Almost twenty-four hours later, in the very early morning hours, Lily walked through her front door. She had slept longer at the motel where she stopped than she would have liked, but she had been up all night. She checked on Kevin. He was actually asleep.

She took a shower and settled into bed. If she got just a few more hours of sleep she could get up with Kevin and get back on track. She was just beginning to drift off when her phone rang. Her hand reached to grab it from the night stand, and she checked the caller I.D. It was Dean.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. Did I wake you?"

"No, not really. I just got into bed a few minutes ago. You and Sam on your way home?"

"I am."

Lily sat up and ran a hand over her face. Her fingers worked at her tired eyes. "What happened?"

"He just wouldn't hear me out. He basically said I had to make a choice... and I wasn't making one. So, I left."

"You just walked out?"

"He coulda stopped me. He coulda listened. I did my part. I drove all the way out there to talk to him."

"But you're the reason he was out there, Dean."

"Yeah, there's that. He wasn't happy about that. I admitted it was wrong, but I did what I had to."

"I don't know what to do with you two anymore," she whispered, mostly to herself. "So, you guys aren't talking now? Is that it?"

"Looks that way. I just stopped and got a room. I'll be home tomorrow night."

"Okay. Dean..."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, babe."

Dean made it home the next night just as Lily was fixing dinner. He walked in and dropped his bag onto the floor. As he walked over to the kitchen, the smell of food filled his nostrils. Lily turned around and gave him a big smile. Dean walked to her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her deeply. Her free hand went to his neck while the other held a large spoon. She almost dropped it before he pulled away.

"What was that for?" The question came out in a huff as he nearly left her breathless.

"Just 'hello,'" he said, running his hand through her hair.

"That's some hello," she said. "Dinner will be a few more minutes. Why don't you go shower?"

Dean kissed her one more time before pulling away. He grabbed his bag and headed into the bedroom. After dinner, Lily took her shower while Dean watched television. After endlessly flipping through the channels and finding nothing of interest, Dean went to bed to wait for Lily. She smiled at him when she came out of the bathroom.

"I thought we were gonna watch tv?"

"Nothing's on," he said, waving her over. "Besides... I can think of something more fun to do."

"Like what?" Lily asked playfully as she crawled under the covers and into Dean's arms.

"Like making love to you." He brushed the hair from her face and ran a finger down her cheek. "The only time I ever really feel at peace is when I'm holding you in my arms, and I feel you pressed against me."

"Dean..." she whispered, but he placed a finger over her lips.

"When I was in that motel on my way back... I thought about when we first met. It was so different then. And when you told me you loved me that first time... I'll be honest, it scared the crap outta me. But I wouldn't trade what we have now for anything. I love you, sweetheart."

"Where is this coming from?"

"You always want to know how I feel... that's how I feel. I just thought you should know."

"It just seems so random."

"It's not random. It's how I feel every day. I think about how lucky I am to have you, every day. Seeing Benny again, and remembering what we went through to get back... it just made me even more grateful."

"Dean Winchester... I have no words..."

"We don't need any."

Dean captured her lips in a soft, deep kiss. He kissed her slowly, letting his lips linger against hers. He kept his arms wrapped around her as she lay by his side. His hand ran through her hair, gently stroking.

His lips trailed slowly down her neck and across her shoulder to her arm. He lifted his head, and his eyes scanned her arm as his hand ran over it. Her scars from Crowley's torture were continuing to fade, but they were still visible, and Lily knew the fact that they were there at all bothered Dean. She lifted his face so that his eyes met hers and he kissed her again.

Dean's words, coupled with the gentle way he made love to Lily that night, brought tears to her eyes. She cried softly as her body trembled. Dean pulled her close to his side, wrapping her in his arms.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm better than okay. I have you."

When Dean found her tears to be too many to wipe away with his thumb, he lifted the sheet and dried her face. He kissed her forehead and held her tight.

"I hope those are happy tears."

"I don't think I have a word for these tears... but they're not tears of sadness."

"Good."

"I love you, Dean."

"I love you, too, sweetheart."

Over the next week, the days were spent helping Kevin with the tablet. The nights were spent with Dean and Lily making love and holding each other. The holding even lingered into the days. During a lunch break, Dean lay down on the sofa and called Lily over. The pair fell asleep. It was a little over an hour later when Dean's eyes began to slowly drift open and he caught sight of someone towering over them, making him jump, and waking Lily.

"Damn it, Cas! How many times I got to tell you... it's just creepy!"

"Sorry."

"It's weird enough when you do it to me, but I was with Lily..." Dean seemed to think for just a moment, then shoved his finger toward Castiel. "You stay outta that bedroom. Got it?"

"Got it. Dean, I need your help. The angel Samandiriel... he's been taken. I, uh... I heard his distress call this morning."

"On what, angel radio? I thought you shut that down."

"Well, my penance is going well, and I thought it was time to turn it back on. I've, uh... been helping people, Dean."

"Well, good for you."

Lily stood after doing some stretching and made her way into the kitchen to make some coffee.

"All right," Dean said. "So, who snatched this angel?"

"Crowley."

Lily dropped a mug at the sound of Crowley's name. "I'm fine," she called out as she bent to pick up the broken pieces.

"I'm listening," Dean told Castiel. His face was suddenly very serious.

Castiel told Dean that he had an idea of the general area the angel was being held, but he would need Dean's help to find the exact location and get in.

"Crowley will likely have the place warded against angels," he said. "Dean, when you torture an angel, it screams, and that kind of pain... it creates a ripple effect of strange incidents."

Dean made eye contact with Lily as she walked back into the room. "I'm okay," she said as she sat next to Dean on the sofa. "Just dropped a mug. Coffee's on."

"Where's Sam?" Castiel asked.

"Sam's gone," Dean said. He pulled his laptop from the coffee table and began a search for news in the area Castiel had given him.

"Okay... We got freak tornadoes."

"That's it," Castiel said. "We should go right away."

Dean stood. "I'll get my stuff."

Lily followed him to the bedroom. "Dean-"

"Please don't try to come."

"I won't."

"I'm serious, Lily. Don't do like you did with Benny and come after us."

"Dean, trust me, if I never see Crowley again, I'll be happy. Just... be careful. Please."

"I will."

"Why don't you call Sam to meet you?"

"We don't need him."

"Dean-"

"We don't need him, Lily. We'll do this without him." Dean finished packing his bag and turned back to Lily. "I'll call when we get there, and before we head in."

"Okay."

They kissed, and Lily sat on the edge of the bed. She listened for the sound of the Impala pulling away, then went into the kitchen. She poured two cups of coffee, one for herself, and one for Kevin, then went into the study to work.