Vala lay comfortably on a blanket outside under the stars. The night air was crisp and clean and it coursed through her blood as she breathed it in. The stars were lit brightly in the deep navy blue sky, accenting the silver in the clouds as they danced passed overhead.

She had needed this, the time alone with the heavens, badly. The last week had been a terribly difficult one. Between Bobby getting hurt and still in a mild coma, her sister wanting to run off with Sam and her own revelations about the boys she needed a break. Vala did everything she could not to think about it as she laid on one of Bobby's old comforters under the world.

Technically she was still in Bobby's backyard. She marvelled how different it was from the front. There was a drastic change in scenery from the piled up cars to the century-old trees and perfectly mown grass. She had always loved being in Bobby's backyard. It reminded her of the good days at home.

A breeze fluttered by as the songs on the iPod she listened to changed, going from Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in D Minor to Spring Song by the same classical composer. She watched as the world moved around her, the violin strings sounding in her ears. There was nothing Vala loved more than the feeling lying under the stars gave her.

Well... almost nothing.

Vala closed her eyes and pictured Dean, his strong features, chiselled face, rippled abs, arms of steel. DAMMIT VALA, get you mind out of the gutter. He doesn't like you.

Vala opened her eyes again and looked to the sky, but her gaze was cut off by a pair of glisten sea green eyes attached to an upside down face. Dean was smiling at her and Vala was only partly aware of her own facial expressions.

"You are fucking gorgeous when you're smiling."

"What?"
Vala pulled the headphones from her ears as Dean took a seat next to her. Vala refused to sit up, instead cranking her head to look him in the eye.

"I asked what you were smiling at." He lied.

Vala shook her head and lied back to him.

"The music."

Dean made a face to tell her to elaborate, so she did.

"Mendelssohn."

"Is that like Rammstien or something?"

Vala laughed. Sometimes Dean was so far off.

She took the right ear bud and passed it onto him. Dean gladly accepted, laying next to her for the full experience, placing the tiny speaker in his ear.

He immediately turned to his old enemy as the violins sang sweetly to him, but Vala was busy looking to the stars again, trying to pick out the airplanes, so Dean did the same.

He realized, as the song played on, that it all was incredibly beautiful. The night air, the clouds, the stars, the music and the company brought him an incredible, overpowering sense of peace and belonging. He, too, closed his eyes and let the feeling wash over him. He never wanted it to end.

Vala opened her peepers merely a moment after her companion closed his. His expression paused before a smile washed over him. Vala's heart raced inside her chest and she had to make a conscious effort to control her breathing. He looked as if he were sleeping. He was beyond handsome when he was sleeping. So at peace.

She became aware that she was staring at him and averted her eyes back to the sky. As the song came to a close Vala looked peacefully to the world. Dean opened his eyes and pulled the bud from his ear. She saw his movements and glanced over at him as he turned to her.

Vala turned the music off as the song shifted to a Bryan Adams love song, trying desperately not to meet his eyes with the intensity she felt raging within her.

"So... Sammy's really taken to your sister."

Dean metaphorically smacked himself in the forehead. This was not what he wanted to say. He turned his head back to the sky and Vala set her eyes upon him. His face had changed and he was upset, but not about his brother and her sister.

"They haven't left each other's side since we saved your ass back at the vampire house."

Dean laughed, and what started out as a small smirk of a giggle turned into a full blown burst of belly laughter. Vala waited for his to pass. She wasn't sure what was so funny.

"Those were good times." Dean eventually voiced, clearing a tear from his eye.

Vala's face bunched in horror and she leaned on her elbows to yell at him.

"Good times? GOOD TIMES? You call being held hostage by a demon, having surgery, reliving your time in—"

Vala didn't get to finish her train of thought.

Dean had swooped in, taking Vala's face in his hand and hovering just a millimetre from making contact. Lips to lips.

Vala tried and failed to keep her emotions in check, her heart beat so hard it nearly burst through her chest and her blood began to boil. She held her breath to keep from breathing hard and waited for whatever was to come, her eyes darting back and forth between his.

Dean looked deep into Vala's emerald green eyes and searched for an answer. He'd been having feeling for her since the hospital and was sure he couldn't keep them bottled up anymore. Seeing her every day and not saying anything was eating him alive. He couldn't bear to be without her. The way he felt for Vala was just as Sam did for her sister.

Vala felt incredibly vulnerable for the first time in a long time as the silence continued. She tried to read his emotions, but her own were preventing her from doing anything but being present. It was probably for the best.

Dean ran the back of his hand across her face lovingly, caressing her baby soft skin. He was sick to his stomach with feelings for her. He could contain it any longer.

Dean closed the distance between them, letting his lips fall on hers. He kissed her lovingly, hoping she wouldn't attack him for it. He still wasn't sure how she really felt about him. It was a big surprise when she starting kissing him back.

Vala's heart beat at triple speed and her blood pumped hot in her veins. She was shocked that Dean had felt the same for her and was taken aback at his forward way of letting her know. Once she'd stopped over thinking the situation, which took her all of half a second, she decided to take part in it. She wrapped her good hand around the back of Dean's neck, lacing her fingers through his hair and guided him down with her as she repositioned herself back on the blanket.

They remained in their lip-locked embrace for what seemed like one eternally long moment in time. The world had stopped around them. The clouds were still and the planes that speckled the sky between the stars had all vanished. The light from the moon and the few visible stars were all that remained to brighten the darkness that flooded Bobby's backyard. It was as if they were in their own little bubble where time didn't exist anymore.

About ten minutes had passed, outside their bubble, when a distinct throat clearing sound was heard.

Dean and Vala ignored it at first, both of them writing it off as something else so they didn't have to acknowledge it. The second time it was followed by a "Guys?". Dean, refusing to break away from Vala to speak, waved his brother away with the flick of his hand before turning all of his attention back to her.

Vala snuck a hand up the back of Dean's t-shirt, dragging her nails lightly over his skin. He smiled and tugged on her lip with his has Sam continued, fidgeting slightly from the awkward situation.

"Bobby's awake. He's asking for you guys."

Sam turned to walk away, but was stopped.

Dean pulled himself off Vala reluctantly.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Mmhmm."

"We'll be there in a minute."

"Yeah," Sam raised an eyebrow as he walked away, leaving the two of them alone with the night again. "Take your time."

Dean looked back to Vala, noticing the violet splashing through the green in her eyes for the first time, making him wonder why he'd never noticed it before. He kissed her again, picking up where they'd left off.

Vala slid her hand from the small of Dean's back to his stomach, caressing his rough, warm skin along the way, regrettably pushing him off her in the process.

"Bobby." She spoke softly as their lips broke from each other.

Dean heaved a sigh, as he knew exactly what she was getting at. He sat up next to her before rising to his feet.

Vala sat, picking her iPod off the blanket next to her as Dean extended his hand. She reached for him and he pulled her to her feet and into his arms.

They stood there long enough to breathe each other in. Dean placed a hand on Vala's hip, keeping her still as he bent down to retrieve the comforter.

Vala started to walk towards the house as Dean wrapped the blanket around the two of them, having snuck up behind her. She smiled, intertwining her fingers with his as he rested his hand on her stomach and nuzzled her neck.

They'd reached the house in time, not rushing even though they felt they should have at the very least moved faster.

Vala was about to open the back door to Bobby's house when she was stopped.

"Babe?" Dean called to her, causing her to turn and face him, grinning.

"Yea?"

"Did your sister talk to you the other day?"

Vala's heart fell in her chest. She'd been avoiding reminiscing that conversation all day.

"Yeah. I'm guess Sam got to you."

His eyes dropped and filled with regret and sadness.

"Yeah." He mumbled softly, trying to get back on point. "Sam suggested three things to me the other day." Dean rasped in a husky whisper.

"Aislin too."

Dean kissed Vala again, wiping the frown from her face in doing so.

"Problem is, there's a fourth option neither of them thought of."

Vala moved her eyes to the floor and scrunched her face in thought. Dean didn't hesitate any longer. He didn't want to see her eyes when he spoke it.

"The four of us go together."

Vala looked up, trying to catch his gaze as he looked away.

Dean was terrified that she'd say no, that whatever this was would be over within a few hours. Vala had said she wasn't staying around once Bobby was better. And now that he was awake, it'd probably only be hours before she was gone.

Vala caught his chin with her hand and guided his eyes to hers. He looked scared and shaken as the silence ate a hole in him. She exhaled deeply, as though she were contemplating his idea. Dean panicked and began to speak, his voice splitting with emotion.

"I don't want you to leave. I can't bare the idea of not being with you. If Sam went with you I'd be completely alone and if Aislin came with me and Sam it'd only remind me that you weren't there and I really don't want you not to be there Val, I ju-"

Vala laughed, squeezing him tighter to her and cutting off his rambling. She stood on her toes to kiss him passionately before he had the chance to start speaking again.

"You are fucking adorable when you're freaking out." She spoke between kisses.

"Is that a yes then?"

"Yes Dean. I don't want to be a moment without you either, but.. let's not say anything right yet."

"Okay." He agreed without argument.

"Can we go check on Bobby now? I wanna make sure he's alright."

Dean smiled at her concern for the man he thought of as a father.

"'Course."

Vala went to grasp the doorknob again, but was pulled back towards Dean.

"One more." He said, kissing her gently on the lips.

Dean touched his forehead to hers and kept his eyes closed for a second. He recalled their first meeting. Had someone told him then that within the week he'd be in love with the enemy that had saved him he'd of never believed it. Dean whispered to Vala in his husky, lust-filled voice.

"I fucking hate you."

Vala smiled, kissing him one last time before taking the door in her hands and pulling it open to enter the place she called her home. She knew exactly what Dean meant by the remark. She felt the same way, and she knew she always would.

"I fucking hate you too."