** 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 looked from the gas station attendant to Lorelai.

"Well who was working here yesterday…" She reached forward and grabbed the name tag on his t-shirt. "Samuel?" She sighed.

"That would be Ted. And he's on break." He said casually. "Could you step to the side Miss, you're blocking the other customers."

"Yeah well, unless the other customers have a run away daughter, I come first Sammy! Now when will Ted be back?"

"I said he's on break." Sighed the attendant.

"How long is 'break'?" Asked Luke, seeing how frustrated Lorelai was.

"20 minutes." He said, putting some gum in his mouth.

"When did he go on break?" Asked Lorelai.

"I don't remember."

Lorelai wanted to reach out and strangle the guy. He looked like he was still in high school.

"Let's just get you some coffee and then when this other guy gets back we'll talk to him." Said Luke gently, pulling Lorelai away before she could do any damage.

"You're so lucky mister!" Said Lorelai, glaring at Samuel.

Luke and Lorelai headed towards the coffee and pastries at the back of the store.

"I hate Maryland." She mumbled.

"Really, I'm surprised it hasn't grown on you during your extensive stays here." Teased Luke.

"Hey, Luke… when was the last time I had coffee?" She asked.

"That would be yesterday." He sighed.

"So… how safe are you right now?"

"Point taken." He nodded

Lorelai ran her hand through her hair and then poured herself some coffee.

"I hate gas station coffee." She said.

"At this time in the morning, until you've had coffee, you hate everything." Luke reminded her.

Lorelai took a sip and cringed.

"It tastes like someone dipped a coffee bean in hot water for 10 seconds."

"You're not supposed to drink it until you pay for it."

"If I pay, I have to interact with Samson over there." She said, looking over at him. "And I know how squeamish you are, so seeing a 17 year old with scalded flesh probably isn't your idea of fun." She remarked.

"Drink your coffee." He said, shaking his head.

"Oooh!" Lorelai put the coffee down on the side and ran off.

"What? Puppies? In a gas station?" Pondered Luke, and then he noticed that Ted had come back from break.

"You. Teddy!" Shouted Lorelai, pushing past customers.

"Ted. My name is Ted." He sighed.

"Yeah, well, I think Teddy is cuter. Go with it." She said, forcing a smile. "Now… my daughter came in here yesterday and I was told that you were working when she was here."

"Maybe." He shrugged.

Lorelai handed him a picture of Rory.

"Remember her?" She asked. The smile on his face caused her to snatch the picture back. "Ogle time over. Talk." She demanded.

"Yeah, I remember her. She was in here with some guy. What about it?"

"She's a run away." Said Luke, coming up behind Lorelai.

"Oh, sorry to hear that." He said. "I didn't know. If I'd known I would have called someone."

"Sure you would. But… what do you remember? What did they do, where were they going…?" She asked desperately.

"I don't know. They came in. She used the ATM, he bought some food… they left." He shrugged. "They could have been headed south. I noticed them turn right out of the station… that's the quickest way to the south interstate entrance."

"Thank you, Teddy." Smiled Lorelai. "You've been a big help."

Luke and Lorelai hurried back out to the jeep and got in it.

"South, right?" He asked.

"That's what Teddy said." She sighed.

*****

Rory picked up the receiver and placed some quarters in the phone. She hesitated and then dialed.

Jess watched her shift uncomfortably from one foot to the next, and after a few minutes she hung up.

"She's not there." She sighed.

"She's got a pager and cell, couldn't you try those?" He asked.

"I guess… do you think I should?"

"I think you need to talk to her." He smiled supportively and she nodded.

*****

Lorelai rummaged through her purse when her cell started ringing.

"Hello?" She frowned. There was a long pause.

"Mom?"

"Oh my god. Rory?! Is that you?" She said, covering her other ear in hopes of hearing her better.

"Yeah. It's me." Rory bit her lip, wondering what Lorelai would say.

"Should I pull over?" Luke asked quietly. Lorelai shook her head.

"Rory, where are you?"

"I can't tell you." Sighed Rory, looking down at her shoes. "I just wanted to let you know that we're ok…"

"Babe, come home, we'll figure this all out." Begged Lorelai.

"I can't mom. Listen… my money's running out and I don't have anymore quarters, so… I'll call you again the next time I get a chance. I promise."

"Rory, don't go!" Said Lorelai, starting to cry.

"I love you, mom." She said, on the verge of tears herself. She hung up.

Jess walked over to her and hugged her tightly as she cried.

"Rory?! Rory!!" Lorelai wept into the phone. When she realized she wasn't going to get a response she shut it off.

"What did she say? Do you know where they are?" Luke asked.

"She said they're ok, and that they can't come home and she can't tell me where they are." Lorelai said, wiping her eyes.

"So…we don't know anything?" He sighed.

Lorelai slumped back in her seat and didn't answer. They drove in silence for a minute.

"I heard water." Said Lorelai suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Frowned Luke.

"In the background." She said, smiling slightly. "I heard a noise… I think it was water."

"What… like a shower or a fountain?" He asked.

"No, the ocean."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I heard the ocean." She nodded.

"Ok… well… There's no way they could be on the west coast yet. So… they must be on the east coast still." He said, feeling a bit more confident about finding them.

"So…" Lorelai pulled out a map and a pen. "They went from Stars Hollow to Baltimore." She mumbled, drawing a line. "And they're still on the east coast… how far could they have gone in one day?" She frowned.

"Uh… If the bank was right, and they were in Baltimore at about 8am yesterday, then… assuming they stopped overnight last night…" He narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Probably anywhere between here and the Florida state line."

"And your truck… assuming they filled it up in Baltimore, how far would they get before having to stop for gas again?" She asked.

"Um… 250 miles at the very most." Said Luke.

Lorelai studied the map closely.

"Ok, well… then they would have had to stop near… Norfolk. Or just past the border of North Carolina." She said.

"So what's the plan." He frowned.

"We assume they stayed on the interstate, and when we get to Norfolk we get off at ever interstate exit with a gas station and we show their pictures to the people there until we find something that tells us that we're going the right way." She said, closing the map.

"As crazy as that sounds… it might work." He said, smiling at her hopefully.

*****

Rory yawned and lay back on the motel room bed. Jess was on the phone with a friend in New York. She closed her eyes and thought about her mom. She felt so bad after their phone call. She'd known that Lorelai would be upset, but the pain in her voice had been more than Rory could stand.

Jess hung up and sat on the bed beside her.

"So? What did he say?" She asked.

"Uh… he's gonna' call a friend of his in New Orleans. He thinks we'll be able to stay there for a while." He nodded. "He'll call back when he's talked to him."

"How far is New Orleans?"

"At least 7 hours." He sighed.

"Ick. More driving." She said, running her hand through her hair.

He lay down beside her and held her hand.

"I'm sorry. We can stay here if you want?" He offered.

"No… it's ok. If we can stay with this friend of your friend for free we should do it."

"Rory?" He turned his head to look at her.

"Yeah?" She sighed, doing the same.

"If… you decide you want to go home…" He started.

"I won't."

"But if you do… you only have to say so."

"I know." She smiled slightly. "But I'm fine." She insisted, kissing him.

*****

"We shouldn't be stopping." Said Lorelai, pacing at the foot of the bed.

"We need to sleep." Said Luke, taking his shoes off.

"We should be out there… catching up to them!"

"Lorelai… we need to sleep." He said again.

She sat on the end of the bed.

"We're close Luke, we have to be." She said, looking at him for comfort.

"I think we are." He nodded.

"That woman… she said she thought she recognized Jess's picture."

"I know." He said softly.

"So… they came this way." Lorelai said, more to herself than to Luke.

Luke lay back on the bed and folded his arms behind his head. Lorelai looked at him and sighed. She didn't want to admit she was tired, but she was. She scooted back across the bed using her hands, and then lay down with her head on his chest.

He smiled slightly and put his arm around her.

*****

Luke woke up slowly and looked around. It was morning already, he felt like he'd only just fallen asleep.

He picked his watch up off of the night stand and squinted at it. 7:18am. He sighed and let his head rest back on the pillow. Then he heard a noise coming from the bathroom.

"Lorelai?" He frowned, sitting up and looking over at the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" She called back, her voice shaky.

"Are you ok in there?"

"I'm fine." She said.

Luke heard the toilet flush and then some water running. Lorelai came out and walked slowly back to the bed.

"Travel sickness." She mumbled, sitting down.

"We're not traveling."

"Delayed travel sickness then." She sighed, sipping the glass of water beside her bed.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Totally fine." She said, not too convincingly.

"Maybe we should…wait until this afternoon before we hit the road again."

"No… Luke, we have to get going… We're already god knows how many miles behind them." She said, looking him in the eyes. "We're so close… we can't stop now."

He nodded and rubbed her arm reassuringly.