Yet again, Kerry found herself back at home waiting for the next time the brothers would show up. There were only a few days left until Dean's deadline, and as each day drew nearer, she found herself eating less and sleeping less. Bobby had to beg and plead every mouthful of food into her, but even that wasn't enough now. She simply just gave up.
Three days before Dean's deadline, Kerry was in her room listening to her radio, when she heard the car pull up. She raced outside and barely gave Dean chance to get out of the car before throwing herself at him, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back briefly and she pulled away to grab Sam and hug him before he could escape into the house. Both brothers laughed at this, and Kerry linked arms with them before marching them into the house, declaring that they were going to both have showers while she cooked a feast for dinner. Well, it was more a couple of cheeseburgers each, but the amount of chips she piled on their plates was easily enough for two. Dean didn't fail to notice though that she herself barely ate anything.
Bobby was thrilled to see the boys back, but at the same time, he was fully aware that this was goodbye. When they left again, it would only be Sam returning. He was deeply saddened, but he was determined to not show it. Just like when he lost his beautiful wife, he had to stay strong for his little girl. He also had to stay that way for Sam. Sam was going to need him more than ever when he lost his brother.
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The following day, Bobby declared that he was heading into town for the day to gather some supplies for the battle against Lilith. Dean looked over at Sam and gave him a look, and Sam nodded before following Bobby out the house. Kerry looked at Dean in confusion as the truck pulled away.
"Why's Sam going?"
"Because I asked him to give me some space to talk to you"
"What about?" she asked, but she knew exactly what he meant.
Dean didn't answer straight away. Instead he took Kerry's arm and pulled her into the house gently. When the door was shut, he turned to face her and cupped her face in his hands.
"I've figured it out, just like I promised." he said.
Kerry's eyes widened, and she searched into his eyes to find out what he had decided, but she couldn't see anything. He smiled at her before suddenly lowering his head and kissing her gently. She was surprised at first, but when she realised that he was neither drunk nor joking, she closed her eyes and returned it. He wrapped his arms round her and lifted her up, and she automatically wrapped her legs round his waist. He carried her up to her room, before shutting the door with his foot and lowering her down on her bed. Straight away, he lowered himself above her and continued to kiss her, his hands skimming over her body. She arched her back as he skimmed her breasts, and he gasped slightly as she ran her hand down his back. She pulled his shirt off and traced along all his muscles, giggling as he shuddered slightly as she skimmed his stomach. He growled and flipped her so that she was on top of him and continued to kiss her as he too removed her top, then moved to remove her jeans.
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Afterwards, they lay together, Kerry with her head on Dean's chest, her eyes closed as she slept peacefully for the first time in months. Dean gently stroked her arm, watching her as she slept. A small pang of pain filled his chest knowing that he was going to die in just a few hours, and he was going to be leaving not only her, but Sam and bobby too, heartbroken. He felt so guilty, but he also felt complete, knowing that eh had at least figured out where his heart lay. Yes, he still felt hurt when he thought of his past relationships, but then thinking back to what he had just experienced with Kerry, all that pain went away.
He continued to stroke her arm and as her eyes slowly slid open, he smiled at her. She smiled back and stretched, wincing slightly at the small pain from below.
"Hey, you ok?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"Yeah, it was my first time, so it was bound to be painful."
"Your first time!? But, why didn't I fell your…well, you know"
"I used to do horseback riding Dean, so it broke through that."
Dean held her closer, and comforted her, then he heard the sound of Bobby's truck pulling up the drive. He climbed out of bed and threw his shirt and trousers back on before kissing her and heading out the door.
Kerry smiled and stretched before also getting dressed, smiling even more as she heard Dean greet the guys and offer to help bring the supplies back into the house. She moved downstairs and greeted the guys too; giving her dad a kiss on the cheek and grinning broadly before moving into the kitchen with the bag Bobby had been holding. Bobby and Sam looked at each other, Bobby with confusion.
"What's gotten into her?"
Sam looked out at Dean, watching his brother tapping along to the music, a soft smile on his face, then looked back at Kerry again who was humming softly to herself and unpacking the bag, the same smile on her face as Dean. He turned back to Bobby.
"I think I know."
"You think Dean actually chose her over everything else?"
"Definitely. I'm glad he did though, as it means when he goes, at least Kerry knows he had feelings for her."
Bobby nodded before moving to join his daughter in the kitchen, making a mental note at the same time to speak with Dean later about it.
He moved to stand next to Kerry, and her smile faltered very slightly as she saw the raised eyebrow on his face. Dean came in at that moment, and seeing the look on Bobby's face, spun round and tried to move away, but he was stopped.
"Don't even think it, Dean"
Dean stopped and turned back to Bobby, whose expression hadn't changed one bit. The pair of them cringed slightly, and Sam watched from a distance with an amused smirk. Suddenly, Bobby grinned and pulled the two of them into a hug.
"I don't care about it, I'm just glad you're happy." he said.
Dean smiled and pulled away, which gave Kerry more room to hug her dad. Sam moved over to Dean and smiled, but Dean could see the sadness in his younger brother's eyes, the sadness that had been there for a long time. He too felt upset as he knew he would be leaving them all, but for now, he wanted to enjoy his last few days.
Kerry's good mood stayed with her all day, and she didn't miss that whenever she was in the same room as him, he glanced over to her, just to check that she was ok. By the end of the evening though, her mood was slipping backwards. Once the others had gone to bed, she noticed that Dean had left his keys in her room, so she moved downstairs and got into the driver's seat. She turned the engine just enough so that she could listen to the cassette which at that moment was Bon Jovi, which she found weird. The first song that began playing was wanted dead or alive. Initially, she smiled as she sang along, but as the words 'Dead or Alive' started repeating over and over, the smile slipped and she felt a few tears slide down her face. She didn't even bother to wipe them away, just buried her head into her arms and began to sob. She thought about Dean, and the image of him sitting in the seat she was now in came to mind. She could smell his scent in the leather seat, and as she huddled closer to it, the tears fell even faster, and her body began to shake.
Dean sat up as he heard the Impala start and immediately reached for his keys, before remembering that he had left them in Kerry's room. Moving quietly so he wouldn't wake Sam, he moved to her room but saw she wasn't there. He looked out of her window and saw the she was sitting in the Impala, her head bowed. He made his way out to the car and could hear dead or alive playing. His mind went back to just last night when he and Sam had been singing, but hearing Dead or Alive repeated made him think of his own situation, and suddenly, the song had lost all appeal, even though Sam didn't notice. It looked like Kerry had the same reaction to the song that Dean himself had. He moved over to the car and opened the driver's door, wrapping his arms round Kerry's body, trying to comfort her.
Kerry heard him coming up the drive, but just couldn't stop herself crying. As he slid into the car with her and wrapped his arms round her, she automatically buried her head in his neck, drawing strength and comfort from him. He rubbed her back and eventually she found herself able to speak.
"It's not fair" she mumbled.
"I know."
She fell silent for a few minutes and Dean thought she had fallen asleep until she spoke again.
"I'm scared."
Dean turned her slightly so that he could see her face.
"Why?"
"I'm scared to lose you, I'm scared of trying to cope with the grief but also to try and comfort Sam too. Every time I look at Sam, it will just make me think of you, and it scares me that I may never see you again."
Dean tightened his arms round her before tilting her head up and kissing her.
"You'll never lose me. Even if I'm not here physically I'll always be with you here and here."
As he said it, he pointed to her heart then her necklace that contained a fragment of his soul. She smiled softly and kissed him again, and before long they had slid into the back seats of the car, the Bon Jovi tape still playing quietly in the background.
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Sam was the first to wake the following morning. He rose out of bed and the first thing he noticed was that Dean wasn't in the room. He shrugged, assuming that his brother was downstairs or something, and then moved downstairs himself to retrieve his bags from the night before. Dean wasn't there. Sam decided to look in one last place before he started to let himself panic: the Impala.
Not only did he find Dean, but he also found Kerry. Both of then naked, covered only by Dean's jacket and both of them sleeping. Sam tapped gently on the window, and saw Dean's eyes open slightly. As Dean saw Sam, his eyes widened slightly before he sent the younger Winchester an apologetic smirk. Sam smirked back and headed off again, deciding to save Kerry the embarrassment of knowing that she had been caught lying naked in the back of a car with Dean.
Dean looked down at Kerry's peaceful sleeping face, and smiled before gently shaking her shoulder. She smiled up at him before yawning, and then quickly threw her clothes on and raced Dean back to the house. A race that of course, she won. As she was upstairs changing, Dean ignored Sam's torments, instead opting to punch his brother in the shoulder.
Later that day when they were all sitting at the table eating lunch, The Final Countdown began to play on the radio, and as Dean registered the song, he fell quiet and observed the rest of his family laughing and joking. He was scared. He was also angry. He had a family and it was being taken from him. But he still had no regrets making the deal. The only regret he had was not telling Kerry his feelings for her sooner. As if she knew he was thinking about her, Kerry glanced over to him and the smile fell off her face as she saw the despair on his. The others looked at him too, and they all fell silent, leaving the song playing faintly in the background.
Dean was going to die tomorrow, and none of them could stop it.