Lost Time ▸ Jess Mariano

10. introducing...robin, the sidekick

From the moment they've met, he always has expected her to give him a cold shoulder or one sided conversations. He was expecting her to treat him the same way Everleigh's friend Lydia did but not once Rory did.

Instead, she always was kind and friendly whenever they interacted. Something that he most definitely wasn't so used to. Her presence was comforting, even part of him felt intrigued by her, therefore allowing him to open up to her. Which he did;

"I just — I'm trying to fix things between Eve and try to work things out but sometimes I feel as if it's not working and I don't know what to do."

"Give her some time, I'm sure whatever it is she'll come around." She reassures, "You're trying and that's what matters, if I can see you trying, so can she. Some things take longer than the others and that's okay."

" I hope so."

He really did.

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The next day after the town meeting, Everleigh was holding a grudge against everyone that came across her way. Even kicking rocks made the girl mumble things under her breath. She was fully aware, the dramatics were in full action taking a toll on her and she knew it would only lead people to staring at her and that was one thing she didn't want.

So instead, she spent the afternoon by her spot where no one could find her. The abandoned statue by the cliff has become a spot for her where she'd go when she didn't want people speaking or looking at her. It was just her, the view, the statue and tater tots with coffee from Luke's . Pure bliss.

That was until another person joined her.

"You should be more careful where you leave your stuff behind," Jess warns as she turns to look at him, "Heard there was a crime accident not long ago."

"With a criminal on loose, it's not safe to sneak up on people either," She retorts, adding to his humor. Her eyes land on her shoulder bag in his hands, only now noticing she didn't have her bag by her side, "Where did you get my bag from?"

"You left it at Luke's apparently," Jess tells as he walks up to her, giving the bag as she stands up, "He told me to give it to you."

"So you walked around the town looking for me?"

"No," He draws out, "I saw you passing the bridge before so I knew you'd be here."

She mumbles, placing the bag strips on her shoulder, "How kind of you."

"You didn't even notice your bag going missing?"

"Nope, I had coffee and tater tots to enjoy. I was too busy thinking about food."

"That's very concerning," He comments, "Heard you were defending me."

She plays dumb, knowing full well what he was referring to, "When?"

"At that stupid town meeting."

"Oh —,"Then her eyebrows intertwine at the thought, "Wait how do you know about it?"

"Rory told me."

That surprised her.

"Oh."

"So you did defend me."

She brushes it off, "Well, no one else did."

"Why?" He asks, avoiding her eye contact.

"Why did no one else defend you?" She repeats his question, confused, "I don't know, ask them."

"No, I mean, why were you defending me?"