Motel: Anywhere
by Eco

Rating: I'm so bad at this! PG-13? R? PG?
Disclaimers: If I owned the show we would be wondering about what the next season would hold for us. But alas, it is not so… I don't own them!
Author's Notes: Response to road trip challenge, but, it has taken on a life of its own. Might be long.
Dedication/Special Thanks: Marie, for being a great beta-reader thus far
Feedback: Uh, yeah, what do you think? Of course!

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"The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight…

…And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away."
{Henry Longfellow, The Day Is Done}

The darkened, dusky sky held specks of stars slowly coming into view and whispy clouds fading into the horizon, just as the sun had moments, minutes, hours ago. Pale blue light still illuminated the landscape of dusty midwestern farmland and the glare of red taillights on a not quite busy road was photograph worthy and alluring in a strange, intoxicating way. Jessie Sammler was in a wakeful dream, aware but not quite as she watched telephone poles pass her view and the ever distant horizon of crops never falter.

Her head lay against warmed glass, drowsy and peaceful as some anonymous song started to play on the low volume radio. She didn't need to look to her left to know that Katie Singer had one hand on the worn leather steering wheel and one hand laid casually on the gear shift, looking a bit tousled, long brown hair slightly tangled as it fell across her face, focus wavering not from the road before her. The comfortable silence, not marred even by the low bluegrass song playing in the background, had fallen seemingly ages ago, but it was tranquil and perfect for the dusky twilight that had seeped over the land.

Jessie didn't stir from her sleep blanketed position even as scenery changed and midwestern farmland where corn husks and wavy grain stretched on forever slowly melted into darkly shadowed buildings, first a smattering of closer to the highway homely farms before suddenly-or slowly- they were in a small town. The headlights of their car swept over the wood structure of a motel as they turned from the now non-highway road onto a gravel parking lot.

"Jess?" Katie's voice was soft as she turned to Jessie, ready to gently wake up her sleeping beauty should the blonde girl be asleep.

"Mmm? Yeah," Jessie straightened out from her curled up position, rubbing her eyes to clear the glassy look she knew she had. She smiled at Katie as she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door.

The motel was named, aptly enough, Road Side Comfort and the neon vacancy sign was a good enough way to say this was the place they were staying for the night. Jessie pulled her knapsack out of the backseat and walked around to Katie, enjoying the feeling of her legs moving and stretching. She smirked at Katie's hair, accentuating Katie's natural beauty even as mussed as it was. She reached up and affectionately ruffled her hair.

"Nice 'do, babe," She said, still smirking.

"Don't mock me, Miss Attack of the Wild Hair Monsters Part 1," Katie responded, batting Jessie's hand away from her head, taking it in her own.

Jessie rolled her eyes and let her girlfriend pull her into the lobby. The calmness that had embraced them seemed to be restricted to the car, for Katie's energy was back to normal as she tugged Jessie towards the front desk. She didn't let go of Jessie even as the tall boy standing listlessly behind the counter glanced at their entwined hands before asking them if they wanted a room with two twin beds or one room with a queen.

Katie loved this newfound physical freedom Jessie had been granting her while on their trip in regards to being in public. There was nothing like the ability to take Jessie's hand, or put her arm around her, or even kiss her whenever she wanted, without worrying about who could see them and if they would be caught.

Jessie enjoyed the freedom, also, loving every second she could be in physical contact with Katie. In was a burden she felt every second when they were out and about back home and the caution that was taken seemed silly to her now as she held Katie's hand freely as they tried
to find the obscure hotel room.

Soliloquy Jessie:
This makes me remember this time months ago when we had a three-day weekend because of something or another and Katie and I were at the mall. It was no big deal; we were shopping for a gift for her mother's birthday, something really special because her mom was still, ah, depressed. I remember her pulling at my hand to get me to go into this shop, but all I could think of was how weird it felt to be in a place of strangers and still care about what they thought. But before I could really think about things, Katie started, like, showing me all of these things and why, exactly, they could or couldn't be good enough for her mom…

**********

"God, this place is so picture-esque, like from a 50's movie or poster or something.." Katie said excitedly, almost bouncing on her feet as they entered a small diner, complete with black and white checkered tiling and red leather covered booths.

"Yeah, it's right out of a James Dean flick or something," Jessie said happily. She was clean, she was with Katie, and she was about to be fed, life couldn't get any better than this.

The slid into a booth and before they could even comment a waitress was at their table, friendly looking and waiting to get drinks, should there be a need. She seemed to complete the 50's diner look, in her out of date pink waitress' outfit and cats eye glasses. It was perfect.

Katie seemed happy at this, grinning up at her with a goofy smile.

"You don't happen to have root beer floats available, do you?" She asked, noting the waitress' name was Betty.

"Actually, yes, we do, and whaddya want, hon?" She turned her attention to Jessie, who was just sitting there smirking at Katie.

"Ah, actually, I'll just have water, thanks," Jessie replied.

"This place is perfect. Absolutely perfect, like, the outside world just kind of disappears when you step in and you look around and people are sitting in the same places they sat fifty years ago, dressed in the clothes they wore fifty years ago, and time just stops at that point and nothing else seems to affect it," Katie rambled, seemingly saying that entire sentence in one breath, her eyes glistening in her ever present excitement.

Jessie had gotten used to Katie's odd babble, it was interesting because in the mists of the likes and the run on sentences, there were ideas and thoughts that were deeper than Katie's happy go lucky, sunny disposition would make one believe. Katie would have look on her face and she was talking, about this, about that, shifting gears easily and Jessie loved it to no end.

"We seem pretty out of place, then, with our wrinkled jeans and glittery make up," Jessie responded, noticing the things that Katie had mentioned. There were a few men at the counter, dressed in overalls, drinking coffee, looking to the entire world like Living National Treasures-people so old they were a preservation of history itself.

"Yeah, we're like the modern invaders, coming in here after driving all day in our decidedly modern car, in our modern jeans, and sit in their old seats, getting ready to eat their old style food," Katie's stare settled on Jessie's and she just stopped, stopped talking, stopped breathing, stopped thinking. Sometimes it scared her how much Jessie could affect her but before those fears could overwhelm, Jessie would smile at her in that way, eyes soft and face affectionate, that was meant only for her.

Jessie became silent, forgetting her observation of the interesting little diner. She loved this, moments that came upon them where Katie would look at her and everything fell away in a blaze of greenish blue, the colors of Katie's eyes.

"Here ya go, girls. Have ya decided what ya want?" The waitress interrupted. She put down the large drinks with a couple of straws on the table, pulling out her order pad in the process.

"Uh, just give me a cheeseburger and fries. What are you getting, Jess?" Katie responded, glancing down at the neglected menu she hadn't touched.

"I think I'll have the Chef's Choice without gravy on the potatoes," Jessie said, having actually looked at the choices available while talking to Katie.

"You both just sit tight, I'll be back with your food before ya know it." And then she was gone, back to chatting with the men at the counter.

"I'll be back, I'm gonna go call Mike, fill him in on where, uh, yeah, where we are, if I can figure it out, and how long it should take us before we're in Utah," Katie said with a sheepish smile, pulling herself out of the booth to find a phone.

Jessie just watched her walk towards the pay phone, thinking about how good of an idea this had been. They had only been on the road for a couple of days now, but already the pressures and stresses of home were being washed away.

**********

"Katie's coming back today. I can't wait, I've missed her so much," Jessie said, fidgeting slightly in her chair before finding a comfortable position.

"Yes, so it seems," Dr. Rosenfeld responded, a ghost of a smirk gracing his face.

"I.. This week has been hard. She's off visiting the colleges she might go to and I'm here taking tests. It's only been a week of her being gone and I miss her so much, how is it going to be if she picks a college 2,000 miles away?" Jessie said with a troubled look upon her face.

"So, you're feeling an anxiety about her returning, as well. This isn't exactly a new feeling, though, now is it?" The man replied.

"No.. Ever since she received those interview forms and acceptance letters.. I've been wondering. How is this going to work?" Jessie sighed, eyes down.

**********

"Billie!" Katie said happily, throwing her arms around the blonde girl she hadn't seen in a week. She had missed Jessie more than anyone else when she had been gone, feeling the pressures of how soon college was coming up and the decisions that needed to be made more than usual without Jessie's presence.

"Katie, god, I missed you so much!" Jessie said, pulling back to look into her girlfriends eyes. The feelings of anxiety she had felt early in the day, that even her brother had picked up on, seemed to melt away as she held Katie in her arms.

Before she could stop herself, she was leaning in, kissing Katie with a passion she had never displayed before in public. Katie was surprised, eyes widening before snapping shut as she tightened her hold on Jessie. Her tales of campus mischief and her ideas about the summer fell silent in her mind as the world became soft lips, soft hands, small body, and intense feelings.

She pulled back, finally, begrudgingly, as she realized that they were indeed in a very public airport and this was probably not the way Jessie wanted her brother to find out about them. As she looked around she realized that she was just in time to see Eli exit the bathroom and wander over.

"Just wait until I get you home, beautiful," Katie said, pulling out of Jessie's embrace completely. She was stupidly happy that Jessie had initiated the kiss but she was still aware of Jessie's fears.

"You two ready to go? I need to get to work," Eli said as he glanced at a pretty girl that walked by.

"Yeah, sure," Jessie said, pulling Katie in close to whisper in her ear about how much she'd missed her. They giggled happily provoking Eli to roll his eyes as he led the way to his new-old-car.

"I have an idea!" Katie announced when they were back at her house, unpacking the two suitcases she had taken with her to Washington on her visit to University of Puget Sound.

"What's that?" Jessie asked, pulling herself into a cross-legged position on Katie's bed.

"We should go on a road trip! My brother, John, in Sacramento invited me to spend the summer with him.. We could drive out there, spend time with him, and then fly back!" Katie declared, spreading her hands out wide.

"Really? That would be so much fun.. But, I mean, that's kind of expensive plus I don't know if my parents would let me go.. Or, at least, my mom.." Jessie said, thinking about all the different aspects of it.

"The money parts not an issue, I've been saving up for a senior trip for a while now and this is perfect! On your parents side, I'm a trust-worthy, responsible young girl, why ever would they say no?" Katie quipped, hands on hips, striking a pose.

Jessie smiled, taking Katie's pillow in hand and throwing it at her playfully.

"Responsible? Ha!" Jessie laughed.

"Mock me, do you?" Katie said, attacking Jessie and tickling her mercilessly until Jessie squealed. They playfully started wrestling about, forgetting all of the troubles and anxieties that they had faced the past week.

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