A/N: Meet Mena! You'll remember from Chapter 5 that she is Jess' former girlfriend whom he had lived with but, without explanation, disappeared a month or two previously. She's gentle, but strong, and I think, a great 'transitional' girlfriend. Anymore questions, reviewers? ;) I hope you like Mena. Jess does.

Shock could not even begin to describe the immediate effects of such a statement. A feeling like a smack from a freight train travelling at 100 mph washed over him and settled before his fork could even hit the ground. It clattered against the hardword floor, sending mushy eggs in every direction. It could have easily been a metaphor for his heart.

He couldn't even begin to fathom her statement. He couldn't choke out a single word in response. Nothing registered in his mind at all.

"Now, Jess, I don't want you to be angry with me. You have to let me explain..".

Anger hadn't even entered into his mind, not until she suggested it.

"What do you mean, DON'T BE ANGRY?" His voice rose immediately and he shoved himself out of his chair. "You left me! You...were pregnant! You left me when you were pregnant! And did who knows what with the baby without even consulting me! I mean, if you weren't ready to have it, I could have respected that- but you weren't even going to tell me? Were you just going to leave and go on living your life with me completely oblivious! I can't believe you! I loved you!"

Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant. Holy shit.

He paced the room indescribably irate. Mena had rushed to his side in an attempt to calm him, but he wasn't having it and pushed her away with more force than necessary. She stumbled back, visibly surprised by this reaction, but moved in again, undetered, towards Jess.

"Jess, calm down. You have to let me explain. I didn't get rid of the baby. I wasn't just going to leave you and let you go on 'completely oblivious.' I was just scared, Jess. Do you remember the last week? I was sick and you insisted that I stay in and eat that awful soup you made me? Honey, that was the morning sickness. I hadn't known very long, maybe a few days, but you...You just seemed so happy, with your new job, and the new apartment. I wasn't sure you'd react well to it. We certaintly couldn't have afforded a baby."

"It shouldn't have mattered! You should have been able to tell me! You could have told me!"

"Oh, I wanted to. I was going to. I tossed and turned all night thinking about how to do it. And then I started overanalyzing everything, and one night of insomnia turned into two, and then three. It's no wonder the morning sickness was so bad. Anyway, during the day I'd sit up in bed and read this book I found."

Jess directed a patronizing glare at her, daring her to give this story a point. Soon.

"It was unbound and untitled, beautifully written...I couldn't put it down." Affection laced her voice, peppered with something unmistakably forlorn as she continued, "It was the story of this lonely little boy and how he searches happiness after he had lost the first thing he had ever loved in his life. He doesn't find it, though he grows over his bitterness and conquers his pain. He achieves all the trappings of success, but it's not until that first love comes back to him that he really understands what it means to live. Now, this unknown is not my beloved Michael Crichton, and he'd take it as a compliment, but the poignancy, pregnancy hormones be damned, put tears in my eyes."

Jess had nothing to say. He couldn't even look at her. He couldn't believe she had found that. She wasn't supposed to. He had written it down so that he could throw it away.

"Jess, I understand. I didn't need her picture to fall out from the last page to realize that I could never live up to that. I know you loved me, but there was no fire in it. I'm sure we could have grown old together, raising beautiful children and being content with one another. But we both want more than that."

Jess fell back onto the couch, burying his fingers in his hair. She sat down next to him, a hand on each shoulder. "I only meant to leave for a few hours. I needed to clear my head and figure out what to do. I didn't find a solution, though, so I went to my grandmother's and hid for longer than I intended. Nothing felt right. The gyno appointments, the ultrasounds, the detours into the baby clothes section; it was so empty, Jess. I want you to believe that I wanted you to be there. I wanted to tell you. I wanted us to be a happy family. So, about three weeks ago, I resolved to tell you after my second ultrasound. I wanted pictures to tell the story."

Mena leaned over Jess to fish some pictures out of her purse. If Jess had been able to distinguish anything from them, if he had known anything about the growth rates, he would have seen that they were first ultrasounds. "These were from my first appointment..." She explained, her voice waffling at the line between vunerability and strength. "They couldn't find a heartbeat during the second."

Jess swallowed hard and looked up at her, heartbreak written all over both faces. "Mena? Does that mean...?" Jess managed to croak out, his voice involuntarily cracking.

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort them both. "I had a miscarriage," she whispered quietly, and the rollercoaster of emotions continued.

They were both silent, each in the other's arms, incapable of pulling their eyes away from the picture in Mena's hand. "Jess...You know me. I'm the science geek, Darwin's emmissary from the dead. Life has no purpose that you don't designate to it. Our little one here? He or she is trying to tell us to let go and find something more than contentment, as hard as it is to move away from comfort. I'll always love you, Jess, but I can't compete with her."

Jess clutched her hand, single tears falling down each cheek. It was too much at once. He needed time. "No, Mena, don't do this. She doesn't exist anymore. I love you. I wanted this...we could have done this together. Hell, let's try again. We'll move to Seattle, you can start your new job, and then a family...I'm ready for this!" Jess would look back on this moment and become physically ill at the volume of desperation that leaked out of his voice.

Mena swiped her own tears away and then Jess'. "I believe you, and I wish it could be so, but it can't be. She may or may not exist anymore, but that fire? It does exist somewhere and not with me. I know you don't believe in all that "true love" crap, but we both know that there's more out there for the both of us. Let's move on, while we only have the good to look back on."

Mena glanced down at her watch and gave Jess one last smile. She pulled him into a hug and pressed her lips against his forehead. "I want you to keep this." She folded the ultrasound picture in half and tucked in into his hand. "Something to remember us by."

Jess sat there long after she left, eyes cast down to the floor, elbows propped on either of his legs with his head held beween them. The only thought he allowed himself to process was, "Nothing good ever happens in Stars Hollow."