No Strings Attached

Day 2

"That's fine," the woman answers, clicking several keys on the computer. She pauses, glancing back up at Dean. It wasn't normal for someone to come asking for a resident, but lucky for Dean this woman was a sucker for romantic novels. "Brown hair, doe eyes?"

"Sounds like her," Dean mutters, chuckling to himself ever so slightly. "Can you tell me where she is or call her? I really need to see her." Nodding, the woman picks up the phone to page for Elena. Dean turns away from the desk, clenching and unclenching his fists as he glances around. There are people everywhere, flowing in and out of the big double doors leading outside. The chatter amongst the people is quite loud, but to Dean it sounds muted. He's too preoccupied watching the large staircase as a familiar figure appears at the top.

"Dean?" Feeling somewhere in between shocked and furious, Elena rushes down the stairs and approaches him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I-I came to talk to you," Dean stammers, suddenly losing any and all bravado he arrived with. "About last-"

"Shh! Are you crazy? You can't be here," Elena hisses, keeping her voice as low as possible. Gossip spreads faster than wild fire in towns like this. If someone caught wind of Elena and Dean, it would be the end for them.

"I just... I wanted to see you," Dean admits, his hope of her feeling the same fading fast. Elena, seeing the light draining in his eyes, grasps his elbow and tows him into the nearest supply closet.

"What are you really doing here Dean?" Elena quickly flicks on the lights, revealing the shelves upon shelves of medical supplies kept in such a small place. Elena suddenly feels quite claustrophobic, the space between Dean and her feeling nonexistent.

"You left this morning. Before we could talk," Dean says, nervously licking his dry lips. Sighing, Elena rakes her hands through her tangled hair. The movement draws Dean's eyes, giving them a chance to rake over her. She looks quite beautiful in her scrubs, the loose fabric somehow complimenting her thin frame. Her hair, although a mess, appears perfect to Dean. Even her bloodshot eyes and pale complexion don't bother him.

"I told you. There's nothing to talk about."

"Oh come on. You can't seriously be telling me you haven't been thinking about me," Dean says, stepping closer to her. His cockiness is returning, the false bravado convincing him to close the space between them. "Last night, the bar, the backseat..."

"Dean, stop," Elena says, her voice shaking. Her hands fly up to stop him, palms placed firmly against Dean's chest as he continues to press her against the wooden door.

"You really want me to stop?" Dean places his hands gently on Elena's waist, causing a crescendo of butterflies to fill her stomach. Elena opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Dean is so close, standing in front of her waiting for her to come up with some sort of response. Her mind is spinning, unable to articulate what she's feeling. "Prove it."

"Wh-what?" Elena swallows thickly, pressing her back against the door to prevent herself from giving in to Dean's temptation. Dean's eyes flit down just for a moment to her lips before returning to her eyes.

"Prove to me that you don't want this," he whispers, his nose bumping gently against Elena's. Squeezing her eyes tight, Elena waits for him to take the next step, to press his lips against hers when they aren't drunk out of their minds.

"Dean..."

He uses the word as an invitation, pressing his lips lightly atop hers. The contact jump starts Elena into action, reminding her of the horrible things she and Dean have already done. She pushes him away quickly, bringing her fingers to her lips in shock.

"How... how dare you," Elena whispers, her eyes widening at Dean. "You can't just kiss me! I have a boyfriend, Dean. A real, actual boyfriend who's probably waiting for me to come home. And you! You have a girlfriend! And a kid to take care of. Go home, Dean." Elena wraps her hand around the door handle, yanking the door opens and stepping out into the hall.

"You said it yourself you weren't happy," Dean says, trailing after her as she makes her way down the hall. "You said you didn't love him. Not really."

"That's not true," Elena snaps, picking up a patient's chart to convince Dean she really means to leave him. "I just said we were working through a few things."

"A few things," Dean mimics, his mocking tone making Elena's strides falter. "You're lying to yourself and you know it." Elena stops walking, nearly causing Dean to bump into her. She whirls on him, putting her free hand against his chest to stop him from coming any closer.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear," she hisses, glancing around to make sure none of the other nurses were listening. "I don't care what Damon has done or what went on between us last night. I love him and I'm not leaving him." Dean nods along with her words, understanding where she's coming from because he's in the same boat with Lisa.

"Okay, but-"

"Let me finish," Elena says, effectively silencing Dean. "I'm not leaving Damon. But last night... Talking to you... I had a nice time. I was more honest with you than I ever have been with Damon. But that doesn't change anything. I'm still with Damon and you're still with Lisa. I'm not a home-wrecker, Dean."

"And I'm not asking you to be." Dean jumps on his chance, placing a hand on Elena's shoulder to assure she isn't going anywhere. "I'm just asking for more of this. More of us. There's something between us and I don't want to lose it." Elena pauses, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. She'd never considered this for herself. Never once considered spending time with a man other than Damon. But even she had to admit she found Dean's offer intriguing.

"What did you have in mind?" A smile breaks out on Dean's face, just as Elena had hoped. She hasn't known this man twenty-four hours and already she's striving to see him smile.

"A date. Not a real date," Dean clarifies upon seeing her reaction. "Just coffee. We can talk and figure out where we want to go with this. I'm new to this, so you'll have to bear with me." Laughing dryly, Elena shakes her head in shock.

Without even thinking about it, Elena agrees to meet Dean for coffee Saturday morning. That would give her three days. Three days to figure out what exactly she wanted from Dean and what he wanted from her. Just three short days and she would be sitting in front of Dean in a little café, laying out the ground rules for whatever relationship they had planned.

Just three days.

Author's Note:

Here is the second chapter of No Strings Attached! It took me a little longer to write this than I thought it would, but I've been dealing with a lot of crap these last few days as most of you know (if you follow me on Instagram--link in bio). Anyway, I hope you liked it! Don't forget to tell me what you think! Thank you so much for reading!

Please comment/share/vote!

Until next time!

~ spnjackles