Dean left Katt with mixed feelings. She'd said he was important to her, but he wasn't really sure what that meant. Somehow, he had a feeling things would never quite be the same between them, and he knew it was his fault. He'd only been trying to keep her safe, but somehow, it seemed to have backfired.

The drive home was uneventful, and he pulled the Impala into the warehouse beneath the loft with a heavy heart. He glanced over at the picture Katt had given him and picked it up. It was a charcoal drawing of him and Paige, set in a silver frame. It was good, better than she seemed to think, done from memory. She had talent, and he was touched that she'd taken the time to sketch it for them.

After a few minutes, he took up the picture and what remains of the pie she'd given him and climbed out of the Impala to ascend the stairs to the loft he shared with Paige above the warehouse. It was late and he wasn't sure if she was still awake or not, so he juggled the contents of his arms to feed his key into the hole and let himself in.

Paige was in bed but with a book. Or had been in bed with a book. She had fallen asleep waiting for him to get back from where ever he had gone. There was only so much waiting she could do. He would find that on the nightstand next to the bed was a few used tissues.

He closed and locked the door and went about his usual routine of making sure all the windows were secure and all the proper precautions against demons were in place. Once that was finished, he made sure the cat had food and water and made his way to the bedroom where he found her, frowning to himself that he'd been gone longer than planned and had missed saying goodnight. He carefully set the picture down on the dresser, pulled off his coat and laid it on a chair. The remainder of the pie had been left in the kitchen when he fed the cat.

She heard him come in and she twisted in her sleep, mumbling and eventually stirring from her sleep. Groggily she looked up and a sad little smile found her. "Hey..you are back late..."

"Yeah, sorry..." He bent over to untie and pull off his boots, leaving them beneath the chair that held his jacket. Once that was done, he made his way over to the bed and took a seat beside her, noticing the book on the nightstand and the tissues. Had she been crying" He pushed her curls back from her face, looking both remorseful and concerned. "You okay?"

She shifted and curled herself around him, her cheek resting on his knee. "I'm not sure. A cousin of mine..Who I don't even know..was in an accident. He is in the hospital." And when he didn't come home she sort of panicked herself into tears.

He didn't quite make the connection that she was worried the same thing might have happened to him, though it had been a car accident that had caused them to meet in the first place. He frowned at the news, his fingers tucking her hair behind an ear. "Is he gonna be all right?"

"We don't know." She looked up to him, smiling meekly. It was hard to be fully upset when.."I don't know him at all..but I..he is family. And if he doesn't make it he will be someone I will never know.."

There was the talk of family again. All of his family was either dead or back home, and while she had plenty of family here, she didn't really know any of them. Still, he didn't wish death on anyone, especially someone he didn't even know. "Do you want to go see him?"

"N-No!" She shrunk back almost instantly. Being in a hospital as much as she was with her mother....No she wouldn't be able to do it.

Startled by her reaction, he reached for her hands to try and comfort her. "Paige, it's all right. We don't have to go. I just thought..." He chewed on his bottom lip. He obviously hadn't thought at all. "I'm sorry."

"I..I do..I mean.." She bit her lower lip and lowered her eyes, admitting quietly, "Hospitals make me uncomfortable..and it isn't like I know him or anyone that will be there. But I ..I will send him something .."

He reached for her, to pull her in and hold her close, trying as he might to offer her some comfort, feeling horrible for upsetting her more than she already was. "It's all right. I'm sure he'll be fine." Of course, he had no real way of knowing that, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"I was...I was scared you didn't ..that you were hurt too. And you big goof..you left your phone at home!" She shoved him before throwing herself up to give him a big hug.

"I did?" He hadn't realized that he'd left his phone home and looked surprised by that, wondering what the hell had caused him to be so forgetful. Had he been that worried about seeing Katt again that he'd forgotten such a simple thing" He'd better be more careful in the future. He couldn't chance getting sloppy. And then he found her throwing herself at him and he wrapped her in his embrace. "Paige, I'm fine. Not even a scratch."

"Where were you?" She nestled her cheek into his neck.

He rubbed her back gently in an attempt to soothe her and calm her down. He could feel her heart beating close to his and he felt an overwhelming desire to protect her and keep her safe. He frowned a little at her question. "I was at Katt's. I haven't seen her in ages."

"You were with Katt." No she didn't sound jealous but there was a little twinge of it there. She coped with it by locking her lips with him in a brief but passionate kiss. "That is good. You .." Blink and she smirked at him. "You had pie didn't you?" She teased at him lovingly.

He returned that kiss, just as passionately, reluctant to break from it, a smile curling his lips, which must have tasted like cherry pie. "Yeah, she's always feeding me, like you. I brought home the leftovers." He hoped the promise of leftover baked goods would somehow make up for him being late. He broke away from her just long enough to get up and snag the picture Katt had made for him, taking another look at it, before handing it to Paige. "She gave me this."

She blinked and took the picture to look it over. "My goodness, Dean. This is beautiful! Who did it?"

He sat down beside her, looking over her shoulder to admire the picture. "Katt did." He was as much in wonder of it as she was.

"She..Did this" Herself" This.." She gestured to the picture and turned her eyes to him in awe. "And she bakes for a living"! Why doesn't she draw" Travel the world and draw things she sees" By the goddess, she is a gifted little thing, isn't she?" She smiled and kissed his cheek. "She captured your wonderful eyes very well."

His face flushed a little at the compliment. Shucks. He chuckled a little. "They're green, Paige." Not wonderful. Wonderful wasn't a color. "She captured you, too. The way you look at me sometimes." His gaze softened as he turned from the picture to her.

She laughed at his retort. "You are awful. Unable to take a simple compliment.." His gaze caused her to blush and she turned her head slightly away in order to look at the picture. "She made me too pretty.."

He frowned at her comment, disagreeing with her completely. In fact, he thought the live version was much prettier than the picture. "I think she captured you perfectly," he told her in a quiet tone of voice.

"Really?" Her cheeks bloomed like a rose as she stared at the picture. "No..No I don't think my boobs are that big.." She teased him.

He chuckled. "I wasn't talking about your..." He couldn't bring himself to say the word. He just broke into laughter.

She got him to laugh and that was the best sound in the world to her ears. She smiled and held out the picture to him.

He took the picture from her, giving it a last look before getting back up to return it to the dresser. "Where do you think we should put it?"

"Living room!" Without a second thought! "That way everyone can see it when they come over!"

He laughed again at her exuberant suggestion, though he thought the picture was too personal to put on display. "Who's everyone?"

"I don't know. We will have people coming here sooner or later you know." She swatted him.

He chuckled when she swatted him. They'd had a few visitors, but not many. It didn't really bother him though. He unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans to get ready for bed. "Your family maybe." Katt was about the only visitor he ever expected to have here, though if things worked out the way he planned, that might not be the case.

"Oh dear.." The thought of her brother storming in and chasing Dean' The image was both frightening and laughable.

He arched a brow at her as he climbed out of his jeans, having no idea what she was thinking about and wondering if there was something wrong with him getting undressed. "What"

"Nothing. So are you leaving again or going to come to bed." She wiggled her brows and flopped back.

He chuckled. "I thought I'd go for a jog around the block in my boxers," he teased. "Care to join me?" He stepped out of his jeans and kicked them aside, then flopped down on his stomach on the bed beside her, grinning widely.

"No thanks. I am quite comfortable in bed. You sure you want to do that' Cold and snow.." Shrinkage?" Tease!

"Oh, honey, I don't have to worry about shrinkage." He smirked, waggling his eyebrows and teasing her.

"Because I can help with that?" She blushed when she said it and turned her face into her pillow.

"No....well, yes....but no..." He was grinning again. "Because I was not cursed with shrinkage," he declared proudly. "You wanna see" We could take a shower."

She blushed brightly. "Dean Winchester." She laughed and leaned to kiss his mouth. "Bad boy."