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“Hi honey, miss me?” Dean wanted nothing more than to be at home with Jo, but unfortunately, work had called him away. Normally Jo came with him, but with the baby, she hadn’t felt up to the travel. Dean had been on the verge of cancelling his trip too – after all, there was no reason Jo should have to look after the baby alone, the gallery didn’t actually *need* him there to personally explain to a bunch of pretentious know-it-alls that the fucked-up abstract art he did was based on his brother’s sketches of nightmarish visions he’d had. He’d said it often enough that by now, people ought to know that the Winchester artworks were the result of shared work of two brothers, one who was the public face of the team and the other a recluse no one ever saw anymore. Then Ellen showed up and told him if he didn’t get his ass on the plane, she’d drag it on, security be damned. He listened to the scary mother-in-law.
“Always, but babe, you know Mom and I got this. You’ve been here for the first three months, you’ll be back soon, and by the next one I should be more recovered and ready to travel.” It wasn’t the actual travel, Jo had confessed one night when Dean found her crying as she tried to zip up a dress. It was that she hadn’t lost enough baby weight to get back into her fancy gallery dresses, and while she knew that it didn’t matter to Dean, she didn’t want to see any of the judgment for no longer being tiny.
“Yeah, I know. I really hope you come to the next one, it’s not the same without you.” Dean took a deep breath. “Your mom’s not listening in, is she?”
“Nope, she’s at the bar. Big party for the virtual tour of your gallery opening, you know. Why do you ask?”
“Because… I had a gay thing tonight.” Dean looked over at his bed, where the guy was still asleep. Jo, he could admit it to because he owed her that much, no matter what it was doing to his own self-image and mental state. Ellen, he at least wanted to hear Jo reassure him that it was all right first.
Jo giggled. “Babe, I know Mom doesn’t get our open relationship rules, but we’ve gotten her to the point where she admits that it’s our relationship, not hers, and we have the right to set whatever rules we want in it. She’d hold her tongue.”
Dean didn’t want to contradict his wife, but he didn’t share her faith in her mother, either. Didn’t matter. That was beside the point. “He’s a dude, Jo. Since when am I into dudes? That’s the part I don’t want your mother’s opinion on just yet!”
The giggles turned to snickering. “Dean, my love, my darling, my sweetie pie. Do I need to point out the number of times people have assumed your brother was your boyfriend?”
“Ugh, please don’t,” Dean grumbled. “What’s that got to do with this, anyway?”
“Just that there’s a reason people assume you’re into dudes. Because you are. I’ve known since that thing with Nick Munroe. Remember him? Creepy guy who stalked his way into your life and it would’ve worked if he hadn’t decided to kill Sam to ‘get the competition out of the way’?”
Dean let out a groan at the memory. He’d fallen… bad choice of words… or was it? Anyway, he’d been genuinely flattered by Nick’s interest in him and what he’d thought was the friendship between them, right up until it went bad in the worst possible way. “Doesn’t mean I’m into dudes. I thought of Nick as a friend, remember?”
“Because you’re oblivious and somewhat homophobic, although you’re trying really hard on that second one.” Dean could easily picture the smirk accompanying the words. “So what happened? Why was this one able to get through your bullshit?”
“I… I don’t know,” Dean admitted. “Maybe it was just something about being here in Memphis. Outdoor bar, hot summer night, low lights and moonlight and this guy just had this look, you know?” Dean sighed. “Jo, I know it’s only been one night, and for all I know everything he said to me was so much bullshit to pull the cute guy at the bar, but… I like him. A lot. There’s a connection between us.”
“Any chance of you seeing him again?” Jo asked. “After all, you’re just visiting Memphis.”
“So’s he. Here to see the art opening. He’s a fan. A real fan, not a creepy fan, the kind who appreciates the art and knew Sam’s name and didn’t ask why he wasn’t here. He did ask about you and said to congratulate you on the baby.” Dean reigned in the babbling. “He’s from Pennsylvania, but he’s been wanting to get out since his grandfather’s death and finishing college. Nebraska hadn’t exactly been on the radar before, but if he had a friend there, that would make a huge difference?”
“A friend, huh?” Jo teased. “That really all you promised him?”
“I told him that as long as you and he could work out an arrangement it could be more than that, but he’s wanting to leave it at friends until he can talk to you, and, well… it was hard enough convincing him that you’re cool with me sleeping with other people as long as I use protection and tell you anything you need to know. So fair enough, right?” He heard Jo’s assent. “Anyway, he just… something about him seems incredibly lonely. If a guy he just met is close enough to a friend, even with him being a fan, that he’s considering moving somewhere just because of that…”
“I see what you mean, babe. Hope he decides to come out, I would love to meet this guy.”