I had so much fun writing this story, y'all! Due to the fact that it takes place after the season ten finale I had to change a few things to make it work. There is no Darkness for two reasons. 1) I just really don't know what to do with that, and 2) I think Sam and Dean are in desperate need of some time off. This is the sequel to "The Preacher's Daughter", and like last time I've already written the whole story (because that seems to work so much better for me) and am going to TRY to post one chapter every day. This one's almost twice as long, thirteen chapters, so yay! And yes, there is a possibility for more in this series depending on how things work out. So, enjoy and please let me know what you think! ~SG

Chapter 1

It had been a long time since the last time he had been here. About nine years, but the house still looked the same. He assumed, as he pulled up alongside the fence at the side of the road, that it still belonged to the same family, but he really had no way of knowing until he rang the doorbell and saw who answered.

He had only spent a few days here, but they had bonded and, for some reason he still couldn't quite figure out, had continued to grow their friendship through fairly regular phone calls that had earned him a lot of teasing from his brother.

However, he knew for a fact that the last she had heard anything about him was when Sam had come to tell her he was gone after the Hellhound had torn him to pieces. She had known it was coming, which was probably part of why they had become so close, but she certainly hadn't been expecting him to come back from Hell. No one had. And he hadn't exactly let her know he was back either. He could have. He had thought about it, had dialed her number a couple of times only to change his mind before making the call. She was better off without him in her life. Having any kind of relationship with a Winchester turned out to be a death sentence more often than not, and he wasn't about to put her in danger just because he wanted to say hello.

He was only here now because everything seemed to be holding up alright. The Mark was gone, and Rowena was in the wind, seemingly content to stay out of trouble. Neither Cas nor Crowley had been heard from in a while, which was cause for some concern, but Sam was handling it. Jody was still alive, and was doing just fine with Alex and Claire, and all in all the world seemed to be back in order. Sure, there was still your everyday, run of the mill supernatural crap, but there were other hunters that were more than capable of taking care of a few vamps and shifters without him getting involved. He had finally reached a place where it was okay for him to take some time off, and that's exactly what he needed. Time off. Time to heal and get his head back in order after everything he had been through. Time to be a normal person without the weight of the world sitting heavily on his shoulders. Time to catch up with an old friend.

Glancing down at his right arm where the Mark had been to remind himself that it was gone, he took a deep breath and climbed out of the car, filling his lungs with Georgia spring air. He left his bag in the car because even though this was the same house, it may not be the right house, and pushed the gate open, feeling oddly nervous as he walked down the path that led to the front porch. How would she react upon seeing him after assuming he had been dead all this time? Was she even still here? He rang the doorbell and waited for what seemed like forever. Apparently time passed on this porch the same way it did in Hell, because he was almost certain days had gone by before the door opened.

There was a pleasant smile on her face when she opened the door, curious to see who had decided to drop by, but it faded quickly when she saw him and she stared at him in disbelief, not yet willing to believe what she was seeing.

"Dean?" she breathed, looking like she had just come face to face with another ghost.

"Hey Mere." he replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He hadn't realized he would be quite this happy to see her.

She shook her head. "This isn't possible. You're...Sam said..."

"I'm real." he assured her as tears formed in her eyes.

Meredith was completely stunned to see him, and the tears she was blinking back as she allowed herself to smile a little, despite her brain telling her this couldn't be true, were tears of joy. "You're back? How?"

"It's a long story." he said, and was caught off guard when she suddenly launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Dean lost his balance for a moment, stumbling a couple of steps back before regaining it, and smiled as he closed his arms around her, reveling in the feeling.

"I'm so happy to see you." she said through tears that had finally won the battle, her words muffled but still perfectly understandable.

"It's good to see you too, Mere." he said, setting her back on her feet. "Can I come in?"

Meredith wiped at her face and laughed at herself for crying. "Yeah. Of course. I can't believe you're here."

"Neither can I." he admitted as he followed her into the familiar living room and sat down on the couch. A vivid memory of her kissing him goodbye suddenly filled his mind, and he wondered if he might be so lucky this time, not that he had come here to get lucky. They had been memorable kisses though.

She stood out in his mind more than any other woman he had ever been with, with the exception of Lisa, of course, and that was saying something since he had been with a lot of women, and he technically hadn't even been with her in the implied sense of the phrase. They had an undeniable connection, but those few kisses they had shared just before he had left had been as far as they had gone.

She brought him a slice of homemade Oreo cream pie, and as she sat down beside him with her own plate he realized that, for all he knew, she could be married with kids by now. He didn't see a ring on her finger, but maybe he shouldn't have dropped back into her life without any warning. Maybe he should have called first. Maybe he should have called as soon as Cas had pulled him out.

%%%

Meredith was shocked at the things he told her. They each had two slices of pie, and he was still going as she got up to put the dishes in the sink. Angles, demons, the Apocalypse, Leviathan, The Mark of Cain, all the deaths he and Sam had had to go through (their own and those of their loved ones). It was all just so much.

"I can see why you need a break." she said once he finally finished, wrapping up with how he had apparently killed Death just before the Queen mother of Hell had come through on her end of the deal to save him. "But what about Sam? Where is he?"

"He's back at the bunker." Dean explained. "Cas and Crowley have been radio silent since that day, and Sam's trying to figure out what happened. He's probably trying to track down Rowena too."

"And how come you're here and not there?" she asked.

"Like you said, I needed a break." he said. "I promised myself a vacation if we ever managed to get rid of the Mark, and Sam wouldn't take no for an answer. Believe me. I tried to stay and help him track down Cas and Crowley, but he practically shoved me out the door and told me to get lost for a while."

"What made you decide to come here? Surely there are better places for Spring Break than Georgia. I mean, the pollen alone is enough to make me want to tuck tail and run."

Dean smiled. "Honestly?"

She nodded.

"I missed you."

She looked taken aback by his answer, like it was the last thing she had expected him to say. Then, just as quickly as it had earlier, her expression changed. Suddenly she looked mad at him.

"What?"

"You were in Hell for four months, Dean." she said, sounding like she was accusing him of something. "Sam came all the way out here to tell me you were dead, and it broke my heart. Do you have any idea how long it took before I was able to stop thinking about what you were going through? One of my best friends was in Hell, and my overactive imagination was coming up with all sorts of things. I cried myself to sleep for weeks because of you, Dean! Don't get me wrong. I'm so happy you're back and that you're in one piece, but I thought you were still in Hell, Dean. For eight freaking years I thought you were being torn apart by demons. Next time you come back from the afterlife pick up a damn phone!"

"Tell me how you really feel."

About halfway through her speech she had jumped up and was now standing over him, glaring at him. She threw her arms out to emphasize her point. "That is how I really feel, Dean! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt, okay?" he shouted back. "I didn't save your life for you to get killed because of me! Everyone I care about dies, Meredith, and then Crowley went on his little rampage trying to kill everyone Sam and I saved. Once we figured out what he was doing all I could think about was that if we didn't stop him you were gonna die because you decided to put your faith in me of all people."

"And you couldn't at least call to warn me that a demon was probably coming after me?" she accused.

"I was scared, okay?" he shot back. "For you. I didn't want to pull you back into this crap unless we had to."

"Well, thank God you didn't have to."

"I'm sorry." was all he could think to say. She was right. He should've called to warn her that her life might be in danger yet again, and he should have called to let her know he was back.

Meredith stood there staring at him for a long time and then finally sighed and said, "I forgive you." before leaving him alone in the living room to go cook dinner.

"You're not married, are you?" he asked as he joined her in the kitchen after giving her a few minutes to cool off.

She was breaking spaghetti noodles into pieces and dropping them in a pot of water on the stove, and she paused to give him a look that was more than enough to ask why he was asking without her uttering one word.

"It's just, you know, it's been a while, and you're not exactly a bad catch." he explained, feeling a little awkward. Did she think he was trying to hit on her? "And your husband might not like me being here. Hell, right now I'm not even sure you like me being here."

She smiled a little and went back to breaking up her pasta. "I'm not married. I'm divorced."

"Oh." Dean said, helping himself to a bar stool at the island. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks." she said.

"Mind if I ask what happened?"

"After four years I realized we weren't right." she explained simply. "We loved each other at the beginning, we still loved each other at the end, but I was never in it all the way. It killed me to leave him. I couldn't stand breaking his heart like that, but it wasn't fair to either of us to stay together."

Dean nodded. "I know what that's like."

"You can stay here." She said. "If you want."

"How long?"

She turned and looked at him, meeting his gaze. "However long you need to."