A/N: Thank you to all my newest followers and those who added me to their Story and/or Author alerts! That makes me super happy to know that people are watching this story for an update! As always, don't hesitate to review and offer up any praise, or suggestions of scenes or things you'd like to see happen (I love taking requests!) and constructive criticism. I'm no J.K. Rowling, but I am trying!

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Chapter 8

The Winchester house was dead silent that night, everyone tucked into bed and sleeping peacefully. All but one.

It was a scream that awoke Sam, who had stretched his tall frame out underneath the mountain of blankets on his bed. He had happily rolled from his back to his side, hugging half of his pillow to him and burying his face into it. Snapping his eyes open, he blinked for a minute, thinking he had just imagined it.

But the scream continued, and it sound way too high pitched to be either Dean's or his dad's. Throwing off his covers, Sam darted to his feet and stumbled quickly out of his room, hearing the scream close.

Throwing open the door to Kelsey's room, he paused only briefly enough to see the redheaded girl arching her back off the bed, the thin blanket covering her balled up in her hands tightly. The comforter and other blankets had been kicked off during the fit.

"Kelsey," Sam called, moving over to the bed and resting one knee on the mattress as he leaned over her. Gently, he grabbed her shoulders, mostly to stop her moving, but also to try to calm her down. At the touch, her screams quieted but quickly, sobbing took over. "Kelsey, wake up."

She sobbed, still sleeping until Sam gave her a couple rough shakes. Snapping her eyes open, and seeing the younger Winchester brother looming over her, she sobbed out a cry and pushed at his arms, indicating she wanted him to let go of her. Sam did, but took a cautious seat on her mattress, watching as she bolted up and backed up until her back hit the headboard, hugging her pillow tightly.

"You okay?" he asked gently, before the bright light of the bedroom snapped on. Sam hissed in displeasure, covering his eyes with a large hand at the sudden brightness.

"Sam?"

Mary stood at the door with Dean and John, all three clearly having been woken up, with concern mixed with tiredness crossing their faces.

"I think she had a nightmare," he answered with a nod in Kelsey's direction, squinting as he uncovered his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light. Kelsey had burrowed her own face into the pillow, still sobbing quietly to herself.

"Kelsey?" Mary cooed quietly, making her own way over but pausing before reaching the bed. Tenderly, she placed a hand on top of the girl's head, letting her fingers gently stroke back the red locks. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch from the contact, but did tense a bit. "Are you okay?"

There was a long pause before the sobs quieted and she nodded, but never lifted her face from the cotton.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, and feeling the scruff starting to grow, Dean absently remembered he would need to shave in the morning. As much as he wanted sleep, and let Sam deal with the situation, having been there first, he shook his head instead. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he was sure Kelsey was okay, at least for the meantime. His voice was rough with tiredness as he suggested: "I got this, you guys go back to bed."

It was much too late to argue, so Mary just nodded and gave a final gentle stroke of Kelsey's hair before moving to kiss her son's cheek. "You get yourself some sleep, too."

"I will," Dean agreed, bidding his parents goodnight before they went back to bed. Looking back to Sam, he caught his little brother looking at him with interest, and if he weren't mistaken, smugness.

Dean couldn't pull a reason off the top of his head as to why Sam would be looking at him like that. He didn't even consider the possibility that he was inadvertently proving Sam's point he had made the previous morning about being the 'boyfriend'.

Finally, he asked Sam, with a shrug, "What?"

"Nothing." Sam just grinned, getting to his feet, clearly having found amusement in something regarding his brother. He just snickered to himself as he left, giving Dean a light punch on the shoulder with a "Go get her, Tiger."

Dean snorted and rolled his eyes. So that was what Sam had found amusing. Once he was sure the others had returned to their own rooms, and it had given time for Kelsey to calm down on her own, he took a seat on her mattress. He refused to extend a hand, not sure what her reaction would be if he touched her.

"Kelse?" He paused, as he hunched over a bit and rested an elbow on his right knee that he had drawn up onto the mattress as well. "It's okay now, you're fine. It was just a bad dream."

It took a long, few minutes before green eyes peeked out from the pillow, still wet with unshed tears.

Dean took this as a good sign and finally extended that hand, to rest it on the empty space of the pillow. He gave it a gentle, but firm tug to lower it so he could see more of her face. Although she kept a tight grip on the pillow itself, she didn't fight to put her makeshift shield back up.

"You're okay, you're fine." He quietly reassured her again. He paused, unsure of how to go about this conversation. Licking his lips in thought, Dean tilted his head a bit. "What did you dream about?"

He could hear a shaky breath escape her and then mumble something, avoiding his eyes. He tilted his head a bit more, turning his ear in her direction as if that would help.

"What was that?"

Kelsey paused and lowered the pillow even more to reveal her whole face, but kept hugging the pillow. With her lower lip trembling, she swallowed and replied, almost just as quietly. "I think it was about the night I moved in..."

Dean just stared at her for a long moment, taking a deep breath. He remembered that night, even though it was almost ten years ago.

Kelsey and her mom had come over for dinner, at Mary and John's invitation. The meal had gone well enough, with light conversation and laughter about everyone's day and current life. Probably against their better judgment, in hindsight, a couple bottles of red had been cracked open, with Jen polishing off nearly a full bottle herself by the time the pie for dessert had been served.

Excusing themselves from the table to watch TV, Sam, Dean and Kelsey had disappeared into the living room while the adults remained conversing in the kitchen. Things had been peaceful enough until Jen reached over to the second bottle of the evening, taking hold of it to pour herself another glass.

"Sorry for being clumsy." She had laughed a reply as she misaimed and spilt some red wine onto the table top. Placing the wine bottle back, she took her napkin to mop it off, ignoring the protests from Mary that it was really alright. "No no, I got it."

She smiled happily at the couple, her cheeks taking on a pink tinge, indicating that she was buzzed, if not drunk already. "So, guys, looking forwards to having the kids home for the summer?"

"Yeah, they're excited for their trip to Sioux Falls," Mary replied with a nod, cautiously watching as her friend sipped on what had to have been her fifth glass of the night.

"That's great they get to go see your Bobby friend. He's, uh, an uncle?"

"Old friend of mine," John confirmed. "But close enough of one to the boys."

"You know," Mary suggested, taking a small sip of her own wine. She fought to keep her voice casual, bracing herself for whatever twists and turns this conversation would take. "John and I were talking earlier, and we were thinking that maybe it would be nice for Kelsey to join the boys for a couple weeks."

Jen's thin, brown brows raised. "Oh?"

Mary bobbed her head with a smile. "Yeah. They're all super close, and are used to spending the summer together anyway." She paused, and quickly glanced at her husband, who was silent and probably preparing himself for Jen's next reaction. "We just thought it would be nice if you had some time to yourself, to work through things."

Jen's reaction to that comment was almost instantaneous. Her gaze darkened, and her smile disappeared, lips twisting into a frown. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Mary took a moment to think about how she wanted to word this, and took a sip of her liquid courage in her hand. "Well... we can't imagine it's been easy these last couple years, since Rob left, and you know kids can be a handful..."

"So, what? Are you saying I can't handle my own kid?" Her tone was clipped, short, and it was evident this conversation was going to turn south very quickly.

"That's not what we're saying." John cut in, putting down his own beer to stare at the brunette woman intently. "We're just saying that maybe you have some personal things you might want to work through, and we're offering to take your daughter off your hands while you do that."

"Personal things?" she parroted, as if she had no idea what the man was talking about.

"Yeah. Like, the drinking, for one."

"John!" Mary voiced, eyes wide in surprise at how blunt he had answered that question.

Her husband cast a dark glance at her, silently questioning her protest. When they had discussed between themselves about having this conversation with Jen, they hadn't exactly discussed what to say. But John could be a stubborn and blunt bastard at times, and Mary knew that, so why was she so surprised?

Jen, herself, glared at the man. Her voice raised in anger after downing the rest of her wine. "So I like to drink. I'm an adult, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Not when you have a fourteen year old daughter to look after!" John's booming voice shot back, his whole body tensing up. "Do you really think she likes seeing you like you are right now?"

The brunette woman just glared again before pushing herself to her feet, swaying unsteadily for just a brief moment. "You don't know anything about my kid. I will raise her how I damn well please. I don't need you or Mary, and I sure as hell didn't need my dick of an ex-husband! So, thanks, but no thanks on your offer."

Turning on her heel, she stormed into the living room and immediately over to Kelsey. Grabbing her daughter by the arm, she hauled the teenager to her feet and pushed her in the direction of the door.

"Go get your shoes on. We're going home."

"But mom-"

"NOW, Kelsey."

Kelsey, very familiar with that tone, especially when her mom had been drinking, knew it was time to shut up. Ignoring Sam and Dean's looks, she moved to the shoe rack by the front door and grabbed her tennis shoes, plopping down on the wood flooring to pull them on.

Mary and John had followed their enraged friend into the living room, who was busy pulling on her own jacket before snapping at Kelsey to hurry up, that it was time to go.

Once Kelsey was standing, she waved goodbye quickly to Sam and Dean and allowed her mom to haul her out of the front door.

"Jen, wait!" Mary called, following after her friend. "Let's just talk about this."

"Talk about what? That you think I'm a lousy, alcoholic parent?"

"No, not at all." Mary shook her head, pleading. "John and I. We care about you, and while we don't exactly what you're going though, we just think you could use a bit of help. That's it." She waved with a hand back to the door. "Just come back in and we'll talk."

Kelsey bit her lip, shifting in her mom's tightening grip. It was actually starting to hurt a bit more now. "Can't we stay? Just a bit longer? And listen to what they have to say?" she tried, trying to tug her arm away.

"I already said no!"

"But mom, Mary and John-"

"I said NO, Kelsey!" Jen, temper already at a boiling point, suddenly exploded. In one quick movement, she suddenly let go of her daughter only to raise a hand against her. SLAP!

Kelsey froze, eyes wide and shocked, unsure of what had just happened. It was until heat began to rise in her left cheek that she tenderly covered it with her own hand, and her eyes grew wet with tears.

Jen instantly sobered, hand still raised, but anger left her face. Instead, shock took over, as if she couldn't believe she had just done that.

Mary, herself, had covered her own mouth in shock, eyes widening before she sobered herself. Right now, the situation needed to be defused, and quickly, and that meant Kelsey needed to get to safety. "Kelsey, go back inside."

"Kelsey... I..."

Kelsey ignored her mother, hand still covering the flamed skin of her left cheek, and darted inside to the safety of the Winchester house on Mary's command.

"Mary, I didn't... I just... " Jen tried, shaking her head. Her mouth moved, silent words coming out as she tried to figure out how to word the guilt she felt, and the apology she owed.

"I'll get John to drive you home." The response was curt, short. "We'll keep Kelsey here until you are sober enough to think clearly."

Dean's thoughts about that night were interrupted when the sound of Kelsey's cries filled his ears.

"She hit me..." Kelsey choked out, fresh tears filling her eyes as the memories came flooding back. "That's why I came here..."

Dean swallowed, biting down on his tongue and nodded slowly, looking down at the dark purple carpet of her room. "Dad drove your mom home, and I iced your face. Then, the next thing I know, Sam and I are getting told you were moving in while your mom got help."

"In Malibu?"

"Yeah. There was a rehab center that was supposed to be really good. And the weather wasn't too bad of a perk either." Dean paused, taking another deep breath and looked up at the redhead, who had moved from the headboard and closer to him.

"Look, Kelse... I'm..." The man, normally not at a loss for words if you were to ask anyone, suddenly had no idea what to say.

Kelsey allowed her green eyes to drift over him, and Dean had to try and fight the shiver going up his spine. He could feel her eyes raking over him, trying to read him, look at his soul and try to figure out what he wanted to say without him saying it. He couldn't remember her ever staring at him like that, trying to figure him out, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

When she didn't respond, but simply continued to stare at him, Dean took it as a silent invitation to continue. Even if he didn't know what to say.

Eventually, he settled on an apology, one he had been meaning to make for a long time. "I'm sorry..." he offered weakly, hesitantly. "For letting your mom hit you... for you being in the car with me that night... You wouldn't be where you are now, fighting to recover memories if you hadn't been."

To his surprise, Kelsey tentatively reached over and took one of his larger hands in her smaller one. "It's okay." The words drifted off her lips softly. "You didn't know."

Dean swallowed again, using his free hand to rake it through his hair and could feel his own eyes fill up with tears at how forgiving the woman was. He sure as hell wouldn't be if he were in her place. Later, if he was asked, he would blame the sudden rush of emotion on exhaustion because Dean Winchester did not do crying.

"But I should've seen it coming." He argued, and quickly used that same free hand to scrub it over his face again. "All of it. I knew what your mom was like when she drank, I knew the roads would be bad. And it's my fault and I'm-"

He was suddenly cut off as two thin arms encircled his neck, hugging him tightly. Dean stiffened but soon allowed himself to hug her back, relaxing as he did so.

"It's okay, Dean." She cooed into his ear softly. "I forgive you, even if I don't remember it."

The man burrowed his face into her shoulder, tightening his grip on her. Suddenly, he found himself aware of everything about her: the sweet mix of berry scented shampoo, the way her smaller body fit in his arms, even as they hugged. The calming effect that she was having on him, even though she had been the one to awaken screaming. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had hugged her like this.

They sat like that for a few long minutes before Dean reluctantly let go. Anyone else, and he'd be happy to make some kind of sexual innuendo, but this was Kelsey. One of his oldest, closest friends. Instead, he just offered a small upturn of his lips.

"Think you can get back to sleep?"

The redhead nodded slowly, her eyes heaving from exhaustion and crying. "Yeah. Thanks, Dean."

He simply dipped his head in a sign of "You're welcome" before he climbed back to his feet, ignoring the urge to stay and make sure she would stay asleep.

Moving to make his way out of her room, once she was situated under the covers, he bid her a goodnight, shut off the light and closed the door behind him. Taking a minute to himself, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes in his own frustration at where thoughts were leading him, and why he seemed to be suddenly so much more aware of the female he just walked out on. Damn him.

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