Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or the characters mentioned in this story that are also mentioned on the show.

(The Campaign Trail)

Rory and Lorelai left Luke's that morning just after their way-too-early-morning-last-day-in-Stars-Hollow breakfast. After meeting up with the press corps covering the Obama campaign in New York, a teary-eyed Lorelai made the long drive home without her daughter. Lorelai didn't look forward to getting used to a life separate from her daughter. Adjustments were hard- and this time Rory wasn't just thirty minutes away at Yale. But as much as her life would change, she had to acknowledge that Rory's new direction would be much more challenging. Her daughter put on a face and took the initiative in finding her job, but it was obvious to Lorelai, her daughter was broken, deep inside.

Rory adapted quickly in the months following graduation. She learned to live out of her suitcase, sleep easily in a different hotel bed every night- when they got to sleep, and how to keep up with the grueling pace of the campaign- all while writing sufficient news stories that accurately described the goings on in the Obama camp. While she did her job well and seemed to fit in with her fellow reporters just fine, she realized quickly that such an assignment was not the dream job she'd always imagined. It just wasn't how she wanted to spend the rest of her life—and maybe not even how she wanted to spend her time until the 2008 election.

She reflected back on her days at the Chilton and Yale newspapers with fond memories and wondered why she didn't have the same affection for her campaign job. It should have been all she ever wanted, all she ever worked toward. To reject her dream just when she'd achieved it seemed crazy! But it was the actual living that life that changed her mind. Once she had the chance to try both paths, the simple fact was that she liked working at a newspaper better. It was that at the papers she had her own desk and she went into the office and home at the end of the day. Her life was separate from her work; but on the campaign trail they meshed together without the possibility of escape from either. The only saving grace to her situation was that because her life was also her work she had little time to think about either starting to have a real life again-or the life she left behind.

For the moment, her friends were also her colleagues. And since Logan walked away from her on her graduation day, there had been no desire to look at any other man. Rory realized that it was really quite simple. The fact of the matter was that she had not moved on. But that's okay. She thought to herself. It's only been a couple of months since the break up. These things take time, right?

When she had those rare moments to herself, usually in a hotel room at night, she reflected. She evaluated herself and her feelings. Besides the overwhelming feeling of missing her mom, she missed Logan, and all that he meant to her, and all that he brought into her life. Every day the words she spoke to Lorelai in her apartment right after her graduation seemed to hit closer and closer to home for Rory Gilmore."Well, I'm not okay. I feel awful. I feel sick. I miss him already" ... and each time her heart wrenched at the thought.

And he didn't only cross her mind at nights, when she was alone, when she had the time and the energy to let the feelings come. The lack of him showed up everywhere for her. So she tried to work against it. Recognizing it for what it was, she took that thought to heart and tried to section off those feelings and push them away- if only to shield herself from the pain- but it was all she had. Rory was smart enough to know that she was only able to keep her vulnerabilities hidden from her colleges because they didn't know her before the end of her relationship with Logan. This Rory was the only one they knew.

But the pain showed most inescapably in her writing- her basest form of expression- and those who had seen her work from college could see that her writing on the campaign was different. It was quality, as always, but it lacked the extra spark that had been so prevalent in her writing at the newspapers. Rory knew this and was thankful that she had enough skill that even when she wasn't at her best she was still a decent writer. It had been so easy to write interesting and informative articles before, but since graduation she lacked motivation. She was preoccupied. She viewed life differently; she felt like she was constantly in a daze, and that she only ought to do enough to make sure she was going through the motions of life, just enough to get by.

The conversations she had with her mom and, on the rare occasion when they could get a hold of her, her other friends and grandparents always went along the same lines. They told her to try to see the choices she had as opportunities to do exactly what she wanted in life. She didn't have to think of anyone else when choosing a career or in making other life choices. She could do whatever job she wanted, she could live wherever she wanted, she didn't have to check with anyone before she did something on the weekends or a night off; she was free.

At night Rory would lay in her bed and try to feel free, she looked for the positive but it just wasn't there for Rory. She felt trapped in something and suffocated. She felt alone and scared, like her safety and security were gone. Her wit was off, her laugh was rarely genuine anymore, her eyes even shone less; it was obvious. Even three full months and a lifetime of experiences after her graduation from Yale, Rory was still very much in love with Logan Huntzberger. He was her perfect match and she missed him. Life without him was incomplete.

It was late; Rory was in her hotel room getting ready to begin yet another new book when her phone rang. She didn't have to look at the display to know it was Lorelai. "Hey Mom." She barely got it out.

"Hello child o' mine, how's the tour of America!?" Lorelai tried to keep their conversation upbeat and peppy. She hated to think of her daughter so torn up inside.

"It's fine. How's the Inn, Luke, Stars Hollow?" Rory's voice was hollow.

Lorelai closed her eyes and shook her head at the sound of her daughter's voice. "They are all good. You are missed, but things are good. Luke says hi."

"Oh, tell him hi back for me."

"Will do. Hey Hon, you don't sound too well."

"Gee, thanks, mom."

"No, I mean it. You aren't yourself. We talked about this. It's not good for you to be alone until you feel better about this. Are you hanging out with your work friends? Have you talked to Lane or Paris recently- or even your grandparents?"

"Umm, Grandpa called me the other day, but other than that, no."

"Oh, Rory honey, you need to keep in touch with your friends. I know that this Logan thing has still got you down; no one expects you to be over him already… but you have to keep busy. Give yourself things to look forward to, and keep in touch with your friends so you can eventually work through it."

"I know mom. I just don't feel motivated to do it yet. It's so hard to let go. I'm sure I'll get there at some point, I mean, I know I can't hold on forever."

"Okay, Baby Girl. I'm thinking about you. When do you think you will get a break so you can come home to your Mommy?"

"Probably not 'til Thanksgiving. We go pretty much non-stop until then. Next we hit up Houston, St. Louis, Red Oak in Iowa, Denver, Boise, Seattle, Medford in Oregon, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, and then Pomona, California, and who knows after that. We're pretty much booked solid for the next few weeks."

Rory was silent for a long moment, then, "Hey, Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think if things had been different, if I had said yes or if he had waited and had asked me after I had established a career that we would have made it?"

Lorelai dreaded having to answer that question. She didn't know the answer. She took a deep breath before she began. "Oh, Rory, I don't know. I do know that while I wasn't always totally supportive of your relationship with Logan, I gave my consent to his proposing to you because I knew that he loved you very much. He loved you more than he loved anyone or anything, and he would have seen to it that you were happy and well taken care to the very best of his ability… Now, having said that, I also think things happen for a reason." Lorelai went on, "You know, like with me and your dad when we found out I was pregnant with you. We did love each other and if we would have gotten married Chris would have stepped up and we would have done just fine and probably have been happy; but we didn't get married at seventeen, and I feel, to this day, that we did things the way we did for a reason. I think that while you and Logan could have been good together, things turned out the way they did for a reason for you guys too."

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but maybe it was what she needed to hear though it still made a sick feeling rise inside of her. Rory clutched her stomach and tried to curl herself into a ball, a little ball so she wouldn't have to face the outside world. "Mom, I just miss him though. It hurts too much."

"I know honey. I wish I could say the right thing; I wish I could make it all better."

"Do you think it will ever get better?"

"Yes, it will. It just takes time, a lot of time."

Rory started to breathe unevenly. Lorelai knew her daughter was holding back tears. "Aww, Hon, let it out. It's okay."

Rory wept. Lorelai could barely understand her daughter's words and it broke her heart to hear her cry and not be able to wipe her tears away. For a split second she wondered if she was wrong, that she shouldn't have so readily agreed with Rory's decision to turn Logan down. Lorelai's head spun as thoughts flew back and forth… Maybe I should have told Rory to think about it some more, maybe the kind of feelings Rory had for Logan and that Logan had for Rory were the kind of thing that people should hold on to, maybe this sort of love could be worth sacrificing their dreams and aspirations in order to keep- if that would have even been a factor for Rory. Who am I kidding? She would have found an amazing job no matter where she went. Who am I to say anything about this? I didn't really have that much first-hand knowledge of the relationship. Rory's a big girl. She knew her feelings, and she had a solid connection with him. Maybe I was wrong to allow my daughter to push someone who was obviously so important to her away so quickly. Maybe I should have encouraged Rory to give it a chance...

Her thoughts were interrupted when Rory spoke through her tears again, "Mom…it just...hurts…so… much! We should...be together…I…need him…it's not okay without him." And then Rory lost it again. For a few minutes Lorelai just waited and listened to her daughter's sharp breaths and heartbroken cries. She waited for something great to say to her daughter, but she, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, was at a loss for words. She wasn't even sure what she felt about it anymore. She used to be so sure that Rory had made the right decision. When Rory had calmed down a bit she spoke. "Mom, I think I'm just going to go. I will shower and that usually helps when I'm having one of my hard days. I think I am about ready for bed too. Thanks for listening. I will get through this, don't worry." She sniffled again.

Lorelai knew she would still worry, no matter what Rory said. "Uhhh…Okay, Ror, but remember that you don't have to be over this soon. He was a huge part of your life for a long time. It's really okay to miss him. When you do think of him do something. Call me, go out shopping, find a friend to spend some time with, get lost in a book, but at the same time, don't forget to do a good amount of wallowing. Get yourself some ice cream and watch An Affair to Remember or something. I love you, kid. Don't forget it. I'm here if you need anything. I will drop everything and fly to you if you ever need that, okay?" Lorelai sighed, "Rory, just do what you feel is right- in your heart."

"Okay... Thanks, mom. Love you."

"Bye, Ror."

"Bye."

They hung up. Rory turned on the hot shower and climbed in. The water ran through her hair and down her back. The steam cleared up her head from crying and washed the tears, her sadness away. It was gone for the time being and she would face the day again tomorrow.