"Melody!" Sam cried. "Mel! Mel, wake up!"

He waved his hands nervously around her, afraid to touch her in case she was hurt badly. Eventually, he settled for rubbing her shoulder, praying she'd answer him. He looked around nervously and he was about to go back to his car to get his phone and call an ambulance, when he heard Melody moan a little.

"Mel!" he called her again. "Mel, thank God! Are you hurt?"

She groaned in pain and started to get up, and Sam released a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. She was alive and moving.

"I'll live," she mumbled in a raspy voice.

"Melody, what were you thinking?" Sam closed his eyes and lay back on his hands, feeling the ground spin around him under the influence of the anger and the terror he'd been feeling in the hurricane of the past half hour. "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

She tried to roll her eyes and get up, but she ended up just gasping in pain.

"Not now, Sam," she asked him. "Just— Just take me to the bunker."

He pursed his lips and agreed that this was the worst time and place for the upcoming fight and she needed to be taken care of asap. So he helped her up and slowly took her to the car then he picked up her motorcycle from the side of the road and loaded it into the trunk of the Impala. When he climbed into the driver's seat, he shot her another glance. Her hair was a muddy mess and her clothes were soaked from the rain, but other than a few cuts and bruises, she looked fine. He wanted to yell at her and take her by the shoulders and shake her and tell her how stupid she'd been and talk some sense into that reckless head of hers. But as he looked at her now, so fragile and vulnerable, he realized how, in those brief moments when he saw her on the ground and he couldn't wake her up, it tore him to pieces. He realized that Melody had left such a mark on his heart, he couldn't stand the thought on not having her in his life. He couldn't lose her. So he swallowed his pride and kept his mouth shut and looked at her one more time, drowning in how grateful he felt that she was fine, and thinking about how his whole life was a puddle and Melody was hurricane.

They rode in thick, heavy silence, filled with Sam's internal struggle and Mel's guilt. She was sobering up and all she wanted to do was go back into some alcohol and forget about everything that had happened tonight. She was beginning to realize how much the whole grace thing and the situation between her and her sister had affected her lately. Having been stripped of her grace had resulted in a black hole inside of her, like the black holes that are caused by the death of a star. Violent, ugly, like a string of light exploding before your eyes and blinding you. But she had learnt to live with it and she was really trying not to let herself be changed by that. The worst thing was, she felt so freaking useless. Emma was the one leading this whole fight, the master puppeteer, the one pulling all the strings, and Mel had to be the one lurking in the shadows, doing her best not to do anything stupid and screw up. Like she had tonight.

She was doing so well. She was starting to get used to the idea that things were like this now and Emma had to bear the responsibility of fighting this battle, even if it killed Melody to let her do this by herself. But then that stupid witch hunt had to come up and once again, her sister had to clean up the mess she had made with the boys. Emma had to put her life at stake again. And that little snap awoke in Melody every single frustration she'd gathered for the past weeks and she needed so badly to get it out of her system. She knew Sam had been right to yell at her at the bar, even though he'd overreacted a little, but now that she was sober, she could see that the anger she'd thrown at him wasn't born from the fact that he had no right to tell her what to do, but from the fact that he was also an object of her frustration. This whole evening had been crazy confusing regarding where the two of them were standing. Sam coming to look for her. Sam finding her drunk and snapping at her. The way she'd snapped at him herself. Jace coming to find her and Sam's possessive stance.

Of course, there was Jace, too. A guy in a bar, she'd thought. A fling. A harmless flirt where she could pretend she was just a girl in a bar. She should've known better. In this line of work, no one was who they claimed to be. And she wondered what exactly was that Jace knew and why, even though her hunter instincts told her otherwise, she felt like she could trust him. Well, she'd have to give him a call and find out.

They eventually got back to the bunker and Sam stopped the engine of the Impala, but none of them got out of the car. They just sat there in silence, each of them pondering what to say. In the end, Mel sighed and decided she was too tired to keep waiting for Sam to snap at her again, so she sighed and headed for the bunker. She heard Sam following her, but she didn't turn around until they reached the library, where she took off her coat and tossed it aside. She decided that, if they were gonna fight, they might as well do this now and for good.

"Just spill the beans, Sam," she turned on her heels and closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "I know it's there. Just say it so we can get this over with."

Sam looked at her with his lips pursed, his hands shaking violently even if she didn't see it.

"That was really dumb," he whispered eventually, trying hard to keep his voice under control.

"I know," Mel murmured back.

"And you could've gotten yourself killed."

"I know."

"Out of all the things you've been through, Melody, you could've made your sister lose you over a drunken ride."

"I know, Sam," she raised her voice a little and turned her back on him.

"But do you, Melody? Do you know? 'Cause it seems to me like you're throwing tantrum after tantrum. It's like you don't even get it. Are you even aware of what's going on? Of the extents of this whole situation?"

Melody turned on her heels, her eyes sparking with tears and wet anger.

"Like hell I'm not, Sam. I'm perf—"

"Well, like hell you are," he cut her off, still shaking, unable to hold back anymore. "You had me watch you nearly die. I could've picked up your dead body from that side of the road. What would I have told Emma? Did it ever cross your mind how it would've made me feel?"

A tear escaped Mel's cheek, but she wiped it away angrily, hating the way she was feeling so weak right now. She went straight to him and stopped right in front of him.

"It freaking did. But did it ever cross any of your minds how I feel? Ever?"

Sam was speechless at her sudden outburst and at her words and was unable to come up with an answer, so she just went on.

"Of course it didn't. At the end of the day, it's all about achieving that goal and saving the day. It doesn't matter how many casualties we leave behind. It doesn't even matter if we destroy ourselves in the process! We just have to shut our faces and take one for the team, if it's the last one we take!"

Her cheeks were dry, but she was sobbing. Her whole body was convulsing with anger and Sam wanted nothing more than to put his arms around her and to tell her that everything would be okay. But she was not okay, and she would've known he was lying.

"Is that how you feel?" he asked her weakly. "That we gotta keep going, no matter who we leave behind? Is that why you felt like you needed to go drown yourself in scotch and throw yourself at bartenders and run away from me like that?"

She took a step back and closed her eyes, taking a sharp breath.

"I did it because I needed to breathe, Sam," she admitted. "I needed to remind myself I'm here and I'm alive and that Emma and I will pull this off."

Sam raised his hand, but then he let it drop, thinking about how touching her, even if he longed for it, might not have been the best idea given the circumstances.

"You could've come talk to me," he told her sheepishly. "Maybe I could've helped you. You have to know I'm here for you."

Melody laughed humorlessly.

"You don't understand. You don't understand a thing, Sam. Out of all the people in the world, you're the one I can't stand being around right now the most."

She flew past him, refusing to stick around and face the aftermath of her words. She hadn't meant to tell him that. But all that talk about how he was there for her made her so angry. How could he say that? How could he say that when he must've figured out weeks ago that she was developing feelings for him and had decided to avoid her because of that? Sam was one issue she had yet to figure out, so he had no right to come to her and twist her world around just like that whenever he felt like it. Not now, not ever. So she went outside, in front of the bunker, and sat on the wet grass. It was raining pretty heavily, but she didn't care. She needed Sam Winchester washed away from her system for now. She closed her eyes and let herself get soaked, feeling the cold raindrops against her skin.

Back into the library, Sam still stood dumb-folded, trying to understand Melody's words. Out of all the people in the world, you're the one I can't stand being around right now the most. Ouch, he exclaimed to himself. He knew Mel wasn't his biggest fan, he'd figured out as much. And he knew he had feelings of some sort for her, but up until now, as he felt the blow of her words even minutes later, he realized how far gone he was. Out of all the people in the world, you're the one I can't stand being around right now the most. Not that admitting it to himself now was going to be helpful in any way whatsoever.

He considered what he was supposed to do. Out of all the people in the world, you're the one I can't stand being around right now the most. She clearly didn't want to see him right now, she had made that pretty obvious. And although his heart twitched a little at the thought, he wanted to respect that. But at the same time, after tonight's events and considering she wasn't in her best state of mind, letting her go like that, alone, might not have been the best idea.

After pondering his options for several minutes, he decided that he'd rather have her mad at him than hurt. So he walked out of the library and out of the bunker, just to see Mel sitting on the grass, letting herself get rained on. He let out a breath of relief and sat next to her.

"Sam—" she began to whine when she saw him, but he cut her off.

"No, just hear me out and I'll let you be. I know you don't want me around and I'm sorry if I've been a pain in the ass and that you can't stand me, but I just wanted to make sure you're okay. That's all."

Melody leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her palms.

"Sam. Is that what you got out of my words?"

He looked at her dumb folded, and maybe, if it hadn't been so dark, he would've seen how badly she was blushing right now.

"I said I can't stand being around you, Sam, not that I can't stand you."

He blinked. "How's that different?"

She got up and wiped her muddy hands off her jeans angrily.

"For God's sake, Sam," she exploded and she felt like every feeling she'd had for him since day one was now scratching the surface. "It's different because I can't stand around you because it's so freaking confusing! I don't know what to think, or, or, what to feel or how to react or what to say."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when she opened them, he was standing, too, wearing a deep frown between his eyebrows.

"I'm tired, Sam," she whispered. "One minute, you turn your back on me and ignore me for days, next thing I know, you're busting my ass and acting all jealous because I flirted with the bartender. It's confusing, Sam, and I can't keep doing this. I don't need this right now. You have to make up your mind because you're giving me mixed signals here."

She wanted to drift past him again, back inside the bunker, and Sam had no idea what impulse took over him. But as soon as she spoke the words and they registered into his head, in the briefest instant, every piece came together like a puzzle. So before he could over think this and change his mind, he caught her wrist.

Melody didn't turn around. They just stood there for a few seconds, each of them hyper aware of those inches where their skin touched. And then, under the influence of the same impulse, Sam was the first to move. He turned her around with a swift movement and he crashed their bodies together. His big hands went around her slim waist and their lips collided like the hurricane had just met a volcano. Mel let out a small gasp against his lips, but she was quick to react and her hands went to the back of his neck and to his hair and she ran her fingers through it and pulled him closer and closer because she couldn't get enough of him. There was enough passion in their kiss to answer every unasked question from the very beginning. Sam lifted her in his arms to have better access to her lips and he could taste the rain on her mouth and smell the scent of rain in her hair and there was rain everywhere around them, like rain itself wanted to seal them both inside the moment. Their eyes were closed as their lips moved in sync, but their hands knew each other by heart. And when they broke the kiss, gasping for air, the sound of her heavy breathing against the thunderstorm soundtrack became Sam's favorite melody.

"How's that for a mixed signal?" he smiled against her lips, his hands in her hair and her fingers clinging to the collar of his shirt; they were eye to eye, noses touching and their shallow breaths meeting halfway, like they were trying to inhale each other.

Mel parted her lips to say something back, but she lost track of what she wanted to say when he rested his forehead against hers.

"Don't," he told her before she could even think about talking again. "All we did so far was talk. Let's not talk. This is so much better."

How could she have not agreed, with his lips so close to hers, when she could still feel his taste on her mouth? How, when all she could think about was how his eyes resembled a rainforest on fire? She couldn't. So she just closed her eyes and nodded, tightening her grip on him. He didn't hesitate the littlest bit before holding her tighter, too, and placing another quick, and gentle this time, kiss on her lips.

"Let's go inside," he suggested. "You're freezing."

She nodded again, feeling a little retarded at this point. Maybe not retarded, but definitely dizzy and, weirdly enough, while she was even more confused than before, she had never been more awake and had never seen things clearer.

So did Sam. This could easily have been the best decision he'd taken in a very long time. The best surrender to an impulse. He smiled to himself as he took Melody's hand and led her inside the bunker, because he couldn't just stop touching her now. His arms ached to hold her again and never let her out of his sight. Her, he couldn't lose. Not now, not ever, he promised himself.

They walked along the hallway in silence, the light kind. This time, they didn't need words to voice those feelings floating around them. They felt them in those little touches, in the glimpses they kept stealing of each other, in half smiles and flushed cheeks. Sam stopped in front of Melody's room.

"Wait here," he told her and let go of her hand, disappearing around the corner.

He returned a few seconds later with a towel. Melody couldn't help the wide smile that was spreading over her lips and corked an eyebrow at him. He just shrugged and started running the towel gently through her blonde locks, wiping away the heavy drops falling from their ends. Melody closed her eyes and allowed herself to get lost in the feeling. When Sam was done with her hair, he focused on softly running the towel across her forehead, her temples, her cheekbones and her chin, strategically missing her lips and grinning in the process. Then he followed the route down to her neck, her arms and slowly down to each finger.

Before he could let his arm drop, Melody caught his wrists and took the towel.

"My turn," she half smiled up at him.

While Sam's eyes had traveled all over her body along with his hands as he worked his way with the cloth, taking his time to memorize her, Melody couldn't look away from his eyes. So their gazes locked as she wiped his soft hair and his face, and that's all she could really do since she was so captured in his whole presence. But he didn't seem to notice either.

He took the towel back and threw it on his shoulder, keeping a small smile on her lips, then he took her hands gently in his. He bent down and closed the distance between them and Mel's breath caught in her throat as she anticipated the next kiss. But he didn't kiss her. Not on her lips, anyway. Instead, he brushed his lips against his cheek so soft she barely felt it, then placed another small kiss on her other cheek, then on the corner of her mouth, so close to her lips it physically pained her, then he pulled away, leaving her breathing heavily, her eyes closed. Her eyelids fluttered open and she saw him looking at her so intensely she blushed violently under the weight of his gaze.

"Good night, Melody," he whispered and he tucked a strand of hair beneath her ear.

"G-Good night," she muttered back.

She could've sworn she heard him give a little chuckle as he darted past her, but she couldn't be sure. He closed the door of her room behind him, his thumb instantly flying to his lips to hold on to that memory, to remind himself that this was real. It was real. He laughed shakily and wondered how on earth he would be able to sleep tonight.

Melody made the same small gesture that Sam had done on the other side of the door, touching her lips to find them still a little swollen from the intense kiss they'd shared outside. But before her mind had enough time to process everything that had happened and to start freaking out like a teenage girl, her phone rang, her Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" ringtone waking her up a little.

She pulled out her phone and saw that it was an unknown caller ID. She wasn't lucid enough to question that little piece of information and decided to answer.

"H-hello?"

"Hi. Melody?" There was a male voice on the other line.

"Um, y-yeah," she mumbled. "Who's asking?"

"It's me. Jace."

I don't feel like there should be any side notes here, so, enjoy!