After Jess' less than expected interaction with his uncle, he just wandered around town, consumed by his thoughts. Eventually, he ended up at the bridge by the lake where the pair had first admitted their feelings for one another. The sun's bright rays were reflecting off the clear lake, accentuating the ripples within it. The forest in itself was rather overgrown and overflowing with flowers from every colour of the rainbow. Jess lost himself in the beauty and simplicity of it all before he was brought back to reality.
Jess knew what he had done was wrong. He didn't mean to pressure her. He loved her. Wait a minute. Love? Was that what he was feeling? Was that the reason for his inner turmoil? He was at a loss. It was safe to say that Jess rarely experienced love or anything resembling it. Liz hadn't been the best parent in the world but he supposed he loved her out of principle. His relationship with Luke was probably the closest thing he had to love and sometimes even that was very far off. And, no matter how bad it sounds, he knows all his relationships in the past had just been about the sex. Well, everyone until Rory. He loved her. He loved Rory Gilmore with all his heart. And it was destroying him like nothing before. His guilt was engulfing him mercilessly. He had to get better. For her. For the only person who believed in him and saw the best in him.
Suddenly, Jess stood up and began to make his way to Rory's house. He had no clue what he was going to do. Hell! He didn't even know if she was back at home yet. What if Lorelai answered? They tell each other everything. He'd be murdered. Maybe this wasn't one of his brightest ideas. He was about to turn back but he heard the most beautiful voice calling out his name.
'Jess? What are you doing here?'
Rory was lost for words. She just assumed that she'd have to make the first move. She never would've imagined that JESS MARIANO of all people would initiate any kind of social interaction.
'Jess. Why are you standing on my front porch?'
Jess froze. What was he doing here? This was not what he thought would've happened.
'Well, I'm going inside. You two sort this out between yourselves.' came the distant voice of Lorelai.
Before he knew it, they were alone again.
'Hi.' Jess said rather stupidly.
Not knowing what else to say, Rory replied with a simple 'Hello' and then happened to find something very interesting on the bottom of her shoe.
The tension was palpable. You could've cut it with a knife. Awkwardness and anxiety hung in the air around them.
Rory wasn't sure how she felt about the situation. She wanted Jess back. She wanted him so bad. But this was getting too hard. It was destroying her. She spent all her time hoping he'd call or wondering what she did wrong. He never talks about anything, no matter how hard she tries. How much she pushes. She didn't know how much more of this relationship she could take.
'What do you want Jess?' Rory began. 'Why are you here?'
'I just wanted to see you! I miss you Rory.' Jess replied emphatically. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for making you cry. I'm sorry for not stopping. I'm sorry for taking my feelings out on you. I'm just so sorry.'
'What happened that night Jess? I'm just confused. Did I do somet-'
'No. I promise. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just that...' Jess interrupted.
This is even harder than talking to Luke Jess though. He didn't know why he thought he could do this. Jess could just imagine the looks of disappointment and pity that Rory would give him. She was the one person who always had faith in him. Always believed in him. If she took that away then he would be left with nothing. But he wanted her back. He needed her back. And Jess knew Rory deserved the truth.
'The truth is,' Jess hesitantly told her. 'The truth is that I'm not graduating next year. I've missed too much school and I've got to redo the entire year.'
Silence. Jess waited. Waited for the admonishing. The lectures. The speech. But none came. The silence spoke volumes, more than words ever could. Slowly, he met Rory's eyes and was greeted with the most disappointed, pitiful look he'd ever seen.
He continued. 'We can't go to prom with Lane like you wanted either because the principal won't sell me any tickets. Rory. Please. Say something.'
Rory was just stunned. She honestly couldn't believe it. A) Jess had been open with her, voluntarily. B) He'd lied to her. He promised that he was still going to class.
'Jess, you lied to me.' Rory replied hurt. 'And then you took your anger out on me. I just can't accept being treated like that. I don't know if I can be with someone who thinks its ok to treat me like dirt whenever they feel like it. I won't be one of those girls.'
She didn't want to be with him. That cut him to the core. But Jess had to try to get her back.
'Rory, I can change. I'll redo the year. I won't lie to you. I'll be a better boyfriend. I love you, ok? I love you so much and I never ever wanted to hurt you and I promise I'll never treat you like that again.'
Rory was shocked. Jess LOVED her. Jess loved HER. Did she love him too? Her heart always skipped a beat whenever she saw him. And she loved kissing him. And she loved talking to him. About books and music and- Oh God. She loved him. But she didn't know what to do with that. She couldn't just ignore what had happened.
'Jess, I can't just ignore what happened. I want to be with you so much. I do.'
'Let me take you out tomorrow. Let's just spend some time together and talk all of this through. Ok?'
'Okay,' Rory replied.
'Now get inside. Its getting cold and I don't want you getting sick,' Jess said with a smile on his face before he turned around and went home.
Rory was still so confused. She didn't know what to do On one hand, she loved him and wanted to be with him but on the other, she didn't want to get hurt. She went inside, changed in her pajamas and just lay on her bed listening to music till she fell asleep.