Chapter 19- I'm guessing he didn't know

They stood like that for a few minutes until a voice interrupted them.

"So, you're back with this jerk now?"

They turned around and saw the way too familiar tall male figure stand behind them, hands shoved in his pockets, looking at them angrily.

"Bagboy…long time, no see." Jess draped an arm on Rory's shoulders, sarcasm dripping off his every word.

"Dean…" Rory just whispered, looking at him and moving closer to Jess, feeling like she was back in high school.

"So you're back with him," Dean just repeated his earlier words, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Jeez, what does it seem like to you? I knew you weren't the brightest crayon in the box but I never thought you were this slow."

"Stay out of this, Jess," Dean spat out his name, "This has nothing to do with you."

"You know what, Dean, I think it does. If there's someone who doesn't belong here, that's you so why don't you just go on your way? I heard there's a pig race going on; you might want to check that out."

"Jess…let's just go," Rory begged, turning around and facing him, trying to defuse the situation before it got worse.

"This is not why we broke up, Rory!" The voice behind her said again and the only thought running through her brain was "Shit!" Jess looked in her eyes, surprised by the other man's words.

She whispered, "I'm sorry," before turning around in his arms, still holding tight to his hand.

"I didn't know there were any conditions on whom I should or should not date."

"I gave up everything for you and you just go back to this idiot who left you before."

Rory felt Jess whole body tense up and she gave his hand a light squeeze.

"Leave him alone, Dean. You don't know anything about this, so let it go, please!"

"I don't think I feel like it."

"Dean, what happened between us was a long time ago. There's no use bringing it up."

"Maybe your boyfriend is curious to know exactly what happened! Does he know that you broke me and Lindsay up? Did you tell him you slept with me while I was still married to her or did you leave that part out?"

Rory felt Jess' hand slip out of hers and tears build up in the back of her eyes, a few falling down her check. Her head fell down as she struggled to keep the rest of the tears away.

Dean looked at the interaction between the two, a smile appearing on his lips.

"I'm guessing he didn't know."

Rory looked up at him, tears now falling freely, trying to stop herself from slapping him.

"Fine…now he knows so can you just leave me alone?" She looked back down, turning around, hoping to make him go away.

He heard Dean trying to say something but she felt Jess' arm wrap around her, rubbing small circles on her back and pull her into a hug.

"You heard her, bagboy, now get the hell away before I break your neck!"

She stood next to Jess, tears streaming down her face and heard the other man mutter something and then walk away. As soon as his steps got lost in the distance Jess pulled away, running a hand through his hair.

"Want to tell me what that was all about?"

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked at him, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked at him and saw the anger in his eyes, his fists clenching at his sides.

"Jess, I…"

"What? Tell me he was lying, Rory…"

She looked back at her feet, hugging her arms tighter around herself, trying to find the right words.

"Rory…"

"He wasn't," she whispered the words, afraid of what might follow. She saw his fist shoot up from his side and slam against a wall and resisted her urge to stop him from doing it again.

"Why?"

The simple question rang in her head, over and over again, as she tried to find an answer.

"Because he was there…and you weren't," she lowered her voice as she said the last part of the sentence, half hoping he won't hear it.

"When did this happen?"

"Last year…"

"So when I came back you were with him? That's why he was at your dorm that night?"

"No! It was after…you had left again, and I needed someone to fill the void. It was stupid and I've regretted it ever since it happened but I can't turn back time! It was never meant to be him…it should have been you."

His head jerked up when he heard the last part, looking at her but he stayed quiet. She took a small step towards him, still not getting close enough to actually touch him.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner and not let you find out like this…but I couldn't. I was afraid that it would ruin everything between us."

She took another step, lowering her arms for the first time since the fight had started.

"Jess, talk to me. Are you mad?"

She moved even closer, taking his bruised hand in hers and examining it.

"Jess…" This time her voice wasn't above a whisper but it seemed to pull him out of his thoughts. He watched her as she took his hand up to her lips and blew gently over it, the cool air numbing the pain. She kissed the bruise and lowered their hands, still not letting go of his. She looked into his eyes, her earlier tears shining in hers. "Please say something."

"I…need some time to think about this. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

She stayed still, not knowing what else to say while he placed a quick kiss on her cheek and pulled his hand out of hers for the second time that night, turning around and walking away from her.

A/N: Quite a bit of drama because everything was too easy. Sorry this chapter is a bit short but it had to end there. Thank you for the reviews, knowing that people still like this story makes me very happy, and a big thanks to Cat for the BETA.