(The next day)

Rory walked by the basement door and heard faint sounds of a guitar and singing. She leaned closer to the door to see if she could make out the noises. Suddenly, a song was audible.

"Filling these blank pages

With words that I can't speak

Trying to carry on

Though my heart is weak

Dancing through the darkness

My heart on my sleeve

Crying out for someone

To come and rescue me

I'd like to be optimistic

But I'm headed for disaster

Yeah, I'm out of happy ever afters…

Broken when I was young

Shattered soon after

My life is slipping away

And I'm falling faster

It's a crash and burn course

And I'm the master

But sadly…

I'm all out of happy ever afters…"

Could these beautiful and yet jagged words truly be the work of Jess? Unable to sustain the suspense of not knowing, Rory opened the basement door. The music and singing quickly stopped.

"Don't stop." Rory replied as she slowly made her way down the stairs.

"Go away." Jess said as he removed his guitar from his lap and laid it on his bed.

"Did you write that?" Rory asked.

Jess looked up at the girl, who kept coming closer. "I was working on it... It's not finished yet."

"Jess, that's incredible." Rory said astonished. "I never had any idea you could write like that. You play the guitar really well too, and honestly, the singing, not so bad." Rory smiled.

"Rory… please get out of my room." Jess stood from his bed.

"Jess…" Rory began to object. "Look it's silly for us to fight. I didn't mean what I said last night… about moving back to LA."

"Well, I mean what I said about not wanting to be here." Jess replied.

"Well… that's fine." Rory paused. "But I think in time, you'll grow to love Stars Hollow."

Jess sighed. "If you're not going to leave, then I am." Jess grabbed his jacket.

"Hey, don't disappear for hours this time, okay." Rory remarked as Jess headed up the stairs.

"No promises." Jess answered as he reached the top step.

(Monday)

"Thanks for staying with us, Miss Patty." Rory replied.

"No problem, sweetheart. You be sure to tell your mother to call me when she gets home this evening. I want to hear all about the honeymoon." She winked.

"I will." Rory promised. "Good bye."

Rory grabbed her books and headed off for school. She hadn't seen Jess that morning, but assumed he was going to skip school just like every day. As she turned the corner of her block, she carelessly bumped into the person in front of her.

"Oh!" Rory remarked as her books fell to the ground and papers scattered everywhere. "I'm sorry… I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Rory quickly fell to her knees and began picking up her books.

"It's alright." A voice replied. "I wasn't paying attention either."

The two stood in unison and met each other's eyes. Rory was taken aback to see a tall, gorgeous boy standing in front of her.

"I'm Dean." He smiled.

"I'm Rory." She replied. "Sorry that I bumped into you."

"Don't worry about it." Dean eyed the girl over. "You're heading to school?"

"Yeah." Rory replied.

"Me too. I'm new in town… it's my first day."

"Really?" Rory asked. "Well, welcome to Stars Hollow."

"Thanks…" Dean paused. "So, maybe you could show me around campus… I could use some help from someone who knows where they're going."

"Sure." Rory cheerfully agreed. "It's really easy… you'll get the hand of it in no time. What class do you have first?"

"Spanish." Dean replied.

"Mrs. Silks?"

Dean gazed down at his schedule. "That's her."

"I have that first period too."

"Well, that seems fairly easy."

"See… what did I tell you?" Rory started walking and Dean followed closely.

(Lunch)

"So, I hear there's a new guy." Lane said as she bit off a piece of her sandwich. "In our grade too."

"Yeah…" Rory replied. "I met him this morning."

"You did?" Lane asked eagerly. "What's he like?"

"Well, he's…" Rory paused as she spotted Dean walking towards her. "He's right behind you."

"What?" Lane turned around quickly to catch Dean coming up beside her.

"Hey, Rory…" Dean smiled. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"This seems oddly familiar." Lane openly stated.

"Sure." Rory smiled.

Dean took a seat beside Rory. He glanced over at Lane. "Hi, I'm Dean."

"Lane."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too." Lane nodded. She smiled at Rory, noticing there was some sort a connection between the two already.

"Dean's from Chicago." Rory began. "He moved here a few days ago."

"Chicago… wow. Windy." Lane noted.

"Oprah…" Rory added.

"Big apple." Lane tacked on.

"Bulls." Dean awkwardly chimed in.

They all three laughed.

"Okay, secret's out, you're sports fan." Lane teased.

"Well, I am a guy." Dean replied.

"So stereotypical." Rory replied.

"Hey." Dean laughed.

Jess walked into the cafeteria and was about to take a seat over in the corner when he noticed a guy sitting at Rory's table.

"No boyfriend anytime soon, huh?" Jess whispered to himself. Jess changed direction and headed towards Rory.

"Hey, Rory." Jess smiled as he came closer, he immediately took a seat beside Lane. "Lane."

"Hey, Jess." Lane replied.

Dean stared at the boy for a moment. Then he decided to introduce himself. "I'm Dean."

Jess looked over. "Really…" he replied lethargically. "So, I missed walking with you to school this morning." Jess directed to Rory.

Rory began to wonder what Jess had up his sleeve. Deciding to stop any ideas he may have of trying to embarrass her, Rory took a bold step.

"Dean, this is my cousin, Jess." She replied.

Jess nearly swallowed his tongue when he heard Rory's words. He had never expected this girl to be so crafty. Even Lane was shocked by Rory's comment.

Dean took Rory's word for truth and thought nothing more about it. "Nice to meet you." He replied politely.

Jess quickly stood from his seat. He took a long look at Dean and then Rory. "See you at home…" he replied and walked away from the table.