A/N: Thanks for your patience guys, it took me awhile since I had a ton of stuff happening all at once, but I have updated. Finally! If you want I have another story up that you can read, it's a one part TRORY it's called "Time Changes". Anyways,

On with the story…

Disclaimer Don't you think if I owned the Gilmore Girls that we poor, poor Aussies would still be getting our new episodes of the Gilmore Girls, instead of just getting season 1 on pay TV! Plus Milo and Tristan would not have left, ever! Simple as that. But never fear, I am saving up all my shiny pennies to buy them from ASP, and I am proud to say that after 6 months of very intensive saving I now have a total of 50 cents, Yay me!!

Rating: PG

The Clearing

Part Eight- Party

Jess watched on curiously as Rory's eyes darted about the room. He knew that she was nervous, he just didn't know why.

He had been to a million of these things and she had been to a million more so it wasn't like this was something new and she had reason to be so on edge.

Rory had been acting like this for nearly a week now, ever since she found out about this party that that they were now attending. Jess had narrowed the reason for her weirdness down to either someone she didn't want to see was going to be here or this was some kind of strange partner swapping party that she was being blackmailed into attending. Jess knew Rory well enough to know that it wasn't the second one, but he'd ask just to be sure.

"Hey Ror, you seem really tense and nervous. You have for the last week, what up?"

Rory stopped franticly looking around the room long enough to focus on Jess and offer him a weak smile.

'It's nothing. I just… I always get like this when we have to come to these things. You know how much I hate going to these society booze ups!"

For emphasis she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze and offered his another weak smile followed by a quick peck on the lips.

"Now why don't we go mingle with these drunken louts, who knows maybe it'll make the time pass more quickly."

" Yeah sure, I'll be right with you I just need to go to the bathroom, do you want a drink on my way back?"

Rory asked jess for a champagne then turned her back to him and walked over to where he mother was chatting with some of Richard Gilmore's associates, jess watched her for a minute whilst mulling over their brief conversation.

"Something is up with her, no matter how much she hates these shindigs she has never acted like this. Whatever it is she doesn't want to tell me so it has to be big, I just hope it won't hurt us."

Jess turned away from looking at Rory and gave a wry laugh to himself

" Wow, how symbolic is this? She block me out by not telling me what's going on which is like turning her back on me and our relationship… hmm"

He then walked off in search of a bathroom, not that he really needed to go, but just so he could say he had been.

Jess had changed a lot over the years since he had moved to Stars Hollow when he was seventeen. When he first met Rory he was all laconic and had a James Dean "Rebel Without a Cause" image going, he liked it, it was what helped him survive in the streets of New York, but the people of Stars Hollow didn't respond to well to it. When he moved to Stars Hollow to live with his Uncle Luke he was immediately labelled a thug and a vandal, just because of where he was from. Whenever something went wrong they townsfolk automatically blamed Jess, which didn't bother him in the least since it was usually him. He didn't change for anybody- except Rory. She was the first person who made him think that there was still good in the world, she was like the good version of him, they had more in common than anybody he had ever met, yet they couldn't be more opposite.

They were drawn to each other, but back then it could never work, they tried a relationship but he found he was drawing Rory into his world too much, he loved her so he ended it telling her they'd still be friends. But he couldn't handle it and he left for California soon after.

While there he had cleaned up his act and went out and got himself an education- finishing High School, then going to Community College and doing a business degree much like Lorelai.

He hadn't met up with Rory again until a year and a half ago, when they were both in New York for job interviews- his was for running a book/ alternative music store and hers was for an internship at Time magazine. While she didn't get that job she found another one a few weeks later. He thought back to their first meeting again in a small coffee shop in Greenwich Village.

He had been waiting in line for the last 10 minutes while bald middle aged man in a business suit decided between a Double Chocolate Mocha latte and a straight black with a Danish.

"It's not like the decision is a hard one, man!" Jess felt like yelling at the somewhat indecisive man " How the hell do you choose what underwear you're going to but on in the morning, or do you just not wear them because it's too hard to decide!"

But Jess had learnt over the years to keep his mouth shut, to some extent anyway. Instead he said to the man at the counter

"Hey man, why don't you just hurry up and have the Chocolate Mocha and the Danish, then when you get home tonight you can make yourself a normal coffee! Just order and let somebody else go! "The man turned around and looked at Jess. Narrowing his eyes he looked him up and down and snarled.

"Hey punk, are you talking to me? Because if you are I don't like your tone of voice and your attitude"

He took a step towards Jess and stared at him threateningly. Jess gulped sizing up the man, he was at least 50 pounds heavier and a good six inches taller than himself. But he knew he couldn't back down or show fear. All thoughts of keeping his mouth shut flew out the window

"Yeah, I was talking to you. How long does it take to order a friggin' coffee? It's not like your dumb ass Dubya deciding if we are gonna go bomb another country!"

Suddenly the man was up in his face, eyes bulging out of his now bright red, rat like head

"Are you showing disrespect to our fine former president? What are you, Un-American or something? How dare you disrespect one of the greatest leaders this fine country has ever had!"

Jess simply smirked at the man and laughed.

"Fine president my ass!" He then started to make choking sounds. "Oh my god! I'm so smart I cant eat a pretzel prop-"

That was enough for the man who gave Jess a hard left hook knocking him into a table and chairs before running out of the shop.

Jess groaned and touched his cheek where the man hit him. Wincing, he then looked up so he could apologise to the person who's table he'd ended up under. When he looked up he was met with two blue eyes that he would know anywhere.

"Rory…Hey"

In the bathroom in Hartford Jess chuckled at the memory, remembering how she'd helped him up and to a doctor.

"Amazing, I treated her like shit and then she just ups and helps me after years without talking to each other! She is one amazing person. But why won't she let me help her?"

You guys all know the deal, R/R. Cuz I love the reviews both good and bad! So send em in! I'll update ASAP or as soon as I think what to write!

Luv Rach xoxo