I stare into the glowing blue orbs for a beat before I realize that Dean is standing outside of my house in the freezing cold. Quickly, and as quietly as I can manage, I unlock the window and open it as wide as it can go.

"Dean," I hiss, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"Back up," he says and I look at him, confused. "I'm only a couple feet down, and I'm not going to stand here and talk to you through the window."

We live in a split level and my room is all the way on the left of the house, up on a hill so that the second level isn't far from the ground on this side. It finally clicks that Dean is going to try climbing through the window. I move back a few steps but when his hands grab ahold of the windowsill, I'm right there helping him pull himself up and over.

He lands with a soft thud on the floor next to the window and I freeze, listening for any sounds coming from downstairs in the direction of my parents' room. Nothing.

I breathe again and turn back to him. He's just getting to his feet and it sinks in that the guy I ripped my chest open and bled for, that I cried myself dry for, is standing in front of me. Suddenly the room feels much too small. I take a step back, putting distance between us physically to match the distance between us emotionally. It takes all the strength I have to bring my eyes up to his face and keep them dry. "What are you doing here, Dean?" I ask softly.

"I wasn't sure if you told your parents what happened, and I really didn't want your dad smashing my face into the pavement or something. So I figured I'd wait until everyone went to bed." His hands are jammed into his pockets and he's looking everywhere but at me while he explains. "It was a little difficult figuring out which room was yours. I thought it was the one with the gray curtains, but when Jamie flipped me off then pointed to the next set of windows down, I figured it out. Good thing, too. His room looked a little harder to sneak in to."

I'd smile at him getting caught by Jamie, but I remember why he has to sneak in to begin with and it's sobering enough that I manage to keep a straight face. "You know what I mean, Dean. What are you doing here?" I ask again, more insistent this time.

"You didn't answer any of my calls," he says, as if that explains his presence.

"I didn't think there was anything left to say." A gust of cold air blows the curtains and I move to close the window that I forgot was still open.

"How can you say that Jessie?" He steps toward me but I move back and wrap my arms around myself and he lowers his outstretched hand. "When you left today I just froze. I know I said some shitty things, but when I saw your car pull away, I snapped and took off after you. If I had my car with me, trust me I'd have followed you. As it is, I ran for three miles before you turned on to the highway and I lost you. I realized I might have really lost you, and that's when I started calling, trying to convince you to come back. When you didn't answer and neither did Jamie, I could only think of one other person who could tell me where to find you. It took me all day to track Kelsey down and get her to give me your address. She didn't even know what happened between us, but I swear she was still ready to tear my balls off." He laughs lightly, glancing down at the floor then back up at me.

"I still don't understand why you came here." I move to sit on the edge of my bed, arms still tightly hugging my body to keep the tremors from taking over. "You made it clear that you don't trust me, and obviously never did. What more is there to say?"

He hesitantly moves to sit next to me, careful not to brush against me. He folds his hands in his lap then leans forward, elbows on his thighs, head hanging. "Jessie, I never should've said those things. You need to understand that everything that went down today, it was just a fucking mess. I was upset, and I…I was scared."

I turn my head, incredulous, "Scared of what?"

He glances at me from beneath his messy dark hair which has fallen forward to obscure part of his face. I refuse to acknowledge the slight flutter in my chest at that look. He breathes deep and pushes up off the bed, walking to the window and staring out into the darkness. "There was this girl, back in high school. I was with her before my dad left. Before everything turned upside down. She just knew the rich, preppy, jock version of me without any 'real' problems. When life went to shit, it became harder for me to handle things. I wanted to open up to her, to someone. I couldn't burden my mom because she had enough on her plate. So, I told her how I was worried about my mom, our family, what my dad was going to do, what he did. All this shit that I had bottled up, I just let it out. It felt good, until I realized that the only thing she was concerned about was the fact that my family's problems could mess up my nice cushy life. She only cared about being able to insinuate herself into my family and set herself up for life. She came from an upperclass family, but still."

He turns and examines my award shelf, sweeping a finger along the name plates and ribbons. He glances around the dark room, lit only by the glow of the moon. His eyes finally come to land on me and he continues. "I broke up with her, and that's the last girl I was seriously involved with. I couldn't be with someone who only cared about where I came from and not who I was. Today when you asked me about my family, it struck a nerve and I just wasn't seeing things clearly. I wasn't seeing you, I was seeing her. I know it's no excuse, but you have to understand that I would never intentionally hurt you." He crosses to me and kneels in front of me, taking my hands in his. I shiver because his hands are still chilled from the night air.

I understand now why he was so upset, why he automatically jumped on the defense today. But that doesn't make it okay that there's an obvious lack of trust somewhere between us. It doesn't explain why he didn't tell me to begin with.

"Dean, what was going to happen when I pulled up to your house on Christmas Eve? How were you going to explain that away? You have to understand how hurt I was when I found out you kept this from me. I just don't understand it."

"I wasn't really thinking about it, Jess." My eyes narrow and he quickly continues. "I mean obviously I thought about it at some point in time, but what I mean… I've never felt for anyone what I feel for you, and if I'm being honest it sort of blinds me to common sense sometimes. I don't always think straight when I'm with you. In the best possible way." His half smile makes my insides melt and I'm tempted to lean in and brush my lips against his, but I hold back. Answers first Jessie.

"And on those occasions when your brain isn't in your lap?" I raise an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

He sighs, resting his head against my knees for a second, then meeting my questioning gaze. "I assumed that you'd be surprised, but once you really got to know my mom and Nick you'd realize that none of it changes anything. You two got along so well the other night, and that's what I wanted. I didn't want you to be worrying about how to act or any of that bullshit. My mom is one of the most down to earth people you'll ever meet. Her family's accomplishments aside, she's just a regular person. We all are. When my dad tried to clean my mom out, she didn't go to her parents and have them replace what he took. She worked to get it all back. Yeah, I may have gone to private schools and lived in a big assed house in an upperclass neighborhood, which has been in my family for years by the way, but I still had summer jobs. I still worked to save up for my car, the one I have back in L.A.? I bought that with my personal savings and some graduation money.

"We're not aliens Jess. We don't come from different worlds. Just different parts of town. I know you get lost inside that head of yours sometimes and I was worried that you'd do that with all of this. I just wanted my family to get to know the you that I fell in love with, and for you to get to know them without anything clouding your judgement."

I swallow hard to keep the lump in my throat at bay. I can't sit here with him any longer and keep my emotions in check so I move to my dresser and begin arranging perfume bottles and lipstick tubes. "So, you don't think I'm just some gold digging status chaser?"

"Of course not," I feel him come up behind me, but I refuse to look at our reflection in the mirror. "Baby, please, look at me."

I move to the side and he grasps both of my shoulders, leaning down until he's eye level with me. "I think that you are the most beautiful, intelligent, caring, sometimes overthinking," I laugh at that part, "person I have ever met. And I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life. I'm so sorry that I made you second guess us, even for a second. I'm so sorry that I made you cry." He wipes away an errant tear that escapes down my cheek and kisses the spot still tingling from his thumb. That's all it takes for the dam to burst.

"Oh Dean, I'm such an idiot." I tangle my fingers in the messy knot of hair on my head and pace the room before turning back to him. "I shouldn't have jumped down your throat about all of this. I should've just let you explain in your own time. I just got so worried that you figured I was just some girl passing through and you didn't want me to know about your family because…because we wouldn't be together long enough for it to matter. I know, I'm so stupid and I'm so, so sorry." I place my hands on his waist and lay my forehead against his chest, catching my breath after my little rant.

Dean wraps his arms around me and crushes me to his chest. "Don't talk about yourself like that. You're not stupid. And trust me, you're going to be around for quite a while. You walking away from me today was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. Now that I have you back, I'm never letting go." He breathes deeply and I do the same. Everything is out in the open and my heart feels whole again, better, fuller than before.

He takes my hand, leading me over to the side of the bed, and sits on the edge. I stand in front of him with my forehead resting against his, my hands on his shoulders. "You know you're basically risking life and limb being in here right now," I tell him. He chuckles but I'm pretty serious. "If my dad wakes up, this won't end well for you."

Dean takes my face in his hands and brings his upturned lips to mine. His normally brilliant blue eyes are dark as midnight as they gaze into mine. "I'm willing to chance it. At least I'd die happy." With that, he closes the distance and all of the angst and drama of the day drains out of me. His lips part under mine and I taste a hint of mint underneath the sweetness that is uniquely Dean. As he breathes into me, the parts of me that have become dormant since we got off the plane yesterday suddenly awaken. I glide my hands from his shoulders to his neck and pull him closer to me, our upper bodies flush against one another. He grips my hips and stands abruptly, never breaking our connection. Without pause, my back is pressed into the wall and he is searing a pathway down my neck with teeth and tongue. "God, you smell amazing Jess," he mutters against my throat.

"Jasmine. From the tub, earlier." I manage a few words between ragged breaths. My robe has slipped open a bit and Dean takes advantage of the exposed skin. His fingers graze my shoulder and his lips move lower with every pass. I'm unable to bite back a soft moan, but the sound is enough to startle me back to the present. I slap one hand against Dean's shoulder, and the other over my mouth as I try to listen carefully for any telltale sounds that one or both of my parents are awake and might've heard me.

"Dean, you have to go." I place my hands against his chest and push lightly, not really feeling the conviction in the motion. He pulls back and meets my heavy-lidded gaze. "Your body doesn't seem to agree with your brain on that one, Jessie."

I raise an eyebrow at him as I retie my robe, tightly, and he takes a step back, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Okay, okay, message received. No dirty stuff with the parents in the next room. I'm sort of fond of my male parts anyway, wouldn't want your dad to rip them off," he says with a smirk.

"Ha ha. They're not in the next room anyway, they're downstairs. Jamie and Jared's rooms are the only other ones up here. I think we're safe."

"Oh yeah? Well in that case…" He takes a step towards me but I hold him off with an outstretched hand.

"Oh no. It's time for you to say goodnight." I hitch my thumb towards the window where he came in.

"Can I at least tuck you in and give you a kiss goodnight?" he asks innocently.

My heart melts a little at his request. It's such a simple thing, but it still gives me the warm and fuzzies inside. "Sure."

I climb under the covers and he leans down, tucking them up under my chin. Sitting on the side of the bed, he brushes stray hair from my forehead and places a chaste kiss in its place. He's so stinking cute. "So I'm going to see you this weekend right?"

"Yep, how about tomorrow? You can show me all your favorite hangouts since I was basically a hermit in high school and don't really have any of my own." My cheeks flush a little with embarrassment over the truth behind that statement.

"Screw that. How about we find our own favorites? Have you ever been down to boathouse row?" When I shake my head, he goes on. "Well, neither have I, not since I was like five anyway, so it doesn't count. How about Reading Terminal Market?" Another shake from me. "Then it's settled. We'll check them out, and if we like them, they can be our favorite hangouts."

I smile up at him and he bends down for another kiss. This one lingers just past the point of innocence, creeping over the line into passionate but he breaks contact before it gets too heated. He rubs his thumb against my bottom lip briefly and gives me a wistful look before whispering, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Dean," I say to his retreating form. He slips back through the window and manages to pull it nearly all the way closed, leaving just about an inch or so. I should get up to close and lock it, but I'm so comfortable and still a little drunk on all things Dean that I just snuggle further into the covers and drift blissfully into sleep.