AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Here's the next chapter and I rather enjoy it and enjoy Dean not wanting to wait any longer, but having to.

I also really wanted to bring other characters around for a little bit.

WARNINGS: Language, Violence, Sex, Dirty Thoughts, Innuendo, Dark Themes
ENJOY!

xxxx

"I really don't understand why you're doing this to yourself, Brooke," Peyton told Brooke that morning as the two of them were spending time together.

Dean had actually left the store to go and grab some research from Sam and Brooke was working on Peyton's wedding dress. Brooke had really wanted to talk to Haley about it all—Haley seemed to be the one that didn't try and talk her out of all of her decisions—but Peyton was there and Brooke wanted their closeness back. It was kind of hard though, considering how Peyton was trying her hardest to make Brooke dwell on things that Brooke didn't want to dwell on…maybe that was best?

Brooke took a deep breath. "It's nice to have someone around, P. Sawyer."

"You've still got me and Hales," Peyton told her softly, reaching out and resting her hand on her shoulder. "We're never going to leave you."

"I know," Brooke said with a nod, smiling at her friend.

Brooke honestly appreciated that Peyton wanted to be there for her, but it just wasn't the same—Peyton wasn't Dean…and neither was Haley. Dean was there for Brooke during moments when Brooke wanted to just give up and believe that maybe she had deserved the beating…Dean was there. He understood that the alarm system had to always be armed, and he understood that Brooke hated to be alone at night and he thought that the way she carried herself after the attack was endearing—he stroked her bruises.

She had tried so hard to hide her bruises. Brooke hadn't wanted Dean to think that she was weak or broken or anything less than she was—she didn't want him to think that she was vulnerable…but she was. She was vulnerable and Dean knew that and for some reason amongst all of this protecting her, he was looking at her like a person. He didn't see her bruises as weaknesses…in fact sometimes Brooke thought that they turned him on and she wondered what was going to happen when they were gone—they practically were.

"You're looking good, Brooke—just that bruise on your neck and then your left eye." Peyton told her as she saw Brooke deep in thought. "And you can't even tell if you didn't know about them."

Brooke smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah…the only one that's really still around is the one on my side."

"I hope that Dean finds the man soon." Peyton said resolutely.

"Me too," Brooke managed to say.

Actually, with all of this talk about Dean leaving, Brooke didn't want them to find the man that had done this. She wanted Dean to stay…but why? It was scary to let her walls down around him, and she knew that part of the feeling she could attribute to her burning loins, but she wanted Dean to stick around. She hated the idea of Dean finishing up and then heading back to his job somewhere else—after all, he wasn't originally stationed in Tree Hill.

"Anything happen while I was gone?" Dean asked as he walked into the store, glad to see Peyton and Brooke still in the same place that he had left them.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Like anything could happen in the thirty minutes that you were gone."

"Hey…anything can happen." Dean told her, pointing a finger in her direction playfully.

Brooke laughed and Dean grinned, glancing at Peyton and then toning down his smile because he got that look…Peyton disapproved. She was looking out for Brooke and he got that, but he wasn't going to hurt Brooke—Dean would never hurt Brooke, and he hated that Peyton thought that he would. In fact Dean wanted to find the demon, get rid of him, and then figure out where to go next without Brooke knowing about hunting.

That was when it hit him—Dean was smitten. The thought of leaving Brooke and letting some other man come along and be with her, made him want to hit whomever the man would be. Who better to take care of Brooke than Dean? Even if Brooke didn't know about hunting, Dean could still keep her safe from it and in turn get to stay around with the attractive, strong, independent, challenging young woman that was Brooke Davis.

"I need to go and pick up Jenny from school but…have fun." Peyton told them, heading out of the store slowly, looking at Dean as she went.

Brooke shook her head. "Don't mind her—I tell her that I kissed you and she freaked out on me because you're not going to stick around."

"She's just trying to protect you." Dean said with a soft shrug.

"Yeah, I know, but I have you to do that." Brooke responded with a smile, standing up and holding up a tape measure. "Since you're here…would you mind letting me measure you for the Men's Line?"

Dean chuckled and stepped closer to Brooke. "You need me to stand still?"

"I need you to let me do what I need to do to you." Brooke replied with a wink.

Dean couldn't get over how dirty such a simple request sounded—couldn't get over how much he liked how dirty the request sounded. He was just supposed to stand there and take it? Why couldn't he just take her on the sewing table? Or up against the wall? Damn-it…his privates were aching again just thinking about the sounds he wanted to make come out of her.

"By now I know what lust looks like on you, Winchester," Brooke told him with a laugh, starting to measure his shoulders. "You're not the only one who wants to take advantage of the back room right now, but every once in a while I have to make an appearance out front to check on Milly and the costumers and if my father comes back from getting something to eat and finds us in a compromising position? No."

Dean nodded slowly. "He's glad you have someone, but I really don't think he'd appreciate me sleeping with you."

"It's not really his choice nor his place." Brooke responded immediately. "I'm glad that he cares, but where has he been my whole life Dean? Where? Away—that's where. He can't just suddenly re-enter my life and tell me who I should and shouldn't be with."

"All the more reason to just give into what you want, Davis," Dean told her, kissing her suddenly, his senses on fire.

Brooke returned the fevered kiss and then pulled back. "Just wait until tonight, Dean…Dad's leaving in a couple of hours to take care of something. He wouldn't be specific, but that leaves us alone in the house to finally do this."

"I'm not a very patient man," Dean admitted, shaking his head a little, resting his hands on her hips and bringing her body right up against his roughly.

Brooke swallowed and nodded slowly. "And I like that about you, Winchester."

"Am I interrupting something?" Bobby asked them.

Brooke flushed almost immediately, pulling away from Dean and still being able to feel him against her. He was aroused and practically at half mast already, and Brooke had felt him pressed up against her and she'd really liked it. She had just wanted to give in and rip his clothes off, but she was glad that she had resisted—Bobby had come back just like she had thought he would.

"Mom called me while you were gone and said she ran into you…how was that?" Brooke asked Bobby, tucking some hair behind her ears.

Dean had to look away from her because her bruise was almost gone but it was there—in the bare skin Brooke had just flashed him by tucking her hair behind her ears. The bruises reminded Dean that he had a job to do…they reminded him of what had brought him and Brooke together in the first place. It honestly didn't help him that he was this attracted to Brooke…that there were deeper feelings there than just lust—but the lust seemed to be the most prominent right then and there.

"It was…interesting." Bobby responded with a nod.

Brooke laughed at that. "So it was hard? I understand that."

"Is she always so difficult?" Bobby asked his daughter.

"And you caught her on a good day." Brooke said with another laugh.

"You know, if you're going to be here for a couple more hours…I have an errand I need to run." Dean announced suddenly.

Brooke and Bobby just nodded at him, Brooke a little confused, but Dean headed out of the store. He headed straight to the Impala and he went to the one person he felt like he really needed to talk to: his mother. His father was actually home too, but Dean really just needed his mother and her expertise with this particular kind of dilemma—and Dean was afraid of his father telling him to just buck up.

"First Sam and now you—demon business or girl business?" Mary asked Dean with a small laugh.

Dean smiled a little bit. "A little of both."

"What a coincidence—Sam too." Mary said, ushering Dean in.

"I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing staying with Haley and Jamie." Sam said from the couch as Dean nodded.

"You went straight to Mom after giving me the research?" Dean asked Sam, laughing a little. "You really love that Haley James, don't you?"

Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah…yeah, I do. I'm thinking about asking her to marry me."

"Wow," Dean said, widening his eyes and then nodding slowly. "That's quite a big step."

Sam smiled and nodded again, setting in to explain just how much that Haley and Jamie meant to him and how much he wanted to protect them and Dean couldn't help but relate. He wasn't in love with Brooke—he was pretty sure of that—but he wanted to have a life outside of demons…outside of hunting. Wasn't Dean allowed to have a little bit of happiness? Couldn't Dean take a chance on a girl and see if it turned into something else?

"You boys can't just hunt forever—Hell, I hate that we got sucked into this in the first place." John said as he came into the Living Room, handing Dean a cup of coffee that Dean readily accepted. "What about you, Dean? You haven't had an actual prospect in a few years now…you ever think that your life will be more than work?"

Dean nodded slowly. "Yeah…maybe…we'll see."

Dean didn't know what had just changed in him, but his brother had brought up a very good point: they hadn't started out as hunters. When Sam was 12, he started having really bad nightmares and when some of those nightmares started coming true, Mary came clean about her past. John and Mary argued for a really long time but when she proved it, the family was dragged into something outside of their control. Then at 16, Dean was a hunter and he was meeting Bobby Singer and wasn't it all right if he had something of his own to come home to now that he was a police officer? He just wanted Brooke Davis.

"Brooke Davis is under your skin…isn't she?" Mary asked Dean as he thought about things, Sam talking to John about Jamie's latest high marks in school.

Dean smiled a little. "Yeah…I guess you could say that."

Note: I had to have the Winchesters all together and chatting about something somewhat normal…I just felt like it had to be done. There will be some Saley next chapter, and some Sam/Dean/Jamie interaction as well as some Brooke/Bobby/Victoria interaction and some more UST. Feedback is always appreciated!