𝙷 𝚄 𝙽 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁.

 𝐀    𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄    𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗    𝐖𝐇𝐎    𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒    𝐇𝐎𝐖    𝐓𝐎    𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄                                                                                  𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘   𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄          𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐒     𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐓     𝐓𝐎     𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒.

                                                                                 𝙸𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙴  𝙹𝙾  𝙷𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙴  𝙾𝙵  𝚂𝚄𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙽𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙰𝙻  𝚁𝙿.

    dean turns his attention to the direction of the noise that he thought he heard   —  right after jo confirmed his suspicions .  they are in the middle of a forest .  they are bound to come across something   —  though a bear is out of the question, as it is technically a campsite .         ‘ woah—  ’     dean gets off his seat right after her, remaining alert as he advises,     ‘   okay, let’s just—   go back to the cabin, alright?  ’      he turns his eyes at the direction of the cabin, only to notice that nobody is looking through the window anymore  …   though the lights are still on .

 the act itself was practically effortless  —  despite having not done it before with her, they’d known each other long enough that this didn’t feel all too strange in the end .  nonetheless, he was caught by surprise at her commitment of their performance, for he couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was truly an act .  ironically, he didn’t stop to question for a second  what part of his performance was genuine .  he knew better than to tread such a dangerous territory with someone he considered his best friend . it was bad enough that they were messing around for the sake of fooling others to begin with [ rather than doing it for the sake of experiencing it for themselves ] …   luckily, dean could excuse it all to the drinking .  as she pulled away and climbed off him, the comfortable warmth that left his body caused him to shiver slightly at the light, cold breeze . 

  leaning back to revert to his casual seating position, dean flashed a grin at her words .    ‘  it’s not .  ’   he chuckled to himself as he couldn’t help but tease her about her deliberate  choice of words .   ‘  you just implied that you thought i was a bad kisser . ’

    ‘  that so?  ’     he flashes a smirk, followed by a defeated tilt of his head as he thinks to himself how smart she plays it, going after his ego like that .  and to think that one being self-aware would prevent them from falling into that trap, but it didn’t .    ‘ well, now i know that i gotta prove a point here . ’    he puffs out an amused breath, shoots a glance at the window of the cabin, making sure that they are still being watched, before he makes his move .  reaching to cup her neck, dean pulls her in for a kiss on the lips .

𝙵𝙴𝙴𝚃  𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴  𝚀𝚄𝙸𝙲𝙺  𝚃𝙾  𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙿  𝙸𝙽𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴  𝙱𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴  𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙳𝙴  𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳  change  her  mind,  brain  buzzing  as  brunette  tried  to  figure  out  a  way  to  break  the  reason  for  her  visit  to  her  friend  without  her  clamming  up  and  sending  her  back  out  into  the  cold,  midnight  driveway.   once  door  shut  behind  her,   the  appearance  of  jo’s  trademark  sass  relaxed  her  muscles  for  a  bit,  as  it  proved  it  wasn’t  too  late  for  her.   she  wasn’t  past  the  point  of  no  return  yet,   she  could  still  somewhat  recognize  friend  underneath  her  foreign,  icy  exterior.   iota  of  relief  didn’t  translate  onto  her  voice,  though,  a  rather  stern  yet  sensitive  tone  being  used  in  introducing  the  dire  nature  of  their  situation.     ❛❛   i  think  you  know  what  it  is.   i  think  you’ve  felt  it  ever  since  you  came  out  of  that  pit,  but  you’ve  probably  been  too  confused  or  disoriented  to  try  and  say  anything  about  it.   ❜❜    gulp  travelled  down  her  throat,  sigh  exiting  her  lips  as  she  made  a  tough,  conscious  effort  not  to  lay  all  the  information  down  on  her  in  one  go,   ease  her  into  it.    ❛❛   since  you’ve  been  back,   have  you  been  under  the  impression  that  something’s  not  quite  right?   i’m  talkin’  things  like  angry  outbursts,   irritability,   insatiable  appetite,  maybe?   ❜❜

it  felt  like  everyone  around  jo  knew  something  wasn’t  right  ever  since  being  resurrected,  but they were all just so consumed & happy with the idea of having her back,  that nobody questioned or cared about the way this all made her feel.  it was normal,  they’d  say  -  you  were  brought  back  to  us,  it’s a miracle.  only she felt the exact opposite.  it  felt  like  more  of  a  CURSE  than  anything.  thoughts didn’t feel like her own,  her heart felt distant and cold towards those whom she once loved.  the  words  that  she’d  want  to  express  were  replaced  with  bitterness  instead.  it was as if the real her was trapped deep down inside,  screaming to get out  but met with defeat each and every single time.  lana was the only person who seemed to actually care or truly notice this difference in the blonde. the words that dispelled from the brunette’s mouth were as if she were living in jo’s mind.  it brought a sense of relief,  but instead of showing that, the cold shell of a human came out to play instead.  ‘i guess  -  where are you getting at with this, lana? spill it out already, will ya..’  was she trying to tell the blonde that there was a way she could FIX her? put all the pieces of the puzzle back together again,  but the right way this time. was that even possible at this point? 

𝚂𝙷𝙴  𝙺𝙽𝙴𝚆  𝙸𝚃  𝚆𝙰𝚂𝙽'𝚃  𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃  𝚁𝙸𝚂𝙺𝚂,   𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶  𝙹𝙾'𝚂  𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚂  to  the  lazarus  pit   —    but  she  was  alone,  and  frustrated,  and  she  didn’t  know  any  better.   in  apex  of  her  weakest  moment,   SHE  NEEDED  HER  BEST  FRIEND.    eager  for  the  grief  to  dissipate,  she  opted  to  shoot  first,  ask  questions  later.   and  so,  now  time  for  questions  had  arrived,   and  she  feared  the  answers  she’d  find    [   lore  being  rather  revealing  about  the  price  of  resurrection  to  be  paid  in  its  aftermath   ].     she  could  see  the  emptiness  in  her  eyes,  void  of  their  previous  fire,   spreading.    𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖸  𝖭𝖤𝖤𝖣𝖤𝖣  𝖳𝖮  𝖬𝖮𝖵𝖤  𝖥𝖠𝖲𝖳.    ❛❛   i,  uh,  i  came  here  to  talk  to  you  about  something.  can  i  come  in?   ❜❜

this  was  lana,  her  best  friend.  shouldn’t she feel something?  shouldn’t  those  cherished  memories  of  them  come  rushing  back?  shouldn’t  her  presence  trigger  some  kind  of  emotion  out  of  the  blonde?  why did it feel as if the person standing in front of her was nothing but a stranger?  that  void  terrified  her.  ‘yeah,  i guess.’  the female moves aside so that the other may enter.  ‘so  what’s  so  urgent  that  you  had  to  barge  into  my  place  at  12  in  the  morning?’  eyebrows raise in curiosity while arms fold against chest.