Laurel Lance (i_crylikeabird) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2012-05-03 13:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | dean winchester, dinah lance |
A Change of Address (Dean/Dinah log, complete)
After spending the full day in the garage attached to the Sherwood Florist, Dinah was tired, covered in grease, and she just wanted to take a hot shower and go to sleep. She’d thrown herself into upgrading her motorcycle. There was a desire to just build a new one from scratch. She’d done it before and she had a lot more time on her hands and a need to be distracted. However, the man claiming to be the embodiment of the City had said something about how she didn’t appreciate what she’d been given and there was a part of her that was afraid that Jake had been taken away because of that. Even if he’d said that he wasn’t responsible for people leaving the City, he had threatened to take away everyone and everything she loved because she hadn’t been grateful.
If she’d known that she would lose people-that she’d lose Jake, she would have stuck with whatever the City had given her. From the apartment above the shop-she could have slept on the couch and let Jake have the bedroom-to the bike the City had given her to... anything, really. She would have done anything if it would have meant that Jake wasn’t sent home to die.
The City was back to normal and in fine form as the streets shifted around her. Due to the shifting streets, Dinah had driven around for about three hours looking for her townhouse. She still wasn’t sure if the City was just being particularly cruel, but she couldn’t find it anywhere. She was sure she’d been through every inch of the City and hadn’t found it.
Instead, she kept finding herself back on the street with the Sherwood Florist. She supposed it was reassuring that at least that was still there. She sighed and directed her bike into the garage for lack of anywhere else to go. She looked at the keyring in her hand after she turned off the ignition. It had felt lighter somehow, and now she knew why. She still had the key to the apartment above the shop (she was the landlady, after all) but she was missing the key to her townhouse. That... didn’t bode well for her.
She debated calling Jensen to see if he could locate her house with the computer at the Clock Tower. She was pretty sure that was a selfish use of the computers, especially since she wasn’t even a member of the League anymore.
----
Dean felt somehow comforted by the City’s return to not so normalsville. Though, to hear Fred talk about it it was definitely normal. He had made the mistake of getting into an argument with her about normal and abnormal. His brain still hurt from it.
He’d been out late at night taking care of a rugaroo that was causing some havoc down by the docks; the damn thing nearly ate his face off. So, once he got home, had a couple stiff ones, and took a shower, he passed out in his bed thinking that his life was finally settling down.
When he woke up the next evening and walked to the bathroom, the apartment felt a little off, but he chalked that up to the drinks he’d had last night. He’d cut back somewhat on the drinking, not as much as going without, but it was less than what he had before. He brushed his teeth and stared as there was another toothbrush in the holder, and that was not his usual brand of brandless toothpaste. Although it tasted a hell of a lot better. He shrugged it off and walked back to the bedroom to get dressed.
Thing was the bedroom he walked into did not look like the one he left. He blinked, stepped out to look at the hallway, and then stepped back into the room. There was an extra door out there. one he thought he might have walked out of. He stared at the bed, definitely not his usual cheap ass bedspread. And, there were too many pillows up there. He stared a little longer before looking at the rest of the bedroom furnishings. Definitely not the cheaply made crap he had become accustomed too. He was pretty certain what he was looking at had what was in the apartment when he first moved in.
He walked over to the chest of drawers and whistled at what he saw. “Right. Nope, not my clothes.” He pulled a pair of hipster cotton panties that he’d never been forced to wear. Satin, pink, sure, but not blue with Wonder Woman symbols all over them?
He walked to the other bedroom, relaxing a little to see that it was still sort of his place. The furniture had been upgraded to not so cheap. He dialed a certain number, the Wonder Woman undies still in his hand.
----
Dinah’s phone was already in her hand as she debated whether or not she had a right to call Jensen, so she answered on the first ring. She wasn’t really sure why Dean was calling, and she really didn’t want to talk too long because she had to figure out what had happened to her townhouse.
She supposed she could just head to Wayne Manor for the night, but she had no change of clothes with her and she’d really rather not ask Alfred and Bruce for any more favors.
“Yes?” she answered the phone. It wasn’t exactly curt, but it wasn’t quite her normal greeting.
If he needed her, she would definitely postpone the search for her home, but that didn’t mean that she was in the mood to chat right about now.
----
“So, did you ever have a pair of sheer panties with ruffles on the butt, or maybe a hot pink thong. Maybe one of those peekaboo cutout type hipster things. Or..how about Wonder Woman? Never would have pegged you as a chick who wore other chicks on her underwear.” Dean was definitely smiling, and it came through in his voice. He was currently twirling the last pair in question around on his finger. There wasn’t much to them, and he could easily imagine her in and out of them. He nearly cursed himself for letting it slip he’d seen them; the bad boy in him couldn’t get away with stealing them. She’d notice if any of the listed pairs were missing.
He walked confidently back into the other bedroom, even if it might have creeped him out a little, and slingshotted the bottoms into the still open drawer. “Yes.” He hissed as the shot was definitely good. He nudged the drawer closed and peeked into the closet.
Yeah, not his clothes.
“Missing some leather jackets and corsets are we?” Dean just leaned in the doorway to the closet and stared. How the hell did a walkin fit into the apartment? He pushed away from the closet to see what else had changed, if anything. The living room looked a better, classier as did the kitchen and the dining area. There was an actually nice dining area not something that looked like it’d been sitting there since the 50s when linoleum was cool. The kitchen itself was pretty nice too, not some sad little kitchenette. “What the fuck...”
----
The surprise was evident on her face as Dean started describing the contents of her underwear drawer. Her mouth formed a little ‘oh,’ then her eyes started to narrow.
“Okay, um, normally I would ask why the hell you broke into my townhouse and decided to go through my drawers but right now... could you just tell me where it is?”
She would address the weirdness factor of him breaking into her house and calling her to describe the contents of her underwear drawer when she was home. Dean might have liked women, but he didn’t exactly strike her as the creep type so if he was in her home, she was pretty sure there was a reason. Maybe a really bizarre reason.
Or maybe... yeah, she had nothing here. Right now all she cared about was getting home and taking a shower. She was really starting to feel the grime that was everywhere from under her fingernails to in her hair.
----
“I didn’t break into anything.” The hunter might have sounded offended. He didn’t need to break in anywhere to see some chick’s underwear. He’d never had that issue, and he really doubted he ever would. He slumped on the couch, still wearing nothing more than his boxer briefs. It was still his apartment after all.
“I’m in the apartment. Which grew over night. It’s not a bad place. Just not sure why there’s a girlie bedroom with girlie clothes in it.” He was teasing her, sort of. He had gotten used to living in the place by himself. It was a very new thing for him, and if he ever got lonely, he’d just make a call and take care of it.
“Guessing it’s still over the shop. Did your shop get bigger?” For a moment he wondered if the garage didn’t get bigger to hold his own tools and the Impala.
---
Dinah looked around the garage, which was bigger now that she thought about it. Then she let herself into the shop, which was also bigger. She didn’t say anything right away because she was still trying to process what he’d told her as well as trying to figure out what she was going to do about her townhouse and what had happened to it.
After walking through the now-larger shop, and then back into the garage, the pieces finally started to fall into place. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of them, but she was starting to get the bigger picture
“Everything’s bigger. The shop, the garage... there’s an extra bedroom in the apartment? With clothes that might be mine in it? Um. I’m downstairs right now. Could I come up and look at that bedroom?”
She wasn’t going to jump to any conclusions until she saw the bedroom. Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe the City was going to give Dean some other roommate who happened to have a similar underwear drawer to her.
Dinah realized that she wasn’t all that okay with the idea of some woman moving into the apartment above her shop. She dismissed the feeling almost as soon as it popped up. If he wanted someone to move in with him, who was she to say anything about it?
----
“Uhm, yeah.” There was a soft groan as he got up from the couch. It had been comfortable, and he had been considering going back to sleep. He was a little sore from the previous night’s activities, but then when wasn’t he sore from fighting the so-called good fight?
Dean walked back to his bedroom. “Com’on up.” He started looking for a pair of clean jeans and a tee. He didn’t need to pull on anything more than that. She’d seen him in about that much.
----
Dinah headed up the stairs, the potential reality of the situation still not quite sinking in. She was still wondering who else the bedroom might belong to and if the City possibly had someone new wandering around who belonged to the bedroom. Or maybe it belonged to Jen. Last she knew, Jen and Dean were still seeing each other.
This really wasn’t any of her business and so she’d just check upstairs to confirm that the clothes weren’t hers and then she’d go back to looking for her townhouse.
She didn’t let herself in but instead knocked on the door. It was his apartment now. She might have owned the building and maybe she’d lived there for a short while after arriving in the City, but he’d been there for about a year now.
----
Dean walked to the door slowly. “Hold on, someone’s at the door.” He could guess who that someone was, but it was fun to tease her a little. “I hope it’s that stripogram I ordered.” He opened the door and sighed. “No, it’s that damn grease monkey who won’t stop harassing me. I told you, I don’t want to know what you’d test my fluid levels with.”
The hunter just smiled as he hung up the phone. He had to admit he did like a woman who looked like she could handle an engine. He gave her a once over before looking up in her eyes.
“So, what can I do for you, grease monkey?” It was better than Legs, wasn’t it? There was a definite smirk on his lips as he stepped back and out of the way before she decided to hit him. “Com’on in.” He tilted his head to the living room that she might notice, or not, was not the same as it had been. It wasn’t the one he’d had for a while anyway.
----
Dinah returned the smirk with one of her own.
“Well, if you won’t let me test your fluids then I guess I made the trip out here for nothing,” she teased.
She followed him inside and glanced around the living room. She recognized some of the furniture from her townhouse. Could be a coincidence.
A very weird coincidence.
“You redecorated?” she asked. “Doesn’t exactly seem like your style.”
She gave the room another once over and then looked back at the hunter, absentmindedly rubbing at a grease smear on her neck. She was a little bit self-conscious about her appearance at the moment. It was fine when she’d expected to be going straight home and cleaning up instead of visiting someone.
“Would you mind showing me that extra bedroom of yours?”
She waggled her eyebrows teasingly. It was a lot easier to keep things light and joke around than it was to explain why she wanted to see the bedroom and what she was ruling out.
----
“It’s not my room.” Dean shrugged and motioned to the hallway. “It’s where my room used to be.” He was torn between amusement and confusion. Why the City had decided to change the apartment he couldn’t even begin to guess, and it was a little frustrating. Why was it always trying to butt into people’s lives?
“Actually where the only bedroom was until..today.” He would wait for her to head down the hallway to inspect before following and standing in the doorway to the new bedroom. “Recognize any of it?”
---
Dinah walked into the bedroom as indicated and stopped short. She looked around at the furniture, the wall decorations. After a minute, she headed for the closet and thumbed through some of the clothes. She checked the drawers.
She even looked at the perfume on top of the dresser. Hers. And the brush. And the jewelry box.
She didn’t say anything for a little while. When she did find her voice and was starting to get a really sinking feeling about what was going on, she didn’t look at her friend right away. This was really awkward.
“All of it,” she said quietly.
She kicked the foot of the bed angrily.
“That guy who said he was the City-he was complaining about me not being grateful for what I’d been given. He was... I went out and rented the townhouse. It wasn’t ‘given’ to me. It’s gone. It’s just... damnit.”
She hadn’t wanted to stay in the townhouse lately anyway, but that didn’t mean she wanted to impose on any of her friends. And this... this was way beyond imposing.
It was weird. And awkward. And unfair to Dean. Really really unfair. Tears of frustration formed in her eyes, though she was more on the verge of hitting something than crying.
----
Dean was once more torn on what emotion he should go with. She was crying, yet she’d just kicked a bed. He coughed softly, feeling very awkward. Not so much that this seemed to be her own bedroom, but that he didn’t know how to make her stop crying.
“You really think the City did this because it thought you were ungrateful?” He took a few steps into the room and finally went with putting his hand on her shoulder. He knew there was Lava soap in the bathroom to get the grease off, so he wasn’t worried about it.
“The City’s something of a jackass, but we knew that already.” He gave her smile. “Look, just go take a shower, get some clean clothes, and go from there. Maybe it’s just some prank, and you’ll have your townhouse back tomorrow.”
---
Just like that. No freaking out, no getting upset that the City was trying to intrude on his space. Instead, all he offered was reassurance. There was a reason why Dinah considered Dean one of her closest friends. She gave him a weak smile. If she hadn’t been so dirty, she might have given him a hug too.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe it just wants to exert its control over me and once it has, things will go back to normal. You weren’t...” she bit her lip, trying to think of a delicate way to ask that. “You didn’t have company coming over tonight, did you? I could always find somewhere else to stay if you were. I don’t want to be in the way.”
Not that he’d actually said that she should stay here, she realized. But she had sort of assumed that with the offer to use the shower.
----
“I don’t bring ‘company’ home.” Dean said it matter of factly. Almost as if he were shocked she even suggested such a thing. Jen had never been to the apartment that he knew of; actually none of the women he’d slept with recently had made it even close to the flower shop. He didn’t make it a habit of buying flowers for them either.
“Grab your clothes and jump in the shower. I’ll see what’s in the kitchen.” He had a feeling that there would be food in the fridge again; he didn’t know what, but there had to be something in there. Then again, it was possible that he would have to order something. “What do you want if nothing’s in there?”
It wasn’t that he was okay, but at the moment, he didn’t see what good getting upset would do at the moment. He wanted to hunt that bastard down who’d claimed to be the City though. He wouldn’t have minded giving the bastard a piece of his mind. Kick a little ass.
----
He didn’t bring company home. Dinah wasn’t going to dwell on that too long because she’d given up trying to understand his lovelife quite awhile ago. She knew that he wanted casual right now, but she really just didn’t know how it worked to stay casual when you were seeing the same person for awhile.
Then again, she just wasn’t built that way at all. If she was going to sleep with someone, it was because there were feelings there already. And she supposed she didn’t know if he was still seeing the same people or anyone at all and now wasn’t the time to ask.
“Anything would be fine,” she said. Her stomach growled in appreciation. Spending hours searching for home on top of the fact that she hadn’t remembered to take a lunch break during the day meant that she was starving.
“Thanks, Dean,” she said with a tired smile.
She wouldn’t have minded tracking the City down and beating it to a bloody pulp as well. Maybe the townhouse hadn’t really felt like home since Jake had left, but it was better than being forced to impose on one of her friends and not really having anywhere that was hers to go to.
It had been a surprise to find her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower though she supposed it really shouldn’t have been. It would seem that all of her things were in this apartment somewhere, courtesy of the City. Even if it was weird to be taking a shower with Dean down the hall in the kitchen making dinner, she was tired and stressed out and she lingered in the shower longer than she might have ordinarily. It had taken awhile to clean off the grease from working on her bike anyway, but after that she had just let the hot water run over her tired muscles, washing away the stresses of the day.
Her skin was bright pink from the hot water by the time she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. She dressed quickly and combed through her hair before padding down to the kitchen, the soft carpeting squishing under her barefoot toes.
She probably should have just looked around for a hotel room to stay in for the night because she was pretty sure that Dean had his reasons for wanting his own space. After all, if he wasn’t bringing the women he slept with here, why would he want someone who was just a friend spending the night? Even if it was in a separate bedroom.
So, while she might have looked like she was ready to tuck in for the night, she would offer to do that. It was only fair.
----
“No, no. This is not what I ordered. Do I look like I’d get pasta...shrimp, what? No, dude, I ordered a pizza with the works. This, this isn’t pizza with the works.” Dean was growling at the delivery guy who just blinked back. He didn’t look cowed, just bored with the whole experience. He was a City delivery guy; he was used to orders being wrong. Dean’s jaw tightened, and he ran through the list of things he could do to the guy without getting into too much trouble. None of the ones that were coming to mind seemed all that bright.
“Fuck it. No, just just give it here.” He started fishing through his pockets and found the right amount with a small tip. It didn’t matter whose fault it was, Dean was not pleased. “Yeah, you too.” The hunter didn’t care what the guy was about to say. He just closed the door on the guy, not noticing that the guy had been staring at the woman inside.
“Didn’t feel like cooking, though we have beer. Ordered pizza, but ended up with this instead.” He held up the large brown bag. The smell coming from it should have been very familiar to the superhero; it was her favorite after all. Even if the bag didn’t indicate that it’d come from Fieri Brothers.
---
Oh, Dinah recognized the heavenly smell of shrimp capers all right. Her mouth was watering from the smell.
“This doesn’t make up for taking my house,” she said out loud, even if she didn’t know for sure if the City could hear her and it probably did sound a little crazy.
She took a few steps towards Dean and reached up to touch his face right above one of the cuts on it. She had been so focused on figuring out what was happening with her townhouse and his apartment that she hadn’t properly noticed that he had a few cuts and bruises that looked like they were a day or two old.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes warm with concern.
She felt a little guilty that she hadn’t noticed right away.
----
Dean just stared, his head cocked to the side, maybe his brows were raised. She did sound crazy, but he supposed she deserved to sound a little off at the moment. He just gave her a crooked smile and shrugged it off.
He was about to take the food into the kitchen to see what exactly they had gotten in the mixed up order when she decided to notice something he’d practically forgotten. It didn’t do to remember he was hurt when it was nothing major. He might have winced, but not so much from pain, just memory of what happened.
“Oh, that. Yeah, just taking care of something for Fred.” He smiled a little, shaking his head. “Though I heard about her taking down a ghost.” He really couldn’t have been prouder, even if he was a little worried about the geek hottie. She had him, Jo, and maybe even Sam for that.
“Let’s see what hijacked the pizza.” He started walking to the kitchen. “There’s this stuff with shrimp. Donno. And there might be bread.” Dean had eaten at some nice places with Lisa, but this food still wasn’t his go to. He pulled out one tin with a see thru plastic top. Then another. “Spaghetti with meatballs. I think that could work.”
He pulled out a small long bag of what had to be bread sticks, then a smaller tin with a cardboard insert. He opened it up and just stared at the custardy surface with the cocoa powder, or was that cinnamon on top? “Dessert?”
----
Without thinking, Dinah got the plates out and set them on the table. Everything was right where she’d kept it in the short time when she’d lived here. They were even the plates she’d had in the town house. She paused and looked at them and then shook her head.
“You really think the City’s just playing a practical joke? That everything will be back to normal tomorrow?” she frowned.
She settled into one of the chairs and started to dish up a little bit of the pasta for herself.
“You’re going to have to try the shrimp. It’s orgasmic,” she gave him a little smile, though a faint blush tinged her cheeks at the choice of words.
Her slight embarrassment didn’t stop her from letting out a little moan of appreciation as she took her first bite. Hey, she was starving and it was her favorite. She hadn’t gone back to Fieri Brothers since the incident with the man claiming to be the City and she’d missed this shrimp.
----
“It might. Who the hell knows here, right?” Dean paused as he heard what she’d said about the food. The only thing he’d ever felt was ‘orgasmic’ outside sex was a really great bacon cheeseburger. People really had no appreciation for a classic. He grabbed two bottles of beer, opened them both, and then paused again when she made that noise.
He didn’t say anything. Just set the bottles down, one for her and one for him. He dished up some of the shrimp stuff as well as some of the spaghetti. He gave her a look before popping a shrimp into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully. It was pretty good. He gave her a thumbs up, not wanting to disappoint her. He knew what it was like to get a bland reaction to something someone thought the world of. He got it all the time for his own personal choices.
“Good stuff, Legs.” He gave her a wink.
----
Dinah grinned, glad that Dean liked the pasta, especially since she was pretty sure the City had sent it instead of the pizza because of her. She took a healthy drink of her beer and looked down at her plates and let out a sigh.
“I’m really sorry that you got caught up in whatever vendetta the City has going against me,” she said as she looked up again. “I can probably just find a hotel room for the night and hopefully things will go back to normal tomorrow.”
----
“Don’t worry about it, Dinah. It’s pretty good food, nothing like good food.” Dean winked at her over the food, his cheeks puffing up with the food he’d just shoved in. He seemed more than happy to eat what they had. He chewed with gusto, and he was just fine with what was in front of him.
“Think that stuff in the other tin is some kind of dessert.” He shrugged. He was only guessing. How often did a Winchester have tiramisu really? If it wasn’t pie, Dean really didn’t care. He was a pie man; he’d always be a pie man. He took a few more bites of pasta before sitting back to chew thoughtfully. Taking a sip of beer, he leaned forward.
“Don’t worry about the hotel. You’ve got a room here, so why not use it?” It didn’t make any sense to go pay for something when there was the same thing for free close by.
----
Dinah finished up what was on her plate and looked over at the tin with interest. She opened it and then stood to get new forks and dessert plates for each of them. She rinsed off her plate and deposited it in the sink, already acting more at home than she probably should.
She sat back down and dished up the tiramisu for each of them.
“Well, you said that you don’t really like having company. I just don’t want to intrude,” she said
She assumed ‘company’ had meant overnight company since she had been over a few times to watch Dr. Sexy, so he didn’t seem entirely opposed to any sort of company.
She managed to keep herself from asking about what they might do if things didn’t go back to normal tomorrow, even if that was definitely weighing heavily on her mind. Instead she drained the last of her beer bottle and set it aside. She wasn’t normally a beer drinker, but it wasn’t every day that she lost a house either.
----
“You want another?” Dean meant beer of course. “Company? I don’t mind having company.” He gave her a slightly confused look, and wondered for a moment why she was using so many plates. He laughed softly shaking his head and claimed his plate of the strange goop.
“You’re not intruding. This is your place, Dinah. Why would you think you’re intruding?” He shook his head and took a bite of the dessert. He paused for a moment as he tried to decide what he thought of it. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what he was expecting. He just ate.
----
“I own the building, but it’s your apartment,” Dinah stressed. “You’ve lived here longer than I ever did.”
She wasn’t going to point out the fact that he’d already said that he didn’t bring ‘company’ home since they were already sort of veering into awkward conversational territory. She wasn’t sure she needed him to make the distinction of what sort of ‘company’ he’d meant in that case. So instead she took a bite of the tiramisu herself and gave a soft chuckle at the slightly indecisive look on Dean’s face.
“Never had tiramisu before? And yes, another beer would be great.”
At the moment, she was pretty sure she wanted to just keep drinking beers until he stopped offering them or until she didn’t care all that much about the fact that she was homeless. Not that she thought Dean would let her sleep out on the streets, but the City couldn’t actually expect the two of them to just move in together, could it?
A man and a woman who were supposed to be just friends living together just seemed like a bad idea to Dinah. Especially when she was already in a rough place emotionally and she already depended on him enough as it was. She cared about him a lot and she knew that if anything happened, it would be a slippery slope and she’d end up getting hurt. Living together and sharing a space just created that many more opportunities where something might happen.
Though Dean didn’t seem concerned about any of that. In fact, he was taking it all in stride from what she could see. But maybe he was just being nice or maybe he was clinging to the hope that things would just go back to normal tomorrow.
----
“Tiramisu? That’s what this is?” Dean looked at the goop. “I always expected it to be something else. Who knows. It’s okay.” He shrugged and took a few more bites, quite happy to just have something sweet to finish off dinner. He got up and grab her another bottle, actually both of them would get a beer. He sat back down with the beers to finish the food that had been dished out to him.
“Do people usually drink beer with this stuff?” He nudged the almost melting away lady fingers. It wasn’t bad, and he could see people eating it regularly. But, he would always prefer having pie. Always.
“Or do they have coffee or something else?” Yeah, he really wasn’t used to this sort of thing. At least he was asking.
----
Dinah appreciated that he was asking. She wasn’t a food snob by any means, but she did appreciate a wide variety of foods, and sometimes her tastes strayed toward the more exotic. She was glad that he wasn’t the type to just turn up his nose at trying new things because that was always a bit boring. Having comfort foods and favorites was one thing she could understand, but trying new foods was one of the thrills in life as far as she was concerned.
“Usually it’s coffee, maybe sometimes a white wine or an after-dinner drink.”
She drank some of the beer and smiled at him.
“I’m not complaining about the beer right now either,” she said. “Thank you. For the beer and for dinner. And the shower and letting me stay here,” she added, feeling a little silly.
He might not have realized it, but having a nice hot shower when things were going badly was really a mood booster. And the prospect of sleeping in her own bed, even if it wasn’t actually in her townhouse, was a lot better than sleeping in a hotel room.
She stood then, clearing off the rest of the dishes that they were done with. She checked in the dishwasher and found it empty, so she started to fill it. With everything he’d done for her tonight, the least she could do was the dishes.
----
Dean whistled softly. “That’s new.” He meant the dishwasher. “At least I think it is.” He shrugged laughing.
“Like I said. Your place. I don’t pay rent, so can’t really call it mine. And, don’t argue with me about it, okay?” He watched her move around the kitchen. This was definitely her place. She was so very familiar with it, and he knew for a fact it hadn’t looked like this before he went to sleep. Somehow over his time living in the apartment, it had become a little more like the motels and other places he’d had while on the road. Those seemed more like home than anything else. It was sad perhaps, but it was how it was.
“Coffee. I can see that. Would rather have pie though. Cheeseburger and pie - doesn’t take much to make me happy.” For all his issues, all the crap he lived with and was his life, Dean was a pretty simple man.
----
She smiled a little and decided not to argue any further about whose apartment it was. She finished loading the dishes, along with some of the dishes that had piled up in the sink from whenever he had put them in last. Once she got the dishwasher running and the leftovers put away, she leaned against the counter for lack of anything else to do. She finished the second beer that he had given her. At least she was starting to calm down a bit from the initial shock.
It helped that the beer was making her feel pleasantly fuzzy at the moment. She wasn’t tipsy and was nowhere near drunk, but she was more relaxed.
“Any sort of pie? Or do you have a favorite?”
She might have been thinking about getting him a pie the next day.
----
“Any. I like apple, but I like pie in general. Well, not all pie. Rhubarb is just weird. It’s not really a fruit. I’ve had it before with strawberries, but it’s more filler than anything. So, not big on rhubarb.” Dean gave her an almost boyish smile as he was talking about one of his favorite foods.
“So, that was one of your favorites?” He motioned to where the leftovers had gone. He shifted in his chair, legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed. He looked rather at home there at the dining table after a nice dinner with a woman in the house.
“Cheeseburgers are one of mine. There are not enough cheeseburgers.” He smiled at her before he pulled his legs up, got his feet under him before he finished off the beer and took care of the bottles. He grabbed yet another beer and held up another bottle to see if she wanted it.
---
“Yeah, it is one of my favorites. The City must have thought sending that over somehow makes up for taking my house,” Dinah said with just the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice. However, it was difficult to be too annoyed when she had a belly full of a good meal, a place that felt like home, and good company.
She was close enough to the fridge that she stepped forward and reached out to take the bottle that he’d held out for her. She wasn’t standing too close, but she was close enough as she grinned up at him and took a drink from the beer.
It was also nice to not have to go home to an empty house. She wouldn’t admit that, particularly because she didn’t want anyone to feel like they had to babysit her, but being with company tonight had already made this night better than any night over the last month or so.
----
“Maybe. Who knows, but I don’t think so. It’s better than getting shit handed to you all the time. You’re really not in a bad place right now, Dinah.” He leaned against the door for a moment, looking down at her. He may not have been as tall as Sam, but he wasn’t some short thing either. He gave her a slight smile.
“I know you have things you’ve got to deal with, but you’re alive, well, and you’re here for people. You’ve got a whole city that needs you to look after them, and employees too. And, you’re not alone.” He stepped back from the fridge to close the door, but he didn’t walk away, not yet.
“You didn’t come here for this; you came here for that room and all that’s in it. But, I want you to know you’re never alone, and you shouldn’t feel like any of this is your fault. The fucking City does crazy shit from what I’ve seen, and it is a real pain in the ass. And, yet, it can’t take away who you are. So, yeah...” He came to a stop, giving her a slight smile. “I don’t know where I was going with that. Sorry.” He shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable.
----
Dinah set her beer down on the counter and reached up to put her arms around him. She gave Dean a tight hug, burying her face in his neck. It wasn’t that people hadn’t tried to be there. They had, and he’d definitely been one of them. But something about the reassurance that she wasn’t alone, especially after she’d walked away from her team not too long ago... hearing that was exactly what she’d needed.
They did have an odd sort of friendship if she stopped to think about it too much. She didn’t usually, though obviously others had started jumping to conclusions about things between them. She didn’t really know what it was, but she knew that he was the person who was consistently there for her in the City.
Usually, anyway. There had been that stretch of time when they hadn’t been speaking to each other because he was mad about... something he’d never fully explained actually, but besides that he always had this knack for being there precisely when she needed him.
She didn’t shed any tears, but her eyes were just a little bit wet as she gave him a tight squeeze.
----
Dean wasn’t expecting the hug, but he wasn’t going to push her away either. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek to her head. His hands softly rubbed at her back and shoulders. He was just going to stand there and be what she needed for the moment.
He didn’t think too hard about what was going on. Thinking usually got him in trouble, and he really wasn’t in the mood for that. He just held her, and would keep holding her until she decided that she didn’t want that anymore. He did turn his head enough to press a kiss to her hair, but it wasn’t anything forward as far as he knew.
“You’re going to be okay.” He said softly, returning the squeeze.
----
The kiss to her hair wasn’t forward, but it did give her pause. They had certainly hugged before but something like that just seemed a little bit more... sweet, maybe a bit more intimate.
Maybe she was just reading into things. Or maybe the beer had gotten to her head more than she’d thought.
Whatever the case, she tilted her face upwards and brushed her lips against his in a light kiss. It was tentative, almost a question really. But she didn’t move her face away from his. If there was any sign of encouragement, she would most likely give him a proper kiss.
----
Dean blinked once more. He smiled a little down at her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and he surely would love to see just how far this would go. But, she’d been drinking. He didn’t know how two beers hit her, not in this instance anyway. He’d had her crying on his shoulder, or curled up by him watching tv. This was different. Then again, he had no problem being someone’s distraction, even if he actually knew more about her than he had when he had been others’ distractions.
A hand slid up to her hair to pet at the ends of it on her back. He didn’t really think too far ahead, but he just couldn’t push her away either. He pressed a just as light kiss to lips. It wasn’t done just as a formality; she gave, so he returned. But, it wasn’t demanding either. He would let her choose where this went, even though he’d probably stop it before he had to start worrying about where he’d put the protection He didn’t think she’d do very well the next morning; she just wasn’t in the right headspace for that, as far as he could tell.
----
Dinah wasn’t thinking too far ahead at all. If she had been thinking about it, she probably would have talked herself out of it. It wasn’t anything against Dean. In fact, he had been very good for her as a friend. But she knew he didn’t want anything serious right now, and she knew she wasn’t built for casual.
But she wasn’t thinking about that right now. All she was thinking about was how nice it felt to have his arms around her. She rocked up onto her toes and kissed him again, more deeply this time.
She pulled him closer, her hands running up his back, lightly rubbing as she did so.
----
Dean growled softly. This wasn’t a good idea. He knew it. He didn’t have anyone he had to worry about hurting, other than the woman in his arms. He also knew that he’d wondered how this would feel for a while, and he was very tempted to give in to just letting things go where they would.
He wrapped his arms tighter about her. A hand slid further down her back, just to the small of it. He wasn’t going to push things too far. The hand in her hair slid higher to cup the back of her head. Her kiss soon became their kiss, and while he was holding back, he certainly wasn’t being overly tentative.
There was a rumble in his chest as he broke the kiss. He was smiling. “Okay,” he absently licked his lips as he thought of what he was about to say next. His voice was in the lower register, maybe with a hint of desire. “Maybe we’ve had too much to drink.” It took more than a few beers to give Dean a buzz these days, but he thought he’d make it both their slightly tipsy mistake.
His hand slid from her hair only to shift and brush a few strands from her face. He hadn’t exactly pushed her away. In fact, the hand at her back, his arm around her, was exactly as it had been when the kiss went from questioning to more.
----
She was smiling when he broke the kiss and a little bit breathless. Her hands were still on his back, though she stopped rubbing, and her hold on him loosened a bit.
There was a bit of disappointment as he seemed to be writing this off as perhaps just a mistake. It shouldn’t have surprised her and maybe it was.
“You’re right. This is probably a bad idea,” she said, though she didn’t move away just yet. Her face was still just a few inches from his.
She really didn’t want to overthink this. The feeling of the kiss still tingled on her lips, and she wanted to just continue what they’d started. She wanted to just lose herself in his arms for a little while. Even if she knew that she wasn’t the type to just let it stop at that. She would end up wanting more and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to give that to her, even assuming that she was in a place where she could start something like that.
----
“Oh, it is.” Dean laughed softly. He pulled her closer, both his arms around her now. “I wouldn’t mind taking this to the couch, a bed, or even the table.” He glanced to the closest piece of furniture.
“But,” he placed a soft kiss on her lips, almost teasingly. “You may not like how you feel in the morning.” His fingers softly rubbed and massaged at her back. He wasn’t letting go; he wasn’t moving or pushing her away. He was simply giving her a moment to think. Just how willing he may be to let this go to a point of no return could probably be felt, and he didn’t seem at all ashamed by it.
“I don’t want you to feel bad about anything you do right now.” One hand slid a little further down her back than it had before, past the small of her back. “Just good and happy.”
----
“Mmm,” a little whimper escaped Dinah’s lips as his hands slid lower.
It was really difficult to remember just why this was a bad idea right now. Her hands slid up his back as she shifted her weight a little bit so she was pressed up against him, almost leaning on him for support. Once her fingers found the base of his neck they began to gently knead at any knots that might have been there.
Dean was worried about how she might feel in the morning. It was sweet actually, and made it a lot harder to think about the fact that maybe they should slow down and actually talk about what might or might not be between them.
Trouble was, she was a little afraid of the answer and right now she just really wanted to keep kissing him and see where this might go.
She hooked one of her legs around his, pulling him closer if that was possible.
“I am happy,” she reassured him.
She was. In fact, she was having a hard time not smiling right now. Maybe it wouldn’t last. Reality would probably intrude at some point, but right now it was just the two of them and she was almost always a little lighter around him.
Her lips found his again, her kisses much more urgent now.
----
Dean was rarely torn when it came to this sort of thing. Usually he just went with it and left the next morning. Only, he couldn’t just leave. This was his place, sort of, and she’d still be there the next day. He knew that she was dealing with loss and pain, and he was the poster boy for filling the void with all sorts of deviant behavior. But, this was Dinah. He just didn’t see her being that comfortable with all this, not in the long run.
Unfortunately, she was making a very good argument with the leg and the lips. His hand slid to grab her thigh, and soon the other was lowering to grab the other. He lifted her without breaking the kiss, which should have told her just how much experience he’d had with this. He didn’t carry her to the couch, or to the table. Instead he just turned and set her on the counter. It was the closest spot for the moment.
His hands moved over her, touching for now, maybe moving clothes enough to touch skin for only a moment. He kept himself to just kissing and touching for now.
----
Once she made a decision, Dinah usually saw it through. She was sometimes impulsive, and could be singleminded to a fault occasionally. She had made the decision to not overthink this and see this through, which was why any of the remaining concerns and questions left her as she was swept up onto the counter. She let out a little gasp of surprise and then ran her hand down his back, gently massaging and then tugging at the bottom of his shirt once she reached it.
Her other hand slipped under the shirt and lightly traced the waistband of his pants. The roaming hands were definitely keeping her in a state of distraction as her kisses started to move down to Dean’s neck.
The next morning and any fallout that might come from this seemed very very far off in her mind. None of that mattered in this moment. All that mattered was that he didn’t stop touching and kissing her.
----
Dean laughed again, softly. He shivered when her fingers finally touched his skin. It was cruel, and he definitely enjoyed it. Truthfully he had thought of this happening more times than he could count, but now when it was happening, he was actually thinking of being the good guy. The one who wanted to take it slow. He wanted to kick the good guy’s ass.
He broke the kiss finally and stepped back, hand up as if to keep her at bay. He was smiling and breathing heavily. He took another step back as if she might attack him.
“Okay. Okay. You are dangerous.” He looked for one of the recently opened beer bottles and downed a good bit of it. He couldn’t hide the smile.
----
There was a little bit of disappointment when he stepped away, and Dinah took a few minutes to catch her breath. She was feeling a little light headed and it had nothing to do with the beers she’d had earlier. She remained perched where she was and leaned back against the cabinets, looking at ease in spite of the fact that it wasn’t the most comfortable place to sit.
There was still a grin on her lips as she watched him drink.
“You should see my right hook,” she teased.
She didn’t drink any more of the beer that she’d set down before kissing him. She could already feel reality starting to creep in just a little bit. She was pretty sure that was why he’d stepped away, though she could have been wrong.
----
“I have.” Dean smirked, taking another long pull of beer. “You don’t want to do this.” His hand was up. “You do, but you don’t. Tomorrow when you wake up...” He shrugged, smiling. “Tangled in the sheets, feeling sore, will you respect me?”
He was teasing her that much was certain. He licked his lips absently as he looked her over. “Or are you going to tell me you’ll still respect me in the morning, giving my goodies to you?” He set the bottle down on the table and stepped closer, his hand out for her to take.
“Come on. I’ll tuck you in.” His other hand lifted to brush a few fingers through her hair.
----
Dinah did return the smirk with a small smile of her own, though she resisted the urge to point out that ‘this isn’t what you want’ sounded a lot like a very kindly worded with rejection. She appreciated the attempt to spare her feelings, though she was feeling a little silly at the fact that she’d practically thrown herself at him. Then again, that hadn’t exactly been a one-sided kiss there.
She did take the offered hand and hopped off the counter. Now that the adrenaline rush accompanying the making out was fading, she was pretty tired and her muscles were starting to ache after a long day spent toying with her bike and then looking for her house.
“Mm. I suppose I’ll let you keep your virtuous reputation in tact then,” she managed to tease right back.
----
“Good. I don’t know what would happen if word got out that I let some pretty woman have her way with me in the kitchen.” Dean took her hand and pulled her close. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leaning into kiss the top of her head. He walked her back to the bedroom that was hers, or must have been meant for her.
“Think I’d get more respect if it were the shower or the couch.” He laughed, his hand softly rubbing her shoulder before giving it a squeeze. He walked her through the door before slipping over to the bed to start tossing the pillows. He hated all the pillows women liked to put on the bed. They didn’t make any sense. “Get in.”
He pulled back the bedding of a cleared spot. “Com’on. In you go.”
----
The top-of-the-head kiss was sweet, and Dinah leaned into him for just a few minutes as they walked to her bedroom. All the same, she still couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being very nicely brushed off. She was half-tempted to refuse the offered bedspace, but she was tired.
She could only hope that sleeping here tonight would satisfy the City and that she’d get her townhouse back tomorrow because otherwise this situation had the potential to be extremely awkward.
“Night,” she said, before climbing into bed. She reached for one of the pillows that hadn’t been tossed onto the floor and cuddled up with it.
----
“I could stay with you until you fall asleep.” Dean wasn’t brushing off, so much as protecting himself, her? He tossed a few more pillows before he pulled the covers up better around her, covering her up. He leaned over slowly to press a kiss to her temple whether she wanted him to stay or not.
“You are one hell of a kisser.” He whispered against her ear, lips brushing. “And taste good.” He pressed another kiss to her temple and started to stand.
----
Dinah was now really lost in the sea of mixed signals. She probably would have ended up confused even if they had continued what they’d started in the kitchen, but perhaps that would have been better than confused and feeling rejected?
Maybe? She didn’t really know.
She did roll over to give Dean a raised eyebrow. Her confusion might have been written all over her face, though she was trying to hide the fact that she was a bit hurt. Instead, she forced a small smile.
“I’m a big girl. You don’t need to feel obligated to make sure I fall asleep.”
With that, she rolled over and pulled the covers up.
----
Dean stood, but not before giving her one more kiss to the temple.
“Who said I felt obligated?” he asked softly, a little confused himself. He wanted to give her some time to think it through, and she went cold, or at least distant. He shrugged slightly. “Just...yeah..I’ll be in my room down the hall.” He pointed as if she might not be able to figure it out.
“I’ll see you in the morning, I guess.” He walked slowly toward her door.
----
Dinah sat up in bed and looked at him, now really trying to gauge the situation. From what she could tell, she’d put herself out there and he’d made it clear that he wasn’t interested. She wasn’t trying to act distant, but she was trying to just get a bit of space to deal with her embarrassment so she could figure out a way for things to go back to normal.
“Well, you didn’t exactly say you wanted to,” she said. “I just thought you were trying to be nice and you know, let me down easy or something?”
Talking about it probably was just going to make things more awkward. Probably. She just hated leaving him with that soft voice and somewhat confused look on his face.
----
Dean turned to look at her, and he shook his head, laughing softly. His brow rose slightly. He took a lean against the wall, his hand going to his pockets. He was thinking it through.
“You’re kidding, right? I don’t offer to stick around unless I want to.” Sure, there were times he’d offered to stick around when people might be afraid, but this wasn’t one of those times. He shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“I told you; I would love to test the table, the couch, your bed, my bed, every flat surface in this house. See how strong they are, but you’re not in a good place for it, Dinah.” He smiled softly. “Not saying ‘no,’ just saying ‘probably not a good idea right now.’”
----
Dinah sighed. She wasn’t going to argue about what sort of mental state she was in. He was probably right. Whatever else he might think, she hadn’t kissed him because she was just looking for an easy distraction. There were definite feelings there, even if she’d tried to ignore them for awhile. Then again, having feelings didn’t mean that she was in any shape to act on them. Not to mention that she didn’t have the best of luck with these things. Right now, Dean was still a good friend. Trying for more might wreck that if things didn’t go well.
She did move the covers on the other side of the bed aside and raised her eyebrows at him. She didn’t know if he’d still want to stay, but she would like it if he did.
“I’m sorry. It’s not... I don’t usually make the first move. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ve ever made the first move like that,” she said with a slight frown. “So, guess I wasn’t really sure how to take the slight brush off,” she said with a small shrug. “But I understand.” She gave him a more genuine, if still small smile. “Thank you for trying to watch out for me.”
She might not have liked someone else deciding what she should or shouldn’t be doing, but she did appreciate that he wasn’t just taking advantage of the fact that she was more vulnerable right now.
----
Dean shook his head, smiling. He walked over to the offered spot, paused, then crawled under the covers, rearranging the pillows some. He softly pulled the pillow from her arms, before tugging her a little to go ahead and snuggle in against him. He was more than willing to hold her until she slept.
“It wasn’t a brush off. Not exactly, and you were pretty good at making the first move. Keep that in mind for later.” He laughed softly. “It’s only a real brush off if I really wasn’t interested.” As soon as she got settled in his arms, he sighed softly.
“If you couldn’t tell I was interested, then I don’t know what you’ve been doing before.” He was still a little uncomfortable in his jeans, maybe a little more so now that he was in bed with her. He tightened his arms around her, holding her close.
----
Dinah laughed and nestled her head into his chest, her arms wrapping around him.
“Well, there’s interested and then there’s interested,” she said, her tone light.
After all, just because he’d physically been interested didn’t mean that emotionally or mentally he had been. Though she wasn’t going to push that line of discussion too far since they’d clearly tabled the issue for now.
She did enjoy snuggling up to him though. Her fingers lightly traced up and down his sides, though they didn’t dip too low or veer into any territory that could have been deemed inappropriate.
“Pretty sure that’s the last first move I’ll be making for awhile,” she said, still lightly teasing.
It wasn’t exactly a hint to him. In fact, she pretty much expected what had happened tonight to be an isolated incident. As far as she was concerned, if he had returned her feelings he would have said something by now or before now. Wouldn’t he?
----
Dinah really did have to pay more attention, or clear her ears. Dean shivered a little as her fingers moved over his body, and he shifted again, snuggling a little more. He’d never really thought of doing something like this with Jen. With her it was sex. With Dinah, it was different. He rubbed her side and back, just relaxing.
“That’s a little disappointing.” His hand rested on her hip. He wasn’t dozing off, but he was damn tempted. “What is the difference between interested and interested?” As far as he knew there was only the one interested.
----
“Mm,” Dinah’s reply was a contented sigh. This was very comfortable. Her fingers slowed but didn’t quite stop moving.
“Well, just because the body is willing doesn’t mean the mind is,” she said.
She bit her lip, trying to decide how much to say.
“I’m sure that by now, you know that I’m not really a casual type of girl. So you probably realized that anything happening with us would mean more to me. So...”
She really didn’t want to finish that sentence. Instead, she just sort of settled in a little bit more.
“You know... interested with the heart as opposed to simply interested with the body,” she said. “Thank you for thinking with your big brain and not just leading me on.” There was a small smile in her voice.
As much as she might have wanted to feel needed and wanted right now, she would rather not get hurt down the line. This, however, this cuddling... it was really nice. Not exactly all that safe either as far as her heart was concerned, but it was nice.
----
Dean nodded even if she couldn’t see him. He sighed softly, and just held her tighter. He wasn’t sure how to address things, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, if that was what was up for discussion. He didn’t pull away either. His head leaned to rest against hers a little.
“So, you’re saying you weren’t just going after it tonight for a little distraction?” He kissed her head softly, his voice hushed for the subject at hand as much as where they were and what time of night it was. It seemed like the right time for hushed conversations. “Because, as much as I know you aren’t the type, or I guess you aren’t, that was how it felt. A little distraction, and I didn’t want you to do something you’d regret in the morning.”
He squeezed her softly, holding her just a little tighter. “Are you ready to make for anything more than fun, Dinah? You haven’t been out of things with Harry too, and Jake hasn’t been gone long. I’m not saying how I feel because it doesn’t matter how I feel. Not tonight. I’m not the one whose world has been turned upside down for over and over for months on end now.”
He kissed her again. “I care about you, and I would never want to hurt you.”
----
They were valid questions, and valid concerns. Her life was a mess right now, and she really hadn’t been fair to him tonight.
She lifted her chin and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. She was careful to stay clear of his lips, even though it was tempting. Instead, she rested her head back down on his chest and sighed.
“Harry’s not... that was over long before I made the break-up official. Believe it or not, I’ve made my peace with that. As for Jake... I don’t think that will ever really go away. I’m always going to be a little broken. Maybe it will get better, but I’m not ever going to be completely ‘fixed.’”
She bit her lip and considered her next words.
“I care about you too. I’m sorry it felt like I was just using you for a distraction tonight. Being around you makes me feel... a little less broken. I guess I just reacted to that tonight when I kissed you. I’m not even sure how far I was planning on letting it go.”
Her fingers stopped moving. She didn’t let go, though she did shrug slightly.
“I wasn’t thinking though. You’ve got... Jen and whoever else you’re seeing, and you’re right-I really wouldn’t have been okay with you going back to that in the morning.”
----
“It’ll never fully go away. Wish that it did, but it won’t.” Dean had his own little boy out there, and he didn’t know how Ben was doing. The hunter missed Lisa, but he missed the boy, more perhaps. He just held her for a moment, not saying anything more. It wasn’t that he couldn’t see her point; it was more that he didn’t think this was the best time to have this particular discussion. Funny that he’d had the other side of it with the woman in question not that long ago.
Finally he took a deep breath and released it slowly, “I can’t make promises right now. Mainly because I’m tired, still achy from the other day, and it’s hard to think when I’ve got a hot woman snuggled up to me in her bed.” Just a compliment.
“Jen and I are just fun. To clear things up, and right now, other than the random chick here and there, she’s it. It’s not that serious because she hasn’t been here. We keep it mostly to hotels.” He laughed. “And before you get offended or defensive, you opened this can of worms. Now, this is the kind of talk people have after they’ve had sex or been seeing each other a while.” He shifted a little under her, but not to dislodge her, just getting more comfortable.
“But, I’m sitting in your bed in my jeans, it’s something a friend wears when both parties know nothing’s going to happen at the time. I don’t do this for just anyone. Actually you’re my first.” He hmphed in amusement. “So, just go to sleep. When you wake up, you may not even feel how you did tonight. And, it won’t hurt my feelings if you decide you don’t want to have this talk at a better time with me. But, right now, sleep on it.” He kissed her head again. “I’m not going anywhere.”
----
She hadn’t actually been asking for promises so much as just thinking out loud. In fact, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be the one to outright ask him to give up seeing Jen and having the occasional one-night stand. As far as she knew, asking a guy to give those things up if he wasn’t ready just meant he’d eventually end up going back to them. If he had been seeing Jen this long, obviously being casual made him happy. Or Jen did, no matter what the two of them did to keep it casual. She really didn’t want to think about that-if that was the case, she had no business kissing him or cuddling him or anything else.
She was okay with letting the subject drop for the moment. She really appreciated the reassurances that he wasn’t going anywhere and the reminder that whatever else they were or weren’t, they were close friends.
In fact, he was one of her best friends. She wasn’t really sure when that had happened, but it had sort of crept up on her.
Realizing that made her think twice about opening up this can of worms. Of course, as far as she was concerned, she’d told him how she felt and he had been very sweet and concerned about making sure she didn’t get hurt. He had been willing to listen, but he also hadn’t said a whole lot about what he wanted or felt, except to make it clear that he was having fun with Jen and wasn’t quite ready to give that up.
She was okay with that. It wasn’t what she might have wanted, but she was glad that at least they were still friends after this. That was a huge comfort-as was the feeling of his chest softly rising and falling under her head as she drifted off to sleep.