Last Breath

If Dean hadn't been tense before, he certainly was now. When Allison's hand brushed against his back, Dean stilled in his movements, wanting nothing more than to tell her off at the moment. Why couldn't she just pay attention instead of trying to prove her point?

"You shouldn't ever get stranded but if you do, what then? You need to know how to handle yourself. Until you do, how do you expect me to let you go out on runs?" Dean challenged, dropping the wrench he had been holding as he straightened up. "Forget it. Let's just go.. do something else."

Dean was annoyed and that was rather obvious but he hoped that moving them away from the car would at least change both of their attitudes enough that maybe they could still salvage the day.

Allison struggled not to roll her eyes in defiance at Dean. She knew he hated it, but he was acting like a child. She really was trying to learn, she really was trying to pay attention, and here he was picking a fight were her—as per usual.

Allison sighed and nodded her head, “Look Dean, I completely understand. I get it. I’m trying here. Just—Just let me watch you okay? I’ll figure it out. This was your plan for this afternoon and I don’t want to ruin it.” She watched as he raised a weary eyebrow at her. She held her hands up in defense. “I’m being honest, I swear.”

Allison knew that it was hard for Dean to explain things. He wasn’t a verbal learner and he sure as hell wasn’t a verbal teacher.

Dean missed his family more than anything. In part because of times like this. His brother, his father both understood Dean on a deeper level for no reason other than that they were his blood and he was theirs in return. They understood how he worked and molded themselves to fit his edges just perfectly, without even trying.

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he motioned back toward the vehicle. "It's probably best if I just get someone else to do the work, Allison. They'll be able to show you what the hell to do without jumping down your throat for not paying attention." Dean was still rather defiant - he still believed the issue was that Allison just didn't know how to pay attention.

"You can stay back or I can get someone to show you another day. You tell me what would work better for you so that you'll be able to focus."

Allison wasn’t one to show her emotions all the damn time, but Dean’s words brought that stinging sensation to her eyes. She blinked until she was sure her eyes were clear. Crossing her arms, she shook her head. “I’ll get up with someone another day, Dean. I’m just going to leave you alone, you obviously need it.”

Allison turned around and walked out of the garage, getting far, far away from Dean. Once out in the cooler air, she dropped her arms. Deep down, Allison knew that she was only a tool to bide Dean’s time. He had made that blatantly clear on several different occasions. However, Dean’s little outburst gave her time to meet with her group.

After Allison’s small gather, and after devising a plan to split up runs later on in the week, Allison made the journey back to hers and Dean’s cabin. She prayed silently that he was in the cafeteria or still working in the garage as she pushed the door open. She sighed as soon as she entered, kicking off her boots and shrugging off her jacket.

Dean glared after Allison. He was torn between following after her because he could only imagine what she was feeling but sure as hell, he decided to stay behind in the garage because that meant less fighting. He was in no mood to go after her because he was positive they would start fighting and that wasn't what he needed his people to see right now. Morale was already low, it didn't need to get worse.

Instead, he focused his attention on the vehicle he had been working on. It was a good few hours later before Dean was satisfied with his work, and the car was running. He opted to head back to his cabin, only to pause as he spotted Allison closing the door. Or not. Huffing under his breathe, he turned and made his way toward Cas' cabin, deciding that he could spend a bit there at least.

Dean stopped by the cafeteria, grabbing two plates of food and two bottles of water before he headed back to his shared cabin with Allison. He hoped that she was at least in a slightly better mood so that they could relax together. Kicking open the door, Dean sighed as he stepped inside. "I brought food," he called out to her, dropping down at the kitchen table.

Allison was just stepping out of the shower when she heard Dean return. She wrapped her towel tightly around her as she made her way to the common room. Deciding that she wanted to forget about what happened earlier. She smiled kindly at Dean, “Thanks, Dean. I appreciate that.”

Still in her towel, she sat at the table across from Dean and began to eat. The silence was thick in the air and she suddenly felt the need to apologize to Dean. But, why? She hadn’t done anything wrong.

Allison looked up from her plate and looked at Dean. “I’m sorry for earlier, ya know.” She said in between bites of food. “I know I am a pain in your ass a lot of the time and that I don’t pay attention… I guess I am just kind of a brat, ya know.”

Suddenly, Allison felt a little better. She always had to be the bigger person when it came to her and Dean, because she knew he sure as hell wasn’t going to be the first to break the silence. That four letter L word was right on the tip of her tongue, but she held it back. “Thank you for putting up with me when you didn’t have to.” She murmured quietly, hoping this would soften the stone man in front of her.

Dean wanted nothing more than to sit here and eat his meal in silence because he could only imagine what horrid thoughts were running through Allison's mind. He was almost positive that they likely matched his. Something about how he was just so sick and tired of them arguing constantly. There seemed to be no real end to it, no matter how hard he tried. Or at least told himself that he was trying.

Listening as Allison started to apologize, Dean had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes. Did she honestly think that was going to fix things between them? Nothing seemed to be working between them but what else was he supposed to do? He ground his teeth together, nodding slowly as he listened. At least pretend to care, right?

"Yeah, I guess you are a brat," Dean grumbled, letting out a dry laugh as he nodded. He looked up to Allison, offering the tiniest hint of a smile. He fixed her with a look, reaching forward to set his hand on hers in an attempt to comfort her. "Let's just forget about the fight, okay? Ain't nothing worth arguing over now. Especially in a time like this, you know?"

Allison could tell that her apology didn’t mean anything to Dean; it never did so why would now be any different? When he smiled at her, she returned a small raise of her eyebrows. She knew that the Dean she knew when all of this started wasn’t going to be coming back anytime soon. All she could do was allow him to continue to use her as his escape. She didn’t see anything more becoming of their relationship any time soon.

“Alright,” she said quietly in agreeance. Although she wanted to say they needed to talk about it and solve the issues they had. Allison knew that if she spoke up, it would only irritate Dean even more; she wasn’t really in the mood to argue with him.

“What are you plans tomorrow?” She asked quietly in an attempt to keep the small talk flowing. If there was anything she hated more than Dean being upset with her, it was Dean not talking or ignoring her. “I didn’t know if you had any runs planned or anything…”