A/N: Thank you, Marissa, for pointing out my nasty flub... Rory did know about Jess's dad... I'm an idiot. But! That's the beauty of fanfiction. In my head? She didn't know. That little piece has been omitted from her big rant in Those Are Strings, Pinocchio. Just for this fic though. Yeah. I'm gonna go smack myself now.

A/N 2: Big thankees to Elizabeth and Elise!! You guys are awesome with your idea bouncy-ness and opinion givings. And Ali! Again, with the amazing banner. Jeez.

Hello, Dolly! Chapter 2

Luke watched Jess storm into the diner and headed for the apartment stairs.

He knew the walk well. That was the walk of a Jess that was running from a girl.

"You did it again, didn't you?"

Jess stopped and poked his head out from behind the curtain. "What?"

"You did it again," Luke repeated. "You screwed up, and you ran away."

Jess glared.

Luke rolled his eyes, grabbed Jess by the shoulder, and dragged him back out of the diner. "Go find her."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Mind your own business."

"Jess, how many times do you intend to lose this girl?" Luke asked.

He didn't reply.

"What happened?"

"Just... I can't do this," Jess shook his head. "I can't be this open person who just spills their guts out at the drop of the hat! I don't know how she expects me to fix a mistake I made a year ago!"

Luke scratched the back of his neck. "Well... you're getting better at the whole spilling your guts thing, that's for sure. Why don't you just go find her?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You're sorry."

"I said that!" Jess cried. "It doesn't seem to be good enough!"

They stood in awkward silence.

Luke sighed heavily. "Go get to work, okay?"

Jess sighed and nodded, walking back into the diner.

Luke shook his head and followed him in.

"Oh, honey..."

"I wish I wasn't so upset," Rory said, sitting down on the bed in her room at the Dragonfly. "It was a year ago."

"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Lorelai sympathized.

Rory sighed and laid back on the bed. "I love him... I just... wish things could have been different."

"You should tell him that," Lorelai nodded.

"I thought things would be different this time," Rory muttered.

"They are," Lorelai told her. "You just have to give them a chance."

Rory stared at her mother oddly. "Says the woman who usually hates Jess's guts."

Lorelai groaned and flopped back from her spot on the floor. "I saw you last night," she said. "You were so happy to have him back. And that's all I want for you, is to be happy. And if having Jess back makes you happy, then... I have to deal with that."

"I am happy to have him back," Rory said, sitting up. "I am, I just..." She sighed again and laid back.

Lorelai sighed and picked up her daughter's cell phone, holding out to her. "Call him."

"No."

"Rory, just-"

And then the phone rang.

Both Gilmores sat up, and Rory snatched the phone, gazing at the number on the caller ID. "It's him."

"Well, pick it up! Talk to him."

Rory frowned.

Jess sat on a box in the diner's storeroom, waiting for someone to pick up the phone.

"Come on, Rory," he muttered.

"Hey!" Her voicemail message greeted. "I'm not around, so just leave me a message, and I'll get back to you."

He sighed as the beep sounded, and paused, considering his words. "Hi." Good start. "It's Jess." Also a good beginning. "Uhm... I don't... I just... God, I'm so bad at this...I'm sorry, okay? I'm really sorry. I don't know what else to say, and I don't know how to make something I screwed up a year ago better... other than..." He paused and shook his head. "I'm different now. I can be different, I swear. I told you that I'm staying, and I am... well... I mean, I still need to go get my stuff, but..." He sighed again. "I love you, Rory; just... don't give up on me yet. I gotta go before Luke walks in and chews me out for hiding out in the storeroom, so...just... call, okay?"

He clicked off the phone, and stared at it for a moment before getting up and walking out to the diner to wait more tables. He turned the phone off and shoved it into his pocket.

Lane watched her best friend pace her bedroom.

"So... last night... you..."

"Slept with Jess."

"Wow..." Lane mused. "Wow. That's so... wow."

"At the Inn... last night... four times."

"Wow!" Lane cried, her eyes widening. "Four times?"

"Yeah," Rory nodded, her eyes equally wide. "He doesn't tire easily."

"Obviously..." Lane nodded back. "That's so amazing... one minute you're kicking him out of your dorm room, and the next..."

Rory closed her eyes. "I can't believe I treated him that way... I mean, I couldn't have gone with him but... I shouldn't have been so mean."

Lane nodded slightly. "So... does Lorelai know?"

"Yeah, she knows... and Luke... and the rest of the town," Rory sighed. She sat down on the bed next to Lane. "And then this morning..." She shook her head. "We got into a thing, and we haven't spoken since."

"A thing?"

"About his leaving last year," Rory muttered. "I know I should let it go, but it's just so hard..."

Lane nodded. "It's understandable. He bailed on you big time."

"But he's back," Rory rationalized. "And he's back for good..."

"And... you love him?"

Rory nodded. "I do."

"And he loves you?"

"Yeah. He does."

"So..." Lane whispered. "How was it?"

Rory smiled. "A little nerve-wracking at first, but...He's just... so amazing."

"Was he nice?"

Rory nodded. "And cute. So cute. I never knew he had the ability to be cute but... cute!"

"But... you're not talking now?"

"I don't know..." Rory frowned. "He left me a message, but... I haven't listened to it yet."

"Well?" Lane asked frantically. "Go on and listen!"

Rory sighed and took out her phone. "I guess."

"Come on, he's not that big of a jerk to dump you over the phone," Lane pointed out.

The other girl nodded and turned the phone on to check messages. She held the phone to her ear and listened. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Well?" Lane squeaked. "What did he say?"

Rory's smile widened and she set the message to replay and held the phone up to Lane's ear.

Lane grinned. "Call him back!"

Rory smiled more and nodded. "Yeah."

Jess took a cigarette break and walked out the back door of the diner. He pulled out his cigarettes and his cell phone.

He had a new message.

"Please tell me this isn't my mother," he muttered absently as he turned the phone on and put it to his ear.

Thankfully, Rory's voice filled his ear. "Hey, Jess. It's me. I'm sorry, too... about earlier. I love you... It's just hard to think about what happened sometimes. And I really, really want this to work with us. Call, please. Or magically appear before me. Whichever is more convenient for you."

Jess smirked and turned off the phone. He put it, and the cigarettes away.

Rory smiled as she burst into the house and into her room. She threw open her closet door and pulled a cardboard box off of the top shelf. She set it on the floor and sat with it, digging through it.

"Rory?!"

"In my room!" she called.

Lorelai peeked in. "There aren't any filthy boys hiding anywhere in here are there?"

"Nope!"

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked.

"Taking things out of my Jess box."

Lorelai smiled. "You guys made up?"

"He left me this message," Rory replied. "And then I left him a message. I haven't actually talked to him but I think we're good."

Lorelai smiled and sat down with her daughter, glancing into the box. "Wow, that's a lot of stuff." She blinked. "A picnic basket... your bridesmaid dress from Sookie's wedding... a really sad looking teddy bear... is that an umbrella?"

"Yup."

"Ticket stubs... your wrist cast... a history book... Ginsburg?"

Rory smiled and took the book out, flipping through it fondly. "He wrote in the margins."

Lorelai grinned. "Love letter?"

"Notes about the underlying themes of the text."

Lorelai's grin faded a little. "So... a very geeky love letter."

Rory smiled and kept going through the box, until her phone rang. She scrambled to pick it up. "Jess?"

"Hi."

Rory's smile widened. "Hi."

Lorelai chuckled and kissed Rory on the top of the head as she got up and walked out.

"I got your message," Jess said.

"Obviously," Rory nodded. "Are you good?"

"I am." He hesitated. "Are you?"

"Very much so," Rory replied. "I'm emptying my Jess box."

"Jess box?"

"Yup. All the stuff that reminds me of you gets to see the light of day again."

"Huh."

"What are you up to?" Rory asked.

"I am getting ready to go to New York."

Rory's smile faded. "Oh..."

"Luke and I are gonna go get my stuff."

"Oh!" Rory perked up a little. "Do you guys want help?"

"Nah, Luke wants to bond."

Rory snickered. "Luke wants to bond?"

"Yup."

"Wow... so... when are you gonna be back?"

"Probably by tonight," Jess told her. "I'll call you when I get in."

"Promise?"

"Swear."

"Rory?!"

"Hold on," Rory said into the phone. "Yeah?!"

"I'm going back to the Inn!" Lorelai called.

"Okay, Mom! Bye!"

"Bye!"

Rory sighed and turned her attention back to the phone. "You gotta go, too?"

"Yeah, I should go down and help in the diner before we go."

"Okay," Rory nodded. "I'll talk to you tonight?"

"You will."

"I love you."

"Me, too," Jess replied before hanging up.

She hung up as well, and set the phone down.

And then it rang again.

She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Rory?"

She frowned, and got to her feet. "Dean..."

"Rory, I really need to talk to you."

She sighed. "I don't think that's such a good idea..."

"Please," he begged. "Please?"

"Fine," she replied hesitantly. "What is it?"

"Not now," Dean told her. "Meet at Miss Patty's in twenty minutes."

"No."

"Rory, please," Dean pleaded. "Just do this one thing for me."

She sighed again, uneasily. "Fine. But not for very long."

"Fine," Dean replied. "Fine."

With that, she hung up and sighed.

"Great..."