A/N: So, here's the deal. I wrote half, maybe two-thirds, of this opening chapter literally years ago (I forget how many) and it sat languishing on my hard drive to be written 'some day'. I was thinking, maybe, when I was done with 'Forget Me Not' I might pick it up and run with it, but I've never had a truly solid plan for anything that happens beyond Chapter 1. Now, I have sort of a vague idea, and given the current situation in the world, which is, of course, making us all less-than-happy, and given that 'Forget Me Not' has hit a pesky angsty spot, I figured, well, let's give this a shot. Apologies in advance if it sucks (if not now, then later) or if I get completely stuck, lose my way, don't update it for a while, whatever. For now, let's just go with the fact that this first chapter is pretty darn long, has Literati, and ends in a, shall we say, hopeful way? I hope it makes you smile :)

(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Gilmore Girls belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and other folks who aren't me.)

Chapter 1

Rory needed a ride home and she just didn't know who to call. Usually her mom would be first choice, but Lorelai was at Liz's wedding, with Luke, who would've been Rory's second choice. All Rory's friends from Yale were gone for the Summer, even Paris was away. Lane didn't drive, so she was out of the running too. Scrolling through the numbers on her phone, Rory let her finger hover over the call button when she got to 'Forester, Dean.'

"No." She shook her head as she continued searching.

Dean was her ex and a married man. She only wanted him because she couldn't have him, and because everybody around her kept reminding her she was single. Rory knew all this because she had done nothing but think about it since she sat down here at this table with a beer she was never going to drink, while Graham and his friends all got completely rat-faced at the bar. She thought about what Paris said, and then her grandmother, the both of them trying to set Rory up with the nearest single guy. It wasn't what she wanted. Dean wasn't what she wanted either, not anymore. If she were completely honest with herself, Rory knew who and what it was she did want, but that was just stupid.

The list of contact numbers in Rory's phone started again from 'A' and she heaved out a sigh. There had to be somebody she could call to rescue her. This time when she got as far as 'Diner, Luke's' she paused. He wouldn't be there, she knew that, but there was a chance somebody else was. Without letting herself think about it too much, Rory hit the call button and put the phone to her ear.

"I have got to be crazy," she muttered as the line rang once, twice, before finally someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jess. It's me. Uh, it's Rory," she floundered, knowing she sounded dumb but unable to help it apparently.

"Rory, hey," he replied. "Um, Luke's not here."

"I know. I... Well, this is going to sound really weird and also highly outrageous given the last time we saw each other and how that went down, and I'm well aware that this is probably the most awkward thing ever but... but I need a favour."

Rory had no idea that as she explained herself at top speed, the way she so often did, she had brought a smile to Jess' lips. Maybe it was just hearing her voice that made him want to grin, or perhaps it was the pleasing familiarity of her famous rambling that was giving him flashbacks to happier times. Either way, it was making him smile.

"A favour?" he echoed, realising he hadn't answered yet. "Name it."

"I'm at this bar in New Haven. I was with some friends... acquaintances, whatever," she corrected herself. "Anyway they left me here and I thought I had money for a cab but I don't and the ATM is two blocks away in the scuzzy part of town..."

"I'm on my way," said Jess, without pause. "You got an address or at least the name of this charming establishment?"

Rory gave him the bar's name with a smile he could almost hear. "Thank you, Jess," she told him. "I really appreciate this."

"I'll be there as fast as I can."

True to his word, Jess arrived at the bar in record time, searching out Rory the moment he came in the door. Since she had been sitting there watching and waiting the whole time, she saw him enter the place and immediately raised her hand. He smiled when he saw her, that old familiar smile that still made something inside of Rory flip over in the best way. He certainly hadn't gotten any less good looking, as if she ever really expected that to happen.

"Hey," he said as he approached her table.

"Hey," she replied in kind, unsure where to go from there.

It had been mostly okay on the phone, but now, face-to-face, it just felt unbelievably awkward seeing Jess again. It ought to have been some comfort that he looked as thrown by the situation as Rory felt herself, not knowing how this greeting was supposed to go, but it wasn't. A hug would be way too much, a handshake just silly in the circumstances. In the end, they just went for a breif smile and then Rory gestured for Jess to sit down in the empty seat beside her. It was a relief when he did and without comment.

"I feel so stupid," Rory said, pushing her hair back off her face, "especially for calling you of all people."

"Rory, I don't want you to feel stupid," Jess told her kindly. "You're not. If any one out of the two of us is stupid, I'm pretty sure it's me."

That remark surprised her and she was pretty sure it showed on her face. "You're stupid? For coming to get me?"

"No, not for that," he said, shaking his head. "For just about everything else, but not that," he confirmed, eyes very much on the table where his hands were tossing his car keys around just for something to do.

"Oh," said Rory, unsure what to follow up with.

If Jess was apologising for anything and everything that had gone wrong in their relationship, well, she couldn't exactly say he didn't at least owe her that much. Of course, she had her share of things to feel bad for too. The problem was this was such a long overdue conversation, and added to it was the strange memory of Jess telling her he loved her, only to get in his car and drive off into the distance, never to be seen again, at least until tonight.

Rory looked up from her untouched beer and glanced sideways at Jess, only to catch him doing the self same thing. It was too funny not to laugh.

"You remember when we could just talk for hours and hours and not even notice we were doing it?" she said in the less uncomfortable silence that followed. "I miss that."

"Me too." Jess nodded. "So, uh, how was the first year at Yale?"

"It was good," Rory assured him, feeling the knot in her stomach start to unwind a little as they talked of normal things a while. "Hasn't ended so well, but yeah, good for the most part. How're you?"

"I'm good."

"That's good... or possibly some other adjective we haven't already used a hundred and seven times," she said, rolling her eyes.

Jess smiled but made no further comment. His eyes moved around the bar and restaurant and then landed back on Rory.

"Can I ask how you ended up here? This doesn't really seem like a Rory place."

"It's really not." She sighed. "My grandma, she tried to set me up with this guy, Graham. She's known him since he was in diapers or something, and he was coming out with his friends and invited me along. I thought it'd be fine, but then they were drinking, a lot, and planning to drive, and I'm sitting here starving and wanting to go home, but I have no money, so..."

"I have money," Jess told her easily, "and I could eat so, you want to order something?"

Rory meant to say no. This night was beyond weird so far and she probably shouldn't even have called Jess for help like she did. Still, he had said he would come for her and followed through on that promise. They were getting along and he was offering her food when she was hungry, which was always a fast-track way to a Gilmore girl's heart, as they both knew only too well.

"Um, well, if you're sure," she said, shifting in her seat and signalling for the waitress. "Excuse me, we'd like to order?"

She came over immediately, before Rory and Jess had even got their menus open.

"Will this be on your tab?" she asked, pencil poised over her pad.

"Tab?" Rory checked.

"The credit card behind the bar," said the waitress, gesturing that way, "it's still open."

Jess frowned a little but Rory was smiling widely as she realised exactly what this meant. Graham was a fool, but he got what he deserved after the way he treated her tonight.

"Put your money away, Jess," she said, referring to the menu a moment more. "Okay, we'll start with the appetiser platter..."

Jess was supposed to have all his attention on the road. He was trying hard to keep it there, but Rory was always a distraction to him, from the very first day they met. Of course, right now, she was getting more of his attention than ever before, because frankly, he was having trouble figuring her out.

"What?" she asked, drawing his attention to the fact he really must've been staring.

"I'm just marvelling at Rory the rebel," he admitted, smirking hard. "We must've put a hundred bucks on that guys card."

"Well, he deserves it," she said definitely, even as she laughed.

"Agreed." Jess nodded. "Who leaves a woman alone in a bar like that with no way to get home? Very uncool."

"Agreed," she replied in kind before a sigh escaped her lips. "Thank you for this, Jess. You know I really appreciate it."

"You said that already," he told her, eyes very much on the road now.

If she was going to be nice, he really did have to concnetrate, or there was going to be trouble, and not just of the crashing the car variety.

"Well, I said it because I meant it," Rory insisted, turning a little in her seat to face him. "I know things with us got a little weird..."

"Mostly my fault," Jess muttered, forced to look in her general direction as he checked for traffic at the intersection and then headed onto Yale.

"No, it's not," she admitted, almost as softly, eyes on her lap where her fingers laced and unlaced for no real reason. "I mean, yes, the random confession of feelings before driving off into the sunset, that was all you, but before, when you left..."

Jess sighed. "Rory, let's not do this now," he urged her, knowing there would be no good time for this convertsaion, but still not wanting it now, not when they had been getting along so well.

"Jess, it has to be now," she told him frustratedly, "or soon you'll be gone, again, and we won't get the chance."

He couldn't deny she had a point. If she hadn't called when she had, he probably would've been gone by now, he was packing to leave when the phone rang. It wasn't his smartest choice, he knew that, because Rory was right, they really should talk this thing out. Not that Jess had a clue where to begin. He never had with her. He was certainly glad he didn't have to be facing Rory when she said whatever she was going to say to him.

Jess knew he had plenty to feel bad about when it came to the demise of his relationship with Rory. He didn't handle any of it well and though there were parts of it where she probably could've behaved better too, he was all too clear on the fact that, percentage wise, he came out higher on the blame scale.

"Jess, I... I blamed you, a lot, for what happened with us. For not talking to me, for leaving without saying goodbye for the second time," Rory admitted then. "It hurt me, you hurt me, but then I got to thinking about how things had been before you left, and I realised that... well, it wasn't all you," she said, shaking her head. "Sometimes, I was pushy, and I was judgemental, ungrateful even. What I'm trying to say is, as much as you didn't necessarily always treat me like you should have, I wasn't always the best girlfriend either. I should've been better, and... and I'm sorry, Jess."

Rory wasn't sure what to think when he didn't answer her. She glanced up from her own lap to find him concnetrating very hard on the view from the windshield. At first she thought he just needed a minute to park the car before he faced her and said whatever he needed to say, but two or three full minutes passed after he pulled on the parking brake and killed the engine, and still nothing. He didn't even look at her.

"You don't accept my apology?" she asked softly.

Jess sighed. "If it'll make you feel better, Rory, then yes, I accept it," he said, glancing her way at last, "but don't think for a second that I ever blamed you for what happened with us. Sure, you said some things I could've lived without, but I'm pretty sure I deserved a lot of them," he said definitely. "I wasn't the boyfriend I should've been, not by a long way, and that's why I'm the one that should be sorry. I am sorry, Rory, for everything I did to hurt you," he promised her faithfully. "You believe that?"

"I do," she said, nodding her head, "and I accept your apology also."

"Huh," said Jess, the serious moment fading back to normal as the usual smirk reappeared on his lips. "Well, what do you know, this communciation thing actually works."

Rory giggled "Maybe we should've tried it sooner."

"Yeah, maybe," Jess agreed, meeting her eyes. Something seemed to crackle in the air between them, just for a second, and then he looked away. "So, your car is here?"

"Oh, yes, it is." Rory physically shook herself. "I just need to load all my stuff into it. It's all in boxes in the dorm," she explained.

"I can help with that."

"Oh, you don't have to," she insisted.

"I want to," Jess told her just as deifnitely.

They got out of the car then and Rory led the way towards her building. As they trailed through the campus, she pointed out all her favourite spots to Jess, told him about her classes, her professors, what living with Paris had been like. They talked and laughed and enjoyed each other's company, just as they had in the bar, and yet, something was different now. Rory felt it and was sure that Jess must be getting the same vibe. Their confessional in the car had made a difference, being alone in the dark made a difference too. They had never both been in the same place at the same time before, not until now.

"So, this is my room," she said as they reached the door.

"I figured." Jess nodded, waiting for her to unlock and let them inside.

There was a time when he had pictured himself here. Not at Yale as a student or anything, Jess wasn't crazy, but he had imagined himself coming by to see Rory when she started attending, back when he thought there was a slim chance they could make it work long term. Things had really got so screwed up back then, but now here they were, him and Rory, together again.

When she turned around, he thought maybe she was going to say something, but the words went away when she found herself so close to him. Jess hadn't expected her to turn and hadn't especially been looking where he was going. Rory exhaled and he felt her breath in his face. The times they had been here before, exactly like this, it was the most natural thing in the world to reach out, to touch, to kiss.

Actions were known to speak louder than words and Jess was never all that good with the verbal thing anyway, not with her, not when it mattered. His hand slipped behind her head and drew her in, his lips finding hers. He kissed her once then intended to pull away. It was Rory's hand grabbing a hold of his jacket that kept him close, her that kept the moment going, deepened the kiss and let it almost get out of hand before she finally stepped back, gasping.

"Oh my God!" she said, one hand going to her bruised lips. "Jess, what are we doing?" she asked him then, turning away.

"Pretty sure it was the thing we were always best at," he told her, trying to catch his breath.

Rory understood that feeling. She was a little short on oxygen herself, but she hadn't been hating it when he was depriving her of air. In fact, it was the best she had felt in a long time. This whole night, it had really turned around when Jess showed up. She was having the best time and Rory just didn't want it to end. When he kissed her, she couldn't help but kiss him back, but it was a bad idea... wasn't it?

"This is crazy!" she said outloud. "I can't just... We can't. We're over," she said insistently, unsure whether she was telling Jess or herself right now. "You left and... and what does any of this mean?" she asked him desperately.

"Pretty sure it means we still have feelings for each other, Rory," he said, reaching for her, but she backed up another step.

"No," she said shaking her head, "or yes, I guess, maybe," she realised, more sure now than ever that all those times she told herself she was over Jess she had been lying. "Jess, this is... I never expected this to happen," she told him, tears in her eyes that she couldn't control.

"Me either, but I'm not sorry," he admitted, moving closer again, glad when she didn't back off this time. "Rory, please..." he said, his hand at her face, thumb wiping a stray tear away.

"Please, what?" she asked, meeting his eyes.

"Please, just... just come with me."

Her eyes widened at the request. Honestly, Jess surprised himself a little bit. He had not come here intending to ask Rory to run away with him, but after everything that had happened so far, he couldn't help it. It was what he wanted, so much.

"Come with you?" she echoed, looking confused but not saying no yet. "Where?"

"Anywhere," said Jess, smiling widely. "Let's just put your stuff in my car and drive. We can go anywhere you want, do anything you want. We can be together."

"Jess that's... We can't," Rory insisted.

"You know it's what you want," he told her, arms going around her, keeping her with him for as long as he could, so afraid she was about to bolt. "It's what I want too. I know you couldn't depend on me before, but you can now. I swear, you can."

He meant it. She looked into his eyes and Rory believed every word he said. They had problems because Jess was hiding things from her before, but he was never really a liar. If he said he loved her then he did. If he said she could trust him then she knew that she could. Still, what he was suggesting, it was still kind of crazy. Strange then that she was giving his offer some serious consideration.

"This is insane," she told him, laughing a little. "Jess, we can't just leave."

"Yes, we can," he told her with certainty. "Your stuff is all in boxes, it's perfect. We can just go wherever we want and be together. C'mon, Rory, you can't tell me you don't want us to be together. I know you do."

"I... I don't know," she said, looking down at those boxes he was talking about, knowing he had a point and feeling oh so tempted. "I mean, what if we did go? I couldn't leave forever. My family is here, my friends, and Yale. I have to be here for school in September-"

"If it gets to September and you wanna be back here, I will bring you back personally, I promise," Jess insisted, his hand at her face making her look at him. "But please, Rory, give us this chance. If there's a chance we can figure this out, it has to be away from here, away from Stars Hollow. You know I'm right. Don't think about it, just say yes. Come with me, please?"

Rory was so overwhelmed by the idea and the look in his eyes and all the feelings swirling inside of her. She closed her eyes a moment and took a deep breath... and then slowly nodded her head. "Yes."

"Yes?" Jess echoed, almost afraid he had imagined her answer.

"Yes," she repeated. "I'll go with you."

No sooner had she said the words than Jess pulled her closer, kissing her firmly on the lips.

In the minutes that followed, they put everything Rory might need in the back of Jess' car and locked the rest of her belongings safely in the back of her own vehicle. She could get her mom to come pick that up later, when she actually got around to explaining what she was doing. Right now, Rory couldn't think about that. She didn't want to think at all, she just wanted to go.

"You okay?" Jess checked as they finally got into the car again.

"I am," Rory promised, smiling as she leaned over the gear shift to kiss him one more time. "Let's get out of here."

Smiling back at her, he put the car in gear. "As you wish."

To Be Continued...