618Can't Stay Away
Chapter One.
Blue jeans, white shirt
Walked into the room you know you made my eyes burn
It was like, James Dean, for sure
She was going to kill Paris.
Well, maybe not literally, but the girl was going to wish she was dead by time Rory was done with her.
Rory lifted her eyes warily to the dark, ominous looking storm clouds that threatened to open up at any minute and drench her in cold rain. She glanced down the empty street, hoping by some miracle a bus would appear, but she knew better. The city buses only took a route towards Stars Hollow a few times a day which meant if she didn't catch the one that came shortly after school, she was stuck waiting another two hours for the next one.
She glanced down at her watch and sighed. Another forty-five minutes to go.
She grabbed her phone again just to confirm it was indeed dead and tossed it back into her bag with a huff. Too focused on the brewing storm and too annoyed to even be able to concentrate on reading, her only activity for the next forty-five minutes would be to sit there alone, angry and with nothing to take her anger out on except the crosswalk sign across the street.
Paris just had to hold the meeting over just long enough for her to miss her bus, just to repeat what she had said a million times already. And it just had to be the day when Lorelai was out of town overnight and couldn't pick her up. Not that she would have been able to call her anyway, she thought sourly as she glanced at her phone again. She really needed to stop getting so caught up in studying and start remembering to put it on the charger at night.
Realizing how she must have looked sitting there alone, glaring at inanimate objects, she pulled out her class notes to attempt to study but the lines just blurred as her thoughts drifted to all the things she would have to rush to do when she got home much later than usual.
It could be worse, she tried telling herself, she could still be stuck listening to Paris drone on. At least the cool fall evening was quiet. And pretty, she thought, as some orange leaves rustled past her feet.
That silver lining didn't exactly help her mood though, especially when her stomach suddenly broke the silence, growling so loudly she actually looked around to see if anyone had heard. But she realized once again with annoyance that she was the only person waiting for the bus - all of her classmates had either driven away over an hour ago or been on time to catch their buses.
Refusing to just sit and wallow in self pity any longer, she glanced down the street that led directly into the city and caught a brief glimpse of a sign for a small cafe she knew sat a few blocks away. With coffee. Tons and tons of coffee. And pastries. Just waiting for her.
Checking her watch to see that she still had a good half hour until the next bus came, she flung her heavy bag over her shoulder and made her way towards the city.
She walked until she found the little hole in the wall cafe and with a smile of relief at seeing the glowing open sign, walked in and headed to the counter. Her mood was immediately lifted as she inhaled deeply, taking in the wonderful scent that only cafe's held; a mixture of roasted coffee, bacon grease from breakfast earlier in the day and sweet, sweet desserts.
The remaining irritation she held towards Paris melted away and she found herself smiling widely at the elderly lady behind the counter who looked like she belonged in Stars Hollow rather than a big city like Hartford.
"Could I please get a small coffee and the biggest cinnamon bun you have." She asked her, gazing longingly at the case which held an assortment of donuts and pastries as she pulled her arms out of her blazer and unfastened her cross tie, shoving them both into her backpack.
"Absolutely. That'll be eight dollars even, sweetie."
Rory returned the woman's warm smile and handed her the money quickly, popping a little extra in the tip jar before saying thank you and walking out of the café. She carefully placed the cinnamon bun in her bag for the ride home and took a long pull from the drink in her hand, letting the warmth flow through her and ease away the little bit of tension left in her.
A glance at her watch told her she still had plenty of time to make it back to the bus stop and since she had never actually walked through the city, decided to take her time to leisurely walk back to enjoy her drink and take in her surroundings. Not that it was much different than any other big city, she noted as she passed an alleyway between two larger buildings where some teenagers were hanging out and smoking. Shops lined the streets, the windows to the apartments above them pushed open to let in the fall breeze, taxis and ubers zoomed by, garbage bins and fallen leaves littered the sidewalks.
She began to picture herself in New York, taking a leisurely walk home after a long day at work and allowing her mind to drift away with daydream.
A yell suddenly broke her from her thoughts and she startled, spinning around to find the source and walking backward a couple steps but was abruptly stopped as her back collided with something hard.
"Whoa," A deep voice hissed from right behind her as two large hands clasped onto her upper arms tightly. "What the fuck?"
Rory cursed herself under her breath and quickly regained her balance before stepping out of the person's hold and turning to face them. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see…" She trailed off when her eyes met with two crystal blue ones staring down at her intently. "...you."
She cleared her throat, taking a step back at his expression as she quickly ran her eyes over him. He towered over her, his dark blonde hair in a disarray atop his head as if he frequently ran his fingers through it. He was dressed casually, a white shirt covering his upper torso snuggly under a leather jacket, jeans hung loosely on his hips and ended in a pair of boots.
"Maybe you should pay a bit more attention to your surroundings then." His tone was patronizing, bordering on cruel, and she raised her eyes to meet his, extremely attractive despite his attitude, face again before narrowing them in irritation.
The moment of serenity of having a nice walk with a cup of delicious coffee was now gone and her anger from earlier was back tenfold.
"I said I was sorry." She repeated, her voice taking on an edge. "Apparently you must lack basic comprehension."
Rory moved to walk past him, expecting him to make another rude comment, but instantly stopped when he started to laugh. A laugh that sounded anything but amused and sent shivers racing down her spine.
"Yes Dugrey, you must be very stupid." She turned to her left as a man emerged from the alley close to them and leaned against the nearest building. "Hello, Kitten." He greeted in a thick Australian accent, looking Rory over from head to toe while licking his lips, a move that made her more than a little uncomfortable.
"You know," the blonde drawled. "I'm told I don't take too kindly to insults."
Rory rolled her eyes before she could stop herself. Her head was screaming at her to just walk away but something about his cocky attitude made it hard to resist a retort. She lifted her eyes to his one more time, and barely repressed a shudder at the coldness in them. "Well, I'm sorry to bruise your obviously oversized ego but you're going to have to deal with it."
Without another word, she gripped her bag tighter and turned to head back towards her stop, ignoring the set of chuckles from behind her but at the sound of footsteps, turned her head slightly to glance back and a feeling of uneasiness filled her when she saw they were behind her.
Following her, she corrected, and the uneasy feeling went straight to the pit of her stomach.
She looked ahead and saw the bus bench come into view and a bit of relief filtered through her. Although the footsteps didn't stop, she quickened her pace and tossed her coffee in the nearby garbage before sitting down on the bench, setting her bag beside her and quickly sliding her hand inside of it to the small zippered pocket that held the tiny keychain pepper spray Luke insisted she carry with her after finding out she would be going to school in the city.
She checked her watch. Ten minutes. And she had a feeling they were going to feel like a lifetime.
A second later, she felt someone slide onto the bench next to her a little too closely and she clutched her bag that separated them, still gripping the spray inside, before looking up to find the Australian smirking at her.
She checked her watch again. Noting not even a minute had passed and she swallowed, hard.
"You aren't scared, are you?" The amused taunt floated from in front of her and she looked up to see the blonde standing a few feet away, leaning his back against a street light, facing her. With one hand resting deep in his pocket, the other hand lifted a lighter to the awaiting cigarette between his lips. She watched as he inhaled deep, the tip glowing bright red, before blowing the smoke from his lips slowly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Emotionless. Cold. Showing not an ounce of the amusement that was in his voice.
"What do you want?" Rory asked through gritted teeth, trying to mask the fear of having been followed back to her bus stop by two men she did not know.
A light chuckle came from his mouth but his eyes stayed the same, empty, almost as if he was looking right through her. He tipped his head to the side and the look in his eyes had her shrinking back into the bench and gripping the keychain tighter.
Danger.
"I believe you owe me an apology."
Rory shook her head in disbelief. There was no way he was being serious. "I don't owe you anything."
"She's a feisty one, isn't she?" The Australian commented from beside her, a grin on his face that made him seem less lethal than the man in front of hers but something told her that look was deceiving and one he used to lure people in.
The blonde chuckled again, only making her more nervous when he pushed himself lazily from the light post and took a step towards her. She instinctively gripped the strap of her bag and pulled it closer.
"You definitely do" He repeated, throwing his cigarette onto the sidewalk and not bothering to step on it.
A smirk of cold amusement twisted onto his face as if he were thoroughly enjoying this and anger began to overpower her uneasiness.
"Really?" Her gritted question was laced with sarcasm. "And why is that?"
"Because, as my friend here stated, it sounded an awful lot like you called me stupid back there."
She felt the danger. It oozed from him, pulsed around her like waves. She knew that even though there was an amused teasing tone to his comment, she felt the cold underline of his words. He was serious. Deadly serious.
He was clearly trying to intimidate her and she wasn't about to let him know he was succeeding.
"Look at that, perhaps there's some comprehension there after all." Knowing she was playing with fire but wanting to get under his skin as well, she imitated him by cocking her head to the side and gave him a once over as she mustered up all the courage she had inside her. "Why should I apologize for a statement that was so obviously true?"
Fire sparked in his eyes then as they drifted from her face and scanned her body, making her shift self consciously. He licked his lips as he trailed his eyes along her exposed legs slowly.
"You have no fucking idea who I am, do you?" The amusement was evident in his voice when he spoke again.
Rory clenched her fists and rolled her eyes. Just a few minutes and the bus would be there, why not amuse him. "Should I?" She studied the nails on her free hand, feigning boredom.
A loud burst of laughter from beside her had her turning to the man seated next to her again. He was dressed similarly in a pair of dark jeans and a T-shirt but instead of a leather jacket like the man in front of hers, he sported a long black trench coat with the sleeves rolled up, displaying numerous tattoos littering his forearms and hands covered in rings.
"You're not from around here I suppose, kitten?" he asked, his teeth flashing, looking highly amused.
Rory didn't bother answering him.
Two minutes.
"She has to live somewhat close, seeing as though she's dressed up like the cute private school girl she apparently is." The blonde commented to his friend and Rory refocused on him, glaring, not liking how he emphasized cute.
The Australian laughed. "A little rich one, eh? No wonder she's so brave."
His comment struck a chord and she hated that it did. "Don't assume you know anything about me." Rory shot at him angrily, her knee starting to bounce with a mixture of impatience and nerves. She glanced up as the clouds above them grew darker and she felt a warning drop of rain hit her cheek.
"But aren't you though, kitten? The suit does kind of give it away." The Australian commented. "A school like that takes a lot of money."
"Or just brains, but seeing as though you obviously lack a certain level of intelligence yourself I get why you didn't come to that conclusion." She stated before she could stop herself and when his grin quickly went from amused to something far darker, she regretted just not keeping her mouth shut.
The laugh from in front of her had her finding the blonde again.
"It's funny that you have now called both of us stupid but you're the only one here who seems to be." The blonde crossed his arms as a few more raindrops fell from the sky and a rumble of thunder was heard in the distance.
"Because I don't know who you are?" Rory rolled her eyes irritably, bouncing her knee faster as her fear grew.
"Exactly." He answered. The small smile on his full lips could be mistaken for kind to anyone quickly glancing at him, but she saw through it, saw the threat in his eyes.
"Okay then, let me guess," Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "You're a bunch of feared, law breaking, gang members," She held up a hand. "Or wait," she paused dramatically. "Murderous mobsters, and everyone knows who you are because you're just so notorious for your evil deeds."
The Australian beside her started laughing so hard he nearly fell off the bench but her eyes remained on the man in front of her.
"Well, well, well," He drawled in a humorless tone. "I guess you did know after all."
The seriousness of his tone had her heart skipping a beat before it started to pound.
A loud roar, signaling the bus finally approaching, had a feeling of relief washing through her as she grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder, standing up quickly.
The blonde tilted his head to the side. "I still didn't get that apology, Mary."
"My name's not Mary." Rory corrected, furrowing her brows and wondering why he would have even thought that.
He chuckled softly. "Isn't it though?" Genuine amusement now danced across his face and she had no idea what he found so funny.
"No, it's not." She said again as the bus stopped in front of her.
"Bye, kitten!" The Australian called, smiling at her from where he still sat on the bench. "It was a pleasure."
"I will get that apology, Mary." The blonde warned as she passed him and climbed onto the bus, ignoring the feeling of his eyes burning into her back.
"You okay, sweetie?" The driver asked as soon as she stepped onto the top step, his eyes darting behind her knowingly.
"I am now." Rory answered in relief, swiping her bus card.
The driver made a disapproving noise. "You shouldn't hang around those people, they're all bad news." He told her, glancing again at the men outside with an odd look in his eyes.
Rory just nodded in reply before walking to the back of the bus. She looked out the window and saw the blonde still standing there, following her with his eyes as she took her seat and her breath caught as she watched him break her gaze and move towards the bus doors.
The driver hesitantly opened them again and the blonde climbed on, ignoring the driver's protests as he strode right by him and walked to where she was seated.
When he finally neared her seat, he leaned down, bracing himself with one hand on the seat in front of her and the other on the back of her seat, so close his breath fanned her face.
"By the way," His deep voice moved over her. "My name's Tristan."
Before she could even fully comprehend what he had said, he was walking back towards the doors to the bus stairs, stopping only to turn to her with a wink before jumping off.
The driver shut the doors a minute later after waiting the required amount of minutes that he had to at every stop, eyeing her warily in his mirror before putting the bus into gear.
She glanced out the window as they slowly pulled away from the curb, the two men watching the bus pull away before walking across the street and getting on two motorcycles that were parked in a small parking space there.
She let out a sigh of relief as they both sped away and went to pull her cinnamon bun from her bag but stopped when she realized she no longer had an appetite.
Feeling eyes on her yet again, she looked up to see the bus driver moving between glancing at her and shaking his head disapprovingly at the road. She lowered down further into her seat and pulled out her book but sighed, not being able to concentrate on the words at all.
That, by far, was one of if not the most crazy experience of her life.
And now she couldn't get the pair of dangerous blue eyes out of her head.
She was really going to kill Paris.
I know that love is mean, and love hurts
But I still remember that day we met in december, oh baby