A/n Still a fool...still love Iscah McKrae and reviews are coffee to the soul

Two years ago – Spring 2007

"Hello," came the tired voice over the phone. "Who is this?" She said when no one picked up. "If you don't answer I'm going to hang up…"

"Don't," Amber finally answered.

"Amber? Is that you?"

"Layla, I'm sorry, I woke you. It's late. How's Pitt?."

"You called me at 12:45 to ask me how School is going?"

"No," Amber's voice wobbled. "That's not why I called you."

"You sound like you've been crying. Did that writer break up with you? I'm coming home. I can miss classes tomorrow…I swear you have got to stop dating artist types because they only break your heart."

"Layla, stop," Amber interrupted her friend. "Jess didn't break-up with me…but I…" Amber's voice failed her as tears came to eyes. " I did something horrible," her tears were falling freely.

"What? It can't be worse than when we snuck out to be with those college guys and then totaled your mom's car."

"This is worse," Amber sobbed.

"Sweetie, I have an exam tomorrow, so you need to stop beating around the bush..." Layla sighed.

"I slept with Sam!" she blurted out.

"What," her friend exclaimed. "What? How…well I know how but…when?"

"We were working together tonight and one thing leads to another and…" Amber trailed off as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

Layla was silent on the end, "Amber? Talk to me, how are you feeling? What does this mean? Is it over with Jess?"

Amber sniffed and wiped her eyes, "Sam meant nothing, less than nothing actually," she finally said. "I'm an idiot. I love Jess, or at least I think I love him…"

"And you made a mistake," she finished for Amber. "A stupid one, but still a mistake."

"What should I do? I can't tell him. But lying about it doesn't make it better"

"I can't answer that for you because I've never met Jess. But if you're faced with the choice of not telling him or losing him what do you choose?"

The day after the wedding, Jess woke up above the diner. He vaguely remembered Rory bringing him upstairs. His head was pounding and his mouth dry and desperately in need of a cigarette and an aspirin.

It wasn't until he was on the Jersey Turnpike that the events of the night before became clear. She was soothing her own shame and her own need to feel better about her actions.

The break up was loud. There were slamming doors, yelling, and tears. He hated when Amber cried, and worse when she did it because they were fighting. So many times during their relationship had they been in the middle of an argument and she would burst into tears. This time, though, her tears had no effect on him. When the door closed the final time, and she walked out of the door, Jess sank into his chair exhausted.

When he got to work on Monday, Amber had quit Truncheon and wasn't going to bother to even show up for her shift.

Matt and Chris tried taking him out for a drink. He wasn't interested. Instead, he shut himself in his office, working and drowning out the world below.

The following week, late in the afternoon, Jess walked into Truncheon. Matt and Chris were mulling over a flier. Trudy was explaining something to Mandy at a desk that hadn't been there before, or at least Jess hadn't noticed it.

"He emerges from his hole," Matt quips from his desk.

Jess rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"How are you?" Mandy asked.

"Fine," he growled.

"Good then come out with us tonight."

"That's okay," he said sitting at his desk turning on the computer. "Go without me."

"We're celebrating."

Jess looked up at her, "Celebrating what?"

"I did it!" Mandy exclaimed. "I'm here!"

"You're here all the time."

"Jess," Mandy said, slowly. " It's a Thursday afternoon and I'm here, in Philadelphia."

"You moved here?" he asked.

"She moved here," Chris confirmed, looking at Mandy, not hiding his smile.

"And she's my new roommate," Trudy chimed in.

"With a job, we haven't defined yet," Matt said. "But we needed to replace…"

"We figured you wouldn't object." Chris jumped in, cutting Matt off.

'You moved to Philadelphia, you're working at Truncheon and living with Trudy? Seriously? You changed your entire life for him," Jess said looking at Mandy, shaking his head.

"Is there a problem? Should I not work here?" Mandy asked defensively.

"I don't care, it's your life," Jess said, going back upstairs.

"So who thinks there was more to that?" Matt asked

Everyone turned to Matt, and burst out laughing, "Thank you captain obvious," Chris rolled his eyes.

"I'll go talk to him," Chris sighed.

"No," Mandy sighed. " I will." The door up to his office slammed shut. "I'll give him a while."

In his office, Jess stared at his phone. He was daring himself to call Rory. He had been hard at work on the final edition of the 'zine and hadn't heard from Rory about Emily Hayden.

Calling her at the moment would be a mistake, he was too upset and he suspected Matt or Chris would come and talk to him in a few minutes anyway.

Which is why he jumped when his phone rang and he recognized the Connecticut area code.

"Hello," he answered.

"Jess," a voice said on the other end.

"Rory?"

"Hi," she laughed nervously.

"Hi, did you need something?"

"I…well Mom and Luke are still gone and I need some help moving."

"When did you need the help," Jess asked.

"This weekend would be nice," she said. "I know it's short notice."

"No, it's fine. I was about to call you about Emily Hayden."

"Oh? What did you need?"

"Her phone number or email."

"Oh. You really were serious about getting a hold of her weren't you?"

"I'm sitting on a deadline."

"Okay, well I'll have to check with her first, of course"

"Understandable"

"And if she agrees then I guess we've got a deal?"

"Yeah, okay," he paused for a minute. "Hey, Rory?"

"Jess?"

"I'll still help you move either way."

"Thanks, Jess."

"See you, Saturday Rory," he heard a knock at his door.

"Yeah, Saturday, bye Jess."

"Come in," he said, bracing himself for Chris to get mad at him for being such a jerk to Mandy. Instead, Mandy herself walked into his office and sat down.

"Well?" she asked the second she appeared. "That was a great impression of the punk I knew circa 2001."

Sometimes, it really sucked having Mandy back in his life. She knew him so well and she wasn't afraid of calling him on his crap. At fifteen, it annoyed him, and they drifted apart, but the older Jess got, the more he appreciated her ability to call him out.

"I was a jerk."

"Yes, you were. Then and now."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are."

"I'm happy things are working out for you and Chris."

"You know I'm not picking sides," she smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder, and added, "I'm Swiss. I just thought you should know."

"Great, I'll call you if I want some hot chocolate."

"She's doing okay," Mandy said suddenly. "She's strong, I've been spending a lot of time…"

"Can we just agree not to talk about her?" he interrupted.

"Okay," Mandy conceded. "But you need to get out of the house. You can't stop living your life."

"I'm busy working on the 'zine."

"Right, okay."

Jess sighed, he really didn't feel like telling Mandy that he was going to Baltimore to see Rory, "How 'bout I let you buy me a drink?"

"I can do that. Then you can buy me a drink welcoming me to Philly."