Rating: Pg/Pg-13
Disclaimer: Don't own Buffy, Willow, Angel, Spike, Giles and who ever else appears on the show, they belong to Joss. I do own the rights to Emma, Dante, AJ and Cass. If you want to use them please ask first, I'll probably have no problems with loaning them out. :)
Spoilers: None that I can think of.
Author's Notes: Ok this is just a brief glimpse into Dante, Emma, AJ, and Cass' life before Broken Hearts.

Cass sighed as she put her books away in her locker. Her first day at Sunnydale High School went as was expected, full of nervousness and awkwardness that only came from starting a new school. She started as she turned and came face to face with blonde haired, blue eyed boy in a letterman's jacket.

"Hi." He said with a smug smile.

"Hi." Cass replied.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"Yeah. My name's Cass."

"Well Cass, I'm John and this group of lockers is restricted for me and my boys. ONLY."

"Well I didn't know. I just..." Cass was stopped as he started pulling her things out of her locker.

"Patterson, leave her alone." A voice from behind them made the blonde stop and turn around.

Cass turned to see a tall dark haired boy standing a few feet away. He was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, a pair of wire rimmed sunglasses and a worn black leather jacket. All in all some one that looked like you'd want to stay away from.

"Don't you have anything better to do with your time Rosenburg?" The blonde groaned.

"At the moment...No." The dark haired boy closed the distance in record speed, stopping just inches from the blonde's face.

Cass jumped when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned to face a third boy, who gave her a warm smile and pulled her back a few paces.

"You don't want to be that close. They tend to get ugly." His smile got wider, and looked like he was going to say something else when principle Snyder appeared from no where.

"Is there anything wrong here?"

"No." The dark haired boy responded without taking his eyes off the other.

"Mr. Patterson?" Snyder looked at the other boy.

"No. Nothing's wrong." He gritted out through clinched teeth.

"Good. I'd hate to put you both on probation." Snyder replied and walked off.

"This is far from over Rosenburg." Patterson spat as he stalked off.

Cass heard the boy beside her sigh. "Well now that that's over with, introductions are in order." He turned to her and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm AJ, and my fearless companion over there is Dante."

She finally smiled and shook his hand. "Cass."

"It's nice to meet you Cass." AJ responded, just as Dante joined them.

"He is such a bloody prick." Dante growled.

"You've been spending way to much time around your dad lately." AJ replied. "Say hello to Cass and show her you can play nice before you scare her."

Dante's mood changed dramatically and he gave her a cocky grin. "Nice to meet you. Just ignore Patterson and he'll ignore you, but I think we may have to move your locker."

"That's okay." Cass replied.

"There's an empty one next to mine." AJ told her.

"Good, let's grab your stuff and get out out of here before Der Fhurer returns." Dante said reaching down and picking up the fallen books.

Cass followed the two boys, thrilled to have finally found some friends. They turned the corner that led to the back of the school.

"The original library used to be over there." AJ told her pointing where the theater stood.

"What happened to it?" She asked. She was picking up on some weird vibs. Especially from Dante. There was something...different about him, and couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Dante turned and gave her a quick, sardonic grin. "It blew up."

"You're joking, right?"

AJ sighed. "I'm afraid not, but it's been about twenty years ago, when our parents went here."

"Oh." Cass replied quietly. "Anything else you guys want to inform me about." She asked placing her hands on her hips as they stopped in front of a group of lockers.

Dante opened the locker and put the books inside. "Yeah, be careful when out at night."

"Why?"

"Sunnydale isn't the safest place in the world." AJ replied. "Especially after dark."

***************

Dante smiled as he looked up at the light pouring out of the open window of the house in front of him. He shifted his weight, jumping up, grabbing the trellis and pulled himself up on the roof of the porch. Stealthily he moved over to the window and slipped into the room. He was immediately flipped over and pinned to the floor.

"You shouldn't leave your window open, Em." Dante grinned.

Emma Summers smiled down at Dante, her dark eyes sparkling, releasing him. "You know what Giles thinks about you climbing in through the window."

Dante sat up on the floor. "Ah, well, old habits die hard." He watched her carefully move about the room. Her thick brown hair cascading down her back. "I heard a nasty rumor about you today Em."

"Yeah, what was it?" She asked not turning around, rummaging around in her closet.

"John Patterson said that you and him were going to the Bronze tonight. TOGETHER."

"So?" She still didn't turn around.

"EMMA!" Dante groaned, and stood up.

"Dante, don't start."

"The guy's a jackass."

"And you're being one for telling me who I can and can't date." She spit back at him.

"Okay, fine." He through his hands up in mock surrender. "I'll leave it alone, but I'm telling you Em this guy is bad news."

"I'm a big girl Dante, I can take care of myself."

"You're not wearing that?!" Dante exclaimed, when he saw the short black mini skirt she held in her hand.

Emma groaned and tossed the garment onto the bed. "You're getting as bad as Giles."

Dante opened his mouth to protest, but Emma grabbed him by the arm and pushed him toward the window.

"Go home, Dante."

"Don't you want me to use the front door?"

She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Ok I'm gone." He climbed out the window, then immediately stuck his head back in. "Please don't wear the skirt."

"Go home."

Dante smirked, disappearing out the window once more.

*********

"Wow." Cass murmured as she entered the Bronze with AJ.

"It's not much but we enjoy it." AJ smiled.

"It looks like everyone is here." Cass stated trying not to feel claustrophobic around the mass of people cluttering the entrance to the club.

"Everyone is here. Sunnydale doesn't have that many options in the entertainment catagory."

"I see that."

AJ grabbed her by the arm and led her through the mass of people to a small table near the bar. When they were seated he made a quick trip to the bar and returned with two sodas.

"Dante should be here soon, and then you can meet Emma."

"Dante's girlfriend?"

AJ spit out the sip of soda he had in his mouth and started laughing. "Only if Hell freezes over." He took a napkin and cleaned up his mess. "Yeah there's attraction there, but they both have a stubborn streak a mile long. They'll never admit to anything besides being friends." He looked up and spotted Emma walking into the club.

"Hey." Emma smiled as she approached the table.

"Emma Summers this is Cass DeLeon." AJ introduced.

"Nice to meet you." Emma smiled and shook the girl's hand. "Where's Dante?"

"He's not with you?" His eyes widening in confusion.

"No he thought I was coming with Jason Paterson."

"What?! And he believed that."

"Well I didn't exactly tell Dante I wasn't coming with him." Emma crossed her arms over her chest.

AJ rolled his eyes. "Great he's probably outside beating the shit out of Paterson right now."

"No, cause the creep's right over there." Cass pointed out to the dance floor where Paterson was dancing provocatively with some blonde.

"Don't worry Em, Dante'll be here. You know him, he's never been on time for anything in his life, why start now."

"Yeah I guess you're right." She sighed and plopped down on a stool next to Cass.

***********

Emma drummed her fingers on the table watching the entrance to the Bronze. Dante had yet to make his presence known, and if truth be told she was starting to worry. She chastised herself for worrying about him, when he was probably home sitting in front of the t.v. watching some old slasher movie.

"Fuck this, I'm going home." She muttered to herself.

She pulled herself off her stool and spun around just in time for her eyes to make contact with Dante's clear blue ones. There eyes remained locked as he pushed his way through the crowd to her table. She smiled as drew closer, noticing the familiar black leather duster draped over his form.

"How did you get out of the house with this?" She asked fingering the soft leather of the duster.

"It's on lone, and if anything happens to it I'm literally dead." He gave her a crooked smile. "Where's..."

"I didn't come with him. I said no to the date, but you were being so damn over protective..."

"Dance with me." He cut her off, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

An old song began to spill out over the floor. Emma carefully placed her hands on his shoulders as Dante's hands found a perch on her slender hips. They danced like that as the soft lilt of the music pulled them closer together. Emma's hands slowly slid over the soft leather of his shoulders and snaked around his neck until they rested against his neck. She placed her head on his shoulder taking in the smell of old leather, faded cigarettes and Dante. She could feel Dante's hands resting on her back, pressing her closer to him.

The song slowly ended and Emma raised her head to meet Dante's eyes again. With out thinking on either part of, their mouths met in a kiss.

**********

AJ turned toward Cass when he heard her giggled. "What?"

"Hell just froze over."

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