60 Day Challenge

Day Nineteen: In Formal Wear

Part One

            "Are you almost ready?" Elena stands in front of the mirror, her hands working the earring into her right ear. When she doesn't hear a sound, she turns away from the reflective glass in search of her boyfriend. "Dean? Are you coming?"

            When there still isn't a response, Elena sighs and heads toward the stairs. She has to hike up her hoop skirt to prevent herself from tripping on the wooden steps. Reaching the second landing, Elena glances down the hall before knocking on Dean's door.

            She and the Winchesters were holed up in an abandoned building, the old wood floors squeaking Elena's feet. It must have been beautiful back in the day. It wasn't hard to picture the grand room downstairs decorated for a party, oil lamps lighting the scene in a yellow glow. The walls must have been covered in paintings, but they're long gone, the walls now covered in nothing but dust.

            Elena's wipes her hand, a chill running up her spine at the thought of how much grime was just transferred from the door to her knuckles. No matter how grand it used to be, the house gave her the creeps.

            "It's open!"

            Pushing the door open, Elena peeks her head inside. Dean is standing in front of a broken full-length mirror, struggling with his tie. He looks handsome, his dark suit, although worn, complementing his built frame. Elena smiles slightly before stepping into the room. There were clothes strewn all over the place, wrappers of half eaten burgers placed precariously on top of several piles. The mattress Dean has been sleeping on is pushed up in the corner, the blanket rolled up on the end like he just pushed it aside.

            "Do you want some help?" Elena comes to stand behind Dean, watching him in the mirror. A look of frustration is plastered across his face as he fumbles with the tie.

            "I got it," Dean grunts, giving it one final tug before sighing loudly. Slowly he turns around and lets Elena work on his tie. She looks beautiful, the gold ball gown fitted around her waist and then fanning out into a hoop around her ankles. Her elbow-high gloves matched his tie, and Dean vaguely remembers her picking the out for this purpose. After everything, she was still trying to make it work.

            "The trick is to not get frustrated," Elena whispers, expertly folding the tie for Dean. Elena glances up at him, frowning. "Are you okay? You seem kind of stressed."

            "It's nothing," Dean mutters, keeping his eyes on the tie. Shaking her head, Elena finishes and tightens it around his neck, patting his chest before moving away from him.

            "Alright. We should probably go. Sam is expecting us at the fundraiser," Elena says, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. They were in town for a shapeshifter, the evidence pointing toward the party tonight. Sam had gone early, hoping to sneak in as a security guard.

            "Elena, wait," Dean reaches out to catch her wrist, preventing her from getting far. "Are we still fighting?"

            Elena sighs, removing her wrist from Dean's hand. No, they weren't really fighting. There would have to be some form of confrontation for that, some kind of argument or heated discussion. They'd never brought it up, not because the situation hadn't allowed them, but because they didn't want to have this fight.

            They were the kind of couple that was always fighting, whether it was over a risky case or a misplaced dishrag. They just weren't clicking like they used to, and at first they thought it was just a phase. But as the months passed, as the little skirmishes got worse, they realized that wasn't the case.

            Then one day they just stopped. They stopped fighting, they stopped looking each other in the eye, they stopped everything. There was more silence than conversation now, more pauses and hesitation. It's as if they were walking on thin ice around each other, worried that one wrong step would plunge them into the icy water below.

            "We're not fighting," Elena finally says, taking an obvious step back. "But I think that's the problem." Nodding, Dean rubs the back of his neck. Elena's eyes soften at the sight, knowing he only did that when he was extremely nervous or scared.

            "Can we fix this? Whatever's wrong, I'll do anything. I don't want to lose you," Dean murmurs, keeping his eyes on her shoes like he's scared to meet her gaze. He was ashamed, to say the least. Ashamed that after all this time of loving her he's turned to begging.

            "To be honest, I don't even know what this is anymore," Elena admits, smiling sadly before turning to leave.

            "Wait, Elena, we have to talk about this," Dean exclaims, following her out the door and down the steps. He watches as she picks up her purse and readjusts her dress before turning to face him.

            "I know. But right now we have somewhere to be," Elena says, heading for the door. Nodding, Dean follows her out the door and away from their problems.

Author's Note:

So if you missed the "Part One" at the beginning of the chapter, I'm just letting you know that this is going to be continued in tomorrow's challenge. There's only going to be two parts so it doesn't get too confusing lol. Although fair warning, I've looked ahead and I think I've found a way to tie three parts together... We'll see.

Sorry if this is really short and vague, but I'm still sick and I did my best! Thanks for reading!