A/N: I'm not going to lie, writing drunk!Jess and drunk!Paris was super-fun, and I appreciate the lovely reviews I got about it, thanks, peops. However, after the drunk comes the hangover, right? ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 18

"Morning, sunshine!" said Rory loudly as she came into her bedroom.

Jess winced horribly, looking pale and awfully still. She didn't want to feel sorry for him, not after the way he had behaved the day before, but honestly, it was tough to be so very mad at him. The poor guy was suffering, even before Miss Patty's punch hit him full force. All that depressing Kurt Cobainy stuff did need resolving at some point, though given Jess' current state, maybe not quite yet.

"I feel like somebody ran me over with a Mack truck," he groaned, trying to pull himself up against the headboard and running a shaky hand over his face. "What time is it?"

"Around ten," Rory told him, putting the breakfast tray down at the end of the bed and sitting down there too. "I thought it was better to let you sleep longer."

Jess looked like maybe he thought so too. Maybe she shouldn't have woken him, even now, but Rory couldn't help it. Selfish as it may be, she had things she needed to say and other things she needed to ask about what happened yesterday.

"You know how long it is since I've been that drunk?" he said quietly, one hand still rubbing his forehead.

"I'm guessing a while?" said Rory, keeping her own voice low now in the face of his suffering. "Here," she added, handing over a large glass of water and two aspirin. "if you want the breakfast, it's perfectly safe. Luke was just here, he made the eggs and pancakes," she explained.

"He saw the drunken escapades?" Jess checked, wincing terribly, though Rory couldn't be sure if it was the thought of his uncle seeing him drunk or swallowing the pain killers that made him do it.

"A little," Rory told him. "He and Mom had to help me wrangle you and Paris back here."

"Paris? Oh, right, Paris." Jess nodded eventually, his memories beginning to return.

In a lot of ways, he really wished they wouldn't. As if the hangover and the way Rory was looking at him right now weren't bad enough, he could use not recalling all the things he had said when under the influence. To think he only had one cup of punch, but then he was wildly out of practice on the drinking front, and Miss Patty's punch was rumoured to be ridiculously strong. Maybe he should've had more sense.

"I'm sorry," he said after a while, making himself meet Rory's bright blue gaze. "Seriously, I... I'm sorry, Rory."

"Which I appreciate," she said, looking less than happy still, "but honestly? I would love to hear which part of it you're apologising for. I mean, are you sorry that I had to deal with you when you didn't exactly have control over yourself, or is it more specific than that? Are you sorry for the two dozen times you told me how much you love me? For the part where you regaled me with all the good qualities of Paris for a good ten minutes? Maybe it's because you stamped on my toes pretty hard when you tripped on the porch-"

"All of it," Jess cut in, more loudly than he meant to, his hand going to his aching head as he collapsed back against the pillows, defeated. "Well, maybe not all of it," he amended, his mind racing fast enough to make him extremely dizzy.

It was all coming back in bits and pieces. The parts that Rory mentioned, along with other things that he recalled for himself, as the fog slowly began to lift. He did remember some stuff about what a great listener Paris could be and he sort of half-recalled tripping and almost taking Rory down with him outside the front door. The love confessions were badly timed, he had to admit, but he couldn't really regret those.

"You know, I meant what I said about you. About... about loving you," he admitted then. "I know that probably seems crazy to you-"

"It doesn't," Rory assured him quickly, her hand landing on his on the bed and squeezing. "It doesn't," she repeated meeting his eyes and finding him half a smile.

"Okay, good." Jess smiled back, glad they seemed to both be on the same page on that part at least. "My timing was lousy, I know, but I guess in vino veritas and all that stuff. I should've said it sooner."

"I probably should too," said Rory, shifting a little closer, "because I do love you, Jess. I didn't know it could happen so fast. I mean, six months ago, I hadn't even met you yet, but... but it's real, isn't it?"

"Pretty sure." He nodded slowly, afraid to move his head too much, as he turned his hand over to grip Rory's own. "Uh, I don't know exactly what else I said but... did Luke...? Did I say...?"

"Nothing in front of him that made much sense," Rory confirmed. "But after, back here, when it was just you and me... you got a little upset."

The way she said it told Jess she didn't mean the angry kind of upset so much as the tearful kind. That was weird. It was longer since he cried than it was since he last got seriously drunk, but he supposed it wasn't so odd to think that letting out all he really felt about Luke brought on tears.

"You know, I hadn't seen the guy since I was ten years old. It shouldn't have been like that. If Liz hadn't..." He closed his eyes and pushed it all away again, determined not to be a sappy fool when he was sober at least. "Anything else I should know about?" he checked with Rory then.

"Just some stuff about Logan," she admitted. "You were really beating yourself up, rambling about the bonds of friendship and brotherhood and all. I think you even made comparisons to Robin Hood and Little John and King Arthur's knights of the round table in there somewhere."

"Wow, that punch is strong," said Jess, forcing a smile, trying desperately for a joke that just didn't quite come off.

Rory knew him too well. Not only had they managed to find themselves deep in that thing they called love much more quickly than he ever thought possible, they also connected on every possible level, reaching a point where they knew each other better than anyone else, and fast enough to give a person whiplash. Jess couldn't lie to Rory, not that he really wanted to, but it might've been nice not to have to confront this particular truth right now.

"You know, you really didn't do anything so wrong," she said, looking sad.

"Come on, Rory," Jess countered immediately. "I know you and Logan weren't exactly married or even seriously dating, but he liked you, probably more than you thought," he told her. "Now, you don't have to like him back as much, that's fine, and yes, you were free to date other people, same as he was and did," he confirmed, "but he was my friend and I just..."

It hurt to think of what he'd done, even if, technically speaking, he was justified and allowed to do it. He couldn't help how hard he fell for Rory or that she felt the same, but he regretted Logan getting hurt. He hated knowing he had lost the one friendship that had always been there, for almost as long as he could remember.

"I won't ever regret being with you, Rory," he promised her then, meeting her eyes one more time, "but I will always regret hurting Logan like that. He didn't deserve it."

She looked like she wanted to argue, which was no real surprise. If Rory ruled the world, then everybody would be right and good and justified, with no harm ever being done, no blame ever needing to be apportioned. Unfortunately, the world didn't work that way before and it wasn't likely to start now.

Apparently, with no words of comfort left to offer, Rory just pushed herself forward to throw her arms around Jess. As she hugged him tight, he hugged her back, finding solace and strength in her embrace and her love. It didn't fix things with Logan or make him feel any better about missing out on having a relationship with Luke for too many years, but it still helped somehow, just because it was her.

It was too early on a Sunday for someone to be hammering on his door. Granted, it was mid-afternoon, but as far as Logan Huntzberger was concerned, any time when it was still light out was too early. Not least because he hadn't rolled into bed until the small hours of the morning. Unfortunately, it seemed whoever was out there just would not be denied, and since he was currently the only person home, he was obliged to go answer the door already. Logan got a real surprise when he saw who was waiting on the other side.

"Rory."

"Hey," she said, folding her arms across her chest, unfolding them, and then folding them again. "I think... well, I think we need to talk."

She seemed unsure whether to be determined or nervous, which was oddly adorable. Logan knew it would be easy enough just to slam the door in her face and pretend she had never even come by, but somehow, he didn't have it in him. Standing aside, he silently ushered her into the dorm room, quietly closing the door behind her. When he turned to face her then, he found her shifting in place, seeming to be wishing she was anywhere but here. Strange thing for a woman whose knocking suggested she was pretty serious about being let in.

"So, you wanted to talk?" he said quietly, mindful of causing some kind of explosion, which somehow seemed as if it might be imminent.

Rory frowned, looked away, eyes catching on the couch, something she seemed to wish she hadn't seen. Logan almost asked what was wrong when the memory hit him. Rory and Jess, side by side on that very piece of furniture, the night they met, the first time they connected. From that moment, Logan should've known it was inevitable, but he really thought that somehow, he was still going to come out on top. What a fool.

"It's not fair."

Logan was caught by surprise when he realised, though those words were inside his own head, it was Rory's lips they fell from in the same moment.

"Excuse me?" he checked.

"It's not fair," Rory repeated more firmly, meeting his eyes, her own flashing with something akin to anger. "None of this, it's just completely unfair and unjust and unreasonable!"

"You want a thesaurus so you can keep on going?" Logan checked.

Rory all but growled in response.

"You can be such an idiot, Logan. You know that, don't you? I mean, what were you even thinking? Hitting Jess? Kicking him out of your house? Threatening his step-dad's job? That was so completely stupid and childish!"

"There's that anger," Logan muttered to himself before diving in with his actual response. "Look, maybe I over-reacted, maybe," he said with emphasis, pointing a finger for good measure, "but you really think your precious Jess has been such a saint in all this? Do you honestly think you have?" he asked, meeting her gaze. "Come on, Rory, do you really believe that out of all three of us, I'm the only bad guy?"

"Nobody else hit anybody," she reminded him, still angry but not sounding quite as sure of herself as she had before. "Nobody else threatened people's livelihoods or threw people out of houses."

"No, that's true," he agreed easily, volume rising all the same as he went on, "but hold on a second. I didn't go behind my friend's back with a girl I knew he liked, now did I? I didn't live in another person's house, taking full advantage of the perks that came with a rich man's home, while all the time putting the moves on someone that... that was..."

He came undone at the last few words because he simply didn't know what the right ones were, or maybe he did, but he just wasn't quite willing to say them.

"You can't do that, Logan. You just can't!" Rory insisted in the brief silence that he left hanging there. "You cannot try to make this all Jess' fault. As for me, yes, okay? I will put my hands up," she said, doing exactly that. "I will admit that I wasn't exactly fair to you. Yes, we had a casual relationship, but it was still a relationship, and if I had been honest about my feelings for Jess a whole lot sooner, then it wouldn't have gotten as complicated or messed up as it did," she admitted, "but the way you acted was... it was too much!" she insisted loudly, even as her arms dropped to her sides. "Anybody would think we were in this long-term committed relationship, but you didn't want that. You were the one who was only prepared to be casual, and I agreed to that, but then you just went ahead and got crazy when me and Jess got close. We're allowed to do that!"

"I know that! Don't you think I know that?!" Logan yelled some more, suddenly beyond frustrated and just needing to let it out before he was the one who exploded instead. "Maybe what drove me crazy was knowing what you two had wasn't casual. That it was real and serious and... and maybe I wanted it to be me, okay?"

He hadn't really meant to say that, though Logan considered maybe it was worth it just for the look of complete and utter shock on Rory's face when he glanced at her then.

"Yes, you weren't expecting that," he said, rolling his eyes. "Imagine how I felt when I realised it was true," he added more softly, moving over to the couch and dropping down onto it, his face briefly in his hands.

He didn't know Rory had moved until the cushions shifted next to him and her perfume invaded his nose.

"Logan, you don't... I mean, you never said anything about us being... You don't do that," she landed on eventually.

Pulling his hands away from his face he made himself look at her and even found he could raise a smile at the sight of her beautiful but confused face.

"Yeah, well, I think you're pretty special, Ace," he told her straight, "and even though I am definitely not what anybody would call boyfriend material, for you, I think I could've given it a shot."

Rory's mouth opened as if maybe she had a reply to that, but no words came out. It was almost comforting that she was at a loss too, though Logan really never thought he would see the day when a Gilmore had nothing to say. Of course, her silence only lasted so long.

"I'm so sorry, Logan," she said eventually. "I just... I mean, I liked you, you know I did. I do, honestly," she told him, in such a way he could never doubt her. "But Jess..."

"You love him," said Logan, nodding knowingly.

It didn't take long for her to nod too, confirming what he already knew. Logan wished it didn't hurt so much, but it really did.

"Does he know that?"

"He does," Rory said softly.

"He said it back, right?"

"Actually, weirdly, he said it first, but he was drunk at the time, so it didn't exactly count," said Rory, smiling slightly as she watched her own hands play with the straps of her purse. "I only took him seriously when he sobered up and was still saying it."

"That's fair." Logan nodded, itching to ask why his old buddy, who was usually the last one to get sloppy drunk, had ever been in such a state in the first place.

Before he got the chance to actually pose the question, Rory explained anyway.

"He was really upset, you know? About things being so messed up with you two. I know guys aren't supposed to care when they fight with their friends, but... well, I think your friendship meant a lot to him. I know it meant a lot to me, for a while there. I mean, you don't jump off a scaffold holding on to an umbrella with just anybody, right?"

It wasn't exactly a joke, but clearly meant to lighten the mood. Logan found a smile for her efforts, even as the knife in his heart twisted a little more. It might have been easier if Rory didn't still care about him, even while she was being in love with Jess. Unfortunately, she was just that kind of person, which was why it was so damn easy to like her so much, and would doubtless continue to be so damn hard to get over her.

"If you're looking for me to say we can all be friends, Ace, I think we're a long way away from that," he told her, eyes on the carpet by now, "but you should tell Jess that at least I understand what he did. I don't like it, but I understand it. For some people, you'd just risk anything, or everything."

When he tried to meet her gaze then, Logan knew Rory completely understood his meaning, because she couldn't look away fast enough. Within a minute, she was on her feet, saying she should go.

"I know I probably shouldn't have come here..."

"Hey, I'm not saying that," Logan assured her, even as he showed her to the door. "It's probably better that we got a chance to clear the air. Might even make it easier, you know, to move on."

"I hope so." Rory nodded her agreement, giving him a small smile.

They were either side of the threshold by now and Logan was quite ready to watch her walk away, when suddenly she came closer, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. Even that brief contact made his eyes fall shut as he savoured the last intimate moment he was likely to share with her.

"I'm so sorry for anything I did to hurt you, Logan. I never meant to, and you didn't deserve it, but... you and me..."

"Some things just aren't meant to be," he said quickly. "Bye, Ace."

He didn't wait to hear her reply, just closed the door fast, and then, made a beeline for the nearest liquor bottle.

To Be Continued...