Title: Losing Left and Right, Finding In Between

Summary: Never in a million years did he expect to find her on his doorstep. Her, of all people. And truth be told, she never expected that it would be him she was running to.

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. Credit for that mess goes to AS-P and The WB.

Notes: Wow, it's been a while. Let's just say that school, computer problems, and horrible, evil writer's block slowed me down a bit. With that being said...

Thanks for all the reviews!!!! The last chapter was hard, but I'm glad you seemed to think it was okay. Special thanks to Jayde (you're always the first to review), enigmatic darling (you're so encouraging), Jewls13 (I'm glad your reading this; your opinion means so much to me), and Stew Pid (you're a great friend and a constant support).

Smile1, I like what you said about the title! I'm still not sure if you meant it offensively or not, but it made me laugh..."on the other hand, it's cliche and melodramatic"...it is, but I had a hell of a time coming up with anything. Which is why I would like to, again, thank the lovely Stew Pid for supplying the current (and hopefully final) title.

Chapter Five: Current Events

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It was early. There wasn't a clock in her view, but the sunlight had begun to make is way across the floor, creeping through the thin curtains in slits.

Three days.

It had been less than three days since she left. Since she first saw him. Since they talked. Since they got here.

It seemed like forever ago.

They had opted on splurging a bit on a motel rather than attempt to room in his apartment with three other guys. Jess packed what little he had accumulated in the past several months and left a note saying he wouldn't be returning.

And that was it.

It didn't take them long to find a relatively cheap place to stay, and Jess paid for the week. Beyond that, no talk of the future had taken place. But she didn't mind. This was the new super spontaneous Rory. Not worrying about tomorrow. Living in the moment.

She still hadn't called Lorelai. She told herself it was because she had just gotten to New York. That she needed to figure things out with Jess first, so she could at least outline a rational plan to her most likely irrational mother.

It was more than that though. She didn't know what to say to her. She didn't want to fight with her. She didn't want to deal with her. But mostly, she was afraid Lorelai would try to convince her to come back. She was afraid she would succeed.

So, until she and Jess had talked, until they had decided on a plan of action, until she was secure with her decision, Lorelai would have to wait.

Which brought up another problem: talking with Jess. Once they talked, once they planned, once they got a place, once they truly began to try this, it would suddenly become real. And if it was real, then she could get hurt. Again. If it was real, he could leave her. Again.

Real scared her.

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It was early. Too early. He rolled over in an attempt to get comfortable enough to doze back off. Instead, he felt himself being watched. He paused, then opened one eye. A pair of blue ones were staring back. A smile formed on his lips as he pulled her closer.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked groggily.

"Watching you," her voice was quiet, still heavy with sleep. She must not have been awake long.

"Why?" He opened both eyes now, his brow furrowing in confusion. He watched as she shifted her gaze from his.

"Good morning," she was fully awake now, the illusion of the early morning now shaken from her senses.

Instead of repeating his question as a light pink flush rose in her cheeks, just like he knew it would, he left it hanging in the air, neither knowing the answer.

"Morning."

He watched her roll on her back, staring at the ceiling and fiddling with the sheet. He could tell she wanted to say something, her eyes clouding over, her forehead crinkling in deep thought. Trying to decide how to broach the subject, no doubt.

It had only been three days since they wordlessly left his apartment and tracked down the hotel. He had originally asking the manager for a room with two beds, not sure of how comfortable Rory would be with the situation. Surprisingly, she corrected him, politely saying one bed would be fine. Upon his questioning look, she backtracked, saying that a room with two beds would be more expensive, and they should be saving their money. He silently thanked Rational Rory for making an appearance.

He then responded with a smirk that made her blush.

Things were slightly awkward at first, the last year weighing down heavily on both of their minds. Instead of diving right into the inevitable discussion, however, they chose to ignore it, a silent agreement made by both parties. Instead, the spent their first days back together treading lightly, bringing up only carefully calculated subjects, such as their latest book preferences and the weather. Staying on current events was the key.

And so far, current events had worked well for them. They quickly fell back into the easy banter and mindless kissing that had highlighted their high school romance. It seemed simple to fall into a groove, finding their niche in a parallel universe between the rocky terrain of their past and the uncertainty of their future.

Now, with the vestiges of sleep still weighing heavily on both of them, the look in her eyes told him that that unspoken agreement crumbled. The only question was who would break the suffocating silence.

"We should talk."

His words surprised her. Rory rolled over, facing him again.

"We should?" she asked incredulously.

"Don't you think we should?"

"Yes. I guess I just thought I would have to be the one to bring it up. You've never been the most talkative person in the world, especially when it comes to...well, anything really."

"We're going to need to have a plan or something, assuming you want to stay."

"I do."

"And I'm sure you have plenty of questions for me."

She nodded.

"So, we should get this out in the open."

"Why didn't you stay in California?" The question just...appeared in her mind and before she could even process it, it was tumbling from her lips.

Her tone wasn't harsh - it was soft, delicate.

He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he considered his answer. Rory crawled over the bed and moved up across from him, straightening her t-shirt while Jess sat in thought.

"The only reason I went over there was because I had nowhere else to go."

Rory opened her mouth to counter, but Jess beat her to the punch, "I thought I had nowhere else to go. So, I stayed there for the summer, but it just didn't work."

"Why?" The question was a tentative one, and she could tell he was reluctant to answer.

"Jimmy already had his little family unit all squared away, and I didn't fit. So, I took the money I saved, came back over here, and set up in New York."

"Oh."

"I didn't leave because I didn't care about you Rory."

"I just wish you would have talked to me."

"It probably would have made things easier, huh?" He leaned back against the headboard, his eyes on her.

"Yeah," she nodded slowly, bringing her gaze up to meet his.

"So, are you serious about wanting to stay. In New York. With me."

"That is why I'm here," she nodded, still slightly unsure of herself, slightly unsure of him.

"We should probably look for a place then, huh?"

All of her uncertainties vanished, just like that. Hearing those simple words, so sincere, drove away any doubts she had.

She felt the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but instead of stifling it, she sat there, grinning like an idiot, nodding furiously.

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They spent the rest of the morning finally tackling that unnamed demon, ushering him out of their living space for good. Only leaving the bed to refill the red ceramic mug with the bitter tasting generic hotel coffee (even worse than Doose's Brand Decaf!, but good enough to curb the slight shakes from caffeine withdrawal), they tested the unsure waters of the past year, each relaying their own stories back and forth of loneliness and tears, of accomplishments and disappointments.

Rory told of her first year at Yale, of the naked guy, of the insanity of actually having to live with Paris, but also of the strange calmness and familiarity that occasionally ensued between the two. She told of the late night studying sessions, of the stress felt during that first poly-sci test. She told him of her American Lit class and her professor who had read every book known to man and who she swore up and down was at least 105 years old (a notion he deemed as foolish, to which she wholeheartedly agreed, but held true to her convictions nonetheless). She told him of Lane's fallout with her mother and her brief stint in the dorm, and then of her tiny house in Stars Hollow with the band, a house with only one bedroom and a stove with only one working burner, but a house that Lane loved more than anything. She even went as far as to bringing her mother into the scenario, recounting the chaos surrounding the inn, leaving out any and all details of the opening, a night she wasn't ready to relive again.

Jess' tales were fewer and he told them with indifference, a sharp contrast to the way her face lit up with delight, or how her words ran together as she spoke faster and faster until she was almost out of breath, her tongue working in a furious race with her brain, never able to get the words out fast enough. Finally relenting, her brain slowed and she stayed perched at attention, a signal that it was now his turn.

Silence briefly fell over the room as he took a moment to collect his thoughts, feeling worn out just from listening, almost as if he had just run the 5K, not her. She, however, still held a look of excitement and intrigue, her sapphire eyes growing larger as she patiently waited for him to speak.

And so, as to not disappoint her, he reluctantly divulged sparse details of California, stories more of Lily than of anything or anyone else. He continued, opening up more than she expected him to, by telling her how, although he and Jimmy got along, he felt he had overstayed his welcome and was on a Greyhound to New York by the end of summer. They still kept in contact, talking about once a month more out of obligation than anything else. Most of the time Lily interrupted the conversation, and Jess would end up saying goodbye to her rather than his father, not that he minded. It saved them both from awkward small talk that neither one was sure they could take. Upon arriving in New York, he worked at a white-shirt-black-pants-tie-not-so-optional restaurant that he absolutely hated and was subsequently fired from just after his second week of employment. Apparently taking a ten minute snack break and turning it into a lunch hour was looked down upon in the culinary business. He had been working as a messenger ever since; he described it as "something I don't completely detest."

It was about this time that, coincidentally, Jess' cell phone rang with an angry message from his boss about not showing up for said job. Jess erupted into a fit of coughs, arguing that he had caught the flu, was on his deathbed and needed the rest of the week off. After his boss threatened to fire him, Jess, in a raspy voice, argued that he had yet to miss a day of work in almost one year and that he would be back by Monday. Without waiting for a reply, he hung up and it was then that he noticed Rory's face, one of shock and amusement, all because of the fact that he, Jess Mariano, the king of irresponsibility, owned a cell phone.

The mocking commenced for the duration of the day. It was well into the evening and several Chinese take-out boxes later before they even remembered apartment hunting, and vowed to begin bright and early the next day.

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Notes: This was originally going to be much longer with glimpses at Stars Hollow as well, but the rest of it just isn't coming to me....so, I figured I just might as well cut it up into two chapters rather than make you wait for three, four, five more months (oops again!). Hopefully the next chapter will come to me quicker this time, but I can't make any promises.

If anyone has any questions, comments, suggestions, or even flames, please don't be too shy to let me know!!! So drop me a line people. One word reviews are great too just write 'good' or 'bad'...I'm not picky. 0.o