Not Just the Family Business

Holding Out for a Hero

I woke up the next morning wrapped in Sam's shirt. My head rested on his chest with my arm thrown around his torso and my legs tangled with his. Sam lay on his back with his left arm securely wrapped around my waist and his right bent behind his head. Because he was staring up at the ceiling with his brow furrowed, he didn't realize I woke up.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I traced over his anti-possession tattoo.

Sam's brow relaxed as he looked down at me. "You."

"Should I be worried?" I asked.

"No." Sam shifted to take my left hand in his right one. His thumb dragged across the backs of my fingers. "I just never thought I'd love someone like this again. After Jess—"

"I know." I rested my chin on my right hand. "I can still see how much you cared about her."

"It's different with you, Mel. You know everything about me." Sam tucked hair behind my ear before returning his hand to my waist. "I've never shared my life with someone like this before."

I smiled. "What are you getting at, Winchester? You're not going soft on me, are you?"

Sam chuckled. "There are certain areas that will never be soft for you." I rolled my eyes at him. His gaze fell to my fingers, which he was still running his thumb over. "I can't stop thinking about...never mind. It's dumb."

I could feel Sam shift under me like he was going to get up. I kept him where he was. "Samuel, you're many things. Goofy, gentle, passionate, brave, stubborn, but you are not dumb. What are you thinking about? You're worrying me."

"Melanie." Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, you don't just get to take it back. Tell me." I sat up and straddled his waist. "I could always torture it out of you."

Sam easily flipped me over and pinned my hands above my head. "You and I have very different definitions of torture."

I squirmed under him as he kissed me. "Sammy!"

He released my hands and shifted to sit beside me. I pushed myself up to lean against the headboard.

"Why won't you tell me?" I asked. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm worried about what you might say." Sam took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. 

I cupped his face in my hands. "Sam, when have I ever judged you?"

Sam sighed again. "Okay, I'll tell you." He reached over to the bedside table and pulled something out of it but kept it hidden from me. "I was laying here thinking about how cute you looked in my clothes because they make you look so small. Then I noticed how pretty white made you look, and I couldn't stop thinking about..." 

When Sam pulled his hand out from behind his back, there was a simple gold band with a small round diamond attached to it. "...this. I bought it from a pawnshop after we fought the seven deadly sins. I saw the way Tamara and Isaac were, and I thought maybe we could do that, too. It's not much, but I thought it was pretty—"

"Sam, it's beautiful." Tears welled in my eyes. "Do you really want to?"

"I love you, Melanie." Sam's eyes swam with tears, too. "The thought of losing you is killing me, but the thought of losing the girl I love before I can make her know how much she means to me again was tearing me apart."

"Are you asking?" I wiped the tears off my cheeks.

With a smile, Sam crawled around to my side of the bed and got down on one knee beside me. "Melanie Reyna Drake, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"