Well, hello, hello;-)

Obviously, this is totally AU from SPN, there's no hunting or demons or monsters or anything (yet!). I can't promise anything;-) In fact, there more than likely will be some hunting. Honestly, I don't know what possessed me to write this, but I was feeling happy and cheery and, for once, wanted to write something that wasn't filled with crying and sad stuff. Dean would be 22, Alison 19, and Sam 18.

Hope you enjoy.

Goodbye Is Never Forever

Chapter One: Coming Home

Dean stared out of the window, the side of his head rested against the cool glass, and watched as the trees lining the side of the highway melted together into one unending, green blur. The sun shone down from the clear blue sky above and the road ahead of them was a peaceful one. He could feel the breeze hitting his face from a nearby open window, and he found himself smiling. He was heading home. After what seemed like a lifetime away from his family, he was finally on his way back to them. And, it was the thought of one person in particular that turned his smile to a grin.

Dean could still picture the way his little sister had looked the day that he had said goodbye to her. It was something that he would never, ever, allow himself to forget, because it was an image that had run through his mind every single day since. In fact, he had made sure of it. He wouldn't allow himself to forget her, he refused to let the image of her slip from his mind, or fade from his memories. He wouldn't take the chance of not remembering every little thing about the girl who had been his best friend for almost eighteen years of his life, because she was home. While he had been away, when things had gotten tough, she was the thing that would keep him sane, the thought of going back to her. He would remain strong for her, because he had promised her that they day he had left.

That had been fifteen months ago, and he was more than aware that she probably wouldn't be that same seventeen year old girl anymore. She had been a week away from eighteen when he had left, and now she was almost nineteen and a half. A part of him couldn't help but think about how much he had missed out on, but he wouldn't dwell on it. Nothing had changed between them, and he was more than sure of that. He glanced down at the camouflage jacket on the seat beside him and gave a small sigh, no, nothing had changed.

The last time Dean had seen her there had been tears in her eyes and a grin on her face. Her blonde hair had been pulled back from her face and had fallen in soft, gentle waves over her shoulders. Some way, he still didn't know how or why, their mother had beaten the timeless battle and gotten her into a dress for the occasion, and he clearly remembered the sense of realisation washing over him, she wasn't a kid anymore, his sister had been more of an adult on that day than he had ever given her credit for. In that moment, she had looked so much like their mother it had been almost scary.

Alison had been the last one of his family to say goodbye to him, almost as though she had been putting it off, like it was something she had simply not wanted to do. His mother and father, his brother, they were all too prepared to wish him luck, to hug him and tell him that they would see him soon, but she had hung back, standing towards the side and looking on at them, nervous.

Dean had smiled at her, and she had smiled back, automatic, the way she always did, it had been small and shaky, the best she could manage up at the time, but still there. And that was when he had truly seen it, after months of her acting, knowing the day was coming, she had been terrified of it. It had been as though she couldn't force her feet to move towards him, something was stopping her, holding her there, she hadn't wanted to say goodbye to him, because that would make the whole thing real. Not that she would ever let him know, unaware that he had already worked it all out for himself, Alison was afraid of saying goodbye to him.

There hadn't been many days in their lives that they had not seen each other. Dean and Alison had been best friends from the moment John and Mary Winchester had walked through the front door with the little pink blanket in their arms. There had been nothing that would come between the two of them, they had always had each other's backs, through anything. And that day had been no different. From the moment Dean had told her he was leaving, Alison had been nothing but proud of him and his choices. She had admired his bravery, his selflessness, his commitment, and she had been nothing but happy for him. But all that had been before she had factored in the hardest part, the part where he walked away and left them.

"C'mere, kiddo." Dean had said to her, extending his arm out in her direction, and, after a long moment, she had stepped forwards to him. He had wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she had done the same to him, her fists clutching to the back of his jacket with everything she had in her, like she could keep him there with her forever and never let him go. She had told him, it wasn't that she didn't want him to go, it was more that Dean had always been her rock, her strength, the one she turned to with anything, and the thought of him not being there everyday was hard to accept. He had understood, because the thought of not having his sister there with him wasn't an easy idea to accept, either. "I'm gonna miss you." he said softly, rubbing a hand up and down her back gently.

Alison had pulled back enough to face him and she had nodded slowly. There had been tears shining in her green eyes, blurring her vision to the point she could barely make out the soft smile in his features. "Yeah," she agreed. "I'm gonna miss you, too, Dean."

Dean rested his hand to her cheek for a small moment, as though trying to memorise every little detail of her. It was a rare occasion that he would be so caring with her, especially in front of other people, but, at that point in time, he hadn't given it too much thought. That day, all joking and play fighting had taken a backseat, and he was more sincere with her than he had ever been before. Almost. "Now, listen to me, this is important," he began, his voice stern, but there had still been the slightest hint of a smirk as he spoke. "No crying, no boys, and no keggers while I'm gone, 'kay? Especially the boys, or you're in trouble when I come home."

Alison had tried her hardest to laugh, but the tears had slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. He had reached up and wiped them away gently with the backs of his fingers. "I'll be back before you know it." he told her softly, his voice sincere. "You'll see."

She had nodded slowly, trying her best to agree with him. "Please, be careful." There had been a pleading in her voice, and he had swallowed back the lump in his throat, refusing to let the emotion show in front of her. Not there. Not that day.

"I will be." he assured her. "I promise. I'll come home."

Alison had managed to smile at him, really smile, through her tears. "I love you, bro." Her voice cracked over the words, but she hadn't noticed. "I'm so proud of you."

Dean had pulled her towards him once again, and he hugged her tighter than before, stronger than he had held her in a long, long time. "I love you, too, sis." he told her, quiet enough that only she heard him say it. "Goodbye isn't forever, Ali, remember that."

And that had been the last thing he had said to her face in almost a year and a half. Dean had missed his sister every single day he had been away, and she had been the only thing on his mind since he had gotten on the plane back to the US. They had spoken on the phone, they had written to each other, but none of it could compare to being back home with his family.

And he knew, in less than an hour, he would be.