A/N: Since the last one chapter was so short, I wanted to give you guys another update for the day. I love you all for your constant support! My faithful few always make me smile with your comments and all the love you show me. Okay. I'll shut up now. Have a lovely day my lovelies!
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I pulled into the parking lot of the motel where Niki was staying. The rain had started falling about an hour before you arrived. Most people didn't like driving in the rain, but you were different. Even if it was storming, there was something calming about the sound of raining bouncing off of your windshield. It helped you sort out your thoughts and how you were going to handle being around Niki after avoiding her for all these years.
With a sigh, you climbed out of your jeep and sprinted under the awning of the motel, scanning each door for the number 106. When you found it, nerves took over your body. How were you going to face her after ignoring her? There was no excuse for that at all. You were a terrible friend and she probably hated you for it.
Niki ripped the door open with a huge grin before you even had the chance to knock. She pulled you into a tight hug, surprising you stiff. It took you a second before you returned the hug and smiled.
She tugged you inside and you got to look at the girl that had turned into a beautiful young lady. You hardly recognized her, although not that that was surprising. You hadn't seen each other since you were fifteen and she was twelve. The only thing keeping you in contact was phone calls.
"Look at you," you exclaimed with a grin as wide as your face. "You've grown up so much!"
"Me, what about you?" She pulled you into another surprise hug. "I've missed you." The short wisps of her brown hair grazed your cheeks and you laughed from the tickle.
"I like your hair like this, by the way." You dragged your hand through the pixie cut and she laughed.
"Thanks. It was much more practical for hunting than the long mess it was before."
You understood what she meant. You had been tempted many times to just give up on beauty altogether and shave it off. Long hair became an extra disadvantage many times with monsters. It was just one more thing for the monsters to grab and hurt you by.
"How've you been?" you asked, plopping onto the twin sized bed that wasn't disheveled from sleep.
She pushed air between her lips, mimicking the sound of a motor. "I've been...living."
"That bad?"
"After you stopped returning my calls and I started hunting, things definitely got more hectic than I ever imagined they would.
"Niki, I'm so sorry. There was just a lot going on in my life, and I know that is no excuse, but I pushed everyone away and I regret it now."
She shook her head and smiled. "There's nothing to apologize for. I get it."
She walked across the room and bent her short little body down to pull a beer out of her cooler. "Want one?"
You shrugged. "Why not?" She walked back over and sprawled out on her side on the bed next to you. "So what's this hunt?"
"I think there are some demons after this thing called the First Blade."
"The what?" You questioned, wondering how your sweet little friend got tied up in hunting demons of all things.
"It's supposedly a blade made from the jawbone of a donkey."
"And," you drug out the word in a questioning tone, "why are demons after a jawbone knife?"
"Blade," Niki corrected. "And because it can kill any being when accompanied by the Mark of Cain."
"I still don't-"
"Do you know of Abaddon?" she questioned, getting a little impatient with my ignorance.
"Knight of Hell, yes."
"She's free and walking around causing havoc and the only thing that will kill her is the First Blade. She has demons everywhere and they want to get their hands on it before one of those Winchester boys takes on the Mark to kill her."
Your eyes widened at the mention of the Winchester's. They were the last people you wanted brought into this conversation. "You know Dean and Sam?"
"I've heard enough."
In the short span of time that Niki had been hunting, she was already in deeper than you ever were, and you were raised in the life. It broke your heart that she gave up what could have been a normal life, and that she was mixed up with Abaddon. Abaddon, who was not able to be killed.
"I'll tell you this much, Sam is a gem and Dean is jerk."
"You met them?" Her brown eyes went wide with excitement. "What were they like? Everyone says they're difficult people, but amazing hunters."
"I actually bunked with them for a few days, and, like I said, Sam is great. He's one of nicest people I've met. Dean, on the other hand, is very difficult. And that's being generous."
She sat up on the bed, pulling her legs in and sitting like a pretzel. She sure was enamored at the thought of the Winchester's, who were apparently famous in the hunting community. "Did you hunt with them?"
"Once. I ended up having to save them, actually." You chuckled at the memory. It wasn't that it was funny, but it almost seemed ironic. Dean acted as if he couldn't trust you to hunt when you knew that he was fully aware that you were capable.
"Oh." She sounded a little disappointed.
"Enough about the infamous boys," you said changing the subject. "Back to this blade. Where and how do we get it?"
She smirked. "Did you ever have slumber parties when you were little?"
"Girl, are you crazy? You know I've been hunting since I could walk."
"Right, well, you're getting one tonight. There's this auction in Sioux Falls and the blade is going up. We just need to get it before the demons or the auctioneer does."
You groaned. "Does this mean you're going to paint my nails and stuff?"
"Oh honey," she drawled. "That's only the half of it."
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Niki helped you bring your bags inside and insisted that you let her trim the split ends off your hair. You protested at first because getting a haircut has never been your favorite pass time. But she sure was convincing and soon had you feeling guilty for turning her down and she was taking scissors to your precious hair.
After that, you hopped in the shower to remove the slivers of hair that were stuck to your skin and making you itch. When you were finished, you walked into the main room in a towel and dug through your bags to find your sleep clothes. It was then that you noticed a red and black flannel that didn't belong to you. You forgot about it after staying in the motel and never pulled it out of the bag to give it back to Dean. Something tugged at your heart and you slipped the flannel over your head, dropping the towel into a moist pile below you.
The door opened and Niki slipped in with a few plastic bags in her hands. "Are you finally finished?"
You made a face and stuck your tongue out as a response, amazed at how easily it was to be around Niki. It was like the two of you had been hanging out together since you were born. Despite not talking for years, the two of you got along like there was never a missing gap.
"I got all of the essentials for a sleep over." She raised her hand in the air to draw your attention to the rattling blue bags.
"And what do the essentials include?" I asked while braiding my wet hair out of the way and sitting on the bed.
"Snacks, duh. And a few movies." You resisted the urge to groan, assuming that she bought some sort of romance movies. Not that you didn't enjoy romantic movies, but you weren't really in the mood at the moment.
"What kind of movies?"
She had a sheepish look on her face. "It's probably stupid, since we hunt the nightmare inducing monsters, but I got horror movies."
Being relieved that you didn't have to watch something sappy, you grinned. "I love you. That's perfect."
She hopped onto your bed and bounced a couple of times before settling and dumping the goodies onto the surface. You cracked open the box of (your favorite boxed candies) and dumped a handful into your mouth.
"Before the movies, I'm doing your nails."
"Fine," you groaned, winking at your old friend.
She painted them a beautiful shade of red and added very intricate details in black. "I forgot you said you were good at art," you mused as you watched her wield the nail brush like a true artist.
She only grinned as she finished the last nail. "Now if you screw these up, I will sacrifice you to Abaddon myself."
"Ouch," you laughed. To a normal person, that insult would be really harsh, but hunting had a way of making even the sweetest people calloused. "Well since I'm not allowed to touch anything, do want to pop the movie in?"
She put the movie into the provided DVD player, flicked the lights off, and sat scrunched beside you on the bed. You smiled, feeling truly happy for the first time in ages.
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A/N: I know this chapter is a lot of friend fluff. I hope you guys don't mind too much, but I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It was fun to give the reader a friend (thank you j2_and_CasBee for the inspiration) I hope you enjoyed it even though there wasn't a lot going on. I love you guys so much for voting and commenting and giving me the motivation to keep writing. If it weren't for those of you who are consistently showing me love, I probably would have dropped this story many chapters earlier. So thank you so much. I appreciate you guys more than you know. Okay, I'll quit babbling now.