Rory sat propped up against some pillows at the head of the bed, staring into her cup of Crown and Cola. It was almost empty now and as she looked at the last of the dark brown elixir she thought back to the first time Louise had talked her into drinking with her. It was the after her European trip with her mother. It had been cut short because of some problems with the Dragonfly. Rory had been bummed at first because she didn't want to spend the rest of the summer by herself.

Lane had gone to Korea for the last half of the summer to spend time with her family and with Jess gone and her mother busy with the Inn she was all alone. She had been a little relieved when she'd run into Louise at the mall in Hartford. She was feeling lonely too with Madeline gone on vacation and had insisted that the two get together and keep each other company.

Starting with the party she was going to throw that weekend. Rory really wasn't looking forward to a Chilton party but Louise wasn't about to let her out of it and besides, what else would she have to do. So she had gone expecting to just make an appearance as to not insult Louise and then leave while the girl was busy with her latest boyfriend. When she got there, she saw the blonde not dancing with some hot guy like she had expected, but leaning against the wall looking incredibly bored.

"What, no boy toy?" Rory asked upon approaching her.

"No, not tonight." She led Rory to the bar and poured them both a drink.

"Oh, no thanks." She told her. "I'm driving."

"Oh, come on. I can't drink alone. The party's just started and if you only have one drink you'll be fine by the time you're ready to go home."

"I don't know."

"If you're not, you can just call your mom and tell her you're spending the night here."

Rory thought for a moment before finally giving into the pleading girl. "Ok, maybe just one." She said, throwing caution to the wind. "I'm entitled to a little reckless fun. It's about time I tried something new."

Since that first time she'd wondered why she hadn't tried it before. She loved the way the liquor tasted mixed with the cola, the way it warmed her, the way it made her feel carefree. She had only gotten drunk once since then and the hangover from hell she had suffered the next day as Louise held her hair back for her had taught her to learn her limit. Mostly she would just have a few drinks to get that nice buzzed feeling.

Generally she and Louise would go off somewhere away from the crowd to sit and talk. Louise about how much she missed Madeline and Rory, once she felt comfortable enough to confide in her, about Jess and how hurt she was that he had up and left especially after she'd been seriously thinking about taking their relationship to the next level.

"What about you?" Rory had once asked her. "Usually at these things you're attached at the hip with a guy."

"Yeah, a guy and Madeline and her guy."

Rory didn't know what to think about that at first. She just tried to keep her jaw from dropping at the thoughts running through her head.

Louise noticed the look on her face and laughed. "No, Rory, it wasn't anything like that. Sure we'd sleep with them if we liked them enough, but that wasn't all there was to it. It was like a sport to us. We were a team. We'd scope out some guys and get each other psyched about the hunt. Then together we'd rope them in, seduce them and then have our way with them. Separately. Afterwards we'd get together and rehash everything that happened, fine tune our game plan. It's just not as fun without her to do all that girl stuff afterwards with."

"Oh." Rory said, not quite sure how to respond.

And it had been at one of Louise's own parties that the two girls had first kissed.

* *

"What's the matter with you?" Rory had asked when Louise had been unusually quiet.

"Huh?" Louise was shaken from her thoughts. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about drinking."

"Me too!" Rory laughed. "What were you thinking about it?"

"You don't want to know." Louise said, shaking her head.

"Yes I do."

"I don't know." Louise was smirking at her now.

"Oh, come on. When have you ever been afraid to say what was on your mind before?"

"OK. I was just thinking that one of two things happens when you drink."

"And that would be..."

Louise giggled and looked Rory straight in the eyes before continuing. "You get either really sleepy... or really horny. And tonight, I'm not a bit tired."

Rory just laughed at her. "You're drunk."

"No, just a little tipsy."

"I think you're suffering from guy withdraw. When's the last time you... did anything?"

"When's the last time you did?" Louise countered.

"This isn't about me. Maybe you should go scope you out a boy toy."

"I don't want to do that." Louise said, shaking her head.

"You don't have to sleep with them. Just make-out with them, get it out of your system. Surely you can do that without your 'teammate'." Rory teased.

"Actually... I was thinking of kissing you."

Rory gaped at her friend. "What?!"

"I said..."

"I heard what you said... I just can't believe you said it."

"You've never kissed one of your girlfriends before?" Louise asked.

"No!" Rory spat, as if it were the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. "Have you?"

"Madeline once." She shrugged. "You can't tell me you've never thought about it."

"Well, not until now!" Rory couldn't believe this. She knew Louise was a very sexual person, but where had this come from?

"So you are thinking about it."

Rory didn't know what to say. She just sat there staring at her friend like she'd sprouted a second head. Suddenly Louise brought herself up onto her knees and began to crawl across her king- sized bed toward her like a lion after its prey. Rory stiffened up and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" She whispered hoarsely.

"Relax." Louise came to sit next to her, facing her.

Rory was almost holding her breath. Her heart was beating a thousand beats a second and she felt like jumping up and bolting for the door but something kept her frozen to where she sat. "Close your eyes." She whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

Rory didn't know why, but she obeyed and she could feel the heat radiating off of Louise as she brought her face closer to her. She softly brushed her lips against Rory's, pressing harder only when she felt her respond to her kiss. She parted her lips and ran her tongue along her bottom lip, silently asking to deepen their connection and was pleased when Rory parted her own allowing her entry. Their tongues danced together as Louise grabbed the back of her head, losing her hands in Rory's soft hair and Rory sent chills through her as she moved her hand to rest on Louise's skirt clad thigh.

When they pulled apart, both girls were flushed and gasping for breath. They stared at each other, both a little stunned at the electricity they had just shared.

* *

Since then they had shared more such kisses and Rory had been just as surprised about it the second time as she'd been the first. It wasn't like she thought about it all the time or that it was all she and Louise did when they were together. There were still times when they would just sit and talk. But then there were those moments when they just wanted to. Rory didn't find herself wanting to kiss any other girls or liking guys any less like she had feared after their first kiss. It was just something between the two of them that occasionally... happened.

She thought it was partly because they each had something the other wanted. Rory wanted to be like Louise in the way that she was so sure of herself and so outgoing and Louise wanted to be like Rory in the way that she didn't have to live up to the high expectations of society life or maintain a reputation like she did. These things attracted them to each other and this was the way they had chosen to express it, misguided as it may have been. Also, there was the fact that the chemistry between them when they locked lips was so different than any either had experienced before and they both liked it.

Why was Rory thinking about all of this right now? Well, because one of two things happens when you drink and Louise was staring up at her from the foot of the bed with that look in her eyes. She smiled knowingly at the blonde before her and this time it was Rory who moved slowly across the bedspread, closing the distance between them.

END