A/N: Kelly's POV. Takes place in chapter 13 of Caught in the Crossfire, after the first night in the house and Michelle wakes up Kelly.

Chapter 15: Running Errands

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast"
- John Gunther

I left Michelle in the bedroom after getting dressed and headed downstairs to find Sam and Dean standing awkwardly in the middle of what you could call our living room. Sam smiled at me but Dean looked both exhausted and pissed. "Morning, boys. Please tell me you come bearing coffee?" I asked hopefully.

"Sorry, no. We came to see if we could help you all settle in?" Sam offered sincerely.

I yawned uncontrollably in response. "Sorry, yeah. That would help. A lot. Thank you, Sam. To be honest, I don't really know where to start with this house, Michelle had all her lists, but she finally passed out. What do you guys usually do when you stay in abandoned places?"

oOo

Sam and I got to work making a new list of everything that we needed to get done to get the house operational. The boys had brought some water jugs and a few snacks from Bobby's, but no coffee or tea.

After my 20th or so yawn Dean cut in, "you need caffeine, and I need breakfast." Dean motioned at the list. "Sam, can you handle getting started with all this?"

Sam nodded, pulling the list back toward himself. Dean turned towards me, "you're coming with me, so you can pick up whatever you think you need to get started here."

Part of me wanted to find a way to stay at the house. I could tell Dean was still pissed about us taking off from Bobby's and if we were alone, we'd have to talk about it. I wasn't sure I was ready to have that talk, but I pushed past my own hesitations. "Works for me. Sam, are you okay running this alone? I feel bad leaving you to deal with everything."

Sam smiled at me, "I got it. I'm better at this than Dean anyway."

"Dude. Not true."

"The last house we stayed at you fried the wirin-"

"You were the one who busted the fuse box."

"Boys! As adorable as this is to watch, I need coffee, and we're all going to need food." I looked to Dean, eyebrows raised. "Can we go now?"

Dean headed out the door and to the car, I followed. We'd been driving in tense silence for a few minutes when he finally broke it. He spoke to the windshield, not looking at me. "Do you know how fucking stupid it was for you to leave Bobby's like that? With a vamp nonetheless?"

"Wow." I shook my head, exhaustion frying my last nerve, "well, you really didn't give us much of a choice."

He finally looked over, "you mean Michelle didn't give you a choice."

I glared at him in response, "excuse me?"

"She said jump, you said how high. She's not okay, and you know it. You could have shut this down."

"Shut this down? It's not my call alone to make Dean. Could we have handled our move alittle more gracefully? Sure. But was it the right thing to do? Absolutely. To be honest, we should have left sooner." I sighed heavily, "also, don't bring Michelle's stuff into this. We're all coping the best we can."

He glared at the road in response, hand tightly gripping the steering wheel. I stared at him waiting for him to continue, and when he didn't, I prompted him, "why are you so pissed off at me?"

"Because you're smarter than this and because Sam and I are responsible for you being here, but you're making stupid decisions that are going to get you all killed."

I fell silent at that. I wanted to be angry, livid really but remembered just how much guilt both he and Sam piled on themselves. The two of us yelling at each other was not going to get us anywhere. I took a deep but shaky breath, "you're not responsible for us. Yes, we might die, because that is what happens in this world. Hell every world, I know firsthand. But you have got to trust us. You've got to trust me. If we really are the gatekeepers, we're going to know the good from the bad, and everything in between."

"You've only seen the bad on TV. This is real."

"No shit it's real. But it's also going to keep coming at us, so we kind of have to push on." I moved over along the seat, putting a hand on his leg. "Besides, we have Jane, and we already know she can kick your ass. Monsters don't stand a chance."

He let out a dark laugh but dropped a hand on top of mine squeezing it in an unspoken apology.

oOo

We stopped for coffee and passable snacks as "breakfast" at a Gas n' Sip before continuing our shopping run. I was not a chef by any stretch, and the limitations of our current kitchen meant I had to keep the food items basic. We might get sick of sandwiches and soup quickly, but all the more motivation to get the house up and running. I grabbed a few other small items, including a kettle and toaster, and filled the cart with cleaning essentials. We were headed towards the cash, when Dean detoured, swinging through an aisle with camping supplies. He grabbed a small generator, mumbling something about not trusting Sam with electricity. He threw in a couple of sleeping bags as well. I didn't question his additions, since he was the one paying. Even if it was a fake credit card, I didn't like having to rely on someone else for money. As we headed back to the cash, I tried not to look shifty and guilty knowing we were committing fraud. I guess I didn't hide it well, since Dean shot me a few looks and a whispered "relax" as the cashier processed the transaction.

oOo

We were back at the Impala loading the groceries when Dean bluntly stated "we need to get you a job" as he took the last of the bags from my hands and dropped them in the trunk. "I'd give you a credit card, but you act like that," he gestured back at the store, "and you're going to end up arrested."

"Sorry, we can't all be badass outlaws."

"Damn right I'm a badass." He smiled, bending down for a quick kiss, before turning to close the trunk. "Breakfast?"

"More coffee? Yes please!"

oOo

I assumed we'd grab take out and get back to the house, but Dean directed me to a booth. I briefly felt guilty, knowing the others were back at the house, but when I mentioned this to Dean he assured me Sam had the basics covered. We'd been seated for only a few minutes when our waitress came up to our table from behind me.

"Well sweetie, what can I get ya?' she was staring at Dean like he was on her menu. I chuckled to myself and watched as Dean quickly checked her name tag.

"Hi there Greta, we'll start with two coffees."

The waitress looked surprised and turned to see me on the other side of the booth. Her face drooped slightly before recovering. "Sure. Be right back."

"Wow…"

"What?" Dean looked genuinely confused.

"She was really hoping you were alone." I smiled as I browsed the menu. I wanted to be ready to order since I didn't think she'd appreciate indecisiveness from my side of the booth.

"She's like 50. She could be my mom." He paused and looked wistful before adding, "waitresses always do smell good though."

I raised an eyebrow at that, "Eau du Bacon really does it for ya?"

Greta returned with our coffees before Dean could reply. She put mine down abruptly and returned to fawning over Dean, "So sugar, what'll it be?"

"I'll have the bacon, egg, and cheese slammer and she'll have..." he raised his eyebrows at me over his menu.

"I'll have the pancakes. Extra strawberries, please." Dean smiled like a kid at my choice and I chuckled.

"Great. Might be a bit of a wait, my waitress just quit on me. If you need anything, you just flag me down, dear." She placed a hand on Dean's arm squeezing.

"Jesus, I feel like a ghost again." I joked when Greta was out of earshot.

"Jealous?" Dean smirked.

"Umm, yeah. Totally." I replied deadpan.

oOo

While we ate Dean told me the rest of the story of the fried fusebox mishap, where naturally he was 100% not at fault. I made a mental note to ask Sam his side of the story when Dean wasn't around. Our earlier fight in the Impala was mostly forgotten. We both seemed to be avoiding talking about anything more serious, wanting to just be in the moment, our little bubble, where the apocalypse wasn't happening. At least for a few hours.

We were finishing up our meals when Greta came by to top up our coffees and to drop the check. Dean pulled out some money, placing a generous tip on the table. "Greta, you're doing a wonderful job here. Honestly, we wouldn't even have known you were short-staffed if you hadn't told us! My friend here though, she's actually looking for a new gig. Any chance you'd give her a shot?"

Dean put on a big smile, not breaking eye contact with poor Greta. She was understandably flustered but looked to me skeptically. "Have you got any experience waiting tables?"

I glared at Dean in response. I had 0 experience as a server. I opened my mouth to attempt to lie, when Dean cut in, "Loads of experience. That's how she and I became friends actually." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Second best waitress I've had, next to you." He winked for extra impact.

She turned back to me, "can you start tomorrow?"

I stammered, I was not ready to start tomorrow. There was way too much to be done back at the house. Dean must have caught the panicked look in my eyes and saved me again. "She actually just moved into town. I got a buddy down the way so I promised to help her settle in here. Any chance she can start next week?"

Greta looked weary, but Dean turned up his smile. "Fine, I'll bring you the paperwork when I bring back your take out. You'll need to fill it all out before you can start."

I said my thanks and she left the table. I turned to Dean, "did you just get me a job?"

"Yup. You can thank me later" This time the wink was directed at me and I felt every bit as flustered as poor Greta.

"Uh, Dean. Paperwork? I have no ID. No social security number."

"What, like that's a problem? Pfft. Sammy will get you sorted in no time. You can even keep your real name. I'm almost jealous."