Chapter 2: Avoidance and Rory Gilmore

"Close your eyes," she whispered softly in his ear and Jess smiled, loving the feel of her arms around him and her familiar scent in the air around him. "Come on baby, only a few more minutes."

"Hurry up," he said impatiently. "I want to see my present."

"You do this every Christmas, Jess," Liz Mariano scolded playfully and he heard the rustling of paper. He nuzzled further into his mother's embrace and she giggled like a little child. "Sweetie, that tickles. Now open you're eyes and see what I got you."

Jess peeked through one eye first and then opened both. With a large smile he grabbed the large box covered in green and red wrapping paper. Giving his mother an impish grin, he tore open the paper and let out a whoop when he saw a G. I Joe action figure staring back at him through the cellophane. He threw his arms around his mother. "Thanks Mom, you're the coolest."

"Anything for my little man," she returned with a soft smile and ruffled his hair.

After playing with his action figure for a minute, he looked up at his mother who was staring out the window of their small Brooklyn apartment. She had that look in her eyes – that far off, listless look. The look she got before she decided that she needed to change her life again. Jess bit his lower lip. "Mommy?"

"Yeah baby?"

"We'll always be together, right?" he asked placing his head against her shoulder.

Sadness crept into her eyes and smile. She kissed his forehead. "Always, Jess."

Jess woke up with a start, his eyes wide and his breathing ragged. His eyes scanned the through the darkness of his room and he sat up in his bed. Running his shaking hand through his hair, he quickly threw his comforter off his body and walked over to his desk. Turning on his lamp, he looked at the time.

3:49

Sighing and then cursing under his breath, he opened his top drawer and found a packet of cigarettes. He hadn't smoked in what seemed like ages, partly because Luke and Rory had helped him get over his addiction. After the dream he just had, he was seriously thinking of starting again. He stuck his head out of the window, taking in a few gulps of cool September air before lighting his cigarette and taking in an unhealthy drag of nicotine. 

He hadn't dreamt of his mother in ages. He'd barely spoken more than a few words to her when she called during the summer from some state he hadn't even bothered to remember. He wasn't even sure if she was in United States.

He was no expert on dream analysis but he knew that something in his unconscious must've triggered it. Something must've happened in the past few days to make him think of his mother, even if it was in the far recesses of his mind. Disturbed and now wide-awake, he took a drag of his cigarette before extinguishing in a hidden ashtray. He made a mental note to throw it away before Luke got on his case about smelling cigarette smoke.

When his stomach grumbled, he sighed and headed for the kitchen. The living room was dark and he had to feel his way to the fridge. He quickly flipped on the light switch near the doorway and then opened the fridge. Jess knew that he didn't have to worry about being very quiet because Luke was a sound sleeper and wouldn't know if a bulldozer passed through the neighborhood. Jess pulled out the pizza box he had stuffed into the fridge the night before, took out a slice and popped it into the microwave.

"Jess?" Luke's sleepy voice called from the hallway. "You okay?"

As his uncle appeared near the entrance of the kitchen, Jess smiled apologetically. "Did I wake you? I was just getting something to eat."

Luke waved a dismissive hand. "You didn't wake me. And you should eat something. You barely touched your dinner last night." After a hesitant pause, Luke added. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jess' eyes widened. "Um, no."

His uncle looked relieved. "Oh okay. I'm going back to bed."

Jess pulled out the slice of pizza from the microwave and nodded. "G'night Luke."

As Luke padded back to his room, Jess bit thoughtfully into his pizza. After a minute of chewing, he headed for the phone mounted on the opposite wall and dialed a number. The voice on the other end didn't sound sleep filled so he plunged forward. "What are you reading?"

"A Room Of One's Own," Rory replied almost nonchalantly.

"Interesting," he said taking another bite of his pizza.

"Why are you awake, Jess?"

"Couldn't sleep," he answered evasively. "What about you?"

"Neither could I," she stated almost wistfully.

"The date with DuGrey was that good, huh?" he smirked as he finished his pizza and wiped his hands with a paper napkin.

"Why do you assume that if I can't sleep it has to do with a guy?"

"Because the reason I can't sleep is because of a girl."

"Oh," she replied after a pause. He heard the rustle of papers and then some shuffling and he figured that Rory had probably put her book away and gotten into a comfortable position. He smiled a little, thankful that she was ready to listen to what he had to say at four in the morning. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure." He sat down at the kitchen table and leaned his head against the wall. "I dreamt about my mom. I haven't dreamt about her in so long."

"Yeah?" Rory asked softly. "Was it happy or sad?"

"Bittersweet," he answered almost painstakingly. "It was Christmas. I was six. She was sad. If I wasn't so sure that I've never received a G.I Joe for Christmas, I would say it was more of a memory than a dream."

"I don't know what to say."

"That's okay. I didn't know what I wanted you to say when I called. I just wanted to talk to a friend. Maybe we don't have to talk about my mom."

"Ooh goody," she squealed. "We can talk about make-up."

He rolled his eyes. "Rory – "

"And boys!"

"Rory, shut up."

"I want to dye my hair…should I?"

"God, you're so annoying."

"Thank you," she replied saucily. Her next words were more serious. "How about we talk about Paris?"

He propped his feet on the table and sighed. "How about we don't and say we did?"

"You can't keep avoiding me on this subject, Jess. I know something major happened between the two of you and because of that, Paris – who I was getting a long with just fine this year, is avoiding me again. Between the two of you, I'm starting to feel very unwanted," she ranted.

"I'm sure DuGrey makes up for the lack of attention you receive," Jess stated, hoping that he could veer the conversation away from his love life, or lack thereof. "I'm sure I saw the two of you in the gazebo last night. It was very The Sound Of Music like. I was waiting for it to rain."

"Very smooth," she stated unaffected by his humor. "You're not turning this phone conversation around, Jess. You like Paris. I know you do. And Jess Mariano doesn't stop until he gets the girl. I know from experience. So please, just talk to me."

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan. He hated it when she cornered him with logic. He hated that she could make him want to tell her all his problems. "We're too different."

"That's lame. Even for you."

"You don't get it, Rory. It won't work. You're right. She's too set in her ways and she has a lot of dreams she needs to achieve. She doesn't need me messing that up for her," he explained resting his elbow on the tabletop. "She's going to Harvard and I'm not even sure what I want to do once I graduate. She's caviar and champagne and I'm French fries and Coke."

"Very interesting analogy."

"You know what I mean," he sighed and walked over to the fridge. He opened it and pulled out the milk carton. "It's too complicated and she doesn't need that."

"Oh so this is all about her, is it?" she asked sounding almost condescending. "This has nothing to do with the fact that you actually like the girl a lot and what it means for you, right?"

Jess was suddenly very uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Rory let out a labored sigh. "Figure it out for yourself, Jess. And then talk to her. Soon."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Paris Gellar was good at avoiding things, people and feelings. In fact, she was pretty sure that she excelled in it.

All her life she had easily avoided her parents' when they were fighting; she had turned a deaf ear to the moans of pleasure that emitted from one of her parents' rooms when they were 'entertaining' guests and she was very good at avoiding her friends' nosy questions and contemplative glances.

But somehow, she was starting to successfully avoid the memories of her disastrous date with Jess Mariano. And all the feelings of failure they brought with them.

She sighed as she maneuvered her car through early morning traffic and replayed the most memorable aspects of her first and most likely last date with Jess.

"So what is it about Harvard that has you and Rory so gag-gah over it?" Jess asked as they walked through the dimly lit park near her house in Hartford. "Why not Princeton or Yale or those other ridiculously expensive schools?"

"Generations of Gellars have attended Harvard," Paris replied with a small shrug. "It's tradition, I guess. Harvard is a great school. Besides, I'm not sure my father would be very pleased if I went to Yale."

"So you're going to Harvard because your family wants you to?" he asked after a pause.

"That's how it started off," she found herself answering truthfully. "It's something more to me now. I can get out of my parent's house for one thing and it's something I need to do to feel like…I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense am I?"

He smiled. "You're making complete sense. Hey, if anyone understands the need to get away from family, it's me."

She turned her head sideways and gave him a half smile. "I sense that about you. So what's the deal with you living with your uncle?"

Jess let out a sigh and she could tell he didn't want to go into too much detail. "My mother didn't want me. She sent me to him. The rest is pretty much history. But let's not talk about me, okay? I'd much rather try to piece together the mystery that is Paris Gellar."

She was glad that the darkness hid her blush. Summoning the self-confidence she had worked hard on she merely smiled. "Where do you want to start?"

Paris shook her head as Chilton appeared in front of her and cleared her thoughts of anything that had to do with Jess. As she hopped out of her car and slung her backpack over her shoulder, Louise and Madeline showed up behind her.

"Who's this guy you're seeing?" Louise asked upfront.

Paris walked past them, towards the main building. "I'm not seeing anyone."

"That's not what Sally Hilton said," Madeline chirped as they followed her. "Come on, we've been friends forever Paris. Just give us his name."

"I can't," the blonde replied as she reached her locker. "Because I'm not seeing him."

"Then what were you doing with Tristan, Rory, her friend Lane and Henry at Mercury? And how was the dark-haired guy you were dancing with to Van Morrison?" Louise grilled, raising a perfect eyebrow. "Paris, darling, are you slumming?"

Paris slammed her locker shut, scowled and fixed Louise with a menacing glare. "He was no one. We're not seeing each other. And I don't want to talk about him."

"Why not?" Rory said as she showed up behind her and smiled sweetly. "Hey Louise, Madeline. You guys trying to get the 411 on Paris' guy?"

Paris set her teeth and now fixed her glare on the brunette. "Jess is not my guy."

"Ooh, Jess," Madeline said with an excited squeal. "Sounds dangerous."

Louise smirked amused. "Dangerous?"

"Yeah. Guys with names with one or two syllables are always dangerous." Madeline explained brightly. "Jess, Van, Cole, Spike, An -"

"We get the picture," Paris replied tightly hugging her textbook to her chest. "Jess is not dangerous and he's definitely not my guy."

"He wants to be," Rory piped with a smile.

Hope soared in Paris' chest, her eyes widened in surprise and her defenses fell. "He does? He told you that?"

Rory frowned. "Not in so many words. But - "

Disappointed, Paris cut her off. "Just forget it. It doesn't matter. I can't think about boys right now. Louise, Madeline don't you have to get to homeroom?"

Louise nodded bored and then veered Madeline away. "Let's go. Wouldn't want to be late."

As soon as the other two girls left, Paris turned to face Rory swiftly. "Please don't talk about Jess in front of them. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you don't ever mention him to me again. Ever."

The other girl furrowed her eyebrows together. "Why not?"

Paris sighed. "Look, it just won't work. We're too different."

She shook her head and the two started walking to their homeroom class together. "That's what he said. But I didn't believe him and I don't believe you. Just talk to him, Paris."

She sighed and pulled open the door of the classroom. "I don't think he wants to talk to me. Not after the way he bolted out of my house last night."

Rory's next words were cut off by the sound of the bell and Paris was glad that she didn't have to talk about Jess Mariano anymore. She just wished she could stop thinking about him.