It was the longest fucking twelve hours of Sophia's life. She had never had a shift that was so boring. The most exciting thing that happened was a toddler who got a Monopoly hotel stuck up his nose. Any other day and Sophia would have been grateful for the peace of the shift. But today, all she wanted was a distraction.

"Hey, it'll all be fine," May reassured her as they walked out of the maddeningly dead E.R. "Call me later, okay? Let me know how it goes."

Sophia nodded. "I will. Thanks."

With her usual drowsiness absent, Sophia spent the next half an hour trying to find an open grocery store. If the cashier thought that it was strange that she was desperately buying pancake ingredients and about ten pounds of bananas at six in the morning, they didn't let on.

Sophia's hand hovered next to the lock on Dean's door, the key grasped in her hand. Would he even want her there? Would her being there when he got home make him angrier?

She shook her head and unlocked the door. Regardless of how either of them was feeling, they still had to talk.

A couple of hours later, Dean's kitchen was mostly clean from the explosion of flour that had resulted from Sophia's frantic cooking. The voice in the back of her mind kept telling her that there was no way that banana pancakes would help solve whatever was going on between her and Dean, but she carried on dumping batter onto the skillet with vigor. It wouldn't solve everything, but it sure as hell couldn't hurt. And besides, if she just sat around and did nothing, she would go crazy.

Sophia spun around at the sound of the lock turning, practically holding her breath as Dean came into view. He took half a step back when he saw her standing there, and his shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch in relief.

Sophia's gaze flitted over him, taking note of the Starbucks tray in one hand and the brown bag in the other. Then her eyes went to his, taking note of how he seemed more tired than usual.

"I wasn't sure you'd be here," Dean said, his words hesitant.

Sophia swallowed hard. "I wasn't sure you wanted me to be."

"Of course, I do." Dean's response was almost automatic. "I always do. What I said before, I shouldn't have, I'm sorry."

Sophia felt her bottom lip begin to tremble, and she couldn't take it anymore. Dean barely set down the coffee before she threw her arms around him, her toes barely touching the floor. He didn't even hesitate to wrap his around her, squeezing her tightly, burying his face into her neck.

"I'm sorry," Sophia whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"No, I am," Dean said. "I shouldn't have, God, Soph I'm so sorry."

Sophia never wanted to let go. If she did, she feared he would somehow disappear forever.

"You're like a koala." Dean's voice was muffled against her.

Sophia couldn't help but let out a chuckle. She had ended up wrapping her legs around him, holding on to him like her life depended on it. Slowly, she unraveled her limbs from around him and he set her gently back on the floor.

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but Sophia rushed to interject. "Can I go first?"

He closed his mouth and nodded. Sophia was usually so good at knowing what he was thinking, but now, he kept his expression carefully guarded.

"I'm sorry." Even with her first two words, her speech started to spill out of her mouth at lightning speed. "I shouldn't have reacted like that, and I should have told you that I was nervous about how fast you were pushing yourself earlier but all I could think about was how important your job was to you and how I didn't want to seem unsupportive so I didn't say anything but all that did was make everything bubble up and explode when you said you were going back to work yesterday morning." Sophia took in a gasp of air as she forced herself to slow down. "You've opened up to me about how this has happened in your past relationships and I shouldn't have don't that, Dean, I shouldn't have—"

"Hey." He cut her off, gently. "Maybe not, but I shouldn't have sprung on you like that," Dean said ruefully, rubbing the back of his neck. "And yeah, I guess the entire time since the accident I've been worrying that you would try and push me to take a desk job or even leave the department, hell, even worrying that you might decide that it was all too much and leave, and leave me." He stuttered over the last few words, and Sophia suddenly wanted to cry.

"So even though I knew that this whole ordeal would have taken an emotional toll on you, I ignored it and just kept pushing myself, hoping that if I showed you that I could get better quickly that maybe you wouldn't think that the injury was as bad as it seemed, as bad as it was. And I know, I know, that's incredibly stupid given that you're a nurse and probably know better than I do just how bad it was. And this morning?" Now, Dean was the one who sounded like he was about to cry. "I'm so, so sorry, Sophia. I shouldn't have said those things to you, shouldn't have been treating you like you had done some of the stuff that people I've dated in the past have done. And I sure as hell shouldn't have made you think I didn't care if you were here when I got home or not. I wanted to turn around and take it back the minute I left your apartment, but I didn't know if that would have made it worse. It's honestly what bothered me the most for my entire shift."

"Dean, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay."

"Fine, then I forgive you," Sophia told him stoutly. "For all of it. And there's nothing you can do about it."

Dean gave her a watery look. "Then I forgive you, too."

They stood there, staring at each other, letting the smell of banana pancakes waft over them.

"So, we're okay?" Dean asked cautiously.

"I really, really want to be okay," Sophia said. "So if you think we're okay, then I think we're okay."

"Thank God," Dean said. "I literally never want to fight with you ever again."

Sophia cracked a smile and pulled him in for another hug. "That might be asking a little much," she mumbled into his shoulder. "But this has been the absolute worst."

"The worst." Dean paused. "Do I smell pancakes?"

Sophia pulled away. "Do I see a Frappuccino?"

"The biggest one they had," Dean said, grabbing it and handing it to her. "I figured it wouldn't make up for everything, but..."

"It's a start," Sophia finished. She went around to the oven and pulled out the pan of pancakes that were sitting inside, still warm.

"God, I love you."

The relief those words brought Sophia was like the weight of the sky being taken off of her shoulders. "I love you."

They dug into their pancakes and Starbucks, and it was only then that Sophia dared to ask the question. "So, how was it being back?"

Dean let out a short bark of laughter. "Would have been great, but I was too busy freaking out."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be. We're past that. They threw a small party for me, although I missed most of it, too busy brooding. But Scott shared your worries about me coming back so soon, so I kept to light tasks. But I don't think anyone really wanted me watching their back, given the mood I was in."

"I'm guessing Alicia pulled what happened out of you?"

"And she basically told me that we're both idiots and that neither of us was wrong and that I should just go home after my shift, apologize, and everything would be fine."

Sophia smiled. "Funny, May and Matteo basically told me the same thing."

"And they were right."

"And they were right."

They ate in silence, Sophia getting through almost an entire pancake before Dean spoke again.
"But she also reminded me of something," he said. "The fact that I've never been on your side of things."

"What do you mean?"

"In the hospital. I've never had to sit next to someone I loved, like really loved, praying that they would pull through. And I don't know, when she said that, I pictured you lying in that hospital bed. And honestly, Soph, I don't know how you did it. I think I would lose it."

"It's rough," Sophia admitted. Not only Dean but also her dad flashed into her mind. "And the only reason you can keep it together is because you have to. But you shouldn't feel bad just because you've never been in that situation. That's a good thing, Dean."

"I know." He put his arm around her, pulling her into his side and planting a kiss on her temple. "But it must have been really hard for you. And I hate that."

"In the effort of being completely open and honest," Sophia said, letting out a sigh. "I had a couple of bad thoughts."

Dean's armed stiffened slightly, but then he relaxed. "That doesn't really surprise me," he admitted, "but I still hate that it happened. Are you okay?"

Sophia nodded. "We're stronger than that," she said. "So yeah. Even though it might not have really felt like it, deep down I knew I still had you."

Dean shifted around and held both of her hands in his. "You'll always have me," he promised.

Sophia stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his, and a second later he lifted her up, setting her down on the counter, his hands snaking around her waist to pull her against him. She wrapped her legs around him and gripped his shoulders. After being tense and stressed for a full day, getting to kiss him now felt like paradise.

"You know," Sophia breathed, her lips a fraction of an inch from Dean's, "I think they say that the best part about getting into an argument is the makeup sex."

Dean groaned and then had her in his arms, carrying her to his bedroom. "You have to be careful what you say," he growled.

Sophia laughed as he dropped her onto the bed, and she barely had time to take in a breath before his body weight pressed down on top of her. His arm wrapped around her, lifting her up so she was against him.

"And to think, I thought I'd be exhausted when I got home," Dean breathed, his eyes dark and traveling from Sophia's face to the neckline of her tank top.

Sophia gave him an amused look. "Part of you seems pretty awake," she said, feeling her own arousal as Dean's pressed into her. "A big part."

Dean chuckled, the sound low and with a hint of warning. "With talk like that, I think you're wearing too much clothing."

"Then fix it."

Her challenge didn't go unmatched, and in a blink of an eye her top and shorts were gone; another blink, Dean's disappeared as well. Desperate for him, Sophia grinded into him.

"Oh, baby." Dean's head lowered to her neck, kissing and sucking as she increased the friction between them. "I think we can do better than that."