you can't help who you fall for

24

It was finally here.

Graduation Day.

The day I've been waiting for since my first day of Freshman Year.

The end of the beginning.

Rory was valedictorian which was no surprise to anyone, and sadly Logan couldn't make it because his dad was still angry at him for the Spring Break stunt we pulled ages ago. After the ceremony finished, I had to go home and pack my suitcase, then get on a plane for California the day after.

My phone rang and I answered without looking at the Caller ID.

"Sierra Gilmore, speaking."

"Hey babe."

"Sherlock! What's up?"

"I miss you."

"I miss you more."

"How was graduation?"

"I graduated, Rory gave a speech, people cried."

"Nice. So you're officially graduated, and heading to Yale in the fall."

"Yup. And you'll be half way around the world with your dumb friends."

"I love you, but I gotta go."

"Love you too, babe. Call you later."

He hung up and not 2 minutes later Rory came running into my room, crying.

"Hey, what's wrong, Ror?"

"Jess is gone."

~ This is Bob. Bob is a line break. ~

The next morning I grabbed my suitcase and said goodbye to my family. "Bye Mom." She gave me a short hug and I moved on.

"Bye, little sis."

"Do you really have to go?"

I nodded. "You and Mom will have a great time backpacking around Europe. And hey, forget about Jess. He doesn't deserve you, you're sweet and kind and everything he's not. Try not to miss me too much."

She jumped and wrapped her arms around my neck, since I'm taller than her she stood on her tip toes. "I love you, Sis."

"Love you too, Rory."

I got in my car and drove to Luke’s Diner to say goodbye to him.

"So, you're really going huh?"

"Guess so." I hugged Luke. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything."

I drove on to the airport and listened to my walkman on the plane. When I landed in California, I called Logan to check if he was still alive. He was, don't worry.

I checked into my hotel and walked around looking at the sights. I was walking around the Santa Monica Pier when I saw a familiar face.

"Jess?" I whispered underneath my breath, following him back to his accommodation.

I knocked on the door and a lady answered. "Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, is there a Jess Mariano here?"

"Jess? Uh, yeah I'll tell him you came. You wanna sit down? I didn't know any of his friends were coming over."

"I'd love to. Um, Jess and I are pretty close but he didn't tell me he was leaving, I'm actually in California for work and I kinda followed him home."

Jess' POV

There was a knock at my bedroom door. "Come in!"

My dad's girlfriend stood there, looking sorta confused. "Uh there's a girl here to see you, apparently she's here on business and happened to see you and follow you home."

"What does she look like?"

"Uh, blonde hair, blue eyes, really pretty."

"Ah shit."

"Who is she?"

"Just someone I used to know."

"You gonna go talk to her?"

"Nope." I started to climb out the window, but stopped when I saw a familiar blonde right in front of me.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen. You wanna talk like adults? Or you wanna hide from me like a 6 year old?"

"I'll talk."

"Great. I've got 3 hours, so make it snappy."

I climbed out the window to where Sierra was standing, an expectant look on her face.

Sierra POV

"Why did you leave Jess?"

"My attendance wasn't good enough to graduate. Rory was so looking forward to going to the Stars Hollow High Prom, I didn't want to let her down."

"That's not it, and you know it Jessica."

"My name isn't Jessica."

"Well when I'm pissed at you it is."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Look, Jessica, Rory would have been upset but she would have got over it. She loved you. And you loved her. You don't give up when things get hard, you have no one to blame but yourself. When bad stuff happens in love, you overcome it. You don't run off to California to live with your deadbeat dad. "

"How did you-"

"I'm not an idiot, Jess. The mail box says Mariano and that's your dad's name. It's really not rocket science."

"I don't what to do, Sierra. I ruined the best thing that ever happened to me."

"You're right. You did. Rory is such an amazing person, I didn't break up with you so you could wait months to get together with her and then run off, breaking her heart in the process. You're not good enough for her. I always tried to think you were, but you aren't. I can't deny it anymore. You're a shit boyfriend. "

"I know. I never had anyone to learn from-"

I held up my hand. "Let me stop you right there. Cut the crap Jess. Maybe you didn't grow up with a dad, but that's not an excuse for what you did to my sister. She's amazing and you broke her heart. You just left. It's unacceptable. You can't blame that on your lack of a father figure, and even if you didn't have a role model in that respect, it only takes common sense to realise that's not what you do to the girl you love. "

I picked up my bag and stood up. "I'm leaving. I start filming tomorrow, I'm staying at the Plaza Hotel. If you come to your senses, call me. I'll be in Cali until the end of summer. Goodbye, Jess."