"What do you mean Jess is gone?" Rory asked Luke exasperatedly. Frustration ebbed at her mind, waves of anger and confusion crashing into her. Jess was gone?

"Meaning, Jess decided to do his own interpretation of Houdini. He didn't come home last night and he's not in town." Luke explained, aggravation evident in the furrowing of his forehead and overdramatic waving of his calloused hands. Rory stared at him, trying to accept that her boyfriend had once again run off to god knows where and wasn't exactly sending post cards to let his girlfriend know.

Rory made a sound of irritation in her throat, her face creating a look of puppy-dog sadness. Luke felt a sympathetic pang in his chest at the heartbroken look on her face, inwardly cursing Jess for putting it there.

"Sorry to interrupt your melodramatic performance, but could I get some coffee here?" A customer rudely asked, and Luke fixed a scary glare at him, causing the customer to shrink back. "Okay, sorry then. Didn't know that feeding your customers wasn't part of the menu."

"Get out." Luke growled simply, gesturing towards the door. The man, primly overdressed in a suit scoffed at him and stomped out of the door. "Stupid presumptuous idiot, thinking he can just order me around in my own diner."

Luke then looked around the diner, but like her dumbass boyfriend, she too had disappeared. Luke sighed. Those two could make millions showing off their quick escape methods.

Rory fast walked her way across Stars Hallow, incapable to give up the idea that Jess hadn't left. He wouldn't have. He knew that he could come talk to her about anything, including that something which made him feel like he had to run away. Again.

She entertained the idea of sticking a locating device on him once she found him, smiling ruefully at her thoughts.

"Rory!" She turned, glancing around and saw Lane jogging her way towards her. Skidding to a stop, Lane pressed a hand to Rory's shoulder while she bent over and gasped for breath.

"Trying out for a marathon?" Rory asked, eyebrows raised. She masked her feelings about Jess, putting all her attention on her best friend. Lane snorted.

"Just building my stamina. Soon, I'll be as famous as Forest Gump running across the country." Lane smirked, smoothing her thick hair black and fixing her glasses.

Rory sent her an amused look. "Run, Lane Kim, Run. Speaking of which, how did your mom take the whole drunk dialing thing? Should you be packing your bags and hitting the road?"

"I don't know." Lane said, a bewildered look overcoming her face.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Rory repeated, turning to face her. The definite punishment of Lane Kim's drunken mistake had more certainty than robbing a bank and locking yourself inside the vault.

"So, I go home, right? You know, after barfing my insides to the bushes like a cliché cover to a 'Don't Party, Kids!' brochure for Planned Parenthood- thanks for holding my hair back by the way- and Dave, like the gentleman he is, brought me home." Lane started, waving her hands about, eyes growing wide with excitement.

"Which is a mixture of chivalry and stupidity, but do carry on." Rory encouraged.

"Exactly. I didn't want him beheaded like Anne Boleyn, so I sent him away." Lane continued, nodding.

"Your mom does have a keen likeness to King Henry the 8th." Rory agreed. They exchanged smiles.

"Anyways, I enter the premises, and it's dark. Silent, too."

"Sneak attack?" Rory guessed, and imagined Mrs. Kim jumping from the ceiling to capture Lane in a net.

"No."

"Exorcism?" Rory suggested, and Lane shook her head, the amazement apparent on her face.

"Nothing. It was quieter than the inside of Ozzy Osbourne's head."

"Quiet like a headless bat's cave. Got it."

"Yeah. So, of course, I freaked out. I run upstairs, like a ninja,"

"Wait, like a ninja?" Rory interrupted, giving her a strange look.

"Moving on, and I see that she's in her bed. Conked out like Goldilocks in the three little bears, because surely, this wasn't my house."

"Surely not, Mama Bear." Rory grinned. "Ate the wrong porridge, did you?"

Lane paused and narrowed her eyes at her. "You're going to be holding the intoxicated thing over me forever, aren't you."

"Yup." Rory chirped gleefully, bouncing on her heels.

Lane gave a big sigh in response. Rory nudged her. "Oh! So, I decide to go to bed, and lock my door of course, in case she wakes up and does her own version of Freddy Krueger gone Asian Parent. But I sleep safely, wake up, and go downstairs and there she is."

"With a knife? Running towards you?" Rory urged. She could see it clearly in her head.

"No. Cooking breakfast. And I say, 'Good Morning, Mama', and she says right back to me, 'Good Morning, Lane'." Lane said, wonder alight in her eyes.

"And then?" Rory waved her hands for her to finish.

"And that's it. She hasn't said anything else to me since. Nothing." Lane sighed again, and Rory patted her arm.

"So, she's freezing you out?"

"Not so much freezing, but more like detached Stepford wives." Lane explained. "Very cool and serene."

"Huh." Rory said, and then was hit with a reminder of Jess. She winced, but carried on. She'd tell Lane later. "Well, let's think. Maybe she didn't hear you. Maybe you called a different Kim household."

"There are about five Kim's in the yellowbook. And that's if you're counting three other districts." Lane consented hopefully.

"Lane, you should talk to her." Rory told her, and Lane's eyes popped.

"No way. I'd rather not try to explain and say something stupid, therefore adding on to the mental assassination plot in her head." Lane refused.

"Well, then what are you going to do?"

"Get new running shoes." Lane and Rory made their way towards Lane's house. "I don't know, I've already given up my life to working at this religious affiliated table and I said I'd go to that Seventh Day Adventist College in Hartford while living at home."

"Oh, Lane…" Rory gave her a sympathetic look.

"Plus, I told Dave to forget about Prom. The possibility of that happening is zilch." Lane gave the ground a sad look before climbing her stairs toward the screen door. Rory stood at the bottom of the steps.

"That really sucks, Lane. I'm sorry." Rory frowned, and Lane smiled sadly before waving goodbye and slipping into her house. Rory felt another twinge for the fact Jess was gone and now that she was alone, it hit her again, full force.

Except, this time she was angry.

Jess sat in a motel, chain smoking. Rory would kill him for this. His lips tilted slightly at the thought of Rory's face contorted into an expression she thought was fierce. 'Withering stare', indeed.

The shady motel was outside of New Haven, the closest one to Stars Hallow. He hadn't wanted to go too far, just away for a little while. To think. The manager had given him a suspicious look, as if he didn't believe he was eighteen, which was true, but Jess had glowered him down until he had slid the plastic card to him.

"Asshole." Jess muttered underneath his breath. Dropping the finished cigarette to his foot, he squished it and pulled out another one.

"Got a light?"

Jess turned to see a man standing a few feet away, looking at him indescribably. He shrugged and tossed the lighter towards him. The man caught it and took a few steps forward, sliding a slim cigarette out of his jean jacket. His face was scruffy and an automatic contemplative stare on guard. Flicking the lighter, he held the cigarette in his mouth and inhaled desperately when it caught the flame. Seeming to relax, his shoulders dropped a few inches. Then looking at Jess again, he tensed.

"Oh, shit." He mumbled underneath his breath. Jess quirked an eyebrow, readying himself for an attack or whatever the man was planning.

In a way, the man did attack him; however, instead of going for the face, the man grabbed him around the shoulders and hugged him. Jess shouted and pushed him away.

"What are you, crazy?" Jess barked. "Crackhead. Jesus."

The man staggered back, hitting the wall. "Hmm..." He muttered to himself. "It seems that Sasha was wrong. Bad approach."

Jess was already heading toward his motel room, determined to get away from the drunk, weird man that decided to randomly attack him.

"Wait. Jess Mariano, right?" Jess stopped, hand at the doorknob. He turned slightly and looked at the man.

"I'm Jimmy. Your father."

Once again on the bench, Rory Gilmore was sipping a cup of coffee while trying to force herself into submission. This was it. She was going to stop caring about Jess. All he did was leave, and she refused to keep letting herself get hurt. She should've seen this coming. It was simple as basic math. Problem + Jess= Screw Everything and Run. She couldn't keep expecting him to change for her. All this time, she had been hoping, desperately hoping, that she could transform him into the perfect boyfriend. But this was Jess, and he was the farthest thing from perfect. And it had been fine in the first place; it had been what she wanted, originally. Dean had been perfect, a bit pushy, but a perfect boyfriend, and Jess had seem so delectably untouchable. Imperfectly tantalizing. Rory reached for the forbidden fruit and got kicked out of Eden. And now she was stuck by herself, wishing that her boyfriend liked her enough to stay.

"Hey Ror." She looked up to see Dean towering over her, blocking the sun. Patting the seat next to her, she snickered ruefully at her thoughts. Call the devil and he shall appear. Dean gratefully sat down, nervously rubbing his hands together.

"What's up, Dean?" Rory said halfheartedly. Dean didn't notice, too wrapped up in what he wanted to say to her.

"First of all, I just wanted to say sorry for the other night. I was way out of line. I was jealous of him, because I missed you. I shouldn't have said that." Dean said, looking at her mournfully. Rory nodded.

"It's okay, Dean. I forgive you."

"Yeah. But I've got some great news!" Dean said emphatically, a grin spreading over his face. A weak smile pasted itself on Rory's face at his enthusiasm.

"Really? What is it?" Rory asked, noticing the way Dean kept awkwardly shuffling his feet even while sitting down and wiping his hands on his pants.

"I asked Lindsay to marry me!" He said happily. "And she said yes!"

Rory stared at him, flabbergasted. "What."

"I know, right? Who would've thought. I mean, it's weird, but Lindsay's amazing and I asked, and she said yes! So, I'm getting married. Say something."

"Why?"

"What?" Dean replied, mouth dropping. It was obvious that he had expected her to clap him on the back and congratulate him.

Rory backpedaled. "No, I don't mean why, but, why now?"

Dean laughed giddily. "Why not now?"

"Well, you're eighteen, first of all."

"So?" Dean prodded. His mood dropped a little due to her reaction, but then again, he had been hoping for this a little bit. He'd been hoping for some jealousy.

"So, you're young. I mean, you haven't even gone to college yet." She paused, and stared at him for a second. "Oh my God, you are still going to college, aren't you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, Rory, I'm still going to college.

"Well, how. . ." Rory said, fumbling with her words, still surprised.

"Lindsay's gonna go with me." He said like it was obvious.

She tried again. She didn't even know why she wanted to try to stop him, but she felt like she had to at that moment, like it was a huge mistake. "But Dean, you're going to be studying and taking classes, you need to focus on that. I mean, you don't even know what you wanna do yet. And you guys haven't even been going out for that long. I mean, why don't you just date for awhile? Dating's fun."

"Thank you." Dean said sarcastically.

"For what?" She asked, her forehead crinkled in confusion.

"For your deep heartfelt congratulations." He continued, starting to get up off the bench.

Rory stared at him, standing above her. "You just. . .you took me by surprise." She said softly.

"So what? It's good news, you can't just be happy for me?" He said bitterly.

"I can. I am. I just. . ." She flapped her hands for the words she couldn't find.

He scoffed. "You know what, I'm sorry if you have a crappy relationship with Jess."

Rory's head jerked back. "Hey, that has –"

Dean continued, finding the terms from inside him and letting it out. "And I'm sorry if he treats you like dirt and everyone hates him, but that was your choice. I have a great girlfriend and I am really happy, and when you dumped me for that jackass, I thought I'd never be happy again."

"Jess does not treat me like dirt." She said, getting up as well in anger.

Dean shook his head, putting his hands up in front of him. "Whatever. I just wanted you to hear it from me before it got out. Now you know, so, um, have a nice life." Then he walked away, seeming the successor.

"Jess does not treat me like dirt!" Rory shouted after him, but then fell back in the seat in exhaustion. She officially felt like crap, if she hadn't enough beforehand. This just rubbed things in her face.

Things had finally seemed like they were getting better between her and Jess, barely climbing their way to a comfortable relationship where they actually communicated, but then it was just as quickly ruined. And now, Dean flaunting his engagement in her face really put the icing on the cake. She tilted forward, putting her face in her hands, rubbing her eyes. She didn't know what to do.

Jess stared at his father in silence, taking in the familiar features on a different person. For Jess's entire life, he had forced himself to not think about his father. Crushed every tendril of thought because he knew that nothing good would come from it. All he knew about him was that one day as a baby; Jimmy went to get some diapers and then just plain disappeared. Jess took a half of a second to appreciate the irony of family similarities.

"I'm your father." Jimmy repeated.

"I caught that." Jess mumbled uncomfortably.

"Just checking. If you got bad comprehensive skills, it wouldn't be from my side of the family."

"No that would just be deadbeat father and lack of compliance gene." Jess bit, glaring at him.

Jimmy sucked in through his teeth. "Okay. Well. Yeah. I just wanted to…"

"Just wanted to what? Antagonize me in the hallway of a Motel 6?" Jess battered, sneering. "Hi, Jess. I'm your father. You're welcome for showing up after seventeen years."

"Okay, bud. You don't have to go hostile teenager on me." Jimmy replied, eyes narrowing.

"Oh, sorry, Dad." Jess scoffed. "Did you want us to reunite joyfully, run towards each other Baywatch style and hug dramatically while the music swells behind us? And then we'll catch up with what happened over the years because you didn't disappear getting diapers, you were abducted by aliens."

"I may well not be no Mr. Cleaver, but you still have to show me some respect. I know I've made plenty of mistakes, but I'm trying to fix them. That's why I came here. I wanted to apologize for abandoning you, and I just wanted to see how you were and what you were like. I'm sorry that I've accosted you, sorry that I wasted your time. I'll be back to California by the morning, anyways." Jimmy said, and scratched the back of his neck. Jess looked at him quietly, before shaking his head and escaping back into his room. Jimmy stood outside for a while before going to his, which was the room next door.

"So Jess is gone?" Lorelai said in a high tone.

"Gone." Rory repeated dolefully.

"Wow."

"Wow indeed." Rory agreed.

"What, is this the second time?" Lorelai asked.

"Third."

"Wow. And Dean is getting married?"

"Yup." Rory said, her lips popping at the 'p' with extra force.

"Wow." Lorelai reiterated. "Jeez, I've got to come up with some better words. Wowza! Egad! Dear me! Gadzooks! Great Scott! Heavens to Betsy! Jeepers! Jiminy Crickets! Holy- "

"Okay, I get it. The entire town gets it; you've just replenished their need for expressions of surprise. We're now prepared for an asteroid attack, or zombie attack, or Taylor explosion."

Lorelai smiled. "You know me; the Boy Scout's motto is tattooed somewhere inappropriate."

Rory cracked a smile back at her and Lorelai wrapped an arm around her. "Come on, Sweets. Time to cheer you up. Boys suck anyhow. Didn't they teach you that in elementary school?"

"No, only how to finger paint and eat paste." Rory quipped.

"My intellectual girl. I always knew you were special."

AN: Wow, it took a long time to do this chapter. I'm surprised it even happened. But it did. A lot of it you'll recognize if you seen Say Goodnight Gracie, or whatever it's called. Hah. I took some of it (like the scene between Rory and Dean) and a few lines inbetween Rory and Lane (the rest of the conversation I changed but kept the subject the same). I took out Fran's death because this story isn't really focused on Lorelai, it's focused on Rory. Don't worry our javajunkie couple will get together eventually. I loved the reviewer that asked me 'WHEN WILL RORY AND JESS SLEEP TOGETHER?', that made me laugh. Definitely not for a couple chapters, and if I do write it, it'll be vague. Rated T, 'member? But speaking of reviewers...

here's thanks to the lovely, the beautiful, the amazing: edwardcullenismybrandofheroin..live4ska..caelannrae..ninelifewriter..jediloser09..mabelle86.

scryer59..watergurl123..mittoots79..kylielink..that dont make me a bad guy..Curley-Q..ohlookpigsflew.. savethedinosaurs14..morbidmuch..ggluver4ever10..djux..twilightciel..j...udontknowmebutiknowme..

roryjessfan7..veronicajoan..inwayovermyhead:)..roryandjessfanatic..frequentlydazzeledbylit..

you'vegotwingsbaby..CHRNOSMIKO -(I MISS YOU BUDDY.).

you guys really ROCK. Like, my socks are off because you rocked them off. Y'all inspired me to keep going, made me happy when I felt like crap, encouraged me to continue even when I felt like ditching it, and are just plain AWESOME. THANKSSOMUCH. And DOUBLETRIPLE thanks to those who reviewed multiple times! its love in an inbox!

Please, continue to review. I know that it seems irrelevant to you, but it really does help a writer. It truly encourages to do more and I'm posting my story mostly for you.

SO REVIEW. THANKS. -RAR