A/N: Hello lovely readers! Because wow, there's readers! You guys are cool. Thank you SO much for the reviews on Chapter 1 - again, super cool. It makes me happy to know I'm not alone in my thoughts about Jess and Logan. As promised, here is chapter two! I hope to be posting 2-3 times a week, but also I make no promises there. What I will promise is at least one chapter a week. Anyway, let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2

Rory awoke in a room that was not her own. She sat up quickly, briefly forgetting the events that had transpired the night before. But as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, it all started to come back to her. Jess. Dinner. Logan. Breakup. Get life back on track. She ran her hand through her mussed hair and looked around, finding herself in Lane's room. She had called Lane from the cab she took back to her grandparents' house, asking if she could crash with her for a night or two. She knew she needed to go back to her grandparents' house eventually, all her belongings were there and she still had a handful of community service shifts to complete. But after the emotional turmoil and big life decisions of the previous evening, Rory needed a safe space to recover. Lane, of course, welcomed her gladly, simply warning her about her well-meaning but slightly disruptive band and housemates. Rory had arrived in Stars Hollow much too late to fully explain to Lane what was going on, simply that she had dumped Logan and needed to get out of the Gilmore house. She laid back down with a flop and a groan as her friend knocked gently and came into the room with a tentative but kind grin on her face and a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Hey, there's my little vagabond!" Lane said softly as she saw Rory was awake.

Rory sat up with a sleepy chuckle, squinting at her friend. As soon as Rory saw the steaming mug Lane was holding out to her, she grabbed it hungrily, blowing away the steam and gulping it down as if she needed it to keep her alive. Though, that was partially true. She was a Gilmore Girl, after all.

"So… is it too soon or can I ask what's going on?" Lane asked tentatively as she sat down on the bed next to Rory.

"No, you've been plenty patient, my friend. Thanks again for letting me crash." Rory said gratefully.

"Anytime! Hey, you housed me in your tiny dorm room when everything went down with mama when she found out about the floorboards, it's the least I could do. So…" Lane stalled but was far too curious to wait any longer. "No more Logan, getting out of the mansion… I'm dying here!"

Rory explained the events of the previous evening. Jess showing up at her grandparents' house with his book, going to dinner the next night with Logan tagging along, Logan being a class-a jerk to Jess, Jess getting through to her about where she was at in life, and Rory taking her life into her own hands starting with ending things with Logan. The further she went into the story, the surer she felt about her decision, and the more the shocked expression on Lane's face grew.

"Oh. My. God. Oh my God… Oh my God!" Lane couldn't sit still.

"Lane! Jeez, calm down!" Rory laughed at her friend's jumpy excitement.

"But… Jess! You broke up with Logan for Jess!"

"No." She shook her head adamantly. "Not for Jess. Jess just happened to be the one to open my eyes to some things. A lot of things, really. I'm eternally grateful, but we're not even in contact. He was just in town to get his book in some stores." Rory explained.

"So you're saying there was nothing between you guys? At all?" Lane was unconvinced. "Come on Rory! It's Jess! He gave you his number, didn't he?!"

"Yeah, but just because he's an old friend. Jess is… Jess is Jess. I'm not saying it wasn't nice to see him, it was really good to see him. I wish we had had more time to catch up before Logan butted in and ruined it. And I'm so proud of him and his book and all the things he's doing with his life. Just… what he said flipped a switch in my head. Actually, if I get everything worked out with school and work and mom, I'll owe him. A lot." Rory became pensive, remembering bits of her past with Jess and reflecting on their collective history. She looked down at the coffee dredges remaining in her cup. Jess had never given up on her, and the same went for him. Rory had always believed he could make something of himself, and now he was doing just that. If only she could turn her life around similarly…

"Hello, earth to Rory!" Lane waved here hand in front of Rory's face, trying to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh, sorry…" Rory felt her face warm with embarrassment. She had been lost in her thoughts, not realizing Lane had been talking the entire time.

Lane chuckled. "Where'd you go there? It was like you were on a whole other planet."

"Yeah," Rory said quietly. "Sorry. Just thinking. About everything I need to do. Starting with braving going back to face Emily and Richard and figuring out how to get out of there." Rory got up and started to gather her things.

"Well, you're welcome to stay longer if you need. But I get it if you need to go. And if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask." Lane got up to hug Rory.

"Thanks, I just might take you up on that." She moved to hug her friend.

Over the next couple of weeks, Rory's vague plans became solid and were set in motion. She finished her community service hours, she got her position back at the Yale Daily News, she made plans to stay with Lane until she found housing, making a mental note to ask Paris if she knew of any near-campus housing, she called Yale and registered for as many classes as she could take to start to catch up beginning the semester after winter break, and started to discretely pack her belongings in preparation to truly move out of her grandparents' house. As this was all happening, she was only mostly successful at avoiding her grandmother's inquisition into her life.

Emily Gilmore was sure there was something going on with her granddaughter, but Rory wouldn't let her close enough to find out what it was. She was becoming more like her mother every day, and Emily was becoming more and more perturbed at the change. Sure, Rory was fulfilling her duties with the DAR, but she was pushing Emily further away with each passing day. Emily countered this by insisting that Rory let her in, prying into Rory's personal life with every interaction. Emily had been feeling an uncomfortable familiarity with the situation. Rory seemed to be mirroring her mother's behaviors – fighting with and avoiding her, doing things she didn't approve of. Emily was concerned that things were going to go downhill very quickly. But she wouldn't let that happen, not under her watch. With every interaction she had with Rory, she tried to reach Rory, hear about her personal life, gossip about the ladies in the DAR, ask her questions about her friends.

Unfortunately, this backfired, resulting in the argument of the century in front of everyone at the latest DAR function Saturday afternoon. Emily even made the mistake of referring to Richard as Rory's father instead of grandfather, a mistake she would admit to no one, confirming her fears about the similarity between mother and daughter. After this argument, Emily shut down, and Rory knew it was time to get out. She just didn't know how she was going to do it on her own.

Monday night, Rory sat in her room at the Gilmore's, brainstorming. She knew she needed to leave when her grandparents weren't home. She had to avoid further confrontation with them at all costs, especially with her grandmother. She still wasn't talking to her mother (she was saving that conversation for when she truly had everything figured out), so she couldn't call Lorelai. Lane was already letting Rory crash on her couch for free, so she didn't want to bother her further. Luke was engaged to her mother and, though he wouldn't hesitate to help, was therefore out of the question. Besides those people, she didn't have many others. Her current friends were the DAR ladies, if she could even consider them friends. They didn't really know her. And she wasn't ready to endure the lecture from Paris and wasn't even sure if she'd be able to help. Rory felt a little hopeless as she came to the realization she might really be on her own in this.

Then, she remembered a small scrap of paper floating around the bottom of her purse. She found it and entered the digits written in his familiar scrawl into her phone. She took a breath and hit the 'call' button. It started ringing. She started sweating.

"Hello?"

"Jess. Hi, it's Rory."