The two hunters were pretty relieved of how short the drive back to town was. They weren't uncomfortable, just slightly flustered and unable to start a new conversation without thinking about what had happened back at the orchard. And right now they couldn't get distracted.
"You're back." Emily welcomed them once they stopped at the little gas station and got out of the car.
"Never left." Dean replied in a friendly way.
"Still looking for your friends?"
They nodded before Dean asked her to fill up the car, wanting to interrogate her a little more. She seemed to be the only person willing to give them all the informations they needed. So she told them she'd came here when she was 13, after losing her parents in a car accident. Her aunt and uncle had taken her in and sounded like nice people, just like the rest of the town. Maybe everything was a little bit too nice.
"So, what, it's the perfect little town?" Dean disguised his suspicions behind a joking tone.
"Well, you know, it's the boonies. But I love it. I mean, the towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it's almost like we're blessed."
The hunters shared the same intrigued look. If couples went missing every years in this town, it couldn't be blessed. It had to be something much darker, something they had to stop.
"Hey, you been out to the orchard? You seen that scarecrow?" Dean kept questioning the girl.
"Yeah, it creeps me out."
Alina faked a laugh and nodded. "Right? I mean…I was probably way more scared than the birds. Whose is it?"
"I don't know. It's just always been there."
And again, a new clue that something was wrong with the whole vibe of this perfect little town.
Alina was about to go back in the car when Dean suddenly frowned at the red van parked by the garage. "That your aunt and uncle's?"
"Customer. Had some car troubles."
Alina stopped moving with her hand frozen on the door handle. And Dean had the same worried expression on his face when she turned to him.
"It's not a couple, is it? A guy and a girl?"
And when Emily confirmed their biggest fear, they knew it was now a matter of time before another couple disappeared. It couldn't happen, not while they were here to prevent it from happening.
A few minutes later, the Impala was now parked in front of Scotty's Café where the new victims were waiting for their car to get fixed. Dean and Alina were about to enter the place to try and convince the couple to leave as soon as they could, but before they even reached the porch, Alina's phone started ringing in her jacket. She was about to turn it off until she saw the caller ID and smiled. "It's Sam."
She noticed the way Dean's body slightly moved towards her, clearly interested by the incoming call, but the moment Alina's eyes met his, he got back to his stubborn self and started walking towards the Café again. "Just hurry, okay?"
Alina watched him pass the Café's door, rolled her eyes and finally picked up the phone. "Hey Sam."
"Hey, I was about to hang up. I hope I'm not interrupting your case."
She wasn't comfortable leaving Dean handle the conversation alone with the couple in danger, but she also had to have a little faith in the guy. She needed to make sure Sam was alright. "No, of course not. I would've called you anyway, how are you? Where are you?" She went to lean against the hood of the Impala.
"I'm fine. I just reached a bus station, I'll see if I can get a bus to Sacramento. How's the hunt? Did you find anything?"
"Oh you know…just a nice little town, with nice people and their creepy ass scarecrow in the orchard. So the usual stuff."
She heard Sam's chuckle and smiled sadly. She really wanted him to be here but she couldn't ask him to come back. If someone had to do it, it would be Dean, not her.
"What about Dean? I hope it's not too hard working alone with him."
Alina thought about the moment they'd shared earlier in the orchard, and for a second, she wanted to talk about it with Sam. But that was definitely too embarrassing. "It's different. I might be an Empath but you're so much better than us with the social part of this job. I keep doubting everyone, and Dean keeps making everyone doubt us. We make a great team."
"I'm sure it's not that bad."
Of course it wasn't, and Alina couldn't make more jokes about it because she was afraid Sam would feel guilty about leaving them. "Yeah well…you know Dean, he's a stubborn idiot but he can also be fun to be around. And at least he has a car."
"Hey! That hurts."
Alina laughed with him, until she noticed the police car hurrying to enter the parking lot, and stop near the entrance. The Sheriff walked out of it with a grumpy face that couldn't mean anything good. The young woman realized what was happening, and let out a huge annoyed sigh. "Come on Winchester…"
"Alina? You're alright?"
She watched the man go inside the Café and knew she had to be quick. "Hey Sam? I have to go, but I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Bye!" She hated having to hang up so abruptly, but Dean was in trouble. She put the phone back in her jacket and rushed to the Café where she found the Sheriff standing between Dean and the couple sitting at the table right next to his. They looked concerned for their own safety. Alina fought the urge to scold Dean for being so bad at human interactions, and put on a big smile when she shut the door behind her and…
"Hey babe!"
Dean, the couple, the Sheriff and Scotty, all turned around confused when they heard her enthusiastic voice. She just kept her eyes on Dean as she started walking towards him. "I hope you got me some pie because I'm starving." Of course, she couldn't show any sign of hesitation when she reached his table and leaned over him to put a quick kiss on his lips. It was a two seconds kiss, but even that was enough to make Alina's whole body shiver.
She tried to ignore the sensation, while Dean was still staring at her in complete astonishment. He didn't know what was going on, but he liked it.
Alina then pretended to notice the Sheriff's presence and frowned like the worried girlfriend she had to be. "Hi? What's…what's going on?"
The Sheriff seemed intrigued by the newcomer, which was exactly what she wanted. "Who are you?"
"Oh I'm sorry." She acted clumsily and offered him a hand that he quickly shook. "I'm Alina. We met Scotty when we arrived this morning." She turned to the owner of the place with the same smile she'd used with him earlier. "Hiya Scotty!"
Scotty nodded back at her, confused to learn that these two were actually 'together'.
Alina continued. "So, is there a problem Sheriff?"
"We…I was about to escort this young man outside. Apparently he was disturbing the other customers."
"Disturbing?" Alina looked back at Dean with a fake angry look, and hit his arm gently. "I told you to stop with your stupid jokes!"
Dean stared at the girl for a moment, trying to clear his mind now that he was aware of Alina's little act. If he just followed her lead, he would probably still be able to save this couple. So he got into his character and smiled back at his 'girlfriend'. "I thought you loved my jokes…babe."
Alina wanted to laugh at the way he'd said the last word, like he was talking in a different language. But she couldn't, she had to stay serious. "Not when they make me look like I'm dating a sociopath." She turned to the couple. "I'm sorry if he scared you. He's not a bad guy, he's just…awkward."
She made the couple smile at her, obviously reassured by her words and her joyful attitude. "Don't worry Sheriff, we're leaving."
"Oh no stay!" The woman stopped them when Alina grabbed Dean and made him get back up. She shared a knowing look with her boyfriend, agreeing with him to let them stay, before turning back to Alina. "Please, you have to taste that pie."
Alina had succeeded in her task, even getting friendly with the future victims, making it easier to convince them to leave. She acted like she was hesitating when both Dean and her turned around to see Scotty, standing near the kitchen door with his arms crossed.
"As long as Scotty is okay with that…"
And she enjoyed the way Scotty had to hide his annoyance when he gave the Sheriff a quick nod and went back to the kitchen. With their backs still turned to the couple and the Sheriff, the hunters smiled and discreetly high-fived before sitting at their table.
The Sheriff didn't seem to want to leave, but couldn't just stay there all day if he wanted to avoid looking suspicious. "Well…have a nice day." And he left, still looking pretty grumpy. But he'd failed, so it was understandable.
Alina was glad everything was back to normal, but now she had to keep pretending to be Dean's girlfriend and it was going to be the hardest thing ever. Why couldn't the universe let her deny her feelings for him in peace?
The worst thing was, the moment they were done introducing each others, the first question Pauly asked them was already a challenging one. "So how long have you guys been together?"
"Well…" Alina didn't even have time to finish her sentence because Dean was faster to give the answer.
"Oh we've known each other ever since we were kids. Our parents were friends so she would visit us on holidays. But we started dating…a year ago, right?"
That was the easiest answer to give since it was partially true, and one year was the safest lie to remember. So Alina smiled and nodded. "Yeah that's right."
"Really?" The woman enthusiastically turned to her lover, Steve. "I wish we'd met when we were kids. You were so cute back then."
"How do you know that?"
"Your sister gave me some old family pictures."
"I can't believe this…"
The hunters watched the couple laughing and holding hands like they were facing aliens. They couldn't act like that with each other. Alina faked her smile and took a quick glance at the kitchen door. "Hey Scotty! Hope you didn't forget us!"
She didn't get a response, she just knew how irritated he was about them being here.
Unfortunately for the fake couple, their new friends seemed to be really interested in their relationship. Especially Pauly, who still thought a few minutes ago that Dean was a total freak. "So why did you two start dating a year ago if you already knew each other for so long?"
Alina and Dean shared the same anxious look they both tried to hide, until Dean realized he didn't need to act like them to pretend liking Alina. He just had to act naturally with his friend, since her true self was one of the many reasons he had stupidly fell for her. So he smiled. "You know…I didn't think she would be interested in me.
Alina frowned at the way he'd said those words. He sounded so honest that it made his friend chuckle, instantly getting all the attention on her. She wished she hadn't reacted like this now, because they all looked like they were expecting an answer from her. Even Dean.
"Right…" She was trying not to stutter because of how confusing that scene was. Why would this happen to her, right after the orchard moment? "Obviously I was interested, because…we're together now."
She wanted to convince herself that what she was saying was really a lie. "But it's just…it was hard for me, you know?" She looked at Pauly and Steve the whole time, too scared of Dean's reaction. "I mean his brother is my best friend, he'd always been, and always will be no matter what. But with Dean it's just different. I can't even call him my best friend because he's…he's the only person in this world who's totally able to understand me. Sometimes we'll just look in each other's eyes and have an entire conversation without saying a single word out loud, and I don't think I've ever had this kind of connection with anyone else."
Alina hadn't even realized how much she was now smiling, just talking about Dean and how much he meant to her. And the hunter in front of her listened to everything, completely astonished by all the things she felt for him. He'd always thought she had a stronger connection with Sam but he was realizing, how special their connection was. And the fact that she'd chose to stay with him while she could've gone with Sam to California, just confirmed everything.
He smiled like her, until she got back to reality and cleared her throat. "But we're also both really bad at relationships, and when you have someone like that in your life you can't take the risk of losing them because of something that probably wouldn't last more than a week." She laughed nervously, but noticing how much the couple seemed touched by her story, she quickly focused on her lies again. She'd been way too honest…
"But we're still together after a year, so I guess I was wrong." If the two strangers had known Alina as much as Dean knew her, they would've noticed how troubled she actually felt behind her laugh. She wanted to believe that last part, but her biggest wish was also her biggest lie.
When Alina finally turned to Dean and met his green eyes, there was so much confusion in them, she regretted saying all these things. She could've just made a joke and started a new topic. But anyway…why would he be so affected by her words? They were just pretending, right?
Scotty saved the day when he came back with two coffees and placed them in front of the hunters, already starting to walk away.
"What about the pie?" Dean and Alina asked in chorus, making the couple next to them chuckle at their similar reaction. They really were made for each other.
But the hunters simply shared an embarrassed look when they realized what had just happened, not paying attention to Scotty's answer. "There's no pie left. Sorry."
The last word sounded more aggressive than the rest, but the hunters ignored it. His return just reminded them of why they were here in the first place, they had to save that couple. So they grabbed their coffees and resumed a normal discussion with their new friends. Fortunately the next topic didn't make the situation more awkward than it already was, because they talked about their road trips, the place they'd visited, the songs they were listening on the road, and…the cars they were driving.
"Oh right!" Dean acted like he was remembering an important detail. "You told me you had a problem with your car. I'm sorry again for that stupid joke I made."
"It's okay." Steve reassured him with a faint smile. "I guess we overreacted."
Alina waited a few seconds to use this new opportunity. "Wait…you've got a problem with your car? I hope it's not too bad."
"Oh no don't worry." Pauly also reassured Alina. "It'll be fixed at sundown."
"Really?" Alina once again pretended to be shocked by that information. "Dean why don't you take a look?"
"No it's fine." Steve insisted. "He already offered us his help but like we said, we'd rather have a mechanic do it."
Alina had to be convincing if she wanted their mission to succeed. She cared about these people now that she'd gotten to know them. They were just some ordinary, innocent people, and they deserved to finish their romantic road trip without becoming human sacrifices for this creepy town. If only they could just agree to let Dean fix their car…
"Maybe we should let them do it, honey." They all turned to the woman who'd just said those words.
"What?"
"They're trying to help us, and we were supposed to have dinner at your Uncle's house tonight. You know we won't make it in time if we leave after sundown, and your nephew's been waiting for months to see you."
It all sounded like a weird dream for the two hunters who couldn't believe they were actually accepting the offer. But after a short moment of hesitation, Steve finally nodded in agreement. There could only be one explanation that Dean tried to confirm the moment they all walked out of Scotty's Café, by discreetly turning to his friend when the couple wasn't looking at them.
"You did this?" He whispered while keeping an eye on their friends in front of them.
"I don't know!" She whispered too, and Dean could've laughed when he heard that her usual tone was back. That was a good thing. That was the real her. And the real her wasn't done talking. "Okay maybe I did. I don't know how, but we couldn't have been that convincing in such a short amount of time, right? No we weren't. Or at least I was. I had to, since you decided to scare them so much you were about to walk out of there with the freaking Sheriff!"
"Hey it's not my fault! Scotty called him!"
"And everyone seemed pretty happy he did!"
Pauly and Steve suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, and turned to the hunters to make sure they were still following them. Dean and Alina had slowed down enough to put a safe distance between them four, doing a good job at hiding their conversation.
When the couple turned to them, they instantly stopped arguing and put on their best smiles. Luckily, they were convincing enough to make Steve and Pauly smile back at them, before continuing to walk towards the gas station.
Alina's smile quickly faded when she turned to Dean once again. "What the hell did you even tell them before I saved your ass?"
"I just told them the truth! That the roads weren't safe at night!"
The young woman waited a few seconds for the little laugh she was expecting from him after that answer, but he obviously wasn't joking. He'd told the truth?! She couldn't help it, her arm raised itself behind him to smack the back of his head.
"Hey!" Dean gave Alina the scary hunter look, but was quickly disappointed of how unimpressed she was. She could never be afraid of him after all.
"Don't 'Hey!' me, Winchester! What were you thinking?! We don't tell people they're in danger! We always lie or save them first, but we can't tell random strangers they're gonna die!"
"Okay I get it! I messed up, are you done?!"
Alina sighed, knowing all of this was about Sam. Almost as if Dean was completely lost in this job, because his brother wasn't here to help him. She couldn't be mad at him for that…
"You know I miss him too, right?"
Dean looked at her, ready to deny what she was implying about Sam, but gave up when he couldn't find any sign of judgment in her eyes. Like she'd said earlier, they didn't need to talk to understand each other, and that's what was happening at that moment. Her faint smile was all he needed to see, to drop the angry brother's act. He sighed too at the thought of Sam. "How's he doing?"
Of course he hadn't forgotten about Alina's phone call. He 'd been waiting all this time to ask her about it.
"Fine, I guess. He's at a bus station and…he's worried about us."
Dean scoffed at that. "He's the one who left."
"He's your brother, Dean. He'll always worry about you."
"If you say so…"
Alina wanted to insist, but they'd finally reached the gas station. As expected, Harley wasn't even pretending to be working on the car yet. And he seemed as pleased to see the hunters with the town's new targets, as Scotty was when he'd refused to give them some pie. Which made Dean and Alina smile even more with satisfaction.
LATER
Pauly and Steve didn't wait too long after the problem was fixed to thank the hunters, say goodbye, and jump in their car so they wouldn't be late for dinner. Alina and Dean waved at them while the car was slowly driving away, Dean's arm resting on Alina's shoulders to stay in their characters. But the moment they knew they were out of sight, their smiles dropped and their faces went back to complete 'Hunters Mode'.
Dean unfortunately had to let go of his friend, and she unfortunately had to take a step away from him. They couldn't be thinking about this kind of things now.
"What now?" Dean asked, concerned about the unsolved situation. "These two are gone but it doesn't mean we're done here. We have to stop whatever's going on in this freak town."
He turned to his friend with worried eyes, and frowned when he noticed the big grin she had on her lips. Why would she be so joyful about it.
"Something you wanna share with the rest of the class?"
"Well…I didn't create this whole diversion about us being a couple just to look sympathetic. Now that we've ruined their plan, they're gonna need new victims, and who would be better than the two people who've been asking way too many questions about the last disappearances? It'd be best for them if we just disappeared, right?"
Dean could finally smile like her, once he realized how much she'd thought about it. "So you've turned us into baits without asking me first?"
"That's exactly what I did."
That was a crazy plan, but he couldn't expect anything less from her crazy mind. Right now, that was also their best shot at solving this case. And… "So I guess we'll have to keep pretending to be together." Dean pointed out, almost making his friend blush at the thought.
She really didn't like having to do that. She did love the idea of it, but it was making everything so much more complicated. She nodded with a smile anyway, trying to act as if the situation wasn't awkward at all. "Yeah…but we're hunters. So we already spend most of our time lying to everyone else. It shouldn't be that hard."
"Right. Yeah…" Dean looked away for a moment, searching for another thing to say, but what he found was way better than a diversion. He noticed Harley and Stacy watching them from their store, failing to be discreet by doing so. The hunter scoffed at the sight. "Looks like you were right. They really want us dead now."
Alina turned around to see the old couple, acting as if they were suddenly too busy working to even pay attention to the hunters outside. "I hope they believed us. Do we really look like a couple? Their previous targets were constantly holding hands and giggling so it was pretty obvious, I guess. But there's no way in hell they'll see me giggling like an idi…"
Alina wasn't able to finish her sentence, since the moment she turned back towards Dean, he just grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him to crush his lips onto hers. From all the times they'd already kissed, it was the first time Dean was the one to start it and he was putting so much intensity in it, Alina almost lost her balance at the contact. Her whole body reacted with surprise for less than five seconds, until it completely melted with the kiss. Alina put her hands on his chest, while his hands were still caressing her waist, and they both felt like burning in pleasure.
The young woman was reminded of that feeling she'd tried to runaway from, back at the orchard. She'd refused to let herself fall into it, because it was so addictive. Why did his lips taste so good? Why did his hands felt so magnetic? Why did she have to love this so much?
Dean couldn't convince himself anymore, that he was kissing her for the sake of the case so they would look convincing as a couple. He'd just been waiting for an opportunity to do it again ever since that time she'd pushed him on a bed, took her shirt off, and climbed on top of him. Of course, after her reaction back at the orchard, he was afraid she'd push him away instantly, but the way her body had completely surrendered to him just made him want to taste more of her. Her cheeks, her neck…everything. But he couldn't do it. Not like that. Damn it…
By the time their lips got separated, they both felt like they'd been drugged with that simple feeling. They were scared that if they let go of each other, they would immediately stumble and fall to the ground. So they waited a few seconds before finally lifting their heads and looking in each other's eyes. They were so focused on hiding their own emotions, they didn't even notice how much the other had enjoyed it. They were friends. They were just friends. They couldn't be anything else…right?
"Hey you two?!"
The hunters both jumped when a voice suddenly interrupted them, but didn't think too long before turning around and recognizing the man in the car parked right in front of them. It was the Sheriff, and he looked more cheerful than earlier at Scotty's. The man got out of his car to face them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, I heard you helped that couple from earlier."
It was so soon after the kiss, Dean and Alina were still struggling to go back to their normal selves. Alina was even relieved when Dean responded as quickly as he could. "It was just a little leak, nothing too bad to fix."
Now that they were able to think a little more straight, they realized Harley and Stacy had to be the ones who'd called the Sheriff this time. They didn't even need to look at them to confirm the theory, it just couldn't be a coincidence.
"Well that was nice of you anyway. Listen…Scotty told me about your friends, the ones that disappeared last year. I don't remember anything specific about that day, but maybe I could find something useful for you at the police station. We could go right now if you're not too busy."
LATER
"You sure the car's fine?"
"I've checked everywhere twice, Alina. I know her, she's fine." The roaring engine confirmed Dean's statement when he finally started the car to drive away in the night.
The moment they'd arrived at the police station two hours ago, they hadn't been surprised when the Sheriff was suddenly called for an emergency. As if there were no other police officers in this town...
Obviously, they needed Dean and Alina to stay until sundown, and making them wait for two hours in the police station for imaginary clues, had to be their best idea. They were able to keep an eye on the couple, while planning their new trap.
Alina sighed in her seat. She hated more than anything having to wait in silence for so long, even if she now wished she was in a crowded place again. The two friends were alone for the first time ever since their kiss, and it had to be the most awkward drive for the two of them.
Alina was looking through her open window, playing anxiously with her jacket's zipper. She wanted to talk about it, but she was also scared of what she could say. Or what he could say.
Dean was also acting like he was too focused on the road in front of him to think about that inevitable conversation. But the way he firmly squeezed the steering wheel in his hands, totally betrayed his indifference. Fortunately, Alina had to look at him to notice it, and right now she was doing everything she could to avoid doing that…
Which actually wasn't reassuring for him either. Was she mad at him for that kiss? Embarrassed? Uncomfortable?
He didn't have the opportunity to try and restart the conversation, since a strange detail on the road suddenly made him hit the brakes. Alina was about to cling onto something when she realized what was happening, but was surprised when Dean automatically put his arm in front of her to protect the young woman. The engine was still on, but the car was now completely stopped in the middle of the road when they finally looked at each other, more concerned than embarrassed by this eye contact.
"You okay?" Dean asked her with his arm still blocking her body.
"Yeah…" She looked at his arm, then back in his eyes, and gave him a faint smile. "Thanks."
Dean smiled back at her before she quickly got out of the car to put some distance between them. She didn't know what to think anymore, she just wished Sam was here because working alone with Dean was way too distracting for her.
Dean also felt stupid about his own attitude. He couldn't keep his focus on this case with his friend around. Working alone with Alina was way too distracting for him. He'd been so focused on her, he'd almost drove on the wooden plank covered in nails in the middle of the road. Once he joined the other hunter outside the car, he felt a wave of murderous thoughts invading his mind at the sight of the plank, just a few inches away from the precious wheels of his car. He took it carefully, before violently throwing it on the side of the road.
"Okay these nut-jobs are dying tonight!" Dean tried to get back in the car but Alina was fast to block the door. "Get outta my way, Frenchy!"
"Dean I know you're furious about the car, and believe me, I wanna kill them too for that. But even if we stop them we don't know how many people in this town are in their creepy club. If Sam was here he would tell us to do some researches, so…let's do that before getting to the killing part. Please?"
Dean was still ready to punish everyone who'd tried to hurt his car, but the more he looked into Alina's eyes, the more he started to calm down. And that was so annoying. He wanted to be angry right now, but he couldn't.
That's when a sudden sound behind them, made them realize they were actually next to the orchard, at the same place they'd stopped earlier to investigate the place. They both turned towards the sound, ready to defend themselves against anything dangerous coming their way. Dean slowly went to the backseat and opened the bag with the shotguns inside it, taking one for him, and giving another one to Alina. They both walked around the car.
"Stay here." Dean told his friend.
Alina didn't want to obey, but she knew if there was a problem she had to be able to cover his back. So she stayed near the Impala while Dean started to walk towards the sound. Everything was completely silent, which worried them even more. Without a sound, they couldn't know where that thing was.
That was until Alina suddenly noticed a tall figure coming out of the trees, running in Dean's direction. "Dean!" She shouted right before shooting at the thing. The other hunter turned immediately and also shot it while it was running away to hide in the trees. They hadn't seen much of it, but it was enough for them to recognize the 'fugly' scarecrow. That thing was alive.
"Dean let's go!"
The Winchester couldn't agree more and rushed back to the car. "Come on!"
They both jumped inside the Impala, throwing their shotguns on the backseat, and Dean started the car at full speed to get away from the place as quickly as possible.
Okay I'm falling asleep in front of my screen right now. Hope you liked this chapter! See?! I told you to trust part 2! And I told you, you would like Scarecrow, Faith and Route 666! I'm working on Faith right now btw! Can somebody tell me why dying Dean is so hot?
See you in part 3 guys! Love u! Have a nice day/night!