"I hate this!" Rory huffed, slumping against the back of the both. Coffee wasn't going to settle the nerves that were present in her stomach.

"We just have to go in and get a test done, both lawyers will be present. It's not that bad, Rory." She shook her head.

"You don't understand, Jess. There are things about Lance. Things that I would rather have stay where they are. Why do you think, I tried so hard, to make you stay this morning. I can't willingly put you in the line of fire." His warm palm against the top of her hand, calmed her nerves.

"You're not, I'm doing this willingly, because you need me. I can handle my own against Lance. I ain't scared of anyone." His words did very little to comfort her. She knew what Lance was capable of doing. She knew very little of Jess' past life.

"I worry because I know what he can do, I worry because after all these years, I still care about you, Jess."

"I care about you to, Rory." She believed him. And it touched her heart, it did, but trust was a hard thing to come by her these days. He played a part in her trust issues. She had thought she was over that, and for the most part, she was, it had started with him and crumbled bit by bit over the years. "What did he do to break you?" Jess asked in a hushed whisper. Rory signed, running a hand through her hair.

"Everything plus more," she responded walking out the door.

It was mere seconds later when Jess joined her in the car. With as shaky as she felt, it was best to let Jess drive. The downside, she didn't have a say in where they went. She frowned seeing the bus stop, that either brought her to Chilton or took her home. She always found the silence between her and Jess therapeutic in away, right now it felt heavy, like at any second it was going to crush her. She couldn't figure out why he would bring her here for.

"This is the place where I screwed up at. I couldn't face the thought of you thinking less of me, like I was nothing. I never thought you would forgive me for leaving you that day. I should have explained it to you, chased after you, made you see things my way. You would have, there's no doubt about that, all I proved to you or anyone that day is how big of a failure I really was. I'm sorry I hurt you that day, Rory." She was taken by surprise, with each word that spewed from his mouth.

"It wasn't just you," she whispered, her eyes staying on the lone bench. "I knew you back then, I knew something was wrong. I just ignored it thinking it would go away. I guess on some level I was right, you left. You had to do what was right for you. I never once thought you were a failure, Jess. You were lost, you had to find yourself, and you did." It sounded better the way she explained it. Maybe if they worked through everything that had gone wrong with them, they could work on everything else. "He made me feel like I was nothing, not even his wife. I had to give up everything for him, he gave up nothing, the worse part, I thought it was ok. How screwed up, am I?"

When they were dating, he was the sweetest man in the world, he gave Rory everything. Praised her on every article she had written. Promised her the world. It turned sour the second she said I do.

"You're not screwed up. You didn't know he was a monster under that cheesy smile he wore."

"I should have!" She demanded. "His stupid promises, they never stuck. He always broke them." It hurt him to hear how badly Rory was. He wanted her to have a peace of mind about everything. "That day I told you no in my dorm, I didn't mean it."

"I know."

"Kissing you at Truncheon, it wasn't just about getting back at Logan, for what he did to me." It was this confession that took him off guard. "I wanted to kiss you, I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted to break up with Logan and come back to you. But I didn't think I could bear seeing you again after I had hurt you. You deserved so much better than I could have given you then." He sat absorbed in his own thoughts. Life could have been different, they had always taken the road less traveled when it came to them. Years later here they sat. Anything was possible, with time.

"Honestly, I wasn't all that hurt by it. It stung, hurt my pride, my ego took a huge hit. But that was us back then." She knew it was true. She had to wonder if this was going to end the same. She tried to push him away, because she didn't want him to get hurt, but he was determined to be here. Maybe things would be different this time, if only she could get rid of Lance once and for all.

"No matter how long we sit here, all we can do is learn from the mistakes we made, we can't change what happened. It's what makes us, us," she told him with a smile. "Mom and Luke were taking the kids on a trip until tomorrow, why don't we go on our own little adventure?" She asked with a smirk.

"Where do suppose we go?" It was always good when you could find the time to escape everything going on in your life and get away for a few hours.

"Where the road takes us, except New York. I can't go back there," she told him with a lightheartedness before turning serious.

"I got it," he replied. "Do you want to go home first and get things?" He asked before moving from the spot they were parked in.

"I have everything, if you do," she told him. Jess pulled from the spot and headed in the opposite direction of New York. He didn't know where they were going, but he was going with Rory, to escape what they had been through as of late.

"I kept Hemingway, because I needed something from my past to be present in my future. As odd as it sounds, Hemingway with some Oliver Twist threw in, it gave me hope, if only for a second. But it was you, the you I had fallen for. Your books helped, I loved that you always gave me the first copy, why did you?" She asked turning to look at him. He would give the book to Lorelai and she would give it to Rory.

"You are the only person that knew how great it is to have that one. It's my way of giving you something back. You didn't give up on me, when everyone else had. I treated you like shit and you still were my biggest supporter. I don't know anyone else that deserves to have the very first book." It had meant a lot to her.

"I'm touched Jess," she told him, feeling the butterflies start to flutter in the pit of her stomach. It had been years since she felt it. It felt strange, like she was going to be sick. She was forced to scold herself. She couldn't let anything happen with Jess.