The Hunt.

Ch. 17 Birthday Girl.

Today is my birthday. Yay me, I'm turning 20, big deal. Note my sarcasm. Everything about today was weird. Dean was feeling playful all day, and training was suspiciously easy. Walking around, I saw Levi more often than usual, and I was wary. After my melt down, I had to go to therapy. I'm trying to learn to cope with that torture. Trying so hard. But it's just difficult. More difficult than I thought it would be.
Walking into the house, the lights were all off, and when I flicked them on I nearly had a heart attack. Dean had gotten everyone stuffed into the living room of Levi's house, which isn't that big, and they all yelled surprise at one time. After the shock of it, I started laughing, and Dean slid out from the crowd, pulling me into a kiss. Happiness flooded into me as Dean grinned.
"Happy birthday kitten."
Managing to shove through the huge crowd, we made it to the kitchen where a sort of buffet was set up. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and then Drew popped up out of no where. "Happy birthday love." He said, slipping a small gift into my hand. "You know traditionally you put your gift on the table where all the other gifts are." I responded, Drew grinned. "Well I like to break tradition occasionally dear. Following the rules can be quite boring." He said, I smiled, and tucked the small wrapped box into my pocket. "Well, I'm not going to open it early. And I love being boring." Drew chuckled, "Trust me love, you're never boring." Rolling my eyes, I felt Dean lace his fingers through mine. "Hey Drew." He said, Drew nodded casually at him, "Come on Sandra, cake." He said, and that's all he had to say.
Soon everyone managed to crowd into the kitchen, and Dean lit the candles on the cake. No, the cake wasn't a gigantic, overbearing cake. It was big because, let's face it, we all have werewolf appetites. But it was simple and I loved it. While everyone sang happy birthday at the top of their lungs I was sure the house was shaking from all the noise being made. Closing my eyes, I thought; I want everything to turn out well, then I blew out the candles. Honestly, I thought everyone would hate me because of my freak out, but I guess it made me more human to them, more relatable. It opened the door for talking with people.
Quickly I was sat down at a table loaded with gifts. There were funny shirts, jewelry, a wide variety of things that made me happy. I was having an actual birthday, not some forced event to give my parents publicity. The memory of my last birthday made me shudder. Pulling out Drew's present from my pocket, I unwrapped it, and laughed. It was a bracelet that read, 'you know the stereotypical vampire? Yeah I'm his best friend.' Sliding it on, I noticed there wasn't a present from Dean, and felt his playfulness. I knew he didn't forget. As the party dissipated, Drew left, and Dean and I walked back to the house.
It was maybe midnight, and I was sitting in the kitchen, completely bored. I twirled my hair, staring at it's split ends with a slight frown, and kept twirling. Insomnia was just a normal thing for me. My heart picked up as I felt Dean's arms wrap around my waist from behind. "Remember the day after we first met? When you're brother almost tried to murder me?" He asked in a whisper as his lips glided down my neck, making my heart race. "Well it's sort of hard to remember when you're being so distracting. But yes." I answered, adding a little sass into my tone. Dean let out a breathy chuckle as he glided his lips back near my ear. "That's the first time I ever called you kitten," he whispered. Damn it! Why is he being so fucking seductive all of the sudden?
"You maybe be Ryon's Little Wolf, and Drew's Love, but," he swirled me around so I was facing him, "You'll always be my kitten, and I love you." He leaned in, and kissed me. I kissed him back, and he pulled away. "Sorry for not giving this to you earlier, but I wanted it to be more personal." Reaching into his pocket, he handed me a necklace. In fact, I still wore the first necklace he gave me, the silver one with the moon on it. Inspecting it, I smiled, the gold chain had a tiny tab on it, on the front of the tab it said, 'kitten' and then one the back it read, 'I love you." I looked up at Dean with a soft smile as I clipped it on. "Thanks Dean. This really means a lot to me." More than you know, I added mentally. He smiled, and kissed me again. This time as we kissed, I stood up.
All too soon he pulled back, lacing my fingers through his, "Let's go to sleep." He said, I nodded, and we went to the bedroom.
That night as we lay down I was completely awake. I'd been thinking and planning something for weeks, and now was the day I planned to do it. As I stealthily slid from the bed, I felt a little guilty. Dean performed that beautiful gesture, and I was sneaking out, but I needed to do this. Reaching into my stash, I pulled out a paper that was already neatly folded, and changed into my jeans, black pumps, and a black hoodie.
Stepping out of the house, I snuck past guard patrols, thanking my training. I was on the edge of their property. This was a huge risk, leaving the property alone, unguarded, with no one knowing where I was. Sucking in a breath, I closed my eyes. I was going to do this, I had my ID on me, Diane retrieved it for me. A personal favor. I had to trust she didn't tell anyone. This, this is something I had to do for myself.
So I took that one step off their property. I was officially alone.