Once and Again 1. Chapter 1

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: Okay. A little background for the story…I'm going to make Katie a junior in this and Jessie a sophomore. Katie and Jessie are best friends, of course, but neither one has admitted to feelings for anyone major, neither boy nor girl. Tad likes Jessie, and Katie's trying to be happy for them in case they become a new couple, but for some reason she just can't fathom them together, and she's not sure why. She's also not sure why she doesn't like any of the guys that Tad tries to set her up with. Jessie's trying to figure out why she likes double dates best, and Tad is trying to figure out why he can't ever get himself to actually kiss Jessie when they go on a date when Katie is around.

* * *

"Hey you," Jessie looked up from her locker to see Katie leaning nonchalantly against the one next to it.

"Hey Billie. What's up?" A smile immediately spread across the blonde's face as she saw the older girl. The bell signaling the end of the school day had just rung. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. We're going to a movie tonight."

"We?" Katie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Who is we exactly?" She knew that Tad had been trying to get her to go on a double-date with some guy friend of his when he went out with Jessie. He wasn't sure if she'd be willing to go on a date with him otherwise, and he was too chicken to ask otherwise.

"Well, me, you, Tad and some guy that he thinks you'll like…His name is Devon." Katie scowled. She'd met Devon before. He was cute, but he couldn't find a joke if it had a nametag on it, especially not with Katie's sense of humor. He just didn't understand it.

"You just had to bring me along on your date with Tad didn't you?" Katie frowned again as she watched Jessie slam her books into her book bag. "You don't look too happy about the date tonight yourself." Katie commented smoothly as she noticed the frown etching its way onto the blonde's face.

"I'm fine. I'm excited about tonight. I'm sure whatever movie Tad and Devon had in mind will be good, but I have this paper that I still have to finish tonight." She sighed as she shoved another folder into her book bag.

"Well, I'll help you with it. What class is it?" Katie offered knowing that she most likely had the class the previous year, so she would know what they were working on anyway.

"American history," Jessie made a face as she maneuvered her book bag onto her shoulders. Katie had her own book bag flung onto only one shoulder. It looked really light. She hardly ever brought home homework. Yet she did well in her classes. That amazed Jessie to no end.

"See, I had it last year. I'll help you start your paper, and then I can finish my own homework. I should probably read some more for English Lit. anyway. Dimitri will be proud if I actually finish the whole reading assignment." Katie and Jessie started towards Katie's car. Katie was staying the night at Jessie's tonight after the date. Grace wasn't able to offer Jessie a ride home that night anyway because she had some meeting with Mr. Dimitri and some other students…again.

"You've read the story before haven't you?" Jessie looked up at her best friend who looked shocked at such an idea.

"Moi? Never…" She paused for a moment and realized that Jessie didn't believe her. "Okay, I've read it once before." And that was how Katie never had to do the actual assignments, and she could still ace the class. Jessie snickered, but Katie acted like a good driver and ignored it until they got to the Manning household, and even then, it wasn't until the younger girl had a good start on her paper that Katie complained.

"Billie…I'm bored." Katie rolled over and looked up on the bed where Jessie was perched, working on her paper. After Katie explained what she had written about the year before, Jessie had decided that she was better off thinking of her own idea. Surprisingly, Katie's presence in the room seemed to help the younger girl get her paper written anyway.

There was no response from Jessie, so Katie sighed louder. "What Billie?" Jessie lifted her eyes from her paper to look down at Katie who was lying on her stomach on the floor. She had taken all of the pillows off of Jessie's bed to make her own little area to read some English Literature. After ten pages she had gotten bored, but she read another few chapters before her complaining had started.

"Come play with me," Katie whined, and she realized how that sounded. Jessie quirked an eyebrow at her friend. "Oh, stop with the looks. You're the one who thought of it as dirty." Jessie's smirk quickly disappeared and she tried to think of a response.

"You can play with Devon later tonight…after I finish my paper. How's that?" Jessie made the offer hoping that she got the paper done before the rest of the weekend started anyway. With Katie at her house though, there was a good chance that she wouldn't finish all of it before Saturday though.

"Devon? Ew." Katie made a face and flopped dramatically onto her bed of pillows again. Jessie had gone back to writing her paper again. So, Katie did the only thing she could to get the younger girl's attention. She flopped onto the bed instead. She sprawled herself across the foot of the bed, before going back to her pillow bed and grabbing an armful of pillows so that she could lean against them while on the bed.

The blonde looked up, entertained. She easily arched an eyebrow. "Fine. Who would you rather be going on a date with?" The older girl shrugged as she began to space out a little bit. Jessie rolled her eyes at her best friend. "Okay, so what type of guy do you like?" By now, Jessie had stretched out on the bed so that her feet were lying on Katie's legs. It was just more comfortable that way.

"You," Katie responded automatically as she toyed frayed bottoms of Jessie's jeans, not really thinking about it. The word 'guy' didn't really even process in her mind, but she had to admit, when someone asked who was perfect for her…Jessie was the only one who came to mind. She didn't want Jessie to know that though. Shit.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again. Though, lucky me, I get to claim Devon.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: Here's the second part of the story…I was originally going to include the whole date in this part, but I decided to split the date into two parts…Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Jessie looked shy for a moment before giggling at her best friend. "You're silly. You just don't want to go out with Devon tonight." Katie's eyes shut in relief for a moment. Jessie took it as a joke. She could handle that. It was better than Jessie telling her to get out of the room. So, Katie did the only thing she could. She played along.

"Yeah," the older girl sighed. "He doesn't get me," she whined. "I made a joke last time I had to hang out with him, and he thought I was serious." She made a face and the blonde laughed.

"What joke? Was it the one about the polar bears and the sweater? Because really that joke wasn't that funny in the first place." Jessie looked up at Katie, and she fought the impulse to push the piece of hair out of the other girl's face that was dangling in front of one of her eyes.

Katie rolled her eyes. "So misunderstood." Jessie raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Well, slightly misunderstood at the very least!" Katie declared this and the blonde girl simply rolled her eyebrows, letting her friend ramble. She knew there was no way to stop it until she finished. "Besides, it was a different joke anyway. Tad made me meet him and Devon at the movie theatre once to see some stupid movie. I'd parked in the parking lot so Devon obviously couldn't see me drive up." Jessie nodded to let Katie know that she was listening to the rambling story. "He thought I'd gotten a ride there so that I'd be dropped off right in front of the theatre. So he'd see me walk up, you know? Well, obviously I walked in through a different entrance rather than the front one that they were standing by. He then turned to me and said, 'How'd you get here?' which really is a stupid question. He should be glad that I didn't tell him that I was born from my mother. So, I told him that I'd walked there. He was in shock and asked me how far I'd had to walk to get there. Honestly! He believed me. There are no houses within three miles of the movie theatre, and they had called me half an hour ago! Why would I walk to a movie theatre in half an hour from that distance?"

"Did you tell him the truth?" Jessie managed to get out the question before bursting out laughing. Okay, Devon really didn't sound that smart when Katie told stories about him like that.

"Tad told him." Katie rolled her eyes. "And then, Devon just acted like I was a weirdo for answering him the way I did. At least Tad laughed afterward…Devon just sat there." She cringed. "Billie, do I have to go out with him?" She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.

Jessie chuckled as Katie continued to play with the frayed-bottoms of the blonde's jeans. "Yes, because otherwise it'll be just be me and Tad on the date."

"And that's so bad?" Katie looked at her friend before continuing. "You two go on double dates all the time. Isn't it about time for a single date?" Jessie made a face but didn't say anything. "Not that I don't like going on a double date with you guys with some random friend of Tad's each time…" Katie continued and Jessie let out a deep breath, still not saying anything. "Why would Devon even want to go out with me again? I mean, it doesn't make sense. He acted like I was a weirdo last time, so he wants to go out with me again? Why?" Katie scrunched her eyebrows together in thought.

Jessie had been playing with a loose string on her bedspread until she looked over at Katie. "Maybe he wants to go back out with you because you're beautiful." Katie stopped playing with the jean fringes.

"You think I'm beautiful?" It was an honest question, but Jessie let out a nervous laugh nonetheless after hearing it.

"Yes, and I bet he does too. He'd have to be a moron not to." Jessie finished what she had to say still looking at Katie.

Katie smiled nervously as Jessie squinted at her, "What?"

"You have a hair in your face…" Jessie trailed off as she reached over and moved the offending piece of hair out of the way. "There. Now you're even more beautiful!" Jessie declared this as Katie blushed.

"Jessie!" The blonde looked confused for a moment, realizing that it wasn't her friend that had been talking to her. "Katie!" The voice continued and she realized it was Grace. "What?" Both girls asked at once and giggled, but when the door to the room opened, they scattered. Katie abruptly stood up and Jessie drew her knees closer to her. It was as if they had been shocked back into the real world.

"The guys are here," Grace explained. Right. The real world included their date with Tad and Devon. "Have fun," she continued as the two other girls walked downstairs to find Tad and Devon at the door.

"Hey guys," Jessie and Katie again said at once.

"Jinx," Grace muttered as she walked down the stairs and the other two girls glared at her before giggling. "What?"

"Nothing," Jessie mentioned it nonchalantly as Tad introduced Devon and Katie to each other again.

"We've met before," Katie reminded Tad.

"Yeah, man," Devon rolled his eyes at his friend before focusing on the girl again. "So, did you walk here too?" He smirked like he was funny and Katie forced a smile at him.

"Shall we?" Devon turned around and opened the door and both guys walked out towards the car leaving the girls standing there.

"Help me," Katie muttered to Jessie before they followed their dates outside. Jessie couldn't help what she did next; she laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviews. I really appreciate it…and, here's the next chapter. Whoo.

* * *

Katie ended up sitting in the backseat with Devon, while Jessie was placed in the front with Tad. Devon was rambling about some camp that he had gone to when he was little. He was telling stories about it, but Katie was trying to listen to Jessie and Tad's conversation. The blonde girl kept smiling at him during the drive. Apparently Jessie had a funny date anyway.

"Hmph," Katie sighed unhappily and looked out the car window for the rest of the ride until they got to the theatre.

The guys went to buy the tickets and the girls went to get the popcorn. "Was the ride here really that bad?" Jessie looked at the miserable girl who was standing next to her.

"Did you know that he went to camp for eight years?" Katie's eyes bugged out a little bit in distress as she asked Jessie.

"What's wrong with camp?" Jessie glanced over at Katie and started to laugh while trying to order the popcorn. The movie attendant got slightly annoyed but got the popcorn anyway.

"He told me how he got thrown out of camp each year…most of which involved him mooning some counselor." Katie's rolled his eyes. "He's so immature! And still not funny." She pouted and Jessie offered her some popcorn in return.

"Goody, fun date huh?" Jessie couldn't help but laugh at Katie's miserable face.

"Jess! That's mean. You have to save me." She said it dramatically while grabbing some more of Jessie's popcorn.

"Fine. Sit by me on one side during the movie, okay?" Jessie raised her eyes to meet Katie's.

"Yeah," Katie nodded in agreement. "Wait. Weren't we going to sit like that anyway?"

"Yeah," Jessie admitted sheepishly. She was trying to make her best friend feel better, but she saw through her plans anyway. Maybe that was the purpose of a best friend anyway.

"This movie is supposed to be the best horror flick available." Tad was describing the movie to Devon as the two guys walked back with tickets.

"Horror flick?" Jessie immediately paled. She hated horror movies.

"Yeah. It has four stars. Really gory. I'm glad that we were able to get you girls to come see it actually." Jessie paled some more. Apparently Tad didn't know her as well as he thought. Jessie was petrified of horro movies. Plus, Katie hated her date. Perfect match.

"Aw, our girls love horror movies." Tad smiled at them both. "Don't they?" They were still frowning, so he looked at Devon for help.

"They're just speechless," Devon decided and Tad nodded in agreement.

It was fifteen minutes into the movie before Jessie screamed for the first time. "It's just a dog," Katie muttered to Jessie when the bush shook where the teenager hid. The teenager in the film was cowering in fear when something poked the bush. Then a bark was heard. It was the teenager's dog.

"How did you know?" Jessie glanced in amazement over at her best friend, who shrugged sheepishly.

"I've had to go to a lot of movies with Tad," she explained. "They're all pretty much the same."

Jessie nodded. "So, it's going to be his sister in the house right?"

Katie shook her head. "It's going to be the killer." A few minutes later, the teenaged boy was running away from the guy with the knife again. Katie was right.

"My God, how many of these did he make you go to?" A withering look from Katie made Jessie giggle and allow the older girl not to answer.

"So," Jessie continued, thinking that if she kept talking that she wouldn't get too into the movie. The guys had glared at them both already for talking. "The creepy guy with the mask is the uncle right?"

"No," Katie looked confused. "That's obviously the killer." The boy pulled the mask off of the creepy guy, and it was, in fact, just his uncle.

"Ooh, score one for Jessie!" The blonde was happy, and it wasn't Katie's fault when she then threw some popcorn at Jessie. "Huh!" Jessie exclaimed before throwing some popcorn back at the older girl. Their game ended when the guys glared at them again. They were supposed to be quiet. It worked for a few minutes, and then Jessie screamed again. So, it was only natural when Katie slipped her hand into Jessie's, and it was natural when Jessie casually threaded her fingers through Katie's. It was Tad's fault, after all, for bringing the blonde to the movie. She didn't think to hold his hand, and instead, she snuggled into Katie's shoulder. Both girls didn't notice the look that the guys gave them.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again. Well, okay, I own Devon, but that's all.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: First, thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate it. Secondly, I've been asked about the title of the story, and yes, it will be explained later in the story...all of the titles of my stories end up being explained at some point in the story. Though, I admit, that usually the explanations to the titles come towards the end of the story. Also, I'm going to Europe for a couple of weeks in a few days...So, I won't be able to update for those couple of weeks. I'm sorry about that, but I promise that I'll be back. Just wait for me ;) Lastly, and of course, as always, enjoy.

* * *

"Dude," Devon gestured over the girls' heads that Tad had to do something about the current situation. Jessie was snuggled into Katie, and they were whispering. That wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were the ones who had taken the girls on a date. It needed to be fixed. 

"What Tad?" Jessie glanced at the guy to her left, as he very subtly poked her in the side.

"Just, you seemed scared…" He mumbled, and gestured that she could snuggle with him instead.

"What? Oh…well…Katie's…" Jessie was very comfortable, and frankly she didn't feel like moving. She liked having Katie whisper what she thought was going to happen in the movie to her, and she liked having the older girl with her arm around her shoulders.

"Katie has her own date." Tad pointed at Devon, who waved at the two girls who were still sitting together.

"Tad, I don't…" Katie was trying to point out that she didn't mind if Jessie wanted to sit with her like that. Nope. Didn't mind at all.

"Katie has her own date." Tad whispered harshly and a few people hushed him.

"Right," Devon smiled happily at Katie. Devon lifted his arm and slipped it around Katie's seat. "See? You fit perfectly here, under my arm."

"So, Katie…you wanna…" Tad nodded his head towards Devon, urging her towards him.

"No," she looked back towards the movie, and Jessie giggled slightly. A few more people hushed them.

"I don't bite." Jessie snickered again after hearing Katie's date mumble this. He reminded her of a vampire suddenly.

"No, Devon," Katie ignored his pleas, just as they ignored the hushing from the rest of the audience. They were getting louder by the second. "I don't touch on the first date."

"Really? Why?" Devon looked shocked. For once, Katie was thankful that he didn't understand her sense of humor.

"It's against my religion," Katie mumbled humbly, and Jessie choked back her laughter. Tad rolled his eyes.

"Whoa…" Devon was the only one who didn't understand the joke

"Devon, she's kidding." Tad felt bad for the poor guy. He was so into Katie, but she kept making fun of him. Tad didn't understand it.

"Really?" Devon glanced back at Katie, trying to act like he knew it was a joke all along.

"Is there a problem here?" Suddenly there was a flashlight shining on the four of them, and they all blinked in the harsh light.

"No, Officer," Tad mumbled, obviously startled..

"He's not an officer. It's an usher. We're in the movie theatre, moron." Katie glared at her friend, and he suddenly revised what he said.

"Of course," he mumbled again.

"No problem," the usher smiled at the group gently before continuing. "There's been complaints…I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to escort you out of the theatre."

"We're being kicked out?" Jessie looked shocked. She had never been kicked out of anywhere before…and for some reason, it made her giggle.

"No, we're given being given free popcorn." Katie mumbled. She couldn't help it. The sarcastic remarks just seemed to tumble out of her mouth.

"That's a joke," Jessie whispered helpfully to Devon as they stood up.

"I know," he replied, rolling his eyes at the blonde before turning to Katie. "You're funny, Katie." She rolled her own eyes and stepped away from the hand that was trying to claim her own. He recoiled instantly, "Right, no touching until the next date."

"We should…go get food or something?" Tad suggested as they piled back into his car outside the theatre.

"There's a diner up ahead…" Devon suggested, not sure of the closing times.

"They closed ten minutes ago," Tad reminded him of the last time that they had a hunger for hamburgers late at night. The place had already been closed.  
"There's a gas station right there." Katie pointed to it, and the rest of them shrugged, figuring they might as well make use of it. So, ten minutes later, they were piled with food, and they stood around outside munching on their own snacks before the manager of the gas station got suspicious of them.

"No loitering kids," he mumbled harshly before going back inside the building.

Jessie burst out laughing, "What else can we get kicked out of tonight?"

"Um, I think it's time for us to get home actually," Tad had promised to have the car back early that night, and it was almost eleven as it was. "Right. Devon. I'm dropping you off first." His house was the closest to the gas station.

"Good night, Devon." Katie called to him from the car, not wanting to get out to talk to him.

"Bye you guys. I'll call you, Katie." He winked at her before turning around and walking towards the house. Jessie giggled from the front seat, and Katie shot her a threatening glare when the blonde girl turned around to face her.

"Katie, do you mind if I drop Jessie off next?" Tad asked this questioningly, because he felt bad dropping off his date before his friend, but he had to talk to Katie about something important.

"Whatever works," Katie shrugged, and Jessie didn't mind either.

"Good night, Katie." Jessie turned around and smiled at the older girl before climbing out onto the street.

"Sweet dreams, Jess," Katie called.

"I'll walk you to the door." Tad got out of the car, following the blonde girl up to the front steps. "Um, this is awkward with Katie watching," he mumbled.

"What? Talking to me?" Jessie giggled at her own joke, and Tad managed a fake laugh. He was nervous

"No, this." And then he reached out hesitantly kissing Jessie on the mouth. The girl was shocked and didn't react. Luckily the kiss was short, so she wasn't sure if he noticed.

"Oh, right," she giggled nervously. It was weird. She wasn't sure if it was because her best friend was watching or not. "Well, thanks for tonight."

"You're welcome…One question though. You don't like horror movies do you?" He peered at her under the porch light and she laughed.

"No," she was blunt, and he nodded, happy that she was truthful. She walked back into the house after a quick goodnight.

"Good to know," he mumbled before saying good night to her. "She doesn't like horror movies. Good job, Tad. Bring her to a horror movie when she hates them. No wonder she clung to her best friend instead of her date…" He was muttering to himself when he got back to the car. Katie was now in the front passenger seat.

"Talking to yourself isn't a good sign. You're supposed to call that 1-800 number if paranoia starts after taking the medicine." She smiled at her friend as he got into the car. He jumped, realizing that she had heard his rambling.

"Would you rather me talk about you?" He raised his eyebrows, knowing that he had to ask the question that had been bugging him that night.

"If it's within thirty days, then you get your money back," Katie continued smiling and joking before realizing that he had a serious look on his face. "What about me?"

"You don't like Devon, do you?" Blunt. Tad didn't feel like going around the subject.

"No, I don't." He was blunt, so Katie thought that she should be too, at least until she heard his next question.

"You're gay; aren't you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: First off, thank you to everyone who reviews. I really do appreciate it. Also, I'm back! Which means more updates to read. Enjoy!

One more thing…In this story, I'm changing it from the television show a little bit. Just a slight alteration, really. Sarah and Katie have never met before.

* * *

Katie was caught off-guard, and her mouth didn't seem to work properly for a moment. Tad had just asked her if she was gay out of no where…It was unexpected to say the least. "What?" That was all that came out of her mouth, even when it worked properly again.

"Gay," Tad repeated. "Katie, you're gay, aren't you?"

"You got that because I don't like the guys that you set me up with?" Katie tilted her head to look at her friend because she had never known that he was that observant before. She didn't give him enough credit before, well, and he gave his friends too much credit. Even if she had been straight, he hadn't set her up with any decent guys.

"Uh, yeah…" Tad rambled on for a moment before letting his sentence trail off. He had a sudden thought. "Wait. Oh God. I'm wrong aren't I?" He was prepared to apologize profusely to her. Tad had been wrong; Katie was straight.

"No," the girl chuckled at the look on her friend's face. It felt weird admitting that out loud. She was gay. She stretched her legs out a little bit more, as much as the car would allow, and took another breath. "No actually. You got something right for once." His eyes widened in surprise for a second. He didn't have to apologize…Good, he didn't feel quite so stupid anymore, for once.

"Well, you know there's this cute girl that I think you'd like…" He smiled over at her as he pulled up to her house. Tad was good at multi-tasking while driving. If he was a girl then he would be the girl who put on make-up while driving. Instead, since he was a guy, a very make-up-less guy, he simply had conversations with his best friend about her being gay. Well, okay, he'd only done that once, but that once he was driving all the while. Tad was proud of that.

"Doesn't it matter to you that I'm gay?" Katie blinked a few times. He had immediately switched gears on her. She hadn't thought that he would care if she was gay, of course, he was open-minded enough, but he went from setting her up with his guy friends to his girl friends just like that. Maybe he was maturing for once…

"Should it?" He quirked an eyebrow at her. Maybe he did have it wrong; he was supposed to be upset that she hadn't told him before now.

"Well, no, but…" She shrugged absentmindedly, not knowing what else to say.

"It doesn't matter to me, Katie. You're one of my best friends." He smiled reassuringly at the girl next to him. "The only other best friend I have is my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" She blinked, unsure of where that train of thought had come in. Jessie. He had to mean Jessie, but she wasn't sure when the two going on a few dates had transformed into a real relationship…They hadn't even gone on a real date without Katie yet, and it was a relationship…Katie tried to hide her obvious discomfort, hoping that Tad wasn't that observant to notice it.

"Jessie, yes, Jessie. She's my girlfriend." He raised his eyebrows in surprise at her. "Wow. This conversation has ruined your sense of wit, hasn't it?"

"Oh, right. Jess." Katie faked a laugh. "She doesn't know…about me, I mean."

"I figured," Tad laughed a bit too, and Katie struggled to be comfortable again. The car suddenly felt small, and she couldn't make her long legs comfortable. "I dunno, Katie. It just, it feels weird to see you two all over each other. I think you should lay off of her for a while. She's not like that." Katie blinked slowly. Tad was saying that she had been flirting with his girlfriend, making his girlfriend uncomfortable. She refrained from mentioning that Jessie had been the one who had wanted to sit closer to her; Jessie had been the one who had snuggled into her side before snuggling into Tad's…her boyfriend's. "Katie, don't look at me like that. I can't help it that Jessie is straight. This other girl though…You'd like her!" She was already out the door, walking up to her house. She wasn't going to listen to that, not now. "Her name is Sarah!" Tad shouted at Katie's retreating back. They really would make a cute couple; almost as cute as Tad and Jessie. It would work.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: First off, thank you to everyone who reviews. Secondly, I'll explain in here how Tad knows Sarah (though, I did try to explain it a bit in the story too.) I have Tad and Sarah both working at a grocery store, which would be where they met, as co-workers. They later, after working together, have formed a friendship. Sarah goes to a different school in the area though, but she is the same age as Tad and Katie, just like she would be in the show. Also, there will be some Eli/Grace. Enjoy!

* * *

Friday night was supposed to be a date night. Actually, Saturday was supposed to be a date night too. Only, you weren't generally supposed to go on a date each night, especially if each date was with someone different. Not that Katie had a choice in that matter, Jessie and Tad forced her to go on all on their dates. How obnoxious. Actually, obnoxious was a good word to describe the guys that Tad set her up with. She had dates with Jason, Jon, Jake, and Devon, and the only thing that Devon had going for him was that his name didn't start with a 'J' unlike the first three guys. Now, there was someone new to add to the equation. Sarah. A girl.

Katie frowned and turned the music up louder. Billie Holiday always was one thing that would let her relax. She smiled as she remembered listening to Jessie sing. Oh shit. Right. She had been focusing on the fact that she had a date with a girl name Sarah, if she wanted it, and wondering how Jessie would take that, so she had forgotten that Tad wanted to set her up with Sarah partially to keep her 'off of Jessie'. The girl rolled her eyes thinking of him; he was jealous. In all honesty though, if she was scaring the younger girl…she didn't want that.

* * *

It only took one ring before Tad answered. "Yeah, Katie?"

"Have you been answering the phone like that all day?" The girl chuckled at her friend's behavior, knowing that he probably did, and knowing that he didn't have caller I.D.

"Of course…not." He laughed a bit nervously before diving right into what he was itching to know. "Does this mean that you'll go out tonight?"

Katie sighed. She had one question. "What do we tell Jessie?"

"That I thought you were sick of the guys and the dating, so I thought you could hang out with a friend instead." Actually, that wasn't that bad of a plan, even for Tad, especially for Tad.

One problem. "A friend that I've never met?"

"You'll meet her tonight," Tad promised, before hanging up the phone to call the other two girls.

* * *

"Sarah. Katie's going to hang out with a friend named Sarah." He had called Jessie first, to confirm the date with her.

"While we have a date?" She was skeptical of the idea. She didn't like Katie hanging out with this Sarah, while she was with Tad.

Tad shrugged, realizing that she couldn't see it over the phone. "Well…she doesn't like Devon." He didn't have a choice.

Jessie rolled her eyes, glad that Tad couldn't see it. He just wouldn't understand. "As everyone in the entire universe, except Devon, can see."

"Well, so I thought this would be a good change of character for her." He smiled knowing that Jessie was going to agree to the date, but he didn't say that. "It'll just be a group of friends hanging out, okay? Just like before."

* * *

"Sarah, I have someone you have to meet."

"What? Tad? I thought you were finally over trying to set me up with guys." Sarah sighed awkwardly. This was the fifth guy now that he tried to hook her up with…

"It's not a guy," he grinned. He knew that Katie was perfect with Sarah!

Sarah raised an eyebrow, questioningly. She wasn't sure if she trusted Tad's judgment after her last few dates…"Does she know I'm not a guy?"

Tad feigned surprise. "…You're not a guy?" He could feel her glare over the phone. Oh, so perfect with Katie. "Yes, she knows you're a girl, and that your name is Sarah, and that I said you were someone she should meet."

"Sounds familiar to what you told me." Oh goody. That night was going to be fun. She sighed. This was the last time that he was going to drag her into a blind date.

"Come on. I'm getting good at this setting-up people thing…Well, I'll be good once you two meet anyway, I promise." He paused before mentioning the last condition. "Just, uh, one thing."

"What's that?" She knew there was something. The girl was straight. The girl was bi-curious. Something. Some flaw had to be there.

He took a deep breath before rambling, knowing that it was upset her. "You, uh, have to act like you're not on a date because, um, Jessie doesn't know that you two are on a date. So, just act straight."

She sighed, "Brand me now."

* * *

"Katie, come with me to the front door." Tad had picked up Katie first, and now they were waiting on Sarah.

"What?" Katie glanced up from her seat. She was rather comfortable waiting for her in the car. "Fine, fine. I'll come meet her." Tad smiled at her, glad that she wasn't going to be difficult. "Uh," Katie paused awkwardly at the front door. "It is a her, right?" It better not be a guy named Sarah.

"See for yourself," Tad continued as the door swung open. There stood a girl a little bit shorter than Katie with dark brown hair. She was…pretty. Katie smiled despite herself. "Hey Sarah." Both girls were smiling. Tad was officially the man. "Sarah, Katie." He made the introductions. "Katie, Sarah."

"Hey," Katie smiled.

"Hey," Sarah greeted her too, and they shook hands, acknowledging each other. Not much was said until Tad ran into the Manning's house to collect Jessie. Sarah turned to Katie. "So, did Tad tell you how we know each other?" Katie shook her head. "We work at the grocery store together. You should totally see him try to stock the shelves. Yes, they put him as a stock boy…the stock boy who spills the pyramid all over when he stocks it." Katie burst out laughing at the story, and Sarah grinned too, glad that they had the same sense of humor. Tad and Jessie walked back, catching the tail-end of the story.

Tad immediately knew the story that she was telling. "It was only that one time!" It really wasn't that amusing.

"What was only that one time?" Jessie glanced back at the two giggling girls in the backseat.

Billie! Katie smiled at her, in greeting. "When Tad knocked cans over in the grocery store."

Jessie laughed too, putting together a few pieces of knowledge. "So that's why I got a dented can of pineapple pieces on our second date."

Katie remembered that! "That was the time that I was with…Jason, right?"

"Jason?" Sarah turned questioning to Katie. She thought that she was…gay.

"Tad likes to try to set me up blind dates." Katie rolled her eyes, and Sarah laughed. They did have things in common then.

"Go figure," Sarah chuckled, stating that Tad did that to her too.

* * *

"So, Tad, you and Jessie…" Sarah glanced over at Tad, trying to see what he thought of Jessie. Jessie and Katie had gone to get some more nachos at the snack bar. They had gone bowling that night.

Tad shrugged, "So, Sarah, you and Katie…"

"Just met," Sarah smirked. She got off easy.

"I don't know, you two did disappear for a little while." Tad smirked back, nudging her.

Sarah coughed as she drank her pop, not believing what he was guessing. "We walked over to play pinball!"

He shrugged. So, they saw them playing pinball…Big deal. It could have been something else. "Yeah, well, we waited for you to come back before we continued the bowling game. That has to count for something."

Sarah rolled her eyes, "You're a moron." Oh yeah. Her and Katie would get along great.

"And you like her," Tad pursued his earlier statement.

"Yeah, I like her." Sarah smiled.

* * *

Jessie shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. "So, Sarah…She seems nice."

Katie glanced over at Jessie. "Yeah, she's cool. And it gives you and Tad time to flirt." They were still waiting for the guy to come help them. They wanted their food, but business was slow.

"I do not flirt with Tad," Jessie huffed.

"Jessie, you're dating; you're allowed to flirt with your boyfriend." The older girl wasn't sure what the big deal was. The blonde always got so defensive whenever Katie used the word 'boyfriend' and the word 'Tad' to Jessie. It was what Tad insisted that he and Jessie were; boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Boyfriend?" Jessie looked puzzled.

"Right here, Jess," Tad smiled and hugged Jessie from behind. She squeaked in surprise.

"Oh, hey, you." She smiled at him, when he walked around, so that they were facing each other.

Katie sighed. It was so awkward, but she had promised to let Jessie be. So, instead she replied, "Sarah?"

"Right here, Kat." Sarah and Katie copied the earlier movements and dialogue of Tad and Jessie.

Katie scrunched up her nose in thought. "Mm, no. Doesn't work so well with my name only being on syllable."

Sarah looked like she was seriously contemplating something for a moment, before suggesting, "I could call you Bob?"

"No," Katie laughed.

"Jan?"

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia." Ah, the Brady Bunch. But, still, no.

"Nope. Not one syllable," Sarah scolded Katie for not realizing that it was more than one syllable, and both girls giggled.

Jessie frowned, "What's with those two?"

"They're bonding." Tad shrugged, smiling at his girlfriend, not sure why she cared so much about it.

"What happened to Devon?" Tad shrugged again. Jessie mumbled, "I think I liked him better..."

* * *

That night, after the date, each girl and Tad, went home alone. Once Katie was home, she called Billie. "So, Sarah…seems nice." Jessie forced a chuckle, trying to sound happy.

"Didn't we already have this conversation at the bowling alley?" Katie laughed. "It's better than having to hang out with Devon."

"Yeah, I guess," the younger girl sighed. She would rather Katie hang out with Devon, but she wasn't sure how she could say that.

"I mean, Sarah has a sense of humor, anyway, and her sense of style is a lot better than Devon's. She laughs at my jokes." Jessie would rather her hang out with Devon, because then Katie would end up hanging out with her instead. "She laughs at my jokes even." This way…Katie liked to hang out with Sarah.

"So do I," Jessie was jealous, and she didn't know why.

"I know, Billie." If Katie didn't know better, then she would assume that her best friend was jealous. That was silly. She wasn't going to change best friends just like that. "So does your boyfriend…not that he always understands them." When in doubt…Katie would bring up Tad.

"Yeah, well," Jessie was always so cryptic when she talked about her and Tad's relationship. "I should go, Katie. My dad's already asking why I have to talk on the phone after I just hung out with my friends." It was like she didn't want it to exist.

"Well, I'm special," Katie smiled, and Jessie could hear it in her voice.

Jessie giggled, allowing herself to smile too. "And very modest."

"Good night, Billie." The smile was still in her voice.

"Sweet dreams," Jessie replied, and she meant it…just for some reason, she was hoping that the dreams didn't involve a certain dark-haired girl.

* * *

"Is she still on the phone?" Grace sighed, and reached for the other phone again. She had been waiting for hours to be able to call her friend.

Instead, she had been sitting in the kitchen eating ice cream and talking to Eli. "No, I think she's off, now." It was his idea.

"Finally! I can use it then." She smiled. Good. Phone time. "She's always talking on it," she complained.

"Oh, give her a break." Eli shrugged and took another bite of ice cream. "It's her first real boyfriend." He assumed that she had been talking to Tad the whole time. He hadn't answered the phone.

Grace rolled her eyes at him. Guys didn't understand anything properly. "You say that now, because you don't need the phone in question."

A chunk of ice cream dripped off of his spoon and onto his chin. He brushed it off with his finger. "This way you got to stay and talk to me; don't act like you didn't enjoy it." They might not understand anything, but they were so cute. He was so cute…


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: First off, thank you to everyone who reviews. I'm sorry that my updating was a little slow for this chapter, but I do have plenty of ideas for this fic, and I don't plan to ignore it…I've just been a bit busier than normal lately. So, have no fear…an update is here! (And yes, I do know how corny that sounds. Haha.)

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"She can't know we're doing this." Katie was talking to Tad on the phone. It was Sunday, and it was late morning.

"Doing what?" Tad played innocent, hoping that Katie would come out and actually say that she liked Sarah, and that he had done a good job of matching people together for once.

"This thing with me and Sarah…" Katie let the sentence halfway roll off of her tongue before she bit her lip. She just couldn't, because, well, if she did…then she would have to tell Jessie that she was into girls. If Jessie knew that she was into girls, then she might know that Katie liked her, then maybe Jessie wouldn't want to be her friend anymore. She'd have no best friend. She'd only have Sarah and Tad. She wanted Jessie too. The girl's mind was on overload, making her more panicky than ever. She did like Sarah, yes, but she didn't want to lose her friendship with Jessie, if Jessie were to find out that she was gay…

"Well, we're not doing anything that she shouldn't know about." The she in question was Jessie. Katie felt guilty that her best friend didn't know. Tad could hear his friend panicking over the phone. The panic was done mentally, but trailing off was not a good sign for Katie. It only happened when the inner panic button was hit in her mind. She must be really nervous about going to see Sarah later that day. The two girls had agreed to hang out later.

"Yes, we are." Panic was still within Katie.

"What are we doing then that's so bad?"

"We're apparently on operation Get Katie A Girlfriend." Katie frowned thinking of that. It was weird to say, relaxing to admit, but still, weird.

"That's too long for a name." Tad chuckled and after a moment, Katie did too. "And it's apparently not necessarily."

"Why's that?"

"I think you have one." Jessie? That was Katie's first thought, but then Katie realized that he meant Sarah. Within a moment, Katie realized that maybe she could have her as a girlfriend, Sarah, that is. She might never have Jessie, but Sarah…

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The two girls were at Katie's house watching a marathon of some teen show that was on when Sarah had gotten there. "So, I have this friend," the dark-haired girl trailed off, waiting to see if realization flickered in the other girl's mind.

"Uh-huh," Katie nodded.

"She likes this girl."

"Uh-huh," another nod.

Sarah figured out that Katie wasn't listening, so she edited her story. "But the girl is really a guy."

"Hm," Katie agreed that it was weird, not thinking much about it.

"And the guy is purple."

"Mm," Another nod from the light-haired girl.

"Sickly looking." Sarah rolled her eyes. Katie still hadn't caught on. She must be really out of it.

"Of course he's sickly. He's purple." The words had finally registered in Katie's mind. She might have been a bit out of it, but she wasn't deaf. Katie heard Sarah as she switched subjects.

"So you are listening to me!" Sarah was amazed at this apparently, or at least pretending to be amazing; Katie wasn't really sure which.

"Course I was." Katie smiled the famous Singer grin. "Now what about your friend?"

"Oh," one flash of the Singer charm, and Sarah was a goner. "Um," she fumbled for her words, unsure of what to say now. She felt weird asking Katie to be her girlfriend; she felt weird asking anyone to be her girlfriend. It probably didn't help any that Katie was beautiful and funny and, well, she knew when Sarah talked about purple guys. Triple plus.

Katie turned away from the television and looked at the other girl on the couch with her questioningly. It was a commercial anyway. "Did you mean, um, someone else when you said friend?" She tilted her head to the side, trying to figure it out. Katie wasn't sure if she was being asked out or not.

"What? No!" Sarah freaked. "Um," she mumbled, but Katie was smiling. "Maybe?" Katie was still smiling, and this time Sarah was too. The smile on both girls faces remained as Sarah slid her hand a few inches, threading her fingers through Katie's. The commercial was over.

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"Tad, I don't want to go to a movie tonight." Jessie was grumpy, and Tad wasn't sure if it was because he had woken her up or not. It wasn't that early in the morning.

"Why not?" In fact, it was more like early afternoon. He just didn't understand girls.

"I don't feel well." Jessie was lying and telling the truth all at once. She physically was as healthy as, well, as a healthy human can be. Emotionally, she was a wreck. Sarah and Katie got along almost too well…

Why do you never want to go on a date with me when it's just me? Tad considered asking that question. It was what was in his mind, but instead, he switched back to the safer route. "I'll let you pick what we do."

A sigh escaped Jessie's lips. She didn't really feel up to hanging out with anyone, especially her so-called boyfriend at the moment, but he was acting so sweet. "Can we go for a walk?"

"A walk?" She wasn't disagreeing anymore. "Sure," Tad had won her back over. Oh yeah. He was awesome.

"Maybe get some food?" Jessie was still rambling, just noticing the faint growl in her stomach.

"Of course. I'll see you in…half an hour."

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"So," Tad glanced over at the blonde girl. He had just picked her up about five minutes ago, but she hadn't said much of anything since. So, he decided it was up to him. "You wanted to take a walk."

"Uh-huh." Jessie looked up from the ground and smiled at him. He really was a great guy.

"Why?"

"I felt like some fresh air." The blonde shrugged, and he looked confused. "It's a nice day out. Isn't it?"

"Sure it is." She glanced at him oddly. "It is," he repeated more sincerely, smiling at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, it is." Jessie grinned blissfully. He was happy. She should be happy.

"Hey, this place has all day breakfast specials." Tad grinned, tightening his grip on Jessie's hand. She had mentioned that she was a bit hungry, and breakfast was a good meal at any time of the day. "Who doesn't like the option of having breakfast all day?" Jessie shrugged helplessly as Tad answered for her. "No one! That's who."

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They had ordered their food, and were waiting for it when Jessie finally got the nerve to ask him a question that she had been wondering. "Tad, what are we?"

"Humans," he answered thoughtfully, smiling at her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"No, I mean," she paused for a moment, searching for words. "Do you consider me your girlfriend?"

"Oh Jess," he reached across the table, taking her hand in his. "Course you're my girlfriend. You're my number one girl!" That's what it was all about, her bad attitude, her not wanting to go out on dates with just him…She was afraid that he was interested in other girls! He'd show her. He'd be the best boyfriend ever. Jessie was just focusing on the words that Tad had said, when the door jingled and some couple walked in holding hands. She had gained a boyfriend without realizing it, without really wanting it…He was smiling at her. He tried so hard to please her. She smiled back.

Jessie couldn't look at Tad when he looked at her like that, like he wanted to kiss her. She just wasn't ready for too much yet. That's all. It didn't help her any to look up and notice Katie walk in. Actually, Katie was with Sarah, which was weird. Jessie didn't know the two girls had hit it off that well…They were holding hands. "What the hell?" It was like Jessie to talk like that, which is what caused Tad to glance back, noticing the two girls holding hands.

Jessie was loud enough that the two girls walking into the restaurant noticed them as well. "Oh," Katie whispered, instantly dropping Sarah's hand like it had burnt her.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: I still love getting reviews…Thank you for all of them. And I have no inspirational or helpful comments…nothing to ramble about. So, onto the story update. Enjoy.

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Jessie picked at her food. The syrup from the waffles had already formed a miniature house with smoke coming through the chimney. She was hard at work on her syrup person when she felt someone's eyes on her. "Get too much syrup?" It was Katie. She stopped dragging her fork through the syrup house to look at the other girl, noticing empty seats.

"Where'd everyone go?"

Katie chuckled. "That's what I was about to ask. Where you were."

"I'm here." Katie rolled her eyes, not believing her. "See. Here." Jessie poked her own arm, then Katie's arm, to prove her point. "Where's Tad and Sarah?"

"They went to talk about something." They went to discuss Katie and Sarah's relationship, and to let Katie and Jessie have time to discuss it.

"Oh," Jessie didn't like what she felt was coming. She didn't want The Talk. She didn't want to hear about the birds and the bees…or the birds and the birds. Actually, she wasn't sure who was a bird and who was a bee. So, maybe it was bees and the bees…She just didn't want to hear it.

Jessie looked off in her own little world again, and Katie was trying to bring her back. This talk was important. She promised herself that before anything between her and Sarah could happen…she would tell Jessie. "I think that we need to talk too."

"Oh." Jessie didn't even try to force a smile.

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"So, you're dating now?" Tad was awesome! He really had set up the two girls. He smirked to himself. Tad had calmed Jessie down that night, and he found out that he set up two girls. Two hot girls.

"Yeah, I think so." Sarah allowed herself a small smile and a glance over at the two girls still at the booth. They were talking now anyway. That blonde girl, Jessie, still seemed kind of out of it. Sarah wondered briefly if something had happened between the two girls…Nah. Jessie was too straight-seeming for that.

"Mm," Tad pondered it for a moment.

"Don't you have any other advice?" Tad never just shut up. Sarah knew this. He always had to ramble, trying to reach a point.

"Uh, can I…" A smirk formed on the guy's lips.

"No." Sarah immediately knew what he was thinking.

"Have you…" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"No." Pervert. Sarah rolled her eyebrows at her friend and co-worker. Guys were just too much sometime.

Tad still wasn't convinced. He smirked again, jokingly. "Are you lying?" Sarah simply rolled her eyes at him. He was glad that Katie didn't hear him, or he'd most likely be hit in the arm for that reply.

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"Um, Sarah and I…we're…" Katie scrambled for the words, hoping that Jess would get the idea.

"Girls?" But she was clueless.

It was almost like she was doing it on purpose. "I'm…" Katie trailed off again. Jessie was not a stupid blonde.

"Katie?"

"What?" Katie thought that Jessie had caught on and was going to ask her a question, but then she realized that the other girl had simply filled in the 'I'm' thing with her name. "No, I mean." Silly girl. Jessie just wasn't going to get it without help. So, she blurted it out. "Jess, I'm gay."

"As in happy?" A smile and a nod, that wasn't returned by Katie. Jessie caught on. "Oh," and just like that, she was back to one-syllable answers.

"You okay?" The blonde had paled a bit.

"Yeah," a pause. "I'm fine."

Katie never planned on telling this to Jessie at an all-day breakfast joint. It wasn't practical. It wasn't…romantic. Katie scrunched up her nose. Bad thought. She switched her mind back over to her considerably more pale friend. "I don't want you to…"

"Freak out?" Jessie chuckled hoarsely, unsure of why she was reacting like that. "Billie, you're my best friend. You're my Billie. I don't care if you're straight or non-straight."

"Non-straight?" Katie had to smirk at that. Only Jessie would call someone 'non-straight' as opposed to 'gay'.

Jessie felt the room spinning a bit. It wasn't a sex talk, but it was still The Talk. She was going out with Sarah. That must be it. Her Katie was going out with Sarah. That's why they had been holding hands. "I'm, um, Tad's my boyfriend." Oh damn. That came out without her meaning it to. She felt like she was trying to make Katie jealous.

"Really? Congratulations!" The worst part was that it seemed like she didn't even care. Katie was in the world of a new-relationship. She was diving headfirst into it, and Jessie was left alone. Oh, right. She had Tad.

He and Sarah had just wandered back over. Tad sat down next to Jessie again, taking her hand in his own.

"You don't look so good, Sweetie." Katie made a horrible face of disgust. Tad had just called her Sweetie. Gag. What the hell was wrong with Jess anyway…

Wow, she really did look horrible. Kind of like she might pass out. Very disoriented and pale still. "You okay, Billie?" Billie was such a better nickname. Jessie kind of shrugged.

"I'll take her home." Tad went to pick up his jacket, but Katie shook her head.

"You're still eating." She pointed at his pile of food. "I'll take her home. Is that okay with you two?" She glanced at Tad and her girlfriend. They shrugged understandingly. The two girls were best friends. Best friends took care of one another.

"I'm fine." Jessie tried to smile at them, but everything was so dizzy. She couldn't concentrate. The syrup house was spinning, and the syrup man was frowning at her. She squinted her eyes at him and he glared with little beady syrup eyes. He was mad at her. She lifted her eyes to look at Tad; he was concerned, eyebrows furrowed. Katie looked afraid, and Sarah looked disinterested in the whole event. Stupid Sarah. Stupid syrup man. Stupid boyfriends. Stupid girlfriends. Everything was so stupid.

And suddenly the cool air was on her face, and she was half-balancing on someone. The blonde wondered briefly if that's what it felt like to be drunk. "Come on, Jess. You're tired. I'll get you home." Katie was supporting the blonde, and Jessie felt bad making her do so. So, she blinked a few times, and steadied herself. Katie was stronger than she looked.

"Katie?" They hadn't talked the whole way back to Jessie's house.

"Yeah, Jess?" Katie shifted her eyes from her shoes to the younger girl's face. It was because of Katie that she was acting like that. It had to be. Katie was gay, and she had ruined her friendship with Jessie by gaining a girlfriend. A very beautiful and funny and intelligent girlfriend. Katie liked Sarah. Jessie liked Tad. They all liked each other. God. She suddenly wished that she hadn't told Jessie while at the restaurant. It was the wrong way to tell her. It was so wrong. That had to be why Jessie was reacting like an overly jealous and confused girlfriend to the news that Katie liked someone.

"It's not that I'm not okay with you liking Sarah." Jessie said it in a rush, wanting to get it out. "So, please don't think that." A quick smile, and then Jessie was hugging Katie. "It's not that." Jessie continued, mumbling into Katie's shoulder. She didn't want to let go. "I'm just tired." She pulled back, and Katie's face looked just as confused as before the hug. The blonde girl smiled weakly at her friend, trying to prove that she was sick, tired, before rushing into the house and into her room. It felt like they were breaking-up and declaring their love for one another at the same time. It was time for a long nap. It was time for a long walk home.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is somewhere between PG and PG-13 for some slight sexual content.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again. Well, minus Devon.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: I do love getting reviews…and I really appreciate them, thank you. Also, I do have other stories to update; I realize this, but I just had a good idea for this chapter, and I couldn't wait to type it up. So, it got to be updated again before I updated the other stories. Enjoy.

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It was Friday, and it had been a week since Katie had gone on a date with a guy. Actually, that meant that it had been a week since Katie had a bad date. Devon had called her a few times that week, clueless. She tried to make a few more jokes, give him a bit of a chance at friendship, but he failed miserably. He got caught up whenever she tried to make a joke, and he didn't understand them.

Sarah, however, did understand them. Katie hadn't seen her since Sunday, but she had talked to her three times that week on the phone. They had another date that night, a double-date to be exact, with Tad and Jessie. Tad was still trying to get the inside scoop on Katie and Sarah, but nothing had happened physically yet, minus the handholding. He was sweet about their going out anyway, though, slightly too interested…as most straight guys were when it came to girls dating other girls.

As for Jessie, she had been supportive of Katie, but she seemed distant whenever Sarah was mentioned. And because of the distant Jessie that would appear then, Katie made a habit out of not mentioning her girlfriend around her best friend. That worked out just fine, and things were back to normal, whatever normal was in their friendship. They were close, and talked every single day, but Katie didn't understand Jessie when it came to certain things. Then again, Jessie didn't understand herself sometimes either, not that she'd ever want to admit that.

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"Jess?" Katie had gone to Jessie's house after school again, waiting until seven for the date.

"Huh?" The two were lying on Jessie's bed, lounging about. The younger girl was lying on her back, facing the ceiling, with the older girl lying on her side, facing her. Katie was drawing circles on Jessie's arm with her finger.

"Remember when we talked about where we wanna live?" The circles were still being drawn invisibly. It almost tickled, but Jessie wasn't annoyed.

"Yeah," the blonde tilted her head to the side, to look at the other girl.

"Do you think they can have ranches near London?" That had bothered Katie since they had talked about it originally. They couldn't live in separate countries. It just didn't seem right.

Jessie smiled, "Only if they can have a city named London filled with lofts with ranches outside of it."

"We could start a new kind of town." They both knew they were being silly now, but it frightened both girls to think of being that far from their best friend.

Katie drew another circle lightly. "In London or over here?" The circle became a 'J' and soon Katie was tracing the blonde's own name on her arm.

"Both," Katie replied easily. Jessie smiled again, noting the change of the shape of the letters, but still not minding.

"I like that."

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The door to the attic slammed suddenly as Grace walked up the stairs two at a time. Guiltily, both girls rushed away from one another. "God, you two are jumpy."

"Hi Grace," Jessie answered smoothly, ignoring her step-sister's curious glance. They hadn't been doing anything. Innocent until proven guilty.

"They're here." 'They' being Sarah and Tad, of course.

"Thanks Grace," Jessie smiled again, quickly brushing by her step-sister.

"Bye Grace," Katie looked just as guilty as Grace's younger step-sister as she rushed by, but Grace decided to let it go. She planned on going downstairs for a while. She and Eli were the only two home again.

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"How come we only go on double-dates, Jess?" That was Tad. They had settled down into their seats at the movie theatre again, this time it was a romantic comedy. Amazingly, Tad had agreed to go to it. Then again, it was him against three girls, and last time it was a horror movie…So, he had lost that round.

Jessie thought for a moment. "We went on that walk last weekend and ate breakfast."

"It was brunch." Tad pointed this out. Not that Jessie cared, of course. She simply shrugged.

"It was waffles and pancakes. Breakfast. All-day breakfast."

"True, but we still ended up being with Sarah and Katie." He glanced at the other girls, around Jessie. It was him, Jessie, Katie, then Sarah, in the seating. "No offense." They didn't hear him anyway, because they had their own conversation going on.

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"Do you always go on a double-date with them to the movies?" Sarah glanced at the other two, on their own date and in their own conversation.

"Yeah," Katie chuckled at Sarah's expression. "It's a good thing that movies change every week." Another chuckle. "I was kidding. We do go to movies a lot, but we go bowling and stuff to. We're not that boring."

Sarah smiled. "I never said you were boring. You could never be boring." Katie blushed. Flattery could get you anywhere and everywhere.

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"Are you cold?" Tad had glanced at his girlfriend, only to see her flinch. He thought it was about the cold theatre, not knowing it was of Katie and Sarah's conversation.

"A little," she admitted, and then suddenly Tad's arm was wrapped around her shoulders, warming her.

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"I bet that it's really going to be the guy's friend in bed with her. He wouldn't cheat on her." Katie was whispering to Sarah the events that were going to happen in the movie…just like she had done a week earlier to Jessie. That struck a cord within the young blonde who happened to hear it.

"Yeah right," Sarah rolled her eyes, only to take back her words a few minutes later. "Oh wow. You're good."

Jessie wormed her way into the conversation, still whispering. "You do romantic comedies too?"

Katie glanced at Jessie and flashed a grin. "I do all movies. I'm just amazing."

"You are amazing." Sarah mumbled, and both other girls stared at her. "I mean," she scrambled furiously for words. "You do other kinds of movies too?"

"Oh yeah, horror movies…" Katie nodded solemnly.

"I'm so bringing you to a horror movie." Jessie had to suppress a rolling of her eyes at that. Sarah was just too flirtatious for her liking with Katie.

Katie winked at her girlfriend. "I'm glad I'm good for something." Sickeningly sweet. But, they were silenced, thankfully, by Tad and the usher who glared at the three of them.

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"I have to use the bathroom." Jessie whispered to Tad. And he relinquished her from under his arm. Katie and Sarah immediately listened in to their whispers.

"Jess, you okay?" Tad didn't want his girlfriend going home sick again. The truth was, she couldn't stand watching Katie and Sarah anymore. They had just started to hold hands again.

"It's just the bathroom, Tad." He looked at her curiously. "I'll be right back."

"Actually," Katie paused to look at her girlfriend and to quietly let go of her hand. "I'll go with you. I have to go to the bathroom too." Sarah knew that they were best friends, but it seemed like Katie only liked her until Jessie had to leave. Katie was almost too eager to follow. "I'll be back," she promised.

---------------------------------------------------

"Billie, what's wrong?" The girls had been quiet until they reached the bathroom. Neither girl actually had to go to the bathroom, but Jessie ran some water and washed her hands.

Jessie glanced at her, trying to look menacing. "What are you Tad now?"

"Jess! You know Tad would never call you Billie." It may work on Tad, but Katie saw right through Jess when she tried to be angry and scare people away. She didn't like to talk about things out loud sometimes. "Now what's wrong?"

"Nothing," the blonde washed her hands a second time.

"Is it about me?" Katie pestered her while Jessie dried her hands on a paper towel.

"No," Jessie promised, but for some reason she had the childish urge to cross her fingers as she said this.

"And my dating Sarah?" Katie hopped onto the counter top, next to a sink after deciding that it was clean there. She sat there, still talking to Jessie, asking her the same kind of questions. She had to admit it sometime. There was something wrong.

"No," Jessie glanced at Katie and dropped her paper towel into the garbage. Katie was so self-centered, thinking Jessie's problems were always about her. Not that there was a problem.

"Are you sure?" The older girl quirked an eyebrow at her best friend.

Jessie crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Why are you trying to be a therapist? I already have one of those. I don't need any more of them."

"Billie, come on." Jessie was biting out her words, but Katie easily saw through them. She knew that something was going on more than ever now. That's why Jessie was so defensive.

"I just," the blonde looked at the other girl, desperately trying to avoid the thoughts that were running though her mind. "Katie," Jessie knew that the little syrup man would be glaring at her for rambling if he was there. "I don't want you to date Sarah."

"Why not?" Katie didn't expect that one. Well, at least not like that. "Did she say something to you?"

"No, she's fine. She's great. She really likes you." Jessie rolled her eyes, embarrassed and rambling and starting to feel a bit sorry for herself. She was in a miserable state of mind at this point.

Katie furrowed her eyebrows, a bit confused. "Is it about Tad?"

"No, Tad's fine. He, well, he really likes me." Jessie was trying not to lie. Though, she was also trying not to ramble, and Katie was just sitting there on the counter looking at her. Katie was biting her lip a bit nervously even, and it was all Jessie could do to not run her finger along it, to get the girl to release her bite. It wasn't good for her lips, to bite them like that.

"It's not about Tad, I promise." And then Jessie's feet had a mind of their own, walking over to Katie. They placed her strategically between Katie's legs. She had moved them a bit apart because she had been swinging them. The swinging stopped as soon as the blonde stood there. Jessie's finger seemed to team up with her feet because it was suddenly running itself along Katie's lip, and Katie looked a bit curious, but the biting stopped, and it was almost better. "It's about," but it wasn't quite there yet. So, Jessie allowed herself to indulge in the moment and her lips were pressing forward against Katie's for a moment. "It's about us." She whispered the sentence and then Katie and Jessie found themselves pressing closer again, kissing again.

"You have a boyfriend." Katie didn't want to break the moment, but it was true.

"I know," Jessie whispered, and she knew that it would have been the perfect time to break away. They could easily say that nothing had happened, just avoid talking of that kiss, and eventually it may turn into something they could laugh about when they lived in London on a ranch together. Together. It sounded so nice, and Jessie couldn't ignore the moment that was quickly passing between herself and Katie. She wanted to indulge some more. Katie didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Perhaps her lips had a mind of their own as well, because they were pressing back against Jessie's fervently.

"I have a girlfriend." A breathless Katie was still shocked at what had just happened. She didn't think that she would ever wind up kissing Jessie, let alone kissing her in a bathroom while she a date in the movie theatre.

"I know," Jessie whispered back, and she did know. She hadn't thought that moment would ever come either. Now that it had, she wasn't sure what to do about it. Not that they had much of a choice in the matter of what to do. Their dates were waiting, and their movie was still playing.


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is somewhere between PG and PG-13 for some slight sexual content.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again. Well, minus Devon.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: I do love getting reviews…and I really appreciate them, thank you. I don't have too much to ramble about in this chapter, except to say that…Well, actually, just read it. Enjoy.

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A few minutes after they left, the two girls slipped back into the dark movie theatre. It was a few minutes longer than was usually necessary to go to the bathroom, but a quick story about how the line was long, told by Katie, and the matter was covered completely.

Sarah smiled at her date, and leaned towards her again, reaching for her hand. "So, what's going on in the movie now?"

Katie glanced at the movie screen. The movie was so easy to predict. "She's going to find him in bed with her best friend." It wasn't her fault that she didn't need to watch the movie. Just like it wasn't her fault that her left leg slid against Jessie's right leg and rested there for the entirety of the movie.

Sarah squinted at Katie suspiciously. "I thought you said that he wouldn't cheat on her?"

"He wouldn't until she cheated on him." Katie shook her head, trying to thus prove her idea even more. Sarah didn't believe her until exactly what she said happened on the screen.

"You didn't even see that part!" Sarah was in amazement. So was Jessie.

"I know," Katie chuckled. She had skills.

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"You okay?" Tad's conversation with his girlfriend differed slightly from Sarah and Katie's.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Jessie smiled at her boyfriend, but she felt slightly weird about that now. Katie didn't seem to have any problems though.

"Good," Tad smiled and slipped his arm around the blonde again.

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"Did you kiss her goodnight?" It was after school the next day, and Jessie and Katie were lying on Jessie's bed talking again. Their parents were used to it by now; they did it every day.

"Did you kiss him goodnight?" Katie tilted her head, glancing at the blonde, obviously curious.

Jessie eyed her friend carefully, then shrugged, deciding she didn't want to be the first to answer that question. "It's not polite to answer one question with another question."

"Who said that I was trying to be polite?" Katie was joking, but it made Jessie even more curious. The older girl sighed, realizing that the blonde wasn't going to give in and answer her question first. "No, I didn't kiss her goodnight."

"Oh," Jessie nodded, secretly pleased.

"Did you kiss him goodnight?" Jessie shrugged nonchalantly, and immediately Katie sat up on the bed, protesting. "Hey, no fair. You didn't answer my question."

"I never said that I'd answer your question." Jessie smiled slightly evilly, even though she looked sweet lying on her bed with her blonde hair spread out behind her head.

"That's so not fair."

Katie was pouting, and it made Jessie laugh. "Who said that I'm fair?"

"You're doing this just to get back at me." Katie was accusing, and finally Jessie nodded, acknowledging it. "I knew it!"

"Mm," Jessie smiled serenely.

Katie looked at her for a moment, then seemed to drift off for a second. "You know…Mm can me so many different things." Whenever she would drift off, she would come back with a random thought.

"Yeah?" Jessie tilted her head, glancing at the older girl again.

"Yeah. I mean," she paused, sorting out her thoughts. "Oh come on. Just think about it." Jessie didn't get it yet, so Katie continued. "It could be the only word in the whole world and you could cover every single emotion that there is." The thing was, Katie was serious about her mini-rant. She believed it. "It can mean happy, disappointed, excited, sad, jealous, etc…"

The blonde giggled. "You think about weird things."

Katie shook her head, rearranging her best friend's words to better suit her. "I think about interesting things." It made her sound better, and that was just a coincidence…almost.

"Like me?" Katie definitely thought about interesting things like Jessie, not that she could full-out admit it to Jessie, seeing as Jessie never even answered the original question.

"Mm," Katie was not committed to such answers.

Jessie paused, considering something. "It can mean jealous?"

"Oh sure," Katie nodded, very serious about such things.

"Mm," Jessie paused before admitting her secret. "I kissed Tad last night. Goodnight." She didn't mean to. It just happened.

"What! Why?" Oh. Well. So much for a calm "Mm" whenever someone was jealous.

"Kidding." Jessie snickered. "That really wasn't a very good "mm" for jealousy."

"Very nice," Katie frowned. She hadn't kissed Sarah. Maybe she had taken it for granted that Jessie hadn't kissed Tad. They weren't broken up yet, but that was just because things weren't exactly figured out yet. They'd get there. Then the two girls could be honestly together, as in together together. It could, would, happen.

"I thought so." Jessie grinned again, but when she saw the worry etched on the other girl's face she felt bad. "I didn't kiss him goodnight." The real truth was out there now.

"Good," Katie murmured happily before finding Jessie's lips pressing lightly against her own in a kiss. If Jessie felt that guilty after lying and telling jokes…Well, she could definitely do that again. At least if it all led to kissing. Kissing Katie, that is. Only Katie, of course.

"He wanted to though," Jessie admitted, and Katie looked a bit worried. "Because of you I have to act like a cold for the next few days." The older girl was obviously confused. "That's how I got him to not kiss me. I told him that I had a cold coming on. I have a very convincing fake sneeze."

"Mmhm," Katie looked at her friend curiously. Her fake sneeze couldn't be that great. Maybe Tad was just having an off night and believed strange things from Jess.

Jessie scrunched up her nose. "You don't believe me."

Another shrug. "You can't prove that."

"I'll sneeze," the younger girl threatened, but she never got the chance because Katie interrupted her. "Mm," she muttered, not caring about anything but Katie's lips for a few moments. The fake sneeze could wait.


	11. Chapter 11

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is somewhere between PG and PG-13 for some slight sexual content.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again. Well, minus Devon.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: I do love getting reviews…and I really appreciate them, thank you. What happens to a gal when a football game gets cancelled due to bad weather? Oh yeah, she gets time to update her stories. Well, at least that's what I do...

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Phone calls are such weird things. You press a few buttons on a telephone, and then you're automatically connected to another person's house. This can be either a miracle or a torture, depending on who happens to call you, or who you happen to need to call. Either way now, it is a very powerful thing indeed to have within our lives. It keeps us all connected to one another, no matter where we are now, because they even have cell phones. At the movies? You could be called. While out to eat? The phone rings. While in the shower? Of course, the phone rings then. While sitting on your bed waiting for your girlfriend to call?

The phone rings then. "Are you feeling better, Jess?" Only unfortunately for Jessie, her girlfriend was not on the other end of the phone. It was her boyfriend, Tad.

"No," Jessie faked another sneeze, then added in a fake-stuffy-nose voice. "I'm feeling worse." Only it came out, 'I'm fuh-ealing derwse.' She may be able to fake a sneeze, but fake a stuffy nose just wasn't her forte.

Tad could tell. Well, at least he thought that he could tell. It was impolite to ask though. "Aww, I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'm not." He was just too sweet sometimes. Jessie didn't deserve it.

"What?"

"Sorry, Grace was talking to me." She felt bad lying. That was all that she seemed to do to him lately, and she hated it. She had to tell him. There was no other way. She'd talk to Katie that night, and that was that. She and Katie would tell Sarah and Tad tomorrow.

"It's okay, Jess." Tad sighed. Maybe it was PMS. When in doubt, blame that. "So, what are you planning on doing tonight? Catching up on some sleep?"

"Yeah, I think so probably. I'll see you in school tomorrow." She might be 'sick', but she still had school to go to.

"Good night, Jessie."

"Nite, Tad."

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Tad glanced around his room for a moment after hanging up the phone with the blonde girl. He aimlessly picked the phone back up, and dialed a number he knew by heart. "Katie," he greeted when the girl answered.

"Tad," she automatically replied.

"Jess is acting weird." Katie and Jessie were best friends. So, it only made sense that the older girl would know what was going on with his girlfriend. She had to be able to help him. They were friends after all.

"So?"

"I think that she's seeing someone else." Oh. Katie's eyes closed. She didn't think that he'd figure it out that fast. She and Jessie had only just figured it out themselves a few days before. He was faster than either one of them had anticipated.

"What?" It had to be best to play dumb for the moment, plus Katie wasn't sure how stable her vocal cords were quite yet.

Tad sighed. That conversation was beginning to be embarrassing. His girlfriend might be cheating on him, so he consulted his best friend, who was her best friend. It just wasn't fair. "I think that she might be cheating on me."

"What? Why?"

"She says she has a cold…"

"She sounded sick earlier."

"She had a stuffed up nose, then suddenly she had a runny nose. She could talk just fine, and then she would have the stuffy nose back again." Katie held back a choking laugh upon hearing that. Jessie had thought that her fake cold would fool him.

Katie shrugged, even though Tad couldn't see her over the phone. "It happens to the best of us."

Tad scoffed, "This guy sure isn't one of the 'best of us' that's for sure."

Maybe he didn't know. Katie definitely was not a guy. Unless he thought that Katie became a guy, which would just be silly because she would make a horrible guy. Well, she did grow up with several brothers, but that didn't mean she wanted to be a guy. Oh, wait. She was rambling, and Tad wanted a response. "Guy?"

Tad sighed heavily. Katie wasn't even listening to him. Great. "The guy that Jessie is seeing."

"You don't even know if she's seeing someone else."

"Oh, but I do." His voice changed as he said this. It was as if he had a great plan, just waiting to be hatched. Hatched. Like a chicken. Eggs. Mm…Katie had momentarily forgotten that she was hungry…If she waited a little longer, then she could have a midnight snack. Of course, then she would stay up later because she would be full of energy, and then she'd be tired the next day in school…Who needed to be awake for history class anyway? Katie realized that her end of the phone was silent again. Oops.

"Don't try to sound diabolical. It doesn't work for you."

"Sorry," Tad forced a bit of a laugh. "I'm going to find out who he is."

"There's no guy dating Jessie." Oh God. He can't do that. He can't want to find out who Jessie was dating, or who she wanted to date anyway. "Besides you that is."

"We shall see…We shall see…"

"What did I say about being diabolical?"

Tad scoffed, his voice sounded a bit hollow. He was really determined to find this other guy in Jessie's life. "You're just jealous."

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The older girl flopped back down on her bed. Tomorrow was going to be horrible. It was Monday, which everyone knew was the worst day of the week. They even had songs about it being a horrible day of the week. It was the gossip day at school, from what had happened the week before, and now it was going to be the day that Tad was convinced he was going to find a guy that Jess was into that wasn't him. Only, he wouldn't find a guy…He'd find a Katie.

Oh God. She had cheated on her girlfriend with her best female friend, while her male best friend dated her female best friend. Oh God. She had done something wrong. Stupid stupid Singer. She should have known not to get involved with members of the same sex. They always lead to trouble, but at least they aren't as clueless as guys. Well, as clueless as Tad was being anyway. Guys weren't always that stupid. Tad was the first to wonder if Katie liked girls that way actually…She was about ready to hyperventilate. The older girl needed to talk to Jessie. And then there was that ringing in her head. What the heck. Ringing. She glanced over at the phone. It was…taunting her, ringing like that. Please let it be Jessie…

"Hey, Katie." A female voice greeted her on the other end of the phone, but it was Sarah.

"Hey there," she tried to calm herself down enough to sound normal. She didn't want Sarah wondering what was going on, like Tad did.

"You okay?"

Slow. Down. No wonder Sarah was wondering what was going on. "Why wouldn't I be?" Katie couldn't talk any faster if she was on fast-forward.

"You're just really quiet tonight."

"Sorry," Katie's breathing eased a bit. Sarah was just Sarah; it was okay. "Maybe I'm getting sick."

"From Jessie?"

"How'd you know that she was sick?"

Sarah laughed, recalling something from a few minutes earlier. "Tad called me."

Katie laughed too. It was obvious from the tone of Sarah's voice as to what kind of mood Tad had been in. He must have still been freaking-out when he talked to Sarah. "Oh my God. He called you too? I just talked to him a little while ago."

"Did he tell you his theory about Jessie cheating on him?"

"Yeah…It's crazy." Katie shook her head at the thought.

"Well, I don't know." Sarah paused, but Katie didn't say anything, so she continued. "I mean, she is really distant with him."

Katie immediately leaped to answer. It was the fastest answer that she had given all night. "That's not your place to judge. She's shy."

"Okay," Sarah tried to calm the other girl down. She didn't realize it was that upsetting to Katie. "I'm sorry. I know it's not my place to say. It's just that he's my friend, and I would feel bad if Jessie was cheating on him with some guy." There was another pause before Sarah continued. "Forgive me?"

Katie closed her eyes and decided to lie back down on her bed, "Yes."

"Good." Sarah smiled, and it carried over into her voice on the phone. "So, are you all ready for school tomorrow?"

The other girl groaned and rolled over on her bed. "You just had to bring up school?"

Sarah simply laughed. It wasn't a scornful laugh. Just, a laugh. "You know it. It always gets a reaction from you, so I know whether or not you're awake then."

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"Hey Billie," Jessie climbed onto her bed as the other girl picked up her phone.

Katie grinned. She'd been waiting for that call all night, which usually didn't take too long, but that night she had talked to everyone on the phone, or so it had seemed. "Billie!"

Jessie giggled, "I wish I got a greeting like that from everyone that I talk to on the phone."

Katie eased into the conversation. It was the first time that she hadn't been tense during a phone call all night. "Who else do you talk to on the phone?"

"Tad," Jessie easily replied. "Did you talk to Sarah tonight?" She meant to just sound a bit curious, but she was jealous without meaning to be. She wanted to be able to be the one to call Katie her girlfriend.

"I talked to Sarah and Tad." Katie frowned at the memories of the conversations.

Jessie smiled, allowing herself to flirt. "Oh, you should definitely stick to talking to just me."

"You think so?" Katie was amused at the idea, and it was obvious. The flirting was natural.

"I know so."

The older girl grinned, "I could work on that."

"So, what'd Sarah have to say?" The blonde girl re-adjusted her hair, so that it didn't cover the phone at all before asking another question. "What'd Tad have to say?"

Katie took a deep breath. "Honestly?"

"Of course," Jessie answered easily.

Katie mentally debated whether or not she should alert her almost-girlfriend to what was going on. She did deserve to know, but she didn't wand to freak her out…"Tad…thinks you're cheating on him."

"Oh my God!" The blonde's voice rose a bit. It always did when she was in a panic, just like Katie talked faster than normal. "He knows about us! What are we going to do? What do we tell him? What did you tell him?" She paused to take a breath. "What did you tell Sarah?" Another pause, only this time she was thinking to herself. A thought formed. "I missed my own coming-out!"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down, Jess." Katie tried to stifle her laughter. Her best friend was so cute when she rambled. "He doesn't know about us."

Jessie' rambling halted. "But you said…"

"He thinks that it's with a guy."

"Oh," Jessie allowed herself a breath. Her heart stopped racing as much as before.

Katie knew that she had to soothe Jess until she was back to forming whole sentences. The blonde girl could really work herself up into a panic. "No one has come out to anyone yet."

"Oh," Jess let out a nervous chuckle.

"Well, except we came out to each other..." Both girls smiled at the memory of their first kisses. "And say something that isn't a letter of the alphabet now, please."

"Oh," Jessie giggled when she realized that she had just done it again. "Sorry. I'll stop."

"Good," Katie smiled, not unable to help herself from joking with her almost-girlfriend. "Panic much, Jess?"

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "Be quiet."

"That's no fun." Katie wasn't able to work herself into too much of a fake pout, because Jessie interrupted her with a serious thought.

"Well, what do we tell them?"

"What do you want to tell them?" Katie thought for a moment. There were several questions actually. "Should we wait? So we don't spring this on them?" Good things come to those who wait.

Jessie bit her lip nervously, exactly like Katie did when she was deep in thought. "Waiting could be beneficial." Or it may hurt them even more.


	12. Chapter 12

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point. This chapter has some language.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: Yay for weekends…That's when most of my updates will be coming out due to school going on during the week, well, until this other class starts; I should have some time to write while I'm in that then too. Of course, if I do get sick due to sitting outside and watching a play, while it was raining…Well, I'll be home with time to spare (meaning time to update) then too, heh. Anyway, thank you for being patient with me, and thank you to everyone who reviews! It's appreciated so much.

Also, if you want to check out some other writing (original writing, yes, but it's still me) …check out my profile on here, and there's a link in my rambling there to those writings. (I promise I won't be putting this in every update on here. I just wanted to get the word out there once, and then I'm done…really.)

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"What?" Jessie stirred a bit after feeling a rather large creature jump onto her bed. It was Katie. So, maybe large was the wrong word. Tall. Lanky. Those would be better words. Either way, she was now taking up some Jessie space on the bed, snuggling up to the younger girl a bit.

"Hi Billie!" She was very awake for once in the morning. That was unusual.

Jessie opened one eye and peeked up at her smiling girlfriend. She shifted to allow the older girl some snuggling access. "What are you doing?"

"Waking you up."

"Says who?"

"Says your dad. Apparently you're busy oversleeping up here." Jessie glanced at the clock. She was right on time. Katie was just early that morning. "I can see why though…It is really comfy." The older girl smiled and snuggled into Jessie's unused pillow. It just looked so comfy, and she had to get up so early to be able to get to Jessie's early…

Jessie rolled her eyes, watching as her girlfriend began to look more and more asleep. "You're supposed to be here to wake me up."

Katie murmured, "I am waking you up."

"And you're going back to sleep in the process."

"Go get ready for school." Katie waved Jessie off with her hand. She allowed the blonde to slowly detract herself from the snuggling. "I'll be here," she promised. Jessie rolled her eyes.

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"Hey, Jess, you need a ride this morning?" Grace wandered upstairs and into the attic. She paused a moment before looking at her stepsister, who was busy brushing her hair. "Why is Katie sleeping on your bed?"

Jess glanced over at the sleeping girl and smiled, then she looked back at Grace. "I could ask you the same question."

Grace raised both eyebrows suddenly. "Katie's not on my bed, and you can't drive."

"A similar question." Jessie rolled her eyes. She should have known that she would have to reword that comment. "Why were you flirting with Eli?"

Immediately the blushing effect began to occur on Grace. "I wasn't flirting."

"You laughed at his joke." Jessie continued, "It was a bad joke."

Grace huffed, "Least he's not asleep on my bed." Jessie shrugged her slim shoulders. Grace shook her head before wandering back downstairs. Her little stepsister apparently did not need a ride. And that was that. She was so not flirting…

Katie woke up after hearing the two girls' voices. "Who's on Grace's bed?"

"No one," Jessie said casually, hoping that Katie hadn't heard the whole conversation.

"But you just said…" Katie scrunched up her nose in confusion, and Jessie's face broke out into a smile. Her girlfriend was just so cute…

"No one. Come on. We have to go to school." Katie still looked puzzled. "Just because you can get straight A's in a class without paying attention, doesn't mean that I can." The blonde stuck her tongue out at the other girl before reaching her hand out to her girlfriend.

"I just get so bored." Katie shrugged. She couldn't help that most of her classes were extremely boring. Jessie looked at her for a moment; she looked ready to comment about classes again, but Katie stopped her with a kiss. "Better?" Jessie grinned and kissed her again. "Does this mean that you're willing to be my class instead?" The blonde took her hand and started to lead her down the stairs. "No?" Katie looked serious, but Jessie couldn't help but laugh. "Come on! It's a legitimate question!"

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Katie sat next to Tad in her third class, as always. He was glancing around the room suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

Tad gave her a quick glance. "Looking for him."

"Him?"

Tad looked at her impatiently. She was taking away his time. Time that he should be spending looking for Him. The Him. "You know who I mean."

A wave of guilt inexpertly hit Katie. She was curious…"Tad, look…Let's say that there was someone else…Maybe it's not a him."

"What do you mean?"

"What if Jessie liked a her?"

Tad laughed, and Katie tried not to look hurt. "Like who? Sarah?"

"No," like Katie. The girl shrugged instead of voicing those two words. "I don't mean any girl in particular, just, a girl."

Tad saw the worry on her face. Maybe this was Katie's way of seeing if he was okay with the idea of her, Katie, being gay. He smirked, "Then I'd ask if I could watch."

"You're such a pervert."

"No, I'm a guy. There's a difference."

Katie chuckled and hit his shoulder. "Not much of one."

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They were having a study group after school. Jessie didn't really understand the reasoning behind that, seeing as she was a grade behind them, and Sarah didn't even go to their same school, but Tad had insisted. Katie had told Jessie that it was simply because he wanted another reason to hang out with the blonde girl, and it was more believable if they weren't the only two there.

He even wasn't there yet though, and so far it was Sarah flirting with Katie, with Katie nervously glancing at Jessie. Jessie would then glare at Sarah from across the table, and Katie would try to make up for it by avoiding Sarah's advances for a few moments. Sarah was a quick one though, and soon enough, Katie's hand was intertwined with Sarah's. Had Jessie been a cartoon, then there would surely be smoke coming out of her ears. Jealousy was a strong emotion.

"Katie fell asleep on my bed this morning." That came out of nowhere. Sarah had been discussing a new movie to see the following weekend, and that's what Jessie had come up with to say.

She was berating herself for saying it until she noticed Sarah visibly move closer to Katie and then smile coyly at Jessie. If Sarah had a thought bubble above her head, then it would most likely read, "Look at what I have." Thankfully she didn't, or Jessie may have chosen that moment to lunge at the other girl. Instead, Jessie merely glared. "Sounds like Katie."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "I think that I know Katie better than you do."

Sarah's eyes narrowed at the blonde. "You what?"

"She's my best friend." Jessie glared right back.

"And she's my girlfriend." Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Katie's mind was on a one-track thought, and it wasn't a pleasant one. She could sense and see the tension between the two girls. Both of which were her girlfriend…She should have known better than that. She should have broken up with Sarah before dating Jessie. It wasn't fair to either of them. She was beginning to panic when she saw a familiar site.

"Hi Tad!" She'd never been happier to see him.

"Someone's extra peppy today."

"Thanks," she smiled. She wouldn't let comments like that get her down. He was there. No more tension!

"Katie and Jess were just telling me about their days." Or not…

Tad smiled at his girlfriend before sliding into the booth next to her. "How was your day, Jess?"

Jessie shrugged, but smiled. "You know. The usual."

"I didn't see you much today."

"Sorry about that."

"You can make it up to me." He smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"How?" He was still smiling, and it suddenly clicked in the blonde's mind. "Oh," she fake laughed. He wanted a kiss. She had been avoiding them for a while…Oops. "I have a cold." A brilliant fake sneeze followed.

"I don't care," he muttered, still smiling, but things felt a bit off as he pressed his lips up against the blonde's. Things felt a bit off as Katie gasped and turned it into a cough.

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It was about eight, and they were done studying. Meaning, they had each finished his or her own homework, plus flirted with the others…Tad with Jessie, Jessie and Sarah with Katie, and Katie with Jessie…Of course, Jessie and Katie tried to be sneaky about it. They were in the backseat now, together, while Sarah was upfront with Tad, discussing work.

Jessie and Katie were holding holds. "We have to tell them…" Maybe they weren't so good at being sneaky…But it was dark anyway.

Tad and Sarah finished discussing their days off at work. Sarah glanced back at them. "What are you two talking about back there?"

"Nothing," Katie smiled at her, hoping that she wouldn't notice the linked hands.

"That's a lot of talking for nothing." She didn't.

"Well, you know me; I ramble."

"I do know you." She threw a glance at Jessie, then turned back to Katie. "Walk me to my front door?" Katie agreed.

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"Jessie, what are you glaring at?"

"Sarah," she muttered. It had just slipped out. She didn't mean for it to, but Sarah was at her front door, inching closer and closer to the blonde's girlfriend.

"Why?" Tad turned around in his seat to face the younger girl. "She makes Katie happy."

"Whatever," Jessie muttered and hoped to block him out by glaring out the window yet again.

Tad flicked the radio off with a quick turn of his wrist. "Whatever? What are you five? What's wrong with you, Jess? You barely talk to me, yet you cling to Katie. You make up pathetic excuses about a fake cold, just so you don't have to kiss me. What's wrong with me, Jess? Am I too forward? Do I talk to much? Do I have bad breath?"

Jessie glanced sharply at Tad. He was livid, and she never knew that he, well, that he knew…That he wondered about it…"No…It's not that."

"Is it because I'm not Katie? Is she what you want, because she's the only person that you let touch you." Tad was breathing heavily by the time he finished his rant. "You don't have to answer me." Jessie was sitting there in shock. She couldn't believe that he thought, that he knew…She was trying to wrap her mind around it still when Tad flicked the radio back on.

Katie slipped back into the car a few minutes later and glanced at her two silent car companions. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing," Tad muttered. He deemed the answer appropriate, because it was everything that his girlfriend told him. He wasn't sure why he should offer any more.


	13. Chapter 13

Title: Homemade Always Says It Best

Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.

Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.

Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.

Author's Note: Wow. The final chapter of this story. Of course, some of you may not realize that this is the final chapter of this story because you don't read this…I may ramble, but I do have points, such as pointing out that this is the FINAL chapter…Crazy, I know. I finally got this chapter all written out, and I'm happy with the way it turned out, personally. Hopefully, you are too. Enjoy!

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Tick. Tick. Tick. Katie glared anxiously at her clock. In movies, clocks always went, "Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock." Hers was apparently broken, because it only went, "Tick. Tick. Tick." Leave it to her to end up with a broken clock; she seemed to be breaking everything else lately, which was probably what was causing her to have insomnia.

Her ticking sounding more like a bomb nearly ready to go off. That wasn't a pleasant thought. Tick. She needed to get out of her room. Tick. She needed a walk. Tick. She'd go fix things, then she would sleep. Tick. A frustrated Katie threw on a sweatshirt and quietly snuck out of her house.

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A disgruntled teenaged girl rolled over. She could have sworn that someone had said her name just then. "Sarah!" Someone was saying her name…She glanced at her clock. 1:43 a.m. Tomorrow was a school day, and Katie, that had to be the voice, or owner of the voice, was at her window screaming for her. Must be a dream. "Sarah!" A very loud and Katie-sounding dream.

"What?" The girl finally answered Katie's calls by opening her window. Her bedroom was on the first floor, luckily. So, in reality, Katie was right outside.

"Hi Sarah," Katie smiled. She looked as if she hadn't gone to bed yet. She was very awake and fully hyper, then again, Katie usually was hyper. She fidgeted nervously. "I need to talk to you."

"Do you want to come in?" Katie glanced at her surroundings; a bunch of shrubs. "This might be where I belong after I talk to you about this."

"In a shrub?"

"On the ground." Sarah's eyes widened; she wasn't quite sure what would make Katie be so dramatic. Then again, she always had a certain kind of flair about her. "Lower than the ground, but if I did that, then, well, I'd end up in the ground, and you couldn't hear me, only worms could…I'm not even really sure if worms have ears, do they?" Sarah shrugged, wondering what Katie's point was. "And then, I'd end up in China, if I went far enough. Not that I'm saying that you can dig your way to China because there's a mass of molten rock in the center of the Earth, which would ruin it, and I may take the wrong tunnel and end up in England anyway, and I don't even have a shovel…"

Sarah listened to the other girl ramble on before she realized that Katie wasn't going to ever get to the point, if Sarah let her ramble on much longer. "Katie, what's wrong? If you don't want to come in…Here, I'll come outside." Luckily, Sarah understood how to unhook her screen on her window, so within minutes she was standing next to the now-wary girl, who was still jumpy.

"I," Katie glanced at Sarah. "Um."

"You're suddenly not very talkative." Katie forced a laugh at the girl's sense of humor, but it was forced.

"I'm…I need to…break up with you."

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Tad woke up with a start. He felt like he was missing out on something suddenly. It didn't feel like the time that he missed the circus when he was ten, or the time that he missed asking this girl out because another guy asked her out first, or even the times that he got to the movie rental stores too late to rent the new releases. This felt different. He felt guilty and sad and angry and surprised and shocked, yet not shocked at all, at the same time. It was almost overwhelming.

"Girls," he muttered as he picked up his car keys and walked out the door.

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Jessie was horribly bored. There was absolutely positively nothing to do. She sighed and looked outside. It was nice out; it had to be, so she grabbed a jacket and walked outside. Well, the young blonde snuck outside because the rest of her family was sleeping. It was 2:17 a.m. and it seemed like no one else could possibly be awake.

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"Grace," came a small whisper, that turned a bit hoarse. He had heard someone walking around on the stairs, which woke him up.

"Eli?" A pajama-clad Grace opened the door to find him staring at her.

"I, um," he fumbled for words for a minute. "Want some ice cream?" She wasn't the one sneaking out then…He has probably imagined it. Of course, no need to waste some time that he could spend talking to Grace, since they were both awake now…She nodded silently. Ice cream and Eli sounded good right about then.

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"Is it because you like Jessie?" Sarah blinked, trying to force herself not to cry over the girl who was standing in front of her, in her shrubs. For some reason, she wasn't surprised when Katie nodded, but she was hurt. "You could have just told me that you liked her."

"I didn't realize that she was…" Katie felt horrible saying that. "I didn't know when I started dating you. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I'm glad I met you."

Sarah rolled her eyes and sniffed back a few more tears. "Don't tell me that there are more fish in the sea, please."

"I doubt that you want to date a fish."

Sarah shrugged hopelessly, "Maybe a mermaid."

Katie promised, "You'll find her; you deserve it."

There was an awkward silence, then Sarah asked an awkward question. "So, Jessie's gay, huh?"

"Maybe," Katie paused. She wanted to be honest, so she was. "Well, I mean. We like each other, that's all that matters."

"You're right." Sarah knew that it really wasn't any of her business about the young girl's sexual preference. "You really should have just told me right away."

"I know." Katie glanced at the other girl. "Friends?"

"Not right now." Katie looked forlorn for a second, so Sarah continued. "Tomorrow maybe, or the day after, but not right now…"

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"Tad?"

The young man stepped out of his vehicle and pounded against his chest with a quick thump. "In the flesh."

"Why are you here?"

He countered the blonde with, "Why are you up?"

"You shouldn't answer a question with a question."

"It happens." Tad shrugged. "Look, about earlier."

Before he could say too much though, Jessie burst in. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was with Katie."

He chuckled mildly. "Well, that was quick."

"That's why you're here." Jessie pointed it out very obviously, because they both knew that it was true. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen."

He knew that it really wasn't going to help him any to be angry with two girls who were his best friends. He saw the hurt in Jessie's eyes, and he knew that Katie would be talking to him about it as soon as she could. She must have felt that it was Jessica's place to tell him about it first. He had to be the bigger man, or only man in this scenario…He had no choice but to joke. "Just, two things. One, do you really like her?" Slightly less joking, "Two, can I watch?" Jessie immediately punched his shoulder, a very Katie-like gesture. He grinned, "Just kidding!"

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The blonde girl was still sitting on her porch later. She was adjusting to the conversation that she had just been a part of moments ago with her ex-boyfriend. He was such a pervert; she chuckled. Had she had a watch, then she would have realized that she had a mere four hours before she was to be awake for school the next day. 3 a.m. and not all was well…quite yet.

"Hey there," Jessie suddenly noted the older girl standing in her driveway. A wave of relief hit her senses. It as always nice to see Katie.

"Hey Billie." Katie smiled back at her girlfriend.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Hey now, I'm older than you." Katie chuckled as she sat next to Jessie, turning serious. "I told Sarah about us."

"Really?" Jessie glanced at the older girl. Apparently she really wasn't the only one who wasn't able to sleep that night. Insomniacs unite!

"Yeah," Katie nodded. Silently, she pushed a piece of dirt off of the stair with her toe.

Neither girl said anything for several minutes. The blonde was the first to break the silence. "Are we okay?"

Slightly panicked, Katie looked up. Oh God. "What do you mean?" Jessie wanted to break-up with her.

Billie immediately noticed her girlfriend's nervous gestures. She tried to soothe her with a look, but Katie seemed even more worried after Jessie's smile. So, the blonde simply answered the question. "We kissed, then we hid our relationship to everyone but ourselves. Are we ready to be together?"

"Do you not want to be together?"

"No, I do. Just," Jessie felt silly suddenly, admitting such things.

Katie knew that look. "Slow?" Because it was exactly how she imagined that she looked at the moment, shy and nervous. Of course, Jessie was all cute about it.

"Ice age slow." Katie's eyes widened a bit as the blonde suggested such things. The blue eyes were twinkling. "I'm kidding, not quite that slow."

"Holding hands, in private?" Katie decided to test the limits by reaching for the blonde's hand. Jessie immediately entangled her fingers with Katie's. "Kissing?"

Jessie blushed and grinned, sneaked a quick kiss as well. "Kissing is a good thing. Definitely allowed."

Katie sighed; her immediate fears gone now. "I'm not ready to tell everyone else yet either, Jess. It's okay to be a bit afraid."

Blue eyes met green eyes fairly certainly. "That's why we have each other?"

"Exactly, we'll figure it out." Katie nodded, feeling more assured once their hands were intertwined.

"That's what you said about the cookies that we tried to make once." Jessie chuckled, remembering it. "I ended up with the sugar down my shirt."

"I had flour on all of my clothes." Katie grinned, remembering it, before pointing out that, "I had it on my socks." Katie shrugged. "Besides, we figured out the recipe eventually."

Jessie rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. She was so silly sometimes. "We should have just bought the cookies from the store."

"Figuring things out ourselves is a lot more fun though." Katie grinned and wiggled her eyebrows, then she nudged her girlfriend's shoulder with her own teasingly. "Besides, homemade always says it best."


End file.

Once and Again, Humor, Romance