STOLEN DANCE || GILMORE GIRLS

21: dance tickets

"You did good," Josh told her, earning a confused look from Rory. "No one's ever stood their ground like that around Tristan. You did good."

"Thanks," Rory smiled.

"Not a problem," Josh sent her a friendly wink before grabbing two tickets and getting out of the line. "I'll be seeing you Rory."

Josh walked down the hall, searching for one girl. He didn't notice the longing looks he got from the girls he passed. Or the excited looks when they thought he was approaching them with two tickets in hand. Josh didn't notice any of them.

He smiled when he saw her, she was putting a book in her locker. It was such a simple thing but Josh could watch her doing it for hours. He walked over to her, standing right beside her. Josh felt her tense slightly when she realized someone was behind her.

"Hey gorgeous," the nickname slipped out before he could stop it but when he said that he could see Cassie relax. She closed her locker, turning around to look at him. Not realizing that she accidentally trapped herself between him and the lockers behind her.

"Gorgeous huh?" Cassie asked, trying to keep her smile to a minimum. Something she didn't find difficult to do around Josh until a couple days ago.

Josh smirked at her, thinking his nickname was rather fitting for her. "Wanna see what I got?"

"Okay..." Cassie said in a slightly nervous tone as she looked up at Josh.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out the tickets he had just bought for them. "Ta-da," He said in a sing-songy voice. "You're officially stuck with me Gilmore."

"Heaven help me," Cassie smiled, taking one of the tickets from Josh's hand to look at.

"So what time should I pick you up?" Josh asked her, moving a little bit closer to her.

"You want to leave Hartford, drive to Stars Hollow, then drive back to Hartford?" Cassie questioned with a confused look. Josh simply nodded, saying that's exactly what he plans on doing. "I could just get a ride with Rory, save you some gas."

"I'm a gentleman Cassie, I'm picking you up," Josh insisted.

"But Rory is going with-"

"Dean?"

"How do you know about Dean?" Cassie's head tilted to the side in confusion.

"Rory told me," Josh answered with a smug look on his face.

Cassie laughed, shaking her head at Josh. "Rory told you?" She questioned, wondering when her sister talked to the boy she liked.

"Yeah," Josh nodded, that smug look still very much present on his face. "She and I are friends."

"Oh really? What else did you and Rory talk about?"

"That's between me and Rory," Josh told her. Cassie laughed, shaking her head at him but smiling nonetheless. "So, I'm picking you up," He said, going back to the original topic.

"Or I could get a ride with Rory and-"

"No. It's final, I'm picking you up," Josh told her, ending the discussion.

"God, you're stubborn," Cassie said, shaking her head at him. He crossed his arms, waiting for her to say it. "Fine, you can pick me up."

"Good," Josh nodded, smiling at her. Josh looked down at her, wanting to say please can we not go as just friends. He wanted to ask, but he didn't want to scare her. Because no matter how much he wanted to ask, he could also see her trying to back away from him. So he didn't say what he wanted to and instead he said, "I'll see you on Saturday Gilmore."

"See you Saturday, Dawson," Cassie smiled awkwardly, walking away from Josh.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

Cassie was pouting. She didn't really know why. Technically she had the guy, and she had a dress, and her sister, but she was pouting. She had just walked out of Luke's with a pile of books in her hand.

The dance was tomorrow and all Cassie could think about was how she was supposed to go with the guy she had a crush on, not knowing if he actually liked her. Cassie walked across the street towards the gazebo, letting out a huff of air since the books in her hands were obnoxiously heavy.

"Hey."

"Oh Jesus," Cassie flinched when Dead approached her with a friendly wave. "Why do you walk so quietly?"

Dean laughed, choosing to ignore her question. "Need a hand?"

"Uh..." Cassie paused, thinking about if she wanted help from Dean. She knew she was supposed to try to be friends with him, for Rory. Yet somehow something about him was a little off to her. "Sure." Dean reached up, grabbing two books from her pile, making it much easier for her to carry. "Thanks."

"No problem," Dean smiled politely and the two of them started walking towards the Gilmore house. "So are you going to the dance tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I am," Cassie told him, feeling a little awkward around Dean.

"Do you have a date?"

"Mhm," Cassie hummed. Dean gave her a look, as if asking her for more information. "His name is Josh."

"Oh," Dean nodded, almost like he knew something. "Right, Rory told me about him."

"She what?" Cassie's head turned so quickly that she thought it might spin right off. "What did she say?"

"Not much. Just that there was a guy named Tristan and Josh who ran the school."

Cassie felt much better knowing that Rory wasn't telling her boyfriend all of her secrets. "Oh, yeah... I guess that's true," Cassie nodded then she turned to look at Dean. "You're a guy."

Dean laughed curiously. "Yeah..."

"Would you ever ask Rory to go to the dance with her as friends?" Cassie asked him, but Dean was either confused or didn't want to answer. "Dean."

"No, I wouldn't," Dean finally answered. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Cassie looked up at him eagerly, waiting for Dean's answer.

"Unless I actually just wanted to be friends with her," Dean told her.

"That's not helpful Dean," Cassie told him. "I was looking for a more philosophical answer than that."

"Sorry," He shrugged. "So the dance tomorrow, think it'll be okay?"

"I think," Cassie let out a sigh, "You better treat my sister right or someone," She pointed to herself, "will make your life a lot more difficult."

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd threaten me," Dean smiled as they continued walking towards the house.

"Rory's not just my sister, she's my best friend," Cassie reminded him, not liking the cocky look he had on his face. "I mean it, you try anything and everyone in this town will sharpen their pitchforks."

"Okay," Dean gave Cassie her books back, letting her walk the rest of the way alone.