Title

Prologue

Author's Note: The lyrics at the start are from a song that I did not associate with Jess until I saw a vid on YouTube. Like always, the link is in my profile. If you like Jess's character I highly recommend it. BTW, nothing really to do with the story.

Disclaimer: The author of this story (me) does not own the respective characters. She intends no copyright infringement.

I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Just as black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia

-Bruce Springsteen, "Streets of Philadelphia"

New York got too expensive.

That was his excuse to head to Philly. The truth is…well…he just couldn't be where there were so many memories. Him and her. His messed up childhood. When she showed up in Philly, he thinks the guys knew he would have to move again. He doesn't think they knew he would move back here.

He went to independent bookstores to promote The Subsect. The first place he stopped? The Black, White, and Read: Stars Hollow's own little bookstore. Andrew, the owner and manager, was the only person besides Rory who could actually stand to be around him. He liked Jess because Jess bought a few books and talked to him about them. That may be one of the very few things Rory doesn't even know. And Jess knew that Andrew would sell his book there. He didn't know Andrew would offer him the place.

Even though Rory came to Philly, he would have still left. He still would have come back to the Hollow. Andrew called him the day before the open house with bad news. Andrew was dying…dead now. Cancer that he fought for nearly two years. He wanted Jess to have the bookstore and, even if he didn't want to take it over before Andrew went to John's Hopkins for treatment, he would leave it to Jess in his will.

Now that Jess's back, he finds he likes the memories of Rory and him that he can find anywhere.

A/N: This is the prologue to my first multi-chapter fic in quite a while. I'm celebrating Labor Day here in the US I guess. And maybe procrastinating on applications for college.

ladybug1115