JustAnna

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean opened his eyes and kept his arm around Lexi for a few moments as she relaxed in his arms. He carefully relaxed his arm from around her, but kept his hand on her shoulder as he lowered her back down to the chair, and held her steady for a moment.

“You’re gonna want to stay awake for a bit, with that concussion.”, Dean muttered as he walked over to the nearest empty chair and pulled it to him, before sitting and turning his eyes back to Lexi, “I’m not far down the hall from you. So, you can knock if you’re feeling weird.”

He turned his eyes to Sam, and stared at his brother for a second, double checking that Sam seemed fine. Other than the sore head, he looked normal, and even his demeanor toward his head didn’t seem as if he was injured too badly. Dean took a deep and relieved breath, “Well, we’re all alive! It’s a good day.”

A smile came to his lips, and Dean turned his gaze back to Lexi, giving her a warm smile. He would have his ears open, all night, and chances were, he wouldn’t be sleeping. For some reason, he was incredibly paranoid about Lexi’s concussion. Maybe it was how much she reminded him of Mika, when he and Mika would go out on hunts and he would have to patch them both up when they returned. Maybe it was because she was fiercely independent and untouchable, and yet he felt the need to touch her at ever second he was near her.

Whatever it was, he needed caffeine. It was going to be a long night.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean nodded at Mika, taking in her words, and Esme’s look of dismissal. He turned and stepped away from Duke and Esme’s door and back over to Mika, “I know. I just haven’t seen her that beat up in a long long time. But, then again, he was always the one to patch things up when I lost my mind over injuries.”

He shrugged, and gave a small smirk before walking into his room with Mika. He walked over to the table, and sat down across from Mika with a huff, running his fingers through his hair, before dropping his hand on the table and shaking his shoulders of the sudden stress.

“So, we’re headed to talk to this woman. Do we have any idea what to say to her about why we’re there? I mean, from what I gathered, dude opened a fresh bucket of candy and ended up with a throat full of razors. Kind of hard to explain to a grieving widow.”, Dean explained, trying to take his mind off what had just happened. He was more than excited to see Duke, after all this time, and he had a million questions. However, the circumstances of Duke showing up were less than ideal, and he wanted to help, against his better judgement.

But they had work to do.

Annabeth

Annabeth watched Sam check the parking lot suddenly, as if he saw someone he knew, or a welcome addition to their little group. She couldn’t help but smile, when he turned and warned her about the new guy being super flirty. She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t mind a little flirting once in a while. Might be refreshing.”

She smirked playfully, teasing him with the idea of someone else flirting with her, but her smirk fell when he mentioned Cason and Esme. Of course Esme had ended up worse off than Cason. He had a strong self preservation gene in him somewhere, and somehow always ended up just fine, while the humans around him ended up hurt, or dead, it seemed.

“Well, I hope she’s okay. After what she did back at the house, and to help me through the angel attack, I would hate for anything to happen to her before I could return the favor, you know?”, she said softly, playing with the hem of her shorts nervously, “But we really do have to let them handle it. I’m sure Nat will be waiting for us, and while I would love to stay in this room with you, and enjoy the peace and quiet of a boring night, that’s not going to happen until we take care of this.”

Duke

Duke smiled softly at Esme’s permission, and he gave one quick nod, scanning her eyes, as her hand came to rest against his arm. It was then that he began to realize he could have lost her, back at the warehouse and he wouldn’t have even known. It was his fault, for not contacting her sooner, just to check in, or to stay close. He quickly pulled his lips back into a smile, “Well, the only difference between this and old times is that you’re locked up in here with me…alone, bout to be naked.”

He laughed, a bright smile spreading across his face as his eyes shined toward hers. He brushed his thumb across her cheek gently and then stood, removing his hat and tossing it on the dresser behind him. He turned back to her, and bent back down, “Raise that good arm for me. I’ll try to be gentle.”

Duke gently raised her good arm and pulled the sleeve of her shirt off of it, pulling it loose and snaking it over her head, before peeling it slowly away from the stab wound on her shoulder. When it finally came loose, he was gritting his teeth, feeling her pain for her almost as he pulled the shirt from her wrist and sighed, “Not too bad. Worst part’s comin’ though.”

He lowered his hands to the bandana around her leg, picking at the knot gently, “So, you remember that Vampire nest back in Toledo? I was all out of it and busted up, and we got trapped in that storm cellar. I figured I was gonna die, and I was out of my mind, and no one really knew where we were…”

The bandana finally came free and he winced, but quickly sighed with relief and tossed it on the floor, moving his hands to the blood t-shirt that actually covered her wound, “I remember what I said back there and um…I just wanted you to know. It wasn’t my place, and if I hadn’t been so banged up, I never would have gone down that road.”

He pulled the t-shirt free, and quickly placed it back against the wound with his hand as it began bleeding again. He honestly didn’t know why he was admitting to her that he remembered his death confession after all this time, but with her being so banged up, he just felt the need. But the words played over in his head.

2003

“In case I don’t make it out of here, there’s somethin’ you need to know. Just…shut up and let me say it, alright?”, he winced and pressed his hand tighter against the stab would on his abdomen, scrambling to sit higher on the wall.

He licked a bit of the blood from his lip and sighed, “I want you to be happy, and all that. Like, don’t push Dean away. He’s trying. But, since I’m not gonna get out of here any time soon, just know that I have loved you since the day you showed up, all pissed off and ready to fight. You’re gonna be alright…”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean Winchester

Dean stared down at Mika with a flirty smile as she reminisced about the failed skin walker case. He had struggled so hard to keep his hands off her that he almost broke his cover, just so he could be personal, and not businesslike. And the night had ended up in a good place, albeit bruises and a few scrapes. He pouted his lips out, bobbing his head to the side, “I seem to remember something like that. I’m really…REALLY looking forward to seeing you all dolled up today.”

He bit his lip, and raised his eyebrows at her as she made it obvious what she planned to do to him, in full celebration of an actual king sized bed, “I think…just maybe…I could make something happen.”

Dean placed his hands on her hips and pushed her back toward the bed, wiggling his eyebrows in response to her mischievous smile.

Annabeth

Anna laughed at the fact that Dean was the loud sleeper of the two, not that she was particularly surprised with the way Dean ate and how little he slept. He was bound to sleep incredibly heavy when he finally did get some rest. She squeezed Sam’s hand as they stepped into their room and he instantly began finding solutions to the single bed. She was unable to stifle the small giggle that left her throat.

“I think…correct me if I’m wrong…but we left modesty in Bobby’s basement.”, she muttered softly with a giggle. She stepped up to him, and caught his gaze, wrapping her arms around his waist, “I wasn’t complaining about the single bed. I was just surprised…because Dean did this on his own. I half expected two beds in opposite rooms of one suite or something. You’re warm. You’re cute. You’re safe. One bed is fine, Sam. You’re not sleeping on the floor.”

She reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear with a smirk.

————-A WHILE LATER —————-

Duke

Duke put the truck in park and carefully stepped out the door, his boots landing heavily against the pavement. Hearing Mika’s voice, he instantly turned, pushing his hat back on his head in preparation for what he knew was coming. He smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around Mika, “HEY! That can’t be my pretty girl, up in here in one piece and still…STILL huggin’ on me.”

He laughed and spun her in a circle, before dropping her to her feet and pulling back, “I was um…checkin’ out some demon omens in the area and it led me to some weird warehouse full of torture supplies and stuff. Just so happens, some demons had a couple of your people all tied up and in rough shape.”

Duke glanced over Mika’s shoulder as Dean walked out of the motel room to see what she was doing, and his eyes widened as he slowly approached them, “And as usual, I came in and saved the day. You know…normal Wednesday.”

He flashed his signature smile at Mika, bringing a hand up to brush her hair back from her cheek, just as Dean made it to them. Dean and Duke stared at each other for a long moment, Duke not knowing what shape Dean was in since coming back from Hell, or how mad he was for Duke bolting all those years ago.

But then Dean threw his arms around Duke’s neck, holding him tight to his body and burying his face in his shoulder. Dean sighed before grumbling, “It’s good to see you little brother.”

“It’s good to see you too…”, Duke murmured back, holding onto Dean’s shirt tightly, “And I want to catch up, but I have to grab Esme, alright? She’s in rough shape, and I’ll um…I’m gonna stick around for a couple of days. So, let me get her resting, and I’ll come find you, okay?”

“If you need anything, come knock. We got plenty of supplies. She always liked your stitches better than mine anyway.”, Dean teased, slapping the back of his hand against Duke’s chest. Duke turned and pinched Mika’s chin lovingly before he turned back to the truck and jogged around to the passenger side. He opened the door and leaned carefully across Esme’s body to unbuckle her seatbelt.

Slipping a hand under her legs, he slowly ran a hand around to her lower back and hoisted her into his arms, cradling her back to his chest with a sigh, “I got you, beautiful. Just relax. We’re safe here.”

He smiled down at her, just as Dean stepped up with a note from Cason that had been left on the hood of the Impala, along with Duke and Esme’s room key. Duke nodded, which Dean took as a signal to help him open the door. But Dean couldn’t help look at Esme as if he was incredibly worried. There was a lot of blood covering her clothes, and she looked as if someone had worked her face over good and hard. Duke saw Dean shake his head and run over to the door of their motel room, which was situated just to the left of Dean and Mika’s room, and he opened the door for Duke.

Duke tipped his hat, and stepped over the threshold with Esme, “I’ll see you cuties in a bit, alright?”

Closing the door behind him, he walked Esme over to the single bed in the room, and carefully lowered her to the mattress, holding his hand out to make sure she stayed steady. He then brought both his hands up to carefully cradle her face, looking into her eyes to make sure she heard him, “Alright. So, we’re here. Let’s get these clothes off you so I can stitch you up, yeah? That okay? And then I’ll run you a bath. I got some stuff in the truck that will take the edge off and help your stitches not itch so bad. What do you think?"

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean furrowed his brow when Sam patted his arm and explained that Lexi had ended up more on the wrong side of the hunt. Things must have gone really South, if Sam got out in better shape than anyone he was hunting with, but judging by his own appearance, Dean had to assume his head had taken a nice little knock….as usual.

“Alright, come here…”, Dean grumbled, backing up and holding his hands out to her as she walked over to the table. He pulled a rolling chair right beside her, and turned the chair to face her before sitting down. As Sam walked into the kitchen, he stood again and strolled over to the library, pulling a flashlight off the top of one of the bookshelves. Strolling back over to the table, he leaned his knee on his chair and reached a careful hand out to place a finger on the bottom of Lexi’s chin, pulling her eyes up to his.

“Look at me.”, he grumbled, turning the flashlight on and shining it over her left eye a couple of times in flashes, and then her right with a sigh. He frowned and sat the flashlight down on the table, “Not the worst I’ve seen. But I think you do have a little concussion. Keep that up and you’ll have a calloused brain like Sam.”

As he teased her slightly, he traced his fingers over any blood stains he could see, making sure none of them were actual skin breaks, other than the one on her head. To his relief, it seemed to just be her lip and her head. He sighed, and leaned back a bit, “Stand up. Hold onto me if you need to.”

As he helped her stand, he brushed his hands gently over her shoulders, shoving her jacket down her arms, and then reached his hands down to her wrists, tugging the sleeves free of her hands. He tossed her jacket on the table and did the same with her overshirt. He winced externally as the bruising of her shoulder, from being dislocated. He reached his hand up and gently brushed his fingers over the bruises.

“You know this is gonna suck, right?”, he asked her with a sad smirk. He walked around to her back, and pushed on her lower back to have her stand straighter, he took a deep breath. Bringing a hand around to the front of her shoulder, he placed the heel of his palm against the front, and brought his other hand around to wrap his fingers around the top of her shoulder, as his wrist rested against her skin, “One…two…”

Without saying three, he suddenly tensed, her shoulder popping loudly as it fell back into place. He held her for a moment, wrapping one of his arms around her body to hold her tight against his chest and let her relax from what he knew had to be a horrible jolt of pain, and at the closeness, he pressed his nose against the back of her head, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes. On one hand, he was glad he fixed her shoulder, on the other hand, his stomach cramped painfully at the fact that he had hurt her. But breathing so close to her, his heart rate steadied, and he relaxed, “I’m sorry."

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean felt the presence grow a bit stronger as Mika sat on the bed beside him and touched his shoulder. He couldn’t quite feel her touch, but in a way, he knew she was touching him. He closed his eyes, just breathing in the presence and turned his head toward his shoulder, “If you’re here. Just stay for a while? Please?”

He sniffled and scooted himself back on the bed, leaving his boots on as he laid his head back against his pillows and turned over onto his side. He stared at the wall, turned toward the side of the bed that she would normally rest against, and he settled, sniffling as he pushed the grief down, with the help of a decent amount of whiskey.

---

After a little bit, Dean was starting to drift in and out of sleep, seemingly for the first time in months. But at the sound of the bunker door closing, and Sam’s voice calling out through the large and echoing room, Dean sat up and stared at the door. He gave some thought to whether he wanted to walk out, and face Lexi again, with Mika heavy on his mind. He shuddered, the pang of guilt that he had managed to avoid earlier in the day creeping back up.

After a few moments of thought, he rolled off the bed, and walked to his door, holding his hand against the doorknob. He paused, and held it tightly in his hand, as something in the back of his mind told him it was okay. They needed him.

He pulled the door open and stepped into the hall, walking quickly toward the war room, toward Sam’s voice. He stepped into the open room, and turned his gaze up the stairs, “Hey! You guys okay…Holy crap you both look like crap. What happened?”

Dean rushed over to the stairs and reached his hand out for Sam’s arm as he stepped into the room. He checked Sam’s demeanor and the way he walked, and after a moment, his shoulders relaxed. He didn’t seem hurt bad enough to fall over, or for his giant head to be damaged too much, “You okay? You gonna make it?”

His eyes then fell on Lexi, who looked worse. He didn’t want to rush to her, and make her uncomfortable, especially after what had happened in the armory. He stared at her for a moment, trying to assess her injuries without his hands, “What can I do?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Duke

Duke concentrated on the road for a bit, as he heard Esme taking deep breaths, almost concerned that the drive itself was causing her pain. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel at the thought, rushing through some painful memories of the last time they were in a dire situation, and he was behind the wheel. Unfortunately, for him, Dean was also in the car with them. Between the gravel road being bumpy and aggressively shaking the car, and Dean’s screaming from the backseat as he panicked over her injuries, the memory didn’t settle well in the back of Duke’s mind.

He swallowed the memory down, quickly pulling the corners of his eyes back into their signature smirk and watched center line of the road intently. He pulled the words ‘of course I missed you’ into his mind and swirled them around, letting them wash over his heart a bit. The fact that she had even thought about him, after he fell off the map was exciting, and that was after the break up with Dean had complicated their relationship. Dean was his brother, by choice, and when she left, he was stuck with a decision.

The decision wasn’t fair, but it was morally obvious. He chose Dean. He stayed behind with him, and he and Esme just…fell apart. Then Dean went through various existential crises, between meeting up with Mika again, and then essentially kidnapping his brother from college. Duke just kind of bowed out. He silently wondered if Mika was still around, or how things were after Dean had come back from Hell. Word got around in the hunter’s circles…

Esme’s voice shook him from his thoughts and he flinched, turning to look at her with a soft smile. Her fading smile caused him to furrow his brow, keeping an eye on the road, but glancing often back to her face as she finally asked her question. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned back toward the road and took a deep breath, “Yes and no.”

He paused, and glanced back over at her, “I made it as far as New York City, ready to get on the next flight out of the country, straight to Cairo, and I kept seeing signs everywhere. You know, fate stuff. It started with a husky, of all things. He was a super sweet dog, lovin’ on me and begging to be petted while he sat out on the sidewalk with his owner. He looked so much like a wolf that I couldn’t help but think of you, you know?”

Duke tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, nodding his head to encourage himself to keep speaking, “And then I was in the airport, drinking some overpriced but super strong coffee, and this blonde girl sat down at the table next to me. At first, while she sat there, I thought nothing of it…but then it hit me. I didn’t want to go alone. I mean, sure, Cairo and Giza and all the curses and mummies would have been a blast to see. I’ve been obsessed since I was a kid.”

He turned his gaze back to hers with a small smile, tilting his head to the side, “But it just didn’t seem so tempting, being on my own. That was our little pipe dream adventure.”

Duke shrugged his shoulders, a little scoff escaping his chest as he wiped a hand across the stubble on his chin, self soothing himself from the admission. He kept his eyes on the road, until they pulled close to the parking lot, and he carefully drove the truck over the lip in the pavement, and parked it next to Dean’s all too familiar Impala.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean stood at the door, his head pressed almost painfully against the wood as he steadied his breathing. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he furrowed his brow as a familiar smell washed over him. His eyes shot open and he whipped around, turning toward the area he assumed the smell was coming from, due to its intensity.

“Mika?”, he asked in a whisper, looking around the room with wide eyes. Sure, he still had things of hers. And they smelled like her. But, this didn’t feel like a thing. It felt like she was standing in the room with him…like a ghost.

“If you’re um…if you’re here, I really need you, right now. I don’t know how you would be here. I mean…I watched you burn. I know you’re gone.”, his voice broke with his words, but he took a deep breath, opening his mouth to take in air in what seemed more like a gasp, “But I can’t do this. I can’t do this alone. Please…”

He turned a complete circle, feeling like a total idiot. Obviously she wasn’t in the room with him. Obviously she wouldn’t be able to haunt the bunker. The place was warded against everything the Men of Letters had ever fought against, ghosts being one of those things. Reminding himself of that fact, he stepped over to his bed and sat down at the foot, placing his head in his hands as the pain moved from his stomach to wash over his body, “What the hell is going on?”

Dean glanced over at his tv stand, which sat close to the end of his bed, and he reached out, grabbing an almost empty whiskey bottle. Giving it a moment’s thought, he unscrewed the cap and polished off the bottle as tears streamed down his face, his eyes still staring at the corner he had suspected Mika was haunting.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

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.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean Winchester

Dean sighed, feeling completely irrational as Mika explained that she didn’t see Anna as a threat, and also thought that Anna was just worried about his reactions to her existence. He had to admit that he had been cold to her, and that he had essentially threatened her behind her back, without even feeling her out, first. It was something that was starting to nag at his stomach a bit, “Yeah. I guess you’re right. I’ll um…I’ll have a talk with her when we finish here. I’ll just…talk to her.”

As Mika stepped back up to him, he placed his phone back into his pocket and sighed, staring cross eyed down at her finger as she tapped it on his nose. He shook his head and tilted it to the side with a smirk, “Since when are you all work? Once upon a time, you would have played fun before work. One bed. Time to ourselves. Eh?”

He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, before pulling back, “Besides, all options are taken care of. I just sent Sam a text, after receiving a weird one from Cason. We’re gonna take the house, since it’s just hitting up the wife and shouldn’t be too much trouble. Sam and Nat can take the school, and Cason and Esme are apparently in one piece. They got stopped by that demon army, we might have failed to mention to them. At least he said something about demons. They’re on their way here.”

“But Esme’s out of commission…”, he started again, staring at the ceiling to make sure he had remembered everything. He then turned his eyes back to hers with a smile, “Just like the old days. Partners…”

Anna

Annabeth nodded with a small smile at Sam’s reassurance. Mika did seem like the type to leave things alone, even if she felt the need to talk about them with Dean. If she was concerned, Anna felt like maybe she could be friends with Mika, and maybe Dean would come around too. She nodded once again, and stepped closer to Sam as he brought up the night they met.

Mika was the one who wanted to let her go, and wanted Sam to make his own decisions. Shew as the one who had talked Dean down, when Sam couldn’t. Taking a deep breath, she glanced over at Natalia and matched her smile. She felt safe around Nat, as she seemed to also be a good adversary to Dean, if it was needed. They got along but she could see that Nat would be formidable at holding Dean’s emotions at bay, if he was going to hurt someone.

“I have noticed that she smiles at me sometimes. So, I guess that’s a start, along with the free ride.”, she quipped back at Nat, her shoulders loosening up the more she thought about things being okay. When Nat suggested they go back to their room and relax, she couldn’t help smile and let a small chuckle through her nose, still a bit surprised that Dean had let her and Sam have a private room. She turned to Sam, as Nat stepped away from him, reaching her arm out to brush against Nat’s, and then dropped her hand to lace fingers with Sam.

“So, um…we’re bunkmates. I was a little too tired the other night to notice, but you better not snore.”, she teased him, as she pulled him toward their room. She slipped the key into the lock and opened the door, pulling him inside. Tossing her bag on the ground, she looked around the room and raised her eyebrows, “And only one bed?”

Duke

Duke lowered his eyes to scan Esme’s face, as she placed his hat back onto his head. His face broke into a bright smile and he leaned his cheek against the top of her head as she laid her head back down against his shoulder. After a few moments, he saw her face tilt back to look at him again, and he met her gaze as they made it almost to his truck.

At her use of his old nickname, his heart fluttered in his chest, and his smile widened. He shrugged his shoulders at her question, glancing up at the truck as they approached and he answered, “Everywhere, really. I go where I’m needed. I take care of problems, track down hunters that use way too many aliases, and mostly, I just hunt when I find weird things that have absolutely nothing to do with demons. I’ve been trying not to go down that road again, yet here I am.”

“But from the sound of it, you missed me a little bit.”, he chuckled, tightening her elbow around her back as he pulled his hand away from her, to open the passenger door of his truck. Swinging it open a bit more, he stepped forward and gently sat her on the seat, careful with her thigh. As he sat her down, he brought a hand up to brush her hair away from her face, smoothing it behind her ears on both sides, before running his fingers gently over the deep bruise that had formed over her eye, “Let’s get you back to the motel, so I can clean you up. Sound good?”

He smiled, staring at her for a moment, as he scanned her eyes. He then stepped back quickly, as if snapping himself out of a memory, and pulled the seatbelt across her body, clicking it into place, and putting the strap behind her body, so he didn’t hurt her injured shoulder.

Walking around to the drivers door, he opened it and brought the old truck to life with a loud roar, peeling out of the gravel parking lot.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean couldn’t help wanting to offer to let her stay for a bit longer, just so they could have a real conversation about…well anything. She just seemed infinitely interesting, and he was surprised that Sam wasn’t more interested in her. While she wasn’t totally his type, the stories her eyes could tell, without a single word was definitely something Sam was into.

“I would love to.”, he said a bit quieter then he meant to, when she asked to hear more about the Bunker and the Men of Letters. The fact that she was the one that mentioned the conversation caused his eyebrows to raise as it landed hard in his brain. She said ‘one day’. She planned to come back. She specifically wanted to spend time with him.

His heart fluttered once again in his chest, followed by a small but fleeting tinge of guilt.

As she stepped closer to him, her smile not fading, Dean’s intense green eyes locked onto hers, and he smiled back at her. He attempted to get out of her way, as he stared at her, but neither of their bodies seemed in much of a hurry to move. So, he made the first move, bringing a hand down to her hip to steady her, so he could get by.

His thumb brushing the skin of her hip caused his breath to hitch in his throat, and he leaned in close to her face, scooting himself to the side, just as Sam showed up at the door and Dean turned his head, his eyes wide, “Um. NO! No no no. It’s a little um…a little tight in here. We really should widen this little walkway. Here…”

Pressing Lexi’s hips against the counter, he scooted past her and raised his hands, as if to try and prove to his brother that he had no ulterior motives behind the small touch, but his heart was still racing wildly in his chest as he stood by the door and crossed his arms, “Lexi um…she found the weapons you need and stuff.”