𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟜

‿̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿

𝕞𝕒𝕔𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕪

Blood pumped in Laurel's ears, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Her body was glued to her seat yet she kept flexing her feet almost as if she was preparing to runaway, hoping for the flight to kick in. However Laurel forgot a very important third component of fight or flight; freeze.

She picked at the skin of her fingers as she desperately looked between the two brothers. This had to be some sick and twisted joke. Sam was playing a mean prank on her that's what it was. He thought she was crazy and did this elaborate prank to get back at her. There was no way demons could be real. Ghosts... sure Laurel couldn't deny that (she tried for her entire life) she heard and saw them every day. But she stopped talking to the dead a very long time ago. Laurel heard the voices all day every day, every waking minute. Their whispers jumbled together desperately reaching out but Laurel learned to ignore them, her only remnants of their voices was a pounding headache. Maybe somewhere between the jumbled words there were mentions of demons but they fell on deaf ears.

She looked into Sam's eyes. Her mother always told her if someone was lying look into their eyes, they're the windows to the soul for a reason. His hazel eyes stared right back with a desperate intensity. He was breathing heavily from his outburst with Dean and clutching the arm wrests of the dingy hospital chair. His gut was still churning with guilt and anxiety.

Sam felt guilty for trying to use Laurel's kindness and honesty without giving her the same courtesy. She came to the Winchester's unveiled a huge secret, one that he knew would ruin her life if she told anyone else, and she genuinely wanted to help them despite knowing nothing about them. He had seen her playing with her fingers, picking at them, shuffling awkwardly. Clearly this was still scary for her. God the least he could do for her was be honest, but he wished he was the one to break the news.

Sam had no clue what exactly Dean had said but based on the chill in his spine he knew it wasn't the kindest thing. In typical Dean fashion he had an outburst and didn't think at all about what he said and how he said it. Now this sweet stranger had to deal with Dean's harsh words.

Despite Sam's internal battle not once did he look away from her eyes. He stared, she stared right back. Hazel eyes looking at brown. Laurel wasn't sure to feel scared or relieved because she knew Sam Winchester wasn't lying. There's more than ghosts, demons are real, and based on what Dean said the Winchesters were intertwined with them.

She heaved a shaky sigh and her hands went up to cover her face, trying to give herself privacy, a moment to breathe. She could hear Dean breathing heavily, clearly exhausted from his outbreak. Laurel didn't want to look him in the eye honestly she was scared to.

Dean's shoulders were shaking and his fists were clenched. He was biting his lip to the point where it would bleed (if he was alive that is). Fuck. This is the last thing he wanted to happen. As much as he appreciated Laurel's help, hell this chick didn't know them and had already helped so much, but he couldn't tell her. The Winchesters were sitting ducks right now and they didnt have the luxury of honesty. Dean stared intensely at Sam, fire burning in his green eyes. Sam just kept staring at Laurel earnestly, ignoring the tense energy radiating to the right of him.

Laurel chewed on her lip and ripped the skin around her fingers, there was some blood. From her lip or her fingers she didn't fully know and didn't care. Demons were real and probably every other scary thing she heard of... and she wasn't crazy.

She felt a strange sense of relief flood through her and a chuckle escaped from her lips. She wasn't crazy. Dean couldn't help but whip around to face Laurel after hearing her chuckle. He was half expecting her to have yellow eyes and a weapon, but it was still just regular Laurel. Sam couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow and anxiously run his hands through his hair.

I probably gave her a psychotic breakdown he thought to himself.

Laurel looked back at the both of them and gave a meek smile.

"So.. there's a demon after you." she said slowly, the words feeling foreign on her tongue.

"Yes." Sam said carefully. There was a beat of silence. And like a kid who felt caught in a lie and didn't want to be punished by their parents, Sam started to spill.

"We've been tracking this demon for months. We were so close but he hit us with a truck and then-"

"Demons can drive?!" Laurel cried out.

"That's what you're focusing on." Dean snorted out. Laurel couldn't help but give him a sheepish look.

"Demon's can possess anyone... so yeah Laurel they can drive." Sam huffed slightly.

"God you sound like such a know it all." Dean shot back yet once again it fell on deaf ears.

Laurel was honestly glad Sam was a 'know it all' and was giving her a summarized version of what demons were. She didn't really want to know all of the specific details right now, it was too early in the day for that. Yet she appreciated his honesty.

Laurel's mind had been running a mile a minute earlier but it was finally starting to slow down. Adrenaline slowly seeping out of her body as exhaustion hit her. Her shoulders slumped a little as she calmed down. She pondered on what Dean had said earlier.

"Dean you said something earlier how there's something in this hospital that's like... your kind of weird." Laurel asked with slight trepidation as she used air quotes.

Dean looked at her before giving a curt nod. He was still clearly on edge.

"Is it a demon?" she asked, her voice cracking at the end.

Sam looked over at Dean's chair, bracing himself for his answer. If it was a demon they were so fucked. Honestly he wasn't in the mood to fight any monsters right now but he would take any of them over a demon.

"No." Dean gruffly responded "No it's not a demon, actually uh.. I think it might be some sort of ghost." he chuckled.

Laurel couldn't help but give a sigh of relief. God she had never been happier to hear that sentence in her entire life. Sam couldn't help but furrow his brow in concern, mistaking the relief for anxiety.

"What's wrong Laurel, what did he say?" he pressed urgently.

"That there's a ghost in the hospital." she replied matter of factly.

Laurel probably should've been slightly alarmed at how quickly she was adjusting all of this. Any normal person would probably freak out a little bit.

"You're taking this pretty well bambi." Dean chuckled and Laurel gave him a pout.

"Don't call me bambi please. And can we just focus on the ghost please that's what I'm here for.."

Sam gave a little chuckle "Do what the lady says Dean."

Dean looked at Sam and just gave a slight nod. He still felt hot from the residual anger of his outburst from earlier but he shrugged it off. There was so much shit the Winchesters had to sort through... and Dean really didn't want to die. He sniffed and cleared his throat before turning to Laurel.

"Alright Bambi-" he ignored the glare Laurel gave "Earlier I heard all of this beeping and shit from the machines and saw a bunch of doctors so I followed them. And when I got in there I saw this old lady in bed and all the doctors were trying to bring her heart rate back right? But above her I saw this creepy fucking thing."

Laurel quirked her eyebrow at him. "Thing." she pressed.

"Thing?" Sam asked.

"Yeah... thing. It was freaky looking I've never ever seen a ghost like that before."

Sam was staring intently at Laurel hoping she would fill him in on what was going on. He hated being in the dark, being left out of conversations happening right in front of him. He dealt with that enough with John around, and now that his dad was back Sam was scared that everything would revert back to how it used to be. He knew Laurel couldn't possibly know about that, but it seemed to be the natural order of things.

"He's saying that he's never seen a ghost like this before." Laurel whispered in his direction as she gave him a small reassuring smile, breaking him out of his self doubt. Sam gave a small nod and managed a weak smile back.

"Um.. can you describe it Dean?" Sam asked while pinching his brow.

"It had these like shredded robes and it was really old looking and had long hair." he replied in a rush and crazed hand movements.

"Um... okay?" Laurel said and Sam snorted. The confusion and concern plain as day on her face.

"Look have you seen anything like that around the hospital?" Dean huffed.

Laurel immediately shook her head "No not at all. The most I see are old people who died in hospice... I don't see anything out of Macbeth." she muttered the last bit.

Dean gave an annoyed sigh and Sam couldn't help but crack a smile at Laurel's comment. He hadn't heard someone compare ghosts or ghost hunting to Macbeth before. He supposed the comparison was pretty accurate.

"Well have you heard any voices?" Dean pressed desperately.

"I always hear voices." she stated while scrunching her nose and tilting her head, as it was the most obvious thing ever.

"No- I mean like have you heard anything creepy?" Dean huffed while flailing his arms around.

"Have you heard anything Macbethy?" Sam asked. Dean looked at him indignantly.

"Macbethy? Dude are you serious?"

Once again Dean's attitude fell deaf on Sam's ears. Instead Sam was focusing on Laurel and gave her a gentle smile. Even though she seemed to be taking everything pretty well, he didn't want to overwhelm her.

Laurel couldn't help but huff a laugh at Dean's reaction as well as the irony of how in sync the Winchester brothers were. She appreciated Sam's help. She felt a little sheepish about the Macbeth comment but Laurel knew Sam wasn't saying it in jest. She smiled a little appreciating him, and turned to look back at Dean. She started to pick at her fingers again, seems like she wasn't a big help after all.

"No... I'm really sorry Dean I haven't heard anything Macbethy." she said dejectedly. Sam snorted at her childlike disappointment but quickly straightened up when Laurel looked at him.

"It's not fucking funny Sam-"

"I hear voices all the time so it's hard to differentiate sometimes so maybe there's still hope!" Laurel interjected Dean. His constant attitude and angry outbursts were really starting to make her headache worse.

"Maybe uh.. you can show Laurel where you last saw the ghost? It could help, maybe you could hear their voice clearer?" Sam offered with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Laurel gave a small nod "I've never done it before but it could be worth a shot."

She looked hopefully between Sam and Dean. It was quite ironic really. For years she had ignored the voices, turned her face away from the dead and tried to completely close the door completely. The truth is she was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if she opened that door in her mind. Laurel always feared the worst. However after meeting the Winchesters maybe opening the door wouldn't be so bad. She had a hunger to help and right now it was insatiable.

"Okay yeah I'm kinda desperate here so lets-"

Dean stopped in the middle of his sentence before looking at Laurel desperately.

"Did you hear that?"

Laurel looked around in alarm, the tone in Dean's voice unsettling her.

"Hear what?"

Sam stood up looking at the empty chair next to him.

"What did you hear Dean? What's going on?"

"It's- it's the Macbeth thing!"

"I don't hear anything Dean." Laurel said carefully.

Dean looked around like a wild animal being cornered. He pointed to the doorway.

"It just walked by the fucking door! You're telling me you didn't hear or see or fucking feel that?!" he shouted and Laurel winced.

"No I didn't." she whispered to him.

Dean's jaw ticked as he looked desperately between Laurel and Sam. He couldn't stand the looks of concern and fear. Dean was a lot of things, but he wasn't fucking crazy.

"Screw this." he muttered to himself as he darted out of the room.

"Dean where are you going?!" Laurel cried out

"Dean!" Sam shouted.

The cries of the two living fell deaf on the ears of the dead. Dean kept going without looking back, determined to figure out what the hell was going on, determined to prove his point.

Silence filled the hospital room. Sam and Laurel stood rigid, replaying what just happened. The AC seemed to blow louder, the beep of the heart monitor was piercing, and the silence was deafening once again. Laurel fidgeted with her fingers, fully pulling off a hangnail from her index finger. She was swaying slightly as she though about everything that went wrong. She was doing so well.

Sam cleared his throat, dimming the background noise and bringing Laurel back down to earth. He looked at her, eyes wide and brows raised, confusion painted all over his face.

"What the hell just happened?"

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

It felt like hours had passed but in reality it was only 30 minutes. Sam and Laurel had stood in awkward silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to do. Sam had wanted to chase after Dean, but he couldn't exactly see him. Despite him wanting to check on his brother and figure out what was going on Sam knew the best thing was to sit tight. God where was John?

Sam had noticed Laurel's face had gotten paler and the skin of her lip was red from irritation. She was biting on it while standing in the center of her room, lost in thought. Laurel was rubbing at her temples as she moved to sit down again as she let out a dejected sigh.

"You okay?" Sam couldn't help but ask.

Laurel jerked a little in her seat (she had forgotten Sam was there) and mustered a small nod.

"Yeah I just get headaches sometimes. I've had one all day to be honest." she replied quietly with a slight shrug.

Sam's face fell a little, concern flooding through his features. He had been so caught up in talking to Dean and figuring out what the hell is going on he didn't really think about how this was affecting Laurel. Well... he did but he had assumed she was okay. He was distracted, not thinking clearly. Sam couldn't help but feel guilty as he looked at Laurel, he had an idea of the cause of the headache.

"Earlier... you said you hear voices all the time." he started gently while looking at Laurel. He awkwardly shuffled and let out a sigh "Is it the dead?"

Laurel's breath caught in her throat at the question. She had never shared her 'hearing the dead' secret before other than telling her brother; she was still getting used to being vulnerable with that. She chewed on her lip again part of her debating on telling him the truth. She mustered a nod.

"Yeah." Laurel replied with a whisper

"Is this what causes your headaches?" Sam asked with a tilted head.

Laurel gave another tired nod as she pushed her hair out of her face and wiped the sweat off her brow. The adrenaline was wearing off and she realized how tired she truly was. Sam was staring at her eyes wide and a hint of sadness, Laurel couldn't really figure out why. She shuffled uncomfortably under his earnest gaze.

"I'm used to it." she said while waving him off. "It's um.. just part of it I guess."

That did nothing to ease Sam's worry, his shoulders sagging more. If guilt wasn't eating him up earlier, it sure as hell was now. He took in her tired appearance and sat up straighter in his chair.

"Hey uhh is there a cafeteria around here?"

Laurel looked up at him with a raised brow. Shuffling in her seat again and playing with her fingers. She was taken aback by his tone change, but she was eager to answer his question.

"Yeah there's one on the third floor! It's kinda small other hospitals definitely have a bigger one with more options but it's not bad! I wish the coffee was better but-"

"Could you show me where it is?"

The beeping grew louder, the air conditioning blew stronger and Sam's question hung in the air. Now Sam was the one playing with his hands nervously. Laurel's small smile peeked through like the sun on a cloudy day.

"Yeah... yeah I'll show you." she said, her voice perking up.

Sam let a wide smile crack through on his face. Yeah... food sounded really good right now. Laurel hopped up out of her chair and quickly grabbed her purse that sat on the ground propped up against the chair. Sam puffed air out of his nose trying to curb his amusement at Laurel's burst of energy. Dean had been calling Laurel bambi, but Sam felt bunny was a more appropriate comparison seeing her sudden burst of energy. She turned to face him and gave him a bright smile.

"Let's go!"

He trailed after Laurel into the hallway as she lead the way. Their steps fell in sync with each other as they walked side by side. Pit pat pit pat pit pat. Their footsteps echoed in the fairly empty hallway silence settling between the both of them. Both their minds running a mile a minute. Laurel chewed on her lip wondering what there was to even say. So much had happened in the past hour, how could she have a normal conversation with him.

Sam was having very similar thoughts yet his main priority was Dean. Where did he go? Was he okay? What was going on with this ghost? How would they ever get him back? He needed to figure out a way to communicate with Dean without Laurel's help. He didn't know much about her, but he didn't want to drag her into this mess. Sam all of a sudden felt sheepish, he knew nothing about Laurel.

"So um what brings you here to the uh.. hospital." he said while clearing his throat awkwardly.

Laurel looked up at him before looking away. "I'm in medical school so I volunteer here."

Sam mentally kicked himself. Right, Laurel had mentioned that earlier (in his defense he was a little preoccupied). Before he could utter an apology she interrupted.

"But my brother's in the hospital because he broke his arm while skateboarding."

Sam whipped his head to Laurel, the speed almost cracking his neck. The bluntness and casualness of her statement had him stifling a laugh, but he was genuinely concerned. Her brother was in the hospital? And she was helping Dean?

"Oh my god is he okay?" concerning shining through in his voice

"Trust me he's fine." she said with a huff "He was playing on his DS when I came in."

Sam let out a loud laugh at that. It startled Laurel but she ended up chuckling alongside him. This entire afternoon had been so draining it was nice to laugh together about something so mundane. Sam's laugh quieted down but his shoulders still shook slightly.

"At least he's got a doctor sister." he said cheekily and Laurel groaned.

"Stop don't even say that. He calls me his nurse god he's so annoying. Besides I'm not even a doctor yet anyway." her frustration seeping through. It was nice to see a different emotion from Laurel other than nervousness.

"But you're gonna be a doctor someday right?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah I graduate medical school this year actually." she said with a hum and Sam whistled.

"That's awesome Laurel! What do you want to do?" he grinned. Sam couldn't help but be excited for Laurel and her future. He was excited about any future honestly. Sam knew his chance of being a lawyer was long long gone and his time at Stanford was a distant memory. There was no future for him so sue him for wanting to live through Laurel.

"I'm not really sure... there's so much I could do. But I think general surgery might be it for me."

"I'm sure you'll be great at it." Sam said with a grin as he nudged her shoulder slightly. Laurel giggled a little and just smiled back, flushing slightly at the praise.

"What about you? Is hunting like... your job?" Sam gave a little wince.

"Yeah basically." bitterness couldn't help but grate through and Laurel deflated a little.

"Sorry I know it's stupid but um.. is it bad?" she questioned as her head tilted to look up at him.

Sam looked at her and waited a beat before answering. He didn't want to overwhelm her with the nitty gritty details of the hunting life. Truthfully he wanted to shield her from it as much as possible. Sam himself knew that the hunting life lured people in and consumed them whole. He couldn't help but worry that someone innocent could get roped into this.

"It's not bad, but it's definitely hard." he settled on as he turned to face Laurel again. Her eyes were wide and facial expression had dropped slightly, sympathy written all over her face.

"But it's totally got a good side to it too." he rushed out in one breath in an effort to reassure her.

Laurel smiled at him as she slowed down her pace, they were at the cafeteria. Sam hadn't even noticed they were there already (he really needed to work on being more alert). Laurel turned towards Sam as she stood in the entrance to the cafeteria. She looked at him and he just stared right back. Awkward silence filled the empty space between them.

Sam's eyes widened a little bit realizing he never actually invited Laurel to eat with him. Laurel just stood there none the wiser.

"So uh... here's the cafeteria in all it's glory." she gestured awkwardly. There wasn't much glory to the cafe. It was fairly empty, the wall decor looked like something from the 90s, and some of the lights flickered. Yet Laurel still smiled.

"Could you show me what some of the best options are? No offense but a hospital isn't really known for delicious food." Sam chuckled as he grinned at her. Laurel's eyes widened.

"Oh! Yeah of course! Honestly it really does depend on who's working today. The meatloaf is kind of... suspicious but Carla makes a really good lasagna." Laurel rambled on as she guided him through the empty cafeteria.

Even as Sam looked at the buffet she was still rambling. Mentioning random coworkers names that really meant nothing to Sam, but he found it endearing. Laurel mentioned different dishes Carla had made and pointed at the containers in the buffet line. Sam met her statements with hums and mhms of affirmation to show he was listening.

"...the peas honestly are mushy but they're not the worst option. It looks like they have some pork today that's always a good bet-"

"What's your favorite thing to get from here." he interrupted.

Laurel paused, no one had really asked her that before. She hadn't really talked this much before usually she was always the listener. She paused a little humming in thought as she tapped her foot slightly.

"Usually I just get a chicken caesar salad." she said a little sheepishly. It's not that Laurel didn't like meat or anything... she just didn't really favor hospital meat.

Sam just nodded and motioned for her to continue talking as he grabbed two containers. One he filled with mashed potatoes, greens, and some of the pork Laurel had pointed out. The other he began to put salad in from the salad bar. Laurel paid it no mind as she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and moved toward the coffee machine. God she really needed a coffee after all of this. As she waited for the coffee machine Sam made his way over to her.

"You sure you should be drinking coffee right now with a headache?" he asked

"I'm definitely going to need a coffee when I go to check in on my brother again." Laurel said while grabbing a stirrer and Sam laughed.

"He sounds like a handful." he chuckled, mirth all over his face.

"He's a 16 year old high school skater boy... trust me he's a handful." Laurel snorted as she turned towards him "You're ready to check out?"

Sam gave a nod as they walked towards the register. Today Peter was working the register. He was pretty grumpy and Laurel couldn't help but feel anxious around him. Looking at his expression Peter clearly was not in a talkative mood today.

Sam didn't pay Peter any mind, quickly paying for his food with one of his many credit cards. He subtly turned the card away from Laurel so she wouldn't see the name William Limbly. He didn't need to add anymore stress to her. Laurel quickly paid for her coffee and banana and the two walked out of the cafeteria.

"Well um... I hope you like the food!" she said awkwardly wincing a little. Laurel never really knew how to carry a conversation. Sam just gave her a smile ignoring her awkwardness.

"Thanks."

Before Laurel could say anything else, Sam quickly handed her the clear food container filled with chicken caesar salad. She snapped her head up at him, mouth dropping as she stuttered.

"B-but um.. what?" is what Laurel settled on. She blinked owlishly at him as she tried to shove the container back.

"You should eat this it's healthy and uh you were in a car accident! And there's demons and ghosts you have to deal with! I totally don't need a chicken caesar salad right now."

Sam just chuckled and slowly pushed the container back to Laurel.

"I'm not the one who hears ghosts 24/7 and has an insane headache. You should eat it, it's my treat." He said gently. (Technically it was William Limbly's treat but she didn't need to know that).

Laurel stared up at Sam as she slowly pulled the container closer to herself. She looked into his eyes (remembering what her grandmother said) looking for a reason for him to be lying, for him to be faking. All she saw were earnest eyes staring right back. She conceded with a sigh and a guilty look.

"Okay fine. But I'm definitely going to get you back." Laurel 'threatened' while pointing at him and Sam just grinned.

"Looking forward to it."

Another beat of silence passed by. However this time it wasn't awkward nor uncomfortable. The two basking in each others presence enjoying the calm for a moment longer. Sam had to look away from Laurel's stare for a moment in order to pull himself back to earth. He had to focus on Dean right now.

"I should uh... probably get back to my brother right now." he said while clearing his throat.

"Okay." Laurel said while giving a small smile "Should I..."

"Oh um no it's good you should probably check on your brother."

Laurel deflated slightly in disappointment but still nodded. At least she got to help, that's all that mattered to her.

"Let me know if you need anything again." she pushed gently.

"Yeah... yeah I will." Sam mustered out.

Laurel gave him a little nod and smile as she stared at him for a moment longer. She then gave a small wave and walked away. Sam just stared as she walked on, breathing a sigh of relief as she disappeared down the hall. She was clean of this mess now. One less innocent life to worry about, one less innocent life to ruin. Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time and see if Bobby returned his call. He moved to walk down the opposite hallway.

Like two strings being pulled away they walked in opposite directions neither looking back. Both moving on to their own lives not even thinking of the string being connected again. However as fate looked down upon them and looked at their red strings she smiled. This was far from the last time.

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a/n hi everyoneee! sorry for the late chapter! i broke up with my ex and had a super crazy week so i've been a littleee preoccupied. but i'm here now! everything should be running on its normal schedule now! this chapter was longggg i'm trying to write longer chapters i want you guys to be well fed

how was it seeing sam and laurel interact more personally! trust me this is nottt the last you'll be seeing of them. i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! lmk what you liked :)