A.N.: Anybody still out there? Just kidding, I love that you guys are liking this! :-) I'm enjoying being able to pay tribute to a couple that didn't get nearly enough screen time IMHO (Misha talk :P) This chapter is short and sweet. As always a shout out to Dorothy for prettying it up before I put it out! You are the best.
Disclaimer: If this was mine, you would see this upcoming scene on the boobtube.
"You know Bobby, maybe it's just time to call it quits." Ellen sighs as Bobby looks up from the door he is working on.
"No." he insists stubbornly.
"Doesn't look like there is much hope left."
"I said no."
"We could get you a new car."
Bobby slams the hammer in his hand into the door and hopes he at least knocked one of the dents out.
"I like the car I got Ellen." he pants as he pulls himself up to a standing position.
Ellen shrugs a shoulder. "Okay then, I guess that settles it."
Bobby pulls his cap off to wipe at the sweat rolling down his face. "You don't have to help me." he says as she passes him a glass of ice tea.
"I told you I would."
Bobby throws a smirk her way. "Well then I could use your help without the commentary."
"Oh!" she cries and smacks him playfully on the arm. "You're terrible."
Bobby smiles at that and disappears back under the car.
He's had to shift about a dozen times to get to a good spot where he can stick his arm up in the ruined engine. Every time he moves, the small box in his pocket digs into his leg and reminds him of what he set out to do today.
"How's it look?" Her voice calls down to him.
"Like a damn poltergeist ran her off the road, that's how."
She laughs and it's a pleasant sound in the quiet junkyard. "I swear Singer, if it isn't you that's getting knocked around, it's your car."
Bobby chuffs a laugh into his arm. "What can I say? I got a way with spirits."
Ellen kicks halfheartedly as one of his feet sticking out from the other end of the car.
"What? Maybe she was running me off the road to get my number." He laughs at his own joke. It's only by luck that he has managed to land Ellen in the first place he's sure.
"Maybe," the woman above him muses. "Or maybe she was trying to stop you from salting and burning her dead ass."
Bobby's head pokes out from under the car. "Women don't go for that sort of thing?"
Ellen snorts and shakes her head.
"Huh? Who knew?"
They work in silence for a while, Ellen passing down tools every time Bobby voices a need for one.
When Bobby finally emerges from the car, his t shirt is saturated in dirt and sweat and whatever else the injured vehicle has spewed out, and Ellen is waiting for him, water bottle in hand.
"Thanks." he says and yanks the cap off of the water to gulp it down.
"You had to pick the hottest day of the summer to work on the car didn't ya?" she inquires, using her own water bottle to soak a washcloth and swipe it across his head.
Bobby leans into the coolness of it.
"How much do you have left?" She asks as she takes her hand back to sweep her hair into a ponytail.
"Not much," he comments around swigs of water. "Have to tighten a couple of bolts and then I'm done for the day."
Ellen smiles lopsided at him. "Well then let's get to work."
With every turn of the wrench Bobby is trying to think of the right words to say. He isn't much for romance and so much of his and Ellen's relationship has skipped past all that he doesn't really think that is the route he should go. However, his mind keeps reminding him of the shrill excited advice issued to him from his hopefully, soon to be pre-teen daughter. 'It has to be romantic, and there has to be candles and you have to tell her how she's the only one for you, forever and ever.' Bobby chuckles at the thought of him sweeping Ellen off of her feet. It all just feels a little too high school to him.
"Well?" Ellen calls as Bobby hoists himself to his feet.
"Yeah, it looks good for now. Thanks for the help."
Ellen beams at him, wrench in hand before pulling said hand across her forehead to chase away the gleam of sweat there, and managing to smear a line of grease across her skin in the process.
Bobby just laughs softly at that.
"What?" she asks, looking around for the source of his humor.
"You got a little," he gestures to her forehead and she wipes there again causing the stain to grow.
"Did I get it?" She looks back at him, confusion on her face.
She's never looked more beautiful to Bobby than in that moment, and without really thinking about it his mouth says. "You gonna marry me or what?"
Bewilderment is chased from her face by pure happiness as she kisses him and replies. "What took you so long you idjit?" She says teasing him.
Looking at her now, Bobby has no idea.
She finally gets a day off and Bobby wants to work on the car.
Figures. It's been sitting in the junkyard for more than a week, but the second she says she is driving up to see him he says "Great. Maybe you can help me with the car." And Ellen could really care less about the damn thing, but it's important to Bobby which in turn makes it important to her.
When she arrives at the house Bobby is already outside, denim clad legs sticking out at odd angles under the damaged frame of the vehicle. She can hear a muttered "Dammit!" followed by a loud clank.
"I'm here!" she calls as Bobby pulls him from under the car.
It doesn't escape her attention that as soon as he sees her his face is splitting into a smile.
She kisses his cheek tenderly. "What's the damage?"
He takes her hand in his like it's as easy as breathing. "The damage is pretty much all the banged to hell parts you can see." He sighs. "And the added bonus of a busted up engine."
Ellen dances fingers across his forehead. "Call now for the heat stroke free of charge?" she questions as Bobby hides his red face.
"It's just a little hot out."
"Right. Like your face is just a little red." She pulls him away from the car.
"I'm fine Ellen." He mutters as soon as they are in the house.
She is digging a water bottle from the fridge and passing it to him with an eye roll.
"What the hell would you do without me Bobby Singer?"
He looks up from the bottle, his eyes smiling at her.
He looks like he is at a loss for words, caught between the desire to be sweet or sarcastic.
Ellen saves him the trouble. "That heap ain't gonna fix itself." She states and rolls her sleeves up to her elbows.
"Don't talk about her that way!" He cries. "She's a classic."
They have been out in the dry heat for what feels like hours and Ellen is feeling pretty useless as she hands him down tool after tool, narrowly missing being scathed by the metal.
They joke and tease and talk about life, which for them means rituals and lore. He asks about Jo and Ellen thinks about her daughter rushing out of the door this morning, avoiding her eyes like she always does when she has some sort of secret she is worried she will spill.
Every time he comes out from under the car his jeans are a little bit more dirty and his face is getting covered in motor oil. All except for his eyes. She could get lost in those eyes.
He's telling her they are almost all done here and she can't help but think 'Thank God.'
"Well it looks all good here. Thanks for the help." She smiles at him and then wipes a hand across her forehead, hoping to chase away the sweat that is pooling there.
Bobby laughs, lines crinkling around his eyes.
"What?" She wonders aloud, looking around to see what is so damn funny.
"You got a little," His hand gestures to her head as she wipes sheepishly at it,hoping to get rid of whatever is tainting the skin.
"Did I get it?" she inquires, and the smile on Bobby's face grows before his entire expression turns tender and soft and he says "You gonna marry me or what?"
She can't think of an answer, nothing that would really mean a damn thing as she grips him tight and kisses him. "What took you so long you idjit?" she asks, using his own phrase against him.
He looks at her with awe and then down to his feet and then back at her.
'So, um, I ain't too good at this. Was that a yes?"
She giggles, and hell it has been a long time since anything in life has elicited that sort of response from her.
"That's a hell yes Singer."
Relief and bliss fight for dominion of his face as his hands, suddenly clumsy and unsure, dig into his pocket and pull out a small box.
"Bobby I,"
He lifts the lid and then frowns at his dirty fingers.
"Maybe I should do this part later." he muses and Ellen smiles at him.
"Sounds like a good idea...after we get cleaned up." She has no intentions of rushing that particular activity.
Bobby catches on and his breath hitches for just a minute. Ellen loves that she has that effect on him.
He pulls her close, breathing in the scent of her hair.
"I'm going to make you happy Ellen. I promise."
She kisses the side of his face, one hand cradling the other side of it. "You already have."
Then they kiss like there is nothing else going on in the entire world, and as far as Ellen knows, there isn't.
A.W.: Okay so guys, I know exactly where this story is going in my mind. It has about 6 chapters left with me filling it with what I would like to see in it. However, I would like to issue a statement that says if you have any requests, either for chapters or scenes you would like to see (within reason of course and staying with the pairing) I would be more than happy to write them! Just send me a private message and I will get right on that! Thank you for all those who have read and reviewed, you can't possibly know how much it means to me. :D