A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed, means a lot! And now, the moment I'm sure many of you have been waiting for. Give it up for Jess in Hartford, part one! Enjoy !

Disclaimer: ASP owns Gilmore Girls. We own Cammie, 'cause nobody else could've come up with with such a kick-ass character.

This was a bad idea… It was the only thing Jess was able to think as the intimidating silhouette of the Gilmore mansion came into view. The lone copy of The Subsect that he carried in his duffel bag felt like it was made of lead. How the hell had Cammie talked him into this again?

Jess had left Cammie, feeling incomparably embarrassed. Going home was out of the question, it would just be another level of Kill me now-embarrassment that he just couldn't handle. He put his phone on Silent, and began wandering around, somehow ending up on the park bench on Spruce, where he'd spent his first, cold night in Philadelphia.

"So this is what it has come to," he thought ironically to himself. "Jess Mariano, fainting over a girl."

His friends back in New York would have laughed at him… Then again, those people hardly qualified as friends any more. He hadn't talked to any of them since he got shipped off to Stars Hollow, not even during his brief return to the city, before he got hauled back to attend his mother's wedding. And let's face it: those people hadn't done him any good. They were the reason he got sent away in the first place. It was amazing what a bad crowd and a well-placed bag of crap could do.

His thoughts returned to Cammie. Jess wanted nothing more than to dismiss her advice as "misguided", but he couldn't. "Think and follow your heart". Cammie knew everything about him, she had a way of getting his twisted mind that was borderline scary. As hard as it was for him to admit it, the girl had a point. Maybe…

No. He would not go back. He couldn't. He and Rory were over, no longer a thing, but two separate entities. But still… He shook his head, and regretted ever having put pen to paper. Without The Subsect, this would never have happened. Or would it? Did his crackdown back at Stampede have anything to do with his book at all? The answer was painfully obvious in all its simplicity.

No.

The Subsect may have speeded things up, but sooner or later, the crackdown would've come. Perhaps it was good that it had come now, when there was still a miniscule possibility to address the matter. Rory and him had been a messed up couple, the pain had been at least a little mutual. Romeo and Juliet would want to take notes, no doubt. They, at least, had only their families to worry about. Try having a relationship when the entire town, Juliet's oafy ex-boyfriend included, was on your ass. Dean. Jess snickered. Maybe he should send Dean a copy of The Subsect, and see how long it would take to get a response.

Regardless, the issue was not the book, although it would've been nice if it could've been his scapegoat. The real issue was Rory, and her presence in his life, despite her being miles away, living life without Jess in it. It didn't matter that he had poured his heart and soul into every letter of The Subsect, it meant squat as long as she didn't know about it. His words would only get meaning, validation when she read them.

Cammie had been right. Damn her.

Jess trudged home, knowing full well what he had to do. He formulated a plan as he walked up the stairs to the apartment. Matt attacked him as soon as he stepped inside.

"Where the hell have you been, man? You don't answer your phone, Cammie said you left hours ago and Chris, Reg and Jake are out looking for you! What happened back there?"

Jess suppressed a grin. You could always count on Matt to throw a hissy fit.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he replied evasively. "Look, I need to leave town for a few days."

"Leave town?" Matt repeated, surprised. "Are you bolting out on us?"

"No," Jess said, and hoped it wasn't a lie. "I just… need to go back home. Private family business, you know."

He walked past Matt, up to the couch, where he began shoving stuff into his duffel bag.

"Wait, you need to leave now? Like, right now?"

"The sooner, the better."

"Oh… Okay, man. You go do what you need to do. Come see us again when you get back."

"Jeez, Matt," Jess groaned. "I'm not getting shipped off to 'Nam, I'm just going home for a few days. Look, I'll bring a couple of Subsects with me, I'll drop them off at some bookstores along the way, okay? I'll be back before you have time to miss my pissy attitude."

It was the perfect excuse to get at least one copy of The Subsect with him. If he actually did stumble across some bookstore on his way to Connecticut, dropping off a copy wouldn't be a bad idea. He packed ten copies, and walked to the door.

"I'll see you soon," he called out over his shoulder as he left.

The train ride was a drag. It seemed to go on forever, yet Jess was aware of every mile that brought him closer to Hartford. He thought back to the bus ride from California, how he just couldn't get past Pittsburgh, it had been too painful. This time, there was no pain, not yet anyway. Hartford was dark when he got there. Jess rented a car and drove to Stars Hollow in the middle of the night, slipping into Luke's using the spare key. Luke nearly bashed his head in with a baseball bat when Jess opened the door to the upstairs apartment.

"What are you doing here?" his uncle asked, bewildered, and put away the bat.

"Personal business," Jess replied, only to have Luke glare at him. "Fine. Luke, I need to see her. I don't care if you think I'm a certified idiot or if you want to give me a sermon on just how bad an idea it is to go see her. It's something I have to do, for both of us."

Luke observed him in silence, and it was unnerving. Jess had expected him to yell and order him back to Philly, but Luke just sighed.

"She's still living with Emily and Richard in Hartford. You can have your old bed. Good night."

Without any further comments, Luke went back to bed, leaving Jess standing stunned in the darkness. He heard Luke turn in his bed, and tiptoed over to his old bed. The linen was fresh, God knows why. No one had probably slept in this bed since he left. It was odd to be back in the small apartment, in the same old bed he'd slept in before. He woke up when Luke's alarm sounded. He waited until Luke was downstairs, then packed up, nicking a large envelope before slipping out unnoticed while Luke argued with his bread guy. When Jess got to his car, he put a copy of The Subsect in the blank envelope, sealed it and left it unsigned at the bookstore before leaving Stars Hollow.

Hartford was different from Philly, and Jess realized he had never spent any actual time in Hartford. He'd only seen the Gilmore's house, and he was very reluctant to return, even though it now seemed like his only option. Cammie called three times before lunch, but Jess dodged all her calls. He couldn't afford the distraction.

Then Jess saw her. At least he thought it was Rory. It looked like Rory, albeit a dolled-up version of her, with chestnut brown hair, swaggering down the street before getting into a blue Toyota. Could it really be Rory? Luke had clearly said she'd been living with her grandparents, but it was a Wednesday. Shouldn't she at least be at Yale now? The Rory look-a-like took off, and Jess moved on. He found two bookstores, which accepted his book and the owners promised to call if they wanted to stock The Subsect. He had lunch and ignored phone calls from Chris. He thought about Rory and considered calling, but had to tell himself 'no'. Either he manned up and had a face to face confrontation, or he went back to Philly to live miserably ever after. He had to go back to the Gilmore mansion. He put it off for as long as he could, finding a cheap motel on the outskirts of Hartford, fidgeting with a copy of The Subsect.

Jess had no idea how he was supposed to get to Rory without attracting the attention of her grandparents. His last appearance at the Gilmore house had not left any kind of positive impression, and he was pretty sure Emily Gilmore would have him arrested if he ever darkened her doorstep and she saw it. The day had turned into evening when he finally got off his ass, stuffed a copy of The Subsect in his duffel bag and drove over to the Gilmore's. He parked about a block away and walked the last bit. Just as he turned to corner onto the Gilmore's street, he saw the blue Toyota coming at him. He tried to make himself scarce, but managed to sneak a peek at the driver. Sure, there she was, driving off without having seen him. Jess turned around, and walked back to the car. It was no use hanging around the house, people would just find it suspicious. He might just as well wait in the car, maybe drive around a little and check back later. She couldn't be gone for long.

She was. It was just after two when Jess decided it was safe to start walking around again. He closed in on the mansion to see if he hadn't missed Rory at some point. But the driveway was as empty as ever. But just as he turned back, a car turned onto the street. Jess dove into the hedge on instinct, keeping his eye on the car. Rory was back. She turned the Toyota onto the driveway, quietly parking it. Jess emerged from the hedges, peeking in through the gates just as Rory stepped out of the car. She turned around, probably to close the gates, and it was impossible not to see him.

"Jess..." she breathed, taken aback by his presence.

She looked so different and still so much a like. If one could disregard the posh clothes, the designer bag and her clicking heels, she was there, the girl who had stolen his heart with her sapphire blue eyes.

"Hey," he greeted neutrally. What else was there to do?

"Hey... I..."she stuttered, immediately stopping to collect herself before continuing. "Sorry, that wasn't a sentence."

"I got the gist of it."

"What are you doing here?" Rory wondered.

"I got a new job, professional drive way stalker," Jess quipped, feeling humor had always been safe ground for them.

"Pay's good?"

It was a relief to hear her quip back like that, it meant the high society lifestyle couldn't have gotten to her completely.

"Yeah, but the hours suck."

"Jess..."

"I'm in town on a little business. All nice and above board," he admitted, proud that he didn't lie.

"How'd you know where to find me?" she inquired, looking like she didn't really want to hear the answer.

"Luke. I shook it out of him. He wasn't sure if it was okay."

"It's okay." Jess didn't think it looked or sounded like it was okay. "You look good," Rory continued. "The years don't seem to have hardened you."

"Yeah, you look good, too," Jess offered, fisting his hands in his pockets. "I know this is kind of weird, but there's actually something I want to tell you, well, show you actually. I can come back another time."

Please, dear God, let her say 'come back another time'...

"No, it's just..." She stopped and looked up, pointing towards the house. "We're kind of exposed here. My... Her window's, like, right there."

"Whose?" he asked, not looking to see where she was pointing.

"My grandma's. You want to come in?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, come on. But just be careful, she's a very light sleeper."

She took the lead, walking as quietly as she could in her heels. Jess looked up at the menacing house, wondering what it had done to the old Rory. They took off their shoes before she unlocked the door in two timid clicks, and they stalked up the stairs in a way that made Jess feel like they were a couple of cat burglars. Rory led him through a set of corridors, walking through a couple of rooms so as to avoid her grandmother's bedroom. Finally, she pointed to a door on the left, which she opened and stepped into. He followed, disbelievingly.

"So, here we are," she said, putting her keys on a lavish mantlepiece. The room was over the top, and so not Rory.

"Casa Rory..." he commented, slightly sarcastic, looking around. Rory wasted no time, and took a large throw pillow from the extravagant bed and put it by the door.

"So our voices don't carry," she explained sheepishly.

"Very prudent."

"This is not really my taste," she whitewashed, trying to make her arrangement seem better than it really was.

"Yeah, not unless you've aged about 90 years," Jess teased, leaning in towards her. The light scent of perfume that wafted off of her smelled expensive.

"I haven't," Rory assured him with a smile.

"Is that for Halloween?" He pointed to a silly-looking dress that hung on the door.

"No, no. This is just for a function I have to go to..." Rory took down the dress, fidgeting it nervously.

"Function?"

"It's just a job..." Whitewashing again, Jess noted. Her voice trembled as she continued explaining. "The DAR... Daughters of the American Revolution. It's not a career or anything."

"I hope not."

"No. See, don't get the wrong idea. I'm only here temporarily. My mom and I..."

She was so on the defense, it was obvious he had hit her weak spot. The atmosphere turned awkward in nanoseconds, and Jess didn't want anything more than to relieve her pain now.

"Luke alluded to something," he therefore interrupted her.

"It's a long story. I was crashing in the pool house, and that was just temporary, but the pool house became storage, so then I had to move into the main house... All temporary."

Temporary, temporary, what was with the whole temporary-deal?

"Isn't school in session?" he asked, truly curious as to why she was living in this madhouse and not at Yale. "Why aren't you living on campus?"

"Because I'm not going," she replied, arms crossed over her torso, her eyes trying to avert his gaze.

"You graduate already, Doogie?" he asked humorously, nudging her.

"No. I'm just taking a little time off."

And there it was. It It explained everything. The fight with Lorelai, the insane idea of living with her grandparents, the mother-freaking DAR, the posh clothes, the expensive perfume...

"Time off," he echoed, trying to hide his disappointment. Of the two of them, he never would've imagine him being the one to make something meaningful of his life.

"So, where are you living, Jess?" Rory quickly said, steering the topic away from her absence from Yale and the life she'd always talked about when they were together. "I want to know about you, mystery man."

"I'm in Philly."

"Really?" she said, sounding excited.

"Don't laugh!"

"No, I'm not. Philadelphia's gotten cool."

"And New York's gotten expensive," Jess rebutted, avoiding any mentioning of California. "Anyway, it's a pretty cool scene in Philly now, lot of younger people there. Pretty big art scene."

"I know. I read that in the New York Times. They had a picture of a bunch of people standing on a roof, kind of eclectic and all. It looked fun. I mean, it was clearly one of those pictures that wasn't candid, it was looking a little stiff, but they looked happy." There she was again, the old Rory, the real Rory. She sounded so engaged and at ease.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, waiting for her response.

"A little. It's been a long time," she conceded with a short laugh.

"I'm a little nervous, too."

"Good, I'm not alone."

"So I didn't come here to chat, I wanted to show you something." He tugged at his duffel bag, diving into it to retrieve the real reason behind his visit.

"Right, you said that."

"And I didn't think you'd believe it if I didn't show it to you in person," he said, handing her the book.

"Well, color me curious..." She took the book, reading the front cover. "A book... The Subsect... Written by Jess Mariano?"

"It's no misprint," he quickly interjected.

"You wrote a book?" She was astounded, watching him wide eyed.

"A short novel."

"You wrote a book?" she repeated, glancing at the book, then at him, then back at the book.

"Through a fluke, I got it to these guys that have a small press, and they read it," he told her, watching her intent expression as she flipped through the book. "I don't know if they were high or something, but they decided to publish it."

"You wrote a book..."

"There's no money in it. They only printed like 500 of them. Believe me, I'm not quitting my day job."

"But you wrote it. You wrote a book."

"Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe," Jess said, smiling.

"You sat down and wrote a novel." Rory's tone was almost disbelieving, and it was hard to tell if it was that he had written a book, or if it was because he had maybe accomplished more than she had now.

"Author distributed, too. That's why I'm here," he continued, feeling a hint of pride inside. "I'm going around, begging independent bookstores to put it in stock. Got it in a few." Wow, that was almost a lie. He'd have to find a couple more bookstores tomorrow so it would all be true.

"Cool! Where?" she stated exuberantly.

"Around."

"I want to see it in store."

"I can give you the addresses."

"You know what I'm gonna do when I see it in the store?"

"What?" he wondered, and watched as she turned into an excited little girl at the thought of her plan.

"You know that section toward the front, the staff recommendations? I'm gonna grab a copy of your book and put it in that section, and then I'm going to write my own little recommendation on a card and attach it so people see it and buy it."

"Read it first," Jess laughed. "That way you can discourage people from buying it."

"No way! I know it's good. Jess, you've got such a great brain. I knew that if you could just sit down and stop shaking it around, you could do something like this. I knew it. I knew it."

"I know you did." Most of the time, at least. "I work at that press now. Five smelly guys in a cramped room on Locust Street putting out about three books a month. But it's fun."

"What a about a sequel? Are you writing a sequel?"

She hadn't even read it, and she was already getting carried away. Jess wagered that she wouldn't be as excited once she'd finished reading.

"You should read it before you get too jazzed about it, okay?"

Suddenly, Rory hushed, tensing up. She listened intently for a few seconds, before she relaxed again.

"Sorry. I thought I heard footsteps. I think we're okay."

"It's kind of late. I should go," Jess said, and stood up. It was clear that she was not comfortable in this house, and he didn't want to make things more uncomfortable for her by getting her caught by her grandmother.

"It is kind of late," she agreed and followed suit.

"So, I just basically wanted to show you that. Tell you..." He hesitated. If he said this now, she would think it was a positive thing. Maybe it was. But there was no way that she'd think it was a compliment after she'd read all his bitter thoughts. Screw that, he decided, and carried on. "...tell you that I couldn't have done it without you."

"Thanks."

"I'm gonna be around for a couple days. Can we talk again? Preferably above a whisper?" Jess asked her, glancing at the door.

"Yeah. I'd like that," Rory replied. "How about tomorrow night?"

"8:00 okay?"

"Yep."

"Good. I'll sneak out on my own."

"Cool."

He walked over to the door, handed her the flowery pillow that had been their improvised silencer, and quietly opened the door. He was halfway out, when she spoke.

"Oh, hey, your book."

He looked at her one last time. Maybe she needed his harsh words to get out of this rut?

"Oh, it's yours," he said, then closed the door.

His hands were shaking as he quietly made his way through the corridors and out the front door. The gates squeaked as he opened up a crack big enough for him to slip through. Jess jogged to the car, got in, but was unable to leave for a minutes. He just sat there, head leaned up against the steering wheel, breathing in and out. He'd made it. They had made it through an entire conversation without anything going to hell. But this new Rory worried him. Yale was out of the picture, Lorelai was out of the picture. Everything she had ever dreamed of and loved was out of the picture by the looks of it. Jess decided to get to the bottom of this mess tomorrow.

A/N: We decided to split up Jess's visit to Hartford, otherwise we'd have the longest chaper in the history of CP, and it would be almost too much to cram into one chapter, so drop a review and stay tuned for our take on the Logan-Jess-altercation!