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I can’t believe they didn’t have it, you huff in annoyance and adjust your grip on the shopping bags, blowing hair out of your eyes. I don’t even know what other store might have it!

You transfer all your shopping bags to one hand, carefully digging your phone out of your pocket, I’m running out of time. You sigh in disappointment at the blinking low battery in the top right corner, I told him I wouldn’t take too long…

You stop at the stairs leading down to the subway, chewing your lip, okay, I’ll go check two more stores. And if they don’t have it? You begin down the steps, then he’s getting coal.

 

—

 

“Thank God,” Dean took a few steps back, collapsing onto the couch as he admired the freshly decorated tree.

“Told you we’d finish in time,” Sam placed the lid on the box of decorations.

“We wouldn’t of if she got back on time,” Dean glanced up to the clock on the wall, “she should’ve been back by now.”

“Maybe she’s still shopping?”

The blonde picked his phone up from the table, frowning at the lack of messages, “She would’ve told me.”

Sam made his way over to sit beside his brother, “Maybe her phone died?”

“Yeah, maybe…” the blonde sat up, boulder of worry beginning to grow.

The giant noted the movement, “Hey, don’t go there.” He clapped him on the shoulder, “She’ll be back soon.”

The blonde settled back onto the couch, keeping one eye on the clock, I hope so.

 

—

 

Am I blind? You spin around, wild eyes scanning the shelves, the sales rep said it would be right here. You begin reading all the tags on the shelf, maybe they’re just sold out? restlessly switching the shopping bags to your other hand.

You huff in annoyance as none of the tags are what you’re looking for, where else could this stupid thing possibly be? This was becoming less and less about finding the perfect present, and now was closer to a vendetta. I can’t go back with nothing for him. You internally groan, beginning to walk back down the aisle, maybe I missed it? They do rearrange the stores at this time of year.

You hurry down the other shelves, eyes barely registering the blur of shapes and colours, c’mon, c’mon… you huff again as you reach the first aisle, oh, well that’s just great. You shift your weight to your opposite foot, why would he lie to me about it being here? A sinking feeling comes over you then, as you feel yourself beginning to lose hope, I really don’t want to go back without it.

You close your eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath, okay, girl, think: where else could it be? It’s not like it’s holy oil, I know you can get it at a regular store. You re-open your eyes, the store name hitting you like a bolt of lightening, of course! I’m so dumb!

You hurry out of the store, ignoring the confused stares of the employees, resolve strengthening, he’s gonna flip.

 

—

 

“Okay, now can I worry?”

Sam watches as his brother paces the living room floor, “Dean, I’m sure she’s-”

“No!” He stops, pointing an accusatory finger at him, “No more of this ‘she’s fine’ crap! She was supposed to be here three hours ago!”

Sam sighs, holding his hands up in mock surrender, “I’m sorry, okay? I just figured-”

“It doesn’t matter.” Dean turns on his heel, going over to the door, pulling his jacket on, “I’m going after her.”

“Whoa, dude.” Sam followed, “Relax. Let’s take a minute and think about this logically.”

“Okay, sure,” he toes on his boots, “She wouldn’t just not come home!” He walks the few steps over, hand on the knob, “So – logically – I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”

 

—

 

Finally, you feel as though a weight has been lifted from your shoulders as you pick the God-forsaken present off the shelf, snaking your way back toward the checkout line, I’m never shopping on Christmas Eve again.

Your eyes go wide as you walk down one aisle, line of people halfway down it, oh come on! It wasn’t this busy when I walked in! You walk out to the end of the aisle, scanning the rows of closed checkouts, really? Not even the express is open? You hang your head and walk back to the end of the line, noting most people ahead of you had overflowing carts. Should I even try? You chew your lip before shaking your head, no, no. I decided to go shopping tonight, I deserve this.

You join the end of the line and sigh, he better enjoy this.

 

—

 

“Yeah, she was here.”

Thank God, “Great,” Dean breathed out a sigh of relief, “where did she go?”

The cashier gave him a once over, suspicion evident on his face.

Dean sucked his teeth, pulling the picture of them out of his wallet, “I’m her boyfriend.”

He still didn’t look convinced, why does she have to look so young, anyway? “I’m not sure, sorry.”

“Great, that’s… great.” Dean breathed out a heavy sigh, leaning his arms against the counter, giving him a pointed look, “You’re sure you don’t know? Did she say anything at all?” His eyes glanced to the door, “Did you at least see which way she turned down the street?”

The cashier shook his head, “Sorry, man.”

Dean resisted the urge to punch the counter, giving the cashier a tight smile before exiting the store, opting instead to punch the brick wall, “Damn it!” His heart quickened as he checked the time on his phone, and his sinking feeling grew as he starred out into the empty street, where are you?

 

—

 

“I’m back!” You burst through the door, dropping the shopping bags, smile sliding off your face as you don’t see your lover. “Dean?”

“Thank God!” Sam came rushing out of the living room, eyes wild, “where have you been?”

“… Shopping,” You toe off your shoes and give him a smile as he reaches for some of the bags, leading the way into the house, “Where’s Dean?”

“He went looking for you.”

“What?” You chuckle as you drop the bags, sliding out of your coat, “I know I was a little late, but-”

Sam gave you an exasperated look, “A little? Try three hours!”

Your jaw dropped, “What?” Your eyes shoot to the clock on the wall, showing it was passed midnight. Oh my God…

“He wouldn’t of been so worried if you had y’know called or something. He left you like, twenty messages.”

Oh no-no-no-no! You rush over to the couch, plunging the charger into your phone, impatiently waiting for it to turn on, “My phone died.”

Sam let out a triumphant chuckle, shaking his head, “I knew it!”

Your heart begins to sink as the screen flashes on, notifications popping up in a steady stream. You shake your head and punch in his number, bringing the phone to your ear, shaking your head, “I can’t believe this.”

“You’ve reached Dean. Leave a message.”

Damn it, “Lover Bear to Batman,” you do your best to keep your voice calm, “Big Brown said you went solo? I’m back at base, so don’t unleash the cavalry. Give me a holler.” You hang up and collapse on the couch, closing your eyes, God I hope he doesn’t wait too long to check his messages.

“Big Brown?”

You crack an eye open to look at the giant, “Yeah…?”

He shook his head, “You couldn’t of picked a code name that doesn’t make me sound like a turd?”

You shrug, “You’re tall and have brown hair.” You stretch before getting up, heading for the box of wrapping paper, “Besides, Dean picked the names. You really think I enjoy referring to myself as Lover Bear?”

 

—

 

Dean scrubs a hand down his face, come on, where did you go? He lets out a heavy sigh as he continues down the sidewalk, why would you even be out this late? He pulls his jacket tighter around his body as a cold gust of wind blows by, worry deepening, of course this had to happen the week when Baby’s in the shop… He shakes his head at himself as he continues down the street, picking up speed as the wind picks up.

I never should’ve let you go shopping alone, He hasn’t seen another person on the sidewalk for about twenty minutes, which is doing nothing but making him lose his shit. He shakes his head again, what was I thinking? Now she’s missing on Christmas Eve. If anything happens to her, I swear to Chuck-

Dean stops as he feels his phone vibrate. Eagerly reaching into his pocket he suddenly realizes he can’t feel his fingers. Oh, come on! He rubs them, blowing breath into them, ends of fingers beginning to tingle as he shoves his hand into his pocket. Come on, come on… He pulls the phone out with the two fingers that have feeling, and feels triumphant as it lifts out of his pocket.

In the next instant, it’s caught on the lip of his pocket and goes crashing to the sidewalk, shit-shit-shit.

He sighs as he bends down, nearly frozen legs protesting as he reaches for it, letting out a heavy sigh as he sees the phone is now broken. He straightens back up, holding down the power button, half hoping to see the screen flash to life.

Well that’s just great… he scrubs a hand down his face as the screen remains black, doing a quick sweep of the street, I can’t keep going without a phone. He groans as he shoves the useless thing back in his pocket, now I have to drive all the way back… maybe I should pick it back up in the morning? He turns and begins walking back the way he came, shaking his head at himself, yeah, right. Like I’m gonna leave her out here all alone, at night… in the freezing cold. He pulls his jacket tighter around himself as the wind picks up again, get it together, Winchester!

 

—

 

“Please, just calm down.”

“Calm down?” You scoff as you struggle to pull on your boots, “How do you expect me to calm down? He’s still out there and he’s not answering!” You throw your scarf around your neck and take a step toward the door the giant is blocking.

“I know,” he has his hands out, eyes pleading, “But you leaving again and getting lost isn’t going to do anything. What if he comes back while you’re out, and then he decides to go looking for you, again?”

“B-but I-” You cut yourself off as his words sink in, crossing your arms over your chest, “You’re too logical, y’know.”

Sam cracks a smile and lowers his hands, “I know.” He moves away from the door as you begin sliding yourself out of your coat, “He’ll be back, soon. I promise.”

“I just…” you feel the pit growing in your stomach as you quick your boots back off, “I’m worried. If something were to happen to him because of me, I couldn’t-”

“Pfft, please.”

The voice from behind you gets you to turn, and you bolt to him, nearly knocking the blonde over, giant smile on your face, “Dean!”

“Whoa!” He catches you easily, and spins you around in a circle to keep from falling over.

“Where the hell have you been?” You back out of the hug, but slide your hand into his, “Oh my God, you’re freezing!”

“Yeah, well,” he allows you to pull him into the house, nearly tripping as he kicks off his boots, “I had to find you. Why didn’t you tell me you were here?”

You let out an exasperated laugh, “My phone died, and then I got back and you weren’t here. I left you a message after I got back. But that was still a while ago.” You all but push him down onto the couch, climbing into his lap, beginning to rub the cold from his arms, “Didn’t you get my message?”

Dean lets out a chuckle, eyes crinkling as he pulls his phone from his pocket, showing you the shattered screen, “It broke.”

You shake your head and nuzzle your head into his neck, “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Sam turns expectant eyes to the two of you, “If only you had someone to tell you everything would work out…” He pretended to tap his chin in though, “Oh, wait a minute… didn’t- yes, I think so – didn’t I say that?”

You share a look with Dean, mischievous smile on your face, before he reaches over, tossing a pillow at the giant, “Shut up, Sammy.”

He catches it easily, before raising an eyebrow, “Sooo…” He looks between the two of you, “do you want to do the presents now or…?”

Dean chuckles, shaking his head, “I knew you didn’t stay just to see if she was okay.”

“Wha-?” Sam scoffed, “Of course I did!” He turned half-panicked eyes to you, “I’m glad you’re okay, really, I am.” He turned back to his brother, throwing the pillow back, “But we do have a tradition, you know.”

You snuggle yourself closer to the blondes’ chest, rubbing the arm you can’t reach with your free hand, “Well it’s gonna take a while to defrost him,” you flick your eyes up to the clock, “And it is pretty late. Maybe we should just do it tomorrow?”

“Welp, you heard the lady,” Dean wraps his freezing arms around you, sly smile on his face as he stands up from the couch, raising an eyebrow at his brother as he starts toward the stairs – you still in his arms, “I don’t know if you want to stick around for how I plan on warming up, but you’re welcome to sleep on the couch.”

Bitch Face Number Four, with a small chuckle, as Sam starts toward the door, “No! No, I’m good.” He shrugs his jacket on, waving as he opens the door, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

You shake your head, unable to keep your smile off your face, as he starts up the stairs, “You didn’t have to kick him out, y’know.”

“Sure I did,” He reaches the top and brings you into the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him, “I gotta give you your real present first.”

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