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It had been a long day. On the run from the Saint, the Grail, the entirety of fucking heaven - the three of them were dead on their feet. A few hours outside the nearest town, Tulip had said “fuck it” and pulled over to the side of the road.
“Alright scoot,” she shoved at Jesse’s legs.
“Scoot…what? I’m already crammed against- “
“We’re stoppin’ for the night. I can’t fuckin see straight from lack of sleep and I wanna stretch out up here. So scoot.”
“Well why can’t we share?” Jesse slid down the vinyl seat towards Tulip, lowering his voice. Tulip’s gaze flickered between his eyes and his hand as it inched towards hers. Her face seemed to soften and she leaned towards him, eyes hooded.
“It’s been awhile hasn’t it?” she lowered her voice as well and reached one arm behind Jesse as if to pull him in for a kiss.
Just as a smug grin started to spread across his face, Tulip opened the passenger side door and kicked him out of it. Jesse landed hard on his back and the door slammed shut in his face as he heard muffled giggling from the backseat. Staggering to his feet with a groan, he glared through the window at Tulip who had already covered herself in a blanket and spread herself out, using his jacket as a pillow. She made a show of stretching and yawning luxuriously, shooting him a shit-eating grin before snuggling into position and closing her eyes.
Jesse grumbled and opened the backseat door, only to be greeted by another shit-eating grin.
“Yeh had it well in hand mate. Didn’t need me interferin’ an all,” Cassidy raised his hands in defense before Jesse could say anything.
“Just bunch up would ya?” Jesse plowed in and shut the door behind him. He sat and crossed his arms, fuming and glaring steadfastly ahead. Cass scrunched up on his side, sitting with his legs tucked underneath himself and his arms folded under his head against the window. With every minute that ticked by, Cass shifted trying to place his long limbs in a comfortable position. When his adjustments finally led to him kneeing himself in the face, he huffed in frustration and sat up to look at Jesse who hadn’t budged an inch.
“Ah come on…padre this is…look I don’t doubt yeh can sleep sittin’ up and with yer eyes open like a bloody ninja but that’s right unsettlin’. And I- I can’t get me beauty sleep if I’m unsettled.”
Jesse side-eyed Cass who, to his credit, was giving his best sad puppy-dog eyes. After a moment, Jesse’s shoulders dropped as he sighed. “Alright Cass. How d’ya wanna do this?”
Cassidy’s face instantly lit up with a 1000 watt smile. He shifted his body so he was half sitting, half lying down against the door with his jacket as a cushion, and put up his legs between Jesse and the back of the seat. Nodding to himself in approval, Cass held out his arms and grinned crookedly.
“Well c’mon yeh wee little spoon get in ‘ere.”
Jesse’s eyebrows shot up and he felt a blush creep up his neck. He cleared his throat. “You’re uh- you sure?”
Cass raised an eyebrow in return and wiggled his fingers. Jesse chuckled in spite of himself. “Fuck it.” He crawled up fully onto the seat and laid down half on top of Cassidy, head resting on the vampire’s chest.
Cass hummed happily and draped one arm over the preacher, “Aye see this isn’t so bad is it?”
Jesse sighed. He lifted his hand slightly so it was flush with the one Cass had over him. “No. Not bad at all.”
Cass laced his fingers through Jesse’s. Jesse started tracing Cass’ tattoos with his free hand. “I like this one. The bird.”
Cass didn’t say anything, just hummed again. His eyes started to droop as Jesse kept tracing the bird until they both drifted off.
---
Hours later, Jesse found himself being roused by a gentle hand against his arm. “Jesse? Jesse wake up. Jesse.”
He opened his eyes to Tulip leaning over the front seat with a sparkle in her eye. Jesse noticed the sun just starting to rise, turning the horizon orange.
“Tulip? Wha-?”
Tulip held a finger to her lips, which were quirked up in something between amusement and fondness. Off of Jesse’s puzzled look, she pointed. Jesse frowned in confusion and tried to sit up when he suddenly realized two tattooed arms were wrapped around him. Remembering where he was, Jesse tried to shift to look up at Cassidy but found that a weight was on his head preventing movement.
“He’s all snuggled in your hair Jesse. You ain’t movin’ ‘till he wakes up,” Tulip whispered, grinning from ear to ear. “And that ain’t even the best part.”
Before Jesse could ask, he became aware of a low, rolling rumble coming from the man underneath him. Jesse froze and felt Cass gently nuzzle his hair as the rumbling continued deep in his chest.
“Is…is he purring?” Jesse looked up again at Tulip who was biting her lower lip.
“He’s been doin’ it since I woke up, may’ve been goin’ all night as far as I know. Honestly Jesse, I can’t help it, that’s the fucking cutest and weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
A slow smile spread on Jesse’s face as he tried to keep from chuckling, marveling at the vibration under his cheek.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Jesse breathed. “And to think I’m not a cat person.”
“You’re clearly a vampire person then,” Tulip shifted back facing forward. “I’m gonna go stretch my legs for a bit. I’ve already got a video of the giant cat there so I’m all set. You’ve got 5 minutes to wake him up before we leave.” She quietly left the car and walked towards the sunrise, Jesse marveling at her silhouette even as he catalogued the feeling of the man sleeping underneath him.
Jesse was finally able to shift his head and shimmy up on Cass for a better view. Cassidy’s head lolled to the side against the back of the seat, his face calm and expressionless in sleep. It was amazing how young Cass looked, really looked, when he was sleeping and his face wasn’t doing a million expressions a minute. Jesse noted to remind himself to ask Cass how old he was when he turned.
He couldn’t have been older than 20, Jesse thought, taken aback by the realization.
Unable to help it, Jesse lifted a hand and gently ran it through Cassidy’s hair. It was soft and stuck up every which way and Jesse smiled as Cass leaned into his touch, the rolling rumble in his chest getting louder. With a sigh of regret at the moment having to end, Jesse’s hand slipped down and cupped Cassidy’s face, thumb rubbing his cheek.
“Cass? Cass wake up. It’s mornin’.”
Cassidy stirred and his eyebrows furrowed as the rumbling stopped and his eyes slowly opened. Jesse stared back and watched the moment between sleeping and waking when Cassidy hadn’t gotten his bearings yet. There was a millisecond when he remembered where he was and who he was with, and the slow genuine smile that accompanied Cassidy recognizing Jesse was something that the preacher would never forget.