Twenty minutes later, they found themselves sitting at a small high table, the sounds of drunk karaoke and smacks of pool balls hitting each other fading into the background. To Sophia, the only thing worth giving attention to was Dean. Even the beer sitting right in front of her did little to distract her.

She had always found him attractive, at least starting from their Starbucks run-in. But now that she had kissed him, had felt how thoughtfully and thoroughly he had moved his lips against hers, the feeling of him gripping her waist to pull her closer to him, attraction surged through her at lightning speed.

She noticed everything. The way his lips curled around his beer bottle, and how his fingers tapped to the beat of the music against the glass. The flex of his biceps whenever he lifted the drink. The way his hair curled down his forehead, just begging for Sophia to run her hands through it.

The newfound awareness of everything Dean did nothing but make Sophia feel a surge of excitement down her body, ending between her legs.

Woah. Okay. An extended date was one thing. But Sophia was in no way going to consider going home with him tonight. It had been a long time since a man had even remotely turned her on, but it wasn't anything her vibrator couldn't solve.

"I feel a little bad about earlier," Dean said. If he noticed her checking him out, he didn't say anything. "We spoke at the same time, and you never got to say what you were going to say."

Sophia couldn't help but gape at him for a moment. She barely remembered that she was a few words away from telling him that she couldn't move too quickly, and the fact that he did was nothing short of astounding. "Right," she said, once she got herself together. "I guess all I wanted to say was—"

But she didn't get a chance to finish. "What the hell?" Sophia said, turning around in her chair.

An argument had been growing by the pool tables since they arrived, but Sophia had just ignored it. But now that was impossible. Someone had started screaming. No words, just screams.

Sophia and Dean exchanged alarmed looks, immediately abandoned their beers, and shot up from their seats, heading toward the source of the commotion. A small crowd had already gathered around the incident as Sophia and Dean pushed their way through.

"Holy shit," Dean whispered.

It wasn't the weirdest thing Sophia had ever seen, but it certainly was up there. Her brain slowed down the scene around her as she took everything in.

The most critical part: the man who currently had a pool cue going into one side of his shoulder and out the other. Luckily, on the right side of his body. The next most important part: the man currently holding said pool cue who looked like he was about to pass out.

The screaming man finally found his words again. "Dude, just get it the fuck out of me!" he yelled

"No!"

Sophia and Dean spoke at the same time, shocking the two men and the crowd of onlookers into mostly complete silence.

"Trust me, it'll hurt just as much coming out as it did going in," Dean cautioned.

"And if you take it out, you might be setting yourself up to bleed to death," Sophia said flatly. "So just, both of you, stay very still."

At her words, both men went so still they looked like they were made out of stone.

"We're going to take a look," Dean said, slowly approaching. "Just hang in there."

Sophia glanced around. The bartender had her eyes trained on the situation and was already on the phone, presumably calling 9-1-1. She followed Dean to the two men, only stopping to grab the phone of someone who was filming the entire situation and throw it on the neighboring pool table.

Dean eyed her as she did it, and Sophia could have sworn he suppressed a grin.

"Okay, sir, you can let go now." Dean gently placed his hands on the pool cue to steady it.

But the other man seemed frozen in place.

Sophia stepped in and put her hand on his shoulder. "Sir, it's okay. You can let go. Listen, I'm a nurse, he's an EMT, and we're trained to do this."

She seemed to get through to him, and with a bit of effort, he uncurled his hands from the cue and took a few steps back. Sophia faced Dean.

"I'm not sure there's much more we can do other than keep him from going into shock," she said in a low voice.

Dean nodded. "It doesn't look too bad at this point. Not a lot of blood."

Sophia examined the entry wound. He was right. Bleeding was minimal.

"Hey, what's going on?" The man who currently had a wooden stick through him had a waver of panic in his voice.

Sophia quickly went around so he could see her. "Hi, my name's Sophia," she told him. "That's Dean. I'm a nurse, he's an EMT," she repeated. "And I know this sucks, but right now you're doing okay. There's not too much blood. How are you feeling?"

"I have a fucking pool cue through my shoulder, who do you think I'm feeling?" the man demanded.

Sophia made brief eye contact with Dean over the man's good shoulder. At least he was feeling good enough to be angry.

"What's your name?" Sophia asked him. The man had already sat down on the edge of the pool table and didn't look in danger of falling over, so she figured it was best to keep him where he was.

"Darren."

"Okay, Darren. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

His face twisted in anger and Sophia put her hand on his good shoulder. "But I'm going to need you to keep calm for me, okay?" she said. "And just stay still."

"He did this," Darren spat, and while he didn't move, Sophia didn't have to guess that the other man was the target of his anger. "All because he was mad that he sucks at pool."

"No, you were cheating," the other man spoke up.

"Alright, alright," Sophia said. Jesus, was this really the time? "So, he thought you were cheating, things escalated, and he decided to stick a pool cue through you?"

"I was pissed!" the other man exclaimed.

"And your name is?" Sophia asked.

"Jerry."

"Right, Jerry, I don't really care," Sophia said flatly. "You can work it out with the police when they get here. But right now, I need you to help me." She had seen the glassy look appear in Darren's eyes, and knew he would need support soon enough.

"What, me?"

"Yes, you," Dean spoke up. "Do as she says."

It wasn't without grumbling, but Jerry eventually moved.

"Sit here," Sophia said, pointing to Darren's left. "And just put your shoulder behind his. Darren, it's okay to lean back a little bit."

Darren looked too tired to argue, and Sophia knew he would need paramedics soon. Jerry looked freaked out, and just a bit concerned, so he didn't argue.

"Alright, just hang in there, Darren," Sophia said once he had support for his back. "The paramedics should be here soon."

Not a minute after Sophia said that, the crowd parted and the bartender brought back a mix of paramedics, firefighters, and police officers. Sophia and Dean quickly stood to the side as they took over.

Everything from there passed in a blur. The paramedics stabilized Darren and got him off to the hospital as the police questioned Jerry as well as Sophia and Dean.

"How did you two get involved, exactly?" the officer asked them.

The pair quickly took him through their perspective on what happened and their own backgrounds as medical professionals. It didn't take long, and at the end, the officer put his notebook away and shook both of their hands.

"Good thing you guys were here," he said. "I doubt this will come to much, we don't even know if this guy is going to press charges, but just in case, I'll need phone numbers for both of you in case we need to reach you."

After writing those down, the officers left, leaving a slightly bloodied pool table and a very subdued bar.

"Hey, thanks guys," the bartender said. She looked pale but more annoyed than disturbed. "That could have gone a lot worse."

Sophia let out a breath and looked at Dean. He seemed to share the bartender's assessment, and Sophia couldn't disagree.

"Ready to go?" Dean asked her.

Sophia let out a laugh. "Hell yeah, let's get out of here."

Sophia felt her adrenalin decreasing as the cool night air washed over her, her hand casually linked with Dean's. They were quiet for a block or two, but then looked at each other and broke out into laughter.

"I know it's not funny, but," Dean cut off, shaking his head and chuckling.

"Hell of a first date," Sophia commented.

"Ugh," Dean said. "This really isn't how I imagined tonight going."

"To be fair, Darren wasn't exactly having a normal night, either."

Dean laughed. "You're a badass, you know that?"

"I do." Sophia loved the surge of warmth that went through his body at his words. "But you should already know that, given how we first met."

They had made it back to the parking lot, and Dean stopped her. "Yeah, I guess I did," he said softly. He ran his thumb gently across Sophia's cheekbone, sending shivers across her skin. "And we make a good team."

"Yeah, we do." In a lot of ways, being with Dean in a crisis almost felt completely natural. "But Dean, I do still need to tell you something."

He had leaned forward a fraction of an inch, but then stopped. "Right," he said. "Hopefully no more interruptions this time."

Despite the maiming, this had been basically a perfect night, and Sophia's stomach clenched up at the thought of her ruining things. But she had to say her piece. "This has probably been one of the best dates I've ever been on," she started, and Dean grinned. "And I really do like you, Dean. A lot."

The grin grew wider.

"I just," Sophia paused and took a deep breath, noticing how the joy on Dean's face faltered slightly and cursing herself for it. "Whatever this is, wherever it's headed," she gestured between the two of them, "I need to take it slowly. And I need you to not ask me why, at least not right now."

Dean stared down at her. "Okay."

"Okay?" Sophia repeated. "That's, uh, that's it?" She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this felt way too easy.

"Is there something else?" The joy was back. "I really like you, too, Sophia. And if taking things slow is what you need, then I'm cool with that."

Apparently, it really was that easy. "Right," Sophia said, still a bit uncertain. "Good."

"Good." Dean brushed her hair away from her face. "Can I ask you something?"

She nodded.

"Can I kiss you again?"

Sophia turned her face up to him, feeling heat creep up her neck. Then, she nodded.

Their first had been slow, a bit cautious, both of them wanting to savor their moment together. But now, with the excitement of the night, Dean's lips were more demanding on hers, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him close.

Watching Dean in that situation, calm and collected, taking charge with a quiet sense of authority, had been extremely sexy. She hadn't thought about it at the moment, but now after the fact, the electrifying feeling of watching him in his element combined with her leftover adrenalin rapidly built heat throughout her body. Sophia pulled him closer and kissed him harder.

Dean must have been feeling something, too, because now his tongue traced over her bottom lip, and when she let him, slipped into her mouth. He tasted like beer and sugar, and it was all Sophia could do to hold back a small moan from the sensation. One of his hands was firmly clasped on her waist, holding her against him, and the other tangled in her hair Sophia lost track of all time as she lost herself in him.

Eventually, they had to break apart to breathe, and Dean's face flushed and his eyes shining more brightly than usual. Neither of them wanted to unwrap their arms from each other, but they also couldn't stand making out in a parking lot all night.

"I'll call you tomorrow, yeah?" Dean asked.

Sophia nodded. "You better."

"Good night, Sophia."

"Good night, Dean."

Sophia waited until she was far enough away from him, headed somewhere in the general direction of her car, before bringing her fingers to her lips. They were slightly swollen. And Sophia knew she would be thinking about that kiss for a long time.