Where the road began...

Balance

I put my beer bottle on the table and look at Sam whose eyes are asking for more information. Then I look at Dean who is watching me too, but with something else in his eyes I can't quite place it.
"I've had ex girlfriends but none of them were homicidal" Dean says taking a swig from his beer.
"Yeah, Austin is- I don't know what to call it. He passed crazy a long time ago, but I'm stronger now than I was back then. He won't get away with it this time" I say eating some French fries.
"How past crazy are we talking here"? Sam asks.
"Stalking, hospitalization, just plain mean" I say know that they won't like it.
"He stalked you" Dean demands shocked.
"Yeah he did" I nod.
"He put you in the hospital" Sam asks.
Another nod.
"Now can I shoot him" Dean asks Sam.
"Guys, it's ok I will get a new number and tell Bobby not to give it to anyone he doesn't know. Problem solved" I say it wouldn't be the first time I changed phones.
"Are you sure? Because we can talk to him" Dean offers.
"Dean you say talk, but somehow I don't think there would be much talking" I say looking at him.
"Excuse me I'll let you handle it, oh wait that didn't work now did it" He says sternly.
"It's ok Dean, I've stayed off his radar for two years now I know what I'm doing" I say looking him in the eyes.
He sighs out loud and shakes his head.
"Fine. But if he hurts you again he will find himself with a fancy new bullet hole" Dean says picking up his burger.
We finish eating and pack up the gear, I grab my duffel out of my car and toss it the trunk of the impala. I take all my other things out of my car, fake ids books and my journal out of the glovebox.
"So you get your car cleaned out" Sam asks putting his bag in the trunk.
"Yep, all clean" I say smiling up at Sam.
"Sorry about Dean, was just worried about you. He's methods of expressing his feelings aren't the best" Sam says shutting the trunk.
"It's ok Sam, I get it. I'm used to Austin's brand of crap, though it's nice to have two people who are here for me. I think it'll take some getting used to, not being on my own all the time" I say leaning on the side of the impala.
"Well, we are happy to have you with us" Sam says grinning at me.
Dean walks out of the motel room without a word to either of us, he just gets in the car and starts the engine. Sam helps me into the back seat and then gets in the front next to Dean. We start driving.
Sam POV
I loom over my shoulder Ryan is sleeping on the window, I have no clue what Dean thinks he's doing with this whole cold shoulder thing it's not like him.
"Dude what is up with you"? I ask quietly.
"Nothing, I'm fine" He says keeping his eyes on the road.
"No, you are not fine. You are freezing Ryan out for no reason. So what is up with you Dean" I ask turning sideways to look at him better.
"Sam, I'm fine and I'm not freezing her out, I was pissed at Austin that's it" He says looking at me this time.
"Ok, I am too" I nod opening some lore books to pass the time.
Ryan POV
I blink my eyes and look around, this must be our motel for the night, I can see Sam and Dean at the front desk. I carefully get out of the car and pop the trunk and get my stuff and close it again and wait for the guys to come back.
"Hey there, how are you feeling" Sam asks walking to the trunk.
"Good, where are we"? I ask looking between them.
"Half way to Kentucky. Sammy here caught a vengeful spirit case in Chester county" Dean says clapping Sam on the back.
"Alright sounds good" I say following them inside.
My phone starts ringing as soon as I close the door to my room. Which is next door to the Winchesters.
"Hello" I ask tossing my duffel on my bed.
"It's Bobby" He says.
"Hi Bobby, we need to talk" I say sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Don't worry, Sam already told me what happened. I just called to apologize I didn't know it was that Austin sorry kid" He says.
I sigh.
"It's ok Bobby, anyway I will be hunting with Sam and Dean from now on so you don't need to worry about me hunting alone" I say.
"Good, I was going to try to get you to join them at some point" He says.
"Ok, Bobby its late. We'll call if we need any lore" I say getting my sleep pants out of my duffel bag.
"Night kid" He says ending the call.
I lay back on the bed and take a deep breath despite the ache in my ribs.
-the next morning-
Someone is knocking on my door, half of me wants to shoot whoever is at the door, and the other half is saying calm down you don't work alone anymore.
"What" I yell at the door.
"It's Dean" He says from the hall.
I sigh and climb out of bed and shuffle to the door and let him in.
"Can we talk"? Dean asks sitting on my bed.
"Sure, what's up" I ask sitting down next to him.
"I wanted to say I was sorry for the way I was acting yesterday, I was being an ass" He says looking at me.
"Dean, this is going to take some getting used to, for all of us. I am so used to being on my own that suddenly having people who care is different for me" I say looking at my hands.
"We care. We are a team now" Dean says smiling.
"Good. Now get out I need to shower" I say pushing him to the door.
"Ok ok I'm leaving" He laughs.
I shake my head and quickly get showered and dressed, I walk down the hall and knock on the door to Sam and Dean's motel room.
"Morning Ryan" Sam says letting me in the room.
"Hey Sam, find anything on the ghost"? I ask sitting on the edge of one of the beds.
"Yeah, I did some digging on the house where people are dying weird. So get this, there have been murders there that were all covered up. So we could be dealing with multiple sprits" Sam says putting his plaid shirt on.
"That complicates things. How many murders are we talking" I ask.
"I counted six so far but who knows there might be more" Sam says gathering his stuff.
"Lovely" I say looking at some old newspapers.
...