Empty Staircase
Disclaimer: I don't own GG, songs, books, movies, or any other TV shows, of course.
A/N: I really don't know where this came from... I haven't really written much like this before… But I'd love to hear what you think.
Dedicated to Lia, Angel, and Hadar because I miss you! I hope everything's okay. To Becka and Sami and Dani…*hugs* To Elise for being amazingly helpful and encouraging!
*****
She supports him, or tries to, up the first few stairs, looking towards the apartment, three stories above where they are now. It's just their luck that the elevator is out of order tonight.
He moves a little closer to her, and instinctively she tightens her grip on his arm. He smiles, with a hint of a smirk to it.
"Rory, I'm okay," he assures her.
"Jess," she begins, in a warning tone.
"Seriously. I drank essentially nothing. I promised."
"Promised and then managed to resist the temptation?" He looks amused, and she glares: the glare he always earns from being like this; the glare that means she's finding him funny and doesn't want to let him know.
"Why, yes, actually."
"Huh," she says in reply, unable to think of anything else. He straightens and leans against the opposite banister, looking satisfied. The good fortune of having the stairs and lobby to themselves comes from returning to the apartment building at two in the morning. This is the hour when the world around them is asleep—as asleep as it ever gets.
She can't help smiling; she bites her lip and looks right back at him. Her hands grab the railing, and she casually twists one ankle behind the other. "So what's that crazy look in your eyes?"
She looks up at him; her gaze slowly rising to his face, as he walks closer to her, reaching out. "That's what happens when I see you."
"Aw. I have the same effect as…"
He brushes his hand down her arm, and she shivers. "What's that crazy look in yours? Been somewhere I don't know about?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, really?"
"Did you hear me promise anything?" She's grinning now, half mischievously, half in delight. He's no longer leaning against the banister, but coming as close to holding her as he can without actually doing so.
Before he answers, she giggles slightly and suggests, "Maybe we should go upstairs before we wake up everyone else in the building?"
"Who's being loud?" he teases.
"Me, in a minute." She tries to threaten, but he can hear the laugh in her voice.
Jess looks at the above stairs too, now, pretending to be worried. "Well, I don't know if we can get up there in a minute…"
Rory pretends to be affronted, but she's barely managing the act she knows is entirely obvious to Jess. He's rarely this…playful, even with her. She wonders why and wants to ask, but she also wants to let it continue. It is fun, and she's feeling the same way. It's two AM and she's not tired. In fact, she's standing in the middle of an empty staircase in an apartment complex, in downtown New York City…
She looks at him, standing beside her. The smile is gone from his face—it's never there for long and would probably scare her if it were—but it lingers in his eyes. He wonders absently how they have been alone all this time and he has gone so long without kissing her.
She has this effect on him no one else has. He likes it.
Her hands move to his arms, then his shoulders and she wraps her arms around him, leaning in to kiss him softly. She pulls away after seconds; he wants it to be longer and slips his arm around her back.
"Anyone could come in now…" she whispers.
"We're the only people awake," he informs her.
She grins. "Maybe." And pauses. "Thank you for not drinking, then."
The smile is on his face again. His gaze drifts to her hands, now pale against the dark wood of the railing except for the remains of the ballpoint pen notes she often writes to herself on the back of her hand. She says it's the only way she can remember things. His thoughts go to what he knows is sitting in the back corner of the drawer next to his side of the bed, in a small velvet box… Her eyes glitter. He's lost in them for a minute that goes by too fast.
***
They manage their way up the stairs, finally, avoiding one another's glances but unable to keep back involuntary smiles for no reason. She tucks her hair behind her ear and kisses him again.
"I don't think it's ever taken us this long to walk a three-story staircase," he remarks.
"Fun, isn't it?"
"Definitely," he agrees. That party earlier…or no, yesterday…was fun, but this is better. He hopes no one else will get the sudden urge to leave and walk around the city right now. He likes it this way, alone on the stairs…there's something special. He doesn't want to disrupt it all.
She doesn't either.
***
It's hours later.
They got to their apartment, they opened the door, and they eventually both fell asleep.
She wakes up at five-thirty, after barely three hours of sleep, and she doesn't know why. She squirms her way out of his arms without waking him, and goes to stand at the window and watch the sun rise above the skyline: red and gold and orange mixing unpredictably behind sharp buildings. Yet again, she smiles.
She loves the sunrise, maybe even more than the sunset. Maybe because she sees it so rarely. It's a special surprise; something she can watch when she wakes up early for no particular reason on a clear day.
The sun is blending into the sky now, mixing with the blue, creating shadows on the streets. She absently wonders how many people in the city are taking the time to look up and watch this, of those who are awake at this time on Saturday morning.
***
She turns around; watches him as he turns over and continues sleeping. She wants to go over and bounce on the bed to wake him up, but she stays where she is just for now, reliving the night before…
Or really, the early morning.
She will never again be able to walk down the stairs of their apartment building without at least a happy memory.
The sun is high enough now, and light creeps into their apartment.
She'll go wake him up in a moment. She steps toward the bed.
She is blinded for an instant and looks down at her hand.
The sun glances off the silver of her ring.