A/N- Okay I'm sorry it's been so long but I had a really bad case of writers block and it took a long time to get rid of it. This chapter is almost all flashbacks just so you get an idea of Jess' life in New York, the flashbacks will be in italics. Also the flashbacks will be written like a narrator is telling a story. Thank you for all the reviews!

Jess' POV

We didn't get a chance to get my stuff the night we got here so here I was standing in front of the apartment I grew up in. I had a lot of memories here most of them bad.

A five year old boy sat cross legged in the corner of his room with his head in his hands trying to block out the sounds of yelling coming from his mother's room. This was her second husband since his father had left them.

"Dammit Liz!" he heard his step-father yell followed by the distinct slap of his hand on her face. The little boy hears his mothers' sobs as she lay on the floor where she had fallen. He pulled his knees to his chest and rocked back and forth with tears flowing down his cheeks. What seems to him to be hours later he hears the front door slam. He stood slowly and opened his bedroom door glancing around to make sure his step-father was gone. When he was sure he ran down the hall to his mothers' room, he opened the door to see her lying on the floor by the bed the evidence of her husbands hand on her cheek.

"Mommy," he whispered quietly and helped her into the bed. He walked into her bathroom and climbed onto the sink so he could reach the medicine cabinet; he pulled down a bottle of Advil and poured two pills into his hand. He filled a glass with water and carried it back to his mother.

"Thanks baby," she said in a weak voice. She took the pills from him and he waited for her to fall asleep. When she was in a deep sleep the boy went into the living room to find the phone. He dialed a number he often called on nights like this.

"Hello?" a gruff voice came over the phone.

"He hit mommy again." The boy cried into the phone.

"I'll be there in an hour." The voice assured the little boy before hanging up. When he hears the special knock his uncle uses the boy runs to the door and flings it open jumping into the mans arms. The man steps inside and closes the door behind him carrying the little boy into his bedroom. "Go to sleep and I'll make you some dinner." The boy nods and closes his eyes feeling safe with his uncle there to protect him.

I sighed and walked slowly up the front stairs, once inside I turned to the left and walked slowly up the steps to the seventh floor. I knocked on the door straight across from the stairwell and waited.

"Jess!" my mom exclaimed when she opened the door. She pulled me into a hug and ushered me into the apartment. "How have you been baby?" she asks.

"Good. I got a scholarship to go to a private school in Hartford. So did Rory."

She smiled and hugged me again, "That's so great! I'm proud of you! Rory is Lorelai's girl right? Luke's always talking about the two of them."

"Thanks mom. I'm here to get the rest of my stuff, I came up with Rory and her cousins for the weekend and figured it would be a good time get it." I told her.

"Okay, okay. You go pack it up and I'll make us some lunch!" she said heading for the kitchen.

At thirteen the boy had grown taller, he had learned to take care of himself and his mother and the phone calls to his uncle had become fewer and fewer until they stopped completely. Until one day in the middle of October, the boy walked home from school just like he did any other day. When he reached his apartment building he jogged up the stairs and walked into the apartment everything was quiet so he walked around looking for his mother. He checked the living room and kitchen before heading down the hallway to her bedroom. He opened the door to find her lying on her bed completely still. He rushed to her side and saw that she was unconscious. He quickly called an ambulance and then dialed that once familiar number.

"Hello?"

"I came home and mom was unconscious. I called an ambulance." The boy said his voice cracking.

"I'll be there in an hour. Meet you at the hospital."

The boy almost lost his mother that day, she had tried to take her life by taking to many pills. When she woke she promised to change for him and this time she did. That was the last time he had to take care of his mother. After that day she took care of him for the first time in his life.

I sighed as I packed my things in boxes. I had a quick lunch with my mom before walking out of that building. When I did I vowed it would be the last time. I had too many bad memories there and I was finally ready to let them go and move on.

A/N- So tell me what you think!