Daisy Ice Cream (Sam and Dean Winchester Fan Fiction)

Chapter 14: Finding Sam

Near sun up, I woke and rubbed my eyes. "Hey, Sleepyhead. Hungry?" Dean asked and gave my shoulder a shove.

I frowned at him and rubbed my hair to straighten it out. "Coffee." I croaked. The pink, early morning sky showed a town, still in lights, on the black velvet landscape in front of us. Dean had driven through the rest of the night. I had slept on the seat, because unlike Dean, I was not a superhero.

I slid over next to him and laid my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his right arm around me and kissed my forehead. I felt cool air as he smelled my hair. I closed my eyes and smiled. "Cas could've just healed you, ya know."

Anger flared in my chest. I turned to look at him and frowned. "What do you mean?"

He kissed my temple and said, "Easy now. I just mean he could have just fixed your head and then put you back in your life. But I knew it was a mistake the minute I asked him to wipe your memory. If I wasn't out looking for Priss, I was stalking you. You nearly caught me a couple times. At the grocery store - it was, I- I'd just had enough. I needed you back. Your head exploding was just my excuse. I underestimated the level of PISSED, though." He chuckled.

I relaxed and rested my cheek against his chest. "I'm pretty sure I invented a brand new level. Nuclear pissed."

I slid my hand inside the neck of his warm shirt. Just because I could. Quietly, I said, "I wouldn't have lasted very long if you hadn't fixed my memory and had just put me back."

He laid his cheek on the top of my head.  "I know, Sweetheart. Let's hope that was my worst idea ever and it's all up hill from here. I was an idiot. And I'm still sorry." We were quiet for a minute, when Dean said, "This ain't gonna be easy."

I answered, "What's not?"

He sighed with fatigue. "Sam. He's living on that new level of pissed you invented." I rubbed his shoulder muscle under his shirt. He had to be stiff after driving so many hours.

"Shouldn't it be better with me back?" I asked.

Dean's disgruntled dimples popped out. "It's not just YOU he's gotta come home with. Sam swore on Mom that he'd never speak to me again."

I grimaced and took a big breath. "Wow. That is bad." Dean nodded slowly as his eyes drifted across the highway.

We got me properly caffeinated and Dean let me drive. There were still several hours between us and Sam. He collapsed against the door in a heap and was asleep in two minutes flat. As I drove, my eyes kept returning to his sleeping face. I ran the night's events over again and again in my mind. Was I really going to forgive and forget what he and Cas had done? I rubbed the back of my neck and then traced the stone of my amulet absently.

Forgive - yes. Forget? No freakin' way. I could forgive him, because I understood who Dean was. The insecurities, the need for control because of them, his conviction that he can fix all things. His complete self-assuredness that his decisions are always right. Cas's blind loyalty to Dean. It had combined to make the perfect storm, with me caught in the middle. Forgiveness wasn't that hard, honestly. Not to mention how much I loved the idjit, as Bobby would say. I needed him like I needed air. Trust, on the other hand, was going to be as easy as climbing Mt. Everest. Cas wasn't getting within five feet of me.

My eyes wandered to the scenery, as I mulled things over. The bright morning sun lit up the passing hills. Texas was lovely down here. Winter had taken the leaves, but trees were everywhere and long, yellow grasses swayed in the morning breeze.

Near our destination, the oaks changed to tall pines. I had no idea pine trees grew in Texas and was fascinated by the sight of them. I cracked my window and the sharp, clean smell of fresh pine filled the car. Dean stirred and sat up.