Author's Note: Second chapter in just a few hours. Honestly this is just my way of not writing my final. So I wanted to clear something up as to why so many things are the same as the show...

This story is about small subtleties making a big change in the end. I'm not saying that a lot of things won't happen the same, or that characters won't find themselves in the same situations -they will. I may believe in the domino effect on life but something little isn't going to suddenly make the characters not go somewhere or do something they would have before. I do promise that things will be different throughout the story and other things will happen the same or at least in a similar way. Rory and Dean will still have their affair -but for a different reason, Rory will end up with Logan but not as seriously and not for as long. I'm changing SMALL things not suddenly uprooting their lives. So yes for the most part characters do the same things and are in the same situations but have different conversations or think things through differently.

Sorry if that's not what you are wanting from the story... Well I'm not really because that's what the story is meant to be.

Disclaimer: I don't own GG or its dialogue.

Rory couldn't help but feel on edge as she walked around Doosey's Market. She wasn't sure if she would run into Dean, or if she might bump into another boy who had been troubling her. Suddenly her small town life had become very complicated and she wasn't even in town when it started.

"Doing a little shopping?" she heard from behind her.

She wanted to turn around and run. Jess was hardly the person she wanted to deal with. For all she cared he could go back to sucking face. But everywhere she turned he seemed to be there, or his stupid blonde bimbo. Rory could barely remember her from Stars Hallow High but what she did remember didn't speak well for the girl.

"Yes. Excuse me."

Rory tried to push past him but he just followed her around.

"I think the room just got colder."

"I'm not giving you the cold shoulder I have groceries to get home."

Jess glanced down into her basket scoffing at the contents. It was typically of a Gilmore girl, everything she was grabbing was terrible for her health and could go months without going bad.

"Yeah because beefaroni goes bad so quickly."

"You don't have to be so snarky. People will never like you unless you're friendly."

"I can be friendly. How was Washington? See, friendly."

"It was fine. Will you leave me alone?"

Rory turned into a different aisle and sighed loudly when she noticed Jess had followed her. He seemed eager to get her worked up and he was succeeding.

"Now who needs to be friendly? Do anything interesting?"

"No. Happy? Can I go now?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to enjoy the 'small town charms' you always went on about. Casual banter at Doosey's seemed fitting."

"You're kind of an ass."

"That was kind of rude."

Rory took a big breath. She had never before wanted to slap someone just because of their tone of voice before but she found that the more Jess played into his role the more she wanted to see a red handprint across his cheek. But she wouldn't do that because she was Rory and Rory Gilmore never hit someone, she was never even supposed to get upset with anyone.

"Sorry, I'll be friendly. Anything you want to tell me?" trying to push passed the annoyance in her voice.

"Nope, but thanks for asking."

"Really, nothing?"

"Really, don't know why that's a surprise."

"Well then we don't really have anything to talk about do we? I mean if you don't have anything to say, I certainly don't"

"Oh, you want friendly small town talk. Two weeks ago there was a run on snowcones. The machine broke and the whole town went crazy. Taylor was about to call in the National Guard. Is that what you were looking for?"

"Screw you."

Rory tried pushing passed him again but had to settle for setting her basket on the empty counter and glaring at him. Despite not telling her about the girl or his summer he seemed pretty determined to force her to speak with him.

"Hostile."

"Only when I have reason to be."

"Don't see why you're all out of sorts."

She knew he was baiting her but she couldn't fight it. There was something about Jess that made her defenses go flying. She couldn't control how angry he made her or how much she wanted to see the vein in his neck bulge as he yelled at her. But it was ridiculous to allow herself to be pulled in –to want to be fighting- just to see him flustered. What Rory needed was to get away from him.

"Guess it's just a shock that I'm not a good enough friend to tell about your little blonde."

"Oh her, she's a blast."

"Good for you. I'll be going now."

Rory tried moving again but he blocked her path. She glared over at him wishing she could just move because everything about him was pushing at all the wrong buttons. She'd spent months wanting him, and a summer figuring out just how she felt now it felt like torture to be around him.

"You don't look very happy."

"I'm just concerned about the beefaroni going bad." She said nodding for no reason.

"A truly concerning subject. Sure it's not something else?"

"Nope. Nothing. What else could it be?"

"Me and Shane don't exactly bring a smile to your face."

Shane. The blonde's name was Shane. Rory had memories flash through her mind about the blonde girl who had barely passed 8th grade English. She didn't think she'd ever met a dumber girl during her years in Stars Hallow. Her name just made it even better, of course Jess would go for the tight jeans-boy name-blonde.

"And why should I be concerned about you and Shane at all?"

"I don't know. You just seem more upset than beefaroni."

"Well I'm really sad the snowcone machine broke. Don't know how I'll live."

"It's troubling."

"I couldn't care less about you and Shane."

She tried to convince herself but it wasn't working. Her mind was spinning at a hundred miles and hour trying to get her to believe she was already over whatever feelings she had developed for the bad boy. Because nothing was worth the torture of watching him go through other girls. Feelings be damned she would force herself to be done with him.

"Whatever works for you."

"It was a surprise, sure, but I don't care."

"Why would it be a surprise?"

"Just because." She said plainly.

"Because. Because no one in this town could want to date me? Because dating's against the law in this town. Because why?"

"I'm just a little surprised that I go away for the summer and you've got a girl in your pants. I mean I spent the summer thinking and you clearly had other priorities."

"My priorities are just fine, thanks."

"We kissed, maybe it didn't mean anything but I thought it might so I guess I was confused. It's perfectly acceptable to be confused." She explained rationally.

"Sure."

He didn't believe her. Jess wasn't even trying to seem like she had him fooled. If anything he looked close to busting out in a fit of laughter at any moment.

"It's true. I was thrown for a sec."

"Oh please, Gilmore you look like someone kicked a puppy. You kissed me, you not me, and then you ran away –really flattering by the way. Did I hear from you at all this summer, any phone calls, any letters –no. What you're mad at me because I didn't sit around town doing nothing with people I don't even like just to wait for you. Sorry to break it to you but I'm not Dean. I'm not going to sit around waiting for you when there are other options who aren't running away. Speaking of Dean, you seemed real cozy today."

"When'd you see me with Dean?"

"At the stupid summer crap."

"Wow, I'm surprised you could see at all. Looked like Shane's head would've been in the way."

"Oh, so you're looking at me while getting cozy with your ex. Or is he not your ex anymore? Run back to Dean-boy already."

"That that it's any of your business but no. I kissed you as you so kindly pointed out, so no I haven't run back to Dean."

Rory grabbed her basket and shoved passed him to the checkout line. London gave her an awkward smile not sure how to take the fight happening in the middle of the grocery. Jess had followed but remained quiet for a moment. He seemed to be processing what she had said. It seemed like he was shocked she hadn't gone running back to Dean at the first sign of trouble.

"Have you called me since?" he asked quietly, almost as if he was really asking rather than accusing her of anything.

"What?"

"Did you send me any letters?"

"I didn't send them no-"

What was she supposed to say, 'yes I wrote you at least once a week, almost once a day but never sent any of them'? Somehow that didn't seem like the perfect thing to say. She just wanted to get out of the market and stop feeling cornered.

"Postcard?"

"You're being stupid."

"Smoke signal?"

"Just stop."

She didn't want to admit how much she had wanted to get in touch with him over the summer. She was nearly breaking at the fact that not sending one of her ridiculously cheesy so un-Jess-like letters was the reason he was making out with a blonde.

"Maybe a fruit basket."

"Enough, you're being an ass."

Rory handed the money to London at the register. She wanted to pay and get the hell out of the store as quickly as possible. The walls felt like they were closing in on her. The only thing that kept her from going completely insane was the thought that her mother was waiting outside for her –probably having an equally difficult conversation with Kirk.

"Are you back with Dean? It sure looked like it. Frankenstein was staring at you like a goober so I wouldn't be surprised."

"No, I'm not with Dean. Now, stop."

"Well that's unfortunate. Maybe later."

"Screw you, I might not have sent you any letters but I wrote a million of them. It's not my fault that I wasn't sure where your head was so I didn't send them. You want 'em? I'll throw you the binder sometime. But obviously it doesn't matter that I spent a summer trying to sort through my feelings and figuring out what I wanted. Because obviously you'd prefer to suck face with the dumb blonde. So you know what, maybe I will get back with Dean –it'd be a hell of a lot easier than talking to you!"

She turned towards the door grabbing her bag in her arms. She didn't want to stay and face him -didn't want anything more to go wrong. She felt stupid for letting herself get all caught up in him and now she'd practically shouted that she wrote him a book's worth of letters without even having the guts to send them and nothing could be more embarrassing than that.

"Gilmore!" he shouted after her but she didn't stop.

"Whatever, this conversation wasn't even worth it."

The words flew from her lips like an iron clad defense. She knew she could easily stop and explain things but she wanted to get away and make sure he wouldn't follow. So far the crazy method she had acted on worked as he was currently frozen in his spot as she pushed the door to the market open.

"Rory!" she could hear him beginning to move but she just ushered her mother away from the market quickly heading back towards home. Now wasn't the time to fight with him -if that's what he intended on doing.

She couldn't calm down as she and her mother practically jogged back towards their house. Lorelai had questioned her but ROry couldn't bring herself to say anything. Why had she told him about the binder? Why had she shouted in the market? And why did her chest hurt worse now than when she had seen him with Shane?

Suddenly it didn't matter. Washington had barely cleared her head but she'd realized what she wanted. She wanted Jess and all the difficulties that went with him. But what did that matter now that he had someone else? What did that matter when he didn't even try to fight for her? It only took her a moment after leaving the store to realize she hadn't really fought for him either… in fact she may have just pushed him straight into the blonde idiot's bed.

If there was ever a thought that both disgusted and terrified her it was that. She could have fixed things right then and there but instead she had practically dug the grave herself. He'd even called out, he'd shouted for her and she ran away... why did she always run away?

A.N: So there it was.

UP NEXT: Rory admitted she wrote, the ball is in his court. But will Jess make the right move or will they be stuck in the habit of running away from one another? 8 o'clock at the oasis and the dance marathon!