Alive

Chapter 21: Onto the Next Monster

I wake up to the smell of grease and to the sound of Dean slurping on a drink.  My sore and tired eyes open and I sit up.  I feel my surroundings shake and I realize I'm in the car.  "Wha-What the hell?  How and when did I get in here?  What time is it?"  I ask, all confused and discombobulated.  "You were so tired that when we packed your bag and carried you to the car you didn't wake up.  Like you didn't even budge.  You must've been so exhausted.  Or maybe where Castiel healed you, your body has to catch up or something."  Dean says, taking another drink.  I turn and look in the back to see Sam asleep.  His mouth is wide open and his breathing a little heavy; he's almost snoring.  He's out.  "Oh and it's 12:30 p.m. by the way.  Lunch time."  I gasp as Dean says this.  "I slept for so long—oh my gosh."  I run my hands over my forehead and rub circles with my fingers around my eyes.  "You okay?"  Dean asks, immediately getting concerned.  "I'm fine, just—wow.  I can't believe I slept that long."  He just chuckles, picking up his bag of fries and sticking it in front of me.  "Food?"  He asks.  I shake my head, "No thanks, I'm really not that hungry."  Dean just shrugs his shoulders and continues to eat them himself.  

He turns up the radio a little bit and "City At War" by Fictionist comes on.  "So, where exactly are we headed?"  I ask, sitting up and rolling my window down a little.  Dean slowly shakes his head.  "Not exactly sure yet.  Neither Sam or I have checked for a new case yet.  We'll probably just drive for today and stop by a few cool places and then we might have to just sleep in the car."  He takes another slurp after saying this.  I look out the window, "Okay cool.  What cool places are we gonna stop by?"  I ask.  Dean starts to drive a little faster.  "Well, we're in Florida now so—". I cut him off, "Florida?!" I raise my voice a bit, shocked. Dean looks at me and nods. "Yeah?  Why is that such a big deal?"  He chuckles, "I was thinking we could drive down to a beach tonight and check it out. Sleep in the car there or something with the windows down.  Sam and I have only been to the beach like literally one time in our whole life." I raise my brows, looking over at him. "First of all, it's a big deal because it's Florida and beaches are beautiful and the weather here is fantastic.  I love Florida!  That actually could be a really good time. We should get snacks and booze." I say excitedly. "Alright then.  Let's do it." Dean says with a smirk. Yes! Perfect! I giggle, biting my bottom lip.

"Here—look, there's a gas station up here actually. Let's start there, just get a few things." Dean says as he pulls over into the parking area of a pretty nice gas station. "Okay, perfect." I say, glancing at Sam who is still fast asleep in the back. "He's okay in here alone if we just go in and get stuff really quickly, right?" I say to Dean. Dean starts to laugh at me, "He's a grown man Elena he'll be fine." I shrug, "hey, just making sure he's safe. You know bad things always happen to us. We always get bad luck with some kind of psychotic kidnapper or some other crazy dilemma."

Dean parks and turns the car off. "True, but I think he'll be okay in a place like this. He also can defend himself pretty damn well. Let's go." Dean says as he gets out of the car. I get out and shut the squeaky car door, following after Dean.  He opens the door for me and we walk inside.  "So what kind of snacks do you like?"  Dean asks.  I smile, walking down the aisle of chips and candy.  "Okay, well my favorite thing about gas stations is beef jerky.  This girl loves her beef jerky."  I giggle. 

Dean raises a brow and immediately finds a good sized bag with beef jerky.  "What kind?  Original?"  He asks.  I nod with a grin on my face.  We walk further down the aisle until Dean picks up a bag of Kettle Cooked potato chips.  "I love Kettle Cooked."  Dean says, holding the bag in between his armpit.  "Kettle Cooked chips are SO good."  I say, rolling my eyes into the back of my head.  "I know right?"  Dean says.  We come across a large section of candy and I pick up some Reese's and Butterfingers.  "Reese's are good."  Dean says as he watches me.  "Here, I'll carry it for you."  Dean takes all that I'm holding out of my hands.  God he's so sweet I just love it.  It's literally the little things. 

We walk over to the alcohol section.  "What kind of booze should we get?"  I ask, staring through the glass.  "Hmm..."  Dean thinks.  "Let's get us some beer and a few margarita cans.  Those seem appropriate for the beach, right?"  He asks as he opens up the glass door.  I nod, "Yes it does. Sounds good."  I pick up all the alcohol that we want and carry it so that Dean won't drop everything else he's holding.  We also pick up a few more bags of chips on the way to the counter. 

Once we check out, we walk back outside to the car and put everything we bought so far into the trunk.  Dean shuts the trunk and slaps his hands together in a wiping motion.  "Perfect.  What else do we need?"  He asks.  I think for a moment, leaning up against the back of the car.  "Maybe down the road we can get some pillows and blankets to lay out for when we sleep?  Maybe get some stuff to build a fire and s'mores."  I suggest.  Dean's eyes light up.  "Oh God, yes.  Yes that sounds good." 

He stands in front of me and rests his hands on my waist.  I smile at him as he moves closer to me.  He looks deeply into my eyes, just grinning like a dork.  "You're so beautiful."  He says.  I blush at this and smile, thanking him.  "So are you."  I compliment him in return.  I mean look at him?  This man is definitely beautiful—Lordy.

Dean laughs, "I'm beautiful?  Well thank you!"  He says in a sarcastic girly tone.  I laugh at him, pulling him closer to me by his jacket collars.  He leans in and kisses my lips deeply and passionately.  The kiss lasts longer than usual, until Dean finally pulls away.  He leans his forehead against mine.  I feel his heavy breathing hit my lips. "Alright, we gotta get back on the road.  No matter how tempted I am to just stay right here and kiss you like this for the rest of the day."  He whispers seductively.

I smirk as he says this, a big smile plastering across my face.  I laugh, pulling away and looking into his eyes.  "Alright, let's get going."  We both smile as we pull away from each other, getting back into the car.

[[3 hours later]]

Sam sits in the back seat and talks on the phone while Dean continues to drive.  We took a few more snack trips over the course of 3 hours and got a bunch of stuff for s'mores.  We also got wood to make a nice fire. 

"Who's Sam talking to?"  I ask Dean in a quiet voice.  Dean tilts his head backwards near Sam, trying to listen in on his conversation.  "Garth probably has another case for us."  He says after a few seconds of listening.  "Garth?  Who's Garth?"  I laugh slightly.  "He's a character."  Dean says as he begins to laugh.  "He kind of runs things for hunters.  He's the one everyone calls for advice and such when they don't know what monster they've got on their hands.  He also finds cases for us.  He's probably asking Sam to get us to cover a case for him." I slowly nod, "Ohhh okay. Geeze a case already?" I say, watching the road ahead of us. "You bet.  There will always be a case." Dean says. "Elena. Yeah her name is Elena." I hear Sam say over the phone.

What the heck? Who's asking about me? 

Dean's eyes narrow and he glances back at Sam with question. "Who? Wait wha—OH—oh okay, yes...yeah I got you. But...are you sure?" Sam asks over the phone. His expression seems to become nervous and his eyes look everywhere except near Dean and I.  I look at Sam in confusion and then at Dean.  Dean looks at me with the same amount of confusion.

"Okay, I will. Talk soon." Sam says as he hangs up the phone. He doesn't say one word after getting off. What the heck was that all about? "Uh, Sam?" Dean asks, looking at Sam through his rear view mirror. "Yeah?" Sam asks as if nothing even happened. "What was that all about? Who was asking about Elena?" Dean asks. I look back at Sam, waiting for him to answer. "Oh—it was just Garth. He was just asking about Elena, like in general. Just asking about her. He's also got a vampire case for us in Georgia." Sam says nervously. I can tell he is leaving a huge chunk out of the story.  Dean raises a suspicious brow, "That's all he said?"  Sam just kind of nods, looking out the window.  He avoids eye contact with the both of us.  Dean gives up, shaking his head and looking back onto the road ahead of us. 

I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

Something definitely isn't right.