Runaway Love by Emma Brown

Rated T+ (mature themes will be present but nothing too too graphic that this requires M)

Ships: Rory/Jess with some Luke/Lorelai

Summary: What if Rory agreed to run away with Jess at the end of 4x21? Is living with Jess everything Rory hoped for or is it just causing her life to spiral out of control?

Chapter One

"You're packed! You're stuff is all in boxes. It's perfect! You're ready. And I'm ready. I'm ready for this. You can count on me now! I know you couldn't count on me before, but you can now! You can!"

She remained staring at her shoes, unable to process the words that Jess was so passionately stating before her. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest that she was sure he could hear it. She felt her palms grow slick with sweat and she quickly wiped them on her skirt.

He stepped closer to her and finally she looked up to meet his eyes.

"Look, you know we're supposed to be together. I knew it the first time I saw you two years ago, and you know it too. I know you do."

It was true. She couldn't argue with him. His brown eyes were staring into her, searching her face for an answer. She bit her lower lip and let out a sigh.

"Please say you'll come with me," he pleaded, sounding more desperate than she had ever heard him sound before.

Quickly, she drew up a pro/con list in her head. Cons: He could break her heart again, her mother would surely flip out, Dean would hate her-if he didn't already and she could potentially ruin everything with everyone she loved dearly just by choosing to go with Jess. Pros: It was Jess. The man she was desperately in love with. All her life she had been a 'listen to your brain not your heart' kind of girl but this time, she knew she had to make an exception. For him.

"Okay," she whispered.

His eyes widened. "What?" he asked, his voice not hiding any surprise he felt at that moment.

She grinned slightly and leaned her head slightly to the right. "I said okay. I'll go with you."

He smiled. A large, genuine smile and in one fluid motion he walked towards her, cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had missed the feel of his lips.

He pulled away and looked into her eyes, the smile washed away from his face.

"What?" she asked concerned with his sudden serious expression.

"I need to know this is what you really want." He said. "I don't want you to regret this later."

She leaned in again and captured his mouth with hers. Slowly, delicately, she opened her mouth slightly and licked his bottom lip with her tongue. A moan escaped the back of his throat as their tongues met and moved in each other's mouths. They pulled away a few moments later and she stepped back, only slightly.

"I'm sure." She said. "I want you Jess. I want to be with you."

He smiled and nodded. He looked around at all her boxes and rubbed his hands together. "We should get your things out to my car."

"Will it all fit?" she asked.

He shrugged. "We'll find out soon enough." He bent down and picked up a box, wincing slightly under the weight. "Jeeze, what do you have in here?"

"My books," she answered simply, picking up a box labelled Toiletries.

"My car might not run with all this added weight," he joked.

She smiled as she watched him walk out of her suite. "A little help with the door," he called from down the hall. She nodded to herself as she walked out to help him. She was definitely making the right decision.

Rory followed Jess' car down the highway towards New York. Her mind was racing with the events that had transpired that night. Was she actually running away with Jess? A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of what her mother was going to say. She was sure World War III was going to break out, but she didn't care. All she cared about right now was the man driving the car in front of her. She would worry about everything else later.

After driving for over an hour, Rory followed Jess' car down the clustered streets of Manhattan. She watched him pull into a spot on the side of the road and she pulled up next to him. Jess rolled down his window and called over "There's a spot up ahead, grab it before somebody else does."

Rory nodded and quickly sped off towards the open spot at the end of the block. Putting her car in park, she let out a sigh and looked at her surroundings. A large, seedy looking building loomed next to her and a group of sketchy looking people were hanging out outside of it.

"We'll only stay here for the night." said Jess, walking up to her car. She jumped slightly at his sudden appearance. "Sorry,"

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Rory stepped out of the car and stretched her legs. "You live here?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but like I said...it's only for the night. We'll get a hotel room tomorrow before looking for a place to stay, just the two of us. I want to pack up some of my stuff too."

Rory nodded and followed him towards his car where half her boxes rested.

"If we're going to be on the move again tomorrow, we can just leave my things in the car."

"Eh, I don't know if that's such a good idea. This isn't the best part of town, Ror."

Rory glanced at the odd looking group of people standing outside of Jess' building and nodded. "Maybe you're right."

Quickly, the pair of them started unloading boxes from both their cars and brought them into the building. Rory saw that the building inside wasn't as scary looking as it was outside. The hallways were large and spacious and it was actually very quiet, unlike the apartment building complex she had been in when her mother and Sookie had to search for Madeline and Louise after The Bangles concert three years ago.

Her thoughts went back to her mother, who was probably getting ready for her arrival tomorrow morning. Her heart skipped a beat but she shook her head and followed Jess down the long hallway towards his room.

"Home Sweet Home," he commented dryly as he set a box down and retrieved his keys from inside his pocket.

"It's not so bad," said Rory, gripping her box tightly. He grinned at her and opened his door.

They stepped inside and Rory scanned the room before her. There were mattresses spread across the floor, an old chair in the corner and a small shelf that housed many books-that corner, Rory assumed, was Jess'.

"Still think that?" he asked.

Rory turned to look at him and placed her box down on the floor. She shyly leaned in and kissed him quickly. "Yes," she said before pulling away.

"Weirdo," he said affectionately, playing with the tip of her hair. "Did I mention how much I like your hair this length?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I do. It suits you."

They leaned in again.

Another hour and a few more kisses later, all of Rory's boxes were stored away in Jess' loft.

"Where are your roommates tonight?" asked Rory, staring at the unoccupied mattresses.

"Who knows?"

"Aren't they your friends?"

"We share the rent and that's about it."

"Ah,"

"You know, we can find a hotel room tonight to stay in..."

Rory smirked at him. "And load all my boxes back into our cars? No thank you."

He grinned. "Are you sure?"

"Jess, I swear-I don't mind it here."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you lived here," he muttered. "We'll get up early tomorrow and leave. Let me just pack a few of my things."

Rory nodded and watched him pull out a few boxes from a closet. He began tossing in books and clothes that were randomly lying around the floor. She wondered, briefly, if he was accidently tossing his roommates clothes into the boxes.

"Are you going to call your mom?" he asked.

She sucked in a breath. "Not tonight," she answered. "It's already past midnight. She's probably asleep. I'll call her in the morning."

Jess stood up straight and looked at her. "What are you going to tell her?"

"The truth, I guess." answered Rory, sitting on Jess' mattress. "She's going to be furious."

Jess sighed. "Listen, we have to figure a few things out."

Rory nodded. "Yes, we do."

"I'm guessing you don't want to drop out of Yale any time soon."

"I wasn't planning on it..."

"And you still have those Friday night flagellations to attend, right?"

Rory laughed and hit his arm. "Correct,"

He sighed and sat down next to her. "We should find a place near Yale."

"What? But you love New York..."

He shrugged. "I love you more,"

"Jess," she breathed her heart swelling. They moved closer and their lips met. Their kiss started off slow and simple but quickly became passionate. Their tongues were moving inside each other's mouth, their hands groping at clothing, itching to touch skin. Rory felt his hands running up and down her sides and a shiver went down her spine.

They leaned down, now both laying on their sides. Rory couldn't comprehend anything going on around her-just the feel of Jess' hands on her body and the feel of his lips sucking at hers.

Suddenly, Jess pulled away and Rory whimpered at their loss of contact.

"We should stop," he said, looking into her face.

"Why?" she asked, her eyes searching his face. "Don't...don't you want to..."

"You know I do...more than you know but..." he sighed. "I don't know when my roommates will be coming back and I don't want our first time to be in this loft. It should...it needs to be special."

Rory smiled up at him and touched the side of his face. "You old softy," she teased.

He grinned and kissed her hand. "Yeah, don't tell anybody."

"I won't," she whispered before leaning up and lightly kissing him again. "Where's the shower?"

Jess sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Over there," he pointed. "We don't have the greatest water pressure."

Rory opened up a box and pulled out a pair of pajamas. "I'm sure I'll manage." She opened up another box and pulled out her soap and shampoo and walked towards the bathroom.

"There is a clean towel on the hook," Jess called. "It's mine, so it's safe to use."

Rory grinned over her shoulder and nodded. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

The hot water felt great on her aching body. Carrying her heavy, book-filled boxes up the steps to Jess' sixth floor room showed Rory how out of shape she really was. As she soaped up her body, Rory once again thought about her mother. She wondered if she would drive to New York and drag Rory home herself...or maybe she would get Luke to do it. The inn was opening in just a few days...her mother didn't need this distraction and stress added into her life.

Sighing, Rory shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. She dried her body fast and slipped into her pajamas. When she exited the bathroom, Rory saw that Jess had finished packing his belongings and was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. His toned chest and muscular arms made her stop in her tracks and her heart skip a beat.

"How was the shower?" he asked, tossing an extra pillow on his mattress.

"Um, fine." She answered, tearing her eyes away from the trail of hair that started at his navel and disappeared somewhere beneath his pants. "The water pressure wasn't so bad. It reminded me of the shower in the downstairs bathroom at my house in Stars Hollow."

Jess nodded and looked down at his mattress. "I wish I had something better for you to sleep on tonight…"

Rory sighed and walked towards him. "Jess, everything is fine. Stop worrying."

He nodded and smirked at her. "Okay,"

They both lay down on his mattress and Jess turned off the lights. The loft was plunged into darkness and Rory shivered.

"Cold?" he asked, moving closer towards her.

Rory grinned. "Just a little,"

He moved closer and Rory shifted so that she was lying on his chest. His arm went around her shoulders, holding her close to him. "Better?" he asked.

"Perfect,"

He kissed the side of her head and closed his eyes. "So what was going on with you and Dean?" he asked.

Rory chewed on the inside of her cheek and awkwardly shrugged one shoulder. "We've been…talking recently."

"Just talking?"

"He's married, Jess."

"I know…but when he saw me there…the two of you tonight seemed a little…"

Rory sighed. "I called him to save me from a horrible date I was on."

"A date, huh?"

"Yes. My grandmother set us up. Apparently I was turning into a spinster woman before everyone's very eyes. Anyway, the guy was a jerk and I didn't have any money to get home so I called Dean to come get me."

"Why Dean?"

"I don't know…I knew mom was at your mother's wedding…how was that by the way?"

Jess shrugged. "Different, just like Liz,"

Rory smirked. "Mom was excited to dress up. Did you see her?"

"Everyone saw her. She and Luke took a little spin on the dance floor together."

"Really? They danced?"

Jess smirked. "Don't change the subject. Why did you call Dean?"

"Why do you care?"

"I just do. Humor me."

"We've been repairing our friendship, I guess. We've been talking a lot lately and I guess I knew he would come."

"What a knight,"

"Jess, stop…" she leaned up a little and looked down at his face. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness so she could make out the faint outline of his features. "There is nothing going on between us. I love you…"

Jess nodded. "Okay,"

"We should probably try and get to sleep, especially if we have to wake up early."

"Yeah, you're right."

She kissed him lightly before resting her head back on his chest. "Night Jess,"

He let out a breath and tightened his arm around her shoulders. "Night Rory."

A/N: What do you think so far? I know this has been done before but I'm taking a different spin on things, which you'll see in other chapters.

Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!