Sleeping next to Jo was like sleeping next to some kind of animal.
The girl would roll over to one side, taking all of the covers with her and a minute later she'd roll over to her other side, glomming onto whoever was unfortunate enough to be sleeping beside her and, tonight that poor soul was none other than Ellen Harvelle.
The grimy little motel they'd managed to find in Nowheresville, North Idaho, had somehow been booked solid except for one room. The room was tiny, a miniature version of a regular motel room that had to be shared by three people. Dean had offered to stay in the car, but Ellen refused to let him sleep out in the cold all alone. She could currently hear him snoring faintly on the grimy loveseat a few feet away.
Being wide awake at 2:43 am was nothing new to Ellen; she'd suffered from insomnia for ages, as did most hunters, but tonight Ellen didn't mind so much. She could hear the icy wind rustling through the trees, a frog or two croaking off in the distance, and the rhythmic breathing (mixed with the occasional snoring) of her two roommates. Ellen closed her eyes contentedly, basking in the peace and quiet that she so rarely found in her life.
The natural pseudo-music that surrounded Ellen was interrupted a few minutes later when she heard Dean's breathing become more erratic. Ellen could hear him panting and muttering something over and over again. Ellen couldn't exactly make out what it was… No? Mo? Ellen winced when another thought occurred to her. Jo.
Dean Winchester was chanting her daughter's name in his sleep.
If that was some kind of sex dream he was having, Ellen was going to shoot him right then and there – sleeping or not.
She soon realized it wasn't any kind of hot fantasy when she sat up and glanced over at the boy. Now Ellen was no expert, but she was 99 percent certain that sexual fantasies didn't result in the dreamer writhing painfully like that on the couch. Ellen didn't know what to do, so she just watched from her bed as Dean tossed and turned frantically, alternating between whimpers of 'no' and 'Jo'.
Just as Ellen was about to get up and wake Dean up from his nightmare, he sat straight up, his breathing spastic. Ellen quickly laid back down and squinted her eyes as narrow as she could while still being able to keep Dean in sight. With any other person, Ellen would be at his side in a second to comfort him through whatever nightmare he'd just experienced instead of pretending to be asleep, but this was Dean Winchester, and Ellen knew that he'd reject any kind of help, especially from the mother of the girl he so obviously had the hots for. Oh, he tried to hide it, so did Jo for that matter, but Ellen (as well as probably everyone else) could see right through their little act.
Ellen had mixed emotions about Dean Winchester. He was like his father in many ways, determined, stubborn, arrogant…but as Ellen got to know him better, she realized that there was a lot more to Dean than met the eye. He was protective, loyal, and strong in ways Ellen never could've imagined. In fact, the more Ellen got to know the oldest Winchester, the more she liked him, although she'd probably never admit it.
She snapped out of her thoughts as Dean stood up, running his hand through his short hair and taking a few deep breaths. Ellen could hear him muttering something softly as he started walking towards Ellen and Jo's bed. Ellen closed her eyes even farther and watched Dean's blurry form hesitantly, her eyes trained on his face to see what on Earth he was up to. Her heart softened when she saw the way he was looking at her daughter.
Even through more-than-half-closed eyes, Ellen could see pure affection reflected on the boy's face as he smiled gently. He'd obviously gotten up to reaffirm that he had indeed been dreaming and that Jo was still alive. He reached down carefully, tugging the worn-out comforter up higher to cover both Ellen and Jo, although his eyes were primarily focused on the latter. Dean turned to Ellen a few seconds later, making sure she was covered up, too. This act of sheer sweetness completely melted Ellen's heart and she wondered how many times Dean had gotten up in the middle of the night to pull the covers up around Sam over the years. Part of Ellen considered the possibility that maybe she and Jo (mainly Jo) were just substitutes for Sam, but, as Dean glanced back at Jo, Ellen knew that they weren't substitutes at all.
Dean was in love with her baby girl.