"Stay"

Chapter 1

Lorelai and Rory were in the car, on their way home from Hartford Memorial Hospital. Neither of them were speaking. Lorelai was seemingly calm, cool, and collected. Inside, however, she was still fuming at Luke and Jess. She looked worriedly over at Rory every few seconds.

Rory was leaning her head against the car window, cradling her newly casted wrist. She was worried sick about Jess. She had no idea where he'd gone after the ambulance came, or how he was. She knew one thing for sure. She needed to find him. Tonight. She was dead-set in her decision. Nothing was going to stop her.

The mother and daughter pulled into the driveway. Lorelai got out of the car, went around to the passenger side, and helped Rory maneuver herself out of the car, acting as the hand that was temporarily out of use.

"Alright sweets. We're both pretty wiped out. Whataya say we get to bed, and call it a night?"

Rory didn't move from the yard. She was looking into the bushes that surrounded the right side of the house. Unbeknownst to her mother, Jess sometimes hid there, waiting for her to go out to Lane's or to the bookstore.

"Rory? What's the matter, babe?"

Without breaking eye contact from the bushes, Rory replied, "I need to find him."

"Find who? Jess?"

"Yes. I need to find him."

Lorelai knew her daughter cared for the health and safety of others, and she admired that about her. But right now, she was perplexed at the sheer force with which Rory spoke about the guy that had just wrecked her car and her wrist.

"Hun, I'm sure Luke's taking care of it. You need to rest. Let's go ins-"

"No! I need to find him now. What if Luke sends him back to New York? He can't leave!" She added softly, "I need him here."

It was true. She needed him. She was shocked at how much she needed him, and she knew that if someone questioned her on that, she wouldn't be able to answer. Rory started to walk away, down the dirt driveway, towards the town square. She felt her mom's gentle grasp on her good wrist.

"Rory, why does it matter to you where he is?"

"Because he's my friend. What, you want me to stop caring about my friends?"

"No, I don't. That's not the point. He is not your friend. I mean, look at you."

"Look at what?"

"There's a cast on your arm because of him. You have a totaled car because of him. You're treating your wonderful boyfriend who cherishes the ground you step upon like dirt because of him."

"I do not treat Dean like dirt! I know he doesn't like Jess. I know you don't like Jess. I know that nobody in this whole stupid town likes Jess. But I do, okay? I do. And if Dean can't understand that, then he can go get himself another girlfriend to cherish."

Lorelai was completely astonished. So astonished was she that she couldn't even respond to her daughter's words.

Rory pulled her arm out of her mother's grasp, and said, "No matter what you say or do and no matter how much you threaten with that 'Mom card' of yours, I am going to find Jess. Don't wait up."

And she walked away. Lorelai desperately wanted to run after her, to try and stop her from entering the realm of more pain. Pain Rory didn't need. Pain Lorelai didn't need to see her daughter in. However, despite this desperation, Lorelai's gut told her that Rory needed to do this.

Shaking her head, Lorelai turned and went inside the house. She plopped down on the couch and let out a sigh of exasperation. She put her head in her hands. It felt so heavy all of a sudden. Despite the exhaustion of the evening's events, she was going to stay up until Rory got home.