Dean picked up the phone and scrolled down to her name. His gut twisted with a nervousness he was unaccustomed to. He dialed her number, feeling his nerves lessen at first but grow again the longer it took for her to answer. When he only got her voicemail, he felt a distinct feeling of disappointment. That feeling was more and more familiar. His teeth clenched as he listened to her recorded voice telling him that she couldn't come to the phone right then.

"Hey Red, it's…" He cleared his throat, "it's me. I uh, I guess I was just calling to check on—check in with you. But I guess you're busy or something. Again. So, yeah. Why don't you call me back soon as you can? Otherwise I'll hafta send out the search party. So, I uh… I yeah, I'll talk to you soon."

The past few weeks were like this. She wasn't stonewalling him, not exactly but there was a distance he hadn't expected. At first, having left her house with a sweet but noncommittal kiss, things were good between them. Not exactly what he wanted but good. It was certainly better than any time in the last three years. They weren't fighting. Dean thought they were even closer than ever. They'd made progress, as 'daytime TV therapist' as that sounded, they had talked about their issues and while they couldn't expect to have everything magically fixed between them, things were better.

Except for being apart. That part was worse now. Dean remembered not thinking about her at all at one point. But now, she occupied more than just the part of his memory dedicated to bittersweet things. No, now she was popping up everywhere. He'd be working a job, thinking about how much he'd like to have Mae at his side. He'd see or hear something that just struck him as something Mae might like, or hate, or find funny. He supposed it was infatuation and he was okay with that. What he didn't understand was why Mae didn't seem to react in the same way.

All indications were, while she was hesitant and a little guarded, she had similar feelings. When she was comfortable enough to be open, he knew he wasn't just imagining her feelings for him. This wasn't one sided. He knew there was something else, something that held her back. She'd alluded to that but never told him what it was. He tried not to push too hard while still trying to keep her from retreating completely. With things as tense as they were with Sam, he had hoped that Mavis might be there for him. Hearing her voice telling him to leave a message just wasn't enough.

He missed her, his heart ached for her. It was an unexpected feeling. Even when they had been fighting, he felt this way. He wanted to be near her and was unsure why. After all, there were far more accessible women out there, women who he didn't have to be tied to or work so hard to win over. As much as he wanted to ignore the connection he felt to her, he couldn't. She had a singular power to drive him insane and make him happier than anyone else. Her smiles made him smile, her laughter was more intoxicating than any liquor, and the way she touched him filled him with a strange sense of calm mixed with excitement.

There was no other woman who made him genuinely made him want to have her as a part of life. Mae would fit so well. He'd been with other women had left an impression and one who had made him consider the possibility of being with someone normal. But Mae bridged the gap. He didn't know if he loved Cassie, not when he felt this way about Mavis. It was possible because the way he felt about Mae was so all encompassing. He couldn't compare. Of course, if Mae had shown him anything it was just how easily things could change, how simple it could be to fix something broken.

Or not. Dean shook his head. He was being to think that perhaps Mae had changed her mind. In a moment unusual honesty, he'd told her he loved her. Maybe that spooked her. She was so impossibly stubborn. Even as she said she wanted to find out what might have been between them, she kept distancing herself.

Now, she only allowed him to have parts and pieces of her but nothing like he wanted, nothing like he was willing to offer of himself. Dean told himself he should be satisfied with where they were, it was better than nothing and it was more than he had ever had before. Of course, if this were her way of ending things, maybe that was okay. He didn't like it but he could admit that had reached a point of resolution. They weren't what he wanted to be but if they ran into each other on a job now, things would be okay between them.

Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted more. He wanted to follow his instincts, their passions. He wanted to be more than a past lover and current friend. He wanted more than the occasional night together or the handful of jobs they worked but he would take that if he could get it. That left him chasing after her.


Mavis couldn't say why her heart sank whenever Dean called now. Lord knew it wasn't the way she wanted to feel, although she knew it wasn't abundantly apparent. She listened to his message, more than once. She didn't want to, at least not the second or third time, but she liked the sound of his voice. How many times had she told herself that developing feelings for him a mistake, a bad idea, or at the very least poorly timed? And still she couldn't stop missing him.

His voice, even as tongue-tied and exasperated as it was, made her heart quiver. She wanted him in ways she didn't even want to label. Sometimes she could see herself with Dean, hunting, living, loving. Under different circumstances, she would have, without hesitation. They were good when they were together, at least when they weren't under the influence of a spell.

When she was with him, there was potential. For what, she didn't totally know but she felt whole. She felt safe. But it still felt wrong. Not being with Dean but being happy with him, being happy because of him, perhaps being happy period. That was what felt wrong. While he chased after that with her, it made her more and more uncomfortable the longer she was alone with it. When he was with her, it all made sense but apart she thought too much about it.

That wasn't what she wanted. She wanted her head and her heart to get together on this. She missed him. She longed for him. But she knew being with him would distract her from what she needed to get done. It wasn't practical to be with him. It wasn't wise to be with him. But it was so hard to be apart. The only thing that made it easier was not talking to him. Evidently, he did not feel the same way. She just needed him to wait until she finished her work. He could understand that.

If he had called about a case, she could have pretended it was just work and convince herself that she was going for the job and not the man. She felt selfish for wanting to see him without being able to at least come clean about why she was acting the way she was. Maybe if she slept with him, she could distract him with that. It wouldn't be entirely without reward, she though with a grin.

Dean would go for it and it would settle their emotions, for a while at least. Maybe she would eventually overcome whatever was keeping her from feeling like she could get close to someone else again. But she could hardly sleep with him while keeping her emotions under control. That brought her back to her original option; she needed to ignore Dean until he got the point. She would make it up to him later.

Right now, that plan wasn't working. She knew he was serious when said he'd come looking for her if she didn't call him back. She would either breakdown and call him or he'd show up on her doorstep. As much as she wanted to see him, she knew being in the same room with him would make her weaken. She wouldn't be able to keep him at a distance if they were together. Summoning up her courage, she tried to steal herself against Dean's charms.

"Hey," Her voice was a lot breathy and just a little hesitant. He ignore the hesitation and focused on the romantic, sensual timber of her speech. Just that word had his body craving more. Maybe he could talk her into phone sex.

Dean smiled to himself, relived to finally get the call back. That hadn't taken too long. All the excuses he had made up to pacify his nagging doubt were finally true, he thought. She'd been busy and needed time before she was able to get back to him. He rationalized it and somehow that made it seem sensible. "Hey, yourself. I was starting to worry."

His tone was light, easy and happy. Thank God, she thought that she couldn't see his face. That might have broken her heart if had to watch her break his. "No, you weren't."

Her voice was a bit strange, a little cold he thought but perhaps he was reading into something with her. There could be something going on, a case or something. Perhaps she wasn't feeling good or something, so he ignored it and decided to tease her a little. "I was. I know the kind of trouble you can get into."

His game wasn't going to work, she needed to stick to her guns. "I was… busy."

What was wrong with her, he wondered. Was it him? Was it her? He wanted to wait until she told him, but he thought he might have to talk it out of her. "Yeah, you've been busy a lot lately. A lotta cases or something?"

She sighed. "You know the job."

"I do, I do. So…" There was a long, telling pause. Neither of them willing or wanting to make the next move. Dean didn't like it. "What the hell is this Mae?"

His ire was up. She knew it was a tipping point and she could use it. He'd either give up or try harder. She just had to figure out a way to get the man to stop trying. "What's what?"

"Don't…" his first instinct was to raise his voice, yell but knew her well enough that he needed to stay calm for the time being, "you know what I mean."

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I've been busy. You know, this work doesn't do itself."

"So that's how you're going to play this?"

Annoyance started to creep into her previously cold and unattached tone and words. "Dude, I'm not playing at anything. You've been calling me like crazy. Is something wrong? Do you need help or something? Or is this just a social call."

His eyes narrowed. He was convinced now that she wasn't just in a bad mood, she was being purposefully evasive and rude. And he didn't know why. There wasn't anything he could think of that he had done to put her in such a mood. "What's wrong with a social call? I thought we were...am I just wasting my time here, Red?"

"What would wasting your time look like?"

"Okay what the hell is going on with you? Did I do something to piss you off? If I did, it was unintentional. Just tell me what it is and I fix it."

She frowned. It would have been easier, maybe better to tell him he had. But he hadn't. "You didn't do anything."

"Then what the fuck, Mae? Things were going fine. We were actually acting like adults. I thought we were having a fun time at it too. I was under the impression that we actually liked each other. If you don't feel anything-"

She cut him off and tried to get straight to the point she thought he was trying to make. "We've already established that I do. What is it you're looking for here? A girlfriend, a wife? You wanna make a lot of babies you can raise up to be hunters? Huh? Is that what you want? Because if it is, then I can't give that to you. I can't be any of that. I can however be your partner. We can hunt together, hang out together, even have some fun from time to time. None of that means I care about you any less."

"Okay, pump the breaks babe. That's a nice little speech but not even remotely my point. I mostly meant that communication is a two-way street and you've shut yours down. I'm looking for a sign and you know maybe I got it. You don't want to talk to me and when you finally make the effort, you're in a pisser of a mood. I don't a girlfriend, a wife or any of that other stuff you rattled off but more than anything, I don't wanna chase after rejection from you."

That was it she decided. All she had to do was keep her voice even and stony. "Maybe you shouldn't call me anymore then."

It was the hardest thing she'd told him. While they'd had big fights and tackled a number of uncomfortable topics, none of them seemed to come as close to being overtly hurtful. She knew she had hit the right mark with his silence.

Damn, Dean thought, Mae had dealt some low blows, but they were usually reserved for fights where the traded potshots and harsh words without meaning them. She meant this. He didn't know what had happened but it was clearly something. They had touched on the old magic between them. It wasn't perfect, they'd have to work on it but he was willing to do what it took get back to where they could just be close again. Apparently, Mae did not see things the same way.

"Seriously? You really want that Maeby? You never wanna talk to me again?"

"I didn't—yes." She had to lie to correct herself. Her first denial had just popped out of her mouth without any thought to it, "I think maybe we should stop talking. For a while anyway."

"Well, you've really been working hard at that lately."

"I thought you might take the hint."

"I thought when things got tough, we'd try to ride it out. I thought we would be smarter than this and I really thought you wouldn't just give up."

It was a calculated move and Mae knew she shouldn't have reacted, but she couldn't help it. "I'm not giving up Dean. I'm just saying I need some space."

"You've got nothin' but space sweetheart. You know, we could actually talk about whatever is bothering you."

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it, not... yet. What I want is just some time, some space. I'll call you when I'm ready."

"It doesn't work like that. I don't just jump when you say jump."

"Okay. Then I guess it doesn't work Dean."

"That's bullshit, Mae!"

"What did you expect?"

The woman knew just what to say, just what buttons to push and he couldn't stand it. He was mad now and he had to take a breath, he had to find a way to not lash out at her. "I just… okay, you know what, we do need some time or we're going to say something we both regret." She was quiet, didn't respond to him. "So, I'll give you your… space. But do you think you can at least call me back when you're ready to talk?"

Again, she was silent for too long before she said. "Okay. Later, I guess."