A Little Big Surprise

Chapter 18 ~Part Three~

Dean moved his hair back in an anxious way as he waited for the tightness in his chest to fade. This was Aria he was thinking about. Aria. Who was in her little headspace more than she wasn't. There was no way he could feel...things for her. Right?

     "Dean, can you help me serve?" Sam called from the kitchen, accompanied by the clinks of bowls against one another.

He shook his head and made his way down the hall, trying to push away any thoughts that might lead him into dangerous territory.

*****

The next morning everyone in the bunker was woken up by the sound of Aria screaming. Being used to her nightmares by now Sam knew it was his turn and made his was toward her room, opening the door to see her scrambling under her bed. He smiled sleepily before kneeling down and grabbing her foot, pulling her out again and allowing her to climb into his arms like she wanted.

     "Another nightmare little bear?" his voice was slow with sleep and he sat on the bed with his eyes closed.

     "Mhn." Aria nodded a bit as she clung to him tighter.

That was how Castiel and Dean found them when they came to say the Impala was packed up. Aria lifted her face from Sam's shoulder and held her  arms out for Castiel, who gladly took her and  went to her dresser to help her pick out clothes for the day.

     Dean nudged Sam as he stood and stretched "What was it about this time?"

     "Didn't really get to ask her." Sam replied shrugging his massive shoulders and leaving to his room to go and dress himself.

Dean watched closely as Castiel set Aria down and helped her slip on a pair of light blue jeans and a white sweater. When Aria saw him looking she gave him a big smile and made grabby hands so he would come close. When he did she wrapped her little arms around his middle and buried her face into his stomach while Castiel braided her hair back

     "Mornin Papa!"  she chirped looking up at him again.

Swallowing back a lump in his throat Dean gave the good morning back to her and pet her hair gently, worried about the tightness in his chest that had made yet another appearance. That was twice now.

*****

The car ride to Idaho was going to be the longest they had ever been in the car with Aria and the difficulties began to arise quickly. If they were in the car for more than three hours she would start to fuss, and not her usual fussing but full blown screaming. Castiel tried to explain it away by her being tired from the nightmare this morning but Dean quickly called bullshit and Sam had ignored him completely. If she was tired she would have fallen asleep. It was their second stop when Aria decided to throw a tantrum in the gas station over a bag of chips that she couldn't have (according to Sam) because they were too spicy. At their third she had run away from them screaming with laughter as they chased her through yet another gas station until she ran into a small shelf and almost toppled it, resulting in a busted lip for her which she then proceeded to cry about for thirty minutes in the Impala. When she had finally calmed down it was  eleven o'clock and Castiel convinced them to stop for the night and pull into a motel even though they had only been driving for thirteen hours.

     "I'll be at the bar." Dean declared, tossing a set of keys to Sam and walking passed Aria and Castiel without a word, the other set in his pocket. 

He was beyond stressed. Her behavior coupled with these newfound feelings for her did not make for a great mood, and he was going to deal with it in the best way he knew how; Beer and women.

Sam was quite used to this as was Castiel, but Aria was completely stumped on why Dean was not coming to TV time with her. With her face showing visible confusion she went to Sam and lifted her arms, relieved when he picked her up and started to rub her back just the way she liked. Seeing him walk away without saying a single goodbye made her uneasy...and seeing him through the bar window sit down next to a strange women did not help. She gave a yell and pointed this out to Castiel and Sam but both of them simply shooshed her and walked toward their rooms.

     Sam set her down once they entered the room "I guess it'll be one of those nights, is Aria sleeping with me?"

     "That's fine. Just don't roll onto her." Castiel reminded playfully taking out Aria's elephant and handing it to her.

Aria frowned and looked at the single queen sized bed before looking to the door "Wha bou Papa?"

The two men were quiet and gave each other looks that Aria didn't understand. And they never answered her. Sam ordered a pizza with olives like Aria liked and they ate it while watching cartoons on the TV. It was very quiet without Dean there to argue with Sam or make funny voices mocking the cartoon characters. It made Aria a bit lonely, and she hardly touched her pizza no matter how much Sam encouraged her to do so. Castiel had went to start the bath for her when they all heard a commotion outside of their room heading toward the other

     "Das Papa!" Aria grew excited and slipped off the bed, running to the door and flinging it open before anyone could stop her.

She looked down the hall and her eyes grew wide when she saw Dean with the woman from the bar. They were kissing and Dean was trying to get the door open while they did so. Sam came behind Aria and cursed under his breath as he tried to cover her eyes but she threw him off and ran straight for the two. Before either of them knew it Aria had pushed the woman to the floor, panting heavily as she stood above her. Dean had not even seen Aria before now and he looked back at Sam with a mixture of frustration and shock

     "I thought you were watching her! Dammit Sammy!"  he yelled while helping his date from the floor

     She was not happy and gave Aria a nasty look as she brushed off her dress "What the hell, she your girlfriend or something?"

     "Or something." Dean turned his eyes onto Aria and for the first time since they met, raised his voice at her "Go back to the room! Now!"

Aria recoiled and took a step back, bumping into the wall as she stared at Dean with her big grey eyes steadily filling with tears. Immediately he regretted it. Sam clutched at the doorway when he saw the look on Aria's face and Castiel stood behind him, looking coldly at Dean. The woman stepped back a bit, pursing her lips and trying not to look at her. The silence was deafening before Dean let out a shaky sigh and reached out to her but she was already running down the hall, farther and farther away as Sam began to sprint after her and Castiel walked slowly toward Dean.

He spoke in a chilling voice "Was that necessary Dean?"

Dean couldn't speak. He just continued to watch as Aria ran farther away. Farther away from him.

~End of part three~