( 𝘨𝘪𝘧: 𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 )

"What the hell are you doing here, Jess?"

When Luke walked into his apartment, he didn't expect for his nephew to be standing inside. Yet there he was, with his hands in his pockets, his black curly hair slightly shorter. "You know, I called you six times. And I didn't expect for you to call me back to sit in bed and watch a Julia Roberts movie together, but I expected for you to call and say you didn't get mugged in the bus, or- you know what? Never mind. Just tell me what you want, I have to go back to work."

Jess shifted his weight, avoiding his gaze. "I want to come back." he muttered.

Luke raised his eyebrows surprised. "You what? Here? To Stars Hollow? Why?"

"I want to come back because . . . "Jess trailed off, hesitating. He wasn't sure what to say. Why did he want to come back? Sure, Rory came to visit him in New York and that made him feel some sort of way, but the fact that Cherry hadn't called him yet made him feel like he had to come back. "Because I want to."

Luke sighed, thinking he had been getting somewhere. "You know what people told me when I told them you were coming over to live with me? That I was crazy, and they were right. And now, after all the chaos you've caused, you stand in front of me saying you want to come back."

Jess walked away, picking up a book. "You didn't pack any of my stuff?"

"I was going to." Luke sighed, tilting his head, knowing what Jess was trying to imply. "Fine. You can stay. But things have to change, Jess."

"I know."

"Now I have to go back to the dinner." 

Jess watched his uncle grab a cloth before walking towards the door. "Hey, Luke?" the older man paused, staring back at the curly haired boy. "Did . . . did you give Cherry my note?" Luke nodded, and Jess tilted his head. "Did she read it? Are you sure?"

"Yeah . . . sorry, kid." Jess slumped over, kicking over a table as he sighed.

Luke looked at him sadly. "She's at Sookie's wedding."

"So?" he tried to appear non chalant, but Luke knew he had straightened his posture.

"Just letting you know."

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"So, did you call Jess back yet?"

Cherry turned to glare at her mother. "What, how do you know? You read the note? How many times have I told you about invading my privacy mom!"

Bethany Doose chuckled, running a hand through her daughter's curly hair as an attempt to tidy her messy locks. "So, did you?"

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "None of your business." she paused, then sighed. "Okay, fine. I haven't. He's the one who pushed me away. He's going to have to try harder that a simple two worded note to earn my forgiveness."

"Give the boy a chance-"

"Mom, I really don't want to talk about it. I'm at a wedding that I desperately want to enjoy." 

Bethany sighed at her daughter's words, but nodded. "Okay. Well, on a lighter note, I booked a flight for the two of us spending summer in Boston."

Cherry turned, her eyes sparkling. "Really? That's great!" she hugged her mom, clapping her hands. "God, I'm so excited for this! We must do the Freedom Trail. Imagine the pictures I could take with my camera."

The conversation was interrupted by a drunken Kirk approaching the two with an empty glass in his hands. "Hello, Cherry. Cher. Can I call you Cher?" Cherry had no time to answer before Kirk added "Sure you won't mind if I ask your mother for a dance?"

Cherry smirked amused, and shrugged. "You'd have to ask her."

Kirk raised his eyebrows, staring at Bethany. "Beth! I didn't see you there." Cherry stiffled a giggle. "Care for a dance?"

Bethany looked at her daughter helpless, but Cherry pushed her mother into Kirk's arms. "Oh! Uhm, sure!"

Bethany sent Cherry a glare as she was dragged away in Kirk's arms, spun to the beat of the music that was being played eloquently. Cherry watched them for a while, her ebst source of entertainment before walking away to the drinks table. Planning to steal a glass of champagne while no one was watching, she was about to grab one when an arm grabbed her, making Cherry jump, thinking she had been caught.

Turning around, she frowned when she saw Rory's state. Her long dark hair was slightly messed, her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly red as she looked at Cherry breathless. "Rory? What's-"

"Jess is back."

Cherry stared in shock for a few seconds. Once Rory explained everything, the blonde asked to be alone before giving herself a few seconds to breath. Once she managed to collect as much of herself as she possibly could in the fastest time possible, she stalked across the garden, parting from the crowd deeper into the surrounding forest.

And true enough, there stood Jess Mariano.

His dark curls were slightly shorter, yet still in a mess. He had one hand resting on his lips and the other was dug into his pocket. Cherry found herself breathless staring at him. Why was her heart picking up? Was he always this beautiful?

"Jess, what the hell are you doing here?"

The boy swivelled around, dropping his hand to his side as he stared at Cherry in silence for a quick second. "Hello to you too. You look nice."

Cherry scoffed, crossing her arms over her wine-coloured dress that reached her mid thigh. "So you get in an accident with Rory. Then push me away when I worry about you, and not only that, but move back to New York without telling me, and then expect me to call you just because you said so?"

"I moved back."

"What?"

Jess shifted his weight. "I said I moved back here."

"I don't give a fuck, Jess!" she snapped, making the boy raise his eyebrows at the language. Cherry hardly ever swore angrily. Sure, she joked immaturely, like most teenagers. But nothing like this. "You think you can just move back here and pretend that what you said and did never happened? That's now how friendship works."

"I'm sorry."

Cherry softened her gaze. "You waited thirty-five days to tell me that?"

He sucked in a breath as his gaze flickered to her lips momentarily, so fast that Cherry didn't notice. "You counted?"

"And you didn't." Cherry shook her head, turning to walk away, but stopped as Jess grabbed her wrist.

"Please don't turn your back on me."

It was Cherry's turn to shift her weight, avoiding his gaze. "Why shouldn't I? I should've done long ago." but she remained there, not pulling her hand away from Jess's grasp. Because a small part of her heart longed for Jess to say the right thing, a reason for her to stay by him.

"Rory kissed me." Jess blurted out, making Cherry freeze. "She kissed me and then she ran away and I don't know what that means and I need yo- fuck, I need my best friend, Cher! I need you and please don't walk away."

Cherry's face crumpled as she bit on her bottom lip, finding the words to say. Deep down she didn't want to hurt him, but her heart ached at the fact that Rory had found the courage to kiss Jess, a courage Cherry would never find. "You walked away first, Jess. I needed you, and you weren't there. It's going to take longer than that to make me forgive you."

She pulled her hand from his grasp, wrapping her arms around herself to attempt to give herself some warmth. Jess watched her walk away sadly, frowning. "Okay. I'll find the way for you to forgive me. You watch, Cherry."

She glanced at him, attempting not too smile. 

"I'm watching, Mariano."