Green Eve: Thank you so much for your review…once I saw your name on it, I remembered that you were the one who wrote Shivery, and I completely lost it. I adore your story, and it means so much to me that a writer like you, who is obviously going to go on to have an excellent career in that field if desired, took the time to read and review something I wrote.

S0m3thing-Pr3tty: Yes! I actually thought the shirt DID bring out his eyes…

mandraco: I'm brilliant! Thank you, because 'blonde' and 'weird' are the adjectives I normally have thrown my way. I've never been called brilliant before…

Lorelai lead the small search party that was herself, Luke, and Dean down towards the bridge. As she walked, townspeople attached themselves to the group, until they were about to turn the corner and see the bridge. By then, there was an upwards of thirty anxious people. Lorelai took a deep breath. 'Whatever you do from here, I'm behind you.' She needed to keep this promise, for her own mental health, and for her daughter's trust.

The residents of Star's Hollow saw the bridge, and the scene unfolding on it. Rory and Jess sat directly beside each other, looking like a pair of young lovers oblivious to everyone else. Jess said something that caused Rory to laugh wholeheartedly, her head tipping back and her brown hair spilling out behind her. Her reaction made Jess smile, an actual smile. Lorelai hadn't seen that near enough times to remember what it looked like. Seeing the two of them, happy, thawed her heart a little.

"Um, maybe we should go," she suggested. But it was no use. Miss Patty had seen the parade of people headed for the lake.

"Don't just stand there! Go talk to her!" she yelled at Lorelai. A few hundred feet away, Rory snapped her head around, the smile disappearing from her face as she saw her neighbors. Jess scowled and stood up.

"How can you stand this place, Rory?" he asked, helping her stand.

"They mean well. Though I'm not very fond of them myself right about now."

"Why not? Why aren't you fond of them?"

"Meaning?"

"Did they walk in on something you're embarrassed about?"

"Of course not!"

"Did you want something to happen that they stopped?"

"Something, yes, depending on what something is,"

"What did you want to happen?"

"I-I wanted to keep talking to you! I like talking to you! I haven't talked to you in forever!"

"Why did you give me your number?"

"Is there a pattern to these questions?"

"Damn it, Rory! Why?"

"Because I missed you!"

"Missed me how?"

"Damn it, Jess!" she mocked him. "I have no idea where you're going with this!"

"I'm going home. I should have known not to come here. Nothing could ever work here."

"Oh. Well then go! See if I care! I'm not hurt because you're leaving again!"

"Come with me."

"Wh-what?"

"Nothing could ever work here. Come to California. It's nice, you'd like it. Sun, sand, nice people."

"You are not saying that. This is a really weird dream that I am going to wake up from, and I'm never ever eating an entire pack of Slim Jims right before bed again!"

"If you don't like it, I'll get you home, no questions asked."

"You're acting like I'm actually going to consider this."

"Why won't you?"

"Because it's crazy! I have a life, and family, and friends, and work, all here!"

"I'm not asking you to move to California, I'm just saying come hang out for a few days, maybe a few weeks."

"You want me to come to California to hang out? What is wrong with you? Are you doing drugs?"

"You missed me. I missed you. The logic's all there."

"NO, there is no logic! They were all right! You treated me like dirt, Jess!"

"I've changed, Rory! I'll prove it to you if you come with me! I know you want to, just screw logic, say yes!"

"I have responsibilities, I have obligations!"

"All of which, if they aren't portable, will be there for you when you get back! You can write just as well on the beach as you can here!"

"Why do you want me to come?"

"Because as I sat alone in my yard, writing a book about you, I thought to myself, 'I was really happy back then. I haven't been happy like that in a damn Long TIME!" he yelled, getting louder with each word. The audience watched the interaction, stunned. They'd mostly just seen Rory waving her arms and Jess running his hands through his hair, but now they could hear. Lorelai watched, repeating her mantra 'I'm behind you' over and over in her head. Dean looked on, enraged.

"I can't."

"See, now you're out of reasons as to WHY you 'can't' come with me. You can! There's no physical reasons why you can't, so it must all be in your head."

"I'll go pack!" she yelled suddenly, angrily. He stopped short of saying whatever had been about to slip off his tongue.

"What?"

"You want me to come so much, so I'm coming! So I don't lay in my bed tonight and every other night for the rest of my life, thinking 'what would have happened if I'd gone with Jess?'"

"Okay then. You're coming with me," he confirmed, not quite ready to believe it.

"I said I was, didn't I?" she asked crossly. She turned on her heel and stomped off past the group of open-mouthed townspeople. She backtracked a few steps.

"Mom, I'm going to California for a few days!" she yelled, still mad. She stormed off to pack. The entire town turned to Jess as one. Slowly they approached him and Jess contemplated diving into the lake to escape. But Lorelai was already standing in front of him.

"What the hell was that?"

"I'm still reeling myself."

"She's going with you?"

"You heard her."

"Why?"

"Because we both know she wants to." Lorelai crossed her arms and looked down, pouting. Dean took that as a sign to step forward.

"You're just going to hurt her again. I won't let you do that."

"What, are you two back together or something?"

"What? No, no I'm married. But I still care about Rory, and that's why you are going to leave, and I'm going to go talk some sense into her."

"Like I'm going to leave now."

"No one wants you here."

"Well, lucky for them, I was just leaving."

"You bastard, I could kill you for just standing there and acting like you didn't do anything wrong!" Dean practically lunged at Jess before Luke restrained him. Shaking Luke off, Dean angrily shouldered Jess as he pushed past him and walked off the bridge. The rest of Star's Hollow followed him, shooting Jess curious glances, until Luke and Lorelai were the only ones left. Jess looked down at his shoes as Luke spoke.

"When did it seem like a good idea to show your face in this town again?"

"Not you too."

"I mean, what happened? You just woke up under your bridge in California and wondered how Rory was doing?"

"To an extent. Although, I don't live under a bridge."

"I've always wondered what I'd say to you if you came back. You walked out on me, and Rory. The only two people who gave a shit about what you did with your life. And now, guess what? I have nothing to say to you." Luke followed the stragglers off.

"He'll come around."

"Excuse me?"

"Jess, I used to hate you. And now I don't know you. And Rory is being completely un-Rory-like. I don't know what to do. Can't I at least be nice until I figure out how to react?"

"Sure," he replied hesitantly, wondering if Lorelai was going to have a breakdown right in front of him.

"Just…don't hurt her. I'll kick your ass if you do." And with that, Jess was again alone.

Beach. Warm. Shorts and tank tops. Rory stood at her dresser, grabbing clothes, holding them up, and tossing them over her shoulder. Everything was weather inappropriate, or boring. Hey, she was getting a free trip to California. If whatever Jess had in mind when he made his crazy proposal didn't work out, she could meet some sexy Cali surfers. OC anyone?

She deposited a pink spaghetti-strap top in her duffel bag, and began looking for her swim suit. She owned two, not counting the eight others she could borrow from Lorelai. One was a conservative, one-piece, navy-blue. The other was much more…enticing.

Lane and Rory had been shopping in Hartford one day for some cute underwear. It was Lane and Dave's anniversary, and Lane wanted to look sexy for him. Rory and Lane had enjoyed a fun girls-day-out wandering around the lingerie store, picking out the most ludicrous items. Lane had gotten several alluring pieces, but Rory had only fallen in love with one piece. It was a tiny black bikini, and to be honest, she'd only tried it on because Lane had dared her to.

Looking at herself in the mirror in the elegant red dressing room, she'd stopped feeling like the homely author who still lived with her mother. She felt like a woman. And she'd liked that feeling. So she bought the suit.

She gently placed both suits in her bag. Questions that she should have asked Jess before she agreed to come with him raced through her mind. Where was she staying? Were they really taking the bus to California? And the most important- what exactly were they? It was far from a romantic excursion, but she didn't think he really just wanted to 'hang out'. Did he just want to talk? Did he want to prove to her that he'd left her for a better life after all? Or did he want to reconcile?

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. She turned to see her mother standing in her doorway.

"Hey," Rory greeted her, pretending she didn't see the tears threatening to fall from her mother's eyes.

"Why are you going with him, Rory?"

"I can't answer that until I've actually gone with him."

"Nothing good can happen here, Rory. He either takes you away and dumps you again, or takes you away and you fall in love and then he dumps you again. Either way, you get dumped."

"Have a little faith in the guy, will you?"

"I don't like this Rory. I can't stop you from going, but I can tell you that I wish you wouldn't do this, and hope you come to your senses."

"What was all that crap about your being behind me then? Did you mean, you're behind me while I'm staying with you and doing what you want, but not when I decide to throw caution to the wind and just find out something about myself, about Jess?"

"I am behind you. I just wish you'd reconsider."

"I'm not going to." She zipped up her bag, stuffed full of clothes, and took a smaller bag out of her closet. She began to walk around her room, dropping books and CD's into it. Lorelai sat down on her bed and watched her move about.

"Don't forget underwear," she joked weakly. Rory smiled at her and sighed.

"Everything's going to be fine, Mom. I'll be back in about a week. I won't do anything stupid." She put her laptop containing notes for her next book on top of the other things, and closed that bag too.

"Is Jess still at the bridge?"

"Most likely. He's public enemy number one, now."

Rory deposited her bags by the back door, and walked off towards the bridge. Lorelai hesitated and ran after her.

"Are you going to get back together with Jess?"

"How should I know? We haven't talked about it yet."

"You're going to, aren't you?"

"I said I didn't know, mother."

"But that's not what your body language says. You're screaming 'wow, me and Jess all alone on a beach…'"

"My body is not saying that!"

"If it wasn't happening to my daughter and the boy who broke her heart, I'd think it was terribly romantic."

"You're annoying me. Maybe nothing will happen, and I'll just come back confident that we're NOT meant to be together, and get on with my life."

"Here's hoping," Lorelai joked sadly.

"I will call you when I get there, and if anything major happens. I will be home soon. And I will not do anything naughty on a beach, so stop looking at me like that!" Lorelai laughed her real laugh for the first time in that conversation.

Rory got to the bridge and found him sitting and reading.

"I hope my adoring public wasn't too hard on you," she remarked as she sat down. He bookmarked his spot and looked over at her.

"That is why we need to leave."

"You don't have to try and convince me again, I haven't changed my mind."

"You're packed?"

"It's on my porch. Do you have any idea how we're getting there?"

"Greyhound."

"Of course. When?"

"Next bus leaves in seventeen minutes," he offered, taking a folded bus schedule out of his pocket.

"That soon?"

"Second-to-next bus leaves tomorrow morning." Rory debated this. She hadn't wanted to leave IMMEDIATELY. But Lorelai wouldn't be too thrilled about Jess crashing on the couch tonight. And no one else would think of letting him stay with them.

"Come on," she stated, sighing and standing up. He mirrored her, and they stood there for a minute, staring at the other one.

"You know we need to talk," she commented. He nodded.

"Once we get there, we'll talk. For the time being, we're two old friends, catching up." She grinned and took his arm, as they began walking back towards her house and her bags.

"So tell me more about your step mom."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o...R/J goodness!