I'm so sorry this took me so long to update. I'm such an undedicated author. This chapter is really short, but I promise the rest will come really soon. I wrote a rough draft of it while I was in Spanish class so it's all ready to go. Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews!

Rory had dosed off again and achieved a more peaceful slumber. When her eyes finally fluttered open an hour later, she felt a ghost in the room. You know, the feeling that someone had just been in the room or the silent echo of words just narrowly missed being heard. She heard silent bodies in the common room outside the door. She drowsily sat up, feeling the heaviness of her head trying to pull her back down. Sunlight seeped through the space between the shade and the window, bidding her to rise. Burying her face in her hands momentarily, she breathed deeply, trying not to think. She combed her fingers through her hair, gently tugging through the tangles and smoothing the strands. She pulled her hair back and quietly plaited it into a braid, not a thought finding its way through her mind. Tucking the stray strands behind her ear, she rose on her fists and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her bare feet struck the cool wood floor and she curled her toes over the tingling sensation in her legs. She sat for a moment, pushing the migraine to the back of her head. She stood and walked to the window where she pulled the shade and let the bright light burn her. She didn't flinch. The warm rays brought out the pink undertones of her skin. She sighed heavily. Rory found herself staring at the desk before her and, more specifically, a heavy, worn notebook with Jess's name written on it. She glanced at the door and listened for any activity in the apartment before cracking the volume open. Inside, the notebook was filled with Jess's neatly messy handwriting. She carefully read the first page. It was the beginning of a story. She read the page again. Her mind could not quite comprehend the honest beauty of his words. She read the page a third time, but when she moved her hand to turn the page the door swung open. She turned quickly, her fingers still resting on the college ruled paper before her. Jess stood at the door, watching her, not angrily. Just looking at her as if he had been looking at her for the past five minutes. She quickly shut the notebook.

"I'm sorry," the words spilled out of her mouth. "I just- I only read the first page, I'm so sorry….It's…It's beautiful." She trailed off. His lips pursed together more tightly in suppression of a smile and he took a step into the room. "I'm so sorry, Jess," she said again. He held up his hand in protest.

"Don't apologize." She looked away from him uncomfortably. "Really," he reassured her, "It's all right." They stood facing each other for a long moment before she looked back at him. He nodded his head and smiled, acknowledging the awkward moment. "Follow me." He said, turning around and walking out of the room, she hesitated a moment before following him. In the living room, one of Jess's roommates sat reading a newspaper and holding a cup of coffee. He looked up and met her eyes when she came out of the room. He raised his mug in salute to her, watching her quizzically, before forcing his eyes back down to his reading material.

Rory felt Jess standing come out of the next room and looked over to him. He glanced at his roommate before looking back at her. She walked toward him and he extended a towel to her.

"Bathroom's in here." He said, gesturing to the room beside him. She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "It's fine, Rory," he said, a little too calmly. "And use whatever you want out of the closet."

She saw there was no protesting with him, and in truth, she was desperate to wash the misery of the night before off of her. She accepted the towels from in and made her way into the bathroom as Jess stepped outside. "Thanks Jess," her whisper was barely audible.

Jess paced the apartment, idly flipping through novels and transcripts, not taking in a word. Chris watched him over his newspaper.

"What does she do?" He finally asked, Jess's movement making him nauseas. Jess's head snapped toward him, contemplating whether or not he would answer. He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment.

"She, ah, she goes to Yale. She's journalism major. Editor of the paper." His words were forced. Chris only nodded, weighing the situation and trying to guess what their past was.

Chris cleared his throat.

"She's the one, isn't she?" He asked before he could stop himself.

"What?" Jess asked accusingly. Chris smiled, trying to smooth the moment. The sound of water creaked to an end as the shower was turned off. Both of them involuntarily looked toward the bathroom door. Chris folded the paper and stood up.

"Well, I'm going downstairs. I think some of our books need to be rearranged," he raised his eyebrows at Jess and walked toward the door, motioning for Matthew to follow him. Chris opened the door and gently pushed a still drunk Matthew before him. Chris paused and looked back at Jess.

"You know," Chris began. "Sometimes you get this look in your eyes. It's kind of like you're off in a different world. It's one of those sad-happy looks that's hard to describe. It's hard to read. Every time I see it, I can't help but wonder what you're thinking about," he watched Jess for a moment before turning to exit.

"Thanks for the very special Full House moment," Jess said to his friends unruly hair.

"No worries."