** Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Gilmore Girls. If I were that all powerful then Jess would be staying put! So, in summation... Please don't sue me!**

Luke opened the apartment door and he and Jess stepped inside. Jess headed for the couch and sat down.

"How do they do it?" Sighed Luke rubbing his tired eyes.

"It's called coffee." Said Jess, resting his head back and closing his eyes.

"It's not natural. I've seen coffee drinkers. I run a diner. But they… they are something else." He laughed. "Did you see how many sour patch kids Lorelai ate?"

"Yeah, half as many gummy bears as Rory ate." Smiled Jess.

Luke nodded and stretched. His eyes fell on the answering machine.

"Can you… reach over and press the play button on the machine?" He asked, seeing that Jess was nearer.

"Uh… sure." Sighed Jess, reaching with one hand and failing, and then trying the other one.

There was a beep and then the message.

"Jess? Luke? It's Liz. I know you've both been trying to avoid my calls, and I have to say I never thought my own brother would do this to me."

Luke shook his head at the machine.

"Anyway, I want you home, Jess. By this weekend. If you're not on a bus home by Friday evening then you can bet your ass I'll be on one Saturday Morning. I am your mother, and you're going to do as I say."

There was another beep and the message was over. Luke looked at Jess for a reaction.

"Tell me there's something we can do to stop her." He sighed.

"I… don't think there is, Jess." Said Luke, sitting beside him.

"I can't leave Rory."

"I know."

"So… what do I do?" He asked, looking at Luke.

Luke rested his head in his hands. He didn't know what to tell him to do.

"I guess… you do whatever it takes." He said.

"Couldn't get any vaguer, huh?" Jess smiled slightly.

"Possibly, if I weren't so tired."

"Whatever it takes?" Jess asked.

"You do what you have to." Nodded Luke, standing up and patting Jess on the shoulder lightly.

"Ok then." Said Jess, too softly for Luke to hear.

*****

Jess approached the Gilmore's front porch, not knowing exactly how to act around Rory while he was thinking the way he was. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Lorelai flung the door open and smiled widely at him.

"Hey! Come in, come in!" She said, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him inside.

"Uh… hi." He laughed as she ran back into the living room and jumped on the couch. "What's going on?" He frowned.

"Well, I don't know. I just was bored, so I switched onto this show… I think it's a soap opera. Anyway, she loves him, but he's married to her sister, only he doesn't know that his wife is also his sister, and she doesn't know that her sisters husband is also her brother." Said Lorelai pointing between the two characters sharing a passionate embrace on the screen.

"Sounds fun and healthy to me." He laughed. "Rory here?"

"Yeah, bedroom, go right ahead." She said, waving him away with her hand, unable to turn away from the screen.

Jess shook his head and smiled at how engrossed in the TV show Lorelai was.

He headed for Rory's bedroom and opened the door slowly.

"Hey baby, hey baby, hey!" She sang, dancing in place with her eyes closed and her headphones on.

Jess smiled and watched for a minute. He felt guilty for not letting her know he was there, but he'd never seen her dancing before and, as bad as it was, he was enjoying it too much to stop her.

He walked over to her slowly and took her headphones off.

"Hey baby." He smiled.

Rory's face turned several shades of red as she stared at him.

"How much did you see?" She cringed.

"Not much." He lied. "Just enough to know that you would have made a great 'Fly Girl'."

"I can't believe you just saw that." She said, mock crying and covering her face with her hands.

"Me either." He smiled, putting his arms around her. "I loved the shimmy though. Nice touch." He said playfully.

"The shimmy… that was like… 3 minutes ago!" She groaned.

"Yeah, it was right between the mashing of the potato and the shaking of the tail feather." He smiled and she hit him playfully.

"It's not funny. Now you have to humiliate yourself to make us even." She declared.

"I don't see that happening anytime in the near future."

"Do something stupid, dance or… I don't know… something." She pouted.

"You were cute. You don't have to be embarrassed." He smiled, kissing her.

"Yes I do." She sighed, burying her face in his shirt. "I shimmied, and you saw it!" She said in horror.

"It was a dream come true."

"It's so not funny!" She said, trying not to laugh.

"But look on the bright side, now you can dance around all you want and know that I've already seen it, so you don't have to hide it from me." He said reassuringly.

"I do. I really do." She laughed, sitting on her bed and putting her head back in her hands.

He sat next to her and put his arm around her.

"I love you. You don't have to be so embarrassed about something like this."

She looked up at him.

"But you saw me dancing. Really badly! I can do better!"

"Show me?" He smiled playfully.

"In your dreams."

"Each and every night." He teased, kissing her on the forehead.

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came for the entertainment. I hear you're doing lap dances later, I thought I'd get here early."

"Stop it!" She groaned, flopping backwards on the bed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I promise, no more dancing jokes." He said seriously as he lay down beside her.

"So… why are you here?"

"I uh…" He couldn't tell her. He knew he would have to soon, but the timing wasn't anywhere near right. "I um… just wanted to see you." He said, forcing a smile that looked sincere enough to fool her.

She smiled at him and kissed him. He put his arms around her again and closed his eyes as she snuggled up to him.

*****

Rory opened one eye and then the other. It was still dark, so why was Lorelai waking her up. Her eyes focused properly and she realized that it wasn't Lorelai it was Jess.

She sat up slowly.

"Jess… what's going on?" She asked, looking at the alarm clock beside her bed. She picked it up and showed it to him. "It's 2am."

"Yeah, I'm late." He said quietly, kneeling beside her bed.

"Late… for what?" She frowned.

"Rory…" He took hold of her hand and searched for the right words. "There isn't anything we can do to stop my mom taking me back to New York." He sighed.

"You don't know that. Maybe when she gets here tomorrow and sees how happy you are then she'll listen to us." Nodded Rory, still trying to think positively.

"You don't know my mom. She's going to stick to her guns because she has to be right. Even if she wants to give in, she won't." He said.

"But…" Rory started to protest.

"I'm leaving." He said.

"You're what? You're not even going to try and stop it?" She said, tears coming to her eyes.

"No… that's not what I mean. I'm leaving Stars Hollow. I'm getting away from here before she gets here." He explained quietly. "And I want you to come with me."

"You want me to… run away with you?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Tonight?" She frowned.

"Yes. I'm sorry Rory, I can't think of anything else."

Rory was stunned. She looked around her room, wondering if she was dreaming, but the serious look of Jess's face was all too real.

"I don't… I don't know, Jess." She sighed, gripping his hand tightly. "I love you. So much. But…" She shook her head slightly. "What about my mom… and… ?"

"I know. It's a lot to ask of you. And if you say no, then I won't go, I'll just wait for Liz to arrive and I'll go back to New York. But if you say yes, then we'll go and we'll stay away until I'm 18."

"That's 6 months." She said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I know." He said apologetically. "I just… I don't want to be without you."

"I don't want to be without you either." Said Rory, looking him in the eyes. "I don't think I know how to be without you anymore."

Jess got up onto the bed and hugged her tightly. He felt awful for asking her to leave everything she knew behind. But he didn't know what else they could do to stay together.

"How…" She pulled back and looked at him. "Do you have any money?"

"A little, not a lot. But enough for… a while." He sighed and she nodded.

She pushed the sheets away and started getting out of bed.

"Are you… coming with me?" He asked, trying not to sound as hopeful as he was.

Rory didn't answer him. She pulled a bag down from the top of her wardrobe and started filling it with clothes. She looked around the room, trying to think of things she needed, or wanted.

She picked up a picture from her desk, of she and her mother.

Jess stayed seated on the bed, just watching her. He was overcome with astonishment. He'd hoped she'd come with him, but he hadn't imagined how it would feel. To have someone love him so much that they'd give up everything they knew for him. Leave their life behind. He was awestruck.

He got up and walked over to her.

"What do I need…? I can't think!" She said anxiously.

Jess pulled her into a kiss, it was passionate and strong and consuming. But it seemed to calm them both, centering them and reminding them why they were doing what they were about to do.

They rested their foreheads against each other, they were both breathing fast.

"Ok… now… what else do you need?" He asked softly.

Rory looked around the room again.

"Oh, my jacket and purse… they're in the hall." She said quietly. "I'll be right back."

Jess watched her sneak out of her room. He hoped that she didn't wake Lorelai, although the part of him that felt bad about their situation hoped she did.

She came back into the room and closed the door.

"Ok, that's it." She sighed.

"You're sure?"

"Anything I didn't get I don't need badly enough." She shrugged and he nodded.

He picked up her bag and carried it over to the window, placing it outside on the porch. He climbed through the window and waited for her.

Rory walked over to her desk and grabbed a pen and some paper. She quickly wrote out a note for Lorelai, folded it neatly and placed it on her pillow.

"Bye room." She said sadly, trying not to cry.

She headed over to the window and Jess steadied her as she climbed through it.

They hurried across the front lawn in the darkness.

"What's that?" Rory stopped and frowned.

"It's uh… Luke's pickup." Said Jess.

"You stole his truck?"

"I borrowed. There's a difference."

"Jess…" She sighed uncertainly.

"He told me to do whatever it took to stay with you. So I am."

"But if we take the pickup then all they have to do to find us is call the cops and give them the plate numbers."

"I left him a note… I asked him not to do that."

"You think that'll work?" Frowned Rory as Jess placed her bag with his behind the seats.

"I think he cares about us both too much to do anything to hurt us."

Rory ran her hand through her hair and looked at Jess. She knew he was right about Luke. He wouldn't call the police. She wasn't so sure about Lorelai and Liz.

"Ok… then let's go." She smiled slightly, getting in the passenger side.

Jess got in the drivers side and turned the key in the ignition. The engine started and broke the silence. He looked over at Rory.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"No." She said, with a small nervous laugh. "But I'm sure I want to be with you… and if this is the only way…"

He nodded, understanding.

"Here…" She smiled softly, taking his hand and placing it in the center of her chest. "Feel that?"

He let his hand rest where she had placed it and after a moment a smile crept onto his lips. Her heart was racing.

"Yeah. I feel it."

"Do you feel… excited?" She asked coyly.

"Excited how?" He frowned.

"I mean… I'm sad that we're leaving." She said, looking out of the window at her house and Babette's. "But… it's like… I can't help being excited. Partly because it's just so not like me, and it's something I shouldn't be doing but… I want to. And partly because it feels like some kind of adventure." She said, not really understanding her own feelings.

"I know." He nodded, hoping she'd still feel as positive about it all later.

He pulled away from the Gilmore's house and onto the road. They drove out past Luke's, down Main street.

Rory looked out of her window as they passed the 'Welcome To Stars Hollow' sign.

She knew she was doing the right thing. It was something she hadn't needed to think over and analyze. It was something she felt, something she instinctively knew. She had to be with him.

"Where to?" He asked, glancing at her for a moment.

"You don't know?" She smiled slightly.

"Uh… no. I only planned this far. I think there's an road atlas or a map or something in the glove compartment." He said.

Jess reached across and banged the palm of his hand against it. It popped open.

"Ok… north or south?" She asked, pulling the road atlas out and opening it. "We could go to Canada!"

"Got your passport?" He smiled.

"Nope…" She said, looking at the next page. "Well… where do we go?"

"I guess… somewhere with cheap everything?" He said.

"That'd be Kansas." She joked. "Did you know, you can get a house in Oklahoma for the price of a new car in California?" She smiled proudly.

"You have way too much free time on your hands." He laughed softly.

"I love you too." She smiled, going back to the road atlas.

They were approaching the interstate, Jess turned to her again.

"Which entrance should I take?" He asked.

Rory looked up. North was Massachusetts. South was New York.

"South." She said eventually. He nodded and took the south entrance.

"Where am I going?" He smiled, she was falling asleep in the seat next to him.

"Away." She sighed, her eyes closed. She was still in her pajama's.

Jess took one hand away from the wheel and pulled a blanket from behind her seat and covered her with it.

Then he carried on driving. Away.

A/N: Just a quick note - They aren't running to New York, just in that direction. And I also changed the lines in Chapter 2 that vfoxy713 mentioned. Thanks for the input. (it's nothing major but hopefully you'll cringe less. lol)