It's Been A Long Time... [Desperate Measures Sequel]

FortyEight.

The morning came around all too quickly, before I knew it we were standing outside of the house, Roman was in his SUV and looking impatient as he looked in our direction before closing the window. Turning to Dean I smiled at him, "I'll be leaving soon myself."

"You don't have to go there you know," he reminded me. 

Laughing I nodded my head, "Actually I have a lot of things I need to sort out." Reaching up and putting my hand on his chest, "I have my own place I need to sort out too, I haven't been back there since I moved in."

"I didn't even know you had a place," he looked confused. 

I shrugged my shoulders, "When I came back around I moved into a small place, AJ and some of the guys helped me out."

He didn't look too impressed at the mention of AJ's name, "How come I have never been there?"

"Come on!" We both turned and looked at Roman who had wound down his car window and was looking in our direction. "I wanna beat the traffic."

Looking back up at Dean I sighed, "When you get back you can come and have a look if you like."

He pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around my waist. "When I get back we can look into getting our own place, a little somewhere to call home." He kissed my hair, "Hopefully before Christmas, then we can do it all properly."

Honestly, he really was the fucking sweetest. He looked at me before we shared a short sweet kiss, I walked him to the car, once he was in I leaned over in the window and smiled at Roman, "Have a safe trip."

Roman rolled his eyes at me before smiling, "We'll see you soon." He winked at me before he turned the eye in the engine making the car roar to life. 

I looked at Dean before he placed a kiss on my lips, "I'll give you a ring later." He told me before I stepped back, this time he winked at me before he closed the window and I watched the car pull away. Waiting till the car was out of sight I returned inside the house, I had packed my case last night ready for the flight today, I would be leaving shortly myself, my taxi already booked to collect me in an hour. 

Lounging on the sofa I flicked through the channels before getting bored with the lack of decent telly in America. Switching the telly off I got up from the sofa and headed to the toilet where I used the toilet and washed my hands before heading into the kitchen. I made myself some toast before buttering it and heading into the living room where I sat looking out the window at the back garden, at the wildlife scuttling around and the leaves blowing. For a moment I could just enjoy the peace of it all, one of the few moments I could take out to truly appreciate everything. 

The peace was interrupted by the doorbell though, placing my plate on the coffee table I headed towards the door. I pulled the door open to see Katherine, the twins were sitting in the car in the driveway with Belinda, the three of them waved at me as I looked at them, I sent them a wave before looking back at Katherine. She was wearing a long blue woollen jumper than she was holding close to her, "Do you wanna come in?" I asked her cautiously. 

"Is my brother home?" She asked me as she looked around me. 

Shaking my head I sighed, "Sorry you missed him by about ten minutes. Do you want me to try and get him on the phone?"

Katherine shook her head, her brown hair moving when she shook it, "It's you I came to see."

"Me?" I questioned, I was surprised she was here to see me. She didn't even like me. 

She stepped inside and closed the door, I stepped back as she looked at me. "I just came to say sorry," she told me quietly. "I should have never spoken to you the way I did."

I was shocked the say the least. I was so unsure of how to respond to her, I just stayed quiet. 

"My brother has done so much for me," she explained. "I guess I was just worried that you were going to take all that away from myself and the twins." She sighed as she leaned against the wall, "I can see how happy you make him." She laughed, "Every time he can home and complained about you, every time he had a lot to say. My mom and I knew the real reason he had a lot to say, he was so in love with you. You were the only one he spoke about, good or bad it was almost like he couldn't go an hour without speaking about you. Even if he started to talk in cryptic clues we knew he was talking about you."

A smile crept across my lips as I listened to her words. It must have been hard for her, I knew how I felt when Wade introduced me to Paige as his girlfriend, then Charlotte. It was difficult to see my big brother putting all his attention on another woman who wasn't me. 

She looked away, her eyes looking at her hands. "I shouldn't admit this," she looked at me. "It was always you," she looked like she might have little tears in her eyes. "I was just jealous, I thought you would take him away, away from here. Not just that," she looked back at her hands. "I guess I was jealous that he had fallen so desperately in love that he didn't know what to do, he was a mess, he didn't want to admit any of it to anyone, least of all you. That was what I wanted, I wanted someone who loved me that much, that no matter what I did they would still love me, they would still want me."

Reaching forward I put my arms around her, "He's very lucky to have a sister like you. Someone cares that much." I stroked her hair as I held her. It must have been difficult for her to come here and be so vulnerable in front of me, yet here she was.

She shook her head as she rested her chin on my shoulder, I could feel my shoulder and arm getting a little damp, I guessed she was actually crying right now. "You are the lucky one," she spoke through tears, her voice changing with every word as she sobbed. "He'll do anything for you, whatever you want."

I pulled away from her and smiled as I wiped her tears away with my sleeve. "I just want to be happy, I want everyone around me to be happy." Looking into those eyes that reminded me of Dean so much, I knew I couldn't ever be mad at her, "Do you wanna get the girls and Belinda inside?"

She shook her head, "I'm not staying. I just wanted to give you my apologies, actually we're going out for the day." She smiled, "Do you wanna come along? We're heading to the zoo, Cassidy's choice."

"Thank you for inviting me but I have a plane to catch, I have to go to my brother's before heading to my own place." I sighed as I thought of all the time I was going to be away, not that I had anything else to do during this time. 

Katherine touched my arm making me look at her, "You are always welcome to come out with us anytime. The girls love you and would love to spend more time with you and mom, well, as long as her son is happy she's happy." She smiled at me before she reached for the door handle, she turned away from me as she pulled the door open before stepping outside. "Are you not returning to work?"

I shook my head, "I quit." A smile crept across my face as I thought about the fact that I would not have to struggle with that world anymore, not full time anyway. To be out of the limelight was something I needed. 

"Maybe we'll get to see a bit more of each other then," she nodded at me, just a slight head tilt in my direction before she looked in the direction of the car. I followed her gaze to see the young twins waving excitedly in my direction, I returned the wave before looking at Katherine. "See you soon."