After a long drive back to town – Dean had driven so far out into the middle of nowhere it took them almost two hours to finally see an actual town – they ended up in some diner that was apparently owned by Candy, according to the neon pink sign blaring the name at them as they pulled up into the almost deserted parking lot.
"Damn, I've missed this," sighed Dean, sliding into a small booth at the back of the diner.
"What do you miss?" Jo asked, sliding in after him and grabbing a menu.
"All of this," replied Dean, waving his hand around to emphasise.
"What…the diner?"
"Well not just this diner….just the whole, being able to drive around and find a diner, and eat, without a care in the world." Dean shook his head. "Man, I've missed that."
"Okay. Well, enjoy it, then."
Dean smiled at her as he picked up his own menu. He knew Jo didn't fully understand what he meant. He doubted even Sam did. No one could possibly understand how much Dean truly missed the typical cracked leather of the seats, the stale coffee smell, the greasy burgers and pies every great diner served. What with the apocalypse upon them, they never seemed to find the time to laze around, not having to worry about a job, or an angel, or a demon. Just to sit back, relax, and eat a pie, or two – or even three, if you were Dean Winchester.
The only thing missing was –
Was Sam.
Dean's gut clenched, guiltily. Sam hadn't even crossed his mind for the whole of the time he was with Jo. What kind of selfish big brother was he? Sam was his first priority.
"Jo – "
"I know, I know," Jo smiled sadly.
"What?"
"You need to get back to Sam," she said, as if reading his mind.
"H- how did you know that?"
"Your eyes," she replied. "They get greener when you think of him, and your pupils dilate slightly. That only happens when you think of the person you love the most, and, well – that's obviously Sam."
Dean shook his head, grinning slightly. "Jesus, Jo. That's unbelievable."
"I know." She smiled back and tossed her blonde hair over one shoulder. "But…do you have to go back to him now? Can't you spend some more time with me? I'll understand if you don't want to, but…"
"I…."
"Surely he can look after himself for a little more time? I know that family matters more than anything – God, I understand completely – but please, can you just stay with me for a while? Just to forget about all the world's problems, the guilt, the apocalypse? Surely you've missed being the old Dean Winchester?"
Jo was saying all the right lines. Dean did miss that. where he had no little frown wrinkles just appearing on his forehead. Where he could look in the mirror and see a babe magnet jauntily grin back at him – not a broken man with haunted eyes. Where the only things that mattered were saving people from bad things, his Impala, and his family.
Words couldn't express how much he missed that.
Jo's smile turned knowing and sad at the same time. "See what I mean? You need a break from all that, Dean. Just to visit a quiet place, for a day."
"The apocalypse won't wait, Jo. It's coming."
"Well, the apocalypse can wait for a day. I don't care. You can't face it if you're broken."
Dean smiled ruefully. "I'm already broken."
"You're not," Jo argued. Dean was startled at the fierce note in her voice. "You're not broken."
"I'm a lost cause, Jo. Leave it."
"What happened to the 'Everybody has a choice' attitude? Where's the old Dean? The one that always bounced back from everything? The strong Dean?"
"He disappeared when I died and went to Hell, Jo." Dean felt the first few sparks of anger ignite inside of him.
"That should be a reason to be stronger, Dean. You're back for a reason. You're back with your brother, with Bobby."
"I'm dragging them down with me."
"If you carry on speaking like this, I'm going to deck you," Jo hissed, leaning closer towards him to make sure no one would overhear their conversation. "Do you understand?"
"If you don't want to listen, then fuck off," Dean growled in reply. "I'm not in the mood to be lectured."
"I'm not lecturing, you dick. I'm trying to make you realise that you're better than this. I have five people I look up to: Mom, Dad, Bobby, Sam, and you. You're all so strong and brave and incredible, that all I want is to be like you guys. You're my heroes, and I'm not ashamed nor embarrassed to say that."
"Heroes die, Jo. Inspirational influences usually turn out to be complete jerks."
"Enough with the pessimistic attitude!" Jo slammed her hand on the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw the waitress walking over to them jump, and warily back away.
Jo saw, too. "Sorry for startling you!" she called to the waitress. "We're ready to order."
The waitress sidled over, keeping a respectable distance from them.
"Can I take your order please?" she asked in a southern twang.
"Two coffees, waffles for me and the pie of the day for him," Jo replied, sending the waitress a slightly shy smile. In spit of everything, Dean couldn't help but smile when he saw the waitress relax a little. Jo playing the little cute blonde always reassured everyone. It was as if they couldn't imagine her wielding a gun and shooting a demon in the face.
"Coming right up, ma'am," the waitress replied, beaming at them with lips painted a migraine-bright magenta, and sashayed off, winking at Dean. He winked back, a bad-boy grin settling on his lips. she giggled and hid behind her hair.
"See?" Jo sat back, arms folded, a triumphant grin on her face. "You flirted again. Like you used to. Did that feel good?"
It had. "No," Dean said.
"Liar."
"Okay, okay, point taken! But it's not going to help anything. I'm damaged, Jo. Don't even try to deny it."
Jo looked at him for a long moment.
"Well then," she finally said as their coffee appeared in front of them. "I'm going to fix you."
(A/N) Again, so sorry for the slow updates. Things are still a little shaky at home, and homework is still piling up - who knew Psychology would have so much? This might mean it'll delay updates for the future, so this is an apology in advance.
I really hope this fic will be to your standards. I'd appreciate reviews, and if there's anything you think I can improve on, don't hesitate to say - just make sure it's a valid reason.
Thank you so much to those who have favourited, reviewed or subscribed to story alert! I love all of you :)
Song Suggestion for Dean and Jo(I should've started doing this a long time ago...)
Just Tonight - The Pretty Reckless
Fix You - Coldplay
