Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, music, or movies mentioned.

AN: Here is my new story! I'm so excited to get started on this project and I really love the idea I have for this. This chapter will sort of set the scene and I've already started on the 2nd one! You will LOVE the next chapter, the way they meet it so cute. Enjoy!

18-year old Lorelai Gilmore-Hayden, or Rory, sat up in her bed late at night, with only her beside lamp on, allowing her to read. As hard as she tried to concentrate she couldn't, she had so much on her mind at that moment that even reading wouldn't help. Great. She tossed her book down on the bed, not bothering to mark her page and took to looking out the practically black window.

"You okay kid?"

Rory looked over at the door and found her father leaning against it. She let a small smile come over her face, he knew how hard this was for her. "I miss her."

"I know you do," he said, walking into the room. He took a seat on her desk chair across the room.

"Senior year is a big deal and she's not here for mine. I was there for hers, we had our slumber party and painted each other's nails for her big first day. And for my big first day she's in New Haven," she whispered, trying not to let tears fall. Her older sister, well older being a relative term, she was only a year older, but either way she wasn't here. Elizabeth or as they called her, Elle had left for Yale 3 days ago. Because of their close ages Rory and Elle have always been close friends and each night before the first day of school they had the tradition of an all-night slumber party. Of course, this year it wasn't going to happen. "I don't want anything to change."

"Everything is going to change," he said.

"Gee thanks," she laughed, tears falling.

"Sorry," he laughed. "But as you grow up things change. You'll always have your sister though."

"Doesn't feel like it," she shrugged.

"Trust me you will. Your mom and I don't have any siblings, what you and Elle have, the bond between sisters, is special and it's permanent," he said.

"I know, I just miss her," she said simply.

"Well, come with me, I have something to show you," Chris said, standing up. Rory followed him out and downstairs to the large living room. She saw her mom on the couch, an enormous assortment of candy on the coffee table in front of her. There were large coffee mugs and Chinese takeout, several movies, and even nail polish.

"I know we're not Elle, but it would be sad to see such a great tradition go to waste," Lorelai said. Rory sat down on the couch with her and gave her a big hug.

"Thank you, mommy," she said.

"We're always here kid," Lorelai said. Rory turned to Chris on the other side of her and gave him a hug.

"I might leave before the nail polish, but other than that I'm always here," he joked.

Rory laughed and reached for one of the coffees, "You're sure you don't want pretty pink nails?" Lorelai asked.

"We could even make them sparkly," Rory laughed.

"No thanks," he said and reached for the remote to start the movies. "What's first?"

"Mean Girls," Lorelai and Rory said in unison.

"Mean what?" Chris asked.

"Mean Girls," Rory said again. "Elle and I always watch it. Then Willy Wonka and then we watch The Office until we fall asleep."

"UK or US?" he asked.

"US, nobody beats Michael, Dwight, and Jim."

"Sounds good."

"Ok, what are we waiting for?" Lorelai asked, reaching for the popcorn.

The three stayed up and watched movies, and of course the Office, all night, or at least until Lorelai and Chris fell asleep. Rory looked over at both her parents and smiled. They knew how close she and Elle were and exactly how upset Rory would be tonight. She hated to think that next year she would be at Harvard with no Elle, no Lorelai, and no Christopher. But Harvard was the dream, and someone had to appease the Hayden grandparents.

When they were little, she and Elle joked about how one of them would go to Yale and the other Harvard, just like their parents. This way both grandparents were happy. Over the years the more she thought about it, the better it sounded. As much as she loved her sister she was always living in her shadow. Elle was popular, she was beautiful, she was brilliant, everyone loved her. Unfortunately, that made Rory 'Elle's little sister', and that was it. Every teacher compared them, every Chilton student compared them, sometimes their parents even compared them. Of course, her parents had no malicious intent, it was only small comments like 'You should run for class president, like Elle did' or 'Elle used to go to so many parties'. They probably didn't even notice they did it.

So, she was looking forward to her fresh start in a year, but until then she would enjoy being home with her parents, as this was the last year she would live with them. She covered them both with blankets and silently cleaned up the candy and turned off the TV. She crept upstairs to her room and climbed into bed. As she drifted off she thought that maybe this year would be different, after all she was a senior and Elle was at a different school. Maybe this would be her year.

It wasn't, at least not at first. She had woken up late, missed breakfast, and made it to school only to find Tristan leaning against her locker. Needless to say, that had gone over like a lead balloon. And if she heard one more teacher say, "This will be the hardest class you've ever taken," she was going to drop out, forget Harvard. By the time she made it home her back hurt, her feet hurt, her head hurt, and… her phone was ringing. She dropped her backpack and grabbed her phone from the pocket.

"Hello?" she answered, plopping herself into an armchair.

"Hey little sis! How do feel about a trip to New Haven?"