Rating: PG-13/R
Summary: Jessie and Katie meet by chance at an unlikely concert.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. These amazing characters still belong to people with better imaginations than mine. I just borrow them for my own entertainment. So to Ed Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and the brilliant team over at Bedford Falls, thank you for bringing such an amazing show to life and for introducing the world to the greatness that were Jessie and Katie.
Notes: Ok, I admit it. I'm a huge fan of the artist mentioned on this story. (Melissa rocks people, plus, come on, she married Nicole.) This story came to me `cause I was bored and Melissa came to my town a while ago. (She came and rocked my world for 3 and a half hours!) Also, the title of this fic comes from a song off her latest CD, Lucky. Do yourselves a favor people and go get it. It's awesome. Oh, and this story has a bit of a twist.
Note 2: This is written in Katie's POV. And we all know that she can be a little scattered brained. My apologies if this makes the story a little tough to read. I just thought it'd be a fun exercise to write it like this. Hope you enjoy it anyway.
Dedication: This story goes out to all the J/K fans out there, but especially to the old school ones who go way back, you know who you are. However, I'll single out the list mommy. Even though she's mostly MIA from the group, we still have a playground thanks to her.  Also thanks to Tam and her new crew for keeping the bullies away and making sure we keep the sandbox clean.

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"Grace," I know she's being supportive, but can you get any more clichéd than by taking me to a Melissa Etheridge concert? I mean, yeah, she's a good rock star, but come on? Her fans aren't exactly in my age group. I bet everyone there'll be my mom's age. Oooh, bad visual. But what can I do? Grace is being very cool about me. And I guess she thinks that by taking me to a concert of a gay rock star I might meet someone. I'm not bursting her bubble, but the chances of that happening are nonexistent.

"Katie!" I hear Grace screeching my name as she comes up the stairs.

"What?!" I howl back, opening the bathroom door. "I'm in the bathroom getting ready."

"Oh, please," she sighs condescendingly. "You could crawl out of bed and be ready."

I grin. "Yep, sure could. But come on. I don't want you to miss out on what it's like to have a hot chick as myself for your date tonight."

Grace scoffs. "Yeah, yeah. Keep dreamin', Singer. I still don't play for your team."

I laugh and arch an eyebrow. "Still?"

"Well, never say never, right? But even if I did `try out,' you so wouldn't be who I'd go for."

"Ok, as much as I'm enjoying you go on, we've gotta bolt."

We head off downtown to a smokey, little club. I've never been there before. But my older brother, Jake, loves going there. He saw Hoobastank there a month or so ago. We park a few blocks away and begin our walk. It's the first week of May, but it feels like early March.

I notice Grace shivering. Leave it to her not to bring her jacket because "it just didn't look right" and she couldn't find the old leather one she got from her aunt. I put my arm around her to offer some body heat. She just looks at me and smiles.

I love hanging out with her. Moments like this one make me feel so lucky to have her in my life. So maybe I do have a teeny, tiny crush on her, but I'm smart enough not to do the whole extremely-painful-and-tragic-falling-for-your-best-friend-thing I've heard happens to a lot of girls. Besides, all that would do is complicate things and mess up a great friendship.

I notice a group of girls looking our way as we find our spot in line. The one that catches my eye is the tall blonde girl. She's wearing the standard concert gear. She's got a tight, black baby tee, medium cargo jeans, and black combat boots. She's got a weird tough, yet girly aura about her. It's awesome.

I realize I've been staring when I hear Grace snicker. "She's hot," she whispers. "Go get `er!"

"Funny. I just might," I smile. My smile fades when I see a guy put her arm around her shoulder and walk off with her. "Great. Leave it to me to start checking out probably one of the very few straight girls at the freakin' concert." I'm getting whiny, so not cool.

"Come, Kate," Grace grabs my hand. "I'm your date tonight. And dammit, I deserve a good time."

I laugh. "And a good time you shall have. Let's bust this joint on its ass."

We go in and I look around. Girls are doing the "let's wear a funny shirt to get people to stare at my rack." I see the ever-popular "My girlfriend's straight, but I'm not," the "my girlfriend's bisexual," "hot chick," "For best results, remove your top," and my favorite, "There's no need to drive stick."

This place has no seating, which is actually a good thing. Who's gonna stay seated anyway? Not me, that's for damn sure. I'm ready to rock out. I scan the room and notice that the mysterious blonde girl is standing about 10 feet away. She seems out of place, like she feels weird being there. Yep, she' straight. Dammit, why does it always happen that way?

I'm interrupted from my lovely musings as the room goes dark and the opening lines to "If You Want To" begin to play. Dude, I love that song. So yes, even if I'm not exactly a huge fan, I do know her songs and have her CDs. And I have to admit, she looks pretty darn good in person.

Grace stands to my left and begins swaying in time with the music. I never would've pegged her as a Melissa fan, I guess I was wrong. So THAT's why she asked me to come with her, oh, this'll be fun.

She does a pretty good mix of old and new going from "Lucky" to "I Want to Be in Love" to "Bring Me Some Water" to "Like The Way I Do" to "Breathe" to the classics "Come To My Window" and "I Want to Come Over."

I decide to head over to the bar to get a drink when I see the cute girl walking that way. I have to see her up close, so I quicken my pace. We both reach the bartender at the same time. "What'll you have?" she asks me.

"Ladies, first," I reply, gesturing to the adorable girl standing next to me. She smiles, guess she knows where this is going.

The girl looks at me and, as sappy as it sounds, takes my breath away. Wow. "Uh," she stammers. I think maybe I'm making her nervous. "Are you sure?" she smiles.

"Oh, sure. Go for it." I step aside so she can stand right in front of the bartender. It also means that she gets to stand closer to me.  Sneaky, yes, I know, I'm good like that.

"So what's your poison?"

"I'll take a.."

"Jess!" The guy I saw earlier pipes up as he makes his way towards us.

"Oh, hey, Eli," she smiles. "I was just about to order. What do you want?" she asks him. Great. I get to see her with her cute little boyfriend. Someone shoot me, please.

"Oh, I'll take an Amstel Light and my lovely sister here will take a nice, refreshing Coke." He winks at the bartender, who actually seems flattered. Huh. I guess there are straight people here after all. Who would've thought?

"Eli!" she slaps his arm. Aw, she's embarrassed. But wait, he said sister. Yay.  So she's not his date. Whoo-hoo. Ok, ok. Now what? There's my cue.

I clear my throat and they both look at me. I don't think I could be any more nervous than I actually am at the moment.

Eli looks at me and smiles. "Sorry. We'll be out of your way soon."

Time to turn on the ol' Singer charm. "Oh, no worries," I smile back, now that I know he's not the competition. "I'm just waiting for my turn to get a `nice, refreshing Coke,'" I say, quoting his earlier words. At this, the girl, who I think is called Jess, looks at me and gives me the biggest smile I think I've ever seen. The only thing I can do is return the favor.

I notice from the corner of my eye that both the bartender and Eli are staring at us. Oh-uh. This is not good. Am I being that obvious? But if I am then so is she, I think.

The bartender must be an angel `cause as if on cue, she speaks up. "OK, one Amstel Light for the hottie with the nice smile and." She searches in the bucket in front of her and the other one behind her. She manages to find only one Coke. "Sorry, ladies. Guess we ran out."

Could this get any easier? "That's ok," I immediately pipe up. "She can have it." Maybe being nice will work for a change.

She smiles and, I think, blushes. "No, I feel bad."

Oh, jeez. Please don't look at me that way. I don't think I'd be capable of denying her anything if she does that again. "I insist."

"Well, ok. Bartender?"

"Yes?"

"You have a plastic cup around?"

"Sure do," the cute brunette replies.

"Well, I need one." This adorable creature then proceeds to pour exactly half of her drink on the cup and hands it over. "There, now we're cool."

Oh My God. Could this chick be any cooler? "Thanks. Name's Katie, by the way."

"Well, hi, Katie. I'm Jessie," she replies offering me her hand, which I promptly take. Every tiny little cell in my hand that comes in contact with hers feels a jolt of electricity. Oh, shit. This, folks, is either very good or very bad, too early to call at this point, however.

Either way, I can't let this opportunity pass. As clichéd as it sounds, sometimes you have to take a chance. I know I would definitely regret it if I didn't. "So, Jessie. Since you were kind enough to share your drink. How's about next time we share mine?"

She gives me a smile that could solve our energy crisis. Or at least power all of Evanston for a weekend. "Sure, Katie. I'd love that."

"Would you like to come with me? I left Grace stranded by the stage.  I don't think she misses me, but it'd be kind of rude for me to just ditch her."

She turns to her brother. Her brother. Yay.  Wow, how could I think he was her boyfriend? Eww.  "Hey, Eli. I'll be back in a bit."

He gives her a mischievous grin. "Yeah, suuuuuure. Have fun!" He pats her arm. Hmm, maybe she DOES dig chicks after all.

As we're walking through the crowd, she grabs my arm. "So," she begins sounding a little nervous, "is Grace your girlfriend?"

What the hell? "Huh?" I ask, remarkably coherent. "I'm sorry? What? Grace, my girlfriend?" I start laughing. "No, definitely not."

"Oh." Is it me or is she sounding disappointed. "I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I though maybe you liked girls. And if you did, then you'd have a girlfriend."

Oh, this is too good!  "Uh-huh." I nod, beginning my opening for her to explain.

".someone as gorgeous as you would have a girlfriend if she were into girls." Ok, I think I'm either in a very cruel dream or I need to get my ears checked.

"Well, you're half right," I tease her. She smiles and I can't keep doing this. "I do like girls, but I don't have a girlfriend. How about you?"

She stammers. "Uh."

"Hey, turnabout is fair play," I egg her on.

I think she's embarrassed. "Ditto," she whispers. And with that, this incredibly beautiful and delicate girl has just captured my heart. I've never been one to believe on love at first sight, but who knows? Maybe I've been wrong all this time. Fittingly enough, "When You Find The One" begins to play.

Who knows where this will lead, but I think it's a great start.
 

THE END.

"When You Find the One"
by Melissa Etheridge