I am so, so sorry that it took so long to update. Finals were brutal and then I just wanted to take a couple of days to decompress after that. I'm going to try to be a bit more regular with updates now that it is summertime, but I am also working two jobs this summer so if I don't have an update every week please don't kill me.
I just want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you guys are amazing and it means so much to me that you like my stupid little idea.
Also another HUGE thanks to my beta Hawkeye'sBowGirl! Hopefully now there will be fewer spelling mistakes and she can help me keep everything going along smoothly!
For the next couple of weeks, things were tense between Aubri and Dean, but not in an uncomfortable way, more like an I-want-to-jump-your-bones-but-Sam-is-in-the-room kind of way. Aubri couldn't help but blush when they locked eyes, the smirk that would creep across his face making her blush an even deeper shade of red, and she couldn't help but notice the gentle way he would put his hand on the small of her back if he ever walked past her or she was in his way. She couldn't tell if she was making a bigger deal out of it than she should have been, but damn he could get her blood boiling with just a look half the time.
They were sitting at the little table in the motel room they were staying in, the three of them crammed around it, knees constantly knocking into each other's, or in Aubri's case, Sam or Dean's booted feet accidentally squishing her toes, as Folsom slept, curled up on the floor behind Aubri's chair. They had swung by Bobby's to pick him up since they had been in the area and Aubri missed having the big guy around.
Dean looked up from the paper he was reading with a sigh, eyes passing briefly over Aubri's face. He smiled at how concentrated she was on the obituaries page she was reading. She was chewing on her bottom lip as she scanned the page, pushing her thick-framed glasses up her nose every five seconds since they could never stay in place. He froze when she glanced up at him over the paper, quirking an eyebrow as a faint blush spread across her cheeks. Forcing himself to breathe, he gave her a quick wink before looking at Sam. "Sam, you gonna go get us some grub anytime soon?"
Sam looked up and opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by a rumbling sound that erupted from his stomach. With a sigh he closed his laptop, "Burgers?"
"And pie. Take the pooch with you so he can stretch his legs." Dean said with a nod, eyes following Aubri as she got up and went into the bathroom.
Aubri stared at herself in the mirror after she finished washing her hands. It had been two and a half weeks and nothing since the run in with the Seven Deadly Sins. They needed a hunt, something, anything to get them going again. She had all this pent up energy and frustration that she needed to get out somehow and a hunt was just the thing for that. At least that was her theory. She splashed some water on her face and then gently toweled it off, straightening her glasses and tucking a few stray hairs into place before turning and leaving the bathroom.
As soon as she was out the door, she ran face first into something solid. She stumbled back from the impact and her foot caught in the door jamb, causing her to start to fall backwards until two strong hands reached out and grabbed her arms, steadying her. "Easy there Blondie." Dean said with a chuckle.
Aubri could tell he had that patented Dean Winchester smirk plastered on his face without even looking at him, so she just continued to stare at his chest like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, which she was sure it was when that pesky shirt wasn't covering it up. "Why were you lurking outside of the door Winchester?" She mustered up the courage to look up at him, trying her best to glare, but the glare faded when her eyes met his. Aubri's mouth went dry as she became painfully aware of how close they were standing, his hands still on her arms, holding her in place and giving her the sensation that her skin was on fire where he was touching her.
"No reason." He said, still smirking, but his gaze softening as he looked down at her. He let go of one of her arms to lightly trail his fingers down her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin.
Aubri's eyes slowly drifted shut as she forced herself to draw in a ragged breath. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips as she opened her eyes and looked at Dean once more, instinctively taking a step forward, bracing her hands on his chest and feeling the pounding of his heart beneath her fingertips. His racing heart was the only thing that didn't fit with the cool and calm act that he was putting on at the moment.
Dean's free hand went up to cup the back of Aubri's head, forcing her to continue looking at him. His gaze travelled from her eyes to her lips, remembering what they felt like every other time they had kissed. He wanted to feel that again, but he also knew that she was different; he couldn't just treat her like the others. He couldn't be the love 'em and leave 'em type with Aubri. Not only did she deserve better than him, but it wasn't like he could just get in the Impala and drive off the next morning. He knew he shouldn't, but with her looking up at him like that, all he wanted to do was kiss her. "Dean…" She started to speak quietly, looking up at him shyly, uncertainty evident in her eyes.
"Come here." He said brusquely, cutting her off with his lips.
Aubri sighed and wound her arms around his neck, leaning heavily against him as her lips moved against his. Ever since their last kiss, this is all she wanted, what she imagined every time she looked at him. His hands were at the small of her back, holding her hips firmly against his as her mouth opened up to his probing. When he started to back up towards the bed, pulling her along with him, Aubri pulled back, her eyes searching his. "Where you going Blondie?" He asked, smirking to cover up the worry he felt at the idea that she might be pulling back because she didn't want this. There was no way he got those signals crossed though, was there?"
Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink as she broke eye contact, "We can't, Sam will be back soon." She protested weakly.
Dean pulled her closer to him, pressing soft, teasing kisses to her lips, then her jaw line, and then moving on to her neck. "Aubs… come on."
She smiled, even if she wanted to stop she didn't think she would be able to. Needless to say, she didn't want him to stop. She grabbed the sides of his face, forcing him to look at her again and she crushed her lips against his. She felt his lips curve into a smile against hers as he turned them and lowered her onto the bed, scooting her back gently until his body was covering hers. Her fingers ran through his hair, loving the way it felt, loving the way it felt with his weight bearing down on her as his lips worked their way down her neck and across her collarbone. She would be happy if she could just have this feeling for the rest of her life.
It was that thought that stopped her in her tracks though. How long would this even last? Would it be a one time thing? What would happen when he got bored with her? She would have to leave of course, she wouldn't be able to hang around him, know what being with him felt like and not being able to have it again. It just made her feel too good and she knew it would be a feeling she would miss terribly if it was taken away from her after she got used to it. Her fears were put on the back burner though as her body went against her mind, hips grinding up against his as he lightly sucked on the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She could feel his smile against her skin and felt one of his hand slide under her shirt and up her side and she whimpered as she felt goosebumps rising on her skin in the wake of his touch. As she squirmed underneath him, legs spreading slightly as she tried to get the friction she craved, she heard a distant rumbling, the distinct rumbling of the Impala's engine. "Sam…" She managed to get out.
Dean stopped his ministrations and looked up at her, "What?"
"Sam is back." She moaned. She loved Sam like a brother, but dear God almighty that guy had the worst timing on the face of the planet.
"Damn it Sammy." Dean cursed, running his hand over his hair in frustration, inadvertently straightening it out, as he rolled off of Aubri and sat on the edge of the bed.
Aubri sat up and drew her knees up to her chest, trying not to shiver at the loss of Dean's warmth. "You can say that again." She muttered, barely keeping the frustration out of her voice.
Dean chuckled and stood up, starting to walk away from the bed before turning around and grabbing Aubri softly by the chin, forcing her to look up at him. He pressed his lips against hers in a hard kiss and as he pulled away Aubri could see the promise of later in his eyes.
~TFS~
The next day, Aubri and Sam were sitting at a small table in a café, waiting for Dean to get back with the day's paper so they could look over the obits and see if there might be a hunt. Aubri rolled her eyes when she heard Sam raise his voice to Bobby who he was on the phone with. Despite Dean telling him to drop it, Sam was still desperately searching for a way to get him out of the deal. Now, that wasn't to say that Aubri hadn't skimmed over a few articles here and there, or that she hadn't given Bobby a call after getting some idea, but Sam was consumed by this. She gently gave his leg a little kick, raising her eyebrows at him, trying to get him to take it down a notch so people at the other tables wouldn't stare.
Sam sighed at Aubri's expression and lowered his voice slightly. "Well maybe we got the translation wrong." He jumped when there was a knock on the window and he and Aubri both looked up to see Dean waving the paper he had picked up. "Well we can't just let Dean fry in hell, there's gotta be something, well… no... ok, gotta go, nevermind." He said quickly, hanging up the phone and slamming his laptop shut as Dean walked up to the table. "Hey!" he said breathlessly.
"Who's that?" Dean asked as he sat down next to Aubri, giving her a quick smile.
"Uhh, I was just ordering pizza." Sam tried to cover.
Aubri snorted slightly at Sam's lame excuse as Dean looked at him across the table, confused, "Dude, you do realize that you're in a restaurant?"
"Yeah, oh yeah, I just felt like pizza you know."
"Ok Weirdy McWeirderson. So I think I got something." He said unfolding the paper.
Aubri looked over at him, eyes lighting up at the prospect of a hunt, finally something to do. "What is it?"
"Cicero, Indiana, falls on his own power saw." Dean shrugged as he tossed the paper to Sam.
"How do we know it wasn't just an accident?" Aubri asked, getting a little suspicious. This didn't sound like there was anything supernatural going on, just a clumsy guy who tripped and fell on a power saw.
Sam skimmed over the article, "That's it, one power saw?"
Dean leaned back in his chair and stretched his arm out over the back of Aubri's chair, "Well, yeah."
"And you think that this is a case?" Sam asked slowly, trying to pick up on whatever it was that Dean had seen in this article that had gotten his interest.
"Well I don't know, could be." Dean said with another shrug.
Aubri narrowed her eyes as she turned in her chair to look at him, "What's in Cicero Dean?"
Dean's stomach did a little flip when he saw the suspicion in Aubri's eyes, realizing a little too late that his reason for Cicero was not going to go over too well. Might as well bite the bullet, he thought before speaking. "Ok, it's not just a hunt, there might be something better in Cicero than a case." He pulled his arm off of the back of Aubri's chair, just in case she got it into her head to tear it off after she heard his reasoning.
"And that is?" Sam led.
Dean smirked, "Lisa Braeden." He winced slightly, waiting for a slap or something to come from Aubri, but there was nothing. "Remember that road trip I took?" He asked, encouraged by the lack of violence coming from Aubri, "It was about eight years ago. You were in Orlando with Dad wrapping up that Banshee thing."
"Yeah." Sam said nodding, remembering what Dean was talking about now. "The uh, five states, five days."
"Yeah, well kind of, although I spent most of my time in Lisa Braeden's loft."
Aubri felt like she had been sucker punched as she listened to Dean further explain the reasoning for going to Cicero. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have tricked herself into thinking that yesterday might have meant something, might have meant that things would change between her and Dean? She was just another thing on the list to check off before he went to hell. To think she had even put a little effort into trying to find a way to get him out of it. She couldn't believe she had been so blind. Dean Winchester was a player, and he had played her good.
"Come on it's my dying wish." Dean pleaded with Sam.
"How many dying wishes do you get Dean?" Aubri asked, fixing him with a look that could kill.
Dean paused for a second, seeing the hurt in her eyes, he had screwed up, big time. Go big or go home. "As many as I can squeeze out Aubs." He turned back to Sam to see him shaking his head, "Come on Sam, smile. God knows I'll smile if I get 24 hours with Gumby girl."
Aubri stood up in a huff, grabbing her coat off of the back of her chair as she brushed past Dean, "Well, let's get going Pokey. Wouldn't want to waste any time."
Dean and Sam watched Aubri as she stormed out of the café before turning to look back at each other, "She seem mad to you?" Sam asked.
"Nah, she's fine." Dean said with a shake of his head as he tried to suppress the sinking feeling in his stomach. He had screwed up big time and it didn't look like Aubri would be paying him any attention any time soon. Guess it's a good think we're going to Cicero then.
~TFS~
They pulled up in front of the Cicero Pines Motel and Dean stopped the car so Sam and Aubri could get out and get them a room. Sam climbed out and got his bags, Dean teasing him by revving the engine a couple of times. Aubri stayed seated in the backseat with Folsom though, "Come on Aubs, you and the drool machine get out too."
Aubri shook her head, "Nah, I want to see if she slams the door in your face for showing up for a booty call after eight years. Me and Folsom will stay in the car, you won't even know we are there."
Dean rolled his eyes when he saw the determined glint in her eyes. She was pissed, and short of physically removing her from the car himself, he knew there wasn't much chance of her getting out. "Whatever." He said with a huff, this was not how he had planned for things to go. "Don't wait up Sammy." He called before speeding off, taking his frustration with Aubri out on the road. He got that she was pissed, but did that mean she had to cockblock him? Of course it does Dean, how else is she gonna get back at you for this? A little voice in the back of his mind said, reminding him that he was the one who fucked up here.
Aubri unbuckled her seatbelt and did her best to climb over into the front seat without hitting Dean. "So I got Sam to help me do some digging while you were busy being a pig, and it turns out that the ex-wife of the guy who fell on his power saw lives near Gumby girl. I figured if I get bored and she does for some reason let you in the house, I could go check it out."
"There isn't actually a case here Aubs." Dean said with a sigh.
She shrugged, "You never know, might as well look into it while we are here."
After that they drove in silence, the only sounds being Folsom's panting in the backseat and the rumble of the engine. They got to a developing neighborhood and drove past a couple houses that were still being built, "These are pretty nice. Gumby girl must be doing pretty well for herself." Aubri said only a little bitterly as she looked at the houses they were passing.
Dean nodded, but didn't say anything else, just kept on driving to the address that was supposed to be Lisa's. He figured if he didn't say anything else he wouldn't be able to dig himself any deeper into the hole he was already in and that maybe Aubri would cool off in a little while. She couldn't stay mad at him forever, could she?
They pulled up in front of the house and saw balloons tied to the lamp post outside, "Oh good, you got here just in time for the party Dean." Aubri said as she settled back in her seat, turning so she could have a good view of the front door of the house.
"Yeah, looks like it." Dean said absentmindedly as he double checked the address. "Just, for the love of God, stay here."
"There's no way in hell I'm giving up this prime seating. I wasn't joking when I said I wanted to see her slam the door in your face."
With a sigh, Dean got out of the car, looking back over his shoulder once to see Folsom's head hanging out of the driver's seat window and Aubri leaning around the dog to give him a little smile. He shook his head and walked up the door, muttering about the damn dog getting drool on the steering wheel before he raised his hand to knock, plastering a smile on his face as he heard footsteps coming towards the door. The woman who opened the door looked like she hadn't changed a bit in the past eight years and it took him a little by surprise.
"Dean!" She said excitedly, a smile spreading across her face when she recognized him. Take that Aubs, he thought.
"Lisa, how's it going?"
She laughed as she leaned on the door, "Wow, so how long's it been?"
"Eight, going on nine years now. Crazy right?"
"Yeah, uh, so what are you doing here?" She asked, smile dimming a little as she raised her eyebrows.
"Oh I was just passing through and I couldn't resist. I remembered that you love surprises, so…"
Lisa laughed, "Yeah, Dean Winchester, wow, just wow." Her laugh got a little nervous as they looked at each other. "Oh I'm sorry, you kinda came at a bad time, we're having a party."
"Party? Well, I love parties."
Lisa nodded, looking like she wasn't too keen on the idea of him coming, but Dean was banking on her not being able to resist letting him in. He smiled his best Dean Winchester smile at her and it was at that moment that a loud bark came from behind him. Lisa leaned to the side to get a better look around him and saw Folsom's big head sticking out of the window of the Impala, tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as he panted. "You have a dog now?" She asked uncertainly.
Dean shook his head, before turning to glare at Folsom over his shoulder and he thought he caught a glimpse of Aubri laughing with her hand over her mouth, "Nah, he belongs to a friend. Dog likes riding in the car so they insisted on coming along, seeing the sights. So party?"
"Oh yeah, come on in," Lisa said, looking back up at him, "Your friend and their dog can come too, if they want." She gave a wave in the direction of the car.
"Oh no I'm sure they wouldn't…" Dean started to protest.
"Wouldn't what Winchester?" Aubri asked, appearing at his side breathing a little heavily from jogging up to the house. "Aubri Layne. Nice to meet you." She said with a smile, sticking her hand out to Lisa.
"Lisa Braeden." Lisa smiled back before looking down at the big dog, "Is he good with kids?"
Aubri's eyebrows shot up, kids? She recovered quickly with a nod, "Oh Folsom, he's great with everyone."
"Well follow me then." Lisa said, turning to lead them into the house.
"Kids huh?" Aubri said, looking up at Dean as they walked into the house.
Dean shrugged, "Beats me, she said there was a party. What happened to me not even knowing you guys were here?"
Aubri blinked up at him innocently, "Folsom missed you that's all." She tried to suppress her smile; there was no way she was letting him know that she had told Folsom to speak up.
Their question about the kids was answered as soon as they stepped into the backyard and two kids ran past them. Folsom saw all the fun being had and loped off with a bark, in search of some unsuspecting kid who might be willing to share their food. "So who's the party for?" Dean asked, looking over at Lisa.
"Ben, my son."
"Oh," Dean fumbled slightly, "You have a…"
"Yeah, that's him." Lisa said with a smile, pointing at the boy unwrapping presents.
Aubri and Dean both followed her pointing finger to see a little boy cheering over the AC/DC CD he had gotten. "Cute kid." Aubri said to Lisa, distracted a little by the fact that he reminded her a lot of someone standing right next to her.
"How old?" Dean asked tensely.
"Eight." Lisa responded quickly before seeing someone new arrive. "Could you two excuse me for a minute?"
"Sure, don't mind us." Dean said, turning to look back at Ben.
"Eight huh?" Aubri asked, feeling only slightly sick to her stomach. She had done the math pretty quickly and now Ben's resemblance to Dean made even more sense.
"Yeah…" Dean said, mind going a hundred miles a minute as he watched Ben. Then he figured out what Aubri already suspected, "Oh God." He muttered, his face turning slightly pale.
Even though he had been a class act douche bag, Aubri couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. She gently put a hand on his arm, "How about we go get some cake?"
Dean nodded almost robotically, his eyes slightly unfocused, "Yeah, cake."
Aubri cut a piece of cake and put it on a plate, nudging Dean's arm to get his attention before handing it to him. "Kid has a cool cake, I'll give him that." She said, smiling down at the cars on the cake.
Dean smirked as he looked at the cake, "Yeah, I would have killed for a cake like this when I was a kid."
Aubri looked up at him, surprised, "You never had a birthday cake."
"Birthdays weren't exactly our dad's thing," he shrugged, and couldn't help but smile a little at Aubri's furrowed brow, "it's no biggie Aubs." He slung his arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick squeeze before turning around to get the lay of the land. His eyes landed on two older women sitting in chairs talking to each other while staring at him, "Hi."
"Hi." They said in unison, looking him up and down as if her were a piece of meat.
Aubri laughed quietly before grabbing Dean's arm, "Bye." She said, wiggling her fingers at them as she pulled Dean towards the moon bounce. Folsom was sitting at the entrance, staring at the children who had abandoned their playtime with him to jump in the castle. "Would you get a load of that thing?" Aubri said with a low whistle. Folsom's head perked up at the sound of her voice and trotted over to her and Dean with a whine, sitting in between the two of them and leaning heavily on Aubri's leg.
The big dog's tail started wagging when the birthday boy approached; leaning on the fence next to Dean, "Sup?" He said with a nod of his head.
"Sup with you?" Dean responded.
A mother and child walked past and Aubri couldn't help but watch in awe as Ben and Dean turned their heads, movements mirroring each other's as they followed their movements, obviously checking them out. "Oh my God." She whispered, shaking her head slightly. "So, it's your birthday isn't it?" She asked, turning to look around Dean at the little boy.
"Guilty." He said, not paying her any attention at first, but then he looked at her briefly and gave her a smile that was so Dean that she could hardly believe her eyes.
"Cool party." Dean said, looking down at the kid standing next to him.
Ben smirked, "Dude it's so freakin' sweet, and this moon bounce, it's epic."
Aubri laughed to herself as Dean looked over at her in confusion and then eyed the moon bounce, "Yeah it's pretty awesome."
"You know who else thinks they're awesome? Chicks. It's like hot chick city out there." Ben leaned over and took a peek at Folsom who was eyeing the cake in his hands, "You've probably got a good thing going with the whole dog thing, but dude, moon bounces." Ben assessed before setting his plate down and running over to the castle. As he climbed in, Aubri and Dean could hear him say, "Ladies, here comes trouble."
Trying to suppress the slightly sick feeling in her stomach, Aubri turned to look at Dean. She had just been joking earlier when she had suggested Ben might be his kid, but now, with the evidence in front of them, it was looking more and more likely that congratulations might be in order. She could see Dean doing the math again in his head and was caught off guard when he spun around, knocking into her, and rushed towards the house, "Dean!" She called after him exasperatedly as she followed after him. In her rush to catch up with Dean, Aubri bumped into a woman who was walking past her, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She apologized as she turned to look at who she had just run into. She recognized her face from the digging that she and Sam had done, she was the ex-wife of the guy who had died.
"It's fine." The woman said shortly before turning to look down at the child who was standing just behind her, "Katie, we're leaving."
Aubri was about to turn and walk into the house to tell Dean that the ex-wife was here when she noticed Folsom eyeing the little girl, Katie, suspiciously as he slowly walked past her. The hair on his back was standing up and his tail was low as he kept his eyes locked on her. It was only when Katie looked back at Folsom, a chillingly blank look on her face, that Folsom quickly moved himself to stand between Aubri and Katie, hackles raised as a low growl rumbled in his throat. Katie's mother pulled her tightly to her side as Aubri's hand snaked out and snagged Folsom by the collar, "Folsom no!" She admonished as she pulled him back and forced him to sit down. "I am so sorry, he's never done that before." She apologized profusely as the woman just shook her head and quickly led Katie away. "What the hell bud?" Aubri whispered as she held onto Folsom's collar and led him into the house, trying to stay a few feet away from Katie and her mother as they walked past Dean and Lisa. "Dean, we have to talk." Aubri said through gritted teeth as his gaze followed Katie and her mother.
Dean held up a finger and turned to look at Lisa, "Something wrong with your friend?"
She rolled her eyes at Dean's blatant brush-off and turned to face Lisa, "Yeah, is she ok, she seemed awful upset." She waited patiently even though she already knew what Lisa's answer would be.
"She's been through a lot," Lisa sighed, "her ex just died in this horrible accident."
Aubri's elbow shot out and caught Dean in the ribs. He turned quickly to glare at her as she looked up at him with raised brows before he turned back to Lisa, "Oh yeah, we just read about that, the power saw?"
"Yeah, there's just been a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood lately." Lisa said sadly.
"What kind of bad luck?" Dean asked, suddenly serious.
Ok so I hope you guys liked it! I hope that wasn't too weird of a spot to stop the chapter, but it was kind of getting away from me so I had to pump the brakes. I've already started writing the next chapter, so if I can get 9 reviews (that will put me at 105 total reviews) then I promise on everything I love I will have an update by Wednesday!