Two are Halves of One

Emma grinned at him, a wicked grin he would have expected more on Rachel than her sister. "There's dancing right here. And besides, we can all get more comfortable here."

Carter got a shiver of pleasure at the way she said "comfortable," but he caught on "all." Did she mean for Dean to stay? And if so, did she mean for him to stay? What was her game?

Then she was against him, dancing, and he didn't think about it anymore for a while. He had forgotten he'd seen her dance before, but something about the way he was holding her around the waist and she had her hands up against Dean's chest reminded him of a black light party they'd gone to a few weeks back. Emma had been there, dancing between them. They'd both stared after her when Rachel dragged her out.

She put her hands up over her head and her fingers snagged the pull cord for the light, plunging them all into darkness. No one reached up to turn it back on, so they danced with only the lights from all their electronics and Dean's open door down the hall.

What the hell was happening? Carter wondered if he'd been drugged. This was not at all where he'd imagined this night going.

Carter had no idea how long they danced before a commercial break cut into their music and the three of them broke apart, laughing, the magic broken. He groped blindly until his fingertips caught the light cord, and they all blinked owlishly when he switched it on.

"Mood killer," Dean said, covering his eyes as he stomped into the kitchen and pulled the last beer out of the fridge. Before he could take a drink, Emma snatched it and handed the bottle to Carter.

"I think you need it more," she said with an impish little grin.

Dean smirked at her. "What are you boozing us up for, pretty lady? If I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to take advantage of us."

Emma laughed, covering her mouth with her hand, and poured herself a glass of water. "Surely you can't think I'd be so... dastardly." She was laughing, but Carter could see that she was watching their reactions closely. He wondered for the hundredth time just what game she was playing.

"What now?" he asked, sipping the beer she'd handed him.

Emma shrugged. "I'm no good at video games and you've got terrible board games. So... I don't know, Netflix?"

It was a lame idea, but Carter had nothing better and Dean was coming up with nothing useful. He finished the beer and wished he had more. He was barely buzzing now, and he was always smoother when he'd been drinking.

Emma turned the music off and all three of them crowded onto the couch directly across from the TV, Emma in the middle. Carter picked some crappy action movie and started it up, and Emma turned and lounged sideways across the couch, putting her head on a pillow in Carter's lap and her legs across Dean's.

Dean and Carter met eyes and shared identical one-eyebrow-raised expressions, then Dean smirked and draped his arms over her, clearly not offended by having her thighs under his hands. Carter couldn't think of any safe place to put his left hand, so he draped it over the back of the couch and stretched his right arm out over the sofa arm.

How was it possible that she could simultaneously be seeming to pay them no attention at all and be the most forward person in the room? Carter wanted to touch her, but her eyes were fixed on the TV and he couldn't seem to find the guts. No such compunction for Dean; he was running the fingers of one hand lightly up and down her shin.

Carter realized he hadn't been watching the movie at all for several long minutes - he'd been staring down at Emma, mentally tracing the soft lines of her face. He wanted so badly to touch her. She seemed blissfully ignorant of both brothers' attention, yawning her way through the gunfire and explosions that dominated the screen.

"You should make some popcorn," she said to neither of them specifically, eyes still on the TV. Carter caught Dean's eyes and jerked his head toward the kitchen. He knew his twin; left alone, Dean the opportunist would most definitely make a move on Emma, and Carter wasn't willing to give up the tug-of-war for her attention yet. Dean smirked - he knew what his brother was doing - but stood to make a snack anyway.

Emma sat up to let Dean off the couch, and Carter - smoothly, he hoped - used her motion as she leaned back against the couch to camouflage his dropping his arm across her shoulders. She didn't let him get away with it unacknowledged, though, turning to him with a wide, promising smile before leaning forward a little to watch Dean in the kitchen.

It's definitely me she wants, he thought. Why the hell is Dean still here?

"Extra butter, please!" Emma called. She settled more comfortably under the weight of Carter's arm.

When Dean came back with the bowl, Emma snatched it out of his hands and reclined again, this time with her back pressed against Carter's shoulder and chest and her legs hooked over one of Dean's. Carter found himself holding her much closer than he'd expected - which would have been great, had his brother not also been draped with her body.

Playfully, she tossed a piece of popcorn at Dean, cheering when he caught it in his mouth. Carter was still adjusting his position around Emma when she reached back with another piece of popcorn for him; he took it from her fingers with his teeth. She fed each of them that way for a while, throwing the pieces for Dean to catch and offering Carter treats from her fingers. He began to take the pieces more boldly, catching more of her fingers each time with teeth or lips. She didn't seem to mind.

The movie was winding to an end when he caught her finger between his teeth and held it there, biting down just hard enough to keep her from drawing her hand back. Emma laughed, turning to look him in the face. Her face was so close to his; he couldn't stop staring at her mouth.

"Let go, you nut," she said, still laughing. "I need that hand."

It was hard to hear her over the rushing sound in his ears. Her lips moved in the most fascinating way when she talked, making soft, teasing shapes out of the air. He opened his mouth just enough to release her. He didn't close it again; he couldn't seem to get enough air through his nose.

Emma finally seemed to register how intently he was looking at her, and her laughter evaporated, becoming something serious and burning and fleetingly seductive. The look on her face made his stomach flip in a familiar, pleasant, teasing way.

Dean broke the moment by trying to slip out from under Emma's legs. He winked at Carter as he tried to lever himself off the couch, excusing himself from what had clearly become a private moment.

Striking like a snake, Emma shot up and grabbed Dean by the arm, holding him in his seat. She had a strange, breathless and almost frantic look on her face. Carter's twin, clearly bemused, stared at her hand on his arm for a second without saying anything. Carter himself was too confused to speak.

"Calling it a night so soon?" Emma asked. "Come on, Dean. I was just about to start up the dance party again. You wouldn't say no to a dance party, would you?"

Dean squinted at her like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Carter willed his brother to insist on leaving, whatever Emma said, but Dean shrugged slowly and patted the girl's hand. "I guess... I could do with a dance or two."

"Great!" Emma said, bounding up to turn the music on again. Carter stared his brother down, expecting him to back off and step out, but this time Dean met his eyes almost challengingly and shrugged again. His face expressed his thoughts on the situation as clearly as if he'd spoken it aloud: Maybe it's not you she wants.

Carter considered being the noble one, bowing out of the dance party and letting his brother try his luck. But then Emma turned back to him with that smoldering smile and started moving her hips in time with the music, waving her hands in invitation for him to join in, and he couldn't even imagine leaving.

No one turned the lights on, but the TV cast weird light across their forms as they writhed and bounced. Emma had wrangled the two brothers until she was between them again, her movements pressing her against first one, then the other. Every time her body came close to his, Carter fought the urge to shove her down on the couch and have his wild way with her. He was certain that every time she rubbed against his crotch, she could tell exactly what he was thinking.

From what Carter could see in the dim, colored light from the TV, Dean was in much the same state, staring down at Emma's movements like she'd hypnotized him. Carter scrubbed a hand back through his hair, more than a little frustrated. This was well past the point where one of them would have disengaged with any other girl. This was crazy. Emma was such a good kind of crazy.

Several songs in, the music got slower, with deeper bass and a strong, driving beat. Emma pressed her back against Dean and pulled Carter right up against her front with her hands on his waist. She was peering up at him through her long eyelashes, her eyes burning with that light that seemed to settle hot in his core.

Carter couldn't handle it anymore - he kissed her. He took her face in both hands and kissed her with all the force and frenzy with which he'd imagined throwing her down on the couch. He sensed rather than saw his brother finally leave.

Without turning to look, Emma reached out to grab Dean again, stopping his escape. Dean let out a sharp, uncomfortable laugh. Carter pulled back from his kiss, his puzzled gaze meeting Emma's nervous one. They all stood frozen in a strange tableau: Carter with both hands on Emma's face, Emma with one hand at his waist and the other on Dean's arm, Dean half-turned from them but refusing to pull away from Emma's fingers.

Dean laughed again, always quicker to recover from surprises than Carter. "Look, Emma - I think we've all had fun tonight, but there's..." He paused, swallowing hard. "There's something on everybody's mind right now, I think, and I'm going to make my graceful exit and leave you two to it."

"No." Emma's voice was quiet, but firm.

"Then," Carter said, jumping in after his brother with only the briefest hesitation, "you want me to go?"

"No," she repeated. She wouldn't meet either of their eyes. By some silent agreement, they all released one another, and the boys moved to stand next to each other in front of Emma.

Dean was still trying to make it a joke, keep it light. "Alright, you don't want either of us. You could've said!"

"No, that's-" Emma shook her head. Even in the odd light from the TV, it was clear she was blushing deep crimson. "I want..." She closed her eyes, unwilling or unable to finish her sentence.

Carter took a half-step forward, his fingers eager to touch her again; he didn't, though, instead letting his extended hand help him express his burning question. "What do you want, Emma?"

When at last she spoke, she met Carter's eyes with that same smoldering expression that had been driving him insane all night. "Both of you."

Dean's head snapped back on his neck like she'd punched him, and he let out a low, disbelieving laugh. Carter took a full second longer to process her words, so by the time he turned to look at his twin, Dean was grinning from ear to ear.

"Excuse us for just a minute, would you?" Carter said to Emma, shoving his brother roughly ahead of him and into the bathroom around the corner, where they could shut the door and be reasonably certain of not being overheard. He tried to organize his thoughts as they walked, but everything kept coming out, what the fuck? In the end, that's what he decided to go with.

"What the fuck, Dean?"

Dean was in motion as soon as the door shut behind them. He started toeing his shoes off, and his hands were at his belt buckle. He paused just long enough to respond to his brother's irritated question. "Hey, I didn't do a damn thing, Cart. This was all Emma. She wants us both! Holy shit, she wants us both. Can you believe it? This is the best night ever!" He pulled his belt out of the loops and dropped it on the floor next to his shoes.

Carter watched him for a long, baffled second. "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing macramé. What the hell do you think? I'm getting some of these clothes off. Did you see the look on her face? She wants us both, Carter. I think you're maybe not getting that."

"I get it. But there's no way I'm going along with this."

Now it was Dean's turned to look stunned and baffled. "What? For God's sake, how often do you think this kind of opportunity comes around?" The shorter of the two twins glanced in Emma's direction as if he could see her, his face lighting up like a kid's at Chrismas. "Haven't you ever imagined being in a threesome before?" Dean made a crude gesture like he was jacking himself off.

"Of course I have," Carter scoffed. He couldn't believe they were having this conversation. What was it about Emma that was bringing the crazy out in them? "I've imagined it a thousand times, but there were two girls in my head, and you sure as hell weren't there!"

Dean grew a little more serious, as if he realized he really was going to have to persuade his brother to go along with this. He studied Carter for a long moment, then spoke again. "Look," he began, his voice surprisingly reasonable, "Emma just put herself way out on the line, ok? It's not very often you get a girl to tell you she wants you - much less that she wants you in a highly unconventional and totally awesome way." The grin flittered across Dean's face again, uncontainable, though he tried to rein it in and finish his argument. "She's probably sitting out there nervous as hell because you acted like she'd suggested we all chop our left arms off. If you shut her down, it's not like she's going to say, 'ok then, guess I'll just take one of you.' She's going to leave, and she's probably not ever going to come back."

Carter shifted uncomfortably, glancing at himself in the mirror as if his reflection might have a better grasp on the situation than he did. Dean pushed his advantage.

"She's been on you all night, bro. You can't tell me you don't want her. You were practically panting out there because she was feeding you goddamn popcorn." Dean put his hands up defensively when Carter shot him a dark look. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I've been putty in her hands too. What I'm saying is you do not want to see her walk out that door, possibly forever."

Carter winced, then shook his head. "I can't do this, Dean."

"Yes, you can, you totally can." Dean nodded vigorously as he spoke. "Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. I mean, we've always done everything together..."

With a sour look, Carter punched Dean lightly in the chest. "Be serious. This isn't weird to you?"

Dean shrugged. "Maybe it will be, maybe not. I'm absolutely willing to find out." He waggled his eyebrows at his brother, then pointed at the closed bathroom door. "Are we going back out there to tell her we're up for it?"

Carter sighed, dropping his head back to look at the ceiling as if in supplication. "Fine," he said at last. "I'll do it."

Laughing almost maniacally, Dean dove past his brother to rush out the door. Carter caught the door before his brother could dart out and shut it again, staring very seriously down at his twin. "But if it gets too weird-"

"If Emma decides she doesn't want this after all, she's all yours, Carter."

Carter narrowed his eyes; that wasn't exactly what he had meant, but he was pretty sure it was the best he was going to get out of his brother.

"Emma, darling," Dean called as he grinned up at his twin and pulled the door open again. "Your dates await."

***

Emma's hands were shaking as she sat on the couch, feet up on the cushion and arms around her knees. The Moore boys had been in discussions for what seemed an interminably long time. Carter had acted - less than pleased with her pronouncement. She could tell he wanted to have her to himself, but she couldn't shake her obsession with having the set, especially after the long night of casual touch and the warmth of their bodies against hers as they danced.

She tried not to watch the hallway where they'd disappeared. They'd agree or they wouldn't; it would do no good to rush them.

When Dean called out to her, the smile audible in his voice, her heart rate pounded up a notch or two. He skidded around the corner in obvious excitement, half-jogging to her as she stood up from the couch. Carter followed more slowly; his face was still uncertain, but the hunger she'd seen in it throughout the night was back.

"Well, Carter's already had one, so-" Dean swept her up in a deep kiss just as Carter had, his hands cupping her face, his lips on hers. His kiss didn't have the urgency Carter's had, though; instead, it was playful and eager.

Carter approached them with a serious expression, and Emma pulled back from Dean to put her hand on his brother's face. She searched Carter's eyes for the green light; he seemed hesitant to reach out and touch her.

Dean abruptly spun her around so she was facing Carter, then shoved her forward a stumbling step so she was inches from the taller of the twins. With a small smile, Carter bent to kiss her, though he didn't reach out to hold her.

Clearly content to be the one driving the affair forward, Dean stepped up behind her while she kissed his brother, hooking his finger in the neck of her shirt and pulling it aside so he could nibble at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. She shivered happily, and she felt both brothers smile against her skin.

Carter grew more comfortable kissing her and wrapped his arms around her waist, clasping his hands across her lower back. Dean, still kissing and biting lightly at her neck, ran his hands down her arms from shoulder to wrist, grasping her hands and pulling them up behind her like she'd been handcuffed.

All three of their hands met at the small of her back, and for a moment they all paused. She held her breath, afraid this was the moment where one of them would be overwhelmed with the strangeness and call a stop to it. But then Carter accepted her wrists from Dean, clutching her more tightly to him, and they resumed their motions as if they had never stopped.

They moved very slowly toward the hallway that opened into the Moores' bedrooms. Emma spun between the boys, letting them turn her as the mood struck them and kissing whoever was closest. Their hands grew bold; soon they were slipping rough fingers under the edge of her short skirt, searching for the line of her underwear against the soft fabric of her tights. They wouldn't find it.

A brief struggle held the group in stasis for a moment as the boys silently debated whose bedroom they should go to. Eventually, they pushed their way into Carter's room, the same one Emma had woken up in the weekend before. It had been cleaned - he must have been expecting, or at least hoping, to have her in here - and the glimpse she got of Dean's as they passed said his had not.

In a synchronized movement, the boys threw her down on the bed. Then they stood staring down at her as if uncertain where to begin. She sat up and slipped her fingers under the edge of Carter's shirt, pulling it up and over his head. Dean didn't need her help; almost as soon as she began undressing his brother, he was stripped down to his boxers. In another minute, so was Carter.

Emma started to pull her own sweater dress off, but Dean batted her hands away and moved to kneel on the bed next to her, pulling it over her head himself. Carter, on the other hand, dropped to one knee on the floor at the end of the bed, pulling her tights down her body. He let out a very gratifying groan when he saw that she'd worn nothing beneath them.