PERFECT STORM, jess mariano

jess's first (not!) friend

What had Jess stolen this time? Money.

He had been walking around Stars Hollow, stalling for time as he didn't want to go to school, when he saw Tabitha and Lorelai walking in his direction. He wasn't sure if they had seen him or were just walking in that direction, but he decided to hide rather than find out. He stumbled into the first door he saw and ended up in Doose's Market.

He had walked in there wanting to hide until Taylor Doose, the store owner and the most annoying person in town, approached him and started interrogating him. Jess tried telling the older man to leave him alone, but he didn't hear him because of all the questions that kept leaving his mouth.

Taylor Doose was treating Jess like a criminal, so he decided to act like one.

He grabbed the nearest thing he could reach, a bowl of tips, and shoved it into his backpack—maybe it was the backpack that kept making him steal?—and ran out of the store, ignoring Taylor's screams.

If he hadn't stolen that money, Jess would have never walked into Stars Hollow High that morning. But he was leaving what would technically be considered the crime scene, and for some reason, he guessed the school would be the perfect place to hide, so he walked towards the same building he was trying to avoid only minutes before.

"Jess!" He heard someone call out his name as he walked up the stairs.

Jess looked in the direction of the voice to find Roman standing near the front door. "Oh, hello." He said as he approached him.

Roman Pearson was—technically!—the first person in Stars Hollow who welcomed Jess into town. The night they met and the following nights, the two boys sat on the bridge and smoked together. Jess wouldn't speak much, and Roman wouldn't stop talking. Roman would call him city boy, and Jess would groan and roll his eyes every time. Roman would explain to him the way the town worked—who he should avoid, who he would most likely hate, who the biggest gossips were—and just anything that came to the boy's mind really.

And, even though he was the only person, other than Luke, whom Jess spent any time with, he wouldn't describe him by using the word friend. Jess Mariano didn't do friends. Nor did he get attached to people. It was a lesson he learned a while ago, and promised to never forget.

Jess would just say that he didn't dislike Roman.

The boy, who seemed to hate silence, was babbling about school and one teacher he hoped Jess wouldn't get as soon as Jess stood in front of him. "I swear he's the most insufferable man in this whole town! Yes, more than Taylor. Like, I'm sorry your life is miserable, but stop making mine miserable just because yours is!" Was what he had been saying when suddenly his expression changed. His lips curled up into a big smile before abandoning Jess mid-sentence to greet someone. "Hey guys!"

"Heyy!" Jess immediately recognized that voice.

How could he ever forget that voice?

It was then, as Jess turned around only to find his only... not! friend in town let go of one girl, Lane, to hug the one person Jess had wanted to avoid the most, Mara, that he realized he had heard of Roman before the night on the bridge.

It's just going to be us two and Roman, so you are more than welcome to come!

Amara's words rang in his mind as he realized how stupid he had been. Jess wanted to stay away from her, and what had he done instead? He fucking befriend—he would rather not to use that word, but it was the only one that described his relationship with Roman—the guy she had replaced him with.

Honestly, Jess was shocked that he hadn't seen it coming.

For some reason, he decided to step closer to the trio. Roman, once again, was rambling, and the two girls, who were paying attention to his every word, had yet to see Jess. "Why couldn't they fucking warn us that they were going to visit! And for two fucking weeks!? Don't they have things to do back home?"