Jess contented himself for the time being with snooping into her room when she wasn't in the apartment and looking for anymore clues to her past. He couldn't explain why he cared so much. I don't care, he would tell himself firmly. He didn't allow himself to care about anything. But there was something that drew him. He was more comfortable with calling it curiosity. He wanted to know what was causing that tragic air about her, even when she seemed to be happy. He wanted to know why, when Luke didn't think anyone was looking, he would stare at the back of her head with a sad look in his eyes and sigh softly to himself.

It was two weeks until Rory informed Luke that she would be home late again without giving a real explanation. After she left, Jess quickly formed a fleeting plan.

"I'm going to hit the bookstore after school," he told his uncle. Luke nodded.

"When do you think you'll be back?" Jess shrugged.

"You never know what kinda things you'll find in a bookstore," he said. "I don't know, it could be hours." Luke rolled his eyes.

"Just try and be back before I close up. I could use a shift from you."

"Anything for you, Uncle Luke," he said, grabbing his bag and bowing out of the diner.

Jess only went to the first few of his classes, which was actually pretty good considering his attendance record. At lunch, he snuck off the grounds and grabbed the bus to Hartford. He got off the bus right in front of Chilton. He stared up at it in awe. This is where Rory went to school everyday? Wow. He could not imagine her sitting among all the other snobs that probably went to a school like this. It just didn't fit Rory's image. It was yet another piece of the mysterious puzzle that Rory was to him. He looked at his watch and figured he had a couple of hours to kill, so he wandered off, wondering whether he could find a bookstore around here.

The bookstore idea turned out to be a complete bust. There was not one decent bookstore in this prim and proper town. All the shelves where either filled with classics like Dickens, or books that changed your brain to mush as you were reading them, like the A-list. He was about to give up when he noticed a small room off to the side tht he hadn't seen before. A smile crossed his face as he entered. So this is where they keep the good stuff. He started sifting through the hidden books.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Gilmore." Jess froze in the process of flipping throught the pages of an old French novel. Could it possibly be Rory's mother up front? He crept forward so he could see into the front room.

"Hello Jane," a fancy lady with dyed red hair was speaking to the woman who ran the bookstore. It definitely did not match the face that jess had seen in the pictures.

"How can I help you Emily?" jane asked her. Emily Gilmore surveyed the bookstore.

"Well, I'm looking for something for my granddaughter. She's quiet the sophisticated reader."

"How is Rory?" Jane asked.

"Splendid," Emily said, relishing the opportunity to brag. "Did you know she's top of her class at Chilton?"

"'I'm not surprised, she always seemed like a bright girl. Is she still living in Stars Hollow?"
Emily nodded.

"Yes. I admit, I was very unhappy with the arrangement and I agreed to it on a trial only basis, but she seems very happy there, I suppose she likes being closer to her home. Now," Emily said, looking around, "what book do you sugggest." Jess chose that moment to come out of the room.

"Try this one," he said, handing it to Emily on his way out of the bookstore.

"What?" Emily said, turning to the badly dressed boy, but he was gone

Jess arrived back in front of Chilton just as the school was being let out. Jess shrunk out of sight as the students piled out. He caught sight of Rory, her brown hair pulled back into its typical pony.

"See ya Mary!," a tall boy with blond hair yelled toward her. Rory rolled her eyes. Instead of heading towards the bus that would take her home, she headed down the block and around the corner. Jess followed her discreetly. She headed a few more blocks down and stopped in front of a hospital. Jess followed her into the hospital, ducking behind a gurney when she turned around at one point. He tailed her form a distance as she navigated her way around. She definitely knew where she was going, and some of the nurses were greeting her by name. finally he turned w=one corner to discover that she had disappeared. He slly peeked into each room and found her about three doors in. He watched silently from the doorway as she approached an immobile figure in the bed. The face was obscured slightly by the machines, but if Jess had to make a guess based on what he could see, he would say that this was the woman from Rory's album. Sure enough Rory bent down to give her a soft kiss.

"Hey Mom," she said. "I missed you. There's not much new that's going on right now. Dean and I have almost been going out for two months. I wish you could meet him. Luke likes him, although sometimes he gets a little too protective when he's around. It's funny , and I know he only does it because he cares, but Dean gets so frustrated with him sometimes. Jess keeps going through my stuff, because he thinks I don't notice. I've just figure out better places to hide my things. The whole living situation is working out pretty well. It's kind of like having a brother. He steals my books and my c-ds, which I guess indicates that he has good taste." Rory lapsed into silence, absentmindedly stroking her mothers hand. Jess stood transfixed in the doorway. "I miss you Mom," she whispered. "I never give up hope, I know you wouldn't want me to, but everyday that you don't wake up, it becomes harder and harder. I know that everyone who knows you misses you, even Grandma and Grandpa. And there are so many new people in my life that I want you to meet, who I know would love you. Come back," she pleaded. She brushed some hair out of her mother's eyes. Jess watched, mesmerized, his mind racing as he put all the pieces together.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

Jess nearly jumped out of his skin when the nurse tapped him on the shouder.

"Um, no," he said, flustered, "I'm just, um, waiting for Rory."

The nurse stared him down with her eyebrows raised.

"Thanks, though," he added, turning back towards the door.

Rory was standing there, the scariest he had ever seen on her face.

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