Jess felt a drop of rain on his hand. He looked at the place where it had landed and up at the sky. The sun was high and there wasn't a cloud in sight. He rested his head in his hands and felt the wet on his cheeks. He had been crying. He never cried. How could he let himself fall apart now? He just wanted to understand why she had been taken away. He had only continued being as bad as he was so that people wouldn't know anything. It was his mask of hatred and trouble. The one he only took off for himself and Janet. Maybe Rory, too. But he didn't want to think about that right now. First he had to pull himself together. He had to get home so that his probably wasted mother wouldn't worry about him. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his Metalica T-shirt then, looked around cautiously to be sure that no one had noticed it. He set off on that familiar route from his special place to his least favorite place in the world. For the first time that he could remember the sight of a young boy smoking in an alley seemed a bit out of the ordinary.

~~Outside the Independence Inn~~

Lorelai shook out her hand after a long day at work. She hated paperwork, but, since Michele had the day off, she was stuck with a writer's cramp. Suddenly her mind rewound to the night before. Why had Chris come here? After what had happened the last time? Sure, she was happy to have him back. She loved him. This much she had figured out, but She wanted to understand him. This was what she had been waiting for. She just hoped that he felt the same way.

~~On the streets of Stars Hollow~~

Chris had never stopped loving Lorelai. How cold he? She had the most beautiful brown hair that he had ever seen. Not to mention her smile, and her laugh, and her eyes and. He just loved every bit of her. But she had hurt him the last time they were here. He didn't understand why she blamed him for her mistakes: her brake up with Max, her inability to have a complete dating life. Of course he was happy that she had not married Max. That would take her away. There would be no chance for them, then.

~~On the Bus from Hartford~~

Rory sat on the bus reading Oliver Twist for about the 10th time. She didn't know why she bothered. It just made her think of Jess. She couldn't concentrate on anything. The words on the page seemed to blur together. She still didn't understand why he had left. Maybe he wanted to clear some things up back home before he got into a relationship with her. Yea, that was it. He needed to break something off in New York, so that he could be with her.Right? She just wished he would come back and make her understand. Or maybe she would go to him. She had known that something was bothering him, but she didn't know what. Maybe that was why he had gone back. He had someone back home and felt guilty about kissing her. Of course, He was the on who initiated it. Suddenly she felt the bus jerk to a stop and heard the squeak of the doors opening. She gathered her books and headed off the bus. When she was on the sidewalk she looked up and froze. There, sitting on the bench, was someone she had not expected to see.

"Hey," he said softly. The bus closed its doors and drove away.

"Hey." She finally spoke. He was just happy to hear her voice.