Dean followed her into the kitchen, lazily taking a seat across from her. The look on her face was one of utter terror. "Relax." She looked up at him. "We're cool." She blinked, nodding slightly.
"I know." She ran her hands over her thighs, her nails digging into her flesh, tracing red marks across the pale skin. "I just…I never talk about this to anyone." He nodded. Dean had figured as much.
"We all have shit we don't wanna talk about Evannn…"
"Just call me Angie. Everyone else does." He gave her a small smile.
"Fair enough. Anyway, we've all got skeletons. Me…" He pointed at himself. "I don't talk about when I was a kid. To painful, ya know?" He swallowed, noticing that she had grabbed the plate of bacon from the stove, placing it between them as some sort of buffer. He sat there staring at, using it as a momentary distraction to get the focus off himself and back onto her. "So what the fuck is going on here?" Gingerly, he reached forward, grabbing a few of the strips off the top. You say it's settled, he says it's not; what gives?" He popped a piece into his mouth, accidentally cutting her off before she could answer him. "Fuck…" He briefly closed his eyes, a smile playing across his lips. "It's still warm." She gave him a small smile. "My compliments to the chef."
"Thanks." She sounded a little more relaxed, which was Dean's ultimate goal. There was no way he was going to get full truth with her ready to claw her own flesh off.
"So how did you even fucking meet him?" Angie cocked her head slightly, still looking nervous. "Like I know you didn't hook up at him at work." He rubbed his nose with his greasy hands. "He's way too familiar with you for it to be a work thing."
"I'm from here." She pushed the words out so quickly, that it took Dean a few seconds to process what she had just said.
"What do you mean?" He picked up another piece of bacon, nibbling on it as he continued. "Like you're from here?" He pointed downward, indicating the compound. "Or you're from here." He circled his finger above his head.
"Here." She repeated his circle motion. "My family is from the town up the road." She swallowed, clasping her hands together. "That's how I know Bray." Dean blinked. "We grew up together." Of course they had. It explained why Bray was the way he was with her. He'd known Angie since they were little. It made complete sense that he would keep that connection as an adult. She was his link to home.
"I didn't realize he was from here." Dean thought about for a minute. "I thought he came from somewhere else though? Isn't he from the coast or some shit like that?" He was. Dean remembered Bray telling him about his father's boat once when he was drunk.
"He is. He came here after his father died." Dean nodded. "He considers this his home though."
"Why? What's so special about this place?"
"This is where he found Abigail."
He sucked in a deep breath at the mention of Abigail. Before now, Bray had mentioned her sparingly around him. He was always very tight lipped with any details surrounding her. The boys were the same. To them, Abigail was sacred. They worshiped her with the same fervor that the devout worshiped their version of God. It was something Dean had learned to accept when it came to Bray. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would meet someone that lacked that same devotion, let alone tell him about her.
"Abigail?" Dean leaned forward. "So she's fucking real?"
"This is her house." He found himself floored by that. "This entire compound is hers."
"Motherfucker." He just stared at her in disbelief. "But wait…" He ran his greasy hand over his face as he tried to process what she had just told him. "If you grew up with him and you knew her, how are you not a part of the family?" Angie dropped her eyes to the floor. "Like it's clear he wants you here." She looked back up at him. "Doesn't he?" She shrugged, her eyes going up to the ceiling as she continued her efforts to avoid looking at him. "Or is that what he wants to settle?" Her eyes fell back to him, giving him a cautious look. She didn't fully trust him. Honestly, Dean respected that. If he was in her shoes, he wouldn't trust anyone either.
"Like you said, to me it is settled." She licked her lips. "I know what he wants." Dean gave her a confused look. He wasn't sure what she meant by that.
"What do you mean?" She swallowed, pausing to take a deep breath before she gave him an answer.
"We were friends for a long time.." She scratched her nose, her eyes falling to her lap. "And like everything else, things changed… He changed." Angie fluttered her lashes, her eyes going back to the old ceiling. "He wasn't like this when I first met him." A wistful smile crossed her face. "He was sweeter." Dean raised an eyebrow at that. He couldn't imagine Bray being genuinely sweet. In truth, Dean couldn't imagine Bray being much beyond a narcissistic asshole. "It's weird to think about it now."
"Why is it weird?" She shrugged again.
"It just is." A silence fell between them. It was awkward and long. Dean wasn't sure if he should egg her on or just let her have the peace. Technically he had his answer, but to him at least, she didn't look like she was finished. She looked ready to say more, just needed a minute to reflect on it before she spoke it out loud. "I loved him." Dean sat up at that omission. "I loved him so god damn much." She shook her head, the smile slowly fading. "They all told me he was bad. They all said he would hurt me, but I didn't want to listen. I couldn't listen, not where he was concerned." She unclenched her hands, running her fingers over her hair. "I told myself over and over that they were just letting their own prejudice get in the way." She brought a shaking hand up, resting it on the table. "See people around here… they raise their children to be afraid of this place…of the family." She tapped her fingers against the table as the word family passed her lips. "My parents weren't any different." She continued on after another brief pause. "I was always afraid of them before I met Bray. I don't know…" Angie shrugged a third time. "I guess he made them seem not so bad. Maybe because he wasn't so bad, or at least that's what I thought."
Dean absently reached out to grab another piece of bacon, listening intently as she continued. "I never thought he " Fresh tears began to well up in her eyes. "We were so inseparable." She brought her hand up, trying to wipe away some of the tears with the back of her hand. "Everyone tried to split us up; my family, his family, hell even local law enforcement got involved. They all hated the idea of us being together." The tears persisted. One by one they began to spill out of her eyes. "We made a plan to run away together, but someone got wind of it and the local sheriff caught us about a mile from my house. They locked Bray up for a few days and sent me to live with my Aunt in New Orleans." She sniffled. "That's when Bray had enough. He stole a car and drove to New Orleans to find me. It took him two days of constant searching, but he did it." The smile returned "He told me…" She swallowed. "He told me they didn't control our destiny and that we could be together. All I had to do was come home with him and all would be forgiven."
"Let me guess, it wasn't?" She nodded.
"Abby was furious. She wanted me gone. But she couldn't make him listen. When she tried to force him send me away, he defied her." Dean raised another eyebrow. Knowing Bray's devotion to Abigail. The thought of any kind of defiance from Bray stunned him. "He told her we were going to be together and if she didn't like it, he would leave."
"Fuck…" Angie nodded again. "So what happened? Did she back off?"
"For a while." Angie let out a shuddered sigh. "Then one day he and Abby were just gone." Dean furrowed his brow. "No one would tell me anything." She rubbed her nose again. "I would try to go out to find them, but the others, they would just tell me no. They would drag me back to the house, kicking and screaming, and lock me in my room for a spell." Dean swallowed, understanding that scenario all too well. "They were gone for weeks, it about drove me mad with worry. I was actually preparing to make a run for it when he turned back up like none of it had ever happened. He just walked in the house as big as you please and pretended like I wasn't here." Dean blinked, finding that scenario equally familiar. "He acted like I was nothing to him, just another face in the crowd. When I cornered him and demanded to know what had happened, he told me he had seen the error of his foolish ways. To him, I was nothing more than a childish distraction." She scratched her temple, before wiping her eyes again. "He said he had to think about his destiny now." Angie just rolled her eyes, finally grabbing a piece of bacon for herself. "I asked him what about our destiny? I told him that they didn't decide things like that for us, he and I did." She sniffled again. "He just laughed at me "She took a small bite off the strip of bacon. "The last thing he ever said to me was what a silly little fool I had been." Dean blinked, his eyes falling to the floor. "Then she added what a warming thought it was that if he could trick me into loving him, then he could trick the world into doing the same thing." She paused, her voice getting quiet. "I remember looking at him, and thinking he didn't mean it. He couldn't mean it. Not after everything we had gone through together."
"But he did." She nodded again.
"After I left I thought I would never see him again. Everyone told me it was for the best. He was in his world and I was in mine. Things were as they should have always been."
"Let me guess, he wouldn't let you go?" Angie shook her head.
"He did for a while." She hesitated for a split second. "The odd note or trinket would show up when I went to visit my folks, but I never accepted them. I either left them or burned them. After a while they stopped." Slowly, she finished the piece of bacon in her hand. "I didn't see him again until I came back for my parent's funeral." Her tone became annoyed. "I can still see him hovering on the edge things, that smug as shit look on his face as he watched." She got a disgusted look on her face.
"Did he want something or was he just being a creepy asshole?"
"He wants me to come home." He blinked, nodding. "He told me he had never given me his expressed permission to leave in the first place. I told him he could go fuck himself and slapped the ever living fuck out of him." Dean managed a small chuckle. "He wants me to love him again."
That omission sobered the mood. Dean found himself feeling jealous again. It was a hard truth to swallow. The thought of Bray loving anyone but him still hurt. "It feels like he always comes back to me when he has a bad break up." Dean looked away feeling slightly ashamed.
"Sorry about that." She just shook her head.
"He's right in thinking this needs to happen. I know I need to stop running from him and just have it out with him once and for all." She gave him an absent look. "But I know this won't be it. He's just going to keep trying until I finally give in. It's just…never going to stop." And given that she was here until Bray let her go, he could legitimately hold her until she gave in. She was trapped.
"Fuck him." Dean did his best to swallow down the overwhelming sense of guilt that was rising in his throat. "Fuck him and fuck this entire place." Angie gave him a slightly stunned look "Let's just go." Dean stood up. "Let's get Roman and just go." She stood up with him, shaking her head.
"You heard him, he'll kill us. I can promise you he's not joking about that."
"Yea but we've got you." She looked confused. "You know this place right?"
"Sure, but…"
"No buts! You're our advantage! You have to know this place just as well he does."
"Know what it used to be." He blinked. "Not what it is now." Dean looked around the room, taking in the cracked plaster and peeling wallpaper.
"I don't think he's redecorated much since you were here. I think we'll be alright."
"No." She slammed her fist on the table, starling him. "That's not what I meant." She took a deep breath. "The walls can move." He felt like he hadn't heard that right.
"What?"
"The walls can move." He hadn't been mistaken. He had heard her correctly the first time. "Abby was always worrying someone was out to get her, so she built security measures; false walls…doors that go to nowhere...even moveable walls. It's so she could change the configuration at will. That way no one could learn the actual floor plan to the house. It came in handy when she wanted to keep people out."
"Or in." She nodded. "And Bray knows about them?"
"He knows about them and every way out of this place. I know the way I got out before has been sealed, I'm sure the others have as well."
"Fuck…" Dean ran his fingers over his face while he thought.
"He knows I'm going to try to run. He's figuring on you helping me."
"He's not betting on Roman though." He watched Angie roll her eyes at the mention of Roman's name. "What? Look about before, he's sorry about that. He was just stressed." Dean grabbed her by her shoulders, startling her. "He'll help if I ask him." She looked like she doubted that, but she didn't take it any further than that. "Where do they keep the car keys?"
"What?"
"The car keys? Where do they keep them?" She gestured behind him.
"In the cabinet above the fridge, why? You're not seriously thinking of doing this are you?" He nodded.
"Bray's gone off to sulk." He hoped. "There can't be that many of them watching for us, not this early. We'll throw everything in the car and just book it the fuck out of here. If we get enough of a head start on em, they won't be able to catch us."
"Till we get to work."
"We'll split up when we get to New Orleans. You can go on your way and we'll go on ours." Dean licked his lips, feeling his adrenaline beginning to kick in. "He'll chase us to the next show thinking you're with us. By the time he realizes you aren't, you'll be able to vanish." She dropped her shoulders.
"Dean this isn't going to work."
"It has too, unless you want to stay?" That earned him a glare. "Well?" She rolled her eyes, letting out a huff.
"You better hope he kills us quickly when he catches us." Dean laughed, pulling her into a tight hug.
"That's the spirit!" He pushed back. "So here's the plan. I'll get the keys and get Roman. You go get what you need. I'll meet you in the front. Deal?" He held out his hand. Begrudgingly she took it, giving it a shake.
"Deal."