He is warm. His chest is firm and his skin radiates the heat of human contact. Mai wants nothing more than to burrow further into his arms and seep her life away. This is not her conscious decision, but a preference decided upon while on the cusp of awakenss. His skin is soft like rose petals. The sound of his shallow breathing fills her ears.

Mai is still sitting in the Waffle King, barely holding onto a conversation between herself and an older man. In the distance a phone rings. She doesn't acknowledge it, or maybe she purposefully ignores the call.

"Why don't penguins fly at night?" she asks him suspiciously.

He squints his eyes in confusion. "I don't understand. Penguins do not fly at all. They swim and their body ma-"

"Where do I know you from?" she interrupts him, taking a thoughtful sip of her coffee.

"I think we're done for the night Mai, you appear to be waking up."

"Wait what? No, I swear you look familiar."

"I can assure you we've never met."

"Mister, I know you somehow. This is not the first time we've met." He stays silent. "You know me. Why do you know me?" she presses.

He clears his throat, "I made a mistake, I shouldn't have interacted this much with you." The ringing in the background becomes louder and the man begins to drift, "I was glad to see something other than a demonic Dean in your dreams this time."

"What are you talking about, you know my dreams?!"

"Mai it's time to wake up, Dean is calling you."

Waffle King is gone and Mai is wrapped across Jett's bare chest. Her phone is ringing. She can't see the clock but judging by the light it's somewhere around 9:30, 10:00 a.m. She stretches out her legs under the sheets, her toes grazing Jett's calf. Reaching towards the nightstand, she blindly paws at its surface in hopes of making contact with her phone. She doesn't bother moving over. Jett begins to stir as she pulls her mobile to her ear and softly answers.

"Hello?"

"Did you go out?" Dean

"What?"

"I called the house twice and no answer, where are you?"

"I'm at home, I slept in." She pulls her phone away to glance at the time; 9:56.

"You need to answer the phone Mai. You're home alone, you answer." She feels the worry in his tone but it is tainted with too much animosity and anger. She's agitated by his instruction.

"Sorry." She doesn't mean it. I'm not even home alone. I'm technically in your bed with a boy. She really is in bed with Jett. The boy, who wakes slowly beside her, moans as he stretches. Mai has to cover the speaker.

"Okay wells, we're checking in." Dean tells her.

"Okay."

"We're uh, in Nebraska right now, Sammy can tell you about it later."

"Sounds fine."

"…Are you… Okay?"

"I'm fine, the house is fine."

"Okay then."

Jett rolls over "Who's that?" he whispers in Mai's ear sleepily.

"Nobody." She whispers back.

The young hunter nods his sleepy head and burrows into her neck.

"So is that all you needed Dean?"

"Yes. That's… Yeah."

"Okay bye then." She ends the call before he can respond.

She lies on the bed feeling numb and knowing that she has to fix her issues with Dean.

But how…?

Jett's breath hot, shallow breath on Mai's neck gives her goose bumps.

"Hey," she whispers, "We should get up…"

Jett wraps an arm around her torso, "Do you really want to?" he mumbles into her skin. She stiffens and frowns at the way he's pinning her in. "What if we just stayed here for a while?" He offers.

Mai thinks about this. Outside raindrops slide down the window. There is a distinct chill in the air that's unusual for July. She does want to stay in bed, but she's afraid to.

Why? Why am I afraid to be around him? Because he's a man, because he's still practically a stranger, because I'm not nearly as strong as I'd like to be, because I'm afraid to get close to him in case he leaves Me? No. It's Dean and Sam…

Jett's not supposed to be here. Her family would tear him apart for coming near her. Jett is like contraband for her prison of a home. She shouldn't want Jett around, she shouldn't let Jett in the house, she shouldn't let Jett into her bed, but she does and she likes it.

"Mai?"

"Yeah?" She tilts her head to the side and stares at the wall behind him. Jett hesitates, a few moments pass but he still does not speak. "Jett?"

"Sorry," she looks down at him and finds him gazing at her. His blue-green eyes hold an unfamiliar look. Mai raises an eyebrow at him. "You smell really nice." He finally says.

Mai gives a sharp giggle, "What?" she asks.

"I wanted to tell you since we met… You smell really good, like I don't even know what."

"Okay?" She's unsure of how to take that compliment. They sit in awkward silence; Jett's arm still wrapped around her torso and his chin resting on her shoulder.

Mai returns her gaze to the window and traces the paths of the raindrops. Her thoughts are on Dean. She thinks about her conversation, about her dreams which are starting to cloud in her memory. Their once vivid terror has begun to dull. She can't even remember having a dream last night. She stretches out her legs and feels her eyelids droop. When was the last time she felt this comfortable?

"What are you thinking about?" Jett asks after a while.

Mai shrugs, "Nothing much." She waits a moment, "I… I don't remember my dreams last night…" She feels Jett tilting his head towards her but she continues to stare at the window.

"That's… good." He says softly.

"Yes," She nods absentmindedly, "It's good."

"Hey," Jett removes his arm from around her ribs and gently touches her face, bringing her eyes to his, "You okay?"

She frowns at him. She looks down at his bare chest, laced with tiny scars and a few fresh bruises. Jett: the mystery boy she never questions. She looks back up at him, "Are you okay?"

A smile graces his lips, "Yeah, Miss Mai, I'm alright."

"I'm alright too then." She smirks, dropping her head.

Her overgrown bangs fall to cover her eyes. Jett raises a hand and brushes the loose hairs behind her ear. A few drop back onto her face but Mai quickly tucks them away more securely before Jett can retaliate. They grin at each other. Under the sheets, Mai idly rubs her foot against his shin. Snuggling her head back against the pillow, she closes her eyes. Jett wraps his arm around her tighter. Moments pass, then the moments turn to minutes and the minutes turn to hours.

It's 11:08 A.M. when Mai wakes up again, not even remembering when she dozed off. Jett's chin rest atop her head and his arms are enveloped around her. With a quick breath she soaks up his scent; Amber with less cigar than usual. Mai can't remember ever having seen him smoking. She figures it's diminished during his prolonged stay with her. She counts the marks on his chest.

Four, five, six… seven, eight… She abandons counting his scars, feeling awkward. You're being weird Mai… what did you plan to ask him about the story of each one? That big on his arm though… that looks like a knife? No not a knife something rougher, something that warped couldn't be a knife. Maybe it's… hmm… Where's his anti-possession tattoo?

She scans what parts of his body she can see from her bound position. His ivory skin is clean of any ink, not even permanent marker. She thinks back to a time she overheard her uncles planning to take her to get an anti-possession tattoo of her own. It was supposed to be a surprise for her 18th birthday. She dreads that birthday present, Mai can't stand tattoos and would rather not have a needle scrap ink into her skin.

Jett begins to stir. With a muffled moan, he pulls Mai close to him and rubs his face in her hair.

"Jett…" Mai whispers, her face squished against his chest, "loosen the grip."

"Hmmm? Okay…" He utters. Pulling his arms up to stretch, he releases her from his catch.

She rolls over to check the time, "It's almost lunch. We've been in bed all day" she laughs.

"Who cares about lunch? I'm content." She can hear the smile in his voice as he speaks. Mai rolls her eyes.

"I'm kinda hungry, we should get up." She begins pulling off the covers but Jett stops her.

"Why do I have to get up because you're hungry?" He interjects.

"Come on, I'll make you something." She says and hops out of bed.

Jett laces his fingers throughout Mai's hair and pulls through. With a full stomach and a new feeling of content, Mai rests back against his chest. Jett urged her to return to Dean's bed with him after lunch. After much argument and tugging at his arms trying to remove him from her uncle's sleeping quarters, she finally decided it was better to just join him. Jett sits against the headboard reading a lore book he'd found on Dean's floor and plays with Mai's hair. Mai leans against his chest and watches the downpour through the window. It's pleasant and, for the first time in a long time, it is peaceful.

Her head floats with the rise and fall of his breathing. The silence surrounding them adds a layer of comfort Mai didn't think possible since her mom died. It feels like she's little again. The memories of her mother cooking soup on a rainy day return to her. Bits of images pop up, like her mom's dark brown hair and the red sneakers she used to wear to work every day. The sky blue of their water-stained apartment walls. Walking home when her mom worked late and turning on cartoons until she returned. Laughing at a joke she can't remember the punchline to. Her eyes begin to water.

"He's a monster in my dreams…" She says suddenly. Jett's left hand stops rolling through her hair and his right lowers his book at her side. Taking a moment to gather her words, she continues. "Dean, my uncle. He's a monster… but with black eyes. Demon eyes." Her voice is hallowed and her gaze is fixed unseeingly on the rain. When Jett fails to respond she keeps going.

"We don't get along. We're a mess and I can't afford to lose him because I only have three family members left. Everyone else is dead…" She prefers that he's letting her talk, for the moment she can imagine that he's not there, "my mom: dead. My dad: dead. My grandparents: all dead. I don't have any uncles or aunts I know of other than Sam and Dean."

"I'm sorry." Jett says breaking the illusion that he can't hear her. Mai's eyes remain lost on the window. Blushing, a pit forms in her stomach; she wishes to end the conversation. She has already said more than she meant to or should have. Retracting from his side she slips off the bed.

"I'm going to work on my car." She mumbles, heading to the door.

"It's pouring out there." Jett imparts, pulling himself up.

"I know that." Mai replies curtly, and before he can respond she walks out of the room.

You are a stupid girl…

The pit in her stomach has not dissipated even as she slides on a rain jacket and runs barefoot through the gravel. The smell of rain floats in the air. Droplets hit her bare legs and trickle down toward her ankles, leaving thin wet trails and goose bumps. For the most part she reaches the barn dry.

Her truck sits with the hood raised. She looks down at the engine, but has no desire to work on it. She's still stuck and confused. She's still frustrated about her lack of knowledge. She's still upset that she can't do this alone, that she has to work with Dean on this.

The only person I need, haunts me. And I told Jett about it… she internally cringes. Why would I trust him like that? Why would I cuddle with him all morning? What the hell do I want from him?

Why do I overthink everything? It's like I have no intuition; no gut feeling!

"UGH!" she groans out loud, balling her hands into fists.

She wants to punch something. She wants to scream obscenities at the top of her lungs. She wants to take a tire iron to the windshield of her truck just to hear the shattering of glass. But she doesn't. Mai just clenches her fists so tight that her knuckles turn white and her nails dig little grooves into her palms. Frustration. Always frustration. Never in control of her life, always shifting with others actions. No peace when she sleeps. No peace when she wakes. No intuition. No clue what to do. No clue what she wants. Just a bleak, agitated ball of frustration, that's all she is.

Overthinking. Always overthinking. And then overthinking about overthinking! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN MY OWN STORY ANYMORE!

Mai groans a deeply upset groan and slumps down against the bumper.

Somewhere outside, among the chatter of raindrops, the front door is heard opening and slamming shut. Mai hears the crunch of footsteps on gravel and closes her eyes, anticipating the inevitable. Jett is soaked when he walks up from behind her; his hair dripping, a fresh tee-shirt sticking to his thin frame, no shoes. She doesn't want to look at him so she lifts the hood of her rain jacket over her head and hides. Mai hopes that maybe if she can't see him looming in front of her with his hands in his pockets then maybe he will just go away.

"Did I say something to upset you?" He implores gingerly.

…shit.

"No."

She hears him shuffling on his feet uncomfortably, "Do you want to talk about whatever bothers you?" He tries.

"No." she replies, "I didn't want to talk about it last night I don't want to talk about it now."

A moment of silence passes.

"Should we talk about it?" he rephrases.

Mai shrugs. He's not inclined to know about her problems or her family. It's not his job to fix her.

"I'm just messy." She sighs.

Jett breathes out a laugh, "So am I…"

"I know that."

An awkward air hangs about them. All around them is the sound of rain hitting the roof, slapping the gravel, the smell of oil and dirt on the barn floor, the cool feeling of moist July wind. Neither of them moves. Mai focusses on a rock not far from her feet and plants her chin against her knees.

"I'm a shitty friend." She finally says.

"No you're not," he tries to reassure her.

She snaps her head up to look him in the eye, "Yes I am. I'm… bad to be around. You must be pathetically lonely to want to come here to me. That is just… pathetic."

"I thought it was nice in there a minute ago." His tone is harsher and defensive, "I liked the peace."

"It's not peaceful. I'm up all hours of the night, screaming from nightmar-"

"Another person's nightmares do not disturb my peace." He interjects, "I like it here. I like the seclusion and the safety and the company. I like you nightmares and all."

Mai doesn't respond, but looks away out the barn window.

"I'm sorry that you're waking up every night terrified." He continues, "It's really horrifying for you and shitty. I know it is because I have nightmares of my own. We all do. It's a side effect of the life, a side effect of knowing about what's truly out there." He squats down to be at her eye level.

"I'm sorry you're having a hard time, that you're a mess. I wish I could help you more. I wish I could help myself more with my own mess, but I can't. I don't think humans are capable of fixing their messy lives on their own. No matter what you do it's like your thoughts run wild and you fall short of pulling yourself together every time."

She turns her head back to him, but it's hard to hold his gaze. His eyes are so earnest and clouded with a mixture of emotions and memories. Inside Mai feels like she could cry, but she holds back.

"Sometimes I think the best thing to do is forget about fixing the broken bits and just move on…" he says with an apathetic distance in his eyes.

"I'm stuck." She tells him, "I'm stuck at home… and I can't stop my mind from thinking crazy things. Overthinking everything… it's like I can't escape it."

He nods thoughtfully. She goes on.

"I… I miss you when you go." She lowers her gaze, "I'm always alone here…"

Jett leans back and sits on the floor, his legs on either side of her, "Me too."

"What do we do now?" she asks. Jett thinks for a moment.

"Move on?"

A/N: It's the season for avoiding my problems by writing fanfiction!

I recently recovered my inspiration/story board from my old laptop and I'm flowing with the inspirational juices.
As always though, Please, PLEASE review. What gets me writing the most is seeing your feedback!

Fear not my brave followers, I will finish this fic! It may take me years, but I will finish it (already have the ending planned out).

Thank you for sticking with me so long