"She looks just like Lorelai."
--☆--☆--☆--
Rory Gilmore wasn't good at keeping secrets. She never has been. It's not her fault, she was raised with Cassidy and Lorelai Gilmore. The two noisiest people alive, especially when it came to Rory's life. They always seemed to know what was going on, and it didn't help that Cassie and Rory actually had twin telepathy.
So when Dean came into Rory's life it was hard for her to keep that from her mother and sister. Dean was the first boy that Rory's ever really liked, her heart flutters everytime she thinks about him and it drives her insane. All she wants to do is ask her sister for advice but she knows that the advice will be served with a side of overprotection.
But then... then the most magical thing happened. He kissed her. Rory's first kiss ever. She went through an entire Friday night dinner without mentioning it. She didn't know how to bring it up, it wasn't exactly something she could talk about in front of her grandparents. But now the Gilmore Girls were back home. Lorelai and Cassie were upstairs sleeping while Rory laid awake, trying to figure out what to do.
"Yes," Rory sat up in her bed, but ultimately shook her head. "No... Maybe." She whispered then she shook her head again. She pushed her duvet to the side, standing up from her bed and walking out the door to her sister's room.
Without wasting time she moved into her sister's bed, tapping her until she woke up. Cassie groaned quietly, pushing Rory's hand off of her as she tried to fall back asleep. Rory kept tapping her, trying to get her to wake up.
"I need to talk to you," Rory spoke quietly.
Cassie opened her eyes slightly, looking at the clock on her bedside that read 1:32. "You want to talk now?" Cassie's voice was muffled by her pillow and hoarse from sleep but Rory was determined to wake her up.
"Yes now."
Cassie let out a groan of annoyance but she rolled over, lifting up her blanket letting Rory get under her covers. "Fine." Rory smiled getting under the blankets. "I'm listening."
"You remember Dean, right?"
"Mhm," Cassie hummed, her eyes still closed.
"I saw him today," Rory told her, waiting for a response from sister but Cassie didn't say anything. "After school," She added.
"I thought you saw Lane after school," Cassie said, her voice still muffled.
"Before I saw Lane I went to the market," Rory said, beginning the story she wanted to tell her sister all day. "Dean was working, and I was pretending to shop and whatever."
"Uh huh."
"And he asked me if I wanted a pop-"
"A pop?" Cassie repeated, sounding confused.
"That's what they call soda in Chicago," Rory informed her.
"Oh."
"Anyways he put the soda behind his back for me to guess then he kissed me," Rory continued.
Cassie's eyes opened immediately as she rolled over to face her older sister. Now she was wide awake and eager to hear about her sister's first kiss. Cassie sat up, turning to face her sister with a bright smile on her face.
"Go back and tell me the whole thing again, start to finish," Cassie said, tapping her sister's leg with excitement.
Rory smiled, laughing quietly before starting her story all over again. She gave Cassie a play by play of everything that happened the second they parted ways after their bus ride home. Cassie wore a look of shock on her face the entire time Rory spoke. She knew Dean had a crush on her sister but she wondered if he'd ever do anything about it.
"Wait, which aisle was it?" Cassie asked her with an excited look on her face.
"Aisle 3."
"The one with the ant spray?" Cassie asked, then Rory nodded her head. "Oh that's a good aisle."
"That's what Lane said," Rory told her, still giddy with excitement.
"And how was it? Was there any tongue action?"
"No, there wasn't any tongue," Rory told her with a confused look on her face. Then the look changed, and she looked almost sad. "Should I tell Mom?"
"Why wouldn't you?"
"She doesn't know about Dean," Rory reminded her, but Cassie didn't seem to understand the problem. "The last time we talked about him it was... bad."
"Right," Cassie let out a sigh as she tried to figure out what the best solution was.
"What did you do?"
"After my first kiss?" Cassie asked, then Rory nodded. Cassie thought to herself for a minute, remembering her first kiss. It was after school and Simon Turner had pulled her underneath the bleachers and kissed her. It wasn't exactly magical but they dated for an entire three weeks before she broke up with him. "We got caught by the teachers and they called Mom and his parents."
"Hmm..." Rory hummed, since that wasn't exactly helpful for the situation she was in.
"You should tell her," Cassie said, giving her a piece of advice. "It's Lorelai, she's an expert in the guy department."
"So are you," Rory told her.
Cassie laughed, shaking her head at her sister's words. "I'm not. Not even close."
"You've had boyfriends."
"I've had guy friends," Cassie corrected. "I've kissed two guys, and one was on a dare. I'm no expert. I've never had a real boyfriend."
Rory grew quiet for a moment, seeing an expression on her sister's face that she didn't recognize. Cassie was always so confident in the guy department, but now she looked confused. It was something Rory's never seen before.
"What?"
Cassie shook her head. "Nothing. It's just... I'm glad you have Dean. He seems great."
"Yeah, he is."
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
It was safe to say that Cassidy Gilmore wasn't exactly looking forward to having Josh Dawson in Stars Hollow. Ever since she started at Chilton, Stars Hollow has become a safe haven for the Gilmore twins. None of the other Chilton students lived there so they didn't have to worry about bumping into them at the market or at Luke's.
But now Cassie had to meet Josh at one of her favorite places in the entire world. She didn't know how she felt about it. Part of her wanted to call him, saying she came down with a deadly disease that prevented her from seeing him ever again. But she knew he'd probably still show up. Josh seemed like the persistent type.
"Cass!"
"Up here!" Cassie yelled when she heard her mother's voice. Her eyes widened with confusion when she heard her mother storming up the stairs. "What did I do?"
"She got kissed!"
"Oh..." Cassie shrunk down, she should've known Lorelai would've figured it out. Actually Rory should've told her before Lorelai heard it from someone else. "You found out."
"You knew?" Lorelai asked her, scoffing quietly at her daughter. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"
"It's not my secret to tell," Cassie told her as she picked up her backpack, putting it over her shoulder.
Lorelai tilted her head to the side as she looked at her daughter. "Why are you all dressed up?" She asked looking more specifically at her daughter's outfit.
"What?" Cassie laughed nervously as she moved to look at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm not all dressed up."
"You're wearing your nice top," Lorelai told her, gesturing to the top her daughter was wearing. She was wearing a black sweat top, that Cassie usually only wore when she was trying to impress someone. "You're dressing up for someone!"
"I am not!" Cassie yelled, completely baffled by the accusation.
"Well where are you going?"
"Luke's to study," Cassie answered, this time she wasn't lying. She didn't even realize she had gotten dressed up until Lorelai pointed it out to her. She couldn't believe it, she had subconsciously gotten dressed for Joshua Dawson.
"No you're not."
"Yes I am, now I have to go," Cassie walked past her mom, but Lorelai was just as stubborn as her daughter, if not more.
"Come back here," Lorelai yelled as she ran out of her daughter's room, following her down the stairs.
"Can't I'm leaving," Cassie informed her then she walked out the door, moving quickly away from the house. She kept walking, thinking about what her mom said. Did she really dress up to see Josh? There's no way she could've, she didn't like him like that, it didn't make sense.
These thoughts ran through Cassie's mind the entire time she walked to Luke's. So by the time she finally reached the dinner she came to the conclusion that it was just a weird coincidence that she wore her nice top.
Luke looked up when he saw the door open, he watched as the youngest Gilmore looked around his diner before walking over to the counter. He wore a confused expression, trying to figure out what was different with the girl in front of him.
"Coffee?"
"You're offering?" Cassie asked him, her head tilting to the side as she spoke.
"My blood sugars low," He explained as he began pouring his famous coffee into her mug. "Let me eat an apple before I take it away from you."
"Good deal," Cassie smiled as she took a sip from the coffee. The door opened behind her and she immediately turned around, sinking in her seat a little when she realized it wasn't Josh, it was Andrew from the bookstore.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Luke asked her.
"No," She answered, turning back around in her seat to face Luke.
She continued to drink her coffee and another minute passed before the door opened again. This time she didn't turn around, she simply kept her eyes locked on Luke. He looked at her too, but his expression was filled with confusion and a little bit of discomfort.
"Gilmore," She knew it was Josh but part of her still didn't want to turn around.
She looked up, now seeing a worried look on Luke's face before she spun around in her seat. There he was, standing in her favorite place in the entire world. It was obvious he had recently showered, his hair was still damp but damn it still looked good.
"Let's get this over with," Cassie stood up from the counter moving to a two person table.
"Aw come on Gilmore, you know you're excited to see me," Josh said in his usual cocky voice as he followed her to a table.
"Oh you know me so well," She said sarcastically as she pulled her homework out of her bag.
From the counter on the other side of the room Luke watched Cassie with this guy he didn't recognize. A slightly overprotective manner came over him as he watched the two teenagers. He suddenly understood why Lorelai had been watching the bag boy earlier that day. Luke might not be Cassie's real dad, but he loved her like she was his real daughter. Unfortunately for her, that came with the protective manners of a real dad.
In fact, everyone in Stars Hollow was protective of the Gilmore twins. They'd all become a protective parent of the two girls if they needed to. Which is why everyone in the diner was watching Cassie and her new guy friend study together.
The two teenagers, however, were too preoccupied by their flirty comments to each other and the notes in front of them to notice. They didn't realize that every person who walked into the diner had looked to see who this mysterious guy was.
"Luke, pst," Babette waved over the diner owner, wanting to see if he had any information on the guy. Luke walked over, carrying the coffee pot with him as he walked. "Who's the guy?"
"I don't know," He said in his normal grumpy voice. He turned around, watching as Josh laughed at something Cassie said.
"She likes him," Miss Patty said, excited that the youngest Gilmore might have a boyfriend.
"What?" Luke turned his head so fast it made Miss Patty's eyes widen. He sat down at her table, wanting more information. "What do you mean? How do you know?"
"She looks just like Lorelai," Miss Patty told him with a smile, but Luke still didn't understand.
"Her eyes are sparkling like Lorelai's when she flirts," Babette said, proud of the young Gilmore.
"They are?" Luke tilted his head, suddenly realizing how similar Cassie and Lorelai were.
"Why is that guy giving me a shotgun stare?" Josh whispered to Cassie, causing her to look up from her homework.
The second Cassie looked up and the second she did Luke, Miss Patty, and Babette all turned away in the least subtle way possible. Cassie smiled, shaking her head at them. "That's just Luke, don't worry he's harmless."
"Doesn't look harmless," Josh muttered while opening his notebook.
"Trust me, he won't do-"
"Coffee?" Luke began pouring the coffee into Cassie's mug without giving her a chance to answer. "And what about you..."
"Josh," The Dawson boy stood up holding his hand out to Luke.
"Josh," Luke repeated before shaking Josh's hand. "You go to Chilton?"
"Yes sir," Josh nodded while Cassie laughed. No one ever called Luke Danes "sir".
"Hm," Luke didn't say anything else to either of them, he just waited for Josh to sit back down before he walked away.
"I don't think he likes me," Josh said quietly.
Cassie looked over her shoulder at Luke, who was still watching them. "No, he definitely doesn't like you," She laughed.
Cassie was surprised how fast the next two hours went. She thought they'd be slow and grueling, but she was surprised how much fun she and Josh had. It actually kind of weirded her out how easy it was hanging out with him. They managed to finish all their work in record time and there wasn't any work left to do. Both of them stood up, packing up their bags quickly so they could get out of the diner.
"So that wasn't that bad," Josh said, nudging Cassie's shoulder.
"It wasn't that bad," Cassie told him as she put her backpack over her shoulder.
"Come on Gilmore, just admit it, you liked spending time with me," Josh teased as he opened the door letting Cassie walk out first. Cassie smiled, but unfortunately Josh saw her smile. "Ha! I knew it."
"I didn't say anything."
"No, but I can see it in your eyes," Josh told her as he moved to stand right in front of her. They looked right into each other's eyes. Josh looking down at her and Cassie looking up at him. She never realized just how tall Josh was, he practically towered over her.
Cassie cleared her throat, stepping backwards, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. Josh followed her, taking a step backwards too.
"So I should probably go."
"Yeah, me too," Cassie nodded.
"I can give you a ride, if you want," Josh offered.
"It's okay," Cassie shook her head, speaking softly. "It's not a far walk."
"No, really. Let me give you a ride," Josh said but when Cassie tried to deny him again he held his hand up stopping her. "I'm giving you a ride, come on."
He opened the car door, waiting for her to get in. "Fine," She sounded reluctant but she had a smile on her face when she got in the car.
Josh smiled, closing the car door before walking around and getting into the driver's side of the car. Josh started the car and Cassie immediately began laughing when the radio turned on.
"Elvis?" She asked, laughing when Burning Love started playing over the speakers.
"Elvis is iconic," Josh told her with a pointed finger before starting the car.
"You're right," Cassie said, actually agreeing with him. "And I actually like this song."
"Really?" Josh asked, then turned the volume up. Cassie smiled humming along as she gave Josh the directions back to her house.
They didn't speak much, other than the occasional turn left and straight ahead from Cassie. Neither of them really knew what to say, it's not like they've known each for a long enough time that conversations flowed easily. It was awkward, and kinda weird.
But when the pulled in front of the Gilmore household, it got a whole lot weirder.