Disclaimer: Still not mine. Some of it is, but mostly not.

She could feel warmth and weight on her body. She felt so tangled up in appendages; it was difficult to decipher which were her own and which belonged to those around her. In a half dream-filled state, she rolled to her left, slipping out of the entanglements, and landing on something warm and comfortable. Pleased with her new position, Ella curled up and instantly fell back into slumber.

Billy, however, was now wide-awake, staring at the brown hair that was splayed out over his chest. He was now being used as a human teddy bear by the girl of his just-awoken-from dreams.

The sun had just come up as Will pulled the car to a stop in his driveway. He gently shook Anna, who was still covered in glitter and had pieces of confetti in her hair (as did he), until she stirred.

"Wha' time is't?" she yawned.

"Early. Come on, you can sleep here for a while," he smiled as they got out of Will's car and hurried through the cold to the warmth of the apartment.

Dave was seated in an armchair, staring at the door. As soon as the pair entered the apartment, Anna hanging off of Will, his rant began.

"Where the hell have you two been?"

"Davey, shh," Anna giggled as she moved towards the couch.

"Will," Dave said sternly, "A word, please?"

Will cocked an eyebrow, unsure as to the reason for Dave's attitude. Clearly, he'd no idea that he had been followed last night.

"Fine, in a minute," he told Dave before turning to Anna, "Come on, Ann, you take my room."

She didn't protest, just gave a grateful half-smile and padded down the hall. As soon as Will's door closed, the two boys faced one another.

"Well?"

"What the hell gives you the right to keep her out all night?"

"You are not going to start this with me, Dave."

"Why not?"

"Fine. But first, tell me how long you've been with Bree."

Though his face had been flushed with anger, as soon as her name was mentioned, it paled quickly.

Jess hadn't slept at all. All night, he'd turned from one position to another, hoping to find any peace. He knew Erin wasn't coming back, at least not that night. All he could hear was Erin's words from the restaurant. Around sun-up, he decided it was a lost cause and got up to make coffee.

Tristan was sitting at the table, drinking orange juice from the carton and reading. He looked up at Jess' entrance and put his paper down.

"Morning."

"Morning."

"No sign of her yet?"

Jess snorted. "No."

"Jess, what the hell is going on?" He looked at his friend, feeling he'd put up with this without any real knowledge for long enough. Not only was Erin not talking or staying around really, but also Jess wasn't being completely open about this either.

The dark-haired man shrugged and continued making coffee.

"No, seriously. Cut the shit. We got roped into helping you out, which I don't mind, but you owe us that much. She fucking someone else?"

Jess shook his head, "That would at least make sense."

"I don't get it then, man."

Jess sighed, "You don't want to, trust me."

Tristan gave him a puzzled expression. Jess leaned against the counter, wondering just exactly how bruised he'd be after this conversation.

"She—she thinks I'm in love with someone else."

"Who?"

Jess caught Tristan's eye before answering. "Rory."

Before Tristan could respond to him, both men turned to hear the sound of something breaking. Rory was bent down in the hallway, awkwardly trying to pick up the pieces of a broken mug that lay shattered on the ground in front of her.

When Ella opened her eyes, she was staring into someone else's. A very awake Billy gave a nervous smile, which she returned.

"Morning," he said, his voice deeper and a little thicker than normal, as if there were remnants of the night's sleep in his throat.

"Morning," she paused, "I wasn't snoring, was I?"

He shook his head, and held in his laughter. "Why?"

"I don't know, I don't normally, but you were awake, and I just thought that maybe I was doing something strange to cause you to be awake and looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're holding back a laugh," she accused.

"You were babbling."

"So?"

"So, you're cute when you babble."

Her blue eyes opened a little wider in surprise, making her look very innocent. She usually had a comeback for everything, showing no sign of anyone's words getting to her. He wondered if early morning hours was her Achilles' heel. He let out a smile, feeling braver (though he wasn't sure if it were because of her softer side showing through or the fact that she was still lying half on top of him). He saw that fire in her eyes, like she had something else to say, but he quickly moved his hand from its resting place on her hip, up to her cheek.

Again, she flashed him her wide eyes, as if she knew it spurred him on, and he gently pulled her face to his. He kissed her softly and briefly—perhaps it would have lasted longer if Luke hadn't cleared his throat right at that moment. The two teens quickly looked up to see him standing on the last step of the staircase, arms folded over his chest as he surveyed the situation.

"I'm not dating Bree."

"Bullshit."

"Will, I swear to you, I'm not."

"Dave, Anna and I followed you last night, we saw you."

"You followed me?"

"It was supposed to be a stupid prank. Little did I know, my best friend was betraying me."

"Speaking of which, where did you have Anna all night? I mean, you tell me that there's nothing going on with you two, but then you have her out all night, and drunk when you get back?"

"She isn't drunk. A little tipsy, maybe."

"Answer me."

"New York. We hit some fun clubs, danced, to blow off some steam. We both needed it, that's it."

Will looked with interest at Dave. He offered details, now he expected the same.

"You know what? My word should be enough for you."

"If you aren't dating her, why would you even be there with her?"

Dave sighed, and sat down on the couch. He realized no matter how much he'd avoided this, now he had to tell Will the whole story.

"She called here, a week after you broke up. She needed help moving, she was crying, saying she needed you, she wanted to get you to talk to her, she didn't know what to do without you—all this stuff, that I didn't want you to have to deal with. I offered myself instead, to help her move into her new place, on the stipulation that she quit calling you. She swore to me that she would, so I went over there."

"She's been showing up and calling, still," Will pointed out.

"Well, I know that now she was lying—and yes, I should have known better. After all, she's insane. But the point is, I was helping her move into her new apartment and met Mallory, her new roommate. Who isn't crazy," he added with a smile.

Will looked at him, obviously trying to take in all this information. "So, you're dating Mallory?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't tell me because?"

"Bree really worked you over. I thought I was stopping her from bugging you, then afterwards, I felt bad having helped her and not telling you in the first place—I just couldn't tell you."

Will sat next to his friend, a little stunned. Dave looked at him and waited.

"Oh."

"All of that, and all I get is an 'Oh'?"

"I'm sorry, I just saw her, and I assumed. . . the worst."

"I probably would've, too," he nodded. "Are you sure there's nothing going on with you and Ann?"

Will took a pillow from the couch and tossed it at Dave's head. Dave smirked and stood up, shaking his head as he walked down the hall to his room. Will let out a long breath and leaned back on the couch to get some sleep.

"Let me help you," Tristan moved to help his wife pick up the shards of mug.

"No, no, I've got it, I," she looked up, catching Jess' eye before looking back down quickly.

"Shit," Jess muttered under his breath.

"No, everyone, just calm down. Tristan, go back to the table, and I'll get this. I just, I smelled coffee, and I came down—I didn't mean to overhear," she babbled.

"Rory, there's no truth in Erin's assumptions," he offered.

She dumped the broken remains in the trash, and then waved a hand of dismissal at him.

"Of course there isn't. I mean, other than familial bonds," she nodded.

"Jess," Tristan started.

"Tristan," Rory warned.

"Jess," he ignored his wife's tone and continued, "Why would she think it?"

"I don't know. I mean, I've always stayed close with Rory, and I think that since she knew that there was a past there, she thought I wanted there to be a future there? I don't know. I mean, she really wanted to take that job in California, I think she's looking for a way out that doesn't make her the bad guy."

"So she thinks it's a great fucking idea to bring Rory into this? There are families and lives going on here that she's willing to disrupt for her personal pleasure?"

"Trust me, there is no pleasure in this for her."

"Where did she go?" Rory piped up.

"Dunno, either home, or to her folks' house, probably."

Tristan tapped on the table impatiently, hating the feeling building up inside him. He'd never let the idea of Rory's past boyfriends become an issue, but he couldn't help but want to rip out the throat of one of his best friends at the very mention of his being in love with her. He even knew better, but the visual became very real for a moment.

"Tristan?" Rory's hand when to his arm, knowing his pissed-beyond-the-point-of-redemption expression.

"I'm fine. I just, need a run. I'll be back," he kissed her cheek and went upstairs to change.

Rory sighed and looked at Jess, who simply put a cup of coffee in front of her before slumping down in a chair himself.