Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.

A/N: I promised a sequel, and here it is. Even though I know some of you guys have been against me doing this sequel. And I know it sounds nuts because I left it where I did, and the plotline was unclear. But, I have to trust my instinct on this one. Just trust me, okay?

I hope you like the first chapter, although it is very uneventful. But I still hope you guys like it. The next chapter will be coming up soon, and there will be a lot of things packed in there.

Please express your thoughts.

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Chapter 1

Spying

She'd always hated wearing a ring.

Because what was the use of a ring anyways? If you loved each other it wouldn't matter, right? But now she was different. The simple gold band on her finger was a pretty detail on her hands that no one could ignore, not even herself. In fact, she had been caught staring at it quite a bit.

Because she had finally done something right. Something good for her and David. The feeling of being married felt so great, and it surprised her a lot.

It had been so quick. They'd been on vacation, their alone time. It was rare to get a break from the ties of motherhood, and getting used to not being near your child was scary also. Although there was a time when she was without child, only two years ago. All so fast.

So they got married. Quick. Before the champagne had worn off, too. But the thing was that she didn't regret it. Her family was thrilled and they were more in love than ever. Rory and Robbie. It was all too easy to get used to.

They even had the same first letter for their names. Too perfect.

"Bumblebee," She whispered.

Rory knew it was wrong waking up an innocent child in such an early time, but she needed to get out of the house and get him to daycare.

He opened one eye and then closed it quickly when he saw that there was no emergency. "No."

'No' had quickly become David's favorite word in the world. 'No' was the answer to everything, and he refused to say anything else. He turned over, ignoring his mother, and she groaned.

Why was he so hard to wake up?

"Honey, up," Rory said as she patted her son's shoulder, scooting closer to him on her queen bed. "Up, up, up."

"No," David groaned, shaking her hand off.

She had no choice as she sat up.

"Robbie!" She yelled loudly.

David sat up quickly, wide eyed. "No!" He put his hand over her mouth and she simply smiled into it.

She knew she could get him with that every time. The thing was, that David wasn't exactly thrilled with her thriving marriage with Robbie. He was only two, but he had his mind set and there was nothing she could do.

Rory and David lived alone in this apartment long before Robbie came along, and they always slept together in her bed. Always. And he would scream bloody murder if anybody even tried to get him off. They shared a room, although there was a free room right next door. And this resulted in a problem when Robbie and Rory got married, since he had to move in.

So, temporarily – as she always liked to remind Robbie – he was sleeping on the couch in the living room.

David seemed to hear Robbie's footsteps down the hall before Rory did, because he jumped out of bed and into the large closet beside the bed. It was almost a routine.

Robbie peeked his head into the room, his messy hair and shirtless body greeting her. "Closet?"

She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she nodded. "Closet." Rory made a gesture as if for him to come next to her, and he did, laying right next to her. "How'd you sleep?"

"Your couch is comfortable," He reassured her. "Don't worry about it, he'll come around."

"It feels like it's been forever since you moved in, and we haven't slept together in this bed, at night," Rory stated, frowning. "Naps don't count."

Robbie grinned. "What about--"

"Those don't count either." She gave him a death glare.

His grin turned into a broad smile, his hazel eyes glowing as he sat up, taking her into his lap. "Did you sleep well?"

"David only woke up once."

"I didn't hear you come out."

Rory nodded. "We didn't. I was already ready for whatever was to come by putting his sippy cup on the night table." She pointed to the table next to the bed.

Robbie squinted, "I don't see it."

"That's because there was a little accident."

"Ah."

"David wanted to watch cartoons and I said we couldn't because you were sleeping out there, and he had a hissy fit and basically threw the cup on the floor."

He placed his hand on her cheek and sighed. "You could have woken me up."

Rory rolled her eyes. "He would've still thrown one of his fits, anyway. I don't know where he gets all of this anger. He's such a brat, I shouldn't even let him sleep with me."

Robbie avoided eye contact, "Then why do you?"

"He needs me."

"You think he needs you."

She climbed off his lap, shaking her head. "Are you saying my child doesn't need me? He has these dreams every night. I know it because of the look on his face. He makes me turn on the light until he falls asleep, Robbie."

He closed his eyes like he had heard this speech a thousand times. Except he had. "I know, I know."

There was a long silence before they heard David banging on the closet door.

The tension grew in the room and Rory simply walked over to the closet, but paused as she put her hand on the knob. Robbie looked at her pointedly. "Robbie."

He stood up, raising his hands in defeat. "Fine."

She closed her eyes, knowing he was mad. Rory knew it was easy to get him mad. She took hold of the knob and pulled until she was face-to-face with her child.

David scrunched up his nose.

Rory pursed her lips together, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's gone."

David stood up and held out his arms for her. "Uppy." She sighed as she took him into her arms, giving him a kiss on his temple. "Mommy."

"You are so mean to Robbie." Rory knew there was no point in arguing with a two-year-old. She already knew the answer.

"No."

After that 'no' she knew it was the start of the morning. The long process of getting David ready for day care. The only up side was that he loved daycare. It was something he could not say no to no matter how hard he tried.

So Rory was lucky to get out of the apartment quick enough to get to Luke's in time for breakfast. Only thirty minutes before they started serving lunch.

But she had made it just in time because it was emptied out, even Taylor, who was usually there late.

"Hey, Luke."

He smiled at her and dropped a cup on the counter. "You have thirty minutes to eat, so I expect you want something that can be cooked quickly…"

"Toast and coffee."

"Coming right up."

As he disappeared into the kitchen, she felt her pocket vibrate, startling her. She reached for her cell phone and when she saw 'Mom Calling' she only took the call quicker.

"Mom." Rory's first smile of the day.

"My baby."

"How you doing?" Rory asked as Ceaser poured her some coffee, and she took a frantic sip, wanting something hot in her mouth. "Are you at the inn?"

Rory could hear Lorelai struggling with something. "I'm just walking in the door. You?"

"Luke's."

"I just came from Luke's. Isn't life funny?"

"I'm mad at life," Rory muttered, stealing another sip in between words.

Lorelai sounded amused. "And what did life do to you now?"

"David is just getting worse."

"Poor Robbie," She said. "If I were him, I would run away, far away from our family as quick as possible. But he's such a nice kid, you can't blame him for falling for you."

"Oh, no, Robbie is great. If only some of that would rub off on David." She propped up her elbow on the counter, chin on her hand. "It's getting tense at home."

"I'm sorry, Babe."

"Yeah." Her eyes lit up when she saw the toast coming in Luke's hand. "Okay, well, breakfast's here, I'll call you later."

"Someone sounds hungry."

"I'm not hungry, I'm starving." Rory took a desperate bite. "'Bye, Mom."

"Have good toast. And give life a break."

She closed her phone, smiling at her food.

Luke came out of the kitchen right when she started digging into her food. He chuckled, standing in front of her. She let out a nervous laugh, wiping her mouth with a napkin. She blushed crimson.

"Don't worry about it, I've seen your mother do worse," He assured her.

But Rory didn't return to her food, putting her hands on her lap. "Right."

"So, what are your plans today? Hanging out with David?"

"Um, no, I'm actually going out of town." Rory's heart gave a tug when she said this, because there was nothing she liked more than going on a road trip, spending time by herself. Even if it was just a day. "Looking for some peace and quiet."

Luke nodded, but looked unsure. "Did you tell your Mom?"

"You know how she gets, Luke. You can't tell her. She'll go into a very long debate with me on whether it's safe." Rory's voice strained when she said this.

"Will you be fine?"

"Yes," Rory said. "Of course. I just need some time for myself. I'm even meeting Lane in New York."

Luke seemed a bit relieved. "And how's she liking it there?"

"Better than Stars Hollow, she says."

"That's good." Awkward silence. "Alright then, I won't say anything to her if she asks. But you have to promise me you will tell her when you get back."

Although Rory wasn't so sure about this, she agreed. "No problem, I'll be back by tonight."

"Luke!"

Rory smiled at Luke as he rushed off to meet Ceaser's call, unwilling. And she took the bright green light to get out of there by scooping up her things and standing up. Even leaving some money on the counter, even though she knew Luke wouldn't accept it.

-

-

-

She was halfway to New York in forty-five minutes. It was all too quick, her alone time ending, and she recognized this as she stopped at the gas station. It wasn't really all about gas, she just needed a breather. It had been long since she had driven this long, all stuck in a car, she was so used to driving around Stars Hollow. And a lot of time was spent walking.

Rory was actually surprised at herself. She found herself so thin so quick after David was born. She had gone through a period of time when Lorelai had to make her eat. And even though she would eat willingly and often now, she was the skinniest she'd been in her life.

As she looked in the mirror in the gas station bathroom, her face looked different also. Her blue eyes were just as blue as ever, and her hair was a lot longer now. But her cheek bones were more defined, and she didn't have any baby fat on her face anymore. She almost looked sickly, so pale and so thin.

And she was a completely different person.

She reached for lip gloss from her purse, searching for some color in her face. She applied it quickly, the red making her face look even more pale and lifeless.

Rory shrugged it off before she could get any more into it, and took her purse before walking out of the bathroom.

She quickly ran into another girl, coming her way. She had curly brown hair and cat-like green eyes. Her sweater was slightly torn at the hem, and her skirt was way too short, as she wore fishnet stockings.

"Excuse me," She said politely.

Rory nodded, feeling dumb as it seemed to take long to get to the other side of the grim hallway. The girl gave her a scowl before walking into the bathroom and all Rory could do was bow her head and walk out of the diner where the bathrooms were.

She made it out to the sharp cold quickly, and it wasn't soothing.

"—well, fix it."

Rory heard a familiar voice behind her. The feeling was shock all around her and she turned, desperate to see if it was true or if it was just that weird day playing tricks on her.

Jess.

A sudden impulse was to hide lamely, as she hadn't seen him in two years and didn't even know what that nagging feeling was. It was all too real.

Because it certainly was Jess arguing with a mechanic next to an unfamiliar car. She watched with interest.

When he turned to look at what the mechanic as pointing to, which was a motel across the street. He seemed to only get angrier. And as he stood there, four feet away, she could see him clearly at last.

His hair was the same. Black and unruly. His eyes seemed more distant than the eyes she saw in Stars Hollow, and right above his right eye there was a slight cut with a bruise hanging around it. She had to admit it, he looked awful. How had he gotten himself to such bad shape? Did he get into fights?

She couldn't keep herself from looking away.

"Jess," The unfamiliar words glided off her tongue. It was obvious that he wouldn't hear her, and that she was going crazy, spying on him like this. Caring like she did after all he had done to her.

She watched him walk, head bowed, into the diner. Only to watch him kiss the girl who had scowled at her.

"Miss."

Rory jumped, and turned. The mechanic who had been speaking to Jess before was looking at her suspiciously. "What are you doing?" He asked, his eyebrows arching.

She shifted her weight. "Um…," was all she answered.

"Do you need something?"

"No." And as he walked away, she blurted out: "Thanks!"

Her head turned once again in the direction of the diner, where Jess was sitting now. Next to the girl. They were deep in discussion.

She watched them discuss.

She watched them eat.

They didn't even glance her way. Not once. Because why would Jess care if she was spying on him?