Chapter Seventeen

Having slept in, Sam and Amy were surprised to find the house quiet when they finally left the bedroom. Knowing her sister was usually up early, Amy expected to find Leah sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, but all she found there was a half-empty glass of wine.

"That's odd. It's nearly eleven. Is Dean still asleep, too?" she asked as she set about making a pot of coffee.

"I'll go see." Sam disappeared into the other room, only to come back a moment later shaking his head. "Nope. He's not out there. But I found these."

Amy turned around to see him holding a pair of jeans in one hand and a silk robe in the other. A huge smile split her face. "Awesome!"

Sam grinned. "Gee, what do you think those two were up to last night?"

She started the machine and as the coffee began to brew she walked over to him. "Hmm, let me see? I bet they did a little of this..." Her left hand snaked up to slip behind Sam's neck so she could lower his head to hers. Amy's tongue slowly traced the outline of his lips before she said, "And a little of this..." Her right hand found his flat belly, her fingers raking down it, then gliding over his belt so she could cup his manhood.

Sam gave a low groan of pleasure and nibbled on her full lower lip. "Then what?"

She was eager to show him but the sound of Leah's angry voice suddenly rang out from down the hallway, quickly followed by Dean's gruff bellow. Sighing, Amy's head fell against Sam's chest and she rubbed her forehead from side to side as the arguing continued. It ended with a loud bang as the bedroom door was slammed closed.

The couples' heads turned toward the doorway, where Leah appeared seconds later. She stared at them briefly before mumbling a curt "Good morning." Then she brushed by to grab several mugs from the cupboard.

Amy was about to ask her what had happened when Dean appeared. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw him wearing nothing but her favorite afghan wrapped around his waist, but he didn't even seem to notice she and Sam were standing there. He glared at Leah's back for a moment, looking as if he were going to speak, then stepped inside the room and snatched his jeans from his brother's hand before disappearing.

Realizing her mouth was hanging open, Amy snapped it closed and shared a baffled look with Sam. "Okay. Um, you deal with your charming brother and I'll talk to Leah."

Sam rolled his eyes. "How come I get stuck with Dean?"

She spun him around so he faced the doorway and gave him a slight shove forward. "Cause he's your brother. And if I went out there, I'd probably end up trying to hurt him."

Sam glanced at her over his shoulder. "What if he tries to hurt me?"

Amy laughed. "You've got a bag full of weapons. Don't be afraid to use them! Now go and straighten him out."

Sam scratched his head and tried to prepare himself mentally for the battle ahead as he trudged out into the living room. One thing he was absolutely certain of in life, was that Dean was not an easy guy to discuss personal issues with.

As Sam walked into the room, his brother was just coming out of the bathroom. He watched as Dean tossed the afghan onto the couch, then dropped down onto it and began putting on his boots. With an inward sigh, Sam sat down next to him and cleared his throat. When Dean ignored him, he tried clearing it again.

Without looking up, Dean said, "Save it, Sammy. I'm not interested in any of your frigging lectures, okay?"

"I wasn't going to..."

Now his brother did look at him. "Yeah you were. But you can save your breath, all right? There's nothing to talk about."

Sam looked down at his hands as they rested on his knees and tried to think of a way to get Dean to tell him what was going on. When Dean and Leah were seeing each other Dean had broken down and asked for his advice on relationship matters. Well, he hadn't actually asked, but he'd hinted around and finally accepted it when Sam had offered. He had a feeling his brother could use a little help again, he was just being his usual stubborn self.

As he watched his sibling, a thought hit him and he smiled. Quickly covering the grin, he set his plan into motion. "That's cool. I don't feel like talking anyway."

Dean eyed him briefly. "Good. So don't."

"Wouldn't dream of it. I mean, it's really none of my business, what goes on with you and Leah."

"Damn straight it's not." Dean shoved his foot into his shoe rather forcefully and began yanking harshly on the ties.

Sam nodded. "I mean, what do I care if she's acting like this? What the hell's her problem anyway? What was she thinking?"

"She's not thinking!" His attention shifted to Sam and his voice lowered as he leaned in. "Meaningless sex? I know all about meaningless sex, okay? I've had plenty of it. It's nothing at all like that with her. It's different, special, and she damn sure should know it."

Having duped his brother into spilling the problem, Sam focused on helping with a solution. Obviously, Leah assumed Dean didn't care about her anymore and felt he was now only interested in the sex. Also just as obvious was that Dean hadn't bothered to let her know how he really felt. Classic Dean issue. Pretty similar to what had happened the last time the two were together. Once again, it all came down to one thing. Dean needed to tell Leah he loved her. "Of course she should know. I mean, come on. She'd have to realize that even though you dumped her without any warning or much of an explanation, that now, after all this time, you still love her. You made that clear, after all, right? You said, 'Leah, I'm still in love with you.'"

If looks could kill, Sam would have been dead. "God damn it, Sam, I told you I didn't want to talk about this." He started to finish tying his shoe, but quickly abandoned the idea and started back in on his brother. "What the hell do you know anyway? I tried to tell her what happened when we were at that motel in New Hampshire but she didn't want to listen."

"At the motel? As in, while you were with her in the motel room, Dean? When? Before, during or after you slept with her?"

Dean poked Sam in the chest, angered by his brother's words. "It wasn't like that!"

Raising his eyebrows, Sam chose to ignore the jab and continued on. "No? Well, it sure as hell wasn't the two of you sitting down somewhere quiet discussing the break up, talking about what went wrong and whether or not you should try again." He could see how upset Dean was at his bluntness, but it was the only way to get him to realize he could lose the woman he loved. "Like it or not, Dean, you aren't the smoothest guy around when it comes to communication and serious relationships. But if you want to be with Leah again, you're gonna have to work at it. You hurt her and she's still feeling the pain because she still loves you. You're gonna have to suck it up, dude, and tell her you're sorry and you love her. Or lose her for good."

Dean stared at Sam for a moment, then gave a slight nod and finished tying his shoe. Resting his elbows on his knees, Dean pressed his fingertips to his temples and rubbed, hoping to take away the dull ache. "You know, Sammy." he said quietly. "I really hate it when you're right."

Sam grinned and patted his brother's back. "You think you'd be used to it by now."

Leah sat and listened to everything her sister had to say about Dean and the mess they'd made of things since seeing each other again. Deep down, all she wanted to do was crawl into a bed and remain there for a month or two, but she knew her sister was right. She said the only way to resolve this was to confront Dean with the truth.

Amy had also pointed out that the man had already broken her heart. How much more could it possibly hurt if she told him she loved him and found out he truly didn't care for her anymore? The lying and the games had to stop. Especially when she was the one who had been so upset when Dean had done those very things to her in the past. No, she wasn't behaving like herself, not at all. And she didn't like what she'd become.

"So, what are you going to do?" Amy asked.

Leah managed a weak smile. "What else can I do? I'm going to talk to Dean."

As if on cue, Dean's tall frame filled the doorway. He paused, the look on his face letting her know he was unsure of whether or not to approach her. Leah decided to make it easy for him. "You need something, Dean?" she asked.

He walked into the kitchen and stopped beside her chair. Placing one hand on the back of her seat, the other on the table, he leaned in close so he could speak softly. "I need to talk to you." Seeing Leah's eyes shoot up to meet his, he added, "Maybe we could go someplace. You know, for coffee. Someplace quiet."

"Sure. Okay."

Dean stepped back so Leah could slip out of the chair. As she passed Amy, Leah smiled and nodded to let her sister know she would do the right thing no matter how it turned out.

Amy returned the smile, but it faded as Dean went by her. Reaching out, she grabbed his wrist. Although her eyes never left Dean's, she spoke to Leah. "Sis, would you mind if I talk to Dean for a minute before you go?" There was complete silence. "I promise I won't keep him long."

"I'll be in the living room." Leah said reluctantly.

Once her sister was out of hearing range, Amy stood up, her grip on Dean's arm tightening slightly. "You know how I feel about you, Dean."

With a derisive snort, Dean glared down at her hand on his wrist. "Yeah, well it's mutual. Look, I know what I have to do. And I already got the whole 'do right by her' speech from Sam."

Amy inched closer, her eyes burning with anger. "Sam's a pussycat. Me? Think of me more as a, well a lioness protecting her cub. I'm not going to give you any 'do right by her' speech. I'm just going to let you know that I will shred you apart, rip you into a million tiny pieces, if you hurt Leah again."

Dean swallowed hard, recognizing the seriousness in her words, tone and gaze. Very few things frightened him, but at the moment Amy came pretty close. There was no doubt in his mind that she would follow through on her threat. "I'm not going to."

"Damn right you're not. You have no idea what you did to her when you took off that night. I was there, I saw her pain. She didn't deserve that Dean. And you, you don't deserve her or her love. But you've got both, don't blow it again."

At that moment, a newfound respect was born for the small girl in front of him. She loved her sister, fiercely, and one thing Dean could understand and admire was that sort of devotion to a sibling.

Dean nodded and his voice was husky with emotion when he spoke. "I won't blow it this time. Believe it or not, I love your sister."

Squeezing his arm, Amy gave him a lopsided grin. "I believe it."

Funny, but Dean had almost forgotten about her 'abilities'. Easing his arm out of her grasp, he flashed her a cocky grin. "You're one tough little bitch."

"You got that right." Amy shot back. "So watch yourself. Now go make things right with your woman." She sat back down at the table, a satisfied smile on her face as Dean left the room.

TBC