"My oasis is your oasis."

--☆--☆--☆--

"Uh oh," Cassie whispered under her breath when a certain group of cars pulled up outside the diner.

She knew what was coming. The chaos, crying, and one very annoyed Luke Danes. Cassie was standing behind the counter making a new pot of coffee when they came in. Three families. A wife and a husband pairings with more babies than Cassie could count.

If there was one thing both Rory and Cassie were afraid of, it was a baby. Neither of them knew why but the thought of pregnancy made them queasy. Babies frightened them. Kids they were fine with but babies... that's where they drew the line.

"Luke," Cassie called out over the sounds of tables being pushed together and wives lecturing their husbands.

"No," Luke frowned when he saw them. "No, no," he turned around, not wanting to look at them.

Luke had a similar distaste towards this group. He didn't like that they came in once a week, moved around his table and ordered two glasses of iced tea only to linger all morning long.

"Who let them in?"

"Uh, " Cassie looked around, "the door?" She answered but her tone came out as a question instead of a statement.

He let out an annoyed breath, "go on," he said to her.

"No, Luke, please," Cassie immediately began shaking her head, not wanting to go over there.

"I pay you," He reminded her.

With an annoyed expression on her face Cassie set down the pot of coffee and walked towards the group. She put on her absolute best customer service smile, hoping to walk away as soon as humanly possible.

"Good morning," Her voice was higher than normal, wanting to sound extra polite, "What can I get for you today?"

All of the dads were busy trying to figure out what their wives wanted. The wives were busy lecturing their husbands on the correct way to parent and all that. Only one of the wives briefly glanced over at Cassie.

"Hi, yes, can we get- no he doesn't like the duck," the woman stopped midstance to look at her husband. "Not the duck."

"But..."

"Get the bag from the car," She told him and the man quickly stood up from his seat and ran out to his car.

"Sorry," she turned back to look at Cassie who had been standing there wide eyed watching all the commotion. "We'll get two- he's getting the wrong bag. I'm sorry, do you mind-"

The woman stood up, holding her baby out for Cassie to take. "Oh no," Cassie tried to back away.

"I'll just be a second here."

"I oh-," the baby was now in Cassie's hands and the woman was running out the door to get her husband.

Cassie stood completely frozen. Her arms outstretched, holding the baby away from her. That little baby stared right at her and she couldn't look away. She could feel the fear forming in her chest as she silently prayed that this baby wouldn't cry.

That baby looked at her like it could see into her soul, and read her every thought. The baby knew exactly what she was thinking. It knew how terrified she was.

That's when it started squirming. It took every ounce of bravery Cassie had to not drop that baby. It reached out to her, kicking its little legs but Cassie didn't move a muscle.

"Okay!" The woman came back into the diner and Cassie felt a wave of relief like never before. The baby was out of her hands and the woman was sitting back down. "We'd like two iced teas."

"Coming right up," Cassie spoke quickly before making her way back to the counter. "Never again," she said to Luke.

He shrugged his shoulders, silently agreeing to not send her back over there. "Grab Jess, will ya?"

"That I can do," She agreed before turning on her heel to head up the stairs to the apartment.

Cassie knocked on the apartment door, actually waiting for Jess to answer before going in. When he opened the door he immediately stepped to the side, letting her into the room.

"They made me hold a baby," She told him as she walked into the apartment.

"Are they stupid?" Jess asked, not understanding why anyone would let Cassie hold their baby.

"Apparently," Cassie sighed as she sat down on Jess' bed. "Oh, Luke wants you downstairs," she remembered.

"Urgent?"

"Probably not," She shrugged before laying down on his bed. "You know Luke."

"Yup," Hess nodded before walking towards the fridge. He grabbed two sodas and handed one to Cassie before leaning against the wall.

"So how are things with Shane?" She asked him, trying to start a conversation.

"Fine," he replied with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

Cassie sighed as she sat upright, "that's it? Fine?"

"Yup."

"The king of the monosyllable is back," She realized, raising her eyebrows at him.

Jess shook his head as he opened the can of soda. "Just not much to say. It's new."

"Ethan and I are new too but I have more to say than fine," Cassie reminded him.

Jess looked down a quiet scoff leaving his mouth, he looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. When he looked back up Cassie was already looking at him, like she was waiting for what he had to say.

"What?" He asked her and she rolled her eyes, hating how he'd avoid her every question. "You wanna talk about you and Ethan, fine, whatever. But don't make me talk about Shane."

"You know girls usually like it when their boyfriends speak highly of them," Cassie felt the need to inform him.

"I'm not Shane's boyfriend."

"Oh sorry," Cassie held her hands up in surrender, "you're just hooking up. Sorry."

Jess sighed, "Cassie-"

"No. I wouldn't wanna ruin your reputation, playboy," she said as she stood up from his bed and moved back towards the door.

"Playboy?" Jess laughed as he followed Cassie out the door and towards the stairs.

The two of them laughed and walked towards the door to the diner, ready to get to work. They walked out together and the woman with the baby immediately caught their eyes. She was nursing and the sight made them both gasp.

"Oh geez!" Jess covered his eyes before retreating back up the stairs.

"Okay, well, that was kind of fun," Luke smiled.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

The rest of the day went by rather quickly. Cassie continued her work, finishing up when Rory came in to get her so they could go get a pizza for movie night. They went to the pizza place which is when Lorelai got into a fight with Pete, the poor pizza guy who had to face her anger.

"I can't believe you got into a fight with Pete," Rory shook her head at her mother as the three girls got out of the car. Rory carried a brown takeout bag and Cassie was in charge of holding the pizza.

"Hey, you do not suddenly decide that garlic is an extra topping, not after five years, not after all we've been through," Lorelai reminded them, thinking back to her argument with Pete. "We single handedly helped Pete pay for that new delivery truck of his and I thought he needed to be reminded of that fact."

"Very very loudly," Cassie commented.

"Not that loudly."

"Dogs started barking," Rory told her.

"Babies were crying," Cassie added.

"Because they heard about the garlic incident," Lorelai claimed, wanting everyone to be on her side. "No one likes getting screwed, not even a Schnauzer or a baby. Pete's a swindler." As Lorelai continued Rory opened the brown bag she was carrying, noticing a certain box they hadn't ordered. She tilted the open bag in Cassie's direction, the two of them shaking their heads at Lorelai. "He takes advantage of single mothers and their innocent children and for that he must pay!" Lorelai yelled only then noticing the looks she was receiving from her girls. "What?"

"He gave us free cheesy bread," Rory told her.

"He did?" Lorelai reached forward, looking into the bag. "Oh..."

"Yeah."

"I love the cheesy bread," Lorelai remembered.

"We know you do," Cassie nodded at her.

"It's all hot too," She realized looking into the bag again.

Rory gave Lorelai a pointed look, shaking her head at her while saying, "Now doesn't someone feel silly?"

"Me?" Lorelai replied.

"I think we should call Pete tonight," Cassie suggested.

Lorelai nodded her head slowly, "Okay, after cheesy bread."

"Fine, after cheesy bread."

"I'm gonna get the mail, you two go inside," Lorelai told her daughters.

"I'm gonna go melt some more cheese on the pizza," Cassie told them as an excited look appeared on Rory's face.

"Melt away."

The girls went inside and Cassie went straight to the fridge. She grabbed the bag of cheese they bought yesterday and walked back over the pizza. Rory watched as Cassie poured almost the entire bag of cheese on their pizza.

Cassie was too entranced with the pizza to notice the look she was getting from her sister. Rory knew it was wrong, how much she thought about Jess. She was supposed to be with Dean. Dean was supposed to be her entire world.

"So, uh, how's Jess?" Rory asked quietly, so quietly that Cassie barely heard her.

"You what?" Cassie asked her.

Rory then shook her head, suddenly glad Cassie hadn't heard her. "I was just asking how Ethan is," Rory said to her.

"Oh," Cassie nodded her head, unconvinced. "He's good. How's Dean?"

"Uh," Rory hesitated.

"Still tall?" Cassie asked her.

"Yep, still tall."

Cassie sighed as she turned her attention off the pizza and put it on her sister. Rory was looking into the empty paper bag, staring at something. "Rory... is there something you wanna ask me?"

"Nope," Rory looked up slowly and they both knew she was lying. "Mom's been gone awhile, I should check on her," Rory quickly excused herself from the room. Cassie shook her head, wondering what to do with her sister.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

Somehow Lorelai ended up agreeing to water their new neighbors lawn. How she got the job, no one was sure. Everyone in town knew not to trust Lorelai Gilmore with their plants or animals. Their kids or clothes, sure. Plants or animals, definitely not.

Yet somehow here they were walking towards their new neighbor's house. Dwight had found Lorelai the night before, excited about the idea of friendly neighbors in a nice town.

Lorelai ran up the pathway finding the sprinkler system Dwight had showed her the night before. "Okay, come on, sprinkle," she said as the water began pouring over the lawn. Cassie looked around the exterior of the house, noticing something in one of the pots by the door. "There, drink up boys, we've got breakfast to get to."

"Mom," Cassie held up an envelope.

"What?"

"I think this is for you," Cassie told her.

Lorelai walked up to Cassie taking the envelope that clearly had her name written on it. "Lorelai? No, it must be someone else," She told her but Cassie was already moving to open the envelope. "Do not read that. I'm telling you, no good can come from reading that."

"Dear Lorelai," Cassie read aloud, causing Rory to laugh at the manly voice her sister was attempting.

"And she's reading it," Lorelai shook her head. "Dwight doesn't sound nearly that manly."

"Just a couple of things that came to mind after we talked," Cassie continued, her voice returning to its normal tone.

"Oh great," Lroelai rolled her eyes.

Rory moved to stand beside her sister, while Cassie continued reading. "First of all, thank you for this very kind favor you're doing for me. I still can't believe that any one person would be so kind to someone they just met. Geez," Cassie cringed.

"Yeah, apparently Dwight's last home was Oz, and not as in "The Wizard of,'" Lorelai told them before Cassie continued.

"Since you are already coming over to take care of my lawn, I was hoping you wouldn't mind stopping inside and watering my African violets. I've written the directions on a separate sheet of paper, there's a key in the planter by the door," Cassie glanced back at Rory who was already moving towards the planter in search of the key. "Please go in, make yourself at home. I have food in the fridge, satellite TV, and a great collection of board games. My oasis is your oasis."

"I'm not going in that house. Rory, put that key back," Lorelai told her oldest daughter.

"But we have to water the violets," Rory reminded her.

Lorelai shook her head, "No. I didn't agree to violets. He threw the violets in after he'd already rooked me into watering his lawn."

"Come on. Let's at least get a peek at the oasis," Cassie smiled, also wanting to go inside the house.

"Absolutely not. Key, please." Lorelai took the key from Rory, but then her own curiosity won out. Now they were moving towards Dwight's front door. "Let me just say, if we walk in there and his dead mother is sitting in a rocking chair, not a bit surprised," Lorelai said as she unlocked and opened the door.

"Well, well, well," Cassie laughed as she looked around the house.

"This place is great," Rory smiled as they all stepped further into the house.

"Someone took the whole lounge craze very seriously," Lorelai observed.

Rory walked over to the cabinet, opening it to reveal basically every board game ever created, "Oh my."

"Geez. He wasn't kidding," Lorelai and Cassie's eyes widened as they all moved to look inside the cabinet.

"I have never seen this many board games. He's got monopoly from every country in the world," Rory said, her eyes still wide with either horror or amusement, no one was sure.

"Hey, when you finally meet him?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember he owns twisters. There's a great visual awaiting you," Lorelai told them, trying her best not to laugh.

Cassie nodded, "Got it. Wha- Hey, how come we don't have a tiki bar?"

"Well, we are not three wild and crazy guys," Lorelai answered her.

"Are you sure about that?" Cassie asked as she walked behind the tiki bar.

"Yeah, you like pina coladas."

"And getting lost in the rain," Lorelai added, making her daughters smile at her.

"I love it here," Rory told them as she looked around the room again. "Hey, African violets."

"Oh right," they all walked towards the flowers and watered them quickly.

"This place is so cool," Cassie smiled as they left the house. The Gilmores then parted ways, Cassie and Rory headed to the bus while Lorelai went to work.

The day went by rather quickly from there. The girls attended their classes, had lunch in the cafeteria, and even made time to write their newspaper articles. All in all the day went well.

Cassie went through the day completely unaware as to what was about to happen. She only realized Rory's odd behavior when she was walking slower than normal to the bus station.

"Rory, pick up the pace please, we're not in an old folks home yet," Cassie told her beginning to grow annoyed now that Rory had made her third pit stop since they left the news room.

"I just feel like I forgot something," Rory told her.

"Notebooks," Cassie said.

"Check."

"Binder."

"Check."

"My will to live."

"Yeah, yeah," Rory glanced over at the clock on the wall, realizing her stalling had worked out perfectly. "Okay, let's move."

"Geez, what. Rory," Cassie was now struggling to keep up with her sister. Moving through the sea of students to get to the door.

It wasn't until they reached the front yard that Cassie realized what was going on. Ethan was standing by the entrance, he was smiling waiting for her to show up. Cassie turned her head to look at Rory who suddenly looked very pleased with herself.

"You were in on this?" Cassie asked her.

"Of course I was," Rory responded. "Give me your backpack. I'll see you tonight."

Cassie let Rory take her back, "I'm supposed to go out in this?" She looked down at her uniform.

"I gave him some of your clothes, it's in the car," Rory told her. Rory smiled seeing the look on her sister's face. When Ethan said he wanted to take Cassie on a surprise date, Rory jumped at the opportunity to help. Rory wanted to do something for her sister, after everything Cassie's done for her. She deserves this. "Go on. Have fun."

"Thanks Rory."

"Don't thank me for anything," Rory replied as she sent her sister towards Ethan.

Rory watched as Ethan pulled Cassie towards her. The two of them shared a quick kiss in the courtyard. Of course, Rory wasn't the only one who had her eyes on them. Just as Cassie and Ethan headed away from the school Josh walked outside.

Across the courtyard he saw his ex-girlfriend, with another guy. A guy that wasn't him and clearly wasn't just a friend. The pain that appeared in Josh's chest then, would be something he'd never forget. Because this was the moment he realized he was still in love with Cassidy Gilmore.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

"Ooh, I got you a present," Lorelai told her daughters now that all three of them were sitting down.

"What?" Rory asked her, clearly skeptical.

"In my purse."

Being closer to the purse Cassie reached down, finding the one odd item in a sea of odd items. She pulled out the video tape, reading the name out loud. "Cardio Salsa."

"Yeah," Lorelai smiled brightly, clearly excited. "They play the Miami Sound Machine and you dance around, you get a really good workout."

"Why would you buy us this?" Rory asked, looking at the videotape in her sister's hand.

"Because I'll feel stupid doing it alone," Lorelai replied.

"Nope," Cassie shook her head, setting the tape down on the table.

"Too bad," Rory agreed with her sister.

Lorelai put on a sad smile, "Salsa with me. Pretend I'm Antonio Banderas."

Cassie snorted at the thought as she continued shaking her head, "Pretending you're Antonio Banderas is workout enough."

"Don't you want your mother to live a long and healthy life?" Lorelai asked her.

"Not if it means we have to Cardio Salsa," Rory answered.

"Ah- what?"

Rory smiled, "Nice knowing you señora. Adios."

"I would salsa for you," Lorelai told them just as her phone began to ring. "Hello? Oh Dwight."

With Lorelai on the phone Rory turned to her sister. She still hadn't heard about the date from yesterday, and was eager for details. "So, tell me."

Cassie glanced down as a blush appeared on her face as she smiled. "It was kind of perfect," she told her sister as she nodded her head. "We went to a movie and made fun of it the entire time. He bought me dinner and after that we just walked around this park and talked. Like really talked."

"About what?" Rory asked, genuinely curious.

"We talked about college, the anxiety of it all. I don't know, Ethan makes me feel like I could do anything," Cassie smiled as the words left her mouth. "He sees me differently than everyone else does."

"He should," Rory smiled at her. "You deserve someone like that."

"It seems that Dwight has been checking the weather reports... what did I miss?" Lorelai asked her daughters after hanging up the phone. The both smiled but shook their heads, deciding to fill Lorelai in later. "Anyway, Stars Hollow is going to be extra sunny for the next few days, so he was wondering if instead of watering the lawn twice a day for fifteen minutes, we could water it three times a day for ten minutes."

"He should really get a dog," Rory thought.

"No, he'd ask us to watch it," Cassie told her and they couldn't help but agree.

"So..." Lorelai smiled at her daughters and they both knew what she was about to say. "I have to get back to the inn, could you, um, water for me?"

"Nope," Cassie answered without hesitation.

"It was your idea to do it," Rory reminded their mother.

"I can't, I have a China shipment coming in."

Cassie shook her head at her, "excuses, excuses."

"Do it tonight."

"Dwight says it needs it now, and if we let that lawn die, he's gonna vibe us for the rest of our lives," Lorelai warned them.

Rory laughed as she looked over at Cassie, "Not us, we're going to college next year."

"You'll be home for the holidays."

"Plans can be rescheduled," Cassie pointed out.

"You would stay away from me on holidays just because of Dwight?" Lorelai asked them, looking between the two girls with an offended expression.

Cassie held her hands up in surrender, "Hey, nobody wants vibing on the holidays."

"Girls, please. I'm gonna be seriously late if I have to go all the way home," Lorelai said this time putting her serious tone on.

The twins sighed, exchanging a quick look before giving in. "Fine."

"Thank you. You're my favorite daughters."

"You say that to all of us," Rory replied.

"Yes, but I only mean it with you two," Lorelai smiled at them as she grabbed her purse off the ground and stood up from the chair. "Bye. Love you."

"Bye."

They watched Lorelai leave, both of them equally annoyed about this new task on their list. "Can I talk you out of it?" Cassie asked her.

"Come on," Rory stood up from the table and Cassie reluctantly followed her.

They walked to Dwight's house. Cassie turned the sprinklers on while Rory went inside the house to water the flowers again. Cassie watched the water fall onto the lawn, oddly entertained by it.

"Dwight's ex wife is nuts," Rory announced as she walked back out of the house.

"Do I wanna know?" Cassie asked her.

Rory shook her head, "No."

"Ignorance is bliss," Cassie smiled before turning back to look at the lawn.

"It is at that," Rory agreed. "Let's just turn it off and go home."

Cassie reached back, handing her sister the metal stick that turns the spigot on and off. Rory took it, expecting to easily turn it off. That's not what happened. Cassie let out a surprised scream as the water suddenly grew, soaking both her and Rory.

"Whoa!" Rory yelled.

"Turn it off!" Cassie yelled at her.

"I'm trying!" Rory snapped but she couldn't figure out how to turn the dial back. "Gross."

"Rory!" Now soaked from the sprinklers Cassie made her way to Rory, desperately trying to get the sprinklers off. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do it!"

The girls gave up and pulled out their pages, Cassie was hoping to reach Ethan while Rory paged Dean. "Answer please," Cassie begged.

"Oh come on. Dean! Aw man," Rory sighed as the girls moved away from the lawn. "You go north."

"I'm not a compass!"

"That way!" Rory pointed and the girls split up, both of them hoping to find someone that could help them.

Cassie walked down the street with her pager in hand, still trying to get ahold of Ethan. "Oh come on!"

Completely soaked from the sprinklers, she ran down the street, not noticing the familiar car that parked across the street from where she was. Cassie was desperately looking around for someone, anyone that could help them turn the water off.

"Cassie!"

Hearing his voice made her stop. She turned around, seeing the person she least expected to see right now. "Josh?"

"What's wrong? Why are you soaked?" He asked her, a little worried about what was going on. He saw the deer in headlights look on her face. Josh knew it was partly because he was here but there was something else too.

"Dwight's lawn. We couldn't..." Cassie stopped mid sentence, already forgetting what happened. "Why are you here?"

Josh smiled, awkwardly scratching the back on his head. "To be honest, I have no idea. I wasn't sure if I'd actually find you. But uh, I did."

"Yeah, you did," Cassie nodded.

"Yesterday, I saw you with that guy and I couldn't stop thinking about you," Josh admitted to her and Cassie shook her head. She couldn't hear this, not now, she's in a relationship. Josh walked closer to her and Cassie didn't know if she should move away or stand still. "I had to see you."

"He's my boyfriend," Cassie told him, needing him to know that before Josh said anything else.

He nodded, a flash of jealousy appearing in his eyes, but he didn't look surprised. "Right. Right, of course he is. I'm sure he's great, he wasn't bad looking or anything," Josh said, still inching towards her. "But he isn't me."

"Josh," Cassie scoffed softly, completely forgetting that she was still soaked from the sprinklers. She shook her head at him.

"He's not," Josh continued. "It'll never be like what you and I had."

"Aren't you still dating Stella?"

"Doesn't matter."

"It does. It does matter," Cassie told him and she knew the answer to her question. "I doubt she'd like that you're here."

"Stella and I-"

"Think about that," Cassie interrupted him. "You and Stella. Josh, I don't know why you're here but it's not right. You have Stella. I have Ethan."

"Ethan," He repeated, scoffing quietly.

"Even if there was no Ethan, I couldn't be with you like this. Don't be that asshole guy that goes back to his ex when he has a girlfriend. You aren't that guy," Cassie told him, praying she was right. "Don't be that guy."

Josh let out a deep breath, knowing deep down she was right. He knew the entire time that he drove here that this was wrong. Even if he and Stella aren't soulmates they still needed to be respectful of each other, Josh knew that.

"I'm sorry," He took a small step backwards. "I just... I saw you guys together and something snapped. I realized how much I missed you."

"I get it," Cassie admitted to him, and Josh looked a little surprised. "Really. I've missed you too."

"Yeah?" Josh smirked at her and Cassie couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Josh."

"Sorry."

The former couple smiled at each other, both of them wishing this was easier. They weren't expecting this when they broke up. They'd both hope the feelings they had for each other would fade away with time. Except now, as they stood in front of each other, they both felt that small flutter that used to be there. It was strange, terrifying even.

"You know... maybe we could try the friends thing," Josh said to her and Cassie gave him a hesitant look. "I won't do anything weird like this again. I promise. I just don't want to go back to never talking to you."

Cassie understood how he felt, so she nodded her head agreeing with him. "We could try."

"Good."

"Cassie!" They both turned, seeing Ethan headed their way.

"I need to go," Josh said to her, wanting to get out of there before things got more awkward. "Bye, Cassie."

"Bye Josh."

She watched as he walked back over to his car. He got in just as Ethan approached her, "You paged me 911."

"Oh my god!" Cassie gasped, remembering what happened and how her clothes were completely soaked. She turned on her heel, running back over to Dwight's with Ethan following behind her. By the time they got there Dean was turning off the sprinklers and Rory had a weird look on her face.

"Guess that explains the soaked look," Ethan smiled at her.

"Yeah," she smiled back, "It does."

She probably should've told him about Josh. But she didn't. She just smiled at him like nothing bizarre happened that day. But that night she fell asleep thinking about her ex-boyfriend.

a/n: guys, oh my god. Josh is back, things are happening, sort of. What are your thoughts, I'm dying to hear! Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you reading this the day it's posted!