Chapter 37
"Kayleigh?" said Dean as he knocked on the bathroom door. When she didn't answer he came in, seeing her on the floor he ran to her.
"Talk to me, are you okay?" he said as he turned her to face him.
"Yeah, the heat is just...getting to me..."
Dean could tell something else was wrong, but he was smart enough not to question her. He knew her well enough that if there was really something wrong she would tell him.
But even then he still felt hurt that she was continuing to distance herself after everything they been through together.
"Can I get you anything?" he asked caressing her cheek.
"A breath mint would be nice"
"Well I don't know about that but I can probably swing a glass of water"
She smiled up at Dean and he helped her get back on her feet. They went down the steep steps of the small texan house and around the corner into the kitchen. They had been cooped up here for a few months. It was the house Rachel Matheson had grown up in, her father's home and they were safe here...Or at least as safe as anyone could be in these times...Grabbing a glass out of the cabinet Dean filled it with the clean water from the local supply and handed it to her.
"Rinse and spit" he told her as she grabbed the glass. Dean held back Kayleigh's hair as she spit what had remained in her mouth into the sink.
"Thank you" she said softly, putting the glass down on the counter.
"Anytime Catnip" he replied as he let her hair fall back onto her shoulders.
She hadn't been well for a long time. She knew this gnawing feeling inside her all started back with Danny but it was Matt's death that had sent her over the edge.
They had made their way to Willoughby, Texas after the incident at The Tower five months ago, Monroe all but having disappeared and of course that Atlanta and Philly had been wiped out.
Obliterated.
Completely and utterly destroyed.
Thousands of lives ended in a blink of an eye and all in the name of Patriotism...
"You're pale" Dean said as he looked down at her, his fingers pushing her hair out of her face,
"You look sick, you should lie down"
"I'm fine"
"No, you're not"
"I don't need to lie down"
"If it was me throwing up and refusing rest, what would you do? You would knock me out and drag me into bed then tie me down just to make sure I don't get up until I was better"
"That's a little exaggerated don't you think?"
"No" he said looking sternly down at her. He filled the glass with water once more, then taking her hand they made their way back down the hall and up the stairs. The old wooden floor boards creaked and groaned as they moved across them and to the small room towards the back of the house. A full sized bed mostly filled the tiny room, a closet along the side wall and adjacent to the door stored Kayleigh and Dean's things. No one had been under the impression that they hadn't already been sharing a space together and so now when they had taken this room for themselves no one argued or commented. At most Miles had seemed disapproving, but even then he didn't say anything knowing Kayleigh would win that fight. Dean placed the glass of water on the square, mustard yellow bedside table, the only other piece of furniture in the room besides the bed. She tied her hair back into a bun, she didn't bother pulling back the covers as she laid down onto the bed. Dean had moved to close the curtains so that the light of the late afternoon sun wouldn't bother her. Lying on her side she watched as he moved back towards her and sat down. Dean seemed rather apprehensive as he looked down at her,
"Do you want me to stay?" he asked, tenderly stroking her arm.
"You don't have to" she replied already starting to drift off.
"I want to"
She grabbed his arms and pulled him down, resting her head on his chest as he laid back against the pillows. He let his feet hang over to keep his dirty boots from touching the neat bed rather then to just take them off.
"I had another nightmare last night...about Matt. Ally was there too" she said suddenly, gripping Dean tightly,
"They were just playing in the street...and then..."
She couldn't get it out as she started to sob into his blue tee. It had been the first time in weeks that she had dreamed about Matt crushed and bloody...and it was the very first time Ally was in her dreams...
"Hey, it's going to be okay. It'll all just be a bad memory some day..."
"Don't leave me"
"Never" he whispered and kissed the top of her head softly.
"Dean told me you weren't feeling well this morning" Miles said to Kayleigh as he leaned in the doorway of her room, watching her set the bed.
"I'm all right. It was just...I don't know"
Miles stared at Kayleigh knowing perfectly well she was lying, Kayleigh never had much of a poker face especially when it came to pulling it on Miles and Dean.
"Theres nothing you want to tell me is there?"
"No..."
"Kayleigh"
"It's not important" she replied as she tried to avoid Miles's fixed gaze.
"Is it Dean? Are you two fighting...or something" he said, clearly uncomfortable as he asked.
"No it's not Dean" Kayleigh said, trying to hold back her amusement. He was trying and it was cute, but it wasn't Miles. Kayleigh looked back at him to see he was shifty, and kept peering down the hall as if making sure no one was there.
"Miles what is it?"
"Nothing...Dinner should be ready soon"
She watched Miles disappear from the doorway. After changing into shorts and a light, loose button up plaid shirt, she picked her boots off the floor and pulled them on. Her hair now pulled back in a ponytail, it swung and bounced as she bounded down the stairs.
"Gene wanted to know how long you planned on staying here" Rachel said from the dinning room that was situated just off from the kitchen. Kayleigh walked in, seeing Jo and Brian helping Rachel set the dining table which was just two small tables pushed together with miss-matching chairs surrounding them.
"As long as we need" Miles replied, Kayleigh looked around but didn't see him until she peeked through the open door way between the kitchen and dining room.
"Where's Dean?" Kayleigh asked Brian as they set plates down the table.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in a couple hours" he replied.
"What? What do you mean? Did he go somewhere?"
"I don't know. He didn't say anything to me"
Kayleigh looked nervously to Jo but she only shrugged and went to help Rachel in the kitchen. Kayleigh drifted towards the front of the house, moving slowly as she felt slightly weak from her sickness earlier. She saw Dean's blue jacket along with his sword hilt, with the sword still in it, hanging from the hook on the wall next to the front door. She felt the sting of worry that something had happened to him. When she had woken from her nap, he had already been gone, and now not even Brian knew where he was. She suddenly felt more then worry...Her head was searing and she felt dizzy...Kayleigh collapsed but caught herself on the railing of the banister as she hit the stairs.
"Are you all right?" Rachel exclaimed, running up to her and gently coaxing her arm from the railing and moving her to sit on the low steps. Kayleigh could only nod to Rachel as she bit her lip and gripped Rachel's arm for support.
"You and Danny were close" she commented out of nowhere.
"Yes..." Kayleigh replied sorrowfully, trying to bite back the memory of the blonde haired boy.
"You can trust me Kayleigh. Are you sure you're okay?" she asked trying to pull it out of her.
"Yes, I'm fine" she replied putting on a fake smile. She didn't know what was wrong with her...But she knew that if anyone could help it would be Rachel. But she didn't want to say anything because Rachel would probably tell Miles and she didn't need another person to be worrying about her twenty four seven.
The door suddenly flew open and in walked Dean. His shirt, hands, and face splattered in a mix of blood and dirt.
"Dean? What the hell happened to you!" Brian said having heard the slam of the door and looking over his bloody friend.
"It's uh...it's not my blood..." he replied.
Kayleigh sat in a horrified silence as she peered up at him. Dean didn't even look at Kayleigh, ignoring her as he ran towards the back wash room, Brian and Rachel following right behind. Kayleigh took in a deep breath, not really sure if getting up was such a good idea but she did it anyway using the banister as support. Making her way down the hall, a hand to the wall to guide and hold her on her feet just in case she felt like collapsing again. She headed towards where Dean had run. Moving past the kitchen she saw Rachel in a whispered but heated argument with Miles. Going through a small doorway off to the side in the kitchen and down the short hallway that use to be used as a laundry room she moved to stand beside Brian as he watched Dean scrub the blood off his body. Grabbing a bowl and dipping it into the large, water filled bath tub he stood over the sink and poured the clean water onto a small towel and used it to scrub the dirt and blood away. Kayleigh gently gripped Brian's shoulder and glanced up at him in reassurance. He nodded to her and took a last, worried glance at Dean before leaving them alone. She watched Dean as he vigorously rubbed the towel over his blood caked hands. His face turned to her and she held his gaze for a moment before he turned back to scrub the blood off his face, his hands moving more slowly now.
"Kinda deja-vu isn't it?" he remarked quietly as he continued to scrub, "only this time i'm the one covered in blood"
"This is not the same as Annapolis, Dean" Kayleigh replied. Not really in anger, or even in a stern voice, it was almost monotone as she leaned up against the door frame...Like she wasn't even surprised he had found trouble and come running back smothered in blood.
"What happened"
"It doesn't matter"
"So we're going to do this again? I hope you weren't badly injured, I wouldn't want to have to carry your sickened body all the way up those steep stairs"
"I'm not and this is not the same as that"
"Oh yeah? You almost died in my arms because you kept something like this from me! How do I know you aren't lying to me now?"
"Because i'm not!" Dean yelled slamming his fists on the sink, "How the hell is it you can so easily trust Jason Neville but not me?"
"Because Jason never came running back to me covered in blood then refused to tell me what happened and say that it didn't matter!"
"What about you? You've been lying to me for days now, I can always tell Kayleigh you don't exactly have the best poker face. At first I thought it was better, I knew you would tell me when you were ready but now it just feels like you're pushing me away again"
"I haven't lied to you"
"You can say 'I'm fine' as many times as you want but that doesn't mean I believe it"
"But I am fine"
"That's great, Kayleigh. Just great"
Dean violently threw the wet cloth down on the edge of the sink and turned his back to her as he grabbed more water from the bath tub.
"Just tell her Dean"
Kayleigh turned around to see Mason standing in the doorway, he had blood on his clothes too but not as much as Dean. She looked back at Dean who was staring down Mason angrily.
"Tell me" Kayleigh said firmly when Dean didn't say anything.
"We've...Me, Dean and Charlie have been looking for Monroe" Mason said when Dean didn't answer.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kayleigh asked turning back to face Mason.
"Because we knew you'd try and stop us" Dean replied.
"You don't know that"
"Kayleigh we know what you and Miles did. We know you purposely let him escape that night back at The Tower" Dean said.
"That was Miles it wasn't me" she said...lying...again.
"Yes but you were there. You didn't stop him"
"You really think I could have stopped either of them?"
"Yes, we do think you could have. Monroe got them killed Kayleigh! How can you not want justice?" Mason yelled.
"I learned a long time ago that there are bad people in this world. You can't get rid of them, there will always be someone" Kayleigh replied, then she turned back to look at Dean,
"You can't save everyone"
"This isn't about saving someone, this is about getting justice for what he did to Danny, to Matt, Jack, Colin and Ally. They were our family, you of all people should understand why we have to do this" said Dean.
"This isn't justice this is revenge! You told me you didn't want to fight that way anymore because you finally had something real to hold on to"
"And he took it away from me! Matt's gone Kayleigh, Monroe did that!"
"But i'm still here!" She shouted back with tears in her eyes, "Is that not enough?"
He didn't answer her, his face now plastered in a hurt, insulted expression. Kayleigh, seething with hurt and anger herself, pushed past Mason and ran outside, heading towards town...
"Do you still want to do this?" Mason asked Dean when she was gone.
"Yes. We're seeing this through to the end"