Rory felt uncomfortable sitting on the stool at Luke's Diner. It was the first time she had seen him since 'that night.' She knew her mother wasn't talking to him, and even though she had no details she knew something pretty horrible must have happened. Her mother had never gone so long without a cup of coffee from Luke's.

Luke seemed just an uncomfortable with the whole situation. But Rory was just glad that despite the problems with her mom he was there for her. After all she didn't fully understand why her mom got to be upset. She was the one that had been in a car accident, she was the one in a cast, and she was the one who had to watch as Jess walked away without a word.

Luke poured her coffee as if it was nothing. She smiled halfheartedly wanting to say something but not knowing what to say. All she wanted to talk about was Jess, wanted to know where he was, if he was okay, why he had left… Questions had been running through her mind like since she had slowly walked away from the bus station.

"Where's your mom tonight?" he asked trying to sound casual.

She knew the whole situation was hard to explain. What was she supposed to say, she argued with her mom over Jess and had abandoned her at a stuffy party thrown by her grandparents? Somehow that just didn't seem like the appropriate thing to discuss right after Luke braved coming back to town.

"At a party for my Grandpa." Seemed like the simplest thing to say.

"Oh, sounds nice. Grab yourself a donut."

Rory smiled. Luke knew her almost too well. She could tell he felt almost guilty over Jess leaving. He could fight with her mother all he wanted but he would never abandon Rory. The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable after the first few words had been spoken. She felt almost afraid to ask, but she needed to know, she had to know if he was okay.

"So, have you heard from him?" Rory asked, hoping Luke would catch on without specifics.

"Oh, no. I talked to his mom, though. He got home okay."

"Good, that's good."

She felt horrible for thinking it but she was glad he hadn't talked to Luke. If he had called and talked to Luke but not her that meant they were truly done with whatever they had been. If he called Stars Hallow and didn't bother to get in touch with her, that was as good as saying goodbye.

"Yeah, good."

Luke didn't seem as confident in the idea of Jess being okay back home. It made Rory wonder what his home life had truly been like. Jess could talk to her, sure, but he kept most private things private including the topic of his mother. Luke didn't seem very happy Jess was back under her influence and Jess had never made his mother seem like a terribly good influence to be under.

"What about his stuff?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I'm gonna send it."

Rory almost couldn't believe he hadn't started sending things already. It had been some time since Jess had left. Then again Luke had been gone fishing since the accident. It was possible he just hadn't had time before he left to pack things up.

But what she wanted was for it to mean Luke wanted Jess back home. Home. Stars Hallow should have been his home, instead it was a place of judgment. Rory couldn't blame him for hating the small town. How people had reacted to the car accident was proof enough of how much they hated him. No one, not a single townsperson, would admit that she had anything to do with the accident. It was like she was blameless. To them Jess was some horrible hoodlum that had put her under some kind of spell.

"Right, makes sense. Luke?" she asked after a pause.

"Yeah?" he looked up at her carefully.

"It wasn't his fault."

Her voice was soft but he heard it. A weight lifted off his chest knowing that Rory didn't blame his nephew. Jess had seemed broken when he found him on the night of the accident. He babbled on about making sure Rory was okay and safe, that she hated him, and how he had to go back. Luke hadn't missed the fact that Jess never once said he had to go home, just the simple fact that he had to go back.

It was a comfort to know that unlike Jess, Rory didn't think the situation was Jess' fault. She seemed to be the only rational person Luke had had the pleasure of talking to in a while. Letting his nephew leave for that bus had been the hardest thing he could think of doing to date. But it was what Jess had wanted at the time, thinking that Rory would hate him he didn't want to stay. Luke had respected that, but now he wished he had made the young boy stay.

"I know it wasn't."

The next couple of days went by and Rory hadn't been able to get her conversation with Luke out of her head. She had gone alone for breakfast every day since they had spoken but they had yet to talk again. She wanted to ask if he had sent Jess' things yet, or if he had talked to him. She wanted to know if she should move on. But she couldn't just ask him that. How was a girl supposed to move on when no one knew she had something to move on from.

When the phone rang during an evening with her mom she jumped to answer it. There hadn't been any reason she was aware of for being so inclined to get the phone, but nevertheless she wanted to get to the phone before her mother had the chance.

"I'll get it." She said as she reached the phone.

"Hey, now, if that's Mick Jagger, hang up and blow that whistle I gave you." Lorelai joked, not realizing Rory was not paying attention.

"Hello?" Rory asked into the phone.

"Hi." Rory was stunned into silence. "Hello?" his voice rang again.

"Hi." Was all she could manage.

"Is this a bad time?" he sounded concerned.

"Um, no, just hold on a sec?" she walked towards her mom, "Um, the music. . . uh, I'll be right back." Rory made her way into her bedroom closing the door tight before she sat on her bed and got comfortable. "Hi."

"You said that already." Jess joked.

Rory couldn't help but smile. She was hearing his voice. Sure it wasn't as good as him being with her in person, but it was something. A call meant whatever had been between them wasn't all in her head. It meant that she was right in thinking they could have truly been a thing if she had talked to her mom about it. His calling meant he wasn't ready to say goodbye.

"I did. You're right, sorry."

"So, what's up?" he asked trying to sound casual.

"Nothing. What about you?"

"Same."

It was odd. In person she found his monosyllabic nature almost cute but over the phone she just wished he would go into extreme detail about his life. She wanted to hear his voice for hours.

"So, what have you been doing?"

"Nothin' much. Just hanging out. . . in the park, mostly."

"Central Park?" she asked quickly enough that it might have been a reflex.

"Washington Square Park."

"Oh. That's right you mentioned there once. Your special bench to read, right?"

"Yup, it's where David Lee Roth got busted."

She could hear the smile on his face. It was something she missed, his smile. The genuine one she was almost positive that only she had ever seen.

"Right, right. I hope he's got it together now." She said laughing to herself.

They were silent for a moment. Barely even enough time to think really, but Jess could hardly stand the silence over the phone.

"Sounds like you got a party going on there."

Rory listened to the background sound and realized it really did sound like a huge deal. The music and TV were up so loud it must have sounded like their house was jam packed.

"No, it's just me and my mom."

"Right. Okay, well, I'm gonna go. This is long distance."

"Yeah, it is long distance."

She felt mad. She couldn't fully explain it to herself but she was angry with him. Rory knew she had every right to be mad that he got on that bus, that he left her without a word but she wanted to be happy that he had called. She didn't want to get stuck in her sad bubble and let the anger fester. She wanted them to be okay.

"I'm kind of mad at you." She said quietly.

"I know," he paused for a second without hanging up. Rory knew he was going to say something else but she felt like she was waiting with baited breath. "Rore, that thing with us…?"

"I don't regret it." She said simply, not knowing what her answer should be.

She had been questioning what had occurred between them since the moment it started happening. When she and Dean had broken up she never imagined she would have started a secret thing with Jess. Never would have imagined that their relationship would become as complicated as it did before he left town. But it still was real to her, even without him there.

"Okay." Said as if it was a goodbye.

"Okay." She repeated.

The rest of the night Rory felt distracted. Her mother didn't comment on it, not even once. But she knew she hadn't been subtle. The call from Jess had stirred something in her. He still hadn't said goodbye, even over the phone. It was like he refused to say it. And while she wanted nothing more than to never have to say goodbye, she didn't want to be waiting around forever. If he wouldn't say goodbye she knew she would wait for him, and it wasn't fair for her to be waiting around forever.

This was supposed to be her mother's grand time. She was finally graduating, something she had never had the chance to do before. And Rory felt guilty not thinking of only her mother. The big Gilmore Girls Night was supposed to be a celebration but she suddenly found herself completely occupied. She wasn't even able to sleep. She knew her mother was slightly too drunk to realize what was going on but Rory couldn't focus on their movie night, couldn't fathom going to school, something inside of her had snapped the second she heard his voice over that receiver.

The next day Rory had gotten on the bus as usual. She rode all the way to Hartford and tried to occupy her mind with thoughts that didn't pertain to Jess. But even thinking about school managed to bring her mind back to the dark haired boy.

Paris had been waiting for her outside the gates. Rory had tried to her best listen as the blonde rambled on and on about things that Rory couldn't even comprehend. She looked at all the other students, gathering and getting ready for their day. She could see the large school up ahead, and for the first time instead of a place of learning the building looked like a jail. When Paris turned to walk in a different direction Rory couldn't think of what was keeping her there.

She didn't want to be at school, she didn't want to be in Hartford, or even in Connecticut. She wanted to be in Washington Square Park. With that thought in mind her feet turned away from Chilton and practically ran in the opposite direction. She wasn't sure what had pushed her away quicker, but no matter what it was she found herself at the bus station hopping on the first bus to New York.

By the time the bus was pulling into the New York station Rory's back hurt. Riding on a bus for hours hadn't been her best laid plan… although it technically hadn't been a plan at all. It was past lunch by the time she got a locker and shoved her backpack in it.

As she made her way onto the sidewalk outside the station she could see the hustle of New Yorkers was not an exaggeration. Every second there were at least two people passing by her.

"Could you," she tried asking a woman who passed by her without even a nod, "Um, excuse me, sir, do you know," the man also just walked by without even blinking in her direction, "Do you know where Washington," the next person held their hand up to silence her as they walked by, "Excuse me, ma'am, Washington Square Park?"

The older woman didn't stop but still managed to shout out a response.

"End of Fifth."

Rory smiled, calling after her.

"Thank you!"

It only took her a moment to realize she had no clue where the end of fifth was. Her smile slowly fell from her face as she looked back at the crowd of people who did not care if she got where she was trying to go.

"Excuse me, where's Fifth?"

She started asking every person who walked by until someone pointed her in the right direction. It took her a while to find her way but she was proud of herself when she started walking in Washington Square Park. It had been a challenge she had risen above.

But as she walked through the park she started to worry. Her mother's graduation was at seven. The only bus time back to Hartford that would have her there in time was a two thirty. Glancing at her watch she realized she only had two hours to find Jess before she needed to be leaving again. If she couldn't find him in the park she had nothing to go by. She would have skipped school for nothing.

But just as she was about to talk herself into just turning around and going home she saw him. Sitting on a bench just like she had imagined, paperback in hand ignoring the world. She got a small sense of pleasure sneaking up on him, knowing that he would get the surprise of… the week at least.

"Hi."

Jess turned on the bench to look over his shoulder at her. She was smiling down at him and he couldn't help but smile back. It was like he had fallen asleep. Rory Gilmore was standing before him, it wasn't a dream t was the cold hard truth.

"How ya doing?"

"Still kind of mad at you." She said only half joking.

"I'd imagine so." Jess said quietly.

"This is a nice spot, good for reading –I can tell. Nice solid bench, no screaming children nearby… good pick."

"Thanks."

"How are you, Jess?"

"I'm good, now." He thought for a moment. "You hungry?"

"Starved." Rory said, she hadn't eaten breakfast and she was missing lunch.

"I know a place." He said standing from the bench and leading her away.

Rory couldn't help but feel good being back with him. She hadn't realized how good she would feel just being close to him again. Skipping school wasn't good but she couldn't even bring herself to care. She might have been upset that he left her in Stars Hallow but seeing him again made her feel better. Being near him made her feel better.

Author's Note: So I don't think a lot will be different about NY because it's just Rory and Jess and I feel like they are comfortable enough around each other in the series that it translates well into this story. But Lorelai's graduation will end differently. Once the story gets going a little more things will start to have bigger effects: can you guys see the changes in the story already, are they subtle enough? too subtle? let me know what you think!