Chapter 3.

Liv awoke in the early hours on the third day of Dean being gone. Sam was still sleeping next to her and she watched as his face scrunched up and then relaxed, dreaming. She continued to watch him and wondered (for what seemed like the hundredth time) what the hell they were doing. The last few days had been a bit of a blur. When they weren't rolling around, tangled in each other, they were talking and catching each other up on what had happened in the last four years. Liv had to admit, it was nice, but what would happen when Dean came back? Anytime one of them brought up the topic, the atmosphere between them would shift and rather than talk about it like adults, they would ignore it and have sex instead.

She continued to stare at the man sleeping soundly beside her and studied his appearance for the first time since he walked back into her life. His hair fell down to his shoulders, his face had more lines (probably due to the stress of the job) and his five o'clock shadow was turning into a short beard, but he was still as handsome as she remembered, almost devastatingly so. The kind that made her go weak at the knees whenever he walked into the room.

Wide awake, she got up out of bed as careful as possible so as not to disturb Sam. He was such a light sleeper, that one small movement tended to wake him and keep him up for hours.

She had been up for an hour and was making a large pot of coffee when Sam's arms snaked their way around her waist. He kissed her neck and rested his head on top of her shoulder, Liv closed her eyes at his touch. She couldn't believe how much she had missed him.

"Come back to bed," he whispered.

Liv smiled. She turned and her mouth went dry at the site of him. He was dressed only in his boxers, showing off his muscular upper body and his hair looked uncharacteristically untidy. She brushed some of it out of the way and stood on her tip toes to kiss him. Sam pulled open her robe, revealing her nakedness and pushed her lightly up against the cabinets, kissing her hungrily.

"Again? Seriously?" she murmured, grinning at him.

He gave her a mischievous grin. "I can't help it. Who knows when we'll get to do this again," he said, tracing her jawline with his fingers.

Liv's heart pounded. He was right, she knew he'd have to leave again soon. It was what he was best at.

He kissed her again and lifted her up on the counter positioning himself between her thighs. She wrapped her long legs around him and was fumbling in her robe pocket for a condom, when a loud pounding on the front door jerked them apart.

Sam threw her a curious glance, and asked nervously, "Who's banging on the door this early in the morning?"

Liv didn't say anything, she merely shook her head and headed toward the hall closet for her shotgun, tying her robe as she went.

Sam positioned himself behind the door while Liv trained her shotgun on the space where it would open. Giving Sam the go ahead, she turned the safety off and watched as the trespassers crashed into her apartment.

Dean was covered in blood and clinging, half conscious, to a man that Liv could only assume to be Benny.

"Dean? DEAN!" Sam cast an alarmed look over at Benny, "What the HELL happened?"

Liv stepped in between them, relieved Benny of Dean's weight and helped Sam carry him into the guest bedroom. After laying him onto the bed, Liv turned to Sam, who's chest was now covered in Dean's blood and looked like he was about to pass out. "Sam, go get the first aid kit out of the bathroom."

After he left the room, Liv bent down to take a closer look at Dean's injuries. He had multiple cuts on his body, most of which appeared to be fairly shallow but the gash on the back of his head was the most concerning. The blood there was thicker and darker than the blood on the rest of his body, but Dean was still breathing so she took that as a good sign.

Sam stood off to the side, chewing his fingernails while Liv worked. She cleaned his minor wounds, patched up the hole on his head and cut away his bloody clothing. The only thing left to do now, was wait for him to wake up. Sam covered him with a blanket and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching his brother. Liv was reminded of when she was in the hospital, after the vamp mission with Luis had gone awry, she had awoken to find Sam in a similar state. Her heart had almost stopped when she found him sleeping over her, now her heart broke for the same man worried about his brother.

She glared over at Benny who was hovering in the doorway, a safe distance away from the smell of Dean's blood. Liv motioned for him to follow her and he did with downcast eyes. "What happened out there?"

Benny looked at her, guilt written all over his face and spoke in his slow, Louisiana drawl. "My old nest, they uh…they tracked us down a few towns over. We thought we had taken them all out but there were…let's just say there were a few stragglers we didn't know about."

She raised an eyebrow at the vampire.

Benny looked at her sheepishly. "I know. I screwed up Liv. There's more though…They uh, they know what you're doing here."