Wild Hearts (Part 1)
Summary: Y/N tags along to a bonfire on the beach with her brother and his friends. She tries to fit in with them, but winds up finding more of a connection to the guy crashing the party.
Masterlist
Pairing: AU!Dean x reader
Square: Age gap @spnfluffbingo Meet cute @spnaubingo “Are you stupid or stupid?”
Word Count: 3,374
Warnings: underage, age gap (reader is 16, Dean is 20 but closer to 21), underage drinking, mostly implied physical abuse, past injury (bruising/scars), language, slow burn, a little angst, arguing, maybe a little gaslighting, mutual pining, a kiss to the forehead, fluff
A/N: Also written for @spnfluffbingo and @spnaubingo.
_____
A/N #2: Masterlist summary and warnings have been updated. Please review before reading.
_____
Your brother grabbed your arm and roughly yanked you back towards the party going on down the beach. "Stop being such a bitc-"
"Ow! Quit it, jerk." You tried to shake your arm from his grasp but his fingers dug in, "You're hurting me."
"Don't be such a baby," he growled, stopping far enough away from the bonfire so the crowd of his friends wouldn't overhear. There was a chill in the air and his friends were gathered closer around the flames now. "I told you, if you wanted to tag along you can't just wander off by yourself. Mom would have my ass if something happened to you on my watch."
"Screw you, I'm not a baby. Let. Go."
He finally did.
"They're all ignoring me. I wanna go home." You said, pointing to the mean girls a ways away.
"Well, I'm not taking you. I'm not ready to leave yet." He said, crossing his arms over his chest with a glare.
You knew it was a mistake taking a ride from him in the first place, but you didn't have your own car. And you failed your driver's test over the last weekend. Fun way to spend your sixteenth birthday, with your brother mocking you the whole way home.
"Then I'll walk or call mom to come get me."
"No, you won't. Unless you want her to know that I was right and you are a baby." He stared you down, "Just have a drink and relax for a bit, maybe it'll loosen you up and people will want to talk to you." He glanced back at the busty blonde he'd been eyeing all night; the girl you knew he came here for. He'd only been following her around like a lost puppy all summer. She waved and gave him a little wink. "Stop being so selfish, Y/N, and maybe we'll get along for once."
"I'm selfish?!" You scoffed, you'd only sat around watching the sunset and shuffling your feet in the sand for the past couple hours while he chatted up said blonde. His friends weren't the only ones excluding you. Not that you wanted to be in on that conversation, but you thought the night was going to go a little different. You thought it would be like the old days when things between you weren't so tense all the time. "Just leave me alone and go drool already."
"And you wonder why I never wanna hang out with you anymore." He snapped and stalked away, throwing his arm over the blonde's shoulders when he reached her. Her eyes gleamed in the firelight and you heard her giggle echo along the shoreline when he tickled her sides.
Everyone liked your brother and you tried to be just like him when you were younger. You were only a year apart but it made a world of difference. You didn't even mind wearing his hand-me-downs until you got to high school and got made fun of for it. But you made your peace with it now, you'd always be more of a tomboy and you couldn't be anyone but yourself. Graphic tees, jeans and sneakers were the epitome of comfort and that's what you wore now while the mean girls had skimpy dresses and tank tops that did nothing against the cold breeze that wafted in from over the open water.
But a drink might help.
The beer cooler was up the beach from the horny seventeen and eighteen-year-olds, but you didn't have to pass them to fish one out from melted ice. You cracked it open and took a sip, souring your face instantly and spitting it out onto the sand.
You heard someone chuckle and whipped around. A tall guy with shadows cast on his face stood a few feet away, watching you. You glanced down to the bottle in your hand, then back at him. He followed your eyes, his expression turning stoic before you could read him.
"What?" You asked.
"It's kind of an acquired taste." He nodded towards the bottle in your hand and you took another sip, choking it down to prove him wrong. He wasn't wrong. Beer was gross. "Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be okay?"
He cocked his head towards your brother who was now chasing the blonde down towards the shoreline. You didn't think they'd go in, since it was nearly winter and the water was freezing this time of year. But he teased her and grabbed her like he was going to drag her out into the icy depths.
"Oh. Yeah, he's just an asshole is all and I needed a drink." You explained, raising the beer to your lips for a third sip.
You wanted him to leave already so you could dump the rest out in the bushes.
"Same," he nodded and chugged the rest of his own beer. "He shouldn't treat you like that, though."
You didn't think he overheard but he'd certainly seen the two of you, "He's my brother, that's what brothers do."
You toyed with the label on your beer, peeling it back from the glass.
"No, it's not."
He stepped forward, setting his empty bottle in the bin next to the cooler. The light of the bonfire catching his features enough for you to finally see him. The first thing you noticed was that he was not a friend of your brother's. He was older, too, though you couldn't tell by how much.
He was a party crasher. Probably here for the free beer.
"Whatever. It's not like he hits me, he just gets mad and pushes me around a little." You said, stepping back a foot when the guy took another step towards you.
"He shouldn't. That's called abuse."
"Not when I do the same to him. Then it's called sibling rivalry."
"I know abuse when I see it." His voice lowered as he shoved his hands in his pockets. His words held a story he wasn't telling and you didn't ask.
You eyed him again. Between the full moon and the light of the fire you noted a few details that jumped out at you. He wasn't bad looking, actually kind of cute. His eyes held a world's worth of emotion as if he vaulted it up inside himself and swallowed the key. Days old bruising covered the left side of his face, particularly around his jaw, cheekbone, and eye. And he intermittently sucked on the split in his bottom lip that had reopened, probably from when he first smiled at you.
"Well, your story isn't mine." You said, having had enough of this stranger who thinks he knows your life at a glance. He sighed and looked away, steeling his jaw and rubbing the back of his neck. Your eyes cast down to his stomach when his shirt lifted and your heart sank at the sight. A thick scar stretched up his torso from his hip and disappeared beneath the dark fabric of his shirt, peeking back out around his collarbone where the neck hole had been worn loose. Someone had hurt him, badly; you thought that must've been why he was so conscious towards abuse. "Sorry, I didn't know-"
"Do you wanna go for a walk?" He asked, meeting your eyes and taking another step forward.
You didn't back away this time, though he was still a good five feet away at least.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, taking off with some judgy guy I just met and wandering down a dark secluded beach alone with him. Real smart. Maybe wait until I've had a couple drinks first, then try again." You rolled your eyes making him laugh silently.
"I don't hurt women. Ever." He said as if it was a law of his own.
"What about men?"
"Depends," he shrugged.
"On?"
"I've never started a fight in my life." He said, answering a question you didn't ask rather than the one you did.
"Somehow I don't believe you." You squinted up at him, trying to read him.
"Then why haven't you walked away yet?" He looked at the party continuing around the bonfire and then back at you. "You don't wanna be here any more than I do, so let me show you something."
"I swear if that something is your-"
He raised his hands from his pockets and smiled, "I promise it's not. You'll like this."
"You get five minutes and I'm counting. Also, I'm a black belt so don't even think about trying anything." You lied, although he didn't strike you as the violent type despite the evidence on his face and stomach.
You scanned the beach for your brother, spotting him still engrossed with the blonde, so you knew he wouldn't notice any time soon if you'd left without causing a scene. You dumped your nearly full beer out onto the sand and set it in the bin with the other empty bottles. Ignoring the knowing smirk from the party crasher as you did so.
"Beer is kind of gross."
"Yeah, it is." He chuckled, "but it's cheap and gets the job done."
"I don't see the appeal," you said, following in stride with him down the beach. The sand beneath your sneakers making it hard to keep up with his long legs. "Can you walk slower?"
"Sorry," he slowed his pace and you easily caught up. "Drink a bit more than a couple of sips next time and you will."
"I'd rather waste the calories on chocolate, thank you."
He laughed silently again and sucked the split in his lip, "What's your name?"
"Uh, Y/N, you?"
"Dean." He smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets again. "So, how come I haven't seen you around here before, Y/N?"
"We just moved here," you said, not wanting to explain how you didn't exactly get out much and explore the town over the summer.
"Then you haven't been to the pier?" He asked, cocking his head towards the end of the beach where you were headed.
It wasn't so much a pier as it was a small row of shops and a parking lot. Some storefronts were still lit up against the darkened sky and a lighthouse sat on the rocks near the shore. The light at the top swung around and around over the jagged rocks reaching into the water.
"Seriously? You wanted to show me a lighthouse? That's not exactly special. Lighthouses are a dime a dozen around here, if you haven't noticed." You said a little disappointed and glancing back at the party.
The bonfire merely a speck amongst the stars along the beach now. If you accounted for the walk back it would definitely stretch over the five minutes you'd promised him and you stopped walking.
Dean noticed when you fell behind and turned to you. He laughed a little and smiled, "That's not where we're going."
He reached out to you and grabbed your hand, tugging you gently until you laughed and skipped a step. He was troubled, that was for sure, but you didn't have a reason not to trust him. Not that trust should be given easily without question; but still, you welcomed the warmth of his hand wrapped around yours as he led you across the parking lot and up to one of the shops.
"Ice cream," you stared up at the sign before Dean pulled you into the store.
"Mhm," he licked his lips, guiding you up to the display of tubs sitting in the freezer and separating you from the older blonde woman behind the counter.
She nodded to Dean like she knew him and he smiled back, "Hey, Donna." She didn't react at all to the bruises on his face and your mind started to wander.
"I was starting to think I wasn't gonna see ya before closing," she said, retying her pink apron as if she was getting ready to close up for the night.
"You know me better than that," he feigned hurt and wrapped an arm over your shoulders, tugging you into his side.
You scanned over the flavours, some so bright you wondered if it was possible to taste a colour. "Isn't it kinda cold for ice cream?"
"Never," Dean shook his head like you'd said something foolish. "These shops are seasonal and it's the last night they're open until they close for the winter. You'll have to wait at least four months before you get this again. And trust me, once you try it, winter will feel like an eternity for your tastebuds."
You smiled, you couldn't argue with that logic, "What flavour should I get?" You asked, assuming he'd probably have tried them all by the looks of it.
"My favourite is the mocha with all the little chocolate pieces. It's basic, I know, but classic." He pointed to a tub filled with dark brown speckled ice cream.
"Two mochas, please." You said.
"Sure thing," Donna said and scooped you out a couple of cups.
Dean gave your shoulder a squeeze before giving you some space to enjoy your ice cream.
He kept eyeing you as you took your first bite, then your second, "And?"
"Okay, you're right. It's fudging amazing! Can we get more?" You asked, glancing back at the shop from where you sat outside on a bench under a streetlamp.
"You still have a whole cup.” He barked out a laugh and you shovelled a few spoonfuls into your mouth.
A chilled throb wracked through your brain and you paused mid-bite to squeeze your eyes shut and fan at your frozen mouth. You pressed your tongue against the roof of your mouth and just as the feeling started to ebb away you felt hot, sticky lips lay flush against your forehead. Dean’s hand held the back of your head and you blinked open your eyes, feeling warm and fuzzy.
"Better? My mom used to do that for me when I was a kid. Always seemed to help." He said and tilted his head to the side.
You weren't sure if it was what he did or the shock of the unexpectedness of it, but it dulled the pain. He hadn't backed up an inch and you could see the gold flecks in his green eyes under the streetlamp. Framed by the yellow edges and purple patches of the bruising next to his left eye. His hair was sandy brown and short but still fell over his forehead and brushed the tips of his ears. And freckles speckled across the bridge of his nose on pale skin. He was pretty cute and different from most of the boys you usually met.
You nodded and blushed, sneaking another spoonful of mocha ice cream between your lips. He laughed silently and leaned back, picking back up his own cup of ice cream from the bench next to him and digging in.
"You're strange and kinda wonderful." You said around a bite full, pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth when the brain-freeze threatened to come back.
"That's oddly the nicest thing someone's said to me in a very long time." He took a bite and licked his spoon clean.
"That makes me sad."
"Makes me happy," he mumbled and smiled.
"Like I said, strange."
"Because you're so cool and composed, right?" He's teased, pointing with his spoon.
"I'm a delight and you know it. That's why you just had to get me away from all those other guys down on the beach. Before they had the chance to notice too, of course." You joked, brushing your hair back when the breeze carried it away.
"You caught me, I'm a sucker for a girl who tries to bite my head off with one wrong look."
"You make me sound like a praying mantis."
"In that case, I guess I'm safe as long as we don't have sex." You both frowned. "Sorry, that was awkward, I swear it sounded funnier in my head. Because you know they only eat their mate after-uh-mating..." He stuck his spoon in his ice cream and stirred until it was smooth like soup, "What?"
"You're blushing," you said, "it's cute." You liked being able to do that to him. "But you should know I'm sixteen."
"Wait. What?" He looked like you'd just punched him in the gut. "But you were drinking."
"When did you have your first beer?"
He thought to himself for a moment, clearly he had been younger than you; then he abandoned his ice cream on the bench beside him. “What about your friends?”
"Some are eighteen. But most are seventeen, same as my brother, they're his friends." You explained. "Don't ask me how they got the beer." You attempted to lighten the mood but he just stared down at his hands, rubbing at the cuts in his knuckles. "How old are you?"
“Too old for you,” he shook his head and picked at one of the scabs. “Twenty-one in January.”
So essentially there was a five year age gap between you. It wouldn’t be a big deal, if only you were older; but for now it didn’t mean you couldn’t be friends. Your gut twisted at the thought of never seeing him again and you could use a friend; and it looked like he could, too.
Your cell rang and you fished it from your back pocket. Your brother's name sprawled over the screen.
You sighed and rolled your eyes, then answered, "What do you want?"
"Are you stupid or stupid? Where the fuck did you go?!" He shouted and you were sure Dean could hear, so you turned down the volume on your phone.
"For a walk."
"We're leaving."
That meant the blonde was tagging along, either hitching a ride home with you or your brother was just going to drop you off at home before taking her to park somewhere and... -You didn't want to think about it. Your brother, like that. Gross.
"Maybe I don't wanna leave yet. I made a friend." Dean mirrored your smile.
"Find your own way home then..." he grumbled a few choice words and hung up. Asshole.
"Any chance you have a car?" You asked, silencing your phone and shoving it back into your pocket. "I need a ride."
"Uh- no. But I know where we can get one." Dean said as he checked the time on his wrist. You fingered your ice cream and booped him on the nose. "What was that for?" He laughed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
You shrugged, "Just trying to lighten the mood. You look so sad," you raised his chin with your fingers, "Chin up, Dean."
"Did you mean that?" He asked.
You lowered your hand to rest on the bench between you, "Mean what?"
"That we're friends," he asked, chewing on the split in his lip. At this rate you didn't think it would ever heal over. "I mean, that we can be friends."
"Uh-huh, unless you don't wanna be my friend." You nodded and searched his eyes, some kind of hurt flashing through them.
"I think that's all we can be. At least, until you have a couple more birthdays."
Your typical luck, the one guy you could see yourself interested in and he's too old. It was only nearly five years, sure, but you were only sixteen and he'd probably had a lot more experience that you couldn't compare to. But he was cute.
Window shopping couldn't hurt right, until you had the means to buy.
"I can wait," you teased and laughed. "But you look like you could use a friend. And I got your back, since I kind of owe you one for introducing me to this ice cream."
"You don't owe me anything, Y/N."
You shivered when the ice cream was gone and Dean stripped out of his hoodie, draping it over your shoulders as you walked along the side of the road towards his house. He apparently didn't live far away and if his father was home, he could 'borrow' his car to give you a ride. He actually used air quotes when he said borrow though, so you were a little skeptical.
_________________________
Part 2
_________________________ Dean: @akshi8278 @laycblack @thoughts-and-funnies @mrsjenniferwinchester @crustycheeks @kazsrm67 @sexyvixen7 @lyarr24 @suckitands33 @eliwinchester99 @yvonneeeee @igotmajordaddyissues @djs8891 @leigh70 @globetrotter28
SPN: @hobby27
Wild Hearts: @justrealizedimmascifygurl @evieluvsjamie @kimberkingrivers @globetrotter28
