"Remind me why I'm here again?" Jared complained, staring at the wall as Sandy changed into another shirt. She really should have bought some candy to entertain him or something. At least he wasn't the kind of guy to try and sneak a look while her shirt was off.

"Because we need your opinion on her outfit." Amanda cocked her head and studied the array of clothes on the bed like she was the one going on a date. Then again, usually she was.

"Why? I'm not a girl. I have no idea what a good outfit is."

"You can turn around." Sandy smoothed down her shirt as he turned around. "What do you think?"

"Cute?"

"I told you that shirt was lame. You can't wear that! He won't even ask you out again." Amanda turned toward her own closet and started to dig.

"I'm not wearing one of your shirts. He'll think I'm easy."

"You'll never get laid in that."

"I'm not trying to get laid." Really, Amanda knew better. They'd only been over this a million times.

"Well, not tonight. But ideally you want to get laid eventually. And that's not helping."

"You're gonna make him wait months aren't you?" Alexis wrinkled her nose. Then again, Sandy was fairly sure she'd never managed to put up with the same guy for more than a month-at least not exclusively.

"I just, I have to know it'll work. I can't just do it for fun like you guys can." Why did Allie have to have a late lab tonight? Someone should really be on her side. Jared probably would be if he hadn't zoned out somewhere along the line.

"Hey, I'm not arguing." Alexis shrugged and pulled a dress from the pile of combined clothes. "Wear this. It's totally boring on me, but you'll have cleavage."

"And its not going to make him hate me? You don't even like him."

"Exactly. You know how much fun it's going to be to mock him while he's not getting laid? That's fucking gold! Just try it on. He'll never guess it's mine."

Jared rolled his eyes as he turned back toward the wall.

"Okay, you really need a better bra with that dress. Wear the other one." Amanda tossed her a push-up bra as Jared groaned.

"Now y'all are just mocking me. I should turn around just for that."

"Whatever. You see Jensen naked all the time! And you get to touch him when he's all naked." Amanda sighed a little at the thought.

"Which is why I forgive you. Because I know you're just jealous." Jared turned just enough to smile at her. "And you don't really know how much hotter he can be."

"You are just evil. If you're gonna tease me, you should give me some real details."

"Okay, turn around again."

Jared turned around again, but this time his mouth hung open a little and he didn't answer right away.

"Now see, if you'd worn that to the first party we went to, you could've saved me a whole lotta grief because I'd have gone after you instead."

"Hey!" Alexis swatted him on the arm a few times.

"What? You agree with me!"

"Well, yeah. But then you might not be with Jensen."

"Which is why its better she didn't wear it then but she should wear it now." Amanda agreed.

"You're sure? I don't even know where we're eating. What if it's too much?" Sandy studied herself in the mirror again. "It would really help if I knew where we were going."

"Hey. I tried. Jensen's not telling me."

"You could've tried harder. I bet he got naked and you just forgot about your job." Amanda crossed her arms, but she wasn't quite managing to hide her grin.

"And you blame me?"

"What if he really does turn out to be an asshole?" Sandy sighed and pulled at her dress a little. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Maybe he wouldn't be any different than the asshole she managed to spend the last two years of high school with.

"Hey. Come on." Jared wrapped both arms around her shoulders from behind and met her eyes in the mirror. "You think I'd let you go out with him if I really thought he was a jerk?"

"You're gonna beat him up if he's mean to me?" So maybe she smirked a little, but the idea of Jared beating anyone up? Who would really believe that?

"I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that."

~*~

Chris was all southern charm, opening doors and pulling out her chair when they sat down for dinner. If anyone had asked her before, Sandy was pretty sure she would have rolled her eyes and said she could open her own door, but Chris made it seem so natural that she couldn't really mind. Plus, it was kind of adorable that every time she smiled he seemed to loose his train of thought a little.

"Okay, so I'm feeling a little guilty about my movie choice now." Sandy laughed as she ignored the menu. It couldn't really be a coincidence that he picked her favorite restaurant. She must have mentioned it to Jensen at some point or other.

"Enough that I get to pick the movie?"

"Not a chance. You still kidnapped my friend and tossed him in a van. I have to maintain a little loyalty here."

"Aww, come on now. He was all right." Chris smirked a little at the memory and leaned back a little in his chair. "So then, if I'm such a jerk why'd you wanna go out with me?"

Now that she thought about it, it was a little odd that no one had asked her this question before. Sure, Amanda didn't care as long as he was hot, but Allie just shrugged and said she was crazy and Jared never seemed to really think Chris was a jerk even after everything.

"Maybe you intrigue me."

"Intrigue you huh?" Chris paused a moment and then a small smile spread over his lips. "It's the Jensen thing isn't it?"

"You get that a lot?" Very cool Sandy. Why to be just like every other girl he's ever met.

"Well, mostly I get his toss-offs that want to tell me how sweet they think it is that we're friends. Like he's some kind of charity case or something. But if you ever hit on him or acted like that, he'd've gotten rid of you before I ever met you, so I'm guessing it's a little different than that." Chris raised an eyebrow. At least he was giving her a chance to not be like all those girls. Though seriously? Why would anyone think Jensen was a charity case?

"It's not like that. It's just, you have to know it's a little unusual. Not a lot of straight guys have gay best friends. And well, it's not like you guys are just kind of friends. You're really close and you're not weird about it. It's nice to see a guy who can see past that is all."

"Well, guess I have to admit I'm not that perfect. I reckon' I was a little weird about it when I first found out." He paused again, and Sandy was wondering if she was supposed to say something already when he continued. "But well, you gotta realize that I'd already known him and roomed with him over a year when I found out. And I thought I had him all figured out and then suddenly there was this whole thing that seemed like such a big deal that I didn't know about. I'd only met one other gay guy before then and well, he was what I'd expect. He's a friend of Mike's, kind of guy you know is gay the second you meet him. And I was cool with Pete hanging around and all, but I just saw him and I saw Jensen and it didn't match up in my head right away that gay guys weren't all like that. So I found out about Jensen, and yeah, it threw me for a bit."

"So what changed your mind?" It felt a little odd that she'd just found out more about Jensen than she had in months of talking to him.

"Just kinda figured out that it wasn't such a big thing after all, you know? I mean, he was still the same guy and it's not like he ever had a thing for me. I figured that out and it just wasn't a big deal anymore. I just knew why he was the wingman that never took my girls."

"And now you initiate all his boyfriends?" Sandy grinned. Really, she should hate this whole process on Jared's behalf. Except that it was kind of adorable.

"Hey, now, see this is where Jensen's got you thinking all backwards." Chris chuckled and held up his hands in defense. "I'm the nice one. I didn't start doing that until he proved he couldn't be trusted to make his own judgments, and I gave him plenty of chances to bring Jared over and let me meet him the normal way. Plus, at least I'm straightforward about it."

"What? You're saying if I don't measure up, he'll chase me away?"

"Well, he's already met you and he must like you or you wouldn't've even agreed to go out with me."

"What? You mean you wouldn't have gone out with me?"

"No. I said it right. That's how it works. Or if I met you first and he decided he didn't like you, you'd just break up with me and I'd never find out why."

"What?" Sandy couldn't help laughing. The whole idea that Jensen could somehow make girls break up with Chris themselves was insane.

"Hey, I don't get it either. All I know is Jensen meets them and then they break up with me or stop returning my calls. And the best part? They all swear he's innocent and has nothing to do with it. At least when I get rid of his idiots, he knows what the hell happened." Chris laughed and shook his head. "And I've only been doing this about a year. He started this shit three years ago."

"Well, I promise if I change my mind, I'll tell you why."

"And you'll tell me what the hell Jensen did to make you do that? Because it's hard to kick his ass when I have no proof."

"I'll let you know. Though if he tries to pull that on me, I'll kick him first for messing with my head."

"Is it too early to ask you to marry me?" Chris smiled slow and easy as he looked up from his dinner and damn if she didn't want to agree right then.

"You still don't know what the movie is."

"I've sat through a million movies Mike's picked and we're still friends."

"That's probably a pretty good point." Sandy giggled a little before she could stop herself. "So can I get one more story?"

"I don't know. Is there a specific story you want or can I just pick a story that makes me look good?"

"Specific. I'm dying to know how you started calling Jensen darling. Because I really feel like there's a story there and it's not just something you slipped into." She let her smile turn a little seductive. That could generally get her what she wanted.

"Well you're right on that." He laughed but shook his head. "But sorry, that's not a first date story. It's maybe a fifth date story. First date stories have to make me look good."

"And this one doesn't? But now you have to tell me or I'm going to come up with some crazy ideas that are a lot worse than the truth." Pouting might work. Her eyes weren't as lethal as Jared's, but she had something going for her.

"Or maybe I'm just hoping you want to know enough to get to the fifth date."

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