JustAnna

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean chased Mika’s lips as she pulled away from his kiss, and he frowned, looking down into her eyes. He scanned her eyes as she asked if he was okay and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine…”, he muttered, taking a small step back to prevent himself from just kissing her again to prolong the inevitable. With the house silent, he was pretty sure the conversation he was trying to avoid was going to come up. It was going to hurt…no matter how he worded things.

When Mika brought up the conversation, Dean nodded, glancing down at the floor while pressing his lips together. He wanted to tell her ‘why don’t we just wait until after we’re done with the seals’ or anything to prolong things, but truth was, there might not be another time that they could have that conversation.

He followed her into the living room, “Yeah, we might as well use the privacy…”, he sighed, walking around to sit on the couch. As he sank down beside her on the couch, he avoided her eyes for a moment, until she spoke again, and he forced himself to turn and look at her.

“Um…So where to start.” He pondered, bringing a hand up and rubbing at his lips awkwardly for a moment, before dropping the hand back into his lap. He sat on the edge of the couch, as if he was on edge and ready to just run away the second things got awkward. “When um…when you left…”

He broke off for a second, fighting down the shaking in his voice, “I was on a hunt with dad. I was on a suicide run, blaze of glory ‘going out on my terms’ stint. Then, she showed up. She was younger and there was just something about her. She was able to take care of herself. She didn’t need any of us, even if we helped against her will. And after the hunt, we got to talking and found out that we had quite a bit in common…at least enough to be friends.”

“Well there was a point where we lost contact, and I went into a spiral. I think it was somewhere around the time me and you first met back up. I couldn’t handle the loss all over again, and I decided just to drink myself to death…I guess. It’s not like I had Sam and Duke was gone about half the time. I was lost…and there she was.” Dean shrugged, barely glancing up to look at Mika, before glancing to the wall behind her, “She wouldn’t let me kill myself. She wouldn’t let me give up. She was insistent. It was annoying at first, actually. I resented her, but I couldn’t…not really. She saved me and we grew closer. Bobby took us both in.”

Dean paused again and glanced toward the stairs, memories of the three of them drunk and trying to find their way to bed, only to end up all piled up together in various states of undress all over the room flooded his brain. He sighed, “And I fell in love with her. I won’t lie to you about that. I loved her so much.”

Before Dean continued, he reached his hand out and picked Mika’s up off her knee, as if he was afraid she would suddenly stand up and run off. It wouldn’t have been the first time, but he didn’t want to watch her leave…not again.

“I offered to settle down with her, to quit hunting and just…be together. I wanted to give her that normal life. I wanted to try. And she turned me down. I was still in love with you. She could feel it. No matter how much I loved her, she could feel that I would always find my way back to you. And she left me.” Dean said the last part almost incredulously, as if he had never said it out loud before, and as if it sounded ridiculous.

Esme leaving had brought on the worst fight he and Duke ever had. Duke blamed him. Duke accused him of pushing her away, of trying to hold onto both Esme and Mika. Duke hated him for a while after that.

“And Duke…hated me for driving her away.”

He let the room go silent for a few moments, figuring she would have a lot of questions, but also, he couldn’t decide on how to admit to Mika that he had lied to her about how deep the relationship with Esme had gone. He had told Mika that they hadn’t even been together long, or had sex…which was completely untrue.

“If you wanna ask anything…I’ll answer. Anything you want.” He choked out, trying to keep his guilty emotions in check.

Anna and Cason

Cason smiled brightly as Natalia stepped outside and saw her car. She had the exact reaction he had hoped she would have. Cason shrugged sheepishly and his smile widened as she pointed out how happy the simple (to him) action made her, “I just called in a few favors…that’s all. Plus, I’ve grown fond of the death trap…”

He let her go, watching the way that she treated the car much like, her brother seemed to treat his own. It was weird how much she and Dean had in common, even as close as she was with Sam. When Sam called out that he would drive, Cason nodded quickly pointing at Sam, “Yeah. I definitely agree. You need to rest and take care of yourself and…be lazy. Completely lazy. Like…hand fed kind of lazy.”, he teased her.

Anna followed Sam out the door, as he drug her to meet up with Nat and Cason. The cold air hit her instantly, and she was tempted to go and get her jacket from Duke’s truck. She hadn’t even thought about it that morning, but she regretted it, now. As if sensing her frustration, the second Sam let go of her, Cason stepped up and shrugged off his jacket, tossing it over Anna’s head with a chuckle.

“Don’t want you freezing to death.” He joked, and Anna couldn’t help the soft laugh that she breathed out under the curtain of hair and leather. She pulled the jacket down and shrugged her arms into it, wiping the smile off her face as she nodded a thanks to him. He sat down in the back seat without another word, and Anna took that as a sign to get in the passenger seat next to Sam.

“Thanks, Cason…” Anna called back to him, settling in her seat and looking over at Sam as he and Nat talked about where to go eat. She was honestly starving, but she didn’t trust her feelings anymore and wondered in the back of her mind if it was the proximity to Cason making her feel hungry. “I could eat. I don’t think I’ve eaten in a few days…I don’t remember.”

“Well then, burgers for the girls, then!” Cason called out, settling uncomfortably in the back seat. He hated cars. Nat knew that. But now that Sam was driving? He was even more nervous, “Just try not to drive like a maniac, alright Sam?”

Duke

Duke’s heart sank for a moment when Esme closed her eyes and nuzzled his forehead. He considered the way she did so, wondering if he had said something that was going to bring this entire thing crumbling down between them. Asking her to leave Dean was bold, maybe even now, it was bold. But then she opened her eyes and brought her hands up to hold his face and his heart fluttered a bit with hope. That flutter turned into an absolute explosion that forced out an overwhelmed sigh when she said that she would absolutely run away with him, but she echoed his exact thoughts about leaving the group. If they left the group, the group would be in more danger than if they just stayed.

“I know…” Duke whispered, ready to concede to just snuggling up on the couch with the tv or whatever she wanted to do. But she mentioned going out with him, and he raised his eyebrows, letting her continue as a smile began to rise on his face, especially when she kissed his nose. He tilted his head to the side, scrunching his face up like he was thinking, and completely missed Sarah being sent after his hat. He thought it was long gone after the incident in the barn.

“I mean, I wouldn’t complain about a little bar action. We always had fun at the bar…got in a little trouble at times, but we had fun.” He teased. He leaned into the gentle brushing of Esme’s fingers against his forehead. But flinched when his hat was placed on his head, making him feel strangely whole again. He brought a hand up, running his fingers along the edge of the brim with a chuckle, “Someone saved my hat. Well…I feel better already.”

As he turned his eyes down to look at Esme’s face, he raised his eyebrows again at the mischievous look on her face. He knew that face. As soon as she said what was making her eyes light up like that, Duke broke out in a laugh that caused him to wrap his arm around his stomach, “Ow. Okay…okay. So, possible drinkin’. Ramblin’ around…then gettin’ naked in the old lake back there, like the old days? I mean, I don’t know if I can say no to that proposal Sweet Pea.”

He stretched back, laughing again as he held his stomach and then shook his head, suddenly feeling lighter…and younger. Only this time, she was his. She was fully with him.

“I think it’s a little cold for swimmin’ but I’m sure we can find some trouble. I’ll be shrinkin’ up in all the wrong spots. Phew." Duke scrunched his nose up, briefly bringing a hand in front of his crotch with a worried but teasing look on his face. "Can't have that...Raskins? I almost got a kiss out of you the last time we were there.” He teased, nodding toward his truck in the parking lot.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Lexi matching his wit was enough to make Dean punch drunk. He felt almost giggly, as she didn’t miss any beats and seemed to genuinely enjoy his company. He didn’t know what the feeling was supposed to be called, but whatever it was, he didn’t mind it all that much. New romance? Budding love? Ew. Love. But Love?

As Dean’s thoughts rattled around in his buzzed brain, Lexi agreed with his joke about falling into bed together more often. He removed his arm from his face and looked down at her, raising his eyebrows before his face fell into a proud smile. So, she was going to be around. Nice. As she began tracing circles on his chest, Dean brought his own hand down to draw tiny little figure eights between her bare shoulder blades.

He couldn’t help but feel loss already, at the thought of her leaving. Even though she had shown no sign of wanting to, or needing to. He knew how hunters were. As soon as her car was fixed up, she would be gone, and he would…miss her? He had only known her a few days but they clicked in a way he couldn’t quite place. He gulped down the sad thought and pulled her a little closer, “You know, I was thinking…you could just stay here, you know. We have plenty of room and I don’t think Sam would mind. I wouldn’t mind picking your brain a bit…”

Dean snarled his nose at how cheesy it all sounded, like he was begging her to stay. He took a deep breath, “Not that I’m trying to, you know, convince you of anything. I was just thinking if you wanted to…”

Anya

Anya gasped, her mouth opening into the kiss as Sam’s kiss became a bit more rough, and his large hands slid up her torso. There was the touch she was looking for. She lowered her hips against him, pressing her knees forward to press their hips as tightly together as possible, and followed his lead, kissing him rough and deep.

After a few moments, Anya shuddered and broke the kiss, only long enough to reach for the hem of the large shirt keeping her from feeling him on her skin. She pulled it up and over her head, tossing it to the foot of the bed and then instantly reached for the hem of Sam’s shirt, struggling but eventually pulling it over his head with a giggle at how his long hair ruffled out around his face.

She brushed the hair away with her finger tips and a wide, but hazy smile, the action feeling way too intimate and loving. She gently pushed his hair back behind his ears, her smile dropping slowly as she just breathed him in, an unfamiliar flutter in her stomach causing her mouth to drop open. It wasn’t a feeling she had ever felt under the gaze of anyone, and she could stay there forever, just watching his face.

But she knew he wouldn’t allow that. Not after all the teasing. So, she crashed her lips roughly into his, tugging at his bottom lip with his teeth, as she pressed their bare chests together, just long enough to lean to her side. She released him, and laid back on the bed, reaching her arms out for Sam.

Sam might be more of a gentleman than his brother, but he was dangerous. She could feel that after tonight, she could easily become addicted…and that could be a problem.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean stepped through the living room, barely glancing up at Esme as he passed. He didn’t want her judgement or her chiming in on his relationship with Duke. He and Duke had a complicated one, and Esme knew that. The fought. They came back together. They fought more. They came back together, and while Dean wasn’t the best at smoothing things over in an actually constructive way, they never seemed to lose each other. At least in Dean’s mind, that is.

He stepped into the kitchen and sighed, walking up to stand beside Mika. He crossed his arms, just leaning back against the wall. He glanced over at her before staring at the floor, as a memory came into his mind like a freight train, just seeing Mika zoned out.

Autumn - 3 years ago

Dean laughed at a joke that Esme had made, their relationship at probably the most calm it had ever been, since Duke had left and left both of them with no one to worry about but themselves. Dean pulled Esme closer, and touched a trinket on one of the magic shop shelves. The clerk behind the counter sighed, as Dean’s hands seemed to land on just about everything, like a teenager that was planning to steal them blind.

“This one is cute. Means nothing…but it’s cute.” He chuckled, as he made the necklace swing against the shelf it was hung above. Absentmindedly, Dean glanced out the window, and his heart stopped as he saw what he could only assume was a false memory standing there. Mika stood, looking a bit roughed up, but beautiful to him as her hair blew in the light breeze outside. As she turned her head, Dean panicked and turned his head back down, clearing his throat awkwardly as he pulled Esme close. If it was a visage of some sort, he had to get it out of his head. He tilted his head down, pulling her chin up and passionately kissed her out of nowhere.

It took a moment for him to convince himself it was enough to make Mika disappear and sure enough, when he broke the kiss and glanced back up to the window, she was gone. His heart fell into his stomach, and he was instantly tempted to run out that door and see where she went, try to stop her, try to convince her to talk to him…but he didn’t. He stood there, the way the wind blew her hair playing over and over in his mind, until the clerk cleared her throat again and asked if he and Esme were going to buy anything.

——

Coming out of the memory, Dean suddenly turned and placed a hand on Mika’s cheek, kissing her out of nowhere as if they were the only people in the room.

Cason and Anna

Anna nearly broke out in a giggle when Nat told her she was awesome for putting up with Sam. Truth was, Sam was pretty amazing for putting up with her. She had been a mess from the moment that she had come back into his life, and she knew there were times it had to be too much. She nodded her head and sighed, “Noted. I’m glad that at least I fit in with the mess…”

Cason opened his mouth to speak when Nat said she was going to grab her boots. He was tempted to follow her, or pop into the room without her permission or asking, but he decided against it, dropping his shoulders, “I will be here. Don’t be too long.”

Sam speaking to him caught him off guard, and he raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Sam. He couldn’t see Sam being polite to him in any way and was half expecting the threats to start, but the guy was being legitimately polite. Cason smiled and chuckled, shaking his head, “I’ll take the quirks. As long as she’s safe. That’s what I’m here for. I know it’s hard to believe, but there’s no ulterior motive…”

“He knows. We know.” Anna spoke up, looking into Cason’s eyes with a small raise of the corners of her mouth. Cason rolled his eyes at her but he matched her almost smile, and looked across to the living room door, waiting patiently for Nat to come back. Something about being alone with the Winchesters would never be comfortable.

As Nat showed back up, Cason reached for her, pulling her in close as they prepared to leave. He didn’t wait for Sam to follow, just wrapping his arm around Nat and stepping out the back door. He was rather excited for Nat to see that he had managed to call in some favors to retrieve her car. The last thing he had wanted to do was walk out to the parking lot and for her to be reminded about it.

Duke

Duke almost cringed away from Esme as she brought her hands up to his face, and wiped the tears away from his cheeks. He still wasn’t sure how he wanted to bridge the gap of letting her see him cry. He wasn’t an overly emotional person, and he was the fixer…the one who made other people laugh when they were down. He didn’t ask that anyone returned the favor. Her words, requesting that he didn’t hide those emotions elicited a thick swallow from him, but he nodded obediently without speaking.

He sighed through his nose as she agreed to leave with him, leaning up and kissing his lips. It was the first time he had ever asked her to run away with him, and he had a feeling that she wasn’t actually planning to leave the group, even if he asked her to. He would take any separation he could, even if it meant just going for a walk to get his feet back underneath him, and run some of the frustration out.

Unfortunately, the kitchen was crowded, and the last thing Duke wanted to do was make eye contact with Dean after the conversation they had just had. It would be awkward, and there was no way Dean couldn’t read all over his face that he was not completely okay with the outcome. Thankfully, Esme dragged him toward the front door, and he followed, stepping out onto the porch. The Hellhound bark caused him to flinch really hard, and he brought a hand up to his chest, as if he could calm his heart while watching Esme talk to the dog.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that…” he muttered breathlessly, glancing back at the open door of the house as it moved a bit, and the Hellhound entered and exited with their bags. Duke wrapped his arm around Esme’s back as she came back to him, and took his own deep breath of the cold night air. It reminded him of a time that he came back to Bobby’s around this time of year, and the air was just beginning to get cold enough for a jacket. He could still hear Esme’s laugh and the crunch of the leaves under her boots, during a brief couple of weeks they were alone…without Dean.

Esme’s hands on his hips stopped him in his tracks and he shook himself out of the vivid memory as her boots crunched the leaves at his feet. He turned his eyes down to her, sniffling and dropped his shoulders at her assessment. He didn’t want her to worry about him. He had made that clear to her, and yet here she was…worrying, “I’m fine…”

But she was right with her next words. She could read him like a book. She always could. Duke tilted his head to the side and then looked at the ground with a nod. It was the same cycle, all over again. He turned his eyes back to hers and squinted in frustration, “I would like to agree with the whole tyin’ him to a chair and makin’ him listen thing…but I don’t think it would work. He would wait patiently until you finished and took the tape off, and then he would tell you all the reasons he’s not wrong. It’s just who he is and I gotta stop tryin’, man…”

Duke shook his head sadly, glancing up over Esme’s head briefly, before back down at her eyes, “But that ain’t your problem. You know how this goes. For me and him…this is fine. This is as good as it gets.”

It was then that he was tempted to ask her to run away with him. But he couldn’t. She was in no state to travel, really and with everything going on, both of them were targets that would drag Dean into a trap…especially if they were together. He sighed and reached up, cupping both her cheeks as he pressed his forehead to hers, “I wish we could run away together. I wish this whole Angels and Demons battle wasn’t goin’ on and we could just run away. Would you run away with me?”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean brushed his fingers through his sweaty hair as he lay still, catching his breath. Lexi’s bed suddenly felt more comfortable than his ever had as she lay on his chest, perfectly fitting right there, as if they had known each other forever. The images and sounds from the last hour would be seared into his brain for life, he figured, as he shook himself from his thoughts with the sound of her voice.

Her comment made him laugh breathlessly, a bright and relaxed smile on his face as he tilted his head to press a kiss to her forehead, his hand wrapping around to brush some stray sweaty hair away from her face, “Well, that’s good to know. But I could say the same about you. Jesus…”

Dean chuckled again, using humor to hide the serious feelings that were bubbling into his mind. He glanced down at the top of Lexi’s head, and flashes from their time together flooded his mind again, the sounds echoing through his brain causing his heart to flutter. He couldn’t tell if that flutter was anxiety, excitement, or a rush of something else. Either way, he wasn’t going to ruin it…not now.

“I’ve been thinking about this since the first time we touched, as pathetic as that sounds.” Dean grumbled, covering his eyes with his free arm. Then he laughed out of nowhere, “We should meet like this more often, darlin’.”

Anya

Anya chewed at her bottom lip when she felt Sam’s hands on her thighs. It seemed her teasing had worked, and when he voiced it out loud, she raised her eyebrows and shrugged as if to say ‘guilty as charged, I guess’ and then she laughed silently. She waited for a moment, toying with his hair as she stared into his eyes. There were a million things she wished she could say, if she had a voice. But she could use her touch.

She tightened her grip on the sides of Sam’s hair, tangling her fingers in the strands before pressing her forehead against him, moving her hips a bit to remind herself that he was touching her. She brushed his nose with hers, breathing against his lips as she pressed her chest against his, feeling his warmth there.

Anya brought one hand down, trailing it over his ear and down the side of his neck, feather soft touch that she knew would bring goosebumps to his skin. She let that hand trail over his shoulder and onto his back, tightening her grip to climb onto his lap, pressing her hips tightly to his. She slowly tilted her head and kissed him deeply, slow and gentle as if teasing his obvious urges, now that they were alone.

They had nothing but time…and each other, and all she could think about as the goosebumps formed under his fingers was ‘who is Sam Winchester behind closed doors?’ And ‘what version of him will be reserved only for me?’ As if she never planned to leave this place…

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Later That Night

That girl is trouble.
That was the thought that kept rolling over in Dukes brain as he lay on his bed. He stared at the ceiling of the RV, trying to find a water spot or some shape to concentrate on. It had been 24 hours. Just 24 hours, and his thoughts were consumed by the way she hugged him, the way she said his name, the way tears looked in her eyes, the specific tone of her skin under bruises, the way her hair fell onto her shoulder when she wasn’t paying attention, the way she seemed to care…

He growled as he wrinkled his nose in disgust at his own mushy feelings, never really paying much mind to women in any way than a colleague, when he was forced to work with people other than Dean. It wasn’t like him to even make friends, much less be this infatuated with someone. And that someone? Well there was a very well defined wall between the way his hands vibrated when he was in the same room with her, and his actual ability to try and form some sort of relationship with her.

Dean.
She was crazy about him. And obviously, by how sweet and awkward and weird Dean could get around her, the feeling was mutual. Duke groaned and wiped his hands down his face, embarrassed even though he was alone in the quiet trailer.

He sat up suddenly, “That’s enough…”
And as he threw his legs over the side of the bed, he sighed. She wasn’t awake to talk him out of leaving this time. He would be most of the way to Kansas before she even opened her eyes. He shoved his feet in his boots, opened the tiny closet next to his sink and pulled out his bug out bag. He hadn’t even stripped down for the night before bed, because he felt that he might change his mind. Sure enough, he grabbed his hat from the table, placed it on his head and then swiped his keys, throwing his backpack onto his shoulder. With one final look to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything, he turned and walked out of the RV.

A few moments later his white truck roared to life, and he slowly pulled out of the parking lot with a sigh.

5 weeks later

Duke pulled into the gravel lot, the familiar wave of “home” washed over him, the second he parked beside Bobby’s Chevelle SS and turned the engine off. He didn’t know why he came back. Maybe it was to finish healing up from the last hunt he had managed to survive by the skin of his teeth, or maybe it was just the need to touch familiar ground. Maybe he just missed home.

He stepped out of the truck, closing the bloody drivers door with a scrunched nose. He really needed to wash his truck.

The gravel beneath his boots sounded so nice, it was like a choir singing, beckoning him into the old house to grab a beer and just…take it all in.

His hair was a bit longer and messier on the top of his head, now just long enough to lose the slight spike it usually had. It was flattened down, laying over his eyes under a wide white cowboy hat that always seemed to have at least a little blood on it. His flannel that he sported under his denim jacket fit a little tighter across his chest from the tiniest bit of muscle growth. He had been working hard, hunting…surviving, and it showed. His face sported a healing black eye and a pretty deep bruise on his jaw and throat but in hunters terms…he was back in one piece.

Autumn was coming, and Duke could feel it in the South Dakota air as he leaned his head back and breathed deeply. The serene feeling was only broken, when he heard a tool clanging in the garage directly in front of him. Bobby stepped out of the covered carport and as usual, being used to Duke showing back up after his running spells, Bobby’s face didn’t hold any contempt. Bobby simply strolled across the lot, a wrench in his hand and as soon as he approached Duke, he threw his arms around his neck. Duke instinctively brought his hand up and caught his hat before it could be knocked off, and wrapped his free arm around Bobby’s back.

“It’s good to see you boy!” Bobby’s voice shook against the side of Dukes face and Duke sighed with a smile.

“You too, Bobby…”

Dean

Dean nuzzled Esme's hair as he woke up with a tired groan, not exactly excited to greet the day. He had work to do for Bobby, and the wire was surprisingly quiet, which meant he had been stuck around the house for the past week, just doing chores and work for other hunters that were lucky enough to have jobs. He tightened the arm she was laying on around her, brushing his fingers through her hair as he allowed his eyes to flutter open and stare at the ceiling.

It had been a peaceful month, even if the boredom was killing him. A lot of talking had occurred, feelings had been shared (even if his arm had to be a little twisted for it to happen) and he was feeling oddly rested and secure. But Bobby would want him. He could hear him tinkering in the garage below them, grumbling at the old car he was attempting to repair for a hunter.

"Good morning sweetheart." He mumbled in Esme's hair, scooting himself down on the bed a bit so that he could face her, as awkwardly as the position wrenched his shoulder. He nuzzled at her nose, and chuckled under his breath, "As much as I would love to lay here with you all day, we gotta get up and get to work. And then tonight...after dinner...I'll make it up to you."

The mischief dripped from his voice as he brought his other hand down to trace her eyebrows, in an attempt to make her open her eyes and look at him. He would never admit it to anyone outside of this room, but now that he had her...practically locked in Bobby's house with nothing to focus on but their relationship: He was in love with her.

About an hour later

Dean looked up as soon as he heard the truck door slam, a sound that he would recognize anywhere, any time, at this point. He was sat at the kitchen table, a map in front of him and a red sharpie in his hand, trying to piece together a pattern to relay to one of Bobby’s hunters. He didn’t expect Duke to be back for weeks. So, he made a mental note that this was some sort of record for the kid. Either he was injured, which Dean didn’t want to think about, or he was feeling more homesick this time. Dean would almost bet money on the former, and the thought caused his stomach to cramp. He really didn’t want to see the shape Duke was in.

He sat back and picked up his coffee cup, calling out to Esme with a sigh, “Dukes home…”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Esme even bringing up that he didn’t have to go made Duke’s chest hurt. She had never been around when he was ready to go. She had never had a chance to talk him out of it. And just telling him that he ‘didn’t have to’ was almost enough to make him stomp his feet and return to the living room. But as he stepped into the kitchen, he slowed his footsteps as he heard her groan in pain from standing from the couch.

The sound bothered him in a strange way, and he felt as if he was causing her pain. Her voice telling him to wait stopped his footsteps cold, his cowboy boots squeaking against the tile floor as he stopped. He slowly turned around, and knitted his eyebrows together, “Sorry? Why would you be…”, he started as his eyes widened and he quickly walked back into the living room, as she kept apologizing, and saying she was the one who should leave. What was she talking about?!

As she sat back down on the couch, Duke quickly lowered himself beside her and wrapped an arm around her back, wrapping his other hand around her upper arm to support her. He shook his head quickly as he held her, “You ain’t got nothin’ to be sorry for. The tension between me and…and him has been brewin’ since a couple years ago. I made some mistakes and he ain’t gonna forgive me for them any time soon.”

Duke reached in front of Esme, wedging his hand between her body and her legs and placed his hand on her stomach gently, trying to urge her body to straighten up, even a little.

“But I can’t leave while you look like this, darlin’.” He murmured sweetly, suddenly realizing that Esme was going to be a problem, for him. His need to make sure she was safe was trouble. His inability to upset her was trouble. His need to touch her, as long as she would let him was trouble.

He was in trouble.

Dean

Dean brushed the last bit of grass off his jeans as he stomped up the steps and opened the front door. He stepped inside and instantly stopped, seeing Duke sitting on the couch next to Esme, leaning with her and speaking to her in a low voice. He was taking care of her, and Dean, being the idiot he was…had been outside throwing a fit. He frowned, slowly walking over to the couch and sitting on Esme’s other side without a word at first.

Dean reached up, brushing Esme’s braid back to her back, and leaned forward, almost double on himself to press his forehead to the side of her face, “What’s going on? You okay?”

“I’ll stay…” Duke nodded to Esme, and Dean raised his head quickly, looking over at Duke with wide eyes. Was he thinking about leaving? Had he been on his way out the door? So, Esme had talked him into staying somehow. It sat weird in Dean’s mind, and as Duke lifted his own head and met Dean’s eyes, Dean gave him a look that asked ‘what are you doing?’. Duke simply tilted his head, pressing his lips tightly together, which caused Dean to sigh and bend back to whisper in Esme’s ear.

“Everything’s okay. Just try to relax…” He whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her ear.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean sighed and released Mika as it was clear that she wanted him to turn his focus from her for a bit. He felt anxiety eating at his stomach, bursting at the seams to just get everything off his chest and end the tension that seemed to always bubble up when they weren’t fighting for their lives. Mika deserved to know everything, but he was so scared to admit to her that he was in love with Esme. There were times he wondered if it was possible to be in love with two people at once, because he still had moments of wanting to just protect Esme, pull her away from all of this, and fix the wrongs…but it wasn’t his place anymore, and Mika was back. The torn feelings in his brain destroyed him more than he would ever be able to admit to either of them.

When she told him to go and talk to Duke, Dean closed his eyes, then turned his gaze down to the floor with a nod. He didn’t even know where to start with Duke, at this point. Seeing Duke with Esme brought up a lot of hostile feelings from what ended up a deeply hurtful period of both their lives, filled with jealousy, animosity and loss. Even his worst times with Sam hadn’t matched up with that summer.

As Sam stepped into the kitchen, patting him on the back and Nat followed not too far behind him with Cason, Dean nodded a silent ‘hey’ at Cason and cleared his throat. He didn’t even want to get into Nat and Cason’s crap in the middle of the kitchen. He would talk to Natalia later, and once again, he had some explaining to do…and possibly an apology to a demon…

“Alright. I’ll…I’ll go see what I can do.” Dean murmured, putting on his best passive face. He pressed one more kiss to the side of Mika’s head and then he pushed past her, before he changed his mind, and walked into the living room. As he stepped in, his heart dropped into his feet seeing Duke and Esme so passionate with one another. The way she kissed him was familiar, yet different from the way she ever kissed Dean, and for a moment, he almost turned around. He couldn’t do this.

He stood there for a moment, his brain playing over flashbacks of the rain falling loudly in the parking lot puddles. Duke’s anguish echoing off the stacks of cars. The water falling from the edges of Duke’s hat like a cascading waterfall as Esme pulled him back from that edge and kissed him, right there. Dean had pushed it down for years as a desperate act to keep Duke from leaving, to give him something to stay for, but all it ended up being was the beginning of the end for the three of them. It was the first big domino that changed everything…

Dean shook his head, coming back to the present as he stepped a little louder on the wood floor and cleared his throat, “Um…Can…can I borrow you for a second, man?”

Cason and Anna

Cason was relieved when Natalia opened the door for him. He had his jacket on, and could easily cover his hand to open it, but this whole house was a giant trap to kick his ass, it seemed. There was iron everywhere. The less he had to touch, the better. He stepped out behind her and smirked at Bobby’s comments on his way by, noticing that Esme and Duke were mighty cozy on the couch. Cason smirked, tempted to chime in, but he decided against it. If they were happy, for the moment, it meant less questions for him to answer about Esme’s ‘humanity’ issue. He still needed to contact his people for that one, and was putting it off. The last thing he wanted to do was find information she didn’t want to hear, and have her explode.

As he stepped into the kitchen behind Nat, he could tell that she was tense, as if they were sneaking around like teenagers, or could read her mind. He found it adorable, speeding up his steps to walk impossibly close to her back as they crossed the floor and up to the coffee pot. He placed a hand on her hip, rolling his eyes as she complained about the lack of food in the house.

“Human problems…fun.” He teased with a smile, but then Sam chimed in about going to get food. Cason narrowed his eyes when Nat told him that they were already planning to go out, wondering when she had mentioned it to him. If she had, he had missed it. But then she suggested that they all go out together, and Cason’s eyes turned to Anna’s face. She was standing there, sipping her coffee and not making any eye contact with anyone in the room, as if she still didn’t feel like she belonged, “How are you doing, Anna?”

“I’m okay.” Anna said quietly, flattening her lips in a fake smile, as she barely looked up at his eyes. She could no longer hear his heart, but she could smell him, and it was enough to make her a bit anxious. Cason was having none of it. He reached his hand out, pinching her chin and lifting her head to look him in the eyes. The touch from him was awkward, and Anna blushed, carefully looking him in the eyes.

“Are you sure? You feeling up to going out?” Cason asked her, releasing her chin, and she nodded awkwardly, taking another drink of her coffee before waving her hand around.

“If everyone will agree not to look at me like some sort of ticking time bomb, yes. I am okay with going out.” Anna explained and Cason nodded.

“You don’t look like a ticking time bomb at all. You look like a hunter...with pretty eyes and a smile that needs to show back up. We’ll get one out of you, eventually.” Cason teased, and Anna’s lips struggled to fight down the smile that almost came up, just at him mentioning her smile. Her eyes turned back to the baseboard of the wall in front of her, and she sighed as Cason continued, “But seriously. I got you back to Sam. You’re alright. Let’s go get some food…I know you’re all starving. Humans and all.”

Duke

Duke chased Esme’s lips as she broke their kiss and brushed noses with him, something she knew made him weak in the knees. Luckily he was sitting down. When she smiled against his lips and her breathed passed over them, he laughed, a fully wide smile at the words had heard from Bobby a million times about ‘sweet nothings’. He gasped with a small shudder and a groan as her fingers tangled themselves in his hair again and she deepened the kiss. With the way his heart fluttered somewhere in his stomach, they really needed to get it together, or he was going to lose his mind.

He wrapped an arm gently around her back, ready to lean into her and lay her back down when Dean cleared his throat and Duke reluctantly broke the kiss with a sigh. On one hand he was thankful, because he couldn’t let Esme move things much further. He was too afraid of hurting her, but also because his self control could only handle so much of the little touches. She was fully his, now…

Duke brushed Esme’s nose with his, and leaned back, taking his weight off of her as he glanced up at Dean and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah sure.”

He turned back and looked into Esme’s eyes, bringing his hands up to remove hers from the back of his head. He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles, “Hold that thought. Please. I’ll be right back.”

He grunted with a little pain as he scooted himself back and stood from the couch, walking over to Dean. Dean nodded his head toward the basement door, and Duke followed his lead, following him down the stairs, closing the door behind him. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Duke instinctively prepared himself for Dean to punch him. It was a reflex, even after all these years, after their last meaningful day together. But instead, Dean turned and leaned against the wall outside the panic room.

“I want to um…I want to apologize for this morning.” Dean started, and Duke narrowed his eyes, trying with his fuzzy mind to remember what Dean would even be apologizing for. “I should have let you take care of her. She’s not…she’s not mine to care for, now.”

“You think I’m upset about that?” Duke asked, shaking his head with a scoff, which caused Dean to tilt his head in confusion. “This ain’t about some petty love triangle. Me and you didn’t exactly leave on good terms way back when, if you remember…”

“I know.” Dean sighed, shaking his head.

“Then you know that whatever you feel between me and you is because of me and you, right?” Duke asked, and Dean nodded but his face still held a bit of confusion. “There are days, man…most of the time I’ve known you, that I feel like you would be a lot happier if I just wasn’t around. It’s why I never called you after…that day…”

“I’m sorry about that too, man.” Dean sighed, closing his eyes as his emotions began to bubble up. He and Duke were closer than brothers, before their falling out. The pain in both their chests, standing in that basement was a reminder of that. “But don’t you ever question how much…what I would do for you. Do you hear me? I would still take a bullet for you in a heartbeat. You’re my brother.”

“I know…”

“Do you? Because from what Mika said, you think I would rather kill you myself than see you happy. You think I wanted you to die last night? I fell apart…” Dean choked the last part of his sentence out, and Duke raised his eyes from the floor to look at his face, hearing him get emotional. His own eyes filled with tears and he shook his head but Dean stopped him, “I felt a piece of me die, right then. No matter what happened between us. No matter what we said…there has never been a day that I stopped loving you. Do you hear me?”

“I hear ya…” Duke whispered, sniffling as he placed his hands on his hips. He didn’t know what to say. After all these years, he just assumed that coming back would only complicate Dean’s life.

Dean pushed away from the wall, and sniffled himself, before wrapping both his arms around Duke, holding him protectively. The hug was so tight that Duke groaned in pain, but he brought both his arms around and hugged him just as tight.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again and don’t you ever think that there’s anything I wouldn’t do for you. I don’t want to hear that again. I love you, okay? Everything else, we can figure out.” Dean spoke against the side of Duke’s face, and then he pulled back and scanned Duke’s eyes, blinking his own tears away from his eyes, “Are we good?”

Duke thought about it for a moment, as he scanned Dean’s eyes. They weren’t good. Not really. There was still so much to say. There was still so much Duke wanted to get off his chest. They needed to discuss his relationship with Esme. They needed to talk about the day they left each other. But Duke simply closed his eyes and nodded. Without another word, Dean patted the side of his face and turned to walk up the stairs, trying to wipe his eyes and make sure no one could tell he was crying. Duke sighed, looking around the basement for a moment, before dropping his shoulders and walking back upstairs, his eyes landing on the couch as soon as he stepped in.

“Wanna get out of here?” He asked Esme bluntly, wiping both hands down his face to clear his emotions.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean chuckled at Lexi’s comment about ‘annoying brothers’ and he didn’t even try to argue with her that her room would be a lot more private compared to his. He and Sam had picked rooms relatively close to each other, just in case something happened in the middle of the night, while they got used to being in the giant building on their own. Sam would hear every word…or lack thereof, the entire night if they went to his room.

The sad thought hit him for a moment that he used to share that room with Mika, but Lexi grabbing his hand and tugging him into the hallway broke him from the potentially night ruining memories, and he happily followed her, his body almost limp as he let her tug him along.

As soon as they were alone in her room, the door shut securely behind him, he let his shoulders fall, tossing their shirts onto the desk beside him casually. Without skipping a beat, Lexi’s hands were on his jeans and he smiled widely, tilting his hips forward to let her unbuckle his belt.

“Whoa…she’s not missing a single beat.” He chuckled, his smile lazy as he glanced down at her hands and then back up to her face. He found his ability to use his hands after a brief moment, wrapping his right hand around her neck. His stomach dropped and his heart fluttered watching the way his fingers touched the back of her neck, and his thumb sat so nicely against her throat, like the two of them just…fit. He used his thumb, tilting her head up with a soft growl, before covering her lips with his again, picking up where they left off. He turned and backed her against the door, trailing both his hands over her chest, down her stomach with a feather light touch as he reached for the band of her jeans. Once there, he slipped the tips of his fingers in, just tracing her waist band all the way to her hips, before they came back to the center and he flicked the button open with one hand. He shoved roughly at the fabric, pushing them down her hips before breaking the kiss briefly, with a breathless smirk against her lips. He nipped at her lip, tugging it between his teeth, “No regrets…”

Anya

Anya raised her eyebrows at how fast it seemed that Dean had moved with Lexi. Watching the two of them, you would have thought they had known each other for years and just…built up some tension over time. Then again, Dean did seem like the type to fall fast for people, at least when it came to sex. She shook her head, a little surprise on her face as she scoffed and mouthed ‘wow’.

Anya agreed. Just judging by the tired look on Dean’s face the first time she had met him, he needed a break. He needed a win, and if sealing the deal with Lexi was that win, she was happy for him. He seemed to have been through so much, and her heart broke for him, even if he didn’t seem to like her much at first. Sam’s voice broke her from her thoughts, the mischievous smirk never leaving her lips as he laughed at her joke. The mental image of Dean as a bunny flooded her brain as well and she laughed, tilting her head down for a moment.

But then Sam’s voice seemed a little different as he echoed her mischief and brought her back to the fact that she was on his bed, in his room, and they were not only alone…but expected to stay in this room all night. Dean wasn’t throwing a fit about them anymore. She stood from the bed, placing a finger on her chin in a joking manner, before stepping over to his dresser.

She turned to him, and pointed to the dresser, happy that the first drawer she reached for was where his t-shirts were. Maybe she read him too well already. As she pulled the drawer open, she saw a gray one that just seemed right. She pulled it and turned around, letting it unfold in front of her, and shook it a bit in a way that said “we were coming for clothes, remember? Wholesome.”

She tossed it on the bed beside him, and then walked to stand in front of him, reaching both her hands down to grab the hem of her own shirt, pulling it up and whisking it over her head, tossing it on his other side. She kicked her boots off, never moving from her place in front of him, and unbuttoned her jeans, shoving them down her legs, stepping out of them and kicking them to the side.

She stepped up to him, standing between his knees, and reached across his leg without touching him, just grabbing the t-shirt from the bed, and pulled it over her head, straightening her hair over it as it covered her body again.

It was only then that she touched him, bringing both her hands down to brush the sides of his hair back, playing with his ears a bit as she stood almost eye level with him. She didn’t bother picking up her phone, just staring at his eyes with a smirk, as she mouthed, “Mission complete.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean gasped into Lexi’s mouth as he felt her fingers trailing down his back, and finally making skin contact beneath his shirt. That tiny bit of skin contact was enough to spur him on even more, and he removed the hand from her hip, reaching back between his shoulder blades, where he began to bunch his shirt between his fingers. He finally had enough of a grip and broke the kiss, removing his hand from her hair, just long enough to whisk his shirt off over his head and toss it on the floor beside his feet. He reached down, fully confident and feeling in control, and gathered the bottom of her top with both hands, whisking it up and over her head and arms, tossing it with his.

Dean came back to Lexi, craving the feeling of her skin against his, as he tangled his hand in her hair once again, tugging gently to pull her head back, and began kissing and nibbling over her chin, down to her collar bone. He had just rolled his hips forward, urging her to work on his jeans when Sam’s fist banging on the door stopped him in his tracks and he panted against the side of Lexi’s neck with a soft growl. Of course…

Of course Sam had snuck up on them and ruined the moment. Wait…they were in Anya’s room. Dammit. Dean stepped back, his skin flushed and his muscles tight as he reluctantly released Lexi and placed his hands on his hips. “Room’s ready!”, he called out, his voice raspy and frustrated as he heard Sam’s door close. He threw his hand up in frustration, and then turned to Lexi with a laugh.

He stooped to pick up their shirts, and then stood with a shrug, “At least it’s expected at this point, right? My room or yours?”

Anya

Anya walked with Sam back to his room, careful again not to touch him too much, or she was afraid the tension would burst way before they made it down the hall. From the sounds that were coming out of the room across from his, at least some of that tension had already come to a head. She stepped into Sam’s room, her hand on the door frame as she peeked around and watched him mess with his brother. Sure enough, the awkward response rang out and she could hear it in Lexi’s voice. They had been at it, probably the entire time they had been down this hall, and Sam had interrupted them.

Anya blushed and looked down at the floor with a bright smile as Sam directed them to one of their rooms, like a typical brother. Dean seemed the type to be legitimately upset that Sam had interrupted him, and when his voice called through the door, Anya laughed, the silent laugh coming out with a wide open mouth as she slipped back to make room for Sam to push through the door way and close the door behind him.

“What a mess…” She signed without thinking, walking over to sit on the edge of Sam’s bed. She pulled her phone and typed a message, turning the volume down on her phone as she heard Dean open the other door with a huff, banging his fist on Sam’s bedroom door on his way by, as if he was going to return the favor. But she and Sam hadn’t even touched each other. The action made her laugh again. “I would say that Dean was hoping to have a head start on his good night. We are mean.”

As her phone played, a little quieter, Anya typed another message instantly and pushed play, with a mischievous almost challenging smirk on her face, “They broke before us, which means…at least that tension is broken and they can just be bunnies. Who knew you were the wholesome brother?”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke opened the door of the house in a huff, grass clippings still stuck to his sweaty chest and back as he walked straight to the kitchen without saying anything. Esme seemed to be preoccupied anyway. He opened the door of the fridge with shaky hands, and grabbed a beer from the top shelf, turning to glance out the kitchen window. Dean was still laying on the ground, but he was now laying on his back, his arm over his face, just defusing himself. Duke shook his head, watching as Dean stood up ranting out loud to himself and began gathering things like Duke had asked him.

With a sigh, Duke walked toward the living room, picking pieces of grass off his chest as he walked. He cracked his beer open, and took a long drink, before looking down and picking at the grass again. As he stepped into the living room, he looked up and Esme had ended her call, her turn to him causing him to flinch. Duke didn’t really know the answer to her question. He had put a stop to Dean’s blame game, for the moment, but whether or not they had worked anything out was up in the air.

Duke stepped over to Bobby’s desk and grabbed a chair, spinning it on one leg to turn it with the back toward Esme. He straddled the chair and reached up to pick a piece of grass from his hair that was sticking out of the front of his cowboy hat.

“Um. It seems that way.” He spoke up, taking another long drink of his beer. He then slung both his arms over the back of the chair, his shoulder muscles flexing with the tension that he still held there, and he tilted his head to the side, “He seemed a little more calm when I left him. So, he’s all yours. I’m gonna go out for a bit, after I go grab a shirt. Maybe it will help you two loosen up…”

Duke was upset, but he was mostly just frustrated and the buzzing in his brain that told him it was probably time to get away from everyone for a while was ever present. He took a final long drink from the beer bottle, and then reached across to Bobby’s trash can, tossing it in. He tapped his toes, letting the living room fall into a bit of silence and then nodded his head, awkwardly picking at a couple of pieces of grass that were still stuck to his arm.

“I’ll be back…” He said suddenly, standing from the chair. He didn’t make eye contact, afraid that she would be the one to talk him into staying, this time. He barely knew this woman, and yet she had his brain in a bit of a chokehold. The need to get to know her, to find out everything he could about her, and to just spend time with her was overwhelming. He had to go. He pushed the chair back to Bobby’s desk and stepped off, a shudder of regret causing him to crack his neck as he walked toward the kitchen.