As a general rule, I didn't spend that much time at the Winchester. It was a great place, don't get me wrong: Neil had done a wonderful job with it. I just didn't drink much, didn't find much time to sit around randomly shooting the shit, and didn't have anybody to take me to dinner. Still, I popped in from time to time, usually to see if Dean or Jess were around, or just to be friendly; that day, I thought maybe I'd talk to Neil about his cake, try to get a better idea of what he wanted.

I spotted Dean before I'd even walked in the door, and could tell immediately that something wasn't right. Even from a distance I could tell he had that vaguely pinched look to his face he got when something was genuinely worrying him, and I was already frowning by the time I crossed the threshold into the bar.