Title: Homemade Always Says It Best
Rating: This chapter is probably only PG, but I plan on bringing it up to PG-13 at some point.
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine...I cannot claim them. They all belong to the hardworking people involved with Once and Again.
Feedback: Yes please, I want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far.
Summary: This will be a J/K or Jessie and Katie story eventually. It's just my take on another way that the girls could have ended up discovering their feelings for each other.
Author's Note: First off, thank you to everyone who reviews. Secondly, I'll explain in here how Tad knows Sarah (though, I did try to explain it a bit in the story too.) I have Tad and Sarah both working at a grocery store, which would be where they met, as co-workers. They later, after working together, have formed a friendship. Sarah goes to a different school in the area though, but she is the same age as Tad and Katie, just like she would be in the show. Also, there will be some Eli/Grace. Enjoy!
Friday night was supposed to be a date night. Actually, Saturday was supposed to be a date night too. Only, you weren't generally supposed to go on a date each night, especially if each date was with someone different. Not that Katie had a choice in that matter, Jessie and Tad forced her to go on all on their dates. How obnoxious. Actually, obnoxious was a good word to describe the guys that Tad set her up with. She had dates with Jason, Jon, Jake, and Devon, and the only thing that Devon had going for him was that his name didn't start with a 'J' unlike the first three guys. Now, there was someone new to add to the equation. Sarah. A girl.
Katie frowned and turned the music up louder. Billie Holiday always was one thing that would let her relax. She smiled as she remembered listening to Jessie sing. Oh shit. Right. She had been focusing on the fact that she had a date with a girl name Sarah, if she wanted it, and wondering how Jessie would take that, so she had forgotten that Tad wanted to set her up with Sarah partially to keep her 'off of Jessie'. The girl rolled her eyes thinking of him; he was jealous. In all honesty though, if she was scaring the younger girl…she didn't want that.
It only took one ring before Tad answered. "Yeah, Katie?"
"Have you been answering the phone like that all day?" The girl chuckled at her friend's behavior, knowing that he probably did, and knowing that he didn't have caller I.D.
"Of course…not." He laughed a bit nervously before diving right into what he was itching to know. "Does this mean that you'll go out tonight?"
Katie sighed. She had one question. "What do we tell Jessie?"
"That I thought you were sick of the guys and the dating, so I thought you could hang out with a friend instead." Actually, that wasn't that bad of a plan, even for Tad, especially for Tad.
One problem. "A friend that I've never met?"
"You'll meet her tonight," Tad promised, before hanging up the phone to call the other two girls.
"Sarah. Katie's going to hang out with a friend named Sarah." He had called Jessie first, to confirm the date with her.
"While we have a date?" She was skeptical of the idea. She didn't like Katie hanging out with this Sarah, while she was with Tad.
Tad shrugged, realizing that she couldn't see it over the phone. "Well…she doesn't like Devon." He didn't have a choice.
Jessie rolled her eyes, glad that Tad couldn't see it. He just wouldn't understand. "As everyone in the entire universe, except Devon, can see."
"Well, so I thought this would be a good change of character for her." He smiled knowing that Jessie was going to agree to the date, but he didn't say that. "It'll just be a group of friends hanging out, okay? Just like before."
"Sarah, I have someone you have to meet."
"What? Tad? I thought you were finally over trying to set me up with guys." Sarah sighed awkwardly. This was the fifth guy now that he tried to hook her up with…
"It's not a guy," he grinned. He knew that Katie was perfect with Sarah!
Sarah raised an eyebrow, questioningly. She wasn't sure if she trusted Tad's judgment after her last few dates…"Does she know I'm not a guy?"
Tad feigned surprise. "…You're not a guy?" He could feel her glare over the phone. Oh, so perfect with Katie. "Yes, she knows you're a girl, and that your name is Sarah, and that I said you were someone she should meet."
"Sounds familiar to what you told me." Oh goody. That night was going to be fun. She sighed. This was the last time that he was going to drag her into a blind date.
"Come on. I'm getting good at this setting-up people thing…Well, I'll be good once you two meet anyway, I promise." He paused before mentioning the last condition. "Just, uh, one thing."
"What's that?" She knew there was something. The girl was straight. The girl was bi-curious. Something. Some flaw had to be there.
He took a deep breath before rambling, knowing that it was upset her. "You, uh, have to act like you're not on a date because, um, Jessie doesn't know that you two are on a date. So, just act straight."
She sighed, "Brand me now."
"Katie, come with me to the front door." Tad had picked up Katie first, and now they were waiting on Sarah.
"What?" Katie glanced up from her seat. She was rather comfortable waiting for her in the car. "Fine, fine. I'll come meet her." Tad smiled at her, glad that she wasn't going to be difficult. "Uh," Katie paused awkwardly at the front door. "It is a her, right?" It better not be a guy named Sarah.
"See for yourself," Tad continued as the door swung open. There stood a girl a little bit shorter than Katie with dark brown hair. She was…pretty. Katie smiled despite herself. "Hey Sarah." Both girls were smiling. Tad was officially the man. "Sarah, Katie." He made the introductions. "Katie, Sarah."
"Hey," Katie smiled.
"Hey," Sarah greeted her too, and they shook hands, acknowledging each other. Not much was said until Tad ran into the Manning's house to collect Jessie. Sarah turned to Katie. "So, did Tad tell you how we know each other?" Katie shook her head. "We work at the grocery store together. You should totally see him try to stock the shelves. Yes, they put him as a stock boy…the stock boy who spills the pyramid all over when he stocks it." Katie burst out laughing at the story, and Sarah grinned too, glad that they had the same sense of humor. Tad and Jessie walked back, catching the tail-end of the story.
Tad immediately knew the story that she was telling. "It was only that one time!" It really wasn't that amusing.
"What was only that one time?" Jessie glanced back at the two giggling girls in the backseat.
Billie! Katie smiled at her, in greeting. "When Tad knocked cans over in the grocery store."
Jessie laughed too, putting together a few pieces of knowledge. "So that's why I got a dented can of pineapple pieces on our second date."
Katie remembered that! "That was the time that I was with…Jason, right?"
"Jason?" Sarah turned questioning to Katie. She thought that she was…gay.
"Tad likes to try to set me up blind dates." Katie rolled her eyes, and Sarah laughed. They did have things in common then.
"Go figure," Sarah chuckled, stating that Tad did that to her too.
"So, Tad, you and Jessie…" Sarah glanced over at Tad, trying to see what he thought of Jessie. Jessie and Katie had gone to get some more nachos at the snack bar. They had gone bowling that night.
Tad shrugged, "So, Sarah, you and Katie…"
"Just met," Sarah smirked. She got off easy.
"I don't know, you two did disappear for a little while." Tad smirked back, nudging her.
Sarah coughed as she drank her pop, not believing what he was guessing. "We walked over to play pinball!"
He shrugged. So, they saw them playing pinball…Big deal. It could have been something else. "Yeah, well, we waited for you to come back before we continued the bowling game. That has to count for something."
Sarah rolled her eyes, "You're a moron." Oh yeah. Her and Katie would get along great.
"And you like her," Tad pursued his earlier statement.
"Yeah, I like her." Sarah smiled.
Jessie shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. "So, Sarah…She seems nice."
Katie glanced over at Jessie. "Yeah, she's cool. And it gives you and Tad time to flirt." They were still waiting for the guy to come help them. They wanted their food, but business was slow.
"I do not flirt with Tad," Jessie huffed.
"Jessie, you're dating; you're allowed to flirt with your boyfriend." The older girl wasn't sure what the big deal was. The blonde always got so defensive whenever Katie used the word 'boyfriend' and the word 'Tad' to Jessie. It was what Tad insisted that he and Jessie were; boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Boyfriend?" Jessie looked puzzled.
"Right here, Jess," Tad smiled and hugged Jessie from behind. She squeaked in surprise.
"Oh, hey, you." She smiled at him, when he walked around, so that they were facing each other.
Katie sighed. It was so awkward, but she had promised to let Jessie be. So, instead she replied, "Sarah?"
"Right here, Kat." Sarah and Katie copied the earlier movements and dialogue of Tad and Jessie.
Katie scrunched up her nose in thought. "Mm, no. Doesn't work so well with my name only being on syllable."
Sarah looked like she was seriously contemplating something for a moment, before suggesting, "I could call you Bob?"
"No," Katie laughed.
"Jan?"
"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia." Ah, the Brady Bunch. But, still, no.
"Nope. Not one syllable," Sarah scolded Katie for not realizing that it was more than one syllable, and both girls giggled.
Jessie frowned, "What's with those two?"
"They're bonding." Tad shrugged, smiling at his girlfriend, not sure why she cared so much about it.
"What happened to Devon?" Tad shrugged again. Jessie mumbled, "I think I liked him better..."
That night, after the date, each girl and Tad, went home alone. Once Katie was home, she called Billie. "So, Sarah…seems nice." Jessie forced a chuckle, trying to sound happy.
"Didn't we already have this conversation at the bowling alley?" Katie laughed. "It's better than having to hang out with Devon."
"Yeah, I guess," the younger girl sighed. She would rather Katie hang out with Devon, but she wasn't sure how she could say that.
"I mean, Sarah has a sense of humor, anyway, and her sense of style is a lot better than Devon's. She laughs at my jokes." Jessie would rather her hang out with Devon, because then Katie would end up hanging out with her instead. "She laughs at my jokes even." This way…Katie liked to hang out with Sarah.
"So do I," Jessie was jealous, and she didn't know why.
"I know, Billie." If Katie didn't know better, then she would assume that her best friend was jealous. That was silly. She wasn't going to change best friends just like that. "So does your boyfriend…not that he always understands them." When in doubt…Katie would bring up Tad.
"Yeah, well," Jessie was always so cryptic when she talked about her and Tad's relationship. "I should go, Katie. My dad's already asking why I have to talk on the phone after I just hung out with my friends." It was like she didn't want it to exist.
"Well, I'm special," Katie smiled, and Jessie could hear it in her voice.
Jessie giggled, allowing herself to smile too. "And very modest."
"Good night, Billie." The smile was still in her voice.
"Sweet dreams," Jessie replied, and she meant it…just for some reason, she was hoping that the dreams didn't involve a certain dark-haired girl.
"Is she still on the phone?" Grace sighed, and reached for the other phone again. She had been waiting for hours to be able to call her friend.
Instead, she had been sitting in the kitchen eating ice cream and talking to Eli. "No, I think she's off, now." It was his idea.
"Finally! I can use it then." She smiled. Good. Phone time. "She's always talking on it," she complained.
"Oh, give her a break." Eli shrugged and took another bite of ice cream. "It's her first real boyfriend." He assumed that she had been talking to Tad the whole time. He hadn't answered the phone.
Grace rolled her eyes at him. Guys didn't understand anything properly. "You say that now, because you don't need the phone in question."
A chunk of ice cream dripped off of his spoon and onto his chin. He brushed it off with his finger. "This way you got to stay and talk to me; don't act like you didn't enjoy it." They might not understand anything, but they were so cute. He was so cute…