While Dean was no longer truly worried about his sentence, it was still present in his thoughts. The judge had ruled to hold him at the Hartford facility until the sentence was decided. This was partially because Dean was only seventeen, because Jess was still alive, and partly because Stars Hollow had one cell in their jail. Dean would still accept whatever John McCoy could get for him, but he was ready to handle the worst.

The next day, he sat again with Mark in the courtyard. Dean described what had happened to him, and what he had done. Mark nodded empathetically. "I know now that God has time in His hands, but I wonder sometimes what things would be like if I had kept my temper in check." he told Dean.

"I know what you mean." Dean nodded in agreement. "I asked Rory for forgiveness, but I'm not sure she'll give it."

"I'll be praying for you." Mark said, and handed him a slim volume. "Here's the Bible you wanted. The pastor who runs the prison ministry here dropped it off this morning for you."

"Thanks." Dean accepted the Bible, and the call came for everyone to return inside. "Thanks for everything."

That Friday evening, Dean met the pastor in charge of the ministry. "It's good to meet you, Dean." the man introduced himself as Pastor Shawn. "I've heard so much about you from Mark this week. You've encouraged him so much."

"How?"

"He never thought he would be good at helping others."

"He's great at it." Dean said, genuinely. He meant it. Mark was a natural at helping others.

"Has Rory been to see you since your transfer?"

"No." Dean shook his head sadly.

"What do you want in that situation?" Pastor Shawn asked.

"I want...I want her forgiveness. I want Jess to live. I want Rory to be happy." Dean said. "I even want them together, if that's what she needs to be happy." he realized.

"Do you want me to arrange for you to call her?"

"What time is it?"

"Nine."

"Good." Dean nodded. "They should be done with their weekly appointment in Hartford."

"I'll see about it." Pastor Shawn got up, and soon returned with a phone. "It is supervised." Pastor Shawn informed Dean.

"Thanks." Dean accepted the phone and punched in Lorelai's cell phone number. It rang, and Dean's heart beat in double time as he waited for her to answer.

"Hello?" Lorelai's voice came over the line. Dean tried to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. "Hello?" Lorelai repeated.

"Lorelai." Dean found his voice. "Don't hang up. It's...Dean."

"Fine." Lorelai consented. "But you'd better be calling to apologize."

"Mom, who is it?" Rory asked, her voice coming through the line to Dean's ears, a balm of sorts.

"It's Dean." Lorelai told Rory.

"What does he want?" Rory sounded guarded.

"I want to apologize. Can you come? Are you finished with dinner?"

"Yes, we're finished. You're at the youth facility, right?" Lorelai asked. Dean confirmed it, not even curious how she knew. It was probably all over town. "We'll be there soon."

Visiting hours were almost finished, but Rory was permitted to see Dean for a few precious minutes. Through the glass barrier, he looked so broken that Rory's heart went out to him. She knew him better than she knew herself. She knew what he was going to say was genuine.

"First of all, Rory, I'm so sorry." Dean spoke through the phone. "I lost my temper, and I shouldn't have." He paused a beat. "How's Jess?" he asked, finally.

"He's still unconscious." Rory told him. "In serious, but stable condition. We won't know anything until he wakes up."

"Well, if it helps, I'm praying for him."

"Praying?" Rory asked.

"Yeah. I've been talking to some guys here, and they went through the same thing as you and I did."

"First things first: you, praying?" Rory asked. "Like to God, or saints, or what?"

"To Jesus."

"What do you mean, to Jesus?" Rory asked, incredulous.

"I mean, to Jesus Christ, God's only begotton Son."

"Okay. Before we get into that, what guys are there who "went through the same thing" as we did?"

"Two guys here, Joel and Mark, both did the same thing as I did. The guy Mark hurt survived."

"And what about Joel?" Rory's breath caught in her throat. Dean's gaze fell from hers, and she knew.

"I want Jess to be okay."

"What if he's not?" Rory exploded. "What if he ends up like Joel's victim?"

"I don't know how I'm saying this, Rory, but he's going to be okay."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. I don't know how, I just do."

"I want to trust you, but I don't know if I can anymore." Rory whispered. "Religion, and now you want me to believe you that Jess is going to be okay?"

"You have to trust me. I know it's impossible, but maybe if we try, it can be possible."

"Dean, you've changed." Rory acknowledged. "But I don't know how, or why, and that scares me. I have to go." She started to leave.

"Wait!" he pleaded.

"What?"

"Can I pray for you?" he asked in earnest.

"Do whatever you want. I don't care." Rory said coldly, and left.