when we come to it

Chapter 1: 2007

        Wish someone would tell me, tell me what to do. Don't tell me I've had good times with him, 'cause I know they're true. Don't tell me I still love him 'cause I know that too-"

"Ahh... shit," Rory mumbled, tapping Gertie a few times to encourage the little machine to move past whatever problem was causing the stop. The walkman was about 7 years old, so not much can truly be expected from her, especially seeing as she'd done so well up until this point. Maybe she died. Pulling out her earbuds and carefully wrapping them up, Rory finally focused in on what everyone else on the bus was up to. Mostly sleeping, seeing as they'd all been up so late the night before, but there were still the last few stragglers working on assignments that they hadn't yet finished.

For once, Rory was ahead of schedule. Yes, she still had mountains of papers to attend to, but that could all wait until the bus got her to her hotel room in Santa Cruz. She figured that she would have enough time to find a mailbox and send off her letter to her mother, maybe get a bite to eat before she was thrust back into the world of work. She hadn't had a real day off, a day when she didn't have to do anything but relax, since they'd been in Arizona two weeks ago. Even then she'd spent her morning helping Anya send a 'grown up email' to their boss, requesting time off for her sister's non-descriptive surgery- which Rory still thought was a lie so that she would have time to go to the Maroon 5 concert back in Texas, but she helped just the same.

While Rory had spent time ruminating on the pros and cons of having a roommate willing to miss incredibly important job opportunities for a band that, in all honesty, had music that sounded nearly identical to all of the other top 40 hits, the bus had rolled to a stop. Another bathroom break.

Venturing out of the air conditioned bus and into the ungodly September heat was yet another reminder that Rory, at heart, was still an East coast girl. While she appraised the fruit being sold outside of the rest stop, she couldn't help but wonder whether she would ever enjoy living in a place like California.

Setting down roots in a place like this wouldn't be unimaginable, just not for a few years. Perhaps she hadn't been fully sure of her choice when Logan first moved away, but as time went on she was more and more certain. Married life wasn't for her. Not yet.

Rory paid for a brilliantly red apple and climbed back onto the bus, waiting to start the journey yet again.

-

"Has Lane started at work yet?" Rory asked, turning to lay on her stomach so that she could smooth out the corners of her beach towel. "I thought she was supposed to go back to Luke's today, but I haven't been able to get ahold of her."

"Oh no, she was supposed to," Lorelai responded, her voice smothered by the sandwich she was in the middle of wolfing down. "Then Kwan caught the cold- or maybe it was Steve. Still can't tell them apart and I don't think I'll ever be able to if they keep up this twins from the Shining kick they seem to be on."

"All matching outfits?"

"Down to the shoes. For kids that can't stand up, they've got some great kicks," Lorelai remarked. "Either way, Lane took some time off 'cause everyone's laid up. Sounds like she'll be back by Friday, though-" A muffled shout interrupted her. "Monday. She'll be back Monday."

Rory laughed. "Say hi to Luke for me- wait, can I actually talk to him?"

A gasp of indignation traveled through the receiver, already bringing Rory's eyes to roll.

"I only get you for twenty minutes a day and you expect me to give up my time so that you can talk to a man?" Though she had never been an actress, Rory had to admit that her mother could really act.