Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters; all rights go to Eric Kripke.

I'm new to fan fiction, so please be nice! :)

Please review!

Happy Reading!

Dean wasn't really sure when he had started to trust Ruby. Or when he had started to develop feelings for her. Still, it wasn't hard to hide his feelings. He turned his passion into anger, anger at having warm fuzzy feelings for a demon, and the insults came easily. Dean was sure to keep his punches light though, seeing Ruby bloody made his chest tighten.

His feelings for Ruby were a big gaping wound in his exterior armor, and when Ruby turned Sam against him, she had rubbed a big bucket of salt right in it. But Dean couldn't help feeling the slightest twinge of regret when he killed her with her own knife.

The aftermath of the apocalypse was over. Everything had settled down, but it was a little weird not to be worried about saving the world everyday. Dean and Sam were just getting back to regular hunting. Or as regular as hunting can get. They had found a job in Coffee Springs, Alabama. It was a vengeful spirit that killed it's victims by ripping them apart.

Sam was out getting food and Dean was cleaning his guns. It was always relaxing for him to let his mind wander while his hands were lost in the familiar motions.

A knock at the door jolted him out of his thoughts. Dean covered the gun with one of the sheets, and opened the door a crack. He was greeted by a familiar face. Blond hair, blue eyes, smug smile. Ruby.

"Hey Dean."

For a second, Dean was relieved, almost happy. But then logic and anger took over. He grabbed Ruby by the front of her leather jacket, pulled her inside and slammed her against the wall.

"I killed you!" He growled at her. "But I'll gladly do it again."

"No." Ruby's tone of voice was one usually reserved for the ridiculously stupid. "Lilith sent me back to Hell…remember?"

Dean didn't hear her. "How dare you show up here after what you did?" He brought a hand to her throat, ready to choke the life out of her meat suit.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ruby's eyes narrowed and she shoved Dean back. "The last time I saw you was when Lilith sent me back to Hell. Remember? In that little girl's house."

Dean grabbed the Colt from his duffel bag and flicked the safety. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here. You got Sam addicted on demon blood. You freed Lucifer from his cage! You turned my own brother against me." He spat, pointing the gun at her, ignoring everything that she had just said.

Ruby sighed. Dean clearly wasn't going to voluntarily have a civil conversation with her. So she did the only thing she could. She leaned her weight back and kicked one leg out, knocking the Colt from his grasp.

"Don't get your panties in a twist." Ruby said disdainfully. "Why would I come back here if I really did all that? I don't have a death wish. And do you really think they would just let me crawl back up from Hell? No, Alistair took me apart bit by bit every day for over two hundred years! So no, that wasn't me that screwed up your brother." By the time Ruby finished, she was out of breath and shaking in anger.

"Prove that you're really Ruby." Dean challenged.

"I saved your life by fixing the Colt in Ohio. You were about to be killed by some priest."

"But…that demon said she was you." Dean said. It was slowly beginning to sink in.

"Well, not every demon in a pretty meat suit is me. Do you know how many demons want to screw with you and Sam? And here I thought Sam was the brains of this operation."

Dean glared at her, but he was clearly defeated, with no reason to try to kill her anymore. "So what are you doing here?"

"It's not like I can just waltz out of hell and go do demony things. There are demons out there who want my head on a platter. So I'm going to hunt with you?"

"Isn't that ironic? A demon killing demon?" Dean smirked.

"I'm almost human." Ruby shrugged.

The sound of the door opening made them both turn towards it. Sam walked in, holding a white paper bag. He froze when he saw Ruby.

"You." He growled. Then, Sam pulled Ruby's knife from his belt and lunged at her.

"Wait!" Ruby dodged his attack and grabbed his wrist, twisting until he dropped her knife. She picked it up and wiped it off.

Sam glared at her, and then pulled a gun out.

"Sammy, hold on." Dean put a hand on the gun, slowly lowering it.

"Dean, she's a demon!" Sam said in disbelief. His brother was supposed to be supporting his decision to put a few holes in Ruby, not defending her.

"She's not the one who got you addicted to demon blood." Dean reassured.

"What, so this isn't that bitch Ruby?"

"Excuse me?" Ruby bristled. "That black eyed skank who fed you her blood wasn't me. It's really reassuring that all it takes for Sam Winchester to lose his head is a pretty face."

"But…she liked French fries…" Sam argued weakly.

"Everybody likes French Fries." Ruby rolled her eyes.

Dean chuckled. "That's true."

Sam glared at them both.

"Sam, maybe you're just mad at yourself." Ruby said softly.

"What? Why would I be mad at myself?"

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Maybe you're mad at the choices that you made. She didn't make you drink demon blood. It was your choice." There was a bit of taunting in Ruby's tone.

Sensing the animosity about to erupt, Dean stepped between Sam and Ruby. "You know something's wrong when I have to stop you two from killing each other." He said, surprisingly reasonable. "Ruby, you shocked both me and Sam by coming back, so I think we all need to take a breather, because fighting is not the answer."

"Well thanks, Ghandi." Ruby smirked, suddenly calm.

"I think I need some air." Sam said, taking deep breaths, but still glaring at Ruby. He stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Ruby turned to Dean. "So I hear you stopped the Apocalypse. Mazel Tov." Her tone was snarky, as usual, but her eyes were genuinely happy.

Dean studied her face for a few seconds. He had missed their banter.

Ruby noticed his intense gaze, and what was left of her humanity was currently making her stomach do somersaults. She held Dean's gaze but finally looked down.

"Umm…You should go look for Sam. See if he's okay." Ruby said, taking a small step backward.

Dean nodded. "Yeah." He took one last look at Ruby and walked out.

The third shot of whiskey burned its way down Dean's throat. He had hoped that the liquor would wash away the though of Ruby, but clearly, he was wrong. Just when he was starting to get over the whole Apocalypse thing, Ruby had managed to slip back into his head. God, how that little bitch infuriated him…But still, he couldn't erase the image of her face, her curves from his mind.

Dean swallowed another shot. He scanned the bar for an easy pickup, someone to make him forget about the blonde demon that had just wiggled her way back into his life. His eyes zeroed in on a petite brunette with tan skin. Shoving all thoughts of Ruby deep down into the depths of his mind, Dean plastered his signature smile on his face and started to get up to talk to her.

"Hey." A female voice interrupted him. A voice that made all those feelings come flooding back up. Shit.

Dean turned around. "Ruby." He gave a quick smile.

"Drowning your sorrows in alcohol?" Ruby smirked. "Very Dean-like."

"How'd you get your meat suit back?"

"Dean, I'm not like most demons." Ruby began.

"I think we've established that."

"So, this isn't just a vessel. This is my actual body. Authentic artifact from the 13th Century." Ruby sipped amber liquid from a glass.

"How'd you manage that?"

"I took precautions before I died." Ruby said mysteriously, downing what was left in her glass.

"So you stuffed your body with preservatives." Dean eyed the empty glass. "I didn't know you drank bourbon."

Ruby leaned in closer. "There's a lot you don't know about me." She breathed into Dean's ear.

Her hot breath on Dean's ear sent a bolt of sizzling electricity down his spine. Damn.

Then, just like that, the moment was gone. Ruby straightened up and set her glass down on the bar. "I challenge you to a game of pool." She smiled at him and walked into the corner, where the pool table was. Dean took one more shot; his eyes glued on Ruby's ass, and followed her to the corner.

Several minutes into the game, Dean was smirking at Ruby. She was losing by a lot. "Ready to forfeit?" He asked, leaning against the table, a cocky smile on his face.

"Not quite yet." Ruby muttered, concentrating on the game. Then, in a burst of skill, she sunk all of her balls, and pocketed the eight ball.

Dean stood up, staring the table. "How'd you…"

"Oh come on, Dean. You do this in between jobs." Ruby sidled up next to him, grinning up at him victoriously. "It's a good thing we weren't playing for money."

"Really. Then what'd I lose?" Dean smiled back down at her, admiring the view of her face from up close.

Ruby's eyes wandered over Dean's body, on the pretext of choosing her prize. "Your jacket." She said, tugging lightly on the bottom of Dean's jacket.

Dean smiled and slid off his jacket. Ruby turned around to pick up her drink. Dean caught a whiff of her hair. It smelled light and floral, with a tinge of sulfur. The smell of sulfur reminded Dean of who Ruby really was. Not a regular hot chick. She was a demon. A soul from Hell. And just like that, Dean's good mood evaporated.

"I should go." He said gruffly, grabbing his jacket and walking towards the door. Dean didn't turn back. He could see Ruby's confused, hurt expression in the back of his mind, and didn't want to find out how big a number seeing it for real would do to his heart.

Dean breathed in the night air, trying to clear his mind. He resolved to lock down all those pesky feelings for Ruby with a flurry of one night stands. His self prescribed therapy. With a deep breath, he turned to leave, but found himself face to face with Ruby.

"Damn it; don't sneak up on me like that!"

"What was that?" Ruby demanded, crossing her arm and standing in Dean's way.

"Ruby, you're a demon." Dean explained. He had planned to say more, but really couldn't come up with anything.

"We were having fun."

"This can't happen." Dean ran a hand through his hair. "Look, we should just keep a distance from each other."

"Why?"

"Because you're a demon, Ruby!" Dean exclaimed. "A soul from Hell!"

"Could you be any more racist?" Ruby rolled her eyes. "You've been to Hell too!" She jabbed a finger into his chest.

"Yeah, but I didn't come back as a cloud of black smoke!"

"Is that what bothers you?" Ruby stepped closer. "I told you, this is my body. It's me, every single part of it." She gestured to herself.

At a lack of words, Dean just looked down at Ruby. He didn't really notice that their heads were drifting closer together until he felt her hot breath on his lips. Then he quickly pulled back.

For the second time that night, Dean was walking away from Ruby. He got in the Impala, and drove away, not sure what to think anymore.

So Dean's struggling with his feelings, and as always, he's shoving them down. Ideas for the next chapter anyone? Please review, I'm very open to criticism!