Dandelion- Jess Mariano

♡Chapter 20: The Letters♡

June 18th, 2000

Dear Jess,

I'm writing this to let you know that I'm sorry. I don't want to leave. I wouldn't leave you if I didn't have to. And I really hope that you'll make sure that Luke knows it's not his fault. It's not your fault either. Thank you for making me feel like I had a home in Stars Hollow, as much as you didn't feel at home there. I really hope that our paths will cross again, and that I will come back when I feel safe enough to be able to. I'm sorry.

I think I love you,
Parker Gilmore

_________________

Jess got the first letter when Luke handed it to him the night that Parker left. Jess has hardly said a word since she left. To anyone. He won't serve in the diner, he won't participate in school, and he's being blamed for everything.

He couldn't stay there. Not without her. So the next thing that happened was he packed his own bags, and left for New York City. He called Luke from the bus, making sure that he knew. He went to stay with his mother.

Over the next few weeks, about seven letters would get delivered to the diner, all addressed to Jess. Luke knew what they were, and he saved every single one in a box because he knew that Jess would be back one day, and he would want them.

And he was right. After those few weeks were up, Jess came back, asking for another chance. And Luke being who he was, gave it to him. And with that chance, he handed him a box full of letters. And Jess read every single one.

_____________

June 24th,2000

Dear Jess,

I am now officially in Pennsylvania. And as I was sitting in this little coffee shop near the bus stop, I couldn't stop thinking about how much you would hate it. How much you would make fun of the little kittens on the teapots that were displayed on the walls. How you would despise the music playing, but how you would still smile, and make apples appear from thin air just to make me laugh. I wish you could see all of this with me, and maybe one day I'll bring you back here just so you can know what I was talking about.

I still think I love you,
Parker Gilmore

_____________

Rory Gilmore walked into the diner, looking around for someone to take her order. She looks around and all of a sudden when she sees Jess, she feels her cheeks flush. She looks back down at her hands as Luke walks over to her.

"Hey Rory, what can I get for you?" He asked her, knocking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh yeah, just a coffee and 3 donuts please." She says, and glances back at Jess, who doesn't look up

______________

July 4th, 2000

Dear Jess,

So it's the 4th of July now, and I can't help but wonder what kind of firework is your favorite. I'm sitting here in air plugs because I can't stand the sudden noises of them. They remind me too much of my foster father, but I can still admire the lights. And I wonder if you like the ones that fizzle out too fast, or the ones that make you think they won't explode until they do. Or maybe you like the ones that look like they rain all the way back down to earth.

I'm pretty sure I love you,
Parker Gilmore

____________

Lorelai watches as Rory glances around her, looking for something. "You looking for Dean?" Lorelai asks her, but Rory doesn't answer. She's focused on something across the grass.

Lorelai follows her gaze over to Jess, sitting at the base of a tree, surrounded by letters as a Lazy Hazy Crazy days of summer song plays around them.

"No no no no no, kid, you cannot go for him." Lorelai says, stressed.

"What no, i-" Rory starts to say, but then realized he got up and started walking towards them.

"Even if he and your sister weren't a thing, you're with Dean!" Her mother hissed quietly as Jess approaches.

"Hey, have you heard anything from Parker?" He asks, a twinge of desperation hidden in his voice.

"Not yet, sorry kid." Lorelai says, and he nods and starts to walk away. "Oh but Jess!" He turns around to look at her. "The police are following her foster father, Luke tipped them off."

"Thanks."

_______________

July 12th, 2000

Dear Jess,

Is Luke okay? Or Lorelai? Are you? I don't think I am, but I'm trying to stay strong, and I've made it all the way down to New Orleans. I think I might stay here for a while, maybe learn some voodoo. I heard there's vampires here, and maybe I could pay one with blood to do my bidding for a while. I was never one of the girls who would fantasize over all of the hot vampire men, But I know enough to be able to use it to my advantage if I needed to I believe, at least enough about Dracula. Lord knows you rambled about its historical inaccuracies for long enough.

Love is a complicated thing,
Parker Gilmore

_____________

July 24th, 2000

Dear Jess,

I have a job now. I work in a small record store on the corner of Bourbon Street, which gives me enough money to rent out a room from an old friend of mine. I wake up every morning to different music outside my window. But it's not the same. It doesn't give me the same feeling of being home as being there. But I know that it wasn't the place that made Star's Hollow feel like home for me. I know that it was you. And I never would have left if it wasn't for him. And I will come back as soon as I think he won't look again.

Who needs love anyway,
Parker Gilmore

_______________

Jess walks through the town with an air of anger and frustration. He had read every letter a hundred times, and the only one that gave any hint that Parker might come back was in the last one. It was August 22, and senior year had just started, with Jess somehow miraculously making it through.

He thought that once she knew her foster father was in custody that she would come back. But she hasn't come back yet. And he was getting so tired of her sister fumbling around him like some sort of schoolgirl crush. He was about ready to just leave.