"So how's it going at home," Mat asked, they were secured behind the curtain, Lorraine was dressed in a pair of jeans and a flowing top, matt was helping to secure the Cleopatra style head band around her forehead, she looked at Dean who sat in the crowd, a table of five woman to his right, and two his left a woman who looked close to crying in the drink that sat in front of her, Just by looking at the crowd Lorraine could already guess as to what the requested song list would be, thankfully she hadn't seen Patty yet, or heard her which a more certain sign, cause she didn't know if she could pelt out let's hear it for the boy' anymore, She had nearly been late to the pub, she had walked out of the house and found Deans car had conveniently been parked behind hers hindering her escape, and Dean refused to move it unless he could drive Lorraine to work, she had finally gave in when 20 minutes later, he still arrogantly sat on the lounge, swinging his keys around his finger,
"It's frustrating," she replied
"Honey, with that thing living in my house I'd be frustrated to," Mat replied referring to Dean, Nate shoot his boyfriend a glare, and Mat smiled back sweetly, "you didn't tell me he was a cop,"
"He's not a cop," Lorraine told him "more of an investigator,"
"I thought he was a reporter," Grahame added in,
"Does he have a hat and gun, too" James asked
"You've watched too many Matlock re-runs," Nate mocked him, Mat and Lorraine ignored the three of them
"So how did he take to finding out about Mary," Matt continued,
"We fought, then we fought some more, then we kissed," that earnt quick flick of the eyebrows from Mat, "then we fought some more,"
"And do you think he's going to stick around," Lorraine shrugged
"I wish I knew, he was about to tell me something today but then chickened out, or something, I actually thought he would be gone by now," Lorraine watched closely as Miranda, the barmaid flirted with him, jealously rising in her chest, she and Dean were laughing at something, then she went off to serve someone else,
"you want me to scratch her eyes out," Matt asked, Lorraine smiled at him, she could think of a few things she wanted to do to her, but she didn't own Dean and if he wanted to hook up with the young brunette then she couldn't stop him, Lorraine laughed to herself as she thought about maybe whispering to Miranda that he was gay,
"What," Mat looked at her with a puzzled expression,
"Nothing," Lorraine replied,
"Do you want him to stick around," he asked,
"You know I do," she replied, but it's –"
"complicated," the five of them finished together, Lorraine rolled her eyes as the bar owner walked on to the stage, to introduce them, Lorraine's first song was a solo, just her and her guitar, she was grateful for the interruption, she walked out and the crowd applauded as she strummed the intro to Stevie Nicks 'landslide',
ڳ
Dean was amazed at how the whole pub cheered when Lorraine walked out onto the stage, and then cheered even louder when she started to play
"ooh, I love this song," the woman at the table on the left of him squealed, as she started to sway in her seat and sing along with the song, she had been here since before they had arrived, and Dean could tell she had already drunk her fair share of the alcohol in the pub, halfway through the chorus the drunken girl burst into tears, and Dean wondered if an ex-boyfriend was to blame for her excessive drinking, he turned his attention back to Lorraine, even though it wasn't the type of music he normally listened to he was enjoying watching Lorraine up on stage, unaware to the other patrons, and even her band mates, that only hours before she had been the target of a ghost, when she finished the song, she walked the guitar off the stage and came back on with the others as they took up their positions, he knew from listening to them this morning what they were about to play, but he could see the look of confusion on Loraine's face matched his, yet she didn't miss a beat as she sang, matchbox twenty's if you're gone, Nate walked over to her and whispered something in Lorraine's ear that made her look at Dean, a cheeky smile on Nate's face told Dean that Lorraine wasn't aware of this sudden change, as he listened to them he thought about how he was going to tell Lorraine his plans on staying, he wasn't even sure if she wanted him to, and battled with the decision of whether to take the chance of being rejected or not, he knew of other hunters that had families, who would return home after a hunt, so why couldn't he do it, maybe even Sam could find someone, he knew his brother was getting close to Joanne, but how close he wasn't sure, the bar maid returned to him
"get you another one love," she smiled at him, he returned the smile and gave a nod, he knew that she had been flirting with him since he sat down at the table, and on any other occasion he would have jumped at the chance, but he looked at Lorraine, his eyes locking with hers, as she smiled at him, and he knew who he wanted to take home,
ڳ
"Were thinking of sticking around for awhile," Sam told Joanne as they sat on the lounge watching a movie, Joanne's head rested in his lap, and Sam's fingers twisted in her hair
"Really," she replied, "Lorraine didn't say anything,"
"I don't think Deans told her yet," Joanne let out a frustrating sigh,
"Honestly there acting like a couple of fucking school kids," Joanne sat up, "there both stubborn, and bloody infuriating," Sam laughed, "I'm being serious"
"I know," he replied, "Dean's just not the type -"
"Blah, blah, blah," Joanne cut in, "you don't think Lorraine hasn't had enough crap in her life either," Sam held up his hands defensively,
"I'm sure they'll sort it out, sooner or later," he told her
"we'll they better do it quickly, otherwise I'm gonna knock some sense in to both of them," Sam was pretty sure Joanne would too, many times he had wanted to do the same to Dean, he knew that his brother came as close to loving Lorraine as he could, and they had been hunting for so long now they both deserved a bit of happiness.
ڳ
Dean sat behind the wheel of the impala, Lorraine next to him; the sound of the rumbling engine cutting in to the silent night, there had been no storm, and the night was calm and warm, Lorraine had nearly killed Grahame, Nate and James for adding in the matchbox twenty song without telling her, she nearly did it right on the stage, when Nate had whispered 'we thought it was a good song for you and Dean' in her ear, she could think of plenty of other songs better suited like out of reach or she was warming to the idea of a murderous cypress hill song,
"So," Dean said, cutting into her thoughts, "Guns 'n' roses, gotta say that surprised me, is there any genre you can't do,"
"Rap and opera ," Lorraine replied actually blushing, they were the only words spoken during the short drive back home, Dean parked the impala in the driveway, they both got out of the car and walked to the door, like two nervous teenagers after a first date, Lorraine had barely shut the door, and was about to say goodnight when Dean grabbed her, pulling her to him and kissed her forcefully, Lorraine returned the kiss, and they made their way up to Lorraine's room, holding onto each other as if it was the last time they ever would, they clothes shed in record time, once again filling each other's desires, A pleasurable two hours later they lay in each other's arms, exhausted but with a full feeling of content Lorraine's head rested on Deans chest, her finger tracing the tattoo on his chest, the tip of Deans fingers ran up and down Lorraine's arm causing Goosebumps,
"Lorraine," he said softly,
"Mmm," she replied dreamily, she was falling asleep
"I wanna stay," Lorraine snapped to alertness, she didn't know what to say,
"Just for a little while," she smiled as she cuddled closer in to his warm body
"Maybe a little longer," he whispered, Lorraine closed her eyes, mixed emotions surged though her body,
"Let's not ruin it Dean," she replied, he gently lifted her face to his and kissed her again, she was right they were both happy at the moment, it wasn't a feeling he felt too often and he wanted to hold onto it for a little while longer.
ڳ
Once again Lorraine was the first one awake in the morning, and already downstairs, waiting for the kettle to boil, she tapped the bench impatiently with her fingers, lost in thought, thinking about what Dean had said last night, it was what she had been waiting for him to say, but the situation was still the same, he was still a hunter, he was still going to end up hurting her, and Mary
"morning," Lorraine let out a small shriek and jumped at the voice, she grabbed the closest thing to her, which happened to be the spoon she had used to make her coffee, and turned to the source "whoa," Joanne said in mock defense
"Sorry," Lorraine put the spoon back on the counter, then held up a coffee cup questioningly, and Joanne nodded
"Definitely less dangerous, so how'd it go last night" Lorraine answered with a mischievous smile, "hussy," Joanne laughed "Did he tell you about staying," she asked, Lorraine frowned and nodded, "I thought you'd be a bit happier,"
"I am," Lorraine sighed, "and not, it's still the same though right, he's still going to be in and out of our lives, and anything could happen to him,"
"He could get hit by a bus tomorrow, as well," Joanne added
"Well it will serve him right for not looking both ways before crossing," Lorraine smiled, Joanne smiled sadly at Lorraine's poor attempt of a joke, "and how long do you thinks it's going to be before he gets bored, and moves on, then what, were back to square one,"
"Lorraine, your rambling again, Look, do you want him to stay or not," Joanne asked, Lorraine was quiet for a minute or two, contemplating the question, above all she had to protect her daughter anyway she could, it wouldn't be fair on Mary to have this man in her life just for him to disappear again, she knew what that was like, it was why she had fallen for the first guy who spoke sweet words to her, just to have him cut her off from all her friends and tie her down, literally, but then Mary also had a right to know her father, the kettle whistled loudly and Lorraine felt like her head was going to explode,
ڳ
Dean had been awoken by his daughters babbling though the intercom that sat on the bedside table, the other side of the bed was empty, and he frowned at Lorraine's ability to sneak away unnoticed, if he was going to stick around he was definitely going to have to put a bell on her or something,
"mummummummum" Mary's voice was getting more shrill, he pulled the covers back and headed out the room and down the hallway, Mary was standing in her cot, holding onto the side that rattled loudly as she pushed and pulled on it, Mary stopped when Dean entered the room, she looked at him curiously, while he stood just inside the door, Dean wasn't sure what to think about the expression on his daughters face, it was a mix of wondering and suspicion, as if she was trying to work out why this man was in her room instead of her mother, they stood staring at each other then Mary smiled, the cot rattled again as she bounded excitedly, her arms held out to Dean, asking to be let free of her cage, Dean walked over to her and lifted her out of the cot,
"Mummummummum" Mary babbled again,
"let's see if she downstairs hey, kiddo" he said as he took the toddler down stairs, Lorraine stood at the bench, her back to the doorway, Dean walked over to her and kissed her on the check, catching Lorraine by surprise
"morning," he said, Lorraine spun around and saw Dean, with Mary in his arms comfortably, her heart skipped a beat, an amused smile played on Joanne face, she couldn't help thinking that besides the look of sheer horror on Lorraine's face, the three of them looked perfect together,
"Have fun last night," Joanne teased Dean,
"yeah," he smiled not catching on to her banter, Mary's arms stretched out in front of her to Lorraine, and Dean handed the wriggly toddler over, Lorraine was still shocked by the vision of Dean and Mary, but she did know that if she turned Dean away now she would regret it for the rest of her life
"We were just talking about you," Joanne smiled, bringing Lorraine out of her trance
"Joanne," Lorraine replied alarmingly, giving her a look that read 'I will kill you'
"what, it was good talk wasn't it," Joanne replied, ignoring her sisters glare, Dean looked a little uncomfortable, Lorraine glared daggers at her sister, once again Joanne ignored it, she knew that she had to take over to stop her sister from backing out again, "she was just saying how she would love it, if you guys hung around for awhile," she smiled sweetly, and Lorraine was ready to strangle her with the tea towel in her hands,
"ok" he replied hesitantly, "I'm gonna go check in with Sam," Dean said as he left the room, he had a feeling that he should leave the room, Lorraine put Mary in her high chair, placing a cut up piece of toast in front of her
"I'm gonna kill you," Lorraine said to Joanne,
"Sure you are," Joanne laughed "we'll you do what him to stay don't you" Lorraine laughed awkwardly as she sat down at the table
"of course I do, but for how long, Joanne, just you wait give it two days at the most and he will be gone again, and this time you can pick up the pieces," Lorraine stood up defiantly and went back into the kitchen, and started to wipe down the bench, the only thing she loved about getting nervous or angry was that she ended up with a house that was spotless,
ڳ
Dean knocked before entering Joanne's room, his brother was on the phone, he sat topless on the bed leaning against the bed head, his laptop open on his lap, Dean looked around the room while he waited for his brother to end the call,
"ok thanks Bobby," he said then disconnected the call and placed the phone on the bedside table, Dean groaned, knowing that it wasn't a social call, he was hoping to prove to Lorraine he was serious about staying in her life, and running off now wasn't going to help,
"What are we hunting?" Sam handed the laptop to him, and he scanned the newspaper clippings, there were two of them, dated over the last 3 weeks, the articles were about one teenage girl and an older woman, they had been found dead in a cemetery, Dean looked at him questionably fighting the urge to point out the irony
"Keep reading," Dean scanned the page again, his eyebrows raised with interest
"Mother and daughter,"
"There was another girl with the teenager, says she saw a ghost, no witnesses for the woman though, police think drugs are involved and they where hallucinating,"
"Course they do," Dean commented offhandedly "so where we going," Dean asked hesitantly, knowing that he couldn't turn his back on a job, but that didn't make him feel better about confronting Lorraine
"Tennessee," Dean groaned not looking forward to the 12 hour drive either
ڳ
Dean walked back into the kitchen, Lorraine was washing up the few dishes, Joanne sat at the bench, she saw Dean before Lorraine did and caught the look of uncertainty on his face, then picked up Mary from her highchair and left the room giving Dean a look that said 'good luck', he watched Lorraine for a few seconds before she turned and looked at him,
"What," she said calmly
"We got a job," he told her, Lorraine tried to smile but ended up grimacing,
"We'll you better go do it," she said, and he wrapped his arms around her, her arms circled his waist and she savored the moment,
"We'll be ba-"
"Don't say it Dean," she cut him off as she pulled away, he lent down and kissed her on the forehead,
"I will," he assured her, Lorraine smiled back, this time it was a smile.
Two hours later, Lorraine and Joanne stood at the door as the impala backed out of the driveway and took off down the road,
"I told you," Lorraine snapped at Joanne,
"They said they'll be back, in a week tops,"
"We'll see," Lorraine replied as she walked back inside, leaving Joanne to shut the door hoping that Lorraine wasn't let down again,