Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Eighty-One - Wreckage

Eden spent the next two weeks hauled up in the penthouse suite of the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. She'd done nothing but go on blood runs, then drink her weight in blood bags, curled up in a corner in the living area, darkened by drawn curtains - the epitome of wallowing in self-pity. Her phone had alerted her to texts several times, but it was on the upturned coffee table three feet in front of her and that was far more effort than she was willing to deal with. This was her fault. She knew that. But she had no idea how to fix it.
Eventually, she gave in and reached for her phone, squinting at the light when she unlocked it. She'd received four text messages and eight missed calls from Dean.
Impala 1: I'm willing to believe that there's more to this than what Lucifer said.
Text me back.
You'd better not be with him right now.
I'm getting worried.
Text me back.
Eden sighed.
Eden: I'm not with him.
Impala 1: Finally. I've been trying to get a hold of you all week. Where are you? I'll come to you and we can talk.
Eden: Not unless you fancy driving all the way to LA. I'll come to you, it'll be quicker anyway. Just let me know when you're alone.
Eden picked herself up from the floor and went to the bathroom, looking herself over in the mirror.
Her hair was a mess, her face was make-up free and streaked with red marks where she'd wiped a frustrated hand over her tears, her eyes still bloodshot and puffy. She was still wearing the black lace gown she'd been wearing when everything went down.
She was going to change - make herself look presentable and generally unphased by the whole thing, pretending to be the heartless Angel of Darkness the brothers now saw her as.
But another text from Dean broke her out of that.
Impala 1: Come now. I don't have long.
Eden sighed, taking one more look at herself before zapping out.
She appeared on a river bank. Turning around, she saw the magnificent Grand Rapids Public Museum.
"Eden." Dean called, walking over to her. "Man, you look like crap."
"Thanks. What are you doing in Michigan?" She mumbled.
"Got a case. Apparently it was one Bobby and Rufus got to first back in the day." Dean replied, motioning for her to take a seat on a nearby bench that overlooked the river. "So... You gunna tell me why you were cosying up with Lucifer for a whole month?"
Eden sighed.
"This is going to sound like an excuse, but I swear it's the reason." She said. "I was hyped up on Dark Angel energy. I felt myself again for the first time in two and a half centuries. I suppose seeing Lucifer out of the Cage reminded me of 'the good old days' or whatever you want to call it. The last couple of weeks, however, I sort of snapped out of it. Lucifer was getting on my nerves. That was the first time I went to check on you, when I helped you with the Banshee. That first visit, I was planning on making amends, but then Sam broke up with me and... I regressed a bit, I suppose. Then you texted and Sam and I got back on the right track and I was going to tell you about Lucifer, I swear. But he threatened Cas' life and I couldn't be responsible for you losing two friends in one go."
"Okay..." Dean breathed. "What about all that stuff he said you guys did? Did you cheat on Sam?"
Fresh tears slipped down Eden's cheeks as she looked down at her hands in her lap.
"Everything he said was true-"
"Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me..." Dean huffed, shaking his head.
"No, wait. Let me explain." Eden pleaded. "He deliberately didn't give any context. When he said bed sharing, it was more him sitting next to me whining about being bored whilst I was trying to sleep. The 'stolen little kisses?' Exactly that. He kissed me, never the other way round, never with my permission and never on my mouth. The blood roses he got me for Valentine's Day but that doesn't matter... And the so-called 'sexual tension' was him making it so plainly clear that he wanted to screw me and... Me teasing him so he'd let his guard down enough to not get on edge when I went somewhere without him."
"You make it sound like you were his prisoner." Dean scoffed.
"No, I know I wasn't. I know I chose to be there. But... After I came back to my senses and came down from the 'Angel high' or whatever you want to call it, I think... I mostly stayed with him to keep an eye on him - to make sure he didn't do anything too drastic. I was thinking for myself when I agreed to come back to the Bunker with you, it was a purely selfish act. I wanted my boys back. That was when I went back to Lucifer to let him know I was leaving and that was when he threatened Cas' life to keep my mouth shut to you about him being out of the Cage. You have to believe me, Dean, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. You know me, you know the last thing I would ever do is intentionally hurt Sam." Eden sighed, getting frustrated that she probably wasn't making it sound like she felt or was maybe digging herself a deeper hole.
"Alright." Dean said after a few moments. "I believe you eventually had good intentions. I knew Lucifer most likely told the whole thing way out of context because what he said just didn't sound like you - whether you're Eden or Elizabeth. But letting him kiss you? That was a dick move. After everything you've just said, that's the part I'm still pissed at... Did it at least stop after the Angel high?"
"Yes, it did. He tried a few times, of course, but I pushed him away. I think that was when he was realising the fun was over too." Eden replied. "God, this is all so messed up. I love Sam. You know I do." She sighed, almost slapping away her tears in anger that they were still coming after two weeks. She groaned, putting her head in her hands.
"Hey, look, I'll talk to Sam, alright? He's gunna be mad I met with you, but he'll get over it. Honestly, he's been just as much of a mess as you seem to have been. He barely left his room after a week, nevermind the rest of the Bunker. I had to drag his ass out on a case to get him back to some sort of normalcy..." Dean huffed, looking out to the river's edge.
"Wanna see what I've been doing?" Eden looked over at him.
He shrugged.
Eden took his arm and zapped them off to the penthouse suite.
The room was dark, but through the streams of light breaking through the curtains, Dean could see a scattered pile of empty blood bags in a corner, the rest of the room in tatters from where Eden had lost it and trashed the place.
"Oh, wow..." Dean's brows raised. "You, uh... You do 'messed up' in style."
"I've never been one for doing things half-hearted." Eden commented blankly. "This just about represents how my head's been for the past two weeks. I ended up reminding myself of how badly I've messed things up a few too many times and the suite sort of paid the price. But hey, if you're going to spend such a colossal amount of money on a three storey penthouse suite in the middle of Los Angeles, you might as well get your money's worth."
"Do I even wanna know how much this all costs?" Dean cocked a brow.
"You'd probably have a stroke." Eden shrugged, walking off to put the coffee table back on its legs before picking up a few of the blood bags, lazily chucking them on the surface.
It was then that Dean got a text.
"It's Sam." He said, looking down at it. "Wondering where I am. Mind zapping me back over?"
Eden shook her head, walking over to him.
"Thank you for hearing me out, Dean." She uttered.
The Winchester sighed, pulling her into a hug. Eden wrapped her arms round his waist.
"I may not agree with how you handled everything, but I understand your motives, can't exactly say I did much better on my Demon high. I'll talk him down and I'll be in touch, okay?" He murmured, kissing her hair.
"Okay." She nodded.
"In the meantime, get this place and yourself cleaned up, go get a manicure or whatever it is you do when you're not hunting or with us. I'll see you later." He smiled, holding her by the shoulders at arm's length.
"Sure." She giggled.
"There, a smile. That's better." He grinned, tapping her chin with the side of his index finger.
"See you later, Dean." Eden shook her head as she chuckled.
He nodded as she touched his shoulder, sending him back to Grand Rapids.