Rory fastened the button on her Chilton Uniform skirt and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. She took a last glance in the mirror, smoothed out her shirt, grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs. Luke was flipping eggs in the kitchen area, and Ms. Patty was sitting on one of the stools sipping some coffee.

"Mmmm," she murmered when she saw Rory, "I can never get over how much I love your uniform. It's soo… mmmm," was the only word she could find to work. Rory laughed.
"Thanks Patty." She turned to Luke. "Bye."

"You have money for the bus?" he asked her.

"Mhmn. Need me to pick anything up on my way home?"

"Yeah, some sugar and blueberries form Dosie's. We're running low and the Blueberry Pancakes are going fast."

"K, see you later." She grabbed her book from the counter and headed out towards the bus station. Luke watched her go. The phone rang. He turned to pick it up.

"Hello?" he listened for a while. "Liz?!... Hold on, slow down." The chatter on the other end only increased frantically. "Jess what? No Liz, I can't. I don't have room! Liz, no. Deal with it." He winced as her voice raised a dissonant pitch. "I wish I could help….no I can't. I told you already, I don't have room for…I'm not turning him away! Liz listen… fine…. No that's not what I-" he glanced at the receiver, which was spitting a dead tone back at him.

"Damn it!"

Jess Mariano sat on the bus, reading. The lady in back of him was lamenting to her husband about her bratty kids. At least, he thought, smirking, he hoped it was her husband. Of course it was though, nothing interesting really happens in real life, especially in the pie hole of Stars Hollow where he was headed. He wasn't even sure his uncle knew he was coming. His mother had just stuck him on the bus, telling him to go to Luke's; she couldn't deal with him; so what's new? They stopped in Hartford, but he didn't glance up from his book. A movement on his side made him turn. A girl with brown hair and big green eyes had sat next to him, the only available seat left on the bus. She was dressed in a very preppy uniform, tie and all. She pulled out her own book. He would have turned back to his own chapter of misery and not given her another thought, except he noticed one thing. Her book was by the same author.

He turned to her.
"Dostoevsky?" She looked up, surprised, and then saw his book.

"Yeah you like him too?" she inquired.

"How could you not?" he said passionately.

"I don't know, he's a little hard to get into in the beginning," the girl critiqued. Jess nodded.

"Yeah but once you get into it the whole novel just flies by."

"I guess," she agreed, her green eyes sparkling. He then did something he rarely did, being the kind of kid he was.

"Jess Mariano," he introduced himself. The girl smiled.

"Rory," She said. "Rory Gilmore."

"Nice to meet you, Rory Gilmore," he said. "Where are you headed?"

"Stars Hollow."

"Stars Hollow?" It was beyond him why anyone would live there. "Your family lives there?" She shook her head.

"It's actually just me and my…Dad," she said slowly. "What about you, where do you live?" Jess sat back in his seat and stared out the window.

"Nowhere," he told her.

"Homeless huh?" she chided. He turned back to her teasing face.

"Not homeless," he insisted. "Just the wandering type."

"What, were you raised by Bedouins or something?" He laughed, then turned back to his book, and she to hers.

When they got to Stars Hollow, he waited until she got off the bus and then went out the back door also. He watched her run across the town square to the grocery store. Lugging his bag behind him, he sat down on a bench. He didn't feel like facing hell just yet. Maybe at the end of the chapter…

"Blueberry pancakes?" the very handsome Dean asked as he checked out her purchases.

"Well you know how famous those pancakes are," Rory said, "Luke says soon he's gonna have to put them on the dinner menu too, just so he has enough time to make them for everyone who wants." Dean smiled, his brilliant white teeth dazzling.

"As long he doesn't overwork you. I need you to have time for me."

"You? Always time." She leaned over for a kiss, grabbed her bags, and headed out the door.

"Hey," she greeted Luke as she entered the diner. She disposed of the purchases on the counter.
"Ahh," he said when he saw them, "you're a lifesaver." Rory smiled.

"Always happy to help."

"Um, listen Rory," he cleared his throat. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Alright, in a minute k?" She hoisted up her book bag. "I'm going to go upstairs to change before I don the apron and bus the tables."

"Good idea," Luke agreed. Rory vanished up the stairs.

Luke looked up at the ringing that indicated the door being opened. He sighed when he saw who it was. Jess stood there, in his black leather jacket and gelled hair, with his army duffel bag dragging behind him. He threw his rag down and went to his nephew.

"Jess," he greeted him.

"Uncle Luke," Jess said civilly. Luka glanced at his bag.

"Is that all your stuff?"

"I travel light," came the reply. Luke rubbed his hands together, slightly at odds of what to do.

"The trip-"

"Was fine." Jess saw his Uncle's discomfort. "Is there somewhere I can dump my stuff?"

"Oh, yeah," Luke said. "Right upstairs." Jess pushed past him.

"Jess," Luke tried to stop him. "Wait!" But he was already gone. "Damn it."

The apartment was comfortable looking, but plain and undecorated. Jess walked around, counter and table, the bed, the chairs. It was small, and he felt stuck. There wasn't much to explore, except for one more door along the wall. Jess thought he heard music coming from it, some sort of rock, but he liked it. He pushed open the door, and just stood there dumbly and stared, trying to process what he saw.

The girl from the bus was standing in the room, and she was changing. When he walked in she was in the middle of pulling off her modest uniform shirt, so that her only protection was a small bra. Her figure was slight and delicate. She straightened up, rummaging in her drawer, and she pulled out a brown shirt. Her brown hair was out of its tight ponytail, and fell down her back in soft waves. He just stood there watching her as she shook it out. Then, holding her shirts, she turned and saw him. She jumped back, clutching the shirt to her small stomach.

"Oh my Gd!" she knocked into the dresser. "What the- Luke!" She stared wildly at him. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

Jess blushed and looked down.

"Sorry… I didn't know you were in here. What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" she asked incredulously. "I live here."

"Luke is your-?" at that moment Luke had reached them. He pulled Jess back and slammed the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he glared down at his nephew.

"You have a daughter?" Jess asked in disbelief.

"What? O, Rory's not my daughter," he corrected.

"She said she was."

"I did not." Rory came out of her bedroom, now fully clothed. When she saw the way Jess was looking at her she blushed and looked down. "I said you were like my father," she lied. Luke turned red.

"Well um… Rory lives with me… and um Rory, this is my nephew. I wanted to tell you before you found out like this. Jess is going to be staying with us for awhile."

Rory nodded, digesting. She looked around the small apartment.

"Where?" Luke followed the path her eyes had just roamed and lifted his hands helplessly.

"I'm working on it."

"I'm okay on the floor," Jess offered. Luke considered for a minute. He turned to Rory.

"I'm going to run out and see if I can find an air mattress or something." Rory nodded.

"I've got the place covered."

"Thanks." Then turning to the door he said, "I'll be back soon." He left. Rory turned and followed him out the door, grabbing a decorated apron down with her. Jess followed. He watched as she fell into the rhythm of the small town diner, taking orders, greeting all the customers by name.

"Hi Babbette," she greeted a short blonde haired lady.

"Oh hi doll," she replied in her hoarse voice. "I love what's going on with your hair today. I used to go crazy with my hair, back when I was a babe. The boys loved it, if you know what I mean." She spotted Jess watching them from the counter. "Speaking of the devil, who's that hottie, huh? Some prep school hunk?" Jess smiled to himself.

"That's Luke's nephew," she responded in a voice void of emotion. "What will it be today?" she flipped open her pad.

"How bout some of those blueberry pancakes?" Babbette requested.

"We stopped serving those 6 hours ago," Rory apologized.

"Oh come on sweetie. Bend the schedual for ol' Babbette?" she winked. Rory laughed good naturedly.

"One breakfast, coming right up." Jess's eyes followed Rory as she headed into the small kitchen and began preparing the pancake.

"So, why do you live with Luke?" he asked, following her to the stove.

"Well, it was either that or living as a princess with my grandparents in Hartford."

"No parents?"

"No, I have parents," she said, cracking an egg. Jess looked at her confused, but her expression gave nothing away. "Why are you here?" she asked him. "Don't you have parents?"

"My mom shipped me here cause she can't handle me," he told her.

"Should I be scared?" she asked with raised eyebrows. Jess laughed.

"No, I'm not dangerous," he assured her. "Besides, there's nothing I can possibly do in this town. It's suffocating."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Rory mused.

"Or it might just lead to a suicide," Jess mutterd.

"Oh come on," Rory chided, "you haven't even given it a chance. I love it here. All the small town quirks, and everybody's so friendly."

"Don't need to give it a chance. I can just tell that this isn't going to be fun."

"Well how long are you planning on staying anyway?" Rory asked, sliding the steaming pancake onto a plate, and turning to leave the kitchen.

"No clue, but I know it's not going to be a second longer than I have to." He took the plate from her hands and set it in front of Babbette. He turned to her when he got back to the counter. "How about you, mystery girl? How long are you dragging out your stay?"

"I've lived here for two years, and I have no idea when I'm leaving."

"And you're still not going to tell me why?"

"I told you, I had no where else to go."

"Right," Jess said. "Well, we have something in common. We're both stuck here for the foreseeable future."

"As long as you learn how to knock," Rory warned.

You know the drill... r&R!!!