Disclaimer: Don't own Gilmore Girls. If did, Rory and Jess wouldn't have played out with way it did.

Notes: Found this on my computor, wrote it long ago, and it never seemd quite finished. Thought I'd post it anyway :)

Rory watched Jess. He was slumped in his usual pose, but he seemed to be fighting it, crossing and uncrossing his arms, trying to stand up straighter, trying out a smile. Finally, Rory decided she had to do something.

"Jess?"

Jess turned around, looked at her.

"Jess, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were back from Yale. I wanted to talk to you." Rory said nothing, so Jess continued. "I've been in California. I've been staying with my father. He's got someone now, and she... well, she found me a therapist." Jess said this somewhat bitterly. "I'm going to get a tutor and get a job, and then maybe I'll take some college courses. I know it's not Yale or anything-"

"That's great," Rory said. She did honestly think it was great Jess was getting a grasp in life. It was what she had wanted. But now she was trying to move on. She couldn't go back.

"I didn't come to tell you that, though." Jess took a step closer. Rory's breath hitched in her throat. She had tried hard not to think about him since he left, and mostly suceeded, but now she found it did nothing in helping her get over him.

Jess took a breath and continued speaking. "I know I should haveI thought about you a lot. I know I did things wrong. I'm sorry, and.." Jess' eyes moved from the floor, to Rory, to the floor again. Then looked Rory in the eyes again as he said, "I'm sorry. For everything."

"Jess..." Rory wasn't sure exactly what to say. "It's all right. It happened."

"Yeah, well..."

"So how's California?" Jess would see that blatent attempt at changing the subject. But she hoped it would be all right.

Jess shrugged. "Sunny." He paused, but felt like he had to say more. "Sunny weather, sunny people."

Rory laughed. "You must hate it."

"I did, at first. But now..." Jess struggled, then shrugged. "I don't. It's all right, I guess." They were silent, looked at each other. "How's Yale?"

"Good. Guess who's my roomate."

"Paris Hilton." The sarcastic smile was back, the one she missed so much. The one that probably made her fall for him, she reflected.

Rory smiled and shook her head.

"But it is Paris, right?" He asked, then nodded to her nod.

"How did you know?" She was curious. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Should she ask him in? In... her mother would be there. No, she wasn't quite ready for that. Her heart yearned to talk to her mother, to tell her- Jess is back! But her mother would frown, wouldn't understand. Rory bit back the urge to sigh. She wasn't used to her mother not understanding.

Jess shrugged yet again. "I heard she was going to Yale, too, and I figured no one else warrented a 'guess who'."

Rory nodded. "Good logic."

Jess smiled again, nodded. "You probably want to see your mother. Eat. Have a cup of coffee."

"You manage to read my mind, after all," Rory said, and regretted it. She looked down, as to not see the look in Jess' eyes.

"Well- I'm going to be staying here a while. So- if you want, you know, give me a call, or if I can call you..."

"You can call," Rory nodded. "And I'll call you."

And she knew that despite everything, she would.