Chapter 11

Dean got tired of watching Sam and Colbie in the rearview mirror. He finally pulled into a hotel and picked a parking spot. He climbed out of the Impala as Colbie parked on the other side of him.

Dean rolled his shoulders and glanced at Colbie and Sam. Colbie slid out of the jeep and smiled at him. Sam walked around the front of the jeep and leaned against the hood.

"How much farther is it to Bobby's," Colbie asked carefully.

"We should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon," Dean said easily. "I'm going to get us a room."

"Don't you think we should get two," Sam said quickly.

Dean raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Why do we need two," Dean asked in confusion.

"So Colbie can have her privacy," Sam pointed out. He glanced at Colbie's back as she stared at the ground.

"We don't have to get two rooms its fine," Colbie replied.

"I'm not sleeping in a bed with Sasquatch and these places never have rollaway beds. You'll have to share with one of us," Dean reminded her.

"I think I can handle it for one night Dean," Colbie said evenly. She met his gaze and smirked slightly. "Unless you and Sam need some alone time, to bond or whatever it is you do alone in the dark."

Dean snorted at her comment and headed toward the main office. "You keep it up Shepherd and I'll shoot your ass," Dean called over his shoulder.

Colbie shook her head and walked around to the back of the jeep. She grabbed a duffle bag and set it on the ground. Colbie watched Sam shift on the hood of her car. She noticed the way his shirt clung to the back of his shoulders. He had obviously gained a lot of muscle since she had last seen him.

It was strange to her that Sam and Dean had fallen back into her life now. She had doubted that she would ever see them again, yet here they both were.

---

4 years and 6 months ago

Colbie sat in the living room waiting for Dean to get out of the shower. They were going to a late dinner. He had just gotten back from a hunt and she had aced her finals.

Dean's phone rang from inside his jacket. Colbie glanced down the hallway. "Dean! You're phone," Colbie called but he couldn't hear her.

Colbie shrugged and pulled it out of the jacket. She noticed the picture of the girl on the front of the phone first. Colbie pursed her lips and opened his phone. "Hello," she said carefully.

"Hi, um I think I have the wrong number can I speak with Dean Winchester please," the girl asked hesitantly.

"You have the right number, he can't come to the phone right now. You want me to give him a message," Colbie replied.

"Yeah, tell him that Cassie called," she said.

"Ok, what is this about if you don't mind me asking," Colbie said with a hint of nervousness.

"Oh, I'm just trying to get in touch with him. He's a difficult guy to get a hold of," Cassie explained.

"Yeah I know what you mean," Colbie replied. Colbie fiddled with the ring around her finger and glanced back up the hallway.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you answering Dean's phone," Cassie asked before Colbie could think of a way to ask how she knew Dean.

"He's busy so I answered it for him," Colbie replied, dodging the obvious question. "I'm sorry but how do you know Dean?"

"He's my boyfriend," Cassie said coldly. "How do you know him?"

"Apparently I don't know him as well as I thought," Colbie said. "I'll tell him you called."

With that, she snapped the phone shut and leaned back against the sofa. She stared at the ceiling until she heard Dean walking down the hallway. He stepped into the living room and met Colbie's gaze.

"Cassie called. She wants you to call her back," Colbie said lowly. Her eyes flashed angrily as she threw his phone at the wall.

Dean didn't move when his phone broke into pieces. He stared at Colbie as she sat shaking on the sofa. "I'm sorry," he replied.

"I don't want to hear that you're sorry Dean! I want to know why! I want to know how long this has been going on," Colbie cried. "Who is this Cassie girl?"

"I met her while doing a hunt in Louisiana," Dean explained.

"You met her when you disappeared the first time," Colbie whispered. "You've been seeing her for six months?"

Dean nodded and met her gaze. Colbie stared at him open mouthed waiting for him to say something. "Don't just stand there Dean! Tell me why, please tell me why you would propose to me then a month later you would disappear and get a new girlfriend in Louisiana," Colbie demanded.

Dean ran his hands through his hair and felt his shoulders tighten. "I love you Colbie, I really do, but you're Sam's girl. I have no right to have you and I certainly can't marry you," Dean explained.

"Then why put the ring on my finger Dean," Colbie screamed. Colbie pushed herself off the sofa and crossed to Dean. She went to hit him on the chest but Dean grabbed her arms. "I chose you Dean! Sam is gone and he's not coming back! I choose you, I want you! What don't you get about that?"

"We can't do this anymore Colbie," Dean shouted back. "It's wrong! If it were right, we would have told my dad by now! We would have told Sam!"

Colbie blinked several times and pulled away from Dean. "You've felt this way all along haven't you? You never wanted to get married, you thought the ring would make you feel less guilty," Colbie sputtered. "How could you do this?"

"Colbie, you were Sam's girl first," Dean reminded her.

"Does she know," Colbie demanded. She couldn't say the other's girl name. It hurt enough already.

"Does she know about you," Dean asked.

Colbie laughed bitterly, "I know she doesn't know about me. Does she know what you do for a living Dean? Does she know what you've done?"

"No, she doesn't know," Dean said.

Colbie stepped further away from him and looked down at her hand. She pulled the ring off her finger and held it out to Dean. "Here, I can't do this anymore," Colbie whispered.

Dean took the ring from her and put it in his pocket. "You never let him go Colbie," Dean said. "It would have been different if I hadn't been competing with Sam."

"It was a never a competition Dean," Colbie said angrily. She met his gaze and stiffened when she noticed the tears in his eyes.

"Then why do you still wear the ring he proposed to you with around your neck," Dean asked.

Colbie willed herself not to touch the necklace that was underneath her shirt resting against her heart. She shook her head and glanced down at the floor. "I don't know why Dean," Colbie replied lamely.

"You still love him and I can't compete with him for you anymore," Dean said sadly. "I would have married you Colbie, if you would have let him go."

"I guess we'll never know now huh," Colbie pointed out.

Dean nodded slowly and glanced around the small apartment. "You can have the apartment. I'll leave tonight," Dean said as he turned away.

"The lease ends in a month. I'm moving out then," Colbie said. "I can't stay here."

Dean continued down the long hallway and Colbie wandered into the kitchen. She leaned against the counter and sighed. It was as much her fault as it was his. She couldn't blame him for finding someone else.

She knew why she still wore the ring around her neck. It was to remind her to not mess up her next relationship the way she had with Sam.

"I guess that didn't work," Colbie said as she ran a finger along the chain.

---

Colbie shook her head anxiously. She hadn't put the necklace back on since yesterday. Now that Sam knew about it, she couldn't bring herself to wear it. It hurt Dean enough when they were together. She didn't want him to think she had chosen Sam already.

Colbie glanced across the parking lot as Dean reemerged from the office. He twirled the key around his finger and headed to the Impala. They was something about the way he moved that had always mesmerized her.

"We're in room 135," Dean called. Sam finally pushed off the hood of the jeep and headed to the trunk of the Impala.

Colbie nodded and picked up her bag. "We should get some dinner," Colbie said. "We haven't eaten since this morning and its eight now. You two are probably starving."

Dean's stomach growled loudly in response. "We'll put the stuff in the room then we are going somewhere that serves pie," he ordered.

Colbie followed them both into the hotel room and glanced around. She nodded appreciatively at the décor. "How nice," Colbie muttered looking at all the deer painted on the walls. "That's not creepy at all."

"Trust me, we've stayed in worse places," Sam replied.

"I had forgotten about the hotel rooms," Colbie explained.

"I don't know how you could. You took enough pictures of them," Dean pointed out. "Let's go eat!"