Title: It All Starts With a Kiss
Chapter 6: Road Trip To TV Land: The Road
A/N: Just a few notes. Okay, first of all: I did the stupidest thing Saturday. I was at my grandparent's house for Thanksgiving, and I reached my hand into the plastic bag that housed all of my hygiene products, and I cut my finger on my razor. So I'm writing this with my right middle finger nestled into its new home of two band-aids, and so it's gonna take me a little longer to write. Good thing I wrote this big long note, huh? Okay, second: to hasapi, thanks sooo much for the Dean/Chicago thing! I'm totally gonna do it. Oh, and of course, third, last, but most definitely not least: Milo Ventimiglia wears glasses. Oh, I know you don't get that right now, but you will. If you would like to see a picture of hotty-hot-hot Milo in his glasses (okay I just have to say that I love guys in glasses. For some strange reason it makes me go weak at the knees) just go to gilmore-girls.net and go to the gallery for Milo, page number five has him in his glasses. Okay, so on with the show. Whoo! Oh, and I don't own anything.
~~~~~~
Six and a half hours into the trip, and all was well. At least, everything was peaceful. Luke was still behind the wheel, his eyes focused on the road, except for the quick glances at Lorelai every two seconds. Lorelai, who had spent half of the time arguing with Luke, was dancing to the Madonna tape that she'd brought. Rory was lying down. Her feet were on the seat and her head was on the car door. She was looking at the stars and treetops as they sped by. Jess was reading, a small booklight attached to The Old Man and the Sea. The tips of Rory's feet were pushing into his leg. Growing tired of watching the stars, Rory slightly kicked Jess. Surprised, he looked up. Rory smiled and waved. He smiled back and grabbed her hand. He pulled her to a sitting position as he brought her hand to his lips. Her smile got bigger.
"Rory, come read this." Jess stage-whispered.
"Oh, what is it now?" Rory feigned disinterest as she slid over next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and started reading the book. Jess smiled as he inhaled the scent of her hair.
~
"I'm hungry." Lorelai whined thirty minutes later. Rory looked up from her side of the backseat, where she sat with The Old Man and the Sea.
"Me, too."
"Well, you'll just have to eat a sandwich." Luke said.
"Oh, well, we didn't bring any."
"Lorelai! You said you were going to!"
"Have you seen our refrigerator?"
"Good point. Have a Pop-tart."
"Rory?" Lorelai looked to her daughter, who broke the bad news to Luke.
"We ran out of Pop-tarts before we left Connecticut."
"Hah! More like before we even left town!"
Luke slightly glared at Lorelai.
"Sorry."
"Whatever. Well, what are we gonna do?"
"Well, we could stop at Mc..."
"Before you finish that sentence, let me just say that I am not stopping at any Godforsaken fast-food resturaunt."
"How about one that's not forsaken by God?"
"No fast food."
"But, but," Lorelai pouted.
"No fast food and that's final. You may wanna kill yourselves with red meat, but some of us wanna live to see the next decade."
"I have an idea." Rory spoke up from the backseat. "We need someplace to stay tonight, right? I mean, we're not gonna sleep in the car."
"And your point is?" Lorelai asked.
"Well, we could stop at the next hotel we see and get a couple rooms, and it's still early enough for the kitchen to still be opened."
"That's a great idea! Don't you agree, Luke?"
"Sure, whatever."
"Great, it's settled! We all think it's a great idea."
"What about Jess?" Luke asked.
"Hmm, Jess. Rory, steal his CD player and tell him. But first, please hand me She's So Unusual."
Rory handed over the tape, and as the opening chords of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" blared out of the car's speakers, Rory nudged Jess. His eyes popped open, and at the look on Rory's face, he stopped his CD and took off his headphones.
"Hey."
"Hi. Listen, we're gonna stop at a hotel and eat."
"Okay. Why the long look? Are we gonna stop off at the baby-slaughtering factory on the way?"
"No. I just wanna do this." Rory leaned closer and kissed him. He returned the favor, and then Rory slid back over to her side of the car and Jess slipped his headphones back on. He didn't turn his music back on, though. He was too busy watching Rory. She had her forehead against the glass, watching the trees go by again. She had a strand of her hair in her hand and she was wrapping it around her fingers. Jess used his own fingers to touch his lips, still hot from the kiss she'd sprung on him. He agreed with Cyndi. She's so unusual.
"Look, Luke! It's a Holiday Inn right next to a" Lorelai gasped happily "Waffle House! Waffles, waffles, as far as the eye can see, open all night even Thanksgiving and Christmas!"
"Thanksgiving isn't for two days."
"Yeah, so it's open!"
"Well, I'm not stopping there."
"Oh, no, Luke, you have to! We said we were gonna stop at the first hotel we saw." Rory spoke up. Luke sighed.
"Oh, for crying out loud! Fine!" He pulled off the road and as the Jeep entered the hotel's parking lot the girls cheered. The foursome piled out of the vehicle and pulled out their luggage. Lorelai and Rory left Jess and Luke with the luggage as they went to check in.
"So..." Luke started.
"So." Jess summed up.
"How're things going?"
"Okay."
"How's school?"
"Luke, let's not do small talk. We suck at it."
"Thank God."
There was a pause. An awkward pause. Then:
"So..."
~
"How many rooms should we get?" Lorelai asked as the girls waited for someone to come to the front desk.
"Two. Some of those adjoining rooms. One with one big bed, and one with two of the smaller beds."
"Ooh-hoo-hoo!" Lorelai raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Get your mind out of the gutter! The big bed's for you and me, not you and Luke!"
"Aww! But he's so hot!"
"Eww, stop it!"
"Luke is hot, Luke is hot," Lorelai started singing.
"Eww, eww, eww, eww!"
Someone popped around the corner and headed to the front desk out of nowhere.
"Welcome to the Holiday Inn. How may I...help...you?" The girl ended helplessly, ignored by Rory with her eyes closed and her hands over her ears, and Lorelai, singing about hot Luke, pulling Rory's hands.
~
"So..."
"Luke, for the last time! Stop it!"
"Okay!" There was a pause. "How's school?"
"Luke!"
"We're ready!" Lorelai called on her way to the boys. "Rooms 204 and 206." Lorelai handed the 206 key to Luke. "Meet you downstairs in twenty minutes!" Lorelai picked up two of her bags, and Rory picked up her bag and Lorelai's third bag. Rory waved as she followed Lorelai. Luke sighed, picked up his bag and walked after the girls. Jess followed suit.
~
Twenty minutes later, Jess knocked on the door to room 204. Rory answered.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"Uh, Mom and Luke went to Waffle House."
"Luke went to Waffle House?"
"Yep. Mom promised him...stuff that I don't wanna think about."
"Ooh, me either."
"Anyway, we're free to order room service."
"Great." Jess entered the room, finally. "So, how long do we have?"
"They'll eat waffles, omelets, and then argue about coffee, so I'd say, three hours."
"Good." Jess kissed her. She kissed him back.
"We should probably get food soon. I'm kinda hungry."
"Oh, me too." Jess kept kissing her.
~
Later that night, Lorelai was asleep in bed, and Rory was sitting at the small table working on her laptop. An instant message popped up.
LnDnBnZ1234: hey, travel grl! where r u now?
Rory smiled and answered.
Gilmoregirls2: hey, Lane! I think we're somewhere in Ohio.
LnDnBnZ1234: what, u don't know? *gasp* no map? :-O
Gilmoregirls2: ha, ha. no map. Luke's driving, so I'm not worried.
LnDnBnZ1234: ah, now i understand. well, on a lighter note, how's it going with jess? ;-)
Gilmoregirls2: great, how's it going with Dave? ;-)
LnDnBnZ1234: *gasp* omg, it's great! he's sooo cool! he totally understands everything!
Gilmoregirls2: great. how bout with your mom?
LnDnBnZ1234: ugh, i still can't go home
Gilmoregirls2: that sucks. :-( where's the band this week?
LnDnBnZ1234: heehee, new york
Gilmoregirls2: no way! how long?
LnDnBnZ1234: a week
Gilmoregirls2: I'll make sure we go see you.
LnDnBnZ1234: ok, cool! sorry, ror, i gotta go
Gilmoregirls2: Okay, ttyl.
LnDnBnZ1234: great! c u soon!
Lane signed off. Paris signed on, and quickly, Rory signed off. She couldn't handle Paris right now. It was eleven-thirty and Luke said he wouldn't make any coffee till six o'clock. Rory turned off her laptop and pulled a book out. She was getting into it when the door between the rooms swung open.
"Lorelai?" Luke asked. "Oh, Rory. Uh, I'll just, uh-"
"Luke, it's okay. Come on in. I'm gonna wander around for a little while." Rory slid her room key into the pocket of her jeans and exited the room into the hall. She headed downstairs and sat next to the indoor pool for a little while and read. After half an hour, she walked upstairs and stood outside rooms 204 and 206. Finally she gathered her nerve and knocked on a door. Jess answered.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Uh, you wanna come in?"
"Sure." Rory entered room 206 and turned to look at Jess. "You wear glasses?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I mean, I've been wearing contacts, but I took 'em out. They kinda bother my eyes. But, I don't have to wear glasses, you know, it's just-"
"It's okay. I love them."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think they make you look great."
"Well, okay. I was just reading."
"Oh, really? What?"
"Hemingway."
Rory made a face.
"Oh, no, you can't make that face. Just admit that you like him. You were reading him earlier."
"Yeah, well. It was okay."
"Yeah, 'okay'."
"Stop torturing me."
"Oh, you know you love it."
"No, no, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!" Jess pulled Rory on top of him as he fell into a chair.
~~~~
Lorelai woke up in a very nice place: Luke's arms. She sighed happily and tried to remember her dream. There'd been clocks, breakfast, babies, coffee, a proposal, and...Luke. Lorelai looked over at him and wanted her miniature Freud to figure out the dream. It'd been pretty much like the one she'd had over a year ago, the one that Rory said was about how she was jealous of Sherry. Lorelai got out of bed, leisurely, until she remembered that the only other place her daughter could be was in Jess's room. She ran for the doors seperating the two rooms and pulled and pushed them open. She looked at the made beds and no one was there. She started to panic but then looked over towards the window. Jess sat in a chair, asleep, and Rory sat on top of him, also asleep. Lorelai edged out of the room and crawled back into bed. As she watched the sun rise (a first for her) she thought about Jess and Rory. She certainly didn't like him all that much, but at least he made her daughter happy. That's what counts, right?
~~~~~
A/N: Okay, I think I'm gonna do a pregnancy scare in the next chapter, but I can't decide who to scare and whether or not to make it permanent. If you wanna help me out, e-mail me at sami57peace2u@hotmail.com . It'd be a big help. Thanks a million!
Chapter 6: Road Trip To TV Land: The Road
A/N: Just a few notes. Okay, first of all: I did the stupidest thing Saturday. I was at my grandparent's house for Thanksgiving, and I reached my hand into the plastic bag that housed all of my hygiene products, and I cut my finger on my razor. So I'm writing this with my right middle finger nestled into its new home of two band-aids, and so it's gonna take me a little longer to write. Good thing I wrote this big long note, huh? Okay, second: to hasapi, thanks sooo much for the Dean/Chicago thing! I'm totally gonna do it. Oh, and of course, third, last, but most definitely not least: Milo Ventimiglia wears glasses. Oh, I know you don't get that right now, but you will. If you would like to see a picture of hotty-hot-hot Milo in his glasses (okay I just have to say that I love guys in glasses. For some strange reason it makes me go weak at the knees) just go to gilmore-girls.net and go to the gallery for Milo, page number five has him in his glasses. Okay, so on with the show. Whoo! Oh, and I don't own anything.
~~~~~~
Six and a half hours into the trip, and all was well. At least, everything was peaceful. Luke was still behind the wheel, his eyes focused on the road, except for the quick glances at Lorelai every two seconds. Lorelai, who had spent half of the time arguing with Luke, was dancing to the Madonna tape that she'd brought. Rory was lying down. Her feet were on the seat and her head was on the car door. She was looking at the stars and treetops as they sped by. Jess was reading, a small booklight attached to The Old Man and the Sea. The tips of Rory's feet were pushing into his leg. Growing tired of watching the stars, Rory slightly kicked Jess. Surprised, he looked up. Rory smiled and waved. He smiled back and grabbed her hand. He pulled her to a sitting position as he brought her hand to his lips. Her smile got bigger.
"Rory, come read this." Jess stage-whispered.
"Oh, what is it now?" Rory feigned disinterest as she slid over next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and started reading the book. Jess smiled as he inhaled the scent of her hair.
~
"I'm hungry." Lorelai whined thirty minutes later. Rory looked up from her side of the backseat, where she sat with The Old Man and the Sea.
"Me, too."
"Well, you'll just have to eat a sandwich." Luke said.
"Oh, well, we didn't bring any."
"Lorelai! You said you were going to!"
"Have you seen our refrigerator?"
"Good point. Have a Pop-tart."
"Rory?" Lorelai looked to her daughter, who broke the bad news to Luke.
"We ran out of Pop-tarts before we left Connecticut."
"Hah! More like before we even left town!"
Luke slightly glared at Lorelai.
"Sorry."
"Whatever. Well, what are we gonna do?"
"Well, we could stop at Mc..."
"Before you finish that sentence, let me just say that I am not stopping at any Godforsaken fast-food resturaunt."
"How about one that's not forsaken by God?"
"No fast food."
"But, but," Lorelai pouted.
"No fast food and that's final. You may wanna kill yourselves with red meat, but some of us wanna live to see the next decade."
"I have an idea." Rory spoke up from the backseat. "We need someplace to stay tonight, right? I mean, we're not gonna sleep in the car."
"And your point is?" Lorelai asked.
"Well, we could stop at the next hotel we see and get a couple rooms, and it's still early enough for the kitchen to still be opened."
"That's a great idea! Don't you agree, Luke?"
"Sure, whatever."
"Great, it's settled! We all think it's a great idea."
"What about Jess?" Luke asked.
"Hmm, Jess. Rory, steal his CD player and tell him. But first, please hand me She's So Unusual."
Rory handed over the tape, and as the opening chords of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" blared out of the car's speakers, Rory nudged Jess. His eyes popped open, and at the look on Rory's face, he stopped his CD and took off his headphones.
"Hey."
"Hi. Listen, we're gonna stop at a hotel and eat."
"Okay. Why the long look? Are we gonna stop off at the baby-slaughtering factory on the way?"
"No. I just wanna do this." Rory leaned closer and kissed him. He returned the favor, and then Rory slid back over to her side of the car and Jess slipped his headphones back on. He didn't turn his music back on, though. He was too busy watching Rory. She had her forehead against the glass, watching the trees go by again. She had a strand of her hair in her hand and she was wrapping it around her fingers. Jess used his own fingers to touch his lips, still hot from the kiss she'd sprung on him. He agreed with Cyndi. She's so unusual.
"Look, Luke! It's a Holiday Inn right next to a" Lorelai gasped happily "Waffle House! Waffles, waffles, as far as the eye can see, open all night even Thanksgiving and Christmas!"
"Thanksgiving isn't for two days."
"Yeah, so it's open!"
"Well, I'm not stopping there."
"Oh, no, Luke, you have to! We said we were gonna stop at the first hotel we saw." Rory spoke up. Luke sighed.
"Oh, for crying out loud! Fine!" He pulled off the road and as the Jeep entered the hotel's parking lot the girls cheered. The foursome piled out of the vehicle and pulled out their luggage. Lorelai and Rory left Jess and Luke with the luggage as they went to check in.
"So..." Luke started.
"So." Jess summed up.
"How're things going?"
"Okay."
"How's school?"
"Luke, let's not do small talk. We suck at it."
"Thank God."
There was a pause. An awkward pause. Then:
"So..."
~
"How many rooms should we get?" Lorelai asked as the girls waited for someone to come to the front desk.
"Two. Some of those adjoining rooms. One with one big bed, and one with two of the smaller beds."
"Ooh-hoo-hoo!" Lorelai raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Get your mind out of the gutter! The big bed's for you and me, not you and Luke!"
"Aww! But he's so hot!"
"Eww, stop it!"
"Luke is hot, Luke is hot," Lorelai started singing.
"Eww, eww, eww, eww!"
Someone popped around the corner and headed to the front desk out of nowhere.
"Welcome to the Holiday Inn. How may I...help...you?" The girl ended helplessly, ignored by Rory with her eyes closed and her hands over her ears, and Lorelai, singing about hot Luke, pulling Rory's hands.
~
"So..."
"Luke, for the last time! Stop it!"
"Okay!" There was a pause. "How's school?"
"Luke!"
"We're ready!" Lorelai called on her way to the boys. "Rooms 204 and 206." Lorelai handed the 206 key to Luke. "Meet you downstairs in twenty minutes!" Lorelai picked up two of her bags, and Rory picked up her bag and Lorelai's third bag. Rory waved as she followed Lorelai. Luke sighed, picked up his bag and walked after the girls. Jess followed suit.
~
Twenty minutes later, Jess knocked on the door to room 204. Rory answered.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"Uh, Mom and Luke went to Waffle House."
"Luke went to Waffle House?"
"Yep. Mom promised him...stuff that I don't wanna think about."
"Ooh, me either."
"Anyway, we're free to order room service."
"Great." Jess entered the room, finally. "So, how long do we have?"
"They'll eat waffles, omelets, and then argue about coffee, so I'd say, three hours."
"Good." Jess kissed her. She kissed him back.
"We should probably get food soon. I'm kinda hungry."
"Oh, me too." Jess kept kissing her.
~
Later that night, Lorelai was asleep in bed, and Rory was sitting at the small table working on her laptop. An instant message popped up.
LnDnBnZ1234: hey, travel grl! where r u now?
Rory smiled and answered.
Gilmoregirls2: hey, Lane! I think we're somewhere in Ohio.
LnDnBnZ1234: what, u don't know? *gasp* no map? :-O
Gilmoregirls2: ha, ha. no map. Luke's driving, so I'm not worried.
LnDnBnZ1234: ah, now i understand. well, on a lighter note, how's it going with jess? ;-)
Gilmoregirls2: great, how's it going with Dave? ;-)
LnDnBnZ1234: *gasp* omg, it's great! he's sooo cool! he totally understands everything!
Gilmoregirls2: great. how bout with your mom?
LnDnBnZ1234: ugh, i still can't go home
Gilmoregirls2: that sucks. :-( where's the band this week?
LnDnBnZ1234: heehee, new york
Gilmoregirls2: no way! how long?
LnDnBnZ1234: a week
Gilmoregirls2: I'll make sure we go see you.
LnDnBnZ1234: ok, cool! sorry, ror, i gotta go
Gilmoregirls2: Okay, ttyl.
LnDnBnZ1234: great! c u soon!
Lane signed off. Paris signed on, and quickly, Rory signed off. She couldn't handle Paris right now. It was eleven-thirty and Luke said he wouldn't make any coffee till six o'clock. Rory turned off her laptop and pulled a book out. She was getting into it when the door between the rooms swung open.
"Lorelai?" Luke asked. "Oh, Rory. Uh, I'll just, uh-"
"Luke, it's okay. Come on in. I'm gonna wander around for a little while." Rory slid her room key into the pocket of her jeans and exited the room into the hall. She headed downstairs and sat next to the indoor pool for a little while and read. After half an hour, she walked upstairs and stood outside rooms 204 and 206. Finally she gathered her nerve and knocked on a door. Jess answered.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Uh, you wanna come in?"
"Sure." Rory entered room 206 and turned to look at Jess. "You wear glasses?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I mean, I've been wearing contacts, but I took 'em out. They kinda bother my eyes. But, I don't have to wear glasses, you know, it's just-"
"It's okay. I love them."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think they make you look great."
"Well, okay. I was just reading."
"Oh, really? What?"
"Hemingway."
Rory made a face.
"Oh, no, you can't make that face. Just admit that you like him. You were reading him earlier."
"Yeah, well. It was okay."
"Yeah, 'okay'."
"Stop torturing me."
"Oh, you know you love it."
"No, no, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!" Jess pulled Rory on top of him as he fell into a chair.
~~~~
Lorelai woke up in a very nice place: Luke's arms. She sighed happily and tried to remember her dream. There'd been clocks, breakfast, babies, coffee, a proposal, and...Luke. Lorelai looked over at him and wanted her miniature Freud to figure out the dream. It'd been pretty much like the one she'd had over a year ago, the one that Rory said was about how she was jealous of Sherry. Lorelai got out of bed, leisurely, until she remembered that the only other place her daughter could be was in Jess's room. She ran for the doors seperating the two rooms and pulled and pushed them open. She looked at the made beds and no one was there. She started to panic but then looked over towards the window. Jess sat in a chair, asleep, and Rory sat on top of him, also asleep. Lorelai edged out of the room and crawled back into bed. As she watched the sun rise (a first for her) she thought about Jess and Rory. She certainly didn't like him all that much, but at least he made her daughter happy. That's what counts, right?
~~~~~
A/N: Okay, I think I'm gonna do a pregnancy scare in the next chapter, but I can't decide who to scare and whether or not to make it permanent. If you wanna help me out, e-mail me at sami57peace2u@hotmail.com . It'd be a big help. Thanks a million!