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After a heated and close debate, Sam finally agreed to give Isabel the nickname of Velma. Of course that was only after he had caught her reading on the porch with a pair of wide rimmed black reading glasses. To him, she had been adorable.

He was loving living in Castlewood. For the first time in a long time, he had found a place that made him feel like he was home.

He'd been living with Isabel for two weeks. His car was fixed, he could leave, but he found that he didn't want to. He had a job, a place to live, and a pretty girl to sit on the front porch swing with. Everyday, he found more things that amazed him about Isabel. She was smart, and had a quick wit.

In the back of his mind, she reminded him of a female Dean. Well...a mannered and outwardly intelligent Dean. They would get along really well if they ever met, but that wouldn't happen.

There wasn't a sign of anything too supernatural in Castlewood, no reason for Dean to ever come to the tiny town. Although Sam had heard strange things about one house a few blocks over from Isabel's. However, the part of his mind that never wanted to leave Castlewood...or Isabel...made him keep his distance from the house.

After discovering that he had gone to pre-law, Isabel and Alice had accumulated law books for him. Isabel was determined to help him get back into law school. She was definitely one of those people who wanted everyone around them to achieve their dreams. Alice had already ordered him a few textbooks and scrounged up what the library had in stock for him.

Isabel had had a tough day at school. The kids in her class were driving her nuts. Going home to Sam had been a relief. He always seemed to have a smile for her. Just that had been enough to brighten the last two weeks. She had quickly come to terms with the fact that she enjoyed having a human to come home to, instead of just a dog, and that line of thinking also made her realize that she was sort of fascinated with Sam.

He was beautiful for a man. He moved with a grace that didn't seem to fit with such a large man, and there was an innate kindness in everything he did, but Isabel got the distinct feeling that he was trying to make up for something he had done in his past. It might have even been whatever had pulled him and his brother apart. Although she got the sense that Sam sort of hated himself, he didn't hold back on his kindness for others.

Isabel had gone over to see the sick boy across the street, Will, the morning after she had gotten Sam his job. Sam had gone with her due to the fact that Aunt Alice had called at three in the morning, waking them both up, to tell Sam that she felt like sleeping until noon and didn't need him at work until one.

Seeing Isabel holding the freakishly thin eleven year old did strange things to Sam. The kid had practically jumped into her arms when they got to the door. "Izzy!"

Isabel had rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told Sam that she really didn't mind if Will called her Izzy. "Hey, Will, you ready to play?"

The boy looked up at Sam and whispered rather loudly into Isabel's ear. "Who's that?"

"That's my friend Sam. Do you mind if he plays with us today?" Isabel said, kissing the side of the boy's bald head.

He studied Sam with critical, but nonetheless alert blue eyes before nodding. "I guess, but I want to be the puppy."

Isabel laughed, "Always, Will, always." The boy's mother waved slightly from the doorway of the kitchen. "Hey, Tanya." Isabel said softly, returning the tentative wave.

"Mom, Izzy brought a friend, can I have Jesse come play?" The boy said, laying his head on Isabel's shoulder.

Tanya gave a pained smile, "No, not today, Will, he's at home. Maybe another time." She held a hand out to Sam, "I'm Tanya, Will's mother. It's nice to meet you, Sam."

"Same to you." Sam said, feeling like an outsider. Tanya was in her thirties, dark haired and very worn looking. Her eyes were red like she had been crying constantly, which, Sam guessed, she probably had been.

If he could imagine being a father, Sam couldn't imagine knowing that his child was going to die without having really lived.

Coming out of his thoughts, Sam realized that Isabel and Will had moved to sit at a small table in the kitchen area. Isabel was setting out Monopoly, making Will giggle at whatever she was saying. Sam hadn't seen her interact with any children before, but just be seeing her with Will told him that that she was fantastic at her job.

She pulled her blond hair out of her face and the movement drew Sam's attention to her face. Isabel just had this look about her, she looked so innocent, but was in no way childlike past the glow she put off. She was thin, but unlike most women, had hips and...breasts. Not that Sam spent all that often looking at her while she was attempting to cook or lounging on the sofa every night...

Sam joined them at the table and, for the first time in his life, played a game of Monopoly. Isabel had laughed her ass off when he'd admitted that he had no idea how to play, but Will had taken him under his wing and taught him how to play.

Even though he was pale and bald, at first Will showed no real outward signs of his terminal illness. As their game went on, however, Sam saw the little boy's energy drain. Isabel took the boy to his bedroom when she noticed that he was getting tired, allowing him to lean on her as she helped him to his room. They curled up together, and Sam watched them from the doorway as they began their nap. The instant Will fell asleep, the tension on his face faded.

"Isabel has the most amazing way with him." Tanya said from behind Sam, her voice soft. "Sometimes, when they go to sleep together, it's like he's not in pain anymore. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was magic."

"Magic?" Sam echoed, analyzing Isabel for what had to have been the hundredth time.

"Yeah, Isabel, she just has something about her that makes sick children forget their physical pain. That's the most Will has smiled in weeks." Tanya gave Sam a watery smile, "I want to thank you as well. He enjoyed teaching you the game. Children like Will...they like to do things that give them purpose. You helped him today, even if you don't know it or understand it. Thank you for that."

"It was my pleasure." Sam said.

Tanya gave him her first real smile of the morning, "I like you, Sam. You're good for her."

"Good for her?" Sam said dumbly.

"Isabel deserves someone good. Isabel has never had an easy life, but she's this town's angel. Everyone who's met her loves her. I can see it in her eyes. There's a light that wasn't there before. It's because of you." Tanya explained gently to Sam.

"We're just friends!" Sam exclaimed.

Tanya gave him a sly smile, "And Big Ben is just a clock." She looked down at her wristwatch, "You two should leave soon if you're going to go to work with Alice."

Sam roused Isabel and she dropped him off at the library before going home. When he got home that afternoon, Ion had greeted him at the door followed closely by Isabel who had given him a small smile before heading back to the kitchen to finish making dinner.

He was sitting in Isabel's living room reading one of the books he'd been given when she sat down next to him. "Sam, you want to go walking with us tonight?" She asked, Ion at her side with his leash on.

"Sure." He said, closing the book.

Isabel seemed unusually quiet while they walked down her street. She was struggling with the battle between her heart and her head.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, counting the lines they stepped over in the concrete.

Isabel nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright. I just...never mind."

"What is it?" He asked, petting Ion on the top of the head.

Isabel instantly felt her face heat, "It's stupid. I'm being stupid. Forget it." She walked faster, keeping her head down to hide the fact that her face was bright red. She couldn't bare for him to be aware of her insecurities. They walked in silence and went their separate ways when they arrived back to Isabel's house.

They'd both nearly died of embarrassment when she walked in on him later that night while he was in the bathroom just after his shower. Thank God he'd had a towel around his waist, but even that hung low on his hips, leaving very little to Isabel's imagination.

Isabel had flushed and retreated to her bedroom, skipping dinner just to avoid him...of course they both had that idea and nearly scared each other to death in the kitchen hunting for an after midnight snack. Sam had scared her, and not in a comical way. He'd drawn a knife, and, with his massive frame, pinned her against her refrigerator.

They both just stared at each other, pulling in deep draws of air. Sam was trying to calm himself down. Isabel had come up behind him, and although he had made sure the first few nights that she wasn't a demon, instinct had nearly drawn him to stabbing her. Once he reminded himself of who and what she was, Sam became aware of how he was pressed against her.

His knife was at her throat, but his body was definitely reacting to her proximity. "Isabel?" He whispered, still not letting her loose.

Her eyes were wide and slightly panicked, "Yeah, it's me." She moved slightly so she could breath a little easier, but stopped when she felt the telltale bulge in the front of Sam's pajama pants. "Sam?"

Isabel should have been frightened, the look in his eyes certainly warranted it, but she wasn't. She was overcome with a distinct feeling that everything would be just fine. He just need to catch his bearings, an unknown voice said in her head. It sounded like her, but it wasn't, not really.

Of all of the voices that Isabel heard in her head, most weren't new, they'd been with her for her entire life, and they never spoke to her. She was pretty good at tuning them out. She'd been doing it her whole life, but this one voice refused to be ignored.

This new voice seemed to know more about Sam than Isabel did. It was the same voice that had told her what the tattoo on her shoulder said, that explained that the strange writings on the outside of the house were for her protection, and never to break the salt tubes around the house.

The voice had started talking to her after she had woken up after the missing year, and Isabel had the sinking feeling that the voice was the girl who had lived that year. That girl was like a dragon struggling to wake up. It was times like this that she stirred, throwing out bits of knowledge to keep the real Isabel alive.

Of course she was intimately aware of the fact that Sam's very prominent erection was pressed up against her core, rubbing her as they breathed. A few minutes later, he stepped back, dropping the knife on the counter next to them, "God, Isabel, I'm so sorry. I'll leave in the morning. I'm just...so sorry..." He mumbled, grabbing an apple and walked away, looking like he wanted to slice his own wrists.

Isabel rushed after him down the moonlit hallway, grabbing him by the back of his shirt, "Sam, it's okay."

He turned around, there was a pain in his green-blue eyes that didn't belong on his handsome face. "No, it's not. I could have killed you. I knew it was a bad idea to stay."

She forced him to face her fully, resting her hands on his chest so she could look him directly in the face, "You didn't though. I'm alive, I'm just fine. You didn't even scratch me." She pulled back her blonde hair to show him her unmarked neck.

"I could have though." He looked guilty and Isabel put her hand on his cheek.

"But you didn't, Sam, I'm okay." She insisted, "You were a soldier, weren't you?" Isabel asked softly, drawing up an image of Sam in fatigues. The image did nothing to quell her growing attraction to the strange man.

He winced, "Sort of. Just not in your average sense."

"I thought so." Isabel said, giving him his space again, assuming that he had been part of a covert group. "You must have really terrible nightmares. You yell in your sleep."

Guilt turned to panic in an instant, "What have I said?"

Isabel shrugged, "Mostly just telling Dean you're sorry."

"What else did I say Isabel?" He said like he was talking to an unruly child.

She shook her head, trying to remember the things she'd heard half asleep, jolted awake by Sam's muted yelling. "Um...you mention someone named Bobby. That's it, really, I mean one night you were hollering about demons being killed by angels, but I figured that was just a normal nightmare."

"Oh, that's good...really really good." He said with a slight smile.

He looked so relieved, like he had a secret he was afraid he had revealed in his fitful sleep, "Sam, if you need to... you can talk to me. It's not you against the world. Let me help you, or you're going to end up with PTSD or something."

"I couldn't do that, not to you." He said, the angry panic extinguished, to be replaced by what, if she wasn't mistaken, was true affection.

"Well, than at least talk to my Aunt Alice. She probably won't remember a word you say, but it might be good for you to talk to someone. You know, just to get it off your chest. It uh...well..I've heard it helps.'' She shook her head, "Don't listen to me, I'm probably the last person to take mental advice from. I mean, I hear voices in my head sometimes."

He looked disturbed and Isabel wished she could have taken the last sentence back, "You hear voices in your head?"

"It's just a hum, they don't tell me to kill people or anything. They just yell at each other. I'm not crazy!" Isabel rushed, suddenly wanting to return to the safety of her bedroom.

Sam smiled at her, his face full of a gentleness that put her off balance, "It's okay." And suddenly he was comforting her, cupping her face in his hands, "I don't think you're crazy. I don't think I ever could. You're one of the most normal people I've ever met."

Isabel chortled, relaxing, "Than I'm afraid you've had a piss poor encounter with people. I might not be crazy, but I'm certainly not normal, Sam."

"I feel the same way about myself." He whispered, intently watching her face, searching it for any trace of fear. There was none. As she had been with his knife against her throat in the kitchen, she was fearless. Her blue eyes just stared steadily back at him.

When the urge to kiss her came up again, Sam didn't resist. He crashed his lips down on hers and tried to draw comfort from her lips. It took her a few seconds to respond, and not to push him away, but to slide her arms around his back and draw herself closer to him. They were ravenous, but still gentle with each other. Sam put a hand on the back of her head, locking her into the kiss, and she didn't mind at all.

When they were both breathless, Isabel sighed against him, "You alright?" Sam asked.

Isabel grinned like an idiot, "That was possibly the best first kiss I've ever had." She couldn't stifle her yawn and laughed at herself. "I think we should go to bed now."

"Yeah, that would be nice." Sam said, nearly breathless.

Isabel was certain that whatever she had with Sam was going to be incredible, if they took it slow. There couldn't be any rushing this, the voice in the back of her mind said, and Isabel actually agreed. She didn't want Sam to be like all of the other men she had dated. She went up to her room with that silly smile on her face.

A few minutes later, Sam came into her room, not being able to handle being away from her. Isabel took his hand and pulled him onto her bed. "Goodnight, Sam." She said, curling up next to him when he put an arm around her. Sam fell asleep feeling like he was supposed to stay with Isabel. She wasn't Jessica. He wouldn't lose her. And as it seemed, he wasn't the only one protecting her.

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-Jenn

Just a Kiss By: Lady Antebellum

"I've never opened up to anyone

So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms
We don't need to rush this, let's just take it slow

Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
Just a touch of the fire burning so bright
And I don't want to mess this thing up
No, I don't want to push too far

Just a shot in the dark that you just might
Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life
So baby, I'm alright with just a kiss goodnight"