Carry On

Jenna woke up slowly, having had a good sleep considering all that had went on the past few days. She went to roll over and realized that she was fairly, well, stuck. She cracked open an eye and found her face against Dean’s bare chest, and while her face turned red she tried to find a way to get up without waking him and having her embarrassment increased when he realized the close way they’d slept. Not that she particularly minded, really; he was built like a Greek God or something, but nevertheless she didn’t know the guy and this was weird.

“Have a good sleep?” she froze, and looked up to see Sam trying not to laugh at her futile attempts at escaping Dean’s iron grip.

“Pretty good, until I went to roll over and found this mess,” she explained, and Sam shrugged.
“He should’ve warned you; he’s a cuddler in the worst way. You’ll have to wake him up,” he told her, and caught the pink in her cheeks.

“Or here, you pretend to be asleep and I’ll wake him up – will that help save your dignity?” he asked teasingly, making Jenna roll her eyes at him while considering her options. Finally she sighed and looked up at Sam to wake his brother up, because her arms were pinned to her sides.

“Dean, Dean!” Sam called, and with a jump Dean was awake, sitting up and looking around, having unknowingly drug Jenna into an awkward sort of sitting position as well.

“Morning?” she offered, and as soon as he realized what he’d done dropped his arms, getting flustered and embarrassed.

“Oh, uh, how’d you sleep?” he asked, pulling on his T-shirt and trying to act as if he hadn’t been caught using her as a human teddy bear. Sam just shook his head at his brother while Jenna was trying to act as if it hadn’t happened either. He wasn’t sure why they’d both been sleeping on the pull out – since Lisa Dean had hardly looked at another woman, let alone slept with one, and he didn’t think his brother would sink low enough to take advantage of Jenna like that. But even more so he was pretty sure Jenna would have kicked his ass for so much as trying.

“Good, thanks. You?” she asked, and Dean just smiled and nodded before excusing himself to the bathroom. He should’ve known that it wasn’t a smart move to do that last night, but she was so frightened and it wasn’t like she was actually going to be comfortable sleeping on the love seat. They were adults, he figured they could handle sleeping on the same bed, but apparently not. He could hear Sam trying to nonchalantly ask Jenna as to how they’d ended up in the same bed last night, and laughed at his brother’s awkwardness.

“I just… I was really scared last night and Dean said it wasn’t a problem; when we went to sleep we were each on our own sides,” she replied, and Sam nodded.

“You guys want to shower?” Jenna asked when Dean returned to the living room, and they both nodded.

“Please,” she got Dean a towel and he returned to the bathroom, turning on the water before stripping out of his clothes and getting into the shower. As soon as he stepped beneath the hot spray he felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, and let his embarrassment fade a bit. As much as he hated the thought of it, he had a bit of a soft spot for Jenna. She was soft-spoken, but as he’d seen already she could fight back when she had to, especially for her friends or family. He’d gained a lot of respect for her in a short time, and he was surprising himself by that fact. The elegant features and pretty face; he understood why he’d be drawn to that, but it wasn’t even the looks this time; it was something else about her.

Jenna and Sam decided to sit in the living room and watch the news over a cup of coffee. Sam was easy-going, and while he was a bit quieter than Dean she got along with him well. He was easy to be around, he didn’t ever seem assuming or judging.

“And now, the weather,” the news anchor announced, and only minutes later Dean came out of the bathroom in a clean T-shirt and pair of jeans. Sam went in next, leaving Jenna and Dean sitting awkwardly together.

“Look, I uh, I’m sorry about… that,” Dean awkwardly managed to choke out, and Jenna just nodded, keeping her eyes on the TV so as not to blush or act silly.

“It’s um, it’s okay,” she told him, finally getting up the nerve to look over at him. His eyes were ridiculously green, and she felt the heat coming to her cheeks so she quickly pretended to be interested in the weather pattern for the next week and take a drink of her coffee. They sat quietly until Sam got out of the shower, and Jenna decided to start making breakfast.

“You can go shower – I’m sure we can manage to make toast or something without burning the place down,” Sam offered, but she shook her head.

“No, I’ll have to wait for more hot water anyway,” she explained, and started to make bacon and eggs. Sam got the plates out of the cupboard and set the table at Jenna’s directions, while Dean helped wherever Jenna would let him.

“A guy could get used to food like this,” Dean told her as they were eating, which brought a wide smile to her lips. It was something that she and her mom had always enjoyed, and she’d been baking and cooking for as long as she could remember; always ‘helping’ her mother as a child.

“Good to know,” she thanked him, and Dean gave her a soft smile before continuing with his breakfast. Sam was absolutely floored by the ease with which they seemed to behave around each other; the familiarity was almost creepy. Jenna was one of those people who made a person feel welcome, like you were an old friend, and while that’s how he felt he was sure Dean was on a whole different page.

“Well, why don’t you get in the shower and then I’ll show you how to shoot a gun,” Dean suggested afterward, and Jenna nearly choked on her juice.

“What?”

“Well, if you want to help there’s a good chance you might have to shoot a demon, so you need to know how to use a gun,” he explained as if it were ridiculously obvious.

“Dean, maybe she doesn’t want to—”

“No, that’s okay. It just caught me off guard is all,” she decided, giving Sam a reassuring smile. She stood up, and went to collect their plates, but Dean put his hand over hers and stopped her.

“I’ll get it; you go shower,” she nodded and headed upstairs. Sam was staring, and as Dean turned towards him his expression soured slightly.

“What’re you staring at? Do I have food on my face or something?” he asked. Sam shook his head before laughing.

“No, it’s just… man it’s weird how the two of you act sometimes. She’s got you all domesticated or something,” he teased, and Dean rolled his eyes.

“Ha, ha, ha. Whatever; now give me a hand, all right?” Sam grabbed his own dishes as Dean grabbed his and Jenna’s, putting them in the dishwasher before Dean even went so far as to wipe the table. Sam was in disbelief that his brother could act like this, but didn’t say another word about it.