The Beard

It had been three months since Rory and Jess had returned home from their honeymoon, and the shine of their marriage was wearing off. Not that it was a bad thing, it just meant that the superficiality associated with nuptials was making way for a more human, flawed way of being together. They'd fight over both stupid and important issues, from dishes to his dislike of her extended family. She'd scream at him for never taking her out for dinner anymore, and he would brood for days over any extended work-related trip she needed to make. None of these issues lasted long, with their level heads at most times they realised that they were behaving selfishly and would apologise. Mostly these two issues were resolved simultaneously by eating out the night before she would leave, enjoying the time they had together. Which is why it was so unusual for Jess to be completely complacent when his wife was about to leave for a fortnight, the longest time they'd spent apart in over a year.

Rory had dubbed it 'The Jess Zone', the place his mind went whenever he had a new story idea or great inspiration struck for a pre-existing work. This Zone tended to happen at odd hours of the night, or in random bars. Sometimes she'd be with him and notice the look in his eye, the look she knew she got whenever she struck gold on an article, and he'd have his notebook out in a frenzy and she'd lose him for the rest of the day. 'The Jess Zone' was different than 'The Rory Zone' (he'd stolen her title) in that it could last for days, whereas she'd only be absorbed for an hour or three. They had mutual respect for these times, knowing first-hand how hard it could be to get inspired for something. Rory refused to rely on something so hit-and-miss, not when she had deadlines almost every day. Jess however had the luxury of indulging his impulses a lot more, and she let him.

This Zone felt different. Normally he'd be snapped out of it by something as significant as Rory leaving for England for a few weeks. At the very least he'd be mocking her for covering a sporting event, even if it was Wimbledon (she was covering the entertainment and spectacle, while her co-worker was dealing with the actual matches). No such mocking came, and he came out of his trance long enough to drive her to the airport and say a proper goodbye before jumping straight back into The Zone. Rory was somewhat relieved, he tended to get mopey when she wasn't around. There was no guessing how long this Zone would last, so she didn't count on him not calling her at all hours anyway.

Her time in London whizzed by and soon Rory was back in New York City. The trip had been exhausting, with her hotel room being next to some soccer players who were celebrating their losses every night. Rory theorised if they did less partying and more practising they mightn't lose so much, to which her co-worker John agreed with a laugh. It wasn't that she didn't like John, but spending her free time with a fifty-something year old who was obsessed with sports wasn't really her cup of tea. She was happy to be home and couldn't wait to see her husband. Unfortunately it was not him, but one of his best friends that waited for her at the airport with a sign reading 'Gilmore' in hot pink glitter pen.

"Great sign, Chris," She said, laughing as she hugged him.

"Thanks, your mom and I made it on the weekend."

"You saw mom this weekend?"

"Oh yeah, we went on this awkward double date. Luke spent the whole time glaring at me, I barely got to enjoy the whacky musical numbers."

"Oh boy, I remember those dates. I thought you guys had sorted through all the macho manly stuff?" She asked as they started walking towards the car. Chris was wheeling her bag, which made her smile.

"We did, he's just not so keen on the whole April staying with me over summer thing."

"She is? No one told me!"

"Luke and your mom didn't know until yesterday. As for Jess… well, you're not going to believe it."

"Believe what?"

"Two week long 'Jess Zone'." Rory froze a little at that. She knew these Zones. They were Zones in which he wouldn't eat or sleep unless forced to. Everything came second to writing. Considering how often she'd spoken to him it was surprising, though in retrospect they barely talked for more than a few minutes at a time.

"He is alive, right?"

"One of the perks of having me as a tenant of your old place is I'm only a few blocks away. He didn't answer his phone for a few days so I went to check on him. It wasn't a pretty sight, but I managed to make him sleep a little."

"I feel sort of weird for not noticing."

"You're welcome. He'd fixed his phone to only make noise when you were calling, the crafty bastard. Combined with my skills in making him appear human it allowed you to be completely stress-free on your trip to the mecca of all tennis fans. I'm still completely jealous, by the way," he grumbled as he practically threw her luggage into the trunk of the car, closing it with a loud thud.

"Don't be, I saw zero matches and had to deal with John's snoring in the other room," Rory reasoned as she climbed into the passenger's side. She knew Jess' Zone must be bad if he was allowing his best friend to borrow his car, considering the last time.

"John? Should I be concerned for Jess here?"

"You're kidding, right? John's fifty-four and went bald in his twenties."

"So?"

"So? You've looked at Jess before, right?" She felt a small blush rise to her cheeks. In her time she'd dated some very attractive men, but in her mind Jess was above and beyond. It would've been intimidating had she not been sure that he was equally as attracted to her.

"Yeah, if I had to pick a dude it'd be Jess." Rory quirked an eyebrow at this statement.

"Try not to wake me up when you two inevitably run away together, okay?" The both laughed. "So tell me, what is the longest Zone you've seen him in?"

"Five days. It was when he was writing Cast of Thousands, and it sort of consumed him. I'll always remember it because straight after he went out, got hammered, and spend the next five days, uh…" he stammered a little, causing Rory to roll her eyes a bit.

"Was it the same girl all five days?"

"Two, I think. Though I doubt he's going to end it the same way this time."

"Probably not. I mean we'll probably have to sleep at some point, so it won't be five days straight." Chris paled in horror at her dirty joke, making her grin. Ever since their unfortunate first meeting Jess had been cruel to his friend about such things, but Rory rarely joined in. This time the look on his face was well worth it.

"Aw Rory, did you have to do that? You're turning into him!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist. You know you can make him just as uncomfortable by talking about April, right?"

"He'd punch me!"

April Nardini-Danes was starting to wish she hadn't volunteered to watch Jess while her boyfriend picked up her stepsister. When she heard about 'The Jess Zone' it seemed a relatively simple thing. Her cousin would completely disappear from the face of the earth for a period of time before returning with a new manuscript. What she didn't know was that it made him irritable at any loud noises, restless and a tiny bit crazy.

He'd been speaking to himself all morning, she could hear him from the study. The TV show she was watching was on mute, because the second she turned the sound on he would start grumbling from his desk. He'd been in the living room twice, writing from the couch and once on the floor. She wasn't even sure he knew she was still there, despite greeting her at the door a few hours ago. The place was spotless, Jess having hired a cleaner in one of his brief moments of clarity in The Zone. Just as April was considering turning the volume on very low, a loud noise came from the vicinity of Jess. Running in she saw him close his laptop, headbutt it twice before sagging down into his chair. He turned to her and gave a small half-smile.

"Nardini, don't freak out or anything, but I've gotta ask… what day is it?" He looked at her expectantly, and she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Welcome back, Mariano."

"It's good to be back."

"You've got good timing, I'll give you that. I'd say we have five minutes before your dear old wife shows up."

"Rory…" He said unsurely, as though he'd forgotten everything from his life. "She's been gone, right?"

"Yep, it was Chris giving you soup and coffee, Kerouac."

"Did I get to twenty days?"

"Almost." She smiled as he looked slightly put out by this, though he was not the type of man to usually attempt to emulate his idols. Not as long as she'd known him anyway. "On the plus side, you've got yourself the start of a sweet beard." He felt his face and sure enough, he was completely covered in stubble. He was the type of person who shaved almost every day, so this was new to him.

"Huh."

April was about to compare him to Yosemite Sam when they heard the door open in the living room. She noticed the change in her cousin's attitude almost immediately. He practically raced out of the study and into the living room, stopping a few feet short of his wife. April looked at Chris with a knowing smile, and he rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"Hey," Rory said quietly, feeling like a sixteen year old again. She never quite knew how to deal with Jess when he looked at her like this. It was a mixture of intense longing and adoration that made her heart stop and butterflies vomit, which wasn't exactly an easy thing to explain to a person. For the most part it made her feel like the only one in the room, even though that was not the case.

"From one Zone to another," she heard Chris mutter under his breath, "April, I think we needed to vacuum at home."

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" She walked around Jess, who didn't seem to notice, and hugged her stepsister. "Good to see you, Rory."

The two closed the door behind them before April started giggling uncontrollably, but neither Rory nor Jess noticed. It appeared he had noticed the company, because the second they left he closed the gap between them and kissed her reverently. The kiss was slow and deliberate, and Rory barely noticed him unzipping her skirt before she felt it drop to the floor. Instinctively she kicked it aside, sending her shoes along with it. His hands began to roam over her body as she ran hers up the small of his back, thoroughly enjoying the noises he made as she dug her nails in slightly. They'd made their way next to the couch, with Jess gently lowering her onto it before covering her body with his own, kissing her more intensely as she pulled him closer.

"I was really hoping to take a shower, eight hour flight," she pointed out breathlessly, stifling a moan as he began to kiss her neck.

"You… smell… amazing," he gasped in between kisses.

"Only because you probably haven't bathed in a fortnight," she teased, running her hands through his very clean hair.

"You want to stop so you can shower?" He was balancing on top of her on his elbows, very obviously hoping her answer was no, but still smiling slightly at the mere sight of her. It seemed like he couldn't stay still, lifting one of his hands to stroke her face tenderly.

"Not when you're looking at me like that. We're going to need to shower eventually, though."

"Great answer."

Later that morning Rory was laying peacefully in her very own bed, but she was the only one doing so. Jess was still a complete bundle of energy and was running his hands down her back, kissing her neck as she tried to relax. She knew he wasn't trying to start something again, it was more about him enjoying the feel of having her in his arms, and she was loving it. Obviously doing nothing but writing had left him with two weeks' worth of restlessness. Chris' story about five day, two girl extravaganza was starting to make sense.

"I wrote a book," he whispered into her ear, making her shiver.

"You've done that a few times, you know."

"Not like this. This one's different. I can't really explain it, but it feels… special."

"Just make sure you send me and Matt copies before criticising it and deleting the whole thing." That had happened once before, about a year ago. They'd never know what possible masterpiece Jess' critical eye had destroyed, and it always bugged her. She doubted he'd want to go near a computer for a while, so she'd forward the appropriate files later on. "So did you write the whole thing in two weeks?"

"Not completely, I had a bunch of stuff to work with. Things I've discarded from other novels, a large chunk of writing from the file you and Matthew so desperately wanted to read. Once it all clicked I went nuts."

"I've never seen you scruffy before," she changed the subject with no segue. Jess was used to this, it meant she was tired. Turning to face him, she took his face in her hands and rubbed his newly unshaven cheeks, "it's different, at least."

"Maybe I should grow a beard," he joked, making her laugh a lot harder than necessary.

"Oh god, I can just see the look on Paris' face!"

"I'm sorry, what does any of this have to do with Paris Geller?" He stopped tracing patterns on her stomach and for a moment was completely still.

"She'd be drooling at the sight of you! All bearded and manly, that's her thing."

"I'd rather Paris not be attracted to me, if we're honest."

"Sorry sweetheart, it's about ten years too late for that." She had to stop herself from laughing at the expression of pure terror on his face.

"Wait, what?"

"Paris thinks you're cute."

"How did I not know this?"

"Relax, it doesn't mean she has a notebook with 'Mrs Jess Mariano' written all over it. It's like how I enjoy Captain America's tiny little t-shirts, or when we watch Buffy and you get distracted by Faith's butt. It happens." She shrugged, causing the sheet she was under to shift slightly, exposing more of her pale skin. Jess noticed the new vantage point and took to kissing down her collarbone, making her feel ticklish under his facial hair.

"So that's a no on the beard?" He asked as he rubbed his face against hers with a goofy expression.

"I don't know, I'm kind of feeling the scruff. It's very Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner."

"You watched The Avengers on the plane, didn't you?"

"…Yes," she admitted.

"Rory, that's five times!"

"Absolutely, only five times. I didn't watch it on the way over at all."

"You're crazy, Gilmore."

"Says the man who currently can't sit still for more than twenty seconds." Sure enough, he'd started to draw circles on her body again, and she could feel his leg shaking with pent up energy.

"Which is why I'm going to the gym." With one last long kiss to his wife, he got out of bed and started looking for his workout clothes.

"Gym, huh? Guess that's what happens when you've only got one girl instead of two." His head spun to look at her, before piecing together what she was talking about.

"Chris is a terrible man and we're cutting him out of our life."

"Silly little hyper man. Go pump some iron, and if you're still this antsy there's a shower with our names on it."

"Hey, maybe I'll even go get some of those tiny t-shirts you like so much."

"I know you're joking, but thank you."

Hello friends! Sorry for the lack of stories lately, but I've had an exciting few months. I went to Europe, spent entirely too much money and have basically been sick since I got back. Basically my trip home took over 70 hours and I'm probably still reeling or something. Pro tip for travel: a) don't live in Australia, and b) Don't fly staff travel in peak seasons. I hope this little thing was amusing enough, I liked writing it anyway!

I'd like to dedicate this story to the costume designer who chose Chris Evans' tiny t-shirts in The Avengers, and whoever decided it was still a very necessary choice for The Winter Soldier. God bless America.