Road Trip
A/N:
Huge hugs and thanks to Lyds for the banner, Becka for the vid, Jess for beta-ing and other Jess for being amazingly amazing!! And Sarah for being so damn beautiful!!Disclaimer:
I absolutely own GG. That's why Logan is burning in the fiery pits of hell along with his good buddy Dean! And the song isn't mine either. (Crazy for this Girl - Evan and Jaron)She rolls the window down
And she talks over the sound
Of the cars that pass us by
And I don't know why
But she's changed my mind
When I look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
Coz when she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl
She was the one to hold me
The night the sky fell down
And what was I thinkin' when
The world didn't end
Why didn't I know what I know now?
When I look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
Coz when she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she'll figure out
I'm crazy for this girl
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl
Right now
Face to face
All our fears pushed aside
Right now
I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you
When I look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
Coz when she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl
He climbs back into the driver's seat and waves a flimsy map under Rory's nose. She simply smiles and nods in approval. Pinpointing their exact location on the map, Jess looks around for a street sign. As expected, in Nowheresville, street signs aren't really a priority. He rolls the window down and turns the key. The engine rumbles into life once again and Jess pulls out of the gas station, and into the flow of non-existent traffic.
As they pass through town after town, city after city, Jess never once looks in his rear view mirror. He knows what he'd see if he did. The long empty road disappearing off into the distance, a bit like his life. If he were able to look back on it, that's what it would be like. Long, empty, backwards and forgettable. It had taken him forever and a lifetime to make it to this point, and looking back would only serve the purpose of reminding him that this time he's struck it lucky. Jess knows that he's been given one more chance than he deserves, and the prospect of screwing it up again, terrifies him.
He averts his gaze momentarily, from the road in front of him, to the beauty sitting beside him. Shoulder length, mouse-brown hair fallen slightly over her face, due to the way her head is leaning. Shallow breaths, indicating her light sleep. Her thumb marks the last page she was reading of 'The Fountainhead.'
"Nobody can write a forty page monologue the way she can."
Jess reaches over and takes the book from her fingers. Careful to keep his eyes on the road, he slips it into the glove box. For the first time in his life, Jess was finally happy. And not just the kind of happy that you get when you win a stuffed bear at a fair. Or scoring an 'A.' The real kind of happy. The eternal, life-couldn't-get-better-than-this kind of happy. For once he'd been rewarded for sharing his thoughts and feelings, and it felt good.
Nonchalantly, Jess reaches into a bag at Rory's feet. Pulling out a random cassette, he stuck it in the car's ancient tape deck and willed it to run, as he pushed down the play button.
"Come up to meet you
Tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are…"
Jess grins comically, as he does only for Rory.
"…you've tried to explain to me how on earth Coldplay could be considered an alternative band…"
Back then she wasn't even his. But Jess made damn sure it didn't stay that way. From the instant she said, "Hey, I'm Rory." Jess knew that he had to have her. At first it was animal attraction. Something you see looks nice and you decide that you gotta have it. But after getting to know Rory. Her love for books and music. Her quirky habits and her un-earthly eating patterns, he, somewhere along the line, fell in love with her. He didn't mean for it to happen. Sometimes he'd wished it hadn't. The only thing love had ever done for Jess, was confuse the hell out of him, and force him to run away from it.
And that's what he did. Whenever he was onto something remotely good, he upped and left. Luke, Rory, Sasha and Jimmy in the end, everyone that had come close to loving him, he pushed away. Until now.
Rory had remained the one constant thought in his mind. The cross-country trips. The sleepless nights. The constant shift work. The hot days. The cold nights. Reading on the boardwalk. All of it. Not one minute passed by, that Rory didn't cross his mind.
Stirring a little as the car hits a section of unsealed road, Rory opens her eyes cautiously, aware that the evil sun could, and would blind her given half the chance. Turning to her companion, Rory curls her hand around one of his. He sighs contentedly, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Hey." She whispers groggily.
"Hey." Came Jess's simple reply.
Hand still wrapped in Jess's, Rory turned her head to stare out the window. After another hour or so, Jess pulls into a cheap motel for the night. Against his better judgement, and instincts, Jess convinces Rory that she is not ready to lose her virginity in some cheap motel bed, and he watches her drift into a deep sleep in his arms.
The next day, Jess tried to fool himself into believing that Rory's sighs as they passed, "Welcome to…" signs, were all in his head. But there was only so much pretending he could do. He was sorry he had to bring her all the way into the middle of nowhere. The truth was, he wanted to take her as far away from Stars Hollow as they could get. But in his haste to leave, he'd left something behind. Rory's heart and soul. She loved that place. She loved the people, she loved the traditions and she loved her family.
The realisation hit Jess square in the face, like an angry chick being hit on in a sleazy bar. He pulls the car to a slow halt, in a rest stop.
"What's wrong? Are we outta gas?" Rory instantly fears the worst.
"No, we're not outta gas."
"Then what's wrong? Why are we stopping?" She demanded.
"We gotta go back." He replied, without taking his hands off the wheel, without taking his eyes from the spot on the hood.
"Back where? To the motel? Are you tired? Coz I can drive for a while."
"Rory stop. We're going back to Stars Hollow."
"Why?" Rory's voice breaks, threatening tears are evident in her voice. "Have you changed your mind?"
"No. You wanted to talk, so talk!" Jess looked into her blue eyes. They were filled with pain and anger like he'd never seen. And he'd caused that. He knew it may not be received well, but he had to tell her what was on his mind. What he'd been dying to tell her, since he arrived back in town. He bit his lip self-consciously.
"I love you." He looked into her eyes once more, before backing away without a word. He walked calmly to his car, got in, started the engine and proceeded to drive away. However, as he was about to drive past Rory, she stepped out onto the road. Jess slammed on his brakes and skidded to a halt, a foot away from hitting the young woman.
Without hesitation, she walked to the driver's side door, pulled it open, yanked Jess out by the collar, and demanded an explanation.
"You're not running away this time Jess! Now one more time you what?" Jess looked to his feet for inspiration. He didn't think he had the courage to say it again, and he sure as hell didn't expect this. He expected to get in his car and drive out of town, never to see Rory again. "Well?" Rory demanded once more. Jess shifted his head up and locked gazes with Rory.
"I… I love you." Heart pounding, Jess took a step backwards, hoping to slink back into his car. But Rory had other ideas.
She curled one hand behind his neck and entwined her fingers in the curls at the back of his head. She placed the other hand across his chest, roundabout where his heart would be. She could feel it trying to beat its way out of Jess's body. She knew then, that it had taken every fibre of Jess's being for him to open up to her.
"I hope you want company, 'coz wherever you're going, you're taking me with you." She whispered in his ear.
Realising that he'd finally won his girl back; he tipped her chin up with his fingers, and pressed his lips to hers. Deepening the kiss, Jess heard Rory's soft groan. A sound that he could quite easily get re-used to. As Rory grazed Jess's tongue with her own, it was Jess's turn to groan. Why did he ever let this go?
"NO! Of course I still love you! I'll always still love you. I left something behind." A look of relief crossed Rory's face.
"Well… Can't you get Luke to post it? Is it that important?"
"I left you behind." Jess's stare still locked on the patch of rust on the bonnet.
"Will you look at me?" She reached up and gently turned Jess's face towards her. "What?"
"I don't want you to regret being with me. Maybe not now, but eventually. You'll resent me for making you leave. And you're not the same person out here, as you are back there. Part of what makes you, you, is that town and the people in it. And leaving it behind has left a part of you with it." Eye's glazing over, Jess turned away.
"Is it an important part?" Rory tried to make light of the situation. "If I go back, something will be missing there too. A part of me will stay wherever you are. Either way I'm going to be incomplete." Rory bargained.
Jess started the engine and turned the car around. The 'Welcome to…' signs all passed again, in reverse order. A few hours had passed; maybe more and not a word had been spoken.
"Jess can you pull over for a minute?"
"If we keep going, we might make it to New York before dark."
"Don't I get a say in this? What if I want to be with you? What if I'd rather be incomplete with you, than without you? What if I don't want to go back to Stars Hollow?" Rory asked, her voice getting louder, with each question.
"No. You don't get a say. I'm taking you back. As it is your mom will probably have me arrested for kidnapping, or something equally as illegal."
"Well don't let her. Turn around. We'll go back to wherever it was we were going. Well live together, we'll be together…"
"Luke said I could stay in his apartment whenever I wanted…" Jess trailed off.
"You're coming back with me?" Jess nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. "You're coming back to live in Stars Hollow, for me? "Again Jess nodded. "Even though you hate it there?" He nodded. Rory leaned over and put her forehead to Jess's temple. "I love you too.
Jess marvelled in the feeling of those four simple words. He took his eyes off the road for a second to place a quick kiss on Rory's forehead. Rory didn't lean back to her seat. She readjusted her head, and settled in for the drive back.
When I look at her
She looks at me
She's got me thinking about her constantly
But she don't know how I feel
When she carries on without a doubt
I wonder if she's figured out
I'm crazy for this girl
Yeah I'm crazy for this girl