Do You See Her Face? (A Jess Mariano Fanfiction)

Andy Warhol Arguments

Disclaimer: All Gilmore Girls content belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino.

. . .

Rubbing at his eyes, Jess shut the alarm clock off and furrowed his brows when he saw Ella wasn't next to him. Her side of the bed was cold and didn't look nearly as disheveled. But the anxiety at her absence quickly subsided as he walked out into the living room. With papers strewn around on the coffee table in front of her, Ella had spread out on the couch with no blanket, despite the Autumn chill in the air. She was still in her dress from the day before, and it was twisted around her form, riding up her thighs. Mascara was smudged around her eyes. Jess smirked, then went over and began shaking her shoulder gently. The light was soft through the gray curtains, and the sky was overcast. Even still, she squinted as she stirred awake, confused at her location.

"Elle? Wake up," Jess said, coaxing her out of her groggy state. "Jeez, how late did you stay up?"

She sighed, sitting up and gathering herself. "I don't know. I was grading essays for at least a couple more hours after you went to bed. But I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I was just gonna rest for a little while. Obviously, that was naive of me."

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to her cheek before going to put on the tea and coffee in the kitchen.

"What time is it?" she asked, stretching her arms high over her head as she stood up, her skirt falling around her knees again. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to wake herself up and shake off the throb pulsing behind her eyes.

"Seven," Jess replied, filling the coffee pot up with water.

Ella nodded, relieved. Her first class wasn't until nine. At least she would have time to shower off her makeup from the day before, and brush her teeth. The taste in her mouth made her grimace; she couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep without brushing her teeth. It was almost time for midterms at school, and the students in the art history class she was a teacher's assistant for had just turned in their first major essays. Overall, they were pretty decent. But, she was also never one to shy away from the red pen. Shuffling the stacks of paper on the table into neat rectangles, she stifled a yawn.

"I'm gonna take a shower," she said, coming to lean against the island. "I'd probably scare the undergrads if I showed up like this. Thanks for waking me. I would've slept forever if I could."

"I know." Jess turned on the tea kettle and faced her. "You gotta take it a little easier. I think that vein in your forehead is bound to pop, the way things are going."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Mariano. The concern is appreciated but not necessary."

"You've slept a total of, like, seven hours in the past three days," he argued.

"Hypocrite," she scoffed, making for their bedroom again to get fresh clothes.

"Nihilist," Jess retorted, calling after her. He would've worried about the volume of his voice so early in the morning, but he could already hear Matthew and Chris talking through the walls.

Ella chuckled breathily, half-heartedly. "I'm not the one who hung Nietzche above our bed."

. . .

Despite Ella's time at Luke's, she had never mastered making breakfast. Or cooking in general. Baking came natural and easy, her pies a hit at every single holiday and gathering she brought them to. But she burned the toast, didn't fry the bacon long enough, couldn't get the pancakes just right. Jess, however, had somehow picked up cooking skills between sighs and snide remarks. He and Chris took turns making breakfast sometimes, when everyone didn't just resort to cereal. It was common knowledge in the apartment, though, that both Ella and Matthew were best away from the kitchen in the morning hours.