When the Cradle Falls

Chapter Four: By a Thread

"I'll take an apple pie. Extra whipped cream, sweetheart." Dean winked at the waitress who gave him a disturbed look. She stomped away in tan loafers and a frilly apron, one hand on the back of her skirt.

Disappointed, he glanced across the lacquered red table when Alice didn't acknowledge the exchange. A finger ran along the spine of a beat up book sitting in front of her.

"You don't care that I totally just hit on waitress in front of you?"

Alice shrugged. "Guess not."

Dean chuckled. "You know, I'm kind of jealous by how much attention that book's getting." He tried to lighten the mood, but it fell flat against the cover of the book. Alice's eyes were overcast and seemed hooded today. She didn't make some comment about what a hypocrite he was.

With a sigh, she set the book into her canvas bag and began tracing patterns on the table.

The smile fell. "Not in the mood for humor, I guess. Today a serious day for you?" Occasionally, Alice would enter a funk where she was no-nonsense, dead serious. That was how she coped with having a bad day, Dean realized a little too late: doing as much as she could to exercise control, but really, it just meant shutting down. Part of Dean often felt like ending it on those days due to her lack of responsiveness, but he never did.

"It's just a day," she responded, numb.

Dean's brow furrowed and he did something uncharacteristic. He reached his hand across the table and covered hers. "What's wrong?"

She retracted her own hand and placed both below the table. "This has been a long time coming."

"What has?"

"This." She motioned vaguely.

"I don't understand."

With tiny, pale hands, Alice pushed flyways away from her face. She shuddered deeply, then looked at Dean, strongly, a fearful look in her eye. "We should break up," she informed briskly

"What?" Dean wasn't used to hearing those words. He was familiar with the shapes on his tongue, but not the sound in his ears.

"Come on, Dean. Don't pretend like this wasn't going to happen soon."

"What do you mean?" He had a hard time comprehending her words, wondering if all the other girls felt this awful.

She didn't scoff like some would; she sighed tiredly-she did that a lot, Dean noticed. "I know you're leaving."

"I'm not-" She would hate to see him lie. "How did you know?"

She shrugged. "Your brother. He hangs out in the library when I tutor. He's a bright kid. A nice kid. Said your dad was coming back and that you were hitting the road again. He said you don't 'do relationships.'"

"You said it sounded like something out of a novel," Dean grasped at any of the last threads of could.

She smiled carefully, still looking away from him. "Literary or reality, it still sounds like a lonely existence, maybe with bursts of happiness here or there." She glanced at him. "Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you really are a lone wolf and you see it as an adventure. Only...I don't think so." She offered a condoling hand. "I don't blame you, Dean. You make do with what you're given."

"But…"

Her hand was removed. "Regardless, I don't want to be hurt by you leaving me in the dust. It's better to get this over with now, rip the bandage off fast, don't let it linger. You know?" She stood.

"Allie, come on."

"Don't call me that."

"Allie…"

Shoving her chair back forcefully, eyes suddenly sharp, Alice snapped at him. "I don't like who I am when I'm around you. I hate what you did to me, who you turned me into," Alice spearheaded her words bluntly. Dean stopped moving and gaped at her. She swished around his grasp, cobalt sundress dancing around her thighs. Her words suddenly became cruel. "How long did you think we would actually last, the two of us? I knew I was just some girl for you to screw; I'm not an idiot, Dean, don't mistake me as one. Just know I'll be here, picking up the pieces of what you were gonna leave behind, before they fall."

Dean was standing now too. "Allie…"

"God help the next girl who crashes into you. Good-bye, Dean." She left, the bell above the door jingling cheerily.

Dean followed her, forgetting the apple pie. He jogged after her on the pavement and grabbed her forearm, snagging her towards him. "It doesn't feel right to leave it like this," Dean begged. Alice was always so hot and cold that he didn't actually think she could be serious. She wanted him to chase after her.

Her eyes darkened. "Does anything ever feel right?"

"I don't-"

"I'm cutting you loose, Dean. I know you aren't used to someone snapping the line before you, but just know you haven't completely broken my heart yet. You didn't have your hooks in that deep, so don't feel too bad."

"You're different, Allie, I swear you're different." There had been only a handful of girls he'd said that to, and each time, he meant it. "You don't really mean what you're saying."

She drew tick marks in the air. "What number am I that you've said that to? Sure, I may be a lot more...wholesome than the girls you probably go for. Was it fun for you to break me?" Could she break while her heart didn't? "And you can bet I mean every damn word."

"Allie, come on." He stared at her pleadingly, feeling a sharp pain in his chest at her accusations. None of it made sense. She wasn't making sense.

Suddenly sweet again, she tiptoed towards Dean. "Why do you act like this, Dean?" she asked breathily.

"Like what?" He instinctively leaned closer to her.

"You're not a bad guy, Dean, but if you keep acting like the villain, one day you will be. I know I was just some lay for you, but maybe one day you'll find a girl you actually love." She leaned away.

Confused, he just shrugged.

She didn't say anything else.

It was in a haze Dean watched the back of her legs stomp away from him, the soles of her boots peeking with each step. A gust of wind picked up and the hem of her dress brushed dangerously high. It blew her hair sideways, and he could tell from the back some hair had gotten in her face, an indicator when her hand brushed upwards. The tote bag thumped her lower back with each little burst of a step.

Despairing, he walked back to the motel to find Sam watching TV. Dean grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, telling Sam to suck it up when the younger brother complained.

"What's your problem?" Sam muttered, hunched over a book he was barely paying attention to.

"What did you tell her, you little shit?" Dean went and stood over Sam, menacingly.

"Nothing."

Bullshit, Dean bitterly thought, picturing Sam telling Alice everything with a little smirk on his face.

Sam wailed when Dean grabbed his collar and yanked him up from the chair. "I swear I didn't tell her anything! I just told her we were leaving!"

"Why would you tell her that?" Dean growled close to Sam's ear.

Sam gained some indignant strength and shoved Dean off of himself. "Because we are."

The realization of that caused Dean to release his brother and collapse on the nearest bed. He'd been so focused on Alice breaking up with him that he almost forgot that one bit of information.

"We're leaving, Dean," Sam explained, shuffling the loose leaf paper. And she'll—"

"She'll be here. I know." The older brother flopped back on the bed and stared at the mildewy ceiling.

That time the next day, the only ceiling Dean would be staring at was that of the Impala.

Just a short chapter I had written awhile back and really wanted to get published. Regardless of how short, this chapter is very critical in setting up the rest of the tale. Review! Fav! Enjoy!