Chapter 14 ^_^ Enjoy!

Sam woke up with an awfull headache and a growing sensation of nausea. Groaning in frustration, he took in a few slow breaths to ease the symptoms until they were less obvious. Rubbing his eyes and getting up from his bed, he leaned a bit on the wall, while his senses syncronised in working properly. Details like : how long has he been asleep, what day it is, what's everyone else up to, will have to be solved after he gets a glass of water and something to eat.

The bunker was quiet when he stepped out of his room. Being undergroung and having only artificial light, made it hard to tell what time of the day it was. They always had breakfast when normal people had lunch or dinner. Most of the times they started working cases when others turned off their lights to rest.

Sam walked around the hallways, heading for his unknown-time-of-day-breakfast when he noticed Chloe's door was opened. It usually meant she wasn't in there and Sam wondered if she ever sleeps. She definetly did that sometimes but he couldn't remember when was the last time he saw that door closed. Although he intended on walking by without bothering to glance in, the light caught his eye and he turned his head out of instinct. For half a second he thought he mistook Chloe's room for Kevin's but the familiar dreamcatcher close to the prophet's sleeping head convinced him it was indeed her room.

After blinking in confusion and looking away from Kevin, he made out Chloe's shape under a blanket and some strands of hair that covered most of her face. She was on her stomach, hugging her pillow with one arm and the other one laid out and holding tightly on Kevin's. He must've fallen asleep some time after she did, from the way he was sitting against the bed's board. His head was leaning slightly to the left where she was standing and they both seemed to have been sound asleep for quite some hours.

Sam's reaction to the scene he came across was half shock half bewilderment. He wasn't sure why he was so dumbstruck at something so simple in the first place. Except the fact that Chloe was….well, Chloe. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what she thought about this sort of things. He never saw her flirt or look after couples with the least sign of longing. He was convinced it's the least of her problems. Maybe it was, maybe it is. Sam didn't want to jump to conclusions but there was something in the way she held his hand. Firmly and slightly pulling it towards her chest. A gesture you might see in someone grabbing hold of a wooden board in the middle of the ocean. Half relieved to find it there and half desperate not to lose it. When and how the two of them became close was a mystery and Sam decided that whatever was going on was none of his business to begin with.

Two seconds before he planned on moving further ahead on the hallway, Kevin mumbled something in his sleep and made Sam look at him again. Kevin took his free hand to his face, rushing his dreams away and slowly opened his eyes. At first, he focused on sobering up, then he looked at his other hand and found it grasping Chloe's. He looked at her sleeping figure and smiled a soft smile that only, Sam thought, people falling in love could pull off.

As if finally waking up more and sensing another presence, Kevin took his eyes away from Chloe and looked at the doorway, finding Sam there. With wide eyes and feeling oddly guilty, he opened his mouth to say something but Sam made a gesture, signaling him to be quiet, looking at the still sleeping figure after. They both agreed on not doing anything that could wake her up and Sam thought it would be a good idea if he left for the kitchen.

Kevin would've gone back to sleep if he could. Lie down next to Chloe and listen to her slow breathing. He looked at her and took the few strands of hair away from her face, placing them behind her ear. Somehow, he feared these gestures are limited to the time in which she's asleep. He won't dare go up to her when she's awake and touch her like this, or at all. What her reasons were for wanting him there that night, Kevin couldn't know or guess. Against his own will, he slowly took his hand away from hers, turned off the bed lamp and went out of her room, closing the door behind him. He took his time with heading further down the hallways and soon enough came in front of the kitchen door and found Sam making sandwiches.

"Oh, hey Kevin" Sam turned around for a second, before going back to what he was doing.

"Sam…about earlier…"

"What about it?" Sam opened the fridge and took more cheese.

"I don't want you to think that…"Kevin wasn't sure how to finish.

Sam stopped what he was doing and looked at him smiling.

"That you like her?"

Kevin swallowed his words and gave Sam a helpless look. The younger Winchester leaned on the counter and crossed his arms around his chest thinking for a bit.

"Kevin, it's not something to be so worried about. It's not like me and Dean are going to skin you alive for it."

"You sure about Dean?"

"Well…no, but …" Sam gave a short sigh and looked at Kevin "Look…what I'm trying to say is, you don't meet people and fall in love with them in our branch of work. I, for one, can barely recall these kind of feelings. Dean might be in the same situation, or just chooses to block them out. Things slowly evolve this way for all of us, if we don't die in the meantime, that is. Chloe hasn't even been there yet. Having seen her fight monsters instead of being in highschool and fall in love like normal girls, made me think of her like a small warrior. Born and bred to kill werewolves and cook apple pies for Dean. Don't laugh Kevin, you know how obsessed he is with pies. Anyway…" Sam went quiet and looked at the floor trying to find his words. "If you really care for her, tell her. If you can't tell her, show her."

"But…"

"But you've already thought of who's gonna die first and when and how." Sam cut him off.

"There's nothing I can do for her, Sam. I'll get killed long before she does and if she feels the same, then…"

"Never make bets on who dies first. It's not always about the strongest ones and…is your life so amazing that you're gonna deny yourself, who knows, a few days, or months next to her? We all die and hurt, and yes, the last one will hurt the most but I also think the memories are worth it. You'll have something to hold on to as you go. Right now…you don't have any of that."

None of them said anything for a while. Kevin looked unsure of everything and didn't seem like he had anything left to say. Sam smiled at him and added.

"Kevin…she never came to either me or Dean for comfort. We have to force her words and thoughts out to know if something's wrong with her. If she slept holding your hand, you might be able to do more for her than you think."

Chloe woke up with a gasp from her nightmares and was scared to find herself greeted by darkness. Had she dreamt the whole thing? Kevin telling her stories and the room being filled up by the soft orange light. Where was she now? She put some effort into composing herself and her hand finally came across the switch, allowing light to flood the room. Her room. With everything that was familiar and safe, but somehow felt off and cold now. She rubbed her eyes and tried to forget the nightmare. Looking next to her, she wondered if Kevin had really been there. If he had, when did he leave and why? 'Polite and considerate' she remembered her own description of him and fought the sting of disappointment that crept in her chest.

Realising she won't be able to fall asleep again, she put on her boots, changed her shirt and left her room. Another cup of coffee and more research will do the trick.

The hallways were chilly and quiet, the kitchen held signs of someone's recent hunger and made her stomach twist at the memory of food it hasn't seen in a while. Too lazy to cook, she settled for some gingerbread while grabbing her coffee and heading to the living room. Expecting to find it empty, she nearly dropped her mug seeing Kevin's back as he was focused on his notes. He didn't seem to hear her and Chloe wondered if to turn around and go back to her room. As silly as it was, she felt flustered when remembering the previous scenes they shared.

Managing to convince herself she's being ridiculous, she made her way to the table he was sitting at. Kevin gave her a weird look before blurting out a 'Hey'. She nodded and sat her mug and gingerbread in front of him while going for her laptop.

As comfy as she had been before falling asleep, she was equally awkward and tensed now. Her earlier need to be weak and comfy was long gone and the hunter part was mentally slapping itself. Sitting down and opening her laptop, Chloe decided to give her moods a rest and focuse on something useful. Like monsters and Hell.

For about ten minutes the only sounds in the living room were from Kevin's pencil and her keyboard. They both seemed to be equally lost in their work or at least Chloe managed to do so. While focusing on some more details about Purgatory, her attention got distracted by a slight tickle near her elbow. Raising her eyebrows and looking down, she noticed a piece of paper she didn't remember putting there. She grabbed it and read the few words written on it.

Did you sleep well?

Throwing Kevin a quick, half surprised half panicked look, she saw him consciously working on his notes. Pencil in one hand and tablet in the other. She read the note again, expecting to find other words but nothing changed. Slightly confused on why he didn't just ask her and instead sat there pretending he didn't do anything, Chloe couldn't help but finding him funny, yet somehow adorable. She smiled, writing a short Yeah and pushed the paper towards him. Kevin ignored it and carried on with his work and after Chloe watched him for a few more seconds, she gave up and turned her attention back to her laptop. It didn't take long for her mind to become completely absorbed by what she found and she almost gasped in surprise when something touched her elbow again.

Another note sat there, waiting for her to pick it up, while Kevin kept working. Chloe eyed him suspiciously, wondering where all this is going and how many times will he interrupt her thoughts like that before she'll smack him with her laptop. Rolling her eyes, she took the note and read what was on it this time.

No nightmares?

She furrowed her eyebrows and waited a few seconds before deciding wether to reply.

Woke up from one earlier.

Looking at her note, Chloe finally pushed it across the table and made a bigger effort this time to get back to reading her articles. The next note came quicker than the previous one.

I'm sorry I left.

What did he expect her to reply to that? Whine about her nightmares? Tell him she would've preferred finding him there? Almost angry, she wrote one word and pushed the note back a bit to abruptly, deciding to get back to her laptop and ignore this silly game.

Kevin read her short reply : Whatever , and wondered if he made a mistake suggesting he might've made any difference by staying with her. She seemed rather angry while typing away on the keyboard, not bothering to pay any attention to him. Considering on leaving her alone, he thought about what Sam told him. It seemed rather farfetched that he might be able to do anything at all for the person in front of him but thinking, since he already started convincing her he's an idiot, he could as well go all the way with it and humour her.

Next time I'll stay until you wake up.

Chloe read the note with a mixture of fear, joy and relief. She was relieved she'll get to spend more time with him, happy that he seemed to care so much wether she sleeps well or not and scared he might only do it out of politeness. Biting her lip, she wrote the only reply she could think of.

Next time?

Only if you want me around again.

I won't mind.

You won't?

No. I'd like that.

Chloe?

Yeah?

Don't run away from me.

Why would I run away?

Because I like you.

Chloe's hands froze on the note while thinking she wasn't making proper sense of the words. She looked at Kevin and found him looking back at her. His face was serious, his features tensed. He was waiting for her answer and she could tell he was scared. Her stomach was tightly tied in a knot and her mind was racing. There was no going back now. And if there was, she refused to see it. She wrote her answer and pushed the note across the table, going back to reading on her laptop again.

Kevin picked it up, read it and looked at her. She wasn't paying any attention to him and he realised she was never cold and serious as he always thought of her. 'She's…shy.' He thought and smiled her way, though she didn't see it. He left the piece of paper they both wrote on, on the table and carried on with his translations.

The last note said

I kind of hoped you would.