AN: so... instead of working on my papers for class i decided to write for this instead. Please welcome my original charaters, the Atwater cousins. It may seem random now, but they will be important later! Please review and let me know what you all think! As always, this is unedited and i dont own supernatural
The next few days at Bobby's were some of the best Nicole had had since she took off with Sam and Dean almost a month ago. In the mornings, Sam and Dean would find a shady spot in the yard for Nicole to practice shooting a target taped to the side of a dilapidated car. Because her eyesight and reflexes were nearly perfect thanks to vampirism, Nicole was an excellent shot, which made Dean extremely jealous.
In the afternoon, Sam, Bobby, and Nicole would dig into Bobby's vast library and try and dig up any information on an original vampire and while they worked, Dean disappeared into Bobby's garage where he was keeping the impala and didn't come out for hours. Well, in all honesty, Nicole wasn't helping with the research much either. She kept getting distracted by the books on vampires and reading all about what she was now. The science nerd in her was too fascinated to put them down and Sam and Bobby didn't blame her.
In the evenings the boys had actual dinners that had been cooked in an actual kitchen, sometimes by Nicole and sometimes by Bobby, instead of fast food. Though Nicole was limited to sucking down bottled blood, she still loved these dinner times. It was when she would see Sam and Dean the happiest she had ever seen them and it was almost as if they all felt at home. Nicole didn't know Bobby that well yet, but she knew that she already loved him, simply for the way he took care of the two brothers she cared so much about. They deserved a father figure because it sounded to Nicole that the one they grew up with was some shit… Not that Nicole would ever say that to Dean's face.
A few days after they arrived, Dean called Nicole out to the garage where he had been working for the past few hours.
"Nikki, come here, I want to show you something."
Nicole looked up from the book she had her face buried in and glanced at Sam who shrugged.
"Alright." Nicole put her book down and donned her cap and shades before following Dean outside.
"You finally gonna show me what you've been doing out here instead of helping us research?" Nicole nudged him playfully in the arm.
"Don't be a jerk until you see it," Dean shot her a sideways look, "It's a present for you."
"I… what?!" Nicole stared at him, open mouthed.
"Just come on…" Dean pushed open the garage door and led her inside. "Look at the rear windows."
"Dean… did you tint the back windows of your baby for me?" Nicole pushed her shades off her face and stared at him.
Dean looked away from her and busied himself with cleaning a smudge off the car with his sleeve. "I, uh, thought it would make car rides easier for you."
Nicole almost felt herself tearing up. Dean really did care about her. This gesture made her feel like she wasn't just someone he put up with until they could find the cure… that maybe she had become a part of their rag tag family too.
"Dean," she grabbed his face and made him look at her. "This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you."
Dean's ears turned pink and he cleared his throat. "Yeah, no problem."
Before she could stop herself, Nicole rocked up on her toes and pressed a small kiss to Dean's lips. He stared at her in shock and then it was Nicole's turn to blush.
"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done that," she backtracked stepping away from him, but Dean grabbed her hand before she could move.
"It's fine," Dean said, his face unreadable and they stared at each other for an immeasurable amount of time, neither sure what to say.
Finally, Nicole broke the silence with a grin. "And to think you couldn't stand me the first few days I was with you guys, and now I get special accommodations."
Unable to stand the tension in the garage, Nicole told Dean they probably needed her back inside and immediately dashed inside and upstairs.
A few minutes later, when Dean wandered back into the living room, Sam looked suspiciously at his brother.
"Dean, what did you do?" He asked, and even Bobby put down his book to listen.
Dean froze halfway through opening a beer. "Why do you always think I've done something?" He glared at Sam and threw himself on to the couch.
"Because Nikki just ran though here like she'd seen a ghost and 90% of the time when she's upset it's because you did something." Sam leaned forward in his chair and stared at his brother.
"I really didn't this time, Sam. I actually took what you said the other night seriously and I did something nice."
Sam narrowed his eyes at Dean. "You don't appear to have another black eye… so what happened."
Dean sighed, realizing he wasn't getting out of telling Sam. "I showed her that I tinted the back windows of the car so that she can ride without being totally covered from now on."
Both Sam and Bobby'e eyebrows shot up and they shared a loaded look at the fact that Dean modified his car for this girl.
"And…" Sam prodded, knowing there was more to freak Nicole out so much.
"And… she kissed me," Dean admitted, feeling a little bit like a high schooler as he did so, "and then she said she shouldn't have done it."
Sam burst out laughing at that. "You sound disappointed, but did you honestly expect any other response?"
Dean raised an eyebrow at his brother and Sam continued. "I mean the last time this happened, you basically told her she wasn't a real person and freaked out and she punched you in the face."
Bobby choked on his drink. "She punched you in the face?"
"Yeah, it was like the second night she was with us," Sam told him, "it was great. Dean had a black eye for like 2 weeks."
"I am still right here," Dean reminded them.
"So you finally found a girl who doesn't take your shit, huh?" Bobby mused, looking Dean up and down. "You need find her the cure and then marry this girl," he told him.
Dean took a long sip of his beer and glanced between his brother and Bobby, making the split second decision to stop pretending like he didn't care about Nicole, vampire or not. If he had to be honest with himself, he had had feelings for her since the moment she climbed into his car in the middle of that first night, he had just needed time to come to terms with the fact that she was a vampire. He had nearly driven himself crazy with jealousy the past few weeks every time then went out and it had become useless to pretend he felt otherwise… at least to Sam and Bobby.
"I doesn't matter anyways though," he said, "need I remind you that she kissed me… and then took it back? She doesn't feel the same."
"Come on, yes she does," Sam scoffed. "She's just as scared as you are."
"Well then what happens when we find the cure? She goes back to med school in Phoenix and I keep hunting, probably never seeing her again." Dean finished his beer and slammed it on the table. "Okay, I'm done talking about this," he said, getting up and marching out of the living room, leaving Sam and Bobby to stare after him.
A few hours later, when Sam and Bobby were holed up in the kitchen fixing dinner for the night and Nicole had yet to come back down from her room, Dean was flipping through TV channels when he hear the rumble of an engine coming up Bobby's drive.
"We got incoming," he called into the kitchen and both Sam and Bobby hurried to the living room window.
"Looks like the Atwater cousins," Bobby said, eyeing the red Camaro that had just parked in front of his house, and both Sam and Dean groaned.
"The Backwaters… our favorite people," Sam muttered and Bobby shot him a stern look.
"They come here sometimes for information. They may not be the friendliest hunters, but don't go causing problems with them in my house," he said, mainly to Dean.
"Oh come on, Bobby," Dean scoffed. "They're a bunch of backwoods hill billies with bad attitudes and you know it." But before Bobby could respond, there was a knock on the door and three men made their way though Bobby's front door.
"Bobby!" The biggest, oldest, and in the Winchester's opinion, meanest, and stupidest of the group, Marcus, clapped Bobby on the shoulder in greeting.
"Hey, Marcus, Ian, Joel, it's been a while. You guys remember Sam and Dean?" Bobby nodded in their direction.
"Winchester? Of course. We didn't see your car out front." Joel stepped around his cousin into the room.
"Good to see you guys," Sam nodded at them, while Dean continued to frown, a bitter taste from the last time they had all crossed paths still in his mouth.
Looking between the two families who appeared one wrong move away from opening fire on each other, Bobby clapped his hands together. "Well, I wish I could offer you guys something to eat, but we only cooked for 3 tonight. Can I get you a beer instead?"
Marcus opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short when Nicole decided to bound down the stairs. "Hey guys! Did I hear a car pull up?" She skidded to a halt at the entrance to the living room, hair wet from a shower and already dressed in her pyjamas, but with pants on this time, Dean was pleased to see.
"Oh sorry. I didn't know you guys were having company over." Nicole immediately went to stand next to Sam and Dean, sensing the tension in the room and was highly aware of the way the three newcomer's eyes followed her across the room.
"We didn't either, sweetheart. But Nicole, this is Marcus, Ian, and Joel Atwater," he said, pointing to them each in turn, "And they were just about to tell us why they are here."
"We got this stubborn spirit a few hours away that just won't quit no matter what we try, so we figured we'd swing by and check Bobby's library," Joel told the group, "You mind Bobby?"
"Of course not. I'll go pull some spirit books out. You guys take a seat and the boys can bring you something to drink."
Dean frowned at being told to fetch his least favorite group of hunters a beer, but Nicole stepped on his foot so he and Sam headed to the kitchen without complaint.
"You all need some help?" Nicole asked the three Atwaters, peeking over Bobby's shoulder at what books he was pulling down, "I'm pretty good at research."
"That she is," Bobby said, dropping a pile of books on the coffee table for them all.
"We have one smarty parts future doctor on our hands," Dean chuckled as he reentered the room and handed Nicole a beer.
"Future doctor, huh?" one of the cousins asked and she wasn't sure which one he was.
"I'm about to go into my third year of med school," Nicole replied.
"So how'd you get mixed up with the Winchesters?" The biggest one, Marcus chimed in.
Making eye contact with Dean across them room, he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head and Nicole realized that these cousins were not the type of people who would be accepting of a vegetarian vampire.
"Um… they saved my life about a month back and I've been following them around ever since."
Marcus smirked. "So are you a hunter groupie now or something?"
Nicole's mouth dropped open in shock, but before she could express her indignation, Dean spoke over her.
"Don't be stupid Marcus."
"Come on, Man. I'm only wondering if you have to be a Winchester or any old hunter would do." Marcus grinned slyly at Nicole and even his cousins looked a little uneasy.
"Excuse me!" Nicole nearly shouted.
"You want to ditch these boys and come for a ride with me and my cousins?" He asked, and Nicole couldn't believe someone could be such an ass.
"Marcus, seriously," Sam cut in.
"She can't speak for herself? You got a reason why she can't come?" Marcus asked, turning his attention to Sam.
"Does the fact that I don't want to count for anything to you?" Nicole asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
"She's my girlfriend," Dean blurted out, coming to stand with his hands on her shoulders.
Sam choked on his beer and Nicole did her best to keep her face impassive, as if this wasn't completely new information to her. Marcus was silent for a few moments, looking between the two of them, but he finally threw his hands up in the air and leaned back into his chair.
"Sorry man, I was just messing around."
"How about we just help you all figure out how to gank this spirit and then we can all be on our way?" Bobby suggested, before Dean and Marcus came to blows. Joel caught Nicole's eye as she went to reach for her book again and gave her a small apologetic smile and she nodded at him.
They group worked in tense silence for almost an hour before Marcus, in an attempt to make amends, offered to get everyone another beer from the kitchen. Nicole and Dean took advantage of his absence to have a whispered conversation in the corner.
"Dean what the hell?!"
"I'm sorry, I just thought this would be the fastest way to get him to leave you alone. They'll be gone in a few hours."
Nicole huffed in annoyance. "I appreciate the help, but I shouldn't have to belong to another man to get someone to leave me alone. No should be enough. It's fucked up."
"I know," Dean squeezed her arm, "and as if you would ever belong to a man." He scoffed and Nicole couldn't help but chuckle, but their good mood was quickly spoiled as Marcus walked back into the room.
"Saved your life huh?" He asked Nicole, holding up one of the plastic bottles of animal blood that had been hidden in Bobby's fridge. "I knew there was something more going on."
"It's cow blood," Nicole told him, deciding it was pointless to try and deny what Marcus had obviously caught on to.
"So?" He scoffed, "A filthy bloodsucker is a filthy bloodsucker and if we had come across you instead of these softies, you'd be dead right now." He uncapped the bottle and slowly poured it out on Bobby's floor. "Come and get it, vampire."
Dean immediately stepped in front of her and reached for his gun, which caused Ian and Joel to jump to their feet next to their cousin.
"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Bobby stepped in the middle of the room. "There will be no violence in my living room. Nicole doesn't kill people and she is a guest here. If you can't respect that then I suggest you guys high tail it back to where you came from."
"Who knew would have ever thought that the Winchester brothers would have a pet vampire…" Ian scoffed, "come on Marcus," he pulled his cousin on the arm, "let's get out of here. We can get better information elsewhere."
With one last withering glace at the brothers and Nicole, the three Atwater's stopped out of Bobby's living room with Dean's words of "I hope that ghost kills you guys" following them out the door.
"Holy shit," Sam said, still looking flabbergasted. "Did someone piss in Marcus' coffee this morning? I don't remember him being that terrible."
"So those are what other hunters are like…" Nicole mused, "well they make you at the beginning look warm and fuzzy," she said to Dean.
"You have no idea," Dean shook his head and Nicole punched him in the arm.
"OW! What the hell was that for?"
"That is for jumping in front of me you idiot. I'm immortal and you aren't! Now go get a mop."
AN: too intense? too much of an ass hole? Review! Thank you :]