A/N-Okay, so there's three chapters left, all of which should be up in teh next week or so. Now, when I say should, we all know I mean should, and not will...and if they're not, blame Jason. Because everything's his fault : P
Oh, and not so graphic sex towards the middle, just a heads up

Sam nearly fell when he entered the living room the next morning.

Lexi was curled up in front of Dean, sleeping soundlessly. That wasn't right. Lexi held grudges. It was one of her main flaws. Sam used to tease her about it all the time. It always took twice as long to make up with her than anyone else, because Lexi held grudges.

And here she was, sleeping wrapped around the guy who'd had her so turned round on herself she'd cried herself to sleep every night since he'd told her to go.

It looked like there was a completely different set of rules where Dean was concerned...Or none at all. Sam couldn't decide.

He was halfway across the room when Dean caught his eye.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Was the first thing Sam said to him? Dean could live with that. Just like he could live with a throbbing head, if it meant he could lie next to Lexi a while longer.

"It's been said." He replied. Sam just grinned and motioned to the kitchen.

"You want a coffee? Maybe a couple of aspirin?"

"You're a genius."

"It's been said." Sam shot back, and walked out of the room.

God Dean had missed the early morning banter with Sam, and had the circumstances been different he might have relaxed. But his stomach was churning, and Dean wasn't sure if it was just the cruel side of his mind playing tricks on him or not, but he could swear he heard the steady ticking of a clock.

He swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing in.

His nostrils were inundated with Lexi's scent. It was a mixture of car and girl and something vaguely tropical that he assumed was perfume. Either way, it lingered on his clothes if she'd worn them; something that she had, in the past weeks, decided was nice. Not that he complained. Usually one of his shirts hit the top of her thigh, draping over her curves nicely. Since she was usually up before him, he'd allowed himself to enjoy the sight for a few moments before letting her know he was awake.

Dean sighed. It was just another thing he'd stored away, something to remember when his bill came due...If that was possible.

-

Lexi watched him as she sipped on her coffee, feet propped up on a couple of books that were on the coffee table. Dean was staring towards the window, looking but not seeing, deep in thought. Can you hear them yet? She wanted to ask. She knew it was why he'd left a week ago, why he'd almost scrambled away from her as soon as he realized she was awake.

They were, more or less, back to where they started, unsure of where the boundaries lay. Well, she was pretty sure they knew. He was just...distant. And he confused her, which in turn rattled her, and...God when did this get so frustrating?

"So, did you get rid of it?" He looked over at her quickly.

"What?"

"The poltergeist; did you get rid of it?" He nodded, before resuming his mindless staring. Lexi shifted experimentally closer to him; he didn't seem to notice.

She was almost touching him before he looked at her.

"What?" She rolled her eyes and huffed out a sigh, before lifting his arm up and fitting herself underneath, pressed against his chest.

"I might not forgive you, but I still love you. You're not by yourself tonight, Dean." He hesitated a minute before letting his arm fall down over her shoulders.

"Love you too." It was all he could push past the growing lump in his throat.

"Let's go for a walk." She said after a while, standing up and offering him a hand. He stared for a second before taking the offered hand and standing up.

-

The air outside was still, almost as if waiting for something to happen. Dean thought he'd at least be able to hear anything coming before he saw it. Lexi squeezed his hand, and he hadn't even realized she was still holding on, probably feeling him tense.

He looked down at her and she smiled, easy and natural, as if it didn't feel like there was a huge pit in her stomach to match his. She was as sure as possible that tonight was going to go their way, but she couldn't help the nerves, and the doubt, and the worry.

"Where are we going?" He asked after a while of comfortable silence.

"Just somewhere I found the other day." Dean was sure he knew every inch of Bobby's, and while it was the closest thing to home, it wasn't anything special. But he followed anyway, because it was her.

Eventually they reached an old fence, made out of thick wooden planks. Lexi didn't stop, just slid her legs through and sat. Dean followed suit, crossing his arms on the top beam. Lexi was looking out in front of them, at an almost dried up creek he hadn't realized was there, but he couldn't take his eyes off her face.

He rested his head on his arms and continued to watch her, smile forming on his face. At last she pulled her eyes from the view and looked at him.

"What?" He shook his head, smirk in place. "Seriously, what?" She shoved him a little and he laughed.

"Nothing." He pushed her back. She laughed in spite of herself.

"You're a liar, what is it?"

"Nothing!" She pushed him and he fell off the plank and into the mud below. He looked up at her, still grinning. "Bitch."

"Jerk." She went back to staring out over the largely deserted field, realizing too late that he'd grabbed her hand, and that she was, indeed, falling down to join him.

"What, did you think I was gonna lay here by myself?" He teased, pushing a handful of mud over her.

"Why did you do that?" She spluttered, trying to push mud off her clothes, but only succeeding in working it in further. Dean shrugged, settling back and putting his hands behind his head.

"Cause I could." Lexi picked up a handful and threw it in his face. "Okay, I deserved that."

"You think?" She asked, giving up on her clothes as a lost cause and looking up into the cloud spotted sky as Dean was doing. She may or may not have been expecting the mud in her face, either way it resulted in an enormous mud fight.

Which concluded with Lexi sitting on top of Dean laughing as he held her hands above her head in an effort to prevent her from throwing any more on him.

"Truce?" He asked, somewhat breathless. She narrowed her eyes playfully for a second, giggles spilling from her lips.

"I s'pose." Before he realized what he was doing, Dean leaned up and pulled her down at the same time, until his lips grazed hers. She sighed her appreciation and twined her fingers in his.

"Wait...Not out here." She nodded without opening her eyes, soft smile on her face.

-

"Look..." Lexi picked up the bright yellow post-it on the back door decorated with Sam's neat scrawl. Dean hooked his chin over her shoulder and read.

"Gone out to grab food, Bobby's with me..." Dean turned his head, teasing kiss planted on her cheek. "He's smart, I'll give him that."

"He knew..."

"Knew what?"

"That it's damn impossible to stay mad with you." Lexi turned and wrapped her arms around Dean's neck, trailing her fingertips through the soft hair near the nape of his neck.

"Good for me. I'd understand though." He slanted his mouth up to kiss her deeper, before she pulled away, puzzled look on her face.

"Understand what?"

"If you stayed mad at me." He said, turning his face away. Lexi pushed his mud soaked shirt off of his shoulders, exposing a clingy T-shirt. "What I did was...it was wrong, and selfish, no matter how much I tried to tell myself I did it so you wouldn't have to...to deal with me."

"Dean?" By now her fingers were trailing small circles on the skin near his hip, pushing the T-shirt gradually higher. He looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Before he could protest she covered his mouth with hers, pulling back only to push his shirt off. "Kick your boots off." She told him.

"Why?"

"We're not getting mud in the house. Why do you think we're getting undressed out here?" His chuckle was swept away by her next kiss, lifting her shirt over her head.

-

How they made it up the stairs was a mystery to Lexi. She was so breathless by the time they reached the bedroom they'd been sharing she couldn't think straight, but that didn't seem to matter.

Dean was lowering her onto the bed, callused hands guiding and making sure she didn't fall. Even so, it seemed finesse had been abandoned at the back door along with their clothing. She could feel his erection straining his boxers as he ground against her, tilting her head just where he wanted it so he could kiss her better.

Lexi moved to get rid of her underwear, but a gentle hand covering hers stopped her.

"Don't...Let me, please?" Dean asked as if he were actually scared she might refuse. Lexi just smiled and relaxed, spreading her hands on his back. Dean placed one last kiss on her swollen lips and drew back, looking down at her.

Long eyelashes formed half circles on her cheeks, the rise and fall of her chest steady. He trailed a hand over one of her collarbones, only just the barest touch. She let out a breathy sigh and rolled her head to one side.

Dean pulled her gently off the bed, reaching an arm around to unhook the clasp of her bra and draw it off her, throwing it carelessly to the floor. He then lay her back on the bed, stealing another moment to just look.

Not wanting to leave her for too long, Dean stood quickly and shucked his boxers, leaving them to pool on the floor as he settled over her once again.

Eventually his soft touches brought his hands low over her abdomen, and she tried not to squirm at the ticklish butterfly feeling pooling in her stomach.

Soft lips and cool teeth, nipping and soothing in turn inevitably followed every trail made by wandering fingers. Dean pressed his lips to her hip once more, fingers slipping underneath the side of her panties. He pushed them over her hips, and eventually off.

He could smell her, musky and strong, and I was just another thing to remember. Wondering fingers trailed over her wet folds, and she pushed against him, arousal more than apparent.

"Dean..." She whined, pressing against him. To his surprise, he felt tears pricking the back of his eyes.

"Lexi, please...I just..." He drew in a breath, stilling his hand. "I...I need to remember." His words hit her like a brick, and she barely noticed the tear sliding down her cheek, even as she could the barest tremor running through his lithe body.

"...Okay."

-

When Sam walked in, Lexi had her hands in the sink, washing what was left of breakfast dishes.

"I don't think I'm gonna let you leave." Bobby mused, following Sam into his house. Lexi grinned.

"You might have a bit of competition there."

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked, sticking his head into the lounge and seeing the TV was off. Lexi stifled a laugh.

"Putting some things into the wash." She turned to Bobby. "You don't mind, do you?" He shrugged.

"No more than I mind having you three around." Sam spun around to look at her, disbelieving look on his face.

"Dean's putting things in a washing machine?" Lexi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, why, what's wrong with that?"

"My brother, the laziest, most unwashed creature to ever walk the earth, is putting clothes in the washing machine?"

"That hurts Sammy, after all, I'm a joy to be around." Lexi caught Dean's eye, remembering the circumstance that caused him to be putting their clothes in the washing machine in the first place. He grinned and turned away quickly before he started laughing.

Sam looked between the two.

"I'm not even gonna ask."

-

Lexi was watching Dean get increasingly twitchy throughout the rest of the day, until finally he walked up to the room, dragging a hand through his hair as he went. Lexi looked over at Sam, who shook his head and motioned for her to go.

"Lazy shit." She cuffed him on the ear as she walked past, but she could feel the nerves practically lining her stomach.

Lexi stopped outside the door when she reached the room, biting her lip and wondering what she could say without lying her ass off.

Not much. Figures.

Upon reaching that particular conclusion, she huffed out a heavy sigh and pushed open the door. Dean was pacing the room, hair sticking up at all angles from where he'd run his hands through it. Seeming to give up on whatever pacing was doing, Dean sank onto the bed, holding his head in one hand.

Finally he turned it to see her leaning against the doorway. He tried to smile. Lexi saw right through it and briskly crossed the room to sit next to him on the bed, as close as she could without actually being in his lap.

"Lexi..." She opened her mouth to stop the protest she knew was coming. "No, don't say anything. I just need to make sure; you're positive that this isn't going to do anything to Sam?" She nodded, before leaning her head on his shoulder.

"From what you said, the bitch only said if you try to welch or weasel your way out of the deal Sam would drop dead. And seeing as you've been against the whole thing, it doesn't count." Dean sighed.

"I wasn't...against, it. I just don't want it to count for nothing, because you know I'd do it again." Lexi nodded. Something seemed to occur to Dean. "And what do you mean 'from what I said'? I never spoke with you about anything that went down with that bitch." Lexi discreetly chewed the inside of her cheek.

"I meant...Sam said..."

"Sam said? I didn't talk to him about it either." Trust Dean to be difficult. "You... Oh my god." She closed her eyes and thanked her lucky stars he hadn't found out until now.

"Dean..."

"You...You went and spoke with her! She could've killed you, Lexi."

"Last time I checked, I didn't have a deal with her. And I had the Colt, what was she gonna do without getting her ass shot up?" Dean thought back to any time that Lexi had the opportunity.

"When?" His voice was whisper quiet. She fidgeted next to him.

"Ages ago." He turned to look at her, and she could practically feel his eyes boring into her skull. "Okay, fine. When we got back from Chicago, that morning I came in at three and said I was helping Sam translate the ritual to check it."

"Why?" This had to be his best passive aggressive. Or he was really stunned. She couldn't see properly.

"I had to...I had to make sure it was safe."

"How did you get her to tell you exactly what my deal was?"

"I...used my knowledge to the best of my ability?" She finished lamely, and his eyebrows rose even further towards his hairline.

"You tortured her."

"If you want to put it that way..." She muttered, looking away. Dean gave a disbelieving laugh next to her.

"And did you happen to find out who held the contract? And how are we getting around it, by the way?"

"First off, we're not getting around it. Her deals are at face value. She said you try to weasel your way out, Sam drops dead. Sam and me are doing the weaseling, not you, so it's legitimate. And no idea who holds the contract, she still wouldn't say."

"Figures..."

"Hey man, you're the one who should know. Who'd you piss off?" He gave her a look and she relented. "Okay, stupid question."

"How..." Dean thought about how best to phrase it. "How are things going down tonight?"

"I can't tell you."

"What?"

"If I do, you're helping with the weaseling. So just...let me and Sam take care of you." He snorted.

"That'll be the day." She hit his arm, giving him a small smile.