Stuck In The Middle With You. {Ryder}

[Simone Winchester]

Go on, Go on. Leave me Breathless

There was something to be said about good old fashioned fun and games. With a full tank of gas and four wheel drive, a girl or boy could go about anywhere and do anything. All the better if you had someone along to laugh and joke with.

It was all american fun and Simi couldn't help but grin as Ryder took up her challenge and threw the Jeep in gear. When he returned it, she felt as if someone had given her a gold trophy and didn't know exactly why. It just felt... Good. She had a feeling that he didn't have much to smile about these days and she figured that they were both about due.

Before she knew it, they were taking off roads and driving through what seemed like endless country. Her gaze fell on the softly falling snowflakes and a feeling of peacefulness settled in her soul. His comment about China brought her attention around to focus on him and a soft laugh escaped her right before disaster struck.

Or, at least, what Ryder seemed to think of as a disaster.

One moment, they were trudging slowly down a road and the next thing she knew they were in a ditch. Not only a ditch but a ditch piled high with snow and the front end of the jeep smack dab in the middle of it.

After assuring themselves neither one was hurt, they turned to stare out the front windshield and Simi bit her lip. The bank was so high that when Ryder tried to back out of it, the wheels just spun and it become obvious they were going nowhere. The fist on the steering wheel made her jump a bit but he didn't notice as he bailed from the vehicle to examine the damage up close.

Simi was slower to follow but she soon joined him to stare at their predicament and then look up and down the dark road. There didn't even seem to be any light on to indicate houses near by.

Oh yeah, they were definitely screwed but suddenly... Simi found herself giggling. Throwing up a hand over her mouth, she did her best to stiffle it but it soon became a full blown laugh. Her eyes danced merrily in the headlights and she could only give her companion an abashed grin when he looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"I'm.... I'm.. I"m sorry, Ryder.... Really... its .. its not .. funny but...." she stammered, trying to get ahold of her laughter. "But ... seriously... If you wanted to get me alone.. you really didn't need to ditch the jeep!! I mean.. I've heard of the old running out of gas trick but don't you think getting stuck in a snowbank is going a bit to.. far??"

Yeah, ok, so maybe now wasn't the time for teasing but Simi couldn't help herself. Her mama had always said that finding the humor in any situation was the best way to handle it and Ryder looked as if he was about to loose his top. Since that wouldn't help either of them, she decided to look at the brighter side of things and try to get him to loosen up a bit. Sticking out her tongue, the pretty blond scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it at him. As it splatted on his front, she danced out of reach and then scooped up another ball of wet ice.

"Someone is bound to be along here soon enough.. its not like we are in BFE or anything... Someone will be along to pull us out and then you can go back to being crabby if you want... However, for the time being....... "she called to him."Relax and lighten up, would you??? Its just snow so theres no harm done to the Jeep and now you get to have my delightful company for a bit longer...."

That said, she pulled her arm back and got ready to hurl her next lumpy mass at him.

[Ryder James Winchester]

Ryder used to be a man with so much patience it sometimes drove the people around him crazy. He used to be the type of guy that was so laid back, if someone wanted to yell at him at the top of their lungs, he would have stayed quiet; nodding and every once in a while telling them that he could see their point and go ahead, let it all out. Not that he’d ever been anyone’s punching bag; no way. He was just the type of person that believed in order to make the right decisions, no matter what the circumstance, you had to stop and absorb every detail of what was happening, even if that meant listening to someone else’s opinions and trying to see their side of things.

Oh how things had changed.
Ever since the incident Ryder was like a ticking time bomb; all pent up power that just grew and grew, until something lit him off on he just exploded. Too bad it had to be the pretty blameless blonde that had come twirling into the garage with a smile and a secret of her own.
Like a switch the young Winchester went from a slow burn to flames that were nearly out of control. His stormy eyes watched Simi slide out of the JEEP and come around to his side, and he paused in his pacing when the sound of stifled laughter came from behind hands held to her mouth.

Goddamn the woman was infuriating! Was she…was she actually giggling at him?

Ryder narrowed his gaze, throwing daggers at her with his silvery blue glare; arms crossing over his sinewy chest as he watched her make fun of the situation and his reaction to it. He shook his tawny head at her comment about letting the truck run out of gas and was just about to snap back that the only way he would let that happen is if he could tie her to the roof on the way back, but he could only gape when she bent down came back up to toss a snow ball that struck him right in the middle.

Oh heeellll no!

She had scooped up another snowball and darted away, but the hunter wasn’t about to let a girl win this wintery war.
Part from annoyance, but a little out of childish retaliation, Ryder bent to shovel his own snowy ball, packing it in his cold palms as he took off after her.

So, yeah…what she said -was- true. It wasn’t that late and sooner or later someone would pass by, but in the back of his mind he’d planned on getting the meal with her over with and then get back to his brooding, because for some damn reason he was actually enjoying himself and considering what he’d done, he just didn’t deserve it.


“Getcha’ ass back here Blair…you asked for it!” Ry taunted her as he easily caught up, letting the ball fly. The snowy mass caught her square in the back, and as she turned his azure eyes lit on the white sphere she had in her hand. Nope. Not gon’ happen!
The young Winchester dodged the snowball, catching her around the waist to throw her off balance, but his plan backfired when he lost his footing and the two of them started rolling downhill in a tangle of long blonde hair, boots and limbs, finally coming to a stop at the bottom with the female on top and the hunter ass deep in the white stuff.

When Ryder’s head stopped spinning and he could focus, the first thing he realized was their innocent, but altogether wayward position, and his gaze grew wide and embarrassed. “Ah, shit…”

[Simone Winchester]

Laughter really was the best medicine.

Simi believed that with all her heart even as she saw Ryders eyes widen and then narrow in focus on her. Oh Lord.. there was nothing like baiting the beast as her mother had always warned her about. Squeaking good naturally, the petite blond turned on her heel to run but only got a few steps away before something wet hit her back and she glanced behind her to see him closing in. Grinning impishly, she turned to toss her second missile at him but he seemed to read her mind and the next thing she knew, he moved in for the kill.

Only, there was a slight miscalculation on the terrain beneath their feet.

Suddenly they were tumbling head over heels down the embankment. The slender blond barely had time to gasp when they slide and bumped their way down .When they came to rest, Simi was staring down into familiar azure eyes and she blinked down at him in bemusement. For a moment, it was as if she were seeing him for the first time and the grin that tipped her lips up was impish as well as playful.

“Well well.. Fancy meeting you in a place like this!” she teased. “Tell me, is this how you pick up all the girls or just the ones that dare to toss snowballs at you? Cause... I have to tell you... Its probably not the BEST way to impress a lady... Even though you do make a very nice resting place!”

Unobtrusively, her hand crunched the snow beside his shoulder and a wicked gleam came to her sapphire depths. Raising herself up a bit with one hand and peeking out of the hair that fell about them, Simi gave him a mockingly disappointed look.

“And just because its not nice to tumble a girl down a hill and then have the nerve to say "Ah shit."YOU MUST PAY!!!”

With that, she started to hum the JAWS tune, picked up the snow she held in on hand and tried to shove it down his coat. Tried being the key word because her perch was precarious and Ryder was definitely nobodies fool. You didn't grow up around a pack of trouble making kids without catching on to a few of their tricks and developing some of your own.

[Ryder James Winchester]

Ryder could feel the warmth flooding his cheeks. Hell, he could feel it consuming his whole body; enough that he thought he might melt the ground underneath him until his ass sunk deeper into the pliable snow.
Simone, of course, had taken it all with a grain of salt. As she teased him about his odd way of picking up girls, the young Winchester wished he could disappear. Maybe he would flush so much he really would sink into the snow so he could hide there until she was long gone.

Fat chance.

He could see that impish glint in her sapphire eyes as she leaned down with one hand in the snow; her pale blonde hair falling like silken waves all over his neck and chest.
God, she smelled so freaking good…a little like peaches and some light, delicate flower.
And damn it to hell her body pressed so intimately against his roused all kinds of sensations he had felt since…

When that puckish gaze took on challenging glimmer and she moved to stuff the white, cold stuff down his jacket Ryder couldn’t help but buck wildly in natural reaction.
Roaring loudly in laughter, Ry lightly grabbed her wrists, twisting as if to flip her over.
But once again they misjudged the firmness of the bank they lay on, and soon enough they were sliding further down the white slippery surface.

At the bottom Ryder panted to catch his breath, rolling over to push him self to stand so he could check out their location.
If whoever happened to pass by to find the JEEP stuck and couldn’t see him and Simone, they were liable to think who ever was driving the thing had just hoofed it.
Spinning in a slow circle to gauge their position amidst the white fallen stuff, his stormy gaze widened in horror when he realized exactly where they were.

The Crossroads.

The hunter recognized it immediately, as he’d been here more than once since arriving in the Podunk town.
“Oh God…” He groaned, almost forgetting the company standing a few feet from him. “Do you know where we are?”

The question was mainly rhetorical as Ryder was well aware Simi had only just arrived by way of a snow storm and a broken down vehicle, but he needed to hear himself talk before he lost it to the hoarse scream that was lodged in his throat.
The broken hunter found the familiar rise beneath the white fluff and went down on his knees, digging with icy red hands until he found what he was looking for. Holding the box in trembling hands, he gazed up helplessly at the blonde.
“I almost made a deal, Simi.” He confessed and his eyes welled with unshed moisture. “My life for hers…”

Still holding the box he slumped to sit on the frozen ground. “I was the one that killed her…Christine…she came back to me changed and I had to do it.”
The hunter had held it in for too long and now it flowed from him as freely and violently as water from a broken dam. Ryder shook his head from side to side in silent argument, his eyes focused, but unseeing.
“I’ve been trained all my life to handle vampires and in the end I had to cut her head off like she was some fucking monster.”

He moaned as if in physical pain and held the empty box to his shuddering chest. “I don’t even know about the baby. She could have still been…”

Heart broken, Ryder looked to Simi like a child would to an angel. For hope. For reassurance.
“Do you think after she was changed…? Do you think the baby was still growing inside her?”

The horror of what he had done came back to him as if it had only happened yesterday.
And it may as well have been; the ache was still so raw.
The confession was as true as the white flakes landing on the crown of his head and his damp lashes. Indeed, he had been to more than just -this- crossroads with a purpose of making a deal with a red eyed demon to bring back his love and their unborn baby. He had probably been to a dozen.

But each time he had faltered, unable to go through with it. Knowing what it had cost his father, he’d been too craven to make that sacrifice.
“I couldn’t do it.” He mumbled and wiped at his moist eyes with the back of his hand. "I could have saved them both, but I just couldn’t do it.”

And with that Ryder dropped the box and sagged. He was really loosing it. This time he was really going to die of a broken heart.

[Simone Winchester]

There they were.. Like two fresh faced teenagers rolling in the snow and laughing.

Simi was strangely unconcerned about the way their bodies touched and the way her pulse sped up when she looked into those brilliant eyes of the man beneath her. For the last few months, she'd avoided any physical contact with anyone but her family but for some reason.... Ryders touch didn't send her off in convulsions of horror. Chalking it up to the fact he'd been a childhood friend and then completely distracted as he grabbed her wrists and flipped her over only to send them both skidding again, Simi forgot to wonder. As they rolled, she gasped as snow wiggled its way up her coat and against bare skin but it was Ryders expression when she finally gained her bearings and looked up that truly made her freeze, inside and out.

In the matter of seconds, it seemed as if someone had flipped a switch and all the joy and merriment had been drained out of the moment. It was enough to send a chill of a different kind down her spine as she heard him begin to speak and then fall to his knees in the snow to search for something. Her heart hit her throat as he pulled what looked to be a box out of the frozen ground and then turned to show it to her.

“I almost made a deal, Simi.” He confessed and his eyes welled with unshed moisture. “My life for hers…”

For a moment, the blond could only stare at him in horror.

His pain was so great that it seemed to cut across the distance between then and beg her for some sort of comfort. She wanted to run to him and throw her arms about him but really? What could she honestly say that would make this any better? This was the worse fate a hunter could ever imagine and there were no words that could lighten the load he carried. For her to offer trite words just seemed …. cold. Cold and filled with emptiness. What could she possibly give him that would help with the grief that seemed to cave his soul in?

“Oh my god..” were the words that escaped her lips before she stumbled forward and knelt beside him on that cold, hard rise.

Wanting badly to touch him but afraid that he would shrug her off, Simi sat helplessly as the story seemed to flow out of his mouth like an unstoppable river. There, in the middle of that crossroads, she felt his pain and disgust as he fought the ugly monster that had been tearing him apart every day since that awful night had occurred. She could practically envision the events that took place and could only marvel at how strong he was NOT to have already made a deal. If it had been her, she wasn't sure she would have walked away from this crossroads with her soul in tact. And he thought there was something wrong with him because of that?

Not hardly.. In her book, he had to be one of the strongest men alive.

“Ryder... honey.... I'm so sorry that all this has happened to you.... but I think theres a few things you need to know...You are the least cowardly man I've ever met. It takes a person of strength to walk away from this very thing.. Making a deal with a demon never does anyone any good at all. Sure.. It might have brought them back but.. for how long? Do you think that your woman would have wanted it at the price of your soul? Because.. If she truly loved you.. then she would have killed you herself for even thinking about it.” she said finally as he seemed to slump into himself. “And you and I both know that the vampire in your room that night.. It wasn't her. She wouldn't have wanted to become some sort of monster. I can't tell you anything that you don't already know in your heart or haven't heard from others but I can damned sure tell you that.. as a woman... If I was turned vampire... I would want you to offer me the same mercy you did her... That isn't any sort of life.. or death for that matter.. that anyone would want to live.... The best thing you can do for her is remember her for the way she was and think about what she would have wanted for you. Do you believe she would have wanted to see you destroying yourself like this? Do you think that she'd be happy for the hell your putting yourself through? Or would she smack you upside the head and tell you to get your stuff together cause you have a bigger purpose in life? I don't know her but I know you and you wouldn't love someone selfish like that... If she were here right now.. I bet you that she'd tell you that you did the best you could and the love you shared should be cherished but not used to destroy yourself.”

Letting her voice trail off and hoping she hadn't said anything to brash, the blond brushed a lock of blond hair from her face and did the only other thing she could think of. Tears flowed down her cheeks for him and the lost ones even as she shook her head and reached to pull him against her in a comforting hug that she knew didn't do anything to ease him. Stroking his now freezing hair, she held him close and whispered words of comfort even as she cried for his loss.

“God.. I'm so sorry for your loss, Ryder...” she whispered even as she realized they were both freezing cold and were no doubt in need of some warmth. “Come on... Let me get you back to the Jeep and warmed up a bit, OK? Your soaking wet from the snow and its freezing on your body...”

Getting to her feet and using her own weight to pry him to his, Simi lifted his arm around her shoulders and then slipped one around his waist. She could tell he was still in a grief stricken haze and her concern went even higher as she realized that it could very well be traumatic shock setting in. God, Chey would KILL her if she allowed him to get sick and die on her watch.

“Come on, Ry.... One foot in front of the other.... We can do this!” she said softly, maneuvering them back up the hill and to the side of the blue jeep.

Once there, she quickly opened the door and proceeded to stuff his wet body in the passenger seat. Once he was settled and seemingly staring blankly out the window, she shut the door and then ran around the other side to climb in and thanked god that they'd left it running the whole time. Heat blazed from the vents and she shifted so that she could arc the streaming air right towards Ryder. Once that was done, she searched the back seat and found a blanket that she immediately began to use to dry him off.


Mother hen much? came the mocking voice in her head even as she paused and forced Ryders eyes to meet hers.

“Ryder.... Sweetie..... You know you have a lot of people that love and care about you right?? Do you really think that if you were capable of the actions you think you are... That everyone would feel that way? Cause I can pretty well guarantee that they wouldn't. Bad things happen to good people that there is no explanation for.... We never understand it until things work themselves out. Your family is a damned good example. Right now, your hurting, confused and grief stricken but …. Your still the Ryder Winchester I grew up admiring and you are going to be all right...... It doesn't seem like it now... but you will be... I promise..... And you ever think of doing anything so nutso again?? I'mma going to kick your ass myself!! You hear??”





(OK, I moved Ryder just a tad.. I hope its OK.. If not, let me know and I can change it!!)

[Ryder James Winchester]

Ryder didn’t even feel the cold turning his lips a shade of blue and his limbs numb. All he could feel was the monster that was emptiness tearing his insides apart and threatening to consume him whole.
He hardly noticed the blonde angel kneeling beside him until her voice wrapped around him like a warm, thick blanket; seeming to dull the ache within, if only just a little.

Even though Simi’s word rang true, he wouldn’t dare actually let them ease his pain. For Christine’s death he deserved to feel this agony, and for years and years and years.
For the loss of that baby that never had a chance, he deserves a hundred years or more in hell…which was where he was in mind and soul right now.

The only thing that could stir Ryder from the sea of misery that was drowning him was the feel of the angel’s arms going around his shivering body, and he leaned into her as if she were the wall that separated him from the clawing monster. Closing his eyes Ryder inhaled, taking in her sweet aroma and letting it ground him.
He didn’t really care that he was freezing, but the ache in Simone’s voice made him force himself to stand with her to move back to the jeep; he didn’t want to make her sad. To even think it was like an additional knife to his already wounded heart.

Somehow, through the fog in his mind, the young Winchester realized that the woman must have had her own troubles. He could see it in her sapphire gaze and hear it as a whisper in her seemingly strong voice.
Like a helpless child he allowed her to stuff him in the jeep, merely watching as she crawled into the driver’s side and kicked on the warmth, then wrapped a blanket around his front to dry his dripping clothes.

Teeth chattering from the cold, Ryder tilted his own head, suddenly roused from the waking slumber his reveries had put him in. Her azure eyes held a hint of defiance as she threatened to kick his ass if he ever pulled a stunt like that again, and he couldn’t help but let the quiet chuckle slip from between those blue lips. He reached up from under the blanket, catching Simi’s hand as she rubbed the soft material against him.

“What were -you- running from Simi?” He asked her in a quivering voice, still holding that hand against his chest.
God, how could he have been such an ass? How could he have been so blind? What had happened to make her run from her family, like he had his?

Blinking his grey-blue eyes, Ryder looked into hers as if he would be able to read the truth in her visage, but that wasn’t meant to be, not at that moment anyway.

The sound of an 18 wheeler putting on the Jake break whined past them, and within a few moments, a big bear of a man was leaning down to knock on the window.

“Y’all need some help?” He asked with a missing toothed grin, and Ryder had to look at Simi, laughing like someone just escaped from the mental ward.

The man was able to use a chain connected to the Mac truck to pull the jeep out of the bank, and trading places with Simi, Ryder drove them to the hotel in mortified silence.
He’d lost it. And in front of someone that knew all of his family, baby sister included.

Would she keep this between them or go back and tell his kin that Ryder James Winchester needed to be stuck into a mental ward on suicide watch?
He hoped it was the latter. All he needed was time. Just a little more time…

Quiet and embarrassed, the hunter excused himself to talk to the desk clerk about putting a second room on his bill, and then returned to Simi with key in hand.
Unable to look her in the face, he rubbed sheepishly at the top of his head and then held the key out to the blonde.

“Ahhh…look. I’m sorry about what you saw back there. I’ve been in a bad place lately, and sometimes it just seeps out of me.” He cleared his throat and then rocked back on his heels. “I think a good night sleep will do us both some good. In the morning I’ll get your motor fixed up and get you back on the road. If you need anything…at all…my room is right next to yours…”

(( And I moved the both of them…I hope -that- is alright XD ))

[Simone Winchester]

God... Weren't they a pair?

Simi wanted to laugh at the absurdity of two such torments souls crashing into each other in a world of billions of people. It made her think though that maybe there was a greater power at work because there was no where else she suddenly would have rather been than on this dark, cold, deserted road with Ryder. Her heart ached for him and she'd always been the one to bring the wounded animals home for her mother or father to heal even when it seemed there was no hope at all. The was no way in HELL she was going to give up on this man even if he kicked her ass out and made her walk back to town for her audacity to speak to him like that! After all, it was her duty as a childhood playmate to make sure he understood the way of things, right? RIGHT!

Even if the touch of his hand up on hers made her feel things no childhood playmate had ever made her feel before.

His question, however, chased all those warm, fuzzy feelings away and made her insides freeze. Thank god for timely intervention in the form of an eighteen wheeler and a tow chain. The very thought of telling Ryder her sordid story made her fall silent and stare out the window of the Jeep as the men worked to free the vehicle. When her companion finally climbed back inside, it seemed he was more than content to let the silence fall also and Simi could only be grateful. She didn't want to see the disgust in his eyes when he learned the truth and her troubles paled in comparison to his.

The drive back to town seemed to pass in a blur with them both lost in their own thoughts. Before she knew it, Ryder was pulling up outside the motel. Blinking in surprise, she watched the middle Winchester sibling run inside and then come back out a few minutes later only to hold a key out to her. Blinking rapidly, she stared at it a long moment before reaching to take it and then giving him a little smile as his words rang out.

“Ryder... Really.. Who do you take me for? Some ninny who has no clue just what kind of burden can tear a man down until hes merely a shadow of himself? You have nothing.. and I do mean NOTHING.. to apologize for. I'm only sorry I can't do more to help because.. well.. whether you know it or not.. you've got a lot of people in your corner.” she said softly, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking away. “But I meant what I said out there... You ever do anything like that again and I'mma going to sick my mama on you! She's a lot meaner than I am and not as easily swayed by a pretty face....and.. On that note... I'll leave you to sleep on that one!”

Shooting that last bit off with an impish grin, she bailed from the vehicle and headed for the motel room door. A wave followed as she let herself into the room and then shut the door before suddenly realizing she hadn't anything to wear to bed and groaning. All her things were in the challenger but she wasn't about to make a walking trip over there this time of night in this cold nor was she going to bother Ryder again. It was late enough already and she was just going to have to make due.

A short while later, showered under deliciously hot water and clad in her underwear and a towel, Simi was just settling down to make a meal of the lone bag of chips and chocolate candy bar that she carried in her bag when her cell phone suddenly went off.


Smiling and thinking it was probably Karlie or Bastian calling to check on her, she didn't even glance at the caller ID as she raised it to her ear and said “Hello”

For a long second there was no answer on the other end but an immediate chill went through her. These sorts of phone calls had been coming more and more lately. The person on the other end of the call never said anything but she could practically feel the sinister glee rolling through the wire.

Growing angry, Simi pulled the phone away to glance at the screen but it flashed “UNKNOWN” at her. Great... Just what she needed to make her feel all safe and comfy in a strange town and in a strange place.

“Listen asshole.. I'm hanging up now and would appreciate it if you would quit calling me. I don't have time for these games.”

That said, she hit the end button and waited. Sure enough, it rang again seconds later and she finally turned the power off before setting the phone aside. For a long while, she sat staring at the thing like it was a snake poised to strike but gradually forced herself to react when logic kicked back in. Sure, she was in a strange place but Ryder was right next door. It wasnt as if anything where going to happen here in the middle of a snowstorm right?

RIGHT, she told herself firmly.

That thought firmly in her mind, she turned her attention to the TV and soon found a familiar old movie that her father had loved. It was a classic about fast cars, loyalty and adrenaline. Man, how her father had loved his speedy cars and THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS was an awesome movie. Before she knew it, she was engrossed to the point of fascination and then the sleepies set in. With a long day done and an emotional toil conquered, her sapphire eyes drooped and then finally closed as she dropped off into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was suffocating... There was something over her mouth and a hand was clamped on her nose. Where was she? Why was it so dark? From out of nowhere, a powerful blow landed against her ribs and pain exploded through her body. What was happening? Why were they hurting her? Flailing with all her might, she tried to fight off her attackers but the more she fought the more it felt as if her limbs were weighted down. Desperation filled her and she kicked out but it did no good. Every direction she turned, hands were grabbing at her, holding her down, doing ugly things to her... A scream worked its way up her throat and then suddenly the hands over her mouth were gone. Breath rushed into her lungs even as evil laughter seemed to go on and on and on. The terror burst from her throat in a low, horrified cry that went seemed to go on forever. She couldnt have stopped it even if she tired as that laughter rang in her head.

“Die you little witch” whispered sadistically as she screamed.

[Ryder James Winchester]

Ryder just stood there, watching after Simi as she left for her room, blinking back the surprise he felt by her soft words, as well as her threats. Of course he remembered her mother Lexi Blair; the potent hunter-witch that had taken down demons, sadistic vampires, and all the other things that went bump in the night without even breaking a nail. Not to mention she was one foxy woman. Simone certainly hadn’t gotten her looks from her daddy.
The young Winchester had to wonder if Simi’s mom was that powerful, just what kind of magic did -she- inherit? Ryder didn’t know that answer to that one so he figured it best to stay on her good side lest she turn him into a toad or something.

Letting out a quiet chuckle of amusement Ryder shook his head and went to his own hotel room. Tossing the keys on the little table next to the door, he tugged off his jacket and let it fall on the floor, sinking down on the edge of the bed where he leaned forward to drop his head in his hands.

What a fucking day.

He didn’t know whether seeing his childhood friend was a blessing or a curse. Granted, Simi had made him feel more alive in those few short hours than he had in months, but she’d also opened a door he thought he’d secured enough to give him a little time to get past all this. He’d thought about his family a lot since leaving, but the blonde witch had made him actually consider the pain he must be causing them. Damn. He was one selfish prick.

Lifting his head, the hunter glanced around the messy room, his eyes stalling on a half empty bottle of Crown he’d purchased just the night before. Yeah, that was it. Maybe a good buzz would take him back to that empty, unfeeling place he’d been before Simi’s arrival. That was exactly what he needed right now. No feeling sorry for himself, no thinking about what his baby sister or his dad might be doing right now, certainly not what Simi was wearing right now (where the hell had THAT come from?); just a good case of the spins and the crumbled sheets beneath him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryder woke up with a start. His eyes were unfocused and the room was dark, so it took him a good couple of minutes to figure out where the hell he was.

As the dreamy haze started to clear from his gaze as well as his head, he looked around, wondering what had woken him from such a heavy, alcohol induced slumber.
The empty bottle still lay beside him amidst the tangle sheets; his tee-shirt and jeans discarded somewhere on the floor and his boxers half pulled down his hips. Ryder tugged them up and ran a hand over his face, freezing at the horrible sound that must have roused him.

Was that Simi?

The sound of her crying and screaming bloody murder next door had him bolting out of bed and tearing outside without any concern for his state of dress. On the other side of her door Ryder could hear h desperate pleas for help, but when he tried the knob he found it locked from the inside, and a curse was torn from his throat.

Taking a couple of steps back, he braced himself for the impact, charging toward the door with all his weight on his shoulder. The frame splintered a bit, and the hunter growled in pain, clutching his upper arm as he burst into the room, seeing no one but Simi writhing violently around in her tangled sheets.

“Simi! SIMI!” Ryder spoke loudly, dropping onto the bed and shaking her a bit to stir her from her nightmare. She was pale and covered in a fine sheen of glistening sweat and even with her eyes closed; her face was drawn in terror.

[Simone Winchester]

A loud crashing noise was the first thing that tried to stir Simi's awareness. However, she was so deep in terror that it wasn't until she was being shook that her eyelids fluttered and then came open with a flurry of action. The feel of hands on her body cause her to strike out but gradually the familiar tone made her brain kick into gear.

Ryder? What was he doing there?

Blinking rapidly, she was stunned to find him beside her, eyeing her as if she'd lost her mind. For a moment, she went completely limp as she stared at him and then the shakes took over as she threw herself at him. Mindless of the fact that they were both practically naked, the slender blonde hung on to him as if he were her only life line before she was sucked out on a raging sea. His warm skin and the feel of him breathing were a godsend because it let her know that she was here and she was safe.

“oh god.. oh god.. oh god..” where the only words the witch was capable of for a long while before the terror started to receed and clarity flooded back. With it, came the sickness and the self disgust and she couldn't have stopped the words that poured from her if she'd tried. It was like a festered wound that had suddenly been lanced and the poison came broiling out.

“God.... it was like it was happening all over again... Like he was here in this very room again..”she choked out, rubbing at her eyes as if she could block the mental images that ran like water through her mind. “I couldn't move.. I couldn't function... Like some little puppet I couldn't even gather the strength to run away... I should have been able to fight them at least... but I couldn't.... Gregg.. he said he only wanted to apologize for his explosion when I told him the truth about what I was... He'd never ever done anything to hurt me before so I believed him.... I went to that party and didn't even suspect...... God, I was such a fool.....”

A new wave of tears fell down her face as she stumbled on.

“One minute.. Everything was fine.. Gregg had brought me a drink and I'd taken it. The next, I felt sick and woozy on my feet... Gregg insisted I needed to lay down and I thought he was trying to help...”she said hoarsely, self disgust in every note of her voice. “Would you believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book? Those guys..... they were all friends of Greggs from the team and around campus....I even had to see some of those in my classes... It was a never ending nightmare.... I've never seen animals act so cruelly.. Much less people... Papa always said that the true monsters hid in plain sight but I never believed him... Not until that night..... “

Bringing her hands to her face, she buried it in them for a long moment before continuing.

“They left me beaten and bloody outside my apartment.... There is a small wooded area behind where I lived and they dumped me there.. When I was able to get to my feet.. I barely made it to my door and inside before I collapsed... I managed to dial Karlie's number before blacking out again and she showed up not long after... If it wasn't for her... I might very well have died....I think.. I think maybe.. I think maybe i was meant to die, honestly....”

Finally raising her head to look at him, Simi meet Ryders gaze with wide, pain filled eyes as she shrugged. There was an air of fragility about her even as some strength seemed to come back.

“So.. there you have it... My dirty little secret you asked about earlier.... No one else knows... Only Karlie... I couldn't tell my family how stupid I'd been … You know what Mama and Bastian would do. Bastian would go off the deep end and land himself in jail and I don't want to lose him too... I have to protect them because this would tear them apart......”she said almost bitterly. “Its not as if Gregg hasn't already ruined enough of my life.. I won't let him take my family too...”

Then, seeming to realize she was practically hugging him to death, she started to pull away. No doubt he thought she was disgusting now too and was more than ready to leave. It wasn't as if he didn't have enough on his plate and he certainly didn't need to be hearing this. God, talk about the wrong time, wrong place.

“I'm sorry...... I .. I didn't mean to tell you any of this....”

[Ryder James Winchester]

Ryder wasn’t prepared for the maelstrom that Simi showered down upon his shoulders.
At first she fought him as if an attacker, and all he could do was brace himself for the assault of blows that came at him as her unseeing gem-blue eyes perceived as he held onto her lithe, trembling body.

And then she seemed to become aware of who was holding her, and where they were as she grasped him for dear life.
The truth came tumbling out of her as if irrepressible. He was her savior, and the story unfolded like a flower awakening at daybreak; a horrible narrative that made the bile rise in the hunter’s throat though he had seen many a horror in his short, but experienced life.

Anger surged within him. Every descriptive word like a weapon piercing the armor he had wrapped about himself since his own unfathomable terror. Ryder inhaled sharply and held it in as she recounted the physical attack that had happened to her by the one she had held close to her heart.
And there seemed to have been so many of them. The blonde witch that had appeared so strong of will before when comforting him seemed like a lost and desperate innocent. Her sapphire eyes filled to near brimming with tears and the hunter could only yearn to wipe them away as he realized the desperation with which she separated them. Those touches had been forced upon her. How could she now invite the comfort he so longed to extend to her as he rocked her in his strong, but foreign embrace…

The acid that was rushing through his veins and lighting him on fire from the inside out was almost too much to contain. He wanted to comfort her, but at the same time he wanted to hunt down the devils that had stolen her innocence and slaughter them like they monsters they were.

When she tried to pull away Ryder only held her tighter, shaking his head in vehement protest. “Don’t you dare Simi. Don’t you blame yourself for what those animals did to you.” He inhaled deeply and tried not to show the rage that he felt, because right now she needed patience and reassurance; not brimstone and vengeance. There would be plenty of time for that. He damn well would make sure of that.

“It had nothing to do with being stupid.” He continued, his palm lifting to the delicate curve of her cheek so he could tilt her face up, to look at him. “You’re one of the most intelligent people I’ve met. Always have been. He took advantage of the tremendous, open heart you have…you shouldn’t apologize for being a loving person, it’s what makes you who you are…”

His forehead wrinkled in concern, and he instinctually pulled the covers up to swathe her exposed form; feeling guilty for letting his eyes stray to her lithe curves. Swallowing thickly, he laid her back down, settling on top of the covers next to her.

“They won’t hurt you again Simi, I promise…” He whispered, and pressed a tender kiss on the crown of her blonde head. “If you want I can stay here until you fall asleep…”