The Joys of Being a Winchester

Chapter 2

They stared at each other for a while, the silence of the outdoor car park somewhat eerie. Jayde looked at Sam and Dean with tears in her eyes, Sam and Dean looking back at Jayde with confusion and shock, both emotions steadily being mixed in with joy. It was Sam who spoke first.

"Jayde?" His voice was quiet and gentle, just like she remembered it. Sam's face wasn't all that different either, and while his hair was obviously longer than it had been, nothing much had changed. Dean was undoubtedly Dean, his hair cut into the short and spiky dirty-blond style he always had and his little stubble just as it was 4 years ago. Both of them were still in good shape and towered over Jayde but now Sam was much taller than the elder Winchester. Whilst they both seemed... different in a way, Jayde was beyond thrilled to see them. She sniffled.

"It's good to see you Sammy. You too Dean." She managed to choke the words out before she burst into tears, running into both of them to hold them close. It was the first time she had hugged the both of them in what felt like forever, and everything felt like it was beautiful for those few moments. They started to laugh and hugged her back, the happy voices making Jayde cry even more, her tears melting into her brothers' secure arms and chests. They stood in each other's arms for a while, letting each other breathe and become familiar as a family once again; it was euphoria. After at least 10 minutes of the heaven Jayde looked up to see both of her brothers in teary smiles and almost started bawling again but took a deep breath and steadied herself.

"I missed you so much." Her shaky breath had spit out those words over the thousands of other questions and apologies she had stuck in her throat. "And I'm sorry."

"You should be, for making think you were dead. I knew my Jay was too tough to give up." Dean was laughing, choking back tears of his own.

"I should be apologising Jayde. I never came back." Sam was letting the tears free fall from his face, his smile shaky but undoubtedly one of joy. "I left you behind and when I heard that you had died and I was beside myself; I blamed myself because I knew it was my fault and I just-"

"Sammy no, no, no it wasn't your fault! I ran away because.." Jayde stopped herself for a moment. Did she really want to tell her brothers the real reason why she disappeared?
"I couldn't handle the fighting. I got that monsters and stuff are scary and there was gonna be like - physical fighting and all that but the fighting in our family, the fighting with other hunters, it was just too much. And when Sammy left I didn't know what to do 'cause I just felt like it would get worse and worse and I was scared I our family was gonna die bloody, either from a monster's hands or each others. I'm sorry guys, I should've talked to you about it but I just felt like a child. I thought I'd be OK."

"Don't you dare think that you can't come to us ever again, alright missy? Oh God, you don't know how much I missed you." Dean picked her up just like he used to, twirling her in the sky until she was being cradled in his arms. "And you're still getting harder to pick up."

"Well that just means you still need to work out more." The three of them laughed as Jayde was put back on the ground.

"Well kiddo, 'cause you're so little you don't have any wheels, do you?"

Jayde beamed at the sudden realisation of being able to sit in the Impala once more; the one place that felt like any sort of home. She ran to the spot where she was parked, noticing how she was so perfectly taken care of. Her silver rims shone against her black exterior, the glass windows crystal clear and the long shape seemingly untouched. Opening the door to hear the familiar creak of the hinges sent shivers up her spine, climbing into the comforting upholstery she had slept so many hours on. She let the small army man toy Sam had jammed in the ashtray so many years ago weave throughout her fingers, the engravings of each sibling's initials next to run under her fingertips. Every small detail was just as she remembered it, and she couldn't help but cry a little bit more. The memories in this care were so precious to her, and being able to have that back was pure bliss.