That One Summer

Dinner had been a tense affair. Her uncle and aunt had spent most of the meal staring at her eat, as if they were worried she was going to collapse into an emotional mess at any minute. Sophie kept asking awkward questions (“Like seriously, your dad is in jail again?”) and the twins kept jabbering at her about nonsense she really didn’t care about. By the time it was over, she was seriously considering not meeting Sam down at the bar. Falling on her bed and blacking out for the next fourteen hours sounded like a perfect getaway, but those big brown puppy eyes kept jumping into her mind. Damn Sam Winchester and his puppy eyes. She barely even knew the guy, yet there was something about him that seemed to tug at her heart. Maybe she had made her first friend in this crappy town.

Whatever it was, soon she found herself sitting in her car outside Ellen’s Roadhouse, wondering what in the hell she was actually doing. She didn’t make friends. She didn’t like people. Well, most people. Besides some of her family, and her best and only friend Kitty, most people were pretty crappy. But Sam Winchester (and by extension, his mother), seemed different. And that scared her.

She finally got the nerve to get out of the car, wiping her sweaty palm on her worn black jeans. She took a deep, steadying breath. “Come on now, December Rae,” she hissed to herself. “You are in Bumfuck, Kansas. You have to spend 3 entire months here. Might as well live it up.”

And with that, she threw back her shoulders and strode into the bar.

She’d barely had time to adjust to the dim lighting when she heard her name being called.

“December Rae! Over here!”

It was of course, that overgrown puppy Sam Winchester, waving at her from a corner table with his ridiculously large hands. There were other people at the table with him, three guys and two girls. She took another deep breath, and slowly made her way over.

“You made it!” Sam looked so excited she thought he might wet himself. “I’m glad! This is the gang,” he gestured at the people sitting around the table. “Guys, this is December Rae. She’s here for the summer.”

The gang turned out to be an odd assortment of people. There was Benny, a large imposing man, who smiled at her with a large mouth of teeth that quite honestly scared her. Next to him was his girlfriend Jo, who was positively tiny but had a handshake of steel. There was Cas, a slightly older man who had the fucking bluest eyes she had ever seen, and his wife (and Sam’s feared cousin) Meg, a black haired beauty with the airs of someone who’d been around the block a time or two. The last was Ash, who reeked of booze and weed and had a haircut that totally died out like 20 years ago. They all squished over, making room for her to squeeze in awkwardly beside Sam.

“Welcome to hell, kid,” Meg raised her beer in salute. “What brings you to our humble town? Escaping a thorny past?”

“You’d know about that wouldn’t you,” Benny snickered, his large teeth glinting in the dim light.

“Oh, bite me, asshole,” Meg rolled her eyes, swatting at the larger man. “Don’t mind him, he’s a total dickhead.”

“And she’s a nosey bitch,” Benny laughed, wrapping a massive arm around tiny Jo. “Whatever your reason for being her, December Rae, we are happy to have you.” Jo nodded enthusiastically beside him.

“Thanks,” December Rae frowned slightly. Here two minutes and people were already asking about her personal life. This was why she didn’t like to socialize.

“Can we get you a drink?” Cas asked politely, his soft blue eyes looking at her kindly. “First one is on us.”

“Uh sure, I’ll have a beer,” she said softly, watching Cas get up and saunter over to the bar. Maybe some alcohol would help calm her nerves.

“So pretty lady, you single?” Ash leaned over Sam towards her, his booze breath fanning her face. She flinched back. “Cuz there’s a pretty comfy room in the back, and-“

“Oh, get off it,” Sam pushed him away, clearly sensing her discomfort. “Don’t mind Ash, he only thinks with his downstairs brain.”

“Compliments of spending too much time with your dear brother,” Ash nodded knowingly. “Sorry Decey. Can I call you Decey?”

“Uh, sure,” December Rae was seriously wishing she was anywhere but here.

“Here’s your beer,” Cas had mercifully chosen this time to return. She grabbed it, and quickly downed half of it. It burned on the way down, and she coughed slightly.

“Slow down, tiger,” Meg raised one perfectly manicure eyebrow. “This isn’t the big leagues.”

“Thirsty,” December Rae mumbled, wiping her chin. She felt hot. Everybody’s eyes and attention were on her, and it made her feel like a caged animal.

“So December Rae,” Jo smiled at her, “you need a job for the summer?”

“I uh, hadn’t thought about it,” December Rae replied softy. Her thoughts had been solely on surviving this summer. A job hadn’t even remotely crossed her mind.

“Cas here can set you up at the college library,” Sam volunteered. “His head librarian, Mr Crowley, needs a new assistant.”

December Rae felt herself perking up. She did really like books. And a library was a perfect place to avoid people.

“Of course I can,” Cas smiled. “And Crowley is not MY librarian. I don’t run the college, I only teach World Religion. But I can put in a good word.”

“Thanks,” December Rae murmured. Like Sam, Cas had kind eyes. Again, she felt a little bit of her reserve leaving her. Seriously, what was it with these pretty eyed men?

“Aw come on Cas, don’t stick a pretty little thing like this in a dusty old library,” a rough voice said somewhere to her left. “The books will swallow her whole.”

December Rae froze, the voice sending an unusual shiver straight down her spine. She turned slowly in her chair towards it.

Well throw her down and fuck her sideways.

The man standing in front of her was gorgeous. Scratch that. He was downright fucking sexy. He was average height, but well built, with short sandy brown hair and pouty lips that were just begging to be bit. But the thing that got her was the eyes. Big green eyes with flecks of golden brown, staring into what felt like her very soul. She gave another involuntary shudder.

“December Rae, meet my older brother Dean,” Sam’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Dean, this is December Rae. She’s living with Devon for the summer. He’s her uncle.”

“Awesome,” Dean grabbed a chair, smirking at her as he sat down. “Welcome to Lawrence, sweetheart. Can I get you another drink?” He winked saucily,

December Rae shook herself out of her reverie, frowning slightly at his flirty tone. “I’m good,” she held up her half empty beer.

“Suit yourself,” Dean flagged a waitress down and ordered himself a beer. “So then, what brings you here, sweetheart? Person would have to be crazy to spend a summer here,”

“She wouldn’t tell us,” Meg jumped in, as December Rae felt herself tense up. “Lady of secrets, our new friend is.”

“Oh, I like a woman with a little mystery,” Dean winked again, angling his chair towards her. “Raises their sex appeal.”

December Rae’s frown deepened. This guy may be hot, but she was seriously starting to dislike his flirty attitude. Sure Ash had hit on her earlier, but this felt different. And she didn’t like it.

“Damn girl, would it kill you to smile?” Dean shook his head at her frown. “Drink up, lighten up! It’s all good here.”

“Dean,” Sam warned, seeing December Rae’s hand clench around her beer bottle.

“Seriously, she looks like she’s never smiled before,” Dean continued on, ignoring his brother. “Listen sweetheart, we like to have fun around here, so if you wanna hang with us, you gotta loosen up a bit. You look like you’ve never had a good day in your life.”

“Dean!” Sam said again. Everyone around the table had gone quiet. December Rae could feel the anger rising within her. Who was this fucking Dean Winchester? Did he just think he could waltz in here, hitting on her like she was a piece of meat, then make comments about her life? She shouldn’t have come here. This was a mistake. This was why she didn’t like people.
They were all idiots.

“I'm sorry, I have to go,” she stood suddenly, anxious to get out of there. “I need to go home, I-“

“Calm down sweetheart,” Dean stood too, smiling at her wolfishly, “Look, I can really show you a good time if you’d let me. What do you say?” And then he laid his hand on her shoulder.

Big fucking mistake,

Her hand shot out so fast, smacking him so hard across the face she felt her whole body vibrate from impact. He stumbled back, a look of speechless surprise on his face. The whole bar had suddenly gone deathly quiet. The table behind her let out quiet gasps.

“Don’t you fucking touch me,” she managed to spit out. “You don’t know shit about me.” She turned back to the table, 6 shocked faces staring blankly back at her.

“Thanks for the beer,” she said quietly, and with that, she turned on her heels and marched out of the bar.

Dean Winchester may be hot, but he was an asshole. And just like that, the optimism she had for the summer vanished.

Meg was right. Welcome to hell, indeed.