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Jess leaned over the fence of the balcony and inhaled the smoke from his cigarette. He had stopped smoking years ago, but at times he allowed himself a little setback. This time the setback wasn't due to an overwhelming need for a cigarette or a (always wrongful) memory of how good it tasted. This time he simply needed something to do with himself and smoking on the balcony had seemed like a good enough excuse to slip away and allow him to be alone with his thoughts.

It had been a wild shot, but he wasn't surprised that Jake had managed to sneak them both into the charity event's after party. There was a woman whom Jake went on at least three dates with that knew somebody that knew somebody else that was in charge of the guest list and Jake could be extremely charming and sweet when he wanted something.

Of course, Jake had been surprised at Jess' sudden want to go to a charity event in Hartford of all places, but he hadn't asked too many incriminating questions. And besides, it was his prerogative as a writer to be a bit mysterious at times, at least that what Jake said when he tried to weasel himself out of the few questions he had asked.

Maybe it had been a mistake coming here. What did he think anyway – that she would jump into his arms and kiss him? No, he told himself. He didn't think that, neither did he want that. He simply had to see her. All the things Luke and Lane had told him about her – they couldn't be true. He had to see it for himself; even if that meant actually talking to her.

He hadn't seen her yet though. But to be honest he hadn't looked around that closely, he had sneaked out to the balcony the minute he spotted it. He needed to figure out what to say to her, how to approach her.

A casual, 'Hey, I can't believe I'm running into you here' might be the best approach in this situation. Even though, the 'I can't believe it' part ought to come from here. He was the one that was highly unlikely to run into at a charity event, or even the party after a charity event. It wasn't really his scene.

Jess casted an irritated glance when two women made their way past him and managed to bump into him, causing him to almost knock his beer over. Neither of them noticed him however as they both seemed to be deeply engulfed in the latest gossip of Hartford's high society. He tried to ignore them, but out of spite he moved inches closer and made sure the smoke from his cigarette blew right at them.

He rolled his eyes at them as he heard them discuss whether one of their friends had had her nose fixed or not.

"I'm telling you" One of the women argued. "Her nose wasn't that thin at Donner's Christmas party. I have pictures to prove it"

"You're probably right" The other woman agreed.

Jess threw his cigarette butt away and was just about to turn around and leave when the first women asked a question that intrigued him and raised his curiosity.

"What's up with Rory tonight by the way?" She lowered her voice when she continued, but Jess was near enough to be able to make out the words. "She's being a total bitch"

Interesting, Jess thought. So she was here. He leaned against the fence and lit another cigarette, trying to look casual as he eavesdropped on their gossip.

"Didn't you hear?" The other woman asked, her voice filled with the excitement of being the bearer of news.

"What?"

She lowered her voice when she answered, forcing Jess to really focus to catch the words. "Logan's sleeping with his secretary…again"

Jess clenched his fingers, almost crushing the filter of the cigarette. He forced himself to relax so that the women next to him wouldn't take notice of his listening in on their conversation.

"The secretary?" The woman scoffs. "How very stereotype of him"

"That's merely one of the stereotypes" She gave her friend a knowing look. "They fired their gardener last week"

"Because she slept with him?" The eagerness in the woman's voice made Jess feel sick to the stomach.

"No" There was obvious gloating in the woman's voice as she continued. "Because he stopped sleeping with her"

The women then went on to talking about another couple who seemed to be having marital problems and Jess tuned out.

That couldn't be. Rory wasn't the type of girl that cheated. Rory was honest and caring and loving. She would never do that. He could easily picture Logan as the cheating type, but not Rory. That didn't make any sense at all.

But then again, nothing he heard about lately made any sense; not talking to either her mother or Lane, not having enough time to read and now this: cheating. He shook his head and went inside. He needed to talk to her. He needed to see this change for himself; it sounded too unbelievable to actually be true.

I couldn't even cheat on him the way he cheated on me

Jess leaned against the bar as Rory's word from that time ran through his head. Nothing made sense. Nothing he had heard about her lately made any sense at all.

He stood up straight and looked across the room, hoping to find her familiar face among the crowd. He didn't. He sighed and took one last sip of his beer before putting it away and heading for the exit. He needed to get some fresh air, away from the gossiping and gloating over other people's problems that was going on at the balcony. He needed to clear his head and decide what he wanted to do.

"Jess?" He's almost out the door when he's stopped by a voice he's all too familiar with. It's her. It's Rory. There's no doubt about it. He would recognize her voice anywhere.

His heart started pounding so hard he could almost hear it and for a second he pondered over whether he should turn around or if he simply should turn and walk out the door as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't heard her calling.

The need to see her face again won an easy battle over his want to run away and keep the image of her the way he always kept it. He forced himself to place a smile on his lips as he turned around to face her.

"Rory, hi" He tried his best to sound surprised, as if he hadn't expected to run into her like this.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she stepped closer to him.

Yeah, what was he doing here? He was here to see her, to see the change that everyone seemed to have noticed. But he couldn't tell her that. "A friend dragged me here" He said and tried to look as if he'd been dragged there kicking and screaming.

"Oh" She said and smiled. "Anyone I know?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so"

He watched her face intently as they spoke. Sure she was different, but at the same time; she wasn't. Her face had hardened and she looked older, but it was the same blue eyes that looked back at him even though they didn't sparkle the way they used to.

He felt a familiar lump in his stomach as he watched her. She was still as beautiful as he remembered her. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to see if her skin still was as soft and warm as it had been.

Neither of them said anything further and Jess got the feeling that she was examining him the same way he was examining her.

She took a small step closer to him and opened her mouth to say something when a shrill voice cried out her name.

"Rory, darling" One of the women from the balcony said as she walked up to her. She gave Jess a quick glance and stopped in her tracks and gave him another look-over that almost made him feel naked in front of her gaze. "Who's you friend?" She said to Rory with a knowing smirk on her lips.

He could have sworn he saw the very same look on Rory's face as she used to have when seventeen and Dean caught her talking to him; nervous and just a tad bit guilty. But that only lasted a second before that hard, cold look took over again.

"Charlotte, this is Jess Mariano, an old friend of mine and a best-selling author" She said, turned to her friend and then turned to Jess as she continued. "Jess, this is Charlotte McRae, a very dear friend of mine"

The woman, whose name apparently was Charlotte reached her hand out for Jess to shake it, but he was too wrapped up with thinking about Rory's introduction of him to notice her out-stretched hand.

Best-selling author? He had written one book, and as far as he knew it hadn't sold that many copies. It was definitely not a best-seller. And Rory knew that. She had to know that. But maybe a struggling author that sold a hundred-something copies of his latest – and only – book a few years back wasn't as fancy to introduce to your friends.

Charlotte drew her hand back with a displeased look on her face. "Have I read any of your books?" She asked with an obvious false smile on her lips.

Jess looked at the woman. This was one of the women from the balcony. One of the women that had laughed when talking about Logan cheating on Rory – and she was, introduced as 'a very dear friend'. Jess hadn't had that many 'dear friends' in his life, but he was pretty sure talking and laughing behind someone's back wasn't a character trait that a friend should posses.

"Sweetie" Rory said in a condescending tone that he had never heard her use before. She put her hand on his arm as she continued. "I think Charlotte wanted you to tell her the titles of one of your books, so she knows whether she read them or not"

Jess looks at the woman again, this time scrutinizing her from head to toe, before he answers, mirroring the condescending tone Rory just used towards him. "Probably not"

Rory raised her eyebrows and looked at him and Charlotte merely looked confused, the insult probably flying somewhere above her head. Jess scoffed. "Don't worry, I mean that make-up and that hair, probably takes a whole lot of time, I understand there's not much time left in the day to do something as frivolous as reading"

The insult had come out rougher than he had meant it too, and it wasn't really aimed at Charlotte. He had aimed it at Rory, somehow thinking he could point out all that was wrong with this picture, with everything he had heard and shake her to the core and make her realize how far off track she was; like he had done once before.

But the look on her face wasn't shook-up or that of realizing; it was anger. Without waiting for a reply or saying another word, Jess turned around and left. He couldn't be here any longer, he couldn't look into Rory's eyes and see the lack of sparkle in them, he couldn't look at that face that he used to love and see how hard and cold it had become. He couldn't hear that voice that used to say so sweet and wonderful things talk to him in that condescending tone. He couldn't let this woman; this Mrs. Huntzberger woman, contaminate his memory of Rory.

Jess swore as he stepped out into the street and realized he had no way of getting home without Jake – and Jake was still inside. He pulled up his phone and sent a text, telling Jake to get his ass out there as soon as fucking possible, hoping that he would understand the urgency of the situation.

"How could you embarrass me in front of my friend like that?" Jess turned around as he heard Rory's angry voice behind him.

He wanted to tell her how good a friend her friend actually was, but he decided he shouldn't get involved. He should let her live her life the way she had chosen to. Anything else would be like signing himself up for heartbreak all over again. "Whatever" He answered in a tired, resigned voice. "Just tell them I'm a crazy loner, might add to the mystique, increase my popularity as a best-selling author"

Apparently realizing she'd been caught with her lie, Rory scoffed and went back inside. Jess looked at the doors long after she had disappeared behind them. What had happened to her? What had made her change? Was the old Rory still hidden somewhere inside? He thought he had caught a glimpse of her earlier – but that could very well have been wishful thinking on his side.

Where was Jake, by the way? Jess started pacing the sidewalk to keep up his warmth as he pulled up his phone and sent yet another text asking Jake to come out.