(Jess's POV)

Things were finally okay. We had been estranged for about 2 months, well 62 days to be exact, not that I was counting. When she walked in the diner, like she did all the time, I just assumed it would be like every other day. She would find somewhere to sit, not at all noticing my eyes following her every move. She would sit; I would HAVE to take her order, because I was the only person working the tables. When I asked what she wanted in a cold tone she would reply with a tone much the same as mine, if not more icy. I would give her coffee, roll my eyes, walk behind the counter, pull out a book and pretend to read while secretly watching her. I was always watching her. She was addictive. But today, she managed to completely shock me once again. When she walked in, her hair blowing wildly about her face from the wind outside, her blue eyes shining through the mess of brown hair, she looked up, and to my surprise, she smiled at me. I almost thought I was dreaming for a second, I was always dreaming about her. She walked up to the counter, giving me her best puppy dog face, begging for coffee. She was absolutely gorgeous when she did that. I smirked at how I gave up without as much as a fight. No diner man can resist a Gilmore Girl's puppy dog face, it's damn near impossible. When I handed her the coffee, she smiled warmly and said thank you. We instantly fell back into our old banter. It was like that past two months hadn't happened. I asked her what she was reading at the moment, she smiled at the mention of books. I smirked, almost smiled. I had never met a girl get so excited about books before. It made me happy, as much as I hate to admit it.

She mumbled something under her breath.

"What?" I said.

She looked up at me shyly. "I said, I'm reading 'The Sun Also Rises'."

My eyes widened in shock. Did she just openly admit to willingly reading an Earnest Hemmingway book?

"I thought you said Hemmingway puts you to sleep." I said with a smirk.

When she looked up, I saw something flash in her eyes, though I couldn't tell because before I could figure it out, it was gone.

"Well, I did promise you that I would give it another try, and I'm not one to go back on my word."

I couldn't believe she actually ended up reading a book she hates just because she made me a promise. I wasn't used to people keeping their word around me.

"So, how is it so far?" I asked, genuinely curious.

A look of disdain passed over her features as she said, "Absolutely horrible! You know… maybe you could help me with it. You know, so I'll stop falling asleep?"

I almost fell over. Was she really asking me to hang out again?

"Yeah, sure." I stated coolly.

I turned around to get her more coffee, because I noticed that her cup was now empty. When I turned back around I saw her eyes dart up, as she blushed a deep shade of pink. She was checking me out. I caught her, and now she was trying to look anywhere but at me.

"Like what you see?" I asked with a smirk. This of course, caused her to blush even a deeper shade of red. I smirked, I always made this girl blush. I found it adorable.

"Umm… no. It's not like that. You see, I noticed that you always keep whatever you're reading in your back pocket, and I was just looking to see what you're reading. That's all."

I laughed, she was babbling, she always did that when she was nervous or uncomfortable. "You know, you could've just asked me."

She began to giggle. She was absolutely beautiful. I mentally cursed myself for letting this small town girl get to me the way she was. She was turning me into one of those guys that open doors, and are polite to adults. It was slowly driving me crazy, but I couldn't turn away from her.

Her phone began to quietly ring. It was like he had Superman hearing, because as soon as the phone began to jingle, Luke came out of that back, gave her a stern look, and pointed to the sign that said "No Cell Phones." She used the puppy dog face and of course he gave in. When she answered the phone she was still giggling. Of course, I could only hear her side of the conversation.

"Hello…Yes, this is Lorelei Gilmore…no she's my mother, we have the same name…can you please just tell me what this is about?

In those few seconds I saw her face go from happy to broken. She turned pale and I was suddenly worried. What could possibly have happened? I hate that I can't hear what the other person is saying.

"No… you're wrong!"

She was crying now. Not sobbing and blubbering, but there were streams of tears running down her face as she spoke. Luke began to yell at everyone to get the hell out of the diner, and that they were closed for the rest of the day.

I came around the counter to stand in front of her, and Luke stood beside me. She dropped the phone to the ground, and in landed with a resounding thud. Luke asked what we were both thinking.

"Rory? Rory, what's wrong?" He asked, obviously extremely concerned. He loved Rory like a daughter.

She began to wobble, and as she fell she mumbled something incoherently. I reached out and caught her before she hit the ground. As she lay there in my arms, while Luke went to get some cold water to get her up, I replayed the words she spoke over and over in my head, hoping to God that they didn't mean what I thought.

"She's gone."