** Never Judge a Book By Its Cover **

Genre: Drama
Pairings: Dean/Shane
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Rory, Dean, Shane and Jess and all other recognizable "Gilmore Girls" characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, and the WB. There is no profit from the copyrighted characters or infringement intended.

Dean took a sip of coke as he sat in the Stars Hollow gazebo and tried not to think about his break up with Rory. It was his first day of work at Doose's market since his breakup with Rory at the dance marathon and he was sure the customers were going to be gawking at him and taking her side, as usual, so he needed a little time to himself to get ready before he walked into the snake pit.

"Dean!"

He grimaced, it was starting already. He turned and looked across his shoulder and saw someone he was not expecting to see at all. It was Shane!

"Hey, Shane, you doin' alright?" Dean asked. He truly felt bad for her. It had been so obvious to him at the dance that Jess was just using her to make Rory jealous and obviously his devious plan had worked because Rory had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

"Better, now that I'm not with that loser, Jess and knowing Rory's stuck with him now."

Dean laughed and asked Shane to join him. This was just the therapy he needed before he went to work so he was glad she was there with him.

"That's a pretty healthy outlook. I wish I could get to the point where I felt the same about Rory," he admitted.

"What are you talking about? Rory was damn lucky she got a stud like you!"

"What?" Dean asked chuckling, he appreciated Shane trying to make him feel better, but he thought her approach was pretty transparent.

"Oh, wise up, Dean. Rory was a big, fat loser at Stars Hollow High. The guys thought she was weird with a capital 'W'. She never talked to anybody, she always had her head stuck in a book. The only friend she had at school was Lane."

"Well, she was trying to trying to get into a private school; she wants to go to Harvard when she graduates," Dean replied, reluctantly coming to Rory's defense.

"No, Dean, she was weird. The girl couldn't carry on a normal conversation to save her life. Also, I'll admit she's kind of pretty now, but she used to be a major Plain Jane. I went to school in another district until Stars Hollow High so I didn't know her then, but my guy friends who went to school with her when she was in middle school told me she looked like Macauley Caulkin in drag. They used to call her MacRory Caulkin and … Home Alone."

Dean didn't know whether to laugh or feel bad for Rory. It sounded like he had rescued her from a pretty awful adolescence.

"Hey, Dean. I'm sorry, you must think I'm awful, but I thought you needed to know these things about Rory to help you understand the reasons for the crappy way she treated you."

"I'm not following you, Shane."

"Don't you get it? The girl had zero confidence in herself as far as guys went before she met you. When you started going out with her, instead of the dim wit being damn grateful like she should have been, she suddenly thought she was a super stud and when Jess came along, she thought she was the babe of the century because she had two guys that liked her. Truth is, Jess probably wouldn't have even paid her that much attention, but being with a hottie like you gave her so much confidence that he really noticed her."

"You think so?"

"Believe me, I know so. I am so sure that if she hadn't gone to that fancy pants school in Hartford and you and Jess had been going to school with her all along, instead of transferring in from Chicago and New York, neither one of you would have thought she was that big a deal."

"Well, I know one thing…

"What?"

"If the bitch gets in my face again, I'll be calling her MacRory Caulkin," he laughed. "Can you believe she came to my house last night, climbed a tree, got on my roof and tapped on my window to tell me she was sorry for what she did, only to follow that up to tell me she used to love me and that I was really was a good boyfriend? I already know that I was a good boyfriend and as for her saying she loved me – what a joke. She has no idea what that word even means."

"Lame. It sounds like she was trying to get you to apologize to her for her feeling guilty about being such an idiot. Don't worry, Dean, she thinks Jess is a prize, but he is such a major loser, she is going to regret not having you big time by the time it's over. I hope you aren't stupid enough to be there to pick up the pieces when that happens or she'll never learn her lesson."

"What about you? Did you learn your lesson about being with a jerk like Jess?"

"There really wasn't a lesson to learn, Dean. I was just passing time with him. My true love lives in Florida."

"But what would he say if he knew you were with Jess?"

"His family moved to Florida a year ago. We had an agreement that we'd see other people, but that we'd save ourselves for each other."

"You're a ?"

"Virgin? Yes, I know it's hard to believe, Dean, but I am one of those. Never judge a book by its cover, Dean, that's how you got sucked in by Rory's act and look what that led to."

"You're right, Shane. I'm sorry. I have to get to work now, but I'd love to hang out with you again, sometime. I have my own phone line at home and my number's in the book if you want to call and get together."

"That'd be great. I'd love to have you for a friend and I think I could help you work through this Rory, Jess stupid thing. Also … just so you know, there are a ton of girls at school who are going to be way glad when they hear you're a single man, some of them are really good friends of mine, so anytime you're ready, I'll be happy to set you up with them."

"Thanks, Shane. I'll let you know when that is."

"No problem, see ya later, Dean."

"See ya, Shane."

Dean took a last sip of Coke and absorbed his conversation with Shane, finally getting it that he had other options in his life besides Rory and he was grateful to Shane that she had made him realize that Rory had been a shy, awkward, social loser before they'd met and not the super together woman he had built her up to be in his mind. It made the pain of losing her a little easier. Rory was only a human being and she could be replaced.