Disclaimer: I own Heather and a few co-workers of Jess. That is all. I wish I owned the show, however I do not. I also do not own the lyrics to the song I chose which is "Say Goodbye" by Ashlee Simpson.

A/N: I got this chapter up as fast as I could. So sorry for the wait!

"Jess?" Heather leaned forward on the table, "Jess?"

"Wh- sorry." He shook his head and looked at her, "You… what?"

"Don't make me repeat it." She looked down at her hands and Jess suddenly felt so bad for her. There she was going out on a limb and telling him that she loved him and all he could think about was Rory.

"I'm sorry, Heather… I… it's just so sudden. I mean we have only been together for two months…" Jess drifted off trying to find the right words that would let her down easily.

"I get it, Jess, you don't love me." She looked disappointed and Jess couldn't stand the look on her face.

"I'm not done. It's not just that I don't love you, Heather. It's that…" He stopped when he realized what he really felt, "I love her." He said, mostly to himself.

"Who?" Heather stopped and nodded, "Ah… Rory, right?"

"I'm sorry, Heather, I really am. She's always going to be the one that stops me from loving anyone else. We have a past, you know? I can't let love like that just go." He got up and took one last look at her, "Want me to drive you home?"

"No, I can take a cab. We came up here in a cab."

"I'll go back with you."

"No, Jess." She sighed sounding almost annoyed, "Go get her before she leaves."

Jess smiled a smile that she never got to see before, "Thank you." He kissed her on the cheek, and then walked out of the restaurant, quickly.

Heather watched him leave her.

The cab ride back to his apartment seemed to have lasted for forever. He wanted to get there before she was gone or sleeping. When the cab stopped in front of the building he got out, threw some money at him and ran inside. He finally got to his door and unlocked it, "Rory?" He called throughout the apartment, "Ror?"

Rory came out in some of his boxers and one of his button up Polo shirts, brushing out her hair, "Hey… date didn't go good? Figured you'd bring her back here and do the deed." She giggled and threw herself on the couch. She seemed so much happier than she was when she had first arrived there.

"Nah… date didn't go as planned." He smiled at her, softly and took a seat on the couch.

"Aw, sorry. Well if it will make things better, I have good news."

"What?" Jess turned his whole body to her and smiled, "Spill."

"I've decided that I messed up your life and I am going to move out. Back to Stars Hollow."

"No, Rory, it's okay… I want you here."

Rory laughed and got up off the couch, "Its fine, Jess, you don't have to lie… I know that you want your life to go back to normal and I want the same thing."

Jess got up and followed her to his bedroom, with a serious expression, "I'm serious, Rory, stay with me. We can be together. I want to be with you… Heather and I are over and I want to be with you. It's what I've wanted for a long time, now, and I know you want it to… I know it."

The speech sounded so familiar, she just stared at him with a blank expression. She didn't see this coming, but hadn't she hoped for it? He wasn't there before. He broke her heart. He left her lonely without a goodbye. She needed him and he was across the United States, but he's here now, right?

You don't know me
Like you knew me
You stopped listening
The moment that I needed you the most

"You… you can't say that."

"But it's true, Rory. I can't stop thinking about you. I dreamed about you almost every night since we were 17. And when you showed up on my doorstep a few days ago I was back in that leather jacket wishing you were mine. I'm sorry I sprung this on you, but I can't let you slip away, again." Jess walked closer to her, taking her hand in his, "Please just give me another chance. I never got a second chance…"

"I've changed, Jess, I'm not the same girl you loved. I'm different, you see me in a different way."

"No. You are still the same Rory, we just have to bring you back to your roots. Come on, I'm ready for this."

"You can't just change me back. A lot of damage was done, Jess."

"I can do it. I promise I can do it."

You can't see me
Like you saw me
Truth comes easy
But it's hard for you to pull me from the ground

Rory just looked at him, shaking her head, "Jess… Heather…" She tried to find the words. Tried to find some type of argument so she wouldn't have to give in, but he wouldn't let her.

"No, Rory, no trying to get out of this I mean it. I want to be with you and I know you want to be with me, too!" Jess puts his hands on her shoulder, "Look at me."

"We can't do this, Jess… we can't."

"I don't see you stopping me." He said leaning forward to kiss her.

She backed away and shook her head, "I don't want to be hurt by you! You'll just leave again!"

Jess looked at her with hurt eyes, "I won't leave." He said, softly.

"Liar." She stated, trying to run away from what she was feeling.

So I scream, scream cause it hurts
Your every word
Cuts me inside and leaves me worse

"Stop going back to the past, Rory! I was young then! You can't go back into the past to try and run away from your future!"

He was making sense and she hated it. She was trying to bring up problems from there past because she was too scared of a future. She didn't want to love again or trust again because every time she did with anyone she ended up hurt.

"We're the same people, Jess. The same people we always were. We are always going to hurt each other and that is just how it's always going to be."

"So what? We'll fight, we'll make up, and we'll live happily ever after." Jess sighed and stepped close to her again, "We both want it."

Rory shook her head, "Jess…"

There's no way back
And what if there was
You'd still be you and
I'd still need to say goodbye

"Rory… Just hear me out, okay?"

Rory nodded, "Okay." She breathed out.

"Heather told me she loved me and the only thing that came to my mind was you. I couldn't love her… I realized that and I let her down easy. I explained to her that no matter what… I will always love you. I am in love with you so please do not walk out that door and pretend you don't feel the same way when we both know that you do." He was pleading, he never pleaded with any other girl, but her.

"Jess… you can't possibly still love me." She shook her head, "You can't."

"Yes I can. Stop making this so damn difficult! Rory you have no idea what you do to me… you come in here after not seeing me for years and I am ready to drop my life for you again."

She had never heard him say so much before. Rory bit her lip and looked down at her hands, "What do you want me to say?" She asked, quietly, "You can't handle me and all of the extra baggage I carry. I am so messed up, Jess. I'm too ruined to be in a relationship with someone who deserves so much better. Someone who believes in love and doesn't have to be taught to believe again."

Maybe you don't
Love me
Like I love you baby
Cause the broken in you doesn't make me run

"So what? Are you going to go back to that dick who caused you pain and live a miserable life?" Jess spat out at her with a tiny bit of hope in his voice.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Jess." She sighed and closed her eyes tightly, trying to hold back the tears that were struggling to find there way out of her eyes, "I did love you, Jess. Long ago and I might still love you now, but I can't see it. I'm too scared to try and see it. Being with you scares me because it makes me feel like I am 17 again. The town princess who went on the bad side and dated the town hoodlum. But it was more than that between us, wasn't it? You weren't just a phase like everyone said. I thought you were going to be the one, but you left. You left and I'm scared to let you hurt me again. I'm scared you'll leave me again." She said the last part quietly.

"But I won't. Just trust me."

There is beauty
In the dark side
I'm not frightened
Without it I could never feel the sun

"I can't." She said in a harsh whisper and took the little bag she had brought out from under the bed. She started throwing some of her clothes in it as Jess watched from the doorway.

He couldn't say anything to stop her, this time. This was her choice. He had to let her go. Jess mentally wanted to kick his own ass for being so stupid. He shouldn't have let it all out like that. He should have just told her that they were good as friends. Why did he have to open his big mouth? "So I guess I was right, huh?" He said in a low rumble that made her shiver.

"About what?" She sniffed and her voice cracked.

"It is what it is." He turned on his heel and walked back into the tiny space he called his living room.

She collapsed on the bed and brought her hands to her face, holding her head up. The things he did to her.

So I scream, scream cause it hurts
Your every word
Cuts me inside and leaves me worse
There's no way back
And what if there was
You'd still be you and
I'd still need to say goodbye

Jess sat on the stool and watched the clock in front of him. It had been at least 45 minutes and he hadn't heard a peep out of her. She walked out of the bedroom and you could barely hear the pad of her shoes walking along the wooden floors.

She stopped when she got about two feet away from him. He turned on the stool and faced her with a challenging, yet hurtful look in his eye.

"You're right. We are what we are. That can mean good things and that can mean bad, but for us it is a mixture. I know you will always be there for me Jess, but I also know that you will not wait for me for forever. You need to live you life and I respect that, but you and I together? Come on, Jess. It wouldn't work. I want it to, really I do, but it won't." She walked closer and laid a hand on top of his.

"Why can't it?" He finally managed to choke out, "We were never over, Rory. We never had closure, but I want it. If you think this is the end of us, for sure this time… then tell me. So I can live in peace and not think of what might have been."

She sighed, heavily, "No matter how hard we want this, Jess… it's almost impossible."

"I know." Jess nodded, unhappy with the way this is going, "I get it."

Nothing will ever change no matter what you say
I'm still gonna be the same
The harder we try, the harder that we fight, can't get it right

Rory bit the inside of her cheek and blinked back the tears that stung her eyes, refusing to shed a tear, "I'm sorry…" She whispered.

His chest was aching and he felt a lump come up in his throat, "Please Rory… just go. You're killing me."

She nodded and started towards the door, "You'll find someone, Jess… I just need time to figure this out."

He watched her walk to the couch and grab a shirt that she wore every night. She stuffed it in her bag.

So I scream, scream cause it hurts
Your every word
Cuts me inside and leaves me worse
There's no way back
And what if there was
You'd still be you and
I'd still need to say goodbye

"Bye Jess." Those were her final words that night as she opened the door and walked out into the cold night air.

Say goodbye… Say goodbye

"Bye Rory." He said to no one after the door closed with a soft click.

Say goodbye…

A/N: If you hate me, so sorry!!! Do not give up faith on Rory and Jess, though! Hope you liked! Thank you for the wonderful reviews!