her hair.
Rory looked up at him with her sad eyes to see that Tristan Dugrey had moist eyes and was fighting to stay strong for her. "Thank you so much for being her for me!" Rory said with a sad smile.
Tristan then laid down and pulled her down on top of him. She rested her head on his chest and fell asleep enjoying the feel of his strong arms around her. For the first time since that night Rory slept.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon before Rory even flinched. Tristan had gotten up at nine to eat and called Lorelai. He told her that Rory was still sleeping but was in good hands. Lorelai wasn't excited about the whole situation but trusted her daughter and Tristan. Tristan was sitting up in bed reading and Rory had curled her body up against his and his hand was stroking her hair. When her eyes finally opened, they were red from the night before. But she gave him a genuine smile and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Tristan where is your bathroom? I want to wash my face and freshen up a little."
"Through that door to your left. If you look in the second drawer there is an extra toothbrush and the toothpaste is on the counter." Tristan said and went in search of a towel for her to use.
"Thank you so much for everything Tristan." Rory said when he handed her the towel. She then raised herself up on her tip toes and gave him a small peck on the cheek and he wrapped her up in his arms.
"It's been my pleasure. I just wish the circumstances were better." Tristan said with a smile and then left the bathroom to let Rory shower.