Touching. Beautiful. I just love Jess, and your portrayal of him.

Was this an intentional prequel to "The Luckiest"? Even if not, that one is a fantastic continuation of the themes begun in this one. Is this something you've been mulling over in real life, too (only because I know that sometimes, themes of my life come out in my stories)? The difference is that here, my heart breaks for him; there, I see the contentment in the life he's found, and my heart breaks for the child that doesn't get nearly long enough to know enough about his father.

It's this Jess--the Jess who realizes that all of this is a part of who shaped him, and yet who doesn't let it define him--that I love in your writing. You paint a very vivid picture of the importance of the past and the hope of the future.

I love. I love. I love.

Perfect.

Need I say more?

I really liked this. The flashbacks, the implied Lit :), and the explanation of his life before Rory.

This was so, so good. Wow.

The way you move the reader into the flashbacks is seriously beautiful. I can't help but read it again and again.

"He remembers feeling neglected and abandoned, and then angry and cheated. He knows embarrassment, he knows disappointment, he knows failure.

There are nights when, as she sleeps beside him and he lays awake, dead sights and scents weave through the space between them, and rest, smothering him, upon his chest.

And this weight that hurts him (pressing, and pressing at him mercilessly) forces him to go back."

I love the short scenes of him at different ages. Especially the scene that you wrote when Jess is five...absolutely brilliant.

The ending kills me. I love how it sort of goes back to the beginning. It's perfect in every way possible.

*sigh* Couldn't have been better, Christie. I love it.

This story is amazing. It's so well written. I love your characterization of Jess.

This is great. I'm wondering if you've checked out fic by "sexylikethetitanic". She also has some great pieces on Jess. More analytical than most.
Is this #2 of the 10 post-season 4 fics you promised?

Wow! This was beautiful! I hope you'll continue it, but I guess it's just a one parter? Your writing is great!

unbe-freaking-leivable.

such a perfectly lovely little story, and so original. i loved your parallels, your descriptions of Jess' life, how you delved into what you thought his childhood was like. i really love how you took your artistic license and ran with it here. things like comparing Jess' mother's cold gold top to the warm gold on his finger made me sigh contentedly.

this was extremely well written.

hope you write some more soon ;)

-molly-

Hey,

I loved it.

Bye, smile :-)

I really loved this :D

I loved how simple and yet ... how descriptive and beautiful your writing was to show what happened to Jess at different stages of his life

And I liked how there was no mention of names, it worked really well.

Oh. Oh wow. There have been a bunch of Jess-centered fics, but this was definitely the best I've read. I just loved it to death.

*hug*

That was so good.

SO good.

I mean it. I just...wow. It's so real. I love the stages of his life. The things he feels. Wow. Just Wow.

I love it. :)

Aw! I think i'm gonna cry. Poor Jess.

Is this only a one-parter? I hope there's more :)

I had no idea you were so amazing.

Your writing is beautiful and touching and too good for your age.

This was fantastic.