Author's Note: If anyone was wondering, Lorelai and Luke are simply dating, right where we left them after the series (sob) finale. That really will not be important, but still. An FYI.

I decided instead of a few days after Jess leaves, it is right when he arrives.

And all this positive feedback is simply wonderful.

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Jess stepped off the walkway and into the baggage claim area. So far, from what he saw of the Tacoma National Airport, Seattle looked nice. He picked up his duffle bag, heaved a sigh, and walked to the front desk.

"Excuse me."

The woman at the front was talking on the phone. "And I just can't stand him. But I don't wanna leave him, ya know? He's one of those guys…yeah."

Jess narrowed his eyes and spoke a bit louder. It was clearly a social call. "Would you please get off the damn phone?"
She groaned. "Got to go, Mel, some guy's standing here, looking pissed." She set down the phone and glared at Jess. "Hello sir, what can I help you with?" Her voice was false and cheery.

"I'm Jess Mariano."
"And I'm Gina Lenai. Great. I'm glad we got that out of the way."

Jess shuffled his feet and rearranged his bag. "I'm here with Truely Associated. They said that I should come to the front desk, and I would get information."

Gina started clicking away on the computer. "Oh, the Jess Mariano. Yep. Get a car outside, and go to Marriott Waterfront Seattle, the driver will know where it is. And then, once there, just talk to them."

Jess walked outside and hailed a cab in true New York fashion. It zoomed out of line right for him. He got in, staring at the befuddled people still attempting to whistle.

"Where to?" The driver was an elderly man with grey hair.

"The Mariott Waterfront."
"Ah, nice choice. There's good coffee right down the street."
Jess smirked. "So I take it coffee is big here."

"It is very big. I hope you like coffee."

"I like it. It's not the best, but, I'm not complaining."

"Good. If you hated it, I might have to kick you out."

Jess smiled. In a few moments, they arrived at the hotel. Jess paid the driver and left a substantial tip. He walked into the lobby of the hotel and was stunned. Even for his standards, this place was fancy. Activity bustled over the lobby, and the hall was absolutely beautiful. Chandeliers dangled from the ceiling. He went over to the desk and was quickly handed a room key and a number to call, to talk to Mr. Williams, the head of his tour.

Jess' room was on the third floor and he opened the door and found a message blinking on the machine already. He pressed the button and listened to a voice cut the silence.

"Jess Mariano, this is Mr. Williams. It is about 2 on Wednesday and I hope you found everything okay. If you could give me a call before 9 tonight, that would be wonderful. Thank you."

Jess sighed and picked up the phone, dialing the number.

"Hello?" The same curt voice cut the air.

"It's Jess."

"Jess. Wonderful. My name is Ted Williams. I am going to be your activity coordinator, and the one who makes sure this month is as enjoyable as possible."

"Great." Jess' voice dripped with sarcasm, but Ted Williams was too thick to hear it.

"So you have gotten to your room well enough."

"Obviously. As I am calling you from the hotel."

"Well, there is a dinner at Migiano's at eight. Please be there. There's a handful of other authors attending, authors who will be at other places."

"Great."

"So we'll see you at eight?"

Jess sighed.

"See you then." And with that Mr. Williams hung up the phone.

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"Jesus Christ. What does the guy keep in his room?"

Soon after Jess had left, Eric and Carson had received word that they had to move out of their current apartment. Apparently some high-class citizen wanted it. And they were the first out. Carson had sent out a stream of expletives, Eric had tried to reason with them, but they had to be out in two weeks.

After boxing up their items, Eric and Carson had pushed open the door to Jess' room. It was piled high with books and boxes. Clothes and dollar bills were strewn everywhere.

Eric laughed. "Well, books."

Carson reached down through the piles and picked up a pair of jeans. As he picked them up a thunk hit the ground and money fell to the ground.

"Hey, look at that. We found his old phone. And…money." Carson bent down and picked up the twenties. He opened them all up and saw a white card.

"What the hell's that?" Eric bent over to see what the card said.

Rory Gilmore Home: (234) 242-2347

3234 Lulan Ave. Cell: (234) 455-6219

New York City, NY Work: (234) 342-6621 ex. 32

"Oh my God. It's that girl. Does Jess know about this?"

"I'd guess…not. Otherwise he'd probably have it."

Eric picked up his phone. "Well, then I have to call him." He punched some numbers and in a few seconds heard a ring on the other line.

"Hey, Jess."

"Eric."

"We got evicted. Kind of. More like kicked out."

"Damn. Where are we moving to?"

"We have no idea. We're just moving out right now. And we're cleaning out your room…and we found a card."

"Huh?"

"A business card of a certain Rory Gilmore."

Jess' mind flashed back to the cab ride. Had she really given him a card after all?

"Okay."

"I know you want the information." When Jess said nothing, Eric proceeded to tell Jess everything on the card. Little did Eric know Jess was writing it all down.

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"And so, this book is my autobiography. It is not a pretty sketch of myself, my life, but it is what it is."

The audience in the Seattle Public library politely clapped. The crowd milled around for a few moments. Most left. Although this was Jess' first "talk", he had suspected this. No one wanted to hear about hardships or starving for weeks on end because his mother was too busy to go to the store, or the time when he was seven that he was kicked out of the house. They just wanted rainbows and butterflies.

Amazingly enough, a few people came up and asked for their copies to be signed. One person in particular struck him.

The person was wearing a tweed cap and an old coat, full of holes. They were obviously old, and obviously had seen much worse days than Jess had. When they spoke, their voice was old and creaky.

"Mr. Mariano, I wish my life could've been as inspirational as yours. We led the same life. But you did something. I did nothing. I've regretted that my whole life." And with that, they left Jess just standing there, his mouth open. He continued to talk to the few remaining, but that person struck him the most. Here was what he could have been. Here was what he had become.

Jess stacked up the copies of his books after the stage went quiet and he pulled out his phone. He got halfway through dialing Rory's number, but then quickly shut the phone.

"Well, Mr. Mariano, not the best, but certainly a good start."

"People are too afraid to hear about what some people have to deal with daily."

"I suppose so." Mr. Williams looked at Jess curiously and boxed up the books. "Well, Jess, the rest of the day is yours to do whatever you like. Tomorrow at 2 you have a book signing at the Little Book on 12th, and then the dinner with the company at night."

"Okay."

Jess walked out of the highly air-conditioned library, and pulled out his phone again. He dialed the number. He was 23. He was too old to chicken out about calling a girl. Regardless of whom she was.

The rings on the other end seemed endless. They seemed to ring into nothing, until her clear voice picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Jess."

"Hey, Jess. What…uh, what are you up to?"

"Well, I'm on a sort of "mini-tour" with Truely Associated in Seattle for a month."

"Oh my God, Jess, that's wonderful."

"Yeah."

"So…is there a reason for the call?"

"I just…well, Eric found the card you gave me…is it from the cab ride?"

"Yeah. That's so old, I didn't know if you were going to…use it or whatever."

"I just never knew. You never said anything."

"Yeah, well."

The silence got so awkward between them. The bookstore had been fine. The bookstore conversation had been about books, about their respective lives. But this seemed to keep veering toward and "our" life.

Jess was painfully aware of the silence. "Well, I, uh, just wanted to let you know I finally found your card."

"Okay. I have some…work…to get to. Bye, Jess."

"Yeah. Bye."

With a resounding click, Rory had hung up as quickly as she had picked up. Jess hated himself. He couldn't hold a conversation for more than a minute. And now Rory could exit out of his life, she had her free card. He had returned her bookstore gesture, and she could now choose to just leave it at that. Besides, New York was big. Even when he got back, there was probably a miniscule chance he'd see her randomly again.

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Author's Note: Well, for how long the time gap was, it sure wasn't fantastic. But, I plan on speeding up the Seattle time, to have Jess back in New York in a chapter or two.

Oh, and there is a Mariott in Seattle, on the waterfront, but not the restaurant or any of the coffee places mentioned, to my knowledge. The streets/numbers are completely made up. The Mariott and the airport do exist though.

And I have not decided whether or not the mysterious person at the library will play a role in the story yet.