Chapter 8. Parties and coffee, friends and parties

She was in hell. There could be no other explanation for all the little devils with pitchforks, tap-dancing in her head. Now they were poking at her eyes with those pitchforks. Bright, way to bright. But wait, what was this? The smell of coffee? She couldn't be dead then. Or at least not in hell, nothing in hell could smell that heavenly, and she couldn't remember doing anything in the last 24 hours to warrant a place in heaven.Kiera slowly opened one eye.

"Oh, good morning! I was beginning to think you would sleep all day." Said Rory's inappropriately chipper voice. Kiera just grunted. "Coffee. Give me the coffee or go away."

"I've got your coffee right here missy. But you'll have to sit up to get it."

"I'll sit up if you draw the curtains. The sun is way too bright! It's disgusting." Kiera said and started to turn over on her back.

"Aoh, aoh. Aspirin. Can I have some aspirin with my coffee, please?"

Rory just giggled and went over to the windows to darken the room. "I've got aspirin too. You know, you sound just like Finn when he's hung over, which is pretty much every morning."

Kiera grunted again and reached for the coffee on the bedside table. That first sip was pure joy! A couple of cups of this, a few aspirins, some pancakes and a shower and she would probably be close to human again.

"Speaking of which; would you like to tell me what happened last night?" Rory went on. Kiera made a grimace and shook her head, an action that only worked to produce another grimace and a wince. "It's way too early to discuss any of my actions last night. We've agreed to just being friends and that will have to do for you as well." She glanced at Rory through the corner of her eye and pouted. "Right now what I really want to know is why you are so chipper and not hung over?"

"Oh, you know, moderate alcohol-consumption followed by really great sex…" Kiera almost choked on her coffee.

"Please, spare me the details!" Rory just laughed, both at the comment and at the state her friend was in. She knew Kiera could be kind of a wild-child but this was the first time she had actually seen her looking so…unpolished.

"Fine, we'll talk about it tomorrow during the ride home. You're issues, that is, not my sex-life."

The rest of the day they spent with the guys, lazying around in Central Park. All aroung a pleasant recovery day.

Three weeks later, Kiera was starting to get a little bored with Stars Hollow. Without Rory, Loralai and Lane, who were all working, there really wasn't much to do. Sure, the weekends they spent in Hartford with Logan, Finn and Colin were a blast, but as of this coming weekend they wouldn't even have that since the guys would all be out of town. The "friendship-thing" between Kiera and Finn was working out pretty good. As long as they didn't touch, were left on their own or came within three feet of each other that is. They both did their best to ignore the tension and overall, they were doing a pretty good job. Still, as much as Kiera loved hanging out with the guys, it was almost a relief that she wouldn't have to this weekend. But what to do instead? It was now Wednesday, hot and terribly boring in sleepy little Stars Hollow. Suddenly her phone rang.

"Yeaello." She answered after finally locating the thing at the bottom of her purse.

"Kiera? Hi, it's Kaddie."

"Kaddie? Hi, how are you? O my god, I haven't talked to you in ages. I thought you were in Spain." Kiera was thrilled to hear her friend's happy voice. Kaddie was that kind of girl who always sounded preppy. She kind of always looked it too.

"Just got back Monday. Hey, are you still in Connecticut? Because we're heading to New York and just thought maybe you'd wanna join us. We'll be staying with Jessie's brother and his girlfriend."

"Sure, I would love to come! When do you get there?"

"Tomorrow, 'round lunch. Do you want me to e-mail you the directions?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Oh we'll have a blast. I might be bringing Rory, is that ok?"

"No problem. The place is huge. So, we'll see you tomorrow then."

"Absolutely. Bye, hon." The weekend was looking up already…

"Are you sure you can't come?" Kiera asked her friend and pouted.

"Yes, I'm sure. Andrew needs help with the inventory Friday and Saturday. It's a mess and I get paid overtime. Besides, I told him I would help like a week ago. I can't bail on him now. You should go though. I know you've been kinda bored around here lately, and I don't blame you. Maybe I can come on Saturday night and stay Sunday?" Rory said and turned the corner to put away another stack of books.

"Yes! Excellent! But I'll only go if it's ok with you. I mean, I am your houseguest."

"It's ok. Have a blast, catch up with the girls. I'll see you Saturday."

"Ok. You're a doll. Now I just have to find a car-rental place."

At one o'clock on Thursday afternoon, Kiera pulled up in front of Jessie's brother's house. Kaddie had been right; it was huge. Apparently, the brother only owned the top floor, but that was more than enough, this place was 'Cruel Intentions'-huge. The girls, Kiera, Kaddie, Jessie and Lovisa, spent the afternoon shopping and talking about where they should go in the evening. They finally decided to just go bar-hopping as they couldn't agree on just one place.

The night was great. Kiera had never actually gotten to go out and dance and party with these friends of hers. James hadn't liked the idea and every time it had come up he always made some 'couple-plans' like visiting his relatives in L.A or something like that. Now, by eleven thirty, they had been to three places and Kiera was feeling comfortably tipsy. Suddenly, on the dance floor, she saw someone she recognized.

"Finn!" she called and made her way over to where the aussie was dancing close to a pretty brunette.

"Kiera? Hey love." He said, freed himself from the girl and hugged her. "I didn't know you were coming to New York. Did I?"

Kiera laughed, knowing that Finn's short-term memory wasn't exactly optimal. "No, I just decided Thursday. I'm here with some friends of mine from back east. I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I just wanted to say hi." She said, indicating the girl at his side.

"Oh, sorry. Kiera this is…" he seemed to be thinking very hard. The girl smiled and stretched out her hand.

"Laura. I'm Laura."

"Laura, yes! Kiera, this is Laura. Laura, this is Kiera, a friend of mine from Yale."

Kiera shook her hand and exchanged the usual pleasantries. The girls seemed nice, but Kiera could tell when she was being sized up and, o yeah, this beauty was sizing her up.

"So, where are your friends?" Finn asked.

Kiera pointed over her shoulder. "Over by the bar. Tequila race."

"You're not joining?"

"No, never could keep the stuff down. Horrible. Nasty images coming over me right now."

Finn grinned as Kiera shuddered at her memories of tequila races past. Laura suddenly piped up. "I see some friends of mine over there. So, I'm gonna go. Kiera, nice to meet you. Finn, call me when you're less distracted." She kissed him on the cheek and went over to her friends.

"I interrupted." Kiera said.

"Yeah, I don't think she liked you." Finn agreed. The comment made Kiera laugh.

"Why wouldn't she like me? You introduced me as a friend!"

"Yeah, well…Maybe she's psychic." He replied, which made Kiera look down on the floor and give a non-committing humming sound in reply.

"So, wanna dance, love?" Finn stretched out his hand.

"Oh no. I don't think that's such a good idea. Remember last time we danced?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I was hoping for a repeat." He said and pulled her into his embrace.

"What?" Kiera said as she put her hands on his torso, ready to push him away. "What happened to just being friends?"

Finn groaned and held her tighter. "I'm sick of just being friends. I can't stand it. It's stupid. Every time I'm close to you I want you, I want to touch you. But I can't cause Rory is always there looking like a thundercloud and practically growling if my gaze lingers too long."

Kiera was a little shocked by the admission. Also, it kind of turned her on.

What the heck, I don't want to fight it anymore. Come on, Kiera, just give in to it. You won't let him trample your feelings. This isn't about that, this is about lust. She thought and slipped her arms around his neck.

"So, what are you saying? That for one night, and one night only, all bets are off?" she asked his in a husky voice with her mouth close to his ear. "'Cause I can live with that." She felt him squeezing her even closer. Their bodies were practically fused together now. He kissed her earlobe. "Do you want to leave? My hotel is close." She shook her head and pulled it back so she could look at him. She smiled. "There's no rush. I want to dance for a while first." She kissed him, a slow lingering kiss which turned his senses completely inside out.

They danced for a while, sharing slow, hot kisses which drove them half crazy with anticipation. In the end they were interrupted by Jessie.

"Kiera! Sorry to break up the make-out session but we are moving on." Kiera broke free from Finn and turned to her friend.

"Ok. You guys have fun. I call you tomorrow."

"You're not coming?" Jessie asked looking rather surprised.

"No. I'm going with Finn. Don't worry about me." Jessie took her arm and led her away a few steps.

"Finn? This is so-we-decided-to-just-be-friends-Finn?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure this is such a good idea? Kissing and going home with the guy doesn't exactly seem friendly, if you know what I mean."

"I got it." Kiera said, trying to convince her friend, and herself, that she wasn't making a huge mistake. "We know what we are doing, so just relax. This isn't going to turn into some great drama. I promise."

"Alright, if you're sure." Jessie said and turned to walk away. She wasn't convinced though and she'd hate to see her friend getting hurt, again.

Kiera and Finn were walking, or rather stumbling, down the corridor to his suite. It was difficult to do anything else with their mouths fused together and their hands trying to get rid of as much clothing as decently possible before they got inside. They had finally left the club after a couple next to them on the dance-floor had asked them to get a room. They had only grinned and replied that they already had one, it was just a question of getting there.

Finn opened the door and pulled Kiera with him inside. He turned and kicked it close behind him. Kiera shoved him against the door and kissed him fiercely. This was why he loved redheads; they were fiery creatures, passionate in everything they did. He slipped his hands under her halterneck top and enjoyed the smooth feeling of her delicate skin under his palms. He kissed her neck as he walked her backwards towards the bedroom. His mouth found hers again and she bit his lower lip slightly. She had done it once before and knew it got him madly turned on. Suddenly he tipped her back onto the bed and came down on top of her. She loved how his body felt against hers. Now, if they could only get rid of the rest of these clothes... He seemed to be thinking the same thing because he pulled her up to a sitting position again, released the clasp behind her neck and pulled of her top. He then took off his own shirt as she reached for his belt buckle. After freeing themselves of the rest of their clothes they fell back on the bed again. His hands roamed over her body just as freely as her hands explored his. He pressed her into the mattress as his hand found its target and she was lost. The rest of the night was a blur, a beautiful, extraordinarily pleasant blur. At dawn they finally fell asleep in each others arms, exhausted and very satisfied.

A/N Shiish. I feel like Nora Roberts. Anyways, the hook-up is a fact. What will happen next? Don't forget, Rory's coming to visit. Drama? You never know…. Stay tuned, the next chapter might be a while so I thought I leave this little goody for you for now.

Review, review, review.