Occult Explained

This is just a collection of Sam/Lauren oneshots based around their college years.  For Shannon and inspired by Junie. Enjoy!

Initial.

Lauren sat silently, nose deep in a book, falling deeper into a world of fiction with every word she read. She scanned page after page, revelling in the peaceful tranquillity that she only ever felt when turning the smooth pages of a worn out book. She had spent most of her college life in here and in that moment, with one hand clutching the heavy leather bound book and the other keeping her long hair out of her eyes, she felt she’d never ever leave.

Someone opened the door with a bang, allowing a powerful gust of air to rip through the pages in her book and Lauren’s eyes drifted up to scowl at whoever had just disturbed her peace. He was standing in front of the librarian’s desk, his lean back towards the bookshelves and Lauren, who had successfully hidden herself amongst them, leant in her seat to get a better look. The only few people to ever really come into the library were her and Harry, who was pacing upstairs in an attempt to place his thoughts into words for one of his latest physics assignments. New visitors intrigued her. She strained her ears, eyes narrowing as she watched him speak in hushed whispers to the old lady in her thickly rimmed glasses. She pointed towards where Lauren sat, and in a quick attempt to hide from eyeshot, she slipped out of her chair and landed heavily on the marble floor.

‘Nice…’ She mumbled to herself, hoping the stranger hadn’t seen her staring. A pair of worn sneakers came into view and she sat herself upright, dusting off the knees of her jeans when her eyes connected with a pair of hazel ones. Her breath caught.

‘You need some help?’ He asked, hint of amusement present. A long arm extended in mid air. Lauren continued to brush herself off, avoiding eye contact, and held out her hand gratefully. She was on her feet in seconds, only managing not to blurt out, ‘Holy crap, you’re strong’. ‘Um, the librarian –Mrs Wallace, was it?— told me that you’d be able to help me out. I’m looking for a particular book. She said you’d read every one in here.’

Lauren gushed, ‘Not every one. I do have a life.’ She fought back a snort, feeling the heat in her cheeks as she blushed what she could only guess was deep beetroot. Smooth. ‘What one are you looking for?’

‘Um…it’s kind of a weird one. It’s for a theology paper.’ His thumbs tangled themselves together as awkward eyes scanned the many bookshelves. ‘Occult explained?’

‘What?’ Lauren asked again, she hadn’t heard his whisper, even in the deathly silent library.

‘Occult explained. That’s what it’s called.’ He must have noticed her eyebrow arching in confusion, as he let out a warm laugh and nodded. ‘I know, I know. It’s about the…the connections between religion and the paranormal. That sort of stuff.’

‘It’s definitely one I haven’t personally read…’ She trailed off as he shrugged innocently.

‘Oh—’ He squatted to pick up one of the books that had slipped from her desk. ‘Gulliver’s travels.’

‘I…I like books.’ She mumbled, cursing herself for stating the obvious and sounding so bloody stupid while doing it. She was sure he saw her face twitch with the shame as he was grinning from ear to ear.

‘Alright, thanks anyway!’ Before she could reply he was striding away with legs the length of tree trunks. Lauren didn’t want him to leave…not yet. She gave herself a mental kick and forced herself into action.

‘I didn’t say I didn’t know where it was.’

‘So you can find it for me?’

‘When do you need it for?’

‘Um, anytime this week would be great. I have a paper to write on it for next week. Whenever suits you to find it.’ He spoke clearly and she found his voice somewhat soothing, if not a little deep. It was obvious to Lauren that he had a bright, intelligent mind, but there was something about this man she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

‘Alright then….I’m Lauren by the way.’ She finally extended a hand of greeting. He accepted it, his huge hand practically crushing her own. ‘I can look up your classes from the office and give it to you then?’

‘No!’ He replied sharply, catching her off guard. His smile had faltered. Her eyes widened. ‘I mean, I can give you my number and when you find it you could ring me? I can pick it up myself.’

‘…If you’re sure.’

‘Thanks very much, Lauren.’ He searched in his bag for paper and a pen, and finally scribbled his number down with a look of satisfaction on his face. ‘Call me when you get it.’ He fixed the bag on his back and walked away, unaware of those following blue eyes. Before he reached the door, he turned. ‘My name’s Sam. Sam Winchester.’

Mrs Wallace gave him a glare from behind her thickly rimmed glasses for speaking so loudly in a library, and looking a little nervous under her watch, Sam quickly made his exit. Lauren sighed. She had no idea where to find that book. Maybe Harry would know…

Belonging

Lauren sipped her orange juice as the music blared around her. Socially awkward would have been a perfect way to describe her if anyone had been sober enough to even notice her sitting in the dark corner. Her new friend, Jenny Foxton, had invited her to a party in order to get her mind off work, but her new friend didn’t seem to know her very well yet and hadn’t noticed that Lauren preferred being alone in her room surrounded by assignments over being alone with a bunch of strangers. She didn’t belong here at all. She liked being an outsider, a loner. That way she was happy. Her surroundings should have been pretty, neat pastel coloured walls with a border of white washed wood, curtains of what looked like the smoothest silk and a carpet of carefully designed swirls and curves. Yet everywhere Lauren looked, there was a group of young adults ruining the aesthetics of the place, tripping and falling into ornaments, fornicating with one another in darker corners, spilling drinks on that lovely carpet. She sighed and set her glass down on the broken table beside her. A bunch of seniors fell past her in an effort to reach the bathroom on time before they puked all over the wall and Lauren just about had time to avoid the football team’s Quarterback. Her head hung to avoid recognition from someone in her class, she stepped briskly into the next room to find Jenny. Lauren wanted to thank her before leaving. She wasn’t really grateful that she had been invited, but she wanted her first female friend on campus to actually remember her the next day.

‘Jenny? Hi. Having fun?’ Lauren laughed awkwardly as the blonde smiled up at her.

‘I’m awesome! You? Want a drink?’

Lauren shook her head adamantly. ‘Actually I’m sort of tired. I’m gonna head back. Thanks so much for inviting me. I had a blast.’ Jenny grinned and waved her goodbyes as Lauren made her exit, but not before someone managed to spill drink down her front. With an exasperated grunt, she left the small white house and broke into a run. She wasn’t sure why she was running, but the sooner she was in her own room, the better. Something stepped into her path and she went careering off path and into the rose bushes.

‘Holy crap!’ The voice said. ‘I’m sorry!’

Lauren felt like she had run into a brick wall, and the apologetic voice didn’t really ease the pain. ‘You should watch where you’re walking…’ Lauren mumbled, feeling a little dizzy.

‘You should watch where you’re running, Lauren.’ Her eyes snapped up in shock, but her surprise faded as she recognised the hulking figure of Sam Winchester.

‘Oh, hello.’ She smiled awkwardly, regarding her stinging palms. Roses and their damn thorns. ‘I’m sorry.’ For the second time, he helped her to her unsteady feet.

‘I never got to thank you for the book. Mrs Wallace gave it to me, said you had to leave quickly.’ He picked a scarlet rose petal from her jacket and threw it where it belonged.

‘That’s okay. Your paper went well, I suppose?’

‘Yeah…’ He sighed, rubbing his hands together in an effort to generate some heat. Lauren hadn’t noticed how cold it had gotten. It was also incredibly dark, but to her relief she could spot a few tiny pinpricks of light in the sky. The stars always made her feel a little….reassured. ‘Actually, I have something to tell you.’

Lauren panicked. It was about now in the movies that he would turn into a raging psychopath and chase her down the dark street. Of course, he hadn’t, and she felt a little guilty for thinking he could be capable of that. ‘What’s that?’

‘I’m not actually taking theology.’

‘You’re not?’

‘No, I just like the unexplained.’ He shrugged, ‘I figured if we’re going to be friends…well, friends tell each other things. And right now I don’t have very many friends around these parts.’

‘Well I was just at a party where I sat in the corner for…’ She checked her watch, ‘Three hours. With an orange juice. I didn’t leave that seat until the moment I ran out of there.’ Sam laughed. It was a nice sound, surprisingly high and uplifting. It made Lauren relax. They both sighed, and Lauren swore she saw the flicker of contentedness in Sam’s eyes. Finally, the silence was broken and Sam cleared his throat. ‘You shouldn’t be by yourself walking home…well, running home. Even Sanford is dangerous at night.’

‘I should be going then, I don’t want it to get any darker. See you around, Sam.’ She was about to leave when she had an idea. ‘Why don’t you come to the library tomorrow at lunch? I can show you a couple more books that might come in handy some day…you know, for your course.’

‘That would be brilliant, thank you.’ Sam smiled and Lauren breathed a sigh of relief, ‘I’ll be there.’

Christmas

‘So you’re saying McCandless basically dug his own grave?’

‘Yes! I mean, sure it was brave leaving everything behind, but I mean he went into the wilderness with no prior experience, Sam! He was asking for something to go wrong.’

Sam nodded, still grinning, and leafed through a thick book with no particular interest of what was ingrained on the pages. He had already read it enough times. ‘I kind of admire him. You know, to be able to just throw everything away like that, to just take everyone’s expectations and throw them out the window…’ He turned his head to stare out at the looming oak tree that watched them from outside. Despite the cold breezes and the lack of greenery, no one ever would have known it was Winter. California wasn’t famous for its snow. Lauren watched Sam. Sometimes he would get so deep into a conversation, he would retreat into his own thoughts and completely zone out. She figured he was tired. It was only recently he had told her he was aiming for law school. She could imagine him as a big shot Lawyer. Heaven knew he was smart enough. She finally coughed to focus Sam’s distracted attention.  ‘I know you said you weren’t a Christmas kind of guy…but I, uh—’ She stooped to tug something from her bag. A small parcel, wrapped delicately in snowman covered paper, came loose and she set it gently on the table in front of him. He grumbled, but nevertheless smiled appreciatively.

‘Lauren I didn’t get you anything…Now I feel bad.’

‘Just open it, already. You can pay me back later in life when you’re a fancy pants lawyer.’

Sam paused, ‘—What, get you out of jail free?’

‘Just open it!’

Sam gripped the paper and ripped, avoiding too much noise for fear of incurring the wrath of the librarian. An old tattered book fell from a slit in the paper, followed by a thin black band, which Sam promptly slipped on his wrist. Turning the book in his hands he smiled. Call of the Wild.

‘It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what.’ Lauren quoted, eyes shining bright with the enthusiasm that Sam loved to see.

‘Jack London.’ Sam read with a nod, fingers playing with the thin pages. ‘And a first edition. Thank you.’

‘It’s a little worn but I think it adds to its appeal. It’s one of my favourites. I thought you’d enjoy it too.’ Sam lifted his wrist to regard the slender black band. ‘Oh and that….that’s just something that was lying on the counter. I thought I’d throw that in there to make the gift look like more.’

He smiled, and stood from his chair to pull her into a tight bear hug. ‘Thank you. And Merry Christmas, Friend.’ Struggling to breathe, but nevertheless feeling finally like she belonged, Lauren chuckled warmly.

‘Merry Christmas, Friend’.

 xo - Robyn