Hello, all! Thanks to your encouragement, I have continued this story in a sequel entitled Second Chances. Check it out, if you wish!

So I don't get in trouble for posting a non-story chapter, here is a deleted scene from Starting Over.

Jess stood in the bathroom, her empty duffle hanging from one hand and her toiletries scattered across the counter. She could hear Sam and Dean talking quietly in the other room. Dean had just come back from disposing of… Brady. Or not-Brady. Whatever. The point was, Sam's brother had just dumped a corpse, and Sam seemed to be taking it in stride. Worse, as if it were normal.

Jess met her own eyes in the mirror, staring at her pale face. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

But it was Sam. Sweet, gentle, loveable, goofball Sam, with his floppy hair and boyish grin. She trusted him. She loved him.

She raised her chin determinedly. 'Get a grip. Whatever is going on, you can trust Sam.' She started stuffing her things into the duffle. 'He will take care of you, and…whatever is going on.'

She took one last look at the tiny bathroom in her apartment, soaking in what normality she had left, and then switched off the light.

Jess joined the boys in the living room, giving Sam a brave, if small, smile.

"I'm ready."