In The Forgotten Gilmore, Alessia Gilmore grapples with adolescence in Stars Hollow, a town where gossip flows as freely as coffee at Luke's Diner. Overshadowed by her mother Lorelai's bond with twin sister Rory, Alessia finds solace in her irrevere...
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Alessia had managed to pull herself deeper into her bed, hoping the blankets might somehow shield her from the chaos spinning around in her mind. The room felt like it was closing in, pressing down on her as if the weight of the day had finally become too much. Jess. Riley and Beau. Isabella. All of it stirred in her chest like a storm she couldn't calm.
She rolled over, her back facing the door, when she heard a soft knock. She didn't answer. Maybe if she pretended she wasn't here, they'd leave.
Another knock. Louder this time, insistent.
"Alessia."
Her breath caught in her throat at the sound of his voice.
Jess.
She stayed silent, hoping he'd take the hint and go away, but after a moment, she heard the door creak open. His footsteps were quiet, tentative. He was in her room now. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"You left before I could say anything," Jess said, his voice low but steady. He wasn't leaving.
Alessia stayed curled up, unwilling to face him. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she willed herself not to speak. But Jess wasn't deterred.
"I just wanted to talk," he continued, the edge of frustration creeping into his voice. "I don't know, I just... I needed to see you."
She finally turned her head slightly, peeking at him over the top of the blanket. He was standing near the door, hands shoved in his jacket pockets, looking like he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. But his eyes were fixed on her.
"What do you want, Jess?" she muttered, her voice hoarse from the weight of her emotions.
He took a step closer, the tension in his frame visible. "I don't know," he admitted, his gaze never leaving hers. "I just know that seeing you today-it threw me off. You just...left."
"Yeah, well, I had my reasons," she shot back, sitting up slightly. She hugged her knees to her chest, her walls instinctively going up. "I didn't exactly want to stay."
Jess looked at her, his expression serious but conflicted. "I get it, but I need to talk to you. Just-come with me."
Alessia blinked, her heart skipping a beat. "What?"
"Come with me. Away from here." His voice was pleading, desperate in a way she had never heard before. "We don't have to stay here. We can leave this place. Forget everything for a while."
"Are you crazy?" Alessia snapped, though the words caught in her throat. "You can't just show up and ask me to run off into the sunset with you."
"I'm not asking you to think," Jess said, taking another step closer. His intensity was almost suffocating, the raw emotion in his eyes startling. "I'm asking you to do what you want. I know you, Alessia. I know you want out of here as much as I do."
"You don't know me," she shot back, her voice trembling now, unsure whether she was angry or something else entirely. "Not anymore."
Jess's jaw clenched. "I do. I know that this place-it's suffocating you. Just like it suffocates me. You don't have to keep running from it all. We can leave, together."
Alessia felt her chest tighten, her mind reeling. Part of her wanted to scream at him, tell him he was wrong. But there was another part, a small voice in the back of her mind, that whispered maybe he was right.
She shook her head, trying to banish the thought. "It's not what I want."
"Yes, it is," Jess insisted, stepping closer until he was almost right in front of her. His voice softened, full of conviction. "You think you don't want it, but you do. You can do whatever you want, Alessia."
"No," she whispered, shaking her head again, her voice barely audible. "I have a boyfriend, Jess."
Jess froze, his confusion immediate and stark. "What?"
Alessia took a breath, her heart hammering. "I'm with someone else now."
His brow furrowed. "Who?"
"Logan," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. "We just got together."
Jess's face fell, the name clearly not meaning anything to him. "Logan?" His voice cracked slightly, then he quickly masked it. "I didn't know."
Alessia bit her lip, her voice a little sharper now. "I'm not just going to drop everything and go with you."
Jess's shoulders sagged, but he wasn't ready to give up. "Look, we can go to New York. We'll figure it out. We'll live together, work together. Be together." His voice cracked again, just slightly. "It's what I want. It's what you want, too."
Alessia felt the tears burn in her eyes, the ache of his words cutting deep. She wanted to scream at him to stop. But she couldn't. The words wouldn't come.
"I want to be with you, Alessia," Jess said, his voice low and steady now, no longer frantic. "But not here. Not in this place. We need to start new. Away from all this."
"There's nothing to start," Alessia whispered, her voice shaking as she met his gaze. "Not anymore."
Jess's shoulders slumped, but he wasn't giving up. "I know you're not ready to go now, but you could be. We could figure this out. I'm ready now. You can count on me." His voice was firm, the old bitterness and resentment gone. "I know you couldn't before, but you can now. I swear."
Alessia closed her eyes, trying to block out the rush of emotions clawing at her. She couldn't handle this, not on top of everything else. Not with Jess standing in front of her, asking her to take a leap she wasn't sure she could take.
"No," she said, her voice finally steady, the word sharp and final.
Jess froze, his expression crumbling.
"Don't say 'no' just to make me stop talking," he said, his voice trembling now, desperate. "Only say it if you really don't want to be with me."
Alessia looked at him, her heart aching at the vulnerability in his eyes. But it wasn't enough to change her mind.
"No."
The word cut through the air between them like a knife.
Jess stared at her for a long moment, as if hoping she'd take it back. But when she didn't, he slowly stood up, the weight of her rejection settling over him. He nodded once, a short, resigned gesture, then turned and walked to the door without another word.
Alessia watched him go, her throat tight, the tears she had been holding back finally spilling over as she curled back into herself. The door closed softly behind him, and with it, the last remnants of what they could've been.
She buried her face in her hands, feeling both relief and heartbreak crash over her in equal measure.
She had wanted to run. But not with Jess. Not this time.
