DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except (hopefully) the brain I used to write this piece. All rights to the rightful owners.

Plot: After the heated argument between Luke and Jess in season 4 ep. 13 'Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospel', Jess doesn't stay in touch with any of residents of Stars Hollow for years. When he finally does appear again, it is with a surprise in the back pocket. Complications are to be expected. Especially for Lorelai…


Chapter 1: "I'm counting on you."

The engine rattled in the most alarming manor, it shrieked from the wheel axle every time he took a turn and since he left the highway the air condition was no more. In fact that the car was running at all, being in the state it was in, was a miracle in its own.

"Stars Hollow," Jess sighed as he read the familiar sign alongside of the road. It was the one place he never thought he'd return to. Up until this moment, when he saw the sign, he had actually pretended he was going somewhere else. There were so many memories connected to this place. Some good, but for the most part overloaded with complicated emotions: regret, hurt, pain... all mixed up and twisted. Conflicts of mind and heart.

Jess sighed again. If only Stella had been here with him. After all it was her idea that he should go back. She was the one who had urged him to return to make peace with the past. He had told her she was silly, that he was fine, but he wasn't. There were pain buried deep down inside them that threatened to consume him. Stella had said he needed to go back in order to move forward and he desperately needed to move forward. So much promising things were happening in his life right now that he couldn't afford to be held back.

So here he was, driving the same old car that had taken him away from Stars Hollow two years earlier, wishing he was heading somewhere else.

Jess glanced at his passenger.

"I'm really not looking forward to this, you know," he heavily admitted. "I can't believe I let Stella talk me into this. It's nuts! I should be back in Philly working on the book, not here."

His passenger didn't answer. Jess pulled a hand through his hair. It had grown longer since he last time he was here. He used less products in it too, only a small click of mousse to hold the curls back from his face. Stella had made him quit all of that about a year ago, claiming she couldn't stand smell of it. So now he was going for a more natural, cleaned up look. He wasn't the rebellious teenager anymore, but a hard working young man. His friends back in Philly said he had this Italian hunk thing going on. Jess disagreed. Looking at his own reflection in the back mirror he only saw someone who could do well with a few hours sleep.

He had left Philadelphia right after work and had since only made one stop to pick up his passenger. It was getting late now. The sun had set long ago.

Jess scratched his cheek to keep the tiredness away. The thin black shadow had started to grow on his chin. In all the hurry this morning, he had forgot to shave. If Stella was here she would have made him stop the car and shave at the nearest gas station, on the side of the road if she had too.

But Stella wasn't here so Jess didn't stop. He was too tired to start looking for a razor in his bag pack. He'd probably only cut himself too if he tried shaving in this light anyway. Besides, a little beard would do no difference to the outcome of the conversation he would most likely have tonight. Luke had never bothered to shave every day.

Luke.

The thought of his uncle made Jess' belly to turn into a knot. He hadn't been able to swallow a single bite at lunch because of his upset stomach. Every time he let his mind wander the same question popped up: What would Luke say when Jess walked into the diner tonight after two years of radio silence? Would he be happy? Mad? Would he yell? Jess wouldn't blame his uncle if he yelled.

Inside his head the end of the last conversation he had with Luke played on repeat: You see, this is your problem. You're gonna help people whether they want it or not. You have to fix everything. You have to fix everyone. You think it makes you a good guy, but really it just makes you a pain in the ass. You make it, so that when people fail you, you get to feel like the martyr and they get to fell like, not only did they screw up, but they also disappointed you. You interfere and you make everything worse. No one is asking for your help. No one wants your help. Focus on your own life and leave everyone else alone!

How Jess regretted ever saying those words. He had regretted them from the second they had left his mouth. Back then he hadn't been man enough to apologize. Like the little brat he had been, he had fled the scene with the image of Luke's face glued to his mind. He had hurt Luke so deeply.

"I never meant it to, though," Jess whispered out loud in the car as the first houses started to appear on both sides of the road. "I never meant to hurt any of them who lives here. It's just... I was in a really bad place back then. I know it doesn't justify my action, but..." He sighed. "I just hope Luke will listen to me."

Jess adjusted his grip around the steering wheel. There were many things he regretted doing in his life, hurting Luke was one of the things he regretted the most. Lorelai had been right, he had been a jerk back then who didn't care if he hurt the people closest to him.

"Luke only tried to help me. I know it now and I think I knew back then too, I just wasn't ready to accept help."

He glanced at his passenger as he put his foot on the brake to take down the speed. Wouldn't want to set off any traffic cameras or whatever Taylor has installed during my absence, Jess thought grimly to himself. It wouldn't surprise him if Taylor had put up a Jess-warning system. He had never been one of Taylor's favorite persons. From the passenger seat, his passenger looked at him with curious eyes.

"I'm gonna need your help on this one, now that Stella isn't here. She was good at this kind of thing. She would have known what to say, what to do, but I guess I have to manage on my own now."

His passenger blinked, but remained silent.

"The plan is that I walk into the diner and just tell Luke I'm sorry and then take it from there. How does that sound?"

His passenger gave him a blank expression.

"Okay, so it is a lousy plan, but it's the only one I got. I haven't talked to the guy in two years, I don't know how he will react upon seeing me. He might shove me out the door. Last time I saw him I told him stay out of people's business. He's not likely to have forgotten about that."

Jess groaned and put his head against the steering wheel as the car came to a halt in front of the diner. This was a disaster just waiting to happen. He shouldn't have come here. He should turn around and go back to Philly and write on his book like ha was supposed to. This place held so many memories. So many bad ones they clouded the few good ones he had.

"Okay, new plan," he said, lifting his head from the steering wheel. "If things starts to get messy in there, I'm counting on you to turn things around, understood?"

His passenger smiled. With that as only reassurance, Jess killed the engine and unbuckled himself.