LITTLE VISIT 3: FRIDAY NIGHT

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At midnight, she'd made another pot of coffee, having been very aware that they could no longer get to the station in time for the last bus to Hartford. Jess had backed off on the coffee a few cups - a few hours - earlier. She'd called him a lightweight, and, as she'd poured herself another cup, told him she'd have to double her efforts to hook him on caffeine the next morning.

Rory and Jess sat up a little while longer, talking. And then they sat there a little longer still. When the digital clock read three a.m. and Jess yawned, Rory's own stifled yawn echoing his, she realized she'd been stalling. "Well… I guess we should hit the hay," she uttered. She'd been exhausted for quite some time now, coffee buzz not withstanding.

"Yeah. We can talk more in the morning."

"Over coffee," she said.

"Pusher," he smirked. They both sat still on the couch, until Rory jumped up.

"OK!" she kick-started. She pushed the coffee table back under the window and helped Jess as he unfolded the hide-a-bed. She spread her quilt out on the mattress. When finished, she stood in front of the bed, wishing she wasn't thinking about all the things people could do in beds. She turned and caught Jess's expression. He was looking at her with obvious amusement.

"I don't bite, you know," he teased. He sat down on the bed and took off his watch, placing it on her desk.

Blushing furiously, she mumbled something about changing into pyjamas and hid herself in the bathroom.

Rory pulled her hair into a ponytail and, splashing some cold water on her face, hoped to douse her fiery blush. In the end, she scrubbed her face with a soapy washcloth. She brushed her teeth for at least three minutes, reminding herself that that is the minimum length of time dentists recommend. She flossed thoroughly as well, which was something she didn't always do. Oral hygiene taken care of, Rory pulled her hair out of the ponytail and brushed it vigorously. What did they always say in old movies? Brush your hair with a hundred strokes before bed?

Only after she had finished an extended routine did she reach for her pyjamas hanging on the hook. As she changed, she thought maybe Jess would be asleep before she even left the bathroom. For some unexplained reason, she hoped he would be.

Rory, quiet as a church mouse, turned the handle on the bathroom door. Before she swung the door open, she turned out the light. If Jess was asleep, she didn't want any light or sound to wake him.

She took a step out into the main room and stopped cold. Jess was sitting up in bed, under the covers, reading a book by the cozy light of her desk lamp. He was still wearing his T-shirt, she noted, but his jeans were draped casually over her desk chair. Rory hoped to God he was wearing underwear. "You're very clean, I see," he commented wryly.

"How very awake of you to notice."

"Of course!" he mocked her. "Didn't want to turn out the light for fear you'd stumble blindly across the room."

"That's considerate," she smirked.

"If you stubbed your toe in the dark, it would only wake me up anyway."

"Uh-huh."

"And I can't sleep with the light on," he declared with a 'Perish the Thought' tone in his voice.

"Of course not."

"And I figured as long as the light was on, it was a perfect chance to take a gander at your book collection. This one looked interesting."

"I'm glad," she stated, her smirk becoming an amused smile.

"Besides, I like to read before bed."

"So do I." She came around to the other side of the bed and folded the covers back, enough to get in, but not enough to see Jess's body hidden underneath. She was nervous, she realized. She wondered how Jess could remain so calm in this situation - even to the point of making fun of her - while her own insides were twisting in excitement at the thought of sharing a bed with him.

As she sat down and swung her legs under the covers, he commented, "Nice sheep." He was referring to the sheep print on her pyjamas. Rory dared to look up at his face; his smile made her blush again. They were so close.

"Thank you. I thought so too."

"You want to read before you sleep?"

"Hmmm. Not really. It's pretty late." Besides, she thought. The sooner he turns out the light, the sooner my blush is hidden.

"That it is." He chuckled before closing the book and reaching over to turn off the light. Once in darkness, he slid down further into the bed and Rory adjusted the blankets around her, turning her back to him. "Comfortable?" he asked.

"Yup."

"Good. So… you think I can have some of those blankets back?"

Rory turned around to peer at him through the darkness. Her eyes still hadn't fully adjusted to the dark but she could tell she'd pulled the blankets off of him entirely. "Oops," she giggled. "Sure. Take all the blanket you want."

"OK." And with that he rolled away from her, forcibly taking all the blankets with him. "Ahhhh…" he sighed in contentment.

"Jess!" she laughed. "I didn't mean that much blanket!"

Jess laughed too. "Oh all right. We'll share."

"Oh all right," she echoed. The two of them had to move a little closer together to share the blankets. As they lay there, backs to one another and almost touching, Rory could feel the heat of his body radiating towards her.

Both from her lingering tinge of nervousness - nervousness no doubt augmented by all the coffee she'd ingested - and also from the remembrance of him taking all the blankets, she giggled. Hearing this, he chuckled as well. Soon they were both sleeping.

***

A/N:

What do you think so far?