This is a post-sixth season fiction focusing on the relationship between Lorelai and Luke as well as redeveloping a relationship between Rory and Jess.

The story is written in third person from Rory's point of view.

Additionally, I am looking for beta/someone to bounce ideas around with so any volunteers, please contact me!

Also, if you could, this is my first fiction so please review!

Chapter 1 – My Heart is Like an Open Highway

At least I can say I did it my way.

Standing alone in her and Logan's apartment, Rory felt a strange sense of uneasiness at how empty she and the apartment felt. She knew that her feelings were particularly ironic given the post-party state of the place. Cups, plates, and other party paraphernalia littered the apartment, as if paying tribute to her final gift to and party with Logan. Last night, Colin and Finn stayed behind to help (thought Rory was willing to argue that they had impeded progress rather than facilitate any), but eventually she kicked them out in order to spend some final alone time with Logan.

For the most part, the two spent the night talking, mostly hoping and praying that things wouldn't change between them. Rory sighed loudly, which seemed to echo in the large space. He's really gone, she thought sadly, surveying the apartment. I won't see Logan until Christmas.

Rory continued to look around the apartment, trying to determine just what it was that was making her feel so uncomfortable in the place she and Logan had called home for the last three months. And suddenly, Rory realized just what the problem was: somehow, without Logan's upbeat presence, the beautiful, ornate apartment just felt stuffy and unlived in.

Most of all, she definitely felt as if she didn't belong. Her clothing and things all seemed to match the apartment's uncomfortable stuffiness, its regality, and this bothered Rory more than she cared to admit. In fact, she almost felt like she was at her grandparents' house, which, especially after last year's events, made her feel even more ill at ease.

Wrapping her arms around her small frame, Rory sighed again and paused at the bed she and Logan shared. Whereas this morning the bed had seemed to be just right, it now suddenly looked as though it had tripled in size since the last time she'd laid in it. Feeling nostalgic, Rory climbed into the bed, hugged her knees close to her abdomen, and let memories of Logan wash over her.

But happy memories of Logan were quickly replaced with the intense feelings and memories of self-doubt that normally plagued Rory whenever she found herself alone. Normally, she suppressed it all from taking control of her thoughts, but today, with Logan's departure haunting her, she couldn't stop the waterfall of emotions and memories.

Jess's unforgettable words rushed forth as Rory lay still on the bed. "What's going on with you? I know you better than anyone. This isn't you," reverberated through her head.

Rory was no stranger to the passionate words. In fact, she was certain that she had memorized them at some point; whenever she found herself alone, Jess's words from a previous meeting repeated over and over in her head. Most times, Rory desperately tried to formulate an answer to the important question he had posed. What was going on with her?

Even though she had returned to Yale and even became editor of the Yale Daily News (if only to terminate Paris' reign of terror), she knew that she still hadn't quite reclaimed who she used to be. She was no longer the girl that most people had known and loved. Somehow, during her freshman year of college, she'd evolved into someone she—and Jess, her mind cried out—barely recognized.

The old Rory had been shy, well read, independent, and dedicated to her close friends, family, and interests. The old Rory had promised to stay true to her self, had promised not to change in the face of college peer pressure. The new Rory, on the other hand, had failed to keep those promises; she hadn't remained true to her self at all and spent most of time doing what others wanted, whether it was running the newspaper, throwing parties, or going to the bar. And it wasn't that she hated those activities, but Rory often felt deep down that they weren't the things she really wanted to be doing. She barely read outside of her studies and couldn't even remember the last book she had read just for fun. I used to relish in reading a good novel, now I spend all my time partying and drinking… all of my time with Logan.

At the thought of Logan, more of Jess's words floated back to her. "This isn't you… you going out with this jerk with the Porsche… we made fun of guys like this!" God, she thought. Logan's barely been gone a day and here I am rethinking everything.

Shaking her head in order to banish her distressing thoughts, Rory glanced around the empty-feeling apartment once more. It still felt wrong without Logan, as if she were an imposter in the elegant setting.

Suddenly, Rory was struck with an intense urge to see her mother, Luke, Lane, and the rest of Stars Hollow, in a place where she knew she was definitely not an imposter. A place that was, no matter her situation, home.

She hadn't been planning on leaving until tomorrow, giving herself time to pack and settle a few last details with the newspaper. However, the desire to sit down at Luke's diner with Lane and her mother, drinking coffee and swapping stories, was too much to resist.

Besides, a little spontaneity never hurt anyone… as long as I don't commit a felony this time, she thought ruefully. I can always come back; it's not so far away. I need to go home.