Dean's eyes kept shifting back and forth between the road ahead and the rearview mirror, the late model truck following him closely.

Following him back home.

He was humming to himself and thumbed on his cell phone to call Sam. "Hey Dean..." There was some sense of trepidation in his brother's voice. "Did you find her?" On the other end of the phone, Sam held his breath, not wanting to really believe Meg would lie to Dean about Riley's whereabouts after the incredibly tense encounter in the bunker's dungeon involving Crowley, Meg, Riley and the Winchesters.

"She's following me home." Dean heard Sam exhale in relief.

"Good." Pause. "Dean, you guys need to hash this out. I can make myself scarce."

"We talked. And Meg and Ry talked too." Sam heard him take a deep breath. "I just need her back home... we can figure the rest out later."

"She's so good for you."

That made the older man smile softly. "She's just... good. I don't know if I can screw up anything else, Sam. That scares the crap outta me, y'know?"

"She really cares about you. Let her in, will ya?" There was a long pause. "I know deep down you're scared of whatever you two have between ya. Let it happen. Let her in."

Dean considered that for a moment. "Thanks for the chick flick moment... I guess I needed that." That made Sam laugh. "We'll be home soon."

spnspnspnspn

Sam looked up from the laptop he was shutting down as the pair walked down the hallway and into the war room. "Hey guys." His tone was easy and Riley set her purse down and he rose from his chair, meeting her in a tight hug. Dean watched the exchange, his brother's chin resting on the top of her head.

"Hey Ry." Sam murmured and the brunette nodded against him before puling away a few seconds later. "You guys wanna eat? I can whip something up."

She smiled up at him. "I'll make some chili."

"Sounds amazing." Dean spoke up; it was nearly four in the afternoon now and that morning in the bookstore where Meg had showed up seemed like days ago. "You need me...?"

Riley handed off her purse. "I got it." Her eyes were full of trust as her gaze moved from Sam to himself. "Wanna watch a movie or something? I'm emotionally exhausted... I just feel like some stick to your ribs food and being lazy." Riley was learning to be more open and honest as far as her feelings were concerned. The boys knew when she was feeling a lot of feelings, good or bad, because she found her outlet was cooking for them.

Not that they would ever complain about that.

Dean and Sam shared a look when she wandered towards the kitchen and the younger man spoke softly. "You want me to pick the movie?" The older man shot him a mock glare, making him laugh out loud, glad his family was home.

spnspnspnspn

The credits started to roll and the brunette between them sighed softly. "That was a really good movie."

Sam smirked and looked over at his brother. "It was... for a chick flick." Riley glared at Dean playfully and he winked at her. "Alright... off my bed. I'm turnin' in." Sam swung his legs over the side and rose, stretching to his full height. Riley moved over and got up to pick up the bowls off the nightstand and stacked them. "Ry?"

"Yeah?" Her dark eyes met his. His expression softened and he saw Sam move towards the door.

"You gonna stay with me?"

"Yeah."

Sam cleared his throat, making the two look his way. "I got these, Riley." He motioned for the bowls and she stepped over to him so he could take them. "G'night," He leaned down and she hugged him tight. "Night Dean." They shared a look and Dean nodded.

"Night brother." Sam disappeared down the hallway and Riley watched Dean strip off his flannel and unbutton his jeans as he moved to the dresser.

"I'm gonna go get some pajamas." Dean side eyed her before tossing her an old tshirt of his and she caught it, surprise on her features. "Pants, Winchester?"

He tossed her some boxer shorts from his drawer and she eyed them after catching them. "Cute penguins, Dean."

He smirked and shimmied off his jeans and pulled on some lounge pants, turning his back so she could change. Riley pulled on his clothes; they were a little too big, but it felt intimate to be wearing his sleep clothes. Dean turned around a moment later and eyed her approvingly.

Riley climbed into his bed and settled on the left side where Sam had been a few minutes earlier, furthest from the door. He closed the door and shut off the overhead light before moving to the bed and getting in. Riley settled down next to him on her back and sighed softly.

"You know what's weird?"

"Hm?"

"In that movie, those characters were meant to meet."

"Mmhm." He wasn't entirely sure where she was going with this.

"Like, everything in the universe was rooting for them, making sure they'd cross paths."

He considered that for a few seconds. "I sure as hell don't believe in coincidences anymore."

Riley shifted next to him. "So you and I... we were supposed to cross paths?"

"I have no doubt about that." He yawned softly. "The definition of serendipity is finding something good without looking for it." The fact that Dean knew that made Riley smile.

"What's the opposite of serendipity?" Her eyes had adjusted to the somewhat darkened room lit only by the friendship lamp and she felt him smile.

"The opposite of serendipity is zemblanity."

"Zemblanity?"

"Yeah." Dean paused, racking his sleepy brain for the definition. "It's the inevitable discovery of something... usually something you'd rather not know." The weight of his words made them both pause for a few seconds before the brunette's soft reply made him smile.

"Hell if that ain't my whole life."

Dean rolled over and pulled her into his arms. "Any regrets, Ry?" Losing Bobby, her mother, the father she never really knew, the Mark of Cain on her arm, losing Dean and getting him back, her unlikely friendship with Meg and her close kinship with Sam rolled through her mind and he watched several emotions flicker across her features before Riley finally answered quietly, her eyes moving back to his.

"Only the people I've lost." Riley rolled over and nuzzled her nose against his. Dean kissed the end of her nose and reached out blindly to tap off his friendship lamp on the nightstand behind him.

Down the hall in her empty bedroom, her lamp turned off.

Somewhere far away, Bobby smiled.

spnspnspnspn

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't been around to finish this one. This one had me stuck for a while and a couple other ideas wouldn't leave me alone, so make sure you check those out when I get those posted.

Shout outs to ButterflyAlley, SaphyraBlu13, jloh217 and monkeybaby for your reviews on chapter 43!

Thank you to all who reviewed, PM'd me, followed and favorited Zemblanity. You guys make me smile!

CitrineMama