High School Sweethearts and Second Chances spn/btvs ch 21
Title: High School Sweethearts and Second Chances (SPN/Btvs)
Author: Noturbaby
Fandoms: Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13 - R
Warnings: None (eventual het sex between teens)
Pairings: Dean & Buffy Willow & Oz Most BtVS characters make an appearance.
Summary: Adds the Winchesters to Seasons 2 and 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy's a junior and Dean's a senior at Sunnydale High. At first, Dean doesn't know Buffy's a Slayer. Story deals with dating when part of life is fighting the supernatural.
In Blue Earth with Pastor Jim
John was shocked to find Sam, Dean and Buffy waiting for him when he woke up in the morning. Could only mean one thing -- they wanted something. They had even made coffee. They stayed silent until he finished his first cup. He looked at them, weakly attempting to appear stern, “What do you want?”
Sam nudged Dean, “We want to go to the Fourth of July festival,” Dean kept his voice to a near whisper.
John shook his head, immediately deflating his sons. However, that had not been his intention. “Since when do you two care about that stuff?” he kept his voice quiet.
“Buffy wanted to go,” Sam said quietly, but resigned.
Dean glared at Sam but Buffy shrugged, “C’mon Mr. Winchester. We need a little fun.” Sam and Dean braced themselves for their father’s reaction.
John rolled his eyes, did they really think he’d fall for that? “Ready for the run?”
“Yes, sir.”
Sigh, “yes, sir.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Five miles and one hundred push ups later, John led the group back to Jim’s house. The smell of bacon cooking drew them into the kitchen. Pastor Jim had a mountain of food waiting for them and they eagerly dove in.
When he had finished eating, John turned to Jim, “I guess the town’s putting on a big Fourth Celebration. Even my boys are interested in going.”
Jim looked shocked, “Yeah, there’s a parade and fireworks and everything.” He turned to Sam and Dean, “You guys want to go?”
“Of course we do,” Buffy answered for the boys who were too stunned to speak.
When the Fourth arrived, Buffy was on the side of Main Street holding Dean’s hand as the parade went by. On the festival grounds, there were booths for games, food, and of course rides. Sam and Dean took turns impressing Lilly and Buffy by winning various prizes at the games.
Although he complained about what he thought was shoddy workmanship and poor safety codes, Dean went on the Ferris wheel with Buffy. When she caught him smiling as they stopped near the top, Buffy teased, “I thought you’d complain about this the entire ride.”
“Nah,” Dean winked at her. “This may be one of the best days I can remember.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Sammy and I have never done this before. Not like this. Not as a family, not for fun,” Dean was still smiling.
“You’ve had a weird childhood,” Buffy said mildly teasing.
“Tell me about it.” Dean turned in the seat to kiss her. “Thank you for this, Buffy. We wouldn’t’ a done it without you.”
From the ground, John watched as Buffy put her head on Dean’s shoulder as the wheel took them around another time.
When night began to fall, Dean made sure he and Buffy could get their own spot for the fireworks. As they left the festival grounds, Buffy grumbled her disappointment. Dean drove for a few minutes and then parked the Impala behind the old grade school. From the trunk he took some blankets and led Buffy to the hillside. From there, Buffy learned that they had a view of the festival grounds, but also the best seat for the fireworks.
“You’ve done this before.” Buffy said knowing this was too good to be by chance and hoping it hadn’t been with one of Dean’s other conquests.
Dean grinned. “Yeah, about four or five years ago, Sam and I snuck over here and watched the show. It’s pretty awesome.” Just then the ground shook as the loud booms announced the beginning of the show. They cuddled together and watched the show. The moment the finale ended, Dean kissed Buffy’s cheek. “Stay here for a sec, I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, what’re you doing?”
“Just -- ,” Dean stepped to the car, “I’ll be right back.” Buffy watched as Dean rummaged through the glove box. When the car door closed again, they were in nearly complete darkness. Dean sat on the blanket by her, and even in the dim light Buffy could see he was smiling. “I got something for you.”
Buffy bounced up onto her knees, “What, what is it?!”
“Just wait, I, uh, well I got this for you for Christmas, then, well, I didn’t see you so I was going to save it for your birthday. But you dumped my sorry ass even before Christmas, so…”
“Dean,” Buffy whined, annoyed he was rehashing their history.
Dean went on ignoring her interruption. “I thought about giving it to you in Frisco but, I was a chicken shit.”
“Dean, what is it already?”
Dean was as impatient as she was, but he knew he had to say everything just right or she’d take it the wrong way. “You’re my girl, right?”
“Yeah, you know I am.” Buffy wrinkled her brow.
“Right, so I, uh, got you this.” Dean opened the little silk pouch he had in his hand and dropped it’s contents into Buffy’s hand.
“Dean, this is a ring.” Buffy was astonished. Her heart was racing. She was unsure what Dean meant by the ring he unceremoniously dumped in her hand.
“Yeah, I know.” It was a plain silver band. He took it and put it on her right hand. “It’s like a friendship ring or it was a friendship ring only we’re more than friends now, so it’s like a promise ring.”
“A promise ring,” a stunned Buffy repeated.
“Yeah,” Dean hoped that the tone in her voice didn’t mean anything bad. “Like I promise one day to give you a better ring.”
Buffy’s mind flashed to the ring Angel had given her for her birthday. Her thoughts took her through the entire series of events that led to Angel becoming Angelus. She felt herself stiffen and she couldn’t catch her breath. Angel’s face was before her and she was watching the vortex open. Then, Pastor Jim’s voice was in her head, reminding her to focus on the present, on what was right in front of her.
When Buffy didn’t respond, Dean sighed, “or not.” Dean knew he’d recover from this, but at the moment it felt like she was going to rip his heart out again. He felt like apologizing for even thinking of giving her a ring. He moved to get up.
Working to focus on the present, like Jim had told her, “It’s like yours,” Buffy replied barely audible.
“Yeah,” Dean coughed. “Yeah, that’s why I picked it.” Though their eyes were adjusting to the darkness of just the starlit sky, Dean wasn’t able to get a read on her expression. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep it. I could get you something else if you want. Or you don’t have to have it at all.”
“I love it.” Buffy stammered. Suddenly she wished she was in Sunnydale so she could show it to her mom and Willow. She smiled at Dean. She could show the ring to Cordelia, if she was in Sunnydale. Buffy threw her arms around Dean tackling him to the ground. “I love you, Dean Winchester.”
“Thank god, cuz I was really freakin’ out there,” Dean sighed in relief. He kissed her and rolled them over so they were next to each other on the blankets. “I love you, Buffy Summers.”
A few days later, Pastor Jim and Buffy were in another ‘session’. “So, Buffy, how did you enjoy the Fourth?” Pastor Jim appeared to be relaxing in his chair, but he studied Buffy’s every move.
At the mention of the Fourth Buffy began to grin and her eyes went to her ring. “I loved it, thank you very much.” She went to the window, saw Dean and John working on the truck. “Ya, know, Dean told me they never did that before, go to a festival as a family, I mean. Doesn’t that suck?”
“They’ve had very,” Jim paused searching for a word, “ different lives from most kids. Sam and Dean have always known what was out there.” Buffy lost her smile and waited for the man to continue. “Well, Dean anyway. He worked hard to keep it from Sam for as long as he could.” Buffy studied the rug for a moment. “Dean was given a job, watch out for Sam, and he’s never yielded from it. Now he’s old enough and capable enough, I’m sure, to hunt on his own. But, he won’t, if Sam or his Dad needs him. John’s been training him to hunt since I‘ve known him.” He noticed Buffy began to chew her nail. “How are you, though? The nightmares seem to have subsided, and you’ve certainly taken to John’s physical training.”
Buffy nodded. “Yeah, I can pretty much handle that stuff. I won’t touch a gun though. Dean thinks that’s crazy, but, I just don’t like ‘em.” She went back to chewing her nail.
“Buffy, is there something else you want to talk about?”
“Uh, I had a flashback, kinda, on the Fourth,” she met his eyes for the briefest of moments. “It was nothing really. I remembered what you said about focusing on the present, and it worked.” She flopped into the other chair in his den. “I may have freaked Dean for a second, but,” she waved her hand. “Yeah, so, I’m not really having the nightmares so bad.”
Jim sighed, “What triggered the flashback?”
Buffy shrunk in her chair. She didn’t want to tell him, and she didn’t want to lie.
John noticed the ring Buffy had begun to wear but waited until they were alone to discuss the matter with Dean . It wasn’t on her ring finger, but it was obvious to John what the ring meant. He decided, suddenly, that the truck needed a tune up. After getting Dean to agree to help, he had him cornered. “Dean, I need to ask you something.” John stopped himself, he felt he needed to know, but suddenly felt like he was intruding.
“Yeah, Dad?” The two were up to their elbow’s in the truck’s engine.
“You love her?”
“Dad.” Dean rolled his eyes and tried not to sound uncomfortable, but this was not a Winchester topic of discussion. He hoped it’d be over soon. “Yeah. I guess,” he muttered hoping his dad would change the topic.
John nodded. He decided to dive right in. “You sure? You’ve had so many girls I lost track. Is it ‘cause she’s the slayer, cause that’s not -”
“No, not that I don’t like that. It means she knows what’s out there and I don’t have to hide that from her. This whole part of my life, our lives, that no one else could know about; she knows about and accepts it, and hell, fights it right along with us.” He wiped his hand on his jeans and handed his dad the spark plugs, that probably didn’t need replacing.
John sighed, “Jim doesn’t like how she’s kinda become dependent on you.” Dean stopped working and looked at his dad. “I’m just saying. She’s supposed to be working on getting better…”
“She is. She’s not having nightmares. She’s kicking my ass at all the training you have us do.”
John heard the anger beginning to surface in Dean’s voice. “Dean, I’m not disagreeing. Just, Jim’s worried she’d rather play house with you than go back to being the slayer.” Dean blew out a breath but before he could say anything, John went on. “Do you think you could get her to want to go home to Sunnydale?”
“Dad, she wants to go home. She’s just worried that she let everyone down.” Dean tried to focus on his task. “We’re not playing house.”
John smirked. “Right.” John saw Dean begin to tense up. “Dean if we were to go on a hunt, would she be alright here on her own?”
“You’ve got a hunt?” Dean looked at him with excitement in his eyes.
“No,” John chuckled a bit. “I’m just asking if she’d be alright.”
“She’d be fine.”
Buffy stepped onto the porch and sat next to Sam. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Sam mumbled back. His eyes were on the two by the truck.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, they’re working on the truck, so it’s not like I’m involved in any way,” Sam lay back.
“You could go see if they wanted your help.”
“Yeah, right. Don’t think so. Kinda a Dad Dean thing. I’m kept out of it.”
It was hard to miss the bitterness in his voice. “Well, their loss.” Buffy said and sat by him. “I’m sure you’d be able to figure out what was wrong, too.”
Sam looked at her and shook his head. “They don’t want me over there.” Buffy went to argue, Sam cut her off. “This is what he does when he wants to talk to Dean without me around.” Buffy looked over at Dean and his dad.
“What are they talking about?”
“My guess, you.” Buffy began to feel sick to her stomach. She nodded and smiled weakly at Sam. Sam stood up, “Don’t worry, Buff, Dean’s been handling Dad for a long time. He’ll get his way.”
“You gonna marry her?” Dean missed the teasing in John’s voice
“Whoa, Dad. I’m eighteen. No, I’m not marrying her.” Dean shook his head. “I mean maybe someday, like a long, long time from now. But no, not now. It’s just a ring.”
“All right. Just want to know before you go running off to Vegas or something.” John chuckled as he shut the truck’s hood and walked toward the porch.
“Funny, Dad.”
The next day, Pastor Jim asked Dean to stay behind while Buffy and Sam joined John outside. Dean hadn’t noticed that his father avoided his eyes or the look he gave Pastor Jim when he asked Dean to stay behind.
In the pastor’s den, Dean fidgeted while Jim went over some notes. “Dean, I need to talk to you about Buffy,” Jim began. “I know how you two feel about each other and I’m depending on that to help you make the right decision.” Dean was worried that maybe the man had figured out Dean had been visiting Buffy at night. This was going to be awkward, Dean thought and he fidgeted some more.
The pastor sighed, this was going to harder than he thought. “Buffy is the slayer. She needs to accept her responsibility and return to Sunnydale.”
“Okay, what can I do? Do you want me to drive her home?” Dean’s mind began to think about how great it would be to be alone on the road with Buffy.
“No, Dean, you and Sam need to leave. This isn’t summer camp. Buffy relies on you, too much, and she needs to try to get by on her own. Being with you is making her want to forget about what is expected of her. It’s not good for her, Dean. This relationship is doing her more harm than good.”
Dean crossed his arms, jaw clenched and looked away from him. “Jim, I swear we….”
“I’m not asking, Dean. I’m telling you, go pack.” Dean stormed out of the room and slammed the door to the room he and Sam shared.
The sound of the slamming door drew the attention of the three in the yard. Sam and Buffy paused and stared at the house. “What wa ..”
Sam looked at his dad, “Dad? What…” He saw his dad looking away.
“The wind musta blown a door shut. Let’s get back at it. Sam, try to take Buffy down with that leg sweep. Remember she has a lower center of gravity than Dean does.”
Buffy and Sam took a moment before doing what John asked of them. Buffy’s eyes lingered on the house and Sam noticed the lack of a breeze strong enough to slam a door.
After allowing him to cool down for a few minutes, Pastor Jim knocked once then entered. Dean didn’t look up from where he sat on his bed, with his duffle at his feet. Jim could see him fighting for control of his emotions. “You should let Sam stay.” Jim sat on the bed next to Dean. “He likes it here, he has friends here. You put in all that computer stuff for him, he should stay.”
Jim nodded, “Yeah, we’ll see.”
Dean nodded, “Thanks.” Dean avoided looking at the pastor and looked towards the door. “Sorry about the door.” Jim looked to see that the jamb was cracked.
“It’s okay.”
Dean sniffed, “No, it’s not. I’ll fix it.” He looked at the ceiling, “I mean, I’ll pay for it.” He paused, “And the wall, too.”
Jim looked around and saw the small hole in his drywall where the corner of the dresser must have damaged it. “And here I thought you were over your anger issues.”
Dean didn’t take the bait to lighten the mood. “You really think I’m bad for her?” His voice barely a whisper.
The pastor sighed at the pain in Dean’s voice. “Buffy has responsibilities. Unfortunately, the hell mouth won’t disappear just because she’s not ready to face it. You won’t always be there. You have your own responsibilities.”
Dean nodded and got up. “’Kay. Tell her that I, uh..” He waved his hand, unable to speak.
“Dean, you should say good bye to her.”
Dean shook his head, wiped his eyes, “No, I won’t be able to leave if I do.”
“Why don’t you take Sam with you.”
Again Dean shook his head. “Can’t he stay? It’s better for him if he stays.”
The pastor put his hand on Dean’s shoulder, “You need Sam.”
“No. I’ll be okay,” he took a deep breath. “I better go. Can I call?” Pastor Jim seemed to debate that one. “Well, have Sam call me, at least.”
Activity in the yard stopped again when Dean left the house carrying his duffel and stalked toward the Impala. Buffy immediately ran to him and stopped him from getting in the car.
“Dad, what’s going on?” Sam looked from Dean and Buffy to his father. John’s eyes were on his eldest son, ignoring Sam’s question. “Dad?”
“Sam, go get Buffy.”
When Sam turned back to his brother, Buffy’s hand was over her face and Dean was getting in the car. As Dean drove passed, Sam noticed him wiping his eyes. Sam clenched his jaw. Dean didn’t cry, not ever. He looked back at his father, but the man was also watching the car. Sam put his arms around Buffy as she sobbed into his shoulder.
John answered his phone the moment it started to ring. “Dean, I didn’t..”
“I know, Dad. Just find me something I can fuckin’ kill.” John closed his eyes, feeling the anger in Dean’s voice. “Jim better be right about this, or I swear, I’m gonna kill him.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam read his brother’s note again. If Dean had put half as much effort into school as he did into his schemes, his brother’d be a genius.
Sam,
I got to leave, but I need your help. Get this note to Buffy, and if she wants to go, help her get the tickets she needs. Remember to get some in each way so they don’t know. Jim’s gonna call Giles the second she leaves and then they’ll call me. I’ll be able to meet her either way she takes just be sure to tell her how to tell me. Sorry I’m just taking off, but I’ll see you soon. Keep the extra cash, but make sure she has enough. Thanks man, I owe you.
Dean
Buffy,
Jim thinks you don’t want to go home and be the slayer cuz of me. I know that’s bullshit. If you want to come with me, tell Sammy. He’ll get you the tickets and make sure they aren’t able to follow you. He’ll let me know where you are and I’ll meet you there. If you want to stay, that’s cool, too. Sam’ll let me know either way. I love you. Just hang in there and it’ll be okay.
Love,
Dean
Chapter 22