Diary of a Hunter

Football season ended as November wrapped up. It was the second to last week and it was already Thanksgiving Day. Andrea, Ethan, and I had been cooking all day and we were all going to have Thanksgiving at the café. It was kind of a tradition that had been going on for as long as I could remember. I would come over early and we'd keep the café closed before getting to work on dinner. Bobby would usually trickle in and out beginning to help and everyone would arrive a couple of hours to watch a football game or something. It was the ultimate family time. I think that's what I loved Thanksgiving so much.

"The one you warned be all about, the one you said I could do without, we're in an awful mess, and I don't mean maybe-please," Andrea and I sang at the top of our lungs to her old records.

"Take it away, Ethan!"I yelled, merrily before going and checking the potatoes that were baking in the oven.

"Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep, Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep, but I made up my mind I'm keeping my baby, ooh, I'm gonna keep my baby oooh," Ethan sang back, dancing flamboyantly and making both me and his mother laugh hysterically.

"My best friend's got the moves," I joked.

"You know it," he said, shimmying.

"Oh dear God," I groaned.

"It looks like we're feeding an army," Ethan observed. I looked around the kitchen. Things were steaming and there were bowls, pots, and pans all over the place.

"I know, it really does. But I guess technically we are. I mean, we're going to end up feeding a lot of men and boy do you guys eat a ton!" I exclaimed.

"That's right, my little sous chef!" Ethan said, tapping my nose with his index finger to down play me.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, swatting his hand away. "And I am not your sous chef. We are both sous chefs to your mother." Ethan stuck his tongue out at me and I stuck my tongue back out at him.

"Kids, stop fighting and come over here and help me make the pies. We obviously have a few extra guests this year," Andrea said. Ethan and I chuckled before racing each other over to where Andrea was.

Andrea was right. Not only did we have the Winchesters with us this year, but Molly was also joining us. Molly's mom had gone to visit her mother so she and her father were coming to eat with us. She had also invited Cole from moral support. Lacey would've come, but she and her family had gone out of town so that her parents could see their parents. Perhaps they'd join us next year.

"Here Mer, these are the ingredients for the pie crust. We're making three so triple the recipe," Andrea said.

"Three?" I raised my eyebrows.

"These things go fast and plus, if we have any left over, I can sell them in the café tomorrow. People love leftover," Andrea shrugged.

"Believe me, we'll probably eat all of it and if the guests don't, I will," Ethan said. I chuckled and nodded.

"Oh trust me, I believe you. I wouldn't put it past you," I said.

"Oh you're so funny," Ethan replied sarcastically.

"Children," Andrea warned, jokingly. "Ethan, come help me with the stuffing. I can't get you two to stop fighting. It's like you're seven years old again. Jesus Christ!"

I then began to work on the pie crusts, "What, you didn't like us when we were seven?" I fake pouted.

"Of course I loved the two of you but Ethan was always putting bugs down your back or throwing mud at you and you were always fighting him back. You two were trouble. The only time you'd cool off is when the Winchesters came home. Now we know what that was," Andrea said.

"Oh yeah, how is Dean by the way?" Ethan asked, mischievously. Behind Andrea's back and across from me, he began to motion to his neck making fun of the time where he found the hickey on my neck. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. That was until he began to make kissey faces. The minute Andrea turned around I flicked him off.

"Meredith, what was that?" Andrea asked, appalled.

"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head innocently.

She turned her back to get something else and I slit my index finger across my throat, "I am so going to kill you!" I hissed at him.

Many hours later and people were finally starting to arrive for the stuff before dinner. Bobby was already on the couch watching a football game upstairs with Ethan. I had been relaxing a little bit and talking on and off with Andrea. The front door bell sounded as someone opened the door. I looked to the front door and smiled widely to see Dean, Sam, and John Winchester coming through the front door.

"Hello!" Andrea greeted, going over and kissing John on the cheek.

I hopped off of the counter that I was sitting on and gave both John and Sam a hug. As soon as I got to Dean, he and I kissed lightly. We were in front of the parents and everything so anything would be way too awkward.

"Hey," he said. "It smells great. We don't usually have much of a Thanksgiving out on the road so this is really nice for a change."

I smiled, "Well I'm glad that you came and yes, we've been working for a while now, I think. Ethan finally settled down to the football game with Bobby though."

"How're you?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine, how're you?" I asked back. It was so random that he asked. I mean, Dean asked how I was… just not so out of the blue.

"Hey, do you think we could uh, go somewhere and… talk?" Dean asked, glancing around the café. People were everywhere and from the tone in Dean's voice, I could tell that he wanted to be alone. I glanced over at Andrea. She wouldn't mind if I took off for a little bit.

"Yeah, follow me," I said, taking his hand in mine and leading him outside. I led him around the side of the building. "So… you wanted to talk?" My back was facing the brick wall as I looked up into those beautiful, green eyes of his.

"Yeah…" he trailed off. I waited for him to say something but he wasn't saying anything. The two of us just stood there.

"So… did this conversation involve actual words?" I asked, jokingly.

"You uh, you look nice today, Mer," Dean stammered and before I knew it, he closed the gap between us and had kissed me.

I felt my back hit the brick wall softly as he continued to kiss me. I closed my eyes and just let whatever happen, happen. His hands went to my waist and I stood on my tiptoes, wrapping my arms around his neck and we just stood there for God knows how long, kissing each other. It was very reminiscent of the day he came back from the hunt and we decided to try something. I guess 'you look nice today' initiated make out? To my surprise, Dean pulled away and pressed his forehead against mine and I had to keep reminding myself to breath.

"I love you," he said.

That completely caught me off guard.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry should I have not-," Dean started.

"No, I mean, no. You definitely should've," I stammered in shock. "I-, I love you too, Dean." I grinned back at him, happily.

He smiled back at me and leaned down to kiss me on more time, "That's kind of what I wanted to talk about but then I got all tongue tied so I just… kissed you."

"I'm not complaining here," I shrugged and Dean chuckled. "So... we seem to be making somewhat of a habit of this."

"Of what?" Dean asked.

"This wall. We uh, we kiss a lot of it in front of it," I answered

He shrugged, "It's seen a lot then."

I snorted, "You know, for a guy who hates chick flick moments, you're pretty damn good at them. Huh... the things guys will say to get past second base."

"I mean... I wouldn't complain about that..." he said, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Don't push it," I teased.

"Come on, do you want go back inside. I'm missing the game and I already missed some of it to tell you I love you," Dean chuckled.

I laughed, "Aw, you missed the game for me?"

"Don't say I never did anything for you," he said. I giggled and felt his fingers lock with mine, holding my hand as we got back into the café.

~~~

Dean and I were curled up on the couch together watching the game when Molly and her father arrived.

"Ooh, Molly's here. I should go say hi," I said, about to get up.

"Do you have to leave me?" Dean whined.

"Yes," I giggled before kissing him once and leaping off of the couch to go say hi to Molly. I hurried down the firehouse spiral stairs and then greeted her with a big hug.

"Hey!" I said, happily.

"Hi, Mer. You've met my Dad," Molly said.

"Yeah. Hi, Mr. Owens," I said.

"It's nice to meet you again, Meredith," Mr. Owens replied. I smiled politely before turning to Molly.

"Can I borrow you for a couple of minutes? That and I think Andrea is talking to your dad so you should be good. She's friendly. Everyone here is pretty… welcoming and I kind of need to tell you something big," I said, under my breath.

"What is it?" she asked, wide eyes.

"Come with me," I said, Molly following me up the stairs.

"Hey, where are you girls going?" Dean asked, seeing Molly and me.

"Oh don't worry, Dean. Your girlfriend and I are just going to make out. No big deal," Molly teased.

"So that's what you two do at those sleepovers, huh?" he smirked.

"Yep, pretty much," I replied, before shutting the door to the Walsh's guest room, where I usually stayed if I ever slept over. "This is kind of my room. Not really, but I always use it and half of the stuff I own is here anyways."

"You and Ethan are close, huh?" she asked.

"We've known each other forever," I replied. "When I first moved here, Andrea and Bobby practically raised me so I pretty much grew up here at the Falcon and the Salvage yard."

"Dang, that's kind of crazy. Hey, so what did you need to tell me that seemed so urgent? After that I have a surprise for you," Molly said, animatedly. She seemed pretty excited about whatever her surprise was.

"Oh, uh, you can go first," I offered.

"No it's fine. You go. You seemed like you were ready to pee your pants," she pointed out. I laughed.

"So Dean got here and he was acting all weird, you know? And then he asked me if we could talk and we… well we sort of did, not really. So we made out and he… told me he loved me," I said, biting my lip so that I wouldn't squeal for joy.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed.

"I know," I said.

"Oh my God, Mer. This is great, right?" she asked.

"Of course it is!' I exclaimed back.

"Well, what'd you say?" she asked.

"I said I loved him too," I said.

"Awwwww," she said.

"I know… Okay sorry. Now for your surprise. What did you want to tell me?" I asked.

"Well you know how a few weeks ago when I was freaking out about my parents again you told me to channel my anger through something healthy or something like that?" she asked.

"Yeah. Wow, I can't believe I really said that. That's embarrassing. I sound like a fucking therapist!" I exclaimed.

Molly laughed, "No it's a good thing! So I found my mom's old sewing machine and some fabric and well you know how much I like clothes. So I just started sewing. Soon enough I picked up some actually good fabric from the fabric store and some of their patterns and viola!" Molly pulled a beautiful pink and black dress out of her bag (.com/Womens/Dresses/-So-Frappe-Together-Dress ).

"Wait… you made that?" I asked.

"Yeah, I made it in the smallest size that the pattern had because you're teeny and oh, here's this dress back," she said, throwing another dress at me. I caught it in my hands.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for this!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, I took it so I could make sure that I had you're measurements right. I made another one too," she said, holding another dress up (.com/Womens/Dresses/-Stat-ue-Look-Lovely-Dress ).

"Oh my God, Molly these are great!" I marveled.

"Thanks. This one is yours," she said, handing me the pink and black dress.

"Oh, Molly I can't take this," I said.

"Yes, you can. I want you to have it. I made it for you. I freakin' stole your dress so I could make it for you! Please?" she asked, giving me his best puppy dog face. I laughed. "Look, you've been such a good friend to me through all of this and this is the least I can do for you. Think of it as my undying gratitude."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes! And we can wear them to dinner tonight. At least that was the plan," Molly encouraged.

"Sure," I replied.

"Okay, try it on! I want to see! Oh you're going to look so pretty," she said.

"I guess it'll be nice to get out of these clothes," I said, motioning to my jeans and t-shirt. "I have flour all over my clothes and I've been cooking all day!"

"Yes! See? It's perfect!" she smiled. I stripped off my jeans and t-shirt and traded them in for the beautiful dress that Molly had made for me. I zipped it up and then turned around to face her.

"So… is it alright?" I asked.

"Oh my God, you look great," she smiled.

"Thanks," I said.

"It's perfect, Mer. You look beautiful. Boy, Dean is going to love you in this," she smirked.

I chuckled, "Aren't you going to put yours on?"

"Yes," she said, stripping her clothes off and then shimmying into her light blue one shoulder dress.

"Oh my God, Molly you're a genius! I can't believe you just started sewing. These dresses are incredible!" I said.

"Why thank you," she smiled. The two of us laughed.

"Alright people! Dinner is ready!" Andrea called from downstairs. Molly and I finally came out of the guest room in our new dresses. Everyone else was downstairs already so the two of us ascended down the steps.

"Hi, boyfriend," Molly smiled, greeting her boyfriend Cole.

"Wow, you look beautiful. If I knew this was some special occasion I would've dressed more formally," he said.

She shrugged, "Nope. I'm just trying something new."

"I changed," I said, taking the seat right next to Dean.

"Wow, you look great," Dean said.

I smiled, "Thank you. Molly made the dress actually. Isn't she good?"

"Yes," Dean smirked. "I'll have to thank her later because my girlfriend looks beautiful." Dean leaned over and whispered the last part into my ear.

"Well she's a lucky girl. She has a gorgeous boyfriend who thinks she's beautiful," I said back.

"Wow, and you just made this into a chick flick moment," Dean pouted.

I giggled and rolled my eyes playfully, "Yes, well you did tell me that you loved me today." I pointed out, shrugging innocently.

"This is true…" Dean trailed off.

"I'm just trying to play off the vibe you're giving me, Mr. Chick flick. You know, I think underneath it all, you're a real romantic, Dean Winchester," I accused.

"I am not!" he defended.

"You so are," I replied.

He shrugged, "You know what we should do?"

"If it has anything to do with removal of clothing, it's probably not something we should discuss here," I teased.

"That was not where I was going although that is something we may have to discuss," he smirked. I laughed. "We should go on a date, Mer. We haven't really done that yet. I mean, if you count homecoming and stuff but we've never really gone out on a formal date."

"You know, now that I think about it, you're right. And yes, I'd love to go out," I said.

"Good, because I'm taking you out on Friday," Dean said back.

"Sounds good to me," I replied. I leaned in and kissed him once before we focused our attention to what was actually going on at the dinner table.

Later that night, the boys were watching something on the TV and Molly had already gone home, I ended up talking to Sam. At first we were talking about school but I knew there was a question that I really needed to ask him.

"Hey, Sam?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah?" he asked back.

"You're… okay with Dean and me dating, right?" I asked, nervously. Sam was a friend of mine if he said no, it'd kind of hurt.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sam asked back.

"No reason. It's just I know that you and Dean don't get along the best sometimes. You definitely don't see eye to eye on a lot of things and I'd like to think that you and I are friends so I just wanted make sure you were comfortable with me and Dean," I explained.

"Yeah. You're good for him, Meredith. I'd much rather see him with you than some idiot at school that acts like they have no brains whatsoever. I think he really loves you," Sam replied.

I smiled, "Uh, he uh, told me that… today."

"Oh thank God. It's about time! You've practically been in love with each other since you guys were kids!" Sam exclaimed.

I laughed, "How many people are going to say that?"

"It's true," Sam shrugged.

"Well thanks, Sam. And I'm tutoring soon again if you want to come again. The kids really liked you," I replied.

A smile spread across Sam's face, "I'd like that a lot actually."

"Ok, cool. Then we'll definitely do it," I said.

"Okay," Sam replied. I smiled. Life was just pretty good right now. I didn't even care that my dad hadn't shown up for Thanksgiving or anything. I was getting pretty used to him not showing up at anything anymore.