Author's Note: I'm watching Sex and the City. Thought you ought to know.

Disclaimer: I own basically nothing and I'm questioning my whole existence. As far as DPS goes, I really do own nothing.

"Shakespeare."

Turning around to see who had uttered such a famous poet's name, Charlie Dalton raised an eyebrow. "…Tina?" He hesitated, not quite sure.

With a small smirk and a roll of her yes, Tina Bennett nodded. "At least this time you got it before I had to remind you," she pointed out. "That's progress."

Charlie furrowed his brows in confusion, glancing around awkwardly. "Yeah…" he half-heartedly agreed. "Um…" He didn't know exactly what to say. Sure, Tina was nice to look at, but Gloria Fitz-Patrick was the girl Charlie had really been interested in the other night. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and rolled onto the heels of his feet. "So…"

Tina sighed. "You quoted Shakespeare to me the other day. I don't know who wrote that 'walks in beauty' poem, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't you," she stated.

Charlie's eyes widened in slight horror. "Oh…right…did you, uh, stumble upon it sometime this week?" he asked sheepishly, scratching at the back of his neck.

Tina raised an eyebrow. "No, I knew who it was. I was playing dumb."

Charlie's embarrassment quickly ebbed away, smirking as he walked towards her and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Tinaaa," he crooned in much the same way as the other evening. "You don't have to dumb yourself down for me. I like all the ladies." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Tina turned her bemused gaze to Charlie's face. "And certain bespectacled gingers," she added, catching Charlie off guard and causing him to retract his arm.

He stood rigidly. "I don't know what you mean," he ground out through his teeth, clearly uncomfortable.

"I see the way you look at him. It's the same way I look at Gloria. She's who I was dumbing myself down for," Tina explained, as if it was all the most obvious thing in the world.

Charlie stared at Tina, his lips tugging into a thin line. "You," he pointed his index finger at her chest, "were dumbing yourself down for Gloria?" he asked, voice cracking at the ludicrous notion of it all. He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair and chuckled to himself. He waggled his finger slightly before narrowing his eyes. "Did Neil put you up to this or something? Because I'm going to have to congratulate him for originality and creativity…"

Tina growled to herself, throwing her hands up. "Will you be quiet and just admit that I'm right? I told you about Gloria, now just admit that you're overcompensating for—"

"Hey!" Charlie yelled, once again glancing around nervously. "Charlie Dalton likes girls, okay? And no matter how many times you say that I don't, I will still like girls."

Tina stood in silence, but a smirk was beginning to creep over her face. "Charlie…" she paused. "I never said anything about you not liking girls. I just said you liked boys as well."

Charlie burned red in the face before repeating, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Tina snorted. "So you're telling me that during after-gym-class showers you aren't sailing half mast?"

Charlie's eyes widened. "That doesn't mean anything!...if that's how it were…where do you get off saying-?" he sputtered, unable to decide where to go from here.

Tina reached out, grabbing Charlie's arm through the fabric of his coat. "When you're done lying to yourself, call me," she informed him, slipping a small scrap of paper into his hand. "I've got a proposition."

.

It took Charlie a week to call Tina, and when he did, he still fought her all the way, insisting he liked girls—conveniently not saying he didn't like boys—and finally agreeing to meet her for dinner at her house. He got signed permission from his parents, who rarely said 'no' to anything he requested, and on Friday at five, Hager drove him to the Bennett residence.

Tina opened the door cheerily, offering her best smile and explaining that her mother was busy in the kitchen, but that they'd be sure to drop Charlie back at Welton around ten that night. Hager bobbed his head grumpily before trotting heavily back down the three front steps, and Charlie felt oddly alone and abandoned, staring over his shoulder at the Welton wagon until it turned a corner at the stop sign.

"Are you coming in?" Tina asked, a tinge of annoyance in her tone that she had tried and failed to retain.

Charlie's attention was brought back to Tina. "Uh, yeah," he mumbled, stepping over the threshold and removing his coat. Tina hung it up on the coatrack beside the door and Charlie took in the cozy entryway. "So…your mom's in the kitchen?"

Tina shook her head. "No. Mom and Dad went out for cocktails, and Marge, my sister, is away at college. You really think Hager would let you come over if he knew we were alone?"

"Alone…right." Charlie fairly fainted.

Tina grinned. "For any red-blooded American boy, this would be a dream."

Charlie pursed his lips, pulling at his tie. "Yes, well, you admitted yourself that you're not my type, now didn't you?"

That clever smirk of Tina's danced across her lips. "I admitted to liking Gloria; I didn't say anything about my view on men."

Charlie tilted his head. "So then you do want me…" he stated doubtfully, although egotistical triumph was building up inside of him.

Tina laughed before answering:

"Yes and no."