A/N: Huge thank you to everyone who's still reading this story! You've really made my week! :)

Chapter 40

Lane crossed her arms and glared at him. 'You better talk fast, city-boy.'

'Yeah, I'm sure you're really bummed out about all the learning you're missing.' Jess replied sarcastically, completely unfazed.

'I can't believe you'd even set foot here again. I thought you hated this place.'

'Yeah, I know. I thought about climbing your window to talk to you, but I'm not really the tree-climbing type.'

'Really? I'm shocked.'

He nodded thoughtfully. 'Most people are.'

They stared at each other for a moment. Though he never made it particularly obvious, Lane had always had the feeling that Jess didn't particularly like her. He seemed to know that she'd warned Rory time and time again against dating him, or that she still held a grudge against him for breaking Rory's arm last year.

And silly as it may seem, Lane always felt like she was competing for Rory's attention lately, like she had to make herself smaller to fit into whatever space her best friend had left in her life. She couldn't help but blame Jess for that. Especially now.

She shook her head impatiently. 'You said there was something urgent you needed to talk to me about...' She urged. 'Is Rory okay?'

'You heard what happened, huh?'

'Of course, I heard what happened. God, it's all anybody's talking about!'

'Ah, I almost forgot about the Stars Hollow gossip mill.'

She could sense his curiosity and went on with ease, 'Rory's become something of a local Britney-Spears-post-meltdown figure, minus the hair-shaving.' Lane paused, then added. 'I hope.'

Jess shook his head.

'They're naming you Adnan Ghalib in this situation.'

'Great. Taylor must be having a blast.'

'He tried to pass a motion to bring back Rory, you know, calling up local inns and convincing them to hand you over –'

'Surprised they didn't break back Roy Demeo from the grave and let him have a go at it.'

'I think they were ready to pull out the pitchforks, but Luke came in and put an end to the whole thing. There was a whole debate about town mobbing and its place in the constitution.'

Jess scoffed.

Lane sighed. 'I wanted to call Rory, but I'm grounded and my mom decided there's no real need to call Dave anymore since he's taking me to prom anyway. So now I don't get any phone time, period.'

Jess looked at her. 'What are you grounded for again?'

'Kyle's cop-raided party? Getting drunk there?' She reminded him.

'Oh.' He said. 'That was so long ago.'

Lane sighed, lamenting. 'I'm a hermit. A recluse. A solitary. By the time I'm ungrounded, I'll Genie The Feral Child 2.0.'

'You ever think of getting a cell phone? Can't be that hard to hide.' He mused.

Lane wasn't impressed by his lack of empathy. She huffed. 'Easier said than done. Mrs. Kim puts the fear of God in a lot of people. Even those who've only just heard of her. So chances of anyone selling me a cell phone are next to zero.' She continued. 'Anyway, what's really going on with you and Rory? People have been spewing all kinds of crazy rumors.'

He snorted. 'What rumors?'

Lane started counting off her fingers. 'That Rory dropped out of school, dropped out of Yale, that she's pregnant, that you kidnapped her. That you two robbed Rory's grandparent's house, –'

'Huh. Not a bad idea,' Jess quipped.

Lane ignored him, going on. 'That Lorelai disowned her. And oh, that you both eloped. Among other things.'

'Jeez. Does anybody here have a life?'

'Please tell me none of that stuff is true.'

'Well, we didn't elope, that's for sure. This isn't a Jane Austen novel.' He scoffed again, though he seemed alarmed by the idea.

'Kirk's been telling everyone you ran away 'cause breaking his arm drove you to the brink of madness.'

'That's exactly what happened.'

Lane groaned. 'How am I missing so much?' She crossed her arms. 'I can't believe I'm getting news from you, of all people.'

Jess rolled his eyes.

'No offense, Jess, but you are the worst gossip ever. You're completely useless.'

'Thanks.'

Lane groaned. 'God, I hate being grounded. You do not have any appreciation for the juiciness of the situation.' She sighed. 'I mean I heard Kirk complaining to my mother about you breaking his arm a few days ago and I thought that's all I was missing. But, oh boy, did I know it was going to get .'

'Glad this is all entertaining you.'

'It really is.' She replied drily. 'Especially when my mom made our church group pray for your lost, devil-possessed soul.'

'Not the first time someone's done that.' He quipped amusedly, almost proudly.

Lane narrowed her eyes. Sometimes, she couldn't really understand what Rory saw in this self-deprecating jerk. 'So, how's Rory doing really?'

'She's fine.' He said tersely, leaning back against the wall.

'Fine?'

'Freaked out about the fight with her mom.' He admitted, looking away and apparently realising he was going to have to talk more, since this was the main reason he'd come to see Lane in the first place. 'And stressed out about exams. She's in study-mode.'

'Oh, that's not good. Study-mode Rory's scary.'

'Yeah, look, I know the Stars Hollow prom's coming up and all, so she asked me to ask you if you wanted to, you know, come over, do the dressing up thing together with her or whatever…' He suggested awkwardly.

'She asked you to ask me that?' Lane asked.

'I just think Rory needs someone to talk to. I mean, someone else to talk to. Don't want her getting cabin-fever and all that, right?' He shrugged.

'So she's lonely?'

'She's adjusting.' He countered.

'Yeah, Rory doesn't do well without Lorelai. Must be the mother of all fights if Lorelai actually kicked her out.' Lane pondered. 'Of course, if I'd been there and if anybody'd bothered telling me, I would've done some damage control. Not poured more gas to the fire and went for a rendition of the Little Fugitive.'

'You're salty we didn't tell you we were leaving. I get it, but are you gonna act all bitchy or can you actually help?' There was an edge to his voice.

'I'm grounded, Jess.' She said icily.

'You've snuck out before.' He reminded her.

'Yeah, before Rory ran away. Do you have any idea the level of Guantanamo-high-alertness this has raised in the Kim household? And in all of Stars Hollow?'

He sighed. 'We could arrange something.'

'Like the New York thing?' Lane raised an eyebrow curiously.

His lips curled up slightly. 'We have a room in Hartford. I'll give you the address.'

Lane groaned, shaking her head. 'Hartford's way too far.'

'It's less than 30 minutes away.'

'And that's already too far. I mean, normally, I'd love to, of course, but… there's no way I can sneak in and out of my house anytime soon.'

'How about this weekend? It's the Stars Hollow prom, right?'

'Yes and that'll bethe most dangerous of all nights in the Kim household. My mom's already called the limousine guy four times just to confirm that he'll take me and Dave straight from my house to the school without even stopping at traffic lights. I barely managed to extend my prom curfew from 8 pm to 8:15 pm and that took weeks of buttering up.'

Jess sighed. 'You can sneak out after your mom's asleep. I can drive you.'

Lane shook her head again. 'She's not going to sleep that night. I'm not kidding. She bought out all the coffee in stock at Doose's. She'll be expecting me to do something and if I do, I'll get grounded all over again and it'll be so much worse.'

Jess hung his head and buried his hands in his pockets. 'Well, you should have this then.' He offered her his cell phone.

Lane could only stare at Jess, then at the phone, her eyes widening.

'Maybe you could give Rory a call?' He suggested. 'Fair warning though, Luke and Lorelai call a lot and I'd advise against taking any of their calls.'

'They're mad at you?' Lane sighed. 'Duh. Don't answer that.' Lane slipped the phone in her pocket, then continued. 'But Rory's doing okay, right?'

'Of course she is.' He hesitated, as if to say something else, but then settled with, 'she just needs to vent.'

'How bad is it?'

'Lorelai's not coming to her graduation.'

'That's bad.' Lane pursed her lips. Rory must be devastated. 'So unlike Lorelai… I can't tell you how many times she said talked about that graduation.'

He shrugged.

Lane stared at the floor. 'I'll try my best to help, but apart from watching Thelma and Louise, I don't know the first thing about running away.' She looked at him, voicing the thought she hated admitting most. 'You'll probably know how to talk to her better than I would.'

He shifted his feet, looking somewhat uncomfortable. 'Not really the same.'

'So you didn't, in the not so distant past, have a fight with your mother and get yourself kicked out?'

'Jeez. Lane.'

'That was too harsh. Sorry. My Kim genes sometimes take over.' Lane apologized. 'I just mean that…''

'What?'

'Well, that you shouldn't be shutting her out. Especially now.'

'I'm not.'

'So that's not why you're here, asking for my help?'

'No, it's not.'

Lane stared at him. 'Fine.'

'Fine.' A few awkward moments later, he nodded towards the hallway. 'I better get going.'

Despite the rude defensiveness, Lane thought that maybe he wasn't such a terrible boyfriend after all. In fact, him coming here to ask Lane for help with Rory felt like something Dave might do. Thoughtful and sweet. Very un-Jess-like.

As he made to leave, Lane suddenly called. 'Wait!'

He paused, giving her a questioning look.

'Can I ask you a random, personal and slightly invasive question?'

He sighed. 'No?'

'Okay.' She pursed her lips then continued. 'I'm gonna ask it anyway.'

He shrugged.

'Are you going to California anytime soon?'

He raised an eyebrow and replied slowly. 'I don't know.'

'Oh, okay.' She looked somewhat disappointed.

He stared at her. 'Why? Did you want a CD or something?'

'Um, yeah.' She said distractedly, then waved her hands. 'But it's fine. Just forget it.'

'Okay.' He nodded slowly, clearly enjoying her discomfort. 'Guess I should just go then.'

'Guess you should.'

He turned to leave, but then paused again, turning back. 'It's bus 98, by the way.'

'What?'

'Bus 98.' He repeated, turning to her. 'It takes you to Chicago and from there, you can take a night bus to California. Or you can take a plane if you've got the money. Dave's going to Santa Barbara, right?'

She nodded, her cheeks turning red again.

'If I were you, I'd just take the bus. It'll take a couple of days, but it's cheaper.'

'Oh no, I'm not going.' Lane brought her hands up defensively. 'I was just asking… for Dave. He was wondering about that.'

'Right.'

'Maybe he'll ask you in a couple of days too… just to double-check.'

'Okay.'

'You know Dave, he's big on… planning and organization and stuff.'

He nodded, but didn't look like he believed her one bit.

'Not that I wouldn't be, if I were going to California too. Which I'm not, but if I were then I would. Plan for it, I mean.' She rambled, her cheeks getting hot. 'Anyway, I have to get going. My mom's gonna notice if I'm late, so...'

Jess nodded and smirked in amusement as she hurried away, ducking to hide her blushing face.