A/N: Hello, reader-peops of the Literati persuasion. Did you miss me? ;) Well, I'm back and I have a new fic for you, though I'm not sure it will be to everyone's taste... Yeah, I've got a little outside the box, but I like it so I'm running with it, and hopefully, maybe, a couple of people will get a kick out of it? If you like it, you know what to do! ;)

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

Chapter 1

"It's good to see you, nephew," said Luke as he slapped Jess on the back. "Man, it's been too long. Look at you, all grown up."

"That's what happens as the years go by," he said with a smirk. "I can see the engaged life is suiting you." He grinned genuinely then, not sure he quite understood the shadow that passed over Luke's face at that remark.

"So, we should get you to the diner, get you settled in," his uncle said then, taking one of Jess' two bags from his hand and encouraging him to follow him down the street.

There was something just a little off about Luke, but Jess couldn't decide what it was. He hadn't come to stay here for three years now, not since the summer after graduation. After that, with the money he had saved, he went off to find his way in the world, safe in the knowledge that Liz was finally in rehab and going to be okay. His life had taken so many turns since then, gone in so many directions Jess had never expected, and yet he was happy. Still, all he'd wanted to do for a while now was take a vacation and visit Luke in Stars Hollow, to feel as young and carefree as he always had in this place so many years ago. Finally, he could afford to do it, and here he was.

"The place looks the same," he said as he followed his uncle towards the diner. "The streets, the stores, the diner."

"Yup, it's mostly the same as you remember." Luke nodded along, going in through the front door with Jess on his heels.

"Oh my... Is that little Jess Mariano?" a voice asked with an audible gasp.

Jess turned to look at the large woman at the table by the window. He grinned when he saw her familiar face.

"In the flesh, Miss Patty," he told her.

"And what beautiful flesh," she remarked as he took her hand and kissed it.

"You've just been waiting for me to be legal, huh?" He winked, chuckling at the way she actually blushed before he turned and followed on behind Luke as far as the counter.

"Do you have to?" his uncle asked, rolling his eyes.

"What? Is it my fault I'm irresistible to your clientele?"

"You really can't blame the kid for being so darn cute!" said an older blonde from her spot at the counter. "How you doin', sugar?" she asked Jess with a grin.

"I'm doing just fine, Babette," he told her. "All the better for being back here after so long. Everything is all just the same, except the women got prettier," he told her.

Luke rolled his eyes, again, and gestured towards the curtain behind the counter.

"Jess, you wanna leave off the charm offensive and take your bags up? I have customers to serve and if you haven't noticed, this is the start of the lunch rush!"

"Give me thirty seconds, I'll come back down and help," his nephew told him, grabbing both bags and moving himself towards the curtain and the stairs beyond.

"I wasn't..." Luke stated to protest. "Jess, you're on vacation!" he called after him, but the kid clearly wasn't listening.

It was only then that Luke realised he probably shouldn't be referring to Jess as a kid anymore, not even in his head. Gone was the child and teenager he had known, and in his place an accomplished, charming, decent young man of twenty-one. It was almost unbelievable that his sister, Liz, and the absent Jimmy Mariano, could've created such a person. Jess was always book smart and New York made his street smart, but for a while he was clearly struggling with authority and manners. Liz just didn't have time for him but Luke always did. He let the kid come and stay whenever he could, which usually consisted of most of the Summer break and Christmas too. Mostly he stayed in the apartment, reading his way through piles of books that forever astounded Luke, and then later as a teenager he did more shifts in the diner, earning cash to save for travelling after graduation.

Luke zoned out thinking about Jess' younger years, and wondering at the man his nephew had become. He would like to say he had a hand in raising him right, helping him become better adjusted than he otherwise might've been under Liz's care alone. Still, perhaps it was the tougher parts of his life that had enabled him to write the book he just had published, only by an independent publishing house for now, but there was always the chance of it getting picked up by a larger house that could potentially make him famous across the country, maybe even the world.

"Hey, I thought we were busy?" said Jess himself as he appeared at Luke's side, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and looking ready to work.

"We are, or we will be." His uncle shook his head free of too many thoughts. "Uh, can you clear those tables and the start taking orders?"

"Sure, no problem." Jess smiled amiably and went about his work.

It was weird how easily he could fall into the rhythm of the diner. He hadn't worked tables like this in years, not at Luke's anyway, and yet it was almost as if he had never been away. Today could easily be a normal summer day in his teen years, helping out in the lunch rush before he headed back upstairs to finish his latest read. People he had known years ago greeted him with friendly smiles and waves, at least most people did. There were a few of the townsfolk that never really approved of Luke's 'hoodlum' nephew. Not that he had been so bad, but Jess had enjoyed a few pranks in his younger days, mostly against Taylor Doose, town selectman. He got away with it most of the time, thanks to the fact that Luke also hated that pompous guy! Still, Jess wasn't planning any trouble or fuss on this trip, just some quality time spent in his favourite place with his favourite uncle.

"Luke!" came a yell from the kitchen then. "The grill is smoking again!"

It was obviously Caesar having a meltdown, but Jess looked up and realised his uncle was completely swamped at the counter. Grabbing the dirty dishes from the nearest two tables, he hurried back to the counter, relieving Luke so he could go deal with the grill situation. Jess took order after order, until everyone was dealt with and then breathed a sigh of relief when that particular part of the rush died down.

It was like a dream being back here, no matter how hard he had to work. What Jess called his real life was far less pleasant than vacation time and holidays spent with Luke had ever been. His mother, Liz, was flaky at best and downright awful at worst. She flitted from man to man, and it was a rare occurrence when any of those guys were actually decent human beings. Jess' world had been filled with drug users, abusive assholes, and fights he didn't want to hear beyond his bedroom door. He had bounced between school, the library, and the streets of New York, wanting to be home as little as possible. When school was out, he was gone, off to visit Uncle Luke, who welcomed the unruly boy with open arms every time. It meant the world to Jess.

There were times when he wanted to ask to stay, times even when Luke had offered him the chance, but Jess couldn't do it. As much as he hated what his mom did with her life, he loved her too. He couldn't leave her alone to end up dead. Eventually he always came home to check on her, to pick up the pieces from another bad break up or a crazy binge or both. Still, Stars Hollow was his sanctuary, at least until he graduated, and now he was back in a feeling of safety he never could properly describe, in a world of people he knew so well.

It occurred to Jess that he didn't know absolutely everybody here. That would be impossible after so long away, after all. The bell over the door jingled as a total stranger walked in, as if to illustrate the point Jess had just made in his head. She was probably around his age, brown hair and with the brightest blue eyes. No doubt at all that this was a beautiful young woman and she headed straight towards the counter with a smile that Jess felt he could stare at all day long if she let him.

"Hi," she greeted him.

"Hey," he replied with a smile of his own. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," she said awkwardly. "I'm sorry, usually Luke is the only one serving..."

"I'm Jess, Luke's nephew," he introduced himself. "Here on vacation, but also helping out with the rush."

"Ah, Jess!" She smiled widely. "Nice to have a face to go with the name. Luke's mentioned you before, how you would always come visit him in the summer when we were on vacation or at Christmas when we staying with my grandparents." She rolled her eyes, even as she continued to talk a mile a minute. "I remember telling my mom that it's so crazy how you're always here when we're not, almost like you did it on purpose, even though you obviously couldn't be doing that because hey, why would you want to avoid me when you don't even know me?"

Jess smiled a little at her enthusiasm for explaining herself. It was kind of overwhelming, but he didn't mind at all. He just wished he knew who he was talking to... or being talked at by, perhaps.

"You're right, I don't know you," he said pointedly.

The mysterious woman literally face-palmed.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised, blushing a pretty pink. "I'm Rory," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Rory," he echoed. "Lorelai's daughter?" he checked.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" she asked, retracting her hand now the greeting was over. "Oh, I suppose Luke told you all about us crazy Gilmore girls, huh?"

Jess opened his mouth to speak, but Luke had suddenly reappeared, practically shoving his nephew to one side.

"Hey, Rory." He smiled widely at her. "Don't tell me, a burger with everything and a chocolate sundae."

"Yes! I love how you just know what I want without me having to tell you." She giggled, swinging a little on her stool.

Jess frowned slightly as he watched the exchange between Rory and Luke. Somehow in the presence of his uncle, she seemed so young, more girlish, and yet he was sure she was as old as he was. He was also pretty sure she should have a little more awareness of why Luke would tell him about her and Lorelai. After all, they were bound to be cousins-in-law in the not too distant future.

Letting that topic go for a moment, Jess returned to waiting tables for a while. He watched Rory out of the corner of his eye as she ate her burger and read the newspaper. She seemed to study every page with vivid interest, and yet got through the whole paper before she was even done eating. Next thing he knew, Rory had pulled a book from her bag and started reading that too. A flash of the cover told Jess he approved.

"Oliver Twist." He smiled as he returned to the serving side of the counter. "Good choice."

"I've read it at least twenty times," Rory told him, returning the sunny expression. "I'm kind of a book freak. Do you read much?"

"What is much?" Jess smirked. "I mean, if you think the fact I've read most of my favourites at least as many times as you've read your Dickens classic there, then yeah, I guess so."

"Wow," she reacted with surprise and yet was evidentially impressed. "Well, what are you into? Besides Dickens, I mean. What are you reading right now?"

She was all questions and enthusiasm, and Jess loved having somebody he could fall into a deep discussion about literature with. They covered everything from A to Z as they raved over Ginsberg and playfully argued Hemingway vs Rand. Jess completely lost track of time in their conversation and he didn't care at all.

Luke watched from the other end of the counter and frowned. He knew he should stop them getting into deep conversation like this, but all he had heard them mention so far was books, so he couldn't see the problem. At some point he would have to explain to Jess why Rory was so special, but for now, he didn't suppose it mattered too much if they talked their way through a library full of books they each kept in their heads.

"At least she's still smiling," he muttered to himself.

The phone ringing took his attention then and Luke moved to answer it losing track of the conversation between Rory and Jess. He missed the part where she checked her watch and started to frown and when Jess asked what was wrong.

"I should really go," she said sadly, clearly wishing she could stay longer. "My room is still a mess from coming home, and the plan was to get it all straight today before the summer really gets started." She smiled. "I had fun though."

"Me too," Jess admitted, feeling like a giddy teen when she grinned at him that way and admitted she had a good time just talking to him about books.

The truth was, he felt exactly the same. Nothing was more appealing than a beautiful woman who knew literature as well as he did himself. Jess found himself hoping that Rory was as regular a customer in the diner as Luke always described. Jess watched her leave and still continued to stare as she crossed the street and then disappeared from his sight.

"Hey, you," said an older but pretty dark-haired woman as she swung into the diner at speed.

"Hey," replied Luke with a bright smile as they met at the counter, both leaning in to share a sweet kiss. "How're things today?"

"Same old, same old." She sighed, smile wavering distinctly.

Jess couldn't help but notice as he observed the couple. It was as if they were happy and yet something was getting in the way. He couldn't imagine what the problem was, but decided maybe he needed to ask his uncle about it at some point when they were alone.

Last night, there really hadn't been much chance for talking. After lunch, Jess had spent some time unpacking, then returned to assist with the dinner rush. When that was over, he went out for a walk around the old town he had so missed and ended up talking to more people than he originally intended who were eager to hear what was going on with him and how his writing and such was going.

Clearly Luke had been talking him up to the townsfolk and Jess didn't mind at all. It was late by the time he got home and so both men had gone to bed. By the time Jess woke this morning, Luke was already accepting deliveries and setting up the diner. Here they were, working the breakfast shift side by side, and Jess was faced with a woman he guessed the identity of quite easily.

"You must be Lorelai," he said, smiling as he approached her and Luke.

"Ah, yes. Lorelai this is my elusive nephew, Jess Mariano. Jess, Lorelai."

"So, you're the mini Luke that I never managed to meet before?" She grinned as they shook hands. "I was starting to think you were imaginary."

"Nope, real as you are," Jess assured her. "I was starting to think we would never meet though. In fact, when I talked to Rory yesterday..."

"You talked to Rory?" asked Lorelai, looking strangely disturbed by that.

Jess wasn't sure what to make of her attitude. He could see no reason why he shouldn't have talked to his uncle's fiancée's daughter and yet there seemed to be a distinct opinion that he shouldn't.

"Yeah, we talked for a while, mostly about books," he clarified. "Is that a problem? I mean, I wasn't hitting on her or anything, so if she has a boyfriend-"

"She doesn't," said Lorelai definitely, a little coldly actually.

Jess was officially confused but didn't get any real chance to ask what was up when the very girl they were discussing walked in.

"Hey." She smiled widely as she wandered over to the counter. "Luke, please, coffee!" she begged of him.

Luke immediately gestured for Jess to move aside so he could serve both the Gilmore girls since Lorelai chimed in that she was still waiting for her drink also.

"Hi," said Jess as he leant on the counter near Rory. "What? No Oliver Twist today?"

"Uh, yeah, actually it's in my bag. How did you know I was reading Oliver Twist?"

"Because I saw you reading it yesterday." He frowned, somewhat confused by the question. "Jess, remember? We had a whole conversation about books?"

"Oh, you're Jess!" she suddenly exclaimed with a grin that was as baffling as it was encouraging. "I'm Rory, but I guess you know that, hence the creepy joke, right?"

"Creepy joke?" Jess echoed, but was prevented from getting into further conversation when Lorelai suddenly moved into his eyeline.

"Hey, hon," she said to Rory, grabbing her arm. "Let's grab a table."

The Gilmore girls walked away, Lorelai casting a backwards glance at Jess that was severe to say the least. It just didn't make any sense at all, as far as he could tell.

"Did I just enter The Twilight Zone?" he asked Luke in earnest.

He watched his uncle watching Lorelai and Rory, then ran a hand over his face.

"Jess, c'mere," he gestured for him to follow as he stepped into the storage room.

His nephew looked across at the Gilmores talking animatedly before he walked in behind Luke and closed the door. He hoped he was about to get a real explanation for the weirdness he just witnessed. He really needed one.

"So, Rory is... well, she's special," said Luke, hands pressed together as he tried to explain.

"Special as in bughouse crazy?" Jess checked, at which his uncle blanched.

"No! No, she is not crazy. Don't you start saying stuff like that about Rory, because she's not crazy," he insisted.

"So, what's her deal?" asked Jess. "Because that's not the person I met yesterday."

"Actually, she's exactly the person you met yesterday, and the same person you'll meet tomorrow and every day." Luke sighed. "Look, Rory had an accident in her car a while back. It was two years ago now, right when school let out for the summer. She was due to go back to Yale in the fall for her sophomore year and everything was good for her. Then the accident happened. It didn't seem like much, she just swerved for something furry in the road, rammed the car into a telephone poll, but she hit her head."

Jess watched Luke's face go through a hundred expressions and almost none of them positive when he got as far as describing this accident that seemed to have affected Rory so much.

"Lorelai was in pieces over Rory's condition. She was unconscious for a while, but then eventually she woke up, the doctors asked her a bunch of questions, and it seemed like she was fine. She knew her name, where she was and everything, except for the accident, and that was supposedly normal after that kind of trauma. The problem came the next day. Rory woke up and she didn't seem to recall even being in the hospital, never mind the accident. As far as she was concerned it was the day of the crash but none of that had even happened yet."

"How is that possible?" asked Jess, looking as confused as he felt, he was sure.

"Some kind of short-term memory issue. I don't really know the science or the psychology." His uncle shook his head sadly. "All I know is that Rory wakes up every day believing its June 3rd 2004, and all we can do is let her live that day as she wants to. It really doesn't matter, because the next day, she does it all over again."

Jess was frowning so hard he felt a headache coming on. Without a word he turned away from Luke and opened up the door of the storage room just an inch. He looked out at Rory who was talking and laughing with her Mom, like a girl who had not a care in the world. He supposed that was true. She didn't know what was wrong with her, didn't know she was living in a Groundhog Day type world with everyone playing make pretend all around her. It was maybe the saddest thing Jess ever heard in his life, and immediately he wanted to do anything he could to help.

To Be Continued...