Return of Winchester

Epilogue

Dani was sitting at Lazy Dayz in her favourite booth. Her knee was bobbing up and down. The heel of her boot tapped against the checkerboard linoleum. She pulled at the waistband of her skirt trying to smooth out the creases. Dani had arrived fifteen minutes earlier than they had arranged which she was now regretting because it had given her too much time to think and worry.

She was contemplating chewing on her fingernails when the rumbling of an engine outside of the window pulled her attention. Jason pulled into the parking lot. He was riding the motorbike that Hal had restored for him for his birthday back in June. Really it had been a present from all of them. Each of them had contributed to it in some way or another whether that was putting some money towards it or actually working on it, or in Dani's case painting a custom helmet with his initials on it and a design to match the bike.

Jason looked up through the window when he pulled off the helmet. A wide smile plastered his face when he spotted her. She waved to him somewhat awkwardly. Tucking the helmet safely away in the storage compartment he made his way into the diner. He slid into the booth across from her.

"Hey!" He beamed.

"Hi," Dani said chewing the inside of her cheek.

Noticing Dani's wooden posture he reached over the table to rest his hand over hers that was fiddling unknowingly with her rings effectively stopping the movement.

"Hey, it's okay." He soothed. "It's just me remember. Just us, you don't need to be nervous."

Dani looked up at him and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, yeah you're right." She said her nerves settling a little. "Just you and me...on a date."

An uncomfortable silence fell for a beat.

"You look beautiful by the way. I don't think I've seen you wear that skirt before."

"I've had it a while I just haven't had the confidence to wear it. It's all swishy." She said looking down at her hands, heat rising in her face.

Jason smiled at her so affectionately Dani felt her stomach do a couple of flips.

"I like your haircut." She said reaching up to ruffle his hair.

He chuckled batting her hand away playfully.

"Shut up, I know. They took too much off the sides."

"No, no I like it. It suits you. You don't look so much like a hipster anymore." Dani teased.

Jason scoffed and it was like whatever uncomfortable spell they had been under had been broken. He was right it was just them, no need to make it more complicated than that.

"Ha, thanks." He scoffed sarcastically. "Is hipster even a term that's used anymore?" He asked.

"If man buns and fads are still a thing then hipsters are still a thing so yeah Hipster is still a term used...or at least a term I use."

"Eh fair enough." He pulled one of the menus out of its stand for something to occupy his hands with. "You ready for Movie Milk Shake Monday?"

"Oh trust me you are going down. I'm going to make Casablanca my bitch."

"What argument are we going with then?"

"Ilsa is a weak character yes or no?"

Jason's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, interesting. What side do you want?"

"Yes."

"In that case you are so losing this one." He laughed sitting back. "Ilsa is badass."

Dani copied Jason's body language sitting back too. She wore a cocky smirk reminiscent of her father's. Jason's smile dropped a little.

"Right?" He asked.

She didn't reply, just sat there her smirk turning into a full smile.

"Right?" He asked again his confidence visibly slipping.

Dani shrugged coyly.

"We'll just have to find out won't we?"

The couple hadn't noticed Hal approaching them until a cake was placed on the table in between them with "Happy Birthday Dani" iced across the top. Dani looked up at Hal wide-eyed.

"But my birthday was-"

"When you were in the hospital. Jason thought we could celebrate it late. You can thank him for the cake. He made three failed cakes before he finally got this one right." Hal said smiling down at the two.

"You made this?" Dani asked looking over at Jason in disbelief.

"Do you have so little faith in me?" Jason taunted.

"No, I just-never mind. Thank you, Jay." She turned to the older man. "Thank you, Hal."

He simply winked then turned to return to the counter.

Dani stared at Jason for longer than was comfortable without saying anything. Jason raised a quizzical brow.

"What?" He asked. With no reply, he asked again. Still nothing. "Did I mess this up? Sorry I just thought tha-"

He was cut off when Dani reached across the table and pulled him into a kiss. It didn't last long but it froze Jason to the spot. Both of them stayed slightly leaning over the table noses only a couple of inches apart.

"Thank you." Dani sighed softly.

"Anytime."

☆═━┈┈━═☆

Miles away Sam sat at the table in the men of letters library. Dean sat across from him, Miracle perched in the seat next to him, his hand scratching at the dog's ears as he read the article on the screen.

The Winchesters had fallen back into their old routine. They had been on a couple of low-level hunts to get Dean back into the swing of things and now it was like he had never been gone. Something had been different between Dean and Castiel since his return that Sam couldn't put his finger on. It wasn't that they were mad at one another or anything but they wouldn't hold each other's gaze the same way they used to and whenever they ran into each other in the kitchen or the hallway they'd exchange almost bashful hellos then quickly get whatever it was that they came in for then retreat to another part of the bunker. If he didn't know any better he'd have said that they were into each other. They were always a little like that anyway but it had never gone anywhere. Now it was like something had shifted. On top of that Sam couldn't figure out how Dean was doing with the Dani situation. Every time he brought her up Dean got this look on his face that Sam had never seen before and didn't know how to interpret.

Sam's phone bleeped pulling his attention from the screen in front of him. Opening his phone he found a photo in the chat box. A picture of Dani and Jason huddled around a birthday cake a couple of grins plastered across their faces. Hal was in the background making bunny ears over their heads. Sam smiled down at his phone.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Hm?" Sam mumbled looking up at his brother.

"What are you smiling at? Did Eileen text you again? It's got to be, what, the hundredth time today."

"No, no it's Dani."

"She okay?" Dean asked a little on edge all of a sudden.

"No, no she's fine," Sam said turning the phone so Dean could see the photo. "She just sent me this."

Dean visibly relaxed.

"It's her birthday?" He asked.

"No. It's a belated celebration. Her birthday was when she was back in the hospital. On the fourteenth last month."

"Oh." Dean looked back at the laptop in front of him but he didn't seem to be reading.

"Want me to wish her Happy Belated Birthday from you?" Sam asked.

Dean just shrugged not looking up.

"Okay," Sam said.

Dean watched him over the top of his laptop screen as Sam typed a reply.

"I'm glad she finally went out with him," Sam said putting the phone down. "She deserves to be happy."

Dean looked up fully giving Sam his attention.

"She's dating him?" He asked a little protectively.

Sam smiled a little at Dean's failed attempt to be subtle.

"Yeah, now she is, took her long enough. Apparently, they've been crazy about each other for years but neither one made a move till Jason asked her if they could be more back in January. I kinda showed up in the aftermath of that argument."

"She didn't want to be more?"

"She did. She was just scared. It took her some time to get over that. She's had a lot of people in her life just walk out on her. She was scared of getting too close." Sam said absentmindedly typing out something in the search bar.

Dean had fallen into a daydream, his thoughts starting to spin on their carousel. The more Dean heard about Dani the more he worried he had passed on some of his more troublesome traits. Though she clearly had conquered some that he never had. It was like she said she didn't need a dad she already had everything she could ever need from a dad, she was a twenty-two-year-old, already a full person. But it was like Sam said, that didn't mean she didn't want a dad. He had a big decision to make and not just with his daughter but with Castiel as well and he had no idea where to start with either one of them.

AN: So this is the last part of this book. I hope you've enjoyed it. I've really enjoyed writing this, it's kept me sane throughout this year and given me something fun to do in between assignments. I'll post the cover of the next book when I've got the first chapters out.

Thank you for reading.

Meg ❤️💋💙