A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay with this. I was on a good streak last week, but then my life got in the way... Anyway, I probably rewrote this chapter 5 times and I still don't fully like it, but it's necessary... But more R&J are coming in the next one.

A/N2: Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! Your reviews made me so happy, so thanks everyone!

Chapter 6

Jess watched helplessly as Rory realized how late she was for school. She chaotically scurried around the house, hopping on one foot to adjust her socks while looking for various books scattered around the living room, piled up under the stairs, and, in one instance, stuffed inside the giant cow-shaped napkin holder in the kitchen. While Lorelai was getting her car keys, Rory sighed dramatically and swung her shoulders around Jess, sneaking a kiss. 'Will you be ok here with mom? Please, please don't pick any fights while I'm gone. And don't leave.' Rory widened her eyes seriously.

Jess barely had time to mutter, 'I'll try.' Just then, Lorelai stumbled down the stairs and watched in amusement as Rory and Jess flung themselves apart. She threw Rory the car keys, reminded her to drive safe, and sighed once the house finally settled into silence with Rory driving away.

Jess and Lorelai were now faced with the fact that they had to deal with each other. They both stood awkwardly on either side of the living room, Lorelai with her arms crossed in front of her chest and Jess with his hands hidden in his pockets, the couch perched between them. The silence was very jarring after the loud events of that hectic morning. Jess in particular looked like he was wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

'I don't think you had anything to eat. We have some leftover Thai food.' Lorelai said to Jess, sounding a bit stiff.

Jess looked away, eying the door, 'No, thanks.'

Lorelai nodded, staring at him as he shifted around on one foot.

'I think I'll just go.'

'Go where?' She retorted, not meaning to sound hostile, but coming off that way nonetheless.

Jess shrugged, 'Anywhere.'

Lorelai continued, 'You can just come in to eat. I promise not to feed you any rat poison.'

'You seemed pretty serious about – oh, what was it? – smashing my face with a waffle maker.'

'Frying pan, actually.' She mused, 'We don't have a waffle maker. Although now that you mentioned it, we should definitely get one. Bet it would well in hoarding off Rory's boyfriends. We do have an abundance of kitchen knives though, so I think we can make do.'

'My bones are shaking.' Jess deadpanned.

Lorelai raised her brows disapprovingly but chose not to reply. The truth was, she didn't quite know how to handle Jess. She prided herself on being a people-person. Having had years of experience with inn guests, she thought she could always resolve conflicts, deflect anger and generally get people to cooperate. People generally liked her, and even those that couldn't keep up with her humor never openly scowled at her. Jess was apparently one exception to that. Every word she said to him was met with a glare, or accompanied by a curt, snarky remark. Even in silence, he radiated waves of contempt and icy disdain. What on earth had happened in that kid's life to make him so sour?

As much as she'd like to, kicking him out wasn't an option today. News would travel fast and Luke would surely find out that Jess was here. Then, he'd throw a mad fit – at her of course, but more importantly – at Jess. If that happened, Jess would definitely snap and skip town, and Rory would… Rory would be devastated, shattered into pieces. No, that's not an option.

Jess stared at her, still scowling, but made no move to leave. 'So what? We just gonna stare at each other all afternoon?'

'I have all the time in the world.'

'Right. Nothing to do since your inn burned down, huh?' He gave her an annoying smirk.

'Nothing but take in homeless teenagers apparently.' Lorelai glared right back.

'Ah, that good old small-town hospitality.'

'Hospitality my ass. What is wrong with you, Jess? I let you crash here when you have absolutely nowhere else to go, give you food and blankets and a shower. And you go ahead and throw that back in my face? What is wrong with you?'

Jess had heard the same you-let-me-down-son speech from so many adults in his life already. This part was getting old, he thought. 'Why don't you just fast forward to the part where you kick me out? 'Cause I could really do without the big speech.'

'Well, too bad, 'cause you're gonna listen to this.' Lorelai said through clenched teeth, trying her best to talk calmly. 'I took you in, against all better judgment. You. The guy who previously forced Rory in bed at a party, got her into a car accident, stole her bracelet, and treated her like crap on so many occasions –'

'I never 'forced' her in bed at the party!'

'Was this some big game to you? Having some fun by using her like this –'

'I was not using her!' Jess shut his eyes and spoke forcefully.

'Then what were you doing?' Lorelai threw her hands in frustration.

'She came to me. She snuck out to see me. By your logic, maybe she was the one using –' He cut off abruptly, knowing from Lorelai's glare that this was a bad way to phrase this.

'You don't know the first thing about how you should be treating her!'

'I was never using her!' Jess repeated. He looked more and more frustrated, and as he fell into silence again, he wasn't radiating icy hatred anymore, but rather confusion and hurt. He wasn't quite scowling at Lorelai anymore. Instead, he felt exactly like how he'd felt at the party with Rory. Like a piece of shit. Had he used her? Taken advantage of her? Is he incapable of not screwing up? He wasn't even angry at Lorelai. She was just pointing out the obvious.

'You're confused, Jess. have no idea what you're doing. Not with Rory and not with the rest of your life.' Lorelai shook her head at him. 'So I need you to tell me what it is you're planning on doing, because after the way you hurt Luke… I can't let you do that to Rory.' Lorelai said, her voice softening slightly. She didn't exactly know where she was going with this whole conversation herself.

When Jess gave no response again, Lorelai sighed. 'I can't do this without coffee. Come on, you could use one too. Might make you chatty.' Lorelai turned to the kitchen, scoffing at the idea of a chatty Jess.

Jess's first impulse was to say no. That was his usual response to anything Lorelai would offer. But the truth was, having not had dinner last night, he was more than starving at this point and as much as he loathed this conversation they were having, his desire for food, or even just coffee, was winning out.

He had to admit, he'd expected more yelling, especially after what he overheard her say to Rory. He knew Lorelai wasn't a typical mom, but he'd expected a lot more scolding, colorful insults about him defiling her daughter, a few jabs at him being a flunk-out and a loser, chasing him down the street with her choice of weaponry. Most of all, he'd expected her to rat him out to Luke by now. Instead, she was making jokes about frying pans and offering him coffee? What is that?

Once in the kitchen, he repeated himself, 'Just for the record, I was not using her!'

Ignoring him, Lorelai started pouring coffee into the coffee machine. Jess spotted a plate of cookies lying on the table and tried to ignore it, but as the smell of coffee filled the room, he took a seat at the table and grabbed one of the cookies as quietly as he could.

If Lorelai noticed, she didn't call him out. Once the coffee was ready, she poured him a cup alongside hers and joined him at the table, as she carefully thought about what to say next.

Lorelai started, 'I know you care about Rory, on some level. I know she cares a lot about you, for reasons I don't fully understand. But the truth is, Jess, you're sabotaging the both of you here, big time.'

Jess was scratching at something on the table, looking down intently. It looked like old gum, or a molten marshmallow. He bit down the urge to say the first rude thing that popped into his head. He had to admit, Lorelai wasn't being hostile. There was nothing hostile about her words. She wasn't pitying him either, not exactly. So what was she doing?

His mind was also hung up on how she said Rory cares about him. He tried to stop himself from getting lost in thoughts of Rory, as he tried to figure out what her mother was getting at.

'Look, Jess. Let's be realistic here. You need to figure out where your life is going before dragging Rory along. I mean, what's going to happen here? Do you know what you're gonna do? Where you're going?'

'I'll figure it out.'

'Because Rory has a plan. A big, solid plan that's been written out and plastered to the wall since she was six.'

'I know about the plan.'

'Well, it's not part of her plan, and I won't let it be, for her to start chasing some guy she likes, down this difficult life you're heading into.'

'Rory can make her own decisions. I don't know why we're even having this conversation.'

Lorelai sighed. She got up, opened the cupboard and grabbed a jar full of cookies. She poured them into the plate, grabbed a handful and then pushed the plate towards him. He stared at the plate for a moment, before grabbing two cookies and shoving them in his mouth. They tasted like Christmas, cinnamon and honey, homemade probably. Was she bribing him with food? Lorelai definitely hadn't made them herself, maybe that neighbor with all the garden gnomes?

Lorelai was watching him, then she spoke again, making sure she looked straight in his eyes. 'You have a lot of growing up left to do. You are up for a hard life here, Jess, because you've pushed away everybody that could possibly fight for you. I mean, you managed to push away Luke and Luke's a freaking saint who could put up with anything and anyone, and believe me, I've tested him many times…'

Jess opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

'I mean, I'm not against you here. I'm not saying you're gonna be a failure for your whole life. I will be wishing and hoping and praying you make it in the world and change into someone successful and slightly more pleasant and stop using that awful hair gel…' She paused to wave at his hair. He rolled his eyes, he hadn't even used the damn gel today. 'But while you do that, I don't want you involved with Rory. You don't get to use her to forget about your problems. She's not gonna fix your life for you.'

He winced. He wanted to say something to make her shut up, but his throat was suddenly all parched and swollen.

'Before you go, I want you to say goodbye to Rory and end things properly. When you leave, I don't want you keeping in touch.'

'I'm not gonna hurt her.' Jess defended.

'No more stringing her along.'

'What? I was never stringing her along!'

'It'll hurt her for a while, but she'll get over it and she'll let go. You just have to figure your life out and while you do that, you don't get to suck her into your mess. You just have to deal with things without pushing her down with you.'

'No, forget it. I'm not breaking up with her just because that's what you want. That's none of your goddamn business. I get a say in this. Rory too. And that's it. I know you think we need your blessing and all, but we don't, so you need to butt out.'

'Cut out the attitude, Jess. I've been there, remember? I left home when I was 16 and I didn't just have a leather jacket and a snarky attitude like yours, I also had a newborn baby. And believe me, those first few years, they were some of the worst of my life, and so, I've tried very hard to keep Rory from ever living through anything like that. The instability, the fear of always running out of money, the hating everything about being in the working class, and the having to sleep with your eyes half-open 'cause the lock doesn't work… I've done all of that… and if I'd had anyone close to me during that time, I would've destroyed them, depleted them completely. I don't want that for Rory. And if you cared about her at all, you would, too.'

'I'm getting outta here.' Jess shoved his chair back, marched up to the back door and slammed it behind him.

Lorelai watched him go with a deep sigh, hoping she did the right thing by her daughter.

Jess had a lot of time to kill and not many places to go, so naturally, he ended up at the old bridge by the lake. He would kill for his cigarettes, but they were back at the house and no way was he going back there. He also realized he couldn't take the bus right away, because now even his duffel bag was back at the garage. He now knew what it felt like to have every door slam shut in his face.

Screw this. Screw this town, their fake-happy attitudes, their cringy festivities, their gossip, their noses all up in the air. Screw Lorelai, Luke and his mother, and all the adults who took so much pleasure in kicking him out. Screw that fat principal and the stupid prom in the shitty school he never cared about. Fuck them all.

He lay down on the bridge, his face facing the clear sky. Cursing the whole damn world made him feel a little bit better, but it didn't change the voice in his head that said Lorelai was right. What good was he for Rory? She deserved better than this. Isn't that why he'd gotten on that bus in the first place? To avoid seeing her, have a clean break, make their separation smooth and painless. What was his life going to be anyway, besides working minimum wage in construction or fork lifting or some shit?

Besides, he knew first-hand about stringing people along. How getting involved in someone else's shitty life messes you up. He'd had enough experience on that with Liz. Always picking up her slack, taking care of bills, managing finances, shopping for food… Lorelai was right. It was depleting. He was already depleted and no, he didn't want that for Rory either. The thought of turning into a selfish drunk like his mother made him sick.

And what Lorelai had said, he could read in between the lines too. He's not good enough for Rory. He knew that in the back of his mind and he'd always known it. The moment Rory realized it, she would break up with him herself. Where would he fit in anyway? Her life was going to be in Yale, with fancy friends and a big future. Why on earth would she pick him? Why had she ever picked him to begin with?

He closed his eyes and pictured Rory, the hurt in her eyes when she faced him in the park, her hot anger when he refused to tell her he flunked out, her arms pulling him in and rubbing his back when he finally did. More images of Rory flooded his mind. Rory pushing her hair back before she kissed him at the garage, her hands on his cheek and chest and arms, her breath on his face as he lay on top of her, her crystal blue eyes staring at him with affection and want and complete trust…

But there were other things too. The message she'd left on the answering machine the night of the Distillers concert, the look on her face before she left him at Kyle's party, the way she looked around before kissing him in public, the unmistakable distrust she has whenever he says he'll call.

He should've done this yesterday. It would've been much easier before yesterday's events in the garage. She would've hated him yesterday for breaking up, but now, now she'd never forgive him. He could just leave, without really breaking things off. Stick to his original plan, clean break and all that.

He'd never broken up with a girl before. Well, that's not technically true. He had, but it was a one-sentence kind of breakup and he never thought twice about it. He'd never stuck around long enough to care about a girl, because he'd never found anyone interesting. The only relationships he'd had before were symbiotic relationships. A few hookups at some parties, hanging out at each other's places, occasionally going out to movies. Only because going to the movies alone is pathetic. Despite his reputation, he wasn't actually that experienced. Anyway, symbiotic relationships are uncomplicated. They don't require breakups, because they don't mean anything. But Rory was different, Rory was a real relationship kind of girl. After all, when had he ever attended a 24-hour dance marathon to win a girl over? Or bought a basket of food from a town fair? When had he ever had his heart go crazy like that by just kissing? And yesterday at the garage… No, he can't give her a half-assed breakup and he can't take the bus and just go.

He ran his hands over his face. What if he asked her to run away together? Go on a road trip, or run together to California. Rory has a plan. A big plan, Jess. He sighed, no, she'd never agree to that, with exams and Chilton... Maybe a weekend? Run away for a weekend… What would she say to that?

Jess lay down under the warm sun with his thoughts all over the place, considering every option he had, running over all possible conversations with Rory. After what felt like hours, he got up, deciding he needed to shake off some of these thoughts.

He went and did something he never thought he'd do. Something he'd in fact thought about, but always dismissed. It was a stupid idea. It was ridiculous to even go ahead with it, but he'd already made every adult in his life lose his head, so what's one more?

He found himself in front of Kyle's house and before he changed his mind, he rang the doorbell. Kyle's father opened the door. When Jess announced who he was, the man's expression changed. He let out a spew of angry curses. His face turned bright red, yelling, scolding, waving at broken furniture and barking about teenage parties and common decency. And did he know his uncle had to write a check so he wouldn't press charges? Did he know just how much his uncle paid? Yes, Mr. Gibson, I know. I understand, Mr. Gibson. I'll consider joining the Navy, Mr. Gibson. He ended up offering to fix some furniture. Kyle's father scowled at him, refused and started a whole new wave of insults and curses.

When it was all over, Jess felt strange. He'd just willingly gone to a parent, the parent of some guy he barely knew. He'd acted like a doormat and gotten screamed at for 30 minutes. Was he losing his mind? More strange was the fact that he felt oddly light, almost weightless, after the whole encounter. In fact, he walked around the lake, laughing like a maniac.

It was 4.30 pm when Rory's bus finally reached the station. Jess was lying down on the bench, his legs hanging over the side of the bench. His book wasn't anywhere near interesting enough to keep his mind occupied. His nails were bitten to the quick. He'd tried to run his next conversation with Rory through his head, but after hours of restless pacing, he'd given up. It would suck either way, so he might as well just improvise it. Breakups always do.

'Hey! Oh God, I missed you.' Rory ran to him, falling into him and making him crash back onto the bench.

'Hey –' Jess started, before Rory cut him off with a kiss. It was a kiss that she'd been wanting to give him all day, long and hard.

'I can't believe I left you with my mom. I was so worried all day, I walked into 3 wrong classrooms and nearly fell down the stairs. Did she give you a big speech? Was it awful? How did you get here by the way? And are you sure Luke didn't see you?'

Jess stared at her. He wanted to remember her like this. Excited eyes, small smile, red lips slightly smiling, panting from speed-talking. She was… perfect. His heart was racing. He took a breath and said, 'Listen, Rory, we need to talk.'

A/N: It's not a great way to end the chapter, but the next chapter will have a lot more R&J. It'll get much more interesting, I promise!