Jess Mariano looked out the window of his Philadelphia apartment. Today was the day and he knew it. After years of holding back he was finally going to pop the question. He was going to ask his beloved girlfriend, Susan, to marry him. Susan and Jess had been dating for a few years now. He was in love with her. Jess had a great life as an author/journalist at a highly prestigious magazine. He loved to read and write and whenever given the chance would do so. He wanted more then anything to marry Susan. The thing that really made his career jump was his first book, the Subsect. It was a power written and thought filled short novel about life. There was a reason he wrote this book though. It was his sign that he was moving on. Moving on from her. With this book he could have a way to get over the past and forget about her. She had come into his life about ten years ago. When he was seventeen.
It all started in the small town of Stars Hallow, Connecticut. A very small town just outside of Hartford. He was the James Dean type of guy in this town and she was the princess. After being sent to Stars Hallow for doing who knows what in New York. His mom wanted him to get his act straight because she was unable to do it herself. When he first got there he wanted to get out more then anything. He being use to the city the small town type didn't appeal to him very much as being fun. These were his thoughts until he saw her. He had met her at a welcoming party her mother had thrown for him. Her mother also invited Like, Jess's new guardian. Luke was sort of over protective at times which Jess didn't mind for Luke was the only one Jess could trust. Luke was kind of like the father he never had. This is because Jimmy (Jess's dad) had left Jess and his mom at birth. When Jess was at this party he saw her. He seemed to have fallen for love at first sight right then and there. But you can never be to sure at that age of what love really is. Jess at that moment had fallen for this girl not fallen in love, just fallen. Over the course of time though Jess did learn to love this girl. She to had also fallen in love with him (even if she didn't want to admit it). She kept her love a secret though because well she had a boyfriend. Dean (her boyfriend) had seen their weird love for one another all along. So he decided to leave her at the Dance Marathon (one of Stars Hollow's strange gatherings). After that night the two started dating one another. They shared their passions for music, books, and other miscellaneous stuff like that. Jess left for California thus breaking off their relationship. He followed his once neglectful father to California hopping to receive some sort of love from him. He kept a steady routine of coming and leaving his mark. This broke the girl which had a huge impact on not only her but Jess. Later they found that something inside of both of them was not right. This girl who was a Yale student and who dreamt of becoming a journalist had somehow lost it. So Jess came back to help her fix it by showing her his success and that she could do anything. Later when he returned he saw his work was done and that he was done. This was at his Uncle Luke's wedding.
FLASHBACK – LUKE AND LORELAI'S WEDDING
"Rory, Hey" Jess greeted his once girlfriend by approaching her.
"Jess, Hey," Rory said. She was standing next to the gazebo, which was kind of like the town's landmark.
"So how's life at Yale treating you?"
" Oh Yale it's great, I mean I couldn't have done it without your help"
"Hey don't thank me you did that yourself"
"
"Oh no you deffinantly deserve thanks it was all your doing. I might have never gone back to Yale and still have been living with my grandparents if it wasn't for you."
"Yeah and you also might have still been dating that Yale jerk with the Porsche right"
"Oh about that"
"What did I go to far because I know you kind of liked him and you did date him for a while"
"No Jess, its just that Logan and I are still together"
"You forgave him after that night"
"Well yeah, we settled it together. You see Logan was just drunk and confused and he didn't mean what he said about your book. He was also under a lot of pressure from his dad and stuff like that."
Jess rubbed his fingers through his gelled hair. "Oh I just assumed that you two had…. Umm you know that's the kind of fight that…."
"Jess what are you getting at? I mean I forgave Logan so deal with it. Why should you care about who I am with anyway?"
"That's exactly the point Rory, I do care. I care about you and you deserve way better then some rich jerk. The decision you made to stay with him is wrong, can't you see that. Can't you see that he doesn't love you!"
"Oh and what you do Jess. Do you love me?"
Jess just stood in front of her quite for along time so she asked him again. "Do you love me Jess?" Jess couldn't think of what to say so he looked up at her sad looking expression on her face. He once again looked into the deep blue eye's he had once loved so long ago. He had to tell her the truth based upon what he had just heard. He had to tell her what he thought. "No," he just seemed to blurt out. He thought he would for sure say yes but for some reason he said no so he trusted what his heart had told him. Or at least that's what he thought his heart had told him. Actually it was just sort of an impulse so he could show her what it was like to here the word No. After the person who had asked had so wished that the person they loved would say yes.
""No, I don't love you Rory. Not anymore"
"Then I guess there's no other reason to continue this wasteful conversation"
"Fine by me"
"Good"
"Well then goodbye, Mrs. Gilmore. I hope you have a great life with Logan and that you to can have wonderful blonde haired kids.
"Goodbye, to you Mr. Mariano. I hope you can continue to live a lonely life with your books"
"At least it will be better then living a life as a slave under a drunk husband"
"Leave me alone Jess"
"I'd be happy to"
Rory walked away but turned around one last time to look at him. He saw her look at him and just gave her a smirk. A smirk which showed that he was lying and sorry and that he actually hoped she would have a good life. Of course these two would always be friends and probably nothing more. Rory turned from him and walked farther down the streets of Stars Hallow until she turned a corner. There she whispered to herself. "Goodbye Dodger" And when Jess saw that she was out of sight he whispered to himself "Goodbye Gilmore, Goodbye."
END OF FLASHBACK
FANCY ITALIAN RESTRAUNT
"Susan" Jess said while getting down on one knee. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you from now and forever. "Will you ….." He paused for a few seconds making sure this was the right decision. "Will you marry me Sue"
"Yes, of course" Sue jumped up and down excitedly. She wrapped her arms around him and tried on the ring. This ring was really expensive and it cost Jess a lot of his money. Sue and Jess had met at a convention in Boston. She was one of those new poets that didn't really have poetry as a job it was just something she did. She was a very civilized person and lived the model life. She grew up with servants and butlers and she was part of a very prestigious family. She later on told Jess that he would be the worker and become part of the family business. This business was luckily journalism so he could manage. Susan on the other hand would schedule dinner parties and join the DAR. The reason he asked her to marry him was because he loved her or so he believed. But another reason was well if Rory could live this kind of life with Logan so could he. He thought life would be easy because he had a job, and a soon to be wife. I mean what could possibly go wrong with his life. It was picture perfect. Right?