Friday had come and passed, and it was the day Barbara, Stephanie, and Cass were taking Rory shopping for the ballet in two weeks. Steph had thought it a great idea to barge into Rory's room at seven in the morning without any warning. This ended with Rory jumping awake and pinning Steph to the ground with a loud thud. Of course, Rory quickly got up and apologized, kind of.

She warned Steph that surprising her would never end well, and not to try it again. It took about an hour, but all the girls were piled into the backseat of a limo and were on their way to the mall once again.

"So what's the deal with you a Tim?" Cassandra asked as she sipped her morning tea.

Rory gave her a confused look, "There is nothing going on between me and Tim, we are just friends. Have been for years." she shrugged leaning back in her seat.

"Yeah, that's not what it looks like from here Rory. Tin doesn't act that way around anyone really, he has a soft spot for you." Babs said looking at Rory from over her cup.

"Yeah, because we're best friends. What's with you guys and the way Tim behaves around me?" Rory demanded. Their behavior had been getting weirder and weirder especially with how close Rory and Tim had been getting. What was so wrong with reconnecting with an old friend?

"Sure, whatever you say." Steph grinned.

Rory rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Gotham was covered in snow now, and it made the city look almost peaceful even though deep down everyone knew Gotham City was anything but peaceful.

The limo pulled up to the mall and Cass and Rory helped Barbara into her chair and began to push her into the mall. "So where to first ladies?" Cass asked, looking around at the stores.

"Well, on the first floor there are some average brand name stores, on the second floor are where the real prestige dresses are with the big-name designers so to the second floor we go," Stephanie said and took off to get an elevator. 

"I don't need some fancy big designer name dress or anything guys. I could wear a blazer and slacks and fit in." Rory objected, helping Cass get Barbara and her chair into the elevator.

"Nonsense, you will be going on a date with one of the Wayne heirs. You will look your best Aurora Sonnet-Queen. That is why the three of us are here, to make sure you are the literal belle of the ball or ballet I should say." 

Rory looked to Cass and Barbara for some backup, but they simply just shook their heads. "Once Steph has an idea, there is no stopping her. Besides, she is right. People will notice Tim, so they will notice you too." Babs said, adjusting her glasses.

Rory let out a sigh of defeat. "But it's not even a date, he's taking me as friends. That's all we are, so get the idea out of your heads." But as Barbara had explained, once an idea was in Stephanie's head there was no getting it out. She was hell-bent on making this a date for Rory and Tim, so she was going to make them both look their best. In fact, the boys were taking Tim out for a new suit tomorrow to match whatever dress Rory got.

The four girls slowly made their way to the first dress shop and immediately began to grab dresses to throw at Rory in various shades. They grabbed blue, pink, purple, gold, black, and even white dresses to throw at her. 

With the royal blue one in her arms, Rory did the walk of shame into the dressing room and slid into the dress. Looking at herself in the mirror, she did think the dress was beautiful, but it wasn't her.

"Don't you dare take that off before we get to see it, Rory! I will come in after you and make sure that we see it." Stephanie hollered. With a sigh, Rory adjusted the front of the dress and made her way out of the dressing room. 

The dress itself was a floor-length, royal blue mermaid dress with spaghetti straps and a low v neck collar. Looking at the reactions from the girls, she could tell they weren't a fan of the blue one either. 

"It looks great on you, but it doesn't scream Rory," Cass said. 

"No, it really doesn't." Rory agreed, "So I can get out of this one?"

"Gee, don't sound so excited about it." Barbara laughed. "Go put on the next one."

Rory sauntered back into the dressing room and saw the next dress in line was a pink one. Seriously? Did they think she couldn't see what they were doing? Blue and pink dresses? Sliding out of the blue one, Rory replaced it with the pink one. 

Looking in the mirror, the dress was another mermaid style but it had a sweetheart collar and the straps were off the shoulder. She did like this one more but she wasn't much of a pink person. Stepping out of the dressing room, she crossed her arms. "I can see what you three are trying to do. I am not a Disney princess, blue and pink are a no. If I'm getting fancied up, then I am not wearing blue or pink."

Stephanie laughed "Okay fine, go put on the next one." and waved her off.

Rory chuckled and walked back into the dressing room. The next dress was a gold one and it was pretty but once she put it on, Rory frowned. This dress was a slim fit, but it was a very low v neck with sparkles everywhere.

Stepping out of the room, Rory shook her head. "I don't like this one, it's too flashy." The girls nodded in agreement and again sent her back into the room and put on the grey dress. Yes, grey was her color, but she wasn't a very out-there person. The dress was gorgeous, but the top was a v neck and covered in a floral print.

Stepping out the girls gave her a thumbs up, to which she just shook her head. "I don't like this one either, it looks like a prom dress and I am not going to prom anytime soon." Steph crossed her arms.

"You better not give us a no on every dress in the pile Rory or there will be words to have with you." she threatened. Rory let out a laugh and went back in. The next dress was a deep purple one, and the collar was simple with spaghetti straps. A slit went up to her leg, but she didn't like how open the back was. The ballet was in winter and looking at these dresses she was going to freeze to death before they even left the manor.

Stepping out, she looked at the dress. "I like the color, but I don't like the strapped back. I feel too exposed."

Cass let out a sigh, that was the dress she had picked and was excited to see her wear it but oh well. "Fine, go try on the next one."

Rory carefully walked into the dressing room yet again and pulled on the black dress. Now, this was her kind of dress, sleek and elegant. The collar was modest and the straps were slightly off-shoulder. Stepping, she gave a smile only to see the others frown.

"Oh come on! The one dress I really like so far is the one you reject."

"That's because it looks like you are going to a funeral Rory. This is a ballet, not a reception." Cass stated, crossing her arms. Rory let out a groan, and drug her feet back into the room. Taking the black dress off, she saw that the last one was a pure white one.

Please let this one be the one, she thought to herself. Carefully she slipped into the dress and her jaw dropped. The dress in itself was simple and modest but elegant all the same. It was a sleeveless scoop-necked dress with a slit that went up to her thigh. The back was a zipper and the material was thicker so she would not freeze completely. It hung closely to her figure, but it wasn't so tight she couldn't move like the previous ones.

Stepping out of the dressing room, everyone's jaw dropped. Rory looked gorgeous in the white dress, Tim had given them the hint that maybe white was a good color but they had no clue why. But looking at their friend in the dress, they understood why. It went well with her skin tone, white didn't wash her out and it went perfect with her dark hair and eyes. 

"Please tell me you like this one? I am tired of trying on dresses." Rory complained.

All three of them quickly nodded. "It's perfect. Now go change back, we still have more stores to stop at before we are done."

Rory let out a quiet 'oh boy' and put her regular clothes back on. What else were they going to subject her too now? After paying for the dress, Stephanie took off for the shoe store a few doors down with Rory pushing Barbara's chair and Cass walking beside them.

Walking in, they were surrounded with shelves piled high with various shoes. Sneakers, boots, and sandals were everywhere but of course, Stephanie grabbed her hand and dragged her to the back where the more elegant shoes were. Because her dress was white, Rory had to pick out white shoes. 

Rory tried to have a say and offer that she wear flats or something with a low heel, but of course, none of the others would let her even think about it. They pulled out pairs upon pairs of high heeled white shoes and most of them Rory didn't like. But about fifteen pairs in, Rory found a pair she really liked. They were high, Rory had no problem with the height of the shoes. If she could dance for hours on point, then she could handle a pair of tall heels.

What caught her eyes was that they were strapped heels with strings that tied up around her ankle very similar to her point shoes that she dances in. With the help of Cass, Rory stood up and walked around in the shoes and the others smiled. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Now, get those off so we can pay and get the next items on our list."

"Next item? Do you mean to tell me that we aren't done yet? Cass, I spent two hours trying on dresses and another hour on trying to find shoes. What else could we need?" Rory asked, putting the heels back in the box and pulled her winter boots back on. 

"Obviously, we need to accessorize. You can't go out without any form of accessories, Rory. How many fancy things did you go to with Oliver and Dinha?" Stephanie asked, grabbing the box and paying for the shoes.

"I went to a lot of events, but Dinah was the one who helped me out and not a lot of people watch the Queens the way they watch the Waynes apparently," Rory explained, grabbing the bag and followed as three other girls walked down the hall to try and find a jewelry store. 

"What was it like growing up in Star City?" Cassandra asked, looking at Rory.

"Well, it was different than Gotham for sure, crime wasn't as high so my parents felt a lot safer just taking a walk through the park. Like I was telling Tim the other day, I never snowed there and didn't get as cold as it does here. But it does rain a lot." she explained.

Thinking about Star City, she sure missed it. The people, the sights, the sounds, and the smells. But most of all, she was starting to miss Oliver and Dinah. This next birthday would be her first one without them in nine years and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. 

But on the plus side, she could spend her birthday with Tim for the first time in thirteen years. She told him not to make a big deal out of it, but she was still excited about it.

"Well it sure sounds nice, maybe we should take a girls' trip across the country." Steph said with a laugh "And leave the boys defenseless without us for a few days."

"I don't think they would last very long without Babs here, she keeps everyone in line when Alfred can't. She's like the momma bat." Cass chuckled, making Barbara go a light shade of pink.

"Oh shut up."

Walking into the jewelry store, they split up and looked around. Rory rubbed the bracelet on her wrist, maybe she could find something to match it? Quietly, she took a look around at the silver ensembles while the other three searched on their own. About twenty minutes in, Rory found a necklace and earring set that stuck out to her. 

It was simple but gorgeous. It was a diamond necklace with a tear-dropped shaped diamond on the bottom and the earings matched with the teardrop shape. Comparing it to her mother's bracelet, she smiled softly. It matched almost too well.

Looking around, she found one of the store clerks and inquired about the set.

"This set is more meant for weddings, but what are you going for?" the clerk had asked.

"Well, I want something to match this bracelet." she held out her wrist and showed it to the lady who looked it over with awe.

"This is beautiful, did someone special give it to you?" she asked. Rory shook her head. 

"No, this was a gift my mother from my father. It was their last anniversary gift after they died I kept this on and I have barely taken it off," she explained. "But the set, I need it for a formal event of sorts and my dress is white so would it still work?"

The lady thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, it would work well with the color white. Is there a specific date you need this?"

"Is it possible I can take this now? So I have it for when I need to?" Rory asked, not noticing the other three walk over to see what she was looking at.

"Oh Rory, that's perfect! Tim would love it!" Steph said excitedly.

Rory let out a sigh, "Steph, I am not dressing up for Tim. I am dressing up for a ballet that he is taking me to."

"Oh, you mean the Russian Ballet in two weeks? The Nutcracker opens on Christmas Eve right?" the clerk asked as she wrapped up the necklace set.

"It's on Christmas Eve? That cheesy asshole. Of course, it would be on Christmas Eve wouldn't it?" Rory laughed, making the others with her laugh as well.

After a little more talking with the clerk, Rory, and the girls were ready to head out. Finally done shopping for the ballet, Rory hoping to not have to do this again for a while. Walking out of the mall, the four of them found Alfred waiting for them outside with the limo.

"Did you find everything you need ladies?" he asked, opening the door and helped Barbara in first then the others. 

"We did Alfred, Rory is going to look amazing at the ballet. Who knew she had such great taste?" Cass snickered. Rory had half a mind to slap her arm but stopped herself as she received a look from Alfred.

"Am I allowed to know Miss Cassandra?" 

"No Alfie, you have to wait like everyone else does." she laughed as Alfred shut the door behind them and got into the driver seat driving them back to the manor. 

Somehow they managed to convince Alfred to pull through a driveway and they all got milkshakes and were laughing about the look on the poor drive-thru guy's face with Bruce Wayne's butler and four girls in the back seat giggling about something.

"How was the trip girls?" Bruce asked as they walked in, the bags from the mall hanging on Barbara's wheelchair.

"It was great, Rory is going to make jaws drop and we freaked out a poor guy in the drive-through." Steph laughed sipping her shake.

Bruce shook his head, "Well, at least you all had fun. Now, make sure you all are ready for patrol tonight." he said and waved them off. Cass walked to the library with Barbara and Rory grabbed the bags with Stephanie and began to go up the stairs.

On their way up they saw Jason and Dick talking about some random topic, only for them to stop and see the bag. "So, what'd you get?" Dick asked.

"We're not telling you boys," Steph said as she pushed Rory away before she could tell them what she got.

"Aw, why not? It's not like we are going to the ballet or anything. We're curious." Jason teased, following them.

"No way Todd, if we tell you, you will tell Tim and that would ruin the surprise."

"Tell me what?" The four of them looked and saw Tim come down the hall holding a rather large mug of coffee. 

"They won't tell us what Rory got for the ballet," Jason whined.

"Of course we're not telling!" Stephanie then gave Rory a glare. "If you so much as breathe what you got, I will go back and get one of the other dressed and force you to wear it." she threatened.

Knowing Steph, she would grab the pink one and make Rory suffer from all the movie references. "I promise, no breathing." she grinned.

Stephanie gave her a hard glare, trying to keep herself from laughing. "You know what I meant Rory, now go hide the bags so no one can find them." Rory gave her a salute and walked to her room to hide the bags leaving three very confused boys and a triumphant looking Stephanie.

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So two chapters in 24 hours? I am surprised myself. I wanted to write a chapter where it was just the girls bonding and I loved it. Also, the picture attached is the dress with everything else they had gotten, just to give you guys a visual of it.

Anyway, the next chapter will be a fun one. 

Until Next Time,