"Wise choice Dean"

--☆--☆--☆--

Cassie Gilmore was currently browsing the aisles of Doose's market searching for the perfect junk food for the Gilmore family movie night. She held a basket in her arm, which already contained a package of m&ms, twizzlers, popcorn, and chips. Now she was on the hunt for the perfect ice cream flavor.

She stared into the cooler, wondering which flavor was the most appropriate for the evening. Cassie knew that Lorelai and Rory were currently sitting on the couch with The Donna Reed show playing, while they mocked it incessantly. Cassie picked up the package of rocky road ice cream, tossing it in her basket before heading to the register.

"Cassidy."

"Hi Mr. Doose," Cassie said politely as she placed her items on the register.

"Buying a lot of junk food, I see," He told her with an almost warning glance.

Cassie held up her finger, as if saying wait one second before going to the back of the store and grabbing an apple. She placed it down on the register watching as Taylor's expression went from concerned to annoyed. But he still rang her up, and put all her items in a bag.

"Thank you," Cassie said as she grabbed the apple from the bag, taking a nice bite out of it. She walked out of the store and set the plastic bag on the ground so she could put her money back in her pocket. The door to the market opened a second later causing Cassie to look up. "Oh, you."

"Wow, that's your reaction to seeing me?"

"Sorry, here I'll start over," Cassie told him then put on the biggest, fakest, smile she could muster up. "Hi Dean, it's so great to see you again," She said in a fake, high pitched voice. "Better?"

Dean shrugged. "You could work on the voice, it's not peppy enough."

"Well I'm no cheerleader," Cassie reminded him before picking up her grocery bag. "Okay, Bye."

"You know I'm coming over tonight, right?" Dean called out, causing the Gilmore Girl to stop walking and turn around to look at him. "Ah. Rory didn't tell you."

"No, she didn't."

Dean thought to himself for a moment, wondering if their running into each other was actually planned. A couple days ago Rory had been saying something about wishing Dean and Cassie were closer. Rory liked being friends with Josh and being able to hangout with him and Cassie, and she wanted her sister to be able to do that with her and Dean. So maybe it wasn't such a coincidence that Rory needed Cassie to grab groceries the same time that Dean got off work.

"Well do you wanna grab the pizza with me?" Dean asked the younger Gilmore sister, knowing that's what Rory would want him to do. "We could walk back to the house together."

Cassie opened her mouth to say hell no but just as she was about to do it Rory's puppy dog eyes appeared in her mind. She could practically hear her sister begging her to go with Dean. "Sure."

"Cool," Dean held out his arm, saying he was following her so Cassie started walking. They were quiet for the most part, but they both knew Rory would want them to talk. "This is kind of awkward, isn't it."

"Yes it is," Cassie nodded.

"You don't like me?" Dean asked her, looking down at her.

Cassie sighed, looking up at him. "I don't not like you," She replied, but apparently that wasn't the answer Dean wanted to hear. "You're Rory's boyfriend, and she obviously likes you, my mom likes you-"

"But you don't?"

"I'd like to," Cassie admitted. "It'd be a lot easier for all of us if I liked you."

"Yeah, it would," Dean laughed awkwardly. He looked over at Cassie who now wore a guilty expression, she knew it was her fault she and Dean weren't friends. He had tried to talk to her plenty of times, but every time he did it was like she took a vow of silence. "Well usually friends have something in common."

"Something in common?" Cassie questioned, like the concept was completely new to her.

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "Rory said you liked baseball."

"Like is a bit of an understatement," Cassie laughed.

"I like baseball," Dean informed her and Cassie looked up at him with a questioning look. "I'm more of a cubs fan myself."

"Of course you are Chicago," Cassie said, shaking her head at her. "You should go to a real game. In New York."

"Do you go to games a lot?" Dean asked her.

"Mom and Rory never liked going, but my dad took me... once," Cassie answered, the smile on her face turning into a frown. "I'd like to go again, though." She said, going back into a more cheerful mood.

"You should come to the games Luke and I play," Dean told her. "I think you'd like it."

"Maybe I will," Cassie said.

Turns out being friends with Dean wasn't as hard as Cassie thought it would be. They picked up the pizza and Cassie teased him about ordering a salad. Which naturally led them to conversation of lettuce: friend or deadly poison? But they were actually getting along, so when they finally walked into the Gilmore house they were both laughing.

"Hello?" Dean called out when he opened the door.

"Do you come bearing pizza?" Lorelai yelled from the living room.

"I'm not an idiot." Dean told her as he walked into the house, with Cassie following behind him.

"Then get in here."

"Hey," Rory smiled at her boyfriend and her sister.

"Hey."

"I'm putting the ice cream in the freezer," Cassie announced then quickly left the room.

"Sit - you're missing it." Lorelai said when Cassie reentered the room.

"What are we watching?" Dean asked.

"The incomparable Donna Reed Show," Lorelai told him.

Cassie sat down on the floor on the other side of Lorelai. Rory looked down as Dean set the pizza down, her head tilting in confusion when she noticed a brown bag on top of the pizza box. "What's in there?

"A salad."

"Salad?" Rory asked.

Dean looked over at Cassie, seeing the I told you so look on her face. She had told him when he ordered it that Rory would be confused, of course he told her she was being ridiculous. But she was right. "Yeah, it's a quaint dish sometimes used to precede large quantities of pizza," He answered seeing the confused look on Rory and Lorelai's face. "It's for me."

"Clearly."

"So, who's Donna Reed?" Dean asked.

"What?" Cassie laughed, she assumed everyone had heard of the show.

"You don't know who Donna Reed is? The quintessential 50s mom with the perfect 50s family?" Lorelai asked him.

"Never without a smile and high heels?" Cassie added.

"Hair, that if you hit it with a hammer, would crack?" Rory told him.

"So it's a show?" Dean questioned.

"It's a lifestyle."

"It's a religion."

"My favorite episode -" Rory began saying;

"Mm, mm...tell me, tell me."

"- is when their son, Jeff, comes home from school and nothing happens."

"Oh that's a good one," Cassie said, agreeing with her sister.

"One of my favorites is when Mary, the daughter, gets a part-time job and nothing happens." Lorelai informed the group.

"Another classic."

"So what's this one about?" Dean asked.

"This one is actually quite filled with intrigue," Lorelai told him and Cassie laughed quietly. "The husband, Alex, comes home late for dinner and he didn't call."

"Might as well kick the dog too," Rory said.

"Oh, oh, look, she's making doughnuts," Lorelai said pointing to the tv screen.

"...behind in the sugar department." Donna Reed said through the tv.

"I guess I was thinking of something else, Mom." The son Jeff, replied.

""Not that my sugary attitude wouldn't make anyone an instant diabetic." ," Lorelai said, faking a high voice.

"Mother-daughter window washing. We should try that," Rory suggested.

"Yeah, right after mother-daughter shock treatments," Lorelai replied.

""You know, Daughter, there's nothing more satisfying than washing windows -- oh no!" " Lorelai said once again pretending to be the voice of Donna Reed.

""What? Did I miss a spot?"" Rory asked, feigning the voice of the daughter.

""No, I just had an impure thought about your father, Alex. Funny -- I don't know why I had it. It isn't the second Saturday of the month."," Lorelai responded, once again pretending to be Donna Reed.

""Hey, I heard you had an impure thought about me."" Cassie said using a deep voice to sound more like the dad in the show.

""I must now sublimate all my impure thoughts by going into the kitchen and making an endless string of perfect casseroles.""

Dean looked at the Gilmore women with a curious expression. "You're not even listening to the dialogue."

"Ours is better," Rory informed him.

"I don't know-" Dean hesitated for a second before saying, "-it all seems kind of nice to me."

"What does?"

"Oh no," Cassie muttered. "Dean we just started getting along, don't mess it up," Cassie warned him.

"Well, you know, families hanging together. I mean, a wife cooking dinner for her husband. And look -- she seems really happy," Dean said, pointing to the smile on Donna Reed's face.

"She's medicated," Lorelai told him.

"And acting from a script," Rory said.

"Written by a man," Cassie added.

"Well said, Sister Suffragette," Rory smiled looking over at her mom and sister.

"What if she likes making doughnuts and dinner for her family and keeping things nice for them and-" Dean stopped talking when he realized all three Gilmore women were staring at him. "OK, I feel very unpopular right now."

"You, know, dear, the first ten years we were married, I was upset when you came home late for dinner." Donna said through the tv.

"And you're not anymore?"

"Nope. You are no longer late for dinner. You're just extremely early for breakfast."

The Gilmores looked over at Dean, who turned in their direction after feeling their gaze on him. "Hey, I'm not saying a word."

"Wise choice Dean," Cassie said before taking a bite from her pizza and they went back to watching the show.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

"Catherine the Great - 1729 to '96. Empress of Russia - 1762 to '96," Rory read from her flashcards. Lorelai was busy hemming her blazer while Cassie was multitasking by trying to finish her math homework and eat her cereal.

"Okay, hold still please," Lorelai requested but Rory didn't listen to her.

"Originally named Sophie Friederike Augustine von Anhalt-Zerbst,"

"Gesundheit," Cassie said looking up from her math problem.

"But everybody called her "Kitten."

Cassie looked up, ensuring that Rory wasn't looking at her before using her fingers to count. She smiled when she reached her answer, writing it down on her paper. "Married to Grand Duke Peter of Holstein in 1754," Rory continued.

"Okay, Rory, seriously," Lorelai said, still trying to fix her daughter's jacket. She looked over at Cassie who was now absentmindedly eating her cereal. "Cass you're getting milk on your homework."

"Oh crap," Cassie looked down, realizing Lorelai was right.

"The marriage was an unhappy one."

"Well there were way too many names," Lorelai said as Rory reached for more cards. "Ow! Lady with notecards just look at the lady with the needle and just try to focus for one second so that I can sew the button on your sweater and not on my thumb."

"I'm sorry," Rory said softly, as she looked down at her mom. There was a knock on the door and suddenly Rory's train of thought was lost again. "I'll get it!" She said then walked away from Lorelai, breaking the thread in the process.

"Oh, you're four years old," Lorelai shook her head then turned to look at her younger daughter, who was still spilling milk everywhere. "And so are you," She said, handing Cassie a napkin.

"Oh, hiya, baby doll," Babette smiled when she walked into the Gilmore kitchen.

"Hi, Babette."

"Hey! Do you want some coffee?" Lorelai asked her. BABETTE:

"Oh, no thanks. I just came over to ask a great big favor," Babette told her.

"Ask away," Lorelai said as she began making Babette some coffee.

"Well, see, Morey just got a call to play a gig at the Village Vanguard tonight so we got to go to New York," Babette informed them.

"Oh wow! Cream?" Lorelai asked after handing Babette her coffee.

"And sugar. Thanks," Babette smiled. "Anyway, yesterday Morey and I finally broke down and we got ourselves a new little baby, you know?"

"Oh, honey, you got a kitten! Good for you."

"What's its name?" Rory asked, looking over at their neighbor.

"Apricot. He's just the cutest thing."

"Aw," Cassie smiled, she knew how much Babette and Morey loved their cats.

"But he's so teeny," babette continued. "There's no way he can go with us and I would hate for him to stay all alone in the house so I was thinking maybe one of the girls could come over and house-sit for the evening.

"I'd love to," Rory said immediately, answering for both of them. Despite the fact that she knew Cassie had a date with Josh after school/

"Oh great!" Babette clapped her hands with a bright smile on her face. "We've got a kitchen full of food and Morey just got cable so you can watch those four girls talking dirty if you want to."

"Sounds good," Cassie said, smiling at their neighbor.

"You girls are angels. All of you - angels. You have a key, right?" Babette asked, turning to look at Lorelai.

"We got it covered."

"Oh great. All right. I'll leave ya the number where we're staying. Have a good time. We'll be back tomorrow morning. I love you crazy girls!"

"Bye!"

"Bye!" Babette waved to them before she walked out the door.

The second she was gone Lorelai turned and looked at her daughter's with an 'I can't believe this expression'. "Wow. I can't believe how fast you jumped at the chance to spend a night away from me."

"Oh mom," Cassie shook her head as she stood up with her bowl, taking it to the sink.

"You're crazy. We'd be doing her a favor."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm," Lorelai hummed, sounding unconvinced. "Sure you are."

"Mom!"

"No, no, that's okay. Don't you worry about me. I'll be just fine," Lorelai said, waving a dismissive hand.

"I'd like to debate you on that last subject but we're late for the bus," Rory said, causing Cassie to look over at the clock.

"Oh crap!" She said for the second time that morning before running up the stairs to her room.

"You know, this is only like the second night we've ever spent apart. Doesn't that make you sad?" Lorelai asked Rory, continuing their conversation, despite the fact that Cassie had run to finish packing her bag.

"Yeah," Rory shrugged. "But I'll get over it."

"Uh-huh. Well, Paul and Linda McCartney only spent eleven nights apart their entire relationship. Did you know that?"

"I did not know that," Rory admitted.

"Well they were truly devoted to each other. Just the being apart was too painful to even talk about," Lorelai explained to her.

"I understand."

"I don't think that Linda would have even considered cat-sitting without Paul," Lorelai told her as Cassie came flying down the stairs with her backpack in her arms.

"You know, Mom, when we go off to college, we're gonna be gone every night. We might not even be in the same state. What will you do then?"

"Well, I will go with you," Lorelai said, before helping Cassie get into her jacket. "I will sleep on the floor in your dorm, next to your bed. And I will switch off, weekly, monthly, we'll figure it out." She explained earning a confused look from her youngest daughter who only caught a small part of the conversation.

"Well at least you've got a plan."

"Yes. Um, perhaps you'd like to take a picture of me with you tonight, you know, just in case you get lonely, you can talk to it.

"Bye," Rory called out before dragging her sister out of the house.

"Ow!" Cassie said as she tripped over her own feet.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

"I hope you brought your walking shoes," Cassie said as she appeared behind her boyfriend who was busy putting his books in his locker.

Josh smiled, turning around to look at Cassie. "You bet I did."

"Good," Cassie said with a proud smile. "Come on, we have to meet Rory before the bus leaves."

"We're taking the bus?" Josh asked, looking at Cassie like she was insane.

"Hey, you asked for a full Stars Hollow experience," Cassie said pointing her finger at her boyfriend. "This is the full Stars Hollow experience."

"Oh boy," Josh sighed as he let Cassie drag him out the door and towards the bus.

"Hey. I was worried you'd miss it," Rory smiled when she saw Josh and Cassie.

"Oh my god. What the hell is that?" Cassie asked as she looked at the birdcage in her sister's hand.

"It's my science project," Rory answered.

"But we're not pet people..."

"Not pet people?" Josh asked looking between Rory and Cassie with a head tilt. Josh himself was a big pet person, he's had his dog for years and wouldn't want to spend a day without him.

"Clearly you don't know about skippy," Rory told him right as the bus pulled in front of them.

"Skippy?" Josh questioned.

"You don't want to know," Cassie told him then the three of them got onto the bus.

The bus ride was concerning, at least in Josh's opinion. The driver had a mad case of road rage and spent the entire time yelling at the everyone he drove past. Josh was severely worried for his safety while Cassie and Rory participated in yelling at the innocent drivers.

"You two are insane," Josh told the twins as the bus came to a stop.

"Carry your bird miss?" Dean smiled at his girlfriend, not noticing Cassie's boyfriend.

"Hi! I didn't expect to see you here," Rory said with a bright smile.

"Oh jeez," Josh rolled his eyes. It was safe to say that Josh wasn't Dean's number one fan, of course part of it was because Josh's best friend liked Rory.

"I just wanted to say hello," Dean told her before leaning down and kissing her.

"Hello," Rory smiled as Dean pulled back for a second. Cassie and Josh exited the bus as Dean kissed Rory again. "Hello."

Dean went to lean in again but before he could Cassie interrupted the moment. "Uh Rory..."

"Cass- oh, Josh right?"

"Yeah," The Dawson boy nodded his head, still standing behind Cassie.

"Well we're going now, lots to see," Cassie said with a bright smile.

"Have fun," Rory said, but not without giving her sister a pointed look.

"Oh and Cassie," Dean called out making the couple turn around, "You still wanna come to that game this weekend?"

"I'll be there," She told him, then waved to him and Rory before walking off with Josh.

They were both quiet for a second before Josh shook his head and stopped walking. "Since when are you and Dean friends?" Josh asked his girlfriend as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Since a couple nights ago," Cassie shrugged, not seeing the big deal. After all Dean was her twin sister's boyfriend. "Why?"

"I mean a couple a days ago you said and I quote 'Dean didn't deserve to be 6'2.'" Josh reminded his girlfriend, with a knowing smile.

"Yes, but that was a couple days ago," Cassie said pointing a finger at him. "Today is today."

"So you guys are friends now?"

"I'd say more friendish than friends," Cassie answered.

"Does this mean I have to be friends with him?" Josh asked her. "Or friendish?"

Cassie looked up at him seeing the worried look on his face. She knew that Josh didn't like Dean, and she knew it was because Tristan didn't like Dean.

"It'd be nice if you tried," Cassie said with a hopeful glance. Which of course was returned with a look of pure annoyance. "Please. I'm trying."

Josh lowered his head, but then looked over at Cassie with a smile. "For you, I'll try."

Cassie wrapped her arms around Josh's torso, hugging him as they continued walking. "Thank you."

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

The rest of the evening went exactly the way Cassie hoped it would. She and Josh walked all around Stars Hollow. She showed him everything.

He met Kirk, which of course was an experience. He was hassled by Mrs. Kim, who kicked them out of her store for holding hands when they walked in. He was questioned by Taylor Doose about wether or not he'd be joining in on various town activities. And now they were sitting in the movie theater with a bowl of popcorn in between them.

"So who picks the movie?" Josh whispered when they were more than half way through the movie. He looked around making sure he wasn't disturbing all the other people watching.

"The town."

"And the town picked Air Bud?" He asked her.

"The town picks a cheap family friendly option," She explained to him.

"Oh," He nodded, but then a thought crossed his mind. He turned to look at Cassie, who was intently watching the dog on the screen. "So does being a family friendly theater mean I can't kiss you?"

Cassie smiled then turned to look at her boyfriend. "I guess we'll have to find out."

Josh lifted his hand using it to tilt Cassie's chin in his direction. He looked around, making sure no one was looking in their direction before he slowly inched towards Cassie.

Both of them were smiling when their lips touched, making the kiss that much better. Josh's hand moved from Cassie's chin to her cheek, keeping her close to him.

It was a good thing they were sitting towards the back of the theater, otherwise someone surely would've-

"Hey, there are kids here."

Cassie quickly pulled away from her boyfriend. "Sorry," She apologized right as one of the Stars Hollow moms walked past them. "Sorry."

"I'm not sorry," Josh whispered.

"Shut up," Cassie pushed him away, trying not to laugh.

By the time the movie was over it was dark outside. Cassie and Josh were heading back towards the Gilmore household since they only had a little bit of time before a car came to pick up Josh.

"Cass."

"Yes?"

"I really have to go to the bathroom," He informed her, with a slightly embarrassed look.

The Gilmore Girl laughed quietly but before she could say anything someone called out her name. Cassie turned her head seeing Miss Patty heading towards them. "Oh damn it," Cassie quickly reached into her pocket. "Here take my keys. Go this your last chance," She told Josh and he quickly ran off with Cassie's keys in his hand.

"Cassidy."

"Hey, Miss Patty," Cassie smiled, glad that she got Josh out of there before they were trapped by the town's dance teacher.

"Who was that hunk I saw you with?" Miss Patty asked.

Josh, who had just escaped the town gossip, was now quickly heading towards Cassie's house. He didn't expect anyone to be there, he hoped he could just run in then run out before she got back. However when he arrived two men walked out of the neighboring houses. Luke walking out of the Gilmore house, and Dean coming out of Babette's.

"Hey," Dean said awkwardly when he saw Luke.

"Hey."

Dean turned his head, only then noticing the Dawson boy. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked Dean, turning the question around to him.

"You first."

"I'm looking for a chick," Luke answered.

Dean and Josh both laughed, and the fact they laughed together made them share an annoyed glance. "Yeah, me too," Dean replied.

"You are not," Luke replied.

"Well, neither are you."

"Hey, Luke, is there -- Dean... Josh," Lorelai paused when she saw the boyfriends of both her daughters.

"Uh, Lorelai, hi."

"Hey, Lorelai."

"Fancy meeting you two here," Lorelai said with a knowing glance.

"Yeah."

"Well, uh-"

"We were just-"

"Hey, the Jell-o is doing this weird melting thing and I -- oh, Mom, Luke," Rory said, coming out of Babette's house.

"Hey I got away from Miss Patty but she... well isn't this fun," Cassie said as she came to a stop beside Josh.

"Rory. Cassie," Luke said, giving a pointed look to the Gilmore twins.

"Hi."

"Hey," Cassie waved her hand awkwardly.

Lorelai's gaze went onto her oldest daughter, only now seeing the outfit she was wearing. "Uh, what the hell are you two doing?"

"Nothing," Dean answered quickly. "She, uh -- well we ate dinner. You know, steak and beans-"

"Canned," Rory said quickly.

"Canned?" Both Lorelai and Cassie questioned.

"Not fresh."

"And potatoes," Dean added.

"From a box," Rory explained to her mom and sister.

"But they were still good," Dean told her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"And what about you two?" Lorelai asked, her gaze shifting over to Cassie who immediately stopped laughing now that the attention was on her.

"Us two?" Cassie laughed.

"She gave me a tour," Josh explained.

"A tour?" Lorelai questioned.

"Of everything," Cassie added.

"I met Kirk and Mrs. Kim," Josh informed the group.

"We avoided Miss Patty though," Cassie laughed nervously before turning to look at her sister. Rory recognized the look immediately and suddenly the two of them were looking at Lorelai.

"So what were you guys doing?" Rory asked Lorelai.

"Oh. Uh -- In the house..." Lorelai awkwardly stumbled over her words, trying to figure out what to say.

"And then the lamp sorta -- I'm gonna get going," Luke said, trying to get himself out of this awkward situation.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry about this," Luke added as he held up a box.

"Forget it."

"OK. Bye."

"Yeah, I probably better go too," Dean said before turning to look at Rory. "Thanks for dinner."

"You're welcome."

"I guess all the boyfriends are leaving," Josh realized as he took a couple of steps backwards. "I'll see you."

"Yeah," Cassie smiled and soon enough Josh, Luke, and Dean were all gone. Cassie ran up to where Lorelai was standing the two of them looking over at Rory.

"What?"

"Well, OK, you're 16. You have a whole house to yourself for the evening. I expect that you're going to have your boyfriend over. But what is with the apron?" Lorelai asked.

"It's a long story," Rory told them.

"Did it involve a sharp blow to the head?"

"Is someone blackmailing you?" Cassie asked her.

"I gotta go check on Apricot."

"Oh my God!" Lorelai gasped. "I just saw the pearls."

"I'm going in now," Rory said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You know what? We're going inside too," Lorelai said as she put her arm around her normally dressed daughter. "'Cause I have to write down all the ways I'm gonna torture you about that outfit."

"Good night" Rory yelled before turning to go back inside their neighbors house.

"Wait Rory! Let me get a picture first," Cassie called out.

"Oh yes! Visual aids would really help. Oh, oh! Oh the shoes! I am dying," Lorelai said as she Cassie laughed together. Rory shut the door, but the two remaining Gilmores were still laughing their asses off.

Not even two seconds later Rory came running back outside with a look of panic in her eyes. "Mom! I can't find Apricot!"

"What? No!"

"Rory how did you lose Babette's cat?" Cassie yelled.

"She was on the couch when I came out, and now, nowhere."

"That's it!" Lorelai yelled as she and Cassie ran towards Babette's house. "We are not animal people! Period."

author's note:

writing this on a train in France hit different.