Chapter Text
The front porch swing creaked softly as Jo used one foot to lightly push herself. Her glass of lemonade dripped condensation onto the well worn wood of the arm rest, and the hum of cicadas added another layer to the already thick air.
“Shouldn’t you be out with your friends raisin hell?”
Jo looked over at her mother, who was standing in the doorway, leaning one hip on the frame.
“Not much goin’ on tonight,” Jo said. “Charlie’s at cheer camp, Amara’s at orientation. Sammy’s at brainiac camp. And Meg’s…well. You know how she is.”
“Off being a criminal with her uncle Crowley?” Ellen asked knowingly.
“Yeah.”
“Well, sure seems a shame. Hate to see ya just sitting around. Finished your chores yeah?”
Jo nodded, indicating the chickens pecking around in front of her. “Let the chickens out for some fresh ground, made sure the dogs are fed and went for a run, and made sure both the cow and the goat have been milked and mucked out.”
“Good girl.” Ellen’s face shifted a bit, a knowing look in her eyes. “Just in time for that boyfriend of yours to show up, huh?”
“What?” Jo followed her mother’s pointing finger and squinted for a second at the cloud of dust coming up the long drive before recognizing her boyfriend Dean’s Chevy Impala in the midst of it. “Dean!”
The dust settled as he pulled up in front of the house and parked, stepping out with a dazzling smile as Jo ran over to him. “Hey, sweetheart.” He picked her up and swung her around.
“What are you doing here? I thought you had the closing shift?”
“Ehhh, Dad and Bobby didn’t need me. So I thought I’d come surprise you. Why don’t you go get all cute and lemme take you out hm?”
Jo kissed his cheek. “Well if you’re gonna twist my arm…”
Dean laughed and tapped her hip to gently urge her into the house. Ten minutes later saw her running back downstairs in a deep blue sundress and some lightweight leggings, one of Dean’s stolen flannels tied around her waist. As she paused outside of the kitchen to adjust her Converse, she overheard her mother and Dean murmuring softly.
“You sure it’s okay?”
“Dean, I am very sure.”
Jo opted to make herself known at that point. “What’s okay?” The swinging door squeaked softly as she pushed it open.
Dean scrambled to put something away before Jo could see it, clearing his throat awkwardly. “Oh, um, goin’ to the drive-in, sweetheart. I wanted to make sure that if we went to a movie and then for some ice cream I wouldn’t be keepin’ ya out too late, is all.”
“Oh. Okay, then. Well, I’m ready when you are.”
“Awesome.”
Dean quickly stood and wrapped an arm around Jo’s waist to walk back out to the car. “Have her home before midnight!” Ellen called after them, sounding amused. Dean’s ears were still pink with some sort of embarrassment or agitation, though Jo had no idea what that could be about. They’d known each other practically their whole lives, and there wasn’t much Dean couldn’t talk about with Ellen since she had helped raise him after his mother’s death. Maybe…no, Jo wouldn’t let herself consider it too much.
Surely whatever it was would come out soon enough.
Dean paid for burgers before they headed for the drive-in movie theater. The food took his mind off of the sheer nervous energy he could feel coursing through his entire body like vibrations at the thought of what he was going to ask Jo after the movie.
It was like the ring was burning a hole in his pocket.
Oh, sure, they’d talked about getting married eventually. More than once. Two years worth of dating, and a lifetime of knowing each other, meant they knew . But Dean still worried that she would say no. That sometime between their talks and now, when he was ready to ask, Jo had secretly changed her mind and didn’t want to stay with him, didn’t want to get her hospitality degree and take over her mom’s roadhouse while Dean stayed on at the garage with his dad and Bobby. Some mean little voice in his head told him that she had finally realized he wasn’t worth jack shit and she would be better off without him.
“Dean?”
“Hm?” He looked up from dragging a French fry through ketchup to see Jo’s face riddled with concern.
“You’re awful quiet. Everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah! Everything’s great. Just hungry and a little tired. Gotta catch my second wind.” He flashed her a winning smile.
She relaxed at that, a smile breaking through. “Good. Had me worried for a moment there.”
“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. Promise, everything’s perfect.” God, he hoped that was true. If not, there might be a handle of whiskey in his dad’s liquor cabinet with his name on it after he got Jo home.
There was still time to burn after they finished eating, the sun hovering golden over the horizon.
“We could always go park…” Jo suggested playfully.
“And risk missin’ this movie you’ve been begging to go see?” Dean teased.
“There’s always the second show.”
“Which would make us miss curfew.”
“Since when have you cared?”
“Since that time Bobby almost fired me for getting you home late.”
Jo scoffed. “He was not serious. And even if he had been in the moment, he would have woken up in the morning and rehired you and you know it. You’re far too valuable to him since he and your dad both can’t do as much as they used to physically.”
Dean just shook his head. “Still. Not a thing I wanna repeat, sweetheart. So first showing it is.”
“Fine. But I do wanna go park sometime soon?”
“Sure. But let me borrow a truck or something and we can look at the stars maybe.”
Any disappointment Jo had left was clearly erased at that suggestion, and she was off on a new topic of packing them a picnic and maybe sneaking out a bottle of her mother’s wine to make it extra “romantic.” Dean was just happy she had been so easily placated when he didn’t want to deviate too far from the plan. He was nervous enough without having to deal with that.
With parking vetoed, Dean headed for the drive-in early, figuring they’d get a good spot somewhere near the middle where their view was less likely to be blocked by a taller vehicle. Plus, it would mean being closer to a speaker so he didn’t need to try and tune the crappy radio he refused to replace.
“Dean, honey,” Jo said, trying not to laugh as he fiddled with the tape deck. “You desperately need to replace this radio.”
“Never. Classic tape deck radio for my classic car!”
“It’s not original.”
“So? I like my tape deck.”
“Alright, weirdo. When it dies, though, I’m buying you a fancy new one.”
“Sure ya are, sweetheart.”
Jo laughed and Dean hoped he got to hear that sound every day for the rest of his life.