"Dude, stop freaking fidgeting!"

Dean glanced angrily over at Sam from the driver's seat of the Impala. They had been on the road for hours, on their way to a small town in Michigan. Dean was feeling irritable, and his brother wasn't helping. Sam stopped bouncing his long legs, let out a huge sigh, and put his hands behind his head.

They hadn't had a new case since last Wednesday, and it was what… Sunday? Monday already? The days were blurring together for Dean. Thankfully, he had gotten a call from a hunter named Billy, who was an old friend of Bobby's. Billy hadn't been taking on many cases recently… Dean figured he had to be almost seventy by now. He had called Dean with a tip that there might be a vampire nest in Three Rivers, and asked if the boys were anywhere near there. They weren't really, having just attended an Eagles of Death Metal concert in Denver over the weekend, but they were so starved for cases that they decided to make the drive to Michigan.

"How much longer do you reckon?" Sam asked, bouncing his legs again. Dean gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

"Why don't you look it up instead of bothering me?"

"Sheesh," Sam muttered under his breath. "Someone needs to get laid."

"Excuse me?" Dean interjected. "I get laid enough for the two of us, Samantha."

That wasn't true at all. The fact was, Dean just hadn't been feeling it lately. Sam would say he was striking out, but Dean's heart just hadn't been in it. He would never admit it out loud, but he was missing Lisa. It had been years since she started her new life. Most of the time Dean got on okay without thinking about her too much. But every once in a while, there would be a day (week, month) when he couldn't seem to get her out of his mind.

The last hour of the drive blurred by mostly in silence, except for the Lynyrd Skynyrd album in the background. The scenery was nice, and just got nicer the closer they got to the town of Three Rivers. The trees lining the highway were mostly still green, but a few had begun to turn orange, red, and yellow with the mid-October chill. Gravel crunched as the Impala pulled into the parking lot of a small but decent-looking motel. The sky was just starting to turn orange with the sunset.

"I'll get us a room," Sam said, already striding toward the front door of the office.

"Mm hmm," Dean replied, leaning up against the side of the car. He took a deep breath and scanned the surroundings. There was a park across the street from the motel, and it looked like there was a bar a couple blocks up. Everything was peaceful, quiet. It was hard to imagine a nest of vampires being anywhere near this town, but four people had gone missing over the last week, and it would seem that the Three Rivers Police Department didn't know where to begin.

"All set," Sam called as he walked back towards the car. "Wanna get a bite to eat before we start?"

They ended up at the sports bar that Dean noticed a few blocks away. The place was called Millie's. It was okay inside. Certainly better than some of the filthy haunts where the boys had hustled pool. It was a little dark, and smelled like fried fish, but the place looked clean, and had a decent crowd for a Monday night.

"Hi there, my name is Lisa and I'll be taking care of you this evening."

Dean's heart fluttered briefly when she said her name, but he tried to pretend nothing had happened. The waitress looked nothing like Lisa. She had platinum blonde hair with brown roots showing through. Tight clothes and a cute face, but Dean didn't feel like flirting.

"Can I get either of you a drink?" she asked. "Still got about ten minutes left for happy hour. Two for one on our house amber ale."

"That sounds great. Thanks, Lisa," Sam said, smiling politely at the waitress.

"Great. I'll be back in a minute. And we've got live music starting at seven."

Sam watched her walk away in amusement.

"What's up with you? No pickup line? No winks?" he asked.

"Nah, we're here to work," Dean replied. "See anything unusual yet?"

"Nothing. Seems hard to believe that anything bad could happen in a place like this. I'll go see if I can find anything out."

Sam stood up and walked over to the bar, and started talking to a couple sitting there. Dean scanned the room, looking for anyone shifty or suspicious. Besides a guy that Dean was pretty sure was cheating in a game of poker, nothing else caught his attention. The waitress (Dean refused to say her name in his head) returned with their beers.

"Thanks," he said, flashing her a smile for good measure. He noticed a little blush appear on her cheeks.

"Can I get you two anything to eat?"

"Two burgers would be great."

"Coming right up, sugar," she said with a shy smile. But Dean was distracted when he heard the opening line of Simple Man coming from the small stage in the corner. He had just been listening to that song in the car.

A girl had come from apparently nowhere, and was sitting on a stool on the stage, playing a guitar.

"Mamma told me… When I was young… Sit beside me… My only son… Listen closely, to what I say. And if you do this, it'll help you, some sunny day."

She certainly wasn't a professional-level singer, but her voice had that sweet, raspy kind of sound that caught your attention. And she was nailing the guitar solos in the song. Dean was impressed. He found himself staring at her as she played. Dark brown hair, maybe just a little messy, hanging in soft waves down past her shoulders. She was wearing black jeans and heels, and a plain green sleeveless shirt. Cute as hell, Dean found himself thinking. Maybe not the best choice of words. He still felt a little sick to his stomach anytime he thought about hell.

"So get this," Sam said, sitting back down at his chair, and making Dean jump out of his reverie. "Each of the people who went missing apparently belong to the same church."

"Two burgers!" Lisa said cheerfully, placing them down on the table.

"Oh, umm, thank you," Sam said, poorly masking the annoyance in his voice. He waited until the waitress walked away. "Dude, I told you to get me the chicken salad."

"Um, no, you definitely did not," Dean retorted. "Man up and eat a damn burger every once in a while." Sam muttered under his breath for a moment as he put ketchup on his plate.

"So did you hear what I said?" he asked. "All of the missing victims went to the same church."

"Tha iv weir," Dean mumbled through a huge mouthful of burger. Sam looked at him in disgust.

"Yeah. Weird. And not typical vampire behavior. I think we need to go door to door, talk to the missing people's families tomorrow. Dude, earth to Dean!"

"What?" Dean replied, trying not to look too awkward. Sam had caught him staring at the girl on stage. Sam turned to see what he was looking at, and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Aha," he teased. "She's cute. Pretty good, too. And she even knows Lynyrd Skynyrd! I'd say you have a winner."

"Shut up," Dean muttered, as the girl on stage finished up the song. She reached for the microphone, smiling at the smattering of applause.

"Thanks so much!" she said with a bright smile. "My name is Beth, and the kind owners of Millie's have been gracious enough to allow me to play a few tunes for you tonight. And don't be stingy, y'all. This is how I keep food on the table," she finished with a wink, gesturing to the tip jar at the foot of the stage. "Requests are five bucks. If I've heard it, I can probably stumble through it."

She launched into Little Black Submarines by the Black Keys next. Not classic rock, but still a good song, Dean thought. He watched as a few people from around the room meandered up to throw tips in the jar. She thanked them each with a smile and nod as she sang, and Dean felt the urge to get up and put something in the jar, to earn a smile of his own. He was reaching for his wallet as she finished up the song, but Sam jumped up with a smug look on his face and beat him to it. Dean couldn't hear what Sam said to her as he dropped a five into the jar, but she smiled and nodded, replying to Sam with a little laugh.

"This next one is a request for Dean. And it's a weird one, I'll tell you that. But we aim to please!"

Dean glared at Sam as he walked back to the table, grinning like a fool. He had asked Beth to play Don't You Want Me by Human League.

"Jokes on you, pal," Dean said. "She probably thinks your name is Dean."

"Nah, I told her this is for my brother. The guy sitting at the table staring at you." Dean spat some of his beer in surprised annoyance.

"Bitch."

"Jerk," Sam laughed.

They ended up spending way more time at that bar than either of them had meant to. Beth played for a couple hours, and the music was good. Both brothers got pretty drunk, and Dean remembered thinking that they hadn't just let loose and enjoyed themselves in a while.

"I mean, I just don't understand, why, why they wouldn't at least finish up the series, you know?" Sam slurred to Dean as they stumbled their way back to the motel. "Like, it would definitely make money, if they just did another one. The first one was so good. And Lisbeth was just so kickass, that like, everyone would want to see more of her."

"Mm hmm, yeah, you're totally right," Dean replied. He had lost track of what Sam was saying. He wouldn't admit it, but his mind had wandered back to Beth. He had spoken to her just a little at the end of her set. She was clever, and charming, and he was really hoping to run into her again before they left town.

"You're daydreaming about that girl again aren't you?" Sam laughed. "Aww. Deanie has a little crush."

"What? No! Shut up!" Dean sputtered, hoping Sam couldn't tell he was blushing in the dark.

"It's okay, Dean! It's normal. Healthy, even. I was starting to wonder…"

"Wonder what?" Dean asked, irritated.

"Nothing, nothing…"

"Dude, you can't just start to say something and then not finish it."

"You told me you would punch me if I ever said her name again."

They walked on in stony silence. Dean pondered that he obviously hadn't been as good at hiding his pining for Lisa as he thought. But then again, Sam was an intuitive guy, and they spent all their time together. Of course he would know when Dean was missing Lisa. Ordinarily, this discussion might have pissed Dean off, but he was in such a good mood from their night out that he just slung his arm over Sam's shoulder (no small feat).

"Come on, Sammy. Let's get some sleep."