Previously in "The Boy with the Backwards Watch"

I slumped down onto a bench and looked around blindly for a bus schedule. It was almost five in the morning. A bus to New Haven must've been leaving soon. But I had to make a quick stop first...


Chapter Eight: Welcome Home M'Boys

I took a deep breath and looked around. The town was already rushing about, and wide awake. I took a step off the bus, lugging my giant duffle bag with me. Deja vu? This time, there was no nervous uncle Luke to greet me, no dread of failing. Secretly. Just complacency. And, I suppose, a dread of failing, but for something completely different.

The smell of the town was the same. I remembered that smell, when it was new. Oh, nostalgia. I knew as soon as I stepped into the diner, word would spread of my return. Possibly even before I reached the diner, people would know that I was here, in Stars Hollow. After disappearing for almost four months.

I looked around, again. Nothing had changed. People seemed happy. It was a Saturday, they should be happy - kids were free from school, some people were free from work. There was just an air of blithe splendor. I inhaled deeply, closed my eyes, and moved my feet. When I reopened them, I was walking towards the diner, bracing myself for stares, glares, and everything else. I stood outside it for a moment, already noticing the sudden change in that complacent air. There was something darker lingering in my general vicinity now. I inhaled deeply again before walking up to the door of the diner, bag over my shoulder, ready and willing to face whatever was in store for me on the other side.

That angellic tingle of the bell on the door sounded sharply in my ear. I think I might've gotten taller. As soon as I stepped over the threshold of the doorway, the clamour of the diner ceased. Everybody held their forks midair and stared at me. I ignored the faces and sat down at the only empty seat at the counter. Everybody was staring at me still. I just kind of whistled and looked around the diner. It hadn't changed a bit. It was still that relatively clean, homey place, filled with the familiar scent of cheeseburgers and coffee.

People slowly began chewing on their food again, although still staring at me out of the corners of their eyes. Some had full on forgotten their food with fascination. Heavy thumps were coming down the stairs, followed by a few lighter, more peppy bounding thumps. Luke appeared in the doorway, and stopped dead at the sight of me. I smiled meekly at him. Lorelai rammed straight into his back.

"God Luke. Do you have to suddenly stop at the bottom of the stairs like you're..." she paused when she saw why Luke had stopped. Her eyes instantly narrowed, but Luke had a look of sheer amazment on his face. It was, once again, completely silent in the diner. I wasn't too sure, but there was probably a crowd gathered outside the diner, pressing eagerly against the glass to see what was happening.

"Hey, Uncle Luke," I said quietly. He just stared at me. Lorelai looked from me to Luke and then back to me. "Hi Lorelai."

"Wha..." she began, but Luke cut her off. He took a deep breath and just started in on me.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You leave in the middle of the night? You leave a helluva a goodbye note for me to wake up to? I thought you could've been dead in a goddamn ditch somewhere, Jess. What were you thinking? Where the hell have you been?"

I tried saying "I'm sorry," but Luke just kept going. Everybody was wide-eyed and watching with immense intrest. "The last person you talked to before you left was Rory and she couldn't say anything. She cried for two days straight, Jess. Two days straight. You broke that girl's goddamn heart, and you left me worried sick about you. No calls, no letters, nothing. No word from you. For four months. No word. Where did you go, what did you do? What happened to you?"

Again, I feebly tried an "I'm sorry," but now Lorelai was starting in on me. "What gives you the right? What gives you the right to do that to a girl that's treated you the best any girl ever has? She loved you Jess, and she believed in you like nobody else did. She truly, truly cared about you, and you ripped her heart out and smashed it into bitty pieces. And Luke? What were you thinking? Of course... you weren't thinking. You were completely narcissistic, you just left, leaving Luke worried sick about you for months. You left my daughter broken. She almost didn't want to go to Europe! She's been wanting to do that trip her entire life, and because of you, she didn't want to go. You crushed her. You crushed her unfairly, and you don't deserve any more of my ranting time or Luke's. Comprende?" She was huffing, her face flushed. Luke's was drained of colour. Before I knew it, he was rushing over to me, wrapping his arms tight around my head and neck. It sounded like he was crying, or at least supressing sobs.

"I'm sorry," I murmured into his head, and patted his back. He pulled away and looked over at Lorelai. She rolled her eyes and stepped back from the doorway to let Luke pull me through. I left my things next to my stool, but I didn't really care. I was home.

Inside Luke's apartment, Luke turned around and looked at me. "You grew."

"I noticed."

"Four months away from home and you grew." He shook his head.

"In all honesty, this isn't really my home. New York is."

"Don't joke," he said. I smiled. Then, there was silence. "I'm sorry. I was wrong... I get that now. But I needed to clear my head. I don't think I understood how wrong I was when I was leaving."

"Where'd you go?" he asked, quietly. He was still angry, but the yelling spree was over for now. I shrugged to answer his question, and he gave me a hairy eyeball.

"California, at first. Then, all the way back to New York. I've been in Boston for a few weeks. I called you from Boston, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything, I guess. Too much baggage to cover over the phone."

"California?"

"Yeah. Pretty boring."

"So, have you figured yourself out?" he asked earnestly. I nodded.

"I think so. I hope so."

"Rory's been waiting for you. I think everyone was telling her you weren't coming back. But she's been waiting. I know that's what you wanted to hear." I brightened up at the mention of Rory's name. I felt so glad that she had been waiting for me, and at the same time, I felt so horrible. She'd been waiting for me. "And yes, you can crash here for a few days." This brightened me up even more.

"Thank god. I didn't want to have to go to an inn or anything."

"A few days. Then you have to figure out what to do with your life." I nodded.

"A few days. Yeah, I can do that." I smiled at him, and he smiled back. I missed his rarely-seen smile. "I'm so sorry. Have I mentioned that?" He nodded at me, and pulled me into a manly hug.

"I'll bring your stuff upstairs. You can sneak out the back, borrow my truck if needed. I know you really need to get to Yale. Work this out with Rory. That's the most important thing, I suppose."

"Yeah... But, I can stay a little while. Catch up. With you," I looked at him, trying not to look too hopeful. I really was a Stars Hollow boy. He shook his head and looked at me.

"Gotta work," he threw a thumb back to the apartment door. "And you gotta go mend something. So... do that." He flung the door open and walked out. I stood in the apartment for a few minutes, soaking it in. She had really waited for me, all this time. I smiled to myself before flinging the door open myself and sneaking out back.

I found Luke's truck alright, without many people seeing me. I figured it out easily enough and made off in the direction of Yale. Every computer I had found on my crosscountry trip, I had used to memorize the way to Yale from Stars Hollow. I knew it by heart without ever having used it.

The parking spaces were pretty limited in front of the school. It was a Saturday, so I wasn't sure whether or not Rory would be there. I had found her dorm address on a piece of paper in Luke's car. I think he had recently been there, probably helping Lorelai transport materials.

So, aside from parking being hell, I was uplifted. My heart was beating about twenty times a millisecond. I could feel the excitement rushing through my veins. Rory. I was going to see Rory. I arrived in front of her building, and opened the door cautiously. However, what I saw directly in front of her dorm shattered me. I stopped dead in my tracks to some guy pressing his lips to Rory's. The two parted, and looked back at me. "Jess... what the hell are you doing here?" Roy said shockedly.

I blinked, and looked at the empty hallway. I was so certain that that would be what I'd find. I shook my head, and my hands were convulsing as I lifted one to knock on the door. I waited a full second or two before the door swung open. Standing there was something radiant. I swept her up in a fullblown, romance movie kiss. She gave into me instantly, running her hands up and down my arms. She was warm and perfect. I knew every crevice of her body like a book I had read a thousand times during my childhood. It felt perfect to be against her again, have her in my arms again.

She pulled away in surprise, eyes completely wide, tears rolling gently down her cheeks. I wiped one off her cheek and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Who the hell are you?" came a voice behind me.


THE END of chapter eight

YAY!