Jess Mariano: What if?

9

Rory stormed down the stairs and into the diner.

"Rory, hey. I was just getting ready to--"

She cut Jess off and pulled him to the side. "We need to go." He saw that she had been crying.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Please, Jess... We've saved up enough for at least the first few months rent. I want to go to New Haven and get our own place."

He searched her eyes and saw that she was really upset. "Okay. Let's grab our things from your mom's place and then we can go..." He wrapped an arm around her and led her outside.

They quickly drove to Lorelai's and grabbed what little they had.  Rory didn't breathe a word of what made her so upset, and Jess didn't push. He silently helped her load everything into his truck, and as they were just about to leave, Lorelai sped into the driveway.

"Wait!! Rory! Jess! Hang on...." She ran up to the truck and looked her daughter in the eyes.  "What are you doing, kid?" She asked sadly.

Rory tucked her hair behind her ear.  "I can't be here anymore.  This town is suffocating..." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.  "I hate this stupid town and all the stupid people in it.  I need to feel like an adult."

"Well for starters, maybe I'd use the word 'stupid' less." Lorelai joked sadly.  "But Rory.... You love this town and you always have.  What's changed?"

"Ask your boyfriend," she said bitterly.  "It doesn't matter, though.  We're leaving." She shut the back of the truck with a loud thud.

Jess grabbed her arm.  "Wait.  This is about Luke? What did he do?"

"It's not important.  This was our plan from the start, right? We have the money, now let's go.  School is starting in a few months anyway."

Jess wanted to argue, but he knew it was no use.  "Fine."  He sighed and turned to Lorelai.

He extended his hand.  "Thanks for letting me stay here, and for letting me be with Rory."

Lorelai took a deep breath and then pulled him into a big hug.  "Any time, Jess.  Take care of her."

"Yes ma'am." He hugged her back, a little shocked.

Rory and Lorelai hugged, and then Rory turned to Jess and smiled tightly.  "Ready?"

"Always." He kissed her forehead and then helped her into the car.

It seemed like just minutes before they pulled up at Yale.

"So..." Jess began. "This is it."

"Yeah," Rory whispered. "It is."

"Are you going to tell me what happened back at the diner....?"

She shrugged a bit. "It was just Luke. He still thinks of me as a kid, and it's infuriating! He keeps trying to be my dad, and he's not.  He has no right to tell me how to live my life."

"Rory, I know he's not your dad... He knows that too. But he has been around you for a long time. He sure as hell doesn't think I'm good enough for you, but that's because he thinks of you as his daughter. I know he's a pain in the ass, but he has a good heart."

"I know... I know," she sighed.  "It's not just him. It's all of Stars Hollow.  All of a sudden I feel like I'm drowning in this small town with these people I've known my whole life.  I'm ready to start fresh.  Now... after Yale... I just need to go."

He nodded. "Okay.  Let's go then." He kissed her cheek and then hopped out to grab the New Haven paper.  "Pick an apartment, any apartment."

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It turns out, apartment shopping is hard.  To their credit, though, Rory and Jess weren't super picky, so by the time the sun went down they were signing the lease on a "fixer-upper."

"It's... something," remarked Jess as they stood in the doorway of their new apartment.

"Humble beginnings, my friend... we must all come from humble beginnings.  Besides, I think it's cozy.  I could see us making a hone here."  Rory leaned back against his chest as they surveyed the one-bedroom apartment.

"Yeah, me too." He kissed her head.

Within an hour they had all of their things moved in.  It was sparse, and dirty, and it smelled kind of funny, but it was their home now.

Jess slowly leaned down to whisper in her ear.  "So... what should we do first?" He kissed her earlobe softly.

A grin spread across Rory's face.  "Let's unpack the books!!"

Jess groaned.