Disclaimer:  Shockingly, I haven't yet gained ownership of any of these characters…

Chapter 7

College

Intro:  Several months have passed.  Jess and Rory are still together- going strong and very happy.  Lorelai and Luke have continued their little charade, but neither one of them has chosen to do anything about it.  It's now the middle of Jess and Rory's second semester of their senior year.  Jess has been working his butt off to get his grades up, and he's succeeded.

The Gilmore House:

Rory is lying on the couch, reading, when Lorelai runs into the house screaming.

Startled, Rory sits up, "Mom? What is it?"

Lorelai stands by the couch with her hands behind her back.  She's grinning like she knows a huge secret.

"What do you have?" Rory asked.

"Oh… just the mail."

"The mail? Why are you so excited?"

Lorelai whips out the rather thick envelope from behind her back and begins to read it, "To Ms. Lorelai Leigh Gilmore… Hmm, I wonder who this is from… Oh look! A convenient little logo… What's that say? Harvard University?"

Rory's eyes widened and she leaped up from the couch, snatching the letter from Lorelai's hands.  She tore it open and began to read the letter.

"AHHHHHH!" she screamed a moment later, "I'M IN!!!"

Lorelai and Rory hugged each other, jumping up and down.

"I'm so proud of you!"

Rory smiled, "Thanks Mom.  I'm gonna go tell Jess okay?"

"Alright.  Back in half an hour?"

"How come?"

"It's Friday." Lorelai reminded.

"Right. See you!" Rory ran out of the house, still clutching her acceptance letter.

Luke's

The last customer had left the diner, and Luke had just brought the last dishes into the kitchen when Rory came in.  She started off running, across the diner and towards the stairs.

"Rory?" Luke asked, a little confused.  But then he saw Rory's smile, and he couldn't help but smile too, "What's up?"

Rory held up her letter so Luke could see it.  He started to read it but didn't get past the first word: congratulations.

"Rory that's great!" Luke praised her, and Rory leaped into his open arms, hugging him tightly. 

Soon, she pulled away, "Jess upstairs?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Rory sprinted up the stairs and Luke watched her.  He was so excited for her, but at the same time, he was sad.  He always knew that Rory would get into Harvard and move away, but he wasn't quite ready for it to happen.

Upstairs:

Rory flew into the apartment above Luke's, not bothering to knock. 

"JESS!" she called, and proceeded into his room.  He was lying on his bed, reading.

"Hey Ror." He greeted.

Rory's smile was so wide her cheeks had begun to ache.

Jess saw the sparkle in her clear blue eyes, and he knew instantly what had happened.

"You got in," he guessed.

"YES!"

Jess put down his book and motioned for Rory to come to him.  She climbed onto his bed and curled up into Jess's side. 

Jess wrapped his arms around her, "Congrats."

Rory smiled and brought her lips to his.  A few minutes later, they broke apart and Rory rested her head against Jess's chest, admiring her acceptance letter.

Then, she put it down and her gaze fell to an envelope on Jess's night-side table. 

"What's that?" she asked pointing.

Jess didn't have to turn and look to know what Rory was talking about.  His letter from Boston College.

"It came today."

"You didn't open it?"

"Nah."

"Why not?"

"Scared I guess."

"You? Scared?" Rory joked, "Come on, you can do it- I'll even hold your hand."

Jess smirked, "If you insist."

He picked up the envelope and opened it carefully, then handed the folded letter to Rory.  She looked at him puzzled.

"You do it."

Rory smiled and slowly unfolded the letter and began to read it aloud, "Dear Mr. Mariano, Thank you for applying to join the other 13,000 students at Boston College next fall.  At this time, we'd like to congratulate, and welcome you, to the class of 2007."

Rory paused, "You did it!  You're in!"

Jess, shocked, took the letter from Rory, reading it for himself.  He had done it.  Now he wouldn't have to say goodbye to Rory.  Jess smirked at his next thought, 'We'll both be in Boston…'

"I am SO proud of you!" Rory gushed, then leaned in for another kiss.  She pulled away when she heard the door open. 

Amber stood in Jess's doorway, "Oh, I'm sorry I-"

Rory and Jess sat up, still holding on to each other.

"Nah, Amber it's fine… We weren't…"

"Oh.  So what's up?"

Rory smiled and spoke to Amber, "Your little brother just got into college!" she revealed.

Amber smiled, "Really Jess?" he nodded, "That's great!"

Amber ran to the bedside and hugged her brother.

"You tell Luke yet?"

Jess shook his head.

"Let's go!!" Rory said excitedly, grabbing Jess's hand and pulling him off the bed and towards the door.  The two ran downstairs, and Amber followed, only after picking up both Rory's and Jess's acceptance letters off of the bed and taking them with her.

When Amber arrived in the diner, Luke was hugging Jess- a rare instance.  She placed the letters on the counter.

Rory picked up her letter and suddenly panicked, "Oh no!"

"What?" Jess asked, worried, "Something wrong?"

"Dinner!"

Jess realized what she meant- she was going to be late to dinner with her grandparents, so he took her hand and walked her to the door.  He kissed her, and Rory fell into his embrace.

Jess whispered, "I love you Rory.  SO much."

"I love you too."

They pulled away from each other and Rory left the diner.

Outside:

Rory paused at the window and peered in.  She hadn't noticed Lorelai at her side.

"Whatcha lookin' at babe?"

Rory smiled, "You see that guy in there?" she pointed to Jess and Lorelai nodded.

"That's my boyfriend.  He just got into college."

Lorelai looked at Rory in disbelief, "Really?"

Rory shook her head yes, "Boston College."

Lorelai's eyes widened, as she stumbled for words, "Wow.  That's, uh, great!"

"I know!" Rory was beaming, "Come on Mom- we're gonna be late."

Rory headed out to the Jeep and got in.  Lorelai soon followed, but not before a heavy sigh.  'They're both going to be in Boston.' She thought.  She had grown to like Jess, she really had.  But this was new- her daughter and her boyfriend would both be far away- together.  And Lorelai wasn't sure that she liked it.  'It'll be fine.' She told herself, and she joined Rory in the car.

About half an hour later Lorelai and Rory got out of the car and rang the doorbell at Richard and Emily's house.  A new maid let them in.

"May I help you?"

"Yes.  Have the getaway car running in 10 minutes- we might need a quick exit."

"Excuse me?" the maid asked puzzled.

"Never mind her Bridgette." Emily announced from behind the new maid.

"Lorelai, must you confuse the new help?"

"It's my duty as the failed daughter."

"Lorelai." Emily warned, "Rory, didn't you have anything to wear?" she asked noticing Rory's jeans and light blouse.

"Oh, sorry Grandma.  I uh, was kinda busy."

"With that hoodlum no doubt." Emily murmured.

"Mom." This time it was Lorelai's voice in the warning tone, "Jess is not a hoodlum.  He's actually a very nice kid, and he's good to Rory. AND he was accepted into Boston College- he's not the screw up you think he is."

Rory was stunned at the way her mother had defended Jess.  She knew she liked him, but never that much.

"Well then!  Rory, why don't you ask him to dinner next week?" Emily suggested.

"Okay, I'll ask him."  Rory agreed, "I have some news for you and Grandpa."

"Oh? Lovely.  I'll go get Richard."

LATER- During dinner:

"Emily said you have some sort of announcement Rory?" Richard asked.

"Oh! Yes!"

"Well?" Emily inquired rather impatiently.

"I got my acceptance letter from Harvard today!"

"Oh Rory congratulations!" Emily praised.

"Yes, that's wonderful news!" Richard added.

Richard, Emily, and Rory began a very in depth conversation about college in general, and Lorelai soon grew bored and decided to begin a conversation of her own- with her wine glass.

"Hey Chuck. How's it going? Good? Me too. See, my kid got into college today- very cool. Oh yeah? The water glass asked you out? That's very exciting Chuck…"

"Lorelai, must you carry on conversations with inanimate objects?" Emily questioned, frustrated.

"Oh Mom go back to college-talk. Chuck was just about to get into the story about the time he had an affair with the gravy boat."

Emily shook her head.

A/N:  Please let me know what you think!    Next chapter- Luke and Lorelai talk about Jess and Rory both in Boston together, some R/J fluff… and then a jump to graduation!