Worth the Hangover

I found this on my computer and realised I never published it! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own Gilmore Girls. This never happened. You do want fries with that. I am a jedi.

A lot of the time drinking is not worth the hangover.

She turned over and sat upright. She had no idea where she was. She looked around and saw herself in a room that she didn't recognise. Beginning to freak out, Rory Gilmore pulled the bed cover off of her and rubbed her face. She placed her head in her hands and groaned. Her head was aching. There were books everywhere and scrunched up bits of paper around the room.

She couldn't remember where she was or how she got there. She remembered going to a pub and drinking and . . .

"Ugh," she said. "Never drinking again."

"That sounds like a good idea," came a voice from the doorway. She looked up and saw a guy leaning against the doorway. "You were pretty smashed last night."

She smiled uneasily and got even more confused. She had no idea who this guy was.

"Um . . . Yeah. I don't remember much," she admitted weakly. The guy smirked.

"Do you remember what we got up to?" he asked and Rory got this sense of dread.

"Oh my god did we?" She started to hyperventilate and then she heard a voice yell "Matt, leave her alone!"

The man who belonged to that familiar voice poked his head around the corner of the door. "Stop freaking her out," he ordered.

"Jess . . ." Rory breathed. He looked at her and smiled. He left for a moment and came back holding a large mug of coffee. "Here," he said, passing it to her. He pressed two small tablets into her hand and she gulped the coffee and aspirin thankfully.

"So Rory," said Matt. "I think –"

"Get out," said Jess. He pointed towards the door and Matt shuffled out. There was silence for a minute and Rory really didn't know what to say. She and Jess hadn't seen each other since Truncheon but they had emailed each other for a few months, just as friends. It was nice; they just discussed things like books and writing, nothing heavy, nothing serious.

"I don't remember anything," she admitted and Jess nodded, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"Not surprising, really. You were really drunk when you came here."

"I came here?" she asked, surprised. Jess raised his eyebrows.

"What, you thought I brought you here?" He laughed. "I opened the door at midnight and you were there, drunk off your face."

Rory blushed and swore under her breath. She had no idea what she was thinking. "I'm so –"

"Don't apologise," said Jess. "Drunk Rory is funny."

"What did she do?" she asked, wincing as she gulped down more coffee.

"Well," Jess avoided her eyes. "I opened the door and you kissed me straightaway which was a surprise." He laughed as Rory groaned. "Don't worry I stopped you. You reeked of alcohol. You get really loud when you're drunk – you woke Matt and Chris up but they found it funny."

Rory was mortified. Usually she was careful to not get past the level of tipsy drunk but she really let herself go last night.

"You went through all my books and I tried to find out why you were here."

"Did you find out?" asked Rory, hoping for some indication of her drunken shenanigans.

"Yeah." Jess avoided her gaze. "Something to do with Logan."

Rory shut her eyes. She wanted to disappear. She remembered why she was drunk now.

"Did I tell you?"

"Nah, I didn't push for it. Gotta say I didn't really want to know."

"He cheated on me." She looked at Jess who looked unimpressed.

"I thought you weren't together anymore."

"No, I mean when we were together."

"Rory, you knew that as well," said Jess. "Remember last time you were here?"

She jumped up and then regretted it. Her hand flying to her head she stumbled as her head swam. "Not just then, Jess! He cheated our whole relationship!"

Jess looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"I ran into a couple of friends from Yale and we went out to dinner and they asked me if I was still with Logan and I explained about the proposal. They told me I made the right decision and proceeded to tell me he cheated on me our whole relationship. Turns out he was never faithful! I hate him!"

"Woah Rory, calm down. You guys are done, remember? You kicked him to the curb." She smiled slightly and he stood up and rubbed her arms gently.

"Do you know why you came here?" he asked. She shook her head and said "Probably because you were the closest. I don't remember."

"Huh." They stared at each other before Jess spoke. "So the last two times we've seen each other has been because of the blonde dick? Guess he's good for something after all." He smiled at her and she nodded, understanding the peace offering.

"Let's have the third be us ok?"

He nodded.

"Whose room am I in?" she asked.

"Mine. You sort of collapsed after a while so I carried you in here. Don't worry I slept on the couch," he said when he saw the look on her face.

"Thankyou." He waved aware her thanks and held his hand out.

"Breakfast?" she nodded and he led her out into the hall. He stopped for a moment and listened for sound.

"Ok, they're both gone," Jess said, leading Rory out into their small kitchen. "They would have embarrassed the both of us."

"Do they know why I was here?"

Jess scoffed. "They won't accept the reason you give them," he said. "They think we're in a secret relationship and have been keeping it from them."

"Would that be a bad thing?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them and she watched Jess's face for a reaction.

"Depends," he answered. "Are we in the relationship because of Logan?"

"No," she said, seeing the question on his face. "It's got nothing to do with Logan. It is what it is."

"You, me," he finished and Rory saw the smile on his face.

"Plus the town of Stars Hollow," she teased as she reached for the coffee pot to refill her mug.

"Of course," said Jess. "They have to watch the town princess and hoodlum, naturally."

"Naturally. Coffee?" She knew it was odd to be offering him coffee in his own place but old habits die hard. He nodded and pointed to the top cupboard and she opened it grabbing a mug. She moved to fill the cup and slipped, banging into Jess. His arms wrapped around her and she found herself looking into his face, shock in their faces at the situation they found themselves in.

"You ok?" he whispered hoarsely and she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Was it hypothetical?" she whispered quickly, not thinking about the possible repercussions of this topic. "Us being together," she clarified when he looked confused. "Was it hypothetical for you?" His eyes shone and he shook his head.

"No, never just hypothetical." With this Jess kissed her and pulled her close, the coffee forgotten on the side. His lips moved fiercely under hers and she wrapped her arms around him.

It was comfortable. It was familiar.

It was incredible.

After a while their lips slowed and their eyes met each other's.

"Hi," Rory said.

"Hi." He smiled at her and it took all her control to not kiss him again. Her lips were swollen and her hair messed up but she didn't care.

Jess moved away from her and topped up her coffee and filled one for himself.

"Rory?" said Jess. She looked at him questioningly. "Do you want to have lunch with me?"

She laughed. "Of course but . . ." She trailed off.

"What?'

"What are we going to do between now and then?"

He smirked at her and said "I'm sure we can figure out something else to do."

With this he pulled her close and kissed her laughing lips and Rory could only think one thought.

This was worth the hangover.

Review!

RF