Spring semester, I sign up for a full load. I had to add two extra classes than I normally would in order for me to graduate on time, but I know I can handle them. With Tyrion's death out in the open, I'm feeling better able to focus on things. I hadn't realized how much it was hurting me, keeping it inside. The first thing I do when I get back to school is scattered Tyrion's ashes. I really don't want them in my apartment, it's kind of creepy. The snows have melted some so I'm able to get to my favorite spot on the lake to scatter some there. I take some up to the M and the final bit I take out to Tyrion's cabin. I decided to call it that since the lilacs are still there. In the middle of winter, the flowers are still blooming, as if the weather doesn't matter to them one bit. They look beautiful against the harsh whites and browns of the forest. No one else has been there since the funeral so I continue to go when I'm missing him. I hope whoever buys it doesn't cut them down.
Mina was happily enjoying two whole weeks to herself. "I met up with a Shaman of one of the local tribes. Normally they don't even converse with outsiders, but he somehow made an exception for me. He taught me some old magic. I went into a trance for three whole days Alyx! I saw so many wondrous things and learned so much with him! I can't believe how much magic is out there waiting to be discovered!" She exclaimed. I could tell how excited she was but wasn't sure I wanted to be included. I could feel something different about her. It was almost like the power radiated off her now.
"Mina," I began. "Are you being careful? You seem different and it's only been a couple of weeks since I last saw you. I thought it was odd that you didn't even text me once over the break. You always do."
She looks at me in an odd sort of way, almost as the thought never crossed her mind. "I never thought of that." She confessed. "I was so busy with the Shaman and expanding my magical knowledge. You're right Alyx. I'm still a human being first. A witch second. Maybe I should call Cas for some advice." Little did she know I already had. He would be there as soon as he could.
In fact, he showed up that very night as Mina and I were having our traditional start of the semester feast. "Heya Cas!" I shout from the front door wrapping him in a giant hug. He looked a little haggard. More quietly I whispered. "Are you okay?"
He nodded and came in. "I would feel better if I could borrow your shower and wash my clothes. Would that be alright? Then we can talk. I see you are sitting down to dinner anyway."
"Of course, Cas. Mi casa es su casa." I answer. "Toss your stuff in the hallway and I'll get it going. I think Sam, Dean or Tyrion left some things in the guest room you can use in the meantime."
He waved at Mina as he passed through the kitchen. I hear him shuffling through some drawers, then he walks to the bathroom and I hear the shower running. I grab his suit and notice the bloodstains and dirt. He wasn't lying. "Wonder what sort of scrapes he got into and I hope the boys are alright." I spray and wash the hell out of it and put it in the washer, hoping it'll get clean. Then Mina and I have our food. We always order take out from at least five different restaurants and eat ourselves stupid. It's a fun tradition and we have leftovers for the rest of that first week. It's stressful enough we don't want to think about cooking.
Cas comes out wearing a pair of Stanford sweatpants and a Bon Jovi tee shirt. I stifle some laughter. It's so awkward to see him in normal clothes. He joins us at the table. "I realize how silly I look in these." Cas says, "But I admit, sometimes it's nice to be out of a suit." He winks at us both and we all burst out laughing. "So, ladies, how are we doing? Ready for your last semester?" He glances at me but his gaze keeps being pulled back to Mina.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I answer.
Cas re-focuses on me to ask a few more questions. "And how are you feeling? Do you think there are any side effects from Tyrion's drug?"
"Nope. I'm feeling better than I have in years, truth be told. That last boost of antidote balanced me out, just like he said it would." I reply.
"Good. Good. I've heard you've taken it upon yourself to learn some martial arts? How is that going?" Cas asks.
"Pretty well. Dean bought me my own set of Shuriken for Christmas. They're beautiful. And I'm pretty awesome at the bow and arrow too. I'm going to try some other weapons but was thinking I should probably learn to shoot. Right?"
"Yeah. For you humans, guns seem to be a popular choice. I applaud you for learning other ways though. It will definitely come in handy. The monsters don't always stand there waiting to be shot at." Cas beams at me. "Emotionally, how are you? I see you've come to terms with Tyrion's death so to speak. I'm sure you miss Dean terribly though."
I sigh wistfully. "Yes. I have only seen him once since they left. And that was on Skype. Not in person. I miss him."
"I know he misses you too. If he could, I know he'd come see you. We're just working on something right now..." His brow furrows with apprehension and he rubs his temples. "Don't worry, it needn't concern you," Cas says reassuringly. "We want you to stay safe. That's all that matters. What we're working on is not dangerous per se, just quite frustrating. We seem to have hit a wall." He sighs, leaning back. "Something will break soon, it always does."
"Now Mina. I have seen that your power has grown exponentially. I can feel it coming off of you. It's starting to worry the angels a little bit. The last few people who had this kind of power, we had to smite." Cas says in that no-nonsense baritone of his. "What have you been doing?" I take my bowl of noodles and grab a few slices of pizza and the sweet and sour chicken and head into the living room, giving Mina and Cas some privacy. I don't need to be there when they discuss things I don't or can't understand. I turn on the TV and see there's a Say Yes to The Dress marathon on and I hunker down on the couch with my food, happy for a nice distraction. I adore wedding dresses.
Mina and Cas talk so long I end up falling asleep on the couch. Cas comes in and wakes me. "Alyx? I wanted to come say goodbye."
"Wha... What about your suit?" I rub my eyes awake. "Oh, you're in your suit." I sit up and pull him toward me to dive into his trench. "Did I get those bloodstains out?" Cas squirms as I tickle him trying to see.
"Yes, you did a great job with my suit. Mina helped me with my trench coat and that came out great as well. Washing machines are wondrous things! I remember when..."
I pull at his coat interrupting him. "Do you have to leave? You just got here." I pout. "I wanted to..."
He smiles down at me and pulls me up for a hug effectively silencing me. "Unfortunately, yes. Sam and Dean need me right now. I'm actually picking up some ingredients for a spell. It may help us with our problem. You were on the way back to the bunker. I had to stop." He pulls away. "After that last text. I can see why you were worried about Mina. She is becoming exceptionally powerful. I mean she always was, now she's tapped into that power and the angels have taken notice. I promised them I'd keep an eye on her too. We had a talk. I explained things. She's going to stick to what she has learned already for the time being. If she starts acting strange or weird you call me. Okay?"
I nod. "Alright." I step in for another hug. "Tell Sam and Dean hello for me?"
"You got it Alyx." He cuffed my cheek. "Talk to you soon." He said as he walked towards the door.
I turned off the TV and took my dishes to the kitchen. Mina was busy labeling everything to put in the fridge. I watched her for a moment, trying to ascertain what was different about her exactly. I couldn't put my finger on it. I shrugged and tossed my pizza crusts in the garbage. "Ready for classes to start tomorrow?"
"I can't believe I'm the one that got stuck with an eight am class this time!" She whines. "Not fair!"
"Mine start at nine. That's not much better!" I respond. "And why are you even taking classes didn't you technically graduate in December?"
She laughs. "Yeah well, someone's got to stick around and keep an eye on you for Dean. I promised him I would." She winks at me. "So yes, I graduated. I even got my diploma in the mail on Friday, but I glamoured some people into thinking I haven't graduated yet so I could take some things. I just wish it wasn't at eight AM!" She whines a little then asks. "You going to the gym in the morning or after classes?"
"After. I'm taking Jean to show her what I've been doing. Don't know when I'll be back." I say.
"Cool. I'll let myself in for dinner?" She asks.
"You betcha." I grin at her. "It's pretty late. Lemme finish and you go get to bed okay?"
She yawns and nods "That sounds great. Bye Sweetie." And saunters off to her place.
I get up early the next day anyway. I still wasn't getting a full night's sleep in. Six hours at the most, but I made it work. Naps were soon becoming my best friend. I decided I wanted to look cute for all my new classes. It's been a while since I cared and thought this would be a good a time as any to start again. Like I'd told Cas, I was feeling better than I had in years. I ended up cutting a lot of my strawberry golden hair. It was too long for me to handle again. I cut it so it fell halfway down my back and I loved that it always seemed to curl perfectly as if by magic. I'd gotten rid of all my clothes that didn't fit me and spent a lot of time at the thrift store in the past few months too. I'd acquired quite the funky collection of things I loved. I choose a hunter green sweater with a purple bow on it and some jeans. I added the cutest fuzzy boots, complete with pom-poms. I packed my gym gear in my bag with some snacks. I always brought chili lime jerky now, it was a staple. I grabbed my books for the day and headed out. It had snowed again last night recovering everything that had melted. I sighed and turned around to grab a thicker coat, scarf, and hat.
The morning passed in a whir of information and greetings. Most had heard about Tyrion and stopped to offer their condolences. Those that had heard about it. I knew most of the people in my classes and we all followed each other around all morning. It was kind of fun actually. I knew we'd be in pretty close contact all semester. Being the bookish organizer I was, I set up several study groups for next week.
Soon it was lunch. Jean said she'd meet me and then we had lab together that afternoon. I find a spot in the crowded cafeteria and drop off my books. Standing there, I'm not sure what I want to eat so I plop down and am soon lost in thought. A guy sits down across from me. "Alyx?" He says.
I shake my head to bring me back to the present. "Yeah?" I answer.
"I thought that was you!" He reaches across the table and grabs my hand.
"Hey!" I jerk out of his grasp, still a little out of it. "Oh. Um sorry!" I say sheepishly. "I was daydreaming." I look at him carefully, focusing. "I'm sorry, I'm having a blonde moment!"
"Alyx, it's Max. The cobbler guy." He explains.
"From last semester! Oh hi!" I say genuinely happy to see him. "I haven't seen you since..." I trail off. "H... How are you?" I stammer out.
He laughs. "I'm good. Great actually. Had the best skiing trip over break. My parents bought me a car. It's not much, a 95 Honda, but it runs good, even in this weather, and that's all I care about. How have you been?" He looks at me hesitant to continue. "I mean I heard about your friend. He was kind of a jerk, but I know he was important to you so..."
"Yeah. Thanks for asking. We had a thing for him while I was home. And he wasn't always a jerk." I whisper. "But um. Yeah. Other than that, I've been good. Busy but good."
"I know. I tried to find you a few times last semester. You still owe me dinner!" He chortles. "I was never fast enough. You had always just left the library or class and seemed to spend a lot of time off-campus. What's up with that?"
"Dinner?" I say confused. "I thought it was coffee."
"It was a coffee, but I bumped it up to dinner when you were so hard to find." He winked at me, flirting shamelessly. "Is that something we could still do?"
"Oh, Max. I'm sorry, I can't." I respond.
"It's the first day of classes, you don't have any homework or studying to do yet. What do you mean you can't?" He looks at me bewildered.
He's so sweet and adorable, especially with that stubborn dark curl that falls on his forehead. I feel kind of bad turning him down. "I'm sorry Max, but I have a boyfriend," I explain.
He sighs a little heartbroken, whispering under his breath. "Of course you do. You were so beautiful already and then you metamorphosed into this divine goddess. I never even had a chance, did I?"
"What was that?" I asked, wondering if he was actually talking to me and surprised at what I'd heard.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing." He sighs. "I was saying, of course, you have a boyfriend. I mean look at you! You're gorgeous!" He exclaims.
I blush. "Well, that's awfully kind of you to say, Max. Thank you." I smile at him. "I do owe you though. I never paid you for my shoes. What can I do to make it up to you? I guess we could go to dinner, as long as it's not somewhere romantic." I feel a sharp pain in my chest and shake my head. No, that won't do. "How about a few lunches? You were so nice, helping me out like that. I do want to repay your kindness."
"Really?" Max brightens.
"Of course! We can do lunch." I pull out my rainbow unicorn planner.
He laughs. "That's your planner?"
"What?" I smirk. "I like rainbows and unicorns okay? They make me happy. I need some of that in my life." He puts his hands up in defeat and we set up a lunch in the next week, with two more TBD.
Jean arrives as Max is leaving. "Who was that cutie?"
"Some guy I met last semester. We never seemed to be able to connect. He fixed those fancy heels I love so much." I explained. "I had every intention of repaying him, but after Tyrion and then Dean leaving."
"You were pretty messed up after all that. I remember. Then you started having all those bruises. I didn't know what to think. Glad you are doing better." She says. "How was the morning?"
"Good. To be expected. You?" I counter.
"Yep same. I'm so glad you're taking the same lab as me this afternoon. We make great lab partners." She comments.
"Yeah, we do," I say. "Let's go eat. I'm starving." I realized.