fictional characters>>

part one: “i’m good”

pairing: dean winchester x reader

tags: romantic tension!friends to strangers to lovers, cursing, heavy angst to fluff, season one! Dean, dean was an asshole and he’s sorry, protective sam, platonic!sam x reader use of y/n (im sorry), y/n is based off of me (shocker) so she might be more forgiving than you, flashback is in italics

summary: When Dean and Sam had their fight over Sam’s future, y/n chose Sam’s side and left for college with Sam. After John Winchester goes missing, Dean needs his brother and his best friend back. But Sam doesn’t know the full story of their fight. Maybe a run-in with Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, might just show both of the brothers how much Dean hurt y/n.

Word count: ~1.5k

The sorority house was abuzz with anticipation of the Friday night football game. Every one is an opportunity to show off your skimpiest outfit, laugh with your closest friends, and to earn an undesired amount of male attention from creepy guys on the street. Y/n’s favorite part was the friend time and the cherry coke she gets from the concession stand. That particular night, she was going with her friend Leah, Leah’s asshole boyfriend, and the asshole boyfriend’s asshole friends. Y/n wasn't super excited for this crowd, but Leah needed a friend to make sure she made it back home.

The doorbell rang while y/n was packing her purse full of Jolly Ranchers. She had thought nothing of it, assuming it was Leah’s boyfriend, and began checking her purse to make sure she didn't forget anything.

After a minute of soft unintelligible conversation, Leah shouted, “Y/N, SOME DUDE IS HERE FOR YOU!”

Y/n’s confusion showed clear on her face as she hurried down the stairs, one hand ruffling through the purse for her license.

“We have to get going, Leah, who is…”

Y/n’s eyes widened and her voice trailed off when she saw a familiar shit-eating grin at the entrance to the house.

“Hiya, kid,” Dean said, his eyes trailing down her revealing outfit. He knew she hated being called that, and y/n rolled her eyes. Amusement rang clear from his crooked grin. “What are you wearing?”

She couldn't stay annoyed at him for too long. Not when he was smiling at her like that. She couldn't help the smile spreading across her face and the blush down her neck.

“Hi, Dean,” y/n said fondly, running down the rest of the stairs and wrapping her arms around his neck. “What are you doing here?” Fear struck her heart. “Is something wrong?”

Dean paused and his wide grin faded. “Can I talk to you outside?” Y/n nodded, and caught Leah’s eye just as she mouthed, “He’s hot!” Y/n and Dean had stepped onto the front porch and Y/n can still remember the sunset shining gold on Dean’s face as he-

The loud slamming of the driver’s door brought Y/n back to the present. Dean tosses her a cherry coke and it hits square on her chest and lands pitifully in her lap.

“You ok? Lookin’ pretty out of it,” Dean says, looking at her in the rearview mirror.

“I’m good,” Y/n says dismissively. She turns her head to gaze at the corn fields across from the gas station parking lot they are currently sitting in. In the reflection, she can see the bracelet Dean got her for her 16th birthday sitting on her wrist. Its a thin leather strap with embroidered vines, and in the middle hangs a single pearl charm. Simple, but it represents their entire friendship.

“Alright then. So, Sammy, what do we know about this case?” Dean asks Sam. Y/n could tell Dean knew something was bugging her. She can't hide anything from Dean, which has made these last few months especially excruciating.

Y/n had been in love with Dean ever since they met, which was when she was 10 and Dean was 12. It snuck up on her, and Y/n didn't fully understand her certain “fondness” for Dean until the big fight. But, Y/n can't deny that he hurt her. These conflicting emotions have been growing increasingly hard to contain and understand since her return to the hunting life.

“We know that young couples in Hickman, Kentucky have been going missing from their college dorms and then are found dead in the corn fields the next day. The women go missing first, and, get this, both bodies are missing hearts. A single rose is left in the chest cavity where the heart was.” Sam explains. Y/n giggles and quietly repeats, “Get this!” under her breath. Classic Sam.

“ ‘s not entirely new. Probably some sort of flesh-eating monster.”

“We can't make any assumptions until we get there,” Sam responds scoldingly. As Sam and Dean slide into an age-old sibling argument, miles and miles of corn lull y/n into an easy sleep.

She wakes with a jerk and swots at her itchy nose. She opens her eyes to see Dean holding a dirty looking feather.

“Disgusting, Dean. You just found that on the ground, it could give her rabies.” Sam wrinkles his nose in empathy for y/n’s situation.

“Totally worth it,” Dean remarks with a devilish smirk. “Ok, let's start with a trip to the coroner.”

After an afternoon of talking to doctors and sniffling family members, Sam, Dean, and y/n settle into a two bed, one couch hotel room. About two hours into their heaping stack of research materials, y/n begins to feel restless.

“I’m gonna go talk to the victim’s friends, see if there is something in common with the relationships.” Y/n stands up, gathers her coat and fake badge, and heads for the door.

“Good idea, I’ll tag along.” Dean doesn’t miss the way Y/n tenses when he speaks. He knew she had been avoiding him lately, but he had no idea why. As soon as they piled into the Impala, Dean asks her:

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yes, Dean, I’m sure. I’m just tired.” Dean has never been good at dealing with emotions, and he didn't want to scare her off, so he accepted the obvious lie. They ride in awkward silence to the first house, the quiet only cut by Taylor Swift on the radio and y/n’s soft humming.

They pull in the driveway and ring the doorbell at the house of Lacy Hawkins, the first female victim’s best friend and roommate. Lacy, a sweet-looking blonde girl, answers the door, obviously surprised to see FBI officers while she’s wearing her pajamas. Dean speaks first.

“Lacy Hawkins? Sorry for the late hour, we’d like to ask you a few questions about Terri.” He pairs the sentence with a lady-killing smirk, but Lacy seems unaffected. Y/n smiles at Dean’s flirting fail when Lacy turns around.

Lacy has a Miller Lite in one hand, and it is obvious from her stride that it wasn’t her first one. Y/n can't blame her, but it’s beginning to look like they wouldn’t be getting much reliable information out of her. They sit on a futon in the living room.

“Did Terri ever talk to you about her relationship with Benjamin?” Y/n speaks softly and slowly to avoid scaring Lacy.

Lacy nods.

“Were they having sex?”

Lacy looks confused but nods her head.

“Were they happy?”

Lacy sits quietly for a minute and Dean and y/n share a questioning look. Eventually she shakes her head and speaks up.

“No. They weren't very happy,” Lacy whispers. “Actually, they were about to break up, I think. Ben had cheated on her last year and Terri had just found out. She was heartbroken.”

Dean and Y/n kept asking Lacy questions until it was clear she wouldn't be of any more help. When she gets back into the car, Y/n remembers something from the family interviews.

“Well, that was a dead-end.” Dean says through a sigh as he pulls onto the road.

“No, I think I've got something. Our second victims, Willow and Cade, were having problems, too, remember?” Y/n flips through her notebook from that afternoon. “Willow’s mom said that Cade had gotten drunk and called Willow clingy and annoying. She said Willow was “heartbroken” and had been crying for days.”

“Ok… so what does that mean?” “Tomorrow we will interview the third victim’s friends and see if they were having problems. Maybe Sara was “heartbroken,” too. Let’s also see if Sam’s got something.”

Right as y/n says this, Dean parks the Impala at the motel room. Y/n opens the door to the motel room and is met with the sight of a crazed-looking Sam pouring over some dusty book.

“Guys! I’ve got something!” Sam shouts. Dean closes the door behind him and says, “Yeah, us too.”

Then Dean tells Sam everything they learned, which boils down to: this thing might be going after couples where the guy has just left the girl “heartbroken.” That's when Sam slams down a different huge book and opens it to a picture of some kind of statue.

“Exactly. Aphrodite.” Sam looks up at y/n and searches for understanding on her face.

“The Greek goddess?” Y/n asks.

“Yes. There is an ancient myth where Aphrodite gets revenge for women by killing their hurtful or cheating husbands. She also kills the women, and uses their “heavy hearts” as a sacrifice. In this myth, Aphrodite kidnaps the woman first and learns how they are hurt, then she kidnaps the men and makes them “relive their misdeeds” whatever that means.”

“So, are we dealing with an Aphrodite worshiper on a murderous rampage?” Dean asks, standing up and looking at y/n for an answer. Why does he think she knows? Sam answers.

“No. I think we’re dealing with Aphrodite herself.”