The first time Dean Winchester realized he was in love with Piper Finley, it was because he was going to hell.
The morning after he made love to her, actually made love to her, he watched her make breakfast. She was quiet and tense, her movements quick and nervous, and he knew it was his fault. It was always his fault.
"Stop it, Dean," she said softly, bringing him a cup of coffee and pressing a kiss to his cheek.
"Stop what?"
She rolled her eyes. "Stop feeling guilty. It's making me feel guilty for making you feel guilty, and it's confusing. So cut it out."
He stared at her, a little dumbfounded. "Pipes, I…"
Her soft finger on his lips stopped his words. "Stop it, Dean. It's all right. We'll figure something out, okay?"
She moved away to finish cooking, and he watched the way she moved, the way her braid was draped over her shoulder, covering some of the hickeys and bruises on her neck. He couldn't imagine what he would do without her.
And now he'd cursed her to be without him.
Dammit.
xxxxx
Dean sat on the bed and fiddled with the ring he'd bought for Piper, wrestling with indecision. Did he just give it to her? Did he get down on one knee? What did she expect? What did she deserve? Did she want something elaborate and planned, because that might be beyond him. Did she want something simple? He could do simple. But he didn't just want to toss it at her, tempting as that was, it was a copout.
For fuck's sake. He was nervous. Give him a nest of vamps to hunt any day, and he could go in fearlessly. Give him a girl who weighed about a buck fifty, with hazel eyes and purple hair, and he froze.
Dammit.
The sound of sneakers on gravel had him slipping the ring back into his wallet and putting his wallet in his jacket just as the door opened. The sight of Piper laughing with Sam made him smile.
She turned to look at him and beamed. "Hey, you," she said happily, coming to press a kiss to his cheek.
He slid his hands up her legs and to her waist, turning his head to catch her lips with his. She smiled against him and pushed at his hands. "Dean, I'm sweaty and gross," she complained. "Let me shower before you get handsy."
He leaned back and grinned. "I can be handsy in the shower."
"It's like I'm not even in the room," Sam said loudly. "Can you see me?"
Piper laughed and Dean rolled his eyes. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out while shooting Sam a bitchface.
It was a text from Chuck.
"Life or death situation. 8799 Pineview Rd, Virginia, MN."
"Guys," he said, tensing. "We've gotta go."
xxxxx
Piper frowned when they pulled up to the hotel, noting that there were several Impalas just like Baby parked there. "What the hell?" Dean followed her gaze and frowned, too.
Sam opened his door. "Guys, come on."
They got out of the car and approached the hotel. Piper spotted Chuck at the top of the steps. "Chuck! Hey!"
Chuck looked and his eyebrows went up. "Piper? Guys?"
They climbed the steps. "What's going on?" Dean asked, his big hand on the small of Piper's back, warming the corners of her heart, making her feel safe.
Chuck, however, apparently did not feel safe. "Ah, nothing. You know, I'm just kinda hanging. What are you guys doing here?"
Dean stared at the author for a second. "You told us to come."
Chuck's eyes widened. "Ah, no, I didn't."
Dean threw his other hand up. "We drove all night!"
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what could… Oh, no…"
Piper frowned. "What?"
A piercing squeal cut through the air. "Sam! You made it!"
Piper bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as Becky descended the stairs and skidded to a stop inches from Sam. Sam looked at her warily. "Oh, ah, Becky, right?"
She squealed again. "Oh, you remembered!" She pitched her voice low and leaned forward. "You've been thinking about me."
Piper laughed out loud, unable to stop herself. Dean tugged her closer to him, fighting a smile himself.
Chuck, however, was glaring at her. "Becky, did you take my phone?"
She whirled toward him. "I just borrowed it from your pants!"
Chuck winced and ran a hand down his face. "Becky," he said warningly.
"What?! They're gonna wanna see it!"
"See what?" Dean and Sam asked in unison.
Becky screamed again. "Oh. My. God. I love it when they talk at the same time!"
"I'm gonna need a shot if she's going to stick around," Dean muttered in Piper's ear. She grinned.
A man stepped out of the hotel wearing a headset. "Chuck? Come on pal, it's showtime."
Becky sprinted up the stairs, and Chuck turned to look at them mournfully. "I'm sorry. For everything."
They followed him in. As they walked in, a man dressed in a very similar manner to Dean spotted Piper and approached her. Her eyes widened as he got close.
"Hey, Pipes," he said in a gravelly voice. "Why don't you say my name anymore?"
Her eyebrows went up, and she placed a hand on Dean's chest when he growled and tried to take a step forward. "Excuse me?" she asked.
The man stepped back and stared at her. "You know, say my name? The book where Piper and Dean finally get together?" His voice was normal now, confusing her more.
She stared back. "What?" she asked weakly. Dean put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, her back pressed against his chest.
The man put his hands up. "Oh, God, sorry, didn't realize you already had a Dean." He shot them a salute. "Have a good time, guys!"
"What?" she asked again, to no one in particular.
"Becky," Sam ground out. "What the hell is this?"
"It's awesome!" Becky chirped. "The first Supernatural convention!"
Piper stared around at people dressed as monsters, as Dean and Sam, as her, for God's sake. "Oh, dear," she said softly, suddenly glad that Dean was holding her when she noticed the ratio of Deans to Pipers in the crowd. She leaned back into him. "Do not leave me alone for a second, understand me, Winchester?"
He pulled her tight against him and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Whatever you say, kitten."
xxxxx
Dean was so irritated he could barely see straight. He left Piper with Sam and went to the bar.
After taking a shot, he looked down to see the actress who was playing the ghost looking at her phone. He smiled and walked toward her. "How ya doin'?"
She didn't look up. "Busy."
He tried again, thinking maybe she knew of a way to shut this stupid little shindig down, and hoping that Piper wasn't anywhere close by. He didn't feel like getting eviscerated. "Well you sure look lovely tonight. Especially for a dead chick." When he tried to look past the makeup and the dress, she really was kind of pretty. Not Piper pretty, but then again, who was?
She didn't look up. "Buddy, I have heard that line seventeen times tonight, okay? And all from dudes wearing MacGyver jackets." She finally looked up at him, and Dean trusted what thirty-one years of interacting with women had taught him and just smiled at her.
Finally, she smiled back. "But you seem different."
He smirked. "How so?"
"Well, you don't seem scared of women."
"Oh, he's scared of one."
Dean winced and turned to see Piper standing there, arms crossed and eyebrow cocked. He gave her what he hoped was a winning smile. "Hi, baby."
She walked forward, put a hand on the back of his neck, and pulled him down to kiss him hard. His mind went blank, and he dropped the shot glass in his hand to put his hands on her hips and pull her tight against him, ignoring the shattered glass.
After a few long moments, she pulled away and smirked up at him. "That's what I thought, Winchester."
xxxxx
They were walking through the hotel, and Piper was warming to the whole experience. The brothers didn't understand why people would want to dress up as them, or pretend to be them, but Piper got it. They wanted to be heroes.
They had just overheard someone claim to be actually beaten up by an actual ghost, and they were in their way to investigate. Dean kept Piper's hand wrapped in his, and gave death stares to anyone whose eyes lingered on her too long.
As they walked through, Piper heard a manager talking to two cosplayers. "Why yes agents Jagger and Richards. As manager of this fine establishment I can assure you it is indeed haunted."
She rolled her eyes as the three of them made their way to the front desk. When they got there, Dean leaned forward to talk to the actual manager of the hotel. "Excuse us, mind if we ask you a few questions?"
The manager rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't have time to play Star Wars, guys. Go ask the guy in the ascot."
Dean slid a fifty across the desk. Piper blinked… Had he even pulled his wallet out? Why was he just keeping cash in his pockets now?
"Actually," Dean continued, "We really want to talk to you."
The manager's eyebrows went up. "Okay, you guys are really into this."
Piper smiled. "You have no idea."
xxxxx
"Ah, what does the future hold for Sam and Dean? Well, how do you feel about angels? Yeah, because let me tell you, they're not nearly as lame as you think."
Piper was watching Chuck try to stall on stage, her nerves beating at her sense of peace.
Of course there was an actual haunting at this stupid convention. All she wanted to do was leave, and now they had to stay at this stupid hotel until the guys got rid of the ghosts. Piper had been hit on by "Dean" more times than the actual Dean had ever hit on her. And the next time a stranger called her, "kitten," heads were going to roll.
She was shaken from her reverie a question.
"Hi, I'm wondering what Piper sees in Dean? I mean, he still hits on other women, he's a borderline alcoholic, and he and Sam are kind of dangerously codependent. Piper is such a strong character, why would she stay?"
Fury flashed through her, and tried to control herself. Chuck looked over at her nervously, and he must have seen her anger on her face, because his eyes widened. "Well, uh, actually, I have somewhat of a Piper expert here, so I'm going to let her field that question." He held the microphone out to her.
Piper glared at him. When it looked like Chuck wasn't going to back down, she stood and took it, trying to get her thoughts together so she didn't just start screeching at the woman.
She thought about the way she'd caught Dean hitting on that actress. And the way he drank too much, and the way he on occasion still went all alpha male on her and tried to get her to stay home. His penchant for getting into too much danger, his eagerness to sacrifice himself for his family. His stubbornness. His drinking. His driving.
She smiled. "The reason Piper stays with Dean…"
xxxxx
Dean groaned and walked toward the auditorium to let everyone out. "I friggin' hate ghosts."
Sam chuckled. "You hate everything, Dean." He thought for a moment. "Except Piper."
Thinking of the ring still safe in his jacket, Dean smiled. "Except Piper."
He opened the door quietly, thinking to just signal Chuck that he could stop. When he was greeted with Piper's voice over the sound system, he snuck inside instead, Sam following quietly.
Piper was up on stage, smiling. "The reason Piper stays with Dean is because she loves him. Yeah, he hits on women and drinks too much, but she didn't want him to change when they got together. I mean, what's the point of wanting someone if you want to change everything about them?"
Dean frowned. That doesn't sound great.
"It's the way he always takes care of the people he loves, like Bobby, and Sam. It's the way he saves people and doesn't expect anything in return. It's the way he's willing to put himself in danger to make sure strangers make it out."
That's better.
She smiled. "But it's… More than that. I mean, the books don't show you the everyday stuff he does for her. Like tasting her coffee to make sure it's right before handing it to her, or when he holds her hand when they're walking to the car. You can't… You don't get to see how absolutely drenched in love every part of her life is because of him."
There were tears in her eyes as she spoke to the crowd, and Dean was fighting back some moisture in his own eyes. "Dean Winchester is a hero," she said softly, "And so is his brother. And I'm glad to be in love with Dean, and Sam's best friend, because they're the best damn men who've ever walked the earth."
This was it. Before she saw him, he should be on one knee. He could feel it, this was it.
She spotted Dean, and before he could speak, she had dropped the microphone and hopped off of the stage. He opened his arms and caught her, spinning her around once and burying his face in her neck. He let go of the moment, suddenly sure there would be another one soon.
He felt her smile. "I love you, Winchester."
"You, too, kitten."
xxxxx
Piper felt like she was floating with happiness when they walked back to the Impala. Despite everything, the way Dean's hand wrapped possessively around hers made her heart sing.
Dean opened the door for her and let her slide into the backseat. She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Mr. Winchester."
The look on his face was strange. "You okay?" she asked, concerned.
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm all right."
"You are not gonna believe this," Sam said from behind her. "But I have a lead on the Colt."
Piper turned around. "Really?"
He nodded. "Long story. I'll tell you guys on the way. Let's head back to Bobby's."
xxxxx
Hi everyone! Here's my notes:
I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or the characters. (heartbroken)
Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.
If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.
