Lightkeeper /Destiel//Sabriel//Michifer

Why Now?

Dean was woken around 9am on the morning of December 27th to the shrill ring of the doorbell.  He groaned, hauling a pillow over his ears to muffle the sound.  A few moments later, the doorbell sounded again, uncertainly.

"Will someone please get that?" Dean yelled, his voice cracked and laden with sleep. 

Benny, who'd been lying awake in the corner of the room, moved to get up.  Pushing the duvet gently aside, he eased himself onto his feet and opened the bedroom door.  He was momentarily surprised as Elsa rushed past, flinging herself hurriedly down the stairs.  He watched, unnoticed, as she unhooked a fitted grey coat from one of the pegs in the hallway and, as her boots were already laced around her feet, proceeded to slip outside.

Benny raised his eyebrows marginally as he watched the door swing shut behind her.

"Who was it?" Dean asked groggily, aware that Benny was in the room, but not that he hadn't left it in the first place.

"Not sure," Benny shrugged it off, "One of Els' friends."

Dean nodded thoughtfully, relaxing back into the comforting warmth of his pillow as he drifted away into unconsciousness. He'd already set an alarm at some point the previous evening; he'd wake again only when he had to.

Benny watched him for several seconds. He wasn't sure if he should lie back down himself or venture downstairs. Deciding on the latter, Benny stepped softly out of the room and closed the door behind him.

~~

"Sorry I'm late," Elsa apologised, stepping out into the crisp morning air, "Lost track of time."

"It's fine," her companion shrugged.  "I'm just glad I got the right house. Could've been a bit awkward otherwise."

Elsa smiled in agreement, buttoning up her skater's coat as she fell into step with the blonde beside her.

Jade was walking at an even pace, her beloved red converse falling rhythmically upon the gravel underfoot.  She was hunched slightly against the cold, her hands thrust deeply into the front pockets of her faded jeans.  Her t-shirt, slightly oversized and half hidden beneath her fleeced hoodie, read: 'I will shut that shit down' accompanied with picture of an old baseball bat covered in barbed wire. 

"So," Elsa grinned, "Plan of action?"

"I think - ah, what's her name?  Jo?  Yeah, that's it - she said she wanted to meet us at the diner in an hour.  Though she didn't say which one."

"That'll be Ellen's Diner, owned by Jo's mother," Elsa explained.  "It's really nice, I think you'll like it."

"Probably," Jade smiled, pushing her glasses a little further up her face, "I mean if it has food then you can't go wrong, really."

"Very true," Elsa agreed, leading the way and making a left at the end of the drive.

"Wait - they do veggie stuff, don't they?"

"I think so."

"Okay, good."

The duo walked on, allowing a comfortable silence to settle.  Though they'd only been recently introduced, there was already a relaxed air between them.  The same, however, could not be said for the rest of the girls within the group, several of which hadn't even had the opportunity to start a proper conversation with Jade.  This was the precise reason that Charlie had come up with the plan for 'girls night' which, rather misleadingly, was to start early in the morning.