Chapter Text
The Impala rumbled as it pulled up to the curb. Dean stepped on the brake and cut the engine, looking out of the window, a soft smile on his face as nostalgic memories flooded his mind.
As students walked across the school yard and into the building, he couldn’t help but remember that fateful day when he met the girl of his dreams. It took all of high school and several more years and a friends with benefits arrangement between them for anything to come out of it, but they eventually found their way to each other, and finally had the life either of them had always wanted.
Glancing to his side, he saw Y/N’s gaze was on the school, no doubt having the same thoughts as him. Reaching across the bench seat, he clasped her hand with his, both smiling as her eyes shifted to lock on his. With a small nod between them, he turned and stretched his arm across the top of the bench.
“Alright, kiddo, you ready?” he asked, smiling at their 14-year-old son, Noah.
The kid’s hands shook nervously as he checked and rechecked that he had everything, zipping up his backpack and scrunching the strap in his hand. “As I’ll ever be.”
“Hey,” Y/N reached her other hand over the seat and took his, squeezing it. “You got this.”
Remembering how her mother told her the same thing on her first day of school, she shared a comforting smile with her son as he nodded, breathing heavily.
“I guess I better go,” he sighed, pulling the strap over his shoulder and opening the car door.
“I’m just gonna…” Dean gestured to Noah, who stood outside on the sidewalk.
Y/N nodded, knowing the pep talk had to come from Dean, as he and Noah had a bond unlike anything she had seen or heard of. They had been inseparable from the time Noah was born, and seeing them interact always filled her with the greatest joy. It took a lot of time, but she was finally in the place she was always meant to be. Married to an incredible man, living in a beautiful home and having an amazing son.
“Hey, come here a sec,” Dean said, as he got out of the car, standing in front of his son.
“Is it normal to be freaking out like this?” Noah asked, letting out a shuddered exhale.
“It’s high school, so definitely,” Dean replied, offering a small smile of empathy. “If I’m being honest, I didn’t really settle in until I met Benny, but even then… things didn’t feel okay until your mom came along.”
“So, I gotta wait another 3 years for things to feel settled, great,” Noah stated, rolling his eyes.
Dean chuckled, shaking his head. “Nope, you’re gonna be fine. You’re a Winchester.”
Noah smiled softly, knowing his resilience came from his equally strong parents. “Thanks, dad.”
“And you never know…” Dean paused, glancing back at the car, feeling his heart soar as he saw his beautiful wife watching them, “you might just meet your best friend a few years early. Just uh… if it starts to head a certain way, don’t wait ten years to tell her how you feel.”
Noah huffed a small laugh, nodding. “I… I better go.”
Dean gave him a quick hug, patting him on the back as Y/N got out of the car, enveloping her son in a tight embrace. She kissed the top of his head and each cheek, giggling at his embarrassed grimace, before sending him on his way. The parents watched as their son walked across yard, up the stairs and into the building. As they sat back in the car, Y/N slid across the bench and leaned in, kissing his cheek softly.
“What was that for?” he asked, smirking as he looked deep into her eyes.
“For taking a chance on me,” she replied, tenderly. “I know I hurt you in a lot of ways, but… you still trusted me despite all of it. So, thank you. I should’ve realized I’d get everything I ever wanted with you, sooner.”
“Better late than never, sweetheart,” he whispered, shifting forward to kiss her forehead, lightly.
Tilting her head up, she moved closer and kissed him passionately, a small moan escaping her as he deepened it. She giggled and gazed into his green orbs as he pulled away, her hand stroking over his temple, fingers combing through his greying hair. That along with the crinkles at the corner of his eyes his only signs of aging so far, but every time she looked at him, she still saw the young boy she met in the hallway all those years ago, on the first day of her sophomore year.
“So, want me to drive you to work?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You could,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders, smiling mischievously. “Or you could drive us back home and I could call in sick, considering you’ve got the day off and we could spend all day being as loud as we want.”
Biting his lip, he hummed as his eyes glanced over each of her features; a few strands of grey in her hair, and a wrinkle here and there didn’t take away from the beauty he had been captivated by since the first time he ever saw her, walking through the doors of the school.
“That’s definitely a better idea,” he stated, kissing her once more before starting the car and pulling away from the school.
They both knew things could’ve turned out a lot differently for either of them at every hurdle of that arrangement, but it was because of Dean’s love for her that they made it past those bumps in the road.
His love for her cracked the walls she had put up for so long, opened her heart to him and changed her life forever, and all while keeping their friendship intact.
And that made everything that had happened completely worth it.