"I'm going to kill him." Luke muttered. "Liz too." He added as they got out of the truck.

"Maybe we should concentrate on locating them first." Lorelai said rubbing her hands together.

Luke found the keys to the diner and put them in the lock muttering.

"Hey Luke."

"We'll be inside in a minute and I'll make you coffee."

"Luke." Lorelai repeated.

"I'm not going to argue about the coffee."

"I found Jess."

"What?" Luke turned around.

"In the Gazebo." Lorelai pointed out. "It's freezing go and bring him inside. I'll get Rory."

"Okay."

Luke walked across the road; that early on a Sunday morning there was no traffic about.

"Jess." He shook his shoulder. "Jess!"

"Do you have to shout?" Jess groaned.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Liz kidnapped me and took me to New York."

"You could have called Rory she's been going out of her mind."

"I didn't have any money." Jess replied. "Can we go in its freezing?"

"How long have you been out here?"

"We got back half an hour ago, I didn't have my keys and I didn't want to wake Rory and Libby."

"They're both wide awake worrying about you." Luke stated.

"Rory." Lorelai yelled up the stars.

"I'm coming Mom." Rory called as she carried Libby down the stairs. "Where do you think…"

"We found what you were missing." Lorelai told her and nodded to the door where Luke was pushing Jess in the door.

"Can you take her?" Rory handed Libby to Lorelai.

"Sure."

"Come with me." Rory grabbed Jess's arm and literally dragged him to the store room.

"If you wanted me alone…" Jess started to joke.

"Where the hell were you?" Rory screamed.

"Could you not yell I have a hangover?" Jess requested. "And it was freezing outside."

"Hangover? Haven't you ever heard a telephone?"

"I didn't have any money."

"Where the hell were you?" Rory asked. "We were going to try and figure out what hospitals to call but we didn't know where you'd gone."

"Liz wanted to buy Libby a birthday present; she ended up driving to New York." Jess explained.

"It only takes two and half hours to drive to New York." Rory pointed out.

"Well Liz is almost as bad as you and Lorelai when she finds a shop. She couldn't decide and I really didn't want to be there." Jess explained. "Then on the way back she ran out of gas."

"Calling collect?" Rory suggested.

"We walked a couple miles to this bar and she bought me a drink to warm me up."

"Jess, you're not twenty one for six weeks." Rory reminded him.

"They didn't seem to care. Especially since Liz kept flirting with them when she was buying drinks. Before you ask their phone was out of order."

"So how did you get back to Stars Hollow?"

"We got kicked out at 3am. Liz found someone who could drop us off a few miles away, so we walked back the rest of the way. Since I didn't have my keys I waited in the gazebo for Luke to get here to open the door." Jess replied.

"Why the hell didn't you knock?"

"I didn't want to wake you up." Jess offered.

"I've been awake most of the night going out of my mind, think you were lying in a ditch somewhere or you'd run off and weren't coming back or…"

"Rory…"

"But you were out getting drunk with your mother and hitchhiking."

"Rory."

Rory burst into tears.

"Come here." Jess wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed. "I'm sorry my mother kidnapped me, and I promise I'm not going to run off. I would have called if I could."

Rory continued to cry.

"You're freezing." She sobbed.

"I'm warming up." Jess replied. "I'm sorry."

TBC