Total Eclipse of the Heart

Chapter 24: Not Ready to Let You Go (Part 1)

A/N

Heyoooo, I'm not dead! XD

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but, as promised, I haven't stopped writing in this fic. I still love this story and have lots of ideas for how I want this story to continue, and I hope that you guys are still enjoying/interested in my fic.

That all being said, I'm graduating college in a few months, so the time I have to write is somewhat limited, right now. Hopefully, once I graduate and have a full-time adult job, I'll be able to write more consistently and have things up for you guys more often.

Until then, my plan is to release one chapter every two weeks. I know that's not exactly the quickest release, but, coincidentally, if I do that, it'll take me right up to the week I graduate, so even if I don't write anything between now and then (which is not going to happen lol), I'll still have enough content to get you guys through graduation.

So, the temporary schedule I'll have in place is I'll be posting every other Sunday at 12:00pm EST (time may vary if plans come up but I rarely have plans on Sunday so it should be at the time most of the time), so be sure to keep an eye out on those days! And if anything about that changes (pending how many chapters I can write between now and then), I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

Thank you guys for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

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Despite the disappointment that both Sam and Leah were feeling at the previous night's failed attempt at getting Dean his soul back, the two of them had successfully pushed their feelings down, at least enough to where the outside world, most importantly, Dean, wasn't able to tell that anything was out of the ordinary with them.

Obviously, they couldn't talk about the whole ordeal in front of Dean, so for the rest of the day, no mentions were made of it, by either one of them. For the most part, their day went pretty normally. Well, as normal as life got for three hunters who spent most of their days on the road. They took the rare opportunity to sleep in, Dean sleeping until about 9:00am and Sam and Leah sleeping in until about 9:45am, due to their secret trip keeping them awake until well past 1:00am.

Their day was pretty uneventful, until just after lunch, when Sam found them yet another case over in eastern Massachusetts. Of course, that meant about an eight-to-nine-hour drive back in the direction they'd originally come from, but at this point, Leah wasn't surprised or phased by that fact. Besides, knowing their luck, the next case that they found after this one would likely be the next town over from Maple Springs, and they'd have to make the same trip back in about a week, or so.

And hey, where they were going now, Sea Pines, MA, was only just under a three-hour drive from New Haven, so if they were able to wrap up this case relatively quickly, there was a chance she could make it back in time for Henry's first Halloween, which was about four days away, now. She figured the chances were pretty slim that she'd actually end up getting to go, but they were less slim than if they'd picked up a case in, say, Montana. Basically, as long as they left Sea Pines by no later than 3:00pm on Wednesday, they could still make it back in time for trick-or-treating, which started at 6:00pm, while also still having the full four days for their case. At this point, Leah wasn't expecting to be able to go, but she was still hopeful.

Regardless, she knew that they had to focus on this case first and save worrying about how/if she was going to make it to New Haven for later. Besides, she had slightly bigger fish to fry, anyways; not that making it back for Halloween wasn't important to her, it just wasn't the only thing on her mind.

Not only did she have to deal with all of the anxiety surrounding everything that had happened the night before with Dean's demon, but she had to make sure that none of it showed so that Dean could remain clueless. In fact, she and Sam had been doing so well of a job hiding it, that they were both sure that they'd gotten away with it, and that Dean wouldn't ever have to know what they did. That hope died, however, when they were about a half hour from Sea Pines, and Dean decided to speak up.