thanx for the great reveiws! please continue to tell me what you think, like and what you'd like see! all ideas used will be given credit for! thanx guys JJ X

I stand outside Luke's, biting my lip slightly as I walk in. it's been three days since the incident at dinner and Jess and I haven't seen each other once.

As I enter the diner I see my friend in mid pour and march over "hey Jess"

He looks at me instantly, a slight hesitation in his voice "Hattie"

There's a moment were we just look at each other "can we talk?"

He nods and shouts "Luke I'm taking my break!" and leads me to the apartment upstairs.

I look around the refurbished apartment and can instantly tell which side is Jesses, a small smile as we stand in awkward silence.

"You want anything? A soda, cookie, piece of pie?" he asks trying to break the tension, rubbing his neck nervously.

I just shake my head lightly, not meeting his eyes, but staring at a spot on the floor

"Do you hate me?" at that my head snaps up

"What! No! I could never…why would you even think that?" I ask with a hint of anger

He just shrugs "you know why…"

I walk up to him and smile "because you destroyed a perfectly good night and insulted my long lost father? Please! Takes more than that to get rid of me, thought you'd have figured that out by now!"

A smile graces his face weakly as I cup his cheek "I love you Jessie! Nothing ever going to change that, not ever! You're stuck with me baby!"

He leans in and rests his head on mine, our eyes closing "you're not that bad"

We smile and lean in are lips meeting to share a sweet kiss between friends "I guess you're ok to Jessie-boy"

We laugh together like the lifelong friends we are as he takes my hand "come on, lets get out of here!"

He pulls me from the apartment, through the diner, Luke shouting after us as we run, giggling away.

We spend the rest of the day at the arcade with the fifteen bucks Jess had in his pocket and the twenty I had on me, you'd be amazed how far we could stretch that! Now I smiled as he ran over with two ice-cream cones

"mint-chocolate-chip for malady" he smiles handing me the cone while getting down on one knee

I fake a swoon as I take the cone "why thank you kind sir!" and laugh as he stands

I link his arm as we walk and I look to Jess's ice-cream in disgust "how can you eat that?"

He just rolls his eyes with a chuckle "you have to be the only girl on the planet that hates chocolate ice-cream!"

"I'm not the only one, in fact we have formed a club of which I have been a lifelong member! We are the CHI!" I declare with my cone in the air then take a bite of the icy treat

He just laughs with me as we walk through the park, I watch children play on the swings, family's having picnics and couples playing chase. I smile at the site around me, the bright smiles, and the trees and freshly cut grass everywhere, like a place made of dreams!

"How could you say all that bad shit about Stars Hollow? I love it here!" I say in a dazed way, licking my lips with the minty goodness

"It's not the place it's the people, they have a festival for everything, they have town meetings every week, and their all fucking crazy!" he says with a mouth full of chocolate

"All but Rory right?" I eyeball him

"You don't know her!" he says defending the girl I know too much about for never meeting!

I shake my head and take another bite of my ice-cream "I don't have to; she's spoiled for choice and too scared to choose! She's a Penny Olson and I never did like Penny Olson!"

"Rory is nothing like Penny Olson! That girl was a slut!" he snaps at me

I just giggle lightly "didn't you date Penny Olson for like…a weekend?"

"Shut up!" he grins taking a bit out of his ice-cream

"So…how'd your mom take you leaving?" we go back to walking and I can't fight my sigh

"Not well! There were bottles smashed, doors slammed, screaming…the three S's, mom's favorite pastime!" I frown leaning my head on his shoulder as we walk

"Well your out of there now, you never were much of a city girl anyway …hey, Nick and his buddy's didn't start giving you any trouble after I left did they?" I shrug lightly at his question

"Nothing I couldn't handle, hey let's forget about them, all this craps ruining our happy day!" I smile taking a lick of my ice-cream and pulling on his arm

"Come on Jessie! I want to go on the swings!" he sighs and rolls his eyes as I make him follow, a ghost of a smile on his face

I walk through the front door of the house after Jess walked me home, the front door was locked and there are no lights on in the house, telling me that there's no one home.

As I hang up my jacket I call out just to be sure "Mel? Rick? ...anyone home?"

I bite my lip at the silence and rush over to the phone, hesitantly picking it up and dialing

I listen to the ringing with a slight shake in my hand "who's this?"

I hear a gruff voice question "hey Mom!"

"Hattie? Where are you? When are you coming home? I miss you!" she slurs slightly, not completely drunk yet

"I miss you to mom and…um…I'm not coming back." I say as gently as I can

There's silence for a moment, followed by a strangled sob "please baby! I now I messed up before, but I can do better, just come home."

I take a breath to hold back the tears "I…I'm sorry, I can't!"

"Please baby-girl, I need you to come home, who's supposed to take care of me, please, I need you Harriet!" she whimpers desperately

I can feel the tears rolling down my cheeks as I say "no mom, I'm…I…no. Look I got to go, I'm sorry."

As I hang up the phone, hearing her yelling urgently and then the dead silence. I slide down the wall of the stairs, tears falling down my face as I cling to my knees. I love my mother, I'm biologically programed to! But I'm tired of taking care of her; she's supposed to take care of me! Just let me be your daughter, let me be a fucking teenager!