-Title: Listen to the Rain

-Rating: T (some sexual content and slight language)

-Summary: Basically some teen loving going on between Jessie and Katie. Some of the other regulars of the show will make an appearance in here. There will also be some lovely humor, and some angst they have to deal with first.

-Author's Note: Sorry that you were left hanging with the sad chapter for a while, but school and such has been keeping be busy for a little while. Here's the next chapter, that I hope everyone enjoys.

-Feedback: Thank you so much to everyone who keeps reviewing. I thrive on feedback.:)

-Disclaimer: The jerk from the chapter before (the one at the movie theatre) is kind of mine, but he could really be about anyone seeing as he only has a couple of mean lines, and no real description or name as of the moment. If he comes back later, and I name him, then he'd "be mine". (No, no more yelling obscenities at the girls for himeven if he comes back. I promise.) I own Dana Johnson still, and Dean Harris. Oh, I own Frank, the cashier at the bar too. Other than that, everyone else is not mine. They belong to Once and Again...I claim nothing in their characters, and so forth. No money is in it for me...So, no need to sue me, I promise.

As Jessie lay snuggled safe in Tad's arm and into his chest, all she could think about was Katie. The man had made it obvious she was not suppose to be with Katie. It wasn't for him to decide who she was to be with, she knew that. She was just afraid that everyone else would feel that way as well. Would they? She couldn't help who she loved, could she? She loved Katie, and the most important people knew that. She knew, and so did Katie. Who else would matter? Well, even though she did not want to admit it, other people's opinions mattered right now. She didn't want to think of her badly just because of who she loved. How long could she keep lying to her heart? Katie, meanwhile, had stopped crying and was simply staring blankly at the screen. At the end of the movie, neither girl seemed to realize it was over until the guys took their arms away from their shoulders. Katie rubbed underneath her eyes to make sure that if any of her make-up had run then it was now gone. The guys were enjoying themselves anyway.

"So, you two still feel like bowling?" Dean turned to look at Jessie and Katie as he spoke.

"Bowling?" Katie looked at him slightly flabbergast. "Uh, since when was there bowling?"

Jessie's eyes had also widened. Okay, sitting through a movie she could handle. But now, she's expected to go out with them bowling? Few problems with that scenario. One, last time she went bowling she wasn't too good. Two, it's not dark anymore and she can see Katie clearly. She's been crying, but still looks beautiful. All Jessie wants to do is go over and comfort Katie, which would in turn, comfort her. However, she can't because that would mean that she was listening to that creep of a human from the movie theatre, right? Three, she's suppose to be 'with' Tad during this outing, but she's once more completely focused on Katie. This is going to be a real fun evening.

Katie tried not to noticed Jessie's staring at her. She wasn't going to let Jessie get to her if Jessie didn't want to be with her. She didn't want to pressure her into anything, but with the way Jessie was looking all she wanted to do was hold her and comfort her. That fits in with bowling right? She didn't want Jessie to be alone right now, so reluctantly she agreed to bowling. Both guys grinned at each other, and allowed the girls to sit as they wished in the car.

Both of the girls sat in the back again before they realized that they were suppose to be paying attention to the guys now. That didn't seem to matter too much to the guys though, because soon enough they were off to the bowling alley with the girls still seated in the back. They were each stealing glances though they were trying hard not to. Jessie was trying to be "perfect" and not listen to the man. Though, wouldn't being with Katie be a better definition of proving she would not listen to that outrageous man? Katie, on her part, was trying to pay attention to Dean simply because she believed that Jessie wanted space. Space was exactly the opposite of what Jessie wanted; she just needed some time to realize this.

Luckily, the bowling alley was only a few blocks away. They walked through the doors and the bowling alley was surprisingly empty that night. A few seconds later, a yell could be heard through the adjourning door to the bar. Ah, so that's where everyone else was. Well, everyone else that happened to be legal.

Dean and Tad seemed to have no troubles getting the right size to wear for shoes. However, Jessie kept being given the wrong size. She tried to explain to the man who was at the cashier what size she needed, but he kept grabbing her a different size. Katie giggled, which made Jessie glare almost playfully at Katie. Which, of course, led to more giggling on Katie's part. She just couldn't help it! Katie stopped giggling for a moment realizing she was suppose to be over by the guys figuring out what lane they wanted, when she heard Jessie exclaim that she didn't wear size 11 and then the man offered her an apology and a size 12.

Jessie was growing beyond frustrated and was trying to point at her feet and gesture that they were smaller. All the man did was look at her kind of funny, like she was insane. Katie was still laughing, but realized that Jessie wasn't going to get anywhere at this point. Hm, Tad, her "date", was no where around to help...So, why couldn't she? She was already sporting her lovely bowling shoes, in the right size, mind you. She wandered up to the man at the cashier, and asked him something softly that Jessie could not hear. He glared at her momentarily then relented and nodded at her. She smiled at him graciously, then walked behind the counter and picked Jessie out a pair of shoes, in the right size, for her to wear.

She walked back out, and handed them to her. Hm, perhaps she had a new idea now? If Jessie was thinking, sure she'd let her think, but no one said there was any reason why she couldn't make it hard for Jessie to ignore her right? Little did she realize, no matter what Katie did, Jessie would never be able to ignore her.

Jessie smiled at Katie, and accepted the scuffed bowling shoes. "How'd you get him to do that?" She was looking curiously at Katie, before turning back to the shoes and tying them up.

"Magic," Katie whispered mysteriously and then walked off to the guys leaving Jessie with a slightly hanging open mouth gaping after her. God, she looked so sexy when she did something spontaneous and cute like that then left Jessie to think with her sexy walk that was going on right in front of her face. It was no secret what Jessie was thinking about right then, even Katie knew.

"How am I going to make it through tonight. I thought I needed some time to think. I mean, I know I love Katie. That man, though, he was such a...prick. I just don't want everyone to be like that towards me. Towards Katie. Towards us." Jessie was babbling on to herself, not realizing that anyone was listening.

"I think you two are smart kids. You'll figure it out, but if you ask me, which you are since you're sitting there mumbling to yourself right next to me, don't waste your love. You two love each other, don't let it go."

Jessie turned around after thinking about what he had said, but he was gone back over into the bar part to be bartender again. "Thank you, Frank." She mumbled again, now really to herself. She only noticed his name because she had been growing impatient with him until Katie had gotten her her bowling shoes. Katie. Oh right, bowling.

She wandered down to their bowling lane where it was Dean's turn. He rolled a spare. He cheered and Katie grinned at him. It was hard not to because he was a genuinely nice guy. He'd be a good friend...like Tad. Tad and Dean preformed some kind of weird old camp handshake they had, that made both Katie and Jessie roll their eyes. Both of them were finding it hard to ignore each other still, even if they were trying to be "normal girls."

Tad was up, and he got a spare too. Why the heck was everyone so good at bowling? Jessie frowned slightly as she walked up to bowl. She rolled the ball down the lane and she knocked one over. One. She got one! Two people shrieked at the same time, while two others tried to offer condolences. Tad and Dean looked on bewildered, while Jessie and Katie grinned. "You scored! You got one!" Katie was almost as excited as Jessie was. Both of them knew how bad Jessie was at bowling, in fact, it was rare for her to even get a few points in a game. The gutters just seemed to like her.

"I did! I got one!" Both girls bounced around for a moment in sheer happiness, while the guys laughed realizing what was going on. Well, realized what was going on with the happiness in the bowling game. Katie was up next, and actually only missed one. She wasn't as good as the guys, but she was better then poor Jessie. Jessie grinned and cheered everyone, especially Katie, on anyway through-out the game.

After a bit, Katie's stomach growling pretty loudly. Soon, it was followed by Jessie's. Both guys laughed, and offered to go get some food for the singing stomachs. Frank was still over in the bar, where he was also serving up fried cheese curds, French fries, and that kind of thing. The boys decided to wander over to get some food for all of them, but they'd be back soon.

It was Jessie's turn anyway, and surprisingly she knocked down five pins! Both girls were already elated then, when Katie approached the lane with her bowling ball. She had been missing one or two pins on every turn. This time she almost felt Jessie smiling at her and watching her closely. She threw the ball down the lane...and...and...She got a strike. She got a strike! Both girls shrieked again, and Katie turned around to do a victory dance. In the middle of the dance, though, she was interrupted by Jessie.

Jessie had been watching Katie all night, and it was so hard to not be around her. Okay, it hurt to not be closer to her really. They had both been watching each other all night "secretly." Though, they both had noticed the watching. The boys didn't really notice though, because they were so wound up into the game. Which, was probably lucky. Jessie had been able to control herself all night until now. As Katie launched the ball forward, her shirt rode up a little bit exposing her beautiful back ever so slightly to Jessie. Then, Katie managed to get a strike, which both girls were happy about. Katie turned around to do a quirky happy/victory dance, but just then, Jessie decided she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted Katie. She needed Katie. No, they wanted and needed each other.

Jessie flung herself around Katie hugging her tightly. Both girls knew that it was about more than just the strike that Katie had just made. After a moment, Katie pulled back to look in Jessie's eyes, and Jessie's leaned forward and met Katie's lips with hers. It was, perhaps, the kiss with the most passion behind it they had ever shared even surpassing the one in the park slightly. They continued kissing for a few moments enjoying the way that Jessie had pulled Katie closer to her and the way the Katie's hands had risen up to entangle themselves in Jessie's hair. Neither girl wanted the kiss to end, but it had to. One, they needed to breathe, and two, certain guys would be back in a moment. They heard someone clear their throat, and leaped apart. It was Frank, he was back, which meant the guys would be back soon. He smiled and winked at Jessie, who grinned back.

Katie looked confused for a moment, but smiled anyway. She was so happy right now. Then she noticed Jessie's hair. Oops. She giggled and reached out and fixed it for Jessie who giggled in return. They were both so happy to be back together now. Or, as close as back together they could be without talking about it. They'd talk about it later though because now was not the time. They did, however, sit down on the connected seats that were near their lane. Both girls leaned in together, and held the other's hand until their food came. And then, they only released the other hand so that they could grab some food. To anyone else, it would appear probably as just two friends holding each other's hand, but they knew it was so much more. It was love. Just, love that they still had to talk about later, and whether or not they were "together." Of course, they both knew they wanted to be.

The guys munched happily on the fried food displayed on the table before them as well. Everyone thought the night was going great. Hm, perhaps more great for some than the others? Poor guys, if only they knew they were meant to be just friends with the girls. Or, maybe they already did? Either way, they seemed pretty content with the night so far. They didn't even mind, or perhaps notice, when Jessie's and Katie's arms slipped below the table to hold hands again. The rest would surely be figured out later because now it was all simple, right?