Chapter 5

I didn't take 8,000 years to update this time! Also, I'm working off of Google Docs, so I apologize for any typos and formatting issues in this or previous chapters that I may have missed.

This woman is insane Jess thinks to himself, seated on his bed. He couldn't believe that he was going to do all this for Rory, and in doing so, acknowledge a day he usually did his best to ignore.

It was a mixture of honest curiosity and desire to figure what they were that led Jess down the stairs to the diner during breakfast rush to announce he was taking the day off.

Luke tightens his grip on the counter in front of him, preparing to yell at his nephew when he suddenly remembers what day it is.

"Oh, er… sure, Jess. Take the day off."

"Thanks, Luke," he says earnestly, looking down at the floor, then back up at his uncle.

"Did you end up making plans, then? For your uh, you know," Luke verbally tiptoes around Jess, unsure if using the word birthday was allowed.

"Nope," he says, technically not a lie. He did not make these plans. Yet, here he was, about to roam around town like a maniac.

To escape further questioning, Jess quickly ducks out the door and pauses for a moment on the sidewalk to take the piece of paper out of his jean pocket.

"Hi Jess,

Today is your birthday. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. My sources tell me it's something that is not common knowledge, actually a pretty well-kept secret , so I attempted to be as discreet as possible. I respect your reasons for not sharing this part of you. I do. But I also want you to know that you matter. Your birth matters- to me, to Luke, to others. And in order to acknowledge the day Jess Mariano graced us with his presence here on earth, I've compiled a bit of a "hunt," if you will. If you find yourself lost or unsure, just try and remember. I'll be seeing you, Dodger.

Clue #1

A place, where like Virginia Woolf, you made your own Waves…"

Jess lets out a breathy laugh after his second read of the absurd, kind gesture. He knew within seconds where this first riddle was leading him. But, if he knew Rory at all, the hunt would become incredibly complex in subsequent clues. She was just getting started.

It was uncharacteristically cold today, even for the northeast. While he was wearing a dark grey knit sweater, he immediately began to regret not grabbing a jacket on his way leaves were already orange, red, and brown. He passed the gazebo where Patty was putting tiny girls dressed as pumpkins through bootcamp. Taylor was arguing with the strange troubadour guy about playing "festive" songs instead of his usual arrangement.

"Seriously?" Jess says out loud in the direction of the slow motion train wreck of an event. He gets chills. Sometimes he surprised himself by how much he sounded like Luke.

Aware of Rory's love for Woolf and that he had once divulged the fact that Luke pushed him in the pond by Stars Hollow High, he headed directly for the bridge. His bridge? Theirs? Before the night of the car accident, they had spent several evenings reading there together. Then things got messed up. Then they kissed. Then Rory and Dean broke up over him. And, now? Jess still didn't quite know.

He was nearing the bridge, now, and strained his eyes to locate anything resembling a clue, or present, or whatever it was he was looking for. The sun made the foliage in the pond golden. It was literally glistening. For some reason a Joni Mitchell song Rory tried to convince him to like begins to loop in his head. "She is not some sappy chick, Jess!" He smiled a bit. It all felt a little surreal.

"Now, where is that clue, Rory?" Jess hums to himself. He looks up and down the length of the entire bridge, and still, nothing. What in the world? Had he gotten too cocky and come to the wrong place?

Jess carefully walks back to the center of the bridge where he remembers finding himself with Rory most often. He sits, and just like the nights they spent here, dangles his legs over the edge and looks down at the glittering pond. He lights a cigarette. Maybe it sparkles from all the crap students dump here.

Several minutes later, he remembers his mission. Carefully feeling around the underside of the bridge, he thinks to himself Would she…? He gets an affirmative answer as his ring and middle finger graze smooth paper and he picks at the scotch tape holding it in place.

Jess feels a thrill, something he would never admit, as he opens up the folded paper.

"You found it! And more surprisingly, this means that you're going along with this lame scavenger hunt. Trust me, the end prize is worth the trouble.

On my first Halloween when my Mom and I moved into the shed behind the Independence Inn, we didn't have any money. She cut a hole in her own pillowcase, drew black spots on it, and dressed me as a "dalmatian." She used the spotted pillowcase that night until she could get a new one the next day."

Jess stops reading for a moment and smirks. He imagines a little Rory walking crawling? around in the makeshift costume and feels both amused and a little sad. She comes off like the town princess, but maybe she gets it.

Below the snapshot from her childhood, the note continued:

"Clue #2

When the law break in

How ya gonna go?

Shot down on the pavement

Or waiting on death row?"

Jess turned the note over and scanned for more. That was it? Sure, easy, it was a Clash song: "Guns of Brixton." He had made Rory decipher the lyrics, once, instead of writing an essay on the ramifications of some war. Or had it been Shakespeare? He was too busy flirting with her to care.

Beyond this moment they had shared, Jess had absolutely no clue where he was headed. The table they had been sitting at that night? I think the table layout at the diner has changed since then...it's worth a shot...

He looks down briefly at his watch: 12:54 PM. Damn, how long was I sitting there? Jess exits the wooded area of the bridge and renters the town center. This time, he observes, Kirk is dangling sideways from a lamp post dressed in all black. The town sheriff, he should know her name by now, was demanding that Kirk come down immediately.

"No, I am not that tightrope walker from the documentary! I'm a bat! Taylor asked for a Halloween costume, and I delivered. Sometimes you've gotta risk it for your art, chief!" Kirk shrieks, at this point upside down.

Horrified and intrigued, Jess eyes the sheriff as she calls in for back up from Woodbridge. Taking a deep breath and ducking his head, he quickly slips into the diner and goes directly to the table he remembered sitting at with Rory that night.

Unfortunately, Babette and Patty were seated there, halfway through turkey burgers and iced teas. They immediately stop their conversation and look suspiciously up at Jess.

"Can we help you, sweetie?" Patty asks. While Patty had always held Jess with curiosity and even a little compassion, Babette eyes him darkly.

"Yeah, looking for more gnomes to manhandle? Rest in Peace, Pierpont," Babette mutters the last part solemnly and forms the sign of the cross.

"Oh, sheesh," Jess exclaims and shifts his weight over to his other leg.

"Well, that's not gonna get you far, sweetheart. Try a smile once in awhile," Patty winks.

Jess exhales loudly. "Would you mind if I checked under the table… I think I left something there…" he trails off.

Both of the women look at eachother then back at Jess.

"Huh?" Babette squawks.

Attempting to form his version of a polite smile, Jess repeats, "The table. Can I look under your table really quick?"

Both ladies wordlessly rise out of their seats and step back from their table, perplexed.

Jess quickly ducks under the table, boy do I look stupid, and looks around for an identical piece of paper to the ones in his pocket. No luck.

Just as he's coming out from under the table, Luke emerges from the kitchen attempting to carry four plates at the same time.

"Jess, what the…"

"It's nothing, thought I forgot something."

"You forgot something, that's for sure," Babette hoots loud enough for most of the diner to turn around.

Blushing, Jess heads for the diner door. Out on the street, he's stopped by the sound of a familiar voice

"It's not in there."

Jess turns around to see Cesar, sweeping the sidewalk outside of the diner. Jess and Cesar got along surprisingly well, although the latter's cheery disposition could be a bit too much to handle.

"Excuse me?" Jess asks, not angrily, just confused.

"The thing you're looking for. The stuff that girl was hiding all morning, the one who knocked on the door upstairs and ran out of the diner! I saw her crisscross the town square at least five times, but she never stopped in the diner."

"How did you…?"

"I have a sense for these things, kid," Cesar says with a grin.

"Oh," Jess says, relieved. "Thanks."

He resumes walking with purpose back towards the bookstore, just in case Rory's watching. He internally acknowledges his paranoia, but refuses to give her the satisfaction of knowing that he was stuck. And hated it. And secretly loved it.

Where are you sending me, Gilmore?