A.N Here's chapter 2! I am super excited about this. I just want to reiterate that I do not own the GG characters I only own Miss Chrystal Hayden. Anyway here comes more Jess wooo. Don't forget to review please and let me know some of your thoughts.

Polyvore Link for this chapter: chapter/set?id=204828212

Chapter 2: Stand in the Rain

It was raining.

I had always loved the rain, like my mom loved the snow. 'It seems so cliché' I thought as I quickly and quietly snuck out of bed. I loved walks in the rain, it wasn't even 4 in the morning but that never stopped me before.

I pulled on my rain boots not bothering with a rain coat and went into the kitchen to write a note for Rory and my mom.

It's raining. I'll be back before 6 in case you wake up early. Not likely that mom will ever get this.

Love ya,

Chrystal

I felt satisfied with my note. After all, mom wasn't one for waking up early, especially on mornings she considered drab. The only one who would probably get it was Rory as she was getting ready for school but even then, I would probably be back by that time.

I felt a smile spread across my face as I skipped silently through the front door. I listened as my feet fell into step, gradually becoming one with the pavement. My boots made sound at first, but as I found my rhythm, the squeak of my rain boots came to match the pitter-patter of the rain.

I let the rain droplets collect on my figure until my shirt was stuck to me and my hair was matted to my skull. I was warm despite the fact that it was probably below 50 degrees outside and I was wet. Nothing could ruin moments like this.

I let my body carry me to the place where I felt most at home- my sanctuary, my palace, my kingdom. The bridge was the place that I commanded. It was mine from the time that I was young; it was the Oz to my Kansas.

I approached the wooden mass, I looked up to the clouds and enjoyed the cold droplets on my face; I closed my eyes and continued to walk to the very center of the bridge. It was there and only there I could truly find my rainy day happiness. I had even carved my initials on my favorite spot when I was 10 to ensure that no one but I could claim it. Rory had thrown a fit when I'd done it yelling at me about 'vandalism' and how it was against the law.

I'd just shrugged her off and continued to do it. Such was the way of our relationship. I was the wild child and she was the town princess.

I opened my eyes to look at the bridge, careful not to fall in, and noticed a slumped mass seated precisely on my spot. I was taken aback at first but quickly regained my posture. Determined to have my spot back I stomped over to reclaim what was rightfully mine.

"Excuse me, but you're in my seat" I huffed.

I let out a small gasp when I saw it was Jess who had stolen my spot.

He smirked up at me, "I don't see your name on it"

I glared down at him, "That's because you're sitting on it"

Jess shifted his weight to he could look beneath himself.

"Huh. C.H.G what's the 'H' for? Horrifying?" He joked as he slid a few inches to the right.

I rolled my eyes, "You're so funny. It stands for Hayden. My name is Chrystal Victoria Hayden-Gilmore" I responded bluntly.

Jess made a face, "Jeez, that's a mouthful" He teased.

I felt extremely out of place. I had made a mistake when I had insinuated that I liked to come to the bridge, and now I would have to pay. I took a seat, much to close to Jess for my taste, and dangled my feet over the edge. The water was just low enough to miss grazing the soles of my boots.

"I have both my mom and dad's last name" I muttered to him.

I was agitated that he had disrupted me at the time I was most vulnerable, I didn't have enough reaction time to fully regain my composure.

"So what brings you here?" I finally asked.

Jess shrugged "I needed to get out of that apartment, it was getting cramped" He answered shortly.

I nodded but didn't say anything; we sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you know why I'm here?" He asked suddenly.

I had a feeling he wasn't talking about the bridge, I shook my head.

"Not really, Rory and mom overheard Luke talking to your mom on the phone the day you came. I'm pretty sure he didn't tell my mom too much when she invited you guys over because she never said anything to me, neither did Rory and they usually tell me everything" I explained quietly, staring at the water.

"That's probably for the best" He replied and I couldn't help but look over at him.

"I mean, I'm probably not what this town would consider as a 'first-class upright citizen'" he added bitterly.

I frowned, "Why don't you let us be the judge of that?" I asked him. I hadn't seen him anywhere except here, this morning and the night of the dinner. 'So how is any one supposed to form any sorts of opinion about him?' I thought.

"How would I go about changing their minds? The second I stepped off that bus every single person in this town had me pegged as a 'bad seed', someone to guard their daughter's from, and more importantly, in their minds at least, someone to hide their good china from" He ranted.

I didn't say anything for a moment. This was the most I'd ever heard Jess say at once and I wasn't sure how to respond.

"My mom didn't" I finally replied. "She invited you into our home"

"I didn't see the crystals out…or the good china"

I snorted at his comment, "That's because she doesn't have any. To her that night was just about inviting in a new friend, making you comfortable. You haven't made any efforts towards her though" '

I didn't know why I was getting so worked up, there was just something about Jess' flippant attitude that reminded me way too much of me and rubbed me the wrong way.

Jess sighed, "I know you. And I know Rory and Lorelai and-"

I cut him off sharply, "We already had this argument Jess. You don't know me, you don't know them. You might know our breakfast order or where we live but you know nothing about us"

"What I mean is I've known people like the three of you. And none of it matters. Whatever is said and done in the beginning doesn't matter because everyone lets you down eventually. The only person you can rely on is yourself" Jess finished.

I stared at him and it was like looking in a mirror, I hadn't met anyone else who was so young yet so jaded. It made me incredibly sad for him…and me.

"Not everyone will let you down. I know that to be the truth, there will always be someone you can count on" I whispered.

"What makes you think I'll believe your rose-colored perception of the world? All you know is this town" He griped.

I got to my feet and glared down at him, "There you go again acting like you know my life story. I rarely ever got to see my mom and sister growing up. My dad's not reliable he couldn't keep a job to save his life so we were constantly moving and I was constantly having to be the grownup when I was a kid. For the first 8 years of my life we moved from basement to basement I didn't see the inside of an apartment until I was 10. My life isn't perfect, I'm not perfect. I partied too much I've done stupid crap because my dad didn't have rules for me. The moment he decided to be a father he forced me out of my home and turned his back on me. So you don't have to believe me. That's fine. You just keep living in your angry little shell. But I promise there will come a day when you realize that I was right" I ranted quickly.

I took a deep breath and turned on my heel walking away from Jess, angry at him yet again. Only this time I had no desire to fix it.

As I walked back to the house, I fought to suppress the thoughts that lingered around the angry teen I had encountered all before 6 AM. Of course when I got home Rory was getting ready and mom was still asleep upstairs, I walked into the room and stripped out of my rain soaked clothes, Rory glanced over at me but didn't comment on my appearance, she knew my love for rain and she knew exactly where I'd gone.

Even after I'd dressed in different clothes for the day, the smell of rain mingled along with Jess' wet leather and cigarette smoke. By the time I had finished getting ready for the day it was only 5:59 so I took my time with my hair and makeup.

I blow dried my hair and did my makeup with extra care. Feeling confident in my appearance and ready to begin the day, I went to wait for my mother in the kitchen with Rory, pulling out my Hemingway novel.

Our mother stumbled into the room on one heel three minutes later, mumbled, "Luke's" pulled on her other shoe, and, grabbing her purse from the banister, exited house with Rory and I at her tail.

It was still raining, though it had reduced to more of a sprinkle since earlier that morning, so we raced for the Jeep. Mom was at Luke's before I had enough time to buckle my seat belt. Clearly, we differed greatly in our opinions of rainy days.

Rory and Mom immediately started bantering about a paper she had written; mom was trying to convince Rory that it was A-plus material. I just sat back enjoying the show in amusement at their antics.

Luke approached out table quickly and filled our mugs with coffee.

"Coffee…coffee. Okay, what do you want, Eggs? Toast? Combo?" Luke rushed.

"What's the rush there zippy?" Mom commented.

Luke sighed, "I'm just swamped this morning. I was supposed to have help but I don't. So order right now or I'm bringing the both of you an egg white omelet with a side of steamed spinach" He threatened.

I made a look of horror at Rory,

"We want pancakes" Rory answered for me.

"French toast" mom shouted quickly after.

"Thankyou" Luke muttered as he wrote down our order.

I watch as Jess appears from behind the curtain that led upstairs, I scowled as I saw him but didn't turn away.

Luke stopped when he saw Jess enter, "Jess, you were supposed to be down here. . . .What the hell is that? Luke had started to scold been then stopped and pointed at Jess' Metallica t-shirt.

"What?" Jess asks defensively.

"That" Luke yells continuing to point.

"That is a shirt" Jess explains slowly.

"Change" Luke demands.

"What?"

"Go upstairs and change your shirt" Luke repeated.

Jess stood there stubbornly, "I like this shirt"

"How can you like that shirt?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"It brings out my eyes" Jess responded sarcastically.

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle; Jess must have heard me because he met my eyes and smirked at me. I let my scowl fall back into place and looked away from him, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Hey, part of the deal of you staying here is that you work here, and when you work here you will wear proper work attire, and that is not proper work attire. Now go upstairs and change into something that won't scare the hell out of my customers" Luke yelled.

"Whatever you say Uncle Luke" I heard Jess sigh before running back up the stairs.

I looked over to my mom and Rory who were giggling like little girls.

"Gross shirt" mom offered.

"Good band though" I replied.

Mom and Rory nodded in agreement, "Oh yeah"

Luke brought over our food and I ate it as fast as I could, knowing that school was starting soon and I needed to find a seat in class that I didn't absolutely hate.

Shoving the last bite of pancake in my mouth I said bye to mom and Rory, heading towards the door.

Much to my dismay Jess followed me out the door and was heading in the same direction I was.

"So are you going to be mad at me all day?" He teased.

I looked back at him in disbelief, "Are you for real?" I demanded.

He shrugged and sped up to walk beside me, I moved away from him and scowled looking at the ground as I walked to school.

"You're such a jerk" I muttered.

"What! Sorry I couldn't hear you" Jess said loudly.

I stopped walking and turned to him, feeling my face getting hot,

"I said you're a freaking Jerk!" I screeched, much to my embarrassment I was standing in front of the school so now everyone was looking at us.

I blushed and shot Jess one last glare before running away to my first class.

School passed by quickly much to my relief and I had managed to avoid Jess for the most part, we had some of the same classes but I made it a point to sit as far away from him as I could.

After I finished my homework I headed to my bridge again when I arrived there, I wanted to scream. I wish I'd never let him stay there in the first place.

What had I been thinking that night? Who cared if he didn't like Stars Hollow? I should have never told him about my bridge that night.

But I had told him and he was here now.

And I loved this place, so I would just have to learn to share. For someone who'd been raised an only child that was easier said than done.

Just as I had made up my mind to go home, I heard his voice.

"I shouldn't have said what I did this morning. I'm sorry"

I turned back to see Jess watching me. I certainly hadn't been expecting that. But it was a welcome surprise.

Coming closer, I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. "I'm sure you know more of the world than this town. You said you moved a lot right?"

"That's right" I replied.

"My mom also has this Europe trip planned for when Rory and I graduate. So I'll be even more worldly" I added jokingly.

"Or at the very least, European-y" Jess joked back.

I laughed and watched as the smallest of smiles graced Jess' face for just a second. "Why did you say all that stuff to me this morning?" I asked quietly.

"Because I-I was…angry"

"At me?"

"No. Not at you, you haven't done anything. I was angry at…everyone else. My dad left. My mom sent me away to live with a stranger. And Luke's letting his idiot sister impose on his life in a really big way. It's just…None of it's fair"

"Yeah, I really get it" I replied honestly. There were times when I found myself getting more and more upset for what my dad had done, getting upset at my mom for letting him take me in the first place knowing full and well he would never be ready. And I hated myself for being so angry at one of the two people who created me.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this" Jess admitted, cutting through the silence.

"Because I get it, because I want you too" I told him, looking him in the eye.

"It's late. You should get home" he informed me, turning away and rubbing his hands together to keep warm. Only then did I notice the temperature drop. Was it going to snow soon?

"I don't have to go. If you want to-"I started softly.

"No. You should. I'm a 'bad seed' remember? Your mom wouldn't want you hanging around me"

"Jess-"

"I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast and we can walk to school together right?" He said as he got to his feet.

"Right" I murmured as I watched him walk away, trying to figure out what had just happened. It was as if he'd opened a vein, but then, too much personal information was leaking or and a clot had formed to stem the flow. I wished there was a way for him to stay open, but I would have to wait it out.