** Never Judge a Book By Its Cover *

- Chapter Two -

It was two weeks after Dean's conversation with Shane. He entered the crowded school cafeteria, and noticed Shane was sitting alone. He hadn't spoken to her much since their last conversation, and was surprised that she was by herself, usually she had one or two girl friends with her. Dean decided to join her.

Dean walked through the rows of tables and chairs, till he reached Shane, and slipped beside her.

Shane looked up and smiled weakly at Dean,"Hey."

Dean looked at her, he could see her lip trembling, and the smile she was forcing, so he just had to ask her what was wrong.

"My so called 'true love' in Florida decided that our arrangement would not work. I guess it was the tall blonde, surfer chick he started going out with. His sister had the decency to call me and tell me why he was blowing off my calls."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Shane, I am sure you'll have no problem finding another guy to go out with, though."

"Yeah, right, Dean, you know about the preconceived reputation I have now, thanks to hanging out with Jess. He is a sleaze and how many guys want to date a girl that sort of got dumped by a sleaze? I guess this has been my month for getting dumped."

Dean wanted to say some comforting words. She had comforted him when he was down, but the bell rang, ending the second lunch period.

Shane stood up and gathered her books, "Take care Dean, I'll see you around."

"See ya, Shane," Dean replied as he watched her walk away. He knew exactly how alone she felt at this moment.

School had ended for the day and Shane was walking down the front steps of school with one of her girlfriends when she spotted Dean sitting at the bottom of the steps.

"Hey, Dean, what are you waiting for?"

"You."

"Why?"

Dean reached over and took her books, "I want to walk you home."

"Dean, you live in the opposite direction."

"So what? Just take my arm and let's go."

Dean and Shane strode through the exiting throng of students, noticing the glances and stares as they sliced through the crowd.

They walked mostly in silence through the autumn afternoon. When they got to Shane's house, she turned to him, and asked him, "Why did you do want to walk me home, Dean?"

"Why not? You're nice, and friendly. I enjoy talking to you, and above all, you're honest."

Shane looked at the tall boy in front of her, "She was nuts, you know that don't you?"

Dean scratched his ear, "Why do you say that?"

"She was, trust me."

"Shane, thanks for letting me walk you home. I have to get to work; I'll see you in school tomorrow." With that said, Dean took off at a long, easy lope to make it to Doose's market for his shift.

Shane looked at his rapidly distancing form and thought to herself, He is so gorgeous. I wish he'd see me as more than a friend.

Dean arrived at Doose's market, and had to listen Taylor berate him for being five minutes late. Taylor called him irresponsible. Dean thought to himself, if he did not need the job to help out with his family's bills, he would tell Taylor to shove the job up his ass.

He took a deep breath and got ready for the firing line. He knew he was going to have listen to another round today of the town gossipers saying things like, Oh, he is the guy Rory dumped, along with someone commenting, I heard he was not too smart,and that is why she dumped him for Jess or someone else saying, At least Jess could read, even though he was a surly ass. The ironic thing was that when he first met Rory he had already read every book she had on her to read list. He even gave up football because Taylor would not work with him on a schedule.

About an hour later, Dean had to listen to the biggest town gossip of all, as heard Miss Patty's phony voice saying,"Oh, did you hear that the bag boy, Rory dumped, walked that Shane girl, who used to go out with Luke's nephew, Jess, home today?" And then Miss Patty went on to discuss her opinion of Shane's morals to her very attentive audience.

The next afternoon, Dean walked into the cafeteria to meet Shane. Ever since that first time they made it a point to meet every day for lunch. It had been going on for three weeks now. Dean found her funny, with a wry sense of humor, A girl, who made no pretense of being super smart, but could talk on any subject that came up in their conversations.

Shane looked up and smiled at Dean when he sat next to her, "What's new today, Bag Boy?"

Dean laughed, when she said it, he did not mind. "You know something, Shane? We are like two goldfish in a bowl. Everything we do turns into gossip. It seems like everyone is looking at us all the time."

Shane, laughed, "Yep I know it."

Dean loved her laugh, it was not the delicate laugh Rory had, Shane's was loud and full of joy and he loved watching her eyes as she laughed. He could see how they sparkled.

"Shane, you see Lane sitting there?"

"Yeah,".Shane replied and looked over at Lane, who was pretending to read a book, but was actually looking at them.

"You know everything I do and everything I say is reported back to Rory."

Shane smiled, "You know, Dean, we should really give her something to report back."

"Such as?"

With that, Shane put her arms around Dean's neck and drew him in and put her lips on to his.

Dean was shocked, but he did not draw away from the kiss. It was electric, it was sensual. It was beautiful. Dean responded to the kiss. He did not want to stop.

After a moment, a cafeteria monitor tapped him on the shoulder and told them to break it up. They were in a cafeteria not a motel.

Shane looked over at Lane. Lane's mouth was hanging open, she made no pretense of not staring at them. "Hey Lane," she called out, "did you get all of that?" and laughed.

Dean waited for Shane after school. When she came down the steps he took her hand and said, "Let's go."

Shane smiled up at him. "Okay let's go," and they walked away from the school hand in hand amid stares and whispers.

"Shane, why did you kiss me?"

"Oh come on, Dean, didn't we want to give Lane something to talk about?"

"True, but Shane, how did you feel kissing me?"

Shane thought she was in heaven when she kissed him, said, "It felt ok, it was a good kiss."

"Just a good kiss?"

"Well, yeah, maybe a bit better than good."

Dean stopped and turned to face her still holding her hand. "I had hoped it was a bit better than good. I really like you. Would you like to go to a movie tomorrow?"

Shane's heart missed a beat. "That would be good Dean, I would really enjoy that."

They arrived at Shane's house and Dean asked if she wanted to catch the 2pm show and they could get something to eat afterwards.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, Bag Boy."

Dean bent down to kiss her goodbye and Shane turned her cheek. What she really wanted to do was drag him inside and make out for a couple of hours. How could Rory break up with this handsome, gracious, polite man? The girl was nuts!

Dean headed to Doose's market, not caring if he was late or not. He wondered why Shane had shied away from him just now after she had given him the kiss of his life in the cafeteria. No kiss with Rory was ever like the one he had with Shane. Some day maybe, he would be able to figure out women.

Dean arrived at the market, Taylor and started in on him again. He just looked at him, and said. "Can it Taylor, I am not in the mood for your crap today." He knew Taylor would not fire him, he turned out more work than any other two of Taylor's stock boys.

Dean was in the back of the store stocking shelves when he heard the irritating voice of Miss Patty going on about her usual gossip, then he heard, "Oh, the bag boy, Rory dumped, was kissing Jess's old girlfriend Shane in the school cafeteria today. I heard he had his hand up her blouse and her hand was in his lap."

Dean wondered how she knew this. She must have spies all over town.

"Miss Patty!" he said loudly."

She turned from the small audience she was relating the tale to, "What can I do for you Dean?"

"Look, if you're going to tell the story, you should really get your facts straight. Shane is a lady and not a slut, like you just implied. Plus my business is none of yours, and in the future you will keep your big fat mouth shut when it involves me. Anyway, even according to you, you slept with half of Broadway, so who is the slut? You are, slut!"

With that said, Dean ripped off his green Doose's apron and threw it in the middle of the same aisle where Rory had "shoplifted" the corn starch the first time he'd kissed her. "You all can kiss my ass!" and he stormed away from the shocked Taylor, Miss Patty and the rest of the simple-minded town folk.

Dean arrived at Shane's house promptly at one thirty for their movie date. When he knocked on the door, it was answered by a very attractive blonde woman, who introduced herself as Allison, Shane's Mother.

Allison then invited Dean to the living room, and offered him some lemonade, which he accepted. Allison gently quizzed Dean on school and how he felt about leaving Chicago. He noticed how this gracious woman worked to put him at ease. With Rory's mother, he always felt slightly uncomfortable to the point he wondered if he was good enough to date her daughter.

Shane came down the stair case. Her platinum blond hair was up in a sporty pony tail, and she wore a pair of faded blue jeans that really flattered her figure, along with a soft, baby doll pink pull over sweater. She was gorgeous. In fact, she was the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen. Dean wondered how she managed to look so beautiful when she dressed so simply.

Dean stood there with his mouth open.

Shane laughed that laugh of hers and said, "Come on, Bag Boy, let's go."

Shane's mother smiled at him warmly and told them to have a good time.

As soon as they got on the sidewalk, Shane took Dean's arm and looked up at him. "Dean, are you okay?"

"Sure, why?"

"I heard what happened at Doose's market."

Dean looked skyward. "Can't anything happen in this town without it being common knowledge ten minutes later? What did your mother say?"

Shane laughed that beautiful laugh of hers that made Dean's heart melt. "She said it was about time someone told that whale off."

After the movie was over, they strolled through the town square and headed towards Luke's for a burger and some fries. They turned the corner and saw Lorelai Gilmore walking towards them. Dean stopped walking and put his arm around Shane so Lorelai would have no doubt that he was dating someone new, in hopes that it would get back to Rory. "Hi Lorelai, how are you doing?"

Lorelai looked at them and instantly recalled her dislike for Shane, simply because Rory had hated her so much when she was dating Jess, so she decided to insult her indirectly, "Well, Dean, I guess you peaked in the dating world when you were seeing my daughter. Looks like you've disembarked from the ski lift and you're doing the downhill slalom at record speed," she remarked in catty, Lorelai-like fashion.

Dean muttered under his breath, "That bitch!"

Shane looked up at Dean, "You got that right, look at how she treats Luke. Luke is in love with her, and all she does is use him. Where do you think Rory gets her imperious attitude from? For some reason, Jess seemed more interesting than you, so she just basically dumped you. That is what Lorelai does with her boyfriends, but for some reason she is treated like a queen in this town."

Shane and Dean walked into Luke's diner and took a seat by the door. They noticed Rory sitting at a table in the rear, engrossed in a book, as usual.

Jess walked over and rudely threw a couple of menus on the table and walked away. Shane put her hand over Dean's and told him, "Take it easy, he's not worth it."

They sat there making small talk, and wondered where Jess had gone. Finally, Dean stood up and walked to the counter and asked if he was going to be served.

Luke, looked over at Dean, and in Luke's mind, Dean was some jerk who had problems with Rory.

"Wait your turn, Dean, you're not the only person in here."

Dean turned on his heel and walked back to the table. "Shane, we should go someplace else."

"No way in hell, Dean. We are not walking out of here while Rory is sitting here. It would be like she won a victory over us."

Jess came over, and sneeringly asked, "What do you want?"

Shane again put her hand over Dean's and said, "We'll take two burgers, chili fries and two Pepsi's."

Jess walked away without a word.

"Dean, take it easy, we will just make a mental note not to come here again," Shane commented.

Dean looked at Shane, "You mean we are going to go out again?"

Shane nodded and said," Dean, of course we are going out again. You're a fun date and a sweet guy."

Jess returned and more or less threw the food on the table and walked away.

"Dean, don't look, but Rory is staring at us and she does not look too happy." Then Shane looked into Dean's amazing emerald colored eyes, and quietly said, "Kiss me."

Dean kissed Shane, and felt an electric shock sweep over him that surpassed all the other kisses he'd ever shared with Rory.

They broke the kiss and noticed the diner was silent. A couple of the customers were looking at them, and then looking at Rory. Shane looked over at Rory, too, and giggled.

Shane and Dean finished their food and Jess came over and looked at Dean and said, "Well, what do you and your skank want for dessert?"

Dean jumped up from his chair, knocking the table over, and grabbed Jess by the shirt and smashed him in the face, bloodying his nose, and continued hitting him before he threw him on the floor and warned him, "If you ever call my girlfriend a skank again, I'll break your neck, you little punk!"

Rory was standing in the back of the room, looking at Dean and then looking at Jess, she was in shock.

Luke rushed up to Dean and grabbed him and Dean shrugged him off. "Take your hands off of me - I'm out of here!" He then reached in his wallet and threw a twenty on the floor and walked out with Shane.

They walked quietly for a while. Shane saw a bench and said, "Let's sit. I want to talk to you."

They sat, and she turned to Dean, and looked into his eyes. "Tell me the truth, Dean, did you hit him on account of me? Or was it your anger toward him taking Rory away?"

Dean, without hesitation, replied, "I lost it when he called you a skank. Shane, I have been falling in love with you. This love feels different than what I felt for Rory. With her, I was always on edge, always afraid to make a mistake. With you, I feel calm, I relax and enjoy myself with you, Shane."

Shane just reached over and kissed him, "Take me home, boyfriend."

Dean remembered what happened when he said 'I love you' to Rory and realized Shane did not say it back to him either, so he had to know if she felt the same way about him as he did about her. Dean took her hands into his and quietly said, "Do you love me, Shane?"

Shane laughed that golden laugh of hers. "Dean, when you told me you were falling love with me, and I said 'take me home boyfriend,' I thought you understood. Yes, of course I love you. I have loved you for awhile now. Dean this just feels so right. I am proud to be your girlfriend."

Dean bent down and kissed her, "And I am proud to be your boyfriend, Shane."

A couple of months late, Dean answered his door and saw a very unhappy Rory standing there.

"Dean we need to talk," she said, sounding urgent and full of regret.

"What about Rory?"

"I made a mistake with Jess. He is unreliable, surly and self centered. I really miss you."

Dean simply replied, "Okay," almost sounding sympathetic.

"Dean, are you going to stop blocking the door and let me in?" Rory asked impatiently.

The door opened further and Rory saw Shane standing there.

Rory covered her mouth with her hand and looked surprised.

"Rory, I am going to tell this to you one time and one time only. Dean is my boyfriend. I love him in a way you're not capable of doing. You had your chance, and basically you shit on him. You took probably the kindest, most caring person I have ever known and threw him away. How dare you come here to his house and try and get him back after how you treated him. Haven't your spies around town told you we are going out, and he is my boyfriend? Who in the hell do you think you are waltzing over here expecting him to dump me and take up with you again?"

Dean, seeing that Shane was really getting worked up, stood in front of her, and said to Rory, "You need to leave, Rory, you're out of line and embarrassing yourself. Please don't come back here anymore."