AN: Sorry it's been a while, here's a pretty long chapter to compensate. Hope people are still reading!



*****

REALITY IS FOR THOSE WHO LACK IMMAGINATION

*****



*ring ring*



LUKE: "Hello?"

RORY: "Hi Luke, what's happening?"

LUKE: "Your mother impersonated a federal agent."

RORY: "What?"

LUKE: "Here, I'll let her tell you the story."

LORELAI: "Hi Rory!"

RORY: "Hi Mom, what's going on?"

LORELAI: "Well yesterday there was a little problem when Vincent ran out of fuel thirty miles from the nearest gas station in 150 degree heat-"

RORY: "150 degrees?"

LORELAI: "Creative licence."

RORY: "Huge and unnecessary exaggeration."

LORELAI: "May I continue?"

RORY: "Go ahead."

LORELAI: "So we had to flag down this truck and Luke wouldn't let me go in the truck or stay with the car by myself."

RORY: "Sensible Luke."

LORELAI: "Over-protective Luke. But anyway, we both went in the truck and to make the journey a little more interesting I started telling the driver how we came to be stuck there. How Luke and I are special agents undercover to investigate mysterious happenings all over the country and there may be a government conspiracy involved."

RORY: "You lied to the nice man who was helping you?"

LORELAI: "Creative licence, remember, Sweetie."

RORY: "Oh boy. So you were playing Scully and Mulder....."

LORELAI: "Actually I saw myself more as a Sydney type."

RORY: "You are shameless!"

LORELAI: "As you frequently remind me. Well the truck driver totally bought it and dropped us off at the next gas station, only then we had to hitch another ride back to the car. This time I wanted to try a Bonnie and Clyde type story but Luke wouldn't go for it."

RORY: "Poor Luke. What did I tell you about not torturing him?"

LORELAI: "Please, his life was dull before I came along. He's never had so much fun!"

RORY: "He's told you this?"

LORELAI: "I can read it in his glares."

RORY: "So where are you now?"

LORELAI: "Kansas. It's really boring. Even duller than Luke's life before I got to him. Nothing worth mentioning here, I want to know how you've been."

RORY: "I'm fine."

LORELAI: "What have you been up to?"

RORY: "Just the usual - school, homework, paper. Absolutely nothing of interest at all."

LORELAI: "So how's everyone else?"

RORY: "Everyone's fine. Kirk got a goldfish that died within 48 hours. It lasted only slightly longer than Miss Patty's new relationship."

LORELAI: "Poor Kirk."

RORY: "Yeah, he's taking it pretty hard."

LORELAI: "Well tell him I'm sorry. What about Sookie and Jackson?"

RORY: "Jackson's working on growing a new tomato that will apparently revolutionize Sookie's paella. They're really excited, it's so sweet!"

LORELAI: "Aw man, I miss everyone! And how's Lane?"

RORY: "She's been rehearsing with the band a lot."

LORELAI: "Do they have a name yet?"

RORY: "Zac refuses to accept that both Death In Vegas and Sonic Death Monkey are already taken."

LORELAI: "Sonic Death Monkey?"

RORY: "High Fidelity."

LORELAI: "Right, I knew that. Morbid boy."

RORY: "He said to say 'hi' to you."
LORELAI: "Moving on then. How's Jess?"

RORY: "Uh, Jess? Since when do you care about Jess?"

LORELAI: "I thought I should check up on him for Luke. It's not like their grunting phone conversations reveal anything. Have you been seeing much of him?"

RORY: "Well I see him in the diner everyday."

LORELAI: "And everything's okay?"

RORY: "Yep. Everything's fine. You know, I should go or else you are going to come home to a really scary sized phone bill."

LORELAI: "Okay, well it's great to catch up. I miss you, honey."

RORY: "I miss you too, mom."



*****



Lorelai handed her cell phone back to Luke with a small sigh.

"You know you really shouldn't be talking on that while driving," he advised her.

Lorelai ignored his comment. "Do you miss Stars Hollow?" she asked.

Luke responded with sarcasm. "Yeah my heart's aching, especially for Taylor."

Lorelai didn't buy it and told him so. "You always complain about all the town events and the crazy residents but you never want to leave," she reminded him.

"Well it's better than some big city full of pollution and noise and even more irritating people."

"Sookie told me that was why you and Rachel broke up. Because you wouldn't leave Stars Hollow and the diner. I guess pleasing your dad must have really meant a lot to you. Like all the trouble you went to for Uncle Louie's funeral....."

Luke cut her off sharply. "Can we not talk about my dad or Rachel, please?"

"Sure." Lorelai shut her mouth and concentrated on the road. Although she understood that Luke might not want to talk about that stuff, Lorelai was still a little hurt that he didn't open up to her. She considered him a good friend, and thought they had been getting closer on this trip.

"Look, I'm sorry," Luke told her, "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"I'm not mad," she said.

"Yes you are. You're quiet."

"And if I were mad you would definitely hear about it. Luke, I'm not mad that you don't want to talk to me. Just a little sad."

"Why?"

"Because we don't talk very much."

"We talk all the time."

"No I talk all the time. We argue mostly. We hardly ever REALLY talk."

"Well what would you like to talk about?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shook her head, "just forget it. I don't really feel much like talking right now."

Luke felt guilty, like he'd made a little kid cry. He found a candy bar, unwrapped the top half and offered it to Lorelai as an apology. She accepted with a small smile. Just like a little kid, Luke thought, only little kids didn't look so cute when they got chocolate on their chin. He reached over and wiped it off for her.

"Thanks." Lorelai said, but still did not attempt any further conversation again and the drive continued in silence.





*****



Meanwhile in Stars Hollow....



"SNAP!" Rory yelled, slapping her hand down on the pile of cards in front of her.

Long after the diner had closed Jess and Rory were sitting cross-legged on the counter playing cards.

"I was there first!" Jess insisted, trying to wedge his hand under Rory's.

"No way! I've got most of the cards. Your hand's just on that tiny tip on the edge."

"Yeah well that's only cause you cheated and pulled them towards you!"

Both teenagers narrowed their eyes and glared at each other then broke down laughing. They didn't really care about the game. Rory thought about all the time she and Jess had been spending together like this lately. Doing everything from cleaning the diner to playing silly games like this. Just being together felt really good to her. Rory smiled slightly because she was getting all sappy and then yawned.

"I'm so tired. I should go home soon." But instead of making a move to get up, she pushed napkin holders aside and lay back on the counter. Jess lay down beside her.

Rory rolled over onto her side. "We won't both fit here," she told him.

"Sure we will." Jess lay facing her with his head propped up on his hand.

"Not with any semblance of personal space." Rory squirmed away from Jess. "I'm going to fall off," she complained.

"Only if you keep wriggling away." Jess clamped his knee over Rory's to stop her moving. "See? We fit just fine."

Their faces were less than a foot apart and Rory avoided his gaze nervously. This new level of intimacy was freaking her out. Not because she didn't feel comfortable with Jess, quite the opposite. Being this close to him made Rory worried that she might do something stupid.

"I have a question for you," Jess said.

Uh oh, Rory thought, was he going to ask her how she felt about him? Because she honestly wouldn't know how to answer that.

"If you could change the ending of a book, what would it be?"

Rory relaxed and answered confidently; "I wouldn't want to do that. I want to experience the books the way the author intended."

"Come on. There has to be some book that leaves you thinking that's not the way it's supposed to be."

"Okay. 'Little Women'. I'd have Jo and Laurie end up together."

"Aw man, why do chicks always want to do that?!?"

"Hey you asked! They were meant to be together! They grew up as best friends... It just seems right."

"But everyone got a happy ending," Jess pointed out.

"So you'd only fix books where the characters don't end up happy?"

"No, I like when books don't end perfectly," Jess replied. "It's closer to real life," He added pointedly.

Rory chose to avoid his comment about real life and continued their discussion. "What about books that don't really end at all? That leave you feeling like that entire thing was a waste of time?"

Jess smirked. "Are you referring Jack Kerouac?"

"How did you know?" Rory asked.

"You've been spending way too much time with Paris." Jess commented.

"But 'On The Road' - there's an ending I'd like to change. Sal would tell Dean what a jerk he is and Celeste would dump him once and for all and SOMETHING productive would come out of years wandering around the country."

"Now that is so not the point of that book."

"I know." Rory agreed, "But that guy was really annoying me by the end."

"Wanna give Romeo and Juliet cell phones as well?" Jess suggested.

Rory flicked a card at him. " Hey I wonder what mom and Luke doing on their road trip?"

"Drinking up, stealing food, picking up prostitutes, getting high."

Rory flicked another card at him and Jess raised a hand in front of his face defensively.

"Sorry." He said. "I bet they're doing it, though."

"Eew, no. It sounds like mom's annoying him."

"That's part of her charm. I'm not sure they'll come home as a couple, but twenty bucks says they do it before they get back."

"You're on." Rory accepted the bet and they shook hands to seal the deal.

"But how will we know?" Rory asked, "I hardly think Luke's going to take out a national advertisement."

"Lorelai tells you everything." Jess reminded her.

"Not about her sex life. And even if she did who's to say I'd pass it on?"

"I trust you," Jess told Rory. "Besides, this is Stars Hollow. Nothing happens without the whole town knowing."

"Very true." Rory yawned again, "What time is it?"

Jess checked his watch lazily, "nearly 2 a.m."

"I have to go home!" Rory exclaimed, "it's a school night!" she leapt off the counter.

"Relax," Jess told her, "you can stay here if you want."

Rory shook her head. "Really not a good idea."

"I'll be a perfect gentleman. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do, but like you said, this is Stars Hollow. I don't want everyone to get the wrong idea."

"Walking around at 2 a.m. probably isn't quite the image you want to portray either." Jess prompted her.

"There's no one around," said Rory.

"I bet Taylor has security cameras hidden everywhere."

"You don't give up do you?"

"Nope," Jess replied easily. "You can sleep in Luke's bed. No one will think it's strange to see you eating breakfast in the diner tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, okay," Rory followed Jess upstairs. She didn't really feel like walking all the way home. "You do realize Lorelai will kill you if she finds out?"

"She'll have to get in like behind Luke. And Dean. And probably most of the town." Jess threw Rory a clean pillowcase.

"Doesn't it bother you that so many people here don't seem to like you that much?" Rory asked Jess as she slid under the covers.

"You like me right?" he answered from across the room.

"Sure."

"Then it's all good. Night Rory."

"Night Jess."



TBC…If you're nice…