A/N: Hello, loves! So this is chapter four and I think I might slow down on posting for awhile now so I don't post three or so a day like I did yesterday. Also, I would like to apologies if your computers are acting the way mine has and by that I mean everything that's bolded and italicized happens in the docs, but it doesn't show up on my computer and does on my phone. The whole thing is a bit confusing to me and I don't understand what FF is doing. So I'm sorry if it seems a little weird on my notes and titles. As always, please follow, favorite, and review if you enjoy the story so far!

Stars Hollow — December 2013

It had been four days since Rory talked to Lorelai and Luke about getting Jess in town for the holidays. Four days and she hadn't heard a word out of the two of them except for the occasional "I love you and miss you" text or whenever Lorelai was arguing with Luke about something stupid. Since the marriage, the two used Rory as the middle man in almost every argument, big or small, that they could. The girl drove into town while blasting Christmas music in her warm car. Outside, she could see that fluffy white snow had coated the town over night, making it as lovely as ever. This was always her favorite way to see the town and she knew she got that from her mother.

The woman drove down two more streets and parked her car in front of Luke's Diner. She knew that he'd be waiting there with fresh coffee and pie for her like always. As she stepped out of her car, the blistering cold wind hit her cheeks and though she wanted to run back into warmth, she smiled because she was finally home. Once inside, Lorelai and Luke ran over to her immediately and the three began exchanging their to-do list for the holiday. After a few minutes of hearing the mile-per-second talk that came out of her mothers mouth, Rory put her hands up in the air. "Mom," she smiled and took a sip of the coffee that Luke already had in hand for her, "I love you and we will get to everything in a bit, but you have to tell me. Is he here or not?"

From behind the counter, Luke's head started bobbing up and down. The man pointed to the ceiling and Rory finally heard the familiar sound of The Clash blasting through the upstairs apartment. The girl felt a weird sensation come over her. It was familiar and warm, but it was also riddled with anxiety and doubt. "He just got here," Luke explained, "I told him to go see his mother, but he was adamant about taking a nap. I wasn't gonna argue with him." Luke shrugged as he cut a piece of apple pie for the two Gilmore girls and took it over to him.

"And he's good?" Rory asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Ever since she found that little Post-It not, she couldn't stop thinking about Jess. She didn't even know where he was these days. He wasn't one for social media, after all. It was hard to keep up with someone that kept his life very secretive in these tell-all days. Even Lorelai updated Facebook constantly, albeit there were a lot of movie scenes and pictures of Paul Anka, usually, but that didn't stop people from getting a laugh out of it all. Jess was just a different breed and they all knew that from the start.

In the next forty minutes, Rory and Lorelai caught up on everything that had happened since Thanksgiving. The two talked non-stop, but Lorelai kept little notes of things that she needed to talk about or ask Rory face-to-face. In that time, Miss Patty and Kirk had already wandered in and said hello to Rory. On top of that, she got an old fashion show down between Luke and Taylor — something about Taylor wanting to string Christmas lights and put up decorations — of course, as usual, Luke wasn't having it. This rivalry had gone on for years now and at this point, Rory thought that Luke said no to everything just to piss Taylor off. Either way, it made for some great entertainment.

After all had settled down and the two had talked about almost everything Lorelai had made a note of, Rory heard the music turn off. Her mother was going on about something that happened on a late night show, but Rory had lost her concentration as soon as she heard footsteps moving around upstairs. Suddenly, it felt as if her fight or flight instincts had set in. She wanted so badly to run out the door and drive back to her lonely apartment in New York, but instead, she froze completely. Once the footsteps made their way to the stairs, the girl shut her eyes and squeezed them tightly, wishing that it was all a dream and that she could wake up. She didn't know what she was thinking, asking him to come back for Christmas. That was just dumb of her to do. Jess hated her. Hell, she hated Jess, as well.

From their regular table by the window, Rory turned her head slightly in order to catch a glimpse of him coming down the stairs. His boyish face was still in tact, but he was much more mature than the last time they had seen each other. He still dressed the same — in t-shirts and jeans. He had a broken in and very expensive looking leather jacket hanging from his arm and the girl just grinned at the sight of him. Jess had gone on to do wonderful things in his life, but he was still the kid she adored. The man went over to talk to his uncle and went right ahead to the door of the diner. She thought he didn't recognize her, but in a split second, he did a double take and shook his head as she looked up at him with some sort of hope in her eyes.

The two exchanged a look of confusion and Jess sighed as he quickly put his jacket on. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath before heading out the door and slamming it shut behind him.

The girl looked at her mother for an answer, but Lorelai was staring at her coffee and trying to mind her own business. Without a word, Rory stood up and grabbed her coat as she went after him. He hadn't gotten too far — only across the street in front of Doose's Market and Rory caught up with him faster than she thought she could. "Jess," she yelled, trying to get him to turn around. "Jess, please talk to me." The man kept walking and was suddenly headed towards the lake. Rory wished the lake wasn't frozen over right now because she would've loved to push him in for not listening to her. "Jess!" Rory groaned loudly as she shoved her hands into her pockets. She had not worn the right kind of boots for this. She didn't expect to be tromping through snow, trying to get the attention of the man who she once called her best friend. "For the love of God, Jess! Can you talk to me, please?"

He finally let out a sharp sigh as he walked onto the bridge. "They told me you weren't going to be here," he explained. "They coaxed me here to this shitty place saying that they would really love to spend a holiday with me and I was dumb enough to believe them." Jess shook his head and turned around and Rory could finally see that infamous shit-eating grin on his face — the one he wore whenever he was pissed off at the world. She never meant to be the cause of that painful smirk.

"Jess," Rory said in a calm voice, "please listen to me." Jess looked as if he was going to turn around again, but instead nodded and decided to hear her out. "I'm sorry," she started, "things shouldn't have gotten this bad between us and I'm sorry. I wanted to see you so badly. I miss having you to talk to. It's supposed to always be Rory and Jess, remember?"

Jess shook his head. "You're starting to sound a bit childish, don't you think?" He asked with an obnoxious tone.

"There's nothing childish about wanting to mend bridges that weren't supposed to burned in the first place," she explained. "C'mon," she begged, "can we at least talk about this?"

Jess didn't say a thing. He stared at her, trying to figure out the words to say, but found himself short of anything to say. After a few freezing minutes had passed, Jess rubbed his hands together. "You look like you're about to freeze to death," he said as he turned on his heel. "Let's go back to Luke's."

Rory didn't know what had just happened with his attitude, but she knew it'd turn into a large fight sooner or later. If he could play nice for now, she'd enjoy every second of it until the yelling set in anytime within the next few days.