(Untitled)

[incaution]

Characters: Dean & Jo
Location: The new Roadhouse building
Planet: Coruscant
When: Right now
What: Jo gives Dean the surprise she's been promising him.
Rating: PG-13, for Jo and Dean being...themselves.

Comments

[likedillinger]

[Dean's a little (unsure) about this whole blindfold business for a moment, and shoots her the most skeptical look ever, but part of him thinks maybe he's signing up for some kind of kinky sex game, so whatever, he'll put it on without bitching.

He wonders idly, while standing there waiting for whatever this is, if maybe she's done some decorating or something while he's been busy dealing with Dad. Or... hell, he doesn't even know. She said it was a surprise for him, but...

The second she says music, his eyebrows lift beneath the blindfold, and climb even higher when he hears some insanely familiar chords that feel a lot like old friends he hasn't seen in a very long time]

... No freaking way. [And then the blindfold's whipped off and she's smiling and looking incredibly pleased with herself, her eyes sparkling as she unveils her little surprise, and he can only stare slack jawed for a second with a dumbass smile on his face.

This is probably the most thoughtful gift anyone's ever given him in his life, considering most

[likedillinger]

[He smiles down at her in response, gently squeezing her hand] Suppose it doesn't take away from how damn lucky I am. [He shrugs a bit, gesturing with his head over his shoulder as if to indicate their earlier conversation. That's in the past. Which is behind him. Sometimes writing out tiny tics in body language is the hardest fucking thing ever.] Seem to remember you insisting I admit that part.

[incaution]

[His smile is contagious, and all too quickly she's grinning like an idiot again, one of those annoying lovesick lopsided smiles that they're both guilty of giving the other.]

I'm pretty sure we can both admit that we're both damn lucky.

[She takes to humming along with the music, soft and under her breath, and keeps their hands joined as she turns about and moves to press her back up against him. It's a slight dance, one that's good for keeping the mood light and from getting too filled with talk of emotions.]

I'm also pretty sure we can both remember the promise to break in every room of this place, so the sooner we get started with fixing it up, the better.

[like_dillinger]

[He chuckles at that, because of course he hasn't forgotten, and then actually swings their joined hands up to the side, his other hand hooking around her waist as if he really does mean to dance with her. Except instead, he twirls her out from him at a lazy pace, gesturing around the room with one finger idly when she stops] Show me where to get started and we'll be making good on that promise before you know it. [And then he yanks her back in tightly with a particularly shit-eating grin on his face]

[incaution]

[Laughing, she glances back over her shoulder at the empty building.]

We gotta gut the place and draw up a blueprint before we get anywhere with this place.

[She's almost pouting at that. She wants her roadhouse now. She doesn't mind hard work and doing things for herself, but she feels like it's going to take forever.]

For now, I'm all content making you pretend to dance with me. If I close my eyes, I can pretend we're back home in Nebraska.

[And closes her eyes she does, her smile growing as she does so.] Like the old place wasn't blown to pieces. You and Sam've stopped by to stay in between jobs, Mom's already in bed, and I'm taking care of closing crap at the bar but you're all determined to distract me so you can say something stupid to try and get in my pants.

[Okay, so maybe she's...had that fantasy once or twice over the years.]

[like_dillinger]

[That's adorable, Jo. A little sad, because of you bringing up the Roadhouse getting blowed up and Things That Can Never Be back home, but still adorable nevertheless] Couldn't have all been that stupid, if it left you thinkin' about it all that time after. [Yeah, he has to... point that out. He's very pleased with himself right now]

[incaution]

[She cracks an eye open, and brings her other hand up to his mouth to cover his lips, efficiently shutting him up.]

Trust me, it all was stupid. But I remember it because it was you saying it. [That's...probably not going to help quiet his ego, but whatever.

The eye that was peeked open shuts once again, and she tries really hard to imagine the Roadhouse as it was, back before Dean died and went to Hell, and back before Ash was killed and back before she thought she was too old and mature to hang around back home and wait for life to come to her. ]

I miss it so much I can almost smell the place right now. [She admits softly, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.] Can I tell you something?

[like_dillinger]

[No, it really doesn't, but that's not such a bad thing, Jo. It also makes his heavy heart lift a little more, so it's worth it in the end. He watches her with a little smile of his own, realizing this moment's important to her, and lets her have it, fingers drifting back and forth along her arm]

Course you can.

[incaution]

Every time I tell you I'm not wanting or expecting some kind of happy ending here, I'm lying so you don't feel like you've got to do something. I want us to get the chance we're never gonna have back home so bad, sometimes it feels like my heart's gonna burst if we don't get it.

[She opens both eyes at that, and looks up at him to watch his reaction.]

I'm not gonna blame you if you want to run after hearing that crap, but I just figured that if we made it this long, you should know.

[like_dillinger]

[His hand stills in place, surprise locking his heart up in his throat at her words. It's easy to see the conflicted emotions that play out across his face unguarded, but it's also apparent he's having a hard time responding for a moment] Jo...

[Finally, he just shakes his head slowly, and raises a hand to brush against her cheek, laying his palm there to rest]

Nobody's ever given me as much reason to stick around as you. [His voice makes it clear it's an admission, and that he's struggling to figure out what else to say] To be honest?

[His eyes drop for a second] I don't wanna go back. I keep hopin' I'm wrong and this turns out to be Heaven after all, and all this stuff they keep tellin' me about back home is... I don't know. Somethin' else. Or that it's all gonna happen to some other Dean in some other dimension.

If I didn't worry that Sammy might need me back there, I'd be doin' crazy things to get to stick around here. Instead, I don't ... [He frowns] I don't know what to do

[incaution]

[She knows that he doesn't need to hear this, that it's not her place to put this weight on him, to let him in on her hopes and dreams. But if her wants for the future include him and a life with him, doesn't he deserve to hear it?

The answers to that question conflicts within her, as she leans her cheek into his touch. Her eyes look up, locking onto his, and she tries to search for answers there that his words aren't able to give her.]

Maybe it will happen to some other Dean in some other dimension. Maybe it'll be okay for us both to stay here and just be freaking happy. God knows out of everyone, you deserve it. It's starting to get to the point where -

[She cuts herself off, not wanting to spill out the last part. Where I don't think I want to stay here if you choose to go back.

That's stupid for her to think, so girly and lovesick and freaking co-dependent, she's disgusted with herself. So disgusted that she goes tense and looks like she just swallowed something sour. You just do whatever you feel like you gotta do, to get

[likedillinger]

[The point where ... what? He wonders but he's sure not about to push her if she doesn't want to say.

He wishes she didn't think she had to keep those things locked down still, even if that's hypocritical of him. He's gotten used to the idea of hearing them, and had time to grow comfortable with her feelings for him. Not even just comfortable with: grateful for. In a way that's less pathetic every day.

But he's still afraid to say it out loud, say what he wants, how he really feels, because he feels like he's had the hard lesson of why he can't have these things ground into him before. After all, the djinn had given him a fantasy life too and in the end he'd given that up. For the people whose lives it was his place to save, where other people couldn't. For Sam, who might have to live out life in another world alone.

Why couldn't it just be different now that he was dead? Why was it still his lot to lose everything he wanted for himself and keep on fighting

[incaution]

[She's taken off guard by the intensity of the kiss, by the emotion behind it for Dean and the possessiveness in hers. Her hands are all over him, trying to find the perfect place to hold him close to her and never let him get away.

She feels selfish for having hinted at any of this, for having asked something of him and having put such responsibility and obligation on his shoulders. But they're good together, aren't they? Stronger, funnier, smarter when they're together.

It just makes damn good sense for him to realize he wants a happy future, however fleeting, with her.]

I've got a ton here for me, but I've gotten so caught up in you that I feel like I wouldn't fight going back to where I came from if you ever left. I know I'm stronger than that, but guess a girl can't help what Dean Winchester makes her feel.

[It's a dangerous admission, one that almost sounds guilty, but thankfully she presses up against him in another desperate kiss so he doesn't have to respond.]

[likedillinger]

[He should probably feel horrible that she doesn't see a reason to go on here without him. Right?

Instead, however, it fills him with a flood of warmth that he means that much to her. He slows this second kiss to something more lingering, brushing her hair back away from her face and winding his fingers though it.

His lips stay brushing hers, rather than drawing away entirely as he speaks.]

I might come back, you know, even if I did wind up goin'. If you left again, I'd hold onto that. [Yeah, he's saying he'd wait for you, Jo. Isn't that fucking romantic.]

[incaution]

[It is, okay. It made her grin, and she chuckles at her behavior. No, she'd be able to go on without him, she just doesn't want to have to. But she's not going to try and explain that, not when she could just leave what he said there out in the open, and let that mean a whole lot to her.

She keeps as close to him as possible, their lips just barely touching. She's grinning, at least, and during this emotional conversation there's no tears or feelings of hopelessness.]

I'll figure out a way to survive without you, if that ever actually ends up happening. [She laughs, her smile growing. Nope, she's not going to let this conversation take an entirely depressing turn. She's got to save it somehow.]

Not that I'm too worried about it. We've both been here this long.

[like_dillinger]

Yeah, apparently Revan just likes us. Especially me.

Can't say I blame the guy. [He turns to teasing and banter again because not only does he not want to take this down a depressing route, but he was coming dangerously close to letting words slip out of his mouth he wouldn't know what to do with.

It's getting harder to deny, especially when he sees her smile like this, and feels the warmth of her pressed against him, making him feel alive in a way no amount of sex with strangers had ever managed.

He suspects why, by now.

He loves this girl.

But those words are simply outside his vocabulary and he's not sure if saying them would be a good idea or not.

What's he know about love anyway? Sam had confronted him about how he'd felt about Cassie a long time ago, and he hadn't been able to deny it when his brother had asked about the L word: but he sure as hell hadn't been about to confirm it, either.

He'd thought it though. And here he was thinking it again.

But saying it's another matter entirely.] So yeah, probably