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Chapter 26

It was that time of the school year for the four teenagers. Time to decide which universities to apply to. At Chilton, you apply to where you want to go and then you have to give some back-ups.

Rory, Jess, Tristan and Paris were all sat in the living room of the Crap Shack with the application form in front of them that they had to hand back to Chilton at the end of the week. They had to let Chilton know what it their main choice and then their back ups. Rory watched the other three concentrating on filling out the form. She looked down at her blank form.

Jess looked up and saw that Rory wasn't writing. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah...I just don't know what to put." Rory admitted.

"I know. The back ups are hard." Jess said. "You know what to put for your main one though."

"I don't know..." Rory said quietly.

All three heads shot up and stared at her.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Jess asked shocked. "You've been dreaming about Harvard since you were young."

"I know...but...things have changed..." Rory said biting her lip.

"What things?" Jess asked.

Rory glanced over at Tristan.

"Oh no.." Tristan said, understanding what she meant. "Rory, you have to go to Harvard." He insisted.

"But..." Rory said.

"No buts." Tristan said firmly. "Like Jess said, it's your dream to go to Harvard. Don't let me be the reason why you don't go."

"Long distance relationships rarely work though." Rory said quietly. "I don't want us to break up."

Tristan sighed. "Rory, we're meant to be together. No distance is going to change that." He assured her. "Plus I'm looking at places closeish to Harvard. And we'll visit each other lots."

Rory bit her lip. "I don't know..."

"Rory, you're going to Harvard." Tristan said. "You and Paris are going to kick their asses over there."

Rory and Paris exchanged a smile. "Ok." Rory finally said and wrote Harvard down as her first choice. She looked over at the boys' papers. "So what have you both put?" She asked.

"Yale." Jess said.

"Yale too." Tristan said. "See it will be fine. Us boys together and you girls together."

Rory smiled. "I guess that would be cool. You could come visit us together."

"Yep all 132.6 miles." Tristan said.

"What?" Rory asked.

"That's how far away Harvard is from Yale. Takes a couple of hours." Tristan said.

"How do you know that?" Rory asked.

"Do you yahoo?" Tristan said.

"You looked it up." Rory said softly.

"I was bored. It was just a couple of clicks." He shrugged it off.

Jess and Paris just smirked as they watched the interaction.

"You looked it up." Rory smiled.

"It's not a big deal." Tristan said.

Rory grinned and moved next to him, giving him a side hug. "You looked it up." She smiled.

Tristan gave in and had to smile as he kissed the top of head. "Yeah yeah." He said.

Suddenly they were interrupted by Lane coming out of Rory's bedroom. "I need help. It looks wrong." She said placing her ad on the table.

"It's too long, that's why." Rory laughed. "Do you need to list all your inspirations?"

"I've already made cuts though." Lane exclaimed. "I can't knock anyone else off it."

"Yeah but do you need to name each of their albums as well?" Jess smirked, looking over Rory's shoulder.

"Maybe not." Lane admitted.

"Make cuts." Rory said handing it back to her.

"Fine." Lane sighed. "But I have to crank up the music if I have to make serious cuts!" She warned going back to Rory's room and turning the volume up on the stereo.

"I guess we're moving outside." Rory joked, picking up her papers and leading everyone out onto the porch.

The following week, Lorelai was sat at the counter in the diner eating some lunch on her break from the inn.

"Are you ok?" Luke asked.

"What? Yeah I'm fine." Lorelai said. "Why?"

"Because you're unusually quiet. And you're never quiet." Luke smirked.

Lorelai smiled at that. "Sorry. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"The kids gave their college forms in at school last week." Lorelai said.

"I know." Luke nodded.

"I just...How are we going to afford it?" Lorelai asked. "I don't want to let them down."

"We'll manage." Luke said firmly.

"How though?" Lorelai asked.

"We've got enough between us." He said.

"Yeah but only just." Lorelai said.

"There's something I haven't told you yet. Come upstairs for a moment?" He said.

Lorelai looked at him confused. "What is it?"

"Just come upstairs for a minute." He said.

"You do know that Tristan's living upstairs now. We can't just go up there anytime we like now." She teased.

"Fine we'll talk in the hallway. I just need to tell you something away from prying ears." He said leading her upstairs.

"Luke, what is it? What's with the secrecy?" Lorelai asked.

Luke took a big breath. "Mom..uh..the night she...uh...her last night, we were talking and she wanted me to know that over the years, she's been putting some money aside for both Rory and Jess for their college fund." He said.

"What?" Lorelai said surprised.

"I was going to tell you. I just...I don't really like talking about that night." Luke said gruffly.

"No, of course not." Lorelai said softly.

"She's saved a lot." Luke admitted.

"How much is a lot?" Lorelai asked.

"Enough to cover half the amount needed for both Rory and Jess." He said.

"Wow.." Lorelai said shocked.

"She wanted it to go to good use and she knew how much they're going to excel at college." Luke said.

"I can't believe she did that." Lorelai said softly. "She's still helping out even when she's not here."

"Yeah.." Luke said quietly.

Lorelai gave him a hug. "Sorry. I know it's hard for you to talk about her."

"No it's ok." He said. "This is for the kids. It's good news. She did the same for Katie and LJ when they're ready."

Lorelai smiled. "She was an amazing woman. So selfless and generous."

Luke smiled. "Yeah she was." He said softly.

Lorelai smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss. "I have to admit, that is a weight of my mind."

Luke nodded. "Mine too."

"I can't believe they're going off to college already." Lorelai said quietly.

"Yeah.." Luke said quietly. "Time goes too quickly."

"Yeah.." She said quietly.

"Come on, let's head back downstairs." Luke said taking her hand. "Everything will be fine."

Lorelai gave him a small smile. "I know." She said.

Rory and Jess were walking down the street with Lane later that day. Tristan had been asked to stay behind at school so he was catching the later bus back.

"I can't believe it!" Lane exclaimed. "Every religious college there is near here, which would mean I would live at home by the way! She made me fill out every form!"

"Well at least you won't have to pay for living costs." Jess smirked.

Lane glared at him. "So not in the mood for sarcasm right now!" She exclaimed.

"Noted." Jess smirked.

"Urghhh! This sucks! It so sucks! And it also means Dave won't want to know me anymore!" She said.

"Ok calm down." Rory said. "It might not be so bad." She tried to reassure her friend.

"How? How can it not be so bad?" Lane exclaimed.

"Well..." Rory said trying so hard to find a positive of her friend's predicament.

"See! It sucks!" Lane said dejectedly. "I'm going to grow old alone and miserable."

"No you won't." Rory assured her. "I've seen the way Dave looks at you. He really likes you. You going to a religious college isn't going to change that." She said.

"You really think so?" Lane asked a bit calmer.

"I know so. I've seen you two together. You just fit." Rory smiled. "Everything will be fine."

Lane sighed. "Thanks." She said. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you."

"It's fine. It's what friends are for." Rory said.

They were walking past the beauty store when Lane suddenly stopped outside it.

"Lane?" Rory said.

"I'm going to make a stand." Lane suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked confused.

"I'm going to dye my hair." Lane said firmly.

"You're what?" Rory said shocked. "What about your mom? How are you going to hide it from her?"

"I'm not! That's the point!" Lane exclaimed. "I'm doing it and she can't stop me." She insisted and disappeared into the store.

"She's finally cracked." Jess smirked.

Rory sighed. "Come on." She said pulling Jess into the shop after Lane.

"Yep, for 1 whole hour, Lane's hair was this colour." Rory said showing her mom.

"Whoa!" Lorelai laughed. "She should have kept it!"

"For someone who was going to make a stand sure did crumble very quickly." Jess smirked from the couch.

"We did have to assure her she did indeed still have dyed hair seeing as she dyed it back to black." Rory smiled.

"Aw poor Lane." Lorelai said sympathetically. "I'm guessing we're hiding this photo here."

"Oh yeah." Rory nodded.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Jess got up to answer it. He came back in followed by Tristan. "It's for you." He said.

"Hey!" Rory smiled at Tristan. "You know you don't need to ring the doorbell anymore to come in. Just come in."

"Sorry, didn't think." Tristan said.

Rory could see he wasn't quite himself. "Are you ok? What did Headmaster Charleston want?" She asked.

"I...I don't know..." He said.

"You don't know what he said?" Rory asked confused.

"No." Tristan shook his head.

"No?" Rory asked equally confused.

"Sorry." Tristan said trying to get himself back to reality. "I'm just a bit...shocked."

"Why? What happened?" Rory asked worried it was something bad. "Tristan please just tell me. You're scaring me."

Tristan let out a big breath. "Apparently I'm excelling in every subject and am due to be salutatorian..." He said still in shock.

"Oh my god that's amazing!" Rory exclaimed.

"That's not all." Tristan said.

"Ok..." Rory said.

"I...I've been offered a scholarship at Yale..." He said.

Hope you liked it! Please keep your reviews coming! They really do mean so much to me! :)