(A/N)- 5 chapters already! Thank you guys so much for reviewing-every time I get a review, I get so excited that it's hard to contain myself. So I'm done with my musical for this summer (God, that was such a great experience) but the one nice thing about it is that I can update quicker. At least until school starts in September, anyway, but for now, yay for fast updates! Anyway, I love you guys reviewing, keep it up by all means! And if any of you lurkers want to review, please do! I'm not a mind reader. Just like I don't own Supernatural.

Six months after Cas had appeared, Dean Winchester was back.

Lydia was just sitting around with Bobby, both of them reading and sipping their beers. It was a slow day for them-they had just finished a case and were currently looking for another one-when there was a knock on the door. Lydia's heart immediately leapt up into her throat, but then her curiosity peaked. Sam never knocked at the door, he just walked in. Still, she couldn't think of anybody else that it could be. She looked at Bobby and arched her eyebrow. "Want me to get that?"

Bobby shrugged. "If you want to…But take your gun."

Lydia rolled her eyes and she got off the couch and grabbed her revolver. "I don't think you have to tell me anymore…" As she was walking towards the door, she was almost certain that it wasn't Sam at the door. She just had that feeling down in her gut that it wasn't him. He hadn't been coming as frequently as he was before-partly because he knew Bobby didn't approve them sleeping around together, and partly because he was busy hunting-but she hadn't seen him in a while, so maybe…

"Dean?" Lydia asked, confused. She had opened the door to find Dean Winchester at the door, a woman around Dean's age, and a boy that didn't look much older than 11 or 12.

Dean looked at Lydia, the awkwardness escalading. "Hey, Lydia."

"Um…hey…" She looked behind Dean and said, "You brought…"

"Lisa and Ben."

Lydia nodded and gave a small wave, trying to avoid eye contact. "Hi."

The woman, Lisa, regarded her strangely and asked, "Are you a friend of Dean's?"

She didn't exactly like the way Lisa said friends. Not to mention she said no idea how to answer that. Oh yeah, great friends. He saved my ass when I was 15, then ran into me again in a Walgreen's in Iowa. Then I started dating his best friend, who just happened to be an angel. Then we broke up, and now I'm fooling around with Dean's brother, who is somehow back from the dead. Not that Dean would know that, anyway, because he hasn't bothered to call us in over a year…

"Uh, yeah," Lydia finally answered. "We met a long time ago, though…"

"Lyd!" Bobby called from his study. "Who's at the door?"

Lydia threw her head back in the house and yelled back, "Bobby, you might want to come see for yourself!"

She heard the older hunter grumble under his breath as he got up and walked towards the door. Lydia stepped aside when he finally got there, and as soon as Bobby saw Dean standing there, he shook his head slightly and whispered, "Dammit."

"It's good to see you too, Bobby," Dean started. "It's been a while."

Bobby only replied, "If you're here, something's wrong."

Dean looked back and pointed at mother and son behind him. "Bobby, this is Lisa and Ben."

"Hi." Lisa gave him a tiny smile.

Bobby nodded. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you," As Dean, Lisa, and Ben stepped into the house, Bobby added, "Mi casa es su casa. Maybe you want to go upstairs. TV's broken, but there's plenty of Reader's Digest." Lisa and Ben nodded curtly and started heading up the stairs. "Just don't touch the decor, okay?"

Lydia gave a small smirk and added, "Yeah. Assume everything's loaded, because it probably is."

"Smartass…" Bobby couldn't help but roll his eyes at her.

Eventually, all three hunters looked around awkwardly, none of them knowing exactly what to say. Sam then walked in and said, in that eerily calm voice of his, "Hey Bobby."

Dean looked expectantly at Bobby and Lydia, but his face dropped in surprise when Bobby nodded calmly and said, "Sam."

Lydia gave Sam a sad, small smile. "Hiya."

It was the wrong thing to say. Within a minute of two, everybody in the room-minus Dean-were sitting down, waiting for the grilling they were sure to receive from the oldest Winchester.

"You knew?" Lydia could hear the anger in Dean's voice. "You knew Sam was alive?"

Bobby nodded his head slowly. "Yeah."

"Both of you?" Dean looked at Lydia in disbelief. Lydia didn't answer him; she just folded her arms across her chest and stared at him. Just that one look told Dean everything he needed to know.

Dean nodded and almost started to laugh from the hurt and the shock. "How long?"

"Look…" Lydia started, but Dean was quick to cut her off.

"How long?" he thundered.

Lydia looked down at the floor, her legs and arms both crossed, as if to protect herself. "All year."

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me…" Dean sounded beyond angry. Furious barely covered his feelings.

"And I'd do it again." Bobby snapped.

Dean looked at the ceiling, exasperated. "Why?"

"Because you got out, Dean!" Bobby snarled, his anger matching Dean's own. "You walked away from the life. And I was so damn grateful, you got no idea!"

"Do you have any clue what walking away meant for me?"

Bobby retorted, "Yeah, a woman and a kid and not getting your guts ripped out at age 30. That's what it meant!"

"That woman and that kid," Dean pointed his finger at Sam. "I went to them because you asked me to."

"Good." Lydia finally piped up.

"Good for who?" Dean shot her a furious look, then looked back at Sam and Bobby. "I showed up on their doorstop half out of my head with grief. God knows why they even let me in! I drank too much. I had nightmares. I looked everywhere. I collected hundreds of books, trying to find anything to bust you out!" When nobody said anything in response to this, Dean directed his fury at Lydia. "And you!"

Lydia rolled her eyes towards to ceiling. "What about me, Dean?"

"You could've told me, at any damn time!" Dean shouted. "You knew how much Sam meant to me. You didn't think for one second that I might want to know…"

"It wasn't my place to!" Lydia interrupted him, growing angry. "Sam and Bobby asked me not to, so I didn't!"

Her words seemed to have little effect on Dean. "So what? You could've picked up a damn phone…"

"A phone works two ways, Dean!" Lydia shouted back. "You disappeared for a year and never bothered to call or check in or see how Bobby was doing! You didn't even know I was still here, did you?"

Dean breathed in sharply. "No, I didn't. But what the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"You can't just storm in here like you own the place! God, you come in here and started yelling at Bobby and me. This is Bobby's house, not yours!" Lydia could feel some of her frustration seep out of her pores. "I'm sorry that you're upset, but that wasn't my decision to make, Dean."

"Yeah, whatever." Dean looked away from her, disgust filling his voice. Instead of feeling anger like she should, Lydia only felt hurt. And that feeling, frankly, sucked.

Sam, after a few seconds, said, "You promised you'd leave it alone."

"Of course I didn't leave it alone! Sue me!" Dean's anger flared up again. "A damn year? You couldn't put me out of my misery?"

Bobby finally snapped. "Look, I get it wasn't easy! But that's life! And it's as close to happiness as I've ever seen a hunter get." Bobby's voice was considerably more under-control as he said, "It ain't like I wanted to lie to you, son. But you were out, Dean."

Dean only glared as he said, "Do I look out to you?" After a few seconds, he stormed out of the room, probably to go talk to Lisa.

A few hours later, Dean and Sam had left, and Lydia was stuck inside a house with only Bobby and the Braedens for company. And Lydia was nothing short of terrified of Lisa. Every time Bobby had forced-or shoved-her up the stairs to go check on Lisa or her son, Lisa just stared at her. It wasn't exactly unfriendly, but it was definitely cold. And every freaking time, Lydia just wanted to run back downstairs or melt into a puddle right then and there.

At around eleven, Lydia was in the kitchen, eating some leftover pasta that she had bought from some little dinner two nights before. She had about twenty minutes before she had to leave for work and was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants over her clothes. God forbid Lisa or Ben walked downstairs and saw her dressed like…well, a stripper.

"Is there anymore pasta left?" Lydia looked up to see none other than Lisa Braeden herself. She looked like she was getting ready to go to bed. Why she was downstairs was a mystery in itself.

Lydia shook her head. "No, sorry." Then, stupidly, she said, "You can have the rest of mine if you want. I'm not gonna finish it."

Lisa curled up her lip, slightly disgusted. "Um, I think I'll pass."

Inwardly, however, Lydia was kicking herself for being so stupid. She had spent over a year, pretty much cut off from the outside world. Bobby and herself frequently ate what the other didn't finish. To somebody like Lisa, Lydia probably came across as a pig.

"So…everything going okay?" Lydia attempted to make small talk.

It appeared, however, that she was successful. Lisa walked over to the fridge and grabbed a can of beer, opening it as she sat down. When she saw Lydia looking at her in surprise, Lisa mumbled, somewhat embarrassed, "I really need one right now."

Lydia only laughed. "Hey, no need to be embarrassed. It's all good."

Lisa gave her a small smile. "Uh, yeah, it's going okay. Ben's a little uncomfortable, but I think he'll be okay by tomorrow."

"Yeah. You guys probably aren't staying that long," Lydia offered. "Dean and Sam are good at what they do. They'll be back soon."

Lisa shrugged. "That's comforting. In a way."
Silence prevailed for a few seconds more before Lisa asked, "So you never really told me how you met Dean and Sam and Bobby and everybody."

"Oh…" Lydia wasn't sure if she felt telling this woman-this total stranger-her whole life story. "Well, when I was a teenager, my mother and I were attacked by some monster, and Dean saved me life." Lydia couldn't help but notice that Lisa looked proud of her boyfriend. "It was a long time ago, I was only like 15. So then, about a year and a half ago, when I was 23, I ran into Dean and Sam in a store. And…" Lydia felt sick to her stomach thinking about Castiel. "And they introduced me to Bobby. I decided that working at a dinner like I was just wasn't working, so Bobby took me in and taught me to be a hunter. And I've been here ever since." Then, she asked Lisa, "What about you?"

Lisa smiled. "I met Dean when I was about 19. I was a young yoga instructor, and, well…you get the idea." Lydia couldn't help but smile at this. "Anyway, he visited me when Ben was about eight years old, and he ended up saving Ben's life from some changelings."

"Small world." Lydia remarked.

Lisa nodded, her smile fading. "Yeah. Then, after Sam died, Dean came back and started living with me." She looked up again. "And now I'm here."

Lydia nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, life is pretty funny that way…"

Both women were silent again until Lisa said, "So I have a question for you. And please don't get mad or take it the wrong way."

"Shoot." Lydia shrugged.

Lisa bit her lip before asking, "So, were you and Dean, ever…"

"A thing?" Lydia interrupted her, trying not to laugh. Lisa nodded, completely serious, and Lydia sighed. "No, never. I'm so much younger than him, and we just…no. We're just friends. I couldn't even begin to picture myself with him, y'know?"

"Oh." Relief flooded Lisa's features. "I was just asking…"

"No, no, I get it," Lydia reassured her. "I get it, I really do. Don't apologize." Both women were silent again before Lydia remembered-work. "Crap. I'm sorry, but I gotta run…"

"Where are you going?" Lisa's words weren't nasty; they were curious. "It's almost eleven-thirty."

"Yeah, I know," Lydia said sheepishly. "I have to go work. Got the night shift." At least I didn't have to lie about that. Not really, anyway…

Lisa nodded. "Yeah, I know how that feels. I'll see you later, I guess."

Making sure her hoodie was all the way zipped up, Lydia walked out the door with a quick, "Bye." Lydia then got in the car and started making her way towards the club…

"Robert Steven Singer, you get your ass down here right now and open the fucking door!" Lydia hissed into her cell phone. This night could not have gone more disastrous. Not only had she barely made any money-the club was practically empty that night, God only knows why-she had forgotten her hoodie and sweatpants in the club and had to come home, dressed up in her stripper clothes- in the rain. Add to the equation that it was a little after three in the morning and her key to the house was in the pocket of her sweatpants, and you had a very unhappy Lydia.

Then again, you also had a very unhappy Bobby when the damn girl was calling him this early in the morning. "No. You forgot your key. I ain't gettin' out of this damn bed. You can suffer." And with that, Bobby promptly hung up the phone.

"Dammit!" Lydia hung up her phone and rolled her eyes. As her eyes were looking up to the sky, she eyed the window. The upstairs window. That led into the upstairs hallway.

"Guess there's no way but up…" Lydia sighed resignedly. She quickly started climbing a tree that was somewhat close to the window. It was a slow, painstaking process, and she almost fell out of the tree a few times, but eventually, Lydia was climbing in the window.

"Almost three…" Lydia whispered as she slowly inched forward…before promptly falling on her face.

"Son of a bitch!" Lydia didn't realize just how loudly she had yelled until it was too late. Lisa and Ben came tearing out of their room, staring at her.

Lydia stood up and dusted herself off before realizing that she was dressed in the skimpiest little outfit imaginable. Peachy.

"Um, hey guys…" Lydia started weakly, but Lisa interrupted her before she had the chance to say anything else.

"Ben, go back in the room!" Lisa shouted, and Ben immediately scattered into his room, shutting the door behind him. Lisa then turned to Lydia. "What the hell is wrong with you! Is that your job, huh? A streetwalker!"

Lydia was extremely put-off at this. "Hey, I'm a stripper, thank you. There's a huge difference."

"Oh, I'm sure there is," Lisa sneered. "Listen, I don't care what you do. Just don't do it around my son, and don't you dare do it around my boyfriend."

Lydia almost burst out laughing. "Oh, so that's what this is about? You're afraid that I'm going to steal your precious Dean? Or lead your darling Ben down the path of cheap women?"

Lisa had no response to this. She just turned on her heel and went back into her bedroom; the bedroom, Lydia realized, that was actually her own. Bobby must've let them stay there for the night. With another sigh, she went into the basement and grabbed some dirty-but comfortable, and most importantly, modest-clothes. Lydia then walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.