Letting Go
Title: Letting Go
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: Sad.
Ships: Dean/Katie.
Summary: Dean and Katie "discuss" the future. It's not as bright as Dean had hoped.
Length/Completion: 504 words
Notes: Prompt set 100.4 @ 100quills, 77. Argument. This is sort of a prequel to Power Play, so I may end up using it in a flashback sequence in that story. But it'll just depend.
"You're always in training!" Katie said, huffing with something he recognized as frustration. "We hardly see one another."
Dean ran a hand over his head, recently shaved smooth just the way he liked it. He wished they could just stop fighting and cuddle up together on the couch like they used to, but this sort of "discussion" was becoming more the norm than an occasional way they vented to one another. "Not often enough, maybe. But we do see one another," he answered, trying to keep his voice steady. "I'm willing to try harder if you are. We can make changes."
We can move in together, he added silently. That had been another "discussion," many months earlier, and their decision to remain in separate housing had eventually been a mutual one. It was too soon for such a huge committment, too soon after their initial recovery from the war and everything that had gone with it, too soon to think that far ahead. But now they had a full year of dating behind them. They'd grown up a lot in that time.
"I'm moving to Portree," she said suddenly. "To be closer to the team."
Dean felt like he'd taken a Bludger to the solar plexus, but he swallowed hard and tried to cover his disappointment. "We can work around that. I can apparate up there after training...."
"You know I usually have games on your nights off."
Her voice was matter-of-fact, but Katie's expression belied other feelings. Disappointment? Sadness? Resolution? He thought he knew that face and its every movement, but now he wasn't so sure. How long had she been planning this move, considering it even? She'd always been happy living in London before.
"I--" Her voice faltered for a second. "I think we should consider this a good opportunity for a break. Maybe a permanent one."
He could feel his heart beating in every limb, like his blood was pumping extra hard to keep his body from just giving out. "Kate...."
"Dean, don't." She held up a hand. It was shaking. "Our priorities have been different for a while now. Let's not make this harder than it has to be."
Let's not make this harder than it has to be. She made it sound so simple, like a complex defensive manoeuvre made easier by an experienced Auror's trick of the trade. Maybe for her it was easy, he thought, his stomach sinking. His answer was quiet. "I just want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted from you."
"Then let me go," Katie said. She tried to catch his eye, but he deliberately avoided hers. He wasn't sure he could handle looking into those eyes right then--she could always read him better than anyone, and his thoughts would definitely make things harder than they had to be. "Please, Dean."
That was his undoing, and she probably knew it. He could never refuse her anything when she asked that way.
Even if it meant breaking his own heart.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: Sad.
Ships: Dean/Katie.
Summary: Dean and Katie "discuss" the future. It's not as bright as Dean had hoped.
Length/Completion: 504 words
Notes: Prompt set 100.4 @ 100quills, 77. Argument. This is sort of a prequel to Power Play, so I may end up using it in a flashback sequence in that story. But it'll just depend.
"You're always in training!" Katie said, huffing with something he recognized as frustration. "We hardly see one another."
Dean ran a hand over his head, recently shaved smooth just the way he liked it. He wished they could just stop fighting and cuddle up together on the couch like they used to, but this sort of "discussion" was becoming more the norm than an occasional way they vented to one another. "Not often enough, maybe. But we do see one another," he answered, trying to keep his voice steady. "I'm willing to try harder if you are. We can make changes."
We can move in together, he added silently. That had been another "discussion," many months earlier, and their decision to remain in separate housing had eventually been a mutual one. It was too soon for such a huge committment, too soon after their initial recovery from the war and everything that had gone with it, too soon to think that far ahead. But now they had a full year of dating behind them. They'd grown up a lot in that time.
"I'm moving to Portree," she said suddenly. "To be closer to the team."
Dean felt like he'd taken a Bludger to the solar plexus, but he swallowed hard and tried to cover his disappointment. "We can work around that. I can apparate up there after training...."
"You know I usually have games on your nights off."
Her voice was matter-of-fact, but Katie's expression belied other feelings. Disappointment? Sadness? Resolution? He thought he knew that face and its every movement, but now he wasn't so sure. How long had she been planning this move, considering it even? She'd always been happy living in London before.
"I--" Her voice faltered for a second. "I think we should consider this a good opportunity for a break. Maybe a permanent one."
He could feel his heart beating in every limb, like his blood was pumping extra hard to keep his body from just giving out. "Kate...."
"Dean, don't." She held up a hand. It was shaking. "Our priorities have been different for a while now. Let's not make this harder than it has to be."
Let's not make this harder than it has to be. She made it sound so simple, like a complex defensive manoeuvre made easier by an experienced Auror's trick of the trade. Maybe for her it was easy, he thought, his stomach sinking. His answer was quiet. "I just want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted from you."
"Then let me go," Katie said. She tried to catch his eye, but he deliberately avoided hers. He wasn't sure he could handle looking into those eyes right then--she could always read him better than anyone, and his thoughts would definitely make things harder than they had to be. "Please, Dean."
That was his undoing, and she probably knew it. He could never refuse her anything when she asked that way.
Even if it meant breaking his own heart.