John showed up the day after that. It was past midnight when he rung the doorbell of the Reynolds house.

George flung the door open, Dean close at her heels, a shotgun in his hands. George jumped a good five inches when she caught sight of him.

He looked terrible, cuts and bruises covered his face and his arms, his shirt was shredded and the state of his jeans wasn't much better. His hair was greasy and dismantled, sticking out at odd angles in some places. His crimson red blood dripped onto the doorstep, dark black splatters of it splashed across the brick.

"Dad!" Dean rushed forward, pushing George out of the way and grabbing his father by the shoulders, steering him into the kitchen.

George waited for Dean and John to be clear of the door before closing it as quietly as she could and following Dean into the kitchen.

George stood in the doorway awkwardly, not knowing what to do exactly, so she watched Dean peel away his father's clothing, leaving him in jeans and nothing else.

"Uh George? Have you got a first-aid kit or something?" George nodded in response, glad she could finally do something to help.

"Sure. I'll be right back"

When she came back she found Dean washing all the blood off of his father with a sponge and the two of them talking quietly with each other. From the tones of their voices and the expression on their faces it seemed like they were having an argument. Not only that, but there was something off about the atmosphere in the room.

"Hey George, could you check up on Sam for me please?" John's voice was cracked and hoarse.

George gave Dean a quick glance, and found a strange look on his face that she couldn't quite decipher. Her expression went from worried to slightly confused but she did as she was told, leaving the two men to continue their conversation.

George pushed open the door to the twins' bedroom as quietly as possible and peered in. Sam was lying on the floor in his sleeping bag, his chest rising and falling steadily. Josh and Keith were in their beds, each one in their usual state of sleep. Keith curled up into a ball and Josh spread out all over the place. She smiled slightly before closing the door and tiptoeing back down the stairs.

"They're asleep" George declared quietly as she walked into the kitchen.

The tension in the room had gotten much worse, and from the state of things it looked like Dean and John were half prepared to jump at each other's throats.

"So,," George looked around, feeling awkward and out of place.

"You're staying here, right Mr. Winchester?"

John's whipped his head around sharply to look at her. He regarded her curiously, like he was seeing her for the first time, and arched an eyebrow before shaking his head.

"No, we've already been so much trouble"

"What are you talking about! You aren't any trouble at all. That house is dangerous, you can't stay there by yourself!"

"Are you worried about me?" John kept his eyebrow cocked, his tone almost cruel.

George's ears flushed and she could feel her neck getting hot, she looked down and mumbled something.

"Didn't catch that" John said simply.

"I'm just paying back my debt"

Dean was amazed at the effect his father seemed to have on her. She went from being loudspoken and proud to shy and reserved. He did think his father was being a little cruel though, she was only being nice.

"I never properly thanked you" George said with a little more confidence.

"You were only five" John said coolly, George shrugged.

"Still" There was no reply from him after that.

"Look, if you don't want to stay just say so. I just thought you might want to stay here with your children that's all!" George snapped, her eyes almost glaring.

Dean's chest swelled with pride at George standing up to his father, he knew how intimidating John could be and standing up to him like that must have taken a lot of guts.

"I'll sleep on the couch" John said quietly, glancing down at his feet.

"You can have Micah's bed" It sounded like an order.

"Where is he?"

"My dad took them hunting. Should be back in two days"

"Does he leave you alone often?"

"It isn't that big of a deal. He trusts me" she shrugged.

John nodded, as if coming to an understanding of some sort. George didn't want to ask, and she wasn't so sure whether or not she'd want to know.

"George come here for a second" Dean beckoned for her to come over.

"Yeah?" she stood behind Dean, willing herself to not look at the huge gash that Dean was working on.

"Could you hold this gauze for me, It needs stitches and I don't want it to leak blood all over the place" George nodded sullenly and placed her hands on the gauze, holding it in place while Dean carefully withdrew his hands.

"Not too much pressure George and not too little okay?" Dean's tone was commanding but soft at the same time, George nodded, focusing on applying the exact amount of pressure.

The gauze beneath her fingers was starting to feel warm, and slightly damp, so she applied more pressure. She heard John hiss but she ignored it. Dean came back, needle in hand and asked George to slowly remove the gauze. She did as she was asked and watched carefully as Dean stitched his father up.

Afterwards, once John had been shown to Micah's room and Dean had assured his father that he was sleeping in Jean's room, Dean snuck back into George's room and lied down next to her. Her back was facing him and she didn't turn around for a long time, he knew she was awake though, so he waited for her to and passed the time by playing with her hair, curling a single fiery red strand around his index finger.

"How can you stand it Dean?" she whispered finally.

"Hm?" he was still a little preoccupied with her silky hair.

She rolled over to look him in the eye.

"I asked how you can stand it"

A small frown lined his lips and he sighed, searching her face for some sort of way out, when he couldn't find one he rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling.

George waited for him to answer, when his lips remained in their frowning state for well over two minutes she was about to turn around and try to go to sleep but he finally opened his mouth.

"I don't know. I've just…gotten used to it I guess. It's been this way ever since my mom died"

"That's a long time"

"Yeah. But like I said, I've gotten used to it, I don't mind it" his voice was flat and emotionless.

George buried her head in the crook of his arms suddenly, surprising him. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to her chest. Dean smiled and wrapped an arm around her, pressing his face into her sweet-smelling hair.

God, what was wrong him? He was rarely ever this emotional, he didn't even act this way around Sammy. Dean had noticed that George acted a certain way with him too. She was usually never this caring, at least not visibly.

"We bring out the best in each other, don't we?" she said quietly, Dean couldn't help a smirk.

"If this is your best, I'd hate to see what your worst is" he looked down at her, a cockily amused look on his face.

"Shut up" she grumbled, stirring from under him.

"Or I'll sleep on the floor"

"If you sleep on the floor I really will sleep in your brother's room"

"What'll happen if your dad finds out you've been sleeping here?"

"He'll just get pissed and lecture me. I think he already knows there's something between us"

"Is there?" George's eyebrows shot up into her bangs.

"I don't usually hang around one girl this much" he shrugged.

"I feel so special" there was sarcasm in her voice, and even though he couldn't see it, Dean could tell she was rolling her eyes.

"As you should, sweetheart"

"So you're telling me, you've never had sex with the same girl twice?"

"That's the idea. But you should know, having sex more than once within five days counts as one time for me"

"Interesting"

"What's with the curiosity anyway? I didn't think you'd be eager to discuss my past sexual relations"

"Oh, shut up"

"Yeah whatever. Get some sleep George will ya?"

"Sure"

The next morning, Dean sneaked out of George's room and pretended to emerge, yawning and stretching from Jean's room next door. John emerged from Micah's room around the same time and snorted disapprovingly at Dean's appearance.

"We're in someone else's house Dean. The least you could do is look presentable and not walk around like you've just come from a strip club" John's voice was stern and Dean's face flushed.

"Ah that's okay, he looks fine to me" George had chosen that minute to emerge from her room, she winked at Dean before heading downstairs.

Dean looked down at the ground, waiting for his father footsteps to be well out of earshot before heading into George's room to retrieve his duffel.

When he walked into the kitchen he found George heating up something in the microwave and his father sitting down at the table in the middle of the room reading the newspaper.

"What do you think about this Dean?" he tossed the newspaper across the table where Dean had sat down, he picked up the newspaper and read the story at the top of the page.

"Think it could be our kind of thing?"

"Sounds like a werewolf to me."

"It's too early to be making those kinds of assumptions but there is a great possibility that that's the case here"

The article was about a recent string of killings, the police had no leads and the victims were shredded to pieces, almost as if they were attacked by an animal. All the victims' hearts were missing.

"Dad come on. 'Animal like gashes seems to be the cause of death here, another unusual thing is that all the victims were missing a heart. Is this really the work of a bear with a taste for human organs or could it be some serial-killer's idea of a late Valentine's Day joke?'" Dean read from the paper.

"What further proof do you need?"

George set a plate laden with pie in front of Dean and John and then one for herself, before heading to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of a box of vanilla ice cream and a jar of peanut butter and setting them down in front of her plate. She sat down and placed a scoop of ice cream on top of her pie, looked thoughtful for a minute, before adding a second scoop and then smearing peanut butter all over pie.

John stared at her, his mouth close to failing open and a look of sheer disgust lining his tired old features. Dean also watched her, he found it unusual but he couldn't be disgusted, he did eat some pretty strange combinations of food himself. George glanced up at the two men staring at her and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What? This is healthy compared to some of the other shit I eat" she gave them one last curious glance before digging in.

Dean realized that she spoke with a restored confidence in her voice and he couldn't help but wonder why. Dean watched her a little longer before digging into his own piece of pie. He didn't realize that John had switched his gaze to him now.

"Dean I might need you to come with me on this one. Sam too"

"But-"

"I can't leave Sam alone here. It's too dangerous, especially without Mr. Reynolds around"

Dean could feel his heart sink, he glanced quickly at George, she was still looking down at her plate but he saw that her she was gripping her fork so tightly that her knuckles had turned white and her hand was shaking.

"Sam can stay here. My dad's coming back tomorrow" Dean could hear the strain in her voice.

"We're leaving tonight"

Dean glanced up at his father sharply, his father gave him a warning glare and Dean but his lip, looking back down at his hands.

"It shouldn't take longer than two days if this really is a werewolf but there is the possibility that there is more than one, and it is a big city…" John trailed off in thought and Dean seized the opportunity to take a good look at George.

He saw the distress in her eyes and he wanted to something comforting, but he didn't dare in front of his father, so he settled for reaching over and placing his hand on her knee under the table. He smiled with more confidence than he felt but he didn't want her to worry, he wanted to show her that going after werewolves was a usual weekend activity for him. And it was.

She covered his hand with hers and squeezed gently, she smiled back at him gently, though the worry had not left her green eyes and the crease between her eyebrows was still there. He reached over and ran his thumb between his eyebrows.

"If you keep doing that you'll get wrinkles" he smirked.

George's face flushed with anger and she kicked him under the table, hard. Dean hissed with pain and grimaced.

"You didn't have to kick me so hard damnit"

"Kiss my ass you dick" he pouted at her but she remained stubborn as ever.

"You should be saying goodbye, not kicking me"

"It's still morning and you're leaving tonight"

"We're leaving tonight?" Sam stood in doorway, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"But I like it here dad. And I already got caught up with the curriculum and everything."

"We're coming back Sam. Just going for a little weekend hunt" Dean winked at Sam as Josh and Keith filed in behind him.

He wouldn't let Sam see how he was really feeling, he felt like he needed to protect him, shield him from the truth. He always felt that way about his brother, if Dean showed him how worried he actually was than Sam would definitely worry too, and he wouldn't let that happen.

He didn't know he was feeling this way in the first place. Usually he took on a hunt head on, never had he been reluctant to go, let alone worried. Maybe it was because, for the first time, he actually had something to come back to, and something to wait for his return.

"How 'bout I get you three some breakfast while John and Dean go and pack" George was all smiles now as she got up and put all the used dishes in the sink.

"Good idea" John said as he stood up.

"We'll come and help as soon as they're finished eating" George smiled.

"Don't forget your duffle upstairs Dean"

"Right" Dean said and went running up the stairs.

He came back with his duffel thrown over his shoulder and his father waiting for him outside. He held a finger up to John, asking him to wait. John folded his arms impatiently but nodded anyway. Dean set the bag down and walked into the kitchen. George was standing at the sink rinsing the plates that had already been used.

Dean walked up behind her and slid his arms around her waist, George's body went tense before relaxing. She put down the plate in her hand but let the water run.

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself" she whispered.

Dean didn't know what to answer so he stood there for a good minute before he reached over her and turned off the water.

"You shouldn't waste water like that" he said simply before pressing his lips against the smooth exposed skin of her neck.

They heard three groans erupt from the kids behind them.

"Get a room you two" Keith said from behind them.

Dean sighed and dropped his forehead against her shoulder, breathing against her back lightly.

"You should go Dean; your dad's waiting for you. Don't worry I'll come and see you before you leave" the strain had come back to her voice.

"Okay" he said simply before kissing her back one last time and disappearing into the hallway.

George stood there like that, her shoulders hunched up a little and her hands grasping the side of the sink, until she was fairly certain that Dean and John were out the door and in the house across the street. She resumed washing the dishes, not daring to look up in case she caught a glimpse of one of them in the window.

**

"Dad what exactly is your problem?" Dean tried to keep his voice measured, polite, but it was shaking so much with rage that he couldn't possibly achieve the tone he was aiming for.

"I don't know what you're talking about" John said simply as he retrieved a shotgun from under the couch.

"I'm talking about the way you've been acting lately. First to George and now this" anger filled Dean's eyes and rage leaked into his voice.

"What in the hell are you talking about Dean?"

"I don't know what's going on with you, but don't take it out on us" he was almost yelling now.

"I'm your father, if I say you're going somewhere than you're going somewhere, and that's that" John's tone meant business but Dean wouldn't let up, not this time.

"You had no problem leaving us all alone for the past few weeks. What's changed?" Dean was almost glaring

"Nothing. I just thought you may want to take a break"

"When did you ever care when we wanted to take a break. Sam asks you to just settle down in one place all the time but you've never cared before"

"I've always cared Dean"

"Yeah? Well you do a shitty job of showing it"

"I didn't think it bothered you that much" John looked taken aback.

"It doesn't" Dean insisted stubbornly.

"Well then, why are we having this discussion in the first place?" John was confused.

"Nothing, no reason. Just…never mind" Dean heaved a long sigh and trudged upstairs before John could stop him.

Dean packed quietly, enjoying the solitude of having his room for once. He thought his dad might apologize, explain what he's been doing for the past few weeks but he managed to twist Dean's words around. The conversation didn't go anything like he had planned it to. Dean sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands, breathing in deeply to calm himself. He didn't like fighting with his father, and he had never been good with words, he preferred to keep everything bottled up inside or take it out with a good punch to the wall, never did he talk about things, or work them out.

It was one of his many faults and he finally thought that he'd managed to find someone to look past that fault and accept him as he was.

He scowled at himself for even wanting to find someone like that. He was a hunter, and he was meant to live a life of isolation, he couldn't get too emotionally attached to anyone or anything or it could be turned into a weakness. Those were some of the many lessons that John Winchester taught his sons, and they were some of the hardest to follow.

But now that he had found her, the one person who meant something to him, he couldn't just leave her. Even if she would be a liability to him in the future. He didn't think he could stand not having her around, to protect to her, make sure she was happy. He wouldn't be able to stand not being able to hear her voice whenever he felt like it.

And he wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to her.

Dean stood up and started pacing the room in rage, running his hands through his hair. Who this rage was directed towards he had no clue. George or himself or his father, or all three?

"Fuck" he yelled and pounded his fist against the wall.

He suddenly noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes and whirled around to find George standing there, her features lined with worry and shock. She had changed into jeans and a t-shirt and had tied up her hair into a messy ponytail. She swallowed and waited for Dean's breathing to go back to normal before speaking.

"Your dad's really worried about you Dean"

"Yeah, well, good for him"

Dean emptied out the contents of his duffel onto the bed and began packing his guns.

"Can I help?" George asked.

Dean stopped and glanced at her before shaking his head and gesturing for her to sit on the bed. George did as she was told, she sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed and watched Dean carefully as he packed away his clothes and then his knives in between the folds of his clothing.

"Have you calmed down yet?"

"Yeah, sorry"

"Don't be, I was just starting to worry you never would" Dean looked at her, she was smiling, he looked away.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" she sounded worried, about him?

Dean shrugged. In truth he didn't know whether or not he wanted to share his feelings with her, and even if he did he had no idea how he would do it.

She held his hand in hers and squeezed it comfortingly, Dean squeezed back.

"I feel like we're in some cheesy war romance movie" she said, snorting.

"Why?"

"Well, I'm sitting here, worried you won't live through this and you're leaving me all worried about me. It's a classic" she winked and Dean laughed.

"Yeah well, I hope we aren't that cheesy"

"I think you're a little cheesy" she gave him an amused smile.

"A little's okay. Not too much though, too much would be a problem" he winked at her before letting go of her hand and sitting down on the bed next to her.