Wild Hearts (AU!Dean Winchester x Reader)

Part 6 - Two Years After Dean Left

Two years after Dean left.

So far, your gap year wasn't turning out the way you'd hoped. You  weren't anywhere closer to figuring out what to do with your life and  you didn't have the means for backpacking through Europe. Flights and  hostels cost money and though you saved up, it would go fast and you'd  already figured out that solo travel wasn't for you.

So you bought yourself a car and it was a used piece of junk, but it was yours.

You  weren't technically sure if you could categorize it as a car, though.  It was more of a rusted piece of tin that would stall like a toddler  having a tantrum, for no reason! It was only ever meant to get you from  point A to point B, not go on cross-country road trips to see a boy who  was never your boyfriend.

Yet here you were, on the side of the  road on a particularly balmy day in January, waiting for a tow-truck.  You'd almost made it all the way to Sioux Falls and you were so excited  to surprise Dean with a blast from his past for his birthday. Then the  engine overheated with a jarring clunk sound and you were forced to pull  over as it stalled out again. Smoke billowing from under the hood.  Stupid car. Stupid road trip. You should've flown but you wanted the  time to think. Now you had too much time.

You were wrapped in your  long winter coat and sat on the hood of your car. It had long since  cooled and the smoke cleared but the dark paint attracted the sun and it  was warm as you waited for the tow-truck. You had called the garage  that you knew Dean worked at, but you got his uncle on the phone and  were expecting him to show up. Instead when the truck finally arrived it  wasn't an old man driving it.

"Y/N," Dean said with a look of shock as he stepped down from the truck on bowed legs.

Damn it, surprise ruined. You forced a nervous smile.

"Hey,  Dean. How's it hanging?" You said, sliding down from the hood of your  car to meet him halfway to his truck parked in front of you. You stood a  foot away from each other and shifted your weight from one leg to the  other. Not quite the embrace you were hoping for after so long. "Damn  it, I should've said something cooler... Surprise!"

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

That wasn't much of a warm welcome either.

Why was this so awkward?

"Uh- um, you know, sightseeing." You pointed to the snow covered  field to the right of the quiet highway, squinting at the trees in the  distance.

"Yeah because Sioux Falls is the number one tourist  destination. In the middle of winter." He said, glancing in the  direction you had pointed with nothing substantial to look at.

You'd argue the field still had its charm. Snowflakes sparkling in the sunlight.

Dean  looked back at you and cocked his head like he knew you were hiding  something. His eyes burrowing into you, set on digging out the truth  without the use of words. Somehow it worked and you folded your cards.

"All  right, you caught me." You rolled your eyes dramatically, "You sounded  kind of sad on the phone when you said you'd be spending your birthday  alone and I... didn't want you to."

You left a little late but  drove nonstop for as long as you could and made it there with half a day  to spare. Tomorrow was Dean's twenty-third birthday!

"Sammy's  only gonna be gone one night, I'll still have the morning with him  before he leaves for his field trip." He said, still not believing you.

It  was partially true, it was the reason you used to convince yourself to  come. But the reason you risked the drive in such an unreliable car was  different. And he knew it.