A/N: Thank you to all that reviewed. I guess I should have warned you from the beginning that this fic wasn't going to be the most interesting or clear or even good. Throughout the chapters - I'm not even sure of how many there will be - there will be flashbacks from her past that will make the plot more clear as you read. I know it'll be frustrating as you continue to read when you don't know something that you feel you should, and for that, I apologize. But I do hope that you will continue to read until, what I hope I can get to, the end. Thank you.

Recollect

miarae - All will be revealed in upcoming chapters. I'm glad you like my start and I hope that you will continue to read.

Alexia Craven - It is one of the guys you thought, but don't worry, I'm going to work the other one in later.

Ramoning Away - I guess you'll have to read to find out who the guy is. Thank you for taking the time to read my fic.

julie - I don't blame you for being confused, but, if you take the time to keep on reading, which I hope you'll do, it'll all make sense.

Daisy Deertree - Sorry to disappoint you, but the guy is not Dean. In fact, he probably won't even show up in my fic, unless he is mentioned in a flashback or memory of the sorts.

Smile1, Poodernite, & Pearls24 - Thank you for your reviews! I hope you'll continue to read.

Chapter 2: The Name that Made her Run Away

He stared mindlessly at the door, unable to form a coherent thought. He heard the other waitress say that name…that name…and he saw her hair, her form. It couldn't be, though…she had disappeared a long time ago…

………………………………

Rory opened the door to the diner after coming back from her break, trying to not roll her eyes as she heard the bell above her ring. This had only been her first day and she was already sick of the sound. She sighed silently and stepped behind the counter, ready to orders, and saw that he hadn't left yet. This time, she did allow her eyes to roll, her shoulders slumping a little as she slowly made her way over to him. "Did you need anything else, sir?" His eyes rose to meet hers, but no words escaped his mouth. Rory stared at him oddly, waiting for an answer. "Sir…?" She crouched down a little to look into his eyes more better and only then did her presence seem to register in his mind.

"Rory…" came the breathless response.

Rory narrowed her eyes in confusion, wondering how he knew her name, but then remembered the nametag she was sporting just below her left shoulder. "Yes?"

He shook his head, as if trying to make her go away…or try to shake of the insanity that was overcoming him. "You can't be here…" he whispered before getting up and walking out of the diner.

Rory stared at the spot he had vacated, trying to understand what just happened. Her eyes suddenly shifted to the book that he left behind. She picked it up slowly then made her way over to the counter where Liana was.

"Something wrong, Rory?" Liana asked, raising an eyebrow at Rory's obvious state of surprise.

Rory stared at the book for a few more seconds before shifting her gaze up to her coworker. "He didn't pay…"

………………………………

She had been working there for a week now, her body already accustomed to all that needed to be done around the diner without having to think twice. Liana had told her a couple times that Rory was one of those people that were born to work and something in the back of her mind just clicked.

"Come on, Rory! You've been doing homework for the past three hours! There has got to be some kind of law that prevents teenagers to work on book reports for any longer than ten minutes so that they can entertain their dear beloved and beautiful mothers."

Rory looked up from the piece of paper she was writing on with an exasperated expression on her face. "Mom, I told you that I need to get this done because-"

"Oh, right," she interrupted, "you want to finish so that you can spend more time with lover boy."

"Mom," she sighed, "would you quit calling him that? He's starting to feed off of that comment greatly every time you say it. I don't think you need to feed his ego."

"Alright, alright," she looked away and rolled her eyes, "I'll stop." She paused a minute to study her daughter hunched over the kitchen table. "Just come to Luke's when you're done, okay? Need to put some food in you or else I'm not going to be a very good mommy."

Rory gave a small smile. "Okay."

"And if he-"

"Rory!"

Rory snapped out of her daze and looked up Liana. "Yeah?"

She gave Rory perplexed glance then nodded toward the door. "Customer."

Rory put on a smile, not noticeably fake anymore, and turned toward the door. "Hi. One?"

The person looked at her briefly then nodded. "Yeah."

She walked to a table, placing a menu on top of it, then walked away, intending on giving an appropriate amount of time for them to look through it.

"I already know what I want."

She turned around again, paused for a short moment, then walked back up to the table. "Okay. What'll it be?"
He stayed silent then answered when she raised an eyebrow. "Same as last week."

She scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What?-" Then she remembered. "Oh, yeah. You're the guy with the book who walked out without paying."

He smirked at that. She hadn't changed one bit. "I come here enough that everyone knows I'll pay everything I get off eventually."

"…alright. Your order will be out in a minute." She turned and began to walk away.

"Don't you want to know what my name is?" he called out to her.

She sighed and turned once more. "What is it?"

"Jess."

She felt her heart stop at that name, that one word. Her breath quickened, but she couldn't figure out why she was panicking all of a sudden.

"Hey!"

Rory spun around, seeing that she had backed up into a customer. "Sorry," she stuttered, looking around for the door, barely noticing all the eyes that were on her. When she finally spotted it, she ran, the door shutting heavily after she rushed through it.

Liana glared at Jess, not really sure what happened, but still mad at the result of it. She started to make her way to Jess when he stood up and hurried out the door.

………………………………

A/N: Yep…totally short and quite possibly crap. Next chapter: Jess and Rory's conversation and some more flashbacks. There you have it - you know who the guy is. Well, anyway, drop a line or two and tell me if I should continue.