"Good morning."

Two simple words. Rory Gilmore had heard them all her life. She had heard them from her best friend Paris Gellar before and even in that same sleep befuddled voice. However she had never heard them from the other side of the bed, particularly when neither she nor the blonde girl had a stitch of clothing on.

Of course being nude together made sense. After all, last night Paris had spent the night after the girls had spent the evening studying together. The two girls had been teasing and fooling around in Rory's bedroom when suddenly they just found themselves in each other's arms. Casting caution to the winds, the two girls had made love until they fell asleep, once again in each other's arms.

Rory had no idea what to say beyond returning Paris' greeting. "And good morning to you too," she said.

Paris sat up. For a moment her lack of nightwear escaped her as the sheet fell down to her waist, displaying what Rory already considered to be a splendid pair of breasts. Following Rory's eyes, the blonde girl gave a startled "Oops!", snatched the sheet and covered up.

Rory sat up too. Minding what had just happened, she kept a firm grip on the sheet. She looked at Paris who looked back at her. Neither girl seemed to know what to say or do next. Finally, not surprisingly, it was Paris who broke the silence.

"Well." That word seemed to be the only thing she could think of. She groped for something else. "Well." By the time she had repeated for the third time Rory had begun to giggle.

"For someone who is as amazingly articulate as you are I must say words seemed to have failed you this morning.'

Paris started to come back with one of her patented biting remarks. Then she relaxed a bit and chuckled. "I suppose so, but then I've never woke up in exactly this situation before. I'm not sure what the protocol is."

"I don't have any idea either," Rory confessed. "Saying 'Well, well' actually seems as intelligent as anything I can think of to say."

"But we do need to talk," said Paris.

"I know. It's just that I have no idea where to start."

The blonde shifted back and forth on the bed. "Should we pretend that last night never happened? That would be the easiest way to deal with this I suppose."

"Is that what you want?" asked Rory, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"I don't know," admitted Paris. "Is that what YOU want?"

"No," replied Rory decisively. She looked at her friend defiantly, only to relax when she saw relief in the other girl's eyes. "It's not what I want and I don't believe it's what you want either. Is it?"

"No," admitted Paris. "But I'm not sure what I want. I'm not sure what I feel" She shifted on the bed. "Last night was, well, it was overwhelming. It was amazing. But, Rory, you're my best friend. I don't know how to fit this in. And, I'm afraid."

"You're afraid?" said Rory incredulously. This was Paris. She was sometimes bitter, often bitchy and generally right about everything in the world. But afraid? "Afraid of what?"

"I'm afraid that I'm gay," Paris said, so quietly that Rory could barely hear her. The blonde looked at her friend. "Don't you understand? However it started we made love last night. And we're two girls!"

"Calm down Paris," impulsively Rory scooted forward and hugged her friend. "I know this is something completely new. I woke up before you this morning and laid here and watched you and thought. I thought quite a lot."

"And?"

"I thought about denying last night ever happened. I thought, just like you did, 'My God, I'm in bed with another girl and she's my best friend.'. I also wondered if this means that I'm gay, that we're gay."

"What did you decide?" asked Paris, almost desperately.

Rory touched the other girl's face. "Well, I decided that being in bed with my best friend was a great thing. It was exciting and you are so damn sexy and if I was going to pick someone to lose control like that with it would have to be you anyway. As far as whether we're gay," the brunette shrugged, "I can't speak for you. But I thought about Jess and Dean and even Tristan this morning. I still feel attracted to guys." She grinned impishly. "I feel MORE attracted to you though."

"I see what you mean," said Paris thoughtfully. A grin crossed her face. "Yes, I DO see what you mean. Guys still are cute to me too when I think about them, which I have to admit isn't that easy when I'm sitting here with you."

Rory giggled deep in her throat. "And especially when now it's you holding my boob?"

Paris looked down as though the fingers that were cupping Rory's breast didn't belong to her. She blushed, then she laughed. "Well, it IS a nice boob after all, and simply payback for you grabbing mine last night."

"I didn't 'grab' it," Rory protested. "I just sort of found it?"

"Found it? It was right were it's always been, attached to my chest," teased Paris, her good humor restored.

"And a mighty good place that is for it," smiled Rory. "That way I always know where it and her sister are."

Paris abandoned Rory's breast to throw her arms around the other girl. Rory did notice that the blonde gave her boob a nice squeeze before she did that. "That seems fair enough. So," Paris became thoughtful again. "What do we do now."

"First I'd say breakfast," Rory said lightly. She paused and reconsidered. "No, on second thought, the first thing to do is take a shower." She flung back the sheet and walked to the bathroom. One more advantage to all this, she thought. She didn't have to take her PJ's off before getting in the tub.

The slender girl leaned into the tub and turned on the water. It grew hot almost at once. She fumbled at the shelf over the sink and turned on the radio. Soft music floated through the bathroom. She stepped in and grabbed both body wash and shampoo. She really had an appetite this morning but the shower definitely had to come first. The experience last night with Paris had been delightful fun, but it had been sweaty delightful fun. Plus sweat wasn't the only thing that had dried on her body from last night. She made a mental note to wash the bedclothes, hopefully before her mom got home.

Rory closed her eyes and plunged her face into the water. Oh that felt good. She worked the shampoo into her hair, letting the water fall in torrents over her shoulders and down her body.

She hoped that Paris really was able to accept what had happened last night. It WAS a big deal, it was a life-changing experience but it didn't mean the end of everything else. It just expanded their horizons. Didn't it? At the same time she remembered the excitement of last night and how she had drank in Paris' sleeping form beside her when she woke up this morning.

Rory shrugged. Time enough to find where this was all going to lead. She and Paris had such a strange history together that nothing that happened between the two of them should surprise her, not even this.

She was just rinsing her hair and fumbling for the conditioner when a gust of cool air brushed across her back for a moment. before she could turn around a pair of hands touched her hips; a pair of breasts pressed against her back and a pair of lips whispered softly in her ear.

"Want your back scrubbed?"

Rory sputtered a bit as Paris' appearance caught her off guard. The shorter girl responded by sliding her arms around Rory's waist and pulling her back against her more generous curves.

"I can't tell," the blonde whispered into one ear, even as her hands crept up over Rory's smaller but firm breasts. "Was that a yes or a no?" A soft mound pressed against Rory's tight bottom. "I really can't tell."