The surprising turn of events that took place last week seemed to have taken quite the toll on the entire house. Dean became angry with himself for letting his feelings grow so deeply for someone he knew he could never have. He tried to turn over a new leaf, offering Cassie something more meaningful than just multiple orgasms, but Cassie was never one for the naiveties. Instead, she took his proposition as an insult to her intelligence and shut the door on his empty promises which would inevitably make her the rebound. Cody decided it was time to shed some light on Dean's inappropriate behavior towards his girlfriend which in result led to an argument. Kimberly defended her roommate and close friend, knowing that Dean would never do anything to cause her any pain. It appeared that Cody and Kimberly had reached a stalemate. Where Kimberly saw Cody as being envious and delusional, Cody saw Kimberly as being naïve and in denial. Randy had mistakenly said the wrong thing on the subject in front of Dylan which placed him in the dog house. Dylan knew just as much as anyone else, what was going on between Dean, Kimberly and Cody but she would not tolerate Randy badmouthing her sister. Though this was not their first disagreement, it was by far the biggest. Although things seemed to have gone back to normal with Sam and I, there has been a strain on our relationship ever since Jessica left. The little things are what tell a love story. Silence and discomfort grows between us while exuberance and affection dwindle away. Clearly, everyone being confined to the manor is becoming problematic. I was reading a book in my room one night when I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." I replied indifferently, not for a moment losing focus from my engrossing novel. I only looked up because through my peripherals I could see that it was Sam who had knocked on my door. Seeing how Sam never really knocks unless I'm upset about something, I cocked my eyebrow with interest. He had his duffel bag in hand, almost fully packed and began rummaging through my drawers.

"Sorry, have you seen my blue tie. The one with the thin stripes on it. I can't find it and I think I may have left it in here." I went back to reading my book, losing interest.

"It's in the hamper."

"Oh." Sam finally stopped to look at me. Feeling eyes on me, I met his gaze with a small smile.

"Going someplace?"

"Yeah, Dean and I are going to head out for a few days. There's this case a few towns over. This couple… they literally ate each other to death."

"Ew." I said marking my page and putting the book down. I got up and went to my closet. "So, do you have any idea what you're up against this time? I mean, do you think you might need backup?" I was busy searching through my closet while he spoke.

"Nah, I don't think so. I'm going to have Dean there to back me up so it should be fine." I nodded in understanding.

"So, you wont be back by Sunday then." Sam furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Um, well it's Friday so I guess not." I smiled, although it didn't reach my eyes.

"Here." I said holding out a box wrapped in gift wrapping paper. Sam smiled at me.

"What's this?"

"It's nothing really. I got you a tie. You know, something nice to go with your FBI suits." Sam ripped open the wrapper to see a blue silk tie that would give his plain gray suit a little luxury. "I figured I ought to give it to you now since you need a tie to wear and you won't be here on Valentine's Day anyway." I added with a soft smile. Clarity and shame flooded his face.

"Oh my God. Shar, I completely spaced." I put up a hand to stop him from apologizing.

"No harm, no foul. Besides, innocents come first right?" With that passive aggressive statement, I gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked out of my room.

Going downstairs to get some ice cream, I was pleasantly surprised to find my two best girlfriends and the only sisters I'll ever have, sitting in the kitchen sharing hate stories about men.

"Good, so I'm not the only one who's down in the dumps tonight." I guessed, while pulling up a chair and grabbing a spoon.

"Valentine's day is not important to me. If Cody doesn't want to make a big deal out of Valentine's Day that's fine, but my birthday is important." Kimberly's birthday just so happens to fall on February 14th which is ironic seeing how this girl was once the most anti-Valentines person I've ever met.

"I can't believe he doesn't want to spend Valentine's Day with you." Dylan said in affirmation.

"He claims that I'd rather spend it with my 'best bud Dean'." Kimberly said using air quotes. "And you know what? If he keeps acting like such an ass, I just might choose to spend it with Dean."

"Sorry sweetie, but that's not going to happen." I said taking a spoonful of cookie dough ice cream and shoving it in my mouth. "Dean's going to be away on a hunt with Sam this weekend."

"Wait, Sam's going hunting? On Valentine's day?" Dylan asked in disbelief. I offered a bitter smile and nodded.

"Yup, and I'm not even upset about that." Kimberly and Dylan shared a look.

"Shar, you look pretty upset to me." Kimberly said.

"I'm upset because I offered to go with him and he told me he didn't need me to come. He didn't even remember Valentine's Day was on Sunday."

"Men are such assholes sometimes." Dylan muttered.

"Sometimes?" I questioned with a smile. "What about Randy? Is he still being a douche?"

"He's mad at me for defending Kimberly. Well I'm sorry if I don't appreciate you indirectly calling my sister an attention whore." She bit out sarcastically.

"Isn't it funny how the three of us have boyfriends on Valentine's Day but none of us are going to spend it with them?" Kimberly pointed out.

"Well, I for one am not going to sit around moping over loneliness. You ladies want to party Sunday night?"

"Hell yeah!" Kimberly and Dylan declared. It's true. All problems can be solved with your closest friends and a tub of ice cream.

After Sam went to interview the victim's roommate, he met up with his brother back at the usual seediest motel of the town.

"How'd it go?" Dean asked when Sam entered.

"No EMF. No sulfur. Ghost possession and demonic possession are both probably out." Dean frowned.

"That's where I was putting my money." Dean had visited the coroners and checked out the bodies, or at least what was left of them. There really wasn't much left to do for the night.

"I'm just going to go through some files. You could go ahead and get going." Sam said reaching for his laptop. Dean frowned in confusion.

"Sorry?"

"Go head." Sam urged. "Unleash the Kraken. I'll see you in the morning." He joked with a chuckle.

"Where am I going?" Dean asked, still confused.

"Dean, it's Valentine's Day. Your favorite holiday. Remember? What do you always call it? The… unattached drifter Christmas." Dean frowned and nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, well, be that as it may," Dean trailed off grabbing a beer. He shrugged and continued. "I don't know. I guess I'm not feeling it this year." Sam looked at him in disbelief.

"So, you're not into bars filled with lonely women?"

"Nah, I guess not." Sam sat there staring at his brother who was appearing to be a whole new person. Of course Dean would recognize this look and not appreciate it one bit. "What?" he deadpanned.

"When a dog doesn't eat, that's when you know something's really wrong." Dean glared at his brother.

"Remarkably patronizing concern. Duly noted. Nothing's wrong." Dean bit out. "Are we going to work or what?" Sam sat in silence for a moment, but his tendency to be a pestering little brother won out.

"You can't put everything on hold Dean." Dean sighed audibly before looking up at his brother.

"Thank you Dr. Phil. Are we done now?"

"Maybe it's time you just tell her how you feel."

"Sam." Dean warned.

"Dude, you barely eat. You drink more than usual and now you're putting off sex. Just go to Kimberly, put everything on the table and see what happens. Maybe she'll feel the same way. Maybe she wont, but you have to try. You can't just keep putting your life on pause for her."

"Look, the only thing I need right now is to move on."

"Yeah? And how is that working out for you? You pushed Cassie farther away than ever now. Good job bro." Dean squeezed his beer bottle, envisioning himself smashing it over Sam's head, but deep down he knew Sam was right.

"Kimberly's in love with the angel and I don't want her getting hurt. The two of us may not even work out anyway. Why put her through all of this for nothing?"

"Dean, not even you could possibly believe the words that just came out of your mouth." Dean huffed.

"You know what Sam? How about you stop focusing on my relationships and start paying attention to yours?" Sam looked away, hoping that Dean wouldn't go there. "You're just as stuck and confused as I am. Maybe even more so. Today's Valentine's Day Sammy. Have you even called Sharnel yet?" Sam stared at his brother feeling guilt grow inside of him. "You know you're an idiot? You and Shar work great together. You're really going to let some chick that made you believe she was dead for the last five years, ruin your relationship?"

"No, I'm not. Sharnel and I are fine."

"Fine? That's not the word you use to describe a relationship. That's why you wanted to run away for the weekend. I know you Sam. I know what's going through that head of yours."

"No you don't."

"You're scared. Scared to get too close to Sharnel because you're scared that you may hurt her. Are you thinking about leaving her?"

"What? No. Of course not. Look, I will always love Jessica. I mean, who knows if I will ever find love that is as strong as our love was, but Jess and I are over. There is no turning back time. It's just that, seeing Jessica gave me a reminder of something. Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt. I don't want Sharnel to be on that list."

"Sam." Dean mumbled. His heart ached for his brother. "That doesn't mean you should just push her away. She's in your life now and if you give her the cold shoulder, you'll be hurting her anyway." Sam looked down in shame.

"I just don't know how to act around her. Jess, turning up just threw us off a bit." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That's why I wanted to get away. Valentine's Day is an important day for couples and I knew it would be a train wreck if I acted this way around her today. I don't want to lose her over this."

"Fine. Then let's kill some monsters. Best way to clear your head. Better than any shrink method out there." Dean said with a forced smile.

"Agreed. And when we get back, we're fixing things with our women." Dean smirked.

"I think that'll be easier for you than me." Sam raised a brow.

"Have you met Sharnel?"

"There is no way I'm wearing that!" Kimberly objected. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on! Get your coyote Piper on!" I insisted with a little jig. Kimberly picked up the red corset with the black leather pants and chucked them at me.

"No! You wear it!"

"It's not my birthday!" I objected.

"Um, I'm pretty sure the dress will work." Dylan jumped in coming to Kimberly's aid. I sighed.

"Guys, the point of this outing is to rub it in our men's faces. We must have a blast!"

"We could have a blast without Kimberly looking like a hooker you know."

"Fine. Well, I paid good money for these pants so if you're not wearing them, I am."

"Have fun with the top too." Kimberly teased. I gasped.

"I would never wear that top with leather pants! I'm not trying to get raped!" Kimberly scoffed while Dylan laughed.

"Thanks a lot." Kimberly said sarcastically. The three of us split up into our rooms to get dressed. So far this anti-male Valentine's Day had gone off perfectly. We went to the spa and got facials and massages and now, we were going to party like it was 1986. Kimberly, the birthday girl, put on a yellow floral halter dress. There were ruffles going down the deep V-neck and ruffles at the short hem that trailed behind her. Dylan, being fearless as always, wore high waist jeans with a light blue bustier and her black leather biker jacket. I, as promised, wore my black leather pants and a long sleeved see-through red button down that was tied at the waist. The three of us had just put on our shoes when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Kimberly answered, giggling from the drinks we already had.

"Oh good. You're home. How come none of you are answering your cell phones?" Sam asked.

"We turned them off so that we wouldn't have to speak to you people." Sam should have taken more caution. Kimberly's motto has always been, ask and you shall receive. He laughed out of nervous habit at her abrupt answer, realizing that his fears were valid and we really were as upset with him as he thought.

"Well, we need you guys to come down here."

"Cabs are here!" I was heard yelling through the phone.

"Sorry Sammy, that's our ride. I have to go."

"Kimberly, wait!" Sam begged. "I know I messed up and I know the last thing any of you want to do right now is see me, but this isn't about us. This simple case just got way more serious. We aren't after a ghost like we thought."

"Then what are you after?" Kimberly asked absentmindedly while piling her makeup and keys into her purse.

"Famine."

"Famine?" Kimberly asked in confusion.

"Yes. Famine. As in War and Famine, both members of the hell gang called the four horsemen." With that, Kimberly sobered up instantly.

"Oh my God." She whispered.

"People are dropping like flies around here and we need your help to put an end to it." Kimberly shook her head.

"No, you're right. Where are you exactly? We'll be there in a sec." After getting Sam and Dean's location down to the room number, Kimberly came click clacking into the bathroom where Dylan and I were doing our final check before running out to the cab. Seeing Kimberly throw her hair into a ponytail in the reflection of the mirror, I frowned.

"Surely, you could come up with a better hairstyle for your birthday then a ponytail." I teased.

"Sorry girls. Change of plans. We're going hunting."

"What?" Dylan and I exclaimed in unison.

"I know it sucks but Sam and Dean stumbled upon a case with one of the four horsemen. They can't do this without us."

"Are they okay?" I asked, immediately becoming filled with worry.

"They're fine, but they need our help." Dylan and I followed suit and threw our hair up as well.

"Then let's go." Dylan said, holding out her hands for us to take.

"Give me a minute to tell the cabby that he's not needed anymore." I said before rushing out the door. Seems like I am going to spend V day with my guy after all whether i wanted to or not.

Dylan wasted no time in orbing us to the motel upstate where all of this madness was occurring. I took a sigh of relief when I saw with my own eyes that Sam, along with Dean and Cass, were intact.

"Glad to see you could make it." Dean said, giving us the once over. His eyes lingered on Kimberly when he saw her in her party dress. "I tried to wish you a happy birthday but your phone was off." Kimberly smiled with appreciation and then changed the subject.

"So, catch us up to speed. What does people going hungry have to do with the murders in this town?" she said.

"Well, a couple literally ate each other because they were starving for love and another went on a twinkie binge until his stomach imploded." Sam answered.

"Everyone seems to be starving for something. Sex, attention, drugs, love." With Cass' words, everyone seemed to get lost in thought.

"So, famine just rolls into town and everybody goes crazy?" Dean asked.

"And then will come Famine, riding on a black steed." Castiel began to recite scripture from the bible. "He will ride into the land of plenty and great will be the horseman's hunger, for he is hunger. His hunger will seep out and poison the air."

"So, every one of us is at risk here." I pointed out. Sam looked up at me, but I couldn't decipher the emotion in his eyes. Then again, he never gave me a chance to because he held eye contact no longer than five seconds before dropping his eyes once again.

"Famine is hungry. He must devour the souls of his victims." Kimberly nodded her head.

"Naturally." She said sarcastically.

"Lucifer sent his demons to care for Famine. To feed him and make sure he's ready."

"Ready for what?" Sam asked.

"To march across the land."

While Dean, Dylan and Kimberly tried to come up with a plan to defeat Famine with Cass, I decided to take the moment to talk to Sam. No matter how I felt before, as soon as I heard that he was in serious danger, none of it seemed to matter. I just wanted to make sure he knew that. Sam was in the bathroom, toweling down with a rag while leaving the door open so he could overhear the makings of our plan. I walked in and shut the door behind me, leaning against the door, I folded my arms with a smile when he spun around with a surprised look on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, eyeing the towel in his hand.

"Nothing." He answered quickly. "Just a little hot in here, don't you think?" I gave it a moment's thought and let it go.

"I guess." The two of us stared at each other and I couldn't help but wonder how we could be so far apart in such a small room. I realized that I would have to steer this off course ship. "Sam, I'm sorry." I said with a sigh. Sam shook his head.

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing."

"I know, but I thought it'd make it easier." I said with a smile. Sam smiled at me and for the first time since Jessica made her big splash in our lives, it met his eyes. "Come here." I said, taking a seat on the side of the tub. Sam followed and I took his hands in mine. "I know things have been… off with us ever since…" I trailed off, not really wanting to bring it up unnecessarily. "But, I just want to get past it. I want us to be… us again." I said for a lack of better words. Sam looked down at his hands, which is when I noticed them shaking. "Sam, are you okay?"

"No. This is not the time to discuss this. There are innocent lives at stake." Sam sounded different then he did just moments ago. Cold even. I was taken aback by his reaction.

"Sam, I know the innocents come first, but my main concern was with you as soon as I heard you were in trouble. Sam, I care about you. You are important to me and I don't want to lose you. We can't just sweep this under the rug. We have to deal with it."

"Well, what if I don't want to deal with it?" I couldn't help my bottom jaw dropping slightly from the blow of his words. I quickly closed my mouth and nodded, taking my infamous prideful position of defense.

"Is this because of her?" I asked. My voice sounded cold and indifferent, but my heart was throbbing and tears threatened to come to the surface. Sam looked me in the eye and shook his head.

"No. This is about you. I just need us to focus on work right now. That's the only reason why I called you here."

"Fine. Don't worry. I will surely be out of your hair when this thing is over." I stood up and stormed out of the bathroom and didn't stop. Soon, I was out of the motel and in the parking lot. We are famous for winging it, so I'm sure whatever plan my friends come up with will include improvisation. I don't have to be there.

After I rushed out of the motel room, Sam called Dean into the bathroom.

"Dude, what happened? Are you okay?" Dean asked. Sam sighed. His hands wouldn't stop shaking and his temperature was rising by the minute.

"Dean…" Sam struggled to admit that all his fears seemed to be coming out to play tonight. "I um… I can't." Dean watched his brother in confusion. Worry soon took him over as he realized that something was really, really wrong. "I can't go."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it got to me Dean." He whispered in shame. "I think I'm hungry for it." As an idea popped up in Dean's mind, he prayed it wasn't so.

"Hungry for what?" he almost growled out of frustration.

"You know."

"Demon blood?" Dean didn't have to ask, but he wanted, with all his heart, that Sam would prove him wrong. Sam looked down in shame which made the answer quite clear. "You've got to be kidding me. Is that why Sharnel ran out of here?"

"No. Not exactly. We were making up, but I knew what was happening to me. I didn't want her to see me like this."

"Sammy, what did you do?" Sam sighed.

"I ended it." Dean looked away, being too angry to even touch the topic. "As soon as it's over with, I'll explain it all to her and beg her forgiveness, but Dean, she doesn't need to see me that way. The way you look at me every time it crosses your mind… I don't want her to ever look at me like that." Dean stormed out of the bathroom to get Castiel. It didn't surprise him to find that both Kimberly and Dylan weren't in the room. They left to go check on me. Castiel, overhearing everything, and knowing exactly what Dean was coming to ask, beat Dean to the punch.

"Taking him away from here wont work. He's already infected. The hunger's just going to travel with him."

"Well, what do we do?" Dean asked desperately.

"You go cut that bastard's finger off." Sam ordered.

"Sam, I'm not leaving you here alone."

"You have to. Castiel can sense Famine and you may need the power of three."

"And you expect me to keep this from Sharnel? She'll kill me as well as you and you know that."

"Dean please! She doesn't need to know. Get that son of a bitch." Dean, convinced that Sam knew best, turned to Castiel.

"You heard him."

"But Dean." Sam called. "Before you go, you better…" Sam trailed off, finding difficulty to ask this out loud. He huffed in shame. "You better lock me down… like good." Dean did as asked.

"Dean, be careful. Watch out for Sharnel for me and hurry." Dean smirked.

"She probably has enough fuel to take Famine on her own right now. Don't worry."

"What about you? You need to watch your feelings for Kimberly." Dean's jaw ticked.

"I'll be fine." Without another word, he left Sam cuffed to the bathroom sink.