-SIX-

Melinda sat at the kitchen table in her bathrobe, while Jess paced around the kitchen. In Melinda's room, a nearly mirror-act was occurring, with Dean back in his jeans, getting dressed as Sam paced the room, shaking his head. Melinda sighed as Jess finally stopped, turning to face her.

"How could you do this, Mel?"

Melinda held out her hands, palms up.

"Do what?"
"You slept with Sam's brother!"
"No, Sam's brother was my one-night stand."
"What?!"
"I just didn't know it at the time."

Jess' mouth hung open, and Melinda sighed again.

"Jessie, don't make a big deal out of this."
"Melinda, come on!"

Melinda pillowed her head on her arms as Jess went back to pacing.

Sam let out a laugh as he shook his head. Dean slid his shirt on and turned to Sam.

"Okay, let's hear it. Come on, Sam. Out with it."

Sam turned to face him, letting out a breath.

"Dean, this is my girlfriend's sister. MY girlfriend's sister!"
"I heard you the first time, Sam."
"I should have expected this I guess, but my God, Dean!"

Dean sat on the bed, lacing his boots up and letting out a sigh. He looked up to Sam, resting his hands on his knees.

"You done?"

Sam shot him a look. Hell no, he was not done. Not by a long shot. He let out a sigh.

"Dean, look."
"No, Dad, you look. I'm not twelve years old, okay? I gave you 'The Talk,' for Christ's sake. I know how to treat a woman and frankly, I'm good at it."

Sam stood back, nodding his head, letting Dean go. He crossed his arms over his chest when Dean stood up, grabbing his overshirt and sliding it on. Sam took in a breath, making sure his words were gentle, yet still packing a punch.

"Yeah, I'll give you that. But let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? Who was the one who always—and I do mean always, Dean—had to listen to the girls cry on the phone when you wouldn't answer? The one who had to break the news that 'Sorry, sugar, this was a one-time thing"? That's right, man. Me."

Dean looked down at the ground, and Sam ran a hand over his neck.

"This is Melinda, Dean. She's Jess' little sister, and I'm kind of protective of her myself. If I'd known you were coming into town, I …"

Sam let his sentence trail off, and Dean looked up at him, a painful smile on his face.

"You would have kept her far away from me?"

Sam let out a breath.

"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to, Sammy."

Sam turned away, walking a bit with his hands on his hips. He turned to Melinda's window with the black-out curtains, letting out another breath. He didn't turn around, just spoke quietly.

"What am I supposed to do when you take off this time?"

Dean didn't speak, but he watched his brother. Sam glanced behind him, letting a small smile cross his face.

"What am I supposed to say to Mel when you go? This wasn't just some random chick, some bar bunny in some hole-in-the-wall town. This is my roommate, and my girlfriend's sister. I can't just flash her a smile, tell her to 'Stay gold.'"

Dean smiled at that. He'd watched The Outsiders one summer, when Sam had just turned thirteen. Sam had devoured the book, loving every word of every chapter, and when they'd stumbled into a town that was showing the movie at their local theater, the boys had spent an entire day there, sneaking into different theaters, watching the movie over and over again. Dean had picked up the 'Stay gold, Ponyboy,' line and clung to it, using it every chance he got, driving both Sam and their father absolutely crazy with it. And Sam picked it up as well, using it as a final nail in the coffin to whatever pretty girl Dean had batted his ridiculously long eyelashes at that week.

The boys looked over at each other, both having been lost in their memories for a moment. Dean cleared his throat.

"What if … What if I didn't take off this time? What if … What if I stayed?"

Sam's hazel eyes went wide, and he crossed his arms back over his chest, while the side of Dean's mouth quirked up. He'd known Sam for the past twenty-two years. He knew all about him, what he was afraid of, who his heroes were, his hopes and dreams, his regrets. And he knew his body language, the things he said without using a single word. And when Sam gave him that particular look, with his arms crossed over his massive chest, that meant "I'm listening."

"I mean, I was just thinking, I'm twenty-six years old. I've seen every damn sight there is to see in the continental U.S. I'm kind of tired of driving, you know? Maybe … Maybe it might be nice to put down some roots. At least for a while."

Sam nodded, not smiling just yet. Dean knew that meant Sam was weighing the options in his mind.

"What about Dad, Dean? What if he calls?"

Dean smiled, snorted.

"Dad's not going to call, Sammy. If he does, then something's probably wrong, and I'm hauling your ass with me to go see."

Sam shook his head, but smiled.

"I'd like to see you try. Jerk."

Dean grinned.

"Bitch."

Sam matched his grin at Dean's automatic reply, shaking his head. After a moment, he lifted his eyes to Dean's.

"You really think you'll stay?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders, but a smile was on his face.

"I want to. At least for right now. I might change my mind later, but anybody could. Even you, college boy."

Sam let out a quiet laugh, then turned to Dean, who was standing beside him, his hands in his pockets.

"I'd really love to have you here, Dean."

Dean smiled, trying to hide it, but Sam saw it anyway.

"Well, are we done with this chick-flick bullshit? I can feel my balls shriveling up as we speak."

Sam let out a laugh, making Dean smile as he watched his brother double over. When Sam had calmed down, he slapped Dean on the back.

"So, Sammy… It's cool if I crash with you, right?"

Sam hung his head.

"You've been in this apartment for all of what, twelve hours? And you're already starting to mooch off me?"
"Nobody says 'mooch' anymore, Grandpa."

Sam didn't even try to stop the smile from crossing his face.

"Shut up, Dean."

Melinda was staring at her fingernails, thinking about painting them, while Jess was still pacing around the kitchen. She flicked a glance to the table, letting out a long sigh, and Melinda laid her hands on the table.

"What? I know you want to say something, Blondie, so just … Out with it."

Jess nodded, coming to sit across from Melinda. She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but …"

Melinda smiled, shaking her head. That was never a good introductory sentence. She waited, instead of saying anything, and Jess looked up at her.

"Mel, what am I supposed to do now?"

Melinda gave her a look, and Jess sighed.

"Kid, listen. You're beautiful. Guys know that, and they love that about you. You're funny and sweet, and you make the guys feel like they can conquer the world."

A smile crossed Melinda's face. Jess saw it, and pushed on.

"But … sex is kind of like the kiss of death for you. You sleep with a guy, and that's it. You don't call, you won't answer when they call, and when I get tired of hearing the damn phone ring, I have to give them some bogus excuse as to why you've suddenly dropped them."

Melinda's smile fell, and Jess sighed.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings, Mel, but it's happened more times than I can count."
"That's an awful nice way to call me a whore, Jess."

Melinda stood up, pulling her robe tighter around her. Jess sighed and hung her head.

"That's not what I'm trying to do, honey. I'm just saying that …"

Jess let out a breath, coming to stand behind Melinda.

"This is Sam's brother. Their relationship is fragile anyway, and—"
"I may have just ruined it."

Melinda turned away from her sister, walking back to the table. Jess closed her eyes.

"This isn't going at all how I wanted it to. I'm not saying what I want to say."
"I think you're doing just fine, Jessica."
"Don't be mad at me, Mel."

Melinda smiled, nodding her head. She pushed the chair back in at the table, looking over to her sister.

"I'll clean up my own mess this time, Jess. You can sit this one out."
"Melinda, wait."

But she wouldn't. She walked out of the kitchen, ignoring Jessica's calls for her, pushing open her bedroom door. The brothers turned from the window to look at her, both of them just standing with their hands in their pockets. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't. She saw Dean's eyes change, and he started to take a step to her. She held up a hand and cleared her throat.

"I, uh … I need to get dressed, so…"

Sam nodded, walking out of the room. Dean followed him to the door, then closed it, turning to lean against it. Melinda looked back and sighed.

"Dean, I need to get dressed."
"Sweetheart, after the past 24 hours or so, I really don't think we have anything to hide from each other."

Melinda sighed again, going to stand in front of her closet, crossing her arms over her chest. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, fighting the urge to crawl under her clothes, to that back corner of the closet, like she used to do when she was a child. She felt the gentle hands on her shoulders, biting back the sob that threatened to escape her throat. Dean spoke quietly, right in her ear.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

Melinda shook her head, fighting to keep the tears at bay, and when she was sure she wouldn't cry, she turned to face Dean.

"Jess just cleared a few things up for me."
"Like what?"

Melinda let out a sigh, while Dean twirled the ends of her hair around his fingertips. She looked at him, and when she realized he wasn't letting this go, she sighed again.

"I don't usually do … what we did last night."

Dean brought his eyes to hers, and she sighed around a smile.

"I don't go home with random guys I meet in bars."

Dean nodded.

"To tell you the truth, you are the first guy to ever pick me up and take me home. Well, if you can call that motel 'home'."

Dean let out a laugh, and Melinda looked down, to his throat. She spoke quietly.

"I meet a guy, get to know him. We'll go out, have some fun. I make him fall for me, and after we sleep together, I end it. As Jess put it, 'Sex is like the kiss of death for me.'"

Dean fought the smile that wanted to cross his face.

"So, by now …"
"Whatever this is between us should be good and over."

Dean nodded.

"There's just one problem with that."

Melinda brought her eyes up to his, and he let the smile come.

"We've had sex twice, Mel. Almost three times."

Melinda's eyes widened, and she let out a surprised little 'huh.' Dean took hold of her face, lifting her chin and pressing his lips against hers. She let out a little moan before reaching up to grip his shoulders as he smiled against her mouth. He broke off the kiss when he had to either breathe or suffocate, resting his forehead against Melinda's as they both were breathing hard. He spoke quietly.

"I'm not one to stick around, Mel. I'm usually gone before there's even a chance for a morning after."

Melinda smiled, keeping her eyes closed.

"Guess we're more alike than we thought."

Dean smiled, his eyes closed as well.

"Mel, I don't want to scare you or pressure you or anything like that. I'm not looking for anything, okay?"

She nodded against his head, and he leaned to kiss her again. After, he pulled back to look at her.

"I'm gonna stick around, Mel. I don't know for how long, but I'm here. And I want to … to keep seeing you. I like being with you, and not just for sex."
"Even though that is amazing."

Dean closed his eyes as he nodded, making Melinda laugh. He ran a hand through her hair and smiled.

"Get dressed. Sam was making noises about going to eat somewhere."

Melinda nodded, and Dean kissed her forehead before he left the room. Melinda sighed as she sank back against her closet door.

Melinda was pleasantly surprised by how good a time she had at dinner with Sam, Jess, and Dean. They talked and laughed, Sam and Dean both bringing up funny stories from their childhood, causing the girls to double over. They came back kind of early, since Sam had an interview with the law school the next morning. He and Jess went on to bed, so she could study a little more, leaving Melinda and Dean together. Sam had given Dean specific instructions that he could sleep on the couch or in the Impala, to which Dean had given him an equally specific "Fuck you."

Melinda walked into the living room with two beers dangling from her fingers. She handed one to Dean, then lifted a foot, slipping her shoe off. She did the same thing to her other foot, and Dean was captivated by that, until she sat beside him on the couch. He popped the top on his beer, motioning to her, and she smiled as she let him open hers, too.

"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."

They smiled at each other, taking long pulls of their beers. They sat in a companionable silence for a while, until Dean's imagination got the best of him.

"So."

Melinda turned to face him, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Dean swallowed before he spoke.

"I get why my geek brother's in bed. Ditto for your sister, with her big test tomorrow. Why are you still up with me?"

Melinda smiled and opened her mouth, before Dean stopped her.

"Not that I'm knocking your company. I actually enjoy it immensely."

Melinda let out a laugh.

"Impressive word, 'immensely.'"

Dean smiled and shrugged his shoulders, taking another drink of his beer. Melinda smiled at him.

"I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Dean seemed to be waiting for a better explanation, and Melinda let out a sigh.

"I'm an English major. Mainly because I have no fucking clue what I want to do with my life. Jessie's going to be a doctor. Sam's going to be a lawyer. And I couldn't stand the thought of having a degree in General Studies. I hate math and history, I get squeamish with medical stuff, lawyer stuff makes me sleepy, so I went with English. I'm a fairly good writer, and I could teach or something, I guess."

Melinda looked down at her beer, smiling as she rolled it around in her hands.

"Drives my parents crazy."

Dean draped his arm over the back of the couch and Melinda brought her eyes to his.

"One daughter's going to be a doctor and save the world, and the other … Well, at least she went to college, you know?"

Dean let out a sigh, fingering the ends of her hair, turning his beer up to drain the last of it. Melinda stood up, holding out a hand for him. He looked at her hand, then up to her face. She smiled at him.

"I'm tired. You coming?"

Dean glanced at the couch and Melinda let out a laugh.

"I know Sam told you to sleep here, but that couch blows. Plus, in my bed, there'll be a warm, naked girl waiting for you to finish what you started earlier. Round 3, I believe."

Before she finished that sentence, Dean was off the couch like a bullet out of a gun, scooping Melinda in his arms. She put her face in his neck and laughed as he hurried down the hall to her room, shutting it behind him.

"Lock it this time, would ya?"

Dean laughed as he turned the lock, pulling his shirt off on the way to the bed.