Slightly terrified, this is the first thing I've ever tried in the realm of Gilmore Girls. I was convinced that my pop culture references wouldn't be good enough or that I haven't read enough American novels to even slightly resemble the conversations between Rory and Jess. Then I thought 'screw it'. And here we are. Everything is slightly AU from the end of Season 3, but a lot of things that happen (and a lot of things us Lit fans wish didn't happen) will still be present in this story. The longer it goes, the more un-canon it will become. But, with my rant over, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a box set of Gilmore Girls and a copy of Howl. I'm also Australian so if anything seems off about my Americanising, let me know.

Chapter One: Bittersweet

"Call me, okay?"

Sighing slightly under his breath, Jess watched as the gargoyle-clad school moved far into the distance. Grabbing a book from the top of his heap of belongings, he began to stare at the page with no intention of reading. Never had Hemingway seemed so unappealing to him. He could feel people eyeing him oddly, as though trying to figure out why the pretty young private school girl had even been talking to a strange delinquent such as himself, who was probably no better than a street urchin according to the large bag sitting next to him. The words 'street urchin' made him almost chuckle, as he remembered reading the full version of The Arabian Nights as a ten year old and his amusement of the unmitigated sex and violence that was so vastly different from anything the Disney corporation had tried to deliver.

Disney got it right where it hurt, though. Aladdin was so clearly the worst influence Jasmine had ever faced, the troublemaker and the princess. Nothing short of crazy Robin Williams magic got those two to see themselves together in any feasible way. They didn't even have the problems of graduating, ex-boyfriends or an entire town against them. Better to chase after a sultan's daughter than try anything with an ivy-league bound school valedictorian who until recently had been the best thing to happen to you in your entire life.

Aw crap, now I'm feeling sorry for myself. Jess thought, turning his page as an old woman who reeked of weed was staring at him. I don't know why, it's not like I don't deserve it. I messed her around, was a complete jerk to her mom, even the guy that let me stay, rent-free, while I got my sorry ass kicked out of school. And now, there's no better way of saying it, I'm running away… running from my problems like a child who got in trouble. I packed my toys and animal crackers and fled from mommy and daddy. She deserves so much more than me, but I don't care. She picked me! Dammit, why'd I have to see her on here? California seems so stupid now…

"What the fuck am I doing?" He muttered aloud, eliciting a small groan of frustration. He glanced out the window to find that he was, at most, an hour or so from Stars Hollow. There was a bus station coming up that went straight back to the old town. He'd need to deal with an entire bus full of tourists with their obnoxious voices and jam-hand kids, but suddenly her face, Rory's face, was the only thing he wanted to see. He couldn't see himself in California anyway… too many yuppies.

Rory Gilmore knew when things were going wrong. She knew about her mom flushing her goldfish Hector down the toilet when she was five, and she knew that Jess Mariano was doing something stupid. She saw that big bag that looked like it held all of his belongings, she wasn't blind or stupid, so for him to be treating her like she was more than a little insulting. Where was he going anyway? Back to New York? Back to his mother who shipped him off in the first place, probably so she could shack up with a guy who hated kids? Somehow she couldn't see that happening.

"I need to go and see Luke," She decided out loud, before remembering her and Paris were supposed to be in the middle of a discussion on where to buy the school's new telescope.

"What the hell has Diner Man got to do with this, Gilmore… unless you're having problems with James Dean?" Rory disliked the girl sometimes, but Paris was more than perceptive.

"Something like that. He was on the bus this morning… something didn't seem right with him, with the whole thing really. I felt like Scarlett O'Hara!"

"Oh, that's depressing. Since you're not being any help to me here, how about I drive you back to your farm and you can talk to the town crier or something about your problems."

"Wow, really? Thanks Paris!"

"No problem, just don't hug me, okay?"

Rory thanked her unlikely saviour and exited the car, barely having time to close the door before Paris sped off back to her idea of civilisation. Luke's stood before her, so she took a deep breath and walked in. The place was packed, which was unsurprising at lunchtime and as Rory knew she wasn't getting to the flannel-clad man any time soon, she decided to get a seat at the counter and wait. Almost immediately she was greeted by a door slam and a slightly angry voice.

"Luke, can we talk?" the disgruntled-looking Jess Mariano managed to say as calmly as possible.

Rory's eyes widened in shock as his did the same at seeing her here, in her Chilton uniform, definitely not at school. He regained his composure much more quickly than her, however, and he left his pile of belongings near the door and gestured for her to follow him upstairs. Still not quite sure what was happening, she complied with a reasonable amount of trepidation. They walked the stairs silently and came to the table, taking opposite seats of the table. Jess stood up quickly, pulling a lighter and cigarette from his pocket and inhaling deeply.

"Didn't you quit?" Rory asked quietly, as though terrified at getting the ball rolling with this particular conversation. Jess bit back a sarcastic comment and replied honestly.

"Yeah, I did. This is me tapping into my emergency pack," He tried to give her that trademark smirk of his, trying to ease the tension in the room, but it failed. There were just too many unspoken questions looming. With that in mind Rory decided to bite the bullet.

"I'm going to start asking questions now, okay?"

"I figured as much."

"Good. We'll start off simply: what the hell is going on? I see you on the bus when I'm going to school, and you look like you've robbed a pawn shop with all that stuff in the huge bag that you didn't think I noticed! But I noticed, Jess! You were running away, weren't you? Why were you running away? Did I do something wrong, did-"

"Rory, how the hell could you even try to make this your fault? You weren't the one who was skipping class, who couldn't take his girlfriend to prom because you flunked out!" He was almost shouting now, his anger at himself nearing boiling point. Rory, on the other hand, was shocked.

"You're not graduating?"

"No."

"But… you're the smartest person I know," she said confusedly, trying to piece together what happened.

"Being smart means nothing if you don't show up for class, Rory." He concluded, taking a seat again at the table and taking a long drag of his cigarette, being sure to blow the smoke away from her face.

She was quietly staring at him, as though he was a puzzle she could decipher if she stared at it long enough. He hated it, but his voice was lost as he went to tell her to stop it. She was the only person who believed in him, and she was the only person he'd ever loved.

"So you left," she asked, which he replied to with a nod "okay then… I think I get it. But why did you come back? Why aren't you halfway to Mexico by now?"

"California," He corrected her.

"Why California?"

"That's where my dad lives." He answered simply enough, but he knew she wanted more. He explained in detail of his chance meeting with his father, and Luke's reluctance of letting said fatherly bonding session occur. He told her about Luke's ultimatum, and how he felt like perhaps he should get to know his father before he wrote him off as a deadbeat dad.

"You should've said goodbye," She replied sadly, feeling a tear in her eye that she fought hard to keep back.

"Why? I'm here, aren't I? I'm here and I'll get my GED sometime in the next year, and I'll be sticking around for a while… we don't need a goodbye." This time he mustered a full Jess Mariano copyrighted smirk, but it did nothing to appease the girl sitting across from him.

"That doesn't explain why you came back."

"Don't make me say it."

"I need to hear it, Jess."

"You know why! It's the only reason I could stand this town to begin with. You know you're the only thing keeping me from running as far as I can from this place, Rory. You're the only thing in my life that makes any sense, as cheesy as that sounds," He muttered the last part to the ground, too embarrassed by his own admission to look her in the eye.

"I like cheesy. But Jess, this thing between you and me… I don't know. I'm going to Europe straight after graduation. I think maybe we should, you know, take that time to… think. Don't you think?" She looked up at him hesitantly and was relieved to find he looked to be agreeing with her. He looked neither aloof nor devastated by her idea, but rather the perfect middle ground, which is exactly where she stood. She smiled sadly and stood to leave, knowing that he'd be having an interesting conversation with his uncle in a moment.

"Rory, about Kyle's party…" Jess started, unsure how to apologise for his actions.

"Forget it. But now that you mention it, I really don't want to think about Kyle's party when I think about us," She stepped close to him and wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him in for a sweet kiss that pushed no boundaries yet was more exciting than anything shared at the ill-fated party. "There, that's better. I want the last time we kissed to actually be a good memory, you know? Or at least bittersweet, which I guess this is."

"Definitely bittersweet," Jess agreed, allowing one of his rare full-blown smiles to appear.

"I'll be seeing you around, I guess… I mean, you guys handle the coffee, of course I'll be seeing you!"

With a parting look, she closed the apartment door behind her, determined not to break her resolve and run back in there and never let him go. This way was painful now, but she knew in time it would evolve to remain bittersweet, and that was something she could deal with.