He had forgotten how cold it was on the East Coast. There he was in a sweatshirt and denim jacket, freezing his ass off while walking down the empty streets of Stars Hollow. He really should go back to Luke's before his fingers turned blue, but he didn't want to.

In the back of his mind, he knew where he was going, though he refused to let his heart admit it. He would only walk by, really, walk by and that's it. No, he'd walk by and remember all the times he walked up those porch steps, rang the doorbell and took her somewhere, anywhere, or stayed right there, eating her god-forsaken Indian food and watching some movie that he didn't really pay attention to because he as busy thinking about her.

He suddenly stopped walking and turned to face the house. He was there, her home. No light came from any of the rooms, she must have been sleeping. It was one in the morning after all. He wanted to tap on her window, wake her up and...and what then? She would probably slam the window on his fingers while telling him to never come near her again. He deserved no less.

"Jess," a voice said.

Jess gulped, turned towards the voice and said, "Hi, Rory."

She looked clearly shocked to see him on her street, in front of her house, in the middle of the night, six months after he left no goodbye, no reason. Jess noticed small changes in her, like her hair was shoulder length now and she had filled out just a bit. He gulped again, she was as beautiful as he remembered.

"What...what are you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking at the cemented sidewalk between them. She had just come back from a secret get together with Lane and now Jess here...she was caught completely off guard.

"Jess debated about whether to give her some asinine comment like, It's good to see you too, but opted not to be the asshole he usually was.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

Rory became clearly flustered and angry. "You're not sure? What do you mean you're not sure? You show up with no warning after no goodbye and you're not even sure why? Well, go be unsure somewhere else, Jess, anywhere else. Have a good night," she ranted, moving around him and walking up the steps of her porch.

"Rory!" Jess called out.

She turned around. "What?" she asked, still angry.

Jess jammed his ice cold hands into his pockets and shifted uncomfortably, looking at the Gilmore lawn. It needed mowing.

Rory was just about to turn around and enter her house when Jess said, "I'm sorry." She looked at him.

"Is that it?" she asked impatiently.

Rory really wasn't making this any easier on him, but he couldn't blame her. "I'm sorry for being such a crappy boyfriend to you. you deserved better than me, you always did and I always knew it in the back of my head. I guess I was just waiting until you realized it."

She sighed, feeling tears creep into her eyes against her wishes. She was over him. She was over him. She was over him. But God, it was so good to see him again. No, she was over him, she was angry with him, he hurt her.

"You're wrong, Jess. I wasn't just slumming it with you, waiting for someone better to come along. You were the better that came along."

Jess was speechless. Talk about something striking his heart and leaving a bruise. What could he say? He suddenly didn't know any words. Words, words, he needed to find some!

Rory could tell that he was struggling to find something to say, but she couldn't last out here much longer without running into his arms and kissing him senseless. What? No, no, she was over him...right?

"Have a good night," Rory repeated softly, turning around, entering her house, and closing the door behind her.

"You too," Jess whispered, finding his voice only too late.

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Author's Note: Thank you so much! Sorry it took so long to update and sorry it's so short, but I thought the first Rory/Jess scene should stand alone. I hope I will be able to update soon. Please review!