Paradise City

"You're gonna have to come out eventually!"

"No, never! You'll never get me alive!"

"So you're just gonna stay here in bed? You don't want pancakes?"

I slowly peaked out of the covers. Dean was sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, looking directly at me. He had just tried to tickle me to death, I wasn't sure if I could trust him yet. He could have been using breakfast as a coaxing method, knowing that pancakes were my weakness.

"Pancakes?" I asked, slowly puling the covers down.

He gave me this devilish smile that made me think twice about uncovering myself. "Hot, steaming, delicious pancakes smothered in melted butter and gooey syrup. What'dya you say?"

"I guess that sounds good." I faked.

"You guess?" He asked as he crawled over to me, pinning my hands above me head. "Give me a kiss."

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, trying to hide the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. I couldn't keep from it for too long, not with the way Dean was looking at me. He made me feel like nothing could touch me. As long as I was with him, everything would be okay. Maybe that was a little over-the-top, I mean, he was still a jerk. But he was my jerk, and he made so happy.

He ducked his head to meet me for a quick kiss that was quickly broken because I was smiling too much.

"What?" He asked against my lips.

I shook my head and freed my hands from his grasp, snaking them through his hair before pulling him back down for another kiss. "I like you." I whispered breathlessly.

"You're cute." He replied, kissing the tip of my nose.

Dean slid off the side of the bed and began to gather our clothes that had been thrown around the room last night. He tossed my underwear and bra at me, along with my shorts and tank top before disappearing out into the front room. I quickly got dressed and followed him, perching myself on the kitchen counter as he got out all the ingredients he needed to make pancakes.

"Have you ever done this before?" I asked him after noticing the confused look on his face as he stared at the directions on the back of the Bisquick box. He shushed me and then went back to looking confused. "I can help you, ya know."

I reached for the box, even though I probably wouldn't have been any less confused. He swatted my hands away immediately. "I can do this. I'm the man of the house. These directions don't intimidate me."

"Okay Mr. Ambrose, while you're busy figuring out how you're going to burn our breakfast, I'm going to go take a shower."

I hopped down from the counter and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He just nodded at me, still determined on figuring out those directions. I shook my head at him, hoping that when I came back, his kitchen wouldn't be on fire.

I retreated back to my own apartment and hopped in the shower. It wasn't long before the smell of Dean's cooking made it's way to my nose. I quickly finished rinsing the conditioner out of my hair and got out, wrapping my towel tightly around my body. James had texted me, apologizing for not calling me sooner, and letting me know he had landed safely. I sent him a quick text back, letting him know I missed him and that I put my big girl pants on and talked to Dean.

Thinking back on it, I know I should have followed his advice sooner. Holding out on Dean didn't help anything, but I didn't want him thinking that I was just going to up and forgive him, and let him get the idea that he could do whatever he wanted and I wouldn't be mad.

It didn't matter anymore, anyways. The silent treatment was over, and we were back to where we needed to be. There might have been some amazing sex in there, too. Which made me think, the whole reason we started arguing in the first place was because we were 'having too much sex', and the first thing we do when we start talking again is have more sex?

Whatever. It doesn't matter. I'm happy. I'm not going to dwell on it.

"The kitchen's not on fire," I said as I joined Dean back at the stove. "That's a good sign."

"Ye of little faith." He replied as he flipped a pancake in the air before putting it on the plate with the others. The island had already been set. He had placed silverware and napkins on the counter top. "Now we feast!"

"This is very romantic." I noted. "Would have been better if you brought it to me in bed."

"If I had done that, you would've never gotten up." He wasn't lying. "And I would've wanted to stay in bed with you, but I have to go to the gym today. I didn't go yesterday."

I pouted. "What am I going to do?"

He shrugged. "You could come with me."

"No thanks." I replied scrunching my face up. "I'll stay here and do some laundry or something. Do you have anything that needs to be washed?"

He nodded, not wanting to talk with food in his mouth. "Yeah, that."

I turned to the direction he was pointing to see his suitcase. "Your smelly ring gear? Gross." I pouted at him. "It's probably going to take me like six washes to get the sweat stains out."

"Well you better get started. I do leave tomorrow, after all."

"Don't remind me." A frown tugged at my lips.

"Hey," I looked up at him to see him smiling. "I'll be back before you know it."

After he left for the gym, I immediately got started on the laundry I had been putting off for days. I made the bed, I did the dishes, I called James and caught up with him. Just when I sat down to crack open a book and do some reading, someone knocked at the door.

I looked at the clock, noticing that it was almost three. Dean wasn't due back for at least another hour.

"Hold on," I called out after the person knocked again.

My breath hitched when I saw the person on the other side of the door through the peephole. She was looking straight at me, as if she knew it was me, and not Dean that would be answering the door. Her plastic, bleached smile made me want to throw up. I was half tempted to not answer, but my curiosity got the best of me. Why was she here? What did she want?

"Can I help you?" I asked after I swung the door open.

Her conniving smile never faltered. She looked over my shoulder at the apartment, obviously looking for Dean. "Yeah, is Dean here?"

"He's not, sorry." I replied quickly, moving to close the door in her face.

She stopped me, though. Placing her hand against the wood. "It's not going to last, you know? He doesn't settle down, he's not going to propose to you. He's going to use you until he gets bored and then he's going to move on. That's what he did to me. I thought it was really special, you know? And then you came along. I'm just warning you. Woman to woman, I'd leave while I have the chance. Save yourself the heartbreak."

I held back a chuckle. "Is that what you came here for? To give me some advice?"

"No, actually I came to return this." She handed me a very familiar black, leather jacket. "He left it at my place a couple nights ago." My stomach dropped and my cheeks flushed. A couple nights ago? The woman took note of my expression and smiled ever wider. "Like I said, save yourself the heartbreak."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and bounced down the hallway towards the elevator, leaving me standing in the threshold holding Dean's jacket. A couple days ago? Meaning, he saw her when he came home? I was confused. I wasn't sure what I was feeling.

I closed the door and turned around, folding Dean's jacket in my hands before setting it on his kitchen counter. I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, thinking of writing him a sarcastic note and leaving it next to the jacket where he'd see it. But my hand shook too much for me to write anything legible. Instead I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed his number.

"Hey Sweet Cheeks, what's up?"

"Nothing." I replied. "Enjoying the gym?"

"No one really enjoys the gym. You up for a movie when I get back?"

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to find the words to say next without sounding like a controlling, jealous bitch. "No, but you might want to ask your little, blonde friend that you were with a couple nights ago. She stopped by today, dropped off your jacket that you left at her place. I'm sure she'd love to go to dinner with you."

He sighed into the phone. "Callie, can we just talk about this when I get back? Please?"

"I'm done talking. It obviously doesn't do any good."

I ended the call abruptly, grabbing my things and heading out of his apartment. Just when I thought things were headed in the right direction, something comes along and just fucks everything up.

Violet wasn't answering, she was probably at work. I called Kyle, but he was busy. I threw my phone towards the end of my bed and fell back on to my pillow. The situation felt like it had become five times worse because I had no one to escape to. I was too exhausted to go work out, I had already cleaned everything, my friends were busy.

This is bullshit, I thought to myself.

I could hear my phone vibrating at the foot of the bed, but I ignored it. I didn't care who it was; Violet, Kyle, Dean... I suddenly wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. I pulled the covers over my shoulders and placed a pillow over top of my head to keep my eyes shielded from the sunlight.

I just wanted to go to sleep and forget about all of this.

"Callie!" I was jolted from my nap after hearing someone calling my name, followed by a few loud bangs.

Ignoring it, I turned over on my other side, nestling myself further into my pillows.

"Callie, please open the door." He wasn't going away.

"What do you want?" I called from my bedroom, not wanting to get up. It's funny how naps made you even more tired than you were before you took one.

"For you to hear me out, please. It's not what you think."

I groaned loudly as I pulled myself out of bed. It wasn't even two hours later, and I felt like I had slept the entire night away. Dean stood on the other side of the door, hair damp with sweat, still in his basketball shorts and black beater.

I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed, letting out all the air I had in my lungs. "I don't want to talk to you. Please just leave me alone right now, Dean. All that I can see when I look at you is you fucking someone else and it just really irritates me."

"I didn't go over to her house to fuck her, Callie." He said. I rolled my eyes in response. "If you would just listen to me, and let me explain, and stop being so goddamn stubborn. I'm not leaving for another month with you giving me the cold shoulder, fuck that."

He slid by me and moved across the room, sitting on my couch. I shut the door, but stayed where I was standing.

"I went over to her house to tell her that I didn't want to see her anymore." He began.

The urge to laugh was hard to fight. I can't believe he expected me to believe this.

"I've known her, Whitney, for years. Ever since I moved to Vegas. We were good friends and yeah we fucked on and off, but she's really manipulative and mean, and I stopped wanting to be around her. Sometimes I'd call her up when I got back from a tour and we'd hook up, and then she'd leave, you know? I never really felt anything there, it was purely a sex thing. When she heard that I was with someone else, you, she kind of freaked out and wouldn't stop texting me or calling me. Yeah I hooked up with her that one time after we had that first fight, but then when I got back home, I went to her and I told her that I didn't want to see her anymore, and that she needed to leave me alone and let it go."

I shifted uncomfortably. "You were there long enough to take off your jacket?"

"Well yeah, I sat down and talked to her for a bit."

"I don't know, Dean."

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "What? You don't believe me."

"It's not that." I replied, crossing the room to sit next to him. "It's that she comes over here, and she tells me that this thing we have isn't going to last. Like, she tells me you're just going to use me, and then get bored and dump me, just like you did to her. And then she hands me your jacket like she's basically screaming at me that you two fucked and it's no secret. Telling me that I need to save myself the heartbreak. Like, I get that you've done this a million times, but this is new to me, and you're the only one right now. I haven't been with twenty different guys. It's just you. And when shit like that- Whitney or whatever- when shit like that happens, it floors me. I don't know what to do."

"What did I tell you last night?" He asked.

"That you weren't going anywhere, but-"

"But nothing." He interrupted. "I'm not going anywhere. If I have to tell you a million times, that's what I'll do. There's no getting rid of me." I went to say something, but he cut in once again. "I don't think you understand how much I care about you, Callie. Stop fighting it, dammit."

"Can you go take a shower?" I asked.

He must've been expecting me to continue fighting him on this, because he went to interrupt me once more, but snapped his mouth shut instead. "What?"

"Go take a shower so that when I kiss you I don't feel gross about it."

He smiled and stood up, making his way over to the door. "You're welcome to join me if you want."

"I'm okay, but if you would hurry up, that'd be great. I think you mentioned something earlier about going to see a movie?"

He nodded and smiled, blowing me a kiss before leaving.