vacation location // kieran

He was going to miss the cows.

That was the worst part of it: no more sitting on his back porch in the mornings, drinking a cup of coffee, watching them graze the fields. But he'd spread himself too thin one too many times in his life; Paige got Emerson ready for school that morning, and it was becoming easier to believe that things would get better, but he had bigger plans than raising the cows. And that meant the cows had to go.

So, in six days, the Winchesters were coming to take them away, all twenty paraded down the same dirt pathway they'd come in on. And Kieran was trading in his boots for a new pair of slacks that, in his opinion, were a bit too tight in the groin area. But Paige insisted he looked sharp and that people would only notice if they were trying to, which would be an issue she would be obliged to handle.

It felt good, having those glimpses of her more and more often. Reminded him that it had been worth it in the end.

The knock from the door jolted him out of what was not yet technically a nap. He stood in a second, still rubbing the swelling from his eyelids as he made his way over to the front landing in his boxers and a tshirt. Paige was getting groceries; though nothing had ever happened before, he was terrified of letting her go out alone. Every time, he expected this: someone to knock on his door and tell him she'd suffered a breakdown, that she'd hurt someone, that she'd hurt herself. It was a small little bubble of panic that rose its way up into his throat as he opened the door.

"Hey, uh-"

"Christ almighty, Enzo!"

His mom had pointed out the last time they'd called how southern his voice had become those days, so he couldn't help noticing that all the vowels he'd just spoken had sounded the same.

"Mace- pops, he an' I got into a fight. Can I sleep here tonight?"

He looked at his watch, then around Enzo to outside, where it was almost dark. Shit. He was wrong; he had been napping. He listened hard, holding up a finger to silence Enzo until he heard Elonna's laugh from upstairs, and Paige distantly telling her to hold still or she would get soap in her eye.

"Yeah, duh."

He left the door open, making his way to the kitchen to grab some water.

"Babe! Enzo's here for the night!" he called when he got close to the stairs, then he looked behind him at his brother with an eyebrow raised.

"Wait. What was the fight over? Is this gonna get me into some shit too?"