**Hey! I tried to get this chapter posted faster, but unfortunately, it took longer than I thought it would. So sorry about that. In the future chapters I'm going to start answering reviews at the end of the chapter, so if anyone has any questions, ideas, or just comments about where the story is headed or what's happening so far, please review and I'll do my best to answer without giving to much away! Thank you to everyone who reads this story!**
Tall Tales
I sat in a chair, gazing morosely at the books that were open on the table. I took a sip from my beer before glancing at Sam, who looked pissed, and then at Dean, who looked pissed as well. A warm pit of anger burned in my stomach as I looked at them, so I turned my gaze back to the book that was open in my lap.
"Dude, you mind not eating those on my bed," Sam's question had an edge of annoyance to it.
"No, I don't mind," Dean replied nonchalantly, only infuriating Sam more. Sam glanced at me for help but was met with a cold stare. He sighed heavily, returning to the book in his hands. "How's the research going?"
"You know how it's going?" Sam bit back rhetorically at his brother. "Slow," He answered his own question, angry at Dean for not raising a hand to help.
"You know what would make it go a hell of a lot faster?" I took up Sam's strategy of rhetorical questions while I glared at Dean, who still didn't look at me. "If you helped," Despite my biting retort, he still didn't look up from the car magazine he was reading.
"Or if I had my computer," Sam added, still pissed about what he was sure Dean had done. In response, Dean smiled fakery and nodded eagerly. We lapsed into a silence for a few moments that was only broken by the music Dean had turned up.
"Could you turn that down?" I finally burst out, unable to take the music anymore. "Some people are actually trying to work,"
"Yeah, absolutely," Dean replied, turning the dial to the right, making the music grow even louder. Sam clenched his jaw while my hands tightened around the book.
"You know, maybe you should just go somewhere for a while, huh?" Sam suggested, and Dean shut the music off, turning his gaze on Sam while still not looking at me.
"Hey, I'd love to. That's a great idea. Unfortunately, my car's all screwed to hell," Dean snapped his response, still furious about what Sammy did to his car.
"You could walk… or take a taxi," I suggested, really wanting him out of the motel room. The tension between all three of us hung so thick in the air I could've cut it with a knife. He opened his mouth to respond when there was a knock on the door. I got up, taking the knife that was sitting on the table with me as I walked to the door and looked through the hole to see Bobby on the other side. Without any further hesitation, I opened to door to reveal him standing there. "Bobby," I greeted with a relieved smile.
"Hey, Mel," He glanced back into the room. "Boys," He nodded to them.
"Hey, Bobby," Dean got up from the bed to greet him.
"It's good to see you again so soon," Bobby told us, the waver in his voice telling me he was unsure as to why he'd been called.
"Yeah, uh, thanks for coming," Sam led him into the middle of the room. "Come on in,"
"Thank god you're here," Dean shook hands with him.
"So, um… what didn't you want to talk to me on the phone about?" He asked, frowning. It was my idea to bring him in on this case, and I didn't want to talk to him over the phone because something told me it wasn't safe. Whatever we were hunting, it was powerful.
"It's the job we're working here," I started, glancing at the two boys. "I wasn't sure you'd believe what was happening,"
"Well, I can believe a lot," Bobby chuckled, turning away from me briefly.
"Yeah, but this isn't exactly the normal ghost-haunting job," I tried to prepare him for what we were about to tell him.
"Not even close," Dean added, making me glance at him to see his eyes were trained on Bobby. "We thought we could use some fresh eyes," Sam's words made Bobby shrug in agreement.
"Why don't you begin at the beginning?" He suggested, turning to pick up an empty take-out container from the bed disgustedly.
"Okay, it all started when we caught wind of an obit," Sam started from the very beginning of the hunt as Bobby tossed aside the container and sat on the bed. "See, a professor took a nose dive from a fourth-story window, only there's a campus legend that the building's haunted," Dean sat on the bed across from Bobby while Sam and I pulled up chairs so the four of us formed a rough circle. "So we pretexted as reporters from the local paper,"
-Sam-
"Yeah, we both had the professor for 'ethics and morality'." The two college students informed Sam as they sat across from him while he placed a recorder in the middle of the table.
"Yeah? So why do you think he did it?" Sam questioned, and the kids shrugged.
"Who knows? He was tenured, wife and kids. His book is a really big deal," The girl told him, eyes wide as she nodded. "Then again, who's to say it was suicide?" She added ominously.
"Jen, come on," The guy rolled his eyes at her.
"Well, what else could it be?" Sam questioned.
"Well, you know about Crawford Hall," The girl checked, thinking he'd obviously know about the story surrounding Crawford Hall.
"No, I don't, actually," He denied, wanting to know more about the legend.
"It's a bunch of crap. It's a total urban legend," The guy shrugged off the girl's enthusiasm about the myth.
"Yeah, well, Heather's mom went to school here, and she knew the girl," The woman told the guy, making Sam think that there might be more to the 'legend' than they knew.
"Wait, what girl?" He asked.
"Like, thirty years ago, this girl was having an affair with some professor. He broke it off. She jumped out the window and killed herself," The girl leaned forward and dropped her voice as if she were telling a ghost story at a campfire.
"You know her name?" Sam needed to know.
"No," She shook her head as the guy drank some more beer. "But they say she jumped from room 669," Her eyes were wide as if that was supposed to mean something. "Get it?" Sam didn't get it. "You turn the 9 upside down…" Sam's face cleared with understanding, and he nodded for her to continue. "So now she haunts the building, and anyone who sees her…they don't live to tell the tale,"
"Well, if no one lives to tell the tale, then how does the tale get told?" The guy, who was now a little more than buzzed, made Sam grin at his wit.
"Curtis, shut up!" The woman snapped, rolling her eyes.
"You know what? Thanks a lot, guys," Sam smiled as he took the recorder off the table. "Excuse me," He got up and headed over to the bar where Mel and Dean were taking shots.
"Guys, what are you - what are you drinking?" Sam questioned disgustedly as Dean downed three shots in a row while Mel only took one.
"I don't know, man," Dean slurred with a dopey grin on his face.
"I think they're purple nurples," Mel chimed in helpfully from where she was leaning on the counter beside Dean, clearly tipsy herself.
"Okay, well, listen. I think we should check out the professor's office," Sam tried to get back to the hunt they were in the middle of.
"Oh, no, no, no. I can't right now," Dean shook his head turning back to glance at Mel before looking back at Sam imploringly, dropping his voice to a whisper. "I've got this feisty little wildcat on the hook…" He gestured back to Mel, who smacked him lightly, laughing, and Sam couldn't help but let out a small chuckle despite his annoyance. His chuckle died as Mel slipped her arms around Dean's neck, kissing the corner of his jaw just below his ear. Sam averted his eyes as he heard Dean's lustful moan.
"Hey, we met this girl over here," Mel's face lit up with excitement as she thankfully turned away from Dean to look at Sam for a moment before hitting the girl next to her on the arm. "She's perfect for you,"
"N-" He began, but it didn't matter, the girl was already turning around to meet him.
"Starla," Mel introduced, gesturing to the blonde girl in the fishnets and jean skirt. Sam got the sense that when Mel had said 'she's perfect for you' what she really meant was 'she's female'. "This is our friend, Sam," Starla downed the shot in her hand, placing it against the table before holding her hand out to Sam to shake. "Starla, Sam,"
"Enchanté," She giggled drunkenly before her face turned sour, and she wrenched her hand out of Sam's to cover her mouth as she convulsed, making wretching sounds in the back of her throat. "Sorry," She took the hand away, composing herself slightly. "Just trying to keep my liquor down,"
"Yeah, good job with that," Even Mel had the good sense to look disgusted, but Dean just kept on grinning, not minding Starla almost throwing up.
"Hey, good news," Dean told Sam, and Sam was almost scared of what 'good news' he could be talking about. "She's got a sister," Sam raised his eyebrows, only half attempting to mask his revulsion.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa hold on a minute," Dean broke in before I could interrupt the story.
"What?" Sam questioned innocently, knowing exactly what was wrong with his version.
"Come on, Sam. That's not at all how it happened," I added, frowning at the boy as he looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"No?" Sam retorted. "So neither of you ever drank a purple nurple?"
"Yeah, maybe that, but… I don't say things like 'feisty little wildcat'," Dean protested while I rolled my eyes at what he chose to defend. Of course he would pick that out of everything Sam had said.
"Her name was not Starla," I objected to the name Sam had chosen to describe her.
"Then what was it?" He asked, glancing back and forth between Dean and I.
"Layla," I chose a name at random, knowing that neither boy would object, for neither really remembered her name. "And she was classy, and you would've liked her if you'd given her a chance," I glanced at Bobby, who was frowning at our argument. "She was a grad student studying anthropology and folklore,"
"Here," Dean shoved a shot glass in my hand, which I downed without question, glancing back at Sam, who was talking to the two college students. "Forget about him," Dean told me, handing me another shot.
"Shouldn't we be helping him?" I asked, glancing sideways at him as he took another shot.
"He can do all the work," Dean shrugged indifferently, and, before I could say anything else, I felt something wet touch my hand, making me jerk it away from the counter. The bartender immediately cleaned it up with a towel while my attention was drawn to the woman who was apologizing for spilling her drink.
"I'm such a klutz," Her words were only slightly slurred as she laughed. She was dressed in a low cut black dress that fell to her knees, and she had applied only minimal make-up to her face.
"That's alright," Dean grinned widely at her while looking her up and down.
"Are you two from around here?" She frowned at us in confusion. "I've never seen you before,"
"No, we're just passing through," I replied politely, and she nodded.
"I'm Layla," She seemed determined to be friends with us. "I'm a grad student here. Anthropology and folklore," That caught my attention, and I stopped to ask her a question when a voice behind me interrupted.
"Guys, hey. I found something. I think we need to check out the professor's office," Sam broke in, and I turned to face him.
"Sam, hey, this is Layla. I think you two should talk," Half wanting him to talk to her because of her major and half so he'd meet someone female for a change.
"No, that's okay. I'll talk to her," Dean checked her out obviously, as if I weren't even there.
"Dean…" I began, frowning in protest.
"You go with Sam to the office," He brushed me off.
"That is not what happened," Dean snapped, cutting me off from finishing the story. He was right. He hadn't checked her out, but I was so furious at him it didn't matter. He may as well have.
"Really?" I shot back as Dean glared at me.
"Did something happen?" Bobby questioned awkwardly, not sure whether he wanted to intervene or not.
"Yes, really!" Dean's voice rose as his expression darkened. He completely ignored Bobby. "I wouldn't do that,"
"Oh, but you think I would?" I snapped, glowering at him. His gaze abruptly turned away from me to land on Bobby, who leaned back slightly at the molten fury in Dean's eyes.
"You want to know how it happened?" Dean asked rhetorically. "I'll tell you how it happened,"
-Dean-
Mel and Dean clinked glasses and raised the shots to their lips, downing it quickly before placing the glasses on the table. Mel turned to Dean, smiling slightly and biting her lip as she put her arms around his neck.
"My God, you are attractive," She spoke in a soft voice. "How did I get so lucky?"
I scoffed loudly, rolling my eyes, and ignoring the questioning look Bobby gave me. Dean ignored my interruption and continued the lie.
Dean stopped her as she leaned up to kiss his lips.
"There's no time for that now. We have to help Sam with the case," Dean told her nobly. "We should find out more about this urban legend. Lives are at stake,"
"Sorry," She bit her lip again as she gazed up into his eyes. "I just… I can't concentrate. Your eyes… it's like looking at stars," Her hand ran through his short hair as she brought his lips down to meet hers. Suddenly, there was wetness all over the counter, and Mel broke away from him in surprise.
"Sorry," A girl to their left apologized. "I'm such a klutz," She added, batting her eyes at Dean.
"Hey," He replied, giving her a nonchalant half wave before returning to kissing Mel.
"I'm Layla," She interrupted them again, making them stop and turn to her. "I'm a grad student at the college. Anthropology and folk lore,"
"You know who you should meet?" Mel told her with a sharpness to her voice that caused the girl to stop looking at Dean. "Our friend, Sam," She gestured over to the table that Sam was sitting with the two college students before turning back to Dean and kissing him heatedly.
"Guys, what do you think your doing?" Sam pursed his lips like a rich beverly hills girl who didn't get the shoes she wanted. Dean broke away from Mel, so they could both look back at him.
"Sam, could you just give us five minutes," Mel looked over Dean's shoulder to give Sam a pleading look. "We're sort of busy here," She added, glancing at Dean longingly for a moment then back at Sam. "You can talk to Layla," She gestured over her shoulder, not bothering to look back at the woman.
"This is a very serious investigation, guys," Sam snapped at us. "We don't have time for any of your blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah-blah," Sam continued blah-blah-blahing while Dean turned back to press his lips to Mel's again, cupping her cheek gently. "Blah!"
"Right. And that's how it really happened," Sarcasm dripped from Sam's voice as Dean finished his story. I didn't think I'd stopped rolling my eyes the entire time he was talking. "I don't sound like that, Dean," He protested, and I glanced at him in annoyance.
"And I would never say any of that," I added, clenching my jaw angrily.
"That's what you sound like to me," He told Sam before turning to me. "And you said some of that,"
"No, I-" I began objecting.
"Okay," Bobby interrupted whatever I was about to say. "What's going on with you three?"
"Nothing. It's nothing," Sam shrugged it off, trying to pretend like everything was okay while Dean and I glowered at each other.
"Come on," Bobby wasn't fooled by Sam's attempt at a lie. "Dean and Mel are bickering like an old married couple, and you're right in the middle of it, Sam,"
"No, see, married couples can get divorced," I flinched, feeling as though Dean had slapped me across the face as he smirked in satisfaction. I could feel the shock radiating off of both Bobby and Sam, but neither said a thing. "Me and them?" He jerked his chin at us. "We're like, uh, siamese twins,"
"It's conjoined twins," Sam corrected before I could.
"See what I mean?" Dean asked Bobby as he stood, heading towards the kitchen. My gaze dropped to the ground, and suddenly I felt like crying, my mind repeating what he'd said over and over in my mind. Married couples can get divorced. Was that what he wanted? To break up again? As fast as the anger had dissipated, it returned, hotter than ever. I hadn't even done anything! Abruptly, I stood, snatching my jacket from the bed before heading for the door.
"I'm going to get some air," I called back, slamming the door shut behind me.
-3rd Person-
"Look, we've just been on the road for too long," Sam tried to explain what the deal was with Mel and Dean without really explaining what had happened. "Tight quarters, all that," Bobby nodded, but he was still frowning. "So, anyway, we figured it might be a haunting, so we went to check out the scene of the crime,"
-Sam-
"How long have you been working here?" Sam questioned the janitor as he led them up the stairs to the room.
"I've been mopping these floors for six years," He flicked on the lights as he answered. "There you go, guys," Sam followed him into the room, Dean and Mel behind him. He powered up the EMF, causing the janitor to look at him in confusion. "What the heck's that for?"
"It's to find the wires in the walls," Mel replied smoothly as she walked alongside Dean.
"Ah. Well. Not sure why you're wiring up this office. Not gonna do the professor much good," The man told them, crossing his hands over his chest.
"Why's that?" Dean asked him.
"He's dead," The man responded flatly.
"Oh," Dean muttered, going to the window. "What happened?" He questioned, and the man pointed to the open window behind the still cluttered desk.
"He went out that window right there," He replied as if the whole thing were no big deal.
"You weren't working that night, right?" Mel asked, her eyes wide in fake surprise at the news.
"I'm the one that found him, sweetheart," Dean's hand tightened into a fist, but he managed to stay quiet. If he said something, it would blow their cover. Dean and Sam were electricians while Mel was their performance manager, there to make sure they worked efficiently and well.
"So you saw it happen?" She questioned, pretending to be impressed by the news that he'd found the body.
"Nope. I just saw him come up here, and, uh…" He trailed off suddenly, glancing away. "Well…"
"What is it?" Mel asked, genuinely curious now.
"He wasn't alone," The janitor told them, raising his eyebrows imploringly.
"Who was he with?" Dean questioned through the twenty some candies he had crammed into his mouth.
"Come on! I ate one, maybe two," Dean protested as I sat down in her chair again, enjoying this part of the story very much.
"Hey, just let him tell it. Don't interrupt," I chided him, wanting Sam to continue with how Dean was cramming chocolates into his mouth.
"He was with a young lady," The janitor informed Mel, Sam, and Dean. "I told the cops about her, but I guess they never found her," He shrugged, not really caring about the death.
"You saw this girl go in, huh?" Sam questioned. "But did you ever see her come out?"
"Now that you mention it, no," The guy frowned, trying to think about that night.
"Has she been around before?" Mel asked, knowing the mystery girl was probably the ghost that they were hunting.
"Not her," He answered, laying emphasis on her.
"What do you mean?" Dean questioned around a mouthful of chocolate.
"I don't mean to cast aspersions on a dead guy, but, uh… Mr. Morality here? He brought a lot of girls up here," He opened up. "Got more ass than a toilet seat," Dean cracked up, smacking Mel's arm before pointing to the janitor appreciatively.
"One more thing," Sam glanced around as he spoke. "This building - it only has four stories, right?"
"Yeah," The janitor nodded in confirmation.
"So there wouldn't be a room 669?" Sam checked, and the guy shook his head.
"Of course not. Why do you ask?" The man frowned in confusion at the question.
"Ah, just curious," Sam brushed off, and the guy shrugged. Mel dragged Dean with them as they left the office and went back to their motel room. "Well, no traces of EMF, that's for sure," Sam summed up what they had found.
"And the 669 myth is a bunch of useless crap," Mel added as Dean grabbed her a beer.
"So, what do you guys think? The professor's just a jumper? The legend is just a legend?" Sam questioned, glancing at Mel, for it had been her that urged them to take this case.
"I don't know," Dean admitted, opening the beer. "The girl that the janitor described - that's pretty weird,"
"Yeah, we should see what we can dig up on the history of the place," Mel went about it logically, and Sam nodded quickly, pulling out his computer and turning it on.
"Dude, were you on my computer?" Mel glanced at the screen, and her eyes widened fractionally at what she saw.
"No," Dean replied, coming out of the bathroom to look at Sam in confusion.
"Oh, really?" Sam questioned, raising his eyebrows. "Cause it's frozen now,"
"Yeah, on ," Mel finished for him, narrowing her eyes coldly at her boyfriend.
"That was not me," He protested but slunk back into the bathroom when he realized the two didn't believe him.
"Would you just - don't touch my stuff anymore, okay?" Sam snapped at him loudly while Mel looked away from the computer, not being able to look at the women onscreen.
"Why don't you control your OCD?" Dean retorted in annoyance.
"But did you dig up anything about the building or on the suicidal coed?" Bobby cut in, not wanting a repeat of what happened the first time they'd strayed off target.
"No, the history was clean," I informed him when he walked past where I was leaning on the table with my arms folded.
"Then it's not a haunting," Bobby reasoned.
"Maybe not," Dean corrected him. "Tell you the truth, we're not really sure,"
"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Bobby questioned with a frown, probably trying to understand why we, three seasoned hunters, were so jumpy about this case.
"After that it started getting… weird," I tried to explain, glancing at the floor when I felt Dean's heated gaze on me.
"What got weird?" Bobby questioned, and I could tell he was beginning to get annoyed with our round about way of answering his questions.
"The next part, we, uh… we didn't see it happen, but… it's just… it's pretty weird, even for us," I still avoided Dean's gaze as I talked about what came next, knowing that either Dean or Sam would eventually tell him. Bobby raised his eyebrows, urging me to continue. I glanced at Sam before clearing my throat. "Well… um… a guy - a student at the college said… well… he said he got abducted by aliens," I finally managed to get the words out.
"Aliens?" Bobby repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah," Dean responded, a knowing look on his face. We'd all gone through the different stages of shock at the news.
"Look, even if they are real, they're sure as hell not coming to Earth and swiping people," Bobby tried to go about the information logically.
"Hey, believe me. We know," Dean agreed whole-heartedly.
"My whole life I've never found evidence of an honest-to-god abduction. It's all just cranks and pranks," Bobby told us.
"Yeah, we thought that too, but… we agreed that talking to the guy couldn't hurt," I remembered.
"Hey, you ought to give those purple purples a shot," Dean joked, chuckling as the guy at the bar gave him a look before downing another. I hit Dean's arm lightly, my silent way of telling him his teasing was going too far. He coughed and looked away from the kid, who had shots lined up.
"So, what happened, Curtis?" Sam inquired, trying to get to the bottom of the situation.
"You won't believe me," Curtis informed us without a doubt in his voice. "Nobody does,"
"Try us," I encouraged, shrugging.
"I do not want this in the papers," Curtis pointed a finger at Sam threateningly as he spoke.
"Off the record, then," Dean assured him, nodding for him to continue.
"I blacked out, and… I lost time and when I woke up, I don't know where I was," He seemed to be remembering something because he stopped and shook his head.
"And then?" I prompted him.
"They did tests on me," His voice cracked as he spoke, making me feel almost sorry for him. "And, uh…" He took a shot of tequila before continuing. "They, uh… they probed me," Sam and I pressed our lips together in a desperate attempt to avoid laughing.
"They probed you?" Dean echoed incredulously.
"Yeah, they probed me," He confirmed, not elaborating on what he meant. "Again and a-again and - and again," He took a shot of whiskey as he grew more and more anxious. "And again and again and again and then one more time," I glanced at Dean, both of us fighting a smile.
"Yikes," Dean's deadpan tone made me swallow to keep from laughing.
"And that's not even the worst of it," That got our attention.
"How could it get any worse?" Dean questioned, letting out a small laugh. "Some alien made you his bitch," Curtis glared at Dean, and I smacked him in the arm again.
"They… they made me…slow dance," I glanced at Sam, who was struggling against a smile, and then at Dean, who was laughing lightly.
"You guys are exaggerating again, huh?" Bobby didn't really phrase it as a question, but the three of us answered simultaneously.
"No," Bobby frowned at our conviction.
"Then this frat boy's just nuts," I could feel Dean's eyes on me, studying my every movement as I looked at Bobby.
"Yeah, we're not so sure," Dean replied, and I tensed, getting ready to defend myself for what was about to come. "We went to the college to look at where the kid said he'd been abducted…" Dean began, and I glanced at him in surprise. He'd skipped it.
-Dean-
"I'm telling you guys, this was made by a jet engine," Sam stated, sounding convinced.
"You mean like a saucer-shaped jet engine?" Mel questioned disbelievingly, staring at the circle of singed grass on the lawn outside the college.
"Well, what else could it be?" Sam tried to reason, shrugging.
"What the hell?" Dean muttered furiously, shaking his head.
"Yeah," Sam agreed softly, glancing between him and Mel, knowing that it wasn't the case that Dean was pissed at.
"Seriously, what the hell?" Dean snapped louder, and Sam glanced around to see if anyone had heard. If they had, they didn't care enough to look over.
"I don't know. I mean, first the haunting, now this?" Sam recalled what we'd learned about the hunt so far, which wasn't much.
"I mean, the timing… there has to be a connection between the two," Mel nodded, agreeing with Sammy. Dean didn't even throw her a glance the entire time she spoke.
"You mean between the angry spirit and the sexed-up E.T.?" Dean snapped at her, and Mel flinched slightly. "What could the connection possibly be?"
"I don't know, but there has to be one," She snapped, turning to face him with her arms across her chest.
"Oh, well, thank you, Sherlock Holmes, for all your help," Dean retorted, causing her glare to darken.
"I'm right, you're wrong. Suck it up," Mel shouted, causing everyone to stare at her.
"That did not happen," I cut off Dean's interpretation of the story.
"Anyway," Sam interrupted the impending fight. "We didn't have much else to do, so we just kept digging," Sam nodded to Dean to continue the story.
"So, you and this guy, Curtis - you were in the same house?" Sam questioned the teenage boy, who the three of them had finally found in the courtyard.
"Yeah," He answered shortly, clearly not wanting to expand.
"You heard what happened to him, right?" Dean asked him, surprised by the guy's indifference.
"Yeah, he says it was aliens, but, you know, whatever," The guy shrugged it off, earning a glance of respect from Dean.
"Look, man, I-I know this all has to be so hard," Sam began emotionally, looking away to hide his tears.
"Um, not so much," The guy shrugged, clearly growing slightly uncomfortable.
"But I want you to know…I'm here for you," The student awkwardly nodded, not sure what to do about the taller man's display of emotions."You brave little soldier. I acknowledge your pain," The student's eyes flicked to Dean and Mel for a moment before returning to Sam. "Come here," Sam wrapped him in a tight hug, making his eyes widen in surprise. "You're too precious for this world,"
"I never said that!" Sam protested while I laughed outright.
"You're always saying pansy stuff like that," Dean shrugged, defending himself. "Even Mel isn't that emotional, and she's a chick," I flinched again. Dean had never called me a 'chick' before.
"Yeah, uh, thanks," The guy patted Sam on the back uncomfortably, frowning at us. "Thanks for the hug, but, uh, I'm okay. Really," The guy convinced us, backing away slightly. "To tell you the truth, whatever happened to Curtis, he had it coming,"
"Why is that?" Dean questioned, frowning.
"He's our pledge master," The guy informed us. "Put us through hell this semester, and got off on it. So now he knows how we feel," He didn't seem to be the least bit fazed about what had happened to his frat brother.
"It's okay," I patted a still emotional Sam on the back comfortingly before we headed back to the car and drove to the motel. "This still down't make any sense," I muttered as we walked through the door after Sam had driven us back. Sam said he'd needed the drive, but truthfully, I think he was worried about Dean's speeding. Dean speeded whenever he was angry. The more angry he was, the more he'd speed. We would've crashed.
"Well, hey, at least there's one connection," Dean pointed out in a sarcastically cheery voice.
"Between what?" Sam asked, not seeing it.
"The victims," Dean stated as though it were obvious. "The professor and the frat guy - they're both dicks," He sat in one of the chairs, not looking at me. He'd barely acknowledged me the entire morning.
"That's a connection?" Sam questioned, not liking how little we knew about what was going on.
"It's the best we've got," I pointed out.
"Where's my laptop?" I glanced at Sam in surprise at his question. He was holding his bag upside down, searching for it, but it wasn't among his things.
"Not sure," I shrugged at the same time Dean responded, "I don't know,"
"A philandering professor gets a dead girl. A pledge master gets hazed," Dean walked us through what we knew, but Sam wasn't paying attention.
"I left it right here," Sam muttered, pointing to the desk.
"You obviously didn't," Dean didn't really care about Sam's missing laptop.
"The punishments are just. They deserve it," I followed Dean's train of thought, ignoring the way he glared at me.
"Okay, hilarious. Where'd you hide it?" Dean and I both looked at him in surprise.
"What? You're computer?" Dean questioned, and Sam nodded angrily. "Why would I take your computer?"' "Because no one else could have except Mel, and she wouldn't, Dean. We keep the door locked. We never let any maids in," Sam threw his arms out to the side in annoyance.
"Then Mel had to have taken it cause it wasn't me," Dean replied with an infuriating smirk.
"Wasn't me," Sam turned his glare back on Dean.
"What's the matter Dean? Blame me for what happened?" Sam snapped at her, and I frowned, tensing at where this conversation was heading. "You know what? It was your own damn fault Dean!" Dean was now on his feet, a deadly glare in his eyes, but I beat him to it.
I stopped the story abruptly, saying I calmed Sam and Dean down, and we were fine again. I didn't tell Bobby what really happened. I didn't tell him how I smacked Sam across the face. Or how I yelled at him that I didn't do it. Why wouldn't anyone fucking believe me?
"Did either of you take his computer?" Bobby asked, his eyes flicking back and forth between them.
"Serves him right, but, no," I shook my head to agree with Dean's words.
"Well, I didn't lose it," Sam argued, glancing at across the table at Dean and then at me before back at Bobby. "Cause I don't loose things,"
"Yeah, cause you're Mr. Perfect," I rolled my eyes as I bit out the snide comment.
"Okay, okay, why don't you just tell me what happened next?" Bobby suggested, and I sighed heavily.
"There was only one other victim," I began.
"Right, now, we didn't see this one ourselves, either," Sam clarified for him. "We kind of put it together from the evidence, but this guy - he was a research scientist. Animal testing,"
"Yeah, you know - a dick, which fits the pattern," Dean noted. "Cops didn't release the cause of death because they had no clue what the cause was,"
"So, we decided to check it out ourselves," Sam continued the story.
-Sam-
"Hey," Sam turned just in time to catch the flashlight Dean tossed at him. Mel was already ahead of him, searching the small, silver doors on the wall for the one they were looking for. She swung the door open, shining the light inside to find a sheet over some chewed up body parts. Sam let out a disgusted groan, shifting to cover his nose and mouth simultaneously with his sleeved arm.
"Okay," Dean began, turning away from the body in revulsion. "That is just nasty," Subconsciously, Mel turned towards Dean's arm, trying to block out the body. His arm instinctively began wrapping around her waist before it froze, and he pulled it back stiffly, shifting away from her. She quickly turned back to the body, covering up how much that small movement had hurt her.
"Yeah," She agreed brusquely, focusing her mind on the case while attempting to block out all other thoughts. "Well, it's mutilated. Looks like something ate him,"
"They identify him yet?" Dean questioned, completely ignoring what Mel had said as Sam stood awkwardly to the side, sensing an oncoming fight. This must be how Mel feels before he and Dean get into an argument.
"He was a research scientist at the college," Mel answered, folding her arms over her chest as she realized Dean wasn't looking at her at all. Instead, Dean's green eyes were focused solely on Sam, barely even registering Mel's presence.
"Guess where his office was, by the way," Sam butted in, not allowing Mel to speak for fear of her or Dean getting angrier than they already were. Reluctantly, Mel turned her attention to him as he leaned closer to the body. "Crawford Hall, same as the professor,"
"That's right where the frat boy had his close encounter," Dean remembered, the pieces starting to take some semblance of a shape.
"Yeah," Something seemed to catch Sam's eye, and he glanced at Mel, who was standing by the portable light that doctor's kept. "Hey, grab me that thing, would you?" Mel wheeled it over to him, and he shined it over a specific section of the corpse. "Thanks," He muttered the word distractedly as he looked through the magnifying glass at the raw flesh.
"What do you see?" Mel asked curiously, narrowing her eyes at the section of leg he was looking at.
"Looks like a…" He trailed off, not one hundred percent sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "A belly scale?" He told them finally.
"A belly scale? From what?" Dean questioned, frowning at how crazy this case was.
"Ugh…" Sam squinted at the scale through the magnifying glass in disbelief. "An alligator?" He suggested weakly, making both Dean and Mel glance at him with incredulity.
"An alligator living in the sewer system?" Mel reiterated what he was telling them.
"What?" Sam defended, pulling away from the light that shined over the remains. "Well, guys, it's a classic urban legend. A kid flushes a baby gator down the toilet, and it grows huge in the tunnels,"
"But no one ever really found one. They're not real," Dean protested, subconsciously glancing at Mel before quickly switching his gaze to Sam.
"And that wouldn't explain any of the other victim's or how they died," Mel supported Dean, who shot her a cold look that she ignored with difficulty. "I mean, Alien abduction isn't real either, how do you explain the frat boy?"
"I don't know, but something chomped on this guy," Sam gestured to the corpse that had barely enough parts to be called a corpse.
"Could this case get any more strange?" Mel commented, shaking her head. "We need help," She realized, reaching into her pocket for her phone. Dean let out a humorless chuckle that made Mel's eyes narrow at him. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just. Things get a little hard and you go running to Max," Her eyes widened as she stood stunned at his low blow. "Surprise, surprise," Sam's wide eyes fell on Mel's speechless face as it slowly went through different stages of shock and fury.
"I was going to call Bobby," She finally snapped out. "And I'm not the one who's running here, Dean," She added, and his face lost its cold facade.
"Really?" He sneered at her. "All you do is run! Things get a little hard, and you're out the door like that," He snapped his fingers, emphasizing her point.
"We decided that we might as well search the sewer anyway," I interrupted Sam's story before it got any farther into the fight that Dean and I had had. I remembered it well enough. I didn't need Sam recounting it. "The three of us split up, I went with Sam and took one end of the campus while Dean took the other,"
"Did you find anything?" Bobby asked, glancing back and forth between Dean and I with suspicious eyes.
"Yeah, I found something. Just not in the sewer," Dean answered him.
-Dean-
Dean pushed the sewer grate out of the way with a grunt of effort before he pulled himself out of the hole in the ground. He pulled the grate back into place before heading over to where he remembered the car was. Sam and Mel were supposed to meet him back at the motel, so he would be driving alone. He stopped short as he turned a corner and saw the Impala. It was exactly where he'd parked it, not a scratch on it. Except for the wheels. The wheels were slashed open, causing the tires to be limp and useless.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean swore loudly, approaching the car slowly to assess the damage. A flash of silver caught his eyes, and he knelt to pick up the small clip of twenties, recognizing the initials S.W. that were engraved into the side. "Sam!" He yelled, though he knew the boy couldn't hear him. Another flash, this time gold, made him turn his head so he could fully see the shimmering necklace. "Mel," He whispered the second name, his hand trembling as he picked up the two gold rings that hung on a thin chain.
"Anyway, he got the car towed," I cut in, not wanting Dean to rant about the car any longer than he had. "He showed up at the motel room…"
-Mel-
Dean banged open the door, slamming it shut behind him as he stormed broodily into the room. I knew without a second's thought that something had pissed him off even more than he'd already been pissed off today. Despite everything, I was worried about him. Dean had a very high threshold for annoyance, we all did, but I think we were about to reach our max.
"Did you know about this?" I frowned as Dean spoke the question in an accusing voice that told me he had already decided I'd known about it. "Do you two think this is funny?" Dean yelled at Sam and me as Sam gave him a half wave.
"It depends," Sam shrugged, his eyes flicking up to meet Dean as Dean stopped beside him, his expression stormy.
"What happened?" I asked, shutting my book, and throwing it on the bed beside me. Dean repeated the words in a mocking mumble.
"The car!" He finally yelled at us. I glanced at Sam to see if he had any idea what Dean was referring to, but the confused look on his face told me he didn't.
"What about the car?" Sam raised his eyebrows, awaiting the explanation.
"You can't let the air out of the tires, you idiot. You're gonna bend the rims!" He snapped, seeming almost fractionally calmer.
"Wait, wait," I held up my hands in surrender from where I was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Someone let the air out of the tires?"
"Don't play dumb," Dean glowered at me, but I could see behind the anger to the hurt and pain, which made my heart give a painful lurch.
"We didn't go near your car," Sam protested, causing Dean to jerk his eyes from mine to look at Sam again.
"Oh yeah? Huh? Then how'd I find these?" He held up Sam's clip and my necklace. My hand immediately flew to my bare neck, my eyes widening in surprise as my fingers instinctively searched for the two rings. I shot off the bed, crossing the room to Dean as Sam stood up. Dean pulled his hand back as I reached for the necklace.
"Hey," I frowned at his hard, cold face as I reached for it again. "Dean, give it back," I snapped. He knew how much the necklace meant to me!
"Is this it?" His voice was so harsh that I actually took a step back, resisting the urge to wince at the ice in it. "Is this how much I mean to you?"
"Dean, I don't know how you found that, but I swear Sam and I had nothing to do with the Impala!" I reached for the necklace, only to have Dean pull back.
"Right, and I'm going to believe you?" I flinched, taking a step back from him as I breathed unsteadily. My hands shook and my muscles tensed. I was either on the verge of crying or killing him.
"Dean, back off," Thankfully, Sam saved me from having to make the choice. He stepped in front of me, glaring harshly at his older brother.
"Why should I?" Dean shoved Sam backwards as Sam made a grab for my necklace and his clip of money. He made another grab. And another. Before I knew it, Sam full on tackled Dean onto the bed, clawing at the money.
"Okay, I've heard enough," Bobby stopped me from continuing with the description of how the fight went.
"You showed up an hour or so after that," I informed him, cutting short my story of the tense hour that followed where I'd left off.
"I'm surprised at you three," Bobby's words made me feel oddly like a schoolgirl getting reprimanded by her teacher. "I really am. Sam, first off, Dean did not steal your computer," I glanced across the table at Dean to see him smirking in victory before I refocused on Bobby, who was standing in front of us.
"But I-" Sam began protesting, sitting up straight. Bobby held out a hand and shushed him loudly in annoyance.
"And, Dean, Sam and Mel did not touch your car," He glanced between Dean and I again, and I knew that he had figured out something had happened between us that we hadn't shared. "If you three bother to pull your heads out of your asses, it all would've been pretty clear,"
"What would've been clear?" I questioned, hating how dumb and useless I felt in that moment. Out of the three of us, I was the logical one. The one that put two and two together, and, suddenly, I couldn't think straight. And I knew the reason, too. I glanced at Dean before my eyes landed on Bobby again, waiting for the answer to my question.
"What you're dealing with," He waited for us to understand, but all he got were blank stares in return. "You got a trickster on your hands,"
"That's what I thought," Dean snapped his fingers and pointed to Bobby as if he'd known all along.
"Yeah, right," I muttered, calling him out on it at the same time Sam snapped, "What?! No, you didn't,"
"Well, I got to tell you… you three were the biggest clue," Bobby informed us, and I finally caught on.
"What do you mean?" Sam questioned not understanding.
"Tricksters are known to create chaos and mischief everywhere they go. All the weird stuff that's been happening to us: the Impala, Sam's laptop…" My eyes met Dean's as I spoke the next word. "Everything. It's messing with us, so we'll focus on each other instead of the hunt. It must know we're on to him,"
"Finally," He turned to Dean and Sam. "It's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, that you can't even think straight. It's been playing you like fiddles,"
"So, what is it - a spirit, demon, what?" Dean questioned, something shifting in his voice, but I couldn't place the difference.
"Well, more like demigods, really," Bobby corrected him. "There's Loki in Scandinavia. THere's Anansi in West Africa. Dozens of them. They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air, things as real as you and me. Make them vanish just as quick,"
"You mean like an angry spirit or an alien or an alligator," Dean began to catch on to what had been happening to us lately.
"The victims fit the M.O., too," Bobby continued with his explanation. "Tricksters target the high and the mighty, knock them down a peg, usually with a sense of humor - deadly pranks, things like that,"
"What do these things look like?" Dean asked, glancing up at Bobby.
"Lots of things," He answered with a shrug. "But human, mostly," Dean turned to look at Sam and I sitting across the table from him.
"And what human do we know who's been at ground zero this whole time?" Dean asked us. I frowned, confused for only a moment before my expression lightened in understanding only to darken in anger again.
-SPN-
"Why am I here again?" I questioned Bobby as I sat in the comfortable arm chair. "Not that I don't appreciate what you've done, but shouldn't I be fighting with Dean and Sam? The trickster wanted me to be involved in the fight as well," I pointed out.
"You are going to tell me what happened," Bobby informed me, not leaving any room for arguments.
"What are you talking about?" I asked innocently, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that I knew exactly what he was talking about.
"You and Dean," He replied, folding his arms over his chest and laying down the stake. "You and Dean don't fight… not like this at least. You two have barely looked at each other since I got here," I bit my lip, staying silent. "Look, fine, don't tell me. Just sort it out,"
"It was in the bar…" I began hesitantly, looking down at my hands, wrapped tightly around the wooden stake I'd been sharpening.
"They…they made me… slow dance," The frat boy finished, looking down at the now empty shot glasses in front of him as Dean, Sam, and I made eye contact. What the hell was going on here?
"Right, well, thanks for your time," I nodded to Dean, and he nodded back quickly, both of us wanting to wrap up this interview.
"I'll meet you in the car," Sam told us. "Bathroom," He added as he saw my questioning gaze. The look cleared, and I nodded. I'd been half hoping he'd said that because he wanted to hit on a girl.
"Me too," Dean pecked me on the lips and handed me the keys before heading after Sam. I rested my elbows on the bar counter, not really wanting to go back to the car just yet but knowing I probably should.
"Hey," A voice to my left made me jump slightly, and I turned to see a dark haired man wearing a leather jacket and baggy jeans leaning on the counter next to me.
"Hey," I responded politely, glancing at the bathrooms and then back at the stranger, who was still looking at me. "Can I help you?" I questioned, unnerved by his look. Something about him was throwing me off and making me uneasy.
"No," He chuckled, shaking his head. "But I can help you," With that, he took a rapid step towards me and pressed his lips against mine. I can't really explain what happened next, but it was as if my mind went completely blank. In that moment, I couldn't remember a thing. Not my name. Not Dean's name. Not my age. Not Sam. Not my mother or father or John. I was just being kissed, and my body was responding to the kiss.
"Hey!" Suddenly, the lips were ripped off of mine, causing everything to flood back. I stumbled away from him, blinking to try to clear my head and figure out what just happened. What did just happen? "What the hell are you doing?" Dean snarled at the guy, shoving him back by his collar. "That's my girlfriend!" With that, Dean's fist made contact with the stranger's cheek, sending him crashing back into the pool table. The stranger jumped up, infuriated by Dean's assault. Before the fight could go any further, Dean was grabbed by two guys who worked at the bar and hauled towards the doors, despite his struggles while the stranger was restrained as well.
"I got news for you, pal! Your girlfriend? She came onto me!" The stranger yelled after Dean, who strained against the men holding him. I clenched my teeth, starting towards the stranger, but Sam pulled me back.
"Don't," I could hear the waver in his voice as he spoke the syllable before turning and hurrying after Dean, who the bartenders had dumped outside,
"Was he right?" Dean questioned, pushing himself off the ground to whirl on me.
"How can you even ask that?" I snapped at him, anger and fear combining to produce intense rage at what had just happened.
"How could I?" Dean repeated mockingly. "You weren't exactly pushing him away!" I didn't have an answer for that. I couldn't remember what happened. I'd just… suddenly I'd just gone blank. Hurt flashed across Dean's face for a moment before it was swallowed up by cold indifference.
"Shit, Mel," Bobby muttered after I'd finished telling him the story.
"I didn't kiss him back. At least, the real me didn't. I don't know what happened, Bobby. I swear to god, I don't know what happened. I would never do that to Dean. You know I wouldn't," The words came in a desperate rush without any filter at all.
"I know," Bobby told me reassuringly. "You think it was the trickster?" Bobby questioned, and I nodded, setting my jaw in determination.
"Had to be. He must've confused me for a moment. Took my memories or something," I tried to reason, glancing at Bobby for confirmation.
"And Dean…?" He let the sentence hang, and I was silent a moment longer, staring down at the sharpened wood in my hands.
"He left the bar without another word," I shrugged, taking a shaky breath. Before Bobby could say anything else, Dean and Sam walked in, announcing the plan was in place.
-SPN-
-3rd Person-
"Eh, screw this," Dean got in character, not sure if the trickster was watching him already or if he was waiting for Dean inside. He turned on his flashlight, adjusting the beam to illuminate the stairwell he was heading down. He descended two flights of stairs before he hit the bottom, his flashlight finding a metal gate with lockers on the other side. Dead end. He headed back up the stairs quickly, trying to keep his mind occupied and his thoughts off of the woman waiting for him in his car. He pulled out the wooden stake as he rounded a platform and began heading up another flight of stairs. That's when he heard the music start. He frowned, turning slightly as his mind recognized the song. Can't get enough of your love, Babe.
Turning slowly, he approached the door, caution in his stealthy steps. He tucked the stake back into his jacket before opening the doors to see where the music was coming from. When he stepped inside, he could only stare in shock at what he saw, letting the door swing shut behind him. At the top of the stage was a disco ball and lights that illuminated the scene before him. There was a red bed in the center of the stage with one woman laying in the center of it, wearing nothing but scarlet lingerie. Dean descended the steps and only stopped walking when he'd reached the stage. She let out a small laugh; he loved her laugh. Her nose crinkled when she laughed and her eyes always closed as she turned her face slightly.
"I've been waiting for you, Dean," She told him in a low seductive voice that made his heart beat faster and his breathing grow uneven. She crawled across the bed towards him, swinging herself around to sit on the edge and regard him with wide hazel eyes that made his hands tremble slightly as his heartbeat picked up.
"Y-Y-You aren't real," He managed to get out through his closing throat.
"That doesn't matter, Dean," She chided him, smiling softly at him. "It'll feel real," He let out a choked laugh, trying and failing to hide how much he wanted her. "Come on… I'll give you a massage," He swallowed hard. This wasn't Mel. Not his Mel, anyway.
"You know, I'm a - I'm a sucker for a happy ending, really, I am, but… I-I-I'm gonna have to pass," He choked slightly as he spoke the last line, but, with a massive effort, he got himself under control.
"She's a peace offering," Dean spun as he heard a voice behind him call. "I know what you, your brother, and your girlfriend do. I've been around a while. Run into your kind before," The janitor, who was sitting in the second row, informed him.
"Well, then you know that I… can't let you just keep hurting people," Dean turned away from Mel, making it easier for him to think. The janitor rolled his eyes, tilting his head back as if he were a teenager and Dean was his father.
"Come on," He wined in annoyance. "Those people got what was coming to them. Hoisted on their own petards," Dean frowned, not understanding what the trickster had said, but not really caring. There was no way he was walking out of here. "But you and Sam and Mel - I like you. I do. Especially Mel," He grinned and gestured to the stage in a way that made Dean's blood boil. "So treat yourself. Long as you want. Just long enough for me to move on to the next town,"
"Yeah, I don't think I can let you do that," Dean told him in an almost apologetic voice.
"I don't want to hurt you," The trickster informed him casually as he broke into the candy bar he was unwrapping. "And you know that I can. I mean, I already have," He smirked knowingly, making Dean frown for a moment before the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Mel…?" The trickster smirked again in answer to his question.
"You should have seen your face when you thought she'd cheated on you," The man snorted, shaking his head while laughing. "Sad, really," He reflected, shaking his head.
"The guy that kissed her," He glanced back at Mel, realizing the man that kissed her was just an image, like the Mel onstage.
"No," The trickster shook his head. "I was the guy that kissed her," Before Dean's eyes, the trickster morphed into the man from the bar, the dark-haired stranger, before transforming back into himself. Dean's jaw tightened as his hands clenched into fists. The trickster just held up a hand to stop Dean's approach. "You really shouldn't have come alone,"
"Well, I'll agree with you there," Dean answered cockily, forcing himself to stay calm. He was going to kill this smug son of a bitch. The trickster frowned as the doors opened and Sam stepped through with Mel following, both of the hunters holding a large, wooden stake. Through the far door stepped Bobby, clutching an equally large stake in his hands as well.
"That fight you guys had outside - that was a trick?" Dean just shrugged, glancing up at Sam and Mel. He saw Mel's eyes focused on something over his head and frowned, his eyes darting back to meet the eyes of stripper Mel. Oh. "Hmm, not bad," The trickster praised him, nodding his approval as Dean pulled out a stake from his jacket. "But you want to see a real trick?" There was a revving noise of a chainsaw, and Mel and Sam whipped around to face the man behind them. He raised the chainsaw up, and they scattered to avoid being sawed in half. Dean charged the trickster, raising the stake to jam through the trickster's heart when a hand caught his wrist.
The fake Mel twisted and jerked Dean's wrist, forcing him to drop the stake and face her. The trickster clapped his hands together in delight as Mel grabbed Dean's collar and threw him onto side of the bed with inhuman force. Behind Dean, another Mel appeared, hauling him up and shoving him back while the trickster ate his candy bar eagerly. Fake Mel #2 punched Dean across the face, sending him reeling into fake Mel #1. This time, Dean tried to punch her, but she avoided him and kneed him in the face, causing him to fall at the feet of fake Mel #2, who yanked him up, throwing him off stage.
"Nice toss, ladies!" The trickster cheered as the two Mel's posed with big smiles. "Or should I say… lady," Mel glanced up from the where she lay beside the door, just having tackled the chainsaw killer. "Dean, Dean, Dean," The trickster admonished him, clicking his tongue and shaking his head at the man on the floor struggling to get his bearings. "I did not want to have to do this," Mel struggled up, managing to wrap her fingers around the smooth exterior of the stake. She rose to her feet and tossed it to Dean, whom the trickster was now approaching. Dean caught it deftly before jamming it through the heart of the trickster.
"Me neither," He replied to the man's earlier statement. The chainsaw revved, and Mel spun around to face the man that was holding it high above her head. Before he could swing the chainsaw at her, he disappeared in a ripple of air. The Mels gasped and vanished as well, and, eventually, the bed and disco ball dissipated as well. Dean jerked the stake out of the trickster's heart, and the body fell with a thud in an auditorium chair.
"You guys okay?" Dean questioned as the three of them came to his side. He put a hand on the corner of his head, wincing as pain shot through it. Mel pulled his hand away from his head, so she could properly examine it to see if it was bleeding or not. She had looked up just in time to see Dean hit his head hard on the folding seat.
"We'll…uh… we'll be waiting by the car," Bobby excused himself and Sam, dragging the boy with him as he walked up the steps and out of the auditorium.
"How badly does it hurt?" She questioned as he caught her hand, his fingers trembling slightly.
"I was being an idiot," He didn't bother answering her question. He needed to tell her how stupid he'd been for not believing her.
"Dean…" She started, not sure what to say to him. "You didn't believe me," She finally said. That was really it. That was why she'd been so angry. It wasn't that he thought she'd cheated on him. It wasn't that he was angry. It was that he wouldn't talk to her. He wouldn't give her a chance to explain.
"I know. I just I saw him kissing you and I lost my mind," Dean shook his head as he tried to explain what had happened to him. It was more than that. He hadn't just lost his mind. He'd lost himself. From the second he'd walked out of the bathroom and saw her in that guy's arms, he had felt like he was in some sick nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.
"I'd have probably assumed the same thing," She admitted begrudgingly with a small smile on her face, glancing at the stage. "So, if you could have one wish, that is really what you'd wish for?" Dean followed her gaze to the stage.
"No," He responded truthfully, wondering what he would wish for. "But it's not a terrible idea if you're thinking of surprising me. You know, Christmas is coming up," Mel rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder lightly as she laughed, her nose crinkling cutely.
"Come on," She turned away from him and began walking towards the door, her hand slipping in his. "We need to get out of here before the cops get here,"
"Hey, Mel?" She whirled to face him, and he was suddenly struck by how beautiful she looked even in the dim lights of the auditorium. Wordlessly, he pressed his lips against hers, cupping her cheek with one hand while the other wrapped around her waist. When he pulled back, they were both smiling, and he pressed his forehead against hers, breathing her in for a moment.
"Hey, Romeo and Juliet, let's go," Bobby's voice interrupted them, causing them to break apart, laughing slightly, and follow him out of the building. They met Sam at the doors, and he rushed with them to the car.
-1st Person-
"Thanks for everything, Bobby," I chose to express my gratitude at the opportune moment while we were fleeing a crime scene.
"Yeah, thanks," Sam added his piece as we hit the stairs in front of the building.
"Hey, save it!" Bobby snapped tightly, efficiently cutting us off. "Let's just get the hell out of dodge before somebody finds that body," Sam and Bobby went to the doors of the Impala while Dean and I ran around the hood to the opposite side. "Look, guys, um…" We paused, looking up at Sam, who was paused uncertainly by the passenger's door of the Impala. "I just want to say that I'm, uh…um…" Sam groped for the words as his two best friends waited.
"Hey," Dean glanced at me as he spoke, and I laced my fingers through his, nodding. "Us too," Sam locked eyes with me, and I gave him a small smile to show that I meant the words Dean had spoken.
"You guys are breaking my heart," I couldn't help but grin at the sarcasm in Bobby's voice as he looked back and forth between the three of us. "Can we please just leave?" I let out a small laugh before climbing into the rear next to Bobby, listening to the roar of the Impala as we put the town in our rearview mirror.