A/N: Hey, people are still reading this fic. Thank you so much to all the wonderful reviewers :) It really does make a big difference to know so many of you are still invested in the story :) This is one of my favourite chapters of this story so far, so I hope you like it too!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 28

Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing he ever did, but Jess couldn't help it, he just had to get out. Running away from his problems probably made him more like a child than the adult he claimed to be, but when it came to Liz, he often felt like a kid, the same little boy she ran out on and disappointed too many times before.

Jess tried not to let it bother him most of the time that his parents were both absent from his life, one completely, one just mostly. Actually, he often thought Jimmy was the better of the two in some ways. At least when he left, he went for good, never called, never visited. Jess could pass the guy in the street and never know about it. It was better than what Liz did.

Visits from Jess' mother were always the same. She started with the standards - how much Jess had grown, how great he looked, how amazing Luke was for raising 'her boy' so well. She always made it seem like she had come visiting because she wanted to, because she loved her brother and her son, because they were just the best and happiest little family. It usually took around a half hour or so of questioning, often from Luke since Jess never really did know what to say to Liz, before the truth came tumbling out. She needed money, a place to stay, a helping hand of some sort. There was usually a guy too, the one she just left, the one that just left her, the one that went back to his wife, the one who gave her the black eye.

It was times like this that Jess wished he had some bad habits to fall back on. Last time Liz came around had been more than two years ago, after which he had decided to take a leaf out of her book, getting seriously drunk on Miss Patty's Founders Day punch. Jess had never been so sick in his whole life as he was that day, declaring that he would never drink again for as long as he lived. While that was unlikely to be true in the end, Jess knew he didn't want a drink in times of crisis. He honestly didn't know what he did want to do, except get as far away from Liz as possible.

His feet took him to the bridge over the lake without him even thinking about it. He got a real surprise when he arrived there and found someone seemingly waiting for him.

"Rory?"

"Hey," she said, squinting slightly as she looked up at him, the setting sun blinding her from over his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Should I ask you that?" he asked, walking out along the bridge to join her and eyeing the cigarette in her hand with curiousity more than anything else.

"I'm fine, or I will be," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she took another drag off her cigarette. "I'm guessing you'd feel better if I put this out, right?"

Jess didn't answer, just picked the half-smoked cigarette from her fingers and stared at it a moment before bringing it to his lips.

Rory watched him closely, wondering what Jess' reaction would be, and also if he had ever done such a thing before. She would lay money this was the first time a cigarette had been anywhere near his mouth. The coughing fit that he had after one drag certainly seemed to prove her right.

"Wow. Welcome to amateur hour," she said, biting her lip to keep from laughing as she rubbed his back. "What was that about?"

"I read somewhere people smoke to deal with stress," Jess told her, still coughing a little as he threw the rest of the cigarette into the water.

"And you're stressed?" Rory checked, her hand still at his back.

"Aren't you?" he countered, meeting her eyes.

Rory shrugged. "Yes and no. It's not an every day thing. Still, I guess I'm better at hiding this habit than some of the others. You didn't know?"

Jess' shrug mirrored hers and he smirked, borrowing her words too. "Yes and no. I suspected a couple of times, but it's not my business. Your habit, your body."

"I don't mind you having an interest in my body," she told him, smirking just the same as she leaned in closer to kiss him.

Jess let her lips meet his but his lack of response proved he wasn't in the mood. It was enough to let Rory know that something really was bothering him. Maybe she should've guessed from the way he took her cigarette from her, the way he talked about being stressed. Now she just felt stupid, not having a clue how to help him. She opened her mouth to at least ask what was wrong, just when he seemed to decide to tell her anyway.

"Liz showed up. My mom," he clarified when Rory looked confused. "She just appeared, like always, expecting Luke to bail her out of another mess, expecting me to... expecting me to give a damn," he said, slamming his hands against the bridge in what seemed to be frustration.

Rory reached inside her jacket for the pack of cigarettes and shook it until two stuck out of the top.

"Wanna give it another try?" she asked, proffering the pack at Jess.

He thought about it for all of five seconds before he nodded and took a cigarette. It was weird to Rory how the disapproving faces of both Lorelai and Luke flashed through her mind when she lit Jess' cigarette and advised him on holding the smoke in his mouth before inhaling so as not to choke this go around. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to teach her boyfriend, how to develop a bad habit she had never been able to completely kick herself, one that could do them both harm, but right in this moment, she didn't care enough not to do it.

"Look at you, you're a natural," she said with a smile she couldn't help as she watched Jess inhale and exhale successfully without coughing up a lung.

He tried to smile back but couldn't quite manage it. "How long have you been doing this?"

"I don't know." Rory shook her head. "A bunch of girls were doing it, about three boarding schools ago. It was my first week there and it seemed like a good way to fit in. Besides, they told me it was calming, and I needed some calm back then."

"As opposed to now when you're always so level-headed?" Jess teased her.

Rory bumped his shoulder with her own and they both laughed. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

"So, your mom. You never really talk about her."

"Not much to talk about." Jess shook his head. "Luke raised me, along with my grandpa when he was still alive. Liz is just... She just shows up, screws up everything, and leaves again. It's what she does. Seriously, I have more respect for Jimmy. At least when he left, he meant it."

"You never met him?"

"Nope."

"Wow." Rory took another drag off her cigarette. "I was ten before I met Christopher."

"You seen him much since then?" asked Jess, watching her closely.

"Not much," she admitted, looking out across the water.

They never talked about their parents, not once. Jess knew little pieces of her story via Luke who had the whole tale from Lorelai. Rory didn't know much of anything about his situation either, just that his parents left him with Luke and that was who raised him. It seemed easier most of the time not to talk about it, not to think about it, if they could help it, but sometimes, these things just couldn't be ignored.

"We talk sometimes, me and Christopher," said Rory in the growing darkness. "It's not a regular thing but he calls, I call."

Jess played with the cigarette between his fingers then braved another drag. He seemed to have got the knack now, he didn't even feel like coughing anymore.

"Does Lorelai know?"

Rory shook her head. "You know, she told me that her and Luke are... I don't know, thinking about dating?" she said, unsure how best to phrase it. "She definitely likes him."

"Huh. He likes her too." Jess nodded. "He never told me exactly, but it's pretty clear."

"Yeah," Rory agreed, taking one more drag before throwing her spent cigarette into the water.

Jess followed her example and did the same, looking at her the same moment she looked at him. His hand reached out to push her hair from her face and she leaned into his touch.

"I should probably head back," he told her.

"You don't have to," she reminded him. "You don't owe her anything."

"It's not about her." Jess shook his head. "Luke's probably freaking out, thinking I threw myself in the lake or something." He rolled his eyes.

"You're too smart to think she matters that much," Rory said confidently.

"Maybe." Jess sighed. "I don't know, Ror," he admitted, hand sliding away from her face. "What does it say about me that my parents are both screw ups who can't even stand to be around me?"

"I don't know. What does it say about me?" she countered, getting his attention back in a second. "I mean, sure, Lorelai's trying now, but before?" She shook her head. "People were not exactly clamouring to be a part of my life for a long time. At least you always had Luke."

"Yeah, the poor sap really got dumped on."

"Hey," Rory sounded mad and looked much the same when Jess met her eyes then. "He was not dumped on. You... Jess, your parents are idiots. You... you're worth so much more than that. You are."

The words weren't much, but what was behind them, what was woven between them was everything. She was looking at him with an intensity he had seen plenty of times before but never quite like this, never with so much meaning. If he didn't know better, he would've sworn he heard 'I love you' in between the words she actually said.

Pulling her close, Jess crashed his lips against Rory's own, kissing her deeply until neither of them could bear to be without breath a moment longer. They parted, neither sure exactly what just happened, but knowing it meant something more than it seemed on the surface. Kissing was second nature to them. This was unquestionably something else.

"You said you should head back," said Rory, wondering why her voice came out so soft.

"You said I didn't have to," he reminded her.

Rory smiled. "You don't. I just thought you wanted to."

"Not really." Jess shook his head. "Uh, you never told me why you were out here. What stressed you out?"

Rory glanced away, feeling foolish. Jess had real problems, hers suddenly seemed dumb by comparison. Still, if he wanted her to share, she probably should. It was kind of one-sided otherwise and she was trying harder to not let that happen with them.

"Richard and Emily heard about my PSAT scores," she said, gaze still fixed on the water. "He called the house, all 'Congratulations' and 'That's our smart girl.' I was never really their girl." Her eyes closed for a moment as she steeled herself then turned to Jess and forced a smile. "Doesn't matter. I guess I have Lorelai now and you always had Luke, and from what she tells me, they plan on having each other... Oh God, I didn't mean that the way it came out," she said literally face-palming.

Jess laughed, he couldn't help it. His arm went around Rory's back pulling her closer until her head landed on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head like the most natural thing in the world and they were just quiet for a little while.

"Is Luke going to kill me for giving you cigarettes?" asked Rory then.

"Doubtful, since I don't plan on telling him about it," Jess assured her.

"He's not stupid. He'll smell smoke on you."

"So, I'll tell him I went somewhere where people were smoking. It's not a lie."

"It's close to being a lie," said Rory, smirking some as she picked her head up off his shoulder and looked at him. "I'm starting to think you're not entirely a good boy, Jess Danes," she teased him.

"Well, there's evidence to suggest you're not entirely a bad girl, Rory Gilmore," he countered, his forehead pressing against hers. "Thank you for this."

"For what?"

"I don't know, just being here when I needed you to be here. Listening, not judging. Just for being you." He kissed her softly one more time and then sighed. "I really should go."

Rory nodded slowly and let him slip away. When he got up, she stayed seated, reaching for her cigarettes and lighter. She watched Jess walk away off the bridge before she lit up, inhaled, and blew a long stream of smoke into the ever-darkening sky.

A lot of stuff in her life still sucked, a lot of the people still made her crazy, but Rory couldn't ever really be sorry she had been sent to Stars Hollow the way she had. As scary as it was to realise, Jess was the reason she could deal with it. He made it all worth it. She only hoped he wasn't about to realise that she really wasn't worth all of the trouble that seemed to follow her everywhere she went.

To Be Continued...