Chapter 3
As Dean pulled into the apartment complex's car park, he let out a heavy sigh, it'd been awhile since he'd been here, yet very little had changed as he pushed the car door closed behind him, heading for the lift.
A few short minutes later, he rapped upon the apartment door, which was quickly thrust open and he soon found the busty blonde wrapped in his arms, sobbing into his black t-shirt,
"Oh Dean…I'm so glad that you came!" She simpered, "I'm so happy to see you!"
"It's okay Chelsea…" Dean reassured, "What happened?" He asked, escorting her back into her apartment and towards the sofa. She sniffled, dabbing at her eyes with a white handkerchief,
"Well…" She began with a sniff, "After you left last night, Sophie and I hung around for a little while, and then we left at about midnight."
"Right…"
"The cab dropped her off at home and then went to take me home…but apparently there was a gas leak in her apartment and when she lit the stove to make herself some warm milk…well…" She trailed off, beginning to sob controllably in Dean's arms again.
Dean took in a deep breath, tightening his arms around her calmingly as he stroked her hair,
"I'm sorry Chelsea…" He whispered,
"Dean…" She sobbed loudly, "Do you think it hurt?"
"…no."
Chelsea fell into silence, staring across the room at her reflection in the television set for several lengthy seconds before looking up at him,
"I'm sorry Dean…" She whispered,
"Why're you sorry?"
"For calling you up like I did and asking you to come by…I honestly thought you wouldn't be alone."
"I
didn't think it was appropriate to bring someone who doesn't know
you guys."
"…oh."
"What
was that about?"
"Well I just…thought that maybe…"
Dean let go of Chelsea and edged away from her on the sofa,
"Uhm…yeah…" He replied uneasily, "Chelsea…I…" He chuckled slightly, "I just came to make sure you were alright."
"I know that. I'm just glad you came by yourself."
Dean stood up and started pacing the floor,
"Thing is…I was kind of on my way back home…"
"Do you have any children, Dean?"
"No."
"So
you never got married or anything."
"No. I never got married."
"Do you…do you think you'll marry that girl you're with?"
"Lola?"
"Yeah…the girl from last night."
"Lola." Dean replied, "No." He breathed, "I don't think I will."
"How come?" She asked, her voice cracking with emotion,
"She wouldn't want to marry a guy like me." He replied, settling in an armchair opposite the couch, "It's not something I've ever thought about to be honest."
"Oh." She sighed, "So you're definitely going away today then?"
"Yes. Definitely."
"Don't you want to be here anymore?" She asked quietly,
"Chelsea…I…" Dean sighed, "It's not about anyone else, I just…don't like being here…I like being on the road…"
"On
the road? I thought you were a mechanic."
"I am…I just
travel a lot." Dean shrugged,
"By yourself?"
"No.
Not always." He said, standing awkwardly, "If you're okay
Chelsea…I need to heading off."
"Are you sure…? Would you
like a drink or anything?"
"I'm driving." Dean said dryly as Chelsea jumped up,
"I was kind of hoping you'd hang around…I don't want to be by myself…"
"Don't
you have any other friends to stay with you?"
"Of course…I
just…don't feel safe…I need a man here."
Dean raised an eyebrow, taking another step towards the door,
"Thing is, Chels'…I've got things…that I need to do." He sighed, "But it's been great seeing you…"
Chelsea broke down into another round of sobs,
"Oh Dean! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay…just…promise me that you'll take care of yourself, alright?"
"You've changed, Dean…you're not the same you were five years ago."
Dean shrugged,
"A lot has changed in five years."
"Five years ago, the old Dean Winchester would've tried to take advantage by now."
"You make me sound like a complete insensitive jerk."
"Oh, no…I didn't mean that…I just meant that…the old Dean was…y'know…" She paused to pout and lower her voice, "…less serious!"
"Like I said…a lot's changed…"
"I kind of miss the old Dean…" She murmured, moving closer, "Y'know…the old Dean that…" She trailed off with a sly smirk, "…that would be back on that couch right now…" She added, draping her arms around Dean's shoulders, leaning heavily on him. Dean moved away uncomfortably,
"Chelsea…I…" Dean began, "Listen…you're going through a tough time, but this isn't going to help."
"I just don't know what to do!" Chelsea cried,
"Look…you've got my number…call me if you need me, okay?" Dean said firmly before turning and leaving quickly,
"Dean!" Chelsea called after him as the door closed.
"Sam!" Bobby greeted as she padded his way through the dirty scrap yard, "It's good to see you!" He beamed as Maggie jumped down, "Maggie." He nodded to the brunette, "Where's Dean?" He asked with a concerned frown,
"He's
dealing with some business." Sam sighed as he squinted into the
sunlight at Bobby, "He'll be along later…we were just wondering
if you knew of anything that's going on at the moment."
"Nope.
It all seems pretty quiet at the moment." Bobby breathed, wiping
his hands clean on a rag, "Where have you guys just come from?"
"Kansas. Dean went to his high school reunion there…before that we were in Washington."
"I just got back from Louisiana." Lola added as she finally emerged from the other side of the truck,
"How'd it go down there?"
Lola brushed back her hair, scooping it into a pony tail in her palm to expose the large gash, scarring over on her neck,
"How's that for an answer?" She asked quietly,
"Did he bite you?"
"No. I wouldn't be standing here if he had. No…I had a brush with some railings."
"You're lucky, Lola." Bobby sighed, "Dean told me you wouldn't let him go with you. That was stupid…you know better than to go around hunting vampires alone!"
"…" Lola shook her head in disbelief, "I would've thought you would understand."
"I
understand that you wanted to avenge Trey…but what good are you
going to do his memory if you're killed?"
"Again." Lola
corrected,
"And you know that Zachery and his followers have your scent and have been after you since Trey died."
"They HAD my scent. I don't have to worry about Zachery or any of the others ever again." Lola replied coldly, "They're dead." She added, "I killed every single last one of them and I enjoyed it to." She continued, moving passed Bobby,
"Lola…" Maggie called out sympathetically, "Talk to me."
Lola shrugged, as she whirled around,
"What's there to talk about?" She asked, "I avenged my best friend and enjoyed torturing the soul-less son of a bitch that put a gun to his head and blew him away. End of conversation and the end of the issue!" She exclaimed, "Okay to use the shower?" She asked Bobby who nodded, "Thanks."
"Lola…" Maggie tried to follow, but Sam held her back,
"Leave her…" Sam said seriously, "I think she needs some time by herself."
"She's been hunting those vampires for a couple of years now. It must be a relief to finally know that she doesn't have to worry about them anymore."
"Like when we finally killed the yellow-eyed demon." Sam added,
"Exactly like when you killed the yellow-eyed demon." Bobby agreed, "Lola got to end an era of her life."
"Do you think she'll keep hunting?" Maggie asked,
"Of course. Lola lives for the job…"
"True…" Maggie sighed, "I hope Dean's okay…maybe you should call him Sam? Tell him about Lola?"
"I don't know if that would be a good idea." Sam admitted, "Seems to me she's been in a foul mood since Dean took off earlier."
"…do you think it has something to do with…?" Maggie asked, Sam shrugged,
"I was just making an observation." He said, holding his hands up, "I'm not insinuating anything!"
"What's going on?" Bobby asked,
"Nothing." Both replied quickly, looking a little guilty. Bobby eyed them sceptically,
"There'd better not be. I don't mean to pry, or anything…but if there's something going on that'll compromise your safety on a hunt, you need to straiten it out."
"Everything's fine. I promise you." Maggie reassured, "Could I maybe have a coffee, Bobby?"
Dean had been driving for five hours strait as darkness began to settle in on the horizon. Realising that he wasn't going to make Bobby's before he fell asleep, he resigned himself to settling for the nearest motel.
Luckily it came along ten minutes or so later. He'd barely pulled up when his phone began to ring,
"Yeah?" He answered grouchily,
"Hey…" Maggie greeted softly, "Sam wanted me to check to make sure you're okay."
"I was about to call. I just got to a motel. How's things?"
"…fine…"
"That didn't sound very convincing." Dean replied,
"Everything's fine. I promise."
"What aren't you saying? Sam's okay, isn't he?!"
"Sam's fine. He's having a shower."
"And Lola? Is she alright?"
"She's uhm…yeah, she's good…"
"What's wrong with Lola…?" Den asked dryly,
"There's nothing wrong with her exactly. She's just a bit down, that's all. She and Bobby were talking about her trip to New Orleans and she got a bit sensitive about the whole thing and has now shut herself up in her truck."
Dean rubbed soothingly at the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, feeling the pressure beginning to build up,
"Listen…do me a favour?" He began,
"Sure."
"You're her friend…just…" He sighed, "Please just talk to her? There's no point me even trying…she's so damned stubborn!" He muttered, "She won't talk about that guy with me…but maybe she'll talk to you?"
"I don't know…I tried to calm her down earlier and she didn't wanna know."
"Sounds like Lola." Dean sighed, "Just give it a go? Please?"
Maggie sighed heavily,
"Alright…but if she shoots me, I'm haunting your ass!" She joked. Dean chuckled,
"She's not going to shoot you." He replied.
She walked briskly through the scrap yard, the sun settling behind the heaps of jagged metal, it's orange glow reflecting back onto the dusty ground, causing a kaleidoscope of yellows and reds. Tightening her blue hooded sweatshirt around her torso nervously, Maggie made her way to Lola's pick-up truck that stood amongst the shells of forgotten vehicles. Taking a steadying breath, the brunette wrapped loudly on the driver's side window, waiting patiently for some kind of reaction. She could see Lola's back pressed up against the glass, her auburn curls squashed flat against the clear surface. She barely flinched at the loud banging of Maggie's fist against the door, so the elder of the two knocked again, growing frustrated,
"Lola!" She snapped, however the hunter failed to acknowledge her. Blowing a strand of hair out of her face in exasperation, Maggie marched round to the passenger side door and pulled it open, hauling herself up and into the large cabin, "Answer me when I knock, damn it!" She scolded, slamming the door shut behind you, "Oh Lola…" Her voice softened as she saw the usually strong woman huddled against the door, her head ducked slightly to hide her face, though she did a poor job of it as Maggie clearly saw the silvery slick of tears on her cheeks, "What's wrong?" She asked, edging a little closer. Lola shot her hands up to cover both her eyes, wiping the tears away,
"Please don't…" She whimpered, "Please…" She begged again, pulling down the sleeves of her plain grey top, using the excess fabric to wipe at her tears,
"Lola…please talk to me…" Maggie pleaded, gently touching Lola's arm. Lola pulled away,
"Maggie…" She growled, "Please stop trying to fix things."
"But I'm worried."
"I'm fine."
"You're obviously not. Lola…you don't cry. Please Lola…I just want to help."
"I don't need help. I don't need anyone's help."
"Well you obviously do!" Maggie snapped, "Otherwise you wouldn't keep coming back to us."
Lola looked up, glowering at her friend,
"Well that doesn't help." She remarked icily, "I'm sick of you three just walking around like everything's perfect. You're all as messed up as I am, just admit it."
"I never said everything's perfect."
"Well…I'm not being funny Maggie…but you seem to spend a hell of a lot of time talking about yourself." Lola remarked, "And YOUR problems and how Dean never liked you, and now that you guys get on, it's almost as if you've got the perfect little family."
"How
can you say that?"
"Quite easily…you have no idea what it's
like for me…feeling like I'm constantly betraying him…"
"Who?"
"Last night…" Lola began carefully, "Last night I…I made a huge mistake."
"How
was it a mistake? It's well over-due, if you ask me."
"That's
the thing…" Lola began darkly, "No one DID ask you, Maggie. I
know it's been a long time coming…and that it was going to happen
eventually because I know I'm not a strong person. But I betrayed
Trey last night."
Maggie swallowed hard. Lola's comment had cut deeply, though she steeled herself to push it to the back of her mind,
"You didn't betray anyone…you're betraying yourself right now by sitting in this truck, feeling sorry for yourself. I didn't know the guy and I'm not going to pretend that I knew what he was like…"
"He was…" Lola paused, "One of the best hunters I've ever known. A really great man."
"Well I don't think he'd want you behaving this way." Maggie said sternly,
"This is the first time I've cried since that day…" Lola admitted quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest, resting her chin sorrowfully on her knees, "Since he died…" She whispered before chuckling bitterly, "Everyone thought I was some kind of cold hearted bitch at his funeral…truth was…I knew I had a job to do. I knew that even if it killed me, I was going to kill Zachery and all of those vampires. And now it's over I just feel so…like I can finally stop and take it all in. I never realised how alone I truly was until earlier. When we started to come up here, it hit me what I did last night."
"Lola…stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Maggie snapped irritably,
"You've done nothing wrong. You're twenty-two years old and Trey died two years ago. You've killed them, you can move on now, why the hell would you throw away everything you have with my brother because you're scared."
"I'm not scared?"
"Oh really…? Well it seems to me that sitting on front of me is a scared little girl who's been acting tough for so long, she suddenly remembered she's nothing but a scared little girl who's lost a lot of people along the way. A scared little girl that needs all the friends she has in this business. Lola, we care about you so much, regardless of the situation you and Dean are in! You're my best friend and it pains me to see you this way, because this isn't the Lola I know. The Lola I know is the Lola that shot Gordon in the chest. The Lola I know has a serious attitude problem, and that's what we love about her. The Lola I know is the strongest person I have ever met…but this…this isn't you…you're falling apart! You can't punish yourself for wanting to be happy."
"Is this really going to make me happy?" Lola asked quietly, "He seemed in a pretty big rush to get away to that other girl earlier."
Maggie smirked,
"You
have nothing to worry about. Trust me. You jumped into a freezing
cold river for him…there's very little any other girl has on
you."
Lola stared at Maggie for a few seconds before cracking a
smile, letting out a small laugh,
"That's true…" She admitted, cocking her head slightly,
"See!" Maggie exclaimed, as the smile spread across the auburn-haired hunter's face, "You've been down over the last couple of weeks, I understand that but don't you think that for yourself it's time the old Lola made her triumphant come back?"
"I think so." Lola agreed with a nod.
