Sept. 13, 2007

In the six months since Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal were pronounced hot and heavy, the most exciting thing they've been caught doing together is carpooling. But despite the lack of photographic evidence of a fiery romance, stories of their supposedly combustible coupling keep surfacing.

The latest is from Us Weekly, which claims the oh-so-surreptitious squeezes have packed it in for the second time in less than three months, a move that comes just weeks before their drama, "Rendition," hits theaters.

"This is the harshest split they've had," says an insider. "Reese told Jake it's best they don't talk at all."

Last weekend, the co-stars made the scene at the Toronto International Film Festival to plug "Rendition," but as expected they were careful to stay out of each other's personal space while posing for pictures.

According to the mag, the svelte Oscar winner and the dreamy-eyed actor also maintained a discreet distance at the flick's afterparty, but their game of keep-away changed by the time they moved on to a soiree for George Clooney's film "Michael Clayton."

"They seemed like a couple," posits a spy. "Reese was happy and having a good time."

Time magazine also spied the amiable actress dancing "briefly but divinely" with Gyllenhaal at one of the fest's fetes, and the National Post caught the pair rendezvousing after dinner.

Still, when it was time to wing out of town, Us says they flew off in opposite directions, an apparent harbinger of relationship doom.

"They're a rocky couple," a source explains to the magazine, before adding optimistically, "It would not be a shock if they got back together."

Not surprisingly, Jake and Reese had similarly vague responses when hit with the inevitable romance question while meeting the press in Toronto.

"At this point it's all just funny," Witherspoon told "Entertainment Tonight." "It's crazy and funny how much people can make stuff up. I'm actually interested to hear what they say next ... I just have to laugh at a lot of stuff."

Gyllenhaal was also chuckling over the chatter, opining to "ET," "There are a lot of very interesting rumors swirling around all the time that you just have to have fun with. The interest is flattering but funny too."

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