I guess I must find Jess a really interesting character, because I seem to find myself writing about her often. So, enjoy this piece. Reviews will not hurt me. In fact, they're welcomed. And, if anybody has any suggestions about how I might be able to format this story a little better, that would also be welcome.
Sam
It's 3 AM and he's screaming because of the fire.
The fire that's not there. Dean shakes him awake and Sam realizes there is no fire. Dean stares at him, but Sam just stretches out, rolls over, and pretends to go back to sleep. He knows Dean isn't buying it, but it's not a conversation he wants to have. Not now.
He dreams there was fire, and Jess was on the ceiling, and he knows it's the truth. he doesn't know how he knows, but he has a odd feeling. It's almost like deja vu. He feels like he's been here before, waking from a nightmare. He feels like the dream was more than a dream, like it actually happened.
He gives up on the act, grabs his phone off the nightstand, and goes outside to call Jessica.
Jess
It's early in the morning when she gets woken up by the phone. She grabs it so she can turn it off and go back to sleep, but curiosity gets the best of her and she checks to see who's calling her so early.
It's Sam, so she answers. She'll always answer for Sam.
"Hey," she mumbles into the reciever. There's silence on the other end of the line for a solid minute, but she's still half-asleep and doesn't fully notice the passage of time.
"Jess. How are you?" he finally asks. If she had been fully awake, she would have laughed at his brusque and to-the-point attitude to talking on the phone.
"Sleepy. It's early, Sam."
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't realize... I'll let you get back to sleep."
"You go to sleep, too."
"I will. Love you Jess."
"Love you Sam." And she's passed out on the bed again a couple seconds later.
Sam
When he opens the door to the room, there's a scuffing noise and a thump. When he sees inside, Dean looks peacefully asleep, but Sam's not fooled. Not one bit. He had probably been watching him from the window to make sure he was okay. Dean had always been nosy that way. Sometimes it would bother him, but it didn't tonight. Tonight it makes him feel protected. And he realizes that while he likes the independence he gets from Stanford, he's really missed his brother.
Jess
Jess doesn't remember Sam's nighttime phone call until later that day as she wonders when he's coming back. She knows he said he'd be back by Monday, but she's not sure that's right. She feels an odd sense of deja vu, and there's a foreboding feeling in the air. She wants Sam to come back. When is Sam going to come back?
Sam
"I guess you want to go back now, don't you?" Dean asks hopefully. He's hoping I'll stay, Sam thinks. And he would, but he's got a life at Stanford, and Jess. There's Jess, who he loves so much.
"I have to be back by Monday." But he thinks back to his dream and instead of heading out to the Impala, sits down to think.
Jess
Her anxiety levels are rising, and it's weird, because she's never had an anxiety problem before. She decided she just need to get her mind off of things. She calls Sam to see when he's coming back, hoping that his voice will calm her down. But he doesn't answer. She's feeling worse than before. Maybe she should try to get her mind off things another way.
Sam
Sam's sitting on the ground with his head propped up against the bed when Dean walks in from getting coffee.
"Here's your girly frou-frou crap," he says as he hands him the cup. Sam takes a sip. He's been thinking. About fire.
"I've been thinking..."
"Not about gay midgets, I hope," his brother says. Sam gives him a look. "Hey, I had a weird-ass dream last night."
"I don't even want to know."
"I did nothing with the midget, if that's what you were thinking."
"I try my best to avoid imagining you getting it on with gay midgets."
"Good," Dean says a little too brightly.
"Anyway, I've been thinking. I've missed being on the road. Stanford can wait."
Dean's face lights up like lights are wont to do when a lightswitch is hit.
Jess
Jess has decided to calm herself down by baking cookies. Not that she's all that great at baking, but it usually relaxes her. Usually, but not tonight. She contemplates calling Sam again, but decides not to. It'll just make her feel worse if he doesn't pick up again. God, she feels like a complete mess.
Sam
Sam picks up his phone and sees one missed call from Jess. She left a voicemail, so he plays it.
"Hey Sam, just wondering when you'd be back. I just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you. Call me back when you can."
Jess. He wonders if she'll be alright. No, he knows she'll be fine. The only reason she was ever in danger was by having him in her life. He was a dangerous person to be around. He had to stay away from her for her own sake. It would hurt like hell being away from her. But it would hurt more seeing her burn on the ceiling for real.
But how do you tell someone goodbye when you don't actually want it to be goodbye?
Jess
Jess left Sam a note with her finished cookies, in case he came back while she took a nice, warm, relaxing shower. She started the water, and all of a sudden, a rush of panic and danger and hopelessness overcame her before leaving quickly, and the anxiousness she'd been feeling all day completely dissipated. It was weird, but she felt safe now, so continued her shower anyway.
Sam
The disquieting feeling Sam had had all day went away in an instant. The storm had swerved by them, and Sam knew he'd made the right decision. He just had one last thing to do. He picked up his phone and called Jess. She didn't answer, which would have worried him before, but didn't now. He completely winged it, because there's really no way to prepare to say goodbye to the girl you love.
"Hey Jess, it's Sam. I just want you to know, I'm not going to make it for the interview Monday. Actually, I'm not going to make it back at all. I've been doing some thinking, and I don't think this is right for me. This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but I don't know how else. It's not possible for me to come back right now." He thought about ending it with an "I love you," but figured that would be cruel to her. "Be safe," he added instead, lamely.
Yeah, Sam would miss her forever.
And yeah, Jess would forever remember him as the jerk who left one day on a weekend trip and just decided never to come back.
But at least she was safe.
Meanwhile, the demon watching in the shadows, who had been waiting for them so it could get the timing exactly right, sighed and feared telling his superior that the plan had not worked entirely as expected. Which was strange in itself, because he had been feeling an odd sense of deja vu earlier, and had been preparing himself for a victory walk.