A/N: I'm so, so, so extremely sorry that it's been so long since I've updated! Life has been crazy recently, but I'll spare you the boring details. ;)
I should (hopefully) be updating on a more consistent schedule now, maybe once a week on Saturdays? How would you guys feel about that? Let me know in a PM or comment!
As always, please continue to review, vote, and share! Your support means the world to me. All the love. S.

You wouldn't think a pile of bones would take so long to burn, but Tessa and Dean had been standing over the grave for a good fifteen minutes, sweat pouring down both of their backs.

"You could go wait in the car," Dean offered, seeing the look of frustration on Tessa's face. She only groaned in response, resolving to pace back and forth in front of the hole in the ground. Dean chuckled quietly.

"I thought you were going to call Sam?" Tessa said quickly, trying to end the teasing.

"Yeah, he's probably wondering where we are. I'll be back in a minute. Stay here," Dean instructed. To his amusement, Tessa plopped down onto the dirt, shooting him a look that was plainly saying, "Fuck off."

Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket and punched the first number on speed dial. "Hey, Sammy. Tessa and I found the bitch."

"Really? Have you torched her yet?" Sam's voice crackled on the other end of the line, fading in and out.

"Damn cell service," Dean muttered before returning to the call. "Yeah, we're waiting to cover everything back up. She's a tough one." the last part just slipped out of his mouth, and Dean flushed when he realized his mistake.

"She is, is she? Huh," Although he couldn't see Sam, Dean just knew that he was smirking.

"Okay, okay. It was just an observation, nothing to giggle and write about in your diary," Dean recovered quickly, coming up with yet another retort.

The line was quiet for several moments, the only noise the sound of the two brothers breathing. "You know," Sam began. "She really is incredible."

"Yeah, she sure is. I've never seen anyone like her," the words were now pouring out, and Dean could not stop the smile from forming on his face when he spoke of Tessa.

"Just- No, never mind." Sam sounded flustered, now.

"What is it?"

"Just don't break her heart. She's been through a lot already, and I don't want to see anything bad happen to Tessa because of us." Sam said all of this very quickly, as if he was afraid of what Dean's reaction would be.

"Of course not. And anyway, nothing's ever going to happen with me and Tess." Dean faked a laugh, but inside it hurt. Deep down, he knew Tessa would never in a million years even consider being with him. She was everything he was not, but most of all, she still had a future.

Family, college, a life... He couldn't- No, wouldn't, take that away from Tessa. Even if it killed him, Dean was not going to allow this Rose bitch to hurt Tessa already more than she already had.

"Hey, Dean? Are you still there?" Sam's voice, still crackling through the shitty line, roused Dean from his disconcerting thoughts.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Just come by whenever you're done there. I'm out by the front entrance, where you dropped me off at."

Dean nodded to himself. "Okay. It shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes. Call if anything changes." And with that, Dean hung up, shoving his phone into his back pocket as he made his way back over to Tessa.

If only he'd known that she heard the entire conversation.

At first, Dean's words had filled Tessa with a wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling. Now... Now, she felt hurt. Angry. Taken advantage of.

'Nothing's ever going to happen with me and Tess'.

Dean had kissed her, flirted with her, basically led Tessa on for a day and a half, and then had the audacity to laugh about her behind her back to his brother? The way he said it, too. Tessa may have not known Dean for long, but she could recognize his smirk when she saw it.

Dean was now walking back towards Tessa, both hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. He was now slightly smiling as he looked at her.

Here we go.

"Hey," Dean held out a hand to help Tessa up. When she didn't move, he withdrew it, a frown now on his face.

"What's wrong, Tess? Did something happen?" Dean glanced over to the pile of now smoldering ashes, as if he expected the ghost to appear in front of him.

"Nothing," Tessa replied icily. If Dean wanted to play this game, who was Tessa to try and stop him?

"It's going to be okay," Dean squatted down beside Tessa. "Look at me," He grabbed her chin, tilting her head towards his.

Their eyes met, and Tessa was once again under his spell.

"I know. I trust you, you know," Tessa smiled faintly, turning her head away before Dean could see her blush. By doing this, though, she missed seeing his.

"I know. Now c'mon, we've got to cover this up and go get Sammy. He's probably dying from the heat now." Dean grinned, once again offering Tessa his hand.

And this time, she accepted it.

It took a little over ten minutes for Tessa and Dean to clean up their little "grave-robbing" scene, as Tessa liked to call it. Dean then pointed out that they didn't actually steal anything, they only just burnt the body.

"Do you remember the way back to O'Brien?" Tessa asked, glancing at Dean as they climbed into his Impala. She observed how careful he was to not get dirt and grime on the spotless interior.

"Yeah, I think I've got it. Turn left here, right?" Without waiting for a response, Dean turned the car, now heading in the complete opposite direction of their destination.

"No, you obviously don't have it," Tessa giggled. "It was a right turn, idiot."

Dean opened his mouth to retort, but when he caught the grin on Tessa's face he only smiled. Finally, he'd gotten a good reaction from the girl.

"I did it on purpose," Dean laughed roughly, doing a U-turn that was most likely one hundred percent illegal in the middle of the street. Tessa shrieked when a Volkswagen blared on their horn as Dean narrowly missed crashing into them.

"Dammit, that was close!" Tessa's face was flushed, and she had one hand pressed over her rapidly beating heart. Dean was going to get her killed before the day was over!

"No, it could have been worse. Just a few weeks ago, this ghost trucker nearly killed me with his Semi, but luckily Sammy had this amazing plan..." Dean began telling a story about his last case, and Tessa sat back and listened, enjoying the smoothness of Dean's voice.

She knew it was rare to see him so open and excited, and she reveled in the rareness of the moment. The way his voice rose when he was excited, and his eyes twinkled as he recounted something Sam had done... This was the man who made Tessa's heart flutter.

This was the man that Tessa was slowly but surely falling for.