Title: Out of the Woods
Author: Westrina
Summary: His brother's in Hell, and he's sitting here with a woman he loves and a boy who's practically his son. A collection of oneshots set around Dean and Lisa's relationship.
Rating: T, just to be on the safe side.
Pairings: Lisa/Dean
Genre: Family/Hurt/Comfort
Spoilers: 3x02, 5x22, 6x01.
Disclaimer: Supernatural, and everything to do with it, is Kripke's. I'm sure we all know this but I have to put it in anyway just in case.
Moving On
Dean never said it, but it didn't take a genius to work out that Sam was dead. It hung between them, unspoken, obvious in the long silences when Dean would suddenly become quiet and unresponsive, obvious in the way he avoided talking about what had come before, obvious in the nightmares that would jerk him awake, shouting his brother's name.
Lisa didn't ask what had happened, didn't need to. She could imagine. Her own brush with horror two years ago had left her in no doubt of the kind of terrors Dean had faced. Whatever Dean had been through, it had been rough, but he would tell her in his own good time and there was no point in pushing him. All she could do was be there for him when he needed her.
They say that time is the best healer, and with Dean that certainly seemed to be the case. The nightmares came less frequently now, or maybe Lisa just wasn't waking up to them anymore. He seemed more stable, finding his place in normal life, taking it upon himself to look after Lisa and Ben, rather than the other way around. And, bless him, he really tried. He was good with Ben, friends with the neighbors, did all the odd jobs around the house and garden that Lisa had never been able to manage on her own. And it felt so good to have someone other than herself she could rely on.
When Dean got a job, Lisa allowed herself to relax. It looked like they were out of the woods now. Dean was working through it, coming out the other side, getting used to this life. And, Lisa wasn't going to lie, having two incomes helped no end.
She'd fallen for Dean so long ago, and never quite been able to get over him. He had always been in that class of unattainable men simply because of his lifestyle. But now... It felt so good to be with him, see him smile at Ben, see him happy. It made her realise that they could be a family, it was a possibility, even though it never had been before. Dean could be a father to Ben and a husband to Lisa and they could be... Well, they would be happy together.
Dean was loyal, he was kind, he was friendly and funny and loving, and he cared for Lisa and Ben more than he would admit. He truly wanted them to be happy, and he truly felt that, maybe, once, he could have been happy with them. In another life, perhaps.
But not in this one.
He threw himself into the life, taking Ben to school, mending the kitchen sink, cleaning the car, going to work, cutting the hedges, making breakfast, tidying the house, helping Lisa set up for her book group, inviting friends round, hosting barbecues, buying Lisa and Ben little presents whenever he could. And he was content - as content as he could be - until he remembered Sam, which was always.
He had never wanted an apple-pie life, not in the same way that Sam had. He'd just wanted his family to be a family. And that had never quite worked out, somehow.