A/N: Uh so here's another one that should…probably…maybe, go in the Love is for me collection. But, eh, I just didn't think it fit. Besides its such a pretty piece, well at least I think so. Personally I think it deserves its own. Well anyways…read and enjoy!

Suggested Listening: Dirt Road Anthem by Brantley Gilbert or you could listen to Jason Aldean's version. I cant decide which on I like better.

/Dirt Road/

Dean drives down the dirt road, his wheels kicking up dirt. He's alone today, Sam too lost in his own misery to be bothered with his brother and the memories that assaulted him. It's okay though because today he wants to take a trip, memory lane is sometimes best visited when alone. He pulls the Impala to a stop at the old fire pit it's still being used. The younger generation was still having fun, just like old days. Shaking his head, he shuts the engine off and climbs out. The toe of his boot digs into the dry ground, so many good times happened here. Hanging out, music blaring out of speakers, George Jones crooning to them all. An Ice-cold beer in one hand and a beautiful woman in his lap.

He can still hear the laughter; still see Tyler and Jeremy wrestling on the ground. Bonnie's laughter ringing out in the night, he can still see her as she moved about. The slight Virginia breeze pulling at her blond hair, a smile that could stop him cold playing on her lips. He is so lost in this world of memories; he can feel her slim hands as they brush against his chest. He can still feel her lips pressed against his, her body swaying to the music. He can still taste the whiskey and beer on her tongue.

The first few weeks of their relationship had been tough, rumors could spread like wildfire in a small town. He wound up putting his fist in a few people's jaws because of her, but every time she smiled at him all that was worth it. He could never regret meeting her, even after losing her he couldn't bring himself to regret it. She had been his everything; she had been his answer to the riddle of life. Curling his hand into a fist he looked down at the silver ring on his ring finger, they never made things official. Being legally dead made that kinda hard, but still when she was nineteen he had asked the girl to marry him.

He had taken her hand in his, his thumb brushing against the back of her hand. God he can still feel her skin against his, it was a quiet ceremony just between them. Not even Sam and Bobby had known. He looked out at the world around him, his eyes scanning the open fields. Aside from the river, Caroline had loved this place. It was the one place they could all go and behave like idiots, a place where they could avoid her mom and the watchful eyes of the Mystic Fall's police. Smiling he watched as she danced around with Elena, her knitted pink poncho swirling out around her. Her laughter ringing in his ears. Just like her, he knows he will never forget this place. This is where a stupid boy fell in love with a pretty blond, where they danced until the shone over the horizon.

They do it differently down here in the south, the pace was slower the people weren't in such a rush. Kids got to be kids, and people were allowed to fall in love. Aside from Lawrence, this was the only other place he thought he could have called home. In the distance, he heard tires rumbling over the rocks, turning so he could see he saw a truck in the midst of a thick cloud of dust. He watched as the truck pulled to a stop a few feet away from where he parked Alaric stepped out, but he didn't say anything as he moved to the back of the vehicle. He opened the back door and out jumped the light of his life, the only person he had left to remind him of everything he lost and stood to gain.

"Daddy!" His little girl squealed, as she ran towards him. Her brown hair flying out behind her, the skirt of her yellow sundress getting tangled up in her legs. She had Sammy's hair, Dean's eyes, but she had her mother's smile. She had her easy outlook on life. "Hey baby." He murmured picking her up he planted her on his hip. Six months ago, his baby lost her mother and as she buried her little face into his neck, he knew she was afraid of losing him as well. He ran his hand through her soft as silk hair. "Taking a trip down memory lane?" Ric asks, hands on his hips. He nodded the man was way too observant at times. "Caroline loved this place; she used to bring MaryAnn here when she was a baby." That did not surprise him at all, this was a place to run wild and free. "Are you staying long?" He doesn't know the war maybe over, but there was still monsters to fight, demons to send back to hell. What if they came after MaryAnn?

"Well I won't try to change your mind, but know that you always have a home here." Yeah he knows that, but the thing is, he wasn't sure if this place was home. Yes it had once been Caroline's, but did it make it his? He set MaryAnn down on the ground, pressing his lips to the top of her head. Strands of her hair tickling his face. She didn't need a push, somehow she just...knew. Soon as her feet hit the ground, she took off at a run, the wind blowing her hair around. Her smile, despite the grief blazing. "She looks so much like her." he says, his words tinged with the taste of bittersweet memories. Memories of Caroline chasing after a two-year-old blond hair flying in just the way as their daughters. "Yeah she does." Came Ric's quiet comment. In the beginning Ric had been the only one to not look down on his relationship with the happy blond. He had been the only one to support the fledgling couple; he had taken in Caroline when her mother kicked her out. Moreover, he had protected Caroline, when the feds came looking for her because of him and Sam.

He has caused Caroline a lot of pain, but as she was so found of telling him he had given her a lot of happiness as well. "I wish I could have given her more." He says as he watched his daughter dance with herself. "Dean, man you gave her everything." Somehow, he had known Ric would know he wasn't talking about the little girl playing before them. Had he truly given her everything, she had never seemed sad at being left behind. She took his life with an understanding he had never seen before. She had been pissed at the few times he had betrayed her with another woman, but she had always been there when he needed her. Even went so far as to come and drag him from his misery a few times. "I'm not sure about that." Ric shakes his head, his eyes going misty. There is a message in those eyes, it clearly states, you are an idiot if you believe that.

Maybe he is and maybe he isn't, he isn't so sure anymore. There are only a few things he is sure of these days, one Sam is lost, he can't stop thinking about her and MaryAnn needs him more now than ever before. "MaryAnn! Come on back babe!" Ric shouts and Dean watches his daughter stop in her tracks. How in the hell did she get so far away? See that right there is why he wouldn't make a good father; he couldn't even keep track of his kid. MaryAnn runs towards them her smile while not as bright as before, is still as bright as the sun. "Say goodbye to your dad baby." They are leaving already. No, they can't just leave, not yet! His mind is a frantic whirl; Alaric was going to take her away from him. And with him being the legal guardian and all, there wasn't a damn thing Dean could do, but watch. "If you change you mind Dean." The other man says his eyes on him as he watched him hold his daughter tightly. "Well just know that you can always change your mind."

"Bye daddy." MaryAnn mumbles mournfully, she is too used to goodbyes from him. His chest tight, mind full of thoughts her and their daughter he watches Alaric loaded up his baby and drive away. The cloud of dust swallows the truck. There comes a time in every man's life when he needed to slow down, when he needed to stop and smell the roses. Or so the saying goes. Sometimes...sometimes, he wondered if he would ever get that. He thinks that time has come and he needed to take the opportunity before it passes.

Three years later...

At thirteen, his baby was promising to be a beauty, so much like her mother. Her hair was more blond than brown these days, and she sparkled. Sue him this was his kid he was talking about, he was allowed to be mushy. He watches her as she stops in her tracks, covering her mouth with her hands. Trying to contain her laughter, her and the Lockwood boy were fast friends. He didn't like it one bit, didn't like the way Tyler's kid looked at his baby. Puppy love man, but it's not like he has any room to talk. Sam's stretched out on the ground, his arms behind his head as he gazed up at the cloudless sky. His brother hadn't openly taken to the idea of a one town, one home. But he was trying, instead of spending all his time on the road, as he did that first year, he was now staying more and more with him and MaryAnn.

He could hear Ric's soft laughter somewhere in the distance, there was a time that Alaric had been the one to get through to him. The only man that could cut through the haze of grief and get him, to open his eyes and see what lie before him. Looking at his friend now, seeing the dark grief dancing in them he knew it was his turn. Who would have thought that he would have been here? He certainly had no clue that he would have the chance to watch his daughter grow up, much less have a stable home life, one him and Sam never had. Someone puts on an old George Jones CD and he's once again thrown back in time.

Bonnie and Elena look ten years younger, the laugh lines around Tyler's eyes are gone. Jeremy still looks at Bonnie with that same puppy dog look and Sam is once again a teen, his nose in a book. He sees Caroline and she's smiling at him, he likes to think that he is doing a good job. Well he hopes he is at least. He brings the bottle to his lips, the cool liquid easing the burn in his throat a little. His eyes are closed and he could just...swear, he felt her hand brush against his cheek.

: The End :