Title: Tequila Sunrise

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Summary: A chance meeting, an unsettled past, and a few too much to drink lead to an unforgettable night. But how will they handle it this time? Post-finale Literati one-shot.

A/N: Set after "Bon Voyage," with Rory still following Obama's campaign trail. Flashbacks in italics.

Written: December 2007

For Alex Bee

The sunlight hit her face harshly and as Rory woke up, she shut her eyes tightly to avoid its glare.

Her head was pounding from last night. She vaguely remembered going out with the other campaign members, but not much else.

She opened her eyes slowly and came to the realization that she was naked. This was definitely not a good sign. She rolled over and saw a body next to her buried under the pillows and covers.

"Oh my god," she whispered, grasping the covers tighter and pulling them closer to her chest.

"Come on Rory," Meg urged.

"I don't know, Meg," Rory began hesitantly.

"You need to let loose a little. You haven't gone out with us in weeks. One drink, Rory. Just one," she went on.

"Fine…one drink," Rory sighed, smiling.

"You won't be disappointed." Meg grinned at her friend and hugged her tightly,

"One drink though," Rory warned, giving her a look.

"At least," she laughed.

Rory sat up in the bed, with her thoughts swirling through her head. She had never been this irresponsible when it came to alcohol. Even in college with Logan, she knew her limits. So what the hell happened yesterday? Had she really drank that much?

"Rory?" a voice filled the room. She turned to the familiar voice, wide-eyed.

"Jess?" Rory's mouth gaped, responding in equal bewilderment.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned.

"Rory, hey. I thought it was you," Jess smiled.

"Jess! Hi!," Rory greeted, a little tipsy already. She grinned excitedly and almost spilled her bright, fruity cocktail in the process.

"Whoa, slow down there," he chuckled, steadying her arm. "I never thought I'd see you here," he went on.

"I'm blogging for Obama's campaign trail. And since the primaries just finished, we decided to take a break," Rory explained. "So how 'bout you? What are you doing here?"

"I live here," he smirked.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," she giggled, a little embarrassed.

"So how are you?" Jess continued, gently touching her shoulder.

"Great! It's been amazing," Rory sighed happily, "The last several months…"

"What happened?" Jess groaned, wrapping the pillow around his head.

"I guess we had too much to drink," Rory chuckled nervously, leaning back on her elbows. Jess stuck the pillow underneath his head again and looked at her. She hadn't changed much from the last time he saw her. She seemed nervous and unsure, which was to be expected for any Gilmore considering the circumstances.

But she hadn't run off yet, which was definitely a step up.

He ran his fingers thought his short hair. He had cut it a few months ago, but he still retained the nervous habit.

"So…" Rory began.

"So…" Jess echoed.

"This is awkward," Rory bit her lip.

"You can say that again," he mumbled, lying back down again.

"I don't even remember anything," she admitted.

"I don't either." She hesitated briefly.

"This isn't…a problem, is it?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Is there anyone in the picture?" she elaborated.

"Nah…You?" He didn't want to be too forward and after so much time, he liked to think that he was over Rory, but the truth was, he had never found someone quite like her.

"Nope," she sighed.

"What happened to – "

"He proposed…it was too soon. I was ready to explore the world…not settle down," Rory shrugged. Jess wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Maybe my memory's still foggy, but that sounds like something you said last night."

"You're asking me?" Rory laughed. Jess smiled a little.

"So, we should probably get dressed," he suggested.

"That sounds smart," she nodded eagerly, sitting up again.

"You're the Yale graduate," he remarked, sitting up as well.

"Oh hush," Rory smiled, playfully pushing him so that he practically fell off the bed. She covered her eyes as he got dressed.

Rory held the bottle tightly around her fingers as they stumbled down the street together to Jess' apartment.

"How's it like on the New York Times' Best Seller List? Do you have stalkers and groupies?" Rory asked, clutching his shoulder.

"It's the same as usual. Now I just have my own place to live," Jess said, trying to concentrate on the sidewalk in front of him.

"How's that working out for you?"

"It's good for the girls," he smirked.

"Was this your plan all along – to get me to come back to your place?" she slurred, half-smiling.

"You were the one who kept ordering more shots," he said, stopping abruptly. "Here it is. My humble abode." Rory giggled childishly.

"You use funny words."

"Let me get my keys," he said, searching his pockets.

"Your house looks big," Rory admired.

"Where are those damn- " he started exasperatedly.

"Here, let me," Rory offered, smiling mischievously as she reached down his pants pockets.

"Fuck Rory! We're not even inside yet," he yelped, as her freezing cold hands grazed his skin. Rory just grinned and kissed him while she unbuttoned his shirt.

"Hold up a second, will you? You're so impatient," he chided.

Rory pouted for a brief moment, but when she saw him finally find his keys, she began to kiss him again.

"You know, it's hard to open a door when someone's blocking your way," he smirked.

"Open around me," she murmured, leaving wet kisses on his jaw.

"You're such a distraction," he grinned, as he finally opened the door. They stumbled into the house clumsily.

"A very welcome one, right?" She kicked the door closed behind her.

"Can we get to the bedroom first?" he asked as Rory leapt up into his arms and wrapped her legs around him. She shook her head.

"Can't wait." She pulled her shirt off and kicked her heels off before kissing him again. He reciprocated her kisses and backed her against the door.

"Jess…" she groaned, feeling the full weight and excitement of him against her body.

"Shh," he breathed into her neck as he hiked up the hem of her dress.

Are you okay?" he asked, staring at her and tilting his head.

"Hmm? Oh yeah…I was just thinking about last night," she said, snapping out of her reverie.

"Bits and pieces coming back?" he questioned.

"Yeah," she smiled awkwardly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. He just nodded, dropping the subject for now.

"Do you want something to eat? Pancakes? Lots of coffee?" he offered, smiling a little.

"That would be nice," she agreed.

"Okay…The bathroom's next door. You can use anything you want," he informed, as he closed the door softly. Rory sighed and got up. This called for a long shower.

Jess went downstairs to the kitchen and saw Chris rummaging through the fridge.

"Morning," he greeted, taking out a carton of orange juice and some leftover pizza.

"How many times have I told you that unless you start paying for stuff, you don't live here?"

"Hmm…apparently not enough times for me to stop," he said good-humoredly. Jess shook his head and headed towards the pantry to pull out a bag of flour.

"Besides, you were the one who offered everyone to come as they pleased when you got the place," Chris went on.

"Not literally, like at 9 in the morning."

"Should've been more specific," Chris shrugged, smiling mischievously at Jess.

"Thanks a lot," he rolled his eyes, beginning to make the pancakes.

"I don't understand how people have sex standing up. I mean, aren't they tired afterwards? You can't just collapse on your back once you're finished," Rory said, kissing Jess's shoulder.

"Well, it's a good thing that we've moved to the bed then isn't it?"

"This isn't supposed to happen like this," Rory smiled sadly.

"Like what?" he asked, as she moved up on top of him to look at him directly.

"Us…in general," she said genuinely. Jess grew silent.

"It was supposed to be special, you know. Not when we won't remember it the next morning," she continued.

"May-maybe it's better that we don't remember it fully. I'm not sure the real Rory and Jess would want this…" Jess said slowly.

"Well. Here's to our own little world then, a place we can act how we really want."

"If that's the case, I don't want this to end," he whispered, brushing her hair away from her sweat-stained face and kissing her deeply.

"Jess!" a yell interrupted his thoughts.

"Wha-?" He blinked absently.

"Your pancakes are burning, dude!" Chris gestured wildly at the pan in front of him and Jess stared down at the burnt pancake in the pan.

"Oh shit," he cursed, turning the stove off and taking the pan off the burner.

"You zoned out there on me, buddy. What's up?" he asked slightly concerned.

"Nothing…didn't sleep much last night," he answered.

"Okay," Chris accepted, "I guess you didn't hear me when I was talking about how Cynthia just got a record deal then?"

"Sorry," Jess apologized, throwing the burnt pancake in the trash. "But if she did, that's great," he congratulated.

"I know. She's been waiting for something like this forever. It's good to know that with hard work and persistence, you can still – " he started.

"Jess?" Rory called out, rushing downstairs in a bath towel Chris threw Jess a surprised, but amused, look.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know – " Rory spoke quickly, clearly mortified at the situation for the second time in the span of a couple of hours. She sniffed the air and winced. "Is something burning?" Chris snorted.

"Hey…weren't you at Truncheon's opening house? Rory, right?" Chris greeted. Rory stared at him in shock.

"He remembers everybody," Jess explained easily.

"Uhm, yeah. And sorry, but your name seems to be evading me right now. And I'm pretty good with names, but considering I'm completely thrown off by your presence as noticed by my lack of dress and my 'deer-caught-in-headlights" look, I hope you can forgive me," Rory rambled. Jess smirked widely and Chris just laughed.

"Totally understandable. Chris," he reintroduced.

"Oh! You like listening to Avril Lavigne, right?" Rory grinned. Jess almost spit out the orange juice he had been drinking.

"Jess!" Chris huffed.

"Sorry," Rory said sheepishly, "I like to remember people by little random tidbits."

"Anyway…" Jess ignored Chris' glare and looked at Rory. "You came down for a reason, I assume."

"Oh yeah…uh nevermind. I was just looking for my clothes, but, you're busy," she said nervously.

"I think I saw something next to the chair on the floor," Jess smirked.

"Okay, thanks," she said relieved, "So I'm gonna dress. Nice seeing you again," Rory managed a smile before quickly running up the stairs. Chris turned to Jess immediately and grinned like a fool.

"Don't," Jess warned, starting on a new batch of pancakes.

"If you had told me that she was the reason I shouldn't be stopping around randomly, I would've totally laid off," he said, taking a bite of his pizza.

"I'm not sure you would've," he said, shaking his head. Chris thought for a second.

"Okay, probably not cause I need food…but back to the situation at hand. Rory? As I recall, you were all over her at the open house."

"I was not," Jess refuted, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you totally ditched us for her. So was this a random thing? What happened?" Chris asked eagerly.

"We were drunk," Jess said curtly.

"Seems like there's more to the "friends" thing you keep telling me," he pointed out.

"She's an ex-girlfriend of mine."

"Hmm…is she the reason why it didn't work out with Lisa?"

"Maybe. Didn't really think about it," Jess admitted.

"Lisa was a nice girl," Chris thought out loud.

"Yeah, she was," he agreed. Chris looked at Jess's sad smile.

"But she wasn't Rory," Chris understood. Jess paused a bit.

"No…she wasn't." Jess stared at the floor and Chris nodded silently at his friend's confession.

"So what was the label?" Jess switched subjects.

"Sony/BMG," he said, after the initial confusion wore off.

"That's really good."

"Yeah, Cynthia was really excited…" Chris went on.

Meanwhile, Rory was sitting on the edge of his bed. She stared absently at the sheets.

Her and Jess seemed relatively comfortable this entire morning. She hadn't bolted out the door and he hadn't awkwardly made an excuse to leave. They were friendly with each other.

She knew he was starting to remember. The odd shifting of the feet when she had asked him where her clothes were didn't seem like something "cool and collected" Jess would do. He had quickly laughed it off, but she could tell.

It actually felt kind of weird that he was acting so normal considering what just happened.

He knew. He had to.

Because if the actual events of last night were any indication, there was no way he could forget what was done – what was said – last night.

There was no way he could forget a night like that.

"I'm sorry," Jess blurted out. "I'm sorry for not kissing you here," he said, leaving a trail of kisses down her stomach. "Or here," he went on, lightly grazing the skin underneath her breasts. "Or here," he continued, murmuring and planting over the peaks of her breasts. He lifted himself up a little to see her face.

"For not being there to do it…" he said softly, staring into her eyes. She smiled genuinely.

"I'm sorry for not letting you," she whispered, her eyes glassy. She touched his cheek with the back of her hand, and he leaned into her, closing his eyes.

"I – I don't think you know how ready I was when we– " Rory began, before Jess cut her off and opened his eyes lazily to stop her.

"It's okay," he assured, half-smiling. Rory pressed her lips together and dropped her hand.

"Is it?"

"With you, always," he admitted, kissing her forehead and easing himself inside of her.

"Come on, Chris," Jess groaned.

"I just opened up for you 3 days ago!" he rejected.

"You're already awake and Truncheon is two minutes away," Jess observed.

"Exactly why we made you open up the store on weekends when you bought this place and I moved in with Cynthia."

"We should've fucking told Matt to take weekends. He still lives there," Jess mumbled, plating up some pancakes. "Please, Chris? I'll lock up tonight."

"Why can't you open it up?"

"I don't feel like it. Don't make me elaborate," Jess said.

"Ohhh…" Chris realized suddenly, "Is it because of…" He pointed upstairs, and Jess rolled his eyes at his friend's idiocy.

"Did I not just say I don't want to elaborate?"

"Sorry," Chris grinned, raising his hands in surrender.

"Just don't expect me until the afternoon," Jess informed.

"Tell you what…why don't I cover you tonight, and you can take my shift on Monday?" he compromised.

"Really?" Jess asked skeptically.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Okay. Deal." There was a long pause.

"You want me to go now, don't you?"

"That's the idea," Jess smirked.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone with Rory," he grudgingly said, getting off the stool and winking at his friend.

"Go!" Jess insisted pushing Chris towards the door. Jess closed the door and went back to the kitchen. He sat down and looked out the window as he started digging into a plate of pancakes.

"I think the alcohol is wearing off," Rory declared.

"There's some downstairs," Jess replied. Rory nodded and got up, wrapping one of Jess' spare robes around her body. Jess tilted his head and followed her downstairs after throwing his boxers on. She headed to the kitchen and opened all the cabinets.

"A-ha!" she exclaimed, discovering a cabinet full of liquor.

"What's you poison?"

"Gin," Jess replied. Rory handed him a bottle, as she took out a bottle of vodka and some juice from the fridge. Jess took out two glasses as Rory sat on the chair.

"Entertain me," Rory said, her eyes dancing.

"How so?" he smirked, raising an eyebrow while pouring a glass for himself.

"Non-physically…Tell me something."

"Like what?" he asked simply.

"Like…who's your favorite Disney character?"

"What?" he laughed.

"Or movie, if you like," Rory offered, grinning widely.

"Hmmm…Pinocchio," he said thoughtfully.

"Really? Why?" Rory scrunched up her nose.

"He's so gullible and completely devoid of good judgment of people…and he still gets to become a real boy and have a happy ending," he said.

"That's not the point of the story!" Rory yelped, slapping him on the shoulder.

"It's open to interpretation. I happened to think it was hilarious he kept getting into ridiculous situations," Jess defended.

"Fine," she waved off, "Now me." She licked her lips eagerly.

"Hmm?"

"You ask me something."

"Uhm…If you walked into a restaurant and found out they didn't serve coffee, what would you drink?"

"I would leave and find a place that did serve it," Rory said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"If nobody served coffee," he denied.

"I would make my own," she replied.

"What's your second beverage of choice?" he sighed.

"Besides coffee?" Rory asked wide-eyed.

"Yep."

"Lattes," Rory grinned.

"I give up," he shook his head. Rory giggled before continuing.

"New York or Philadelphia?" she questioned.

"New York…but I lived there for eighteen years," he pointed out.

"Makes sense," Rory agreed. "Ooh, another question for me," Rory bounced in her seat, beginning to feel the effects of the vodka.

"Which state was a disappointment for you?"

"Florida. I didn't get to go to Disneyworld and it was sweltering in March. I called my mom that week and she said that Stars Hollow had just gotten snow," Rory admitted, making a face.

"I've never been farther south than Philadelphia for the East Coast," he remarked.

"Have you been out of the country?"

"Once. Mexico. Felt very Neal Cassady at the time."

"Meet anyone?" Rory asked intrigued.

"Not anyone worth writing a book for," he started. "Not enough drugs and women to write about," he laughed.

"Shame," Rory chuckled. "Are you going to write a third book?"

"Nah…The response to my second one blew my mind. I'm just taking everything in as it goes." He paused for a second.

"Favorite author at the moment?" he asked, "You always seem to have a rotating list." She's silent for a minute and Jess prodded her some more. "Yes?"

Rory looked to the floor and then back to him.

"You," she smiled softly.

"Rory," he gave her a pointed look.

"No really. I love your style. It's you. It's minimalistic without being a bore like Hemingway. It's like something I've never read before, and it's probably nothing I ever will read," she praised earnestly.

"You only love it because I wrote it," Jess waved off.

"No," she denied outright. "I love you because you wrote it." The words left her lips before she had a chance to think about them, and Jess stared at her speechless. Rory let the words sink in and let out a heavy sigh.

"I need another drink," she muttered shakily, pouring more vodka into her glass.

"Jess?" Rory called, interrupting Jess' thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh hey," he offered a smile.

"Hey," Rory smiled back nervously, fumbling with her hands.

"Coffee?" he offered, getting a mug.

"You bet."

"Did you find everything okay?"

"Mmm-hmm," Rory nodded, graciously taking the coffee from his hands and sipping the coffee. "I took some aspirin from your medicine cabinet," she went on.

"Sure. Of course." There was a brief, but comfortable silence.

"So when do you have to get back?" Jess asked casually.

"I don't have to get back until one or so," Rory replied, as Jess placed a plate of pancakes in front of her.

"Cool," he responded, taking his seat again.

"The last few days have been real nice because – " Rory began.

"The primaries are over and Obama's been with his family," Jess finished for her.

"Yeah," Rory said sheepishly. "So I guess you remember that conversation from last night."

"Yeah," Jess admitted. Rory nodded, but her initial smile slowly faded.

"Jess…" she started seriously. He looked at her intently as she went on. "Yesterday…when I told you tha- " she continued, but was cut off abruptly by her phone. Rory jerked up from her chair and offered Jess an apologetic smile before excusing herself to answer it.

"Hello?" Rory answered, heading into another room.

"Hey Rory! What's up?" Lorelai greeted.

"Hi mom. You're up early," Rory observed.

"I was looking at our movies and all and you know what I realized?"

"What?"

"We don't have a list," she informed her daughter.

"List?"

"Like an all-time list. I mean, we've been watching movies forever and we don't have a list – a list of all lists," Lorelai exclaimed.

"Make one with Luke," Rory suggested.

"But he's not you!" she whined.

"Yeah, for a minute there, the baseball cap and the flannel shirt threw me off," Rory deadpanned.

"Come watch movies and make a list with mommy. You said you were getting a break for a week or so right?"

"It's only a three-day break. I doubt we could watch the entire catalogue of movies ever made in that span of time."

"But we could watch the ones we already know are great and then rank those," Lorelai suggested.

"Fine…I'll try to catch the train tomorrow," Rory relented.

"Why not today?"

"I'm at a friend's house," Rory said after some hesitation.

"Meg lives in Philadelphia?"

"Not Meg," Rory replied awkwardly.

"Jessica?" Lorelai guessed again.

"It's not…it's not a co-worker," Rory let out.

"Oh?"

"Yeah…uhh…we all went out for drinks last night," Rory began.

"Ohhh…" Lorelai understood.

"That's sorta the short story."

"What's the long story?" she asked warily.

"The guy…" she stalled.

"You're killing me here." Rory laughed nervously.

"I met up with Jess somehow," Rory confessed.

"Jess," Lorelai said surprised.

"Yeah," Rory breathed.

"Well, uhh…I'll call back tomorrow then." Lorelai knitted her eyebrows together, unable to form a more meaningful response.

"Okay," Rory said quietly.

"Okay. Bye, hon," Lorelai said, still confused.

"Bye, mom." Rory said, before closing her cell and sighing heavily.

"I think we've had enough," Rory winced at the bright light, pushing aside her half-empty bottle.

"Come on. Let's get back to my room," Jess groaned, clumsily getting off the stool. Rory staggered with him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Where are all your books?" she asked out of the blue, clutching his arm as they made their way up the stairs.

"Books?" he asked, not comprehending her with all the alcohol in his system.

"They're not in your room or anything…" she trailed off.

"They're in the other room," he said slowly.

"Can I see?" Rory asked.

"Why not?" he agreed. He passed the bedroom and opened the next door to reveal a spare room full of books.

"Wow. It's like a mini library." Rory looked around in wonder, stepping inside. "Eww…you have a whole shelf of Hemingway," she went on, disgustedly.

"And not one book of Ayn Rand or any other political nut jobs," he quipped.

"It's a little ironic you say that considering my career path right now and her political viewpoints…But she is not a nut job,"

"Coming from a nut job," Jess pointed out.

"I am not" she shrieked, placing her hands on her hips. She came over to him. "Well, you like me that way then," she said proudly. Jess tilted his head and stared into her determined, bright blue eyes.

"I guess I do," he admitted, pulling the string of her bathrobe and letting it fall to the floor. She threw her arms around his neck.

Rory shook her head, trying to get rid of the images of last night out of her head. She headed back to the kitchen and saw Jess standing over the sink.

"Jess?" Rory cut in.

"We weren't really that drunk were we?" he sighed, not turning around.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…I remember…a whole hell of a lot," he started, "We knew what we were doing half of the time, didn't we?" Rory gulped.

"I think we used the alcohol as an excuse. And when we couldn't handle…us…we resorted to getting completely wasted," Rory responded honestly. He turned around, his tired eyes searching hers for some kind of answer.

"What do we do now?" he asked softly.

He groaned, his hands on roughly gripping her waist, as they climaxed together. She let out a high-pitched scream and closed her eyes before collapsing next to him.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Rory breathed, snuggling into him.

"Today, forever, always," Jess whispered back, kissing her hair.

Rory just stood there as Jess waited for an answer.

"Jess," she said, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" he answered. She took a deep breath.

"Do you want to grab some lunch?"

"What?" he asked, a little confused.

"I mean, I have some time and I don't know…" she trailed off, her nerves suddenly kicking in again. He tried to contain his smile a little, as realization dawning on him.

"You just had breakfast," he smirked.

"You know us Gilmores," she laughed.

"Sure," he grinned, "There's a place just a couple of blocks away."

"Okay," Rory accepted, "Lead the way."

A/N2: Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!