Chapter Two

"Where would you like to eat?" Dean asked as they strolled through Oxford Circus, surrounded by bars, clubs and restaurants,

"How about T.G.I.Fridays?" She asked, "It's been awhile since I've seen those stunning red and white stripes!"

"Well that's just not right…" Dean joked,

"I know…they're a total turn on…" She laughed as they walked in and were seated pretty quickly. Ordering a beer and a cocktail they began perusing the menu. Dean was keen to clear the air, uncharacteristically, though every time he looked up to say something, her head was buried behind the laminated book. Finally, after the waitress had been and taken their orders, he opened his mouth to speak,

"Lola, I…"

"Have you ever been to England, Dean?" She cut him off,

"No." He answered quickly, "I've never been out of the States before today."
"Oh…why's that?"

"Because we spent our entire childhoods travelling from motel to motel hunting."

"Oh right…why was that?"

"Our mother…" Dean began with a sigh, "She was killed by a demon…in Sam's nursery when he was six months old. After that, our dad became obsessed and took us on the road everywhere with him."

Lola frowned with sympathy,

"Oh Dean…that's so sad…" She whispered,

"It is. But it's a fact of life…Sam's all I've got now, and visa versa…"

"Sam's very special." Lola admitted. Dean felt a spark of jealousy and glowered at her across the table. She caught his glare and was quick to correct herself, "Meaning…I sense something very unique about Sam."

"He gets visions." Dean replied dryly, "Death visions."

"He's a psychic?"

Dean nodded slowly,

"And for awhile, he was under the influence of the same demon that killed our parents…he d…" Dean was about to let slip about Sam's death and the circumstances that had brought him back when he quickly stopped himself, "but that's all over now. The war's not over yet…not by a long run, but it was a start."

Lola nodded understandably,

"Sounds like you two are the right pair to have around as back-up."

"Does that mean you're going to hang around this time?"

"…I don't know. You hurt me Dean." She whispered,

"You don't want to be alone like us," Dean murmured,

"You're not alone like me." Lola stated matter-of-factly, "The fact that you said 'alone like us' is a complete contradiction. You can't be alone in a pair. That's just not possible."

Dean sighed heavily,

"This is gonna be an awkward dinner..." He muttered.

- - -

Seven beers, five cocktails, two steak dinners and one gigantic bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce later...

Lola shivered as they stepped out of the restaurant, wrapping her arms around herself, silently wishing she'd worn more than the thick black roll neck sweater that she was sporting. With a click of her heel she stepped out into the busy Oxford Circus, tightening her grip on her own arms across her chest, her auburn ringlets brushing against the middle of her back and draping over her cross arms,

"Lola..."

Lola spun around and broke into a smirk as she saw Dean extendeding his brown leather jacket to her,

"Take it." He said softly as he took a step and handed it to her,

"Thanks...I'd forgotten how cold London is." She mumbled bashfully as they began to walk towards the Thames.

As they walked alongside one another, reaching the river's bank with the luminous moon light glistening on the water's glassy surface, their breath misting before their eyes, they stopped to look out across to the other side of the river towards the London Eye towering above the rest of the skyline. Lola became aware that Dean was no longer looking at the architecture of the opposite bank, but had now turned and was leaning against the brick wall casually, watching her face. She finally turned to meet his gaze and giggled,

"You've got chocolate on your lip." She mumbled as she reached out and gently touched his plump bottom lip with it's tiny smear of chocolate sauce. Dean chuckled,

"You can't take me anywhere..." He admitted,

"Shame...I'd like to..." She stated as she turned and sauntered away a little, clicking along in her heels with his heavy, worn jacket draped about her shoulders,

"What I mean is..." He continued, grabbing her hand and spinning her around so that she had to grab his shoulders to stop herself from knocking them both over. With a slight hesitation Dean lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He wanted to leave his face so close to hers but she pulled away, taking a step back from him, but her fingers were still intertwined with his,

"Dean...please...don't..."

"What? Why" He asked, confused,

"Please...I told you...last time...you really hurt me. I hate to say it, but you broke my heart. I guess I'm just a stupid little girl that falls for the first man that comes along and looks at her the way you look at me. But I'm not prepared to get my heart broken again. The reason I asked you guys was because there was no one else. No one else that worked as well together as the Winchester brothers. I didn't want this to happen."

"Lola I'm sorry..." He sighed. She smiled reassuringly,

"Let's get back to the hotel..." She mumbled, holding her head slightly, "We need to start researching...though...reading could be an issue...considering how many drinks we've had..." She giggled as she wrapped an arm around Dean's waist more for her support than his. He looked down at her and smiled tenderly,

"You know...I never got to tell you earlier. You look amazing."

"Stop trying to get into my bedroom Dean Winchester! I know that's what you're after!" She laughed as they staggered up the steps of the hotel.

- - -

With a drunken laugh the duo collapsed onto Lola's bed, giggling as they fought in a tickling war against one another. Somehow, Dean managed to roll on top of her (admittedly, feeling a little woozy after six beers). Smirking he leant down for another kiss, heart pounding as he waited for rejection, though it never came. Hesitantly he pulled back to check her face. She smirked, grabbing his t-shirt and pulling him back down.

- - -

The next morning, Dean awoke in Lola's bed with a groan, his head pounding. He vaguely remembered sharing a bottle of wine with Lola once they'd arrived back at the hotel. He looked quickly to the spot in the bed beside him to find it empty and then down at his legs. He threw his head back onto the pillow with a huff,

"Damn..." He muttered, "I'm still wearing pants..."

With another groan he rolled onto the floor, dragging himself up, wondering what kind of night he'd had that had resulted in him wearing only his jeans-no shirt or socks. He staggered to the door and opened it to the living suite that divided his and Sam's room from that of the female hunter. He smirked seeing his little brother standing a metre away from Lola at the central table by the window. Both were leaning over, examining papers that were spread about. With a yawn and a stretch, Dean padded over to the duo, coming to a stop between the two of them. Craftily he placed his hand on the table top, on the other side of Lola so that his bare arm stretched across her back. She glanced at him with a smirk before looking back down at the papers and chatting away with Sam. Sam looked between the pair of them and smirked also,

"I'm just gonna...yeah...disappear for a few minutes..." He said, pointing behind him before wandering off.

Lola turned to regard Dean fully now that Sam had departed. The elder whistled, looking her up and down in a pair of tight black shorts and even tighter white t-shirt,

"Those are the smallest shorts I have ever seen…" He mumbled, leaning close. She hesitantly moved her face away from his. He gently laced his fingers with hers and tugged her back in the direction he'd come from, "I think we should go back this way for a little while…"

"Dean…" She began, shaking her head and stepping back and away from him, "I meant what I said last night…I don't want this. I don't want to get hurt and I don't want you to get hurt. We're not like normal people. We know what's really out there. We are dangerous for each other."

Dean stared at her, pursing his lips whilst she spoke. When she finished he nodded understandably,

"Just friends?" He asked. She sighed heavily,

"Just friends." She agreed.

Dean smiled as she took another step away, towards her room,

"That's fine…" He admitted, "Though…I hope you don't mind…I will be checking out your ass at every opportunity."

Lola shrugged,

"That's fine." She laughed before disappearing into her bedroom. Dean swung his arms back and forth, looking around the room awkwardly before retreating to his un-touched bed. He shut the door behind him and collapsed onto the bed with a growl. Sam frowned at him from his bed,

"Dude…what did you say?"

"Me?! I didn't say anything! She made it clear that she was no longer interested!"

"I heard you guys come in last night…not to mention you spent the whole night in her bed. I was so sure that you'd gotten, or were going to get laid!" Sam snorted, "Is she a tease or something?"

"She must be punishing me…" Dean muttered, burying his face in a pillow, "Man…"

"Punishing you? For what?!"

"Uhm…" Dean trailed off guiltily, "I may…or may not have put a gun to her head…" He admitted quietly,

"You what?!"

"I thought she was Psiren!" He exclaimed,

"Oh Dean…" Sam huffed,

"And possibly…before that…I maybe have pushed her onto the floor and left her there…and then…maybe…told her to get out of my life…" He cringed. Sam shook his head,

"You're right…she IS punishing you! And you deserve it to. No wonder she didn't want to ask for our help…or hang around at the bay!"

Dean flashed Sam his guilty and uneasy smile.

- - -

After a long day of research, Lola finally stretched her arms above her head with a loud yawn,

"Dinner time…" She mumbled. Dean threw his pen down onto the table,

"I'm starving." He announced,

"You'd better be coming today, Sam." Lola said seriously. Sam nodded, standing up to stretch his legs,

"So the train tickets are booked for tomorrow morning, right?"

"Right." Lola agreed with a nod before looking up at the window, "Oh no…" She whined, "It's raining…" She sighed, walking towards her room. She emerged a few seconds later in the same black jeans she'd retreated in, but with a tight white hooded sweatshirt beneath an equally tight black fitted leather jacket. She slipped on one shoe, an all-black skater trainer, followed by the second, staggering against Sam a little as she lost her balance. Sam caught her, placing his arms around her torso to stop her falling into a pile on the carpet. Dean glowered as he moved towards the door,

"If you two have quite finished…" He muttered, grabbing the door handle. The two soon followed after him.

- - -

The trio found themselves in a bar in Soho, clinking their fourth beer bottles together with a cheer. A few of the other patrons turned and stared at the Americans as they fell around their table laughing away,

"Dean…I think that one's giving you the eye!" Lola snorted, pointing at a man clad in all black leather with a thin, wispy ginger and grey beard. Dean turned and looked just as he looked over,

"Hey there…" Dean grinned, holding up his beer to the man who didn't look too impressed as he turned away and walked off. The trio giggled again until a man of about six foot approached their table. He had deep brown eyes and a pearly white smile, his dirty blonde hair falling into his eyes with the 'just out of bed' look. He smiled at Lola,

"Hi, I'm Ben. Would you mind if I bought you a drink?"

Lola smirked,

"Sure…" She said, taking the last sip of her beer before standing and following him through the bar. Before disappearing into the crowd by the bar, she glanced back, hoping to see Dean watching after her, but he wasn't, he'd found someone else to look at whilst he and Sam finished their beers.

She shortly returned with a huff,

"What's up?" Sam asked with a frown. Dean had disappeared at that point,

"He asked me strait out if I'd go back to his hotel with him." She said simply, "And although, yes, I am that kind of girl and I have very little moral value to speak of. I don't just hand it out to anyone!" She smirked. Sam stared at her blankly before nodding slightly,

"Right…" He finally answered, glancing around quickly, "I need to talk to you before Dean gets back."

"Okay. What?"

"What is going on with the pair of you? You know what he's like, so he's not going to tell me and I'm not going to be able to take the tension for much longer!" He exclaimed. Lola smiled weakly,

"I want you to know that I care very deeply for your brother, and have since the first time I ever met him." She sighed, "However, I don't want either one of us to get hurt anymore than we already have. It would be a very, very bad idea. He already has you, and I'd hate to come between that AND if, for whatever reason, someone wanted to get to him. They'd have you and me. It's better I just stay away. People I love end up dead. I haven't been in a relationship in a long time. As a hunter I just can't, you must be able to understand that…" She whispered, reaching forwards and placing her hand over Sam's, "The demon that killed my grandparents…if it ever got wind of how much Dean means to me then he'd be in trouble. I can't bear the thought of him…" She trailed off, "Their faces…" Her voice cracked and suddenly she stood, "Not Dean. Never." She whispered, "The satisfaction it would have to not only take someone I love, but another hunter?"

"Lola…I'm sorry…" Sam sighed, "I just thought you were playing with him."

Lola shook her head,

"Seriously, I wouldn't…though perhaps I am punishing him a tiny bit for what happened in California."

Sam grinned,

"Fair enough."

"What's happening?" Dean asked casually as he approached with two beers, "I didn't know you'd returned." He said almost bitterly, "Your pretty boy not so prince charming. Here. Have mine. I'll go stand in line for another twenty minutes." He muttered, placing the beer in front of Lola who eased back into her seat. Sam locked eyes with her and smiled,

"He cares." He said sincerely.