CHAPTER TWO

Dean's watching the pretty, young brunette up by the bar. She's flirting with the bartender, smiling and laughing at all of his jokes. The poor guy obviously thinks that he has a chance with her, but Dean knows that it'll never happen.

It's been about a month since they left Virginia, and Nyx has been in a better mood lately. He thinks so, anyway. She's at least been better at hiding her bad mood. Either way, he's glad to see her smile. Not that he'll be admitting that...ever.

Finally, the bartender gives her the two beers that she ordered, completely forgetting that he never asked for an ID. "Thank you." Nyx smiles at the young guy and then walks away from him, taking the drinks back over to where Dean's sitting.

"I could've gotten those, you know?" He asks, his green eyes still watching her​ as she takes her seat across from him, and she nods.

"Yes, but that is not nearly as fun for me."

He shakes his head, a small smile on his face as she sets one of the bottles in front of him. "It's not fair, you know that?" He says, and her eyebrows furrow as she looks at him questioningly.

"What's not fair?" The brunette asks.

"That thing you do. You smile and tilt your head just a little, then you brush your hair behind your ear, and these bartenders are so distracted by the fact that you're hot, that they don't care that you never showed them an ID." He tells her, and a smile spreads across her face.

"You wanna know what I just heard?" She asks,​ and he just looks at her as he waits for her to continue. "You think that I'm hot." She says,​ and he sighs.

"Yeah, of course that's all you heard."

"And now he's not denying it."

"Why deny it? You know it's true." He shrugs, a small smile making its way onto his face again.

"Aw, Dean. You sure know how to make a girl blush." She says​, half sarcastic.

"Shut up and eat your food." He points at the plate in front of her, and she chuckles. Truth be told, he does think that she's hot, and he doesn't care if she knows.

"So, when was the last time you heard from John?" The brunette asks​ him after she's about halfway through with her burger.

"Couple weeks​. Not since I got that voicemail I showed you." He tells her, lifting the beer bottle back to his lips.

"And the E.V.P.?"

"Just that woman's voice."

Nyx nods as she takes​ a drink of her beer. "So, we're headed to California from here?" She asks, and he nods as he pops another fry into his mouth.

"Yeah. Palo Alto." He says, and her eyebrows furrow as she looks over at him again.

"Wait, I thought John's last case was over in...Jericho. What are we going to Palo Alto for?" She questions.

"Sam."

"Your brother?" She's more than a little confused to hear that. Aside from I've got a younger brother named Sam, he's never said a word about him. She got the impression that it was a sore subject and simply never pushed it.

"Do you know any other Sams?" Dean asks, his mood souring.

"I don't even know this one, you ass."

"Yes, we're going to see my brother." He says, glancing at her.

"What for?"

"Because our dad's missing." He's getting annoyed with her.

"Touchy." The teenager mumbles and then pushes her chair back as she gets up from her seat.

"Where are you going now?" Dean asks as he looks up at her.

"To find someone in a better mood than you, duh." Nyx finishes her beer and then walks away from him. He sighs, knowing that he shouldn't have been so short with her.

The young brunette makes her way​ over to the pool table, and a guy offers to let her join his game. She smiles​ as she nods, accepting his offer,​ and his friend leaves, seemingly annoyed by the interruption. Back at their table, Dean grabs his beer and takes a swig as he watches her flirt with the guy across the room.

"I'll rack 'em up." The guy with Nyx says, and Dean looks away from her as the two start a new game.

Nyx played plenty of pool at Mystic Grill back home, but she wasn't​ exactly the best. Dean's been teaching her more since they've been on the road, and she's gotten a little better, but she still loses the first game that she plays with this guy. He sets it up for a second, and she leans over the table to break, starting the game.

The brunette's able to sink a solid and then another, but then it's his turn. He makes a ball of his own, and then Nyx goes again. This time, when she leans​ over the table to line up her next shot, he walks up behind her. His close proximity makes her uncomfortable.

"I can show you how to do it better." He says, and she stands up straight and turns to look at him. "Help you fix your form."

"I think I've got it covered." She tells​ him, slight irritation in her voice, and he holds his hands up as he backs off.

Nyx quickly glances back in Dean's direction and sees him flirting with a girl at their table. She focuses​ her attention back on the game and hits​ the cue ball. It hits one of the solids, but stops just shy of going into the hole. She sighs as she stands up straight, and the guy that she's playing makes two of his balls into two different pockets.

The teenager tries again, and he walks over and rests his hand on her lower back. "I really think I could help you out, sweetheart." He says just as Dean looks over at her and sees what's going on.

"Excuse me." Dean quickly gets to his feet, and the girl that he was with stops talking as she stares after him, confused.

"And I really think that you need to stop touching me." Nyx tells​ the guy, now standing up straight as she looks at him. His smile falls when he sees something over her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Nyx?" Dean asks as he hooks his fingers in the belt loops of her jeans and pulls her back against him.

"Yeah." The brunette nods, feeling comfort in the warmth coming from the man who's been there to help her every time she's needed it since the day he met her. "Except that someone's getting a little handsy." She tells​ him, though she knows he's already well aware of that fact.

"Are we gonna have a problem here, buddy?" He asks the guy in front of them. "Or are you gonna walk away from my girl now?"

He leans the pool stick against the table and walks away from them. Nyx smiles​ as Dean lets go of her, and then she turns​ to face him. She holds​ her pool stick out toward him as he looks down at her.

"Wanna play?" She asks, and he chuckles as he then takes the stick from her. She quickly grabs the one that the other guy discarded, and Dean sets the table up to start a new game.

—

"Are you alright?" An attractive man asks as he walks over to where Nyx is leaning against the wall outside the bar that she and Dean were just in.

"I've been better." The brunette tells​ him honestly.

"You're not out here alone, are you?" He asks as he starts looking around, trying to find who she might be out with tonight, and she shakes her head.

"My friend's just getting the car." She says​ as she looks​ up at him. "You're not gonna harass me like that guy a couple of hours ago, are you?"

"I assure you, that's not my intention." He says and then he offers her a smile. It's a kind, attractive smile; not at all creepy like the other guy's was. "I'm Marcel."

"I like your smile, Marcel." The teenager tells​ him. "It seems very genuine, that's such a rare thing these days."

"Is that so?" He asks, and she nods​.

"Seems that way... I'm Nycole, by the way." She says​ as she holds​ her hand out to shake his.

Dean sees the two of them talking as he makes his way back over to Nyx, and he's a bit surprised to see her talking to yet another stranger, especially after what happened inside. She usually avoids people that she doesn't know, men mostly. She doesn't seem to have much trouble with talking to women that she doesn't know.

He was surprised when she left him inside the bar, but he suspects that it was only because she's been drinking — which is actually another thing she doesn't do in excess. One beer, sure; but now she's drunk. Flirting with bartenders is one thing, but she's been acting strange tonight.

And he knows that she hates being around men that she's not familiar with, so it's odd to see her talking so freely with this guy. Truthfully, Dean's pretty positive that she only stayed with him the night that they met because going to a stranger's motel room was slightly less scary than being alone after she was attacked by something that she didn't even know existed. And, of course, going with Dean felt safer as he's the one who saved her that night.

"Hey, you're not finding more trouble, are you?" Dean asks as he makes it over to them.

"No, Marcel seems nice. That other guy was a tool." The brunette tells​ him, her nose scrunching in disgust.

"You must be the friend she was waiting for." Marcel says as he turns to face the newcomer.

"This is Dean." Nyx introduces them, and the two men shake hands​.

"Alright, I gotta get her out of here. I didn't want to leave her, but she's having a hard time walking straight and she's too much of a pain in my ass to let me carry her to the car." Dean tells this new guy.

"You're a pain in the ass." The brunette retorts pathetically.

"She's feisty when she's drunk." Marcel says, a light chuckle at the end.

"She's feisty when she's sober, she's mean when she's drunk." Dean corrects, and they both laugh when she glares up at him.

"Shut up, jackass." The teenager grumbles as she pushes​ him away from her.

"See what I mean?" He chuckles as he reaches out to grab her arm before she can stumble off the sidewalk. "Come on, we gotta go. Thanks for looking after her for a couple minutes."

"Yeah, no problem." Marcel nods. "It was very nice to meet you, Nycole. Dean."

"Don't change your smile." She tells​ him, and he chuckles.

"You got it." He says, and Dean helps her to the Impala.

The green-eyed hunter wraps his arm around her shoulders, and she leans into his side as they walk. One of her hands clutches his black utility jacket to help her feel more stable. He then opens the passenger side door, and she climbs into the front seat of the car. Once she's in, he makes his way over to the driver's side.

"He was nice." Nyx says as Dean twists the key in the ignition. "I like New Orleans."

"So you've said." He nods. "Like a thousand times."

"Can we come back for Mardi Gras?"

"Maybe."

The brunette slides​ across the front seat so that she's closer to him, and then she leans against his shoulder. "Why do you have to be so mean and so warm at the same time?" She asks​, her voice low as her eyes start to slip shut.

"Are you cold?" Dean asks as he glances down at her.

"I'm always cold." She tells​ him, and he turns up the heater before wrapping his arm around the brunette. She nestles into his side and falls​ asleep quickly.

A smile pulls at the corners of Dean's lips as he looks down at the sleeping brunette one more time before returning his attention to the road ahead of them. The two have a rather long drive to Palo Alto, and he doesn't mind having her cuddled into him for any of it.