Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters of Gilmore Girls. Do net even own the computer I'm working on. Do own the character of Kat.

Rating: PG-13 for some mild swearing.

Finding home

Give a detailed description of your view on the troubles facing the main character of the novel "The old man and the sea." Essay due December 18th.

Jess Mariano sighed, stretching his legs underneath the too small desk in the back of the library. Not that he didn't know the answer. He did. He read the book only so many times, he could almost dream it. Chewing the end of his pen, he thought of a way to compose his essay.

While thinking, he grinned at himself. Here he was, actually attending school, no…university. UCLA to be exact. Doing tests and assignments, writing essays, trying to get by. He'd worked all summer, attending summer school, then evening school and finally got his GED, which was about the same as any high school diploma, late September. He'd already applied for college, not thinking for one minute he would get in. But with some string pulling from one of his literature teachers, who was impressed by his writing skills and the amount of books that he'd already read, he somehow found himself right here, UCLA. Okay, not Ivy League, but college still. And he was a month behind due to his late graduation. But he was kind of glad to be here. He had to proof he was worth something. Something more than wasting his time being the proud owner of a hotdog stand. Something more than his deadbeat father.

For himself mind you, not for the promise he made. Made to her.

He didn't miss her. Nope, not one bit. It had taken him a long time to come to that point. But now he didn't miss her any more. He didn't wake up in a sweat, hands cramped in almost physical pain while trying to reach out to the one safely next to him…who wasn't there. He didn't bury his head in his pillow in a pointless attempt to smell her natural scent that was there long ago. Rory. The best high that ever was offered to him. And so he absolutely didn't want to earn his high school diploma or any college degree to honor her. He didn't, okay? Really, this was all for him. For him only.

Because, let's get real here. She would have been disappointed, of course, but she would have forgiven him, like she always did, because that's who she is. She would have forgiven him if he killed the Pope. She would. But he couldn't. Couldn't stand her constant support when he knew he didn't deserve any of it. Didn't deserve her. So the decision to leave and go live with his so-called father, was the best one he ever made. It was the only way he could think of to protect his precious pure angel from becoming tainted and scarred. By his actions. It was inevitable she would at some point. He couldn't stand the thought, but knew it to be true.

She would thank him in a while. She would get over it. Find a decent Yale guy who had the ability and the heart to treat her like she should be treated. And she would never give him another moment's thought. That's how he wanted it to be. Even if it killed him in the process.

But if it did…then why did he need to graduate?

Damn him! Damn all fucking beautiful men around here, keeping her from her Essay, which was due day after tomorrow. And most of all, damn Jess Mariano, for being both the hottest and the most unobtainable guy to roam the dorms of UCLA. Of course, she, the notorious Katerina Felicia Annabella Mendosa, better known as Kat, who was used to always getting what she wanted, had tried to win him over. To no avail. He was friendly enough, intelligent enough, but not interested. Even when she was drunk enough to be straightforward and just ask him, he kindly rejected her. No, he wasn't interested in dating her. And before she asked, he wasn't interested in dating anyone. Not now, anyway.

First, Kat was insulted. Never before in her life had she not gotten her hands on anything she wanted and boy, it hurt her precious ego. What the fuck was wrong with her, that Jess didn't even notice her? She was not the kind of girl who appreciated being unnoticed, thank you very much!

But, once over her sore ego (luckily, she wasn't the kind of girl to hold a grudge) they actually became quite good friends, as they were now. And it gave her ample opportunity to study him. That's how she eventually found out. He was pining. The harder he tried to hide it, the more obvious it showed. Jess was terribly hurt by someone he cared for very much. Someone who broke his heart. Someone he could not get over. Jess had loved and lost and wasn't ready to go through the ordeal of dating yet again.

Not that she ever asked him about it, though. Neither of them were big talkers and their friendship therefore was based on what they told each other without words. All she knew for a fact was that indeed there had been a special girl in his life. He still carried her picture around, using it as a bookmark to make it less conspicuous, which hardly worked.

Today was somehow worse. Maybe it was a special day for them, a birthday, an anniversary. Whatever it was, he had that pained, distant look in his eyes again. Such a shame, she'd actually believed he was doing better lately.

Kat sighed. She couldn't stand seeing him moping like that. So she decided to talk to him before it would eat him alive. She would just drag the story out off him if necessary. Knowing him pretty well, it would be.

The scratching of her chair on the old tile floor made some students look up, annoyed at the distraction. Kat just shrugged and restrained herself for sticking out her tongue at a preppy little squirt in the back. Jess hadn't even flinched though, wrapped up as he was in memory-land. He didn't even acknowledge her presence until she waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Earth to Mariano. Anybody home?" "Funny, Kat. Very funny. What do you want?" "Man, who died and made you Godfather? I was just trying to ask you to take a break with me. I'm done with nineteenth century poets for today." "Sorry Kat, I'm just…busy." "Busy my ass. You haven't written more than three words down for the past hour." "Are you checking up on me now?" "With good reason apparently. Come on, Jess, just come get a drink with me, or some fresh air." "Kat…I…thanks, but I don't feel like it okay? I'm just not in the best of moods today." "Could have fooled me." He scowled at her, but of course Kat, whose father could give Don Corleone a run for his money, were the last one mentioned a true person, wasn't even remotely impressed. She started dragging him away from his desk by his arm. "Come on, no good pining over a situation you can't change." That one caught him off guard for sure. "Pining? Who says I'm pining?" "Jess…" He dropped the attitude almost immediately. He was tired of it anyway. "So what if I am?" "Then either get your mind off the subject or do something about it." "About what?" "About whatever the situation with this girl is. Obviously you left something undone, or you wouldn't be pining over her the way you do." "Maybe…" "Jess, I don't mean to be pushy, but it might help if you…you know, tell me more about her. Maybe it'll get it off your chest." Jess heaved a sigh and tried to give her a genuine smile. Kat wasn't so bad. And she was right. Maybe talking about Rory would help him. If only he knew where to start.

Author's note:

Well, that's it! The first chapter of my first continuing story. I hope you enjoyed it. Any constructive criticism about the story itself or its grammatical construction is welcome, but please keep in mind that English is not my first language. Anyway, please Review...