Jily oneshots

Cherry Pie

"It was the vodka cocktails that did me in." He lamented, letting his head rest against his shoulder. She nodded at him and then picked up a rag. He watched as she walked out from behind the counter and started wiping down the tables in the diner. All of them were empty, he was the only customer here at the moment. He wanted to say something else to her, but he figured she might have walked away from him so that she didn't have to talk to him. He could wait until she came back.

He needed a minute anyway, a minute to talk his stomach into behaving and to talk his head into not pounding so much. He didn't even think his headache had anything to do with the alcohol, just Sirius's horrendous rendition of Somebody to Love. Fuck his friends were dumbasses.

Though so was he, and he was very aware of that as he continued to teeter back and forth on the stool instead of heading back up to his apartment that was less than a block away. Eating was a good idea, but he didn't need to be here to do that. And at home, he couldn't piss anyone off but himself. And it wouldn't even be his right-now-self, it would be his hungover-self tomorrow morning. And the hungover-James of tomorrow was already going to be pissed at the right-now-James, so why not piss him off a bit more instead of upsetting the pretty waitress?

Lily came back a few minutes later, before James could talk himself into leaving and just as the cook called out that James' order was complete. She walked back to get it and then set it down in front of him. "Here you are."

"Thank you," He nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose before he sat up straight and picked up his burger. His stomach should have recoiled at the thought of eating a burger, but it didn't. He took a large bite and sighed, "This is amazing."

"Should I bring the rubbish bin over just in case?"

"Oh no," He shook his head and took another bite. "If I've made it this long without... well then I should be good. Especially now that I've got food. Thank you though."

"Of course," She didn't walk away this time, "So what's your name and how long have you known this mate of yours?"

"I'm James," He said, holding his left hand out to her. He didn't realize that it was his left hand, but Lily did another almost smile as she shook it. "My mate Peter is the one who is getting married. But Sirius is the one who got me drunk. Remus told me that I was going to hate myself in the morning, and he's usually right about these things, but I didn't listen to him. I've known all of them for over a decade."

"That's a long time." Lily nodded. "Was it a huge party?"

James shook his head. "Nah, just the four of us. We went to a few different pubs that we haven't really frequented since we were in uni, and we just had a blast. I'm terrified if Sirius ever decides to get married because his stag party would murder me. Twice. And then I'd have to do myself in to get rid of the hangover that I'd be suffering with a month after the fact." He shook his head. Lily gave him another almost smile and he grinned at her.

"What about you? How has your night been?" He asked, setting his burger down so that he could reach for some sauce to put on his chips.

Lily shrugged one of her shoulders and pulled her drink out from under the counter, taking a sip before answering him. "It's been alright I suppose. The night shift is always interesting. And I suppose I should apologize for trying to swat you out of the store, but you aren't the first drunk to wander in and the last one did make a mess."

James made a face, but didn't pause in eating his chips. "I would have thrown me out too, no apology necessary."

"Thanks," She nodded.

"Do you normally work the nightshift?" She shook her head.

"No, I don't like to stay up quite as late as this shift requires, nor do I like being pretty much alone with anyone who happens to come in off the street. But my friend Benjy was desperate and I know the cook, so I agreed." James nodded.