"A... Spaghetti Western?" Cas held a questioning expression, piercing eyes staring straight through the windshield from his placement in the back seat. "Italy is a part of the Western world, but I do not understand how Spaghetti would apply to human media," Media being the apt word. Cas had been using it lately for its umbrella effect over all types. Dean often spoke of references that the angel did not quite understand and it seemed at times that asking questions could either go positively or negatively, all dependent on how the trio handled their emotions on the particular day.

Dean sighed, absentmindedly rubbing a few fingers over the stubble that had collected on his chin. Although he had been speaking only seconds prior his focus was now lost, sauntered onto the thought of how he hadn't shaved that morning. Soon the stubble would grow itchy and he'd be scratching at it like a madman with rabies. The awkward in-between of clean-shaven, true stubble, and a beard.

"It's a type of movie or genre, Cas. I don't know. I just like them," Not that he had any idea what he was talking about. He just knew a few of them and that they were classified with the signifier. "Cowboys, horses, guns..." He prompted as if the angel should know what he was talking about without extrapolating further. Sometimes he didn't mind teaching, other times he found the describing too much of a hassle considering the purpose of the conversation - which was just to keep them from falling into an uncomfortable silence.

Alice sat in the passenger seat, legs crossed and chin resting on her propped-up palm as the f

ields and trees wisped past them. The drive had been long and nearly unnecessarily conversational. All the boring stuff that filled their extra time when there was nothing else to talk about. Cas had come along for the ride while Sam hung back at Bobby's to give them intel and research. The separation had come as a surprise to her considering his eagerness to get back on the roar priorly, but she assumed that he simply needed a bit of time to himself. The Leviathans hadn't exactly been easy foes and therefore, the five of them were worn down.

Dick Roman loomed, though not present - his darkness fell over them, dragging them below the surface of the water that they were constantly wading through.

Scarred fingertips flipped a page, eyes taking in the familiar text of 'The Little Mermaid'. Hans Christian Andersen's eloquence and darkened themes never ceased to disappoint. These days lounging with a best friend of literature had faded. There was never the time, never the ability to focus on such mundane things. They had so much to do and little time to perform and truly, it was a performance, wasn't it?

But a mermaid has no tears,

and therefore she suffers so much more.

She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart.

Never had she danced so beautifully; the sharp knives cut her feet, but she did not feel it,

for the pain in her heart was far greater.

Inwardly the passage tugged at distant heartstrings. Those simple beautiful feelings of when she had been young, dumb, and broke with her found family had faded. Sure they still had moments of lighthearted clarity but they had become few and far between. The Western discussion could have been one but Allie was far away, reading every word as if her soul had been placed on a notepad and ingested, consumed and then regurgitated in a way that sounded much more beautiful than it really was.

Love stories typically held a formula. Maybe a meet-cute, or some sort of magic to unite people. The protagonists pined for a while, then those big grand gestures of romance. All of the happy ones hit specific marks to alleviate common pain associated with love. Providing hope, and instilling a feeling of acceptance from another could be possible. Didn't everyone want that? She wanted that.

Yet, those were not the stories that lined her inner workings and library-like shelf that had once been at her father's home in Sioux Falls. Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby, Never Let Me Go... All had commonalities. The love was not enough. The love was sad, and grandiose in its ups but melancholy in its lows. That was love.

Green eyes perched over her, moving back and forth between the road and his female companion. "You're reading again?" In his youth he would have probably made fun of her, maybe ruffled her her and spit out some stupid remark aligned with his constant facade. Things were different now, though. He'd begun taking in every detail of her, ghosting it into his memory as if one day it could be gone. He could live a thousand lifetimes and every day he'd find her. Dean had realized over the past year that it didn't really matter that Allie was blonde, or curvy, or pretty. Allie gave him something that most others didn't.

She knew his McDonald's order off by heart, she stayed awake with him while he drove to avoid him feeling lonesome even when he didn't talk about it, she put his music on the jukeboxes in their shitty diners without him asking. All those little things of having someone know you... and he knew her. Sure, she was beautiful, but there was far more than that. Allie could live in a hundred bodies across the universe and somehow he knew that he would still be able to pick her out in a crowd.

"What's this one about?"

Back in the day, he would have asked those words differently. Now he was actually interested, hoping to hear her sweet voice fill the Impala with profound nurturing of the mind.

The slightest of smiles upturned her naked lips and Allie gave him a short look before turning back to the pages. "The original Little Mermaid. Not uh... not like the Disney movie," a note before continuing on with her miniature speech.

"Anyway, in the story when mermaids hit a certain age they are allowed to go up to the surface and see... the world. The little mermaid waits year after year for her chance. When she finally gets to break the waves, she saves a prince. She goes home later that evening and approaches a sea witch, believing herself to be in love with the human world and him..."

Blue eyes shifted to ensure that Dean was listening to her description. She knew that Cas was most likely in the back, in tune with ripe intensity.

"The witch tells her that the prince must fall in love with her, or she will die. See, Mermaids live for 300 years, but humans have a short lifespan - though their souls live on. If the prince does not fall in love with her, she will dissolve into seafoam. The Witch says that the process of becoming human will also hurt. She will dance, and walk, but she will always feel as though she is walking on sharp knives. The mermaid must also give up her voice, and her tongue. Despite it all - the little mermaid accepts."

"The prince takes to her right away, no matter the fact that she is mute and cannot speak. He tells her his innermost thoughts and feelings, and he becomes close with her - but does not fall in love with her, seeing her as a ....friendly companion instead. One day he meets another woman. They get married and the little mermaid ...her heart breaks. But her sisters come to the surface and offer her a dagger. They proclaim that if she kills the prince and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid again and rejoin her family below the sea. -

The little mermaid takes the dagger and enters the prince's room where he is sleeping with his wife. She raises the dagger...

But she cannot do it. She cares for him too much, even if he doesn't love her. So, the mermaid throws herself into the sea where she becomes seafoam."

The air in the Baby was quiet. Neither Dean nor Cas offered a reply for a minute or so and Allie realized that her eyes had somewhat teared up during her rendition of the plot that she held so dearly, so personally.

A swallow ensued.

The way she spoke, the loss in her tone... For once Dean had no idea what to offer, what to say. "Alls, I'm gonna' pull over, okay?" Only a few months ago Bobby faded from their lives. The house burned, and Allie hadn't even gotten there in time. All important points that sat in the forefront of Dean's skull. This was the moment that he had been waiting for, a chance for her to really open up and show repressed emotions. Yeah, they had a few conversations here and there but the fact that Allie had so openly described the story and very much seemed lost in her trust to... just let herself feel it.

But he was also terrified as fuck. How would the conversation go? Would the words come out, would they sound right? "Cas, stay in the car ."

His rounding of the bumper to the passenger side proved only more anxious. The sunlight hit her hair, her eyes were wet but no tears had fallen. Why was that so attractive? What was wrong with him? Being so... sweaty and nervous pissed him off to no end. A million women in the world and yet he found his palms moist from staring at his best friend in the face while subconsciously knowing what the goal was.

"Dean, what's going on? Why'd you stop the car? It's just a book..." The soft tone that radiated from her filled the air between them while Cas sat idly in the backseat of Baby as Allie climbed out of the passenger bench. The sun hit her skin, which, for once, had tanned a bit from seeing more of it as they passed through towns. The warmth... it sunk into her pores and illuminated her insides.

Why did he seem so concerned?

A tense hand reached out and suddenly grabbed her, pulling her closer to him with affectionate intent. Cars could go by and honk, who gave a fuck! None of it mattered. The world didn't matter. Things needed to shut up for just a few minutes. That was it. If the world would just be quiet for five minutes he'd get out what he needed to say.

"You know that I care about you, right?" His lips pressed together in a thin line while Dean searched her face for any understanding of the potential scenario that may play out between them in just a few short seconds. "You're my girl, and I care about you so much, Allie. I care about you!" He wanted to ask if her words had been about him if she was the mermaid or whatever. It didn't matter, that sounded stupid but that was the truth!

"I've fucked up so much with you! Why are you still around?!" Not what he had meant to say but the aggressive side of him that didn't understand her devotion was pricking up, he practically shook her while looking straight into her eyes. "Sam and I have both fucked up your life! You could be... you're smart, you're beautiful, you could have a normal life. Do you understand? Why are you here?" Dean forfeited himself to the idea that perhaps he wanted her to scream the truth from the rooftops if only to match his energy and desire to be fucking touched by someone that actually gave a shit!

She stared, momentarily lost in deep shock. "W... what? " The words had bombarded her. He was speaking too quickly for her to really retain anything that he was saying and Allie damn near fell back against the door of the Impala from his sudden shaking, though it hadn't been painful.

Eventually, the scene caught up to her and Alice softened, her eyes large and nearly innocent in their understanding. Was he... worried about her mental health still? That had gotten a bit better. The story was just... pretty (and relatable). "I know. I know you care about me. You... show me all the time." Her eyes blinked slowly in thought, gentle lashes lightly tapping against sunkissed skin. "Dean, what are you talking about? Where's this coming from? Is everything okay?"

He bit his fist in anguish and frustration, growling in contempt over his own ineptitude to communicate his emotions. Here he was happy that she could, but he couldn't force the fucking words out that he wanted to say. "Al, tell me..." purposeful hands gripped her shoulders as Dean forced out his thoughts. "Say you love me, damnit! Tell me that you know I love you!" Bobby was gone. She could take it however she wanted to but the thought of Allie walking out at any time and deciding to leave hunting tore him apart. Now that his surrogate father had passed, would she move on? The long stretch of desolate road that they stood on felt like a highway to heartbreak, but he had to know.

Allie reached a tender palm up to cup at his cheek, a small smile forming in an effort to soothe him. Okay, obviously he was going through something and she had probably exasperated it with the emotions in the car. Long drive... stress from the Leviathans...Dean looked tired, he looked worn-down.

"I'm always gonna love you. I love you. You know that - you know that ..." she trailed off and lovingly stroked at his jawline, taking in the way his eyes shifted up to the afternoon sky to avoid tearing up. That was a gaze all too familiar to her. "We're gonna get through this. We will, and then... I don't know. But we will. We have Cas back and Sam. My dad..." Allie's eyes fell down to her feet, lip trembling with painful nostalgia.

"He loved us. He just... we focus on the Leviathans, and then we think about finally taking that vacation, okay?" Her hands gently moved down his arms and began to rub, trying to provide comfort to him in the form of physical affection. "Somewhere warm... beautiful... with a beach... lots of fruity drinks..." They had so much ahead of them. She felt it in her bones, just beyond the waning horizon. Soon the worst would be over and they could rest.

"One last ride, okay?"

His nose twitched with solemn understanding. She was right. One last ride. He could do it, he would do it. He'd fuckin' do something right and he'd make her proud and then he'd dedicate himself to her, fully. The gears were turning, the plan was in place.

"One last ride, blondie. That's it."