Thanks for the reviews on chapter fourteen: DiehardJavaJunkie14, lillitgirlx2, sexybeastfinnwannafeast, Jeremy Shane, Curley-Q, gilmorefanforever, Lexi, and ShaolinQueen.

I started writing Meetings in a Subway Car with the plan for it to be light, cute, and funny. Mostly because it was comic relief compared to my other stories. So, anyway, I hope it's fun for you guys, because it sure is fun for me.

Disclaimer: I actually own Sully. Jealous? Of course you are.

Best Friends and Accomplices

Rory drew the blinds as Jess turned his head. The bright winter light shined through the room, causing Jess to groan loudly and bury his head under a pillow.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he mumbled from under the bedclothes.

"No," Rory said. "Sully told me to open the blinds, because when you have a hangover…"

"Because when I have a hang over, I like to kill pestering room mates!" Jess flung the pillow aside and squinted away from the light. "Close 'em," he requested, shielding his eyes.

Rory shrugged and shut the blinds. Immediately, Jess hid under the pillow again. Sighing, Rory threw herself back on the bed and lifted the corner of the pillow. "How's your head?"

"Hurts like a bitch," he mumbled.

"Yeah, about that." Rory parted her hair with her fingers and leaned closer to Jess.

"'Bout what?" he murmured.

"When Sully was on puke patrol, you fell asleep in the bathroom and hit your head on the toilet," she said quickly.

"'s'okay. Happens all the time."

"You hit your head on the toilet all the time?" she asked, scooting closer to her hung over boyfriend.

"Yeah, Sully…" Jess paused. "He let me hit my head on the toilet?"

"Apparently?"

"Gonna kill that son of a bitch."

"I thought you said…?" Rory asked.

"That was the…whatever I drank last night." Jess held the pillow over his ears. "You talk a lot."

"Well, pardon me for…"

Jess interrupted her by reaching over and putting his hand over her mouth. "Head hurts."

Rory slid off the bed and glanced at the three bottles sitting on Jess's dresser. They all sported labels in Sully's loopy handwriting. The first label said "tequila," the second label said "toilet," and the third label said "both." Shaking her head, she popped open the third bottle and slipped two pills into the palm of her hand. "You want to take these?" she asked, crouching beside the bed.

"What is it?" he mumbled, moving to the side slowly.

"I don't know." She shrugged and handed him the pills. "Tylenol or aspirin. Something like that."

He swallowed the pills without water and then reached for the glass on his bed table. "Sleeping now," he mumbled, turning away from her.

Rory stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her. Sully was already in the kitchen, standing by the counter in front of the coffee pot. "Morning, Ror."

She looked up. "How'd you…"

"You weren't bitching me out, so I knew it wasn't Jess." He grinned and reached into the cabinet for Rory's mug. "Stupid question: you want coffee?"

"Please," she said, sitting at the kitchen table. "What are you making?" she asked, peering over the counter from her chair.

"Salami and pickles on peanut butter toast."

"Ew. That's disgusting." Rory made a face and accepted her coffee mug from Sully.

He shrugged. "When sleeping beauty crawls out of bed, he'll eat it."

"He will?" Rory asked, setting her mug on the table.

"Yup. It's the patented hang over sandwich. Believe me, I know. It's the only reason we have salami and peanut butter here."

"When is he going to get out of bed? I've never seen Jess sleep this late," Rory said, swirling the coffee in her mug.

"Oh, about ten minutes. I figure you gave him the aspirin on his dresser, so it usually starts to work in about fifteen to twenty minutes. And he's not going to be able to get back to sleep if you drew the blinds like I told you to."

Rory shook her head. "That was an enjoyable experience."

"It always is." Sully finished spreading peanut butter on the toast and started pulling the salami out of the package.

"You're a really good friend," Rory said. "There aren't a lot of guys that take care of their drunk or hung over friends, but you guys have this really weird system worked out."

Sully shrugged. "He's my best friend. We both grew up in New York with second-rate families. My dad wasn't that bad of a guy. He doesn't give a shit, but he sends me a check every so often." Sully clicked his tongue and rinsed the knife in the sink. "It was after my sister died that we became attached," he said. "Jess let me stay over when my father started drinking."

Rory hung her head. "I'm…sorry about that."

Sully unscrewed the pickle jar. "It's okay. That's how I learned to deal with Jess when he drank. His own mom was screwed up and that was how he processed things. I'm not saying it was a good idea, but Jess got drunk so easily that I was the one that made sure he was okay. If I hadn't been around, I'm not sure his mother would even care." He abandoned the sandwich and sat on the counter in front of Rory. "So I figured out different aspects of how Jess got drunk and how he acted hung over. It was no big deal. I don't mind doing this. I know how he operates, and in return he puts up with my random antics." Sully hopped off the counter and started placing pickle slices over the salami.

"You're good for him, I think," Rory said. "You keep him grounded."

"I hope so. It's why I'm glad he called. When he was in Connecticut, it was hard to be as close. Then his letters stopped coming and I worried about him, but I didn't know how to contact him." Sully shrugged. "Dude's my best friend. That's all there is to it."

Jess shuffled out of his room, cringing when the door slammed behind him. He was wrapped in a zippered hoodie that covered his bare chest and hit the waistband of the sweatpants that hung across his hips. He acknowledged both his girlfriend and best friend with a meager nod. His hair was plastered to one side of his head, whereas the other half of his hair stuck up in tuffs.

"Good morning, you gorgeous specimen – creature." Sully grinned as he sipped the coffee from his giant mug.

"I fucking hate you," Jess grumbled. "Give me coffee."

"Three cups of joe and he's good to go," Sully told Rory over his shoulder as he poured. "Here you go," he said, setting the mug in front of Jess. "Well, after he's done with this." He slapped the other slice of toast slathered with peanut butter on top of the completed sandwich. After sliding two pop-tarts into the toaster, he set the sandwich in front of Jess.

"Thanks," Jess said, spinning cream into his coffee. Sully tended to the toaster and sat down across from the pair with the plate of pop-tarts, offering one to Rory.

"He'll be back to normal around dinnertime. Not that he ever really was."

Jess glared at him as he held a half of the hang over sandwich in his hand. Shaking his head, he went back to eating the sandwich and Rory broke off a piece of her pop-tart.

"Ironically, that's the only thing he can eat after throwing up all night. Anything else will make him hurl."

"Wow. You really do have him all figured out." Rory sipped her coffee and the table was silent for the rest of breakfast.

"Now he'll watch an episode of the X-files before taking a cold shower." Jess walked away from the table to find his DVDs. "Then since you're here, he'll be all over you." Sully smirked. "Although I expect that won't be a problem."

Rory blushed, eager to opt out of that particular conversation. "I'm going to take a shower before he does."

Sully laughed. "Okay. Have fun later." He winked and broke off the remaining corner on his pop-tart.

"We have the place to ourselves tonight." Jess tended to the stir fry in the skillet, pausing to sprinkle spices over the food.

"You're good at that," Rory said as she watched him sauté.

"You haven't even said anything about the vegetables," Jess mentioned as he pulled two plates from the cabinet. He removed the lid from the rice pan and stirred the contents.

"That's because I see steak," Rory joked, pinching the skin above his waistband.

"Carnivore." Jess dumped the rice into the skillet and mixed it with the meat and vegetables. "Here you go," he said, heaping stir-fry on her dish. "Your first Mariano stir-fry. Sully swears by it, so you have to like it. Of course, he actually enjoys the vegetables," Jess joked, filling his own plate.

"So, place to ourselves tonight?" Rory asked.

"Yeah." Jess paused to balance the dishes on his arm and set them on the table.

"Where's Sully?" Rory asked as she twisted her fork between her fingers. She was happy for the time they had alone. She had more afternoon classes that semester, so she tended to stay at the apartment more often.

"He's off on a date," Jess said as he set two cans of Pepsi on the table. "And I'm not joking."

Rory nodded. "Why is that…not normal?"

"It's Sully. He had a tendency to scare girls." Jess shook his head in mid laugh. "He is way too quirky for his own good. It's great, but girls…they don't tend to like his quirks."

"Well, that's fine. And if he hits it off with this one…"

Jess smirked as she stopped talking. "Then what?"

A sheen of blush spread across the apples of her cheeks. "Well, you know."

"Oh, really?" He tilted up on of his eyebrows as she dug her fork through the grains of rice on her place. "Do elaborate, Miss Gilmore."

"I'll do you one better," she said with a grin, spearing a piece of steak with her fork. "I'll show you."

He kicked her playfully under the table with his stocking feet. "Well then, better eat quick."

Jess stroked her chestnut waves as he watched the end of the random HBO movie that they had started to watch. Rory had drifted off to sleep forty minutes ago, but she was too adorable and comfortable to move. Her hair was splayed across his chest and she nestled her head in the dip in his abdomen. It was the moments like these that he loved. They were simple, and he was able to just observe her in peace.

Settling his arm behind her neck, he rested his hand on her hip. Sully was a traditional dater. He kissed on the first date, but never went past the kiss. He would be home soon, but he would be tired and possibly dejected.

Sighing, Jess shifted his body as he heard the key in the lock. Maybe if he could convince Sully that they had both fallen asleep during the movie, then he wouldn't have to deal with the post date until later in the morning. He heard the door swing open and shut his eyes quickly.

"Jess?" Sully hissed, sneaking quietly into the living room. "You snore too goddamn loud to pull off the "pretending to be asleep" thing," he said, tapping his sneaker against the coffee table.

Jess opened one eye and glared at his friend. "Hate you," he proclaimed, shifting Rory off his lap so that he could sit up. His leg had started to cramp about twenty minutes ago, but he had ignored the dull ache.

"Well, that sucks. I love you." Sully flung his arms around his friend's neck and grinned as he sat on the coffee table.

"Moron," Jess said as he shook out his hair. "Why are you so friggin' happy?"

"Mariano, you are a god. A dating god. The dating god."

"O-kay?" Jess furrowed his brow and scratched his forehead. "What did I do that was so…godlike?"

"That girl! The redhead! The one you dared me to kiss. The one at the party where…" Sully paused to sulk a moment. "The party you don't remember because you were so plastered I could have built a statue with your remains," he finished blankly. He turned away. "Hate you."

"Well, that sucks. I love you," Jess responded smartly, nestling closer to Rory.

"Tough, man. That ship sailed about two minutes ago. Now it's all about the S.S. My Best Friend is a Drunken Douchebag Who Doesn't Remember When He Sets Corey Sullivan Up."

Jess shook his head and looked up sleepily at his friend. "Good luck trying to paint that on the side of your ship."