A/N: Longer chapter this time!

Chapter 36

He woke up with her breath tickling his shoulder. The bed was bigger than hers back home, yet she snuggled close to him, mumbling and sighing like she usually did in her sleep. She'd tossed and turned for a long time that night and he was glad she was finally in a peaceful sleep. He was also glad he didn't have to sneak away from her like he always did in the mornings. Being alone with her like this was bliss.

Rory mumbled a lot in her sleep, incoherent, soft ramblings that told him she was far away in her own dreams. The first time he'd noticed it, he'd had the overwhelming urge to wake her. But she'd only murmured a few words, something about flying curtains and duck mazes, and he'd quickly realized that she was having a dream. Every so often, he would hear his own name, quiet and soft and gentle. Since she'd neither remember her dreams nor her sleepy words, he liked to whisper things back sometimes. It was like a secret, intimate conversation, with meaningless, made-up words. It brought a silly smile to his face.

If it were up to him, he wouldn't wake her up for a long time. With her warm body, her dream ramblings and the sultry way she said his name, all he really wanted was to stay in bed all day, until sundown.

'Let's just stay here.' He sighed, when the alarm finally roused her.

She smiled into his arm wearily, as if he couldn't be serious. 'I have school.'

'You don't have to go.'

'You know I do.'

'If you're tired, then just stay.'

She reached up to kiss his cheek, then let her head rest on his chest and asked sleepily. 'You have work today?'

'Yep.' He sighed. 'I'm needed back at the salt-mines.'

'Can you drive me?'

He blinked. 'You want me drive you to school?'

She hummed drowsily, then raised her head. 'Unless you're worried my school might irreparably damage your too-cool-for-school state of being.'

He chuckled. 'I might drop you off a couple of blocks away just to be safe.'

She smiled contently then, with her eyes still only half-open, asked. 'What time is it?'

He glanced at the alarm clock. 'Seven-fifteen.' He sighed. 'Guess we should get up.'

'Let's stay five more minutes.' She suggested.

He smiled, pulling her closer to kiss the top of her head. She kissed his neck and burrowed her body into his. It was bliss, being alone with her like this.

He was still smiling like an idiot after she left the car. Calm your shit down, Mariano. She'd given him a pretty intense kiss before she left and he was now trying to remember how to get back to the real world.

He turned to the window and sighed, watching her walk away.

Okay, he was really getting pathetic now. Time to go before she realized he was still hanging back like an open-mouthed moron. He sighed and tried to focus again. Drive off, Mariano. Turn on the ignition, release the clutch, shift the gears –

He suddenly jerked forward as something, or someone, crashed into the back of his car.

'Luke.' He sighed, spotting the truck and the flannel-cladded figure by its door.

It was just as he would've expected. In fact, it almost felt like deja'vu. The angry yelling, the frustrated head shaking, the look. Luke had a particular parental look he liked to give Jess when they got into their intense yelling matches. It was the ultimate you-disappoint-me-more-than-you-will-ever-know look mixed in with the you-infuriating-little-shit look.

The bumper of his car was dented, the color scratched away by the impact. But the crash was secondary to what Luke had in mind for a conversation.

'This isn't right, Jess! What the hell were you thinking, kidnapping her from her home like that?' Luke shook his head in anger, giving him the look.

'I didn't kidnap Rory.' He fired back. 'She's 18. I'm 18. We make our own damn decisions.'

'Don't give me that crap.' He dismissed furiously.

'That crap is the constitution. You should go read it sometime.'

'Running away and dropping out of Yale? You think she got there on her own? I may be no genius and maybe my memory isn't all it used to be, but I'd say I know someone who does exactly just that. Heck, he's doing it right now.'

Jess sighed, shaking his head, looking back to the dented car bumper.

'Someone whose name rhymes with Tess. You know anyone like that?'

He glared at Luke. 'Doesn't ring a bell. Maybe if you just spell it out for me…'

'I'm not joking here, Jess. Lorelai's a mess. How could you do this to her?'

'Do what? I didn't do any—'

'Her grandparents are talking about having you arrested –'

'Excuse me?'

'For kidnapping apparently. What you're doing here isn't a game. Rory has her exams this week, unless you're having her flunk out of high school too, of course.'

'She's at school right now, what more do you want? We got this under control, okay?'

'No, you don't. You don't have anything under control. How you two gonna live? Your work contract at Walmart ends this week. How you gonna afford to live on your own?'

'It's not the only job on the planet. We'll be fine.'

'And living in a motel room? You think some cheap stinky motel is good enough for someone like Rory? Places like that aren't safe. What if she gets hurt?'

'I won't let that happen.'

'Just like you won't let her drop out?'

'Why does everyone keep saying that? She's taking a gap year, for God's sake. It's just that.' His eyes flashed. 'And give her some credit, it's not like Rory's anyone's puppet, okay? She can make her own decisions. She can do whatever the hell she wants. And if what she wants is a year off, then that's what she's gonna do.'

'You and I both know it's not just that. She never would've even thought of a gap year if it weren't for you. She would've gotten the Yale money from her grandparents just like she was supposed to and gone to Europe with her mother just like she was supposed to and none of this would be happening!'

He hung his head and sighed. 'Are we done here?'

'Whatever you said to her before, take it back and drag her home if you have to.'

'She's not a pet. I'm not dragging her anywhere.'

'You need to tell her to go back home to her mother. It's the only right thing for her.'

He looked away and shook his head. 'I gotta go.'

'Don't wanna miss out on that big, fat Walmart paycheck, do you?'

'Exactly.' He walked away, back to his car, leaving behind a furious Luke.

'It's exactly what your mom did, by the way.'

His hands paused on the car door.

'Took off as soon as she turned 18. Said she was taking a gap year before art school. Said she was going to stay with her boyfriend temporarily. That there was no way she was getting pregnant. Look where she ended up.'

'This is nothing like that.' He hated the way his hands trembled. He gripped the door handle, his hands colder than the metal.

'If you don't believe me, call her. Ask Liz what she thinks, she'll tell you.'

He exhaled and somehow felt worse, like the breath was knocked out of him. 'Thanks for wrecking my car.'

She slammed her book shut and put her head between her hands. Somehow, her mood tonight was just as sour as his. Rory didn't know exactly what had happened with Jess over the course of the day, but he'd been snappy and scowling since she'd returned from school. The only excuse he gave was that some idiot had crashed into his car.

'Jess, what did you do?' She'd asked worriedly.

It'd been, of course, the absolute wrong thing to say.

He'd scoffed. 'I'm touched by your concern.'

'Well, you look fine. Which is why I'm more worried about the other guy.'

That had earned her a glare. 'I don't go around beating people, Rory.'

'No, of course not.' She'd frowned. Somehow, she'd made things worse.

And so she'd stopped talking. She'd focused all her attention on her calculus book, willing her brain to absorb information. He was doing his sullen sulking bit, where he lay diagonally across the bed on his back, head dangling over the edge, face buried in a book. The silence was restless and uneasy, but it lasted for hours.

'I'm gonna fail.' She declared when she couldn't bear the silence anymore.

'You're not gonna fail.' He said, not bothering to look up from his book.

'I am. I'm just staring at all these equations and I'm not getting anything.'

'Probably useless crap anyway.' He said unhelpfully.

'I haven't studied a thing for hours. Everyone else at Chilton's been studying for the past two weeks and I've been caught up in my own drama!'

'You'll catch up.'

'I won't.' She insisted. 'Look at me. I have my finals in less than a week. Exactly five days. I haven't made any summary notes. I haven't even looked at assignments or past exams. My study schedule is completely useless because I'm not getting anything done! So yes, I'm gonna fail.'

He finally turned to her, lifting himself up onto his elbows and tossing his book away. 'Calm down.'

'This is Chilton we're talking about. It's not a place where you can get away with just skimming through 10 chapters of chemistry.' She started pacing the carpet.

His eyes followed her as she paced. 'Rory, I don't think it's actually possible for you to fail, okay?'

She shook her head. 'Chilton is hard. Like really hard. I've gotten Ds on tests I studied for. Now, I'm barely even doing a tenth of what I'm supposed to do.'

'What do you need the grade for anyway?' The glare she gave him made him backtrack a little, his voice turning a little gentler. 'Look, you're stressed, that's why you can't focus. Just stop freaking out.'

'Oh, great advice. Don't be stressed. Yeah, that fixes it.'

He shrugged.

She flared again. 'You should be a little stressed too, you know. Your GED exam's in one week.'

'You're not a little stressed. You're like Jodie-Foster-from-Panic-Room stressed. Take a break or something. Let's just –'

'I swear, if you suggest we go out for ice cream –'

'Ice cream?' He raised an eyebrow. 'We have a motel room all to ourselves and you wanna go for ice cream? Rory, I'm disappointed.'

'Are you serious? How can you be thinking about it right now?'

'You know sex helps athletes focus, right?'

'Jess, no.'

'There's a lot of science behind it. That's why they always bang before big championships and they end up getting all those medals–'

'Ugh, stop!'

He chuckled.

She groaned. 'You're so not helping.'

He smirked.

'Stop doing that. I'm mad at you. You know what, just – just turn around. Don't look at me!' She put her hands up, shielding her face from him.

He rolled his eyes. 'What am I supposed to do, stare at the wall?'

'You're supposed to be just as panicked as I am. Here, take this book and study. Worry a bit about your own exam too.' She tossed him a textbook.

He dodged it, watching it land on the bed in disgust. Lifting himself off the bed, he nodded toward the door and said. 'Let's go somewhere.'

'What?' She blinked. 'Where?'

'Anywhere. I'm sick of this room.' He grumbled.

She warned. 'Jess.'

'Let's go get wasted.'

She stared at him. Agitated and restless, Jess's bad mood was turning absolutely destructive. Rory wouldn't have it. She shook her head. 'What is wrong with you?'

'We're finally away from everyone. Don't you wanna celebrate?'

'No.'

He was incorrigible. 'If you don't wanna go out, I could go get drinks and we'll have our own party here.'

'Are you crazy?'

'I mean I could drink for two, but then you'll have to carry me home.'

'Is this about crashing your car today?'

He ignored her. 'How about this? How about you get a little wasted and I get a lot wasted and we carry each other home?'

'No. Stop it.'

'It'll probably help with all the stress.' He argued.

'It probably won't.'

'Come on, Rory.'

'Jess, I have to study.'

'Study later.'

'I can't.' She said, then asked dejectedly. 'What's gotten into you? You were in such a good mood this morning.'

'What are you talking about? I'm a ray of sunshine.' He scoffed.

'Is this about your car?'

'I said I'm fine.' He replied icily.

She groaned and ran a hand down her face. 'Well, all that sunshine isn't helping me study. I'm going to the library.'

'Now?'

'It's… It's the Chilton library. They're open pretty late, so I'll just hang out there for a while.'

'Fine. Knock yourself out.' He tossed her his car keys.

'Fine.' She frowned at his cold treatment. 'Don't wait up.'

'I won't.' He went back to his book as she slammed the door.

He hated Luke for ruining this. Somehow, his uncle knew exactly what to say to ruin his day. Comparing Rory to Liz was bullshit. Damn Luke for getting into his head with that crap. Rory was Rory. She was smart and responsible. She'd never turn into what Liz had become.

What would his mother say if he called her anyway? He had a hard time remembering her voice nowadays, but maybe she'd say something like: She sounds like a nice girl. What's she doing with someone like you? Or maybe she'd tease him for getting so attached to a girl so different from all the party flings he used to have before. But what if she said… Reminds me of myself when I was her age?

Bullshit. Even if everyone saw some obscure parallel between Liz and Rory, that still meant nothing. Rory was going to Yale. She was going to be a journalist. She was going to travel the world. She was going to do all of those things because she never listened when people told her she couldn't do them. When had he met anyone so driven, so motivated?

He had the urge to yell at Luke. Tell him how wrong he was. How wrong everyone was. Rory was not quitting Yale. She was smart and she knew what she was doing. In fact, taking a year off to get more life experience would only make her a better journalist. He'd make sure of that.

He shouldn't have been so sour, so rude to her just now. And that whole thing about getting drunk, jeez… No wonder she left. He should apologize to her when she came back. Of course she was stressed and scared and anxious. Leaving home was scary. Was he so desensitized to it that he forgot that? Why couldn't he have been more supportive? He'd make it up to her when she gets back.

His phone rang. An unknown number.

He answered, annoyed that his thoughts were interrupted. 'Hello?'

'Jess? Hi, it's Lorelai.'

'Oh. Um, hi.' He said awkwardly.

'I just wanted to make sure Rory's okay.' Pause. 'Is she okay?'

He paused. His first impulse was to snap something rude. He had a bunch of those ready for practically every situation. Rory herself had been so hurt by the fight with her mom, so an insulting response would've felt like revenge, satisfying and earned. But then, an odd sort of guilt took over him. Sort of like how he'd feel as a little kid when he shoplifted.

As much as he hated it, he owed her. A lot.

He cleared his throat and said quietly. 'Yeah, she's okay.'

'Jess, please tell me how she's really doing.' Lorelai sighed.

'She's… tense about exams, but she's fine.'

'Is she sleeping at all?'

'Yeah, she's sleeping okay.'

From the faint creaking, he could tell she was pacing and he could also tell exactly which corner of the living room she was pacing. Her voice was somewhat watery, as she sniffed. 'She never sleeps on anything other than her pillow. When she forgot to take it with her, I thought...' She trailed off.

'Yeah, no, we got a new one at Walmart yesterday.'

'Oh.'

Awkward silence stretched between them.

'Tell her to come home, Jess.'

'That's not –'

'She'll listen to you.'

'She already made up her mind.'

'Where are you?'

He sighed. 'I can't –'

'I promise, I'm not about to call the national guard, I just… Let me talk to her.'

'She's not here… She's at the library.'

'Her phone's off.'

'Yeah, she probably switched it off. To study.'

There was a pause.

'You said she's stressed 'cause of her exams?'

He thought back to the fight they'd just had. 'A bit.'

'Yeah, that's right on schedule.' Lorelai said. She took a breath and started listing things. 'Well, don't let her drink coffee past midnight, it'll whack up her sleep cycle and she'll be tired and cranky all the time.'

He shook his head, rolling his eyes at the transition to mom-mode.

Lorelai went on, listing things energetically as she paced again. 'And double-check that she set the alarm right before her exam. When she's stressed, she mixes up am and pm and if that happens, she might miss an exam. Oh and make sure she doesn't starve herself. And don't let her talk to Paris. She'll feel like she's way behind and start panicking.'

'Okay.'

'Oh and if she says she's going to fail, you have full permission to whack her on the head.'

In spite of everything, he laughed. 'Yeah, I'll remember that.'

'And seriously, if anything happens, if either of you get hurt, call me.'

'You don't have to –'

'Jess.'

'Yeah, fine. I'll call if this place burns down or something. Sure.'

'I know this all seems fun right now, this Bonnie-and-Clyde, Nick-and-Nora thing… But it won't be fun when you run out of money or one of you gets hurt.'

'I said we're fine.' He said, somewhat harsher than he intended.

Lorelai sniffed, apparently choosing to overlook the rudeness. 'Today's the last day to cancel all the reservations for Europe.'

He didn't know what to say.

'I know you couldn't care less about this whole trip. Maybe you're even glad it's getting cancelled. But we've been talking about this since she was –'

He interrupted. 'Four. I know. She told me.'

'We had all these plans. All these places to visit.' She sniffed again. 'We've never had a fight like this.'

'Look, I'll tell her you called.' He said, as sincerely as he could.

'Rory wants to go to Yale. She's not thinking straight right now, but once she does, Jess, once she does, she'll resent you for this.'

There it was. The accusation.

His voice went bitter. 'Yeah, I think I'll leave that for Rory to decide.'

'She thinks this year won't get in the way of Yale. But life is so hard and it's so complicated. And it messes up plans all the time. Just ask me, a live example of life not going according to plan.' She gave a dry laugh. 'But Rory… She's too good. She has to go to Yale.'

'I know that. Look, spare me the speech, okay? Save it for when Rory gets back. I gotta go.'

'Wait. Wait.' She pleaded. 'You'll take care of her, Jess, right?'

He exhaled quietly. For all his irritation at Lorelai, he couldn't not reassure her. 'I'll do my best.'

And of course, because he was now reminded by Lorelai that he was a piece of shit for not taking care of his stressed-out girlfriend, he went out looking for her. It was a half hour walk to the school. An obnoxious amount of time for him to be stuck with his own thoughts.

He went through the usual whirlwind of emotions. Anger. Worry. Anger. Guilt.

But what really consumed him was this. If the situation had been reversed, would Liz have told anyone to take care of him? Had Liz ever made a phone call like that to Luke?

Without a doubt, the answer was no.

Whenever he ran away from home, there was always an expectation that he should figure it out himself, or that he should stay gone. It was no wonder they'd drifted so effortlessly when Jess went to Luke's. Still, talking to Lorelai had given him an inexplicable urge to pick up the phone and call his mother. As if he could somehow convince himself Liz would show him a similar amount of concern.

Ugh, it was as if Lorelai's sentimentality was rubbing off on him.

Though Lorelai clearly blamed him for her daughter's rebellion, she'd still trusted him enough to take care of Rory. He wondered if he deserved that. Did he even know how to take care of anyone? Did he know how not to lash out and shut down and push people away? What would Luke say about that?

He finally found his car, parked at the sparsely-packed parking lot at Chilton. Leaning by the door, he waited. There was a payphone in the distance, right across the street. The number came to him easily. Somehow, a home number was one of those things you never forget. Would she even be home? Would she want to talk to him?

What would he say?

Bit and pieces of her voice floated back to him, small things he hadn't thought of in a long time. He wondered if she couldn't remember the sound of his voice either. Why hadn't she called? Why was it up to him to call her? If Lorelai could get his number from Luke in a couple of days, why couldn't Liz do the same?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when a pair of warm arms slid around his waist.

'You're not stalking me, are you?' She questioned, as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.

Instead of replying, he cupped her face gently and pressed his lips to hers, trying to communicate to her how much he'd missed her.

'It's only been a couple of hours.' She said breathlessly, a little confused about his sudden appearance. Still, she let him cling to her, crush her chest to his, rest his cheek on hers. If she found the intensity alarming, she didn't say so.

He closed his eyes and held her tighter. She relaxed into his hug and though his apology was awkward and lame, she still kissed him back, rubbing his neck gently. As she pulled him into another kiss, he let himself hope that maybe, just maybe, he could start doing things right.

A/N: Please, pretty please leave me a review! I know things are moving along a bit slowly, but I think this chapter's necessary for the events to come xD So stay patient please!