Julia groaned loudly, rolling around her bed in discomfort. None of her pillows felt right and her sheets were too scratchy. Without opening her eyes, she slowly became aware of the fact that she wasn't in her bed, but a hotel bed.
Where am I again? Calgary? I think Calgary.
Once she was satisfied with the reasoning of an unfamiliar bed, she moved on to other problems. She wondered why her head was pounding. She didn't have to wonder very long, before she felt an unpleasant feeling creeping its way up from her stomach. She threw herself out of bed, stumbling her way through the dark. She had no clue what time it was as she fell over the toilet, the contents of her stomach coming up violently. The way it took her too long to process her thoughts made her think she must still be a little drunk. After emptying whiskey into the toilet, she sat back on the tile to catch her breath. Slowly she realized she was wearing Jack's clothes. They had to be Jack's, based on the comforting and easily recognizable smell.
Why am I in Jack's clothes? What happened last night?
Julia decided the answers to these questions could wait until she got a little bit more sleep. She washed her face and mouth, taking note of the remnants of last night's makeup on her face. She staggered back to bed, falling in and wincing at the way the room spun. After a few minutes she fell into a restless sleep, praying she would feel better when the sun rose.
A few hours later, Jimmy made his way into the bathroom, rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes. He splashed some cold water on his face, trying to wake himself up. He shifted his feet, suddenly feeling something soft under his left foot. He glanced down to see a pile of fabric bunched at his feet. Curious, he bent over and picked something up. An emerald green sweater. He looked down and saw the matching plaid skirt, letting out a sigh. He didn't look under the skirt, scared to see any undergarments that had been left behind. Taking the sweater with him, he went back into the room he was sharing with Jack.
"Really, Jack?" Jimmy sighed, tossing the sweater at a half-awake Jack.
"What?" Jack questioned, picking up the sweater. Realization, followed by nervousness, was painted all over his face. "Oh."
"Yeah. You volunteer to bring a very intoxicated Julie home, have her in our room all night, and don't even think to get the pile of her clothes off the bathroom floor?" Jimmy asked, looking at Jack like a disappointed parent.
"For the love of God, it wasn't like that!" Jack insisted, turning over in his bed with an angry mumble.
"You keep saying it isn't like that with Julie, but your actions don't match your words," Jimmy pointed out.
Jack sat up in a huff, glaring at Jimmy.
"I brought her back because she was gonna hurt herself or drink herself sick. We got back and she didn't have her key so I brought her here. Craig showed up so I made her hide in the bathroom, and she decided to take a bath. I made her get out and put clothes on. I know it looks bad, but it's not like that."
"Does Craig know she was in here?" Jimmy wondered, suddenly fearing for his friend's life.
"Yeah, he does. He's not gonna tell Herb though," Jack remembered with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. Julia's comment about it being hot when he did that suddenly came to the front of his mind and he tried not to smirk.
"Will you just admit that you two are a thing already?" Jimmy pleaded, leaning in the bathroom door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. Jack didn't say anything, just avoided Jimmy's gaze. Jimmy waited for what seemed like forever before he spoke again. "At least tell me since when."
"Boston," Jack finally told him quietly. "Mac knows. None of the other guys know. Just don't say anything, okay?"
Jimmy just nodded, going back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.
"I'm not picking up her bra," he informed Jack, kicking Julia's clothes out of his way.
Julia rolled over, a whimper of pain escaping her lips when the light hit her eyes. She curled into a ball, trying to shield the offensive sun from her face. Getting up seemed like an impossible task, at least for the next several minutes. A knock at the door almost made another whine escape her lips, but she figured if she stayed quiet whoever was at the door would go away.
"Jules? It's me and Kath. I got you coffee and breakfast," Robbie said from the hallway. Julia sighed in relief, turning her face toward the door.
"Do you have the spare key? I really don't wanna get up," she complained. Robbie and Kathy both laughed before there was the sound of a door unlocking and her friends were entering her room. Kathy rushed to Julia's bed, laying down in the open space and pulling the covers up over her head.
"Robbie made me get up," Kathy whined quietly, clearly suffering from a strong hangover.
"You both have to get up and shake off your hangovers before the parents notice," Robbie told them, setting a plate of food and a cup of coffee on Julia's bedside table. He sat at the foot of the bed, looking at Julia with curiosity. "How was your night with Jack?"
Julia looked at Robbie in pure confusion, before the events of the night before slowly came back to her, flooding her mind.
The whiskey. The bartender. I think I fell? Jack took me home. The bath! Me throwing myself at him...
Robbie just laughed when he saw Julia swallow hard, her once-peaky face turning pink.
"I...hope he doesn't hate me," Julia said softly. Kathy let out a laugh from under the comforter.
"He could never," Robbie tried to assure her, but Julia couldn't relax.
"No, I was obnoxious last night," Julia told them, taking a drink of her coffee.
"He said you were a handful, but he seemed fine," Robbie shrugged. Julia stared down at her coffee.
"He hid me in the bathroom when Craig showed up. I took a bath, and then proceeded to throw myself at him. Then I think I cried. I don't even remember everything. Lord knows what I said to him," Julia groaned. Kathy giggled madly, poking her head out of the blanket.
"You threw yourself at him?" She repeated with a raised eyebrow. Robbie chuckled, choosing not to say anything.
"If my memory is at all correct, I tried to refuse clothes and instead chose to pose seductively on his bed wearing only a bath towel. He practically yelled at me before I finally stopped," Julia admitted, shaking her head. "There goes my dignity, and probably any hope of Jack and I having a relationship."
"I'm sure O'Callahan will be able to move past it," Kathy rolled her eyes.
"If anything he seemed happy to be taking care of you. You should have seen the care he took when he tucked you into bed," Robbie told her with a grin. Julia's mouth twitched up into a bit of a smile.
"I hope he's not too upset," she reasoned, picking up a piece of toast from the plate. "And I hope I can keep some food down."
"Have you yacked yet?" Kathy asked as Julia examined the toast, trying to work up the courage to take a bite.
"Oh, just plenty in the middle of the night," Julia informed them. Right as she took the biggest bite she could muster, there was another knock on the door. Robbie got up quickly, opening the door to reveal a shocked Jack holding a pile of clothes.
"Mac. Hey," Jack said, glancing around the room to see the girls lounging in bed.
"Hey, OC. Join the party," Robbie chuckled, letting Jack in and closing the door behind him. Robbie wasted no time taking his spot on the foot of the bed, while Jack seemed a bit uncomfortable.
"Hey, Jules. Hey, Kathy," he said awkwardly, not moving from his spot right inside the door.
"For the love of God, O'Callahan, we all know about the two of you. Stop acting so weird," Kathy groaned, pulling the blanket back over her face. Everyone laughed a little bit, but Jack seemed to listen to her, sitting on the bed beside Julia.
"How ya feeling?" He asked her, noticing her pale complexion.
"Not great. I think I owe you an apology and like a million 'thank you's. I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. Jack laughed a little bit, shaking his head.
"You're fine, Jules. Don't worry about it. I did bring back your clothes," Jack told her, setting her pile of clothes on the extra bed. "And also, Jimmy knows about us."
The three of them looked to Jack in surprise.
"Okay, so that makes me, Robbie, Gayle, Jimmy, possibly Patti, and Magic," Kathy pointed out. Julia's jaw dropped, looking between her friends and Jack.
"Who told Magic?" Julia asked, looking between them with accusatory glances.
"You did. Not straight up, but he told me you as good as admitted it while you two were at the bar. He put it together himself," Kathy told her with a laugh. Jack and Robbie watched as Julia's face changed from shock to confusion to the most vague recollection to regret.
"Oops," she said quietly, giving Jack a half-smile.
"Considering Julia got Jack a beer and told everyone she liked someone, not to mention Jack swooping into the rescue at the end of the night, I'm sure the rest of the boys haven't figured it out," Robbie said sarcastically.
"Well, someone else knows," Jack said, staring at the patterned carpet,
"Who?" Robbie asked cautiously. Jack swallowed hard, not making eye contact with anyone.
"Craig."
"Craig knows?!" Julia flopped back dramatically, hitting the back of her head on the headboard. Everyone grimaced.
"Ow," she whined, as Jack was moving closer to her to examine her head. "That's gonna help my hangover."
"You gotta stop hitting your head," he told her with a sigh.
"How does Craig know?" Julia asked, ignoring the bump forming on the back of her head. Jack gave her a sort of apologetic smile.
"He heard you laughing in the bathroom," Jack told her. "He sorta just knew it was you. He's not gonna tell Herb."
"We're really bad at this," Julia sighed. "I mean, it's mostly me."
"Oh, it's totally you. O'Callahan is responsible for Jimmy. You're responsible for everyone else," Kathy pointed out from under the blanket. Jack laughed, not wanting to openly agree with her.
"Have you guys thought it might just be time to tell everyone?" Robbie suggested. Jack and Julia looked at each other, both waiting for the other to speak.
"Maybe?" Julia finally said with a shrug.
"I guess we could," Jack nodded, although he sounded unsure.
"The boys are just gonna be..." Julia trailed off, a frown of disgust on her face.
"Jackasses?" Kathy volunteered, prompting nods from the others in the room.
"Maybe we don't, yet," Julia changed her mind, biting her bottom lip, obviously unsure.
"I'm with you," Jack agreed quickly, trying not to show how relieved he felt.
"Well, then we know what needs to happen," Robbie said, looking between the couple. His tone of
voice made it sound like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "Stop making googly eyes at each other. And Julia, stop drinking."
"Speaking of drinking, I think I'm gonna throw up again," Julia groaned, getting out of bed.
Thank you all so much for the votes and comments! They mean the world to me, and they have certainly reignited my spark for this story!