AN - Ok, so, when I was going over this this morning it was the biggest crap pile. Ever! Somehow I've decided it's not so bad anymore. Maybe coz I only skimmed it, I don't know. Anyay, now I'm going to leave it.

While other kids at Chilton were planning big expensive vacations to their family's European summer homes to unwind before their first semester as college freshmen, Rory and Jess had divided their time between working in the diner, getting through finals, and planning the road trip they were to take in the middle of the summer – giving them time to continue working and saving money for a while beforehand, and then returning home to spend time with family and friends before heading off to Cambridge.

Liz had mentioned that she, Jimmy and Luke wanted to all put money in to buy Jess a car as a graduation present, which had in turn set him and Rory off thinking of how much fun it would be to take a road trip before heading off to college. It helped that they'd been watching Thelma & Louise right before hearing about the car too.

"Your parents were really serious about buying you a car?" Rory checked for what may have been the millionth time in early April. "Really?"

"Yes. Really, really." Jess told her.

"So that means that we can do it then? We can actually take the trip, they approve and everything?"

"Dad thinks it's a great idea, Mom doesn't want me to ever go anywhere, but she understands that I'm going to, so from my side of things that's a yes."

"This is so awesome!"

"Your mom's still cool with it?"

"Yeah, she's completely sick of me. Can't wait until I'm gone," Rory replied, grinning.

"Oh good, well, since my family are the ones buying this particular automobile, I say we should head to Florida," Jess repeated; as many times as Rory had asked him if the car was for real, he had been trying to convince her of this. "The keys..."

"There's no way you're going to get me down to Hemingway's house!" Rory returned, "You can bring a couple of his books with you - if you must – but I'm not going to go there. And since this was originally my idea and we'll be sharing the driving time, and all the expenses, you should know right now – if you insist on going all that way, I'm not chipping in for gas, and I'm only buying food for myself."

"I could always hitchhike, leave you with the car somewhere around..." he consulted the map spread out in front of him, "Virginia. Or, if you feel like taking a bit more of a ride, we could stick together until Georgia."

"You want to leave the rest of us to read about 'the young man, brutally murdered on the I-95'? I don't think so. Let's just stick to planning a trip we'll both enjoy and survive, ok?"

"Fine, we have to go to New York then."

"We do?"

"Well, yeah, you've seen where I grew up I want to see where you come from. If I don't get Hemingway, this is only fair."

"If we have to..."

"We do."

"Alright, so we'll stop at your dad's first," she began to tick things off on a list, "take a quick look around Harvard, help Lily find lots more books and ensure there's no room in the house for anyone to breathe, then we head over to New York..."

Harvard looked exactly how Rory had been expecting, just the way Jess said it would. They were very fortunate too, that Jimmy refused to let them pay for much of anything while they stayed with him. All they really spent any money on were a couple of books, a Harvard bumper sticker and a sweatshirt each. After three days with Jimmy's family they hit the road again, this time making the journey across the state line, headed to Rory's old town.

Tracking down Ella and Ashley was pretty easy and the three girls took Jess all over town, showing him the sights. Despite the fact that she had grown up there, she'd been on foot most of the time, so when it was just the two of them again, Rory had trouble finding certain things amid the sea of yellow cabs. She was screamed at in more languages she knew existed, and shown quite a few less than friendly hand signals. But eventually they reached what had once been her favourite record store, a place she'd practically lived in whenever she'd felt like getting lost in obscure music heaven and they also stopped by Cooperstown to pick up a souvenir for Luke before Jess turned to her and pleaded,

"Can we go to your house now? Or, apartment, somewhere you used to live? Please?"

"We moved around a lot," Rory explained, hoping, but not really believing that this would put him off as she climbed back behind the wheel. "There wasn't really anywhere I called home. Nowhere that we stayed long enough to really make much of an impression,"

"Well, what was the longest you stayed anywhere?"

"The last crap pile we were in was about three years, maybe a little more. That would have been the record I think. Some others were as short as three weeks. It got to the point that I didn't bother unpacking until at least a month had gone by."

"That's... I can't even imagine what that would have been like."

"Pretty sucky."

"Yeah, I bet. Where are we?" Jess asked after a while, looking out the window at the dilapidated buildings.

"This is it. Three years, that one right there." She pointed across the street at what was probably the saddest looking building Jess had ever seen. Even amongst the other sad buildings, the one she was indicating had to be the worst. "Surprisingly the lock was always pretty solid on the main doorway, and if the same super is there, then I don't even want to think about trying to get in there, so hopefully this view is enough. But that's it that was 'home'."

"Wow." Rory just sat, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as Jess stared up at the crumbling structure, "Are you hungry?" he asked eventually and Rory blinked at him.

"What?"

"I was thinking hot dogs, from one of those vendors that would send Luke into one of his rants, what do you say?"

"Sure. Hot dogs sound great." With that, Rory turned the car around and drove away from that place, never planning to return.

From there they had driven down to Philadelphia to see the liberty bell.

"Can we also educate the Amish on the ways of the world?" Rory had asked as they passed through Burlington City, getting them closer to Philly. "I mean, T.V, internet, the telephone! They're missing out on so much."

"We should probably leave them to enjoy their ignorance. I think they like it that way."

"Ok, so we'll just pop in, take a look around at their backwards lifestyle then hit the road again,"

"I think that would be the best idea." And so they'd observed from afar.

They'd booked hostels most of the way down the coast, but occasionally slept in the car, depending on where they were at the time. When they arrived in North Carolina however, they found a nice inn to spend a couple of nights in, since Rory figured her grandparents would be horrified at the thought of the majority of their sleeping arrangements.

Nearing the end of the road they'd decided on, they spent about a week at the beaches in South Carolina, enjoying the scenery and searching for the places where many movies they'd enjoyed over the years had been filmed.

With that, they turned the car around and headed back up the coast to spend the remainder of their summer at home.

"The traveller's return!" Sookie cried out, as Rory and Jess came through the diner door.

"Ohh! My baby's back!" Liz jumped up, out of her seat and rushed over to hug her son.

"Mom! Wouldn't you be happier about me being home if I could breathe?" Jess asked her, trying to loosen her grip on him as Rory did the same with Sookie.

"I'm just so happy you're here!" Liz added, stepping back for a moment to look at him before pulling him back for another hug.

"Oh, come on!"

"Rory, it's good to see you too," she added, hugging the girl as well.

"Thanks, you too,"

"Hey! You're here," Luke came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

"Please, no crushing of our weary bones!" Rory told him, putting her hands up as Liz wrapped an arm around Jess's shoulders, kissing his cheek. "It's been a long drive,"

"Well, can I..?" he stepped forward a little, his arms open as if to hug her.

"Oh, fine!" Rory conceded before moving forward and hugging him as well. "Do you know if Mom's going to be-"

"I missed it! Damn it, I can't believe I missed it!" Lorelai screeched, coming through the door, and threw her arms around her startled daughter, who'd stepped away from Luke.

"Ha-ha your turn." Jess smirked at her, right before Lorelai turned and pulled him in to a hug as well. "Ugh! Jeez!"

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for your entrance! It's so good to see you guys. I love the stickers by the way."

"What?" Luke looked at her confused.

"The bumper stickers on the car,"

"You guys feel free to scour over every aspect of the car if you want, but I'm going to bed." Jess told them, heading towards the stairs.

"Oh that's the best idea I've heard all day." Rory agreed, following him. "We'll catch up later. Good to see you all, night,"

"Wait, what are they-"

"Oh, honey relax! They're definitely just going to sleep." Lorelai told him.

"What?"

"Uhhh..."

"Forget about it, Luke, really, don't worry."

"But what-"

"How about we go outside and look at the car?" Sookie suggested. "See if there are any major scratches or dents they 'forgot' to mention,"

Luke shook his head before heading outside to inspect the car.

Almost twenty-four hours later, the two of them emerged from the room above the diner, very hungry.

"Now that you're all rested and fed, tell us about your trip," Lorelai requested, fiddling with the doll she'd been given from Amish country, as the plates where cleared away. They'd eaten almost everything they'd ordered all that was left was a plate of chilli fries which everyone was attacking.

"We called, we sent postcards, the photos are all here," Rory reminded her, reaching for a bag on the floor. "Short of riding in the back seat you already know everything,"

"Yeah, well, I didn't have the option to take the entire summer off to do that, so, come on. Make it seem as if I were in the back seat. What'd you do? Where'd you go? What'd you see? Did you meet anyone famous?"

"Jim Morrison."

"Wha- How can you... What are you talking about?"

"If Jim Morrison came back from the dead and you met him, how could you not have mentioned that?" Liz demanded. "Called us right away, allowed us to get there and see him for ourselves?"

"Well, he was actually an impersonator." Jess clarified.

"Ashley says hello again, by the way." Rory added snatching a fry.

"Not Ella?"

"She was in New Jersey for something. I can't remember what. But Ash made us promise to pass the message along. We hung out again on our way through the second time around. That's where we found Jim,"

"Oh, consider it passed, and hello back."

"Can I get another coffee please Luke?" Jess requested and Luke nodded, heading over.

"Just leave the pot," Rory requested once he'd topped everyone up. "There is not a single place that serves a decent cup of coffee out of everywhere that we went," she added after draining half her cup. "You should fix that."

"How?"

"Franchise. And make sure you put one near Harvard, coz we'll need your burgers and the coffee will be essential during midterms."

"Would you look at that, my kid hasn't even started college yet and already she's planning for midterms."

"I can just tell. If Chilton was hell, then Harvard is going to be so much worse. Do you think it's too late to undo my acceptance and go to Southern Connecticut State instead?"

"Should be fine if you want to kill your grandparents,"

"But they wanted Yale, why would they care?"

"Well, Harvard is still an Ivy Connecticut State is... Not."

"Ugh, I'm seriously way too tired to debate this with you now. If I start to snore, just push me off the chair ok?" Rory appealed, resting her head on her arm on the table.

Lorelai patted the top of her head before grabbing a fry.

Dropping the last of her suitcases beside her bed, Rory glanced, irritated at the bed on the other side of the room. "I'm really not a fan of this, living with a complete stranger thing," she said to her mother. It had been almost a month since they'd returned from their trip. "What would be so bad about me and Jess being in a dorm together?"

"The college is co-ed, and it's progressed a lot since first opening," Lorelai replied, "but I think it'll be a bit of a wait before that happens. Just give it a chance, you might love your room mate – and if you don't, you can always move."

"That didn't seem to be an option the last time I was living with someone I didn't know."

"But you remember how well that worked out?" Lorelai reminded her. "I mean, look around you – you wouldn't be here if that had never happened."

"That's true. But what if we were one of those couples that had gotten married as juniors, would they still be trying to keep us apart?"

"No, I think then they would have you move to one of those housing developments specifically set aside for those people."

"Something to think about then," Rory mused.

"You are not serious!"

"Of course I'm not. I think one wedding this year will be enough," she added, causing Lorelai to glance down at her left hand with a happy sigh, specifically at the pretty new ring she was wearing. "Maybe we'll just have one of those hippy-dippy commitment ceremonies."

"Who's having a commitment ceremony?" Tristan asked, as he followed Jess into the room. Peering past them Rory could see Luke, Liz, TJ and Jimmy lounging in the next room.

"No one, forget it. Are you done?"

"Yep, and we have something to show you." Jess told her, taking her hand.

"Follow us please," Tristan added, leading the way out of the room. The three of them made their way across the hall, and Rory glanced back to see the adults all staying put, obviously too tired to move or care.

"Where are we going?" she asked. "The stairs are back that way and your-"

"Just look." Jess instructed, pointing into an open doorway.

"This is a joke isn't it?"Rory demanded. "I'm still asleep, at home, my alarm is about to go off and then-"

"Rory?"

"Goddamnit!" she muttered under her breathe as Paris came towards the door to greet them.

"Tristan, Jess, isn't this great? We'll get to spend all this time together, take all the same classes. It'll be just like old times."

"Paris," Tristan began, "I don't mean to be rude, but do you actually remember Chilton? The last year?"

"Of course I do! Don't be so silly!"

"You never mentioned you were planning on coming here," Rory realised.

"I didn't?"

"No. I don't remember hearing anything about it."

"Oh, well, I'm sure I would have. Five generations of Gellar's have gone to Harvard before me, it was a given that I would too."

"A given, sure."

"Oh, there you guys are," Liz popped her head in the door. "We were thinking we'd head over to Jimmy's; Sasha's finishing work and she said she'd get pizza, want to come?"

"Sounds great," Jess nodded.

"Paris hi. Did we know you would be here?"

"Apparently not."

"Well, it's good to see you... Did you want to... come for pizza?"

"Thanks, but I'm allergic to dairy. And I've got some more things I need to do here."

"Well, you have fun then, I guess we'll see you later."

"I'm sure you will." Paris agreed and the four of them left the room.

Grabbing a can of soda Lorelai joined her friends and fiancé on the couch at Jimmy's house, thinking back to the night, not all that long ago, that she had become engaged. Just days after Rory and Jess had returned from their trip, she'd been at home with Luke, watching a movie.

"Luke, I need to tell you something," she said, pausing the movie and shifting on the couch to face him better. "And I probably should have done this a long time ago, definitely, I know. I should have, but I couldn't and now-"

"Lorelai, what is it?" he asked, cutting her off.

"The reason that I left back then without a word, I know I said it had nothing to do with you, but that's a lie. Well, sort of, it was a little to do with you, but mostly me and I-"

"It doesn't matter; you don't need to tell me."

"But I do."

"Well, ok, if you really think it's that important."

"I thought I was pregnant." Luke sat in stunned silence and Lorelai forced herself to go on. "Rory and Jess were still babies, we all had our hands full, I was only just eighteen and I got scared."

"Does that mean..."

"I wasn't." She replied quickly. "It was a false alarm. But at the time I just couldn't think straight and there was something in my mind that told me to run. Ignoring all that I knew about you, I just kept remembering that day that Chris left and how he didn't even seem to think twice about it, and then I did the same. Afterwards I wanted to come back, but I put it off, knowing how much I must have hurt you and everyone else, so I just kept putting it off and putting it off and it got to the point where I thought I'd never see any of you ever again."

"You should have told me." Luke replied after the longest time. "I had a right to know, even if it wasn't... You should have said something."

"I know, and I am so, so sorry, you have no idea. But please Luke, if you can forgive me, I swear, nothing like that will ever happen again. Ever!"

"Ok."

"Ok? Like, 'ok, I'm going to leave now, don't call me' or ok as in 'it actually is ok, let's forget about it,'?"

"Forget about it. It was years ago, it doesn't matter now."

Now it was Lorelai's turn to be stunned. She hadn't really known what to expect, but Luke's reaction had not been the one she was anticipating.

Neither was what came out of her mouth next.

"Luke, will you marry me?"

"Yes."

"Well, you don't have to answer so–"

"Yes."

"You can at least take a minute to-"

"No."

"Ok, so... Yes?"

"Yes."

"We're getting married?"

"Yeah."

"Sookie's gonna have a coronary." Lorelai realised, leaning in and kissing the man she loved.

Sookie had been so excited when she heard, that she couldn't speak. She screamed silently, and danced around the room before regaining her voice and rambling on and on about how happy she was for the two of them.

"... Aqua and S Club 7." Rory finished as Lorelai tuned back in.

"Oh God, we will definitely have to do something about that." Jess decided.

"Can the thing we do please be to remove my hearing, because I can't listen to that music. It's horrific!"

"Why are you listening to S Club 7?"

"The room mate that arrived just before I left to come here, she was busy putting up one of their posters while an Aqua CD played in the background."

"Oh, that's not good."

"No. And you're the one who told me to give it a chance. But I'm not going to love that girl until she gets a lobotomy."

"Well, maybe being at college will help expose her to better music and she'll ditch the crap." Jimmy observed.

"Here's hoping."

Later that night after their families had left and they were all unpacked Rory and Jess were in their separate rooms, with their roommates. Jess was sharing with Tristan and another boy named Bobby from Chicago, whereas, Rory still only had Rebecca with her. The other two girls they were sharing with hadn't arrived yet, but were expected by the end of the week.

Growing sick of the diatribe Rebecca had going on about the great British pop group she had plastered all over her side of the room, Rory claimed she wanted to go and explore the campus a little.

A few moments later, she followed Jess into his room and collapsed onto his bed. He closed the door to his chatty roommates, walked over to the bed to join her and they begun discussing their favourite parts of the summer again and the day they'd had.

So... The End. Yeah, that's it. That's why I hate this so much, cause it should have been better, but I couldn't look at it anymore, I appologise. I hope there was at least something that someone liked about it. Thanks for all the reviews too!