A/N: I have completely and totally lost my mind, but I'm running with it. I am doing two things I never thought I'd do. I'm writing a crossover. And I'm writing a story with actual chapters. Crazy, right?

I love Gilmore Girls, but lately I've become incredibly obsessed One Tree Hill, and I'm putting them together. It's insane, but here it is. I think it's possible to enjoy as a fan of OTH or GG, but it is of course better if you're into both. I'm posting it as a story under each label, anyway, because I want to, and because I can.

As of now, Rory Gilmore (21), Logan Huntzberger (22), and Lucas Scott (21) are the main characters, but it's not really your typical love triangle story. Others will appear over time. I have a direction, I promise. I do, and I'm pretty damn determined to get there.

Background GG Info: Mid season six. Lorelai is engaged to Luke Danes, who is postponing their wedding because he just learned of the existence of his twelve-year-old daughter, April. Rory's friend, Paris, has kicked her out of the apartment they shared and she is now living with her boyfriend of about a year, Logan. Exactly what was happening on the show at the time.

Background OTH: I've taken a little more liberty here. Everything up until season four goes. Lucas still proposed to Peyton in L.A. when they were nineteen years old, and she still told him, "not now, but one day". They broke up just like they did on the show, with Lucas leaving her to wake up alone in their hotel room. There is no Lindsey. Recently, two years later, Peyton showed up back in One Tree Hill to open her own label. She made the move for reasons you will come to know later. Lucas and Peyton got into a massive fight which upset him so much that he transferred schools and is now attending Yale. Nathan and Haley are pregnant with their second child. Brooke's in New York.

All I really ask here is that you give this a chance. I thought crossovers were crazy until about two hours ago. And no matter how crazy it seems, you should drop me a review and let me know, because I will appreciate it more than you know. Following chapters will be longer. Read on!

But I Know

Oh, I may be young,

but I know when I love someone.

When I love someone.

You said, "Oh, I may be young,

but I know when I love someone.

When I love someone."

Oh, it's you.

Why did I chose these mistakes,

these mistakes to make?

Because it's you,

oh, it's you.

It never changed for me.

It will always be.

-- Annie Stela, "It's You"

"Damn it," Rory Gilmore cried, stretching her hands out as she vainly tried to save her essay from falling into the snow below. She fell to her knees on the damp ground, ignoring the wetness she could feel seeping through her jeans. Logan, for some insane reason she could not comprehend, did not own a stapler, and all twenty unstapled pages had floated gracefully away from her mitten-covered hands. She'd grown too accustomed to living with Paris, who had about six of everything. Logan did not buy excess stationary items. It really shouldn't have surprised her. Now she was screwed. She'd already gotten an extension on that paper.

"I am so sorry," a voice said sincerely. It belonged to the reason her game theory paper was drenched and her coffee was spilled, the person she'd bumped into.

Mournfully, she stared at her soaked bibliography. "It was as much my fault as yours," she muttered. "I was late and rushing, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I was rushing, too," the voice admitted, a hint of amusement seeping into the sincerity. "And I have no idea where I'm going. I'm lost."

She turned to see who the voice belonged to. A young man crouched next to her, wearing a gentle smile. He held a campus map held loosely in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. His blonde hair was styled to look messy, that impeccably groomed yet somehow scruffy look her boyfriend loved so much, and his eyes were bright blue. Yet, it wasn't Logan that entered her mind. It was something else, someone else. She bit her lower lip slightly. Forbidden, she thought vaguely, and then it hit her. "Tristan?" she asked incredulously, smiling.

He smiled back, appreciatively noting the subdued battle between delight and frustration in the shy, pretty smile that lit her blue eyes. "Uh…no. Lucas Scott," he introduced himself, dropping the map to extend his hand.

"God, I'm sorry."

He couldn't resist quipping, "Nice to meet you, Sorry, but really, you don't have to call me God."

Her eyes brightened even more, with shock and amusement. Her eyes were really incredibly blue. "Okay, wow, it's just…you…look a lot, and I mean a lot like someone I used to know. And you…talk like him, too."

"Thank you…?" he replied uncertainly, teasingly.

She shook her head, and he watched her coffee-coloured locks bounce softly on her shoulders, mesmerized. "It's not a compliment. He was a cocky asshole."

He bit back a grin. "Believe me when I say that I'm usually not." He stood slowly, pulling her up with him.

"Thank you," she replied, alarmed when she realized how long their hands had been touching. She pushed her hair behind her eyes.

Lucas bent his head to catch her eyes. "You won't tell me your name? I swear, I'm really usually not an asshole." Only sometimes. With certain people.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I mean…" Rory blushed, internally scolding herself. She was never this girly and bashful. She'd grown up. But the sight of someone so similar to the boy who'd made her his conquest at Chilton threw her forcefully back to high school. She straightened up a little, wishing her knees weren't covered in slush, and lifted her chin confidently. "Lorelai Gilmore."

"Nice to meet you," Lucas replied, automatically extending his hand to shake.

"We did that already," she reminded him with a small smile.

"Right, yeah."

At the lull in conversation, her Gilmore genes kicked in and she began babbling, "Okay, so, I love snow, and this has been…really weird, honestly, because I could have sworn you were…but good, it was good weird. But I really have to print off another paper before my professor skins me alive and I need to buy a stapler or at the very least break into Paris' apartment and steal one, but then she'd probably think one of the guys from the Do-op group downstairs finally broke in, and believe me, that would not bode well, so really I should just go buy a stapler, but in all honesty, I don't have time. Or the money, even. I mean, Logan does, but I still feel uncomfortable just taking someone's money, even though it would be a stapler for him, too, and I…I am talking a lot," she muttered, her voice dropping about an octave as she looked down at her hands.

"That's okay," he laughed, though he looked a little stunned. "Listen, Lorelai Gilmore, can you point me in the direction of Saybrook?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, sure. It's close to Branford, where I used to live. Keep walking, then take…three lefts, an immediate right, and then your second left."

"Thank you. I'm sorry, again."

"I thought I was sorry," she replied teasingly, shocking herself by leaning forward flirtatiously.

"I'll keep it in mind. Three lefts, immediate right, second left," he repeated as he backed away, giving her a wave.

She nodded, biting her lower lip again shyly. She turned to go, berating herself for being such a moron. She had a boyfriend, she was in love, and that was just some guy who couldn't even read a map. Stupid.

"Hey, Lorelai," the voice she now recognized called a moment later and she froze before turning back around, gathering air into her lungs so that she could call directions to him again.

He beat her to it, speaking first, the breeze carrying his voice to her tenderly, as though it, too, was part of some grand scheme. "You're right. That was really good weird."

Her breath caught in her throat and she coughed, her blue eyes widening. He just grinned at her and walked away.

Rory paced her apartment after her classes that day, clutching the cordless phone. A post-it note, upon which was written a short but serious pro-con list, was crumpled in her hand. She wanted to call Lorelai and discuss this, but at the same time, calling her mother to talk would be admitting that this was…not a problem, but at the very least, an issue. Something she needed some perspective and advice on. She didn't know if it was a crush. She didn't know if it was anything. Did it mean that she had liked Tristan, or just that this new guy was attractive?

She had a boyfriend! A boy who loved her. Logan had changed for her. How could she be thinking what she was thinking?

She wasn't, she decided. It was nothing, just a strange moment. A blast from the past, but also a new prospective.

She thought of Dean and how stupid she'd been then. Not again. Not again.

The phone rang, vibrating in her hands and she jumped about a foot. She answered, placing the phone cautiously against her ear and asking tentatively, breathlessly, "Hello?"

"Hey, sexy," Logan said, his voice husky and jesting. "What've you been up to without me?" he asked teasingly.

"Nothing!" she cried, more guiltily than she thought possible.

"Uh huh," he replied, sounding completely unconvinced. "Listen, Ace, I'm so sorry, but my dad's being a jackass as always and I'm going to be late getting home."

"Oh," Rory said quietly, relieved at the feeling of disappointment that filled her. "We were going to have dinner. I was going to do my best takeout ordering."

"I know, Ace…"

"It's okay, really. Don't feel guilty. It's not your fault."

"Still order all that, okay? You eat. And when I get home, you and I can finish whatever you started before I called."

"Logan," she chastised, blushing even though she was alone. "I wasn't…"

She could hear loud voices in the background. "I have to go, love you; I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Love you, too," she replied, swallowing hard.

The moment he hung out she collapsed on the couch, turning to her right to look at the framed shot of the two of them plummeting through the air. She had loved him in that moment, and she loved him still.

She dialled quickly and precisely, held her breath as she waited for an answer.

"Hello." Lorelai sounded particularly melancholy, but she'd been in a funk for months. Rory knew that while she kept going with her usual speed and enthusiasm, it got the better of her sometimes.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Hey, angel," Lorelai replied tiredly, and Rory could hear her smile. "Oh, sweets, I'm fine, I'm just…it's nothing."

"He loves you. Luke loves you," Rory said with quiet confidence, putting her own problems on the backburner momentarily.

"I know," her mother replied, sounding suddenly tearful. "I just wish…"

"I know." Rory let it be at that, allowing silence to fill the companionable silence as Lorelai got herself together.

"So," she said, much more brightly. "What is it, kid?"

"What'd'you mean?"

"Oh, Rory. I think by now, after over two decades with you in my life, I know your moods. You sounded a little frantic when I answered."

"I was worried about you."

"Thank you, honey, I appreciate that. Now, should I get comfy, because if it's going to take over an hour to get this out of you, I'm going to need candy and coffee and Cosmo."

"You would read while on the phone with me? " her daughter asked incredulously.

"What? You like reading. You used to ignore me while you read all the time –"

"I was reading War and Peace, not about how to get the best orgasm of my life!"

"And impressive evasive manoeuvre, there," Lorelai finished sarcastically, ignoring Rory's comment.

"Mommy?" Rory asked in her smallest voice.

"Yes, honey."

The sound of Lorelai's patient voice, the one that had come up with solutions to countless problems that Rory had thought impossible, made her melt. "I think I have a crush," she admitted.

After taking a moment to absorb her daughter's words, Lorelai asked, "Is he hot?"

"Mom!"

"Okay, sorry, sweetie, I realize this isn't joking territory…I just couldn't resist." After a pause, she whined, "Can't you at least tell me if he's hot?"

"Mom!"

"He is," Lorelai replied in amazement. "Wow, honey."

"I love Logan," Rory said, and she felt like crying.

"Oh, babe. Having a crush on some gorgeous guy doesn't mean you don't love Logan. It's…it's a crush. That's very far away from being in love with someone."

"He looks freakishly like Tristan."

"Shut up!" Lorelai cried, and Rory was vaguely happy that her dilemma had cheered her mother up. "That's crazy. Oh, kiddo, don't read too much into it. Having a little sexual tension with a friend can be a good thing."

"In what world?"

Lorelai sighed. "Rory, honey, you know that Logan and I…I'm not exactly his biggest fan, but I do not doubt you love him. I really don't."

"Thank you, Mom. But…what do I do about this guy?"

"You see him around, or not. You hang out, or you don't. There's nothing that you have to do."

"I feel, like, sixteen when I try to say anything," Rory confessed, annoyed, as she stretched out on the couch.

Lorelai listened to get daughter carefully, paying close attention to the tone and inflection of her voice. She kept her comments light-hearted, but in truth, she was thinking seriously. There was something between her daughter and this new man, she suspected. A connection more intimate than a simple crush. But she knew her girl, she knew Rory, and she knew that she could never tell her daughter that. "Babe, listen, I have to get to the inn before Michel has a breakdown and starts refusing to speak English again. I'll just say one thing. If you realize one day, that maybe you don't love Logan as much as you used to or…if you find something more…more real, or intense, then that's okay. You haven't made any commitments about forever yet. I know you love him, Rory, and I am very happy for you, but it's not wrong to love someone else. Okay?"

Rory was quiet for so long that Lorelai actually considered grabbing her copy of Cosmopolitan and flipping through it. "Sweetie?" she asked.

Rory sounded weary. "I hate it when you're honest. And when you're right."

Lorelai knew she should leave it alone, but she wouldn't have been able to stand not knowing. "What does that mean, when I'm right?" she gently prodded. "Is there something more there?"

"No. Mom. I just met him for like two seconds. You just…you know what you're talking about. But I love him. I do."

"That's good," Lorelai said softly. "I have to go. I love you, hon. Just remember what I said. You can love anyone you want, as long as you always love me best."

"I will," Rory said honestly, smiling at her mother's joke.

"I know," Lorelai whispered, touched by her daughter's immediate and genuine answer. "Back atcha, baby."

"Hey! Finally! I've been trying to get a hold of you all day."

"Sorry, Hales," Lucas chuckled as he flopped down onto his bed. He held the phone between his ear and his shoulder so that he could lazily toss a basketball up and down.

"Shut up and tell me how your day was," she ordered.

"I talked to about twelve different deans about transferring credits, and I got lost about ninety seven times."

"Big campus?" she asked with a sympathetic laugh.

"Massive."

"I can't believe you, Lucas," she said, and he could picture her fondly shaking her head. "Yale, of all places in the world."

"Of all places in the world, Haley? That seems a little extreme."

"You're just so far away," she said sadly, and then sighed the delicate sigh he knew always preceded a touchy subject. "Lucas…I just wish you hadn't physically felt the need to run away."

He caught the basketball and let it fall to the floor next to his bed. "It's just hard," he confessed.

"Don't hate her, Luke," Haley insisted quietly. "You left her, and she couldn't handle it."

"She could have called me," he snapped back, feeling his defences go up.

"Lucas," Haley said patiently. They were getting into this for the hundredth time. "You left her there."

"Haley." He was not going to do it again. It was hard, he'd just told her that. He loved her for caring, but it was done. For good.

"Fine, fine, I'm dropping it. But I'm asking you, Luke, as your best friend, not to be angry about this. Tell me what would have happened if she had called."

"That's not dropping it."

"Lucas!"

He ground his back teeth together. "I would have taken care of her," he said softly.

"You tell that to the girl who's always being left alone."

"Haley, I swear…"

"I'm done," she said calmly.

"We're done. We were done a long time ago. She shouldn't have told me."

"Lucas." It was her turn to sound threatening, stunned that he would say something like that. He would never admit it, but he had waited for her. And everyone knew that soon enough, once back in Tree Hill, they would fall together again, the way they were supposed to be. Yes, the confession had ripped them apart again and had hurt Lucas, but she hadn't truly believed that his hurt was beyond repair.

"So I met my roommates," he said pointedly. "Or suitemates. They seem like okay guys. Colin and Finn. Finn's Australian."

"Sounds sexy," Haley laughed, valiantly trying to adopt to his change of topic. "I'll have to come visit."

"Yeah, to see me, not the alcoholic Australian."

"Of course to see you. But he'll be there, won't he?"

"Hales. Do us all a favour and take up your pregnancy-induced sexual cravings with your husband."

"Luke!" she cried. "Stop. Change of topic, now," she said hurriedly, for both their sakes. "Are all those East Coast people as nice as they're supposed to be?"

"They're alright. Yale's a little…snobby. I met a really…unique girl today. She was sweet, she gave me directions."

Haley let that sink in. She didn't want to get mad at him. Not again. "You met a girl?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because of everything that's happened!" she argued. "Because you just, literally, ran away from the one girl—"

"Haley. Please."

She sighed heavily. "So you met a girl."

"Don't sound so excited about it."

"I didn't call you to fight," his best friend replied tenderly. "I really didn't. Tell me about her."

"We ran into each other and I knocked her paper all over the place. She thought I was some ass of a guy she used to know. We talked for a minute. It wasn't a big deal."

"How like her!" Haley's tone was so full of accusation that he pulled the phone away from his ear. She may as well have said 'How dare you?' or 'Can you be more of a jerk?'

He fought to keep from yelling at her and replied, as kindly as he could, "I know that you're sentimental right now, Haley, but it's over. We're over."

"If that's what you need to tell yourself," she muttered.

"I have to go," he muttered right back.

"No, Luke –"

"Give Jamie a hug for me. I'll talk to you later."

"I miss you."

He nodded to the empty room, suddenly lonely and regretting his decision to hang up on her. His stubborn side wouldn't relent, however, so he did abruptly press the end button, but not before saying, "Back at you."