Stand in the Rain (Dean Winchester story)

Chapter 24

Dean

Lizzy stays quiet through most of the night, or what's left of it. My knuckles have cracked in places because of how hard I hit the man that tried to get his hands on her. God, that makes my blood boil. Lizzy has bruises already starting to form on her wrists and the cuts on her hands have started to scab over, when we get to home, I pull out the first aid kit and wrap her hands after I clean them up from the dirt that was trying to get in her wounds. Sam doesn't say anything, he just watches with a concerned look on his face and walks away half breathing, half growling. I don't blame him. 

Lizzy and I go back to our room and curl under the covers, I hold her close and tightly to me as she breathes shakily into my shirt. After a few minutes her breathing steadies and she falls asleep. I watch her shoulders rise up and down, the only thing that  shows she's alive because she's beaten that bad. Her red hair falls onto her darken cheek. She's gonna have a hell of a hangover when she wakes up, damn it. I feel sleep trying to coax me into giving in and close my eyes, but I don't want to sleep. I'm sure it's fine if I just blink.

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Something on my chest moves and wakes me up on my back. I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling for moment and then look down to see Lizzy's head resting on my ribs and the rest of her curled up towards me. Her hair covers most of her face, but I still see a decent bruise on her cheek thru her red locks. I tighten my arm around her waist and kiss her head before slowly trying to move out of the bed. She's gonna need some water when she opens her eyes after those drinks. I shuffle out off the side of the bed, resting her head on my pillow and stretching the blanket over her shoulders. 

I walk into the kitchen and see Sam sitting at the table still in his clothes from yesterday, well, way earlier this morning. He looks horrible, his hair is sticking out in weird places, his eyes have bags under them and he looks like he's having trouble staying awake.

"Sammy, why don't you go back to bed, I think we're all gonna sleep in late today." I grin as best I can. My head's starting to hurt after I sit down next to him. 

"I didn't think I drank that much, so I was about to go for a run, but I think I was wrong." He mumbles. "How's Lizzy?"

"She's still asleep." I answer trying to avoid what I know he's thinking about. 

"I mean other than that." he huffs.

"I'm not sure yet." I say under my breath. "I'm wishing I did more the knock the guy out though."

"She's safe, that's what matters." Sam amends. Neither of us say anything for a while, we just sit at the table. I get up and head back to our room with the water I originally left for. When I open the door, Lizzy sits on the edge of the bed with her palm pressed to her forehead. The blanket rests over her shoulders like a cape, she holds it on with her other hand.

"How you feel?" I stride to the side of the bed.

"I'm alive." She says indifferently.

"How's you head?"

"It hurts." She moans. I sit down next to her and realize she's shivering.

"You cold?" I ask. Maybe she's just shaking from the alcohol. 

"Freezing my ass off." She tries to grin.

"Well I happen to like that ass, so I'm not gonna let it freeze." I pull her into my arms and rub her shoulders in an attempt to warm her up. She snuggles closer and lets go of her head to let it rest on my shoulder. 

"Wait!" She snaps. She rips herself out of my arms and runs to he bathroom across the hall. I go after her as she kneels in front of the toilet and lets out the contents of her stomach. "No more tequila for me." She moans. I can't help but laugh when she hiccups as her back hit's the wall behind her.

"It's just what happens." I sit down next to her. 

"Then why aren't you crawling pathetically?" She asks once she rests her head on my shoulder. 

"You're not pathetic, you've just never had enough alcohol for a hangover." I reach for her cold hands and gently squeeze the wraps on her knuckles. "You doing okay?" I ask quietly after a few minutes of silence. Lizzy takes in a deep breath and lets in out heavily.

"I'm doing, I guess. But that's never happened to me before." She whispers. "I couldn't defend myself even though he was drunk, I couldn't stop him." She starts to hold back tears. I frown and tug her closer, forcing her to look me in the eyes.

"Hey, it'n not your fault you couldn't fight back as well, you were drunk too, your reflexes weren't where they usually were, you were scared, that's not your fault." Her eyes shoot up to mine, teary but bright. I turn to face me and bring one of my hands behind her back and the other around her shoulder. I bring my lips closer and closer until I can feel her breath on my cheek. I hold her forehead to mine. "I was scared too, you know. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"I'm fine, just a little banged up." She smiles weakly.

"And you're only getting better, you hear me?" I kiss the top of her red head.

"Sir, yes sir." She relaxes into my chest. "I'm just gonna fall asleep right here."