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Jess Mariano didn't want to be there. He really didn't want to be there. He wanted to go back to the apartment and hide just like he had been doing these past few days. But no, instead, he was forced to spend his night having to deal with strangers who would only interrogate him about his life and be in the same room as people he hates.
He wanted to leave.
He needed to leave.
And he hadn't even made it inside the house yet.
"Hey, perfect timing. Sookie's about to break her own record for the most food served outside the Roman Empire." Lorelai Gilmore says as she opened her front door, smiling widely.
"Sounds great." Luke hummed.
"Sure does," said Jess drily.
"So, come on in."
Jess walked in first, making his way to the living room, leaving Luke and Lorelai behind. He could hear them speaking, something about Luke apologizing for being late and giving her an update on Jess' bed—it popped. Last night, when he returned to the apartment, he found his bed flat on the floor, Luke sleeping on the couch, and his bag on the real bed.
Long story short, the previous night was the first time in a really long time that Jess Mariano got to sleep on a bed; instead of his usual beat-up, old couch.
He walked into the living room, unsure of which direction he was supposed to walk towards. He wandered around the room, taking in all the strange decorations, when he suddenly came to a halt as he reached the fireplace—which was filled with different picture frames on the shelve above it—because one particular frame caught his attention.
Mara and a blue-eyed girl—who Jess guessed was Rory, Lorelai's daughter—were smiling widely at the camera. The picture looked a bit old, but Jess could tell that it was taken around the time he had last saw her because the Mara in the picture resembled his Mars, unlike the one he now hates.
He stood there for, what felt like hours but was sure were only seconds, holding the frame in his hands. Staring at it made his heart ache, yet he couldn't look away. In another universe, it would have been him beside her in that picture. It would have been him who grew up with her. It would have been Mara-and-Jess, not Mara-and-people-Jess-doesn't-know-while-he-was-left-all-alone.
