"Where the hell is he?" Melody hissed, busting through the doors. It was really shaping up to be one hell of a day.

The right hand of Plutus extended an invitation to Kevin to headline at his auction, where one of the most sought after items were being sold: The Word of God. Coincidentally, the same Word that Kevin swore was safe—until it got stolen by some junkie and pawned off by yet another junkie.

Of course, they went, prepared to bid whatever it took to get the tablet. Only to discover that their familiar currency was not what the God Plutus was after. Once they discovered Kevin was also up for bid with the tablet, Kevin's mother offered her own soul as a trade. This was an offer the God could not refuse.

According to the note he left while 'saying goodbye' to his mother in Dean's five minute allotted time slot, Kevin and his mother darted, and they shouldn't come looking for them, as since there was no tablet, they had no use for him.

"Crowley's still after him, what was he thinking?" Sam asked, furious as well.

Dean looked down at the note, shaking his head. "He's thinking that anyone I don't need anymore, ends up dead." His gaze seemed distant—like he was there, but not.

Melody looked up at him with a twinge of sympathy. It was a switch up from the cold shoulder she'd been giving him for the past three days.

"Come on, that's not true," Sam shook his head.

Dean cleared his throat, nodding. "Yeah, right," he responded half-heartedly. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"That's twice now, that he's burned us," Dean sighed, looking around the motel room that Kevin's fake credit ID claimed he'd paid for today. "Shame on you." He turned to face his brother.

"No, no, no," Sam objected. "I was the one that said he set us up."

Melody interjected. "I believe you said, 'I wonder if Kevin is setting us up.' Then you started in with the techno card babble. That was like, two states ago."

"She's right," Dean agreed.

"Shut up," Blair and Melody chorused, for different reasons.

Sam sat on one of the beds, shaking his head. "Either way," he sighed. "He's not here. Maybe if you hadn't tried to kill his mother."

Dean twisted a cap on the beer, groaning. He'd heard this lecture half a dozen times in that day alone. "It was Crowley. In a meat suit. No different than any other we've ganked."

"Apparently to Kevin, there's a difference," Blair shrugged. "I couldn't imagine why. Oh yeah, maybe because it's his mother."

Dean's phone started to ring from his pocket, causing Melody to tense up. "Hold that thought," he said. "You know what, actually, don't hold that thought. Hello?" He answered the phone. "Hold on, there's not enough bars."

Melody's eyes raked after him, as he walked outside. Instantly, she pulled her own phone out to find that he was completely full of shit. Five bars inside the room. He was keeping something from her—something from all of them. The thought alone was enough to make her blood boil.

"What the hell do you mean, you have to go," Melody didn't bother keeping her voice low. "Go where? And why?"

Dean was shoving things in the trunk of the Impala, contemplating what the hell to say next. He discovered recently that there had never been anything in his life he hated more than lying to Melody. "Do you trust me?" He turned on his heels to face her.

Melody was furious. All of the secret phone calls, keeping her in the dark, and now this? It was all too much too fast. "Usually, Dean, that answer would be wholeheartedly, undoubtedly yes." Her voice cracked, further signifying the hurt she was feeling. "But as of the past few days...I don't know if I do."

Her words stung Dean. After all they'd been through, it seemed like this could be the straw that broke the camel's back. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Dean, if you leave without so much as an explanation," she inhaled a sharp breath, unsure of where she was going with that sentence—nowhere good, that was for certain. "This is done. We're done." She may have been bluffing—neither of them were really sure at that point.

Dean narrowed his eyes at her. "You're serious." It wasn't a question, more of a verification.

"As a heart attack."

"You all but take the last six months off, to live your life," he scoffed, looking at the ground. "And when I need one night, you leave me with an ultimatum like that? No."

"No?"

"No." He nodded, leaning against the Impala.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

Dean shrugged, glancing at his watch. "We're not over," he scoffed. "I've got some stuff going on right now that you just won't understand."

"Because you won't tell me, so I can understand!"

Dean exhaled a heavy breath, stepping towards Melody. "Can you just trust me?" He grabbed her hands, and despite every instinct telling her to pull away, she stayed put.

The brunette bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at the ground. "Whatever," she muttered, not looking up at him. "I hope she's pretty." She teased, lightly.

"He's so not my type." Dean grinned, pressing his lips her forehead for a moment. "Are you jealous, Melody Rose?"

"Get in the Impala before I shove my foot—,"

"I'm goin', I'm goin'," he chuckled moving towards the driver's door. "Hey, Mel?" She looked up at him, standing still. "I love you."

"I love you too," she sighed. "Don't go and get yourself killed, okay?"

Melody watched as he ducked into the driver's seat of the Impala. Every part of her screamed that this was a horrible idea, letting him go off like that alone, but she also knew that Dean was so headstrong, that she didn't have much of a say. With pursed lips, she watched after the black car that threw up dust in the parking lot as it sped away.

Blair and Sam were sitting at his computer, halfway expecting Dean to walk back in with her, but not entirely shocked when he didn't. "Did he at least say where he was going?"

"Nope." She walked over to her phone that she'd set on one of the nightstands, to find she had two missed calls from Greg. She stuffed her phone into her jeans. "I've got to go talk to Greg, and get a few more things from my place. You two good here waiting for Dean to get back from his spa getaway?"

Blair got to her feet and walked towards her friend, lips pressed firmly into a frown. "I'll go with you," she declared. "Sam and I have talked about it already. Since we have no clue how long this is going to take, I've got to tie up some loose ends at work, and get some stuff from our place." She threw her still packed bag over her shoulder, and gave Sam a quick peck on his lips.

There was defiance in his gaze, but he knew better than to argue with them. Either of them individually posed quite the fight, but together they were unstoppable. "Call me when you get there," he sighed after a moment. "I'll let you know if I hear anything from Dean."

Stealing cars had become second nature to any of them by this point. Blair had decided once they broke into the beat up old Nissan, that they'd be bringing Sam's truck back from Texas—Melody didn't object.

"So what are you going to tell Greg?" Blair peered from the passenger seat. Her feet were propped on he dash—an action that would get her scolded by either Winchester.

Melody shrugged, biting the inside of her cheek. It wasn't as if she hadn't given it any thought. Hurting Greg was the last thing she'd ever intended on doing. Yet, here she'd been, holed up with Dean, while Greg was totally clueless. "I'll probably preface with the fact that I'm a horrible person."

"You're so far from a horrible person," Blair scoffed, scrolling on her phone. "You had no way of knowing Dean was coming back. None of us did."

The brunette stayed quiet, keeping her blue eyes fixated on the road ahead of them. It was a long and slightly inconvenient drive back to their home, but still not as long as the one-shot trip she'd made to Montana when Dean had sent her his ominous text.

She dropped Blair off at the apartment building they'd shared. It was crazy how they'd all lived so close, but still hardly ran into each other.

Greg had a house just outside of the main part of town. He enjoyed the seclusion it gave him—not that much ever went on in the town as it was. When the brick home came into view, the pit in her stomach grew three sizes. Saying goodbye to Greg was also saying goodbye to any kind of normal life she could have.

Toby, Greg's Golden Retriever was the first to greet Melody when she walked through the door. She'd shot Greg a text, letting him know to expect her. "Hey, boy," she beamed, scratching the dog behind his right ear. There was a pang in her heart, knowing this would be the last time she'd have this normal of an interaction.

"There's my girl," Greg rounded the corner. He seemed troubled, but he was clearly doing his best not to let on to his concern. "I've really missed you. I'm so glad you're home." His face fell slightly, when he read her expression. "You're not staying."

Melody struggled to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. She was quite surprised that she was able to fend off the burning in her eyes. Slowly, her head shook. "That's what I need to talk to you about."

Greg's jaw clenched and his expression grew hard, as she confirmed his fear. "Right," he acknowledged. "Well, we might as well have a drink, hm?" He led her into the kitchen, not bothering to turn to make sure she was following. He pulled each of them a beer from the fridge—popping the cap off of both.

Smiling a silent thanks, she took a swig of the beer. The same kind she'd been accustomed to, as he'd started buying the kind of beer she liked, always keeping it around. He'd discreetly done a few things like that—buying things to make her more comfortable there. Not that she'd ever spent the night, but they were certainly moving into that type of territory.

She drew a corner of her lip in between her teeth, as she picked at the corner of the label on the beer that had started to peel away. "I can't be with you, Greg," her eyes flicked up for just long enough to see the hurt on his face. "It's nothing you did. I just...I fell in love years ago...and I never stopped. I had no intentions of walking away, but while I was gone this past week and a half...something happened, and I realized I was only going to hurt you. You deserve the world, Greg Westerson, you really and truly saved me from one of the darkest times of my life, and I hope that you know you can still call me if you ever need anything."

The silence was deafening between the pair. Awkward, of course, but painful most of all. Greg didn't deserve to be hurt in the way that was inevitable when being involved with a hunter. "Melody, I wish you all the best in the world," he murmured, finally breaking the tension. "I can say the same for you. Never hesitate to call me. If that jackass hurts you—whoever he is—I'll set him straight." He put a fist up, signifying his point. Melody chuckled, relieved that the moment was dead and gone, but the disappointment on Greg's face was one she couldn't miss, causing her heart to hurt a bit more when he hugged her. "Goodbye, Melody."

"Bye, Greg."

Back at her apartment, Melody was quickly shoving things into suitcases. She still didn't own much, but it would be better than wearing her same handful of outfits repeatedly. Of course, she had to take a shower to fully embrace the water pressure that she'd started taking for granted.

Melody grabbed her suitcase and her 'beauty bag' as she called it, and wheeled them down the stairs to where Blair was likely still packing things away. When she walked in, clothes were splayed all over the living room with Blair in the center of it all looking frantic. "Sam told me I could only bring one bag for each of us," she explained. "I don't know what to not bring. Everything is so new. I don't know how to pick favorites."

"It's not like you're saying goodbye to all of them forever," Melody giggled at her friend's dilemma. "You and Sam will be back in a few months, right?"

Blair hesitated, before shrugging her shoulders. "I've got a feeling we'll be right with you two," she admitted. "Not that it's a bad thing, of course, but maybe it's better than I can't have kids, y'know? Sam won't ever let his brother be off hunting without him—not again, anyway."

Melody sat on the floor next to Blair. "I'm sorry, B," she murmured, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder. "I know having a family is important to you."

"I have a family," she grinned, folding the shirt she was holding on her hands. "You, Sam, and Dean are my family."

"You big sap, I'm gonna cry," Melody teased her, helping her fold up the mess she'd made. "Hey, have you heard anything from Sam?" She checked her phone to see if Dean had at least sent a text her way, but he still hadn't.

Blair picked her phone up off of the ground, and shook her head. "Nada."

Just because curiosity got the best of her, as it usually did, she dialed Dean's number to call it. The line rang a few times before he answered it. "Hey, sweetheart." He was out of breath, and the pet name made her more suspicious. He called her sweetheart on one of two occasions—he was being sickeningly sweet, which was the case lately, or he was doing something she'd likely be mad about. Melody had a feeling by the time in his voice that it was the latter.

"What are you doing." It wasn't even so much a question, as an accusation.

The line was quiet for a moment. "I, uh, I just got through killing a nest of vamps," he told her. "Sammy's here."

Melody put her phone on speaker, furrowing her eyebrows at Dean's words. "Sam is there?"

"Yeah, say hi, Sam."

"Hi." It was Sam, for certain.

Blair looked just as confused as Melody. "Um, what the hell? What happened to letting us know if you heard from Dean?"

Silence again, probably because Sam wasn't prepared to face both of the girls' wrath. "I, um—,"

"We're about to leave your apartment, Sam, I'd think it best if you sent us a halfway spot to meet as soon as possible," Melody told him, hanging up the call. "The audacity."

"We'll just have to get a girls night away, since they got one," Blair decided with a cheeky grin. Of course, they were both quite curious as to what the brothers were up to, and why Dean went off on his own to fight a nest of vampires, and how Sam managed to get roped into it, but this only made them move faster with the folding and packing.

Sam sent them a city in Missouri, Hughesville, for them to meet up at. Sam claimed it'd be about a twelve hour drive both ways.

Blair had to make a drive by the hospital on the way out of town, telling them that she had a family emergency, and she had no idea when or if she'd be back. It was hard for her, and Melody knew that. She was working her dream job, but she kept telling herself that she was saving a lot more people by hunting, than she was working there. It was technically true, but it still hurt all the same.

All of them were running on little to no sleep, but they were determined not to stray from each other for any longer than necessary.

"How could you be so stupid!" Melody was honestly enraged when she saw Dean for the first time in a day and a half. "You could've gotten yourself killed again! I thought you were over the superhero complex, but going off and fighting a slew of vampires on your own clearly proves me wrong."

"I wasn't alone," he defended, her brow hardening with his tone. "When I realized I was in over my head, I called Sam. Besides, you didn't tell me you were going back to Texas for the day, so what difference does it make? I went to do our job, and you go visit your other boyfriend."

"I went to end things with Greg," Melody retorted. "When are you going to stop holding the fact that I was trying to move on, against me?"

Dean ran a hand through his short hair, sighing exasperatedly. "I guess as soon as you stop holding it against me."

Melody opened her mouth to speak again, but quickly clamped it shut. They had been fighting so much more than usual since he'd been back. Though, she didn't realize that she was just as angry that she even had to move on from Dean as he was, because she knew it was a bad idea from the jump.

She was quite envious of the peace she was certain that was in the other couple's room. Likely just happy to be in the same bed.

"We've got to get this figured out," he mumbled, still not looking at her. "I can't keep walking around on eggshells, wondering what you're going to blow up about next."

Melody narrowed her eyes at him, rising to her feet from where she'd been on the edge of the bed. "Walking around on eggshells. You, walking around on eggshells," she was laughing in a way that was terrifying to Dean. "Someone drops a pen and you're turning around with a knife at their throat. I know you went through unmentionable shit, Dean, and I'm sorry that none of us understand what it was like. But you can't just leave for a day without any kind of explanation, and dive headfirst into a pile of monsters."

"I know." Dean's words caught Melody off guard. She was anticipating more of a fight. "I'm still adapting to not being surrounded by things that want me dead, constantly, and I'm sorry you're catching the brunt of that." He walked towards her, grabbing her hands. "We're gonna get through this. All of it."