Rory's first reaction was to be angry. Then she was happy to see him, embarrassment followed the happiness, but she settled back on anger. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Came back for the wedding. Best man or whatever."

"Right. Well, that doesn't mean I have to speak to you." Rory went behind the counter to start a new pot of coffee.

"Nice to see you too. Don't you want more of an explanation?"

"No. In fact, I would rather not talk to you at all."

"Fine. Then I'll talk to you. What I did was wrong. I know it was wrong, but I didn't know what else to do. What I said was true. I loved you. I think it still is true. I don't know how you feel, and you probably aren't in the mood to tell me anyway. I'll leave you alone, but I just wanted you to know that." Jess, scared about what might happen if he hung around, quickly left the diner and a gaping Rory behind.

Luke came out of the storeroom. "Hey, Rory, can you deal with the table by the window?"

Rory glanced over to the window table, where Kirk was sitting. "I'm taking my break."

"But you can't just leave, it's the lunch rush!"

"I'll be back before you know it." Rory took off her apron and put down the coffee pot before rushing out of the diner.

She knew where Jess was going to go. As soon as she had walked out of the diner, she was on autopilot. She was scared about seeing him. She didn't know what she was going to say. She figured it was best to just let him do the leading in this particular conversation.

As soon as the bridge came into sight, all the memories came crashing down on Rory. She tiptoed over to Jess, startling him when she sat down next to him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So, you left pretty quickly after that little speech."

"Yeah, I figured you would probably hate me more anyway."

"You were wrong."

"Ok."

Rory loved that about Jess, how he never asked too many questions. He always let the other person say what they wanted to say.

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the water.

Suddenly Rory was talking. "What you did was wrong, but I know it was true. I knew it then, and I know it now. I don't know if I felt the same way, but I know that I never really got over you. I think I may have loved you. I think you should know that."

"Rory—"

She interrupted him. "No, it's my turn. You told me you loved me, and then you disappeared. I didn't know where you went. I had just gotten over you leaving, and then you came back. I was devastated. You did something to me that I'll never fully forgive you for. If you had stayed around, it could have worked. But you didn't even want to try. I don't know why, but you didn't. I told myself I was over you. I made a 'Jess' box. It was all going to be ok. And now you're back and I don't know what I'm supposed to do or feel or say…"

All of a sudden Jess was hugging her and she was crying. She didn't know why she was crying, exactly, but she could feel the tears running down her face and into his shirt, soaking his shoulder.

"It's gonna be ok. It'll be fine." Jess wasn't real good at the compassion thing, but he did his best.

He held her for a while, rocking back and forth and whispering into her hair.

When Rory finally pulled away from Jess, she looked like she had just woken up from a bad dream. Her hair was a mess and her face was streaked with makeup.

"Look at me. I'm not this kind of girl."

"What kind of girl is that, exactly?"

"The kind of girl that just falls apart as soon as her ex-boyfriend reappears."

Just had to suppress a laugh. "I didn't know that was a kind of girl."

"Not funny."

"No humor for the Gilmore. Got it."

"I feel pathetic. I need ice cream."

"Why?"

"Because I feel less pathetic when eating, and I like ice cream."

"Right. I will get you ice cream."

"No. I don't want you doing me favors."

"Then don't think of it as a favor."

"What else would it be?"

"I don't know. I'll be right back with your ice cream. Stay here, please, and no jumping in the lake."

"Fine Mr. Bossy, I will wait here for my ice cream, which better come fast."

Jess smiled and walked back in the direction he had come from, the smile still plastered to his face. Maybe things won't be so bad.

Meanwhile, Rory was scared out of her mind. She had no idea what she was getting herself into. I can't do this! What if Jess wants to get back together! What if I want to get back together? She was freaking out, and she had reason to be.

"Hey, you. I need massive amounts of coffee and does anything else contain large amounts of caffeine that I can consume in…three minutes?" Lorelai walked up to the counter and kissed Luke. "Speaking of which, where is Jess? He came in today, right?"

"How is that related to coffee and large amount of caffeine?" Luke was confused.

"I don't know. I just wanted to ask."

"Anyway, yes, Jess came in today, confessed his feeling for Rory, left, and Rory went after him. This all happened about an hour ago, and I haven't seen either one of them since."

"Wow, you think they're making out in the gazebo?" Lorelai smiled at her own joke.

"No…I hope not. Do you really think they are?"

"Relax, Luke, they haven't seen each other in years, I bet they're just catching up. But hey, we could tell Patty that we saw them making out. Big news for the gossip mill." Lorelai tried to look innocent, but she couldn't suppress the glint in her eyes.

"Absolutely not! It would be all over town in an hour, and…you're joking." Luke usually caught his girlfriend's jokes, but he was in a particularly non-humorous mood at the moment.

"Fine, I will stop joking. Now where's that coffee?"

"Behind you."

"Oh cool, do you suddenly have like levitating powers so you can make the coffee pit float behind me using nothing but your eyes?" Lorelai smiled, and then turned around when she noticed that Luke had his eyes fixated above her head. She turned around and was suddenly looking straight into Jess' eyes.

How was he supposed to greet her? Hug? Handshake? "Hi." He settled with the simple verbal approach.

"Hi, Jess. Long time no see."