6 Months Later...
A few things had changed; first of all, Dean finally had the time to fix up Baby and you helped with what you could, getting her back into her pristine glory. It didn't take nearly as long as you thought it would, Dean was pretty handy when he wanted to be. Secondly you got matching ink, though you got your anti-possession tattoo on your hip so you could still wear a low cut shirt if you wanted without getting strange glances. And lastly, you officially moved out of your apartment and into the bunker, sharing a room with Dean no less; since he was now formally known as your serious, long term boyfriend. A first for you and him since he'd never let anyone move into the bunker with them before, let alone his room. And you did eventually get that dinner he owed you, and much more.
"I'm done taking it easy on you, sweetheart. If you want to come along on hunts, you're going to have to step it up a notch." Dean said as you hung your head, bracing your hands against your legs and panting.
He'd been extra tough on your physical training lately and you knew it was just because he wanted- no, he needed you to be safe should the situation call for you to defend yourself. And you were determined to learn to do so as quickly as possible. You were tired of being a benchwarmer, constantly sidelined even on the easy hunts. Sure, you were in no rush to deal with demons again anytime soon, but you thought you were more than ready for a simple salt and burn.
All your spare time was divided between either training in the gym with Dean or studying lore with Sam in the library. You lived with your nose in those musty old books for the first couple of months, earning your keep by helping the boys with research.
"I'd say she holds her own pretty good, Dean." Chirped Sam, who'd joined the two of you for a workout of his own.
He was always praising how quickly you seemed to be picking things up, even if you got annoyed sometimes when it felt like you weren't making any progress. Dean was more for constructive criticism, he didn't want you attempting to get out in the field before you were one-hundred percent ready. Although, you thought he was prolonging that inevitability since you knew most hunters learnt on the job. You knew it wouldn't last forever and he'd eventually let you tag along and actually leave the motel room. But for now you were happy that he was entertaining the idea and soon you'd insist on coming along, if the case was right.
"Pretty good isn't good enough, Sammy, you know that." Dean snapped, he hated it when Sam sat in on your training sessions. He couldn't keep his damn mouth shut, always chiming in and they would wind up bickering the time away.
"Geez, thanks for the confidence boost, honey." You said, letting out a long breath and straightening back up.
"Come on, ten more minutes and then we can get dinner and binge a couple of shows in the Dean cave." He bargained.
"Ugh... fine, but we shower first and no falling asleep on me." You agreed, Dean holding up his padded mitts for you when you raised your fists.
"Promise I'll be awake for two shows at least, three if you let me have some coffee."
You jabbed at his left hand and ducked a swing from his right, hooking your foot behind his knee when he tried to sucker you in and pulled. Dean fell back on his ass in a huff as you and Sam pointed and laughed.
"Told you, she's pretty good." Sam chuckled and Dean just grunted in return, rubbing his tailbone as he stood up.
"Shut it, Sammy."
"Come on, De, let's take that shower." You wrapped your arm around his waist and pushed him towards the door, Dean turning to stick his tongue out at Sam.
_____
You left the shower feeling dirtier than when you entered and Dean had a grin plastered on his face that you couldn't wipe off, not that you wanted to. You loved seeing him happy and carefree if only for a night.
Afterwards, you and Dean settled onto the couch to watch your show, though you weren't five minutes into the first episode when you heard him snoring. The poor guy was exhausted from hunting, training, worrying; he never took a break, as much as you tried to force him to.
And when he did rest he was plagued by nightmares, typically ones of losing you or Sam. Sometimes he'd even wake you up in the middle of the night by screaming out your name. Whenever you asked him about them, he told you that they used to be a lot worse before you moved in, though you couldn't imagine that in the beginning.
They were few and far between now, but you could always tell when he was having one even if it was just a single twitch of his lip. On those nights you held him a little tighter and in the morning you'd wake tangled up with him, sweating through your pyjamas simply because he ran hot, though you didn't mind. It beat those nights alone in your drafty apartment where your feet felt like icicles no matter how many blankets you used.
"Bedtime, De." You whispered, shaking him awake lightly. "Come on, big guy."
_____
In the early morning you set out to visit your brother for dinner. Sam stayed behind to do a little research, you thought there may have been an ulterior motive on his part, though you weren't sure what that was yet. Dean didn't seem too interested, only saying that Sam had a right to his privacy and when he wanted to talk about something with you, he would. You weren't exactly known as the patient type and Dean loved egging you on like that when curiosity got the best of you. He thought it was cute.
Not long after you moved in with Dean and Sam, your brother had been offered another promotion in a bigger city because let's face it, he's Simon. And Simon was a workaholic if you ever knew one. Anyways, he'd sold his house and moved out to St. Louis where he got back together with June. That was one of the selling points, that June already lived there.
You were sad now that he lived so far away but you knew he was safer from demons living in a much larger city. Especially since he and June got married and he opted to change his last name to Moore, as in Mr. June Moore. That's right, he took her last name. The union had been a long time coming, since they'd been best friends for years before even dating and all. You always thought that they were made for each other and you couldn't be happier for him.
And how much of a small world was it when you learned that June's younger sister, Jessica, had dated Sam in college. The Moore's hit a rough patch after her death and as much as you and Simon were there for them, their parents wound up separating and moving out to St. Louis afterwards. You were speechless when Dean told you that a yellow-eyed demon had been involved in her death.
June followed her parents after college, wanting to be close to the family she had left and her and Simon navigated a long-distance relationship for a while. Until the trip with you where he ended things, but now they were closer and stronger than ever and you couldn't be more elated that they were finally together again for good.
Of course, he told June everything about the possession and the supernatural, and Dean even helped out by letting him bring her by the bunker to check things out for herself. In the end she couldn't deny that she still loved him, but made him promise not to get into hunting, which you were more than fine with. You'd lost enough already and you liked the idea of your brother staying as far out of harm's way as possible.
It was a much longer drive now that Simon lived seven and a half hours away, but you loved going for long drives in Baby with Dean by your side and the radio on low. It reminded you of when you first met and you loved the feel of that nostalgia. It had been the best night of your life, in hindsight. You'd found your guy, the one that made you feel safe, happy and content, all in a single glance. The one you never thought you'd find.
_____
It was the first time you really sat down with your brother after dinner and talked. Sure, you helped him move and you were at his wedding which was intimate. But you had a bit of a falling out after moving in with Dean; Simon didn't think it was safe and made that abruptly clear which created a bit of bad blood between him and Dean. You knew it was only because you were the last family he had left in the world and he cared about you in his own way.
So tonight was all about clearing the air and to your surprise Dean had made good on his promise to start a new slate with Simon. He couldn't exactly blame him anyway, since he partially agreed with your brother's worries, but that's another story.
"We're still a family even if you have a different last name now. I'd do anything for you." You proclaimed, hugging Simon at the end of the night when you and Dean were set to leave. "Call me anytime, even if you just wanna shoot the shit." You said, making your brother laugh as you waved goodbye.
"Same goes for you, kid." Simon said, you chuckled loving the fact that both your brothers had the same nickname for you. They really were cut from the same cloth in a way.
"Are you sure you're ready to go so soon, we can stay a bit longer." Dean questioned as you walked to the car with his hand in yours.
"That's okay, we're in a good place now. Besides, I'd like to spend some time with just me and you. Between all the training and studying lately we haven't had much time together to just be." You smiled when he opened your door for you. Joining you in the front seat a moment later. "Maybe we could have Simon and June over for the holidays in a couple of months?"
"I think that's a great idea," Dean beamed, pulling out onto the road and heading for the highway. "We can have a big family dinner in the bunker and they can even sleep over in one of the rooms if they want. I know you would worry about them on the road at night."
"Have I told you recently that you're the best boyfriend?" You hummed, leaning in to peck a kiss to his cheek.
"Not today you haven't," he smirked, pulling you back in for another chaste kiss.
"Okay, eyes on the road, Winchester." You giggled, kicking off your shoes and resting your feet in his lap, leaning back against the passenger door.
It was dark out and you didn't want to pull his attention away from the road too much, especially since there was a long way to go yet. You sighed at the feel of his hand lingering on your leg as he rubbed over your calf. It felt like the first time he brought you home, the way he couldn't keep his hands off of you.
"Anything else you want to do, Y/N/N, while we're still in the city?"
"I just wanna go home." You yawned, stretching out your toes and tickling Dean's thigh.
"Me too." He smiled, gazing at you for a moment. He never could believe that you were here with him, that you didn't leave him like everyone else always seemed to do.
"De?"
"Yeah, baby."
"Let's take the long way home." You smiled, figuring you could stop off at a motel if the both of you got too tired, though at this moment you were content snuggling to the seat with your feet in his lap.
"We already are, sweetheart." He smirked, giving you a sidelong glance before the road got too dark to see inside of the car.
You stared out the window at the stars, the warmth of Dean's hand on your leg kept you grounded and you finally knew what he meant by your definition of home changing. You didn't get that feeling of homesickness anymore and that's when you realized that you were already there. It didn't matter if you were at the bunker or in a dingy motel room or driving in Baby. No matter what, you knew you would always find love and comfort and adventure, as long as you had him. You might've taken the long way around to getting there, but you finally made it home. Because home is where the heart is.