Disclaimer: I own a computer. I own a backpack. I own 4 highlighters. Yeah. That pretty much sums it up. Wait. I don't even own the computer. I'm a fifteen year old girl who aspires to become a psychiatrist but meanwhile I'm content with writing fanfiction. So. Amy Sherman-Palladino owns Gilmore Girls. Not me. I own various characters that you don't recognize.

Mother isn't here now,

Who knows what she'd say?

Nothing's quite so clear now.

Feel you've lost your way?

You decide, but

You are not Alone.

-Into the Woods-

Chapter Three:

Jess and Luke began the walk back to the Diner, Jess quiet while Luke talked.

"Your mother may or may not have told you but you're not the only one who's staying with me."

Jess looked up at his uncle. "No she didn't say anything." That's definitely something that Liz would leave out of the information packet.

"Yeah, well, a good friend of mine died about 2 months ago. She was in a car accident and her daughter was left in my care. Don't ask me why, I don't know. Her name's Rory and she's 16."

Definitely something that I probably should have known before I came here, Jess thought, even his thoughts sarcastic.

"Is she hot? Because, if she is, I definitely don't have a prob—"

He was interrupted by Luke's hand connecting with the back of his head.

"And," Luke started as Jess rubbed the back of his head, "you should probably know, since everybody else does, that she tried to kill herself at the beginning of the summer." He scratched his arm, "We haven't really talked about it so don't bring it up."

"Wouldn't think of it," Jess said. So a town this perfect could sprout a troubled youth, he thought, looking around at the white picket fences as they neared the Diner.

"Why does your diner have a hardware sign over it?"

"Long story," Luke held the door open as Jess walked through into the crowded diner.

"Rory, c'mere," Luke said as he closed the door as a pretty brunette looked up from the man from whom she was taking his order.

"Comin' right up, Kirk," she said, sticking the notepad into her apron pocket. She walked over to Luke and Jess, holding out her hand for Jess to shake.

At first glance Rory came off as a beauty with her high cheekbones and blue eyes but at a closer look, Jess could see that deep inside, she was unsettled.

The jeans and blue shirt she wore hung off her frame as though they belonged to somebody completely different. When she raised her hand to shake his, he saw the pink scar going down her right wrist.

It was true. She had tried to kill herself.

And she'd obviously been very close to succeeding. He knew. He had his own battle wounds, as he liked to call them.

"It's nice to meet you," Rory said, dropping her hand. "I've heard... nothing about you."

Jess smirked at Rory, "Not much to tell, really."

"Rory, why don't you take him upstairs and show him around. You can take the rest of the day off," Luke said, shuffling the two of them towards the stairs and taking Rory's apron from her.

"Sure," Rory said walking up the stairs with Jess following behind her with his duffel bag still over his shoulder.

As they entered the small apartment, Jess looked around, seeing a bed on one side of the room and two mattress's about 4 or 5 feet away from each other on the other side. He saw the small kitchen and sofa with the TV in front of it.

"Small place," he observed, dropping his bag on the bare mattress that he assumed was his.

"Yeah, it's going to be even smaller with you here," Rory said and then quickly rectified her last sentence. "Not that that's a bad thing, of course. I mean it will be different because I'd just gotten used to living with Luke and now there's another boy. I used to just live with my mom and now I'm the only girl, it's kind of—I never talk this much."

Jess gave a small laugh as the girls face turned a light shade of pink, then seeing a worn copy of Oliver Twist on Rory's mattress, he picked it up. "Well, aren't we hooked on phonics?"

"Yup," Rory said, walking over to the closet that Luke had given her and opening the door, revealing stacks of hardcover and paper back books. "Do you read?"

"Not much," Jess reached for his bag and dumped it out on his mattress, revealing a mixture of clothes and books. Mostly Books.

"God. How can you lift that?" Rory laughed, a smile gracing her features and making her eyes light up. She hadn't smiled in a while.

"It's a mystery," Jess said, giving a small smile, "So. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"Anywhere," Jess said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay," Rory said hesitantly, "Hold on." She looked around and finally found her purse sitting on the kitchen table. She picked it up and found Jess standing right behind her.

"God! Give a girl a heart attack, why don't you?"

"Sorry," Jess said, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see in a second."

Rory headed out the door and down the stairs into the diner with Jess following close behind. "Luke, We're going out!"

"Okay! Be back to help close!"

She walked swiftly out the door, making it jingle and Jess walked out behind her.

I like this girl.

A/N: I know! I'm proud too! Two chapters in one day! Thanks to my loyal reviewers, I've got 12 reviews right now and I'm hoping for more because I'm a review junkie.

Thank you, pbnk-ink, Kylie1403, JustPeachy123, Megs, and literatiever! You guys are awesome!