Chapter Text
Dean POV
I couldn’t believe it. After all this time, she was there, standing right in front of me. I was simultaneously cursing and blessing my brother in my head as I stared at her in slack-jawed silence. She was even more stunning in person.
Many years ago, Chuck revealed to me that I had a soulmate. But my soulmate was placed in another universe. Chuck and Heaven knew that if my soulmate was around, I’d pursue her.
If anything happened to her, they feared they’d lose any leverage over me. Although it pissed me off to no end, I couldn’t argue the point. They were right.
Chuck had offered me the opportunity to learn more about her, get to know her from a safe distance. How could I possibly resist that, though I tried to pretend I was indifferent.
I got to watch her life, like a TV show. Sometimes I laughed. More often than not I cried. She was like me in so many ways, the things she had been through in her life. I understood, in a way no one else really could. Just like I knew she could probably understand me better than anyone.
When I learned she was a fan of Supernatural - a TV show about my life - I initially had to laugh at the irony. We were fans of each other. And we were worlds apart.
Then Chuck brought it up when Sam and I were watching the latest in her life. He too had taken a liking to the character and the show. Though he didn’t know the truth, until now. He screamed at Chuck for denying me that. Then he screamed at me for not telling him and not doing anything about it.
“Dean,” Sam sighed defeatedly, “this is a chance for you to be happy, to have what you always wanted. She knows who you are and all about you and she still likes you.”
I could tell he was at his wit’s end and I didn’t really have a proper argument against him.
“Dean, I can bring Y/N here,” Chuck chimed in and my head snapped to him quicker than the blink of an eye, “You can live your lives together. You know her life isn’t too happy where she is. But at least here, with you two, it could be better.”
I wanted it. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. I was so close to screaming yes and having him snap her into existence in front of me. But she would freak out. She was going to anyway, I knew that much about her. But maybe I could talk to her first? Maybe her and I could meet, alone somewhere, and I could explain? Then she could decide if she even wanted to come back with me or not.
Chuck reluctantly agreed, but I put up one hell of a case. With a nod and a snap of his fingers, I found myself transported to what looked like a small, empty, neighborhood bar. Just as I spun in circles, trying to take in my surroundings and wondering what Chuck was getting at - there she was, standing in the middle of the bar, looking beautiful, confused, and scared. Shit!
Y/N POV
Not two seconds ago, I was sitting on my couch in my pajamas, spending another lonely night cuddled into my couch, ready to binge on Supernatural until I fell asleep. In the blink of an eye, I stood in the middle of an unfamiliar bar, staring at a very familiar face.
“Uh,” he cleared his throat before taking a hesitant step forward, an awkward smile on his face as he extended his hand in greeting, “Hi. I’m Dean. Dean Winchester.” he breathed out and my breath hitched.
I stared at his hand like it was some alien being poised to strike out at me at any moment. Slowly, my whole arm shaking, I lifted my hand to his, wrapping my fingers around his hand as I reciprocated the simple gesture.
My eyes snapped to his as I realized he was real. Really real, flesh and blood before me. The realization made me snap my hand back to myself as if his touch had burned me. I saw what appeared to be disappointment flash across his face, but quickly dismissed it.
“Uh, I’m Y/N Y/L/N,” I managed to respond, my voice surprisingly steady and thanking my usual ‘fake-it-til-you-make-it’ demeanor for kicking in autopilot and forcing me to calm.
His dimples popped as he smiled, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes prominent, a mischievous gleam twinkling in the warm green depths of his eyes.
“I know.”
“You know?” I questioned.
I know my confusion showed dramatically on my face and he laughed a little as he shook his head. He bit his lip, looking me over, before making his way behind the bar.
“You want a drink?” he offered, his back to me as he searched the bottles lining the shelves, finding what he was searching for.
“Sure,” I breathed out as I took a seat on the barstool opposite him.
I watched in silence as he moved, mixing several things together before pouring the concoction into two glasses and passing one to me.
“Cheers,” he winked, clinking his glass to my own as he lifted the drink to his lips and took a generous tasting.
My eyes were transfixed on his lips as his tongue poked out to lick the pillowy flesh clean of the stray drops of liquor adorning them. I subconsciously licked my own lips in mimic of his own.
I saw him smirk and realized I had been caught. As I began to blush, I quickly took a drink, downing half the glass and avoiding his eyes.
Dean POV
I caught her staring at me, her eyes following every move my mouth made. I couldn’t help but smirk. As soon as she noticed it, she broke away, trying to distract the both of us by taking back an impressive amount of her drink with little more than a thirsty sigh.
She was beautiful. I couldn’t help but smile wider.
This is my soulmate.
“So,” I began, leaning my forearms on the bar top so I could be closer to her, “I bet you’re wondering what’s going on.”
“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me,” she grumbled and, somehow, I loved that too.
“Well…basically, you and I were meant to be - soulmates,” I paused to gauge her reaction. Her eyes went wide, but I quickly had her undivided attention. I licked my suddenly dry lips and continued.
“Chuck decided that my soulmate would have been too much of a distraction from the destiny they had planned for me,” I scowled, still pissed about the whole thing, “So he placed your soul in another universe where I would never find you or know about you.”
That thought alone caused a painful clench in my heart so sudden and intense that I choked on my breath for a half a second.
Y/N POV
I didn’t believe what I was hearing. Dean Winchester was my soulmate. That’s just…I think my brain shut down. He might as well have told me that the Zombie Apocalypse was upon us. Or that the sky was indeed falling in jigsaw pieces from the Heavens. It was just as ridiculous. Just as insane a statement.
But what jerked me from my thoughts was the look of pain and loss that suddenly pinched his features. I didn’t understand what had made him so upset, but my need to comfort kicked in and before I could question my own actions, I had placed my hand on top of his own on the bar top.
It was a simple gesture, really, meant to offer comfort. I wasn’t expecting the sudden rush of emotion to my heart, the subtle and nearly imagined current that seemed to flow between our point of contact.
I sucked in a harsh breath at the feeling and our eyes locked as he did the same in time with me. Whatever it was, he had felt it too. He licked his luscious lips once more and shook his head as if to break the trance we were in. But he didn’t move his hand or mine.
“After we ran into him again, many years later, he told me about it. That I had a soulmate. I was shocked, hurt, pissed. But I was also curious. I wanted to know who you were,” his eyes met mine once more as his thumb rubbed soothingly over the back of my hand, “So he sat me down in my movie room and a show started playing on the TV. He explained it was your life.”
“Oh,” I breathed out.
I didn’t know what to think about that. I mean, I knew his life from the same way. But for someone to suddenly know me like that? I dreaded to find out what he actually knew about me.
“And, before you ask, I’m just gonna get this bit out of the way now,” he was smirking, but it made me suddenly on edge, “I know about Supernatural,” my heart leaped into my throat, but he wasn’t finished, “I know about fanfiction.”
Oh, God! He knew all of that?! I was mortified, but he seemed to be enjoying it as his amusement and laughter seemed to grow the more I stirred in bashful embarrassment.
“Hey, I think it’s cute that my soulmate is a fangirl of me.”
I groaned and dropped my head into my hands, utter embarrassment killing me and he laughed heartily. I just wanted a hole to open up and swallow me whole.
“For what it’s worth, I’m a total fanboy over you too,” His smirk was less playful, more shy as he said it and I felt light-headed with giddiness, “Sam is too, actually. He thinks you’re awesome and would put me in my place.”
Now he was blushing. I felt on the verge of tears I was so elated.
Dean POV
“So what does all of this have to do with why we’re here now?” she asked with a playful smirk adorning her lips.
She was relaxing, becoming more comfortable, and that trademark confidence that I just adored about her began to make its appearance. I felt goddamned blessed.
“Chuck showed up again tonight while Sam and I were watching the show.”
I couldn’t control the schoolboy blush that kept attacking me in her presence. I hadn’t felt this nervous and scared over a girl in a long time.
“Sam didn’t know that the show was real and that you were my soulmate. Chuck showed up and offered to bring you to our world, so that maybe you and I could have a chance.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to ease the tension that was creeping up there as I made these open admissions. Being so completely honest and open was not something I did. But I just couldn’t say anything other than the truth to her.
“When I explained to Sam what the deal was, he got pissed. He screamed at Chuck, threatened him. Then he called me a million unpleasant things, basically saying I was a coward for not going after you. Chuck asked me to make a decision on if I wanted you there or not. But I didn’t want to just rip you from your life, risk scaring the hell out of you. So I asked him if he could arrange a sort of meeting, just the two of us, so I could tell you all of this and we could make a decision about it…together.”
There was nothing but silence as the words hung in the air and we both let them roll through our minds. What it meant. What I was asking. What it could mean.
“That’s a lot,” she spoke under her breath, but I understood it well enough.
She was the definition of shook. I remember that look when she won tickets to see her favorite band. I remember that look when her ex shattered her heart.
“How much time do I have to decide?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, “Until we reach a decision? Until Chuck decides enough is enough?”
I finished off my drink and watched as she absentmindedly did the same. I could practically see the gears turning in her brain as she tried to work everything out. She was so much like Sam in that regard. I knew, if she gave it a chance, they’d be close friends fast.
“Tell me what you’re thinking, Sweetheart.”
Y/N POV
I couldn’t stop the embarrassing nervous giggle that escaped my lips at the term of endearment. Dean just called me Sweetheart. I was swooning off the charts and barely hiding it.
“I really want to believe this,” I admitted, trying to swallow past the lump in my throat, “I want this to be true so bad.”
I took in a shuddering breath that rippled through my body and I watched as Dean’s eyes flitted all over me, catching the tension and ripple, before his concerned eyes met mine once more.
“I just feel like, because I want this so much, that it has to not be real, you know? I have to be going crazy or dreaming or something.”
I was rambling at this point, the words falling from my mind and into the air between us, completely bypassing any proverbial filters.
“Y/N, breathe,” he insisted as he came to stand before me, resting his hands on my shoulders.
I felt that muted electric current flowing between where we touched and it sent a pleasant chill down my spine. I dared to look up into his eyes and my breath caught in my throat at his close proximity.
His eyes were vibrant, warm, and kind. The different hues of greens flecked with gold reminded me of a thick forest with random and bright rays of sunlight shining through. The spattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose gave him a young and boyish charm that made me smirk. His lips looked plump and soft and I subconsciously licked my lips, biting down on my lower lip as I flicked my eyes up to meet his once more.
Dean POV
Was this really happening?
Was I about to kiss Y/N Fucking Y/L/N of all people?
God, I had fantasized about this so many times, wishing she were real, wishing I could be the man she deserved.
She had only had two long-term relationships in her adult life, and they were both royal fucking dicks that cheated on her. I knew she was broken from it. I knew she had trust issues and commitment issues after all of that.
Fuck, she had married the last asshole. I had to watch it, my blood boiling as I wished I could do anything to help her. I knew I could love her better than that.
Then it occurred to me, like when people talk about lightning striking your brain. She probably felt exactly the same way about me.
You would think that would make me feel better, but it didn’t.
I wanted to comfort her, make her not so scared and nervous. But I couldn’t exactly do that when I, too, was scared and nervous.
“Are we both chickening out?”
All my emotions collided in a hearty laugh that Y/N was quick to join me in. We laughed until tears sprung from our eyes as we slowly realized the truth of that statement and releasing some of that tension that just seemed to continually grow between us, like a rubber band slowly being pulled further and further and further…
“I’ve thought about this,” I finally spoke as we calmed ourselves back down. She stood from the stool, our bodies nearly touching and my hands automatically found her waist.
“Me too,” her voice was so soft, so quiet.
My hands twitched, squeezing her sides slightly as I got lost in her eyes. I lifted my hand to brush a few stray hairs behind her ear, my eyes following the movement as I did it.
I let the back of my fingers ghost along her jaw before placing my hand back at her side. I had to take a chance. I’d never forgive myself if I fucked this up.
Not this.
Please, not this.
“If you decide to come back with me, we can take our time and do things right. I could take you on a date. I know what you’ve been through and I just want a chance to show you that I can be that person for you. Your best friend, your girlfriend,” I teased, making her laugh.
“Your protector, your lover,” I added in a quieter tone and I couldn’t fight the smile as images flew into my mind.
“You can take your time to get comfortable with me and with the Bunker and everything. I’m patient, and I’ll wait however long you need me to. Just…come back with me. Please?”
Y/N POV
Fuck. My heart literally could not take this right now. The erratic beating. Fast, then slow. Sometimes pausing altogether. This man was doing things to me and, dream or not, I was ready to throw caution to the wind and go all in.
“What if I go there and it doesn’t work out and you and Sam decide you don’t want me there? And then I’d have to try to start a new life, in a new world, all by myself-”
His thumb pressed over my lips, silencing my rambling as he laughed and smirked.
“Sweetheart,” he said once more, more playful, “You and I are literally two halves of one soul,” he grinned widely, “I’m not saying there won’t be times we argue or have to work on things. But I think we’re pretty much stuck with each other and I’m really okay with that.”
He winked. I giggled.
He waited. I got lost in his eyes.
Dean POV
“Okay, Dean,” she spoke with determination and I knew whatever came next was a finality, “I’ll go with you.”
My heart skipped a beat in the cheesiest of ways, like my own body was mocking the intensely romantic experience I was having.
Should I kiss her?
This is the part where they always kiss right?
I think I should kiss her.
Before I could make up my mind, she kissed me. I melted into it, the feel of her lips making me dizzy with desire.
She said yes. She was coming back with me. To be my soulmate and just be mine.
I couldn’t believe my fanboy dreams were coming true.