AN: A big thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story! And thank you so much to everyone who left a review! Enjoy this next chapter! And yeah, I totally stole the song choice from season 2 ep. 1.

Chapter Seven

Come on Eileen-Dexys Midnight Runners

It was the Sunday after Elain and Cassidy went bowling. She hadn't had a drop of soda since, the memory of the carbonation burning her nostrils was still fresh, but she couldn't help but smile whenever she thought about it. Cassidy had almost fallen out of the seat across from her as she tried to not laugh along with him and wiped her face and tried to clean off their score cards. She'd been momentarily mortified that she'd done that in front of him, but she quickly began to laugh at herself and at what had just happened.

That's what she was thinking about as she dressed for the service that morning, pulling on a white cotton sundress that stopped just passed her knees. Jesse decided to perform Baptisms for those who were willing to ask Christ into their hearts as their Lord and Savior after the day's sermon. She decided she would participate. She'd asked Christ into her life years ago, but had never actually been baptized.

She was now headed for her usual seat on the very back pew when she heard a whistle. Her eyes snapped up to see Cassidy leaning over the railing of the attic. "You look awfully pretty this mornin'," he started, coming down the stairs, his eyes not leaving her.

She blushed as he stopped in front of her. "Thank you."

"I take it you're participatin' in the wet t-shirt contest later?" he joked, his eyes a bit bloodshot.

She laughed before saying, "Very funny."

"I've never had much faith myself."

She wasn't quite sure what to say to that. She knew what her brother would say, so she went with that. "It's never too late to have faith."

Instead of responding Cassidy reached out a tattooed hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her left ear. His fingers were gentle as he smiled down at her and traced the outer shell of her ear. He was a good seven inches taller than her and heat rose to her cheeks at the way he was looking down at her. Cassidy dropped his hand and they both looked behind her as Jesse came down the aisle toward them. Elain didn't miss how Cassidy took a big step back from her.

"You look lovely Elain," Jesse said, pulling his sister in for a hug and pressing a kiss to her hair.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"Well, service is about to start," he stated as Emily went to open the doors to the front of the church.

Elain took her seat on the back pew and Cassidy sat down next to her, immediately slumping down in his seat. The two of them watched as Jesse stood in the entryway and greeted everyone as they entered.

~O.O~

After the baptisms Elain stood at the counter in the kitchen stirring sugar and milk into a mug of black tea and half-listening to Cassidy ask Emily for an advance in pay. She was lost in thought about why Tulip had shown up in the middle of service, and then participated in the baptisms. It was obvious Jesse was having a hard time with Tulip being back in town. She knew about what happened with them, Carlos, the baby, but only the barest of details. Something was up though and as much as she loved Tulip she would look out for her brother first.

"You okay?"

Elain blinked to see that Cassidy was now in front of her. "Yeah. Fine," she said, pulling out of her thoughts.

"Good, 'cause you're gonna' send me to the Sunken Place stirrin' that like that," he nodded towards the cup.

Elain stopped stirring and placed the spoon in the sink. "Very funny."

"Well, I've been told I'm pretty hilarious," he smiled.

Elain just shook her head and sipped from her mug. "Did you enjoy the sermon?"

"Oh, yeah. It was great. Good stuff."

"Really? So great I had to elbow you for snoring?" She smirked at him.

Cassidy chuckled. "I was multitaskin'," he said, trying to sound serious.

Elain let out a loud laugh and Jesse looked over from where he was talking to Emily.

"They seem to be gettin' along pretty well," Emily noted.

"Yeah," Jesse replied, still watching as his sister laughed at something else Cassidy said. He didn't particularly like how Cassidy seemed to move closer to her with every sentence.

"I haven't seen her laugh so much in a while," Emily observed. "I trust Cassidy with her about as far as I can throw him, but if he can make her laugh like that, maybe he's not all bad. Maybe."

"Yeah," Jesse said, eyes still on the two of them. "Maybe."

~O.O~

Cassidy had been thinking about Elain more and more. As much as he tried, as much as he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't stop the attraction he felt towards her. She was kinder to him than anyone he could remember. Most people barely tolerated him, but she actually listened to him when he talked and so far she hadn't judged him for anything, at least as far as he could tell. He easily got lost in her brown eyes, how bright they'd get when he'd ask her what she was reading, how her smile met her eyes when he told a joke and how she made him feel like those smiles were just for him. She looked at him like, like he might be actually worth something. That was something Cassidy hadn't felt in a century.

Elain was curled up under a blanket, on top of her bed that evening when he knocked on her door, informing her Jesse had gone to town and asking her if she wanted to ride with him in the church van to go get some ice cream.

She didn't even think about her answer. Instead she hopped out of bed. Cassidy leaned in the doorway, watching as she ran a brush through her hair and pulled on her socks and Converse. She had changed into jean shorts and a grey t-shirt after everyone was gone after the usual potluck lunch. "Ready," she said.

They were halfway to town now, and Elain's stomach was full of butterflies. She silently berated herself. It wasn't like it was a date. It was just ice cream between two friends. 'That's all', she told herself. She took some deep breaths anyway, trying to calm her nerves. She'd be lying to herself if she said she wasn't attracted to him. She found him funny and despite some of the outlandish things, and downright inappropriate things, that came out of his mouth she found him sweet and endearing. He made her laugh, really laugh. When they'd gone bowling he had her smiling so much her cheeks had started to hurt. Here she was for the second time in the span of a few days foregoing reading and hiding at home to venture to town with Cassidy.

She reached over and turned the radio up as she realized Come on Eileen was coming through the speakers.

"You like this song?" Cassidy asked her.

"It's a good song," she answered, nodding her head to the music.

"Too ra loo ra!" she began and Cassidy grinned at her before joining in.

"Too ra loo rye aye! And we can sing just like our fathers!" They sang in unison.

Elain was doing a little dance in her seat and Cassidy was dividing his attention between her and the road as they continued to sing along.

"Come on Eileen, oh I swear what he means

At this moment, you mean everything

You in that dress, my thoughts I confess

Verge on dirty

Ah, come on Eileen!"

They sang what they knew of the rest of the song in-between bursts of laughter, and when it was over Cassidy said, "You're singin' is terrible."

Elain pretended to be insulted. "Well you're no pop star!" They both kept laughing and throwing half-hearted insults about the others singing until they reached the only ice cream shop in town.

A few minutes later they were at a booth by the window, the sky now fully dark outside. "Thanks for the ice cream Cass," she said.

"It's no problem," he answered. He ate from his own cone of triple chocolate, watching as her tongue lapped up a drop of mint chocolate chip that was escaping over the side of her cone.

"What?" She asked. "Is there ice cream on my face?" Before he could answer she reached for a napkin and wiped around her mouth just in case.

His eyes met hers as he sat back in the booth with a small smirk on his face. "You called me Cass."

"And?" she inquired. "Do you not want me to? I can call you Cassidy."

"No, no. You just haven't called me that before. I like it when you say it," he smiled, almost sheepishly.

She smiled back but quickly averted her gaze to her ice cream as she felt heat fill her cheeks.

After they finished their ice cream in silence Cassidy held the door open for her as they left and Elain bid goodnight to the employee wiping down the counter.

"So," Cassidy asked. "Where to?"

"Home I guess. I'm…feelin' kinda tired actually," she looked at him as he fished the keys to the van out of his pants pocket. And she was. She hadn't even taken a nap that day and she'd stayed up late reading. It was starting to catch up with her.

"Alright. Home it is."

It was dark by the time they got back and Jesse's truck was parked in front. They headed inside to find Jesse sitting in a pew, in the dark. Elain bid them goodnight and left Jesse and Cassidy to talk.

Hours later and Elain was standing only a few feet from where her brother lay unconscious as she shrieked, "What the fuck!?"

AN: So the Sunken Place bit is a reference to the movie Get Out. I'm pretty sure the film wasn't actually out when this episode aired but I couldn't help it.