sanfrangiantsfan – Yep, Chris is a jerk. I hate him on the show, so when I needed a 'bad guy' for my story, he beat Dean AND the grandparents. I know, woah, right?

kat461 – Yes! You remembered the sweater! I was afraid some people might forget it.

:Gathers readers around her: Children, children. You should know that while Bittersweet does like to READ the angsty stuff, she likes to WRITE happy endings. Sillies. So have no fear- I'll be cleaning up my mess. Have some patience…this is the first of the final five chapters.

Somehow, it was harder to get drunk when it was your goal. If you were just out with your buddies for a few rounds, in no time you'd be smashed. But if you went deliberately seeking a blissful hangover to get your mind off recent events, it was going to take some time.

"Another."

"Of what?"

"Whatever you just gave me. Another." The barmaid clucked her tongue as she refilled Jess's glass. The lighting was poor enough for her not to recognize Jess Mariano, but she was still paying him more attention than the other customers. Jess's stubbornly sober mind chalked it up to him being the only one under 35 in the bar. The girl couldn't have been any older than 21 herself- perhaps younger. It was that kind of place.

"So what's your story? Love done you wrong?" Jess said nothing. Undeterred, the girl leaned over to give him a perfect view. Her long, bleached-blonde hair pooled on the bar as she pouted.

"Want me to make it better?"

"Only thing to do that's more vodka. Fill 'er up." He pushed his glass back at her as she indignantly shoved the bottle towards him and headed for her newest customer. If he had been as drunk as he wanted to be, he wouldn't have refused her.

The whole drowning-sorrows-in-alcohol thing wasn't working so far. In fact, constantly checking to see if he was forgetting only served to bring up the memories fresh again. Rory's flight down the hall and her bedroom door slamming had been immensely painful.

In fact, as Jess had walked to the subway entrance, past hordes of reporters composing headlines saying 'More than just puppy love- all night for Rory and Jess!' (they'd been screaming it into their cell phones as he walked by), he'd been extremely confused as to WHY he was so shot up. Yes, he liked Rory as more than a friend. Yes, he'd lied when he said he didn't care about her. But still, he should have been able to think about something other than her door slamming for the past two days.

"Skanky! More poison!"

He was going to get wasted if it killed him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

She was supposed to hug him. Just go up, wrap her arms around his neck, and hurry away. "I'm busy, catch you later babe!" was her line. And he didn't have to say anything. Lucky fucking duck.

She would then proceed to run down the hall in pursuit of Louise, whose character had left a note in her locker. But she didn't know if she'd be able to make it that far.

"How does he look?" she hissed at Lorelai. She refused to take her eyes off the ground.

"Uh, bored? How does Jess normally look?"

"So he looks normal? Not at all remorseful or sad?"

"He looks like Jess, Bunny."

"Of course he does. Stupid guy."

"C'mon Bun, cheer up. Season finale! Party week! And the start of our summer!"

"Jess and I are breaking up tomorrow."

"And you're going to let him ruin your last memories of season three? Won't be long, you know, before we move on to four- the season where all things change. You ladies go off to college! No more high school! This is the last time you'll ever see the set with lockers like this!"

"Then why can't they fire Jess?"

"Because he's going to Princeton while the girls all go to Rutgers like Max has been planning since the first season in the event that the show actually lasted."

"Do you think Max would let Madison dump Tony for some new guy at her college?"

"I think he'll let her be tempted, but I don't think he'll break them up."

"Great. Just my luck."

"Hon, a week ago, you were thrilled for Jess. He's gonna be on the opening credits- that's big."

"Well last week I was friends with Jess."

"Oh, don't start this whole you-ruined-my-job-for-me thing again." Lorelai sounded genuinely exasperated.

"I'm just saying."

"Well, stop saying. We both know you don't like Jess, in fact, it's quite the opposite. You're only being a bitch whenever his name comes up because you feel like he rejected you, which may or may not be the case."

"Mom! Get back on my side!"

"I'm not taking sides here, Rory, because I think both of you are being really immature."

"You're one to talk." Rory folded her arms and walked away, feeling even worse. Fights with Lorelai were few and far between. But when they did fight, it was horrible.

So if she was on the outs with Lorelai, and beyond the limits with Jess, that didn't leave too many people to chill with once the scene was over. Behind her someone laughed, and her eyes bugged out once she realized it was Paris. And she was laughing because Tristin was talking to her, not because a child was bleeding from the head.

When did she and Paris switch bodies? Why was she all alone, and her almost-friend getting the attention from the guy she liked? What was wrong with this picture?

"Places!" Max screamed, despite his voice being hoarse. He'd been yelling at his cast for so many days now that it would take some time to recuperate. But that wasn't going to make him use a quieter tone.

Painfully, Rory executed the scene. Her plan had been to avoid direct eye contact, but Jess's gaze was locked on her face from the moment the cameras started rolling. It might have been before that as well, but she'd been desperately looking the other way.

"Rory, you're moving like a zombie!" Paris yelled from one end of the hallway. Thought she contemplated making an obscene gesture, Rory just sighed. It hadn't taken this long to film since the early days- the first few times she worked with Jess.

"Rory, this is not a hard scene," Max scratched out, making those around him wince at the texture of his voice.

"I don't feel well," she lied. Max rubbed his temples.

"Can you pull yourself together for five minutes? That's all I ask."

"I'll try."

"From the top, then."

She faced Jess and jogged towards him, his goofy Tony-smile plastered to his face, but gloomy Jess-eyes betraying it. She hugged him, hating that he smelled normal. The least he could have done was not shower, so as to dispel the soapy-smell.

She dutifully repeated her line, and took off. Talking to Louise was easier, but his eyes burned holes into her back. She squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze, refusing to turn around and give in.

It wasn't her best, but it was good enough. Max released everyone and Rory fled to her trailer to be alone. Jess trudged slowly back to his own trailer, where signs of Tristin were already disappearing. Ian had been a main character in the beginning, but this season's finale would mark the end of his stint as a regular star. Max had plans to bring him back for a few episodes in the future, but Jess was taking over the entire trailer. It was a little sad- Tristin had proved to be a pretty cool guy.

"What's with your girl, man?" he inquired from over the dividing wall in the middle of the structure. It was coming down in a few weeks.

"Not my girl," he replied as he removed Tony's blue t-shirt.

"What happened there?" Tristin asked sympathetically, ever the expert on women.

"We're doing that break-up thing tomorrow, and she let herself get a little attached."

"What about you? Last I saw, you seemed just as attached."

"Does it matter?"

"Uh, hell yea it matters. If you two have something going on, don't throw it all away just because you want to stick with that crazy plan you concocted."

"Nothing going on to speak of."

"Please. You, I can't read. But Rory, everyone can tell that girl has it bad for you."

"See, I took your advice about girls, no matter how unwelcome it was, a lot more seriously before you started sneaking around with Gellar."

"We're not sneaking, we're simply hanging. Like you and Rory. Which means we should be in the sack any day now."

"Rory and I didn't sleep together, jackass."

"Why not?"

"Why are we even talking about this?" Never mind, Jess couldn't wait to kick his trailer mate out.

"There's no one else like her, Jess. I'm not exactly under her spell anymore, but I still know that even if she's not the one for me, there is no one like Rory Gilmore. And she likes you. So you're quite possibly the dumbest ass alive if you blow this."

"And after that extremely motivating speech, I'll see you after lunch."

"You're being an idiot!" the blonde yelled after him as he walked out.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Can I come in?" Lorelai asked tentatively.

"Are you going to call me a bitch again?" Ooh, bitter edge.

"I didn't call you a bitch, I said you were being one."

"Well that makes it so much better."

"I do think you're being one, though. You're screwing up your scenes again, even though this is the extremely crucial last second-to-last episode of the season. You're completely ignoring the guy who's been one of your best friends for the past couple months, and the worst part is you don't seem to care about either."

"I care."

"Well then is this how it's gonna be until they kill Tony off or whatever? The Poconos every damn day?"

"Why. Are. You. Taking. His. Side?" Rory's voice had that constricted boundary to it, which often proceeded crying.

"I can't march into his trailer and announce that I think he's being a jerk. He hasn't talked to me since the thing with Chris."

"What would he say? 'Tell your ex he can relax, because I don't want anything to do with your daughter'?" Lorelai ignored her.

"However, I can march into your trailer and tell you my opinion, because it's my job as your manager, and as your MOM. You're blowing this out of proportion, Rory."

"You were there, you heard him!"

"I don't think he meant it, Rory!"

"Why would he say it if he didn't mean it?"

"To stop Chris from killing him! He likes you Rory, but I don't think he's ready to become a martyr for you!"

"If that was it, he'd have said something by now."

"Did you give him any chances to come up and start a conversation, serious or casual?"

"I didn't not give him any chances."

"You're being stubborn."

"I learned it from you. How long did it take you to realize that you had feelings for Luke again?"

"I'm not perfect. I know I don't always set the examples I'd like you to follow, but that is a completely different situation. For one thing, Luke is Luke. He waited for me Rory, like some men do. But then there are the guys like Jess, who can slip away before you realize they're gone."

"So what, since Jess doesn't follow me around like a little puppy I have to be the one who goes to him, begging him to take me back as his fake-girlfriend?"

"You were not fake, and you know it! I came home two nights ago to find you two curled up together on the couch!"

"We fell asleep, it doesn't mean we're soul mates!"

"Rory you never spent the night with Dean in your entire relationship! You'd stay out late at his place, or he'd come over while I was busy, but you never spent the night. You slept with him, I know, but you didn't sleep with him."

"So?"

"So the fact that you trusted Jess enough to just doze off in his arms says something."

"It says I was too tired to make him leave." Lorelai held up her hands.

"Fine. Lose him, shun him, despise him, all of the above, whatever. Your life. Screw it up as you please."

"You actually think I'm screwing up my life by not looking Jess in the eye? Please explain the logic behind this incredibly exaggerated comment."

"Maybe I am exaggerating, but maybe I'm not. Dean put you through the wringer, babe, and you seem completely closed off to the idea that there could be another guy out there for you. Jess is the only member of the male species you've taken a shine to in ages. I don't want you to become an old maid like me."

"You're not an old maid, you've got a boyfriend!"

"I'm 38, Rory. And I've never been married. Now when members of our extended family, and I include my parents in that, call me on it, I don't give a crap. But when I'm alone, and my mind starts wandering, it makes me wonder WHY it took so long to get a relationship to work."

"Then who are you to tell me what to do with MY relationships?" Lorelai stepped backwards and put her hand on the doorknob.

"I pray that someday, when you have a daughter, you will never have to hear her speak to you like that." The door slammed after her.