Now if you've stuck around to read this far, then this is probably what you've been waiting for.
Time for more confessions... and then things are going to get... a bit steamy. You knew it was bound to happen with all the tension, and then the confessing of the feelings.
Hopefully by the time you're done this chapter, you aren't thinking I have completely destroyed Dean with how I've made him be... But I'll talk about that at the end.
Enjoy :)

The room was silent for a minute or two as they stared at each other.

Dean wished he'd said something else. He should have told her she deserved to love someone, be loved by someone, that the guilt shouldn't stop her from that, or that he could fall for her too. Instead he'd been too busy thinking about how she said she would have fallen in love with him. That had been too much for him.

Manda wasn't sure what to say. She shouldn't have used that word with him, but there was no way to avoid it. If she was giving him the truth then she had to use it. How could she explain it without watching him run away from this? He'd already pulled back a bit, even moved a step backwards from her now as they looked at each other. "Are you going to dash for the door if I do the girl thing on you and turn this into a dreaded chick-flick moment?"

Dean smirked a little at how she'd labelled it. It was just another reason why he liked her. "Uh… I'll stay. I know this isn't easy for you either."

"Thanks." She hesitated before she began, knowing where she had to start. "It's almost been ten years since everything happened, and while there have been a few guys that have come close, none of them have come as close as you did. I should have stopped it that night when we were at the bar and then outside late talking. But I couldn't, it was like you knew me. And I kept thinking, maybe… maybe it's time to let someone in again, and really, who better than you?"

Dean remembered that night, the way they were talking about everything while Sam and Chuch had been together after they had saved Chuch. Music, hunts, movies, cars, whatever, it'd been so easy for them to talk to each other. Dean had wanted to make a move on her that night, but he'd been too unsure if he should, which was unusual for him. But out of anyone else she could have had before, it turned out she was thinking she should have let him in.

"Why me?" Dean had to know why he'd made her want to change her mind.

"You know why, everything we had in common and yet our differences. Not to mention you know this world like I do, so there was no need to explain anything about my odd life. And it was easy with you, just easy to talk to you, to like you." Manda paused as she remembered it. "But then the next night when you finally worked up the nerve to make your play, you did it when I was drunk. And I could see it in your eyes. How I was different to you, not just some random girl you have no trouble picking up in any other town or city. I had to pull back and shove you away then. I knew where it would go if I didn't."

Dean knew she was right, she was different to him. And he'd been wrong to go about it that way, but it's what he had done. Now that he knew why she pushed him away though, he had to get things out in the open. It was time for him to talk and maybe go as chick-flick as he could back on her. "I… I know it was wrong to wait until then, but… you're right, you were different. And you could have just asked me to leave that night instead of starting a fight," he said.

"I'm sorry I had to do it that way. That I attacked you with loaded comments, but it was the best way for me to do it. If I just asked you to leave, would you really have just left without insisting there was something there between us? Because I was sure you wouldn't, so I had to say things I didn't really want to say. Pick you apart in a way that I knew would work to make you leave." Manda knew that if he had said there was something between them she would have caved that night, and she couldn't do that.

"You nailed a lot of it though. You were right about a lot of things." Dean hadn't wanted to admit it at the time, but she had been too right about so much of it.

"No, there's a whole lot more to you than the things I said there was. I was wrong, and I'm sorry for it," Manda said softly.

"Manda, you weren't wrong. I left because you wanted me to, but then I did run. I took off the next day without saying anything to you and then ignored whatever attempts you made to talk to me, knowing you were right about me." Dean had finally come clean with why he'd left so suddenly and then ignored her.

"I wanted to let you stay that night, I wanted it so much, but I couldn't let you. Then when you left the way you did, I knew I deserved that even though it hurt," Manda's voice was full of regret as she spoke.

"I shouldn't have done that," Dean paused, "but I did. It was harsh, but I… I didn't expect to ever see you again… and then I ran into you here."

"Yeah, and this hasn't exactly gone much better has it?" she asked the obvious. So far it had gone worse than that one night had.

"No. I hated seeing you here. It just reminded me of how you turned me down, and everything you said," Dean admitted.

"It reminded me of it too. Why do you think I fought with you again? I tried to forget how I felt about you Dean, but seeing you again… it just brought it all back." Manda got really quiet as she said the words.

"Tell me about it," Dean sighed. His feelings had resurfaced at seeing her again too, even though he had masked them with anger to hide the truth.

"What I said earlier was wrong. I wasn't trying to forget you, just the feelings I have for you. I wanted to erase them, but I can't. I tried… you saw how hard I tried to deny, fight, and cut it out. Even if it was the wrong way, I tried. And I can't. You're like this little whisper that crept inside of my head and I just can't get you out for the life of me. Then what you did for me last night despite everything else only made those feelings stronger…" Manda stopped, realized she had just told him how much he'd gotten to her.

Dean wondered why she had stopped, but then he knew when he thought about her words. Manda couldn't get rid of her feelings for him, and she had tried damned hard to do it, but she still had them. He knew he should tell her it was the same for him, but he wasn't ready to just yet.

"Anyone would have done that for you." He believed it. If anyone had seen what he had they would have jumped in like he did to stop what was going on. Maybe they wouldn't have done all of what he did, but then again how could he not when it had been her.

"But it wasn't anyone… it was you." Manda had said the words so quietly they were almost a whisper. "And I remember pieces of it. I know what you did for me." She took a step towards him.

"What do you remember?" Dean didn't think she would remember any of it, and he hoped she didn't remember some of it.

She lightly grabbed his hands, stroked his knuckles with her thumbs gently. "I saw you… I saw the way you went after that creep. I know how badly you beat him up."

Dean noticed how she held on to his hands firmly but it still felt so light, and the way her thumbs were stroking his bruised knuckles was so soft. He couldn't believe she'd seen him do that though, she'd been out of it then, or he thought she had been. He hadn't really looked at her until after he was done.

"Manda when he…" Dean pulled one of his hands out from hers and then reached up and brushed the back of his fingers across the bruise on her cheek a few times, watched her close her eyes for a moment at his touch. "I already wanted to deck him before that, but when he hit you…" Dean stopped as his jaw tightened at the memory for a second. "I could have… I couldn't stop myself anymore, I was losing it fast."

His skin might have been rough, but he'd brushed her cheek gently, and Manda could still feel it there replacing the bruise even though his hand was now back by his side.

"I'm glad you did, but it was more than that wasn't it? More than just him hitting me?" She figured it was more, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"Seeing you with him… look, I know I'm not the best guy out there, but right then I couldn't believe that you'd choose a douche-bag like that over me. It drove me nuts. And him thinking he could just take you there on the top of his hood, hitting you for trying to stop him… I wanted to pull him apart." Dean's eyes held a trace of rage as he saw it happening in his mind again, but then they let it go.

Manda didn't know what to say, she could see the way it bothered him. "Don't think about it." She let go of his other hand, placed both of hers on each side of his face. "I'm sorry you had to see it, but I'm glad you were there for me."

She was touching him again and any other time he would pull away, but he couldn't do that now. "I can't help but think about it. You're worth more than. You're not a girl some guy should use like that and then toss aside when he's done with her." Dean looked her in the eyes, hoping she could see that she was a whole lot better than that to him.

Manda removed her hands from his face. She just stared at him then, wondering just how much he thought of her. "That was a really low moment for me, and at that point I wasn't worth much more than that in my head. I didn't set out to be almost raped, but I was low enough not to care where or who I ended up with." She went quiet for a second. "But I started to wonder what I was doing, who this guy on me was, and I tried to get him off. I wanted him off," her voice hardened a bit then.

"You were out of it and I should have stepped in earlier, but I was frozen, watching it happen. You wouldn't let that happen to you, and I couldn't believe it was. But then he smacked you and that was it. You were getting out of there, he wasn't."

"I heard your voice and I knew I could stop fighting then. I knew you'd take care of me," Manda's voice went soft again as she remembered how all the fight had gone out of her as soon as she'd heard Dean because she had known he would keep her safe.

"You needed me Manda, and I was there." Dean couldn't say anything more than that, it was the truth. She should have been able to see he'd take care of her if she needed or wanted him to.

He was right, Manda knew it. "I know I did, and I know you were there, and I'm grateful you were. I also know that you stayed with me all night though, even when you could have just let Sam come and watch me… but you stayed Dean."

Dean's gaze dropped from hers and went towards the floor as he bowed his head down and to a side. He couldn't look at Manda when he knew she could read him. Knew she'd see it in his eyes. That he stayed because he wanted to, because he couldn't let anyone else look after her, not even Sam, because only he could keep her safe, and because he cared, because it was her. He wanted to admit it, that's what he was here for, but he was finding it hard to actually do it.

"I was a wreck, at my worst, and you stayed. You made sure I was okay. You helped me, even cleaned me up. I remember pieces of it, how you did more than you had to." Manda knew she'd have to get him to look at her, so she stepped another step closer this time, leaving very little space between them now. Then she reached out, went to touch the side of his face with one hand, but instead put her fingers under his chin and lifted his head slightly since she was a bit shorter than him. She wanted to see more than just the side of his face right now.

"Look at me Dean." Manda wanted him to turn his head on his own, or at least his gaze, but she'd give him a minute before she did it for him if he wouldn't.

Dean had let her lift his head a bit, but then he'd looked at the wall. He wanted to look at her, but it was like he couldn't. This was too much. She was right in front of him too, close enough for him to just pull her into his arms, but he didn't know if he could. Everything was out in the open now, and all that was left were the few things he hadn't said – how he really felt about her.

"Please," she said quietly.

Dean blinked, and then looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't refuse her anymore, but it was still difficult to look her in the eye knowing she'd see it before he could say it.

Manda smiled a little and then moved his head lightly so it was straight and he was looking at her again. Then she moved her hand up to the side of his face, stroking his jaw lightly along the way before she let her hand rest there. She stared him in the eyes. "You stayed with me for a reason. Stayed even after you made sure I was already safe. You want to tell me what that means? Why you did all of what you did for me? Because I think I could say it for you, but you might need to say it out loud Dean. And I'll wait here until you can because I know how hard it is for you to show that side of yourself."

Dean just looked back into her eyes. He saw there was nothing there but softness now, maybe even a bit of longing too. She was being honest, sweet, even giving him time to work out what he wanted to say. So he should have been able to say it, but he stayed silent for awhile just looking at her and wondering what would happen if they let themselves fall for each other.

Manda didn't know how long it would take him. She'd given him the opportunity to say something, and if he had really wanted to then he should have found the words already. She thought maybe she'd been wrong then or maybe that she should give him some space. That space might make it easier for him for say whatever he had to say.

Her hand left his face, and she almost sighed as she took a step back from him.

Dean couldn't believe she'd stepped back now. He'd just been about to finally say something, and then she'd moved away from him. He didn't know if she was trying to make this easier or harder for him. And now he'd lost the words that had been coming up just then.

She waited a minute, hoping that the space she'd given him would help. But he was still quiet, just looking at her and then past her, and Manda started to feel that she'd been wrong.
"I'm not expecting a grand gesture here Dean since we're not exactly Hallmark movie of the week people. I just wanted some truth… but I won't pressure you for it. If I was wrong or you can't say it, then that's okay, I understand."

Dean just looked at her. All she wanted was the truth from him about how he felt, and he knew he should give her that.

She smiled sadly as the silence from him was starting to sting her inside. "But I'm going to get some air, give you a little time to work out what you want to do here." She turned to leave and felt that sting from his silence starting to burn as she reached for the knob of the door.

Dean didn't want her to go, he couldn't let her go. He stepped forward, came up right behind and just a step to her right. "Manda…" he said quietly as he reached out over her arm and placed his right hand on top of hers just as it reached the doorknob. Then he leaned his head forward to be beside hers. "Don't go," he whispered in her ear. "You're not wrong," he said softly as his lips brushed her hair because of how close he was to her now.

Manda's breath caught and she slightly gasped. She had wanted this to happen, but hadn't expected it to right now. Her eyes shut as soon as he whispered, and she tried not to shiver. He was so close, finally ready to talk, and she couldn't move. But she had to let him know she was staying, so she nodded a little because that was all she could do. There were no words she could say, even if she had been able to find her voice.

Dean caught a stronger scent of her shampoo when she nodded because he was so close. He knew it was honey and almond since he'd seen the bottle of it in the bathroom last night, but not that it smelled so good and sweet. Her nod had been to let him know she was staying, and she was still, not moving, letting him keep her there. "Since you're staying," he said before he lifted her hand from the doorknob and guided her arm back to her side. He let go for a second then slipped his hand under hers the other way now to lace his fingers properly with hers.

Manda knew Dean could be sweet since he'd already been that way with her last night and this morning, and now he was doing it again. She also knew he wasn't exactly the hand holding type either, so she squeezed lightly when his fingers locked with hers to reassure him.

He didn't know why he had to hold Manda's hand just then, but it seemed right to Dean to do it in that moment after how honest she had been with him. She had let him keep her there, hadn't pulled away from him as he took her hand away from the door. Now she had squeezed his hand when he put his fingers through hers to let him know that it was okay, she wasn't going anywhere on him now.

Dean knew it was time to be open with Manda the way she'd been open with him, that she was right about him needing to say it out loud.
He took a deep breath, inhaled the scent of her shampoo again, and then rested his head lightly against hers before he began to say the words he needed to. "You know why I stayed… why I did all of what I did," Dean's voice was gentle and a little above a whisper. "Because it was you Manda, and it's like you said… you're different." His voice was a louder now, but it was still low.

Dean let his words sink in for her for a moment.

Manda just stood there with her eyes closed. She kind of wished Dean would face her, but if this was easier for him, then she'd take it. He was so close to her, still holding her hand, and he had pressed his head against hers so lightly. This was the side of Dean she had seen inside of him before, the one she knew could make falling in love with him even easier, and the one he didn't show because he couldn't or just didn't know how to most of the time.

"Last night after everything at the bar… I couldn't just leave you with Sam once you were back here. You know that… that it had to be me who was here with you. The way you looked at me before I carried you in here… I had to stay… I wanted to stay. I saw it in your eyes when you recognized me. How you would only feel safe if you were with me. I felt that way too. You were only safe if I was here with you." Dean didn't believe that the words that had seemed so hard before were now coming easily.

Manda just listened to him as he was coming out with the truth.

Dean moved his head away from hers now, but kept it tilted near her ear still. "So I stayed and took care of you because that's what you needed from me. Even if you didn't want me there, I wasn't leaving or letting anything else happen to you."

"Thank you," she whispered and turned her head to look at him.

Dean looked at her for a moment, then let go of her hand, put both hands on her shoulders and started turning her to face him. He was done hiding from her now, and he only had a few things left to say.

Manda let him guide her into the turn, and then let her eyes find his.

He slid his hands from her shoulders to her neck, and then cupped her face in his hands. "Manda… you get me, the things you seem to understand about me… it's just…" Dean stopped, not knowing if he should say scary.

"You scare me too Dean, with what you seem to know about me." Manda reached up with one hand and brushed the back of one finger along his jaw before she let her hands wrap around his wrists.

Dean nodded in agreement. He was glad she had finished it for him by admitting to the same thing. "Which is why you pushed and I ran, even when I never wanted to go. I tried to forget everything too, but then seeing you again, it just…," he paused and leaned his face in a little closer to hers now. "I can't fight what's here or what I feel anymore."

Manda heard the words and that was it for her. She leaned in closer and gave him one sweet and gentle kiss that lingered for a few seconds. Then she pulled back to look at him.

They stared at each other for a little. Both of them smiled as they knew and could see what the other wanted, the yearning for each other rising with each passing second.

Dean couldn't take it anymore, his lips crashed against hers. His kiss was harder than hers had been, and her lips parted quickly to let him go deeper with it just as his hands left her face and went to knot in her hair.

Manda put her arms around Dean and pulled his body closer to hers.

Their kisses were hard and fast, full of an urgent need for the other. It was like a hunger now with the way their mouths were locked on each other.

Dean was sliding off the unzipped sweater she was wearing over a tank top as he edged her backwards, and it fell somewhere by her feet as her back hit the door.

He pulled back for a moment and caressed her face with one hand just before Manda grinned as she pulled his face back to hers and arched her back a bit, leaving her shoulders more against the door behind her.

His hands went to her hips and he pulled her closer but pushed her back in to the door at the same time as his mouth crushed into hers again.

Manda broke away from the kiss and let her lips graze down his jaw line, then a bit down the side of his neck, and back up to his ear as she starting tugging at and then pulling up his t-shirt.

Dean let go of her and raised his arms to let her pull it off him, then he wrapped his hands around her wrists and pressed her arms up against the door just as she let it fall from her hands.

He gave her a moment to breathe by only giving her short and soft kisses before his hands slid down her arms to her body, and his lips went down her throat. He smiled as he continued going back up when she moaned softly in response and raked her fingers through his hair.

His mouth met hers again, and his hands slipped under the back of her shirt to sweep along a bit of her spine and then out across her waist.

Manda shivered at his touch as the goose bumps spread across her from how light it had been. And now his hands were grabbing at the sides of her tank top and pulling up, so she let him keep going.

Dean lifted her shirt over her head and raised arms, then tossed it. "Definitely better this time," he whispered and looked down at her with a grin before her hands found the back of his neck then and she pulled him back to her again.

Manda teased him with a few gentle bites of his bottom lip in between kisses. His hands were exploring her now and she was trying not to moan again at the way they were sliding and slightly squeezing in places at times.

Dean realized he was still trying to press her further into the door as he tried to get closer, but couldn't. Then as if she was reading his mind, Manda wrapped a leg around one of his and tried pulling him closer that way. His hands found her waist and he lifted her up so she could wrap herself around him. Her legs went first around his waist before her arms went behind his neck.

Manda's mouth had broken from his but went back quickly with kisses hard enough to bruise his lips.

Dean didn't need to hold her on to her since she was wrapped tightly around him and she was still pressed against the back of the door. He let his hands wander over her again and felt her tremble slightly when his hand brushed against the scars on her shoulder, as his hand swept over it and then down her arm taking the strap of her bra with it.

Manda was breathing fast and hard from his kisses and from the way he was touching her. She was thankful he let her catch a breath as he stopped, brushed back some of her hair and blew gently on her ear. Then he kissed another imaginary trail down the side of her throat but kept going a little down her chest this time.

She tossed back her head a bit and moaned loudly. She was growing more impatient as he worked his way back up. "Dean…," she moaned out his name. "Stop teasing me already," she said short of breath.

Dean laughed a little as he blew on her ear softly again and gave the lobe a gentle bite. "No," he muttered sweetly.

The word floated into her ear and her patience level was wearing so thin now.

"Yes," she half whimpered as her fingers found his chin and she moved his face back in front of hers.

Dean gave her a naughty smile. "Soon."

Manda faked a pout and then she gave him a long, deep and intense kiss. She let her nails lightly dig into his back too.

Dean broke away to catch his breath, her tongue had been doing things to his that drove him wild. "Now who's teasing?" he moaned out the question.

She bit her own lip gently and gave him a sexy giggle. "You still."

He chuckled, knowing she was mostly right. Dean knew he was teasing Manda not just with his actions, but also with words now. He gave her one sweet, soft kiss that lasted for awhile as her hands threaded through his hair.

Dean broke away from her mouth and just looked at her for a moment as he brushed back her some of hair again.

Both of them were breathing hard and fast from the way their pulses were racing because of each other, and being short on air.

He needed to know that before he moved her from here that she really wanted this and him. Dean was sure she did, but he wanted to hear it from her.

He leaned his face in close to her again. "Manda…," he whispered in her ear then brushed his lips on her skin just under it. "You're not going to pull back from me this time are you?"

His breath was hot as it crawled down her neck. Manda moaned softly again, she wasn't sure she could take much more of this, but she would play his game, drive him hot and crazy back. "You're not going to leave on me this time are you Dean?" she whispered very playfully and low beside his ear.

Manda had whispered the return challenge of a question in his ear so breathy and flirty that it only turned him on even more. And she had complained that he was teasing her when she was driving him up the wall wild with everything she was doing.

Dean pulled back his head to look at her first, knowing she probably needed to hear it from him just as much as he needed to hear it from her. "I'm not going anywhere," he said before his lips found her slightly opened ones briefly.

She broke away, pulled her head back just a little. "Good." Then Manda teased him with a false start or two before she gave him an open mouth kiss that was so light it barely touched his lips, only gave a flick of her tongue, and left the warmth of her breath to mix with his.

Dean could only groan as she pulled her head back again because she was making it really hard for him to hold off from just taking her right there.

Manda put one hand on the side of his head and let her thumb stroke in his hair behind his ear as she looked him straight in the eyes. "Neither am I," she said with a smile.

Dean could see the fire in her eyes burning for him. That was all he needed to know, and he was almost ready to stop teasing her now as his arms went around her. He held her tightly even though she was still wrapped around him as he took a step backwards and turned them around.

Then his mouth went for hers again and never left it as he led them to the bed where they could give in to the desire they were done fighting and denying, and let themselves have the kind of the night they should have had a month before.

Okay... now as I said at the top, hopefully you don't feel that I've destroyed Dean and made him way out of character. We know he has a soft side, but it's hard for him to let it show. And when he goes heart to heart with Sam, he opens up. Sure he doesn't say all that he might want to, but he does open up. So all of this was just my take on what he'd be like if he opened up to a girl who understands him a hell of a lot, and one that he feels he could fall in love with. I gave him a soft side to bleed through, and I hope that I didn't make him too soft or too unbelievable for his character if this were to happen to him.
I didn't make him profess to falling in love with her, or that he already has, but just that he couldn't keep fighting how he felt. I think he said enough in the moment without being too gushy with what he did and what he said. If you felt that he was, then I can see that point of view too. I mean yeah, maybe holding her hand was over the top, but maybe it wasn't - how would we ever really know? lol. I'm sure only Kripke (since he created him) and the show's wonderful writing staff know the true layers to Dean.
But again - just my take on it.
And yes... things had to get a bit steamy and playful for them. It was bound to happen as I mentioned at the top. The tension was there, but now that they gave in - they might take awhile to have a bit of fun instead of just rushing right into it.
As for the assurance needed from both of them at the end of it... I felt that because of how both of them had been with each other before with all the pushing/walking/running away and all the denial/fighting of how they both felt towards each other - both of them would want to know for sure that the other wasn't leaving this time around.
Hope you liked it, and if not then sorry :) Thanks for reading either way!