⸝⸝₊ ┊say don't go
♰ chapter three ♰ ‧₊˚ ⋅⩩

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⁰︎⁰︎ °. BILL HAD AN epiphany.

His life sucked.

It had taken him 29 years to finally admit that, but he was ready to admit it to himself now. His life was a total disaster and it had only begun to get worse.

Whatever rush of adrenaline he had hours before was long gone now. Exhaustion had weighed his body down like he didn't even know possible, his legs had seemed to stop working the second they had secured themselves into the already salted house. As if that house hadn't caused them enough problems, now they were putting them to rest for the time being in the same place that had gotten them in this situation.

The quiet in the house was making him irritable. Not that he was reacting to much of anything, his gaze set on the bed in the middle of the room with Caroline's body on it. His once clean hoodie she wore now riddled with blood and dried dirt, a constant reminder that she had gotten hurt. And no matter how many time Bobby had tried to get him to talk he had just sat there as if he didn't hear.

After a while Bobby had given up with him and Dean. He left to go god knows where but he was gone for hours. The man was grieving, but he would be no help sitting around the house waiting for someone to drop the ball and get off their ass. He could just do it himself.

"I picked up your truck," Bobby informed Bill, the front door opening when he walked in before he placed Bill's keys in front of him. "No good to drive. Had to tow it back to the house."

Bobby placed the bucket of chicken he had picked up down on the table, looking around the room before seeing Dean sitting closer to Sam's bed on the other side of the house. He was talking quietly, he was barely able to tell he was even talking.

Bill looked down at the keys Bobby placed in front of him before picking them up slowly. The metal hanging from the tips of his fingers like they were plagued, whatever he had hanging on them was no good no more and he didn't want it there. Except, he did want it on his keychain. It was the only thing Caroline had ever bought for him.

It was an old joke they had about jelly beans. Bill hadn't the slightest idea what the joke was even about anymore, but Caroline had bought the keychain at a random gas station and had thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Because who the hell wants a jelly bean keychain? Bill might've been the only person in the country with one of those, she hadn't ever seen them again.

The keys were gripped in his hand before tapping against the wooden table, his eyes set back on Caroline before he was standing up and shoving the keys in his pocket.

"Bill," Bobby tried stopping him, following him out the front door as Bill started walking away. "Kid, where the hell do you think you're going?"

"I can't sit in there and stare at her anymore, Bobby," Bill shook his head defeatedly, turning towards the old man when he stopped walking. "I can't."

Bobby had seemed to think about it for a second. It probably wasn't a good idea to just sit in a room with your dead sibling waiting for nothing, it would only end in something or someone getting broken. Bobby finally shook his head reassuringly, carefully as Bill took a slow, deep breath.

"Don't do anything stupid," Bobby advised as Bill just turned on his heel, starting towards Bobby's truck when the man had thrown him the keys. "I'm serious."

"I won't. I just...need a drink or something," Bill deflected his worries. Bobby stood there watching as the truck pulled out down the road before disappearing behind the woods. Bill wouldn't do anything, Bobby trusted that. Bill was angry. But he knew how to control it, he always had to control it around Caroline, but he just needed to take it out on something. And if that happened to be some old skeeze at a bar...well, then he's sorry.

♰

The sound of rain hitting the roof had woken her up. But it was the crack of thunder that had gotten her to open her eyes finally.

It didn't give her much leeway into what was even happening, the room was dark. It was musty, she could smell the tears of rot and mold covering the walls. Her head dropped to the side carefully, looking around to see a small candle light in another room before looking back up at the ceiling.

Everything hurt. Her body just ached. Caroline hadn't the slightest idea what had happened, she almost didn't want to try and pull herself up from the mattress she was laying on. Not that it was comfortable, but it was the best thing she's had in the last two days. She was willing to take the chance and spend the rest of her days on that bed.

The springs in the mattress creaked as she moved, her back and her side was where it was aching. She realized that now. Stifling a groan, she pushed herself up, a hand on her side as she pushed herself up to her feet carefully.

"Ow," she muttered, pulling her hand away from side to see dried blood had rubbed onto her palm.

Something got knocked over in the other room as she turned cautiously. The whole house was dark, not much more than the occasional lightning strike lighting up the room. Her feet carried her over to the door way slowly, something else was rustling around before she looked around the corner and saw Sam was picking something up from the ground.

He must've noticed the tips of her shoes past the doorway, a second later he was looking up as her with a smile before he straightened up.

"Hey," it was a chuckle of relief he had greeted her with when she walked into the room. "You're okay."

"Yeah," she had mustered. The dull pain in her side had made it hard to breathe, but it was getting better since she woke up. He had noticed her grabbing her side carefully, trying to roll out her shoulder carefully. His own hand moving to support himself on the doorframe, leaning against it carefully while Caroline looked around slowly.

It looked like the same house they were hiding in before.

"Are we still here?"

"No clue," he answered honestly, looking around the room before noticing a previously discarded bag of salt they had used earlier. They were still in this god forsaken town.

Caroline opened her mouth to ask another question but was interrupted when the front door opened quickly. She shuffled back quickly at the new threat, a quiet breath following her as she watched Sam greet the man.

"Sammy," he breathed in relief. "Thank god."

"Hey," Sam managed to mutter, obviously confused still before the man was moving behind Caroline and hugging him. Caroline could see Sam's face scrunch in pain, groaning quietly before he had managed to get out of the hug. "Ow. Uh, Dean..." he started quickly as Dean unwrapped his arms from around Sam.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, man. I'm just...I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all," Dean promised. He looked down at Sam's body to make sure he was okay before turning back to Caroline as she kept a secure hand on her side still. "You alright?" She could only muster up a nod as Dean nodded with her before turning back to Sam. "Come on. Sit down," he directed Sam to a chair before letting Caroline walk into the room slowly, pulling an extra chair out for her. She groaned quietly, using her arm on the table to lower herself down carefully before Dean grabbed his own chair.

"Dean...what happened?" Sam finally asked as he sat down.

"Well, what do you remember?" Dean looked between the two as they shared a short look. Sam looked away first, starting to recount the last thing he even remembered.

"I-I saw you and Bobby, and...I felt this pain, this sharp pain like...white-hot you know, and...then you started running at me, and..." he shook his head softly. "That's about it."

Dean looked over at Caroline, waiting for her to answer before she just nodded to agree. That's pretty much all she remembered too. Her's had a few more pieces missing. She doesn't remember them running at her, she just remembers Bill trying to calm her down and being worried about Sam

"Yeah, that — that kid stabbed you two in the back. You lost a lot of blood. It was touch and go for a while."

"But, Dean, you — you can't patch up a wound that bad," Sam tried as Dean shook his head carefully.

"No, Bobby could," he answered. Half honestly.

Caroline looked around the room again when there was a beat of silence. They could see her slightly panicked eyes as she eyed the windows before she landed on the room that Andy was in. He was gone now though, she couldn't see his feet anymore. That demon sure likes to make quick work of these games, or whatever the hell he liked to call them.

"Have you —" Caroline started, turning back to them before landing on Dean. "Do you know where my brother is?" Now it was Sam's turn to look over at him as Dean nodded carefully.

"Went for a drink a few hours ago. Bobby's working with him to figure something out back at his house," Dean promised as she nodded softly. They saw her move around in her chair again, stretching out her side carefully before exhaling sharply. It just ached. They must've been out a while if it was that healed already, that was her only explanation anyway. "Who was that kid, anyway?" He changed the subject.

"His name's Jake. Did you get him?" Sam was angry.

"No, he disappeared into the woods."

"We got to find him, Dean. And I swear I'm gonna tear that son of a bitch apart," he breathed angrily, his jaw clenching at the thought of him before standing up from his chair slowly. Dean was springing up to his feet in a second to stop him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Van Damme," he stopped Sam as Sam swayed slightly on his weak legs. "You just woke up, all right? Let's get you something to eat. You two want something to eat?" He looked down at Caroline this time as she gave him a weak, hesitant nod again. "I'm starving. Come on," he patted Sam on the shoulder before walking off into the other room.

Neither one said anything as they dared to venture into the other room. Caroline pulled herself up with an effort, leaning against the table for support as she tried to slow her breathing.

"You okay?" Sam asked quietly, seeing how she was trying to compose herself with a hand gripped to her side. Her clothes were still bloodied, not really having anything change into but Sam and Dean had their clothes here and he'd already changed. Caroline's once gray hoodie had been dyed red, the side and the back sticking to her skin. "Here," Sam walked away quickly, rifling through the backpack in the corner before walking back over with a clean shirt. "Just so you're not still covered in blood."

"Are you sure?" She asked, unsure if she really wanted to be taking a strangers shirt.

"Yeah. It's better than sitting around with your clothes sticking to you," he laughed softly. "It's okay, I promise." He handed it over to her again.

"Thanks," she whispered, reaching for the shirt carefully. Her fingers brushed against his as her heavy hand grabbed the fabric. It was a simple long sleeve, the dark fabric not giving much contrast against the rest of the room.

"You've got some — right there," he pointed to his chin, watching as her wrist rubbed at her chin before looking at the sleeve to see the new blood stain on the sleeve. She rubbed her chin harshly again before finally wiping it all away.

"I'm just...I'm gonna," she pointed off into another room as she met his eyes again.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course," he nodded quickly, taking a quick step back to give her space to walk past. "We'll be in there," he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to the room Dean just walked into as she nodded. She gave him a quick smile, the corner of her lips twitching up as he smiled back.

His eyes stayed on her as she stumbled off into the next room, her hand constantly on the wall to give herself support before she disappeared into the dark shadowed room. She couldn't see much, but she was able to see the basic outline of the room when lighting struck. She placed the long sleeve down carefully, draping it over an old chair before she carefully started to pull the hoodie off her body. Trying to pull the fabric over her head was an effort, the fabric suffocating her before it fell to the ground.

She finally got a clear view of her stomach. Her shirt soaked even worse than the hoodie that sat in a crumpled pile on the floor. Pulling her shirt up slowly, she grimaced as the shirt pulled away from the wound, the wound clean as she grimaced when she saw the scar that was now right above her hip.

Bobby had done a good job on the wounds, she had to give him credit.

By the time she was walking out of the room and back towards Sam and Dean, she was still pulling her arm into the sleeve. The cold nipping at her exposed shoulder before the shirt had swallowed her finally. Dean watched her walk in before looking over at Sam shortly. Neither one noticed it. Caroline just gave them a short smile again before sitting down carefully in front of the open pizza box they were eating from.

"That's when you guys showed up," Sam finished the end of his explanation to Dean.

"That's awful," Dean breathed, shaking his head softly. "Poor Andy."

Caroline picked at a slice of pizza quietly. Pulling apart the crust and attempting to eat as much as she could, but she suddenly didn't have the stomach to be eating.

"The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive," Sam started again. Caroline's slow chewing had slowed even more as she looked over at Sam before her eyes flicked over to Dean. That's not entirely what the demon said...but maybe it wasn't his place to be telling his brother that the demon wanted her too.

"He told you that?" Dean asked quickly.

"Yep," Sam nodded slowly as he picked at his thumb. "He appeared in dream." That was his only reason for the demon showing up. He knew it wasn't a dream, but telling his brother they were hallucinating a demon surely wasn't going to go over well.

"He tell you anything else?"

Sam looked over at Caroline slowly, seeing her pull apart the pizza crust before he was shaking his head. "No. No," he deflected quickly, looking back up at Dean. "That was it. Nothing else. You know, what I don't get, Dean, is if the demon only wanted one of us, how did the three of us get away?"

"Well, I mean, they left you guys for dead. I'm sure they thought it was over," Dean shrugged as he pushed himself up from the chair he was leaning against and took a bite from his pizza. "Now that yellow eyes has Jake, what's he gonna do with him?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, we got to stop him."

"Alright, now, hold on, alright? You guys need your rest. She can barely stand on her feet without holding onto something," he waved over to Caroline quickly, trying to stop Sam from leaving again. "We got time."

"No, we don't," Sam defended.

"Sam, oceans aren't boiling, okay? Frogs aren't raining from the sky. Let's get you your strength back first."

Sam finally backed off, shaking his head defeatedly as Caroline watched him carefully.

"Well, did you call the Roadhouse? Do they know anything?" Sam snipped, clearly irritated with his brother.

"Yeah," Dean breathed. Caroline couldn't see him but by the way Sam tensed up, she could tell something was wrong.

"Dean...what is it?"

Dean moved to the empty chair beside Caroline as she finally looked over at him. "The Roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead, probably Ellen too -- a lot of other hunters, too," he muttered, taking a swig of his cola bottle.

"Demons?"

"Yeah, we think so," Dean nodded at Sam's question. "We think Ash found something."

"What'd he find?"

"Bobby and her brother should be working on that right now," he shook his head shortly.

Caroline took a deep breath, it slowed as she stared out the window while the rain trailed down the foggy glass. Nothing about this was adding up. The second she woke up, there were questions.

"How would the demon know to go after Ash, though?" She had finally asked, looking over to Dean this time. That was the first time Dean had heard a full sentence come out of her mouth.

"He sounded freaked on the phone," Dean shook his head. "He wanted to talk in person. Must've thought someone was listening to him."

"Well, come on then. Bobby's only a few hours away," Dean was shooting up to his feet again to stop Sam. Caroline stayed in her seat as she watched Dean practically beg him to just sit down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Sam, stop, damn it. You almost died in there. I mean, what would I have —" he stopped himself. "Look, can you just take care of yourself for a little bit. Just for a little bit."

"I'm sorry. No," Sam shook his head as Dean was shaking his own head in frustration. Dean wasn't going to win that argument, even Caroline could see that.

♰

"You got it?" Sam opened the back door for Caroline to get out of the car. He grabbed her elbow to help her up as she pulled herself up with the frame of the car with Sam's help.

The three hour nap she got was nice. She couldn't have gotten any more than that though. It was almost impossible to go almost an hour without waking up from some new whisperings in her ear. At least her headache was gone now. For the most part.

Sam let her walk in front of her as they followed Dean up to Bobby's front door. The pain in her side had finally subsided. The dull ache reduced to nothing more than a light soreness.

Bobby's hadn't changed since the last time she had been here. She'd only ever talked to him over the phone, but it had been two years maybe since she had been back at the house.

"Hey, Bobby," they could hear Dean greet at the door as they walked up the few steps to the door before Caroline was greeting him with a smile.

"Hey, Uncle Bobby," she breathed happily.

Bobby looked between her and Sam slowly, seemingly trying to gauge how they were even up and walking around before he was greeting them.

"Caroline. Sam" he muttered cautiously, as if he talked any louder they would suddenly disappear. "It's good to...see you two up and around"

"Yeah, well," Sam stepped around Caroline carefully to pat Bobby on the shoulder before walking into the house. "Thanks for patching us up."

"Don't mention it," Bobby muttered quietly, giving Caroline a short smile when she gave him one as she walked into the house behind Sam. His eyes were set on Dean's, glaring at him while he finally stepped in behind them.

"Well, they're better now. And we're back in it now, so...what do you know?" Dean asked carefully.

Caroline looked over her shoulder when she heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Who's at the door?" They asked as they rounded the corner. Bill slowed when he looked up and saw the small group that formed at the door before his eyes landed on Caroline. His walking slowed as his eyes jumped over to Sam before looking over at Bobby and Dean. Caroline could tell he was trying to figure something out, he always had the same wrinkle between his brows. "What the hell?" He mumbled quietly to himself.

"Hey, Bill," Caroline broke him out of the trance he had put himself into.

"Care," he breathed quietly, crashing into her as his arms enveloped her tiny frame. "Oh my god," he pulled away just as fast, his hands landing on the sides of her neck as he stared her down. "What the hell?" He couldn't seem to stop repeating. "Are you okay?"

"Kinda sore," she answered. "But I'm up," she shrugged.

"Why didn't you call?" He had asked her, but it was directed towards Dean.

"Lost my phone," Caroline answered. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he managed, finally stepping back as he hair fell back into place over her ears before she was brushing them back behind. It was a few quiet seconds of Bill trying to decide what he wanted to do. He was jumping between smothering her, or backing away because there was no possible way she was up and walking around right now.

"Follow me," Bobby finally broke the silence. He nodded over to the dining room table as Caroline crossed her arms over her chest, the sleeves on the shirt swallowing her hands as she tugged at the seam. "I found something, but I'm not sure what the hell it means," he started explaining.

"What is it?" Sam dared to ask.

"Demonic omens...like a frickin' tidal wave. Cattle deaths, lighting storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here," Bobby pulled a map out as they all leaned in a little closer to see what he was pointing at. "All around here except for one place — southern Wyoming," he pointed to the general area as Caroline backed off.

"Wyoming?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah. That one area's totally clean — spotless. It's almost as if..."

"What?" Sam inquired.

"The demons are surrounding it."

"Only problem is," Bill started from behind the group. "We got no clue why."

"Yeah, and at this point, my eyes are swimming. Sam, Caroline, would you take a look at it?" He looked over at the two. Caroline was already nodding her head in agreement as Sam followed. "Maybe you can catch something we couldn't."

"Yeah, sure," Sam agreed.

"Come on, Dean. I got some more books in the truck," Bobby turned his glare back to Dean as Caroline and Sam looked over at Dean. "Help me lug them in."

"Yeah," Dean answered hesitantly, following after the man as Bill watched them carefully.

He could see the man shaking his head shortly, a thing he does when he's clearly annoyed. Bill eyed Caroline quickly, watching as she sat at the table before pulling the map closer as Sam leaned against her chair to look over her shoulder before pointing at something.

"I'm gonna go help 'em out," Bill told the pair as they looked over at him."Don't go getting stabbed again," he warned, turning the corner as Caroline's short laugh died out when he walked outside.

He could hear Bobby before he could see them. The man had brought him back behind a few cars, probably so that nobody would follow them.

"What did you do?!" Bobby shouted, not even seeing Bill emerge behind his wrecked truck behind Dean. "You made a deal...for them, didn't you?" That's when it had finally clicked in their heads. That's how the two were even breathing right now. Dean was sacrificing his own life for his brother and a girl he didn't even know.

"You what?" Bill's presence was finally known. Dean looked over his shoulder shortly before rolling his eyes.

"How long they give you?" Bobby was asking hastily, trying to get it out of the man before he shut them out."How long?!" He shouted again when Dean tried to ween him off the subject.

"One year," Dean finally answered.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Bill asked again as Dean seemingly ignored him while keeping his eyes on Bobby.

"Which is why we to find this yellow-eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I mean, I got nothing to lose now, right?" He shrugged sadly.

"I could throttle you!" Bobby grabbed the collar of his jacket quickly, pulling him forward as Dean's jaw tightened.

"Oh, and what? Send me downstairs ahead of schedule?"

"Bobby," Bill warned him, silently telling him to lay off as Bobby scoffed quietly and pushed Dean back.

"What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You, your dad, you're both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit," Bobby accused.

"That's my point. Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? Those two get to live," he threw his hand nav towards the house harshly. "It's like my life can mean something," his voice was wavering, teetering on the edge of falling over but not quite reaching the tipping point.

"But why Caroline?" Bill interjected. "You don't even know her. Or us," he shrugged a shoulder, his arms crossed over his chest as Dean finally looked back at him.

"I couldn't let them die," he shook his head. Bill could see the subtle tears that rimmed his eyes, not daring to fall but he couldn't hold it in anymore. "I couldn't. Sam's my brother. And she's your sister."

"How is your brother gonna feel when he knows you're going to hell?" Bobby asked sincerely this time, finally calming down just a bit but still on edge. "How'd you feel when you knew your dad went for you?"

"You can't tell them," Dean begged. "You take a shot at me, whatever you got to do, but please don't tell them. Don't tell Sammy."

Bobby sighed shortly, reaching his hand out to grip Dean's face like he was gonna tell him off again before giving up. It wasn't worth the fighting anymore. There wasn't anything they could do.

Dean Winchester was going to hell all because he was too stubborn to live in a world without his brother.

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gracie's getaway //
love them so bad 😐
they're so soft for each other 😣❤️‍🩹
(i would take it now it
will nawt be lasting)

bye byeee xx

— gracie