Chapter 16:

Dean scrolled through Sam's files on his computer, all the while sipping mindlessly at the brown bottle he held in his hand. After what felt like hours, Dean finally found something that he could use. Relieved from his search, he sat back in his seat with a triumphant smirk on his face. Candy emerged from the bathroom then, drying her hair with one of the motel's towels. She immediately noticed the excited look on Dean's face, and she wasted no time finding out the reason for it.

"What'd you find?"

"Isn't it about time for you to dye your hair again?" He asked her over his shoulder. Candy thought for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Well, let's just pretend it is. Turns out there was a hairdresser murdered in a nearby town, and get this..." Dean turned the computer so that she could see it. "One of her coworkers that was closing up shop with her told the police that she saw a man holding her down and biting her."

"So... Vampire?"

"That's what I would put money on," he sighed. "Look, Candy... I know it's kind of early to be throwing you into another case. If you think for one minute that you won't be comfortable working again, just tell me, and I'll get Sam or Cas to take care of you while I'm gone."

"I'm not letting you take on a vampire alone, Dean," she grimaced. "Those things are nasty. Plus, I don't want to be with Sam, I want to be with you." Her head fell, and the guilty expression on her face made Dean worry. He stood,

"Candy?"

"What?" She jerked her head up nervously. He walked to where she was standing, and he grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you, Candy," he frowned, "and I know when you're thinking about something that upsets you. When you're feeling guilty. And as much as I don't want to ask... What is it?"

"Just feel bad for Adam," she lied with a half-hearted smile. "Nothing big. I just hate that he feels the way he does. You're brothers, you know? You should be working together. Not fighting one another."

"Maybe he'll come around," he tried to comfort her. "Don't worry about Adam, Candy. He won't hurt you again, and we won't hurt him. So... stop stressing yourself out."

"Okay," she nodded, squeezing his hand. "When are we heading out to this case?"

"I got to talk to Sam about it, but I want to leave soon. That okay with you?" He waited for a nod, then headed for the door. "Oh, and when we go, Sam is going to be taking Adam with him, so you don't have to see him again. Not yet. Eventually, I plan on forcing him to apologize to your face, but for now, we're just trying to keep him tied up."

"Sounds good, Dean," Candy took a deep breath. "I'm going to finished getting ready."

"Okay. Be right back," he told her before leaving the room. She let out a sigh of relief, then flopped down on the bed. Her heart was aching terribly, sending pangs of pain rippling through her chest each time she thought about what happened with Sam.

Dean came back to the room with Sam an hour later, only to find that Candy had fallen asleep in the center of the bed. She was curled up in a ball, wearing nothing but a tee shirt and her underwear. He always liked her best wearing his clothes, mainly because he felt slightly possessive over her and when she wore his shirts, it was like he had a claim over her. It made him smile to see her sleeping so peacefully after what she went through.

"Maybe we can leave tonight," Dean suggested. "I don't want to be the one to wake her up, so if you don't want to either, I think we should just let her sleep for a little while."

"Yeah," Sam looked at her lovingly. "I'm all for letting her sleep. Except...," he paused, and after a moment of thought, he slid out of his jacket. "I bet she's cold." Carefully, he laid his old brown jacket over her small, fragile body. Despite the fact that it was a simple caring gesture, Dean couldn't help but feel a little jealous. "Hey, Dean," Sam whispered, "I have to admit something to you... And you're going to be really mad at me."

"What?" His tone harshened.

"I kissed Candy again," Sam admitted shamefully. "And I touched her... And I'm so sorry. It was wrong of me. I just can't... I can't make her lie to you because it eats her up inside. We didn't have sex, I promise. She started crying... And I stopped touching her. Please don't be angry with her, okay, it was my fault. She told me no."

"I can't believe you," Dean scoffed incredulously. "After what she went through... Why would you do that to her? You selfish son-of-a-bitch. I don't want you near her right now." He turned his face so that his brother could see the fury and hurt in his eyes. "Get the hell out of here before I beat the shit out of you, Sam. Go to your room and go to sleep. We leave tomorrow, but we leave separately."

"It's not her fault, Dean. Promise me you won't blame her."

"Get out!" Dean ordered his brother in a harsh, loud whisper. Sam took a step back, looked into his brother's eyes again, then left without another word. Dean was too angry to try and talk to.

Once Sam was gone, Dean sat at the edge of the bed next to Candy's feet, staring at her mindlessly as he tried to think of something to say to her when she woke. Although Sam had done wrong, very wrong, Dean respected that he told him instead of making Candy suffer with that lie. Still, it only made it harder for him to think of what to say when she got up again. While part of him wanted to be angry at her for letting Sam touch her, he knew that it probably wasn't her choice to begin with.

When Dean stood up again, Candy stirred sleepily on the bed. Her eyes peeked open, then her arms stretched out for Dean. He smiled to himself, despite everything, and mindlessly wandered towards the bed. He let her wrap her arms around him and coax him into the bed beside her. Once he laid down, she curled up into a ball against his chest.

"You're so warm," she muttered tiredly, sliding her hands under his shirt. He sat up so he could take it off and toss it to the side. Candy scooted closer and laid her face on his chest, then pulled the blanket up over her shoulder. "I love you," she said as she snuggled against his side.

"I love you," he told her earnestly, his arm wrapped around her to hold her tighter to him. As much as he wanted to confront her about the whole Sam thing, he couldn't bring himself to disturb her. In that moment, he was reminded of what made him fall in love with her in the first place. She looked beautiful to him when she slept; it made it hard for him to be angry anymore.

Dean regretted snapping on his brother like he did. He was thinking of things as if Sam had never had a relationship with Candy before. Maybe, he thought, he needed to start thinking of things from their point of view. They were together for a long time, both emotionally and physically intimate with one another. Sam went into the pit still loving her, wanting nothing more than to be with her. Dean couldn't expect that to just go away in such a short amount of time. Sam was his brother, and Dean loved him just as much as he did Candy. He had to take Sam's feelings into consideration.

Still. Although he knew that it was always going to be Candy's decision, it was hard to imagine not being with her. She had been his only companion for a year, and the love of his life. No one had ever been buried so deep in Dean's heart before, and it would ruin him to have to dig her out of it. He couldn't give her up to Sam without fighting for her with every ounce of energy he had. The job could wait. There were other cases to work and other hunters to work them, but there was only one Candy.

As it got later in the night, Dean's guilty conscience had eaten away at him so much that he couldn't help but climb out of bed carefully (so he didn't wake Candy), throw on his shirt, and walk to Sam's room. When he opened the door, a blonde girl leapt off of the bed and pulled up the sheets with her. They wrapped around her, leaving Sam laying on the mattress with only a little bit of blanket to cover himself.

"Damn it, Dean," he slurred, leaning up on his elbow to face his brother. Dean stepped into the room, but left the door open so he could quickly get out if he needed to.

"Sam, are you serious?" He asked. The small clothing on the floor and the heavy makeup on the girl's face told Dean that she was probably some easy girl Sam picked up from a bar. He knew her type well; he used to bring girls like her to the hotel room all the time. Before he went back for Candy, that is. "Are you drunk?"

"What are you, my mother?" Sam scoffed, pushing himself up on the bed. The girl scrambled to grab her clothes, then ran into the bathroom, leaving the sheet with Sam. "Thanks for killing the mood..."

"What are you drinking, huh?" Dean asked, walking to the nightstand and snatching up a glass from it. He took one whiff, then grimaced. "Is this straight whiskey, Sam?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Not to me. But I'm sure Candy doesn't appreciate you getting wasted and sleeping with some girl you picked up at a bar," Dean grumbled. Sam took the glass from him and took another sip.

"It doesn't matter what Candy thinks either."

"Why not?"

"Because why would she even care?"

"Because she still loves you, Sam, in one way or another." Dean was getting increasingly frustrated with his brother. "I can't make the feelings you had for her go away, Sam, and I'm sorry for that." Sam's head fell in shame suddenly, as Dean's words sank in. "All I can do is show her how I feel and let her make her decision on her own. That's what you have to do, too. If you don't force her into anything, she may find her way back to you." The lump forming in Dean's throat was quickly swallowed when Sam got up from the bed.

"I'm sorry, Dean..."

"It's not me you need to apologize to," Dean took a deep breath. "Get your clothes on and take tell that girl to leave. We're leaving for a case tomorrow. We're going to get back on track, back into the job, and we're going to keep going forwards. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Good. And no more booze." Dean searched the room for a moment, then found the bottle that Sam had purchased that contained the source of the alcohol. He took it, then left the room. Sam got dressed. He knocked on the bathroom door, and he politely told the girl on the other side that it was getting late and she needed to head home. He was too drunk to drive her, so he gave her money to call a cab. After she threw on her clothes, the girl left, angrly slamming the door behind her.

Once she was gone, Sam settled down into his bed again, arm laying over the other side to feel the emptiness there that he hated so much. Before he jumped into the pit, it was always Candy who was laying next to him at night. He used to love laying there, watching her sleep, and listening to her soft breaths. It was one of the moments that he always thought she looked the most beautiful, because for that moment, she wasn't worried about Sam or Dean, wasn't concerned with the job they were on. She was completely and utterly peaceful, and Sam loved it.