Simple Man

Dean took a long drink of his glass of whiskey as he studied Amanda’s face carefully. She was listening to Meg and seemed to be taking it relatively well. Considering the news Meg had just shared, anyway. She nodded, then licked her lips in understanding as she stood to pour herself another drink. As he shook his leg up and down in nervousness, Dean looked down at his now empty glass, then looked back up at the beautiful girl across the motel room. She was pondering something; he didn’t know what.

“That’s all I’ve found out so far,” Meg finished, sighing softly with a look of sincere care on her face. Dean figured at this point that things couldn’t get much worse, so she wasn’t crying. She didn’t even seem angry, either. “I can try to find some more demons and get some more answers, but…”

“No, it’s okay,” Amanda smiled softly, then hugged Meg gently. “I think that’s all I need to know. Pretty much covers everything. Thank you so much, Meg.”

“Yeah, yeah,” She smirked, then looked over at Dean. “Now if y’all don’t mind, I’m going to find Castiel…” Raising her eyebrows, she disappeared into thin air and Dean couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What the hell was that?” Amanda furrowed her eyebrows.

“There’s been a ‘tension’ between the two of them for a while now, if you know what I mean,” Dean shrugged as Amanda smiled knowingly. “So, if I’m understanding this correctly…your parents had your brother killed because he was possessed by a demon?”

“I guess,” Amanda sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. “Still, though. Why not exercise him?”

Dean brought her close to him, “Maybe he was too far gone to save, Amanda. I hate saying that, but most of the time when we get to someone it’s too late to save the vessel.”

“I know,” She sighed again and rested her head on his chest. “That still doesn’t explain who killed my parents or why they did it.”

“I have a pretty good feeling,” Dean muttered into her hair. “That Crowley may be behind this. The demon that possessed your brother worked for Crowley. So when your parents tried to protect you and them by having him killed, well let’s just say they royally pissed him off.”

There was a long pause as Amanda walked over and poured herself another drink, then downed it quickly. She turned around and rested her body on the countertop, folding her arms across her chest. Dean watched her carefully, he was thinking she was in-between angry and exhausted at this point. He understood; this was a lot to take in and she was taking it way better than he thought she would.

“So what now,” It was supposed to be a question, but came out as more of an annoyed statement as she tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling. “I’m kind of over it at this point.”

“So you just want to move on?” He asked sincerely, standing up and walking toward her.

“Honestly I’m just tired of chasing after answers. I have them now, and now that I know that nobody was in the wrong, I’m just going to drop it and let them rest in peace.”

“Crowley was in the wrong,” Dean muttered, a hurt expression on his face.

“I just don’t care, Dean. I’m tired,” She sighed and took his hands. “Let’s just move on and go back to your brother and Sasha, okay? I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Okay,” He almost whispered, then brought her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He looked into the mirror she had her back turned to and studied himself. He was obviously angrier about this than she was, but she wanted to let it go. So he would, too. It woudn’t be easy, but he would do it for her. He would do anything for her. “Can we at least get a good night’s sleep first?”

She smiled weakly, “Of course.”

He kissed her on the cheek, then quickly on the lips. “I’m gonna call Sam really quick and fill him in.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go smoke,” As Dean pulled out his phone, Amanda walked outside quietly and lit a cigarette as she got in her Rover and pulled out her notebook. She smiled to herself…the song was almost finished, so she grabbed her guitar and once she finished her cigarette, she walked back inside causing Dean to give her a wide smile as he talked to Sam. He held a finger up to her as if to say ‘hold on a minute’, then said his goodbye’s to his brother. When he hung up, he turned back toward his girlfriend and put his hands together.

“Please tell me you’re going to play me a song…” Amanda smiled and nodded her head. “Did you write it?”

She nodded again, “Yes I did. It’s finally finished.”

Dean was like a child as he sat on one of the motel beds while she sat on the other. She picked up her guitar and gave him a shy smile, then started to play some chords to get warmed up. Then she thought she would maybe have some fun with it. As she played flawlessly, the started to hum a melody, then giggled as she started singing.

<i>I like the way you work it
No diggity
I’m about to bag it, bag it up</i>

Dean rolled his eyes and pouted slightly, causing Amanda to laugh and stop. “Sorry,” She giggled and took a deep breath, then looked at him nervously. “It’s about us. It’s probably bad.”

“That’s not possible,” He shook his head seriously, giving her an adoring look. She blushed and looked down, then started playing.

<i>Two kids holding hands in the driveway, dreaming ‘bout where to go
Ten miles out of town on the highway, Petty on the radio
You’d do anything to make me laugh
Yeah there’s no wonder why I fell so fast

From the first time you opened the door
Well it felt like the beginning of something more
When this love, this love
Was nothing but a spark
And the dashboard has seen every kiss
And every downpour, every ‘we’re gonna make it through this’
I know I’m home
No matter where we are
Me and you in
This car, this car,
This car, this car</i>

She smiled at him and she played, never looking away from his eyes. She could tell that he was fighting the urge to jump over and kiss her right then, but he wanted to hear the rest of the song. For a second, she thought he almost had tears in his eyes.

<i>Five years in the blink of an eye, still smiling ‘cause you’re next to me
We fought, made up, got lost, made love in the back seat
So many stories in this steel and glass
Yeah there’s no wonder why we fell so fast

From the first time you opened the door
Well it felt like the beginning of something more
When this love, this love
Was nothing but a spark
And the dashboard has seen every kiss
And every downpour, every ‘we’re gonna make it through this’
I know I’m home
No matter where we are
Me and you in
This car, this car,
This car, this car</i>

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dean was fighting back the urge to let everything go, and it was getting harder and harder every time she sang a single note. When she finished, she blushed and set the guitar down, then looked at him. He was at a loss for words.

“Dean?” She asked cautiously, wondering what was going through his mind. “Say something? Anything?”

As she moved and sat down next to him, then took his hand, Dean was trying to gather the words to say to her. He took a deep breath and looked over at her, the tears threatening to fall. “You think about us five years from now?”

She smiled and nodded, “All the time. Longer than that. Hell, fifty years from now, Dean. I meant every word. I don’t care if we’re still doing this in fifty years, or if we’re settle down and have kids or a dog or cat. It doesn’t matter. No matter what, as long as I’m with you, I’m okay. I’m perfect, actually.”

He smiled, “Let’s get married.”

Amanda’s eyes went wide, “What?”

“You heard me…” He said softly. “I’m serious. I want to marry you, Amanda. Let’s go get married and settle down and have a big family. Whatever you want. I want this.”

“Whoa, Dean, slow down,” She giggled. “Hey, I’m all about it, but let’s take it slow. I love you, I really do. Let’s not rush into anything. We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

He shook his head, letting a tear fall, “But, see, we don’t, Amanda. I almost die every single day. I want to start our life together before mine ends.” He took her hand, “I don’t want to waste any time…I want to have a family with you and I’m scared that if we wait two or three years, that we won’t get that. I could be gone by then.”

“Dean,” She sighed. “I want to marry you. Trust me, I do. But I’m not ready yet. We’re having so much fun together and I want to enjoy that for a little while, okay? For the first time in a while, I’m really fucking happy. And I just want to kick back with you and relax. I want to have that care-free relationship we’re having right now, where I can write songs for you and get drunk with you…then end up opening up way more than I intended to. I like driving around with you, stopping in a secluded area and having crazy-good sex with you. I like annoying you with my song choices and hell, I even love getting pissed at you for no damn reason. I love the ‘us’ we are right now. It’s fucking perfect. Let’s just enjoy it.”

Dean smiled and chuckled a bit, “I’m really embarrassed now.”

Amanda shook her head and held his chin so he was looking at her, “Don’t ever be embarrassed about that. I will let you know when I’m ready, okay? I promise.”

Dean rested his forehead against hers and gave her a soft, slow kiss. In a split second, he laid her down on the bed and crawled on top of her, then brushed the hair out of her face, causing her to smile wide. She couldn’t take it anymore, she needed him.

She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to her, then kissed him roughly, causing a soft moan to escape his lips. She loved the affect she had on him; it was intoxicating. “I love you so much, Amanda.”

She smirked and kissed him again, “I love you, too. Now shut up and make love to me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Amanda had a small smile on her face as she woke up, stretching her arms, letting her bare chest free. She shivered a bit and covered herself back up, then realized Dean wasn’t in the bed with her. She stood up and wrapped the blanket around her and walked toward the bathroom, then opened the door to find it empty. With a look of confusion on her face, she put her flip-flops on and grabbed her cigarettes, then made her way outside. She didn’t know what time it was, but figured it was mid-morning by now from the looks of the sun. She looked around; her car was still there.

As she smoked her cigarettes, she thought of all the possibilities. He could be getting breakfast or checking us out of the motel room. Or he could be gone. She tried not to think about the last possibility. When she finished, the rain started pouring down and she rushed back inside the motel room and she noticed something.

All his bags were gone. His wallet, jacket, toiletries, everything. It was all gone. Then she looked on the countertop where the now empty bottle of whiskey was being used as a paper weight. It was sitting on top of a note. She sighed as tears welled up in her eyes and she walked toward it and picked it up, then the tears started flowing.

<i>I LIED.</i>

The anger built up in her and she started gathering all of her things as she got on her phone and called Sam. After a few rings, he picked up, sounding out of breath. “Amanda, is that you?”

“Sam, please tell me Dean is with you,” She couldn’t stop the tears from falling now.

“No, why?”

“Sam…” Amanda cried. “Dean’s gone. Something is terribly wrong. Last night we were talking about marriage and kids and just great stuff and today he left me a note saying he lied about everything. And it’s not his handwriting, I know it. Someone has hurt him, Sam. We need to find him.”

“You still in Ohio?”

“Yeah,” Amanda sniffed as she loaded the last bag in her Rover. “Please hurry, Sam.”

“Leaving now.”

“Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Why can’t things just be normal for a little bit?”

He chuckled, “Amanda, you’re dating a Winchester.”