Disclaimer- Gilmore Girls and the characters associated with the show are not mine.

Chapter One: Watching Through Windows

He was standing in the shadow of the gazebo watching the diner. He hadn't ever eaten there, no money for it, but he watched the townspeople, and tonight was special. It was a big family dinner. He couldn't believe so many people, who were related, liked each other enough to be in the same room together. Celebrating without being drunk off their asses or high. The two sides of the new family even seemed to get along, which was weird. This whole strange town had been celebrating because the Wandering Man had married The Princess. He didn't know if she was a real princess, but he'd heard enough people call her one, so he thought she probably was. He could ask, but the kids at his new school all seemed to know each other and he didn't want them to think he was stupid. It was bad enough being the mysterious new 5th grader in this crazy town. Mysterious because he didn't want everyone to know about his sucky life, didn't want their pity. He kept to himself and sketched. It made the girls like him more, 'course they liked his dark grayish blue eyes and the fact he was tall too.

He needed to get back to his grandma's. Not that she was looking for him. She really didn't care what he did, or how late he was out, or him, but he never knew when Social Services might show. He didn't want to end up in a foster home again. With his mom in jail for the "maximum sentence" because she was a "habitual offender" his Grandma Betty was his last hope before ending up in the system for good. He didn't understand it all, no matter how much his grandma screamed it at him. His mom had lost her rights to him. He was a ward of the state now. The Wandering Man had been in the system. He'd done foster care; his mom had been in jail. It was the talk around town for a while, the speech from a town meeting was rehashed countless times by the gazebo. Seeing the Wandering Man looking out the window at him, he decided he'd better go. Besides, it was too hard to watch them eating what looked like twenty different types of food. He was always hungry. For as long as he could remember, he'd been hungry. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he turned away from the happy scene and shuffled toward his grandma's.

A/N- This story is inspired by an incredible young man I have had the honor of knowing for the last three years. I wish him all the best, the hope for a better life, and I hope I do his character justice in this story. He's changed me, I'm a better person for knowing him. He inspires me to walk in other's shoes.