Chapter Nineteen

*The Wedding*

Leo wrestled his hands out of Melinda's grasp, moving them up to hold her face.

"Honey, take a breath. Calm down, okay?"

She shook her head, tears falling down her face. Leo smiled, moving to wrap his arms around her.

"Hang on, sweetheart."
"Daddy, I just … I'm so scared."
"What are you scared of?"

Melinda pulled back from him, shaking her head. He led her over to the bed and she sat down, Leo sitting beside her. She took a deep breath, looking at the ground.

"We've just been putting it aside, you know? All the crap we went through, with Sam and Lilith, losing Cas, pulling Peyton back in…"

She let out a sigh and Leo took her hand. Melinda looked at their hands, then up to Leo's face.

"What if we can't stop it? What if this is too much?"

Leo smiled softly, reaching up to push a curl behind Melinda's ear.

"I don't know, honey. I don't know what's going to happen here. This is entirely new territory, so much bigger than anything your mom and I went through."

Melinda nodded, letting out a breath. Leo gently moved a finger under her chin, lifting it so she would look at him.

"However… There is no doubt in my mind that whatever you and Dean have to face, you will get through it. You two make one of the best teams I have ever seen. When you decide to work together, that is."

Melinda smiled, and Leo went on.

"Mel, you know that today is nothing, right? You and Dean are together in every way except this one. This is just a technicality, just legalizing what we've been seeing for a few years now. You belong to him, and he belongs to you. No one is going to be able to stop that, to pull you apart. Even yourself, kid."

Melinda let out a long breath, closing her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was quiet.

"You're right. I love him. I am so in love with him, and I … I'm letting stupid nerves get in the way."

Leo smiled, though there was an ache in his heart.

"Are you ready to do this?"

He stood up, holding out a hand, and Melinda looked at it. Leo smiled.

"You don't have to, you know. I can slip you out the back, no one will be the wiser."

Melinda laughed, laying her hand in his.

"I want to. I'm ready to be his wife."

Leo smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to Melinda's forehead. He held out his arm and Melinda looped her arm through it. Leo smiled as she bent back to grab her bouquet.

"All right, then. Let's go get you married."

Dean paced the small area in the back by the sunroom. Sam blew out his breath.

"Dude, will you chill the fuck out, please? You're like a tiger in a cage, man."
"Sam, I … I don't think I can do this."
"Oh, no. No, you don't get to crap out now, Dean. Man up."

Dean shook his head, turning around and walking out of the room. He tugged at his tie, undid that top button on his shirt. He walked out the back door before he began jogging, then running outside to the garage. He got to the Impala, laying his hands on the hood and hanging his head. He didn't have the damn keys. He closed his eyes, then heard the unmistakable jingle. He lifted his head, blowing his breath out.

"Dad, I …"
"Don't give me excuses, Dean. I'm not the one who needs them."

John walked over, setting the keys on the hood across from Dean, who eyed them. John stuck his hands in his pockets, walking slowly around the car.

"You've taken good care of her, son."

Dean smiled.

"You always said you'd kill me if I didn't."

John smiled, looking down and nodding before looking back to his son.

"I did. You beat the hell out of her, then built her back, good as new. If not better."

Dean lifted his gaze.

"You saw that?"

John nodded, and Dean ran a hand over his face.

"Dad, I—"
"What did I say? Don't give me excuses, Dean."

John sighed.

"Son, I don't blame you. Hell, I probably would have done the same thing."

Dean sighed. That made him feel a little better. John took in a breath, then looked over.

"Dean, if you're going to go, you need to do it now. Now, before you're bound to this girl for good."
"Dad, I …"

Dean swallowed, looking down at the car. He flexed his hands and John spoke again.

"Do you love her?"

Dean looked up at him.

"Of course I do."
"How much?"

Dean gave his father a look.

"What the hell do you mean 'how much'?"

John shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I mean, she seems like she's a little more important than one of those little flavor-of-the-week girls that you had going on there for a while."
"She is more important."
"Okay. How much?"

Dean blew out his breath, and John hid his smile. Dean put his hands on his hips, turning to John.

"You want to know what she means to me? You want to know how much? I'll tell you."

John looked over at him, keeping his mouth shut, letting Dean get it out.

"I love her so much I can't see straight. I can't see anything but her. It terrifies me, because I never thought I'd find her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, until we're old and wrinkled, and I am so damn scared that we won't make it that far. When I think of what could happen…"

Dean shook his head, letting his hands fall, walking around slowly.

"If something were to happen to her… Dad, I don't think I could make it. I think about you and Mom, and I—I don't think I could do that. I don't think I can make it without Mel, and that fucking terrifies me. It's not supposed to be like this, you know? You told me that, Dad! I'm not supposed to get this involved with someone. I'm not built for this!"
"Dean, stop it right now."

Dean looked over, stopping where he was. John had a hurt look on his face, and he stepped over to his son.

"It is supposed to be like this. You are supposed to find someone that you can't live without. You are supposed to love her and protect her, keep her safe, make a family with her. You are supposed to grow old with her."
"But you—"
"You are not me, Dean!"

John laid his hands on Dean's shoulders, smiling at him.

"Son… When we lost your mother, I wanted to die, too. I wanted to lie down in that burning room and never move. But I couldn't. I had two boys, Mary's boys, that I had to protect. You and Sam were what kept me going, and I know I did a shitty job of showing that to you."

Dean took in a deep breath, and John held a hand to his face.

"I know I drilled in your head that hunters didn't get a happily ever after. I taught you not to stick around, not to put down roots, to go on the road and stay there, hunting and killing. I was wrong, Dean."

Dean looked up to John, who let his hands fall.

"Melinda … She's the exception, son. She is strong and smart and she understands. She'll stand beside you and face whatever comes your way. You got lucky, son. Don't run from it. Embrace it."
"But Dad, what if—"
"What? What could possibly come? The end of the world? You're already there, Dean. And I hate to say it, but it's only going to get worse from here. Don't you think you'd be better off if you had someone that was for sure on your side?"

Dean sighed, looking down at the ground, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

Leo and Melinda got to the top of the stairs before she let out a sigh.

"Damn it. I forgot the bouquet."

Leo smiled.

"I'll go get it."
"No, Dad. I ... I'll be right back."

Melinda turned, in a swirl of white, and walked back to the bedroom. There, she shut the door behind her, leaning up against it. She eyed the bouquet on the dresser, walking over and holding on tightly. She looked up into the mirror and shook her head.

"I can't do this."

John let out a long breath.

"If you really want to go… I won't stop you. But I'm not going to make excuses for you. If you're going, go. And don't come back."

Those words, so similar to the ones he'd yelled at Sam before he took off for Stanford, burned a hole in John's heart. He turned around, squeezing his eyes shut and starting to walk off.

"Hey!"

John turned back at the urgency and anger Dean had poured into that one little word. His green eyes were on fire as John looked at him.

"Don't you say that to me. You have no right to say those words to me."
"Dean, I—"
"No. You don't know, Dad. You haven't been here. You don't know what I've gone through, what I've put Melinda through."
"And yet somehow, she's in that house, waiting to marry you."
"And I can't figure out why!"

Dean slumped down onto the bench, putting his head in his hands. John walked over and Dean looked up to him, tears glittering in his eyes.

"For the life of me, I can't figure out why the hell she'd want to marry me. I have let her down so many times. All I do is fuck up and hurt her, and … She's so good, Dad. She's happy and beautiful. I'm damaged and scarred."

John closed his eyes, letting out a breath. He had done this. He was the reason Dean felt this way, and it broke his heart. John stepped closer, taking the seat beside Dean. John leaned over, resting his forearms on his knees.

"Did I ever tell you about when I was dating your mother?"

Dean shook his head, and John smiled.

"I was just out of the Marines. She was little, blonde, beautiful. And the mouth she had on her. She hated me on sight. Naturally, I was in love with her before I even knew her name."

John smiled at the memory, then went on.

"I wore her down, until she agreed to go out with me. And when I kissed her goodnight, I knew that I would marry her one day. A couple months later, she wanted me to meet her folks. And it was then that I thought seriously about skipping town without even telling her goodbye."

Dean looked up at John, who sighed.

"My dad wasn't around when I was growing up. My ma did the best she could, but … I joined the Marines so I could get a sense of discipline, some order in my life. When I met Mary, I wanted to give the apple-pie life a try. But meeting her folks and seeing her family… It was just like this, son."

John rubbed his hands together slowly, looking down as he did.

"She was beautiful, smart, funny. Happy. I was a fatherless Marine, trying to find his way, damaged and scarred. I knew that if I stuck around, I'd damage Mary, and I couldn't live with that. I couldn't be the one to dim the light in her eyes."

He let out a breath, looking over at the car.

"And then her folks were killed, and I was all she had. I thanked God I hadn't left yet, that I could be there to protect her when no one else could. I asked her to marry me, and she agreed. We went to the courthouse, and I actually got in the car to drive off. But I couldn't go. I couldn't leave her."

John looked over to Dean and smiled.

"Marrying your mother was the smartest thing I've ever done. Leaving her would have been the dumbest. Don't be stupid, Dean. So you're damaged. Everybody is, to some extent. But you found someone who loves you in spite of all your shit. That is something to hold onto, not run away from."

John stood up, straightening his jacket.

"But, it's up to you. This is your decision, and you need to make it soon, son."

John walked out of the garage, and Dean hung his head, blowing out his breath.

Peyton paced around the room, her heels clicking against the floor. Kate sat on a chair, watching her walk, swinging her little legs. She looked over, making sure her basket was beside her, then looked back to Peyton. Prue poked her head in.

"Hey, are we doing this?"

Peyton looked over at Prue, letting out a breath.

"One second."

Peyton walked over, picking up her cell phone and dialing a number. She closed her eyes when the deep voice filled the line.

"Peyton?"
"Sam, help me. Please tell me Dean's ready to go."

The line was quiet for a second.

"Um…"
"Shit."

Peyton let out a sigh before Sam spoke again.

"Wait, is Mel ready?"
"Well…"
"Shit."

Peyton let out a laugh.

"Sam, what are we going to do?"

She heard him blow out his breath, before he let out a laugh.

"I don't know, honey."

Peyton sighed, looking back at Kate, who was talking to Prue. At a sound from outside, she straightened, turning around.

"Sam, is that the Impala? Sam? Hello?"

Peyton looked down at the phone as Leo came down the stairs, in a hurry.

"Have you seen Melinda?"

Peyton walked over to him and Prue got to her feet. They shook their heads and Leo let out a long sigh.

"She's gone."