NO TIME TO DIE◦𝒔𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓

chapter twenty one.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE:
LAZARUS RISING.

⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅

IT'D BEEN FOUR long and agonizing months without Dean Winchester. He wasn't there to make serious situations feel just a little less tense with his inappropriate and ill-timed jokes or make everyone else laugh to ease their buzzing nerves. He wasn't around to tease Sam and Birdie about liking the other when one of them wasn't around, or even to both of them in hopes that it'd make them realize that there might've been more to their friendship than they allowed themselves to believe. He wasn't around to help out on a hunt if Birdie got stuck or needed some backup——he was just gone. But, even though Birdie knew he was gone and wasn't ever coming back, she could still feel his presence. She thought about him at least twenty times a day, some days a little harder to deal with as she thought more and more about him only for her mind to remind her just exactly how he'd died.

The mere image of Dean's shredded torso made Birdie flinch as she entered the rundown motel, shaking her head to try and shake the gory image from her head. She puffed out her cheeks and started to walk, heading past the front desk towards her room on the second floor.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Antilles." Birdie stopped in her tracks, eyes falling on the pudgy woman seated behind the front desk. A warm smile was etched on her pink painted lips, gaze pinned on Birdie.

Birdie adjusted the bag of fast food she had tucked in one of her arms, returning the older woman's smile. "Oh, uh, hi," she quietly greeted the woman, faintly nodding her head after she spoke. "Afternoon."

"How are you and your husband enjoying your stay so far?" the woman wondered, head tilted to one side.

"It's, uh, really nice," Birdie said, forcing her smile to remain on her lips. She just wanted to get back to the room so she could eat her food that was beginning to smell even better as the seconds passed. "Thank you."

The woman nodded, her smile widening as she adjusted her position in the chair, picking up a romance mystery novel that was placed near the register. "Of course," the woman said. "If you and your husband need anything, feel free to let me know."

"Sure thing."

Then Birdie gave the woman one last smile, nodding her head as she started to head back down the hall and climbed up the stairs to the second floor. She quietly sighed as she walked towards the room at the end of the hall, using her free hand to fish her room key from her front pocket. She stopped in front of the door, puffing out her cheeks as she jiggled it in the door.

"Come on, fucker," she muttered, sighing as it finally unlocked. Then she pushed open the door, glancing down at the floor as she turned and closed the door behind her before. She moved towards the table off to the side without looking towards Sam, hearing him shuffling near one of the beds behind her. "God, you would not fucking believe the amount of dudes that were trying to ask me about Baby to see if I actually knew anything about cars. Can you believe that fucking bullshit? I mean, I remember a few things Dean taught me, of course, and that seemed to shut——"