disclaimer: I do not own gilmore girls and quite frankly I don't know why I have to put a disclaimer and I hate doing it but lol I did it anyways.

one: a confession

Jess stood outside of Gyspy's Garage, waiting for Gypsy herself to finish up with the rest of her things. She gestured a hand and Jess reached for his wallet.

"Thank you for your business, do not come again." Gypsy said, disinterested and annoyed, as she took the money from Jess' hands counting the bills.

"Not likely." Jess responded in his usual deadpan tone. He quickly entered his car, pulling down the sun visor to retrieve his keys from their place. A thick envelope fell down with them, landing with a thud in his lap. He opened the envelope to five bills, all Benjamins. Jess sighed, immediately knowing who the money was from, and exited his car.

But there she was. Her hair was short, sitting right at her shoulders. Jess' breath caught in his throat, there she was after a year with hair shorter than he's used to and here he was with all his emotions and feelings the same as they were when he left.

And then, she turned with her eyes immediately locking with his as the gazed at each other. Before he could speak she had repositioned her stance and looked ready to bolt.

"No, I get to run away first!" she shouted before making a mad dash away from him. His feet moved before his brain could process and he was running after her calling her name.

"Rory wait, stop!" Jess called after her, trying to keep up with her sprint.

"No! You don't get to walk away!" she called behind her as she maneuvered through the throngs of people.

"Hold on!"

"My town, I leave!"

"I just wanna— where are you going?" Jess haltered as he almost kept running into people.

"None of your business!"

"We look like idiots." Jess yelled after her as he could feel the lingering stares of Stars Hollow residents.

"I don't care!"

"Stop running!"

"Stop following!"

"Oh, come on!" He exclaimed as she picked up her pace.

"Go away, I'm leaving!"

"Rory, stop!"

"Why?" Rory stopped, finally.

"Because I wanna talk to you." Jess sighed as her face morphed from mild annoyance to frustration.

"About what? What do you want to talk to me about?" She folded her arms in front of her.

"When did you learn to run like that?" Jess panted, pointing limply to where they were before. Rory rolled her eyes as a quick silence lapsed over them.

"You know," she started, "I have actually thought about this moment. A lot. What would Jess say to me I ever saw him again? I mean, he just took off, no note, no call, nothing, how could he explain that? And then a year goes by. No word, nothing, so he couldn't possibly have a good excuse for that, right? I have imagined hundreds of different scenarios with a hundred different great last parting lines, and I have to tell you that I am actually very curious to see which way this is going to go."

Jess took a deep breath, suddenly very nervous. "Could we sit down?"

"No." Rory said firmly. "You wanted to talk, so talk. What do you have to say to me?"

Jess paused for a second. A second that felt like years to Rory.

Finally, with a sharp intake of breath, Jess just let the words slip from his lips, consequences be damned.

"I love you."