Psych 101 - Epilogue
Not for the first time Melanie thinks Sam and Dean broke her couch during their epic fight because it is no where near as comfortable as it was when she bought it last year. Her back is killing her.
The clock on the wall says 5.26am and there is absolutely no reason for her to be awake this early. Whatever woke her needs to stop.
Shifting so she can curl up on her side Melanie notices a light coming from over by her desk. She knows she didn’t leave the lamp on last night and the flashlight is still in the bottom drawer of her desk.
Turning her head for a better look Melanie realizes it’s the early morning rays of sun breaking through her curtains. The sun hasn’t shown in over a month. It’s been nothing but raging thunder storms for weeks.
Rolling off the couch Melanie stumbles to her windows, pulling the blinds open to see the sun crest the horizon, pink and orange and yellow bursting forth into the sky. It’s so bright it almost hurts to look.
She almost can’t believe it. There’s not a cloud in the sky, not a hint of the unnatural weather they’ve been having. After the first week of unrelenting rain Melanie had gone home, packed a suitcase and quietly moved into her office. She knew why the weather had turned, knew what the storms meant and here in her office, surrounded by the various charms and spells and wards the hunters had given her Melanie felt safe. Much safer than she did at home where her only protection is an evil eye charm her friend had brought back from Italy for her. It hardly compared.
Too awake to go back to sleep Melanie made her first cup of morning and tea and just sat at her desk, basking in the rising sun.
A while later she went outside in nothing but her flannel pajamas and flip-flops to track down a morning paper. It felt amazing to be outside without rain and humidity, without always being damp. Everything feels so much better, happy.
Even the front page seems less depressing, the bump in the stock market, the resignation of a middle-east dictator, the conviction of a child molester. The world was definitely still a mess but it seemed less on the verge of complete destruction and more it’s regular brand of fucked up.
There’s an article in the local section about a house that keeps getting put on the market less than a year after it’s sold. It’s an older house, restored to its original design complete with cute molding and gables. And yet every new owner left within a year with no explanation.
Chances are she’ll have a hunter dropping by tonight.
The day goes remarkably well. She’s busy, booked all day and she wonders, with the world no longer ending, will her civilian client list shrink just a bit. She honestly wouldn’t be upset if it did.
About mid-day Rachel places a beautiful vase full of sunflowers on her desk. There’s no card with the delivery but Melanie does need one. She knows who sent them. Inhaling deeply into the flowers she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
Melanie knows she’ll never see Sam and Dean again. Knew it when they left after their final session. And it’s okay. It’s enough to know that they’re out there, saving people, hunting things, being a family.
She puts the flowers in the middle of her desk so she can easily see them and reminder that today, is a really good day.
End
AN:
A big huge to my artist tringic …Zoe you have been amazing, going above and beyond the call of duty, creating beautiful art that I can’t stop looking at while battling a wrist injury. Thank you for your support and cheerleading and for putting up with my insanity and last minute technical issues. Hugs, kisses and cupcakes! Go see her beautiful art!
And of course thanks to wendy and thehighwaywoman for once again running a fantastic challenge and being so understanding of the above mentioned last minute tech issues.
Thanks for reading! Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a bottle of wine and Big Bang fics waiting for me.