Down the Rabbit Hole

Breaking Glass Part 1

Lacey pushed open the swing door into her Aunts kitchen and wandered in. It didn't really surprise her to find she wasn't the first person in the kitchen, even at this late hour. Her Aunts would often gather for impromptu midnight feasts and clearly tonight was one of those nights.
"Ugh, cheesecake please." Lacey said, flopping down in one of the kitchen chairs.
"Pass me a plate, Rose." Dorothy said as she began to cut a slice of cheesecake for Lacey.
"Thanks." Lacey said, digging into the dessert with gusto. "So, what are we talking about?"
"Well as you know, my sister Charmaine is visiting." Blanche spoke up. "And although we never used to get along as children, we bonded today. However, I just started reading the book she's written and I am devastated by it's contents!" Blanche exaggerated, as usual.
"What did she write?" Lacey asked, taking another bite of cheesecake.
"She has had the impudence to write about my romantic entanglements." Blanche huffed.
"Ooooh. Wow. And they let her publish that?" Lacey sounded surprised. Blanche huffed even more and put her hands on her hips, while Sophia began to laugh. "What? Aunt Sophia showed me the calendar you made everyone for Christmas the other year. If that's anything to go by, I think it's probably an... interesting read." Lacey shrugged. "But I do feel as though I'm not really gonna be much help on this one, so I'm taking my cheesecake... and heading out." Lacey took her plate and headed back to Dorothy's room. Dorothy and Sophia were sharing while she stayed with them. Lacey finished her cake and curled up under the covers. She had been staying with her Aunts for about two weeks now and she still didn't know what she wanted to do. Seeing Dean the other day had not helped. She wanted to stay mad at him, she had a right to. But as soon as she was around him her resolve began to lessen. She shook her head and rolled onto her side, yawning. A good nights sleep might clear her head. She drifted off to sleep and began to dream...

Dean sighed as he tossed his empty burger wrapper into the trash and collapsed onto one of the beds. Sam looked up from his laptop.
"What's up, dude?"
"It's just this Lacey thing, man."
"I'd hardly call it a thing." Sam scoffed. "You cheated on her, and now you're paying the price."
"Thanks for the support." Dean grumbled.
"You know what I think, Dean." Sam shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah." Dean rolled over so he was facing away from Sam. He had never been in this situation before. Normally he just moved on the next day. Lacey was the only person he had ever been in an actual relationship with. He knew he'd messed it up. He just didn't know how to make it right again. Dean began to fall asleep. His dreams were usually vivid and often horrific but this time it was different. He felt like it wasn't so much his dream as a movie being played and he was just a member of the audience, but the dream was about him....

Dean took a sip of his beer and took in the scene around him. Today Sammy had graduated from Law school. He and his Mom and Dad had made the trip up from Kansas to Stanford the day before and this morning he had watched his little brother graduate. Right now Dean was leaned against the wall in Sam's house that he shared with his girlfriend Jessica, watching the party go on around him. John and Mary were standing on the other side of the room, talking with Sam, Jessica and Jess's parents.
"You want another beer?" A voice asked from his left. He turned to see one of Jessica's friends, Amy, standing beside him, holding an ice bucket full of beer bottles.
"Thanks." He reached in and took one out before draining the one he was drinking. Amy wandered off to the next group of party goers. Dean had met her a few times over the years and got along with her pretty well. She had already finished college the year before and was interning at an interior design firm in San Francisco.
"You ok?" Dean was brought back to the present by Sam coming over to check on him.
"Yeah, I'm good. Mom and Dad are in their element." Dean nodded in the direction of their parents who were practically glowing with pride.
"You know they're proud of you too." Sam told him. Dean snorted into his beer.
"Yeah, sure they are."
"Well, you're not in jail." Sam joked. "Seriously though, why wouldn't they be proud of you?"
"Mom maybe, but Dad, you know what he's like." Dean shrugged. Sam nodded in understanding. They fell into a comfortable silence and Dean's thoughts began to wander again. He continued to gaze around the room until his eyes fell on a blonde in a pink top chatting to Jessica.
"Who's that?" Dean asked Sam, nonchalantly. Sam glanced in the direction he was indicating.
"Oh, that's Lacey, Amy's sister."
"I didn't know Amy had a sister." Dean took a sip of his beer.
"Yeah she just started here at the beginning of the year, seems nice." Sam turned to look at Dean. "Play nice, Dean."
"What?" Dean feigned innocence. "I'm not gonna do anything. But would it be so bad if you introduced us?" Sam rolled his eyes but lead him over to the group of girls anyway.
"Hey, Lacey." Sam leant down and gave her a hug.
"Hey Sam! Congratulations!" She hugged him back. Dean cleared his throat.
"Lacey this is my brother, Dean. Dean, this is Lacey, Amy's sister."
"Nice to meet you." Dean shook hands with her.
"You too." She smiled at him.
"Would you like a drink?" Dean asked.
"Just a Coke please, I have to be up early tomorrow," She told him. Dean nodded and grabbed her a bottle from the drinks table.
"Thanks."
"So, how come I've never met you before?" Dean asked as they sat down on one of the sofa's in the little snug at the back of Sam's living room.
"I went to school back in Long Island until last year when I enrolled here." Lacey explained.
"What do you study?"
"History and Anthropology." Dean blinked, surprised.
"Wow, that sounds interesting." Lacey blushed.
"It can be. Although my dad would disagree." Lacey grumbled good-naturedly.
"Oh really?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, he wanted me and Amy to do something more business minded." Lacey shrugged. "But it wasn't for us."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, my Dad is way more interested in Sam's life choices than mine." Dean agreed, picking at the label on his beer bottle.
"I hear you. My brother's the business savvy one, Amy and I can't compare." Lacey rolled her eyes. "So what do you do?"
"I'm a mechanic back in Lawrence." Dean told her.
"Does it make you happy?" Lacey asked.
"Yeah, it does. My Dad bought a Chevy Impala back in the late 70's and we used to fix it up together when I was a kid. He gave it to me on my 21st birthday." Dean smiled at the memory. "He's not a terrible father, but I see the way he looks at Sam, like at the Graduation ceremony today. He never looks at me like that." Dean cleared his throat. "Look at me, couple of beers and I'm pouring my heart out to you." He joked. Lacey smiled at him.
"It's fine. We all have to vent at times." They continued to talk for the next hour, getting to know one another, until the party started to wind down.
"I should probably get going soon." Lacey said, looking at her phone.
"Do you live far?" Dean asked.
"Just on the other side of the campus." Lacey told him.
"Want me to walk you?" Dean offered, getting to his feet.
"Sure, that would be great." Lacey smiled as she stood up too. Lacey said goodbye to Sam, who gave Dean a look of caution, Jessica and Amy and they headed out.
They walked across the campuses central green, heading for the housing on the other side.
"It must be nice to go to school here." Dean said, taking in the greenery dotted with old fashioned street lamps and wooden benches.
"Yeah, it's pretty nice here. Where I grew up it's more of a suburban beachy vibe." Lacey noted as they crossed the deserted street.
"Yeah, I'm not in Kansas anymore." Dean quipped. Lacey laughed.
"It is a nice change the further up the coast you go. I drove up from LA when I first got here, bit of a road trip, and I can honestly say I prefer it up here." They reached the front of Lacey's building and she paused by the steps.
"Thank you for walking me back."
"So my parents and I are here for a couple of days, doing things with Sam, but I can see him any time. Did you maybe want to do something tomorrow?" Dean asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Yeah, that would be great. I have one of my final classes tomorrow morning, did you want to meet for lunch and we can do something in the afternoon?" Lacey suggested.
"Yeah that would be great." Dean smiled at here.
"Meet you here at 12?" Lacey asked.
"It's a date...I mean, you know, that's fine," Dean stumbled. Lacey laughed and nodded.
"Good night, Dean. It was nice to meet you." Lacey smiled coyly at him before turning and walking up the stairs.

Lacey pulled her hair tie from her bun and shook her hair out. She had just finished her final History class of the year and was getting ready to meet Dean. She pulled a few different outfit combinations out of her closet and held them up in front of the mirror. She mused over them for a few minutes before deciding on black jeans, boots, a white jumper top, denim shirt and black scarf. She grabbed a bag from her closet, emptying everything she needed from her back pack into it and sprayed some perfume before heading out the door. When she reached the front door she paused, seeing Dean standing at the foot of the steps waiting for her. She smiled and opened the door, bounding down the front steps.
"Hey." Dean looked up and smiled at her.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. You?"
"I'm fine."
"Where did you want to go for lunch?" Lacey asked, pulling her sunglasses out of her bag as they walked across the green.
"I don't mind, is there anywhere good?"
"There are a couple of café's on campus, or there's a really nice burger place on the edge of town?" Lacey suggested. Dean's face lit up.
"Burgers sound good." Lacey laughed.
"Burgers it is then." They walked across the campus and headed into town. They reached the restaurant and were seated at a table. Lacey pulled her sunglasses off and studied the menu.
"Can I take your order?" The waitress approached their table.
"Can I get a cheeseburger, chilli fries and a coke." Lacey ordered.
"I'll have the bacon cheeseburger, onion rings and a beer." Dean handed over their menus and the waitress disappeared.
"So what's it like back where you're from?" Lacey asked.
"Lawrence? Nothing special really, it's just where I grew up." Dean shrugged.
"Do you like living there?"
"It's ok, it's a small town so nothing exciting really happens there. I just stayed after high school and trained to be a mechanic like my dad. Sam moved out here not long after, guess I just stuck around so one of us was there."
"You didn't want to live anywhere else?" Lacey asked as the waitress brought over their drinks.
"Not really. To be honest I haven't seen enough of the country to make a decision like that. I'd like to go on a road trip though, see the sights." Dean smiled at the idea. Lacey nodded happily.
"Me too! There are so many places I want to see!" Lacey smiled back. A short while later the waitress brought over their meals. Lacey pulled her phone from her bag and they kept talking about destinations as she pulled up maps.
"And I really want to go to Salem, the whole witchcraft thing is really interesting to me!" Lacey added as she munched on her fries.
"I think we've successfully planned a road trip." Dean joked.
"Hey, I have a free summer, I could be tempted." Lacey joked back. They finished their meal and, under some protest from Lacey, Dean paid.
"So, was there anything you wanted to do now?" Dean asked as they left the restaurant.
"Well, there's a movie night in the park later on if you'd like to go? We could just hang out there until it starts?" Lacey suggested.
"What's playing?" Dean asked. Lacey blushed.
"Actually it's one of my favourite movies, The Breakfast Club." She admitted.
"Sounds good to me." They made their way to the park and sat down on one of the benches and continued talking as they watched the workers set up the cinema. When evening started to fall Dean bought them tickets and Lacey insisted on buying the popcorn. They sat down on the chair provided as the movie began to play. As the night wore on the temperature dropped and Lacey began to shiver a little. Dean pulled the blanket up around them and pulled Lacey closer to him, she smiled up at him and snuggled against him. When the movie was over Dean walked Lacey back to her room.
"I had a great time today, thank you." She said, as they stood at the bottom of the steps to the house.
"You're welcome. I did too." Dean agreed. "So, I was thinking of going on a little trip tomorrow if you're up for it?"
"Oh really?" Lacey's eyes sparkled. "Where were you thinking of going?"
"Uhhh, it's a surprise." Dean told her with a grin.
"Ok, let's do it. What time should I be ready for?"
"I'll pick you up round the corner at 9:30?" Dean suggested.
"Sounds good to me."
"I guess I'll see you then." Dean said, giving her a hug. As they began to pull apart their eyes met and Dean leaned in and gently kissed her. As they broke apart Lacey smiled up at him.
"I'll see you in the morning." Lacey said as she headed up the steps and into the house. Dean watched her go before heading back to his hotel.