Dean skipped the waitress and just went deeper into the city. There had to be a vampire gathering place somewhere. And fuck... even across the town, he could still feel Sam's anger and irritation. It was one thing to think someone he loved was tired of him. It was something else to feel it. The sensation crawled in his gut.

He found the local vampire haunt and spent the rest of the night with any fangbanger that showed interest. The blood eased the physical pain from his wounds and the sex provided a much needed distraction.

It wasn't working with him and Sam, and he didn't know how to make it work. He tried, but he was always doing the wrong thing. Hell, he'd nearly gotten his brother killed. It wasn't any wonder Sam was ready to spend some quality time apart. And Dean was so full of self-loathing that he really couldn't blame the kid, was the problem.

It was nearly dawn when he returned to the motel. If he'd had anywhere else to go, he wouldn't have, but there was nowhere else he could trust would be fortified against the sun and nobody would try to fry him while he slept.

He came in as silently as he could, shivering as the pre-dawn lightening of the sky made his skin ache. Right under the wire, tonight. A handful of minutes longer and he'd have been crispy.