Dean stood quietly near Sam, folding his arms awkwardly across his chest as Sam and Lexi talked over the case they were working on.  His heart rate was beginning to slow back to normal, but he could feel the tension coming off of Sam, wanting to ask questions.  Dean didn’t offer to clear the air, only stayed quiet until they finished their conversation, and Lexi grabbed her stuff.

As she passed him, he took a deep breath, and moved back out of her way to let her pass him without another touch.  He turned to his brother, shooting him dagger eyes to tell him not to ask, and then turned as Lexi glanced back at him.  His eyes softened into a bit of a dreamy gaze as he met her eyes, noticing how bright they were, and how much they seemed to glitter with a different light of the harsh industrial lighting.

“Y=Yeah.  I’ll um…I’ll see you when you get back.  I’ll just be in my room.”, he stammered out, scooting around his brother, “You guys be safe.  I’ll just um…”

As he opened his bedroom door, walking backward, he stumbled into the heavy wood and caught himself on the doorknob, waving at Lexi, “I’ll be in my room.”

He stepped into his room, quickly closing the door behind him.  He leaned his forehead against the door and panted, taking slow and deliberate breaths to attempt to calm his anxiety.  It wasn’t arousal.  It was guilt.  It was anxiety for feeling any sort of attraction to another female in what felt like ‘too soon’.  He pressed his palm flat against the cool wood and closed his eyes, “it was just a weird close moment.  She’s just a guest.  She’s a guest, and she’s in a rough spot.  Just keep your hands to yourself, and she’ll be gone in a few days.”

Yet the thought of her leaving in a few days tugged at his stomach, and he sighed.  He didn’t want her to leave.  Truthfully, he wanted her around.  He wanted to see her smile as she came down the hall every morning, and see her standing in the kitchen in his apron, cooking whatever meal she came up with that day.

But he couldn’t allow himself to be comfortable around her, if it meant that he might be attracted to her.  She had to go…or he had to toughen up.