𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛[𝙳.𝚆]

035

Sam and I step down the creaky basement steps of the church, both with a small silver filled sack in hand. For a home with only two people living in it, they sure had a lot of silver.

"We got everything that even looked silver." Sam tells Dean, tossing his sack onto the floor. I set mine down gently and open it up.

"Better safe than sorry." Dean says, throwing the random silver items that were in Sam's sack into the furnace. I do the same, not looking at him at all until I hear creaking of the wooden floor that's above us. I slowly look up, waiting for another sound, but there isn't one.

"Move, move." Dean demands quietly, grabbing his sawed-off. He heads up the stairs first and I follow closely behind him. Opening the basement door, he quickly aims his gun, ready to shoot at whatever's out there. I push him out of the way slightly so I can peek my head out and see what's out there.

There, sitting in one of the first few pews, sat a quietly sobbing Lori. I look at Sam from where he stands behind me and silently ask if he wants to be the one to talk to her. I assumed she'd rather see Sam more than me. Afterall, he did save her dad's life.

He nods his head, fully stepping out the door. I watch him make his way towards her when I feel a warm hand around my wrist, causing me to jump. I snap my gaze to Dean. He pulls me back down the steps after closing the door behind me.

We work silently, throwing the silver into the furnace. It was awkward, at least for me, and that's the one thing I've been trying to avoid. Dean didn't look all that affected by it, and it made me question whether or not that kiss meant anything to him like it did to me.

Was I just overthinking everything? Am I making things weird between us by not talking about it? Are my feelings one-sided in this situation? I couldn't take all these questions running through my brain, not when I didn't have answers. Setting down my empty sack, I put my hands on my hips and face Dean.

"I can't take it." I run my hands through my hair. Dean stops throwing silver and turns his head to me, but doesn't say anything. "I-I want to forget it happened, but I can't. It's driving me insane. I'm trying to act like nothing happened for the sake of my friendship with both you and Sam, but I feel like it's only making it worse. I also can't stop whatever it is that I'm feeling and it scares me and-" I jump when I feel Dean's hands on my arms. Looking up at his face, I watch him chuckle.

"Jennifer, relax." Dean says calmly. He's smiling a little bit. I nod, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

"I didn't know you'd be so worked up over it. I thought the reason you've been avoiding the conversation was because you regret it ever happened." Dean tells me. I snap my eyes open.

"I, uh, I-"

"Do you?" Dean asks, his smile and arms falling. I don't answer right away. Did I regret kissing him? Hell no. Kissing him was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. But did I regret risking the consequences that can come from it?

Hell yeah.

"No. No, I don't, Dean." I finally answer. I don't know if I imagine it or not, but I swear I see a flash of relief pass in his eyes.

"So, what's the problem?" Dean asks, sounding confused. I sigh. Hesitantly, I grab a hold of his right hand with both of mine, playing with the ring on his ring finger to distract myself.

"I, it's...it's a lot of things, Dean." I fumble out, shaking my head.

"Like?" I run my fingers over his palm, feeling the grooves and scars across it.