Author's Note: Back after a super long hiatus. I was sort of preoccupied by getting my master's but now that I've graduated I've got nothing but time on my hands. Back to fanfiction!
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
The pursuit of a good lay and the dance of seduction can be a complicated, daunting task. Time-consuming, for sure. But Jay and Manny had the benefit of so much history that they eased effortlessly into their roles without a single word. They drank more and smiled at each other. They flirted and made moves in the most comfortable, synchronized manner. They had been apart for so long but Manny still remembered that Jay liked his lower lip bit, and Jay still knew just how to tug on Manny's hair so that she let out the same soft yelp of pleasure he'd heard dozens of times. The sex was easy and comforting, but still exciting in its way.
Drunk, they tussled on top of Jay's fraying afghan and passed out on the couch.
In the morning, the sun was only just beginning to peak in its face when Jay awoke with a start. Needles of white hot pain seared through his head, screaming the angry vengeance of a body subjected to the torture of Dewquila. For a moment he was bewildered to find Manny curled up in his arms, having half-forgotten their late-night romp. He swallowed hard, trying his hardest not to move. He pressed his face close to her, smelling the dry sweat on her hair. What a terrible, terrible mistake he'd made.
Manny shook awake moments later, the uncomfortable, disoriented rousing that follows drunk, weird sleep. She turned her brown eyes toward Jay, the man she was a little ashamed to be naked on top of. Shyly, she smiled.
"Hey you," she whispered, an echo of the devious text message that had started it all.
"Hey," Jay croaked. His throat was dry and scratchy.
Delicately, Manny slid off of him and quietly began to collect her clothing. Once dressed, she made three quick strides toward the door, before Jay could say a word.
"So um," she said, rubbing her temples and avoiding his eyes. "Call me I guess, and we'll... I mean, I'm going to be super busy with family stuff this week, but... you know."
Jay sat up on the couch, still naked, watching her stand beside the door with her fingers resting on the doorknob. He sighed.
"It's that easy for you, huh?" he said slowly. He turned and met her eyes, though it was painful to keep his own open for even a few seconds. Dewquila repercussions throbbed in the back of his head. "Wham, bam, fuck you, Jay?"
Manny shrugged pleadingly. "I mean, I'd say we could talk about it, but you and both know that's pointless. We don't work. I'm glad we could spend last night together, but beyond sex, there's nothing left between us."
Her words were simple and direct, and they hurt most of all because they were true. It was easy to forget the complexity of love when you were drunk and horny, but in the morning, there was no future for Jay with Manny. She was off at Smithdale, living a new life and becoming a new person.
As the door shut loudly behind her, Jay knew that was the last time he'd see her in that apartment. She was gone, really gone this time.
-o-o-o-o-o-
If Christmas Eve had been a tension nightmare, Christmas Day was no better for the Sinclairs. The only difference was that it was bigger, and louder, and drunker, as all the stuck-up aunts and uncles and cousins and grandmothers poured into Holly J's house to share gifts and criticisms. Heather was pouty and self-righteous as ever as she and her mother continued to argue through their teeth off and on all day; Holly J's dad was occupied for the bulk of Christmas brunch in some kind of real estate pissing contest with her Uncle Edward. Under cover of the acidic chatter and self-absorption, Holly J snuck sips of champagne. She grew increasingly tipsy and increasingly impatient with her family's melodrama until finally, she slipped out of the house altogether and took the first bus to the other side of town.
With all the casualness and carelessness in the world, Holly J waltzed through the door the Jay's apartment without bothering to knock.
Barking regally as she entered, she called out, "Oh my god, please tell me you want to hang out with me because I so need to- Um... Whoa. Hi. You're naked."
In fact Jay had been sitting in the dark, on the couch, still naked where Manny had left him, for several hours.
The sudden and unexpected entrance of Holly J made Jay give a yelp, as he fumbled to cover himself. "What in the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed.
Holly J blinked a few times before letting out a soft chuckle. "I um... uh... Hang on. Give me a second." She continued laughing, blushing as she covered her mouth with her hand.
Jay rolled his eyes. "Yes, no, please, guys love it when girls break into laughter after seeing their junk."
"I'm sorry, no, it's just, I would think that that would be such an awkward moment but like... Doesn't even bother me. Isn't that crazy? I don't even care."
Jay inspected her suspiciously for a moment, still holding his afghan tight around himself. "What's up with you? Why are you at my place on Christmas?"
"Ah. Well. Let me tell you what I did today, Jason Hogart: I drank a bottle of champagne."
"Uh-huh. I can see that."
"And do you want to know what I did next?"
Jay sighed. "No, what? I can't bear the suspense."
"I drank... another one!" Holly J laughed hysterically. "Are those Cheez-its? I'm eating them." She snatched the red box from Jay's coffee table and plopped herself onto his sagging couch.
"Why don't I get you some water," Jay offered, retreating to the kitchen for a moment. When he at last placed a glass of water on the coffee table, Holly J had made herself comfortable, shoveling Cheez-its into her mouth with one hand and channel surfing with the other.
Jay sat down beside her, carefully position the afghan to maintain his dignity, and started to pack a bowl. He had reached a point where, honestly, this strange scenario felt like a completely expected unfolding of events. It was Christmas, he was hungover, heartbroken, and naked, and he was going to get high and watch the Home Shopping Network with a champagne-crazed Holly J Sinclair. Totally made sense.
It felt so natural in fact that he didn't bother asking her any more questions about why she'd come over in a drunk state and barged in without knocking. Similarly, she didn't ask why he was sitting alone and naked on Christmas. Instead they ordered Chinese, watched television, and bantered, both of them genuinely able to forget about the stresses that plagued their minds.
After plenty of water, take-out, and a few hours of TV, Holly J was started to feel a little less drunk and a little more sleepy.
"So," she ventured. "You're uh, still naked there."
Jay shrugged, eyes still glued on the TV. "Yup."
"Not to pry but uh, can I ask... why?"
He groaned impatiently. "Because, Holly J, I am liberated."
"Liberated?"
"Yes. The truth has set me free."
"The truth?"
"The truth. About Manny. She's over me. Manny's never going to be mine again."
"Manny's never going to be yours again?"
Jay balled up on of his napkins and hit Holly J in the eye with it. "Okay STOP repeating everything I say in the form of a question."
Holly J laughed. "Heyyyy man, cut me a break. Two bottles of champagne. My brain feels like plehhhhhh." She yawned, and dropped her head so that it rested comfortably on Jay's thigh. "Well I'm sorry. I'm sorry you didn't get the girl."
Jay shrugged. "It's really... it's really all right." Instinctively, he began to stroke Holly J's hair, comforting the little drunk bug that nestled so easily on his lap. "It's been over for a really long time now. I just needed a good kick in the pants to finally face it."
Holly J chuckled in her stuporous state, and Jay could feel her soft, warm breath through the holes in the afghan. He watched her face, peacefully drifting off to sleep, as his fingers slid through her silky hair. Damn, if she wasn't kind of cute, especially when she wasn't running that insufferable mouth of hers. That sweet, pink, tender little mouth that was currently resting so near the bare skin of his thighs...
Jay felt an uneasy panic strike him. "Um, Holly J..."
"Mmmm?" she mumbled into the afghan.
"You know, I hate to make this weird, but um, I'm still naked under here, and you're kind of breathing on me, and there are certain attributes of the male anatomy that I, uh, can't exactly control..."
"Oh," she mumbled again. And then, as soon as it soaked in, she shot back up. "Oh. Ew."
"Yeah. Sorry."
Holly J blushed, and ran her hands over her tired face. "Oh, man. Our friendship is so weird. This whole day has been so weird. Everything is so weird. I have a headache."
Jay nodded. "You're not alone in that, sister. I tell you what. I'm gonna get up. You make yourself comfortable. Take a little nap. I'm gonna go take a shower and, you know, put on PANTS, and then I'll give you a ride home. No one likes an hour busride on the cusp of a hangover."
Holly J smiled. "Sounds great. Thanks for the Cheez-its. I knew I could come here. I just knew, you know... you'd make feel better."
Jay smiled too, as he stood up, clutching the afghan for dear life. "Glad to help. Thanks for coming over uninvited. Who knew I needed the company?"
Holly J stretched herself out across Jay's couch and, in mere seconds, had already started lightly snoring. Jay watched her as she slept, smirking. She smacked her lips in her sleep and shivered, and it occurred to Jay that she needed a blanket. Cautiously, he unwrapped the afghan and placed it over her, hoping she wouldn't soon wake up again. As soon as he was exposed once more, he waddled as quickly and awkwardly away to the bathroom as possible, fearing another awkward peek-a-boo moment.
What a freaking Christmas, he thought to himself as he turned on the water. Getting re-burned by Manny first thing in the morning, only to be comforted by an unexpected and inebriated Holly J. He laughed quietly to himself as he remembered the way she just came in, obnoxious and self-important as always, spritely and adorable as always. He thought about how it was sort of nice having her on his couch for a few hours, warming an otherwise cold and lonely day, and then thought a little too long and a little too hard about the way he liked the feel of her face and her hair...
Maybe a cold shower, he thought quickly. A long, cold shower.