Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OC.

Well, as I said, I would try and post this weekend an here you go, a chapter filled with Luke and Jess.

Thank you again to all of your who have reviewed, favorite, or added my story to your alerts. I'm happy you guys like it!

Well, here's chapter four, enjoy!


"So Amelia called you," Jess stated as he and Luke walked through the park. He was completely shocked to find his uncle standing next to Amelia after his afternoon nap. He didn't want Luke to see him like this, bruises from his mother's latest fling adorning his face. He was ashamed to bear the marks, they made him seem defenseless and weak.

"Yeah," Luke nodded, watching his nephew's fragile form carefully, feeling as if the boy might collapse at any moment.

"Figures," Jess shrugged, "She'd been bugging me to call you for weeks."

"Why didn't you?" Luke asked, almost angry at his nephew for being so stupid, "You should have gone to the hospital after Liz's boyfriend hurt you and you should have called me." He regained his composure and sighed, "Jess, you have no idea how worried I was the second your friend told me you were homeless. She was afraid you were going to die."

"I can take care of myself." Jess retorted, "I'm sorry Amelia got you so worried, but I'm fine."

Luke stopped walking and grabbed his nephew's sleeve.

"You call this 'fine?'" he motioned to Jess' weak form, "'Jess, you look like you're dying."

"Aren't we all?" he mocked, sitting down on one of the benches near them.

"Jess," Luke sighed, sitting beside the boy, "if I had known what living with Liz was like for you--"

"You wouldn't have shipped me back?" Jess snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back, "It was for the best, Luke. I hurt Rory. If the whole town didn't hate me before then they sure do now." Jess looked over at his uncle, pain in his eyes. "Anyway, it was a mutual agreement, remember?"

Luke sighed and looked at his nephew, "I agreed because you seemed like you wanted to go back. You hated it in Stars Hollow."

"It was beginning to grow on me," his nephew mumbled, "I liked living with you more than I ever liked living with Liz." He sighed, before adding, "You actually took care of me. With Liz, I was the one taking care of her."

They sat on the bench silently for a minute, each lost in their thoughts. Luke glanced at his nephew every few moments. Jess stared intently at the ground.

"I can come back, right?" Jess broke the silence and looked over at his uncle almost pleadingly.

Luke simply nodded and squeezed his nephew's shoulder.


The bus ride back to Stars Hollow was long and quiet. Jess slept all the way back, his head resting on his uncle's broad shoulder. He planned to give the boy a good examination once they got home to check for any other injuries. He'd have to get Jess medication for his cold as well, his coughs sounding painful and harsh. He hoped the boy hadn't caught pneumonia. Life seemed to be miserable enough already for Jess.

The bus came to their stop and Luke gently nudged him, causing Jess' eyes to flutter open.

"Jess, come on, buddy," his uncle soothed, "We're back in Stars Hollow."

The boy stood up as Luke grabbed his duffle bag. They walked off the bus and made their way back to the diner. Once they got closer to their destination, Luke noticed someone sitting outside of the diner. The figure looked over at them and stood up quickly, brushing the wrinkles off their jeans. Luke realized it was Lorelai as he got a few feet closer. He hoped she wasn't there for coffee, because now was definitely not the time.

As they reached Lorelai, she smiled and greeted them.

"Hey Luke," she nodded, "Hi Jess."

The boy replied with a small nod and looked over at Luke.

"Lorelai--" Luke started.

"Jess, I'm sorry." she blurted out, "I'm sorry I made Luke send you back to Liz."

"It's alright," Jess replied, "I understand."

"I'd like to start over," she suggested, "Forgot all the things that happened and start fresh."

"Yeah," Jess nodded, "I'd like that."

Lorelai nodded and smiled at the boy, "Well, I should get home." she told the two men, "You should get Jess inside, he doesn't look so good."

Luke nodded and unlocked the door to the diner.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me," she told the two, beginning to walk away, "And Jess" she added, turning back around to face him, "I'm happy you're back."

The boy gave her a smile and replied, "Me too."

Luke held the door open for Jess and the boy walked in. The pair made their way upstairs and into the apartment.

"Sit on the couch," he told his nephew. Jess obeyed and sat down. Luke kneeled down in front of him and ran his thumb over the bruise on his cheek.

"Liz's boyfriend did this to you?" Luke asked.

The boy merely nodded, his gaze falling to the floor, "It was a home-warming present."

Luke swore, if he ever got his hands on that twisted man he would make him pay for what he did to his nephew.

"Any other bruises from the fight that I can't see?" he asked.

The boy took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves, revealing two large hand like bruises on his wrists.

Luke grabbed the boy's wrists gently, examining them.

The boy began coughing violently, breaking Luke's gentle grip on his right wrist and covering his mouth. Jess' eyes widened as the coughs became more harsh. Luke quickly sat up on the couch and tried to remedy the cough, rubbing soothing circles around his nephew's back. Once the fit stopped, the boy regained his composure and looked over at his uncle.

"I caught a bad cold," he shrugged, his voice sounding raspy.

"Sounds like it," Luke nodded, helping the boy up and into bed.

"We'll go to the doctor's tomorrow," Luke told him as Jess pulled the covers over his frail body.

"Yeah," he yawned, "That's not happening."

"Jess, you're going," Luke said sternly, turning off the lights.

"Yeah, sure," Jess mumbled as he shut his eyes, his body craving sleep.

Luke rolled his eyes and made his way over to his bed.

"I need music to sleep," Jess reminded his uncle.

"I know," he smiled, reaching down near the boy's bed and turning his stereo on, causing Metallica to blast through the speakers.

For the first time ever, Luke couldn't be happier to hear the loud music blaring. Jess was back with him, where the boy should be. He was home.


Thank you all for reading!

Please, please, please review! I love to hear what you guys think of the story!

I'll try and update again this week, but it depends on how much work I get for school. Mid-terms are sadly next week.

Thanks again for reading and please review!