Dean saw the smile on Lexi’s face, and he couldn’t help looking down at his plate with a smile of his own, seeing that somehow, behind the mourning beard and tired eyes, he had made someone else smile for a change.  He shook his head quickly when she mentioned not getting in the way, “Sam’s right.  There’s a lot of room here.  This place used to hold a whole fraternity of guys.  I’m pretty sure we have room for one tiny woman.”

He sighed and took another massive bite of food, groaning as his stomach warmed just at having decent food landing in it.  If Lexi was going to be staying around for a couple of days, she was definitely cooking, if she wanted to.  Though he would probably miss her cooking, when she did leave.  He glanced over at his brother, noticing the way he was watching them, and furrowed his brow.

“This place is smack dab in the center of the country, so yeah, I guess you’re right.”, he responded to Lexi with a shrug, “I don’t get out much anymore, but if you need to get anywhere, it at least splits the drive time under 24 hours to most areas on the coast.”

Finishing his pasta, Dean sat for a moment, leaned back in his chair.  He stroked his chin for a moment, before glancing between the two of them, “Sam, don’t have a heart attack, but…I think I’m gonna go take a shower, and shave.  I have a full on beard going on, here.  Then!  I’m gonna have some pie.”

Dean stood from his chair quickly, and walked around the table to head for the door way of the kitchen, patting Lexi on the shoulder as he walked by, “Thanks for dinner.  The pasta was perfect.”

He left the kitchen, and walked through the war room quickly to stroll down to the showers.  After several moments, he stepped out of the shower room and into his bedroom.  And after another several minutes of recovering from his shower thoughts and tears, Dean left his bedroom fully dressed.  For a change, he wasn’t dressed in the same pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt.  He was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a flannel, though he was still barefoot.  His hair had been brushed and the mourning beard was gone.  His face barely held a five o’clock shadow.  He walked carefully into the war room, and then into the kitchen where he walked straight over to the pie on the counter, staring at it as if trying to decide how big of a piece to cut.

He had to admit he didn’t feel much better.  The feeling in the pit of his stomach was still there, but something about having Lexi in their home made him at least want to stay sober, and somewhat clean, a big change from his normal routine.