A/N: The long awaited sequel to 'Cold Feet'. Yay!! I wanted to try writing this story a different way. One-shot.

Title: Lie to Me

Rating: K+

Pairings: Rory/Jess

Summary: You tell him this—things you don't mean. You tell him that if he wants you gone all he need do is say so. The last thing you hear before you walk away—and slam the door—is him making a snide comment.

--

It only hits you—your choice to leave Logan at the altar—when you're in the car, Jess' car, driving away from it all. He doesn't tell you where you're going and you don't ask. You find you don't really care as long as it's away from here.

You find yourself struggling a little with the fact that you're here with him. You see the church in the rearview mirror and you start to feel a little guilty. All the people you've disappointed. Chris. Luke. Logan. Kira and Mitchum—no you don't care about them. Lorelai. You want to tell him to turn around and for a second you shift slightly in your seat to face him. But you know if you go back in there, you're not coming out. And he won't be there if you do. You sigh wishing you'd at least explained things a little more to Lorelai.

He looks at you and asks you what's wrong.

You say nothing. You're wondering if you should tell him the truth or lie (or if he'll be able to tell the difference from you anyway). "I can't wait to burn this dress." The words feel bitter on your tongue. You don't really want to burn it—you really don't care what happens to it—you just want out of it.

He smirks at you before turning back to face the road.

You sigh and your heart sinks a little. You hate him a little for not being able to tell when you're lying.

--

It's been less than forty eight hours since you left Logan at the altar and he hasn't stopped calling your phone since. Neither has Lorelai. You're tempted to put it on silent, turn it off, throw it at a wall, throw it on the ground and jump up and down on top of it—anything to make the ringing stop. You settle for not answering.

When you tell him this he surprises you. He doesn't react quite the way you expect him to. He urges you to call Lorelai and, yes, even Logan back and explain things. You hesitate and he pushes the phone back into your hand (you gave it to him in hopes of not flushing it down the toilet, even though you don't want to look at it, Lorelai gave it to you and you can't stand the thought of not having it anymore).

You stare at him for a full minute and you can't help but wander if he has any ulterior motives for making you do this. He never liked Logan or Lorelai for that matter. The thought somehow crosses your mind that he wants you gone. He only wants you to call in hopes that you will make up (you and Logan or you and Lorelai? you don't know which but you think either one will suit him just fine) just so you can leave and he doesn't have to deal with you.

You tell him this—things you don't mean. You tell him that if he wants you gone all he need do is say so. The last thing you hear before you walk away—and slam the door—is him making a snide comment.

He doesn't come after you.

You hate him even more.

--

When you finally do call Logan (you figure it's easier to get the hardest person out of the way first) you underestimated how tough this was going to be and how prepared you were.

He answers on the fourth ring fully aware of the fact that it's you on the other end. His voice is calm as he asks you how you could do that to him, that his family and friends were out there and that you embarrassed him.

Under normal circumstances you would roll your eyes at something like that, but you don't have the urge to do so this time. All you manage to do is say you're sorry over and over again.

He ignores you telling you that you didn't have to leave at the altar, you could've told him this way before.

You try to tell him that you wanted to marry him and that it was hard for you to leave him like that.

He doesn't believe you. He laughs. You know that laugh and you would rather have him shout at you, yell, beg—anything but laugh, he's yelled at you for a lot less. You don't deserve him being this calm. He has a right to be angry.

You try and fail, yet again, to explain yourself. But he's not the only one who doesn't know what you're trying to say.

Your heart breaks a little when he tells you that he hopes you're happy.

--

That's how Jess finds you later—balled up on the couch. You don't think you've moved for hours but you don't care.

He leans over the edge of the couch for a second before walking past without a word.

When you've given up all hope on him returning (a part of you thinks he doesn't notice you, you know it's a lie) he exits the bathroom with a box of Kleenex in his hands. He lifts your feet and sits down on the couch, putting them in his lap and the Kleenex box in your lap.

You find you hate him a little less.

--

It's been a week now and Lorelai hasn't called (she stopped three days ago; you still didn't call her back), so you're surprised to say the least when you open the door—expecting to see Jess—only to find Lorelai there instead.

You don't know how she knew where you were, but you don't question her—you learned to stop doing that a long time ago (ever since she convinced Emily to steal the bathrobe from that hotel).

She doesn't enter or ask how or who got you there (you figure its because she already knows). She doesn't make any small talk, she tells you that you're coming home with her.

You can't say you're surprised when she starts a tirade about how Jess has hurt you so many times. You cut her off at "treats you like dirt" by closing the door in her face.

When you tell him the story later, he surprises you again. He doesn't say anything (well, you aren't surprised at the fact that he's silent, but at the somber look on his face). He tells you that you shouldn't really be surprised. You knew this would happen. It wouldn't last. Lorelai hates him.

You don't believe him but this is what he tells you.

He tells you to go home. You tell him no, you don't want to.

When you wake up the next day he's already left for work and the little things that you bought recently are in a bag next to the door.

--

You don't know how long it is before you see him again. Hours, days, weeks, months maybe….you've lost track of time. You don't know what to do with yourself. You've slipped into a cyclic routine of get up, eat, work and go to sleep. You find yourself wondering if Stars Hollows was always this monotonous and you just never noticed

You and Lorelai are far from okay—you still talk to her, but your usual banter seems tense and awkward. You kind of blame her for this whole situation (you know it's not really her fault but you want to blame somebody; Logan is out of the question since you still feel guilty about how things ended and Jess…for once in your life you want to not blame him).

So when the door bell rings, you're surprised to say the least but you figured Lorelai left her key, you open it. You're surprised to say the least to see him leaning against the doorpost, lighting a cigarette.

He smiles and you can't help but melt a little. He tells you he's here to help.

"By smoking?"

He shakes his head and signals over his shoulder. You look around him and find your wedding dress on a pole. He reads the confused look on your face and explains. "I thought you might need some help burning that."

You want to tell him go away, to close the door in his face. Tell him that him showing up here like this, out of the blue, wouldn't—couldn't fix everything. You open your mouth to tell him these things but, as if reading your mind, he gives you that look. That look that makes you feel like he's seeing through you, like you're the only one there. You're annoyed at yourself for not being able to say anything other than 'okay' and even more angry at yourself for how giddy you are about seeing him.

You're angry at yourself when you realize that you don't hate him anymore. You probably never did.

--

A/N: Leave me reviews please to let me know that you didn't completely hate it.