Okay, so according to this story, Rory and Jess slept together in Keg! Max! And just like in the show, he left. A few weeks later, Rory found out that Jess had left something, or someone behind. This is sixteen years later, and Jess has returned to Stars Hollow to visit Liz and Liz's baby, and to show his second book to her.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am no way affiliated with the CW, Gilmore Girls, Jess, Rory, Milo Ventimiglia, or Alexis Bledel. Characters are not mine.
Back to Neverland
He hadn't stepped foot in that town in sixteen years. Not since he was a naïve seventeen year old with a bad-boy label, and a wide smirk. He hadn't wanted to ever come here again, it held too many bad memories, and too many good ones that would just bring up bad ones, but Liz begged, and he gave in. Now he was here for the week, just to spend some time with Liz and his new sister.
He was a big brother, thirty-three, but a big brother nonetheless. He walked to the diner, with his leather jacket tightly bound around him trying to protect him from the incoming cold.
He stepped inside, and was greeted by a stressed Luke, zooming by him to get to the other customers. He took a seat on a stool, patiently waiting for Luke to be finished so he could speak with him.
A girl sat to his left. She couldn't be older than sixteen. Her dark hair, almost black, curled around her face, and fell down to her lower back. Her skin was light, with a hint of olive coloring. She was sitting crossed legged, an awkward looking position, reading a book, and drumming her finger on her coffee mug.
She turned to look over at him, catching him staring at her from her peripheral vision, smirk set. Her eyes were the lightest blue he's ever seen, and it reminded him of someone he has long tried to forget. This girls eyes, although, did not look shy nor timid like that person. No, her eyes were confident.
"Yes?" She asked; sarcasm laced her voice as she dog-eared her book and set it on the counter.
"A Tale of Two Cities." It was more of a statement, then a question. The girl's eyes darted to her book, then back at him.
"Yeah, you ever read it?" She asked, finger still drumming on her coffee cup.
"Heard of it." He replied. He remembered playing this same game with another very influential person.
She nodded, and let the conversation drop, going back to her book, before she caught him staring at her again.
"Yes?" This time she asked it gruffer, annoyed. Jess smirked at her. She reminded him of himself all those years ago.
Jess shook his head as to say 'nothing' when she asked another question, a question that he would try to dance around as long as possible.
"What's your name? I haven't seen you around here before, and I usually know everyone. Curse of a small town." She rolled her eyes at the last part of the statement.
"Not a small town kind of person?" He asked, avoiding her question.
"Definitely not. I want to travel, to do things. I don't know, ride the subway in New York, backpack across Europe, something rather than sitting here."
Jess nodded his head, showing her that he understood exactly what she meant.
"I'm originally from New York. Moved to Philly a while back, though." He told her. She gave a half smile, as to tell him that he is lucky.
"So, again, instead of dancing around it, what's your name?" she asked. He smiled at her, knowing that he had been caught. She was a witty one. About time the town had another, instead of one more drone.
He had to think of something fast, he knew that he couldn't give his real name, because the whole town would know that he was back, and he didn't want to open that old wound.
"You can call me Dodger." He smiled, hoping that she would not understand what he meant, and would go with it.
"Like Oliver Twist?" She asked him. He was surprised to say the least, that she had understood that long forgotten pun.
"Yeah, like Oliver Twist. So, what's your name?" He asked her.
She shook her head saying 'no.'
"You told me Dodger as a name, so why would I tell you my real name?" She asked, he thought about it for a moment.
"Well, I guess you don't have to. But, you see that man over there?" He asked, pointing to Luke across the diner. Her eyes darted over, and she nodded her head 'yes.' "Well, he is my uncle, and really, all I have to do is ask him, and I know your name anyway." He felt content with himself for being able to play her so well.
"Uh huh. Well, that uncle of yours is also my grandfather. Well, not really grandfather, but step-grandfather." She too was proud of herself, before seeing the mans, "Dodger's" face turn pale as he comprehended her words. It looked like he was going to be sick.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked; her eyes were starting to get worried. He nodded before grabbing his jacket, and heading out the diner.
She had a daughter. He knew that those eyes could only be a trait from Rory. But this, a daughter, it scared him. He knew that Lorelai eventually married Luke, so that would make Rory Luke's step-daughter, and Rory's daughter his step-granddaughter. This, though, was not what scared him the most. What scared him even more was that the girl reminded him of himself so much. He treaded to the bridge, the only safe haven he knew.
At the diner-Luke walked to the other side of the counter where the teenage girl looked puzzled.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her.
She looked up at him cerulean eyes darting around.
"Who was that?" She asked the older man.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"What'd he say his name was?" He asked her.
"That's the thing, he would only tell me Dodger." She looked down at her fingers. Black nail polish was chipping around the ends.
"I don't know." He answered her honestly. He didn't know who Jess was anymore. He doesn't think he ever knew who Jess really was. At least not the real Jess. There was only one person he would open up to enough to know the real Jess. Luke, although, knew the masked Jess all too well.
---
Charlie walked to her house. It was located on Peach Street, only a couple blocks from her grandmother's house; the house her mother had grown up in.
Her black hair swayed like the tide, and her cheeks burned from the cool air. Her old worn Metallica shirt was no comfort to her in this harsh weather. She picked up her pace when the wind started to blow harder.
She walked up to her porch. It was desolate. She and her mother had no use for it. They never sat on it, never swung on the bench swing that Luke had put up for them.
Useless.
Charlie entered the house, throwing her coat onto the chair by the door.
"Mom!" She yelled to the top of the steps. Her house was practically identical to their grandmothers. The only difference was that there were more books, an accumulation of her and her mother's collections.
"Yeah" the voice came from the top of the stairs, before a pretty brunette walked down, her socks swished with the carpet. She had bright blue eyes, and freckles that slightly coated her nose.
The brunette walked over to the couch, taking a seat while Charlie sat on the opposite end. The young girl had come prepared with a movie and some junk food. The "Movie Night" tradition has carried itself onto the next generation.
"So Mom, I was eating at Luke's, and guess who I met?" Charlie asked, starting to dig into the chocolate ice cream.
"Who?" Her mother questioned her.
"Well, he wouldn't really tell me his name, but he had that dark hair, and that kind of Italian colored skin, and we talked about books, but of course I am not one for talking much, but I managed to get "Dodger" out of him, and of course I knew right away that it was from Oliver Twist, and-"
"Right, you-never one to talk?" Her mother cut her off laughing.
Charlie just sat, eyes growing thin with a mock look of hurt on her face.
"Dodger, you said, right?" Her mother asked her.
"Yeah, Dodger. He was smart. Kind of cute, I guess. Reminded me of someone though, you know?" Charlie had finished most of the ice cream carton, and was now digging into a box of twizzlers.
"Reminded you of someone? How so?" Her mother was growing interested at her daughters intrigue of this man.
"I don't know. How he looked. His posture. The way he talked-smirked, actually." Charlie just shrugged it off.
"Hmm. Well, why don't we go and find out?" Rory poked her daughter in the arm.
"Mom, we can't just go around town sneaking up on some poor guy. Besides, you can just call Luke and ask him. He's his nephew." Charlie smiled, and walked over to the table, picking up the phone, and throwing it at her mother.
Rory was trying to figure this out, and it was all slowly coming together. Dodger, Luke's nephew. It was the man that she had tried to permanently erase from her memory. The man that would be forever connected to her in a way that she never planned. The man that she had fallen in love with at only seventeen years of age. The man that she hadn't seen in over sixteen years.
Rory froze on the couch, and turned to face Charlie.
"Charlie, I don't want you seeing him anymore. Do you understand me?" Rory's eyes were serious as she pleaded with her daughter.
Rory had kept the secret of Charlie's father from her since the day she was born. She didn't want Charlie to go through what she had to endure.
Sure, Charlie knew that Rory had only had her at seventeen, almost eighteen, and that her father had left. Charlie just didn't know who her father was, and if things were going to go the way Rory planned them to, she would never know.
"Yeah, Mom, sure. I won't see him anymore if it means that much to you. Just don't freak out on me." Charlie put up her hands in a mock surrender.
"You know, honey. I am not up for movie night anymore. I'm going to go to bed, okay?" Rory walked over and kissed her daughters cheek before going upstairs and to bed.
Charlie put everything away, before going to her room. It was painted red with band posters taped onto the walls.
She changed into her pajamas before grabbing a book off the self and plopping down onto her bed. Ironically enough, the book was Howl; she began to read it before realizing that it was her mother's book. It had notes and handwriting in the corners that Charlie would sit and read for hours when she was younger.
She had practically memorized every word, and would constantly ask her mother who wrote them. Her mother never had an answer for her. Only the phrase "Someone I used to know." It would drive Charlie crazy.
She fell asleep that night after finishing her book, and awoke to the sun streaming into her window.
She rolled over before hearing a crunching sound. Her hand traveled up to her forehead where a bright yellow post-it note was stuck. It read "Gone to work early today. Don't do anything I wouldn't. Love you kid. –Mom."
Charlie smiled and got ready before grabbing her jacket and walking out the door. She walked into Luke's, got a to-go cup, and headed for Andrew's bookstore.
There was a group of people residing there. Probably a book signing, Charlie figured. She walked into the store, and headed over to the features section. There was a new book that she didn't recognize. It was small, with a black cover that read 'The Subsect'. She opened to the first page and started reading. It was an older book. Written a couple of years ago. The thing that interested her the most, although, was the new book sitting next to it that seemed to be by the same author.
The author was signing at a table. There were lines upon lines of people waiting to get their book signed. It must have just come out, Charlie figured, before picking up both books, and heading over to the table where the author was sitting.
What she saw surprised her. She had promised her mother not to go near the man again, but she couldn't help herself. There sitting at that table was the self-proclaimed Dodger. She strode over there, before tapping him on the shoulder.
"Yeah?" He looked up, and smiled at her.
"Nice to see you again. You never told me you were an author, Mr…"
Charlie peered down at the book to get the authors name.
"Jess Mariano?" She asked.
"That's me." He replied. "I guess my secret is out now though." He grinned.
"Hey, are you finishing up here any time soon?" Charlie asked him
"Yeah, My break is in about five minutes." He told her.
"Alright." Charlie smiled and turned, her long hair falling around her lower back.
She walked over to the classics section, and started browsing through. Most of them she and her mother already owned, and the others were not worth owning. She started to get caught up in her reading before she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She quickly jumped around, and saw Jess standing in front of her. She let out a breath, and grinned.
"Come on, I know somewhere we can go." Jess held out his and, and she reluctantly took it. She didn't know what it was about him, but she trusted him. Probably more than she should.
"You know Stars Hollow?" She asked him, her cerulean eyes questioning.
"Yeah, I actually lived her for a couple of years when I was about your age."
Her look was shocked.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I was young, rebellious. Remember when I told you I lived in New York?"
Charlie nodded her head.
"Well, I got rowdy, my mom didn't want to deal with a seventeen year old delinquent, and she sent me here, to live with Luke. It sucked to say the least. This isn't exactly the kind of place that you want to come to after living in the big city your whole life, you know?"
Charlie smiled, and continued following him down the path.
" Well, only one thing, or person, made this town bearable. But, I don't want to bore you with that."
Jess couldn't believe how much he was telling this girl. It surprised him to say the least. The last person that got him to open up this much was the person that he willed himself not to talk about.
"No, please tell me. I want to hear it." Charlie pleaded with him.
"Alright, I'll tell you, but you have to tell me something about you too. Something big."
Charlie sighed and nodded. "My name is Charlie?" She gave an innocent smile.
"Nice, but no. Something bigger than that." He told her, with a smirk set on his face.
"I am named after Charles Dickens? Just Charlie, not Charles. Charlie is more girly, I guess." He smiled.
"Bigger."
"Okay, well. My mom had me at seventeen. Well, actually she was about eighteen. I don't know who my dad is, and my mom won't tell me anything about him. Only that he left. I think it hurts her too much to talk about it. Big enough?"
"Yeah, that's big enough. Well, I guess you're expecting me to tell you about that person, huh?" He asked her, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Charlie smiled, and laughed at the face that he made.
"Okay. When I moved here, there was this girl, and I know what you're thinking, one of those dramatic love stories, right? Well, its not quite Romeo and Juliet, but it's pretty soap-opera oriented. Well, anyway, she was beautiful. Brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, that looked like yours."
Charlie smiled at the comment as her and Jess made it to the bridge.
"Well, she had a boyfriend. He was this tall oaf, I mean Frankenstein tall. They had absolutely nothing in common. Anyway, she and I were forced into a lot of crazy situations; I crashed her car, accidentally broke her arm, went back to New York, and then eventually came back for her. It was really crazy. Well, we wound up together, before I screwed it up, and left. I loved her." He dropped his head, and Charlie could tell he was hurting.
"Well, you've heard enough about me. What about you?" He asked her. They took a seat on the bridge, and their feet skimmed the water.
"Well, I'm Sixteen. I am named after and author, and I don't know who my father is."
"I know that much, I want to know about you though."
"Okay. I go to Chilton. Get straight A's, and I am aiming for Yale. I love music. It's my passion, or hobby, or whatever you call it, I guess. I mean I taught myself guitar when I was ten, and I've played piano since I was about five, and I'm okay at playing drums."
"Same way with me and writing, you know; the passion/ hobby thing."
"Yeah. We all have to have some kind of passion, for something, you know? Anyway, I'm into the old Rock; the Clash, Metallica, the Distillers."
"I like them too."
"Seems we have a lot of things in common, Mr. Mariano."
"Seems that way."
"Well, I should be getting home. See you around?"
"Yeah, you'll see me."
Charlie got up from the bridge, before running back to Jess. He was surprised when he saw her coming towards him again.
"I forgot to get you to sign my books." Charlie said exasperated. He smiled before taking the books she had purchased, and signed them for her. She thanked him, before running off towards her house again.
Charlie made it through her front door and into her room. She took the books that she had purchased out of her bag, and opened them up to see what he had written for her.
"Charlie,
Keep that passion alive. See you soon.
Dodger"
She smiled at what he had written her, and began to read his books. They were amazing, and reminded her of something. They way he wrote, and how it flowed reminded her of something else that she had read. She let it go, and concentrated solely on the book in front of her.
"Charlie?" He mother called into the house.
"In here!" She yelled from her bedroom, still reading Jess's book.
Rory walked through Charlie's bedroom door.
"What are you reading, kiddo?" Rory asked her daughter.
"Nothing. Book from Andrew's, that's all." Charlie tried to hide the book, knowing that her mother had told her to stay away from Jess.
Rory grabbed it from her daughter turning it over, and examining it. She dropped it to the bed after reading the authors name.
"Charlie, where did you get this?" Rory inquired.
"From the author." Charlie replied reluctantly.
"You've talked to Jess?" Rory was practically yelling.
"Yeah Mom, he's great. We talked about a whole bunch of stuff, we-"
"I told you to stay away from him, Charlie." Rory cut her off, furious.
"Why Mom? Why can't I talk to him? I feel like I know him better than I know you now. You never tell me anything anymore. I know Jess's story, but Mom, I have never heard all of yours!" Charlie yelled back.
"What did he tell you?" Rory asked. Her tone was calming down as she took a seat on her daughters bed.
"He told me a lot of things. That he lived in New York, his mother sent him here when he was seventeen, that he met a girl here, fell in love, screwed it up, and wound up leaving. It's no big deal, Mom." Charlie told her reassuringly.
"He told you that?"
"Yes. Mom, why don't you want me to talk to him?"
"Because I used to know him, when he lived here. When we were seventeen. I want you to stay away from him, Charlie."
"Yeah, I got that. Did you know the girl that he dated?"
"Yeah, I used to know her. A long time ago."
"What was she like?"
"She was like you. Ivy League bound, loved books and music, and then everything changed."
"What happened?"
"Nothing. Look, I'll talk to you later, okay?" Rory got up, and headed out the door leaving a confused Charlie alone on her bed.
Rory headed to the diner, hoping to catch him. She walked into the desolate diner. There was no sign of him. She walked past the bookstore, still nothing, and then decided to go to their spot. The Bridge.
She saw his silhouette. Sitting on the bridge, feet skimming the water. She took a deep breath and walked over towards him, taking a seat next to him.
"Figured you'd find me." He told her, still keeping his eyes focused on the water.
"Always do, don't I?" She asked.
"So, a daughter, huh?" He asked he.
"Wow, cut right to the chase? How did you know?" She asked.
"I have my ways." He told her.
Rory didn't know what to say, or how to start.
"Who's the father?" He asked her.
"Excuse me? Look, that's not important, I want you to stay away from her, though. Do you understand me, Jess?"
"What? Why? I didn't do anything to her, I didn't hurt her."
"But you will, Jess. You always do."
Rory started to get up to walk away when he called out to her again.
"That's not fair. Besides, you never answered my question."
"Who do you think it is, Jess? The black hair, the way she walks, her love for books and music, her love for Hemingway, God help her, her monosyllabic tendencies? Come on, Jess, you're not that naïve."
Rory was screaming, tears pouring down her face as she let herself rant to him. Before realizing what she had just said, and bringing her hand to her mouth, cupping her lips.
All the while, Jess stood speechless in front of her, unable to move or think.
Words finally came to him.
"What are you telling me, Rory? That I have a daughter? I mean, you never told me? How could you keep this from me?"
"To help you, Jess. So that you could have a life of your own."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your book. Do you think you would have been able to write it? To become an author if you knew? I gave up everything! No Yale, nothing. She is all I have, Jess. I gave it all up for you" Tears were overflowing down her face, mascara ran with them.
"Look Jess, I don't know what to say. I'm gonna go." Rory ran back to her house leaving Jess stranded alone on the bridge, jaw gaping.
Charlie saw her mother dart into the house, eyes red, with tears pouring down her face.
"Mom! Whats wrong?" She yelled, but her mother was already in her room, door slammed shut.
Just something light. Hope you like. I'll update if I get enough reviews.
-Missed the Train