Disclaimer - I do not own Gilmore Girls or I Miss You Most at Christmas Time by Mariah Carey.
The fire is burning
The room's all aglow
Outside the December wind blows
Away in the distance, the carolers sing in the snow
Everybody's laughing
The world is celebrating
And everyone's so happy
Except for me tonight
Tristan sat on his over-stuffed rocking chair in the den. He casually scratched at his older, aged face and ran a quick hand over his softened gray hair. As he stared into the fire, he couldn't help but make out the shapes of a certain blue-eyed brunette. He missed her. He missed her so much that it hurt. She was his first and only love. He knew heloved her the second their eyes met when she walked into his third period class during his high school sophomore year. He knew he was going to marry her the first time she turned him down that same week. He didn't get rejected much, and his grandfather always told him to keep an eye on the one woman that finally would put his ego in check.
Every since that first day, he always stared at her with adoring eyes. Everyone else saw it, but her. She could be so precise and attentive to detail, but then again, so oblivious. When she first noticed him staring at her, she brushed it off. The second time, she thought it was just her. But the third, oh the third, their eyes finally locked. She felt as if she spoke more to him through her eyes in that second than she had ever said before.
When he caught her gaze that first time, he knew he would be with her the rest of his life. Some don't believe it. They think love simply cannot exist at an age that young. Love at first sight is merely a myth made to sell sappy romance novels. But no one could tell Tristan that. He knew it was true, it had to be, for no other words could describe them.
Because I miss you
Most at Christmas time
And I can't get you
Get you off my mind
Every other season comes along
And I'm all right
But then I miss you, most as Christmas time
As he finished his last sip of coffee out of his giant mug, Tristan rose to his feet. He needed to get out of this house. It felt as if it were closing in on him. Memories raced through his mind faster than any child sledding down the steepest hill. He grabbed his coat off one of the only two hooks in the foyer. Before closing the door behind him he yelled out a simple, "I'll be back," to his four grown children.
They all knew where he was going. He always got like this around this time of year. The house, the pictures, the kitchen smells, it all just seemed to be "too" much for him.
Tristan made his way into town. He waved hello's to familiar passing faces and stared back down at the sidewalk as he began to walk faster. Cars passing by may have been seeing a gray-haired old man in a faded pea-coat, but inside he was just a young boy again, striving to get that one girl's attention.
I gaze out the window
This cold winters' night
At all of the twinkling lights
Alone in the darkness
Remembering when you were mine
Everybody's smiling
The whole world is rejoicing
And everyone's embracing
Except for you and I
Tristan closed the gate behind him as he strolled slowly into the cemetery. He walked the only route he knew, and would ever know. The bitter wind whipped his face as he tightened his scarf. Tristan stared at the engraved letters. "Rory DuGrey," it said, "Beloved wife and mother. Loved by all who knew her." Love was just an understatement. Tristan could never fathom a word that could measure up to what he felt for her. It was him and her forever, always would be.
Memories of her raced through his mind. Her smile, her laugh, even her frown. They all played through his mind like an old, never-ending record, skipping slightly, but always coming back.
Baby I miss you
Most at Christmas time
And I can't get you
Get you off my mind
Every other season comes along
And I'm all right
But then I miss you, most at Christmas time
Tristan took her out on their first date on the first of December. Despite the fact that he knew she would complain the entire time, he took her to a park in his hometown at the time, Hartford. He was young, only 16, but somehow he felt more for this girl than most married couples, and they hadn't even kissed yet. He had made his move, which back then was merely just reaching out to hold her hand, and all of a sudden the cloud's opened up and it started to snow. Only then, when it started to snow, was when Rory didn't mind being outside. It was the perfect night, which in turn, ended with the perfect kiss.
They had married on December 24, Christmas Eve. It was one year after they both graduated college. Harvard. Rory wanted nothing less and Tristan wanted anything she wanted. So in the fall of their college freshman year, when she packed everything up, he did too. And they whisked away to Harvard.
Rory was the best thing that ever happened to Tristan. Before he met her, he was a rambunctious teenager who liked to cause trouble. But then she appeared and suddenly he was a different man. He changed for the better, anyone could see. But nothing he would do for her could ever repay her for what she had given him.
Some say it can't happen. High school kids don't experience times like those; that young, that in love. But somehow, in some way, they did. Tristan and Rory had the romance that others only read about. It was perfect, him and her. They loved each other to their entirety.
In the springtime those memories start to fade
With the April rain
Through the summer days
Till Autumn's leaves are gone
I get by without you
Till the snow begins to fall
The snow began to fall harder as Tristan gazed at her grave. He should be getting home soon; the children would be expecting him. But he just couldn't tear himself from her. He loved her more than life itself. He tried to move along after she passed, but he did not have the strength. He could never love again. For what he felt for her was so much more than love, that anything else just never seemed to measure up. He would be forever and always, hers.
And then I miss you
Most at Christmas time
And I can't get you
Get you off my mind
Every other season comes along
And I'm all right...
But then I miss you, most at Christmas time.
He would join her soon. Although that day would be forever sad, it will be a relief to know that finally, and this time forever, he will be with her.
Just a little something...
Kind of sad, but sweet, right?
Please review and let me know!