Ten Things I Hate About You , Jess Mariano

eleven. hold hands or some shit

        AS SHE STRUMMED her guitar, humming, the room surrounded by blankets and strewn pillows, Sissy Gilmore couldn't stop thinking about stupid, dumbass, ( maybe that was a bit childish, but Sissy was sure that stupid and dumbass where the perfect words to describe him ) fucking Jess Mariano. The two hadn't spoken since the night of the Bracebridge dinner — the night, of course, of their first kiss. She felt giddy just thinking about it, her mind constantly floating back to that night; The heat of his body radiating on to hers, the way his lips tasted faintly of sugar ( which surprised her ), the way her cheeks flushed when he even just simply looked at her — she wanted to relive that night over and over for the rest of her life.

      She was staying at Lemon's while her house was being fixed due to termite damage — much to Lorelai's annoyance. She didn't want to be a burden to Sookie ( two Gilmore's were enough for her to handle, she didn't need another one ), and the Parker family always had their doors open for her. At that second, however, she was sitting on the floor of Ms. Patty's in solitude. Lemon was out getting snacks for band rehearsal and Marls and Elliot were stuck in detention ( that's what happens when you decide to flip off the hall monitors ), leaving her all alone on the floor, surrounded by pillows she grabbed off Lemon's bed. The home phone began ringing, snapping her out of her dame. She set aside her guitar, hopping off up and running to the phone, panting. "Hello?"

       She could hear breathing on the other end, which was otherwise silent. "Hello?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she waited for the response that never came. "Hello?" She leaned against the wall, twirling the phone chord. "I swear, if any living, breathing human is there, say something!" Whoever was on the other end clearly didn't hear her, or didn't care, because suddenly the line went dead. "Asshole," she mumbled, handing up the phone with a huff.

"Who was that?" Lemon asked, placing the paper bags full of snacks on the floor by the blankets, Elliot and Marls behind her. "I have no idea." They nodded, all plopping on the pillow-filled floor.

"So, how are the jobs going for you guys?" She asked, grabbing the bag of barbecue chips poking out of the Doose's bags. "One, Fran's a baking god, and two, I'm actually almost near my goal!" Lem laughed, taking out her plastic container full of money. "I'm definitely going to keep working there, I get free breakfast!"

The four laughed as their hands all skimmed the snack-filled bags, looking for their specific snack. "Luke's a really great boss, I definitely want to keep working there too, I think I'm done goal-wise, though."

"So am I," Marls and Elliot said at the same time, yelling a childish "jinx!" that made Sissy roll her eyes. She rubbed her eyes, popping a chip in her mouth. "Do you guys have your instruments though?" She asked, grabbing her electric guitar. Everyone but Elliot nodded, pulling a drum pad from his backpack. "I can't transport my drums," he shrugged, grabbing his drumsticks from the sides.

        "Okay then, let's go!" Marls yelled, making them all laugh. The quartet all scrambled for their instruments, running over to the amps they stored in a stack on the side of the studio. "Ready?"

        "Yeah, let's go," Sissy mumbled, focusing on tuning her guitar. The other three nodded as she tied her hair up into a ponytail. Elliot counted them off as the three girls plugged in their instruments, stepping towards their mics, which she'd plugged in a second before.

        Sissy strummed her guitar, bopping her head along to the beat. When she was with the band, playing her guitar and singing, every stray thought in her head finally shutting up. Finally, she thought, a way to get my mind off Jess. They were about to get to the big, blowout chorus ( her favorite part ) when there were a series of knocks on the door of Ms. Patty's. Sissy groaned, unplugging her guitar. She slung her guitar over her back, walking over to the door.

She pulled it open, her breath hitching when her eyes met his. "Can't you read the sign?" She said, pointing to the massive Closed sign on the door, feigning annoyance. "Can we talk?" Jess asked, her pulse immediately rushing. She simply nodded, her face flushing. She stepped outside, the band sharing amused looks behind her. "What's up?"

Jess sighed, his brown eyes peering into her blue ones. "Sounded good in there." She nodded, mumbling a thanks. The two stood in silence after that, making her shift uncomfortably. She waited for him to speak, before shaking her head, taking over. "Jess, what are we doing?" His eyebrows rose, still staying silent. "I mean, we kissed, and you don't say anything!" She huffed, placing her hand back on the door. "Wait!" She rolled her eyes, turning back to him. "I'll say something then!"

Her eyebrows rose in amusement, scoffing. "Okay Jess, say something!" She crossed her arms, focusing on him. "I don't really do all that dating stuff, but we could. I could take you to dinner and we could hold hands or some shit, whatever you want." A small smile grew on her face as he became increasingly less tense, watching her smile. She tugged on her guitar strap, which he hadn't even noticed was there.

"So we can hold hands or some shit?" He had a smile, a genuine one, on his face as the two stepped closer. He interlaced their fingers, surprising her. He always pretended not to give a shit, but there he was, committing to her, committing to them, his hand gripping her softer ones. She felt heat creep up to her cheeks, which she wishes she could blink away. Fuck, what if my hands get sweaty? She looked over to him, a small, dopey smile on his face. "Friday night, you'll finally get that dumb date." He snickered, "Whatever you say, Sicily."

authors note: lil short chapter because i have no motivation to write for this episode but i love these two so much and THEYRE GONNA GO ON A DATE!