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26. the gear shift
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"You've seriously never driven a car before?" Corpse asks the next day over breakfast. He had gotten up before Lorelai to make her a nice breakfast, which really wasn't too hard considering she had slept in until two in the afternoon.

Lorelai shakes her head 'no'. She swallows her bite of food before answering, "never had the need or the opportunity to."

Corpse furrows his eyebrows. "Well, do you want me to teach you?"

"Really?" Lorelai asks.

"Yeah," he nods. "I could take us out to a suburb with some straight shots and teach you how to drive."

Lorelai thinks over the offer. "I don't wanna crash your car or anything."

Corpse laughs lightly. "Rory, you're not gonna crash my car. Trust me."

"Okay, well, now you've jinxed us," Lorelai complains.

Corpse just rolls his eyes and shrugs. "Well, if you want to learn, my offer is on the table."

After a minute, Lorelai nods. "Okay, sure. Teach me how to drive, big guy."

Corpse keeps his word, and at eight that evening, he takes Lorelai out in his jeep to the suburbs of San Diego. With the windows rolled down and their shared playlist blasting, they definitely scared off some of the tired workers returning to the suburbs after a long day of work. This didn't sway them from having fun and joking with one another on the drive to the straight shot, however.

When they arrived, Corpse and Lorelai switched seats. He started her slowly, teaching her how to place her feet, where to put her hands, and all that basic shit. Once she understood the placements of everything, he let himself lean back into his seat and relax.

"Okay, so take us out of park," he commands.

"What?" Lorelai asks, turning to look at him confusedly.

Corpse reaches for her hand on the wheel and grasps it in his. He leads it down to the gear shift and places it on it. "So, right now we're in park, but we wanna be in drive." Carefully, he helps her change the gear into drive. "This is called the gear shift, by the way. It's very important."

The car slowly rolls forward and Lorelai can't help but turn to Corpse in a panic.

"It's okay," he chuckles, "put your foot on the break."

"We're gonna die, oh my God," Lorelai stresses.

"Shut up, we're fine," Corpse reassures her. "Wanna try stepping on the gas?"

Lorelai purses her lips but ultimately nods 'yes'. She eases her foot onto the gas, immediately pulling it off as the car begins to move forward again. They jerk a little bit, and Lorelai looks scared.

"Okay, so, when you step on the gas, the car goes forward," Corpse explains sarcastically. "That's how this works."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to like..."

"Go?" Corpse finishes.

Lorelai rolls her eyes and tightens her grip on the steering wheel. "Shut up, this is scary."

Corpse relaxes into his seat. "Alright, hotshot, show me what you got."

Lorelai pushes her foot back onto the gas, not jolting in shock this time as the car eases forward. She presses a little more, and they begin truly going forward, the speed dial reaching a whopping 5mph. Lorelai turns to Corpse with an excited grin that almost causes him to audibly coo. She looks adorable to him sat in the front seat of his car with a goofy grin over accomplishing 5mph in the driver's seat.

"Try a little more weight on it," Corpse suggests. "Try hitting thirty."

"Thirty?!" Lorelai asks in shock, the car rolling to a stop as she takes her foot off the gas. "You're kidding."

Corpse shakes his head. "Nope, you got this."

"Corpse, that's terrifying," Lorelai says. "What if we crash?"

"Where are we crashing?" Corpse asks, gesturing to the road in front of them.

He had chosen a great location, she'll admit that. The road they were on was long, flat, and empty, surrounded by sand on either side. There was absolutely nothing but them, the sand, and the road. No opportunity for crashing, much to Lorelai's dismay.

"Well, the sand," Lorelai improvises, her stubbornness shining beautifully.

"Just how are we going to crash into the sand?" Corpse questions.

"I'd find a way," Lorelai mutters.

Corpse rolls his eye and grabs her hands. He leans forward to place them back on the wheel, and grabs onto the handlebar sticking from the roof on his side. Lorelai gives him an offended look to which he merely shrugs.

"Make me proud. Hit thirty," he chuckles. "Come on, Rory."

Lorelai groans and bangs her head back lightly into her headrest. "I hate you. Fine."

She puts her foot back onto the gas and begins to press. They begin slowly, 1mph to 3mph to 5 and eventually 8. The dial slowly climbs, eventually reaching 10mph much to Lorelai's excitement. She's clearly trigger shy when it comes to cars; she's too terrified of crashing to really lay on the gas. Corpse watches her with an amused smile as she grips the steering wheel with vigor.

"Okay, ease your hands a bit," Corpse laughs, "you're gonna strangle the wheel to death."

Lorelai rolls her shoulders back and slightly loosens her grip. "Happy?"

"No," Corpse answers, "but you're at 15mph. Halfway."

Lorelai grins again, filled with excitement once more. Soon enough, she hits 30mph, and she cannot control her excitement. She yells excitedly out the window, making the duo laugh. Before they know it, they're both yelling out their windows with joy as Lorelai cruises down the empty road at 40mph.

The car slows to a stop, and Corpse puts the vehicle in park. "So, how about I teach you to turn another time?"

"Yeah," Lorelai nods, eyes wide with adrenaline. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"You did good," Corpse smiles. "Better than I thought."

Lorelai slaps his shoulder, "rude!"

"Accurate," Corpse corrects her.

"Whatever," she mutters, rolling her eyes.

Her hand fumbles around for the seat adjuster, and upon finding it, she pushes it so that her seat is fully reclined. Corpse follows suit and reclines his fully back, turning on his side to face Lorelai. She smiles at him, a true genuine smile. The music is turned down low, but Lorelai knows the song.

How terribly cliche it is that "Out of My League' plays while she stares into the eyes of the boy who had been occupying all of her spare thoughts since October.

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author's note

damn, she's back again