Spoilers: Everything up to and in Season 4 happened. Rory is in Europe, on bad terms with Lorelai. Luke didn't leave however. This occurs a few weeks after the Season 4 Finale.

Author's Note: Thank you guys soooo much for your reviews. They mean sooo much to me!! Big thanks go to Stephanie, EFW, and the Leigh for being betas. and being just purely amazing. One last thing:Please just trust me, once again.


Chapter Two- Hope...dangles on a string.

"And too much weight for walking shoes...."

"Can... Cancer?" Luke stammered, "You can't have cancer. You're Jess! You're too stubborn to have cancer and you're only 19. Nineteen! You can't possibly have cancer."

"Well I do," Jess answered.

"What type do you have?" Luke asked, "I bet it's lung cancer, I gave you those damn patches and gum, I should have made you wear them, chewed the gum, made you stop..."

"Luke," Jess interrupted, "I don't have lung cancer. I have renal cell cancer."

"Renal Cell Cancer? What is that?" Luke asked.

"It's basically cancer of the kidney. It's where cancer cells are found in the little tubes that filter and clean the blood within the kidney." Jess said.

"Is it...." Luke stammered, "..terminal?"

Jess sighed, "It varies on the stage that the cancer is in when they find it. The doctors that I saw in New York weren't able to determine what stage I'm in, but they were confident that the cancer hasn't spread from the kidney yet."

"Yet?" Luke questioned, "What are you going to do about treatment?"

"Well, my doctor said there was this doctor in Hartford, that he's an extremely well-recommended specialist on renal cell cancer. My doctor said that he would be able to determine what stage I'm in exactly and determine what treatment would be best," Jess said.

"You're staying with me," Luke said firmly.

"Luke, I don't want to be a burden to you," Jess said, "You have a diner to run. You just got together with Lorelai. I don't want for you to have to worry about having to take care of me."

"I would worry about you more if you were in that shoebox of an apartment, living with 3 other guys, while getting treatment. I'm not compromising. You're staying here with me and you're going to that specialist in Hartford," Luke answered.

"Luke..." Jess began to say, but stopped himself, "Thank you."

x x x

Lorelai looked up and smiled as she saw Luke walk in the front door of the Dragonfly.

"Hey! I was wondering where you were, you didn't come by for dinner like you said you were going to," she said with a smile on her face. She stopped, noticing the look on his face, "Luke, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. The diner just got really busy and I had a visitor," Luke replied.

"Don't even try that with me, Luke Danes. I know you and I know when something is wrong. You had a visitor? Who was it?" Lorelai questioned.

"It was Jess," Luke said.

"Jess?" Lorelai said, "What did he say to upset you this time?"

"Lorelai, he didn't do anything," Luke said as he looked around the inn, "Come outside with me for a minute. I want to talk to you in private."

"Okay," Lorelai said baffled as they walked outside on the porch.

"Luke, what's going on?" Lorelai asked, genuinely confused.

"Lorelai," Luke sighed, "I don't know how to say this."

"You're... You're breaking up with me?!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"No! No!" Luke yelled, "I'm not breaking up with you. I would not do that to you. I care about you, Lorelai."

"Okay, if you're not breaking up with me, then what's wrong?" Lorelai questioned.

"Its Jess," Luke explained, "He's sick."

"Well then have the kid go to the doctor. I'm sure he'll be okay soon," Lorelai said.

"No, Lorelai," Luke said, "He's not sick as in a cold, he's really sick. He has cancer."

"Cancer?" Lorelai said, "He can't have cancer. He's Jess! He's a rebel without a cause! Rebels without a cause do not get cancer!"

"Lorelai," Luke said softly, "He has cancer."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?" he replied as they sat side by side on the loveseat.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lorelai asked softly.

"I don't know.." Luke said quietly, "I don't know..."

x x x

Luke quietly entered the apartment, not wanting to wake up Jess if he was asleep.

"Luke?" Jess called out.

"Yeah Jess, it's me," Luke replied.

"I called the specialist's office while you were out, they actually had a cancellation so I'm going tomorrow morning," Jess said.

"Okay great," Luke said, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"If you want to," Jess replied.

"Okay," Luke said, "I'm going to bed now. I have to open up tomorrow."

"Okay" Jess said as he picked up his book and started to read once again.

The apartment had been dark and quiet for nearly 10 minutes before Jess spoke up.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Come with me tomorrow?"

"Sure Jess."

"Goodnight Luke."

"Goodnight."

"Luke?"

"Yeah Jess?"

"Thanks."

"No problem Jess. No problem."

x x x

"So, how did his appointment go?" Lorelai asked as her and Luke stood in the main hallway of the Dragonfly two days later.

"It was alright. The doctor ran some tests and asked Jess some questions about his medical history. He said he would call sometime soon to let us know the test results," Luke said.

"Good. And is Jess doing okay?" Lorelai asked.

Luke sighed, "He's doing okay. I guess the best that could be expected. He's just so young, you know? He has been struggling his whole life, he doesn't deserve to be sick on top of everything else that has happened to him."

"I know sweetie," Lorelai said, "No one deserves this. Did he say what time he was coming?"

"Yeah. He said he would be here by 7:30. And it's just about 7:30 now, so," Luke said as he looked over to the front door, "There he is."

Jess walked into the inn, looked around and then spotted his uncle and Lorelai. He walked over and said, "Hey Uncle Luke. Lorelai."

"Jess," Luke said as he nodded.

"Hi Jess. It's nice to see you again," Lorelai responded.

Jess looked around at the inn and said, "You've done a really nice job with this Lorelai. It's beautiful."

Lorelai smiled and said "Thank you. I forgot that you weren't here when it was getting built."

"Uh yeah," Jess said, obviously not wanting to bring up Rory.

"Shall we?" Lorelai said, motioning to the dining room, "Sookie has made us a delicious meal."

They were just finishing dessert when Jess's cell phone rang. He looked down and sighed.

"I have to take this," he said, "It's the doctor."

Jess stood from the table and walked out of the dining room towards the front door of the inn, "Hello?" was heard as he exited the Dragonfly.

Luke stared at the door that Jess had just walked out of and Lorelai reached her hand out and grasped Luke's. He looked over at her and she gave him a supportive smile. He smiled sadly back.

5 minutes passed. No sign of Jess. Then ten minutes. Then twenty. Still no Jess.

Luke sighed and began to stand up, "I'm going to go look for him," he said.

"No Luke," Lorelai said, "Let me."

Luke looked surprised and then nodded as Lorelai stood up and walked out of the inn.

As she walked out onto the porch, she saw a figure sitting on the edge of the porch. Shoulders falling in dismay.

She slowly approached them and sat down next to them.

"Jess?" she said softly as he tried to quickly hide the traces of any tears on his face.

"The doctors in New York were wrong. My cancer is in stage three. That means it's spread from the kidney and it's hardier to treat," Jess said.

"Oh Jess," Lorelai said quietly, "I'm so sorry."

Jess looked up and his eyes met with Lorelai's. "I could die Lorelai. I could die, "he said sadly.

"Oh honey," Lorelai said sadly as she put an arm on Jess' shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, "Everything's going to be okay...it's going to be okay..."

No. It's not.

Jess recoiled at Lorelai's touch, as if he had been punched, and stood up quickly.
"No, it's not going to be alright," he said.

He walked down the steps of the porch as Lorelai stood up,
"Jess," she began to say.

"No," he cut her off, "I have screwed up so many things in my life and it seems like I can never get anything right. My whole life, the only thing I've ever been good at is screwing up. I guess this is what screw-ups deserve."

Lorelai and Jess looked at each other for a moment, before he turned and started to walk away.

"No Jess," she said, "You don't deserve this. You don't.'

But those words never reached his ears. He was gone.

Lorelai stared at his back for a moment,

"You were always good at that too," she said as she sighed and headed back into the inn.