Disclaimer: Yeah, I really wish I owned Jess, but I unfortunately don't. I don't own anything else either except the idea for this story.

"Silence is a good sign right? "Lorelai gave a nervous glance towards the house.

"I mean, maybe Rory has killed Jess and is at this moment, burying him under the floorboards. Very Edgar Allen Poe of her, but Rory is the literary type, so that would be an excellent serial killer signature for her. Maybe a bit predictable, but brilliant none the less."

"Lorelai, I'm sure they're just talking. Not everyone needs to speak so that their voice is amplified loud enough for all of Stars Hollow to hear. Although, I know some people that do," She gave him a guilty grin.

"You sure didn't mind my loud voice the other day when we were-"

"Alright, alright!" His wide eyes were met with a boisterous laugh. Leaning over, he captured her lips with his, giving her a slow, sweet kiss.

"I never said that I didn't enjoy it," he whispered when they finally pulled apart.

"Thought so."

"So, are you going to tell me where you've been for the last three years?"

"All over really. That night that I left you on the sidewalk, I drove back to California and enrolled at some high school down the street. I did my semester, put my time in and got my high school diploma."

She was proud of him. Proud that he'd gone back and finished like she knew he could, like she'd always told him.

"Wait, what about that night that you came and asked me to run away with you?"

Jess leaned forward, resting his folded hands on the table. He stared at them as he began to speak, as if he was taking himself back in time.

"I'd had a big fight with my dad that night, it'd been building for a while. He'd been bugging me to call my mom, and get a job, and a pile of other things. I'd been having a bad few weeks at school and stuff...and I just lost it on him one night."

"What happened?" her voice was almost a whisper. Jess sat back and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"I...I came home one night and he told me that the school had called, said I'd been skipping again. We started arguing, him asking me why I wasn't going anymore...he asked me if I talked to my mother lately and I asked why they hell I'd do that. Then, he said that Luke had called, and asked why I hadn't called him either...he just kept asking me why I'd stopped talking to people, and if this had something to do with why I wasn't going to school again...I told him that it was my life and he could fuck off, that I wasn't going to school anymore...things got pretty heated after that, a lot of yelling and screaming...but it didn't get bad until he said that he was my father and I would do what he told me too and then...I told him that I didn't have a father and...if I did, it sure as hell wouldn't be him and...I told him that I hated him...that I always would...and then he...he hit me," he looked away, and Rory knew that he was crying. Finally, he got up abruptly from the table.

"You know, it's not like no one's ever hit me before! It's just...it' been a while, you know. And it was like...in that instant, he brought back every moment of my past that I'd been trying so hard to forget! So I ran...I could hear him calling after me, but I just got in my car and drove. I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew I had to see you. I hadn't been planning to ask you to come with me really, I just wanted to talk to you. But then...I saw Dean and..." he slammed his fist against the wall.

"I don't know...something in me snapped! I wanted to be with you so badly Rory, and I'd had a plan, and Dean...that just screwed it all up...so I asked you to run away with me," he looked back at her, the understanding between them that they both knew what the answer had been.

"I don't know what I was thinking. I just...I just knew I couldn't go back there. I couldn't do it Rory. The last time that had happened...my mother's boyfriend broke my nose and gave me a black eye...I was fourteen...and you know what she said? She said that it must have been my fault...that I must have done something...and when I had to walk to the hospital, damn it!!I vowed that I would never let anyone hit me like that again!! And no one did...until him..." Jess pounded the wall again with his fist, letting out a shout of rage. Rage towards his mother, his father, his past.

Getting up from the table, Rory came and stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her head on his back. She could smell Jess; his cologne, mixed with the faint smell of cigarette smoke; she'd missed it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be sorry for him," he answered her just as softly. Turning around to face her, he looked straight in her eyes. God how she'd missed those eyes.

"You have to understand that I never meant to hurt you. I've never, ever cared about anyone more than you."

"Then why did you leave me that night?" tears glistened in her eyes as she said, remembering that winter night that he'd professed his love for her before disappearing again.

"...I had to go and make something of myself Rory! There you were, going to Yale, making big plans, and what was I? Nothing!"

"That's not true Jess!!"

"Yes! It is! I wasn't anything and I knew it!"

"You were something to me!!" she shouted and turned away from him, moving to the table again, gripping the back of a chair for support. His voice came as a whisper in her ear. It was soft and warm, but firm, just like Jess.

"But it wasn't enough for me Rory, and it wouldn't have been for you for too long either. I knew that I couldn't see you or speak to you again until I had figured myself out, and made myself into something you could be proud of. Not some high school drop-out who worked in a diner and couldn't even take you to the prom."

"You were so much more than that Jess."

"I wasn't but...I knew I could be, and I knew that was how I could be with you. You were leaving me behind Rory, whether you knew it or not. So I went to try and get you back... you were the only thing that ever mattered to me, and I'm sorry for everything I've done."

The pieces were slowly coming together, and she pulled him into her arms. He held her tightly, as if trying to make up for lost time.

"This is gonna take time you know," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I know." There was a comfortable silence for a few moments as they held each other.

"I missed you Dodger." Rory pulled back enough to see a smirk crossing his face.

"You know," he said thoughtfully.

"No one's called me that in four years."

The opening of the door was followed by Lorelai calling into the kitchen.

"Rory?...Jess?...are you dead?...Did Rory chop you up and put you under the floor boards?"

"Lorelai!" Luke's gruff voice answered her.

"Ew Mom! That's disgusting!" Rory laughed as she and Jess untangled themselves from eachother.

Lorelai suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

"Jess! You're not dead!"

"Nope...should I be?"

"Forget it," Luke advised.

"It's not worth it."

"So..." Lorelai looked back and forth between them.

"Is everything okay now?" As much as she hated to admit, Jess had grown on her. His sarcasm and rebellious nature had reminded her a lot of herself at his age. When he's shown up on her door step a few weeks ago, she'd been thrown. Well, that and she'd wanted to throw him for what'd he'd done. But things had changed. She saw Rory glance behind at Jess and smile.

"No...but it will be."

"Hey Luke, you know what I think this calls for? Coffee!!" Luke glared at his future wife before sighing heavily.

"All right, for tonight ONLY, I will assist you in rotting your insides," he rolled his eyes, causing Rory to laugh.

As the crossed the street to the dinner, Rory let go of Jess' hand and raced her mother there. Jess stopped and watched as they clumsily scrambled to the counter, Luke setting coffee cups in front of them. Lorelai and Rory laughed, and even Luke smiled. He watched as Luke and Lorelai kissed each other over the counter.

"Jess!"

His thoughts were interrupted by Rory calling him from the door.

"Everything okay?"

"...yeah," He nodded finally. He took one last look around and then sighed to himself.

"It's good to be home.

Author's Note:

Ok, so that took me forever to write! So much drama! Don't worry, it'll be toned down a bit for the next few chapters. So, I know I said that I was going to wait for 8 more reviews, but I love writing this story so much that I decided just to screw that and write another chapter. To the one person that did review, I can't exactly remember your name because I'm typing this on my laptop right now, Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOO much! It is wonderful to get feedback from people! Anyhow, please please please please, I beg of you, write me a review!!! I live for feedback and I love this story, I hope you all do too! Thanks a million!