Rain and Snow, Chapter 10

Story by Darkhom on SoFurry

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#10 of Rain and Snow

Well, it's been almost a year since I've posted a chapter of this. Life has been very distracting, to say the least. But, it feels good to get another chapter done and out for you all to read. Wrapping up the consequences from the previous chapter, and moving on to set up some exciting stuff in the chapters to come. Enjoy!


A pained growl rumbled in Jim's chest as the comfort of sleep was replaced with a throbbing headache. The consequences of excessive drinking were hitting her hard, punishing her with an aching pain that felt like it went from head to toe. She tried to open her eyes, but reflexively shut them again as the blinding light of the morning sun compounded her pain. She groaned louder, hiding under the sheets and praying for death to end this hangover.

"Where sheet?" Jim muttered, blindly grabbing for the thick, black sheet she normally used to block out the vile morning sun. She managed to get a corner down before giving up, relying on the bed sheets instead to protect her sensitive eyes and aching head. Hidden as she was, the feline tried to relax and let her eyes adjust, slowly and painfully waking up as she listened to the quiet, gentle snoring of her roommate. Though it was odd; the vixen's breathing sounded a lot closer than usual, as though it was right in her ear.

Curious, she glanced towards the sound of the snoring, and her aching eyes shot open. A pair of soft, perky breasts were staring back at her, slowly heaving with the gentle breathing of their owner. She reached up and gave one of the firm mounds a poke, proving to herself that what she was seeing was in fact real. Still not believing it, she pulled the sheet from her head and grabbed her glasses, just to be sure.

Jessica moaned softly as the sheets were pulled away, rolling onto her back and giving Jim a better view of her chest. The hungover feline was momentarily entranced. Those firm, perky breasts stood up so defiantly, her nipples sticking up in the cool morning air, just begging for attention. They looked so inviting...

A throbbing ache pushed through her skull, pulling Jim's attention away from those breasts and back to reality. Several important questions ran through her mind. "Why is she naked in my bed? Why am I naked? What the hell happened last night?"

She closed her eyes and tried to remember, but all she got for her trouble was pain and brief flashes from the party. Giving up, Jim instead grabbed a pair of underwear from the mess of clothes on the floor and went to the bathroom, to at least end the desperate aching from her bladder. That small relief did little to focus her thoughts, however, and she returned just as confused and aching as she had left.

"Water." Deciding it best not to think until her hangover subsided a bit, Jim made for the mini fridge, grabbing the first Poweraid she could get her hands on and downing a third of the bottle in one go. It would take a while to kill her hangover, but at least it took care of the cotton mouth. "Why'd I drink so much?"

A soft moan reminded her of the naked vixen asleep in her bad, and Jim turned to find that, while she was still very naked, she was no longer asleep.

"Good morning." Jessica cooed, stretching out her back and once again putting her headlights on display. With a smile on her face and a spring in her step, she walked up to Jim and planted a warm, soft kiss on her lips. "Sleep well? I know I did."

"Um... yeah. Hungover." Jim muttered, taking a moment to recover from the unexpected kiss. She tried to say something more, but after a few failed attempts gave up and returned to her drink.

"Aw, poor Senpai. I guess we both drank a bit too much last night. Speaking of..." Jess scooped up her panties and Jim's shirt from the night before, slipping them on as she headed towards the bathroom.

"Fuck." Jim muttered, watching the vixen's tail sway enticingly as she left. Suddenly feeling thirsty again, Jim took another big gulp of her drink before letting out a long sigh. She shut her eyes tight, trying to remember more of the night before. Anything to explain what was going on this morning.

"Start from the beginning... We all went to the party. You had some drinks with Mako. Jess met up with that other girl, whatsherface, and they started flirting with some assholes. You drank some more, and then... something happened. We walked home in the snow... Fuck." Jim muttered again, her concentration broken once again by her throbbing headache.

"That bad?" Jim looked up to see Jess had returned, looking a bit concerned. "You didn't seem that drunk last night. Especially after we got back."

"I'll take your word for it." Jim muttered, flinching when she saw a confused look cross the fox's face. "I don't really remember much from last night. I don't even remember leaving the party. My memory turns to shit when I drink."

"You don't remember anything?"

"Not really."

"Damn." Jess pouted, but the look was quickly replaced with a warm smile. "While, I found last night to be unforgettable."

She moved in for another kiss, but this time Jess turned her head away, openly denying the vixen's advance." What..."

"Run me through it." Jim asked, hoping she wouldn't regret knowing. "Since you remember, tell me what happened."

"Okay..." Jess nodded, taking an unsure step back. "Well, you remember being at the party, right? You were drinking and talking with Mako for a bit, and I ran into Cassie, who dragged me over to talk to some guys."

"Flirt with, you mean." Jim interrupted. "It looked like flirting."

"I mean, yeah, I guess. I saw you watching that, by the way. Especially after Mako left. Just drinking and watching me." Jessica's tailed wagged idly as she remembered it, smiling softly.

Jim wasn't smiling however. "You knew I was watching you? Okay, then what?"

"Oh, uh, well you eventually came over and said you wanted to leave. So we left together. Oh! And it was snowing! It was so pretty..."

"And then?" Jim prompted, not wanting her to get distracted. "We came home and slept together?"

"Sleeping happened eventually." Jess admitted with a smirk. "You didn't seem to like that I had been flirting, and as soon as I gave you an opening, you pounced. And oh god how you ravaged me. Pinned me to the wall, threw me on your bed. My legs still feel weak. It was just... amazing."

"Right." Jim sighed. "Of course I forget the good stuff. How drunk did I seem?"

Jessica shrugged. "You could walk mostly steadily. I didn't think you were that drunk at the time. Just drunk enough."

"Just drunk enough for what?"

"To loosen up and be honest about how we feel." Jess cooed. "Just a little push for both of us to get things started."

"So what? It was all a plot to get in bed with me?"

"What? No!" Jess insisted, taken off her guard by the accusation. "I just thought... I mean you seemed interested. You didn't like it when I went on that date, or when I was flirting. I figured if you really wanted me, the party would be a good confidence booster. Seems like it worked to me."

Jim stared at her incredulously. "Jess, I was drunk. I wasn't thinking straight. It wasn't confidence, it was alcohol!"

"I didn't think you were that drunk." Jess offered weekly. "You were walking and talking okay."

"If you saw me watching you, you also saw how much I was drinking." Jim countered. "Fuck, and now I've actually cheated on Mel, too. She was right; I got drunk and nailed the first piece of ass that put out. Fuck."

"I'm not just some piece of ass." Jessica pouted. "And I honestly did not think you were that drunk."

"She was already accusing me of cheating, so I guess not much changes there." Jim muttered, not listening to the fox. "Never been great at lying though. I swear I'm not drinking like that again."

"So, it was just a mistake?" Jess dared to ask, unable to disguise how hurt that thought made her feel. "The only reason you slept with me was because you were drunk and I offered? There's no deeper feelings in there for me at all?"

Jim blew out a long sigh as her attention returned to Jessica. "I don't know." She admitted. "I don't know how I felt about you. But right now I don't feel great."

"But-"

"Jess, you took advantage of me when I was drunk."

" But I-"

"And you did this knowing I have a girlfriend I didn't want to cheat on. And now I have to figure all this out while hungover. If you were trying to win me over, you didn't earn yourself any points."

"I'm sorry." Jessica whimpered, moisture building in the corners of her eyes. "I didn't mean to. I just... I don't know..."

"I don't know either." Jim muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her headache was only getting worse. "I need to figure this out. I need to think."

"I'm sorry." Jess offered again, but the feline didn't seem to hear her. She watched her pace about and mutter to herself, feeling ignored. Though she had no idea what to do to make things right.

"I'll just leave you be then." Jess offered, getting properly dressed. "I'll get some fresh air. See you later?"

Jim didn't respond, so Jess left without another word, doing her best not to break down and cry on her way out.


A soft blanket of snow covered the campus grounds that morning, setting a mood of quiet and serenity for any students who dared head out into the cold air to experience it. But not even the sparkling snowfall could lighten Jessica's somber mood. She was too distracted trying to figure out where she went wrong, and what she could do to make it right again. It had all seemed to be going so well, the last thing she had expected was for it all to fall apart so quickly.

"Hey, what's up, nerd." A familiar voice called out, pulling the vixen from her thoughts. "Out enjoying the beautiful weather?"

"Hey Chip." Jess replied as she approached her friend. "Yeah, I just needed to get outside for a while, I guess."

"Woah, you seem real bummed out." Chip said, taking the girl in a hug. "Like, really bummed."

"And you seem stoned." Jessica replied after getting a close up whiff of his clothes. "Isn't it a bit early for that?"

"Just a little wake and bake." He assured her. "I'm good. Tell me what's bugging you. Why you so down?"

"Oh, y'know, just fucking up everything in my life. The usual." She blew out an exasperated sigh and continued along her way. She wasn't really going anywhere, just walking around campus aimlessly as she wrestled with her thoughts. "Why can't I ever just leave well enough alone?"

"Cause then things would get boring?" Chip shrugged, following the vixen absentmindedly. "Hey, you wanna make a snowman or something?"

"This snow's not good for it." She muttered, stopping to scoop up a handful. "Sure, it looks pretty, but once you get your hands into it, you learn it's just ice cold slush that can't keep itself together. Just like me."

"Woah, that's deep."

"I'm just a slushy mess." Jess muttered, letting the snow fall with a wet splat. "All I know how to do is ruin relationships."

"You're being really harsh on yourself, Jess. What happened, girl?"

Jessica let out a deep sigh. "I slept with Jim last night. It was everything I hoped for, and now they hate me."

"What, really? Did she, like, break up with her girlfriend or something?"

"No." Jess muttered, kicking at the snow. "We went to a party, had some drinks, and one thing lead to another."

"Really?"

"Yep. Well..." The fox hesitated, her eyes fixed on the snow. "I guess I may have played things in my favor, but is that so wrong? They didn't even want to go to the party until I did. And I didn't know for sure flirting with those guys would make them jealous. That was just a hunch. I certainly didn't make him drink all those drinks. Not on purpose anyway."

"Sounds like a crazy party."

"It was. Honestly, I probably could have hooked up with one of the guys I was flirting with. But I just used them to get to Jim. Why do I do this to myself?"

"So, you manipulated them?"

"No?" Jess asked more than answered. "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to encourage them to take an interest in me. Isn't that just, like, foreplay or something?"

"I always thought blowjobs were foreplay."

Jess blew out another sigh as Chip tried and failed to make a snowball. "God I am so stupid, aren't I? Just a complete idiot."

"Dude, you're like the smartest person I know." Chip said, still focusing on the snow. "Didn't you get straight A's in high school? I bet you've got a four point oh right now."

"Three point four, I think. But that's different! Book smarts has nothing to do with dating smarts. If you need someone to calculate a tip, or estimate the probability that it's gonna rain, I'm your girl. But dealing with people? Dating? I have no fucking clue what I'm doing! Every time I think I have it figured out, I instead end up ruining everything! I'm just a hopeless mess who's going to be alone for-YEEAH!"

She nearly lept from her boots as a sudden icy chill assaulted her neck. She flailed her arms, trying to get at the cold as it worked it's way down her spine. As soon as the shock passed, she rounded her ire at Chip, who was chuckling to himself. "Chip! What the hell!?"

"I just thought you needed to chill." He replied, clearly pleased with himself. "You were starting to rant."

"Well, maybe that's because I'm a bit confused and frustrated." Jess snorted. "And now I'm wet and cold, so thanks I guess."

"Happy to help." Chip saluted. "Y'know, I think the problem is you're asking the wrong question."

"Oh really?" Jess asked, skeptical and unamused.

"Yeah. Like, why do you like Jim? Why do you want them so badly?"

"I..." Jessica was momentarily stunned by the question, not having an immediate answer. She opened her mouth to speak a few times to reply, but nothing came forth. Eventually she just shrugged in defeat. "I don't know. I think they're cute?"

"Puppies are cute, Jess."

"Well I don't know!" Jess snapped. "It's just this feeling that I have, okay? I have a major crush on them, and I just want to be with them! I don't know why, specifically."

"Well, that's something at least." Chip nodded sagely. "And while I'm no expert at dating, you probably shouldn't crush on people who already have girlfriends."

"No shit." The vixen sneered.

"So then why Jim?"

"Because... they make me happy." Jess said with another shrug. "And their current girlfriend makes them miserable, and I thought they'd be happier with me."

"You could have just been a friend for that." Chip said, which bought him another glare. "So, did you do it for their happiness, or yours?"

"Theirs." Jess started to say, but bit her response short when she remembered how upset Jim had been. "That's what I told myself anyway. But, now I'm not so sure."

"See, this is why I don't date."

Jess hadn't heard his quip, too busy piecing together her own thoughts and feelings. "I've been a real bitch." She finally decided. "A selfish bitch. And a horrible friend. I only ever think of myself."

"Love makes us do dumb shit. Well, not me, but some people."

"Yeah. So how'd you get so smart about dating then?"

Chip just shrugged. "Blame the weed?"

"Of course." Jess rolled her eyes. "Okay, so I'm definitely a bitch, and I guess I need to work on that. I just hope I can at least save the friendship. I just have no idea how."

Chip shrugged again, but Jessica didn't see it. She was too lost in thought, trying to come up with some way to make things up to Jim, and to make things right again.


"Ah fuck." Jim sighed, tossing her third empty Powerade bottle aside. The drinks had done their job, neutralizing her hangover and alleviating her headache. But they had done little to improve her mood and spirits. The snow leopard had long ago given up on trying to remember the night before. Those memories simply didn't exist in her mind.

The time alone hadn't really helped much either. Jim had simply run mental circles around the situation without coming to any real conclusion, but plenty of stress. She had slept with Jessica, practically tricked into it, cheating on Melody in the process. It had all left her feeling angry and anxious, and so she had retreated to her one true means of venting: art.

Though Jim had many sketchbooks, there was one in particular she went to in times like these. A small book she showed to no one, which contained art of all the dark feelings she'd ever felt. This was the only sure fire way she had to get them out of her head, venting her emotions with ink and paper. She'd been lost in the book for about an hour, sketching an image of a feline like figure being pulled in opposite directions by a pair of canines. She'd drawn one of the canines far nastier looking than the other. She wasn't sure what this represented yet, but it felt accurate.

Her artistic introspective was interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door being slowly opened, a squeaky hinge exposing the cautious entrant. Jim looked up to see Jessica peeking through the half open door, as if unsure if she should enter. Jim wasn't actually sure if she was glad to see the vixen return, so instead she returned her attention to her sketchbook.

"Hey Jim." Jess said meekly, slipping fully into the room. She offered a sheepish smile as she approached, holding out a coffee cup. "I got you some coffee. An apology coffee."

"Coffee?"

"To get my paw in the door. It's the way you like it: black with a little sugar."

Jim huffed out a breath before accepting the offered drink. "It is a good start," she admitted, "but only because I'm addicted."

Jess nodded, taking a seat further down from Jim on the bed. She sat quietly for a moment, sipping her own drink as Jim returned to sketching.

"So, I did some thinking," Jessica started after thinking over her words, "and I realized I was being a selfish bitch. I told myself it was for the greater good, but I was really only doing what I wanted. I didn't really take your feelings into consideration, and... I'm sorry."

"You manipulated me." Jim countered, not looking up from her sketchbook. "You manipulated my feelings while I was drunk, to get what you wanted. Took advantage of me while I was drunk."

"I didn't-" Jess cut herself off in her self defense, ears dropping low. "I guess I did. I didn't meant to hurt you, though."

"But you did." Jim retorted, looking up at Jess this time. "You did hurt me. And I don't know if I'm more mad at you for doing it, or myself for giving in so easy. I thought I was stronger than that."

"It wasn't that easy." Jessica muttered. "I've been flirting with you for a while now."

"I know. You weren't very subtle about it."

"Subtlety was never one of my strong suites." Jess admitted with a chuckle. "Blunt as a rock Jessica."

"I actually liked that about you." Jim admitted. "You always just tell people how it is. Sometimes, I wish I could do that. But, what you did last night wasn't blunt. It was manipulative."

"It was, and it was wrong of me. I don't blame you for being mad at me. I just... can we go back to the way things were before last night?"

"What, you want me to just forget it ever happened?"

"No, no!" Jess was quick to clarify. "I don't expect that. It's just... I'd never forgive myself if I lost your friendship because of this. Because of my selfish stupidity. Maybe we can't be... together, but can we still be friends?"

Jim didn't answer right away, thinking it over as she chewed on the end of her hoodie drawstring. "I don't know." She eventually admitted. "I mean, I'm not gonna kick you out or anything. It'd be lonely here without you. But you'll have to do a lot to make it up to me."

"Of course!" Jessica practically jumped at the opportunity. "Thank you, Jim. I was afraid you were going to hate me forever."

"I don't hate you." Jim snorted. "Just... disappointed I guess. Just promise you'll ease up on me, okay? I'm gonna need some space for a while. Alone time to think, and shit."

"Yeah, no problem." The vixen agreed, rising from the bed. "I'll just be in the living room if you need me. And again, I really am sorry."

Jim nodded in reply, returning to her sketch as Jess left the room. She pondered her recent picture once more, especially the two canines. With a sigh, she drew a long, fluffy tail on the kinder looking one.

"Why aren't you more mad at her?" She wondered, adding a few more details to the sketch. "Was I too forgiving? I guess some part of me must have wanted her last night."

"Oh stop lying to yourself." She muttered aloud. "You were jealous and wanted her ass, and you know it. You were the weak one, giving in to her obvious advances. I walked right into it. I just wish I knew what to do next."

With a frown, she marked an X over the meaner looking dog in her sketch. "And I wish I had the courage to do it."