Author's Note: Lets all pretend that the Independence Inn never burned down. And that Mia gave it to Lorelai and Sookie when she found out they wanted to start their own Inn. I know someone would never give away an Inn, but it's my story! HAHAHA
Chapter 2: What am I going to do?
Luke's Diner – Jess's morning shift…
It was the last Monday of the school year and because Jess had flunked out he was stuck working this mornings breakfast shift. The only thing he had to look forward to was Rory's stop in for some coffee before she had to catch her bus.
Monday mornings already suck, because well they are Monday mornings but this particular one was kind of creepy. About half an hour ago a guy came in and has ordered nothing but coffee and he has been staring at Jess while he drinks it. What's with this guy, I've never seen him before, but yet he looks kind of familiar. And why does he keep staring at me. Jess then glances around the Diner and notices that the strange dude in the corner needs yet another refill. Great now I have to go back over there and give him some more coffee. Jess is about to get up and go over to him when Rory and Lorelai walk through the Diner's door. Rory's here, the strange guy can wait.
When the Gilmore Girls came in for breakfast the previous morning Lorelai had a nice long chat with Jess about how he treats Rory and about the whole sex issue. They all came to an understanding and Jess promised to never intentionally hurt Rory.
Jess walks out from behind the counter to meet Rory for a good morning kiss. He met her in the middle of the Diner and they shared a brief but passionate kiss. One of the things Jess agreed to was no making out in front of Lorelai.
"Do you want some coffee?" Jess asked Rory after they pulled themselves from each other's embrace, but the never fully let go of one another. Jess still had his arm around Rory.
"Hmm, Do you really have to ask?" Rory said with a smirk on her face.
"No I guess I don't." Jess kissed her and went back behind the counter to get them their morning coffee.
He looked over at the guy that was staring at him to see him get up and run out of the diner. It looked like he left something on the table so Jess went to go over and see what it was.
"I'll be right back." He told Rory. He got up and walked in the direction of the abandoned table. When Jess got to the table he could see that the man had left his wallet. Jess picked up the wallet and he opened it up to see who this guy was. He opened it up and he froze. The driver's license said 'James Mariano' Could that guy be my father? What is he doing here?
"Shit." Jess mumbled as he walked back towards Rory and Lorelai who were having a nice bubbly conversation about penguins. Rory turned towards him when he touched her arm. She saw the pained look in his eyes and got up.
"Luke I'm taking a break." Jess called up to his uncle who still hadn't come downstairs that morning. Then he pulled Rory out of the diner. They walked together with Jess's arm tightly around Rory. They were headed in the direction of the bridge. When they got there they both sat down still not saying anything, Rory was waiting for him to start.
After a moment, Jess reached into his pocket and pulled out the wallet and handed it to Rory. Who was very curious as to what was going on.
She opened up the wallet and saw the name. She was speechless, was this his fathers?
"Where did you get this?" She asked.
"This morning a guy came into the Diner and he was staring at me for like an hour, then after you and Lorelai came in he bolted and he left this on the table." He replied
"Is he your father?"
"I think so."
"Do you want him to be your father?"
"I think I want him to be my father, but not actually be my father. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, you want him for be your biological father, but you don't want him to consume his fatherly role in your life."
"Exactly."
"Well are you going to try and find him?"
"Yeah, he must be staying at the Inn, I mean it's the only one in town."
"Do you want to go check the log book?"
"Can we do that?"
"Yep, we just won't tell Michel. But mom won't mind she will understand."
"Okay lets go."
XxXxXxX
At the Inn…
"Hey Michel, My Mom told me to ask you to go outside and Check for bee's nests around the property." Rory said to Michel trying to get him away from the front desk.
"Why would she ask you to tell me, when she can tell me herself?" Michel said in his snooty French accent.
"Because she knew I was coming over here to see if Sookie had any fresh cookies I could take to school." Rory said smiling sweetly at him. Michel grumbled something in French and walked away.
"Well that was easier than I thought." Rory said to Jess as she pulled him along.
"Okay let me just find out what his room number is." Rory scanned the book for a James Mariano. "K, he is in room 21. It's on the second floor."
"Okay, I'm not sure if I'm ready to go and talk to him yet."
"That's fine, you can go up whenever you want to. But I have to got to school, I'm already late."
"Okay, I'm sorry for making you late. I'll see you later." Jess said as he leaned in for a good-bye kiss.
"It's not your fault I'm going to be late and it's not a big deal where not really doing much today. I'm glad you told me about your father."
"Okay well I'm gonna walk around for a bit then I'm going to go and see him."
"Okay good luck, will you tell me about it later?"
"Yep tonight."
"Okay bye." She leaned in and gave him one last kiss.
XxXxXxX
Jess left the Independence Inn and walked around for a few minutes collecting himself before he went to meet his possible father.
Soon enough he found himself at the front doors of the Inn. He paused for a moment and then went in. He saw Lorelai at the front desk and she looked at him puzzled as to why he was there. He walked over because he figured she deserved to know.
"Hey Jess what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked.
"Hey Lorelai, well remember this morning when I pulled Rory out of the diner."
"Yeah I remember I didn't get to say good-bye." Lorelai pouted.
"Well I think my father is in town. So I talked to her about it and we assumed that he was staying here so we came here this morning and got his room number."
"Oh my God, we do have a James Maraino staying here, why didn't I put it together?"
"It's okay, I probably wouldn't have believed you if you told me."
"Are you going to go and talk to him?"
"Yeah I think I am."
"Well do you want me to show you where his room is?"
"Nah, it's okay I'm sure you have lots to do, Rory told me where it was before she left for school."
"Okay come find me if you need anything."
"Will do, later Lorelai."
"Bye."
XxXxXxX
People don't usually have to meet their father for the first time when your 18 years old, they usually all ready know them, so no one could prepare Jess for this meeting with one Jimmy Mariano.
Jess found himself at the door to room 21. He waited a moment then he knocked. He heard someone get up and walk in the direction of the door. It opened and reveled a father to a son and a son to a father.
"Jess" Jimmy said. Jess nodded.
"Jimmy" Jess said. Jimmy nodded.
"Umm, do you want to come in?"
"Sure."
"Okay, can I get you a drink?"
"No I'm fine."
"Okay well I'm going to have a drink." There was a long uneasy silence in the room and neither boy wanted to break it. However Jess needed some answers.
"What are you doing here?" Jess asked straight out.
"I wanted to…uhh meet you." Jimmy answered almost shyly.
"Oh" Another long pause. This time Jimmy broke it.
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see if it was you, you left your wallet in the Diner." Jess said taking the wallet out of his pocket and handed it to Jimmy.
"Umm thanks."
"So how did you know I was in Stars Hollow?"
"Your mom told me. I called her to find you."
"Oh" Jess said again
"Yeah I wanted to find out how you were doing, how you grew up." Hearing this made Jess a little mad. What right does he have to show up and demand to know about my life? He can't do this he doesn't have the right. Although I am kind of interested about his life too.
"If I tell you what you want to know, will you answer my questions?" Jess finally asked
"I guess that's fair." Jimmy motioned for Jess to sit down on the couch. They sat and stared at each other.
"Okay my first question I guess is, how did you end up in Stars Hollow?" Jimmy asked
"Well Liz couldn't handle me so she did what she does best, she gave up and sent me to Luke."
"Oh."
"Yep"
"Do you like it here?"
"It's better than living with Liz, and I have a great girlfriend here."
"The girl that came into the diner?"
"Yeah her name is Rory."
"Cool"
"Yeah. Why did you leave after I was born?"
"I was scared, I didn't know how to be a father, they say that when you hold your child for the first time you feel joy and you fall in love with them, but all I felt was how my life was so screwed up and that you would be better without me. So I left."
"Oh, umm where do you live now?"
"Down in Venice Beach, I got my life together and I now own a hotdog stand, I have a girlfriend Sasha and she has a daughter named Lily."
"Umm, that's cool." Jess said. The two men spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon talking about their lives. Although Jess never mentioned anything about flunking out of high school.
XxXxXxX
It was nearing the time when Rory's bus comes in so he got her some coffee and went to meet her at the bus stop.
"Hey" She greeted him with a kiss.
"Hey babe. I brought you some coffee." Jess said as he and Rory headed in the direction of the bridge. When they got there they sat down.
"Did you go see him?" Rory asked
"Yeah, he said he wanted to meet me."
"I guess that's cool."
"Yeah it was kind of weird. But we told each other about our lives. He owns a hot dog stand in Venice Beach." Jess continued telling Rory about what they talked about. When he finished they just sat there together thinking.
Rory broke the silence with her stomachs rumbles.
"Do you want to order a pizza and rent some movies?" Jess asked her.
"Yeah. Ooohhh Lets rent Grind and Strike!." Rory said excitedly.
"Why do you always want to watch lame movies like Strike!"
"It's not lame, I love that movie. They are very mock worthy." Rory said now with a pout on her face. Jess couldn't stand to look at her when she had that sad look on her face so he gave in to the movie choices.
"Fine we can get those movies."
"YAY!" Rory cheered as she pulled Jess up and dragged him into the direction of the video store. They rented the movies and walked back to Rory's house. Rory changed into some sweats and a t-shirt that she stole from Jess a couple of days ago. He didn't know she had it.
"Hey! That's my shirt." Jess exclaimed "I've been looking everywhere for it. Why do you have it" Rory blushed and that made Jess smile
"I like to wear it when your not here. It reminds me of you."
"Aww does Rory miss me when I'm not here?"
"Yes I do." Rory said sitting down in his lap on the couch, cuddling up as close as possible.
"Good, cause I miss you when you're not around too."
"Do you want to wear one of my shirts?" Rory asked with a smirk on her face.
"Sure, I was thinking about the one with the blue and green stripes." Jess said as he received a swat from Rory.
"Just put the movie on." Rory and Jess spent the rest of the night watching movies until the phone rang interrupting Strike! This made Jess happy he needed a break.
"Hello?" Rory asked
"Hey Sweets. I'm gonna stay with Sookie tonight, were going to have a girls night. I won't be back until tomorrow for dinner."
"Okay mom Have fun."
"Is Jess there?"
"Yes"
"Are you gonna ask him to stay over?"
"Maybe."
"Well if you do, be careful."
"I will mom, have fun." Rory hung up the phone and turned back to Jess.
"Was that your mom?" Jess asked her.
"Yep she's staying at Sookies tonight." Rory said moving closer to Jess. He wrapped his arms around her.
"Oh really, are you going to be okay all alone in this big old house?'
"Hmm I never thought of that, maybe I should find someone to stay with me and protect me form all of the evils in Stars Hollow."
"You should, and I happen to know someone that's up for the job." Jess said as he captured Rory's lips in a heated kiss. Soon the movie was forgotten and they made their way to Rory's bedroom.
XxXxXxX
In the middle of the night Jess woke up in a cold sweat. He hasn't told anyone but he hasn't been sleeping very well. He's too worried about his life and how much he screwed up by not graduating high school. He quietly got dressed and snuck out Rory's bedroom window. He silently strolled down to the bridge he needed to think about his life.
Man what have I done. I've really fucked up this time. I mean I'm not going to graduate from high school. What will my life be life. I won't be able to get a job or support myself let alone Rory and if we ever have a family. Hell she probably won't want to have a family with me when she realizes what a screw up I am.
I think I need to get out of here. This town it's so suffocating. I can't do anything without this whole town making a big deal out of it. Maybe if I leave for a little while I can get my life together just like Jimmy did, although I will do it faster then 19 years. I want to make something of myself so Rory and Luke can be proud of me.
I wonder if Jimmy will let me stay with him for a little while. Just until I'm good enough for Rory, and good enough for myself.
Jess got up and started to walk towards the Inn. He went in quietly and went up to Jimmy's room. He knocked on the door and Jimmy answered.
"Jess what are you doing here at 3:00 in the morning?"
"I needed to ask you something."
"Okay."
"Well I was wondering if I could come and stay with you for a little while in Venice Beach, I need to get my life back on track. I didn't tell you earlier that I flunked out of high school. Well anyway I did and now I have nothing. But I want to fix that so I can have a better life for Rory and I." Jess rambled
"Sure Jess, you can come and stay with me for a little while. I'm leaving tomorrow. But I'll make the arrangements for you and get you a plane ticket. I'll drop it off at Luke's for you tomorrow." Jess didn't know this but Jimmy actually wanted Jess to come and stay with him, he was actually planning on asking him to come for a visit.
"Thanks Jimmy, this means a lot to me."
"I can see that, and I guess I'm happy to help. I want you to have a better life than I did."
"Me to." Jess said with a smirk on his face.
"Okay see you soon, Kid."
"Bye Jimmy." Jess left the Inn and made his way back to Rory's house. He stripped his clothes off and climbed back into bed with her. She snuggled up to him and he fell into a little more restful sleep. He still had to tell the love of his life that he was leaving her for a while. Hopefully she will understand.
A/N: Wow that was a long chapter. It was 16 typed pages. It took forever.
Thanks everyone for the reviews.
petitos grasshoppertje – I know I wish Jess stayed on the Show, I absolutely hated season 4.
FrenchGal – I totally agree with you, there relationship wasn't even given a chance. Thanks that means a lot.
AHJNKCES – I'm glad you liked it.
JanelleRae – I hope this chapter was worth the wait.
Gilmore-Buffy-Fan13 – Thanks for thinking it's not like the rest, I was so worried that it was.
JustPeachy123 – It was totally for more drama, it should have been the main thing!
Pbnk – I like it better this way too.
Papaslittlecj – I also like that I didn't make Jess and Dean fight I thought that was stupid on the show. But it is fun to see Dean get his ass kicked.
kat461 – I know Bean it's great. I don't know if you read my other fanfic but I HATE Dean!
Sanfrangiantsfan – I don't think it's the best rewrite of the episode, but I'm glad you think so!
Allie K. – I know that Raising Helen was released after the show aired, but it's all make believe so I just put it in. It's not a big deal. Thanks for you opinion on the rest of my writing I will take it into consideration, if you have read this chap I hope you like it better. And about the reviews inspire me to write they do, because I'm not going to waste my time writing a story if no one wants to read it, so if people say they like it than I'm going to be inspired to write more chapters for them to enjoy.
Jessroxmysox – I'm glad you like the plot, I'll watch out for spelling mistakes although I am Canadian and my spell check is American so some of the spellings are different. And I guess I wanted to make Rory and Jess's character to be direct with each other and everyone else, In my story communication is a big thing in everyone's relationship so I have some people blurting things out. I hope that doesn't make you hate my story.
rorygilmore46 – I had Lorelai be very understanding about the sex issue because in the show she supports Rory in almost all of her decisions and I needed to make this one of them in order for my story to make sense, and in this chapter I mention that she has a talk with Jess and they come to an understanding and She doesn't hate him anymore.
rorygilmore46 – You wouldn't want me to write Gilmore Girls it wouldn't be half as funny as it is.