A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my amazing friend, Yota who I meet through the Gilmore girls fandom. Happy belated present birthday, you are one of my favorite people in the world and I hope you like this.

Rory stayed put at her table in the diner. She watched as Jess served customers and shared glances with Luke. He seemed to know more than her about what was going on. She was glad he knew at least.

When the clock hit a certain time, Jess walked over to Luke. Rory wasn't sure why but it seemed like he had been waiting for it. Maybe it was time for his break after all. They went upstairs and about a minute later, both came back down the stairs.

It was about fifteen minutes since Rory arrived at Luke's and in that time, she had coffee and a burger. She prepared herself to wait a while but when Jess approached her, she saw he had keys in his hand.

"Do you wanna go somewhere?" He asked her.

Rory nodded. "Yeah. Sure."

Jess nodded at Luke as Rory stood up. He opened the door for her and they were out. They walked past Luke's truck and Rory frowned. He kept his pace as he turned the corner and went behind the diner. Once there, it made sense.

"You got your car back?" Rory gasped as she looked at it parked behind the diner, as if it was never gone.

"Luke took it," he shrugged and opened the door for her.

"What?" She almost did another gasp while she climbed inside. "Luke took it?"

Jess opened his own door and sat down, the engine started as soon as he could. "He gave it back to me a few days ago. He took it when he realized I was driving to Walmart instead of going to school."

"And you're okay with that?" She asked.

Another shrug. "Not at first. I was pissed off, actually. But I know why he did it and considering everything else going on, that's the least of my worries."

"And what else is going on?" She asked.

Jess smirked as he turned out of the spot and onto the roads. "You'll find out soon."

"Where are we going?" She tried another question.

"Do you have to be back by a certain time, you'd think?" He asked.

Rory shook her head. "I'd have to tell my mom I won't be home but it'd be fine. Why?"

"I'm taking you to New York," he said simply.

"New York?!" She definitely gasped again this time. "We can't go to New York, Jess."

"I have to show you something," he told her. "It connects with what I want to tell you."

"Okay," Rory leaned back in her seat as she watched the scenery of Stars Hollow go by. She wasn't going to argue or tell him no, especially not if he was willing to open up to her.

…..

Lorelai arrived home at about 3 pm. She opened and closed the door loudly and called out for her daughter. When she was met with no response, she looked around the house. The first room she checked was Rory's room. The living room had been empty but Rory's room looked like someone had been home.

Her school stuff was on her desk, her uniform on a hook by the closet. Lorelai saw her shoes that she'd wear outside of school were gone too. Instead of wondering much longer, Lorelai grabbed the phone. She dialed Rory's number by instant and waited as it rang.

There was no answer and as she listened to the rings, she had an idea. Quickly, she put the phone back in its cradle and checked the messages instead. Sure enough, it told her she had a voicemail.

Immediately, she listened to it. Rory's hesitant, slow voice came on which didn't ease any of Lorelai's thoughts. "Hi, Mom. I wasn't sure which I was more nervous about - getting you or your voicemail but here goes. Me and Jess are going out of town and I'm not sure what time I'll be back. Don't worry. I'm fine and he said he needs to show me something. I'll see you soon. I love you. Bye."

Then the line cut off and asked if she wanted to save the message or delete it. Lorelai hit the save button and grabbed her purse.

The walk to Luke's was not long. However, the place was crowded. Lorelai finally spotted Luke when he came out of the backroom and instantly went up to him.

"Where is Jess?" She asked immediately and loudly.

Luke swerved through the people. "He went out."

"Yes, I know," she let out a dry chuckle. "And he took my only child with him. Where is he?"

Luke sighed, not wanting to be the one to tell her exactly where they went. "Rory didn't tell you?"

"Rory left me a cryptic message saying they went out of town and Jess wanted to show her something," she admitted. "Which, to be honest, doesn't exactly ease my mom worries."

"Not here," he grabbed her arm and brought her upstairs with him.

Once inside the apartment, Luke shut the door behind him. Lorelai crossed her arms. "Okay. Where are they?"

"They're in New York," Luke answered.

"Excuse me?" She was stunned. "New York? As in New York City?"

He nodded once. "Yeah."

"And no one thought - 'hey, Jess is taking my daughter past state lines and a toll booth, maybe we should tell lorelai'?" she wondered.

"Lorelai, she's perfectly safe," he said. "Nothing is going to happen."

Lorelai almost scoffed. "That's exactly what someone says before something happens."

"Is this because you don't trust Jess?" He asked. "Because he wouldn't let anything happen to Rory, Lorelai. I know he wouldn't."

"It's funny because you say that but last year, when Rory got into the one and only car accident she's ever been in…" Lorelai said. "Jess was the one at the wheel."

"He didn't cause that accident, Lorelai," he told her.

"But he didn't stop it either," she replied.

"He waited until he knew she was all right," he explained. "If he hadn't cared, he'd have run off much sooner and if it wasn't for me, Rory wouldn't have felt like he left without telling her because I sent him on that bus."

Lorelai took a step back. She began to see Luke's point of view, the guilt. "I'm sorry about that night. I never should have screamed at you like that or lessened how you must have felt."

"It's long over now," he said and meant it. The past was past and they moved forward from that fight by now. "What isn't is what's going on now and Rory is safe, you have my word."

"And if she's not?" She whispered.

"She will be," he told her. "Jess has some stuff going on right now and he wanted to tell her about it, that's all."

"I appreciate that he's not hiding stuff from her anymore, I do," she took a breath. "But did he need to take her to New York City to tell her?"

"For his own reasons, yeah," he sided with his nephew.

Lorelai nodded. "Okay. I'm not fully on board with this idea but I trust Rory and she trusts Jess and you trust Jess - I guess I will try to trust him, too."

Luke smiled at her, a small one. She gave him a small one back and he decided maybe it was time to distract her thoughts. "What do you say we go back to the diner and I get you some coffee?"

"I thought you'd never ask," she replied as they headed out the door.

…..

Rory felt free. She couldn't exactly explain it but she felt different than usual. She watched as the sights outside her window turned into the city with amazement. It was so pretty and she couldn't take her eyes off it. The few moments that she had were used to look over at Jess. He seemed focused on the road ahead, oblivious to his surroundings.

She watched him with concentration. Rory couldn't remember the last time he looked so focused. There was always something that seemed to weigh on his mind and she could never figure out what. For the moment, she took advantage of looking at him.

The thing she first noticed when she met Jess was how he looked. Whenever you meet someone, that's all you know. You don't know their personality or their interests. But she knew Jess was cute, more than cute. He'd be embarrassed if he knew she thought this but she actually thought he was kind of beautiful.

There was a hard look about him though. A painful one. Rory didn't know what had happened before he came to Stars Hollow but she was sure it was the cause. A part of her always wondered how much of that pain had been caused by his own mother.

They drove into a less than desirable neighborhood with run down buildings. Rory looked out her window curiously, sure that this was just a passing point before Jess got to his destination.

However, she was proven wrong when less than two minutes later, Jess pulled into a spot beside one of the buildings. She looked at her boyfriend, questions etched over her face and asked the first that came to mind. "What are we doing here?"

"This is where I grew up," Jess answered as he got out of the car.

Rory took another look at the building then got out. "Really?"

"Really," he nodded, a small half smirk on his face. "Liz couldn't afford much but this being New York City, it's kinda hard to live somewhere that isn't expensive. So we had to make do and this is where we were."

"It's so…" she cut herself off.

"Shitty?" He provided with a laugh. "It actually is but the people were all right."

"I'm the last person to judge," Rory said. They now stood side by side and she felt bad for her assumption. "I grew up in a shed for the first part of my life."

"It's okay," he shrugged before he grabbed her hand. "Come on. Let's go inside."

"Inside?" She questioned as he pulled her towards the entrance. "We can go in?"

Jess laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him laugh so much. "I know a guy. Come on."

He left her inside and watched her carefully. Rory took in her surroundings one by one. The building wasn't all bad. It looked much worse on the outside but it still didn't seem like someplace you'd go to raise your kid.

It was while she wasn't looking at him that Jess winced. He knew the elevator wouldn't work just as it hadn't over the years. They'd have to take the stairs up and he began to prepare himself for the walk. His bruises definitely looked better after a few days. But every so often, he'd move just the wrong way and remember how horrible it is to move.

"This way," he instructed. Rory followed, her hand latched in his own as she trailed slightly behind. She tried to let him lead but was very curious to see where mini Jess had grown up.

By the time they made it to the fifth floor, Jess panted way more than necessary. He let go of his girlfriend's hand and held his arm around his stomach. The pain hurt but not worse than he thought it would.

Rory watched him helplessly. "You didn't tell me it still hurts."

"It still hurts," he smirked at her. "Rory, I'm fine. Really. Just after this past week, stairs are a little harder than I thought they'd be.

"Are you sure?" She questioned.

He nodded. "I'm fine."

Rory bit her lip in consideration. "How far are we?"

"We're on the right floor," he told her, glad for the subject change. "It's down that way."

Rory looked in the direction Jess pointed his head towards. "Which one?"

"I'll let you know," he stood up straight and took her hand again. Together, he walked her down the hallway and they came to a stop at the third door on the left.

Jess knocked and Rory was even more confused. Was he friends with the new tenants of his old apartment? The door opened to show a dark skinned male, about jess' age or at least a year difference. He seemed ready to confront whoever was on the other end until he saw Jess.

"Mariano!" He exclaimed. "I never expected to see you again."

Jess laughed and surprised Rory by greeting him with what's considered a man hug. "Hey, Daryl. Long time, no see."

"That may be more your fault, don't you think?" Daryl replied.

"Maybe," he agreed and moved slightly aside. "This is Rory. Rory, meet Daryl Jones. We were next door neighbors growing up."

"Hi," Rory said, shy. She didn't know what this had to do what was happening but she kept quiet. Jess was opening up to her in his own way and she didn't want to get in the way of that.

"Girlfriend?" Daryl raised an eyebrow approvingly.

Jess nodded. "Yeah. She is."

Daryl nodded back even more approvingly than his expression five seconds earlier. "I'm guessing you didn't just come back to introduce your girlfriend, though."

"No, we didn't," Jess sighed, ready for whatever he had to say next. "Is she here?"

"Nah, she's out," he replied. "I haven't seen her here all day."

Jess seemed worried now. "Any idea where she is?"

"Who are you talking about?" Rory asked but neither answered her.

"Didn't you know?" Daryl asked. "She got a new job last month. Supposed to be cleaning up her act."

"She doesn't exactly keep me up to date on things," he said humorlessly. "When does she usually get back?"

"Night," he replied. "You'll be good to go in."

"Thanks, man," Jess told him. "I'll visit again, I promise."

"You better," Daryl told him and laughed. He closed the door and Jess laughed too.

"Who is she?" Rory tried again. Jess gave her a look and she connected his earlier words. "Your mom still lives here?"

"Yep," he said as he brought her over to the next apartment door. Out of his pocket, he took out a key and slid it into the door. It opened smoothly and he instructed her inside.

"You still have a key to your mom's apartment?" She asked when he shut the door.

Jess shrugged. "I guess I never gave it back. When I got the idea to bring you here, I looked for it and hoped I didn't lose it."

"Why did you bring me here?" She wondered. "Not that I don't appreciate knowing more about your past but...I don't know what this has to do with whatever it is you want to tell me is going on."

Jess took a deep breath and motioned for her to sit down. Rory took one look around the main room of the apartment - it wasn't big, there was a small living room and a small kitchen then three doors, probably his mother's room, his and the bathroom. She went to sit on the couch and waited.

"My dad came to Stars Hollow," he said.

Rory's mouth dropped. "What?"

"You remember that day when Luke sent me out of town on errands and we were supposed to meet up?" She nodded. "He sent me out because my dad was here. I guess he was trying to make me not so blindsided about it but I was no matter what because where the hell has the guy been the last eighteen years, right?"

"Oh my God, Jess," she said.

"I spent the last three days trying to figure out what any of it means," he went on. "And I wanted to know what was going on and where my head was before I talked to you."

"So where is your head now?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I still don't know, to be honest. This guy left when I was a baby. He just walked out the day I was born. What kind of person does that? Then just shows back up as soon as they're an adult?"

"My dad floated in and out of my life," Rory said. "Not in the same way as yours but I can understand a little bit."

He sat down beside her. "It still counts. Jeez, why are our fathers such shit?"

"Maybe it's one of the reasons we're connected," she laughed lightly.

Jess laughed along with her. "The sad thing is that could be true."

Rory leaned herself closer to him until her chin was on his shoulder and her arm was between his own arm and his body. "What are you going to do?"

He shrugged the side she wasn't up against. "I haven't figured that part out yet."

"Is he still here?" She wondered.

"He said he'd be in town a few days," he answered. "But who knows? The guy doesn't have the most reliable track record."

"I think you should talk to him," she snuggled closer. "Ask him why he left, why he came to find you. I think the only way you'll be able to move on or do anything about it, really, is if you have answers."

"You're right," he agreed and turned to her, planting a kiss on her hair. She smiled against his shoulder. "I just - I don't know how to talk to him."

She smirked. "Because of the monosyllabic thing?"

"Because he left," he clarified though he appreciated Rory trying to make it light.

She nodded in understanding. She may not know exactly how Jess felt but she knew how she felt about her own father barely being around. "I still think you should try. It won't hurt to try, will it?"

"Maybe," he sighed.

Rory reached up and ran her fingers through his hair then kissed his cheek softly. "I don't know if it helps but I'm here, for anything. I'm not going anywhere."

"You mean I haven't scared you away yet?" He turned to her with a smirk.

"No," she smiled with her lips closed and a head shake. "You haven't scared me away."

Their faces were so close. Intensity hung in the air, their eyes stared into each other's. It was Rory who moved forward first, her lips crashed to his in the most delicate way. He was too afraid to make the first move after the other night at the party but she wasn't.

Jess' hands came to her face. They held onto either side of her face, to her cheeks as they reddened with flush. Her hands wrapped around his back as she pulled him closer to her.

The kiss deepened. Rory leaned backwards on the couch and Jess hovered over her, his mind not yet clicking on what was happening. Rory's fingers gripped at the bottom of his shirt. She tried to inch it up and something in Jess' head told him to stop her.

He pulled apart first, heavy pants from his chest. "We can't do this."

She looked at him curiously. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want you doing anything you'd regret," he admitted as he sat up.

"Is this about the party?" Rory asked. "Because that was differ -"

"It's not about the party," he sighed. "It's about me and you. I know what everyone thinks of me. They think I'm not good enough for you, especially not after Dean. I don't want to be something you look back on and wish it hadn't been me."

"But I want it to be you," she confessed. "I've even told my mom I want it to be you."

"That doesn't mean you should," he said.

"You know me, Jess," she continued. "You know I think things out and make pro/con lists and that I would never do something just because I think I should. You really think I haven't thought it out before telling my mom?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "But it would make sense why Lorelai has had more of a watch eye on me lately."

Rory laughed but then turned serious. "I mean it. I don't want it to be anyone else, I don't want anyone else, period."

Jess nodded at her, not fully in control of his own actions. He didn't even register when he began to lean forward again. Rory wasn't sure either but she leaned herself closer, too, their lips collided on impact.

The kiss was soft at first. It was almost chaste. It was Rory who deepened it first, her mouth held his lips to hers almost in a desperation. Jess leaned back down over her without breaking the kiss. The couch was lumpy and old and comfortable.

Jess broke the kiss for a moment to readjust. His girlfriend eyed him curiously. He didn't say anything - instead he put his hands under Rory and moved her down. Her head now laid on the cushions instead of the couch arm and instantly she felt better.

She pulled him back towards her again with the same urgency. Something clicked in Jess' head again and he pulled back.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked, as she looked right into his face.

"This is my mom's couch," he said. "The couch where whenever she was gone or out with a new guy, I'd sit here and watch TV until she came back and I had to hide in my room."

"Oh," she said and sat up as best as she could. Jess sat up beside her too and sighed.

"I'm sorry," he admitted. "I did it twice."

"No," she shook her head and let out a small laugh. "I actually understand this time."

Jess looked over at her. Her hair was messy and her lips were swollen. He thought she looked absolutely beautiful. "We should go."

"Right," she agreed. "But first, could you - could I see your room?"

Jess nodded and reached out for her hand. She took it without a second thought and together, they stood up. He walked to one of the doors and slid it open. It was messy and obviously had not been touched in two years.

Rory looked around and saw nothing that reminded her of the Jess she saw before her today. She nodded to him and he nodded back. A silent exchange just for them. His hand tightened on hers as he shut first the door to the bedroom then the front door to the apartment.

…..

Jess handed Rory a hot dog on the street corner and paid for their food. She smiled gratefully at her boyfriend but something nagged on her mind.

Jess turned to her and motioned for them to walk. She asked herself the questions in her head to be sure they weren't disrespectful. He grabbed her hand as they raced across the street to the other side and when they stopped on the sidewalk, she turned to him, hand still in his.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure," he replied distractedly as he made their way through the pedestrians.

"Why take me to your old apartment?" She wondered. "I know you said because your dad came back but why not just tell me?"

Jess risked a glance at her and then took a deep breath. "Because I wanted you to see where we lived. I don't know if him being around would have made it any better. Hell, it could have been worse for all I know. But it felt like you should see where I last lived with my mom to understand it."

Rory stopped walking and people made their way around her. She smiled at him softly. "Thank you."

"For what?" He seemed confused.

"For telling me all of this," she shrugged. "For taking me here."

"You're welcome," he smiled back.

Rory laughed. "Now take me home before I suggest going somewhere and getting turned down again."

He laughed lightly with her but didn't entirely feel funny. Her words stung at him and he almost regretted the rejection. Somehow, he knew he was right this once but her words hung on him.

She, however, didn't seem bothered by it. Her tone had been teasing and she was smiling brightly. When Jess saw Rory smile like that, it was hard for him to feel bad. She tugged on his arm and clasped her hand tighter into his. They began their walk again, almost oblivious to anyone else who isn't the other.