Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thanks to my beta, luvtheheaven.

Chapter One: The Bridge

"Steph, I don't want to do it." Fourteen-year-old Rory Hayden stood next to her three best friends, Logan Huntzberger, Stephanie Vanderbilt and Colin McCrae, on a bridge near her home. The group had known each other since their first day at the Capital Preparatory Magnet School, where they almost instantly became best friends. Stephanie and Rory were complete opposites, personality-wise, but that was what made their friendship even stronger. They could never stay apart for a long period of time.

"Please, Rory!" Stephanie pleaded. "I don't want to be the only girl to do it. If I can do it, so can you." She knew that Rory wasn't adventurous, but she had agreed to come with them. Rory looked over the bridge railing with fear. She wasn't afraid of heights, but what her friends were proposing was dangerous.

"Rory, it's not like you're going to get hurt. I saw a group of kids who graduated last year do it, and they came out unharmed. If they can do it, so can we," Colin, the most sensible person in the group, said. Colin was always the voice of reason. He knew Rory's concerns were valid, but that was why he always made sure no one could get hurt from Logan's pranks or schemes.

Even though her best friends were trying to reassure her, she still was afraid. She looked at Logan and shook her head. "I really can't do it." He took a few steps towards her and hugged her.

"It'll be fun. It'll be a thrill. Something stupid, something bad for you. Just something different. Isn't this the point of being young? It's your choice, Ace. People can live a hundred years without really living for a minute. You jump down with us; it's one less minute you haven't lived," Logan whispered encouragingly in her ear, hoping this would finally convince her to do it. They had been standing on the bridge for almost half an hour.

Rory looked like she was considering everything that had been said to her. "Are you sure we won't get hurt, Colin?" She saw him nod, and then she took Logan's hand in hers and walked to the edge. She didn't miss the surprised look on her friend's faces, as they too walked to the edge.

"Are you sure Ace? Nobody is forcing you," Logan said to her, as he too looked down toward the water.

Rory just smiled and said "You jump, I jump, Jack," and sprung down with Logan's hand still in hers.

As soon as they landed in the water, they began swimming to the shore. Rory couldn't stop smiling.

"That was soooo much fun! A once in a lifetime experience," she said to Logan as they were sitting on the shore, enjoying the beautiful warm summer day. She was for once glad that school was over and was looking forward to the summer, to spend time with her friends, without having to worry about homework.

"Only if you want it to be, Ace," he replied, looking her straight in the eye and smiling.

"Hey guys, I totally forgot to ask you, where are you going to school next year?" Stephanie asked after a while of silence. She and Rory would be going to Chilton after the summer, but had forgotten to ask the boys if they were joining them or not.

"Uhm…" Colin mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I'm going to a school in Brighton, all the way in the UK. As you know, our parents' firm just merged with a London law firm, and my dad has to move there for a few years in order to stabilize the merger and improve business over there." He was looking at the ground and avoided his friends faces as he told them.

"Why didn't my dad tell me?" Rory questioned. Her father hadn't told her about any of this.

"Look. Rory, I don't know why. I just know that we are leaving about a week before school starts." He sighed. Although to his friends it was obvious that he was upset about this, he'd gotten used to the idea and he wasn't going to dwell on the negative. "Logan, where are you going?" He asked his best friend, trying to put the focus on someone else.

"I was going to go to Chilton, but I'll talk to my dad. He's not around much, so I doubt he'll care whether I'm here or in England. You can't go alone," Logan replied, smiling a little bit at his best friend. The girls were shocked.

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T GO TOO!" Rory roared, her eyes flashing with anger. It was bad enough that one of them had to go, but to lose two friends at once was just terrifying for her.

"Rory, will you calm down?" Logan replied, exasperated. He didn't want to leave the girls behind, but if he had to choose between Colin and the girls, he would choose Colin every time. No one had noticed how quiet Stephanie had been until they heard her whimpering; Rory immediately jumped up and went to hug her best friend. "Steph," Logan said, trying to calm his friend, "it's not the end of the world. We'll still see each other on holidays and such."

"Come on, Rory; let's just go home, we've got things to plan," Steph said after she had calmed down a bit. She knew that the boys would go no matter what, and she didn't want to go to school without them. Rory looked skeptically at her friend, unsure of what said plans would be, but nodded and got up. "We'll see you guys later," Steph added as she and Rory made their way to Rory's house. The boys simply waved, utterly confused by Steph's parting words.

"Hi, Lorelai!"

"Hi, Mom!" the girls shouted simultaneously as they entered the kitchen. "Could you please invite Steph's parents over for dinner tonight? We want to talk to both of you." Rory asked as she opened the fridge and got out a can of soda for her and Steph to split.

"Don't you think it's a bit last minute, girls?" Lorelai Hayden asked her daughter. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Steph, we love having Nancy and Alex over for dinner, but this is really short notice."

"I know Lorelai, but it's really important," Stephanie said to the woman who was like her second mother, with a look in her eyes that showed she meant it.

"Ok, ok, I'll make it work."

"Thanks, Mom. We'll be upstairs till dinner. Could we meet for drinks in Dad's study after dinner?"

"Sure. Now please tell me what's this all about? I can't just call and say it's important, they'll want to know what's going on."

"Just tell them it's a surprise, Lorelai," Steph replied with a small smile on her lips. "Let's go Ror, we need to plan!" she exclaimed as she began walking out the kitchen with her soda can.

Both girls knew that going to boarding school in England was the right thing to do, but convincing both of their parents that going abroad would be a good idea wouldn't be easy. They had to prepare their arguments and stand their ground, because they did not want to be separated from the boys, but that reason alone wouldn't be good enough for their parents.

Both girls spent the entire afternoon looking over the facts about Brighton, the school and England in general to find the best arguments for going. As soon as Steph's parents arrived that evening, dinner had been served. Both girls were too afraid to spill their plan during dinner, so they remained silent, which confused both set of parents, as they knew the girls couldn't stop talking when in the same room.

After dinner, they all gathered in Christopher's study, curious about what the girls had to tell them. When their idea had finally been revealed, both sets of parents, as expected, weren't thrilled about the idea. Lorelai insisted that she would miss too much of her daughter's life, a sentiment which Nancy, Steph's mom, shared. Chris argued that it was not safe for them to go. Rory argued that Colin's parents, James and Alice, would be there in case anything should happen. After two hours of lengthy discussion, the parents finally agreed to their plea, if they promised to get good grades and stay home for this summer. Their parents had promised to call the school first thing in the morning. The girls hugged in celebration and agreed.

"I can't believe we're going! We must call the boys!" Rory exclaimed as the girls exited the study, extremely happy. "Do you think Logan convinced Mitchum and Shira that he should go too?"

"No, no. Let them stew until tomorrow," Steph said cruelly. "I'll write them a text to meet us here tomorrow morning." She was mad that Colin had kept it from them for so long. "And of course he convinced them; they couldn't care less. I mean, Honor is still in Switzerland, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Rory replied. "I completely forgot about that."

After Stephanie left with plans to come back early next morning, Rory made her way to her bedroom. She was so excited about going abroad with her friends to study at one of the best high schools in the world, even though that meant leaving her family behind. As she was lying in bed, she thought of a famous quote by Bill Watterson. "Things are never as scary when you've got a best friend." She knew that her friends would be there for her when she got homesick, or had any other problems. Her friends were the family that she had chosen and were just as good as her real family.

The conversation with the boys the next morning went really well. The girls learned that Logan had also been able to successfully convince his parents that going to England was the right decision for him. Lorelai Trix Gilmore, Rory's great grandmother, lived in London and promised to decorate Rory and Steph's bedrooms, and the plans became finalized over the next couple of weeks. Then, the group had gone to Martha's Vineyard, where they always spent the summer. Logan had stayed with Colin's parents, because his couldn't be troubled to go on vacation with their children, which was why Honor was staying in Switzerland for the summer. Both Steph's and Rory's parents had also gone, and spent most of their time together with Colin's parents, making barbecues and going to the many society events on the island together. Lorelai and Nancy had both demanded that their girls get a whole new wardrobe for England, because the weather was so much colder there. Rory had tried to protest, saying she wouldn't need it because she had to wear the school uniform, but she was quickly silenced by Stephanie, who was overjoyed to get new clothes.

Now the summer was over, and today was the day. In only a few hours, Steph, Logan, Rory and Lorelai would be getting on the plane to meet Colin and his family in London, who had gone the week before to get settled in their London apartment. Lorelai was only coming in order to make sure the kids got there alright, because she and the other parents still thought they were too young to go alone on the plane.

Rory couldn't believe it was almost time to leave; it had seemed like only yesterday she had asked her parents to go to Brighton. She ate her waffles slower than she normally would have. It would be a very long time before she would have her Dad's waffles again and she wanted to savor them. She wanted to memorize everything about this day.

"You okay, babe?" Lorelai asked bringing Rory out of her daze.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little sad, but excited. And nervous, but mostly excited," she said trying to assure herself as much as her mother.

"You're gonna be fine, sweetie. You're gonna love Brighton. And Brighton is gonna love you. And don't forget, London is less than two hours away, so you can always visit your great-grandmother. And even if things get rough, you have Steph, Colin and Logan there to help you."

"Thanks, Mom, you're right. Are you sure you aren't mad I'm going to England?"

"Well babe, you'll never truly know until you read my memoir."

Lorelai smiled at her daughter. It would be hard for her to be apart from her only daughter, but she knew it would be good for Rory and her friends to get away from the Hartford society for a couple of years, to grow into their own person, before having to put on a fake smile every weekend at some society event.

Even though she'd had her daughter at sixteen, Lorelai had been welcomed into the high society community where they lived, mostly due to her marriage to Christopher and their financial success. Chris had gone to Princeton after high school and after seven years finally gotten his Princeton law degree, which enabled him to work at his father's law firm. The whole seven years, Chris had commuted to New Jersey every day, so he could see his daughter every night. Now, only six years later, he was the Hayden in McCrae, Hayden & Associates, and she couldn't be prouder of her husband. Her mother had wanted Lorelai to become a typical society wife, but Lorelai loved her independence too much to do that, and the society events weren't enough for her, which is why she opened her own inn two years after Chris had gotten his law degree. The Dragonfly Inn was doing well; in a travel magazine it had been named one of the best inns in Connecticut, which made her and her whole family very proud. Over the past two years she had been thinking about opening another inn, because she didn't have to do much to keep the Dragonfly Inn running. She had really competent workers who did it for her, most of the time. And with Rory leaving for London, she would have all the time she'd need to begin planning the new inn.

Lorelai was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the doorbell. "Well, that must be the Vanderbilts; I bet Steph had been tormenting them since seven this morning to go." She said to herself with a smile on her face, happy that Rory wasn't going alone to Brighton. She knew her daughter was excited to go, but didn't know if Rory was more excited or nervous about the new environment, which is why she was grateful that Steph would be there to help. Maybe she would finally succeed in getting Rory out of her shell.

"Good morning, Nancy, Alex." She turned to look at the girl. "Steph, Rory is in the kitchen, and there are still some of Chris's waffles, if you hurry." She greeted them.

"Thanks, Lorelai!" she replied as she hurried to the kitchen, not wanting to miss out on Chris's famous waffles. Lorelai and her parents were just about to follow them when the doorbell rang again.

"That must be the Huntzbergers." She smiled as she opened the door.

"Hello Lorelai, I hope we aren't too late," Mitchum said as he greeted her.

"Mitchum, when have you ever been too late? Logan, if you hurry, you can steal some waffles from Steph." Logan waved to Lorelai and the Vanderbuilts, before he too hurried to the kitchen, leaving all the adults alone in the foyer.

"With him hurrying like that, it almost seems as if we don't feed him at home." Mitchum laughed.

"Relax; we know the kids only love us because of Chris's waffles." Lorelai laughed. "Now, come on, let's go wait in the parlor, there's no need to stand here."

"I'd love to Lorelai, but I have to go to work. I just wanted to thank you for taking Logan, and he promised me he'd be on his best behaviour during the flight."

"I'm sure he won't be a problem. I'll have him call you as soon as we land," she replied.

"Thank you. Have a good flight," he said as he turned to leave the house. As soon as he was out, Nancy turned to Lorelai.

"No wonder Logan is so happy go get away; his father couldn't even take the morning off to drop him off at the airport," she said with disdain in her voice. "And Shira, I would've thought she could cut her visit at the spa in Nevada short for her son." Whereas all the children got along, the situation with the parents was different. The McCraes, Vanderbilts and Haydens had a good relationship with each other and their children, whereas the Huntzbergers were happy to never spend time with their children, and they were not true friends with the other three sets of parents either. This was largely due to Shira thinking that she was above everyone else. So they only socialized with each other when they had to arrange things for the children and at society parties.

"Nancy, calm down," Alex said to his wife. "We've known this about them for six years; don't let it bother you today. We've got Steph to think about." He wanted to prevent her rambling on.

"Yes, sorry. I'm just sad that Steph's going away and it always aggravates me that Logan's parents couldn't care less about him."

"Well, that's where we come in, Nan. We are his surrogate parents!" Lorelai proclaimed happily. "Now come, let's go see if the kids are ready, 'cause we've gotta leave soon."

Author's note: I hoped you guys liked. Please review.