just say you won't let go

Sam grinned with the mention of it. "Honestly? I think so, too," he said, nodding slightly, "I mean, this Rosie just seems... So unbelievably perfect. The other Rosie was perfect and great, too, but... I've never been more comfortable with somebody than I am with this Rosie, more at ease. Everything about her just draws me in further."

Dean nodded. "I'm just glad we finally met our matches." Dean confessed. "Someone that we actually feel in love with instead of just wanting to get Dad off our back for not being married by the age he and Mom were married." Dean laughed, shaking his head. "In our own time, you know? I never thought I'd fall in love with someone easily, but Alice came and just... changed that. And now this Alice is furthering all of that because I just feel like she's the other half that I feel like I've been missing my whole life."

Sam smiled and nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean," he said honestly, "Who knew that we'd find our other halves thanks to versions of them from a different universe? I mean, that in itself sounds crazy, but... It happened, it's real, and I honestly wouldn't change it, because I genuinely feel like this Rosie was meant for me in every way. And, now that she's here, now that I've finally met her, I really don't want to lose her."

Dean smiled. "I know. I feel the same about Alice. I'm in this for the long run, and once we get to that point, I'm going to let Alice know that." He watched as the sun began to rise behind the trees, exhaling out his excitement, feeling his heart race in his chest at the opportunity of seeing Alice again. "I'm nervous." He confessed, never usually letting his walls down in that way, but knowing he could trust Sam.

"God, I feel like we're planning out wedding vows," Sam joked, laughing to himself as he shook his head. "Who knew we'd actually find girls who could do this to us?" He grinned over at his brother just for a moment before his gaze went to the rearview, watching as just the small streams of sunlight from the rising sun rested on her face and he swore, in that moment, he couldn't imagine a sight more perfect. "You'll do fine. You did fine before, even though you didn't even know it was her until you saw her."

"That's the thing, Sam," Dean laughed. "I feel like Alice and I have that sort of future. I feel like I could marry her and be with her for the rest of my natural life." Dean grinned. "I know, the Winchester brothers brought down by two women." Dean laughed, secretly loving it. "Eyes on the road, Romeo, I wanna live to see Alice." Dean smiled.

Sam laughed. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't feel the same way about Rosie," he said with amusement, "She's just that perfect, that I could imagine building an actual life with her. It's like I need her in my life, you know?" Smiling to himself, he watched Rosie for a few more moments before clearing his throat upon hearing Dean's later words. "Yeah, yeah, you'll get there in one piece, don't worry." Laughing, he focused back on the road again.

Dean didn’t want to admit to Sam that marriage was something he wanted to work towards. Something he felt strongly about. He had grown up watching John and Mary, the definition of married bliss, and he had sworn to himself long ago that he’d wanted the same thing. “Let’s just get there so we can nap.” Dean laughed. “It’s been a long 48 hours.”

Sam nodded with the mention of it. "We'll be there before you know it," he promised, but then focused his sole attention on the drive, thinking about everything. He wanted to build a life, a future, with Rosie, and couldn't imagine anything better than having her there to complete him.

Dean smiled to himself, thinking about how whole he felt with Alice, and he couldn't help but feel like this was when his life was about to start. And he could hardly wait.

---

Rosie stirred as she felt the Impala. Rubbing her eyes, Rosie's eyebrows furrowed as she felt something over her, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she saw it was Sam's jacket. Looking to the front, she saw Dean was asleep, his mouth slightly ajar, and she saw Sam was behind the wheel, sleeping soundly. Admiring him for a moment, Rosie got out of the car to stretch her legs, looking around to see they were parked outside a school.

Alice was making her way to the school, chewing on her lip anxiously. Looking around, she was eager to see Dean again, but she knew she had to get inside to set the snacks and drinks up, especially for the kids. As she got closer to the school, though, she blinked at the sight of the Impala, a small grin forming on her features at the sight, and she wished she could approach and talk to Dean right away, but she had to set up. She blinked again, though, seeing somebody climb out, and, while she didn't recognize the girl, she smiled as she made her way over. "Hi, are you here for the art show?" she asked, "We're still setting up, but you're welcome to come in, it you want."

"Hey," Rosie smiled. "Yeah, I'm with those two." She laughed, nodding towards the Impala. "I'm Rosie." She smiled, tying her hair up into a bun, sleeping in the back of the Impala, despite how comfortable it was, leaving her a little stiff. Following Alice into the school, Rosie looked around, seeing various works of art. "Wow, these are amazing." She complimented, taking a closer look at one particular piece of a lighthouse.

"I'm Alice," Alice told her with a broad grin, nodding in return at the Impala. "Dean and Sam look like they've had an exhausting trip." Shaking her head with amusement, she led the way inside, going to the snack table near where Rosie was. Shifting, unsure, she started making a plate for Dean but put enough on it in case he wanted to share with Sam, but figured that, maybe, Rosie would get plates for herself and Sam, anyways. Looking over, she grinned. "Right?" she hummed proudly before making her way over, "Can you believe they were painted by kids? Once they put their minds to showing off their skills and talent, they didn't hesitate at all to get creative. I'm really proud of them."

"You should be, these pieces are amazing." Rosie said honestly, turning to look at Alice with a smile. "What's the age group that these were painted by?" Taking a genuine interest, Rosie looked at the painting of a dog, coloured in wild rainbow colours, making her grin. "That's my favourite." She laughed. "Kids are really something, huh? Just gotta open their minds a little, no stopping them after that." Rosie smiled. "Plus, it seems like they have a great teacher."

"Oh, you should see the mural," Alice told her with a grin, "They're all painted by kids age 5 to 10." Shifting, she motioned to the lighthouse. "The girl who did this one moved here from Florida. She decided to paint this because it was what she missed most, she thought the lighthouses were the coolest things ever." She motioned to the one of the rainbow dog that Rosie liked so much, then. "This little boy's dog died. He'd had him since he was born, so he was old. He said the rainbow colors meant the dog was in Heaven now and happy." She smiled fondly at the paintings but nodded. "They really loved painting things that meant something to them, but they've done silly things, too. The mural is of dinosaurs, but there's one that they did in class of monsters." She grinned broadly, looking to her, but shrugged. "I'm not so sure I'm that great, but I love teaching them, assuring them they can paint whatever they want."

"You seem really passionate about what you do, trust me when I say that makes you great. Enabling kids to think freely and do what makes them happy, that's an amazing thing. They're our future, you know?" Rosie placed a reassuring hand on Alice's arm. "Hey, dinosaurs are pretty awesome, I love a good t-rex." Rosie grinned broadly, following Alice as she took the other paintings, smiling. "They're all pretty great, considering how young they are. Picassos in the making." She smiled, slipping Sam's jacket on as she realised she was still holding onto it, figuring he wouldn't mind. "I love this one, too." She admitted, looking at a sweet painting of a cat sitting on the table.

Dean stirred, rubbing his eyes. "Sammy," he groaned. "Wake up." Looking in the rear view, Dean saw that Rosie had gone inside, but he grinned when he saw the familiar Honda Civic parked, not far from the Impala. "C'mon, show time."

"Yeah... Plus, if they can think freely, they work together much better, which will be important for their futures," Alice said with a smile, nodding. "The school wanted dinosaurs, since this is to attract new students and the young age group has a huge interest in things like dinosaurs, so if the kids like it, the school hopes for the parents to like it." She grinned slightly, ready to explain the cat, but she froze, her expression falling when she saw her ex, Ethan, making his way over. "I'll be right back," she promised Rosie quietly before she straightened and made her way over to Ethan, "What are you doing here?"

"It's a community event," Ethan reminded her easily, smirking as he watched her, "And since it's public, it's probably the only way you'll actually talk to me. It's working so far."

"I don't want to talk to you, Ethan, so please leave," Alice pleaded quietly, hoping that he'd see reason.

Instead, though, his eyes narrowed and he reached for her arm, gripping it tightly and hard, enough to make it hurt, causing Alice to cringe. "Now, Alice, we're in the middle of a very important event with all your precious students," he reminded, "You wouldn't want me to make a scene, would you?"

Sam groaned as he began to stir with his brother's voice and scrubbed a hand across his face. "Already?" he asked, "I feel like we only just closed our eyes." Yawning, he peered behind him, only to blink at the fact that Rosie wasn't there. He didn't let himself get immediately worried - they were in the middle of a school parking lot, what was the worst that could happen? Looking towards the school, he figured she probably already headed inside and he climbed out of the car, closing the door behind him. "Let's go. I'm gonna go find Rosie." He grinned to himself before heading inside.

Dean got out of the car, leading the way to the school. Entering the events room, Dean scanned the room carefully, seeing Alice's arm being grabbed by a man who wasn't the friendliest looking guy. Frowning, Dean walked over. "Is there a problem here?" Dean widened his stance, glaring Ethan down. "Don't you know that you're not meant to touch a lady without her consent, you douche?" Dean asked, taking a step forward, forcing Ethan to let go of Alice. Dean's first instinct was to protect Alice, wanting to ensure she was safe, his hands curled into fists. "I'm not gonna punch you, cause there's kids around, but man, if you wanna take this outside, trust me when I say I'm okay with punching your teeth to your tonsils." Dean threatened, watching as Ethan backed down.

Sam walked in, blinking at what was going on, but his first instinct was to find Rosie. Spotting her not too far away, he quickly made his way over, checking her over, because he didn't know who the guy was or how far his anger would reach. "Hey, you okay?" he asked her quietly, scanning her over, admittedly also worried about how this could be emotionally damaging or how it could scare her away.

Alice blinked, looking at Dean with surprise as she rubbed her arm once Ethan released his hold on her. "Dean, he's really not worth it," she told him quietly, "He's just a jerk who doesn't know when to -" She stopped herself from saying 'fuck off,' remembering the students nearby, "When to give up and go away."

"Oh, you know him?" Ethan asked, motioning to Dean before he glared at the guy. "Careful, man. She'll have you wrapped around her finger, then leave you after one argument. She's the one who's not worth it."

"It wasn't one argument," Alice corrected quickly, glaring at him but clenched her jaw, trying to avoid attracting attention to them.

Ethan rolled his eyes before stepping towards Dean, staring at him. "I'm not scared of you, man," he told him. "This is between me and her, so how about you walk away and leave us alone and I'll pretend this never happened?"

Dean smirked. "You really wanna start this, big boy? Cause I think you're not telling the whole truth, you look like the douche type, trust me, I spot 'em from a mile away, and there is nothing." Dean stepped forward, keeping his stance, refusing to back down for anyone. "Nothing worst than a woman beater." Dean cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner, raising his eyebrows. "So, if you wanna take a swing, go right ahead, but know that I can do a lot more damage to you than you can to me. Alice deserves someone who cares, who actually loves her. So, stop overcompensating for your pencil dick and get out of here." Dean spoke quietly, not letting the kids around them overhear his vulgar language.

Rosie nodded, watching the situation closely. "I'm more worried for Dean," she murmured.