Kristin emerged from the bathroom with her head down. She walked right over to her bed and pulled the covers down.
"Kris... I'm sorry."
Kristin looked up at Dean then glanced around the room.
"I asked Sam to take a walk. I wanted to apologize. I never meant that you can't take care of yourself. I just..."
"You just acted like you."
"Yeah, but if me acting like me gets you that angry, we've got a problem."
"It wasn't just you, Dean. I need to apologize, too. I overreacted. I'm sorry."
"Are you sure? I don't think I've ever seen you that angry at me or Sam. I don't wanna lose you, Kris."
"You'd have to do a lot worse to push me out, Winchester."
Dean smiled. "Are we okay?"
Kristin nodded as she walked to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and lay her head on his chest.
Dean returned her embrace and kissed the top of her head. That fluttering feeling in his gut was back. He so rarely felt this way about a woman, but Kristin gave him butterflies more than he cared to admit. Especially when they were this close.
The next day, they worked the case. The more they talked to people, the more it sounded like vampires, except for one thing. Vamps had a tendency to be noticed by a community. They always hung out together, and sometimes caused trouble. That wasn't happening here, and they had no leads on who could be their monsters.
Dean kept alert, watching his feelings, analyzing which ones were his, and which ones might be Kristin's.
He was staring into a bakery window when a feeling of longing washed over him. He heard Kristin and Sam talking behind him, and the butterflies turned into a rock, right in the pit of his stomach. He always knew someone would sweep her off her feet one day, and she deserved it, but he couldn't take it if it were Sam.
He turned around and found Kristin looking at him. She smiled, and the pit in his stomach changed. Embarrassment? That's what it felt like.
Dean smiled back at her, and the longing returned. Damn, he wanted this woman.
"Are you scoping out pies?" she asked.
"Nah, but I am hungry."
"We did skip lunch," Sam said.
"Let's go grab an early dinner," Kristin said.
At the diner, Dean found a booth and slid into the seat. Sam sat opposite him. Kristin sat next to Dean. She pulled out her cell and started scrolling through a news feed, looking for anything that could help them. As her thumb pushed at the screen, she lay her head on Dean's shoulder.
"Nice to see you two made up after that big blow up," Sam said.
"Sammy-"
"Can't stay mad at my best friend," Kristin cut in. "He meant well."
Dean put an arm around Kristin's shoulder. He didn't want to talk about the fight. Emotions ran high, and he still couldn't figure out how much of everything was hers and how much was his own.
What existed now was an ache in his chest. It was a familiar ache that he felt when he thought of how much he wanted Kristin, and that he couldn't do anything about it without risking her leaving. When she was this close, lying against him this way, it was hard to ignore.
Dean lay in bed with his eyes closed, and his arms folded over his chest. He smiled when Kristin cuddled next to him and laid a hand on his arm.
"What's up, Kris?"
"I want to be absolutely sure we're okay."
Dean opened his eyes. "Of course."
"I just... I had trouble sleeping last night. Even after we talked."
Dean turned to his side and lifted the covers. He pulled her into his arms.
"Get some sleep. We're good."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Kristin lay her head against his chest and took a deep breath.
The longing he felt overwhelmed him, and he blinked away moisture building in his eyes. What if this wasn't all him? Yes, he wanted Kristin. Yes, he'd had these feeling for her before. But never so strong. Could Kristin feel the same way? He had to be sure.
In the meantime, he tried not to think about how she felt pressed against him. Or how her hair still smelled of her shampoo, even after being out all day. Or how badly he wanted to brush the stray piece of it out of her face, and let his fingers skim down her cheek before kissing her.
Sam came out of the bathroom and raised an eyebrow.
"What's this?"
"This," Kristin said, "is me being tired, and Dean being comfy and warm."
"What, I'm not comfy and warm?"
"No offense, Sam, but you're like an out of control furnace. I always wake up sweating when I sleep next to you."
Dean smiled at Sam. "What can I say, dude? She's Goldilocks and I'm just right."
Kristin punched his arm. "You did not just say that."
They both laughed, and Kristin buried her face against Dean's chest.
"Geez," Sam said as he rolled his eyes. "I'd tell you to get a room, but..."
Sam lay down on the other bed, and the laughter died. Dean cleared his throat and tightened his embrace around Kristin, worried Sam's words might make her pull away. After a moment, she relaxed against him and drifted to sleep.
The next day, Kristin stayed at the motel while Sam and Dean went to get a look a dead body. While they waited to be let into the morgue, Dean felt an ache building in his gut. He knew it had to be Kristin's emotions, because it came out of nowhere. He wondered what she was thinking about. He closed his eyes and let the ache build and wash over him until it was suddenly replaced with a content, blissful feeling.
His eyes popped open. That couldn't be what it felt like. There was only one thing Dean knew of that went from ache to bliss in seconds, but Kristin was alone.
Dean grinned. "Oh, man."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Uh... nothin'. This is just taking a long time."
"We've waited longer."
"Yeah."
Dean let himself imagine Kristin back at the motel. Was she in the bed they shared last night? Was she thinking about him?
How often had he thought about her when he was alone? Hell, when he was with a one night stand? He always saw her face when he closed his eyes.
Back at the motel, Dean tossed his suit jacket over a chair. Kristin was on the bed they'd shared, leaning against the headboard with Sam's laptop.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"It's not vampires," Dean said.
"Then what is it?"
"We think it's vetalas," Sam said.
"I've never heard of those."
"Yeah, well," Sam said, "we certainly have."
"What are they?"
Dean sat on the edge of the bed.
"They feed on humans, like vampires, but they have four fangs and they inject a poison to sedate their victims. It allows them to feed at will."
"They keep you alive?"
"For a while."
"So," Sam said, "we know what they are, but not who they are. We need to try the club again."
"Agreed," Dean said. He leaned back against the headboard and nudged Kristin's shoulder with his. "What did you do while we were gone?"
"Just, uh, some research. I was looking up info on our missing persons. I tried to get into the police database, but I forgot the last bit of that trick you showed me."
"Here."
Dean took the laptop and was in the database in just a few minutes. He handed the laptop back to Kristin.
"Thanks."
Kristin searched through the files until she found the names of the missing men, as well as their victim in the morgue. She bit her lip as she read, processing all the information before presenting anything to the guys. Just like she always did.
Dean never imagined falling so hard for someone he had never even kissed. The thought that he might be in love with her flew through his mind, but he let the thought pass.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and Dean knew the longing he felt was all his this time. It was stronger than ever. If Sam weren't in the room, he might even kiss her, but he willed himself to look away.