:D
thanks for all the amazing reviews, you guys got me out of my funk for this chappie :D
sorry the last was so short, i got some heat for that lol this one is longer!
thanks again!
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Chapter 29: Playthings Part 2
I felt the bed dip up near my chest and then the bedside light turned on and even though my eyes were closed it felt like it was enough to blind me. When you needed a bedside light on, and in motel rooms they usually were cheap small/dinky bulbs, to see around the room you knew it was early. I didn't open my eyes, on fear of going blind, and moaned slightly squishing my head into the softness of the pillow.
I felt a hand come up and gently stroke the side of my head, pushing his fingers through my hair and looping it behind my ear. I didn't need to open my eyes to know who it was. Hell, I could smell the cinnamon 500 miles away. It was stronger this morning; he must have just gotten out of the shower. I couldn't fake I was fully asleep anymore because I was pushing my head into his hand as he started to take it away and I could feel a slow smirk spreading his lips.
"Come on baby," He spoke gently, like the entire room was still asleep. "Sam wants to get an early start."
I moaned again and turned to lie on my back. I didn't open my eyes though, just squinted. "What time is it?" I asked groggily.
I knew that marathon of 'Dawson's Creek' had been a bad idea. But hey, when you live in motel rooms all your life you'd be surprised what kind of things hold your interest. It was only because it was the only station that wasn't scratchy, and it was a marathon, plus Dean made this funny face every time one of the characters spoke. Finally, he had taken the remote away from me and I had to go to sleep. Ass.
"You think me telling you the time is going to make it better or worse?"
That usually meant it wasn't past seven. "Can I guess?" I scrunched my eyes open slightly, looking only at him. He had a small smile on his face and his hair was slightly tussled, I could tell it was still wet from the shower and it was glistening with newly applied gel.
"My question still applies."
I ran a hand over my eyes and sighed, trying at least to get my internal clock to snap on. But for some reason all I could focus on for the moment was what Dean was wearing, which consisted of blue jeans and a long sleeved navy polo, and the way he smelled. Okay, so only part of my brain was on. So what? Like paying attention to strictly Dean was a bad thing? I leaned up out of the covers and shivered. When the hell was this room thirty below? I leaned against him and snuggled my nose into the crook of his arm and I felt his arms come up around me, creating a warm cocoon.
He leaned his head down on mine, gently applying kisses over my head till he reached my forehead. "You know if I don't drag you out of this bed, Sam's gonna do it for me."
"Why does he always have to wake up at unspeakable hours?"
Dean chuckled. "He wanted to wake you at five. I convinced him to let you sleep a few more hours and I got a shower."
"Now see, if you would have woken me up with a prospect of taking a shower with you I would have been up and out of this bed like lightning." I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his waist to draw him closer to me.
"Well," His one shoulder shrugged, causing my nose to be buried in his shirt. "I can sit in the bathroom and watch you take a shower. It's the best I can do."
"No, thanks." I yawned, the warmth of his arms and the slowly peppered kisses putting me right back to sleep. What had he said? A few more hours sleep? That meant it was just reaching seven. Sorry, brain did not work unless it was at least ten.
Dean sighed and rocked me for a moment, like he wanted me to fall asleep in his arms and finally pulled my legs out from under the covers and stood, placing them on the floor.
"Ah, cold!" I said as the pads of my feet touched. I leaned against him and got used to standing for a moment. I rubbed my eyes again and he ruffled my hair.
"I made coffee for you." Dean said with a small smile and went over to the kitchenette to get my mug ready. I ran my hands over my arms and nodded, yawning again. "You don't have to get all dressed and everything. It's probably going to be a few hours till we reach Connecticut and I know you're just pretending to be awake."
"I'm fully awake." I rolled my eyes and Dean broke out into laughter.
"Really? Fully awake with underwear over your shorts?" I scrunched my nose and looked down at my shorts. Whoops. Knew something felt odd when I had started getting dressed. "We might not have to pay for the motel room if you go downstairs and address the manager that way."
I took off the underwear and threw them at Dean. He caught them with one hand and I sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at the bathroom. Why did I need woken up if people were in the bathroom? At least wait till the bathroom was free so I could get a shower or at least wash my face to wake up.
"When did he go in to the bathroom?" I whined and Dean scrunched his nose, coming over to the bed with the mug of coffee.
"Stop whining." He told me, his voice peaking to mock the one I had just used. He handed me the mug and sat next to me, running a hand down my hair and then down my back. "He got in the shower a few minutes ago; he should be out in ten minutes. You know Sam, needs time to do his hair and everything." I rolled my eyes, sipping the coffee. It was amazing how I suddenly felt ten times better. "You gonna get a shower? You got new shampoo."
I gigged and ran a hand through my hair. It still felt glossy and somewhat clean. I wasn't in a dire need of one, but that just meant that I'd definitely need one later if I put it off. "I wasn't planning on it but…the prospect of using the new shampoo is kind of weighing my options."
"I thought of you this morning." Dean basically purred, making me smile. He leaned down and brushed his nose against my neck and my hands shook from the touch. But he knew better. Knew not to get too out of control because I had hot liquid in my hands.
"Oh yeah?" I asked him. "When?"
"When I was in the shower." He said, basically pronouncing every letter slowly. Or maybe that was my brain still clicking on. He could have been speaking normally but I just wasn't awake yet. Everything else seemed painfully slow. The way Dean was drifting an open hand on my thigh, the throbbing of the second hand, the spiraling of the ceiling fan, the gurgling of the coffee pot and the drips of the endless shower Sam was taking.
I smiled and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on his nose. "Took a long shower I see?"
He grinned, which somehow told me everything. He nodded and kissed my lips for a moment. "Yet somehow," He leaned back. "Not as long as Sam's."
I grimaced. "I don't even want to know what he's doing in there."
"He's probably savoring the bathroom not being invaded by us."
I giggled. "Like that gives him the privilege of staring at the sink."
"He's taking in every detail because who knows the next time he'll have time to himself in there."
I shrugged as Dean got off the bed to pound on the bathroom door. "It's not like Sam never has time to himself in the room when we're in the bathroom."
Dean smiled, turning quickly to look at me before pounding his fist on the door again. "Valid points, Andy. Hey Sam!" Dean yelled and I heard the shower turn off. Sam opened the door and poked his head out to look at us. His hair was still flopped aimlessly on his head and blankets of steam poured out of the bathroom. "Dude, come on. Don't make me limit your shower time." Dean jeered and I snorted.
"Right, like you don't do that already by having sex in the bathroom." Sam rolled his eyes and pulled back into the bathroom to get changed.
Dean grinned and shrugged, turning around to look at me. "That was only a few times."
I nodded as he took a seat next to me again. "That's only when we can't make it to the bed."
"I thought it was when we didn't care to make it to the bed."
I nodded slightly, kissing his cheek as his hand opened up on my thigh again. "Both statements are correct."
"M-m." He trailed off, not that that was an actual sentence or word anyways, and leaned his face closer to mine. He left a gentle kiss on my lips and I felt his hand cup around the mug in my hands to take it away from me. I easily complied and I heard it being set on a stack of books near the bed. He pushed my shoulders down onto the bed and I felt his weight shift overtop of me as his lips hungrily took mine.
Before anything could be done, I was fully planning on doing something that required his shirt off, Sam slammed open the bathroom door and scared the hell out of us. I nearly bit Dean's tongue and Dean jumped almost a mile high. We both turned slowly the glare at him and you could tell by the playful/smug smile on Sam's face that he had accomplished what he had wanted to by slamming the door open.
"Come on Dean, don't limit Andy's shower time."
He then took some duffels and placed them over his shoulder to take out to the car. Dean shook his head, running a hand over his face as the jitters still shook his shoulders for a moment. "I hope he learns how to pee in a sink, because when he really needs the bathroom, we're going in for the kill."
I giggled and leaned up, kissing Dean briefly on the lips.
O0o0o0o0o0o
So, I ended up falling asleep again on the ride to Connecticut. But I wasn't surprised; I hadn't been able to stop yawning since I woke up. Finally I just laid out in the back seat and turned on my side, begging sleep to come and take me. After a few minutes of adjusting myself and closing my eyes, listening to Metallica roll through my ears and slightly shake the back seat, I was out.
I woke up a few hours later to Dean yelling out the car window and flipping someone off while pulling into the parking lot of the Pierpont Inn. I rolled my eyes; ever the gentlemen my boyfriend was sometimes. Although as I sat up I felt his leather jacket around my shoulders and couldn't help but smile a little. Eh, he was a gentleman most of the time. Which was better than none at all. I mean, there was a time where I thought Dean was a complete and utter asshole. Granted, I had known him all my life. I thought he was going to stay that way. Plus, it was around the time when he had started growing up and, well, ya know, started noticing girls. Actually, he was probably just acting like a normal guy; and asshole still fit the profile pretty well. I really wasn't exposed to any other guy other than Dean and Sam growing up. And while Sam had his rough patches, he had never been a full out asshole to me, unlike Dean. As I mentioned, when I was growing up I never got to date or have a boyfriend. Dean and Sam would get hugely protective and no guys at school would really talk to me without fear of getting bitch slapped. But that hadn't annoyed me as much I guess. I had my two guys and that was all that mattered. Until I reached the end of high school, then it got to be somewhat annoying.
Dean had changed over the years, especially after Sammy left to go to college. He wasn't as big with the bar girl scene as he previously had been. I mean there was the occasional flirting and late night but he didn't do it so often. Always had to worry about me and what I was doing and who I was flirting with. I only ever saw that as a big brother action though. If Dean would have never given me that coin on my birthday I don't think I would have known how he felt. He didn't hide his feelings so much now, since we got together, but before he hid his emotions really well. So I don't think I ever would have known. Plus the fact that I'm oblivious most the time.
"Earth to Andy." Sam waved a hand in front of my face and I blinked a few times. See? Oblivious.
"Yeah? Sorry, I was thinking."
"I thought you were broken for a moment."
"Shut up, Dean." I said annoyingly and shoved my knees into his seat. He laughed as he jerked foreword and I rolled my eyes and took his leather jacket to throw over his head. He stopped laughing then and slipped it back on, which I applauded him for trying to do in a cramped seat. Finally after a few moments of struggling he got it on and fixed the collar. "So we're here?" I asked, looking out the window.
Wow, the place looked like a freaking mansion. It probably had been at some time around the thirties or forties, maybe even before than. It was tall and architecturally beautiful. It reminded me of one of those plantation houses in Massachusetts that the rich people always lived in or a Victorian styled house. Whatever it had been, it still held all its beauty.
We got out of the car and grabbed some of our duffels from the trunk. I pulled the zipper back on my duffel and opened it to look for a sweatshirt. Sam and Dean collected Sam's duffel, the bag of weapons, and the miscellaneous duffel as well. Mise well take everything now so we don't have to cross the courtyard to get to the car.
"Where's Jeeves when you need him?" I quipped, looking at the four duffels we were carrying in.
"Probably pushing another guy down the stairs." I looked at Dean confused and he shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The Butler always does it." I rolled my eyes, pulling through the clothes. "What are you looking for, sweetheart?"
"One of my sweatshirts." I had goose bumps on my arms from the short sleeved t-shirt I had on. It was one of those days that was slightly windy and rainy. What great weather to welcome you to Connecticut. But I didn't know what I had honestly expected. It was in the middle of September and I knew we weren't in freakin Florida. Just once, was all I asked, was to have a haunting in Daytona Beach. Is that too much?
"You wanna wear my jacket?"
"It's okay," I said and found it, pulling my small navy sweatshirt from our bag. "I found it."
"Are you excited?" He asked me with a goofy grin and I shared an eye roll with Sam.
"No, are you?" I asked and smiled slightly, but I could tell he was as giddy as a little boy who got that toy train he wanted at Christmas. Or that Sawed-off Dean had wanted for his fifteenth birthday. Sam motioned that he'd carry the bag for me and I smiled and nodded, handing him the duffel. "Thanks."
"Come on!" Did he just skip?
"Did you just skip like you were playing hopscotch?" I asked and Sam let out a laugh.
Dean glared but it didn't overcome his smile. "Old-school haunted houses." Was it possible for the smile on his face to grow more excited? Why was I complaining? He was happy and had his mind off things. Plus, he was so flipping adorable. "Fog, secret passageways, sissy British accents. We might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside." He chuckled and thought for a moment. "Mm, Daphne. Love her."
I rolled my eyes as we headed up the stairs and to the door. "You are the only person I know that would hit on a fictional red head."
"Brunettes are more my type anyway." Dean smiled and then winked at me.
"So Shaggy is more your type, hmm?"
His smile faded at that and reformed more into a pout and I smiled at its cuteness. I grabbed his chin and kissed his lips. He still rolled his eyes after I pulled away and wiped his lips on his sleeves like he was ten and thought I had cooties. Fine, be that way. Wait till the next time he tries to kiss me and see what happens.
"Hey, wait a sec." Sam said, stopping us from heading through the front door. He was looking intently at an urn, which looked like it was stolen from a graveyard. "I'm not so sure 'haunted' is the problem. You see this pattern here?" Sam pointed to a design near the bottom of the urn and Dean and I leaned down to look at it. "That's a quincunx. It's a five-spot."
After all the long hours of staying up and frustratingly reading those terms and chapters, I'm glad my dad made me do it. "That's used for hoodoo spellwork, isn't it?" I didn't feel so left out all the time when these two got into their job rants, I could even add to them. "You fill that thing with bloodweed, you've got a powerful charm to ward off enemies."
Dean looked around. "Yeah, except I don't see any bloodweed. And uh," He trailed off, looking up at the Inn. "Don't you think this place is a little too white-meat for hoodoo?"
"Hoodoo can be practiced by anyone with enough knowledge and concentration." I shrugged. "That and if you can kill a live chicken." I grimaced and Dean smiled, rolling his eyes as he held the door open for me.
The inside was even more beautiful as the outside. It reminded me of an old cottage, even though I'm pretty sure the walls were brick outside. The inside had beautiful wooden architecture and the walls were lined with stunning paintings and photos. Even though I knew it was just an inn now, I still felt like a rich an old married couple lived there and I was actually thinking about taking my boots off so I didn't get mud on the carpet; which was a lovely red and white flowered print.
"May I help you?" A woman asked Sam and Dean as they approached the desk. It was then I realized I was the only one still standing by the door observing and admiring the place. No one ever looked at the architecture of places but me.
Dean motioned to Sam and me. "Hi, yeah. I'd like a room for a couple of nights."
I walked foreword to join them when a little girl came out of nowhere and ran past me. I made an eeping noise, which I'm sure sounded like I had saw a rat, and pit stopped. The girl just giggled and continued on her way. I wasn't angry or anything, I was just glad I didn't collide with her and knock her over.
The woman at the desk, her mother I presumed, scolded regardless. "Hey!" She called after her daughter. She then turned to look at me. "Sorry about that."
I shook my head and put a strand of hair behind my ear. "No problem."
I approached the desk after that and leaned against it, snooping around with my eyes. From what I could tell, this place was opened as an inn for a hell of a long time. There was an autographed photo of a movie star hanging behind the desk from the thirties. I didn't recognize the name however. She probably died early before her big break or fell off the map. Most people, trying to be famous anyway, did disappear like that during those days. My eyes also fell on a name plaque leaning in a cardboard box on the floor, it read 'Susan'.
"Well, congratulations." She totaled up the room and Dean handed her a credit card. "You could be some of our final guests."
Dean smirked, putting his hands in his pockets. "That sounds vaguely ominous."
She chuckled at the joke. She looked like a Susan. It felt wrong somehow to call her 'the woman with the kid who almost knocked me over' in my head. "No, I'm sorry. I mean, we're closing at the end of the month."
"That's a shame." I said, sincerely heartfelt. "This place is beautiful."
She nodded somewhat sadly and then looked at us all at once. "Let me guess –- you guys are here antiquing?"
Dean exchanged a small look with Sam and then nodded. "How'd you know?"
"Oh, you just look the type." I was calling her Susan no matter what her name was. "So, uh…king-sized bed?" She asked, looking at me and then at the brothers. But it was obvious she didn't know who I belonged to or if I did at all. Hell, maybe she even thought Sam and Dean were gay. That would have been a laugh.
Dean threw a glance at me. "King-sized bed?"
I was too busy looking at the little girl playing in the hallway. I then realized Dean was talking to me. "Huh?"
"King-sized bed." He repeated, although it hadn't been a question now.
I nodded. "Sure."
"You can sleep in the bathtub." Dean said a little irritated and I threw him a look. Since when did he have an attitude? He was such a goddamn male.
"You can sleep in another room." I emphasized and he turned to Susan with a smile.
"We'll take the king-sized bed."
Sam sighed, I'm sure he was tired of hearing this crap 24/7. I knew I would if I was the third wheel. I winced. Bad choice of words. Third wheel always sounded like the really annoying third party and I tried not to be that hard on Sam. Sometimes I really didn't know I was doing it. "You know, speaking of antiques, you have a really interesting urn on the front porch. Where did you get that?"
"You know, I have no idea." She seemed a little antsy for someone who was selling things. How did she know we weren't really interested and wanted to buy it? I almost smacked myself in the head. I wasn't an actual antiquer. I rolled my eyes; why was I thinking that we were going to by that urn and hoist it in the back of the Impala? "It's been there forever. Here you go, Mr. Mahogoff." She handed Dean back his credit card, then the room key and rang for the bellhop. "You'll be staying in Room 237."
It must have been a pretty big room because I realized she didn't hand Sam a key, so we must have all been sharing. Not like that bothered me; it was the way it's always been.
A bellhop entered, old enough to be my great, great grandfather. He smiled and even though some teeth were missing, it was kind.
"Sherwin, can you take these people to their room?" Susan asked him kindly and he nodded, grabbing our bags, which Dean and Sam were hesitant to let go of.
I put a gentle hand on each of their forearms and smiled at them and they took a look at each other and let go, letting Sherwin bang them up the stairs. Eh, he was an old man and all the guns had locks on them. What could he possibly do?
"So, the hotel's closing up, huh?" Sam asked, heading right behind Sherwin.
For some reason, I couldn't keep my thoughts on the damn task at hand. Dean had to reach behind him and grab my hand to lead me up the stairs. He was worried I was daydreaming so much, so I gave him a gentle smile and squeezed his hand as he looked back at me to check if I was doing it again. I knew what I kept staring at. It was that damned little girl. Something seemed off with her, maybe it wasn't her specifically. She wasn't the one I thought was performing the hoodoo or anything. Maybe it was just because she was little girl and that's what I wanted. A little girl with Dean. I rolled my eyes and watched her play with her tea set a moment as Dean led me up the stairs. Maybe it was just all in my head.
Sherwin nodded and we passed the little girl in the hall. I smiled slightly and then turned my head foreword before Dean pit stopped or something and I ran straight into him. "Yep. Susan…" I completely turned off his conversation at that point. I knew her name was Susan! Although, calling myself a psychic as a joke made my stomach lurch more than anything. "…guests just don't come like they used to. Still, it's a damn shame. It may not look it anymore, but this place was a palace. I practically grew up here –- gonna miss it."
I felt bad for him, not that I ever knew what it was like to grow up entirely in a home, but I knew what it was like to leave a place and never return to it again. Sherwin stopped at 237 and gently placed our bags down to open the room. Sam picked them up and carried them in to set on the bed and I went in next observing the room.
I definitely felt like I was in some sort of cottage now. The room had some type of wood, with a shiny polish I might add, everywhere as I turned around to look at the floors and walls. It wasn't brick and it wasn't the nasty ass motel paint that I had become accustomed to. It was nice to be in a different type of scenery. That florescent paint they used at motel rooms caused brain cancer, I was sure of it. I looked towards the door to see Sherwin had his hand out and by the way Dean's neck was tensing I could tell he was a little bit irritated he had to tip him. But he did so and closed the door, rolling his eyes at me as he took my hand so I could sit on the bed with him.
"Oh be nice." I said with a small smile and watched him sit down. "He's, like eighty, he needs those tips to belong to a nice nursing home." Dean rolled his eyes and damn near fell through the bed as he sat on it. I laughed slightly and pushed on the comforter with my hand. "Now that's what I call soft." I said, mostly to myself. "It's like butter."
I sat next to him and sunk into the soft comforter as well and Dean wrapped an arm around my waist. He then leaned in and kissed my head. "So you don't fall through." He whispered in my ear and I smiled. Like he needed a reason to put his arm around me.
"All right, so victim number one –- John Edison…"
"Did he carry around lots of light bulbs?" I quirked and Sam glared at me for interrupting. Dean smirked at my horrible analogy to Thomas Edison and put a hand over my mouth, pushing me back to lie on the bed. I giggled against his hand and Sam rolled his eyes and continued.
"Forty-three years old, a realtor, handling the sale of the hotel. And victim number two was Larry Williams…"
I shook my head as Sam hesitated and moved Dean's hand. "I have no relative joke, go one Sam."
Sam smiled shortly but then went on. "He was moving some stuff out to Goodwill."
"Well, there's a connection." Dean said thoughtfully, playing with the ends of my hair. "They're both tied up in shutting the place down."
Sam nodded and I could literally see the hoodoo idea written out on his forehead. "Maybe someone here doesn't wanna leave and they're using hoodoo to fight back."
"Maybe it's a sprit." I offered thoughtfully. "It could be, same thing still applies, just no hoodoo."
"I thought we already decided on hoodoo priest." Dean said and I rolled my eyes, putting my hands up.
"Just keeping options open." I said defensively. "No need to tag team me."
Sam let out something that was between a harsh laugh and a groan. "Right, because you've never done that before."
I ignored him and asked, "Who do you think the witch doctor is? That Susan lady?"
Sam shook his head. "No, she's the one selling."
"Sherwin?" I asked and let out a scoff. "What kind of horrible parent names their kid Sherwin?"
"What kind of horrible parent names their kid Andrea?" Dean teased and I rolled on the bed and overtop of him. I straddled his waist and covered his mouth with my hands. He was laughing against them and finally resorted to tickling to get me off.
"Would you two…" Sam waved us off. "Please not on my bed."
I giggled and looked over at the king sized bed across the room and bolted for it, happily jumping on the comforter. Dean followed and made an equal jump onto the bed, pulling me close to him.
"Oh, and to comment," I added, laying my head on Dean's chest. "I don't think its Sherwin. He doesn't give me that evil, hoodoo vibe." I shrugged. "I don't know."
"Maybe we should go take a look around, I mean, we are here antiquing." Sam said with a smile and closed his laptop on the desk. This room was nice and big. None of it was like those small motel rooms. I bet the bathroom was nicer too.
"You mean I can by something?" I asked and Sam and Dean groaned.
"What the hell would you wanna buy here?" Dean asked me and I shrugged again.
"I don't know, I saw some really nice paintings."
"Yeah, and where are we gonna put them? In the living room we don't have?" Sam wisecracked.
I shook my head and shrugged my one shoulder, that comment kind of hitting my chest harder than it should have. I wasn't sure what was wrong with it, I mean he was right. It was just upsetting me a lot lately that I didn't have a home to go home to.
I felt Dean's eyes connect with Sam's and Sam sighed, making his way over to the bed to sit on it. He grabbed my knee and gave it a slight squeeze. "You know I was just kidding right?"
I nodded and tried smiling, which both of them could see through like it was transparent. "Yeah, I know. Its fine, I was only kidding anyways." I was starting to feel uncomfortable under both of them staring at me so after Dean kissed my head I smiled again and dragged myself from the bed. "Come on, let's go see if we can find more of those quincunx…or whatever."
Maybe it wasn't necessarily right to bolt from the situation either. Now both of them knew I was a little upset. Whatever; just act normal. I scoffed at that; right, normal. Wasn't that what I was upset about? That our normal wasn't near what normal should be?
O0o00o0o0
So after some snooping around, I couldn't help but start humming that damn Scooby Doo theme song.
"How's that song go?" I asked them, even though they both looked at me like I was high. "Scooby dooby doo, where are you… we've got some work to do know…" I sung quietly, looking for five spots. I thought I saw one the design of a vase but it turned out the design was just very weird looking.
"Hey Velma." Dean called me over and I rolled my eyes as I approached them. They were standing near, I'm guessing Susan's room since the door said PRIVATE, and Sam pointed at another urn on a table near the door.
"I'm not Velma." I pouted. "I don't have any glasses."
Dean wrapped an arm around my waist and left a kiss on my neck. "You can be Daphne then. We all know by now that I find Daphne incredibly sexy."
I smiled but pushed him off a little as Sam spoke. "Another five spot."
"Maybe we should knock and have a chat." I motioned to the door and Sam nodded, knocking.
Susan opened the door and smiled. "Hi. Everything okay with your room?"
We all nodded and said a various amount of 'yeahs' and she looked at us confused. Shit. What did we want? Just when she was about to turn us away Dean cleared his throat and pointed at something past her and in the room.
"Hey, are those antique dolls?" Creepy ass dolls. I retrained my face from showing a creeped out emotion and just nodded. "'Cause this one here—" Dean motioned to Sam. "He's got a major doll collection back home." I covered my mouth and hid my laugh with a slight cough. "Don't you? Huh?" Well, if she didn't think Sam was gay before…she did now.
Sam looked at Susan and sighed, really having no choice. "Big time." He said reluctantly. I wasn't going to be able to keep my laughter to myself on this one.
"You think we could come in and take a look?" Dean asked. "He's not gonna tell you this, but he's always dressing them up in these little, tiny outfits, and you'd make his day." I coughed rather harshly trying to hide another giggle and Dean patted my back, shutting up for a moment. He turned to Sam again, not letting up. "She would, huh?"
Sam just stared off at Susan. "It's true." He replied, his voice completely deadpanned and Dean grinned.
Susan looked at all of us a moment and then opened the door. "Okay. Come on in."
We followed each other in, one after the other and I pushed Sam towards the dolls. "Take your pick, sweetie." I said, smiling all the way and he glared at me.
Dean came up beside us and looked among the dolls. Some were new, some old and tattered. Some were just plain creepy and reminded me of marionettes. I shivered. Now, those things are things to be afraid of.
"Wow. This is a lot of dolls. Nice, you know –- not super-creepy at all." Dean muttered and Susan laughed.
"Yeah, I suppose they are a little creepy. But they've been in the family forever. A lot of sentimental value."
I leaned back from the dolls and against a couch that was in the middle of the room. Something behind me caught my eye and as I turned I gaped at the huge dollhouse. I mean, huge as in damn near the size of half of a bed. "Wow, what is this? The hotel?"
Susan nodded and I approached it. "Yeah, that's right. Exact replica, custom-built."
I remembered having a dollhouse when I was little. Nothing like this, obviously, but it had everything a house should have. But then Dean broke it using it as a ramp for his monster truck rallies. I rolled my eyes. I remembered he lost one of those monster trucks shortly after that. I still think he didn't know I buried one of them in my backyard.
Sam came up beside me and pulled an old doll from the house, showing it to me. "His head got twisted around." I stole a look at Dean. Coincidence? I think not. "What happened to it?"
"Tyler, probably." Susan shrugged.
The little girl who had nearly knocked into me, Tyler, came in through another part of the room looking for her mom. She seemed around, I wanted to say six or seven? She was as 'cute as a button' as my mom used to say and had long dark brown hair that didn't match her mothers. Susan's hair was more of a light reddish kind of color, while Tyler's matched mine. I'm guessing she got that from her father. Her eyes were like her mother's however.
"Mommy, Maggie's being mean." Tyler said, upset. Did Susan have another daughter?
Before I could ask her Sam motioned to Tyler about the doll. "Hey, Tyler. I see you broke your doll. You want me to fix it?
Tyler shrugged, coming towards Sam. "I didn't break it. I found it like that."
"Oh." God, Sam was a giant compared to this little girl. "Well, maybe Maggie did it."
"No, neither of us did it." Tyler looked at me and I smiled at her. She looked shyly at the ground and played with the ends of her dress. "Grandma would get mad if we broke them."
Sam put the doll back where he had found it and went to stand near Dean and the dolls. I heard Dean ask something about Grandma and I had been listening until Tyler had tugged on my shirt.
"What's your name?" She asked me and I smiled again, kneeling my hands down on my knees.
"Andy." I replied. "And you're Tyler right?"
She nodded and then looked back at her mother talking about how we couldn't visit Susan's mother because she was very ill and how she wasn't taking any visitors. Which I thought was kind of odd and looking at Dean and Sam, they did too. She could have been the one doing the hoodoo at Susan's request. She seemed really jumpy when she told Dean we couldn't see her.
Tyler tugged on me again and I looked down at her, big brown eyes meeting my blue ones. "Wanna see my tea set?" She asked me and I smiled again, not being able to keep this goofy smile hidden.
"I would love to see your tea set." I said and she nodded, pulling me to the other side of the room to sit down.
I heard Susan engage Sam into a conversation about the dolls and which ones he might be interested in buying if he did decide to buy any. Tyler handed me a little glass cup with a small plate. I kneeled on the ground and took it from her and watched as she adjusted and gathered everything else that belonged with the set. I felt eyes on me and turned to see Dean leaning against the side of the couch with a smile on his face as he watched me.
I smiled too as Tyler poured invisible tea into my cup and I took a sip.
"Did you make this tea yourself?" I asked her and she nodded, giving me a huge smile. "Can I have sugar?" She pretended to spoon sugar into it and I said my thank you. "Was this your grandma's tea set too?" I asked and she nodded again, putting hair behind her ear as she adjusted a doll holding a tea cup.
"All these toys were hers."
Sam ended his conversation was Susan there and she gently excused us as she was in the middle of packing when we knocked on her door. I got up from the floor and thanked Tyler for the tea. She smiled and waved as I left. Dean was waiting for me just outside the door and I sighed and smiled lightly at him as Susan closed the door.
I went to turn and head back to our room when Dean put an arm around my shoulders. He pulled me to a stop and turned me so I'd face him. There were small tears in my eyes but not enough to cry. I hated that. Why were they even there at all then?
"You okay?" He asked me, gentle and stroking a thumb along my cheekbone.
I nodded and smiled again, causing one tear to slide down my cheek. Dean pulled me into a hug; understanding. I was glad I didn't need to explain this one to him.
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I made sure there was no eyeliner streaking under my eyes from the few tears that had fallen before I went back into our room. I didn't want to explain anything to Sam either. He saw right through my poor attempt at a cover up.
"You alright?" He asked; same tone as Deans.
I nodded and Dean shut the door. "She's fine." He replied. "So, what do you think?" He asked Sam, changing the subject fast. You could tell he didn't want Sam to know any of our business right now. "Dolls, hoodoo, mysterious shut-in grandma?"
Sam shrugged, taking the bait even though I knew he was just trying to get along. "Well, dolls are used in all kinds of voodoo and hoodoo, like curses and binding spells."
"Yeah, maybe we've found our witch doctor." I said, contemplating the thought I had before. "Hell, maybe even Susan is telling her to do it for her or they're in it together? This place is her home and maybe she's reluctant to give it up."
Sam nodded. "Maybe."
Dean shrugged. "Well, I'll go see what I can dig up on Booming Granny." He motioned to Sam. "You get online, check old obits, freak accidents, that sort of thing. See if she's whacked anybody before. " He was about to kiss me on my head when a thought interrupted him. He turned back to Sam. "And don't go surfing porn, that's not the kind of whacking I mean."
"Which means don't open any of the bookmarked pages because those are all Dean's sites."
Sam chuckled and Dean frowned at me before pulling me towards the door. "You gonna be okay?" He asked just so I could hear him.
I nodded. "My stupid mood swings are done, promise." I tried laughing this off because I was embarrassed but Dean knew it was important to me.
"Having a kid is not stupid." He reassured and my smile was soft now; thanking him. He nodded and kissed my forehead. "I'll be back."
"Hurry." I said with a smile and pinched his ass before he left. He grinned at me and I leaned against the doorframe and watched him head down the stairs. I sighed and closed the door, leaning against it for a moment. "You want any help or anything?" I asked Sam and he shook his head no as he opened his laptop and sat at the desk.
"No, I got it."
"Okay, well, um I guess I'll go take a shower. I'm pretty sure this tub is huge." I smiled entertainingly and got some more comfortable clothes out of my duffel as I saw it was getting late. I grabbed a pair of black sweatpants and a t-shirt that said 'Miller Lite' on it. I smelled it, trying to decipher whether it was Dean or Sam's. Some clothes got swapped in other bags sometimes. "This yours or Deans?" I asked and Sam turned to look.
I held up the shirt and he squinted at it. "Mine, I think."
I shrugged. "Can I wear it?" I felt bad putting it back after Sam mentioned it was his. Dean would never know the difference and it wasn't like Sam had freakin lice or anything.
He nodded and gave me a small smile that told me I made his evening. "Yeah, sure. But don't think you're keeping it." I stuck my tongue out at him and grabbed some underwear and one of my sports bras. "Hey, Andy." Sam called out before I headed in. I turned the water on to let the tap get warm and stuck my head out.
"Yeah?"
He turned in his chair to look at me. "So you wanna have a kid with Dean, huh?"
I swallowed and looked sheepishly at the floor. "Yeah…someday." That I knew was very far away no matter how I looked at it.
"Hey," He said and I lifted my chin to look at him. "It'll happen, you know. Dean's crazy about you and if it's something you want, he'll stop at nothing to give it to you."
I smiled, my heart beating eighty thousand miles a minute. "Thanks Sam."
He nodded and pointed to the bathroom. "Don't waste all the hot water you hog, other people want to take a shower at some point too."
I smiled and went back into the bathroom shutting the door. I leaned against it for a moment, what Sam said bringing a smile to my face. If I prayed for anything, hell if I believed in God enough to pray, I'd beg that he was right.
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reviews are nice. they make my muse think happy, cooperating thoughts :D
