After Jess left Rory decided to go back into Jess's room. She picked up the book again and took out the picture of them. "If he cared enough to keep a picture of me, why did he keep leaving?" Rory wondered.

She spent a few more minutes looking around the apartment and glancing through the bookshelves. She thought about how many books she had that still had Jess's notes in the margins, and how much she missed him when she read those books. She opened one book and saw her notes in the margins. A few minutes later she heard a key in the door.

"I'm back…" Jess yelled and he opened the door.

"Hey." Rory came and greeted him.

"Here's your coffee," Jess handed it to her, "and your shirt is in the machine. I have to go back down in like 20 minutes."

"Ok. Thanks Jess."

"You're welcome." There was an awkward silence. "So… what'd you do while I was gone?"

"I just looked around. Flipped through some books."

"I think some of them might still have your notes in the margins." Jess smiled. Rory noticed he was smiling more. They were real, genuine smiles. "Maybe he's really happier here?" Rory thought.

"Jess can we…"

"Talk?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, well let's sit." He gestured over to the table and chairs in the kitchen/dining area.

"Where do you want to start?" he asked.

"Where did you go when you left?"… "The first time." Rory added, maybe a little too harshly.

Jess definitely felt the sting. "California. My dad visited me at the diner, but he didn't really say much and he left so abruptly. I had so many questions."

"You could have told me." Rory said softly.

"I know, but I had let you down too many times. I couldn't take you to the prom. I didn't graduate. I was a mess, and I didn't want to bring you down too."

"I didn't want you to leave."

"I know."

Rory was almost in tears. Jess looked up at her, expecting another question. Rory chuckled. "I guess the only way you're going to talk is if I ask you questions, huh?"

"Yeah, well I'm not so good at the whole pouring my heart out thing."

"Well you're not doing to badly." She smiled and wiped a tear away. "So that was you who called me at my graduation right?"

"Yeah."

"And…"

"And I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. I wanted to be there, but I couldn't. It was just another way I let you down. And I heard everything you said, and you said you were done, that we were done."

"Jess I was really hurt."

"I know."

"Ok, Liz's wedding? You tell me you love me, and then you leave. For the 2nd time."

"It's not like you ran after me!" Jess almost yelled.

"I didn't know I was supposed to!"

"What would you have done if I didn't leave?"

"I-I don't know." Rory said, the tears threatening to fall.

"And you didn't want to come with me when I came to your dorm at Yale."

"Jess, you were asking me to run away with you!"

"So?"

"So! So you showed up out of the blue, and asked me run away with you! I couldn't just leave everything." "It doesn't mean I didn't want to…" Rory mumbled.

Jess sighed. He didn't mean to upset Rory, but the truth was he was upset to.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Every so often one of them would glace up, but then look down if they saw the other looking at them.

"So I guess that's enough talking for one day."

"Hm ya think?" Jess smiled, his old sarcasm coming back.

"Yeah." Rory nodded, a smile forming on her lips. She had definitely missed Jess. "Well I should get my shirt and then head back to my hotel."

"Right." Jess stated and walked her to the door. So the laundromat is next door, it's not too hard to find. I can come down if you need me to."

"Thanks. I think I can handle it myself. I'm an expert at laundry thanks to Yale."

"Huh, so that school isn't overrated after all?" He smiled then got more serious and looked at the floor. "So I'll see you around and, uh, you know where to find me. I mean, if you want to."

"I do." Rory assured him. "Bye Jess."

"Bye Rory."

And then he did something that surprised her. He pulled her into a hug. She wasn't expecting a hug, but she was happy he did it. She hugged him back.

He nodded at her and she walked out the door, and had a smile on her face the whole way back to the hotel.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. Sorry I haven't updated since December. I promise I'll update more regularly. Thanks for all the feedback!