This one's and the next one's gonna follow the episode rather close, so hang in there with me.

Ahh! So many upset readers! Sorry to leave y'all hanging like that. Here's Chapter 13. 14 should be up soon after (hopefully sometime this week), but I'm going to a big rave festival next weekend and got lots to do before – so if not this week then next week for sure. :) Enjoy!

CHAPTER 13

If it were up to Emma, she would have high tailed it right out of the hotel room, and right out of Dean Winchester's life, had he wanted her to. She missed the freedom of her old Chevy Silverado. She was already sick of the tension in the air. Emma sighed, sitting on the edge of the hotel bath tub and dropped her head into her hands.

"No?" Dean had asked, bewildered. Emma watched painfully as his cheeks turned red and he quickly closed the small velvet box. She had humiliated him. Emma had dropped her forehead into her hand, just as Dean had turned away. There was a long moment of heartbreaking silence before Dean cleared his throat. She heard the pain in his voice when he spoke next. "Do you, ah… Do you not love me anymore or something?" Emma let out a small laugh into her hand, choked off at the end.

"No, Dean. That's not it at all." She had said as she turned wide wet eyes to look at him. Dean's expression softened.

"Then what is it?"

Emma's breath hitched as she opened her mouth to speak. Painfully, her heart threatened to push out of her chest. In a rush of panic, Emma leapt from the car, choking out "I can't…" before taking off at a brisk pace down the boardwalk. The cold air bit her cheeks as she folded her arms across her chest. She didn't look back at the Impala, just kept walking.

"Emma?!" It took Dean a minute to catch up to her, stopping to stand in front of her. "Emma! Come on, talk to me. If you love me, then what's wrong with this? Emma tried to step around him, but he blocked her. "What is it?" he demanded. Emma moved her hair out of her face. She took a deep breath.

"Do you remember what I told you during that camping hunt?" she asked. Dean nodded as he put his jacket around her shoulders. She was shivering.

"You said that if you fell in love you'd run."

"Basically." Emma agreed quietly.

"But you haven't." Dean pointed out, tilting her chin up to look at him. She wouldn't look him in the eyes. "You've-"

"Dean, I'm scared." Emma said in a small voice. Dean was taken aback. She wasn't the type to admit it. "I can't lose you – not with so much to lose." Dean understood immediately, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. "I just can't, Dean."

"It's okay, Em…" he said, but Emma could hear the sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry."

Emma, with her head in her hands in their hotel bathroom, sighed. Bobby had called her out on her lie on the phone an hour before.

"We both know this ain't got nothin' to do with you bein' ready or not. You're gonna have to tell Dean what happened."

In the day since she had declined Dean's proposal, he hadn't kissed her but once. He hadn't quite looked her in the eye. Emma knew she was going to have to tell Dean the truth – or she was going to lose him forever.

-+s+-

Sam knew there was something wrong with his brother and Emma. Emma had taken a leap of faith to stay with Dean – he understood that. But he also saw in her the same love he had felt years ago – only now that was just beginning to fade to a memory. He would have defied every instinct to run if it meant he could be with her forever. Dean hadn't made any sex jokes, had barely touched Emma in the past day, and Sam knew if one of them didn't break their resolve soon – he was going to lose a woman he loved like a sister – and this time she wasn't going to come back.

The soft ding of his phone brought him out of his thoughts as he watched a stony faced Emma come out of the bathroom. "Hey guys?" he said, frowning, "I just got a message from Chuck."

"What message?" Chuck Shirley asked with a nervous smile as the three hunters stood outside a country hotel, the bright early afternoon sun brightening all the colors around them. Chuck was almost shaking.

"You texted me." Sam said, fishing for his phone. "This address – life or death situation. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"I didn't message you." Emma sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"We drove all night!" Dean complained.

Chuck held out his hands. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I really didn't. I – oh no…"

"What?" Emma asked with her eyebrows raised. Chuck didn't have time to answer.

"SAM!" A squealing voice shouted from the top of the stairs into the hotel. Emma and Dean looked up with a smirk. Sam blanched, "You made it!"

"Oh," Sam said as she came running down the stairs. Her hair was straight against the sides of her face, braces shining when she parted her lips. "Becky, right?"

"Oh you remembered!" Becky said. She leaned forward toward him. Emma hid her laugh behind Dean's shoulder. Her voice lowered, she continued, "You been thinking about me." Sam stuttered. "It's okay. I can't get you out of my head either." Chuck shuffled his feet, looking uncomfortable.

"Becky did you take my phone?" he asked. Becky grinned at him.

"I just borrowed it from your pants," she said, giggling.

"Becky…" Chuck groaned and ran his hand over the back of his neck.

"What?!" Becky shouted excitedly. Emma blinked, "They're going to want to see it!"

"See what?" Sam, Dean, and Emma asked cluelessly.

"Oh. My. God. I love it when they all talk at the same time!" It was Emma's turn to blanch.

"Hey Chuck?" The five of them looked up the stairs at a man who was holding a clipboard in his hand. "Come on, pal. It's showtime." Emma frowned as Becky excitedly squealed and ran up the stairs. Chuck gave a hopeless smile and wave, before turning to the hunters.

"I'm so sorry."

-+s+-

"I'm gonna kill him." Emma was saying as the three glanced around the hotel lobby. All around them were people dressed as 'characters' from Chuck's book. She saw a man dressed as Ash, a woman dressed as Bobby (she made a mental note to snap a picture later), and all kinds of monsters she or the boys had fought before. "I really am. What the hell is this?" Dean only shook his head in disbelief.

"Becky what is this?" Sam asked, his voice quiet.

"It's awesome!" she cried, leaving them to stand in the back of the auditorium they had been led into. "A supernatural convention, the first ever!" Emma frowned, looking over at Sam who was staring at the stage ahead of them with a deadpanned look on his face.

Emma glanced over at Dean, whom it was slowly dawning on what was going on, as a man stepped up onto the stage. Judging by his headset and clipboard, she assumed he was some kind of manager. "Welcome to the first annual Supernatural convention." He said, "At 3:45 in the Magnolia room, we have the panel: frightened little boy, the secret life of Dean." Emma stifled a laugh in her collar as Dean shook his head in violent opposition, "and at 4:30 there's the Homoerotic subtext of Supernatural discussion." This time, Emma had to turn toward the wall to keep from laughing. Dean's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Oh, and of course, the big hunt starts at 7pm sharp." The three hunters exchanged glances as the manager continued, "But right now, right now I'd like to introduce the man himself. The creator, the writer of the supernatural books. The one, the only, Carver Edlund!" There was a great outbreak of cheers and applause as Chuck timidly made his way onto the stage. He glanced back at Emma, Sam, and Dean who stared at him stonefaced. Emma lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Ok. Okay good, this isn't nearly as awkward as I…" Chuck cleared his mouth before taking huge gulps from a bottle of water. The room was filled with tense, anticipating silence. "So… I guess… questions?" Emma watched as every hand flew up into the air. She and Sam exchanged a pained glance. "Uh, you?" Chuck pointed to a skinny young man in the front row He leapt up.

"Hey, Mr. Edlund. Uh… big fan. I was just wondering, where'd you come up with Sam and Dean – and now Emma and Maggie – in the first place." At the mention of Maggie's name, Dean felt Emma tense up next to him. He reached her hand to lightly brush it against her back. Chuck glanced up at the three.

"Oh, ah… I… it just came to me." He finally said. A number of hands in the audience went up again. "Okay yeah, the hook guy?"

"A man stood up with hooks on his hands, tilting his head to the side. He had a heavy German accent as he spoke, "Ah, yeah. Why in every fight scene, Sam and Dean are having their gun knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it on some kind of bungee?" Dean huffed as Sam thought about it for a moment.

"I… yeah I really don't know."

"Ja. Follow up. Why can't Sam and Dean be telling that Ruby is evil? I mean she is clearly manipulating Sam into some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious nein?" Emma and Dean both turned to look at Sam, who was glowering.

"Hey!" Becky shouted as she walked over, "If you don't like the books don't read em, Fritz."

Chuck looked like he was going to pass out. "Okay, okay… just okay. It's okay. So. Next question." Hands shot up again and Emma leaned her head back against the wall. Dean had taken his hand off Emma's back.

"Yeah, at the end of the last book." A fan was asking, "Dean goes to hell. And we've only gotten glimpses of Emma and Maggie's backgrounds in your chapters online." Emma's amused expression dropped and she looked up at Chuck with her eyes practically glowing red. She looked down at her hands, now glowing a light white; she was beyond angry. "So what happens next?"

Chuck looked up at the three in the back, grimacing when he saw Emma's death glare his way, "Well, that's the announcement. Thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're going to start publishing again." The room erupted into cheers, clapping, screaming, and people jumping from their seats. Emma, her hands still glowing, quickly fled out into the hotel lobby before she blew something up.

"In case you haven't noticed, our plates are kinda full, okay? Finding the Colt, hunting the devil. We don't have time for this crap." Dean was harshly telling Chuck as Emma came back to find them. A double shot was in her shaking hand. As the boys talked to Chuck in harsh, angry whispers, Emma was glancing around the room curiously. She glared suspiciously at the young woman dressed as Lilith but was even more taken aback by the wave of curly red hair standing beside her. An aching filled her chest as she, as if in a daze, made her way across the lobby and approached. The woman who turned around to greet her was not Maggie. Emma didn't know why she thought it would be for a moment. The two girls smiled at her, waving their hands. She put on her best peppy face and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Some party, huh?" she asked in a bright voice. The girls nodded, and she shook each of their hands in turn.

"You're even doing the accent." The Lilith gushed at her. Emma gave a fake smile.

"I heard from a friend that Emma was from Oklahoma." She said, as if she were shy.

"You mean you haven't read the new chapters yet? How do you know how Emma would dress?" Emma stumbled on her words for a second as she indicated Dean, who was still glowering at Chuck.

"That's my boyfriend over there. He told me what I should wear. I guess he read them." She decided to do a bit of digging, "What's in them anyways? Any juicy stuff?"

The girl dressed as Maggie clapped her hands and grabbed Emma's arms excitedly. Emma looked down at her arms and gave the girl an awkward look. "There is so much about Emma in there. You learn about how Bobby is like her dad – which I think is super sweet – and then there's the backstory with Liam!"

"What?" Emma cut her off in a serious tone, "What about Liam?"

"Carver didn't put a whole lot of details in there, but it's amazingly sad. Emma's still in love with him." Emma backed away from the two girls and looked back at where Chuck was standing with the boys.

"I'll catch y'all later." She said with a smile and took off back toward them. As she bumped Dean out of her way, she stood and pointed her finger at Chuck.

"We have to talk –" she was interrupted by a shrill woman's scream, that brought all the hunters (the real ones anyway) taking off toward the hallway. None of them heard Chuck yelling for them to wait behind them.

Emma followed Sam and Dean as they raced up the stairs. They found a maid in the corner of the hallway, crouched over. Sam reached down and helped her up. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I think so." The maid replied in a shaky voice. Emma gave a little frown.

"What happened?"

"I saw a ghost!" the woman said. Emma gave a sidelong glance at the boys as the crowd started gathering behind them.

A large guy pushed his way to the front. "A ghost?" he said in a very deep fake voice, "Could you tell us what it looked like?"

"Why don't you leave this to the grownups, pal."

"A woman." The maid continued, "She was in an old fashioned dress. Really old. Ike a school marm, or something?"

"Did she say something to you?" one of the guys in the back of the small crowd asked. The maid began to grin in front of them. Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Okay." She said, "Gather close everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror. I saw, a ghost!" Emma rolled her eyes and walked away, followed closely by the brothers. "None other than the ghost of Leticia Gore herself! I was on the third floor getting ice for a guest…" Emma tuned out the maid as they approached the wall where Becky was catching up to them.

"Ooo, the LARPing's started." She said with a grin.

"The… what is that?" Emma asked, irritated.

"Live Action Role Playing?" Becky asked, as if it were obvious. She turned to Emma with that look that Emma couldn't tell if it meant Becky wanted to kill her or wanted to be best friends, "It's a game. The convention puts it on." She reached over and handed Sam a piece of paper. Sam frowned as he read it.

"Dad's Journal. Dear Sam and Dean, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a $50 gift card to Sizzler. Love Dad"

"You guys are soo gonna win." Becky said with a grin. Emma, again, walked away from the group. Sam and Dean followed her down into the hotel foyer.

"What the fuck is this?" Emma asked as they crossed into the room and found the manager talking to a group of people in suits.

"Well yes, Agents Lennon and McCartney, as manager of this fine establishment I can assure you that it is indeed haunted. This building was once an orphanage, run by mean old Leticia Gore. 100 years ago this very night, Miss Gore went insane, and butchered four little boys before killing herself. Now folks say that the souls of those poor little boys are trapped here and the evil spirit of Miss Gore punishes them to this very day." Emma and Dean exchanged a glance, suggesting they were feeling sick.

"Well, that's just about all the community theatre I can take." Dean said. Sam agreed. Emma watched as the girl dressed as Maggie passed in front of them and waved to Emma. She gave a wave back.

"Maggie would never wear that shirt." She said as she took in the woman's hoodie. "And she's not wearing enough eyeliner." Dean wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"She's not interrupting anyone either." Sam said in a quiet voice. Emma cleared her throat and looked down before detaching herself from Dean.

"I'm going to get another drink."