The holidays passed in a blur of food and good friends coming by to eat, be merry and ask Dean why he was there and how come he suddenly changed his number. After the clifnotes on that one, most started shaking their head and telling him "Yeah she flirted with me once or twice too." Sometimes they admitted that it had happened right in their homes, with significant others in the other room. Dean started to loathe having someone come over and ask him about the short and long of it.
"What's up, bitches?"
Dean perked up. Charlie! Their friendly neighbourhood geek and lesbian. God, he had missed her!
"Hi there, oh Queen. What's happening? Why didn't you come over on Christmas?"
Charlie tucked a strand of her flaming red hair behind her ear and sighed.
"I got pulled. Emergency hackjob at a big firm. Someone had inadvertedly managed to lock down their entire safetynet just before the holidays. If some big brass hadn't thought of putting in another hour or two before heading towards the pudding and inlaws, they'd have had one Hell of a time trying to get started after New Years."
Dean whistled.
"Bad news... but you cracked it?"
Charlie grinned, her grey eyes sparkling.
"Duh, you dweeb. That's why they pulled me... Anywho... The Queen demands to know why her loyal handmaiden didn't tell her he left that lying trollop."
Taken aback, Dean worked his mouth like a fish out of water. Nope. Words were not forming, so Dean cleared his throat.
"How the Hell did you know?"
Another grin, accompanied by a punch to the shoulder.
"A: I'm awesome, B: you're here as opposed to that Living Today house you used to call home. And C: you changed your number! Sure you texted me about it, but, Dean... you had that number for like fifteen years!"
Dean considered this, and had to admit it was all true.
"And the lying trollop bit?"
He had to ask.
A sly glance from under the red hair.
"She repeatedly tried to get some of this."
Charlie gestured at herself and Dean felt sick.
"And you declined. That's why she stopped inviting you."
Charlie nodded.
"She was smooth about it though. Just forgetting the invite once, then a bit more, and within a month or three, I'm out of the Circle of Trust. I never said anything, because, hey, you looked happy enough."
Thinking back, Dean sighed.
"Looked... yeah I guess. But deep down, I wasn't. She'd smoothly pruned out anything that I liked and she didn't. My leather jacket, you, my classic rock playing constantly in the background, my tatty jeans, scotch any time of the day, going to the bar with Benny... fuck, even Benny!"
He slapped his hand to his head.
"She tried something there, didn't she?"
He eyed Charlie, who looked uncomfortable.
"Please, my Queen. I need to know. I can take it..."
Charlie looked up, her eyes big and pleading.
"Don't make me do this..."
She sounded scared and broken, and Dean hated it.
"Come on Charlie... tell me. I won't freak out, promise."
She nodded and fiddled with her phone.
Not two seconds later, Sam stepped through the door.
"Hey Charlie. How's my Queen?"
She smiled wanly.
"In need of moral support from her brave Knight."
Sam glanced over at Dean, who realised that with her fiddling, she had somehow messaged his little brother over. She had known something like this would happen.
"Great. Now I'm a liability? Geez. Spit it out already. I'm good."
Sam surreptiously stepped aside, and placed himself there where he could either yank Charlie out of the way, or grab his brother. Of course Dean noticed. 'How unstable do they think I am? I'd never hurt either of them...' he thought, worry squirming in his guts. This had to be bad.
Charlie cleared her throat and Sam put a supportive hand on her shoulder. She put her own hand over that, as if to anchor herself. So, soooo bad.
"It was one of the last times you went out to the bar, with Benny. You were both pretty smashed, and you had slurred at Benny to crash on the couch, so he did. Somewhere down the night, she had found out, and started waking him up. Drunk as he was, he thought he was home, with Andrea. So when she kissed his cheek, he reacted..."
Dean bit his lip and his fists were clenched. He could see where this was going.
Charlie swallowed hard as she saw how tense Dean was getting.
"Do I have to?" she squeaked in a terrified voice.
Sam squeezed her shoulder softly, but nodded.
"You're part of this..."
Charlie sighed, head drooping.
"I know..." was formed on another sigh.
"Ok.. here goes... Benny reacted how he normally did with Andrea..."
Dean nodded curtly.
"Which was to start making out. I remember. He told me that so many times. And I told Lisa, because I thought it was sweet. Fuck, I handed her the tools myself..."
Charlie placed a soft hand on his arm.
"Don't blame yourself, Dean. She'd have found another way..."
Dean sighed, sad in the knowledge that she was right.
"So, making out... right. And, well... That's where I come in. You were blissfully snoring, and forgot we had a date to pick out a new chainmail for you, but she didn't. She made sure they ended up cuddling on the sofa butt naked. So when I popped in, I found them. Lisa had already come on to me quite strongly twice, and I knew something was off with her, but this caught me by surprise. So I start chewing her out and our bickering wakes Benny up. Now, he's a bit confused, and I was happy to let him be. I knew he'd never consciously cheat on Andrea, but Lisa started freaking out. She begged us to not tell you. Didn't you deserve to be happy? And us telling you would mean you'd be heartbroken, we didn't want that, did we? Then she shoos me out, telling me to wake you. I skedaddled, but only to the hallway, so I could still hear what was going on. She threatened Benny to tell Andrea, unless he'd fade out of your life. When he had called her a conniving skank and grabbed his stuff to leave, I took my cue to go get you."
Dean was trembling by now. He slowly turned away from Charlie and Sam, and walked to the door.
"I'll be outside. We need more firewood." he said, tone short and clipped.
He grabbed his coat and made his way out of the house.
Behind one of the sheds, a chopping block was waiting for him, and he eagerly found his way there.
When Sam came for him, Dean had made his way through three quarters of the pile of logs and his arms were burning with exertion. His cheeks were stinging from where the frost had bitten into them, searing in the salt of his angry tears.
"Dean... come on in. You must be frozen." Sam tried.
"Go away, Sam." Dean bit out, swinging the ax another time, the smacking thud jolting through him.
Sam sighed and turned, leaving Dean to chop on.
A firm hand on his shoulder had Dean take in a startled breath.
"C'mon son. We're settled for the month now. I'm going for a drink. Ya comin'?" came Bobby's gruff voice.
Dean let go of the ax handle.
"She used him, Bobby. She used him to strengthen her grip on me. And she used Charlie to get rid of him... How was I so blind to not see her true colours?"
Bobby looked him in the eyes and took his shoulders.
"Don't blame this on yourself, son. That lying piece of slime had most of us fooled. Heck, I thought you were great together. When Sam said he didn't trust her, I thought he was just being protective."
Dean clenched his jaw.
"I know dad might have seen through her..."
Bobby scoffed.
"Wouldn't bet on that. She was pretty good in showing what she wanted to. Now, c'mon. I need a stiff drink."
Dean nodded and followed him in, where Sam and Charlie sat, anxiously waiting for them.
After a few shots of gutrot, Dean suddenly turned to Sam.
"Bobby told me you didn't trust her..."
Sam lowered his head, hands clenched around his glass. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Dean knew him well enough to understand perfectly. She had come on to him too...
"That bitch... trying with my own brother. Fuck I'm glad I'm shot of her!"
Sam flinched, making Dean get up and put an arm around him.
"We're ok, Sammy. She couldn't drive us apart. Never. Hell, I'm not even mad at Benny. She is just a conniving, lying, manipulating bitch, and I fell for it."
Getting up and pouring another drink, he straightened his shoulders.
"Well not anymore. She can go to Hell for all I care!"
He raised his glass with such vehemence, half of the contents slipped over the rim and onto his outstretched arm.
"Here's to freedom!" Dean called and downed the rest of his glass in one go.
Of course it ended with him being so drunk, he passed out with a pair of clean boxers on his head, a tie (probably Sam's) loose around his neck and a lipstick moustache, curtesy of Charlie, who thought a magnificent wizard-handmaiden like Dean, needed a moustache. Preferably a fuschia one. Bobby had sat in his chair, drinking and muttering about 'Dang idjets, not being able to hold their liquor' and 'better not toss their cookies on my rug, else they're on cleanup duty for a month!', whilst Sam had picked up some dusty book about the lore on kelpies. Where he found it had been a nice quest for the Queen and her trusty handmaiden, until Sam blew it by grumpily stating he had really just yanked an interesting looking volume out of one of Bobby's bookcases.