DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot. Everything took place up to the PJ Harvey's accident.

It is just a little one-shot that I needed to take out of my system.

A MOMENT IN TIME

Rory was very upset with Tristan, why couldn't he understand that she wasn't interested in him?

He was pestering her with PJ Harvey tickets but she would rather miss out on the concert than go with him. He had messed up again the tentative friendship between her and Paris.

What was about him that irked her so much? At the beginning it was the name calling, then the making out with random girls in front of her locker, then the continuous verbal harassment. But the final straw, the one that convinced her to be away from him as much as possible, was definitely the kiss they shared at Madleine's party.

She had been feeling distraught by her sudden break-up with Dean and at the party he had been publicly dumped by his girlfriend. The vulnerability she had seen that night had led her to him, it was probably the first time that she had seen in him as something more that the 'king of Chilton'. He seemed lost and deeply hurt and she had thought that maybe he needed some company.

How it ended with the kiss, she still didn't know. She remembered distinctively that he had hesitated before kissing her, giving her the time to stop him. She couldn't. It had been a mixture of curiosity, attraction and deep emotional unbalance that led her to accept his kiss.

She still felt embarrassed at the thought that she had run away crying. So much for cheering him up.

The days that followed that incident had been awkward. The thing that bothered her so much was that since their kiss, she had tried so much to get back together with Dean. She could admit with herself, that she liked Dean very much, but when he had dumped her, she was convinced that it wasn't totally her fault.

She couldn't say 'I love you' because she didn't feel that strongly for him, yet. After all, it was her first boyfriend and although she felt sweating palms and the acceleration of her heartbeat she could not say for sure if it was just attraction or something more. That was why she would have liked more time to understand her feelings.

The situation had worsened since she had started to dream about Tristan. In her dreams they were back on the piano bench and the scene of the kiss kept repeating over and over, the surprise was that at the end she wasn't running away crying but she accepted to be his girlfriend.

Girlfriend! As if he was interested in her like that! She was just another notch on his belt. Although, she had never seen him talking to other girls the way he talked to her. His eyes were most of the time unreadable but sometimes, sometimes she could see glimpses of the real guy behind the mask. And in those moments, she felt unsettled.

She was shook out of her reverie when she felt Tristan's hand gripping her shoulder.

"Rory, can you stop walking please?" said Tristan, "Would you listen to me?"

"Tristan, let me go! I said I wasn't going with you, and that's final!" Rory angrily replied.

"But, why?" asked Tristan, "I thought we were friends..."

Rory turned to look at him, the spot where his hand rested was tingling. "Just like friends?"

Tristan hesitated a moment and then nodded.

Rory weighted her options, her eyes met his. She was not ready to acknowledge the feelings clearly visible in his eyes. She sighed, feeling her resolve to keep distance from him crumbling. "Well, Paris is angry with me because of this, at least she should be upset for a reason... And I adore PJ Harvey..."

He seemed surprised but pleased that she was finally accepting his invitation. "So can I take it as a yes?" And when he saw her nod, he added, "Let me take you back home today, so I'll know where to pick you up when we go to the concert."

She smiled at him, still wondering how he could make her change her mind with just one look.

He steered her towards his car, still keeping his hand on her shoulder.

They were reaching his car when they heard a car stopping near them. They both turned to see who was parking so close to them and they froze.

Dean was getting out of the car with a furious expression. He definitely saw Tristan so close to Rory and was enraged. "Rory! What are you doing with him? I was a fool to think that you wanted to get back with me... never mind. I hope you will be happy with the accountant!" shouted Dean before turning his back and getting into the car.

Rory was frozen, Tristan's hand was burning a hole in her shoulder and the warmth was spreading through her body.

He took his hand away and whispered, "Just go to him, you know you want to."

Rory turned her head and looked at him, he was actually letting her go. Did she really want to give him up for Dean? Her heart protested loudly.

And at that moment she knew, she knew with a certainty that she couldn't let him go.

She smiled at him and shook her head. "You know what? I think I am exactly where I want to be."

Tristan looked at her, shock evident on his face, she was choosing him over bag boy. He smiled at her and took her hand. "Let's go."

Rory grinned and squeezed his hand. She didn't know if it was love but she knew that she had all the time that she need to figure it out.