A/N: Mature content again in this chapter.

God, what now? Ben risked squinting an eye open: Blake and Katie were sitting on the couch, looking at them all wide-eyed.

"Jesus," Jesse mumbled next to him. "I can't deal with this right now."

"You can go to my room and lie down if you want," Ben told him. "I'll take care of it."

Claire followed Jesse to Ben's room with an apologetic smile to Blake and Katie, who didn't look like they would have noticed it if Claire had tried to French-kiss them.

"Well," Ben said once Claire and Jesse had closed the door behind them. "I assume you have questions. This is…" a long story. "At least you're already sitting."

"Was that blood on Jesse's t-shirt?" Katie asked in strangled voice.

"Yes. But he's fine."

"Fine as in 'this is not his blood'?" Blake interjected.

"No, it is his blood, but…" Ben ruffled his own hair. "I think I need to sit down too."

He sat on the chair angled to the left of the couch, and interlaced his fingers on his lap.

"I don't even know where to start," Ben said, exhaustion weighing on him like lead. Despite the few hours he'd slept with Claire and Jesse, it felt like he hadn't had any rest for weeks.

"You could start with telling us whether the weird stuff that's been going on has been solved," Katie said; she had to be recovering from her surprise because her tone was dry.

"You mean… oh, what happened on campus? Yeah, it's more or less… solved, I guess. Unlikely to happen again, at least I hope so."

"Okay, now what about the fact that you three fucking teleported into the living room?"That was from Blake.

"That was…" Ben mulled over a plausible explanation for a few seconds, then went for an abridged version of the truth. "That was Jesse. He took us with him. That's a shitty way to travel, if you wanna know."

"Okay, and how did Jesse do that exactly?" Blake asked.

"Jesse is…" Ben couldn't help a smile. "Jesse's special. He can do all sorts of crazy stuff."

"Oh, god," Katie said, pointing her finger at Ben. "I know that look! You love him! Oh, Ben. You're beyond help at this point."

"Help? What help? All you ever did was mock me – that's how I remember it."

"Can we get back on track, guys?" Blake said. "Not that Ben's love life isn't fascinating but I'd like to know what's up with the teleporting guy and what happened on campus and Dean Winchester! Katie told me that Dean fucking Winchester was here."

"Yeah, he's not here anymore. He's gone back to… I don't actually know where, but he's back home. As for the rest, I'll just say that it involved demons and angels and that I have probably saved the world or something. That's your sneak preview. But right now I'm just too tired to explain everything in details."

"You do look tired," Katie said, examining him from head to toe. "And dirty – like you rolled around in the grass." She pursed her lips. "Okay. Blake, we're leaving."

"Hey, I'm supposed to live here too!" Blake raised his hands in surrender at Katie's look. "Alright, alright, I'll go with you. Go to bed, man," he told Ben. "You look awful. And then, you gotta tell us everything."

Ben smiled wanly at them. "I will, I promise. You probably won't believe me but I'll tell you everything that happened."

Katie gave him a hug, Blake patted his shoulder, and they were gone. Ben leaned his head back with a sigh, almost ready to fall asleep on the spot, but the door to his room opened and Claire poked her head out.

"They're gone?" When Ben nodded she came out of the room and closed the door behind her. "I didn't want to bother you while you were talking to your friends, but… can I take a shower? I feel disgusting."

She sounded shy in a way she never had before, even when they'd first met. Ben tried to smile reassuringly. "Yeah, 'course, go ahead. I think we all need a shower before we feel human again. Is Jesse sleeping?"

"No. He's…" She took a step toward him, then stopped, joining her hands behind her back. "Ben, I wanted you to know, I never planned any of this. I never tried to–"

"We should talk about this later, once we're all cleaned up, and we all feel… better."

She studied him, her head tipped to the side. "You have feelings for him too, don't you?" It would accomplish nothing to deny it, so he gave her a wordless nod. "I don't know how I missed it." She raised a hand before he could open his mouth. "We'll talk about it later, I know."

You too, she had said. Well, at least if there'd been any doubts left on the subject, they were all but lifted now. Ben shut his eyes, and probably dozed off for a moment because next time he opened them it was Jesse who was getting out of the bathroom, his hair wet and his t-shirt clean of all stains.

Ben took his turn in the bathroom. There, he shed his dirty clothes on the floor, cataloguing the bruises on his body. The ones on his knees were the most noticeable of his injuries: a mix of blue and violent purple. He should put something on them but he didn't feel like doing anything more than showering at the moment. He stepped under the hot water and spent minutes just enjoying the uncomplicated pleasure of water running down his body, the warmth melting away his aches, the clean feeling.

When he left the bathroom only wearing his boxers and a towel around his neck, he caught sight of Claire and Jesse inside his room. They were neatly framed in the space left by the half-open door, standing out against the bright daylight from the window behind them. Ben stilled to watch them. They looked gorgeous together, sunlight making a halo of pale gold around Claire's head, Jesse's darker profile silhouetted against the rectangle of light formed by the window as he leaned over her, talking quietly to her ear. All Ben wanted was for them to have every good thing in the world, even if it excluded him.

They heard him enter the room and moved apart, a kind of shifty guilt in their body language like he'd caught them making out again. Jesse looked over Ben, gasped and said, "Mate, your knees."

"Yeah, I had a falling over with a headstone," Ben said, then exchanged a brief smile with Claire. "It's nothing."

"Looks painful."

"Heh, I've had worse." Before an awkward silence could settle he added, "I think we have some talking to do," and waved at the bed for them to sit down.

They sat with a good distance between them, their backs straight like they were on a church bench. Ben looked around his room for a spot where he could sit, but his desk chair was covered in clothes and books, so he settled for the floor and sat down cross-legged in front of Claire and Jesse, looking up at them.

"Look, Ben," Jesse started, eyes cast down on his hands. "I'm sorry that– I'm leaving as soon as I got some juice back. I need a couple hours of rest and then–"

"God, Jesse, shut up," Ben said, and regretted his acerbic tone when Jesse looked at him with wide, wounded eyes. He sighed deeply. "I don't want you to go. Don't go."

"I–" Jesse directed a helpless look at Claire, who mouthed, that's what I was telling you. "I don't get it. It would be a lot simpler if I was– I don't wanna come between you two. I don't wanna make any problems for you."

"There's nothing to get, Jesse," Ben said, frustration creeping up in his tone; he wanted to make Jesse understand but didn't want to scare him away – but then, that always had been the issue, hadn't it? "I just…"

On impulse he pushed himself off the floor with a hand planted on the bed next to Jesse's hip, and dropped a kiss on his lips. It was just a brief peck on the mouth, enough to make his point. Then he drew away a little, but not so much that he couldn't feel the warmth of Jesse's breathing, and looked into Jesse's surprised eyes for any sign that he was about to bolt. When nothing of the kind happened he dared say again, "I don't want you to go. I care a lot about you. There doesn't even need to be… anything. We can just be friends."

He could feel his heart trying to climb his throat. We can just be friends – anything but losing you. This was just what he'd said almost two years ago to Claire, minus the kiss. Remembering her presence, he glanced in her direction, and her sad half-smile told him she was thinking of that moment too.

"It's dangerous for you if I stay," Jesse said, but he wasn't trying to move away and they were still a mere inch from each other. "That's why I ran away from home – I didn't want anything to happen to my parents. I–" his voice softened to the point of being barely audible, "I don't want anything to happen to you two."

"Things happen to us anyway," Claire said. "Look at the past few days – it's not because of you we were targets. It's our pasts. Maybe we always will be targets." She pulled in a deep breath. "I don't want you to leave either."

If that was what Jesse needed to hear to be convinced to stay, then Ben was happy that Claire was speaking up, but he couldn't deny that he felt a small pang inside. He fell back on his ass and, feeling a bit cold, he circled his knees with his arms. His eyes met Claire's.

"Ben," she said, "You remember yesterday? When I… and then we…" She made a vaguely suggestive motion with her hand and Ben nodded, stealing a glance at Jesse – had it been only yesterday? "I dumped a lot of things on you during that conversation, but I don't think I've made something clear." Claire leaned forward and took Ben's hand. "In all the confusion, all the heartache, you – you're one of the only things that ever made sense to me."

"Claire," Ben said, not knowing what the appropriate reply was, if there was any.

"And you," Claire turned to Jesse with a sudden smile, "I have absolutely no idea what to make of you."

"Hey," Jesse said, his face twisting into comical confusion. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"It is if you want it to be," she replied, still smiling.

Jesse probably didn't know Claire well enough yet to realize how unusual it was for her to smile that much, but Ben did, and it made him sad and happy all at once. That was confusing as hell.

"Can you two…" He swallowed, barely believing what he was about to ask. "Can you do something for me?"

"Sure, mate," Jesse said easily.

"Can you kiss again?" They stared at him like he'd started sprouting off in Chinese, and his face got warm. "Forget I said anything."

"Well, I just… Why would you want us to do that?" Jesse asked. "I thought…"

"I just kinda want to see it again. I want to check something. But if you don't want to, that's okay, I was just…"

He pressed a hand against his face, feeling the heat on his cheeks. God, if only they would stop looking at him like he was a weirdo.

"I'm up for it," Claire said, and the sound of her voice had Ben take his hand off his eyes. She was angled toward Jesse, shrugging. "If you are too."

"It's not that I mind but… Are you sure?" Jesse asked Ben.

"Yeah," Ben said, even though he was less than.

Claire and Jesse both slid on the bed until their knees touched, then Jesse put a hand on Claire's shoulder and they had a moment of awkward stiffness before they leaned into each other and kissed. It was tentative at first, but while Ben held his breath and watched, Jesse's hand slipped down Claire's shoulder to her waist, drawing her closer to him. She got her own hand in Jesse's hair, stroking down to the back of his neck, then up again, her fingers burying themselves in his hair.

And Ben watched them with his heart thumping in his chest, a complicated set of knots tying his insides up, and part of him was immersed in the vision of Claire and Jesse pressed against each other, their hands all over each other, in the wet sound of their kissing and their harsh breathing – his, too – while another part was looking at all this from above and wondering, how do I feel about this?

Claire and Jesse separated, both of their chests heaving. Claire's cheeks were crimson and her neck was spotted with red, the color striking against her pale skin.

"Satisfied?" Jesse asked with the hint of a smirk to Ben, his eyes fixed on something lower than his face – and when Ben looked down at himself, he saw that the fact that he had no pants and the way he was sitting with his knees spread did nothing to hide the bulge in his boxers.

How do I feel? Well, I guess that part of the answer is aroused as hell.

"Yeah," he said, embarrassed but not as much as he would've thought, if he'd ever imagined himself in such a situation. "Thanks for the show, guys."

"We could…" Jesse had diverted his eyes back to Claire, and his fingers were tracing patterns on the soft skin inside her forearm. "If you want to see more."

"Oh." Ben tried to swallow and conjure some moisture in his dry mouth. It seemed that they had taken a left turn into porn and he probably had to put his foot down at some point, right? Right? "You don't have to," he said. It couldn't be what they wanted.

"What do you want us to do, Ben?" Claire asked, and she was bolder than Jesse because she said it while looking at Ben straight in the eye. Claire never did anything she didn't want to. From the short time Ben had known Jesse, it looked like he was equally independent – he had to be, if he'd spent most of his life answering to no one but himself.

"Take off your clothes," Ben said in a low voice.

On cue, Claire and Jesse started to pull up their tops.

"No, wait," Ben said, and they stopped immediately. The thrill that ran through Ben then was electrifying. "No, I want you to take each other's clothes off."

Jesse chuckled and got a hold on the hem of Claire's top – the one that had been white when Ben had palmed Claire's breasts through it the day before but was now stained with brown and green marks. He pulled it off her head, and her drying hair got messy with static and she laughed, trying to flatten it down with her hand. Her bra was a simple flesh-colored affair, and Ben now could see that the red spots on her skin ran down to the crease between her breasts. Before taking off Jesse's t-shirt she slid her hands under it, flat over his stomach, and looked at him with a smile.

"Your hands are cool," he murmured.

He waited for her to get him rid of his t-shirt, raising his arms docilely above his head as she did so. Then he circled his arms around her torso while she raised her arms to let him do it and unhooked her bra with ease. All the while they were perfectly silent, like in a mime show, and Ben had to clutch his hands together to keep them from going inside his boxers.

"You want it?" Jesse asked Ben, holding Claire's bra by one of its shoulder straps.

Before Ben could formulate an answer Claire slapped Jesse's hand with a groan. "You're a jerk," she said, half-frowning, half-amused. "You have some clothes left to take off. Clock is ticking."

They proceeded to take the rest of each other's clothes off, taking their time. Even if they didn't look in his direction and were focused on each other, Ben was acutely aware that they were putting on a show for him, and the knowledge left him aching with how turned on he was. God, and none of them had even touched him – he hadn't touched any of them.

When only Claire's panties and Jesse's boxers were left on they grounded to a halt. Jesse's hand hovered hesitantly at Claire's hip, and he turned to Ben. "What now?"

What now? He had the both of them almost entirely naked – hell, he was a piece of clothing away from being naked himself – and it seemed obvious that there was only one direction this could go. It was another thing to be able to say it aloud, though.

"Well…" He licked his lips. For one dilated moment he was brought back to that night with Jesse – again, everything was new, exciting, and possible. "I want you to fuck her. If that's alright with you, Claire?"

"Got a condom?" she shot back.

"I can find one," he said, and went to rummage in the drawer from his nightstand. It'd been a while for him, so he wasn't sure whether he had any left, but fuck, he was ready to call Blake for supply as a last recourse. Fortunately he didn't have to, because he would never have heard the end of it.

"Here you go," he said, but stopped himself before he handed the condom out to Jesse. "Do you mind if I…" He waved a hand in the general direction of Jesse's crotch. "If I do it?"

"Oh. God, hell, no. I mean," Jesse combed a hand through his hair, messing it up. "I don't mind at all."

"Right."

Ben reflexively put a knee on the floor, but was reminded of why it wasn't a good idea when the pain flared up. "Ow, shit!" he cursed, and fell back on his left hip.

"Ben?"

"It's my knee. I'm fine."

He sat on his heels, propped up on the balls of his feet, a hand against the edge of the bed for support.

"Get these off," he told Jesse, pointing at his underwear.

Jesse smirked, spreading his legs wide while leaning back on his elbows. "Since we're at undressing each other, why don't you do it yourself?"

Claire laughed lightly, and Ben glared at her. He adjusted his position so he wouldn't lose his balance before he slid Jesse's boxers down his hips – there Jesse helped him out by barely raising his ass off the bed – then down his legs.

"There, you lazy bastard," Ben murmured, but his focus was mostly on Jesse's dick, lying half-hard against his thigh. It wasn't the first time Ben had seen another guy's penis, but it was the first time it was this close. He was crowded between Jesse's knees and there wasn't anywhere he could go, and he could feel Jesse's warmth and hear his breathing. He reached out and took it in his hand – it was warm and soft, a bit different in feel than his own, but not that much.

"God, Ben." Jesse's voice quivered lightly. "Don't just… do something."

It wasn't really thought out on his part when Ben leaned forward and took Jesse into his mouth. It took him a second to adjust, remembering at the last moment to mind his teeth, and his position was awkward, his knees getting in the way, stuck between his chest and the bed and keeping him from bending much. When he was a kid, Blake and him and some other kids would have contests about which of them could get the most food into their mouth – it was a bit like that, trying to get as much of Jesse's dick as he could inside. When he'd taken as much as he was comfortable with he started sucking, moving his head up and down.

Above his head he heard Jesse moan, and it suddenly was too much for Ben, he had to get a hand on himself, so he slid one inside his boxers and started stroking himself in rhythm with his sucking Jesse. A brief glance on the side to check on Claire, and Ben caught a glimpse of her hand inside her panties – good to know that he wasn't the only one who liked to watch, he thought.

"Ben, Ben, stop."

Ben got his mouth off Jesse immediately – Jesse's dick was now fully hard, curving up to his stomach.

"I think I'm good to go now," Jesse said with half a smile. "Condom?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry."

Ben wiped the spit that had drooled down his chin, and hurriedly tore the condom package before rolling the condom down Jesse's cock. Claire had already taken her underwear off and was stark naked, opening her legs for Jesse to crawl up between them. At first, held back by the feeling that he'd done his part, Ben remained on the floor and watched, jacked himself off and watched them kiss again and Jesse delicately stroke Claire's bruised face, watched Jesse hook Claire's legs over his shoulders while he went down on her, and then watched as Jesse got inside her and she grasped at his neck.

"Ben," she said, and her breath hitched as Jesse moved out and in. "Ben, come here."

It was a call Ben was helpless to resist, so he climbed on the bed and lay down by their sides. Claire held a hand out to him and he took it. He wasn't sure what to do then – Jesse was huffing and puffing right next to him, so distracting, making the bed shake when Claire told him, Jesse, harder – and because his eye was caught by the sight of Claire's breasts, the pale skin with the blue veins and the red nipples, that was where his mouth went next. He kissed the soft skin, then one of the nipples, took it into his mouth and sucked. And he could feel Jesse's hand roaming over his shoulders, his back, his ass, so he stopped playing with Claire's nipple for a moment to kiss Jesse, a full kiss for the first time, with tongue and a little teeth, and it was then that Jesse came, his groan lost in Ben's mouth.

Jesse and Claire separated after another kiss, and Ben went back to jerking off with urgency, wanting to finish himself off quickly.

"Ben, don't come now," Claire said, and Ben's hand froze. "I want you to… I want you in me too."

"You sure?" It was hard not to come right now, but Ben managed to starve off his orgasm. "I won't last long though."

"It's okay." She smiled. "Me neither."

It was a minor miracle, but Ben found another condom inside his nightstand.

"Want me to return the favor?" Jesse asked, stroking a hand up Ben's thigh.

"Man, if you put your mouth on me now I swear I'm gonna blow my load."

It made Jesse laugh, that free laugh that Ben could now identify as his real happy laugh, so rare Ben had only heard it a couple times. It felt like Jesse was coming back to himself, like maybe he was going to be okay after all. Jesse's hand was still on his thigh and Ben gave it a quick squeeze, full of feelings he couldn't voice at the moment, before putting the condom on himself.

Since he couldn't assume the same position Jesse had, Ben laid down on his back, and let Claire straddle him and lower herself on him.

"You know," he said, putting his hands on her hips with a deep breath, "this is the stuff most of my wet dreams have been made of for a long time." Then, feeling Jesse's presence by his side, he added, "Only way better."

"Sweet talker," Jesse said to his ear, before he started nibbling at his lobe.

"Well then," Claire said, leaning over him with her blond hair tickling one side of his face, "enjoy."

She moved her hips in a way that stole Ben's breath, and there was no room for breathing or even thinking in the next moments. Claire went to and fro, slow and languid like the sea licking the shore at low tide, in stark contrast with the intense fucking between her and Jesse the moment before, and sometimes she kissed him deeply at the same time, sometimes Jesse kissed him, and sometimes Jesse and Claire kissed each other above Ben, and if he had felt jealousy at one point he could honestly not remember why anymore. When he came he was breathing into Claire's mouth, clutching at Jesse's hand.

Afterwards they lay together on the bed, Ben snuggled between Claire and Jesse. He had his arm around Claire's shoulders, his thumb rubbing idly along her collarbone. Jesse was breathing softly against his neck. It was warm and peaceful and content, and the craziness from the last few days was catching up with him, weighing upon his eyelids and making his limbs feel heavy as lead. Something was nagging at him, though, keeping him from falling over the edge.

"Jesse?" he called.

"Hmm?"

"Are you… are you going to be here when we wake up?"

Ben felt Claire shift against him, obviously still awake and listening.

"I wouldn't do that to you," Jesse said, running his hand up and down Ben's arm.

"And later?"

Jesse's sigh tickled the crook of Ben's neck. "It's not that I don't want to, I'm just – I'm fucking scared, mate. Always have been, all the time."

Claire wordlessly reached out across Ben's chest to Jesse, who took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"It'll be okay," Ben said, his nose against Jesse's cheek, and Jesse closed his eyes. "You don't have to run anymore. It'll all be alright."

They fell asleep like that, all tangled with each other, Ben repeating words of reassurance until they were nothing more than a soothing background noise.

ooo

Ben woke up without knowing what had pulled him from the blissful dark of sleep, until he heard the muffled sound of someone knocking against the front door.

He sat on his bed, looking around him. The threesome sex hadn't been one of those scorching dreams that had him waking up hard as nails, because Claire and Jesse were here and sound asleep on both sides of him. They had rolled away in their sleep, and Claire was now on her side facing the wall and Jesse was twisted up in a bizarre position, his face buried into the pillow with one arm crooked above his head and the other hidden under his body.

The knocking started again, and Ben crawled up to the end of the bed so he wouldn't bother Claire or Jesse, and looked quickly for a cleanish t-shirt and a pair of boxers before he went to answer the door. As he was about to open it, wondering who was behind it – Blake and Katie both had a key and generally let themselves in – and what time it was, he realized that he hadn't been to class or work for at least two days.

"Goddamn it," he said aloud, pulling the door open.

"Well, hello to you too."

It was Dean, his hands in his pockets, looking at Ben with his eyebrows raised and a corner of his mouth slightly curved up.

"Dean." Ben looked past him. "Castiel isn't with you?"

"No, I drove here."

"Oh, with the Impala? I remember that car. But – you drove here? How far are you exactly?"

Dean rubbed the back of his head. "Just a few hours from here."

"You mean you're in California? You've been in California all this time?"

"Since Castiel put Sammy in a coma, yeah. Can I come in?"

"Oh, uh. Sure."

The light outside was dim, and the air was a bit chilly – apparently they'd slept through the day. Ben rubbed at the goosebumps on his arms and hurriedly closed the door behind Dean.

"Please have a seat – but we'll need to keep our voices down 'cause Claire and Jesse are sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Dean's eyes followed Ben's to the door to his room. "You mean in there? Both of them? Damn, kid."

Ben couldn't help a smile as he sat with his legs crossed on the chair opposite to the one Dean had chosen for himself.

"Well, yeah," he said.

"And now what are you… Not that I'm in a position to give any advice on relationships, mind you. It just seems a bit unconventional."

"It probably is, and I'm not sure where we are going with this." Again, Ben couldn't keep his smile down. "But for now I'm happy."

"Then I guess it's the only thing that matters." Dean rubbed his hands together, like he was cold. "So – I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here, right?"

"Well, I would've thought you'd stay with your brother now that he's awake."

Dean snorted. "Actually he was sleeping when I left earlier. He's pretty tired for a guy who's been asleep for years. And he's the one who wanted me to come talk to you, once I told him who you were."

"Okay," Ben said slowly. "Did you have something to tell me?"

"I wanted–" Dean shook his head. "I shouldn't have come. I'm probably the last person you want to see in your living room." He put his hands on the arms of the chair like he was about to stand up.

"No, wait." Ben raised a hand to stop him from moving. "You've driven all the way out here. I'm not kicking you out. And you know, I'm not as mad as I was. I mean, sure, what you did to me and Mom was fucked up."

"Yeah, I'm getting that." Dean leaned with his elbows on his knees, his hands joined together like in a prayer. "I told you I'd done it to protect you and your mother, but the truth is, I probably tried to protect myself most of all. And Sam told me it was fucked up at the time, which is why he wanted me to come and try to make it up to you or something, since we parted a little hurriedly this morning. Because – I know it doesn't change anything, but if it didn't work out with your mother and you and what we had that year, it's not because I didn't love the both of you."

Ben had listened to Dean with his lips pursed, fighting a surge of emotions. He swallowed through the lump in his throat.

"There's something I always wondered about," he said. "At least, when I didn't have my memories hidden behind a wall in my mind or whatever the whammy Castiel put on me was. Are you my dad?"

Dean scratched the spot above his left eyebrow, not answering right away. "Your mother always said I wasn't," he finally said. "Said she did a test and your dad was some other dude in a leather jacket. I always figured that even if she'd been lying that time she would've told me the truth when we lived together."

"She was always very vague when it came to my dad, and I thought – I guess I wanted it to be you she was talking about. I thought you were the coolest guy on earth, you know."

Dean smiled wistfully. "There are plenty of better role models out there, but thanks anyway. If it matters, I could never have wished for a better kid than you."

Ben lowered his head to hide the emotions probably painted all over his face. They could do a test, he thought, and settle that question once and for all, but then what would he do if the test said that Dean was his father? And what if he wasn't? Ben wasn't sure he was ready for any of the alternatives.

"Okay, I have to get going now," Dean said, rising from his seat.

"What? You don't have to go just now, you can – have a beer or something."

"Nah, I need to get back to Sam, and you–" Dean's eyes slid to the door to Ben's room. "You have people to take care of. I don't want to intrude on any post-coital ritual."

Ben got to his feet to see Dean to the front door. "Is it the last I'll see of you?" he asked.

Dean looked at him with a guarded expression. "That's kind of up to you. You have my number, so you can give me a call if you ever need help or anything."

Ben shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. "Yeah. I guess I could do that," and that made Dean smile at him, surprisingly genuine.

Once Dean was gone, Ben went to lie down on the couch, thinking of all the ways his life had been turned upside down these past few weeks. His present, his past and his future – nothing would ever be the same. The world had taken on an entirely new face – or rather, it'd always been that strange and dangerous, it was just that Ben hadn't remembered it.

He heard the door to his room open and he sat up, looking over the back of the couch. Claire came out, wearing Jesse's t-shirt, and Jesse followed her, wearing not much except for a pair of boxers.

"I heard voices," Claire said; the bruises on her face had turned purple, but she was still the loveliest thing he'd ever seen. "Were you talking to someone?"

"Yeah, Dean came by. Apparently he's been living in California all along."

"What did he want?"

Ben glanced in direction of the front door. "Clear the air, I guess."

"Did it work?" Jesse asked. He looked like nothing at all had happened to him, at least physically; even the symbol Ben had carved into his skin looked months old.

"Maybe." Ben shrugged. "Time will tell."

Jesse gave him an odd, long look, then without warning he leaned over the back of the couch and kissed Ben. Ben closed his eyes just for a split second, savoring the press of Jesse's lips, and when he opened them he caught Claire smiling at them, that quiet smile that made her look like she was lit up from the inside.

"Does it mean you're staying?" she asked Jesse, and Jesse, always better with gestures than with words, answered by kissing her too.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ben said, feeling himself grin like a loon.

Yes, he thought. Nothing in his life would ever be the same, but in some ways, the ones that mattered most, maybe it wasn't so bad at all.

A/N 2: Thank you for reading this story all the way, I hope you enjoyed it. Credits go to my beta, dollarformyname. The fic was written for a bigbang challenge on LiveJournal, and has lovely art by kymericl to go with it (you can see all of it it on my livejournal, same user name than here). I have also written a timestamp to this fic, and a sequel, if anyone is interested.