Chapter 9

Chilton…Monday after Spring Break… Rory POV

When I got to school I was nervous about Paris asking me what I did. I wasn't sure if I wanted to even tell her that Lucas and I were even together. When I got to my locker, Paris was there waiting for me. "Morning." I said.

"How was your spring break?" She asked me.

"It was fine. I went to see my cousin in North Carolina." I told her as I opened my locker.

"Sounds like fun." Paris said sarcastically.

"There's more. This summer I'm moving." I told her. "Try not to be too happy about it." I said grabbing my books.

The day seemed to go by really fast. By the end of it though, I was really missing Lucas. Part of me wondered if Mom would let me go ahead and transfer to Tree Hill. It was something that I would have to talk to her about.

Independence Inn… Lorelai POV

When I walked into my office, I was surprised to see Mia sitting at my desk. "Mia! What are you doing here?" I asked her.

She stood up and hugged me. "Well, after you called me yesterday… I got to thinking. This is a huge opportunity and change for you. I want to enjoy this next step in your life. You deserve it, Lorelai." Mia said. "I will stay until I can find a new manager."

The next thing I knew I had tears running down my face. Even though I was excited about moving to Tree Hill, I was going to miss Mia and Stars Hollow. But there are things about Tree Hill that remind me of Stars Hollow.

"Now grab your stuff and go start packing." Mia said.

"Thanks Mia…For everything." I said. She smiled at me.

When I left the Inn, I headed to get some packing boxes. I then headed home to start packing. I couldn't wait to tell Rory that we were going to be able to move sooner than we thought.

Rory POV… Bus home…

On the way home from school, I decided to call Lucas and see how things were going. I had been worried about Peyton since her break up with Jake. And besides I hadn't really talked to him much since I'd been back home. "Hey babe." He said when he answered.

"Hey. How's things there?" I asked.

"There not bad. Nathan and Haley got married last night." Lucas said.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah. Haley made an excuse about it not being about sex but I don't know."

I could understand that. "I can kinda see where she's coming from." I said.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. I mean…sex is a big deal." I told him. Then it hit me, sex was something that we hadn't gotten around to talking about.

There was an awkward silence. "I guess we haven't talked about any of that." Lucas said.

When the bus stopped I realized that we were in Stars Hollow. "Yeah guess not. Listen I'll call you later, I gotta write an article for the paper. Paris wants to proof it before I submit it." I said.

"Okay. Miss you Ror." He said.

I couldn't help but smile. "Miss you too Luke." I said and hung up.

When I got off the bus I headed towards my house. When I got there I was surprised that Mom was there. I figured that she would have been working late. When I walked into the house, I noticed that their were boxes all over the place. "Mom!" I yelled.

"Upstairs." She called down.

"Mom come down here. There's boxes everywhere." I yelled. A few minutes later Mom came downstairs. "Mom, what's going on? I came home and there's boxes everywhere." I said.

"Well, here's the thing…" Mom says and starts telling me that Mia was at the Inn today and told her to start our new adventure. "So when I got home today I called Headmaster Charleston and told him that today was your last day and to forward your records to Tree Hill High."

I lunged at Mom and wrapped my arms around her. "So what your saying is that as soon as we finish packing we can go?" I asked her.

"Yep. That's what I'm saying." Mom said with a smile.

Tree Hill…3 days later…

Lucas POV… Karen's Café…

I was really missing Rory. I was beginning to think that this long distance thing was going to be harder than I thought. After school that day, I headed over to the café. I wanted to see if Mom had talked to Lorelai recently. I guess I was kinda worried that Rory was rethinking our whole relationship. When I walked into the café Mom was standing at the counter. "Hey Ma." I said, sitting down.

"Hey Luke. How was school?" She asked me.

"Not bad. Hey, have you heard from Lorelai recently?" I asked.

"Yeah, she called earlier. She wanted me to see if you would go by and check on their house. She said that she was gonna start sending up some of their stuff." Mom said.

"Really? That's kinda soon isn't it? I mean aren't they gonna need their stuff in Stars Hollow?"

"I don't know. Maybe she decided that their gonna come up sooner than she originally thought." Mom said.

I nodded. "Yeah alright. I'll go check on the house." Mom smiled at me and handed me the house key that Lorelai had left her.

I headed over to Lorelai and Rory's new house. The outside looked the same, just like it did every morning that I had looked over at it on my way to school. I used the key that Mom had given me and let myself in. As I walked into the house, I realized that Rory was right, Peyton's paint job had turned out good. Which of course I knew that it would. Peyton's an incredible artist. I walked through the house and when I was done I walked back out to the front porch and sat down on the front steps. Just as I sat down, I noticed Peyton walking up.

"Hey what're you doing here?" I asked her.

"I went by the café to find you. Your mom said that you'd be here." Peyton said.

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing really. Brooke's hanging out with Chase and my dad's still gone. I didn't exactly want to be alone." Peyton said.

"That's different."

"Yeah I know. Don't judge okay?"

"No that." I said pointing at the moving truck that was backing into the driveway.