(sorry for the hold up you guys. major writer's block... Not my best chapter but here we go)

Dean awoke with a start. He hadn't had much sleep in the past three days (he felt uneasy sleeping around people- strangers- Lory) but it seemed that no sooner than he had begun to doze, he was met with… the images.

He sprung up in his bed, panting, t-shirt soaked at the collar with sweat, clutching his face his hands.

"Oh… shit…"

"Dean?"

The quaky female voice made him jump. He'd almost forgotten about her. His eyes darted to the girl who sat up on the bed- where his brother should have been- with her legs folded criss-cross-applesauce and her head cocked curiously. He briefly brought his gaze to Sam, who slept peacefully in the room's armchair, and then back to the girl, silent. Her eyes narrowed in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine," he responded, avoiding her eyes.

"You sure?"

"Positive," he said shortly, following up with a forced, "thank you."

"Why won't you ever look-"

"Sam! Sam, get up." he said, cutting her off abruptly, but she had begun so softly that her speech ended as fluidly as it had begun, and she digressed.

Baby Winchester stirred and groaned a little before turning on his side. Only after catching a pillow in his face, did he rouse.

"What, man?" he groaned.

"The Fishers, bro. Let's go."

"Ugh… They just got home today. Can't it wait like another hour?" he pleaded, almost like a child as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"No, Sam, it can't. Up."

"Fine…" he relinquished as his towering form departed from the chair. "God. So bossy."

He stretched a bit before crossing the small room to the bathroom. Once Sam was a couple seconds behind the door, Dean rolled over on his side, reaching into the duffle bag beside his bed and pulling out a square glass bottle. He shot a look at Lory, almost daring her to say a word before taking a swig.

"What's that?" she said, not at all invasive or antagonizing, but simply unaffected by his warning.

"The breakfast of champions," he grunted before swinging his legs onto the floor and making his way to the window.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"You ask a hell of a lot of questions, kid. Do you know that?" he said, turning to her, his sharp jaw clenching as a visible sign of his self-restraint.

"I'm not a kid… I'm nineteen. Well, I will be in a couple of days."

"That's wonderful, but you're still a kid, kid."

"That's not what you said to the cheerleader," she quipped before placing her hand over her mouth, masking her slight giggle as it faded.

Dean narrowed his eyes at her.

"Could you stop that?"

"What?"

"Reading me- using your Jedi mind tricks- whatever the hell you're doing. I really don't enjoy being mind-raped."

"I'm sorry… Sometimes I can't help it," she said softly, hanging her head.

"Well, call me cynical, but I don't think you're really trying all that hard…"

"I'm sorry…" she repeated slowly, softly, sincerely.

After a sustained moment of avoiding each other's shameful eyes, Dean turned to the girl, facing her, but still not locking eyes.

"Er, uhm, so, isn't your family going to be worried about you? You've been out of that place how many days now?"

Looking up at him with a stoic, almost wise smile, she said, "Now don't you think if they were worried about me I would be with them right now?"

"Good point…" he trailed, almost remorseful for bringing it up.

The bathroom door clicked open, and Sam half-emerged half-naked.

"Hey, Dean, toss me my shampoo?"

Lory willed her eyes off the towel-clad, dripping man as the bottle flew across the room and he snatched it from the air. Glancing over at the girl, Sam turned a little red, having forgotten that he and his brother weren't alone.

"Uh, erm, sorry…"

He disappeared once more behind the door.

"Guess he's not quite used to having me around?" she smiled good-naturedly at Dean who was still dividing his attention between the room and what lay outside the window.

"Guess not… Gotta say that makes two of us… Those guys upstairs- they really outdid themselves this time."

"It's only been a couple of days, Dean," Lory offered, her softly shaking voice holding a slightly pleading undertone, "I… I can't be that awful…"

She smiled weakly, hoping to upturn the latter statement and make herself sound- or at least feel less pitiful. It had been this way with her and Dean the few days they'd known each other. The two or three times a day he addressed her, it wouldn't be very pleasantly. He didn't even know himself exactly what it was that irritated him about the girl. He knew it must have had something to do with her all around oddness- her wispy nature, the way she asked too many questions- but it was mostly to do with the way she looked at him. Still, he had no idea exactly why this girl's all-knowing stare raised the little blonde hairs on his forearms, He had gotten worse looks from worse people- worse things- but something about it made him feel vulnerable. There were only two namable things that made Dean Winchester feel vulnerable- this girl sent from heaven, and the deepest recesses of hell.

"You're not- you're not awful…"

He meant it. She wasn't awful. Apparently. After all, Sam was already fond of her. He was the only one who had the problem with her. He began to think that maybe he was the problem.

…Nah. She's a fucking creeper.

"Only terrible, right?"

"No, you're neither of those things. You're just… I don't know, intense?"

"Thank you?"

"I'm not trying to insult you," he shot back, waxing aggravation.

."For once," she matched with a calm, even tone.

He also disliked that about her.

"Do you always make yourself the victim?" Dean asked in a way that, if a person didn't know him, might make them think he was being sincere.

"Only when I'm being attacked, Dean," she said softly, cocking her head to the side in her funny little way.

The eldest Winchester boy snorted in contempt as the youngest emerged, fully dressed this time, drying his hair.

"I'm going out, Sam," Dean said like the calm before the storm,"and the car goes with."

By the time his younger brother had processed and was wearing a puzzled squint, Dean's jacket was already on.

"Out? For what? The Fishers-"

"Will have to wait, Sam."

"First question still hanging in the air…"

"For breakfast," he said, shooting down Lory's knowing look with a contemptuous glance.

"Uhm okay… Bring me back a…" Sam trailed in defeat once as the door slammed, "bagel?"

Lory shrugged.

"Better luck asking for a beer…"

.