.173.
"Hey Dean, you're down early." Mae observes as he walks into the kitchen, before she goes back to her mug of tea and bowl of oatmeal.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep." Dean grumbles, as he walks over to the coffee and starts a new pot.
"Is Lilly not actually a morning person?" He asks curiously as he wipes at his eyes.
"Not really. I think she got into the habit when we first started living here together, but when you guys aren't here, she usually sleeps in when she can." Mae shrugs, poking at the lumpy oatmeal.
Dean nods his head, rubbing the spot on his chest where Lilly had bit him when he'd gone to wake her up. "Ah… Makes sense." He says leaning against the counter crossing his arms over his chest looking over the girl he viewed as a little sister. "How have you been doing? Really haven't had much of a chance to talk with you, since, you know?"
"Yeah, we haven't really been in the same room much have we? Uh, well, I think it's weird that it's been four days since I woke up and I'm still having a hard time connecting all my dots." Mae chuckles, picking up her mug and taking a long sip.
"Whats up with omnipotent beings putting humans to sleep." Dean mutters under his breath thinking about it. "That's understandable. The other memories are-" He pauses remembering the way Smith had flirted with Mae in the hopes of attracting Lilly's attention. "Ugh. Sorry, ugh, that wasn't me you know, you're pretty and everything but, ugh."
"Ow Dean, way to bash a girl's self esteem." Mae says with a small smile, purposely misinterpreting him.
"Sorry, just, you're like a sister. How would you feel if, I don't know, Lilly was hitting on you or something?" He grunts trying to apologize.
"Lilly hits on me all the time Dean, especially when Regina's around. I've just gotten use to it." Mae continues to tease.
"What?! Really? Cause Lilly was super lezzy with you at Sandover's. And she wouldn't even look at me..." Dean questions running a hand through his hair, with a frown on his lips. Was she attracted to Mae? Like on that level? Usually the idea of a woman he was with being bisexual was a bonus but… For some reason this time, it bothered him.
"Dean, come on, I was teasing. She just does it to piss her Mother off." Mae quickly recovers, reading how upset her comments had made him.
"Well, seriously Mae, she was all eyes at you." Dean pouts.
"I think we had a ghost problem at the time Dean, and I don't do well with angry ghosts. Remember?" She huffs, muttering "stupid angels." under her breath. What was wrong with Dean? He seemed to be feeling inadequate, but that didn't make sense.
"No, I would watch. She was always super nice to you even before that stupid ghost even showed up, I would get so," Dean pauses searching for the right word, but shakes his head when jealous is the only one that stood out. "You know what, it doesn't matter." He sighs before looking her over. "So you're still processing?" He asks, grateful when the coffee machine beeps giving him the opportunity to turn around and pour himself a cup.
"I'm sure that was really freaking hard for her, having to look at all of us, and we didn't know her. I can't imagine looking into Sam's eyes and not being recognized. I think I'd go insane trying to play a part I couldn't remember." Mae says with a frown, dumping cream into her oatmeal, no longer feeling her appetite. Was Dean jealous of her and Lilly? Is that what he was saying? Because that was what she was getting off of him. That and confusion; and a little embarrassment.
"Yeah, I guess." Dean mutters as his brows draw together. "So, need any help with the processing?" He sits down at the table next to her, already drinking his coffee. "I'm a good soundboard." He offers with a lazy smile.
"Maybe…" Mae says, still focusing on her oatmeal, stirring it together as she thought about last night.
"Yeah, well I have an open schedule at the moment." Dean gently prompts her.
Mae smiles back at him, "Ok, well. Did something else happen while we were over there? Like, something to Sam?"
Dean's eyebrows raise and his emotions spike in concern for a moment, as he lets out a relieved breath. "Not that I know of, I didn't spend much time with him. He's kind of been acting off in general though lately. Is he lying to you too?" He asks his tone acrid with old bitterness.
Mae watches him in concern for a moment, not sure why he felt relieved. "No, I don't think he is. Yesterday he was just, different."
"Really? How so?" Dean asks a singular brow raised as he leans back in his chair.
"Well, usually he is much better at reining in his temper around me. But yesterday it was like he couldn't kept it- It just kept escalating-" Mae says with a frown looking at the table when she's cut off.
"Did he hurt you?" Dean asks tone concerned as he looks her over observantly, for any injuries. "He's been acting off ever since that demon bitch waltzed into the picture."
"No, Sam didn't hurt- He would never hurt me. I know that much." Mae defends Sam staunchly, as she sent Dean a look of disapproval.
"Well he obviously did something. What did he do?" Dean asks eyeing her carefully.
Mae cautiously looks up, feeling the intensity of his worry. "He walked off while we were talking, but, I sensed an emotion I didn't understand."
"Huh...He, walked away from you? Mr. Llets-hug-and-share-our-emotions just walked off?" Dean asks with furrowed brows, puzzled over his little brother's behavior.
Mae purses her lips and looks at him with a mock glare for a moment before continuing, "Yes, though I wouldn't put in your words," She sighs before looking back to her oatmeal. " And it was weird when he got back." She looks down at the table, still upset with Sam for asking her not to continue her pursuits with Thoth.
"Weird how? Cause he has been very weird lately." Like lying, sneaking off, using demon powers, and you know, other equally fucked up shit.
"Well, that was a lot of resentment Dean. Are you ok?" Mae asks, looking at him fearfully, worried about him.
"We are talking about you and my brother. But, you know, back on the subject of demon bitches, do you know about that demon skank, Ruby?" Cause I don't believe him, that he talked to you about her...
"Yeah, he told me… Awhile ago." Mae says slowly, not ready for the anger it caused him.
"Told you he was using demon powers? That, that bitch was training him? How long have you known? That's something to let people know. What is up with you and Lilly? Do you two even talk when we're not here?" Dean demands in exasperation.
"What, me and Lilly? We talk all the time." Mae argues, wounded by his accusations.
"About important things? Cause she never mentions anything of import, and it's, this is starting to look like that's a family trait. Does she know Sam has been using demonic powers?" Dean asks rubbing at his brow, frustrated.
"Wow, Lilly's right. You are a hypocrite." Mae says in shock, seemingly never having believed it before.
"I am not a, she knows doesn't she?" Dean says hanging his head back in defeat, the pile of things he was planning on talking to his girlfriend about, growing larger.
"Knows about Ruby teaching Sam to use his abilities to save people, We talked about it, but I don't think she remembers it."
"She doesn't remember it?" Dean asks skeptically.
"She got me very drunk just after we got home from giving you the bronze blade. And got very drunk in the process herself. We talked about a lot of things..." Mae frowns, as she played with a loose thread on her bell sleeve top.
"Uh huh, so you remember what happened, but she doesn't?" Dean asks speculatively, looking at her with disbelief.
"Cass said he thought I should remember because I started doing better after she and I talked about things, so he, I don't know, gave me the memories, found the memories? Either way he gave them back to me, we were pretty out of is, I'm not surprised she doesn't remember it. She was in a competition with herself to out drink us." Mae admits with a slight frown, as she thought how her sister had paid the price for trying to keep up with her and Cass. The angel drank liquor like it was just water, it was impressive, but in a scary way. If it hadn't been for Castiel constantly distracting her from her goal, her sister surely would be suffering from severe liver damage at the moment.
"Of course he did." Dean says then after a moment adds "So what did you two talk about while under the influence?" His curiosity piquing.
"You know, girl stuff. We had pillow fights and everything. Wanna know what we were wearing?" Mae says defensively, not sure why she was suddenly upset with his interrogation. Until it hit her, she was upset that he was interrogating her.
"Huh… No. Anything important get discussed, that maybe I should know about?" Dean asks curiously.
"Lilly made Cass play board games with us." Mae offers as a distraction, playing with her now cold oatmeal.
"That I wish I could have seen. So, what, she's nicer when drunk?"
"Sometimes."
"Sounds right. But seriously, I've been worried about her… So if you were sharing personal things, was she?"
"Ooo, that's manipulative and working…" Mae sighs with a frown.
"Well, she doesn't fucking share, anything, like ever. So… Want to fill me in? Please." Dean says softly, as he plays with his coffee mug.
"I'm calling unfair Dean." Mae says with a small grunt of disapproval.
"I'll keep her at bay, promise." Dean assures her, perking up with her look of defeat. "I just need to know. It's like pulling teeth with her." He admits with a frown.
Mae takes a moment, weighing the pros and cons of talking to Dean about something that Lilly couldn't even remember talking about herself. She was worried about her sister though, and she wasn't sure how to best help with the situations. The best she could do was be there for her; that was all she'd even been able to do. "She talked a lot about her time with the followers of Apep. About what… About what they did to her."
"Mmmhmm, like?" Dean prompts her, as he watched her closely.
"She's so skinny now because they starved her for days at a time, and they kept dumping snakes in her, cell. She said they kept her in a large glass room, like an aquarium. But it opened on the top and bottom. The way she described it was weird. They also beat her, and electrocuted her, which she says is not fun. She was very adamant about it not being fun. She also talked a bit about what her disgusting uncle did to her. He made her eat off the dirty floor, and I honestly think that bothered her more than the snakes did. She talked a bit about the demon as well, she mentioned that the blade he was using he used on her and Ruby, without washing it in between torturing the two of them, and that the next time she was getting tortured she was going to at least try to fake scream, because it escalated to burns and that again it was not fun. The only good things she talked were her gods and you."
"Fucking followers." Dean growls at the thought of them. Bobby and him had spent hours researching them, but there hadn't been much about them they could find. They weren't in any of the books, at most they found a couple articles about a couple of museum break ins, but that was it. "Glad to know getting her drunk is the way to get her to talk." He sniffs indignantly.
Mae simply shrugs and puckers her face. "We're still adjusting I guess."
"I'm… We all really suck at communicating." Dean sighs as he pulls his hand through his hair. "Anything else?"
"About our dunken three days, our alternant lives, or about Sam?" Mae asks with a rueful smile.
"All of the above." He asks shooting her an expectant look, and an adorable lopsided grin.
"I'm still worried about Sam, and you seem to be angry with him." Mae admits with a frown.
Dean rubs his temples taking a moment to form his words carefully. "What he is doing is, it's wrong. It's not like your empathy, or Lilly's… Whatever it is she does. It comes from demons. Demons corrupt. They are inherently evil. All of it. What he is doing is so very wrong, and he hasn't stopped. Don't think he wants too. I'm frustrated he doesn't know better, or worse he just doesn't care."
"I don't understand though, he said what he does saves people and kills the demons, never to hear from them again. How can that be such a bad thing?"
The only thing that kept Dean from yelling at her was her genuine, open desire to understand what he saw wrong with it. He takes a deep breath before he launches into his explanation. "If he's lying about it and sneaking out behind my back, he knows it's wrong. He gets extra juice sometimes, and I don't know from where, I just know Ruby's involved and I don't like it."
"He tells me all the time that as a hunter you have to learn to trust your instincts and right now, mine are telling me that something is bothering him." Mae admits hesitantly, and hating herself for it. "But, you're with him more often, these past three weeks excluded. What are your's saying?"
"Well mine are going off like crazy. He sneaks off on our hunts. He lies about calls. He never used to act like this." Dean sighs as he slumps defeated in his seat. Where had he gone so wrong with Sammy? He'd done his best to raise him right, and this is where they had ended up. He knew the school thing was outta the picture for Sam, but he had an amazing girl so what was driving this? He really wasn't sure, he just knew he needed to stop Sam before he did something stupid.
"He told me not to go to Thoth for help with my empathy anymore, or to find out what I am. He's afraid that he's going to demand a payment eventually." Mae blurts out, finally telling him the thing that had been bothering her.
Dean lifts an eyebrow at her sudden statement. "Well they make me fucking nervous, as a hunter, fuck even as a human they make me downright uncomfortable. I know they care about her, I've seen it. I don't like it, but, Cass and Thoth actually teamed up last night. They worked together to save her. I was too distracted by everything happenin', to really think about it, but, Jesus. There was a hunter, priestess, an angel, and a god on my bed last night. What the fuck is wrong with my life? Gods that sounds like the start of a bad joke." He sighs out rubbing his eyes.
Mae reaches across to him and gently pats his hand, giggling slightly when she registers that he said gods. "It's ok Dean, Lilly just makes your life more interesting. What were they saving her from?"
"The prei-Ahmes, took the memory meant for Lilly. Apparently she's been thinking she's a secretary for the last four weeks. She must've believed she'd been possessed by a demon with a death wish. Which now that I think about, I completely understand that perspective. Cass shoved his hand into her." Dean shrugs, before he shakes his head. "I never want to deal with that again."
"Oh, well that sounds... Terrifying." Mae says with wide eyes. "Is she ok? No wonder she didn't want to wake up today." She adds, looking up at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown.
"Yeah, well she was bleeding out of every hole in her face and passed out in the middle of saying she was fine. Again." Dean bites out with an exasperated shake of his head. "I swear sometimes she just does shit to piss me off…" He sighs. "Then I realized it also pissed off Thoth so she couldn't be doing it on purpose...But she's healed enough to bite me, in her sleep if that helps, I took it as a sign of good health." He grins at her.
"That doesn't take much effort…" Mae comments with a frown, before she shrugs it off. "But she's ok now? Everyone remembers who they are?"
"Yeah, I think everyone's back in place. well I'm pretty sure. Her brain was leaking out of her head last night, I'm sure that did some scrambling I'm sure… But Cass healed her, and said she was good as new. She's just sleeping it off." Dean sighs.
"Again with the terrifying." Mae shudders from the image his words provoked.
"Well hopefully it was worth it, cause if she's not back to normal, Lilly normal, she's going to have ta adjust. I'm not lettin' someone go elbow deep in her again, that was fuckin' awful to watch."
"I'm sorry Dean." Mae says, feeling exactly how much he hated the experience.
"It's fine. It's not like I was the one suffering from it. It's just not happening again." Dean says firmly with a shake of his head. "So, are you going to finish telling me about Sam not letting you train with Thoth?"
"It's not just Thoth, he doesn't want me near Cass either." Mae admits miserably.
"Okay, well I don't think you have control over either of those things… So, yeah."
"He doesn't want me trusting them or calling out to them." Mae frowns, before adding "I don't know Dean he seemed pretty adamant about it at the time."
"I'll talk to him. That's stupid. I mean I kind of get it. I do, but from what I know about gods, Lilly's act completely different. I hate myself for saying that, and Cass. Cass could have died last night. All of us could have died last night. He took that sacrifice for Lilly's sanity. He went against so many ingrained instincts to help her."
Mae nods in understanding, smiling inwardly at Dean's ability to recognize the risks and happy he was grateful to the god and angel. "I trust Cass, I even trust Thoth and Maat, though that is mostly because Lilly does. I can understand his worry, I can." She fidgets with her spoon, watching it intently as it sank into the goop she had made. "But the thing that worries me the most is what he did after walking away."
"What did he do?" Dean asks curiously as he watches Mae closely. She looked worried about something and it bothered him that something Sammy did had the usually carefree girl so on edge.
"Well, one, he doesn't usually leave me alone when we're out together. I didn't see him for like fifteen minutes. And when he came back, he was, unusually… Calm. Almost like he'd blown off a lot of steam or something." Mae admits, after struggling to find the right words, frustrated with herself for not being able to describe it better.
"That does sound unlike Sam, though he's been a little ball of rage lately. Not that I blame him, we've been taking nothing but hits since I got back." Dean sighs as he rubs the back of
"So, yeah, I'm just worried. And confused, because he told me to follow my instincts when he got back." Mae finishes as she pushes away her untouched oatmeal and puts her head on the table with a sigh.
"I think you'd hurt Cass' feelings if you stopped talking to him. And ya'd just piss Lilly off if you tried that with her gods." Dean says making a face, unsure of what he felt about the god. His eyes drift over her oatmeal mess.
"I just, don't know what to do. I promised you both I would listen to you. By the way look. This is me, listening." Mae says with a small smile.
"Well I'm the oldest, and not nearly as moody as Sammy. Now on that note, since yer listening and all, eat your food." Dean says pushing the bowl back towards her.
"But it's cold and just, ew now." Mae pouts, rolling her head to look up at him.
Dean furrows his eyebrows. "Do you two even eat when we're not here?" He asks darkly, his eyes narrowed in a look of disapproval.
"Well, yes… We're not children Dean." Mae sits up straight to look at him, offended by his suspicions.
"What does that even mean, you're not children?" Dean asks in frustrated disbelief. "What type of fuckin' defense is that Mae?"
Mae lets out a small snort. "It means we know how to take care of ourselves. We're still alive. Even if we weren't always on top of it- We still had to have eaten, we're not dead." She grumbles and rolls her eyes before she downs the rest of her tea.
"Do you?!" Dean snaps at her as he runs his hand through his hair. "What the fuck, what the fuck type of answer is that?" Dean sputters out narrowing his eyes at her. "You have too, you're still alive? What type of fucking response is that?" He demands with a cluck of his tongue.
"An honest one?" Mae admits , wincing at his lecture tone. When she looked back on the weeks after she and Lilly had been taken by the angels and demons, she knew they both had gone on a projects spree. As far as she could remember she ate when she was hungry, but it wasn't like Lilly had to file paperwork every time she refused to finish every apple slice on her plate; anymore. "Obviously we were eating Dean. This is getting insulting."
"Insulting? Wanna try that again? Why the fuck are you givin' me the run around on this?" Dean thought back on the weeks he'd thought he was Dean Smith and Lilly was his personal assistant; he recalled all the times she'd made him eat, but had stubbornly refused to join him; no matter how many times he'd asked. Of course it was Lilly too.
Mae squeezes her eyes shut in frustration. "This is dumb Dean. I said we ate."
"Alright, no, nono, no. This is fucking stopping. I'm making you breakfast. You're eating. Then I'm shoving food down her fucking throat." Dean states as he pushes away from the table and picks up her bowl, dropping it off in the sink..
"You're overreacting Dean. We just spent three weeks in an angel 'not-so-fun house'. We've been eating." Mae points out as she also stands from her seat at the table, her face flush in her anger at this situation.
Dean looks over his shoulder and pins Mae with a glare. "I'm overreacting?" He asks in a deceptively calm tone.
"Yeah. Like a lot Dean." She narrows her eyes at him.
Dean lifts an eyebrow at her and goes back to pulling out the ingredients for an actual breakfast. "Maybe if you both tried acting like adults I wouldn't be forced to treat you like the fuckin' brats you act like. It is ridiculous that I'm having this discussion with a twenty five year old. This is fuckin' ridiculous Mae." He growls at her as he begins cracking eggs into a bowl.
"I. Am. Not. A. Child." Mae hisses at him dangerously, not raising her voice at him, but the fury behind her eyes was still evident.
"Doin' one hellova job at provin' it." Dean smirks at her. "You're eatin' fuckin' breakfast."
"Fine!" She shouts at him before she rushes over to the back door.
"Don't you dare even fucking try it!" Dean growls at her as he puts the bowl down on the counter and walks towards her. "I will handcuff your smart ass to the table."
"I am not putting my garden on hold because you can't trust me Dean. I was gone too long and I have work to do."
"The fuckin' trees and bushes can wait Mae. Your ass is fuckin' eating breakfast. And you're right, this is fuckin' ridiculous."
"I said fine. I'll come back in."
"I dare you to say that word one. More. Time." Dean bites out, challengingly. His eyes sweeping over her in confusion. He'd never heard her speak like that to anyone and was surprised at the vehemence behind her tone. He'd obviously triggered a landmine somewhere along the way but had no idea how to back track; wouldn't even if he knew how. Their health was important and the last thing any of them needed was to deal with the fall out of the girls not taking proper care of themselves. He'd sort the rest out later, maybe Bobby would know something.
Mae just glares at him, wisely not taking his bait. This was dumb, and was a hinderance, and god; she hated being treated like a child. She knew though, if she raised to any of his challenges, things were going to get ugly. She had to find a way to defuse this before Lilly came downstairs. As much as she hated feeling like a scolded child, Lilly despised having her housekeeping and care questioned. She hated what Dean was doing right now, but she had to calm down. She drops her gaze to the floor.
"Dean…" She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out, not even sure where to start. She was so frustrated at their current situation she could feel her eyes burning. It wasn't going to help anything if Dean thought she was crying. He wouldn't know it was because she just wanted to shake him.
"Mae…" Dean mirrors her tone, as he crosses his arms and waits for her to continue.
"Look, we weren't always- I mean. We were dealing with… Stuff. And we took on a lot of work, and tried to, I don't- We weren't running away from our, our fears or whatever. It just helped us to always stay busy. So no, I can't remember everything I ate while you were gone, but things were kind of foggy, and we were just- going through the motions on some days. Sure, we didn't eat every day at first, but we did eat. I know we did. Lilly doesn't- didn't know how to not cook. I still gardened, we still went grocery shopping. I just can't, remember all of it. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to blow up the way it did, it just-" Mae lets out a tiny growl of frustration and stamps her foot before she turns her face up to him and snaps. "You're just being a jerk about it."
Dean raises an eyebrow at Mae, disbelief clear on his face. "I understand it's been hard but that's not an excuse not ta not take proper care of ya self princess. But Sam and I are home and now that I know this is a problem, I'mma be more on top of. Get used to it Mae, ya'll might get outta shit with the ol' man you've managed to wrap round yer finger, but it ain't workin' on me."
"We do not have Bobby wrapped around our fingers." Mae glares.
Dean snorts in disbelief. "Sure ya don't."
"How did this happen? We were just talking and now you're so- so angry and frustrated and mean." She feels hot tears splash down her cheeks and it just enrages her further. She didn't want to cry about this, she wanted to go outside.
"Because apparently when we're not home ya'll forget ta take care of your basic fuckin' needs. Ya can make beer though. Do how frustrating the two of you can be sometimes? I question how ya'll have made it this long." Dean retorts as he points to the table. "Now sit." He all but growls out at her.
"No." Mae pouts as she stomps her foot and crosses her arms. She turns away to walk to the door.
Dean growls and without a second thought plucks her off the ground and tosses her over his shoulder, ignoring her shrill screams. "That's fine princess, keep this shit up and you'll know from personal experience why yer sister doesn't wanna sit after some of our talks." He assures her as he plops her into her seat at the table. "Stay. Your garden can wait thirty minutes."
The room lapses into silence for several long moments before Sam walks into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. The first thing he sees is Dean working over the stove, pointedly ignoring Mae, who seemed to be trying to develop laser eyes. He halts mid step. "Woah uh, what's going on in here?"
Mae turns at the sound of his voice. She opens her mouth, but quickly shuts it before she just puts her head down on the table. This was just going nowhere good, and going there fast.
Sam quirks his eyebrow at Mae before he turns to his brother. "Dean, what did you do?"
"Well Sammy, that's a great question. One I feel Mae should answer." Dean comments dryly from the stove..
"Mae? What happened?" Sam asks her, concerned.
"Dean's very angry… This whole thing is stupid. We were talking and then he just snapped… And that is the last time I talk to him when I'm worried." Mae glares, straightening up in her seat.
"What was that?" Dean growls turning and pinning her with a glare.
"Dean, back off." Sam snaps at his brother, full bitchface on. It was too early for this and he still didn't have any answers. Dean was just being a douche and Mae was being vague and surprisingly taciturn.
"Gods yer such a pain when ya get up Sammy." Dean says pinching the bridge of his nose. "Mae seriously tell Sam or I will."
Mae shifts in discomfort. "Lilly cooks all the time. She made Cass eat while you were gone. You're overreacting and not listening and this is going to be bad if it's still a thing when Lilly wakes up."
"I'm still confused." Sam yawns as he rubs Mae's shoulders. "What's going on?" He asks lowly in Mae's ear, Dean was certainly in a foul mood this morning.
Mae takes a deep breath. "Dean doesn't think we can take care of ourselves."
"Great." Sam sighs as he slides into the seat next to Mae. "Why? What did Lilly do now?" He yawns.
"They weren't eating Sam." Dean growls as he flips a pancake
Sam looks between Dean and Mae for a moment, his head tilting to the side when his gaze lands on Mae. "You don't look, we've been eating. Why is this happening?"
"She said that they must have been eating because they were still alive." Dean grumbles as he flips a pancake angrily.
"These are words I am regretting…" Mae grumbles. But it was true. She wasn't a skeleton, Lilly was still pretty gaunt but not so much worse than before heaven and hell decided to personally insert themselves into their lives. Obviously, even if she couldn't recall what had been eaten, food had been eaten. She was starting to feel seventeen all over again and she certainly didn't like it. That entire year had been nothing but a messy uphill battle that should have never happened.
Sam rubs the back of his neck. "Dean, seriously I don't remember what I ate three weeks ago. Sure they both may have gotten a bit thinner but it ain't like we're in picture perfect health either." He points out.
"Do you want that one to end up looking like Lilly too?" Dean questions with a sceptical look.
Sam looks from Dean to Mae. "Well, no. I don't. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna yell at her or get her all riled up like you've somehow managed to."
Dean snorted in indignation. "Hey I'm just sayin' I'd feel better if we just made sure they were taking better care of themselves. It's kinda our faults we dragged them inta this, all I'm sayin."
Sam just drags his hand down his face. "Ya, but I make sure mine's taken care of."
Dean stiffens. His neck cracks as he slowly turns to look at Sam. "Are you- Are you implying that I don't?" He growls.
"Sup?" Lilly yawns walking into the kitchen her eyes blurry as she rubs them, with her palm.
"Great, Lilly, sit down with Mae, we were just talking about what happens with the two of you when we're not around." Dean snaps from the range.
"Oh Lilly, you really look like you could still sleep, and you probably should. I hear something awful happened to you last night and you should probably go back to sleep." Mae knew she was laying it on thick, but she was worried that if Lilly had just woken up she might not hear the warning.
Lilly pauses and looks over the kitchen for a short moment."Mmm, it's too fucking early for this shit." Lilly mumbles turning on her heel as she leaves the kitchen. She was taking Mae's warning and Dean's anger at face value today, and just didn't have the energy at the moment to even try to care, sure she'd hear an earful later.
"I'm going to go make sure Lilly makes it back to bed." Mae says eagerly, attempting to stand from her chair.
"Don't even try it. We all need ta talk about this shit." Dean bites out as he takes another flapjack from the pan.
"Right now? I agree with Lilly, It's too early for this." Sam argues as he slumps back in his chair, already done with this.
Dean glares at the two of them as he walks over and drops off two heaping plates of food in front of each of them. "Eat." He growls before he follows after Lilly.
Sam blinks as he watches his older brother leave the room in a tizzy before he looks to Mae. "So, wanna go for a walk and talk about this? Or just walk? Or just leave the house til he calms the fuck down?"
Mae frowns at the huge pile of food Dean seemingly believed she could, or more frighteningly so, should be eating. "I. Can't. Eat this much." She shakes her head. She was so tempted to take Sam up on his offer to duck out, but she knew that if they did, it was just going to be worse later. Whatever this was, they had to weather it out. "But he did cook, and you're hungry. And I'll even eat too."
Sam looks over his plate and yawns. "This really has nothing to do with us… But you're right, if we just do this it'll be over faster. Dean's a mule that way." He sighs with defeat.
Mae's lips curl into a small smile. "Sorry this is what you woke up to. At least you didn't have to witness our stand off."
Sam chuckles. "Nope, I'm actually kinda sad I missed it actually. I'm sure Dean didn't know what ta do with it."
Mae snorts. "He did a good job of hiding it, he kept me from going outside, picked me up and tossed me in the chair. He can be scary when pushed." She just wished she knew what had been the trigger.
"Yeah, well no one can bullshit like Dean." Sam frowns at the thought of Dean manhandling Mae. "I'll talk ta him about it though." He chuckles when he see's the horror on her face. "Just not anytime soon." He assures her.
.174.
"You. Lilly, wake up." Dean says angrily as he shakes his girlfriend's shoulder.
Lilly growls in response and rolls away from him snuggling further into the sofa.
"Lilly. Get up." Dean harshly barks at her.
"I'm up." Lilly squeaks quickly adjusting herself, sitting up straight.
"Great, now get in the kitchen. We have a problem that needs to be addressed now." Dean growls.
"Uh, kay? Who pissed in your cheerios?" Lilly asks as she stands and wipes at her eyes, confused and alert at his tone. She walks around him, giving him a wide berth as she heads for the kitchen.
Dean follows behind her as she slowly moves to the kitchen, not dignifying her question with an answer.
He leads her to a seat at the table with Mae and Sam before he turns to collect their plates. He puts one in front of Lilly before he slides into his seat next to her.
Lilly looks at the plate of food with a blank face, before she slides it away and rests her chin on her crossed arms and looks to her sister. "Sup?" She asks curiously.
"Nope, you're suppose to eat that." Dean says, pushing it back towards her.
"I just woke up. I'm barely functioning. Chewing is a lot of work. Why are you so bitchy?" Lilly questions, indifferent to the plate pushing against her arm.
Mae snorts into her orange juice, nearly choking on the liquid, which only earned her a glare from Dean. She quickly drops her eyes back to her plate and continues to eat pick at the pancakes.
"Lilly, I would just eat." Sam advises as he wipes at his brow. This morning was certainly stretching into a long one.
"What? Why?" Lilly asks as she turned to Sam, weary at his strange encouragement.
"Dean and I had a miscommunication and now he thinks we don't eat." Mae comments quietly before she shoves a strawberry into her mouth.
Lilly blinks at Mae before turning between the two brothers with a look of irritation melded with disbelief. "Seriously?" She asks blankly.
"You better believe I'm serious. I know you haven't been eating Lilly." Dean accuses.
"Yes I fuckin' have." Lilly scoffs as her eyes narrow at Dean.
"Oh really? Mae and I were having a conversation here in the kitchen when I noticed that she still didn't seem to be eating much. Actually anything. So we had a conversation about what you guys do when we're not here and I'm not happy with her answers. Made me think back to all the times you refused to eat for the past three weeks."
"Excuse me? You're seriously questioning how I take care of Mae? Offensive much. Is that what this is? Cause she gods damn eats." Lilly growls her golden eyes molten with righteous indignation. She sits up and leans against her chair back arms crossed defiantly as she glared at the man next to her.
That's what this was. Dean hadn't fully thought through everything that had happened to them while at Sandover, but her words must have triggered him. "I actually don't think this is about me anymore Lilly." Mae admits.
Lilly looks to Mae with a raised eyebrow. "Then what the fuck is this about?"
"Lilly, maybe you should just eat, your getting the two of you in trouble." Sam warns her.
"No, fuck this. This is some fuckin' bullshit. Why are you accusing me of not taking care of my sister, or myself? That is, that is…So fucking foul." Lilly snaps defensively.
"Excuse me? Really? Is that what you're sticking with?" Dean growls in challenge.
Without a word Mae leans into Sam, twisting her hands in his shirt, Whispering "I ate, can I be excused."
Lilly pushes away from the table, rolling her eyes, when Dean's hand falls on her shoulder. "I'm making tea Dean, take out your fucking tampon. Pop a frickin' vicodin and calm the shit down." Lilly growls at him her eyes narrowed, as she shrugged his hand off her shoulder violently. How fucking audacious was he accusing her of this shit? She didn't fuckin' harp on him about his shitty fucking diet.
Sam snorts turning the sound into a choking laugh, watching as Dean's anger escalates quickly. He gently pats Mae on the shoulder, kissing her hair as he whispers, "I wouldn't recommend it."
"I don't want to be here. You were right. Tell him I ate. I think he woke her up, and her love of me only goes so far." This was exactly what she had been afraid of. Lilly was only half awake, and probably still drained from what ever happens when an angel shoves his hand into your chest. She hadn't liked it when Dean was treating her like a child, and now Lilly was dealing with Dean's attacks. Something was going to give and they were all going to lose.
Dean's narrowed eyes shift from Lilly to Mae and back. "No, you're not leaving till you eat some damn protein, you didn't even touch the eggs I made you. And you-"
"I make sure she gets her fuckin' protein!" Lilly snaps, interrupting him. "She doesn't like fuckin' eggs and you're not going to force her ta eat em." She growls at him as she gripped her fists at her side. This was like being an eighteen year old all over again, but worse. She turns to Mae. "Mae you're a fuckin' adult, if ya wanna go. Then go. No one. Is going to stop you."
"I've seen her eat eggs." Dean snaps right back, tired of the way these two would stand up for each other and lie so quickly. "And no, she's gonna keep her ass planted right where she is until after we've all talked."
"Don't fuckin tell her what to do." Lilly growls at Dean. "She only eats scrambled eggs. I know my fucking sister and I know what she eats and that she eats. This is as fucking dumb as it is insulting, Winchester."
"Then why do you still look so sick? And why has Mae lost weight?" Dean glares.
"Cause she doesn't eat much when she's feeling like shit, I had angel elbow in my chest last night, sorry I'm not a ray of fucking sunshine." Lilly spits back.
"I'm not asking you to be a fucking ray of sunshine, I'm asking you to eat in front of me, because one thing I agree with Mae about is that I can't remember the last time I saw you eat."
"Dean, maybe we should all take a breath or something." Mae tries to calmly exert when she notices Lilly's eye twitching.
"I eat in front of you all the damn time." Lilly seethes as she picks up her fork and spears it through one of her over-easy eggs.
Mae eyes the eggs with horror even as she quickly spits out. "Wait, no don't!"
However the words come a moment too late as Lilly shoves the underdone egg into her mouth spitefully. Her pale skin immediately blanches as her stomach twisted with immediate regret. The eggs rubbery consistency mixing with the yolk breaking in her mouth causing her eyes to widen at her own mistake. She hadn't realized how underdone the yolk was going to be or how flesh like the whites would feel in her mouth.
"Oh no." Mae breaks away from the table, surprising Sam, rushing to grab a bucket from under the sink. She runs to Lilly, shoving it under her chin as Lilly immediately vomits into the bucket. The only thing Mae can do now is hold Lilly's hair once Lilly's arms wrap around the bucket.
Both brothers stand, neither sure of what to make of the scene. "What the hell?" Dean asks in a stern but surprised tone.
"Mistake."Lilly groans into the bucket miserably, her stomach still turning. Her pallor a sickly shade of green as she was bombarded with Alistair taunting her with her own flesh, as he pressed it against her lips before shoving it into her mouth talking about how sweet human flesh tasted. Her entire being shuddering at the memory.
"She hasn't been making anything with meat since… the things happened." Mae quickly explains.
"Thank you, Mae." Lilly pants into the bucket, hugging it close to her as she goes another round.
"You're shitting me right?" Dean asks as he shift positions with Mae, so she could get away from the vomiting .
"What?" Sam says, questioning everything going on in the room right now.
"She hasn't been able to eat meat. She throws up every time she tries." Mae tries to finish explaining.
"I know I've seen her eat meat." Dean states confused and concerned.
"Dean, please, please just believe me. Meat makes her sick." Mae pleads, not sure how to tell him more about Alistair, and sure that he was going to include that in his 'important' things she should have known to tell him. "She's tried, but it always ends like this."
"Can I please go to the-" Lilly asks her stomach continuing to turn as she continues to dry heave into the bucket.
"Go." Dean said, still glaring at Mae. Oh he would get answers.
Lilly doesn't say another word, as her and her bucket disappear shockingly quickly.
"What the hell happened to make her sick when eating meat?" Dean growls, bearing down on Mae, who squeaks and backs into a chair.
Sam intercepts his angry brother. "Dean calm down. I'm sure she'll answer, just give her space man. You're going to make her pass out, then we won't know. And I'll punch you in the face."
"Oh really, you'll punch me, in the face." Dean challenged.
"Can we please return to the land of reason? I like it there, it's nice." Mae chimes in, standing up to come between the brothers before either could throw a punch.
"I'm being reasonable. What the fuck was that? Is she fucking bulimic? Cause I fucking swear, I already have to deal with her cutting herself! I don't know what the fuck this on toppa that."
"She's not fucking Bulimic Dean! She's dealing with shit that Alistair did to her. Give her a fucking break. It was disgusting!" She screams at him.
Sam makes a face as he steps between his girlfriend and his brother; concerned by the sheer tone and volume of Mae's anger. This wasn't going to go anywhere good. "Okay, maybe we should all breath. Mae, we don't know what's going with Lilly, and this looks really bad."
"Maybe you two should ask instead of throwing accusations around like confetti sprinkles." Mae continues screaming, looking only at Dean as her whole body reddens in her anger.
"Okay, so we're asking, I'm asking. What happened. I'm curious, I know Dean's curious." Sam asks as calmly as he can.
"I did fucking ask, like twenty minutes ago," Dean frowns. "Anything else I said. You said no."
"You can't expect me to just dump information on you, I try very hard not to think about this."
"YES I CAN! She's fucking vomiting, over a stupid egg. Since when is she a fuckin' vegetarian! I need a damned explanation."
"BECAUSE THAT DAMNED EGG PROBABLY FELT LIKE HER FUCKING FLESH IN HER MOUTH! AGAIN!" Mae screeches in anger.
Sam turns to look at her in horror, unsure of what he just heard.
Dean's jaw tenses his eyes wide, shutting his mouth quickly. Trying to process what she had just shouted in outrage. His mind starts to torture him with the images of her tattooed skin on the ground of the barn. Yeah, that was something Alistair would do.
Mae looks at the two of them in horror and rushes to the garbage can, her breakfast quickly coming back up with a vengeance.
Lilly comes back into the kitchen, concerned and worried for her sister. "Who activated Harpy mode? What the fuck was she just yelling? What the fuck did you guys do? Cause kudos and fuck you." She comments as she rushes over to the tea kettle and pulls it off the base.
Sam and Dean both turn to look at her, surprised by her voice. They jump when a few seconds later they hear the back door slam; Mae was no longer in the kitchen
Sam looks to the back door and then back to the girl still in the kitchen, his brow furrowed as he makes a quick decision. "Lilly?" His face smoothes out to concern.
"Yeah?" Lilly asks as she flips the lid open and lets the tap water fill it, as she leaned against the counter and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Why didn't you ever tell me? I would have understood." Dean says quietly.
"What? Tell you what?" Lilly comments brows furrowed in confusion, as she flips the lid shut to the kettle. She turns around to look at the men in confusion. What the fuck? What did I just walk into, did I read the scream wrong?
"Why you don't eat meat anymore." Sam supplies, looking a bit sick.
Lilly blanches for a moment walking over to the base and putting the kettle on it, hitting the switch. "Uh...I uh… Mmm saw one of Mae's documentaries."
"Please don't try to lie. I really don't think I could handle it right now." Dean says, walking over to her.
Lilly looks between Dean and Sam with a frown. "Okay, I'll bite. What the hell is going on?"
"Well, I think we may have gotten too… Investigative, when you threw up." Sam starts to explain, waiting for Dean to jump in.
"Alright. I don't eat meat, no big. Doesn't mean that I don't eat." Lilly sighs as she crosses her arms across her chest and looks between the two men expectantly.
"I'm going to need to try a different tactic. Sam, go check on Mae, we'll meet back in here for lunch." Dean tells his brother.
"Wait, I'm making Mae tea." Lilly quickly comments with a shake of her head. "That's why she was throwing up right?"
"No, I don't think it was. Not this time." Sam says, heading out the door.
"Uh… Well that does it. I have no idea what's going on. And I give. I'm going to go back to bed..."
Dean just walks up to her and traps her in his arms. "Sure, ok, we can go back to bed. This day is not what I thought it was going to be. I just wanted to spend time with Mae this morning. Suddenly I find out you guys don't eat well when we're not here, and then I find out more about what that fucker did to you while he had you on his table." He hugs her to him tightly before he picks her up bridal style and heads towards the stairs.
"How the, what, who told you that…" Lilly asks hesitantly, shocked. What the fuck? How the hell, no fucking way, no fucking way did I tell anyone about that. That shit was going with me to my grave. No scars, didn't happen. Shit… Just, fucking shit.
"Mae screamed it in my face when I pressed her too hard. That was my fault and I'll apologize to her later." Dean admits with a sigh.
"But, how, I didn't, when...I didn't mean to, what?"
"Three day bender? Apparently she remembers everything." Dean informs her.
"Oh gods. Wait, I have to apologize to her, that's fucked up. She wasn't, what the hell was I thinking, oh gods. I am so sorry. I did not want you to know, can we go back and just. Fuck. You made breakfast… Let's just fuckin' go eat."
Dean looks her over for a moment and shakes his head, there was no way she was actually going to eat at the moment, and it would just piss him off more. "No, we can't. I'm done with being angry for today, you and I are going back to bed."
"Uh, can I take a shower first?"
"Go for it. I'll join you if you don't mind."
"Um, I'm fine. I would really rather solo it."
"Please don't." Dean shut his eyes and holds her to him tighter. He knew what she wanted to do; why she wanted to get a shower alone. "Babe, I yelled at her, I don't even understand why I got so angry over this. But please, don't- Don't make me face that right now too. I don't know how I'll handle it."
Lilly looks down in shame, frown firmly on her lips. Today was going to be much longer than she anticipated. "Let's just got to bed." She sighs.
AN: Hey Reader! We hope you enjoyed our newest chapter. Please let us know what you think of our story line so far. Leave us a review or send us a private message. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on how our writing is going. Much love and we'll see you again next Sunday!