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"Jess, wait!" Rory followed Jess out of the pub. "Jess--I'm sorry."

"We shouldn't have done this." Jess knew that Rory hadn't meant to make anyone uncomfortable, but on the other hand, he hadn't done anything to protest.

"He's just in a bad way lately." Rory defended Logan, knowing that that was what Jess was referring to.

"He's a jerk." Jess retorted.

"He was--in there, definitely." she conceeded. "I'm so sorry."

"I read that guy the second I saw him. I should have begged off!" Jess said, disgusted.

"Well, I didn't want you to."

"He'd better not come out here." Jess said hotly.

"Please, Jess--" Rory said, "He's had a lot to drink; he's tired from traveling. This isn't him--I swear."

"What is going on?" Jess asked bluntly. Rory looked confused.

"I told you." she said. "He's tired, and his family's bugging him right now--"

"No--I mean with you. What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Rory's heart sped up.

"You know what I mean. I know you--I know you better than anyone. This isn't you." Jess insisted.

"I don't know." Rory admitted. She didn't know what she was doing with her life.

"What are you doing? Living at your grandparents' place--being in the D.A.R.; dropping out of Yale--why did you drop out of Yale?" he asked.

"It's complicated." Rory said.

"It's not!" he shot back. "It's not complicated!"

"You don't know!"

"This isn't you! This--you going out with this jerk, with the Porsche? We made fun of guys like this!" Jess reminded her.

"You caught him on a bad night." Rory insisted.

"This isn't about him! Okay? Forget him! What's going on with you? This isn't you, Rory. You know it isn't. What's going on?" Rory looked almost sheepish, and he ducked lower to look her in the eyes.

"I don't know." Rory said, turning her face away. "I don't know." she repeated, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Maybe...maybe we'll catch up at a better time." he said. He touched her arm as he walked away, a sad substitute for the reassuring hug he wanted to give her.

He turned back, remembering. "Happy Birthday, by the way." Rory couldn't believe he had remembered! "Wasn't that a couple of weeks ago--your birthday?"

She nodded, and he tipped an invisible hat to her before walking away.