Disclaimer: Don't own Gilmore Girls, never have, never will…

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That night Rory walked home slowly. She constantly kept looking behind her to see if Jess was there, but he never was. Every time she turned around she was more disappointed then the last time, because what did it mean if he didn't come after her. It meant that he didn't feel the same she did. She kept her down as she passed by the bridge and stopped to remember the good times Jess and she had had there…

"Hey" Jess approached her from behind where she was sitting on the bridge.

"Hey back at you" she titled her head up to look at him and smiled, "haven't seen you in awhile."

"Yeah well you've been busy with Dean and school, and Skylar and I have been hanging out a lot." He stood behind her with his hands in his pockets.

"So you two are doing well?"

He nodded his head, before changing the subject "What are you doing out here all by your little lonesome, on a scary night like tonight in Stars Hallow" he joked.

"Just reading, I thought I heard some noise over there" she pointed towards the bushes to her left, "But lucky for me my knight in shining armor just showed up, so now I don't have to worry anymore."

Jess took a seat next to her on the bridge, "This for school or fun?" he looked at the cover of the worn book that was gently resting in her hands.

"Fun."

Jess nodded his head and looked out to the water, "Want to go swimming?"

Rory leaned her head to look at him and then started laughing, "You're joking right?"

Jess shrugged.

"Jess its like 48 degrees outside, that water is freezing, you'd have to be crazy to go swimming in there."

"Oh come on Ror, it will be just like when we younger, remember those fun times? Or have you forgotten?" Jess gave Rory the eye and then took his shoes off. He slowly lowered himself down into the water, tensing up when he felt the cold against his skin; automatically he sucked in his stomach, as if it would help him stay warm.

"No I didn't forget… how could I? I just don't want to freeze to death that's all." Rory set her book down before raising her voice towards Jess, "Jess you are crazy… you know that? Seriously what is wrong with you?... You're going to get sick you know that… and I'm not going to come over and nurse you… no chicken soup… or hot chocolate… nothing… Jess really, get out of there please, before you freeze to death." She stood up on the bridge.

"Come in here and get me" he smiled at her.

Rory did not smile back instead she glared at him, "Jess, get out of there now."

"Come in and get me, and then I'll come out." His facial expression didn't change and he stayed as serious and he was when he arrived at the bridge.

"Fine you can stay in there for all I care, I'm not getting sick" Rory threw her arms up in defeat and sat back down on the cold wood of the bridge.

"Fine, but just know that  you'll have to live with the guilt  for the rest of your life knowing that you stood by and watched your best friend freeze to death, all because you were too stubborn to go in after him… because you didn't want to get sick."

"I hate you…" Rory glared at Jess before taking her shoes off as well and slowly lowering herself into the cold water. She knew that there was no way Jess and his thick head would ever get out of that water unless she went in with him.

"I love you…" he smiled

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before; now I'm in, so get out!"

"Nope come here first, Just dipping your toes into the water does not qualify as going in."

"You are pure evil, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

Rory walked over to Jess slowly, and before he could say anything else she jumped on top of him causing him to go under the water completely.

He came back of grasping for air, "God Rory you could have killed me, do you know how cold that water is? My whole body just froze and I couldn't move."

"Yeah well that's what you get for making me come in after you." She smiled.

"Oh now your dead." He smiled.

"You would never kill me, you love me too much." She climbed back out onto the bridge.

"Love? Who said anything about love?"

"Umm I think you did… wait yes…" Rory paused and made a face like she was really thinking, trying to remember the exact moment... "YES!!  You did… your exact words were, 'I love you'" she smiled.

"I never said that." he denied as he walked over to the bridge still in the water.

"Um I think you did. No I don't think… I KNOW!  Its okay Jess, I know, big macho Jess loves me, and really its okay… really, and I've learned to deal with it, now you can too."

Jess's lips were turning blue, and he was starting to shiver, he wrapped his arms around himself and began to rub them.

"Aw is my soft little Jessie-poo getting cold?" Rory asked in a sad face. "Come here; let Rory make it all better."

Jess rolled his eyes before crawling out of the water and up onto the bridge and stood up facing Rory; she smiled and wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his arms trying to make him a little bit warmer. He set his head down on her shoulder and they hugged for awhile, "I miss you" Jess whispered in her ear.

"Yeah I know, I miss you too" she tightened her arms around him, "Come on I'm freezing, let's go back to my place, I'm pretty sure you still have a change a clothes there. We can pop in a movie and you can stay the night like old times"

He smiled and nodded his head in agreement, then bent down and picked up her book, he then draped his arm around her shoulder and they headed in the direction of her house…

Every time things seemed to be rough between the two of them they always made up, it didn't matter the amount of time that had passed, or what had gotten in this middle of them, they always found their way back to each other. But this time was different, this time her feelings were involved, and it wasn't going to be so easy.

After that day Jess and Rory started to avoid each other. She had just told him everything she had tried so hard to hide from him, and then they kissed. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around him now. She hadn't talked to him and she didn't know how he felt about any of it.

Jess wanted to talk to Rory, but everything seemed so surreal. It all happened so quickly that he wasn't even sure he had believed it himself. He wasn't sure if Rory was trying to tell him that she loved him, or if she hated him for ruining her life, so he avoided her. The hardest part was Reagan though. She kept asking where Rory was, and Jess told her she was busy with school but that they'd see her soon.

A week and a half passed, and they didn't say a word to one another. They didn't see each other, or call each other, or make surprise visits over at one another's house's to talk it out or apologize, they both just avoided each other. They had seen each other a few times around town, but both avoided eye contact and ran in the opposite direction as soon as they had an opening. It was weird, that two people once so close, could now be so far apart, afraid to talk to one another out of fear of what the other may say or do.

It was a bright afternoon, and Jess had it off from work. He was playing catch out in the front yard with Reagan when the mail came. He left it in the mail box, he didn't feel like dealing with Kirk at the moment, and he never was one to get excited about bills. He shrugged it off; and would get it later, when he had nothing better to do.

Thirty minutes passed and the heat was getting to them, "Dad can we be done? I'm tired, and hot." Reagan groaned.

"Can we be done? I thought you'd never ask… I'm only out here because you wanted to be." He smiled at his daughter, "I'll race you inside, but first I want to get the mail."

"I want to get it!" Reagan shouted as she ran for the mail box. She reached up to it and stood on her tip toes, still not tall enough to see inside it or reach far enough to get every envelope. Jess walked over to help her, and there was only one thing she had left inside.

Jess took the crème colored envelope in his hands and quickly glanced at it, before returning his full attention to it, it was from Rory.

"What is it Daddy? What is it?" Reagan reached up to grab it from his hands.

"Its nothing Ray, come on lets go inside, you want some ice cream?"

"Yeah!" she raced for the door and Jess slowly followed behind her.

They made it into the house and Jess gave Reagan a huge bowl ice cream to keep her calm for the time being. She got out one of her many coloring books and every crayon she could find. A coloring book and ice cream was enough to entertain her for hours.

Jess took a seat at the kitchen table holding the envelope in his hands. It wasn't a letter, and he knew exactly what it was. It was her graduation announcement. But just seeing his name written neatly on the outside in her handwriting was enough for him. He missed her even more now, he hated that things were like this.

He slowly tore open the paper and took the announcement out. It had her name on it and the date and time and place where the ceremony would be held. He smiled that she had made it so far. That she had managed to take care of him, raise Reagan and go to school all at the same time. He had never been more proud of anyone in his entire life, and he wished that he had something to show that he accomplished so much as well.

He folded down the last part of the announcement and saw there was also an invitation, then a small piece of paper fell out, it floated to the floor quickly and Jess bent over to pick it up. It was a note from her; he held it in his hands, everything a blur…. Then it came into focus…

Jess…

I know we aren't really on speaking terms right now. Well, more like we are avoiding each other… and I don't know how long this is going to last, another day or a year, but either way my graduation is coming up, as you can tell from the announcement and the invitation, and I was thinking that no matter what our situation is, none of this would mean anything to me if Reagan and you weren't there. It would be my biggest regret knowing that you helped me get this far and weren't there to share it with me, so please, come. You are my life, and you there would mean the world to me, so think about it, and hopefully I'll see and talk to you soon.

                                    Love, Rory

Jess stared at the letter in his hands, he knew that it wasn't an apology, and that she was still upset with everything that had gone on, but he also knew that he had to go. That if he didn't, not only would it be her biggest regret, but his as well. He wouldn't miss her graduation for the world, and he knew that she knew that.