AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is the first real chapter as that was the introduction and I hope that you guys bear with me.

WARNINGS: Language, Violence, Sex, Innuendo, Themes

ENJOY!

xxxx

Family was really important to the Winchesters.

It always had been, but John always took the concept to a whole new level, so having Victoria and Brooke be part of the family was a huge deal. Sure, he'd had a thing for Victoria and a year long affair, but when it came to settling down and getting married? John had to be sure, and he was. He was happy, Victoria was happy and actually being a good mother and wife because she felt loved and appreciated and protected, and Brooke? John had always wanted a daughter.

He loved his boys more than anything, but that fatherly love had passed on to Brooke, and he thought of her as his little girl. Sure, coming into her life when she was 16 as a father figure was kind of hard and she didn't really need it…but she also needed it. Brooke had grown up with pretty hands off parents and then in waltzed John and Victoria was changing for the better and for Brooke to say she didn't think of John as her father would be a giant lie.

Sure, Richard Davis was her biological father and she still thought of him as her father, but it was impossible not to think of John as her Dad. He'd been there for her even when Victoria wasn't and Brooke was always grateful for him and for how he always seemed to know the right thing to say. Not to mention, that having him and Sam around always made it feel like she had a real, full, family. She was the girl behind the red door with the perfect life and she believed that…except that she was head over heels for Dean.

Even though no one would actually say it was wrong, Brooke felt a little like it was wrong of her to have these feelings for Dean for one reason more than the others: she referred to Sam as her brother.

It didn't matter how many times she tried to tell herself that it was just a title and she could call him her brother even if they were best friends—everyone thought of them as siblings. In fact, it was a really big deal when Victoria Davis got remarried and it was all over and so the whole world basically knew that Brooke had older brothers and a new dad now and then came her making her own company and Sam was by her side a lot because Dean 'couldn't' be. He made it when he could be, but after a little while, it was too hard for him to be around her and so it was just Sam and Haley.

She didn't fault him for that.

Dean had begun to date Cassie Robinson and Brooke understood even though it made her angrier than it made her happy he was happy. He certainly seemed happy to her, anyway, and even though she heard from Sam that Dean and Cassie argued a lot, that seemed like a good thing for Dean—he loved to banter. Hell, Brooke had bantered with him a lot before she realized it was flirting and had to stop and just chose to be jealous all of the time. One day he was going to get married and Brooke knew that she wasn't going to be able to handle it.

In fact, Dean didn't know if he was going to be able to handle it or not. He thought about Brooke all the time, even when he was with Cassie, and he knew that it wasn't fair, but at the same time family meant a lot to him too. She was his little sister, and while he had never looked at her that way—not even once—he knew that John thought of Brooke as his daughter and Sam thought of her as his sister. That was how they all referred to each other because they were a family…and that made Brooke off limits. So, Dean knew that he had to move on as much as possible.

"You're thinking a lot," Cassie told Dean as she wrapped her arms around him.

He was sitting down at his desk, looking over some papers. "I'm just feeling swamped with work."

"Maybe you should relax," Cassie whispered into his ear, nipping at his earlobe.

Dean smiled, but it also bothered him a little bit that Cassie didn't know that he had lied to her just then. He wasn't worried about work at all and hadn't really brought any home—he was thinking about Brooke and how he didn't have any update from her…and how he hadn't told her about the engagement yet. Honestly, he didn't know how to bring it up and it wasn't because he thought that she would care on a romantic level…it was because it actually hurt to admit to Brooke that he was getting married.

He also knew that he was supposed to take it back because his whole heart wasn't in it, but he just couldn't jeopardize the relationship he had with Brooke, so he couldn't be with her. That meant that he had to be happy and Cassie had the ability to make him happy even if Brooke made him happier. Dean wanted to get married and have a family and since Brooke was out of the question just because she was his family and he respected that, he had chosen Cassie, who loved him.

Sometimes Dean felt like a terrible person because he knew how much Cassie loved him, but he cared about her too. He was willing to do anything to make her happy and he thought that that could be enough. All he had to do was fall into a routine that Brooke didn't have any part in and then he could gradually add her back in as a sister…that could work right? He had time. Brooke didn't know that he was engaged and he didn't have to see her any time soon and he could do this.

Brooke felt like she could do it too.

Ever since going to New York and working on 'Clothes Over Bros', she had been feeling like she could date around. Granted, it was nothing serious and she was definitely not getting married, but it was because she couldn't love anyone like she loved Dean. She'd been trying, but she just couldn't shake him off of her heart and that made it hard for her to let anyone else in. Brooke always tried to convince herself that he was just her big brother, but she didn't want him to be her big brother and she never had.

"Brooke, is that you?" Peyton asked her as Brooke came into the apartment.

Brooke smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. Third base."

"Really? But he was so hot!" Peyton told her, shaking her head. "You really should have take that on a Brooke wide tour."

"Wow…that just came out of your mouth," Brooke said laughing.

"Yeah, but still…you get cranky when you're not getting any love down town in Brooke Ville." Peyton admitted, ducking when Brooke threw a living room pillow. "What?! It's true!"

Brooke rolled her eyes, sitting down with Peyton on the couch and asking her what it was that she was watching on the television. Actually, she knew that she got cranky sometimes when she wasn't getting any, but it was just that meaningless sex had gotten boring and she didn't want it. She wanted to have a relationship and have sex then, but how could she have a relationship when she thought about Dean all the time? When she kissed other men…when she groped other men…when she closed her eyes, really. She saw him everywhere.

"Your brother called," Peyton piped up suddenly.

Brooke swallowed, feeling that tightening in the pit of her stomach. "Which one?"

God she hated that—she hated that she couldn't just assume that Sam was calling for her and she could just call him back. The outside world saw both Sam and Dean as her brothers and she had to make sure that she didn't slip up with anyone and acknowledge publically that Dean 'wasn't her brother'. Victoria would never forgive her if she got the wrong kind of publicity for their enterprise, and so she just avoided eye contact with Peyton as she asked and tried to calm her insides, watching the TV.

"Sam," Peyton told her, not noticing the breath that Brooke let out.

Brooke was suddenly calmer. "What was it about?"

"He said he wanted you to call him because it was important," Peyton recalled, giving Brooke a 'sorry' smile. "I should have told you when you walked in the door."

"No problem, P. Sawyer," Brooke said as she got up and pulled out her phone, dialing Sam. "I'll be right back."

She didn't know what the phone call was about, but Brooke wanted to have a little bit of privacy and smiled when Sam picked up almost immediately. He was always excited to talk to Brooke and she was glad that he started off catching up a little bit because she missed him desperately and was a little swamped dealing with the company while Peyton dealt with her dead end job. Brooke wanted to go home, but she wasn't ready to set up a Tree Hill store yet and felt like she needed a better reason than nostalgia for such an endeavor.

"I'm glad you and Haley are doing well," Brooke admitted smiling. "Still...Peyton said that you needed to tell me something?"

Sam nodded and took a breath. "Dean's getting married! He was going to call you, but he was being weird about it, so I decided to tell you instead."

"Dean's…" Brooke began, but she felt like her voice was going to crack and she stopped.

She was sweating now, her heart thundering in her chest and her mouth was dry—no, Sam had to be mistaken. Dean couldn't be getting married. But he was. He was, and Sam sounded so excited and Brooke was trying to sound happy too, faking enthusiasm as she made Sam think that this was just a friendly call between excited siblings that wanted the best for each other. At the same time, Brooke's thoughts were racing and she felt her knees buckled under her, her behind on the mattress now as she shook a little, wanting to cry, but knowing she couldn't while on the phone with Sam.

"I want to be there," Brooke said suddenly, nodding as she formulated a plan in her head. "Sam? I'm coming home."

Well, that seemed like a good reason for a Tree Hill store…

Note: Seems Brooke is feeling like she needs to see Dean again, but he wants to avoid her? Oh, snap…what could happen next? Feedback is always appreciated!