Title: Songs and Crowns Author: Chrissy chrizeela@aol.com Pairing: R/T/? Summary: Rory helps Tristan's band become known and Tristan has more- than-friend feelings for Rory, but does she feel the same way?? [A.N.- In this story, the season finale DIDN'T happen and starts after the "Third Lorelai".] After telling Rory sarcastically that he still was in love with her, Tristan decided to keep his feelings bottled up for a while, at least for now anyway. Paris was still extremely annoyed that Rory set Tristan up with her. By the time lunch came around, Rory couldn't wait until the school day was over. After she had gotten her lunch tray, she began to scan the cafeteria for a place to sit. While she was searching out a place to sit, she saw Tristan come in with bunch of friends. Rory couldn't keep her eyes off of Tristan, but suddenly snapped back into reality after he said, "Rory, come over here, I saved you a seat." "Okay. Thanks." "No prob. This is Riley, Evan, and Taylor. Guys, this is Rory." They all exchanged hellos. "Rory, I couldn't help but notice the intense stare you were giving me when I walked in, are finally coming to your senses and checking me out?" Tristan chuckled. Rory laughed back with, "Oh, yes of course. The most captivating part was when you almost tripped over your feet when you were making goo-goo eyes at one of your many admirers." Riley said, "I like this girl. She isn't head over heels for you, Tristan. That must be a first." "Oh, she's head over heels for me, she just won't admit it yet," Tristan chuckled as Rory made an I-Don't-Think-So face. As the lunch period soon came to an end, Evan asked Tristan, "What time are we practicing on Saturday?" "Well, my dad will be gone on Saturday, so come over around twelve." Rory asked, "What are you practicing for?" Tristan replied seriously, "Don't you know Rory? We are one of the hottest bands in Hartford." Rory thought that Tristan was telling the truth and was about to ask him a question about the band, when he started laughing uncontrollably. "We are soo horrible. We can't even get a gig," laughed Tristan. Rory asked, "Can I see you guys play on Saturday?" Tristan thought he was hearing things because he would never have believed Rory would want to spend her free time with him or his friends. "Sure. Need directions?" "No, Tristan. I'll drive into the city of Hartford, drive around in circles, then ask people outside if they know where Tristan DuGray's house is. Tristan, of course, I need directions." Tristan gave Rory the directions during their next class. The day was over. The days went by and soon it was Saturday. "Hey, Rory. We need to fix the microphones that EVAN plugged in the wrong way." "I didn't know that yellow side was supposed to go in there." "We've only been playing for two years and you still don't know how to set up the wires?" Riley said, "We're all set." [A. N. Imagine that Tristan and his friends are your FAV band in the whole world.] From the first strum of his guitar, Rory was hooked. Tristan took the center as the lead singer. When he started, he looked right at Rory. There's this girl I see her from a far She doesn't notice The love that I got for her Rory was breathless from just the first note coming out of Tristan's mouth. My souls breaking She doesn't want me First girl I met that's not Head over heels for me. She was now captivated by the melody, the guitars, and the harmonies. I wish she was Head over heels. I wish she was Head over heels. She listened to the lyrics, but pushed off the thoughts that the song was about her. I love the way She bites her lips, I love the way She's got me hooked, but Rory now watched Tristan perform a little guitar solo and was fully won over. My souls breaking She doesn't want me First girl I met that's not Head over heels for me. Rory, snap out of it. This is Tristan. Breathe, this is only Tristan. Tristan A.K.A. the jerk. I wish she was Head over heels. I wish she was Head over heels. Come on DuGray, don't fall for Rory. She's never gonna go out with you, ever. Maybe some day... Rory was almost heartbroken when the song was finished. "Wow. You guys are amazing." Tristan replied, "We are not the best, the best would be like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, or even Aerosmith. Now, Rory this next songs for you..." [I don't own this song, it's by the Ramones, it's called "I Wanna be Sedated." Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothing to do, no where to go, oh I wanna be sedated Just get me to the airport, put me on a plane Hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane I can't control my fingers, I can't control my brain Oh no oh oh oh oh Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothing to do, no where to go, oh I wanna be sedated Just put me in a wheelchair, get me on a plane Hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane I can't control my fingers, I can't control my brain Oh no oh oh oh oh Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothing to do, no where to go, oh I wanna be sedated Just put me in a wheelchair, get me to the show Hurry hurry hurry, before I go loco I can't control my fingers, I can't control my toes Oh no oh oh oh oh Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothing to do, no where to go, oh I wanna be sedated Just put me in a wheelchair, get me to the show Hurry hurry hurry, before I go loco I can't control my fingers, I can't control my toes Oh no oh oh oh oh Ba-ba-baba, baba-ba-baba, I wanna be sedated Ba-ba-baba, baba-ba-baba, I wanna be sedated Ba-ba-baba, baba-ba-baba, I wanna be sedated Ba-ba-baba, baba-ba-baba, I wanna be sedated "That was such a Tristan kind of song," laughed Rory. "I thought you would like it." "Got any other songs?" Rory stayed watching the band perform all day. Finally, when it was getting dark, she left. On her ride home, she thought. That was a really awesome day. They are a really great band. Maybe I could help them get a gig. The next day, while shopping in the mall with Lane, Rory saw a sign. Band Talent Search We are looking for bands that are looking for exposure. We're conducting a "Talent Show" on July 1, 2001, in the Amphitheater on Lincoln Boulevard. All bands are welcome. Rory pulled the sign down and said, "Lane, before we go home, can we make a really quick stop?? Please!!" "Okay, but what's with the sudden urge about pulling down signs about bands?? Did I miss something??" Rory drove to Tristan's house. Lane and Rory knocked on the door, which was soon answered by a maid. Lane and Rory shot Wow-they-must- be-filthy-rich faces. Tristan came down the stairs and said, "Well, hi Rory and..." "Lane, my name is Lane. I'm Rory's friend." "Oh, hi. You wanna come in?" "Sure," they both said. Lane whispered, "Rory, you never told me he was this hot," so that Tristan couldn't hear her. Rory just said, "Shhhhhhhhhhhh." "What brings you two hear to my house of all places??" "Um, we pulled down a flier." "Really?? That must have been really fun, sorry I couldn't have joined you for that. But what does that have to do with you being here?" "Here," said Rory handing him the flier. Tristan read the flier and had a quizzical look on his face. "Um, Rory. Sorry to break it to ya, but we're not the best band around. We've only been playing for two years. Other bands have been playing for like decades." "Tristan, do you know you're peculiar?" "How so?" "At school, you have total confidence in yourself, but when it comes to the band, you think you suck. You don't suck, you rock. You should at least give this talent search a try." "I'll try, but I don't guarantee I'll like it." "Good." "Great." "Awesome." "Um, Rory, there is one small problem." "Which is..." "Our band doesn't actually have a name." "That would be a problem. Are you serious??" "Yes. What are we going to call ourselves?" "Heartbreakers??" "You think you are REALLY funny, don't ya?" "Of course, I've been taught by the best." "What about the Ubiquitous Heartbreakers??" "Um, no Tristan. Ubiquitous as in present everywhere?? No, I don't think so." "Ahhh. I got a good one...the Monarchs. Brings back memories, huh Ror??" "Please, do not even go there." "Won't you be queen??? I mean my queen??," laughed Tristan kneeling on one leg in front of Rory pretending to propose. "Tristan, when you're feeling better and checked out of the loony bin, gimme a call, k? Adios!" "Chau mi favorito chica!" In the car "Rory, why didn't you tell me that this Tristan guy is knee-shakingly hot??" "Because, I don't think about him in that way and he was a jerk before, remember??" "But, he's nice now." "Yeah. He offered me a seat at lunch when I didn't have anyone else to sit with. He even introduced me to his friends. He's nice NOW." Monday @Chilton "Did ya come up with a name yet???" "You know, I wasn't joking about the Monarchs. But my next name would have to be Rory, the love of my life," he said dramatically with his hand on top of his heart. Still Chilton, @ lunch "So did you guys finally come up with a name??" "Didn't Tristan tell you, we ARE the Monarchs," said Riley. "Are you serious?" "Yeah, because we view ourselves as Kings, right guys? And we can't call ourselves Kings due to the fact of the band Queen. So, the Monarchs it is. We need to practice a lot more than we did in the past, we only have a couple weeks before the talent search. Rory, do you want to help us?" "Do what?" "Well, we have to know if we sound good, should we add more harmonies, or if we could have a more powerful guitar hook." "Don't expect me to make you crowns or anything." "Don't worry, Rory. I already got king crowns. I was the king of everything, the freshman dance, the junior high dances, and my most important crown, best kisser," he laughed. "You really have all those crowns?" "Yes, but I only need four, right guys?" Evan said, "Tristan, you got any for girls because you ARE the lord of the ladies." "Sorry to say, I don't carry tiaras. Only king crowns. And yes, I am lord of the ladies. Aren't I, Rory?" "In your own little world," laughed Rory. July 1st @ Amphitheater "Wish us luck," said Tristan. "Good luck!" said Rory. "Everyone please welcome our next band, the Monarchs from our home town, Hartford, Connecticut," said the announcer. When the curtain went up and lights dimmed. You could only see the silhouettes of four men wearing king crowns. As the lights went up, you saw four preppy guys with, still, king crowns on. They started their song "Head Over Heels". By the end of the song, Tristan and the rest of the Monarchs had won over the hearts of much of the audience. When they finished, they bowed to the audience who were now standing for a standing ovation due to the bands stellar performance. "Let's give another round of applause to the Monarchs." As the judges scored the band, the talent search came to an end. The judges said, "Our opening band for the tour we're sponsoring is the Weirdos. The second band is Unalterable. The head lining band is..." Tristan held his breath. He thought, it doesn't matter if I win this. I gave it my all and that's all that counts. "THE MONARCHS!" Tristan was so excited. He gave all of his buddies a bear hug, then not remembering that it was Rory, gave her a huge hug. They were both soo happy, but then they realized who they were hugging and tensed. Then, they just completely got of the hug all together. "Great job, you guys!" "Thanks," they all said. "Will the Monarchs please come on stage to claim their crown?" Tristan chuckled, "How many crowns does this make now?" "Congratulations!" "Thanks." After the talent search, Tristan drove Rory home. "I'm soo excited for you guys. You get to travel all over the United States." "I get to travel and meet some more girls. My life is perfect," he joked. "I wish I could go to some really cool city like Boston, New York City, or Philadelphia. That would be so fun." "You wanna come?" "My Mom would never let me be gone for a month. Besides, I have to work at the Inn." They reached Rory's house. Tristan opened his door, but Rory asked, "What are you doing?" "I'm walking you to your door," said Tristan with confusion on his face. "Why?" "Because that's the polite thing to do." "Oh." "Well, Rory, guess I'll see you next month. I'll be dreaming about you," Tristan laughed. "Um, Tristan, that sounds just a little scary." "Me, scary? No. Well, gotta go and pack. See ya." He was contemplating if he should hug her or-wait, don't even go there. He couldn't kiss her, they're not ready yet. He decided to give her a hug. Rory laid her head on his chest. She knew she was going to miss him so much. He had been such a big part of her life in the past month, and now he was going to vanish. She began to cry. Tristan looked into her eyes with concern. He was going to miss her, too. Tristan wiped her tears and said, "I'm going to miss you, too. But, it's only a month, right? Rory, I'm not the greatest at good-byes, so bye. I'll write or call you, okay?' "Okay. Bye." And the next day, Tristan was off. Traveling to New York. Rory was still in Stars Hollow, helping her Mom at the Inn. "Rory, can you sign in those people sitting on the blue couch? Thanks a million." Rory walked up to the people sitting on the blue couch. "Hi. I'm Rory. Can you follow me so that I can sign you in? Thanks." "Last name?" "Montgomery," answered the older woman. First name?" "Madison and Matthew." "Alright then. Follow me." Rory escorted the two to their room. As Rory showed them around, she noticed that Matthew, Madison's son, she guessed, was eyeing her. Rory began to blush. The next day while casually sitting in the Leisure Room, Matthew began talking about books. Rory was captivated by his knowledge about all her favorite authors. Tristan sent Rory postcards and notes keeping her up with all of the places they've gone. Tristan couldn't wait until he could come home again and see Rory. Each day, Matthew got to know more and more about her, causing him to fall in love with her. "How old are you?" asked Rory while playing twenty questions. "20. What about you?" asked Matthew. "16. Your question, now." "Most embarrassing moment." "Waking up with my ex-boyfriend only to find Miss Patty and her gals there." "Mine would have to be when I spilled orange juice on myself and everyone thought I peed myself." After one month of flirting, Matthew asked Rory to come with him to meet the rest of his family during dinner on Saturday. Rory accepted his offer. Tristan came back on a Friday and dropped his things off at home, then sped over to Rory's. Lorelai opened the door, but pointed her finger to where Rory was so that it would be a surprise. Rory's bedroom door was open, and she was listening to music and reading a magazine. Tristan came up behind her and put his hands over her eyes. "Mom, stop it," snapped Rory. But turning around, she saw Tristan, "Tristan!! You're back." She gave him a huge hug and began to cry again. "I told you I'd be back didn't I?" "Yep." "Guess what? Now, I have like two billion kings crowns. At each show, people kept giving us them after the show. It was awesome. Thanks!" "For what?" "For giving us the chance to get known and helping us get into the talent search contest." "Well, you're very welcome." "Listen, do you want to go out to dinner on Sunday with us guys? Your Mom could come, too. We're having a celebration party." "Sure." As Saturday came, Rory got dressed up to go on a date with Matthew and his family. On the car ride to the restaurant, Madison said, "Rory, we're going to meet the rest of our family there. Don't be nervous, we won't bite." "Oh, Mrs. Montgomery, I'm not nervous." "Miss Montgomery, well, here we are." Meanwhile in the restaurant, Tristan and his dad, Todd, are talking. "Tristan, keep your cool and at least try to hear them out." Madison came in the restaurant first and sat next to Todd. "Matthew's coming soon, he's parking the car. Well, Tristan you've certainly grown a lot since I saw you last." Tristan glanced at this dad, ready to blow up. Matthew and Rory are walking into the restaurant and Matthew can't decide if she should introduce Rory as his girlfriend or not. Matt leads Rory to the table where his family is at. Rory sees Madison, Matthew's dad, and she assumes that person who's face she can't see is his brother. Matt says, "Hi everyone. I'd like you to meet my girlfriend." Rory was shocked that he said "girlfriend", but even more shocked when his brother turned around to see Matt's supposed girlfriend. It was TRISTAN! Tristan saw Rory and was shocked, but quickly covered up his feelings. Madison asked, "Tristan do you have a girlfriend?" That was it, Tristan couldn't take it. "No. How can I be stable with just one person? You ruined any chance of me ever having someone to love all my life." Todd said, "Tristan, stop it, let's try to talk civil." "You want to talk civil? Fine. Tell me, is it civil after a Mom has a baby to take off and leave a baby behind? Then, not talk to him for sixteen years because she can't take the pressure of being a mother to two kids or is it because she can't stop herself from putting the bottle in her mouth? I'm sorry, but you're still the horrible person you've always been. You want to tell me you've changed, well, I've changed, too. I'm not going to give you the chance to ruin my life again." With that, Tristan got up and left. Rory gets up to go after Tristan, but Matthew tells her to stay here, but Rory went to go find Tristan. She spotted him walking towards his car. "TRISTAN!" Tristan turns around. When he turns around, he's the complete opposite of how she thought he felt. He was walking with such confidence, but he's crying. She gives him a hug. "I'm sorry you had to see that in there." "It's okay. It's better for me to see now what the family I'm going to marry into is capable," Rory laughed, but then stopped at the reality of it. She realized, she could marry into this family. Tristan stared into her eyes and soul. They were both leaning closer together. But, Matt came out, causing them both to jerk back. "Rory, come on, let's go back inside." "Matt, don't you even care how your brother feels?" "Rory, I'm not going to lie to you-no. He hates our Mom and I hate our dad." "How could you say you hate our dad? For the first few years, all he worked on was trying to find you. I even remember how jealous I was of you because he spent all of his time trying to find you. After a couple of years, he had to stop trying to find you and go back working in Gramp's business. But, he still never forgot about you. Every minute during the weekend was spent trying to find you. Before you got in the restaurant, he said that he couldn't wait to see you. Don't you understand how much he loves you? Sometimes I think he loves you more than me, but I know he loves us both equally with all his heart." Matt gives Tristan a hug. A hug that's been long overdue. Tristan ungrasps from the hug, extending his arm for Rory to join in. "Well, Matt, as much as I'd like to hug you all day, and I would," Tristan joked, "Dad's been waiting sixteen years to see you, so you'd better go back in." "Tristan, you sure you don't wanna go back in?" "I can't right now. Better not to go in now, so later on we won't have a shouting match." "Okay, come on Rory." "Matt, I think now is the time for you to be alone with your Mom and dad. I'll meet them later when the timing is slightly better." "Alright, see you guys later." "Matt, tell Mom and said 'Bye' okay?" "Okay." Rory and Tristan both went to Tristan's car. "Um, Rory. I know it's sort of late at night, but do you think we could grab a cup of-" "-Coffee. Yum!! I though you'd never ask." After they got coffee, they went back to the car and Rory asked, "So, Tristan, how many girls were drooling over you last month?" "Now is this including you?" "Of course," she joked. "Well, let's see, there was you, the girls that flashed me while I was singing on stage, plus the ones I was making out with back stage," Tristan said while Rory rolled her eyes. "You know Rory, no matter how many girls try to flirt with me, that doesn't mean anything to me. It only means something to me if I want it to me something." After Tristan had parked in Rory's driveway, he remembered something. "Rory, I got you something." "What?" "Close your eyes." "Do I wanna close my eyes so something can jump out at me?" "Rory, do you trust me?" "Yes," she said sincerely. "Then close your eyes." "Okay, open them." Rory saw Tristan with his king crown on and started laughing. Tristan was holding a queen crown in his hands. "Every king needs a queen," he said placing the crown on Rory's head, then cradled her head in his hands and leaned in for a kiss. THE END!!