Summary: Rory just wanted a summer to escape her problems in Stars Hollow. Instead she got more than she bargained for... (Trory)

Spoilers: Anything up to and including I Can't Get Started (Season 2 finale)

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own any of the characters. They are the property of Dorothy Parker Drank Here productions and Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Author's Note: I know I haven't completed certain other stories, but I just reached a point where I have no idea where I want those stories to go. So yeah, in an attempt to restore some Trory faith in me, I decided to start up a new story where season 2 leaves off...

Chapter 1 - Anywhere But Here

Rory Gilmore stared blankly at the plane ticket in front of her. For now it held the answer to her problems, the key to her sanity. She was going crazy in Stars Hollow, becoming paranoid that Dean would find out about her indiscretion with Jess.

It was three days after the kiss, and Rory was sitting in the middle of the chaotic airport in Hartford. In a few mere minutes, she'd be boarding the charter plane to Washington D.C., where she would accompany Paris as her vice president to the conference. Rory wasn't originally planning to go, but after kissing Jess, she hastily made her decision.

Jess. Her mind had been focused on him a lot lately. Thoughts of him weighed down on her heavily. She was never willing to admit it before, but now she had to face the fact that she had feelings for him. Feelings that emerged when she saw him come back to Stars Hollow, back into her life. Feelings that caused her to kiss him with so much passion, feelings that were more intense than she ever felt before.

And then there was Dean.

Boyfriend Dean. Supportive Dean. Dean who didn't deserve to have his girlfriend cheat on him and lie to him.

God Rory felt so guilty. She was thisclose to telling him the truth before leaving for the airport when he surprised her with a beautiful locket with their pictures in it and I Love You engraved in the back. And she lost her nerve. She honestly tried. She wanted to say "I'm sorry, but I don't deserve this." But the look in his eyes, pleading for her to take the locket... In some ways, Rory supposed he knew that she had some feelings for Jess. But having feelings for someone else wasn't the same as acting on those feelings. So now she wore his locket all the whilst thinking of Jess.

Rory looked down at her watch. Five minutes until boarding time. But not soon enough. She stared down at her watch, focusing intently on the second hand, which seemed to be mocking her. Tick. Tick... Tick. Tick. Was it possible that time was going any slower? Rory sighed, leaned back and closed her eyes. She willed the world to go away, for her problems to be rid of. It was only then that her ears perked up to the yelling Paris seemed to be doing into her cell phone. Rory peeked an eye open, and glanced over at Paris who was talking animatedly into the phone.

"What do you mean it's cancelled? I just talked to the organizer yesterday!" Paris barked. She listened intently to the response through the phone, before going into another tirade. "Well maybe someone should've told Mr. Keller that greasy hamburgers and oily fries cause high cholesterol before he had that heart attack." With an angry sigh she hung up the phone and turned to Rory.

"It cancelled. The conference is cancelled."

Rory's eyes snapped open.

"What do you mean it's cancelled? It can't be cancelled," Rory said, panic setting through her. She couldn't go back to Stars Hollow, not right now. This trip was supposed to be her lifeline, something that would allow her to clear her head of the whole Jess/Dean situation.

"Mr. Keller, who organized the whole event, is in the hospital. They can't get anyone on short notice, so they cancelled it," Paris said bitterly. "So now I'm going to be forced to spend the summer in the Hamptons, cooped up in the summer house with my parents bickering from dusk til dawn."

"And I have to go back home," Rory said gloomily. Paris shot her a suspicious look.

"And how's that a problem? I thought you loved the whole whoopee-I-live-in-a-small-town-and-you-don't thing?" Paris asked sarcastically, as she took a dejected seat beside Rory.

"I just don't want to go back," Rory replied firmly.

"Fine, no more questions," Paris conceded. She leaned back, and let out a frustrated sigh. "I really don't want to be stuck in that house without anyone to talk to. Both Madeline and Louise are supposed to be heading there with their families, but not until later this month," Paris frowned. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. "Why don't you come with me?" she asked Rory.

Rory was a bit taken aback at first, as she thought of the ramifications that came with the offer.

"The Hamptons, huh?" Rory asked, a bit hesitant.

"Why not?" Paris questioned. "You already have a whole summer's wardrobe packed with you, and you wouldn't have to go back home," she replied.

Rory thought about it for a moment. Paris did have a point. She did have everything she needed with her, and she wouldn't have to go back to Stars Hollow and face up to her current situation. A smile began to form on her face.

"What are we waiting for?" she asked.

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Sorry that was kinda short, but I had to get some of the logistics out of the way. Unlike some of my other stories, I actually know where this one's going... More to come soon.