-THREE-

Melinda pulled the towel tighter around her. She wasn't really sure why. This guy had already seen her naked, so why was she making a big deal out of this? Better question, why in God's name was her gorgeous, mind-blowing one night stand in her apartment? He didn't seem to be speaking anytime soon, so she swallowed, repeating her question.

"Dean, what the hell are you doing here?"

He found his tongue this time.

"I, uh … I came to see my brother."
"Your brother? Wh—"
"Dean? Why are you harassing my roommate? Never mind, I know why. Leave the nice girl alone, would you? Mel, don't feed the animals, kid."

Melinda's mouth fell open as Sam turned and walked into the kitchen. She turned her attention back to Dean, speaking in a sharp whisper.

"Sam is your brother?!"

Dean let out a sigh, bringing a hand up to run through his hair. Melinda had flashback of the night before, running her own fingers through that hair just as she- Whoa. Stop it.

"I didn't know you were his roommate."
"He's dating my sister."

Dean let out an "oh" as he nodded his head, and Melinda groaned, making almost the same sound as she did the night before, when she- Jesus. Stop, Mel.

"Look, can we just … Pretend not to know each other?"

Dean looked up at her. Was that a hint of hurt she saw in his eyes? His gorgeous, like fresh grass on a summer day- She seriously had to stop. Melinda sighed.

"Just for now. Jess already let me have it earlier, and I'm afraid that this … us … might—Oh, hell. Shit like this only happens to me, I swear to God."
"Hey."

Dean took her face in his hands, and Melinda stopped. Dean smiled, running his thumbs along her cheekbones.

"Calm down. You're like a rat on acid right now, so just chill out. We can play this cool. If our little … you know, ever comes up, then we'll face it. Right now, we just ran into each other in the hallway and I thought you were cute."

Melinda smiled.

"You think I'm cute?"
"It's the wet hair. Just does something for me."

Melinda laughed and nodded.

"Okay. Thank you for understanding."

Dean nodded, letting go of her face and she hurried to her room. Dean walked in the bathroom, shutting the door and letting his head fall back against it.

What the fuck?

The girl he'd bedded turns out to be his little brother's roommate? And then wants him to play dumb and pretend like they don't know each other? Nice try, sweetheart. Like Dean could ever forget her. He still had the scratches up and down his back as a reminder. And just in case the whole thing isn't bad enough, the worst thing is, Dean agreed to go along with it. He agreed to play dumb, for the sole reason that Melinda had asked him to. And he had a sinking feeling that anything else she might ask of him, anything at all, he'd move heaven and hell to do for her.

Dean ate a delicious breakfast, courtesy of Jessica, followed by a delicious lunch, also courtesy of Jessica. No, Jess. She told him to call her Jess. He hadn't seen Melinda again, but he figured she must have lain down after her shower. Jess said Melinda got terrible hangovers, but it didn't stop her from going out. Dean understood, because he was kind of the same way. His hangovers weren't as bad as Sam's, something he had to fill Jess on, to his brother's chagrin.

After lunch, Jess shooed the boys out of the kitchen, giving them space to talk and herself space to clean. They went to the living room, Sam taking a seat in a chair and Dean sprawling on the couch like he lived there. Sam smiled as he shook his head. Dean gave him a wink, making Sam roll his eyes.

"So, uh…"

Dean looked over, seeing Sam look up from his hands.

"How's Dad?"

Dean pursed his lips.

"Fine, last I heard."

A funny look crossed Sam's face.

"Last you heard?"
"Yeah. Couple months after you took off, so did he. Guess he was just hanging around for you."

Sam's mouth opened, and closed. He didn't know what to say.

"Dean, I—"
"It's fine. Whatever."
"No, it's not fine. You've been by yourself for the past three years?"
"I said it was fine, Sam."

Sam shook his head.

"Dean, it's not—"
"What? It's not fair? Is that what you were going to say? When has life ever been fair for us, Sam?"

Sam sighed.

"I just …"
"It's fine, okay? I drove around till I ran out of money, then I went to Bobby's."
"Bobby? Uncle Bobby?"

Dean nodded.

"He gave me a job at his salvage yard. Did that for a while, till I got restless, so I drove until the Impala broke down, outside of a bar called the Roadhouse. Went in to use the phone and ended up staying for almost a year."

He didn't say anything about Jo. How could he? It was still too fresh in his mind, too raw to talk about. He cleared his throat as Sam sat up, resting his forearms on his knees.

"What, Dean?"

Dean looked over to him, an expectant expression on his face. Sam's smile was gentle.

"There's something you're not telling me."

Dean smiled, nodding.

"I can't."
"You can't?"

Dean shook his head, looking down at the floor.

"I can't, Sam. Just … Please."

Sam nodded slowly, relaxing back into his chair. Something had happened, most likely to someone Dean cared about. Sam wished Dean would just tell him, but Sam knew, because he knew his brother, that Dean would eventually get around to telling him whatever it was. Dean smiled, looking back up to Sam.

"Jess is pretty."

Sam smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah, she is."
"She kind of reminds me of—"
"I know."

Dean nodded, slowly rubbing his hands together. Jess, with her long blonde hair and willowy build, reminded Dean just a bit of their mother. Mary Winchester had been the most beautiful woman Dean had ever laid eyes on. He was four when she died, but he still held some memories of her. Mary had been his whole world, until Sam was born. Dean looked over, a smile crossing his face. The chubby baby with the dark hair, who would smile and coo at him was a distant memory from the six-foot-four man sitting across from him now. Sam looked up, having been lost in memories he'd only heard of about a mother he didn't remember.

"What?"

Dean smiled.

"You need a haircut."

Sam shook his head as he smiled.

"Been here a couple hours and you're already back to bossing me around."
"It's my job."

Jess stepped into the living room, walking over to Sam, laying a hand on his shoulder while she offered Dean a smile.

"Well, I have got to hit the library. I've got that exam tomorrow, and I will get no studying done with you two and Hungover Holly in there."

Sam smiled, lifting his face as Jess gave him a kiss.

"Dean, will you be here for a while?"

Dean smiled.

"If you'll have me."

Jess smiled, and it went all the way to her eyes.

"Then I'll see you later."

She kissed Sam again and left. Dean smiled as he watched Sam, who watched Jess leave, staring at the door for a while after she shut it. Sam turned back, seeing the smile on Dean's face and laughed.

"She's going to medical school. She's brilliant."
"Brilliant and beautiful. So what the hell is she doing with you?"

Sam threw his head back with a laugh, before looking back at his brother.

"If I ever figure that out, I'll let you know. Jerk."
"Bitch."

Dean smiled, standing up and stretching. Sam did the same, then turned to Dean.

"I've got to run in town for a bit. You want to come, or…?"

Dean looked down at his watch.

"Actually, I was kind of hoping for a nap."
"Typical."

Dean flipped Sam off, making him laugh as he picked up his keys.

"Oh, hey. You brought the Impala, didn't you?"
"Not a snowball's chance in hell, Sammy."
"Oh, come on, Dean!"
"I haven't seen you for three years, and you just expect me to trust you with my Baby?"

Sam rolled his eyes, letting the door slam behind him. Dean shook his head, mumbling under his breath about his car as he stretched out across the couch, resting an arm behind his head. Right when he got comfortable, just as he was about to drift off, a piercing scream from down the hall made him jump to his feet. He made his way down the hall as quickly as he could, running into different objects on the way. He threw open the last door on the right, seeing Melinda on the bed, thrashing around and screaming.

"Mel. Hey, hey, come on. Wake up, kid. Melinda!"

He flipped the light on before he sat on the edge of the bed, gently taking hold of her arms, trying to shake her awake.

"Come on, Mel. Open those baby blues."

She moaned in her sleep, and Dean sighed. At least she'd stopped screaming.

"Melinda, wake up!"

Her eyes flew open, as she fought with all she had to get out of his grip.

"Hey, hey, calm down. You're okay! It's me. It's Dean."
"D—Dean?"

He sighed, laying his hand back on her arm.

"Yeah, babe. It's Dean. You're okay."

Tears filled her eyes as she sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. She drew her knees up, resting her arms on them.

"What … was I screaming?"

Dean nodded, and Melinda let out a long sigh.

"Can you flip the light off, please? My head's starting to pound."

Dean stood up, shutting the lights off and taking his seat on her bed. She rubbed her eyes and he watched her, until she looked her tired eyes at him.

"I'm sorry. This hasn't happened in a long time."
"You usually have nightmares?"

Melinda smiled and nodded.

"Always have."

Dean, without even realizing it, reached over and took her hand.

"Do you know why?"

Melinda's face fell, her pretty blue eyes falling to study her bedspread. Dean kept hold of her hand, even while she tried to pull it back from him.

"Mel, hey."

She looked up, and Dean gave her a little smile.

"You can talk to me, you know."

She blew out a long breath, looking over to the dark curtains covering the window in her room. She didn't know why the window even had curtains. The only thing she could see from her window was the bricks of the building next door. Actually, it had been Jess' idea to put the curtains up. And Jess had most likely gotten the idea from their mother. Melinda closed her eyes before looking back to Dean.

"Yes, I know why I have nightmares. We figured it out a long time ago."

He didn't say anything, just stared at her with those beautiful green eyes. She took in a shaky breath.

"They're not really nightmares. They're memories."
"Memories of what?"

Melinda spoke softly, looking down at their hands, missing the look of horror that crossed Dean's face.

"The night my family was murdered."