Note: Hey, thanks for all the incredible comments last week, I didn't stop smiling all the way through :) You all are amazing!

Okay, beauties, now listen up because this week, we'll be seeing a very VERY important day :)

I'm slightly early, but:

Happy 18th birthday to my girl, @Musicpotterhead !!!  Ad, tu es mon bordel preferée. Je t'aime 💜et ce chapitre est à toi.

Anna is seventeen .

Lovers, Fighters, and Military Brats

"Hey."

Anna glanced up from her laptop to see a girl in a leather jacket and red top standing in front of her. "Hey...?" she said, then looked around to make sure there was nobody else this girl might be talking to. "Have we met? I don't think I know you."

"Uh... no. I'm new here," the girl replied. She shifted her feet, clearly uncomfortable, though her expression made her appear calm. "I just, you know, I heard you talking earlier with Ethan, and he was in my first class this morning. He's funny, and you're funny. I just... I guess I just like your vibe."

Anna let a tiny smile creep onto her face. "I have a vibe?" she asked almost mischievously. "I mean, I guess, everyone has a vibe." And she liked this kid's vibe. "Tell me mine and I'll tell you yours," she bargained.

Then she gestured to the chair across from her. It wasn't like her, really, letting some random kid sit with her and strike up conversation. But she would have taken just about any excuse she could find to set aside her history paper for a few minutes.

Anyway, there was something about this girl... She felt almost familiar, but not in a déjà vu kind of way, just in a you would fit perfectly into this empty spot in my life kind of way.

The girl sat down and pulled her bag off her shoulder to set it on the floor. She tucked it against the side of her chair and slid one foot to rest protectively against it.

Anna knew paranoia when she saw it, and the thought that this chick might have something to hide suddenly made her feel guarded herself. They didn't get a lot of new kids in Lebanon. Hell, Anna was pretty sure she'd been the most recent arrival up until today. And she'd moved here with the boys about four years ago.

The sudden appearance of a new girl who felt oddly familiar... It was enough to make Anna wary now that she was thinking like a hunter instead of a teenager.

"Your vibe..." the girl trailed off. She propped her elbows on the table and scrutinized Anna's face.

The move made Anna itch. She didn't like attention, especially from people she didn't know. But, hey, she'd asked a question, so she had to wait out the answer.

"It's, like, cynical, apathetic, and hyperactive all rolled into one."

"Wow," Anna said, leaning her head back and raising her eyebrows. "That's... like, weirdly accurate. I'm a little freaked out by that."

The girl grinned and leaned back in her chair. "It's a gift," she said. "I'm Alex."

"Anna."

"What's my vibe?"

Anna was the one to lean forward this time, and she squinted at Alex. She already knew what to say, but she wanted to take this opportunity to look for secrets.

Alex had blue eyes, and they were deep, but they didn't give away any hidden truths. There were bags under her eyes, and even sitting back as she was, her posture didn't read as relaxed. Alex wasn't a normal kid. And if she was a hunter or even just came from a rough background, Anna could understand that. But if she was a monster– a vampire, a demon, a spirit, even– that was going to be a whole different ball game.

"You're independent," Anna said, pulling away from the table but not resting back against her chair. "Smart. But mostly I'm gettin' cool kid who nobody could possibly understand and so nobody gets a chance vibes."

Alex didn't smile for a solid ten seconds, and for a minute, Anna thought maybe she'd touched a nerve somehow. But then a little smirk appeared, and she felt that connection she had when she'd first seen Alex's face.

"What's your next class?" Anna asked. "I can show you how to get there. Anything to miss even five minutes of math."

She watched Alex pull a piece of paper from her pocket and unfold it. "Uh... Science Research Methods?"

"Gag me. You let them talk you into that?"

Alex frowned and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Well I- I thought it was required."

Everything about her response read as uncomfortable, and Anna couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Wait a minute." She pointed a disbelieving finger at Alex. "You like science, don't you?" She shook her head. "That is unbelievable. Well, you know what? You and Kate are gonna get along famously."

Alex frowned again, tilting her head to the side. "Who's Kate?"

"She's my best friend. Wicked smart, funny, and the sweetest kid you'll ever meet."

When she'd finished speaking she had to kick herself. What was she doing? Talking about her best friend in the world with a person she'd just met, a person with secrets and a hardened look in her eyes. For all she knew Alex was in town for her or her brothers. She could be working for Crowley or, worse, Lucifer. She could be looking for ways to get to Anna or her family. And here she was handing over loads of information.

It seemed to Anna like there were easier, more surefire ways of getting intel. But until she'd had a chance to test Alex, make sure she was human, she would have to play it safe.

"Hey," she said. "Why don't you meet me out front at lunch? You can meet Kate, and Ethan will probably be there."

Alex looked surprised, but then she smiled softly. "Seriously? I thought for sure you were gonna tell me to get lost."

It was suddenly very difficult for Anna to believe that Alex wasn't just a kid trying to fit in at a new school. "No," she said kindly. "I like you."

()()()

"What are you doing?"

Anna startled violently, shoving the bottle in her hand into her locker and slamming the door closed with a metallic clang. "Nothing. Well, I mean, obviously not nothing nothing. I'm breathing. And standing and, like... talking to you."

"Okay," Alex drawled with a slow, awkward nod. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She made a face and started to walk away, but Anna felt guilty and stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm.

"Wait, Alex. I just... I have-" She cleared her throat as she tried to come up with a convincing like on the spot. It was a nervous habit she'd picked up from Sam. "I have a bag of weed... in my locker," she lied. "And, I don't know... I hope you're, like, cool with that."

Alex's posture changed, and she laughed out loud. "Anna, when I went to the bathroom yesterday at lunch, two different kids offered me a joint. I'm not gonna snitch on you."

Anna laughed and relaxed. "Oh," she said. "Cool, well, it's actually not for me anyway. I'm just holding it for a friend."

Alex nodded. "No judgment here," she said.

"No, it's- it's seriously not for me. I'm more of a whiskey chick," Anna replied. "So, what's up?" she asked and grabbed her backpack from the floor at her feet to sling it over her shoulder. She would have to pull the holy water out and test Alex later since she'd nearly been caught this time around.

"Nothing, really," Alex said. "I saw you, and I just wanted to say 'hi'."

"Oh. Hi," Anna said with a quirky smile and wave. "Where's your next class?" she asked.

"Oh, this is my study hall," Alex replied. "I thought- I thought it was yours too."

Anna raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, right, yeah. Cause yesterday- Sorry, I forgot. Uh, I actually am supposed to be in AP Lit. I have it every other day. But, I mean, I could ditch if you wanted to hang out."

Alex's jaw dropped. "Just like that?" she asked.

Anna shrugged indifferently. "Sure," she said agreeably.

"You-" Alex scoffed. "You're messing with me."

"Uh, no, I'm not," Anna laughed. "Alex, I give no shits about school."

"That doesn't make sense. You just said you were in AP Lit."

"My brother thinks I have potential," Anna quipped. She gestured toward the hallway and Alex walked beside her toward the gym.

"And, what, you don't get in trouble for ditching?"

"Well, you're not gonna tell on me, are you?"

Alex shook her head, hands up in surrender. "Not me," she assured. "I don't know your parents anyway."

"Um... My brothers," Anna corrected softly. "I live with my brothers. My parents aren't... in the picture."

"Oh shit," Alex said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything-"

"No, it's fine! Really, it doesn't bother me that much. Just, can we not make a big deal, please? I don't like talking about it."

"Yeah, of course," Alex said. "If... If it helps, I lost my mom when I was a kid. So I get it. And we can drop it." She smiled in a friendly way, and Anna found herself smiling back.

She almost didn't want to drop it now. She didn't know any other kids her age who had lost a parent the way she had. She shoved the gym door open and held it for Alex. Some jock shoved past her, and his arm lingered on her chest.

"Fuck you," Anna yelled after him when she caught the smirk he threw over his shoulder at her. "Guys suck," she grouched as she and Alex walked toward the back corner of the gym.

"Christ, are there a lot of kids like that here?"

Anna bobbed her eyebrows. "Unfortunately," she replied. Then she realized what Alex had said. Christ. She wasn't a demon. Anna smiled to herself, careful to hide it from Alex.

"So, what are we doing here?"

"Back door," Anna said. "We gotta go one at a time, cause if the door stays open for more than a couple seconds, an alarm goes off."

"Oh, Jesus," Alex grumbled. "You're definitely gonna make my life interesting."

Anna grinned over her shoulder. "Hey, you want to break the rules, I'm your best bet at not getting caught."

"I'm not the one ditching," Alex reminded her.

"But you're leaving school grounds in your free period. You're not supposed to do that either." Anna shoved the door open, stepped outside, and shoved it closed again behind her. No alarms, and she smiled to herself. Damn, she was good. And it was kinda fun showing a new kid the ropes.

The door swung open again, and when Alex didn't immediately push it closed, Anna lunged at it to make sure it shut in time.

"You don't wanna talk to Warren," she told Alex. "Trust me. Once she makes up her mind about you, she starts treating you like the scum of the Earth."

Alex tilted her head in confusion. "Who's Warren?"

Anna laughed. "Oh. Right. Uh... Headmaster," she clarified. "Lady's a total dickface. But maybe I'm bias since she hates my guts."

"Who could hate you?" Alex said with a playful grin that Anna couldn't help but return. "So, where are we going?"

Anna squinted in the mid-day sunlight and pointed toward the end of the school driveway. "Down the road a little, there's this tree where some kids set up a tire swing a couple years ago before they graduated. Kate and I found it, like, a month ago, and I fought a couple other seniors for it. Now it's ours." She looked down at their feet, kicking up tiny puffs of dust as they walked toward the driveway. When she looked back up at Alex, she was surprised to see that her new friend looked impressed.

"You mean you got in a fight... just like that?"

Anna laughed again. "Yeah, man, just like that. I crave excitement," she explained. "And school is just so... boring."

"So, I got your vibe really right then, huh?"

"Oh, you mean, cynical, apathetic, and hyperactive?" Anna quoted with a smirk. "You nailed it. But, honestly, I would say mostly I'm apathetic. I just don't like it when people tell me what to do. And besides those guys were so mean to Kate. I had to deck 'em for that already, and I figured we might as well lay claim to the territory while we were at it."

"I respect that," Alex told her. She reached into the pocket of her leather jacket and pulled out her phone. Anna caught a glimpse of a new notification before looking away again, and Alex put her phone back in her pocket. "So, what do you usually do when you skip?"

Anna shrugged. "Just talk, I guess. Anything's better than school, right?"

"You know, call me a loser, but sometimes I like school."

"Yeah, and for that reason, you and Kate are gonna be instant friends," Anna said, shaking her head in disgust. "Have you met her yet? I was gonna introduce you yesterday, but plans got moved, and we both  wound up going home right after school."

"It's okay," Alex said. "I actually had to go right home yesterday too. It's crazy the amount of homework they gave me on my first day here."

"I got a great strategy for homework," Anna posed. "If you want to hear it."

"What's that?"

Anna grinned and looked at Alex with a mischievous glimmer in her eye. "Don't do it."

Alex shook her head, but she had a sliver of a smile on her face. "Somehow I knew you were gonna say that," she said and reached down to adjust her boot. "You're despicable," she called as Anna walked ahead of her.

"Nah," Anna crooned, turning around so she could walk backwards and face Alex. She skipped a couple times, her Converse scraping noisily against the pavement. "Am I cynical? Sure. Apathetic? Absolutely. Hyperactive?" She jumped and clicked her heels in mid-air. "Sometimes," she quipped. "But despicable?" A smile tugged at one side of her mouth until her cheek dimpled with it. "Come on," she waved and skipped a little faster toward the clearing.

()()()

"Holy shit," Alex gasped as she and Anna ran past the apple tree in the back yard of the school. "Oh my god. I thought we were gonna die."

Anna couldn't answer. She was still panting, hands pressed against her legs just above her knees.

"Are you okay? You got clobbered pretty good by that one guy."

Anna nodded, her curls bouncing with it. "Dude, he was so pissed," she breathed, straightening so she could lean back against the tree trunk.

"I thought you said those guys were scared of you now," Alex accused, pulling off her leather jacket to sling it over her forearm.

"They were, man. I swear." Anna shook her head and looked back down the school driveway where they'd come from. "But there were only two of them last time. Not frickin' six."

"Oh my god," Alex stressed, burying her face in her hands for a second. She came back up almost immediately, her expression neutral once more. "Alright, we gotta go back."

"Uh, no," Anna said. Talk about a crazy idea. "No, we don't."

"I left my bag," Alex explained. "It's by the tire swing."

"So what? I left mine too. We'll get it after school is over."

"But what about my next class?"

"Alex, I think our survival is gonna have to take a front seat over our school supplies for the minute."

Alex looked like she hated that plan, but she didn't argue with it. She just sighed, still slightly out of breath, and shook her head at Anna. "I'm adding despicable to your official list of characteristics," she said decidedly. "Tell me you got a pencil sitting next to that weed in your locker."

Anna laughed out loud. "Alex, there's about a two percent chance of that."

She wiped at her throbbing mouth with her wrist. It came away with a smear of rusty red, and her stomach did a little flip. She'd come home a month prior with a bruised cheekbone, a gash on her eyebrow, and a split lip, and the boys had been pissed. Even though the headmaster hadn't gotten involved, she'd been in deep trouble over getting in a fistfight at school. She hoped the damage this time wouldn't be so visible. But by the way her whole face– and especially the area all around her right eye– was practically beating in time with her heart, she figured she was going to be shit out of luck in that department.

"Well, I'll find one then," Alex said with surprising confidence.

"Hey, you know, you held your own back there," Anna said. She took a second to really look at Alex's face. There was a small bruise on her jawline, and her nose was bleeding sluggishly. She hadn't been the other kids' main target since she was completely new to this territorial conflict, and so she hadn't gotten the brunt of the damage. Good thing, too, because Anna would have felt extremely guilty if Alex had gotten really hurt because of her. "You ever been in a fight before?" she asked.

"Not like that," Alex admitted. She ran a hand through her short hair and then touched her nose carefully. She made a grossed out noise when her fingers came away bloody. "I used to get bullied a lot when I started at new schools, so I got good at ducking punches."

"Threw a couple of good ones too, though," Anna said with a grin.

"Pure luck," Alex said with a shrug.

She was obviously selling herself short, something Anna had already seen her do about twenty times.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked. "No offense, but you're bleeding in like ten places, and I dare say, you look like complete shit."

"Really?" Anna asked dreadfully. She lifted her palm to her face, and there was blood on the pads of her fingers and on her palm when she pulled it back. "Dammit," she muttered. "Hey, you should go. Class is gonna start soon, and you can't go with a bloody nose."

"Aren't you coming?" Alex asked, frowning in confusion.

"Later," Anna said. "I'm gonna ditch next period. I don't think I can fix my face as fast as you can fix yours."

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "You should consider seeing the school nurse."

"I don't do that," Anna dismissed.

"You should," Alex frowned.

"Are you going to?"

"Fine," Alex said and started backing toward the school building. "Will you meet me after school?" she requested. "Introduce me to Kate?"

"Yeah," Anna agreed. "Meet me at the clearing. We gotta get our stuff anyway."

Alex nodded and went back toward the back door they'd exited through. "Shit," she cursed then, and Anna watched her stop walking. "How do I get back in?" Alex asked.

()()()

Anna sighed and stepped around a lesbian couple making out to get to the bathroom sinks. The second she caught sight of her own reflection, she inhaled sharply.

"I'm gonna fucking die," she said with resignation.

The kids behind her on the floor detached from one another. "What?" one of them asked, her voice rough. "Oh, hey, Anna."

Anna turned around and hopped up to sit on the vanity between the two sinks. "Hey," she said, trying to place the girl's face. She wasn't wearing makeup, and she had a wide face and expressive brown eyes. "Emma. I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"We're friends with benefits," the other girl corrected. She had red hair pulled into a high ponytail, and she wore pink lipstick and purple eyeliner. "I'm Avery."

"Cool," Anna said, wincing at the way it felt just to speak. Her face was tightening and getting more sore with every passing minute. It wasn't an encouraging feeling. "Hey, on a scale from one to ten, how beat up do you think I look?" She flexed her jaw and had to reach a hand up to support it, it hurt so bad.

"Pulverized is a better word," Avery told her, looking sympathetic.

"What'd you do this time?" Emma asked.

Anna shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. "I got in this fight a while ago," she explained.

"You mean the one a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah. I guess the guys didn't like getting their asses kicked, and they held a grudge." She felt something wet against the side of her face and wiped at it with her hand. Damn, her whole face hurt. And so did her knuckles and knees. Even her legs were starting to hurt.

"Wow," Avery said. "That's kinda cool. You know, nobody ever used to fight before you moved here."

"I don't buy it," Anna said.

"People got beat up," Emma amended. "But there weren't, like, full-blown fist fights."

"Well, I'm glad I could bring some culture in."

"Do you want help with your face?" Emma offered. "My mom's a paramedic, so I know, like, the bare minimum of first-aid."

"That's okay," Anna said, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "I actually might call my brother to pick me up."

It would suck if she had to do that. For one thing, that meant admitting freely that she'd gotten in another fight. For another, she would have to postpone introducing Kate and Alex, and strangely enough, she was actually really excited for them to meet. She had a real hunch that Alex was going to fit right in with them.

"Well, if you change your mind, this is my free period," Emma said. Then she ran her fingers down Avery's cheek, and the two smiled lustfully at each other before going back to making out.

Anna stood up and pulled her phone out of her pocket, turning so she was facing the wall and giving the girls as much privacy as possible in the small space.

She debated with herself for a minute and finally gave in. Her face already hurt like hell, and she was starting to develop a bad enough headache that she genuinely had to wonder if she was concussed. It wasn't like she would be able to hide all the damage anyway, and the boys would probably actually be angrier with her if she didn't call them now.

"Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Technically," Anna drawled, already regretting her decision to call.

"So what's wrong?"

"You're really pessimistic."

"Anna," Sam said, unamused.

She could hear two voices in the background, one male and one female. It hadn't occurred to her that Mary would be there. She probably wasn't making the best impression on the boys' mother considering this was the second time in a month that she'd gotten into a fight at school. And Mary had only known her for about that amount of time.

Anna quit stalling and just sighed. "I may have... sort of... gotten in a fight again."

"Are you kidding me?"

The response was loud enough that Anna had to wince and press a hand to her head as it pounded. When she looked up again, she glanced over her shoulder to see Avery and Emma both looking at her in sympathy. She pressed the phone against her ear again and heard the low rumble of Dean's voice in the background. Then she heard Sam repeat what she'd said, and she supposed he'd put the phone on speaker, because then Dean's voice came clearly through the phone.

"Are you in the frickin' headmaster's office again?"

And Mary's: "Again?"

"No," Anna said, hoping that might make things a little better.

"Are you okay?"

"Mostly."

"What the hell does mostly mean?" Dean demanded.

"Well, when you punch people, they tend to punch you back," Anna said like a true smartass.

"That isn't funny," Sam informed her. "Are you hurt?"

Anna twisted her mouth off to the side as she tried to come up with the right way to answer him. But that hurt, and she made a small sound of pain, and then-

"What's wrong?"

"My face hurts," Anna confessed. "And I'm starting to feel like I might either throw up or pass out, so..."

"You wanna come home?" Sam asked sympathetically.

"Yes, please."

"I'll be right there, Rugrat."

"Thanks," Anna said, breathing a sigh of relief.

She hadn't doubted that they would come get her. But she certainly was glad to have the hard part over with. Well, the first hard part, that was. Once she'd taken some Tylenol and put up with plenty of coddling, she was sure to have some explaining to do and then a lecture to receive.

()()()

"The same kids?" Sam asked, leaning close to her as he dabbed at a cut under her eye with a washcloth.

Anna winced, pulling instinctively away, but he grabbed her chin and held her still. "Yeah," she replied. "Except they multiplied."

"Good god, kid, tell me you didn't try and fight five kids on your own."

Great, now she had more to explain. "There were six of them, for one thing," she said. Both boys made sounds of disbelief and exasperation at that, and she watched Dean uncross his arms to bring his palm to his face. "And for another thing, I wasn't alone."

"Honey, you know we love Kate. But she's more of a lover than a fighter," Sam said tiredly.

"I wasn't with Kate," Anna corrected. "I was with the new girl."

"There's a new girl?" Dean asked from behind Sam. He leaned around their brother to wipe some blood away from her temple with his thumb.

"Yeah, Alex. She's a military brat," Anna explained and batted his hand away. "She's not exactly big leagues, but she got a couple hits in."

"Six on two is still three to one odds, Ladybug."

"Well, we ran eventually," Anna justified.

"Next time, how about we make that step one," Dean suggested.

"But they're so irritating."

"Be the bigger person," Sam encouraged, pulling the cloth away from her face and looking down at it. He made a face at the blood there and fixed her with a look that said he really wished she'd quit getting punched in the face.

"I don't want to, though."

"Anna."

Anna rolled her eyes and made a displeased sound, but she knew there was no winning this fight. She could try one more angle, though. "I lost my backpack," she told the boys. "I might have to fight to get it back."

"Uh-uh," Dean told her firmly. "No more fighting, Anna, I mean it."

"But what am I supposed to do?"

"Stop ditching class for one thing," Sam suggested.

"I'll bring you in early tomorrow to get your stuff back. And then you're gonna stay away from that spot and away from those kids. You understand me?" Dean had that unbearably parental look on his face, and his arms were crossed over his chest. There would be no arguing with him. Not at the present moment.

The thought of getting those kids back was a sweet, sweet dream, but Anna shoved it down and conceded. "Alright."

"Promise," Sam asked of her. He'd paused in his ministrations, his hand and the cloth in it hovering near her split lip.

"Cross my heart," Anna said, pressing her index fingers in a cross shape and tapping them against her chest.

"So, this Alex kid," Dean said as Sam resumed cleaning up Anna's face. "How'd she get mixed up in this?"

"She was kinda in the wrong company," Anna said, feeling guilty. She saw the way Sam closed his eyes for a second and released a little breath. "I know, I know. But I didn't force her or anything. She sought me out."

"She did?" Sam asked, frowning in concern now.

Anna nodded, then winced when Sam rubbed a little too hard at a cut on her chin. "Apparently I have a reputation," she explained.

"What kind of a reputation?" Dean pressed.

Anna made a face. She had to put this exactly right, or they would think she was the class clown or the school delinquent. She was sort of a cross between the two in some ways, but for the most part she was actually good at keeping her head down. Lots of her antics went completely unnoticed by the faculty. It was just that the other kids mostly knew her by name and considered her interesting.

She tried hard to come up with the right wording. Then she just couldn't help but smile.

"They say I'm cynical, apathetic, and hyperactive. And sometimes despicable," she added as an afterthought. She glanced slyly between the boys and watched them both mask their smiles with different levels of success. "So basically," she said. "Alex knew exactly what she was getting into."

But secretly Anna didn't believe that Alex had any clue just what she was getting into.

()()()

Kate was sitting on the curb, french-braiding her own hair like the talented goddess that she was when Anna stepped out of the passenger side of the Impala the next morning. "Seriously, how?" Anna asked and reached back to pull her backpack from the footwell.

Kate just laughed at her and leaned around her to wave. "Hi, Dean," she said with a polite smile.

"Hi, kiddo," Dean replied. He looked at Anna sternly. "No more ditching, Rugrat, and especially no more fighting," he told her. "I'm serious."

"I know," Anna said defensively.

"Okay," he said, and Anna shut her door so he could go home.

"I still can't believe you fought those guys again."

She sat down on the curb beside Kate, letting her backpack rest on the sidewalk next to her. "I mean, to be fair, I didn't walk up and pick a fight."

"I know," Kate allowed and tied off her braid. "But, like, six kids? Anna." She let her arms fall to her lap, rubbing at her wrists which had to be sore.

"I had backup," Anna reminded her. "Not my usual backup. But backup nonetheless."

"Yeah, let's pretend I'm any good in a fight."

"No, but you're good at grabbing me by the hair and dragging me out of fights."

"That is one of my strong-suits," Kate laughed. She leaned against Anna and dropped her head on her shoulder. "Man, I'm so tired," she sighed.

"Me too," Anna said, letting her head rest against Kate's. "Anything new?"

"Since yesterday?" Kate asked. "Not really."

They were quiet for a minute, just resting. Some kid walked by, yelling, "Faggots," at them.

Anna was half-tempted to give Kate a kiss on the lips, just to prove a point. But despite both of them liking girls, they were only friends. Best friends. And she wasn't going to ruin that for anything.

"And proud of it," she yelled back instead.

Kate lifted her head from Anna's shoulder, though. "I hate people," she muttered.

"Me too."

"No, seriously. I mean, why can't I get through one day without somebody yelling obscenities at me?"

Anna swallowed and rubbed her hand against the leg of her sweatpants. "I don't know," she said quietly. "It's not fair."

It really was exhausting, trying to ignore the slander day in and day out. It was so difficult to sit quietly and take the verbal abuse that Anna actually found it less tiring to get into fist-fights, which was why she did it. She really did try not to do it too frequently, though.

But she looked over at Kate, brown eyes staring sadly down at her hands, and she wished that she could go deck the kid who'd just called them a slur.

"I promised Dean," she reminded herself aloud, and she watched Kate look up with a smile on her face.

"I'll drag you out by your hair," Kate warned.

Anna smiled tiredly and raised her hands in surrender. She could feel herself settling into the usual drone of fatigue and boredom that she had to accept in order to get through a day at school. At least, since she was with Kate and had actually had some excitement in the last couple days, her depression wasn't hitting her over the head the way it sometimes did.

"Is that Alex?"

Anna's head shot up, and she followed Kate's finger to see a girl on a silver bike riding through the parking lot. "Yeah," she said, recognizing Alex by her short, dark hair and leather jacket. "I didn't know she rode her bike to school."

"You've only known her, like, two days."

"Yeah," Anna said.

They waited for Alex to ride up to them, and she stopped right in front of them. "Hey," she said her voice bright. "Is your face as sore as mine?"

Anna laughed out loud, noticing now the dark bruise on Alex's jawline and the redness of her nose. "I'm taking painkillers on a strict schedule," she replied. "So my face is comfortably numb."

"I'm surprised you didn't have a concussion," Alex said. "I swear, that one guy hit you, like five times in a row."

"Don't remind me," Anna groaned, her cheek seeming to ache at the memory. "Hey, this is Kate," she said and gestured beside herself to her best friend in the universe. "Katie, this is Alex." She watched them both nod at each other and exchange pleasantries. "Cool, now the awkward part is done," she celebrated.

"Thanks for helping Anna," Kate said sincerely. "She'd probably get herself murdered if she went over there by herself."

Alex made a face, "I don't know. She was clearly the best fighter there. If there hadn't been so many of them, I think she actually would have kicked their asses."

"I totally did kick their asses," Anna muttered under her breath.

"Yeah," Kate said, looking knowingly at Anna. "She's something else."

"Where'd you learn to fight like that anyway?" Alex asked, inadvertently answering Kate's silent question to Anna.

"My brothers have training in martial arts," Anna lied, sort of. "They taught me that for self-defense."

"You should meet her family," Kate said, smoothly changing the subject and earning herself a look of sheer gratitude from Anna. "They're great. They're intimidating at first, 'cause they're, like, ginormous. But they're so sweet."

"Coupl'a teddy bears," Anna affirmed.

Alex smiled and laughed, her breath making an ethereal puff in the cool morning air. "I mean, what, are they in their twenties? That automatically makes them cooler than everybody's parents."

Anna grinned and shook her head, curls brushing against the skin of her face. "They're in their thirties," she said. "There's a big age gap."

"How big?"

"Dean's almost twenty years older than me," Anna said. "And Sammy is only four years younger than him."

"Holy shit," Alex reacted. Then she looked over with an apology in her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I just mean that's a big age gap. No judgment or anything."

"You're fine," Anna assured her. "I'm used to that reaction. What about you? You have any siblings?"

"No," Alex said. "Just me and my dad."

"But he's military, isn't he?" Anna asked. "So he's gone a lot?"

"Yeah," Alex replied and didn't elaborate.

Anna took that as a sign not to ask any further questions. She looked at Kate, who took the hint and swooped in.

"I don't have any siblings either," she said. "And my parents are separated, so I just live with my mom."

"Sorry," Alex said. "I know how lonely it can be."

"Especially when they work all the time," Kate agreed wholeheartedly. "If you ever wanna talk about it..."

Alex seemed to shut down at the offer. She looked toward the school building and the bike racks out front. "I should go lock my bike," she said seriously. "First bell is gonna ring soon, right? I'll see you guys later."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Kate turned to Anna. "Did I say something wrong?"

"She's really guarded," Anna said. "The boys used to be like that a lot of the time, and Sam told me once that our dad didn't do well talking about emotions. I guess if her dad is military, he's probably the same way."

"Makes sense," Kate said. "Maybe you should introduce her to your brothers sooner than later. If she's just alone at home all the time, maybe she could use some attention. And they're good at that."

She was speaking from experience, Anna knew.

Kate's mom was a lot better at dealing with emotions and curiosity than some parents, but she'd been all over the place when she was first separating from Kate's dad. So during one of her many sleepovers at the bunker, Kate had opened up to the boys about the separation, and it had been heartbreaking but also touching the way she needed the support they gave her. Anna could see sometimes that Kate considered Dean to be almost a father figure for her in the same way that he was to Anna, not in the sense that he really acted as a parent to her, but more so in the sense that she thought of him as a role model.

"I can't invite her over," Anna said. "She doesn't know about hunting. The bunker would freak her out."

Kate made a thoughtful face, biting her lip and frowning. "We could hang out at the Kickback or the cafe and you could just tell the boys you want them to meet her."

"Sure," Anna said. "And we can invite Ethan so they can meet too."

"That actually sounds like a fun day," Kate said. "Am I a genius, or am I a genius?"

Anna grinned widely at her. "You're the most ingenious of all the geniuses, Katie."

She stood up and shivered. Her ass was half numb from sitting on the cold sidewalk. She reached a hand down and Kate took it so she could pull her to her feet. Unfortunately, they had to go to school.

()()()

The bunker was freezing as Anna walked down the hallway in her socks, shorts, and oversized Fall Out Boy hoodie. The first thought on her brain when she got up in the morning was always a nice hot cup of coffee, but that sounded particularly nice today. Not only was she cold, but she was sad for no particular reason, and her brain felt even more exhausted than the rest of her after a sleepless night of overthinking and crying about nothing and everything.

"Good morning."

Anna looked over in surprise at Mary, who was sitting at the kitchen table with her own cup of coffee and a tablet in front of her. "Morning," she replied. "It's, like, four, right? What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Mary told her. But she smiled kindly then, putting Anna at ease. "I like to keep an early schedule."

"So that's where Sam gets that from," Anna joked and nodded.

She pulled down her big Rick and Morty mug and filled it nearly to the brim with coffee. She felt so crappy that she honestly just wanted to go back to her bedroom so she could be alone, maybe listen to music and try not to think too loud. But she thought that might be seen as rude, and her relationship with Mary was already so weird and complicated that she didn't think that was a risk she should take.

She sat down across from Mary, pulling her phone out of her sweater pocket to set it beside her coffee cup on the table. The chair was cold against the bottoms of her legs, and she pulled her feet up to the edge of her chair, knees close to her chest, so that her bare skin didn't touch the cool surface of the chair.

"How are you feeling?" Mary asked, her voice soft with a combination of that just-woke-up brand of tired and her usual maternal gentleness.

Anna frowned for a second, confused. Then she wrapped her hands around her coffee mug, letting the heat seep into the pads of her fingers and the whole of her palms. "I'm okay," she said. "My liver probably isn't. All that acetaminophen probably took a few years off my life."

"Good thing you've got plenty of it to spare then," Mary replied and took a sip of her coffee. "You know, I wasn't here when Dean was in high school, but I can imagine he was a lot like you."

Anna had to smile shyly at that remark. She blinked her burning eyes. She was too tired still, really, to have this conversation. But she sort of wanted to try and have it anyway. She took a sip of her own coffee, which was still too hot for drinking, and tried not to make a face when it burned her tongue. It helped to clear her mind just a little, though, so she took another sip before setting her cup back down.

"Actually, he didn't get into a lot of fights," she said. "I mean, I hear he went to class even less often than I do. But he didn't need to. Dean's, like, a total genius."

Mary smiled, her eyebrows pulled together. She looked sad and amused and touched. Anna wasn't so great at reading her expressions yet. She hadn't known her for very long, and Mary was obviously a complicated person. It was difficult telling just what she was thinking or feeling from one moment to the next. "And Sam?" she asked delicately, lifting her coffee cup to her mouth again.

Anna frowned, looking down at the pool of black coffee in her cup. "He was a brainiac," she said. "I think he took school a little too seriously. I don't remember much from back then, but the few memories I have of Sam before he left, he always had his face in a book."

Mary nodded thoughtfully, and Anna didn't try to track her feelings this time around. "I still feel like I don't know them as well as I should," Mary admitted quietly. "But I'm beginning to think that if I get to know you, then I'll be able to get to know them."

Anna wasn't sure how Mary had come to that conclusion, but something about it seemed to ring true. "I guess," she said hesitantly.

She didn't have the energy to play twenty questions, though, so she hoped Mary would postpone the whole getting to know her thing for another day. Preferably a day where Anna had gotten more than three hours of sleep and consumed a lot more caffeine.

"I know you're practically grown too," Mary said. "But you're more of an open book than my boys are."

Anna felt a pang of something like anger in her stomach, and she had to work quickly at masking it. She took a sip of coffee and purposefully didn't answer. My boys, Mary had said, but she was right in that she didn't know them. And instead of trying to know them the way that they were trying to know her, she was staying quiet. Except, Anna supposed, this was Mary trying. She was asking Anna, because she wanted to know without having to ask Sam or Dean directly.

She'd said she should know.

"I've been called a lot of things. Cynical, apathetic," Anna joked more for herself than for Mary, who clearly didn't get it. "But an open book isn't one of 'em."

Mary actually laughed at that, though it was short-lived. "As an open as a Winchester can be," she amended.

Anna's phone buzzed, and she looked at it to see a text had come in from Kate.

i havent slept yet but i found this meme its so funny but like in a not funny way

The text was closed followed by a notification that read simply: Kate sent an attachment.

Anna opened the chat and looked at the meme. It wasn't funny, even to her own sleep-deprived brain. But it was funny that Kate thought it was funny. She texted back, you really gotta go to sleep.

She looked up to see Mary giving her a faint smile. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Mary said and stood from the table. She walked over to the counter and topped off her coffee.

Anna could see tiny furls of steam escaping the top of the cup. Her phone buzzing against the table again distracted her, and she looked down to read Kate's text. we're leaving in like four hours

four hours is better than no hours, she shot back.

says who

Anna rolled her eyes and smiled. SLEEP, she texted and then put her phone down again.

"Is it just me, or is the kitchen way too full for four in the morning?"

Anna smiled broadly at the sound of Dean's voice and turned in her chair so she could see him come in. He was already dressed– he and Sam almost always got dressed before leaving their rooms in the morning– but his hair was mussed and he had sleepy eyes.

She felt honored when she was his first stop, even before the coffee pot. "Hi, Rugrat," he murmured. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, his scruff brushing the side of her head, and then went for a cup of coffee.

"Oh my god," Anna murmured in realization. Two sets of green eyes were on her then, and she explained, "This means Sam is gonna be the last one up."

Dean barked a laugh. "He's gonna think a djinn got to him."

"In the bunker?" Anna joked, then realized that she had been djinn-ed in the bunker before.

"It's been known to happen," Dean said, not smiling anymore, just giving her a knowing look.

"Shut up," Anna grumbled, suddenly tired again. She grabbed for her cup of coffee and took a slow sip, letting the warmth invade her chest and stomach.

Her phone buzzed again, and she flipped it so the screen was up. i cant sleep, Kate had written.

"Oh my god," Anna grouched. She hit the phone icon by Kate's name and put the phone on speaker. The ringing noise was loud in the otherwise serene setting of the kitchen.

It didn't take long for Kate to answer in a very drowsy and whiny voice, "Why are you calling me?"

"Go to sleep," Anna ordered.

"I literally tried."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe it, baby."

"Kate, you're starting to sound like me. It's concerning."

"I think I need coffee."

"I think we body swapped," Anna quipped, and looked up to see Dean shaking his head at her, smiling around his coffee cup.

"I think you're right. My thoughts are suddenly consumed by Fall Out Boy and Rick and Morty quotes. I'm wearing flannel right now," she said in a spooky voice.

"Pics or it didn't happen," Anna deadpanned and took a sip of coffee.

"I'm pickle Riiiick."

She nearly did a spit-take. "Kate! Go to sleep."

"Seriously, kid," Dean backed her up, setting his own mug down on the table.

"I definitely knew you were there," Kate said. "That's not embarrassing at all."

"Don't be embarrassed," Dean said comfortingly. "I'm impressed, really. That's the best Anna impression I've ever heard."

"I turned myself into a pickle, Mortyyyy," Anna said to prove his point.

"It's actually the best episode, though."

"Morty's Mind Blowers," Anna reminded her.

"Second best," Kate amended.

"And it makes a great lullaby."

"Fine," Kate relented. "I'll go to sleep."

"Yes," Anna cheered with exaggerated glee. "But give me one more Rick impression for the road, will you?"

Kate giggled on the other end of the line. There was a brief pause and then, "Wubba lubba dub dub!"

Anna laughed out loud. "Ten outta ten," she said. "Stay perfect, Rick."

"You too, Morty."

()()()

"I promise. I'm better now."

"I hope so," Anna said. "That was weird. Like what I imagine you would be like fun-drunk."

"I was sleep drunk."

"That's not a thing."

Kate got a thoughtful look on her face. "Technically it is. There are certain aspects of inebriation that sleep-deprivation actually does imitate. That's why they say driving when you've gotten four hours of sleep or less is almost as bad as driving drunk."

Anna squinted blankly at her friend and glanced up to the front seat where the boys were sitting, minding their own business, then back at Kate. "Okay," she said finally.

"Have you talked to Alex?"

"No," Anna said. "I don't actually have her phone number."

"Me neither. We should probably ask her today."

"Probably. Did you talk to Ethan?"

"At like one this morning he was still planning on coming, so I think he'll be here."

"How do you socialize at one in the morning?"

Kate made a face of utter bafflement. "We talk at one in the morning all the time."

"Okay, one, thanks for ratting me out," Anna said, looking pointedly at Dean's raised eyebrows in the rearview mirror. "Two, that's you. You're not socializing. You're, like, basically part of me."

"Aww," Kate said with a gushy smile. "That's really sweet and really weird at the same time."

"Best I can do," Anna replied with a shrug and a smile.

In the front seat, Sam's face split in a yawn, and it made Anna and Kate both yawn right after. "Jeez, Sam, and to think you were the last one up this morning," Dean teased.

"That joke was old five minutes after it started," Sam complained.

Anna leaned forward so her face was next to his. "By that you mean, five minutes after you showed your face. The joke started, like, an hour before you got out of bed."

"Haha, you're hilarious," Sam deadpanned. He pointed at the backseat. "Sit down."

"This her?" Dean asked, pulling up to the curb outside the cafe.

Anna and Kate both turned to look out the window. There was a girl with cropped dark hair and a leather jacket locking her bike up to a parking meter. "Yeah," the two girls said together.

"Where's Ethan?" Sam asked. "I thought he was coming too."

"He's always late," Kate explained, not judging, just stating facts.

Anna swung her door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk as the Impala's engine went quiet. "Hey, Hot Stuff," she said with an exaggerated biker-dude voice.

"Is it the leather?" Alex asked good-naturedly.

"And the RBF," Anna snickered, but Kate elbowed her in the side.

"The hell's RBF?" Dean asked, and Anna felt his presence behind her.

"Nothing," she said at the same time as Sam said, "Resting bitch face."

"Dude," Anna said, looking at him in betrayal and total confusion. Where had Sam learned the term RBF? But when Sam looked at her expectantly and then bobbed his eyebrows in the direction of Alex, Anna remembered her role here and straightened her stance. She awkwardly folded her hands in front of herself before realizing that was stupid and stuffing them in the pockets of her sweatshirt instead. "Okay," she said, more of a mental check than a real conversation started.

Alex gave her an I'm-being-polite-and-so-this-has-to-be-subtle version of a shit-eating grin.

"Guys, this is Alex. Alex, these are my brothers, Sam and Dean. Don't let appearances confuse you; they're teddy bears." She got a majorly sour face from Dean and a faint, almost annoyed smile from Sam for that one.

"Nice to meet you, Sir," Alex said as she shook Dean's hand firmly.

"Jeez, kid, you got a grip," Dean snorted.

"Please never call him sir again," Anna said. "Like seriously, it's Dean."

"I was being respectful," Alex told her with a half-peeved, half-amused look.

"Dean's fine," Dean assured her.

Alex nodded and shook Sam's hand too. "I guess... I just call you Sam then?" she asked with a steady voice.

Anna had noticed, though, that Alex was having a hard time actually looking either of her brothers in the eyes. She looked at the bottom halves of their faces or completely away. Anna was half-tempted to ask if Alex was okay. But things would only have gotten awkward with so many people around. It hadn't been long since they'd met, but Anna already knew with absolute certainty that Alex would not have been willing to talk about anything sensitive with so many people around. It would only have caused her embarrassment.

"So, where's your father?" Sam asked gently.

Anna had already told the boys that Alex' mother wasn't in the picture to avoid any painful moments. But it seemed like maybe pain had been inevitable.

Alex was biting her lip and looking at the ground now, her hands tucked into the pockets of her leather jacket. She scuffed the sole of her shoe against the sidewalk and then looked up at Sam's face– but not his eyes. "Afghanistan," she answered, "last I heard."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah," Alex said with a crooked nod. She seemed to be really struggling with this, and Anna wasn't sure why. Obviously it couldn't be easy having only one parent and knowing they were in constant danger. But Alex hadn't had quite this hard a time with it when she'd told Anna. It was something about the boys that seemed to be making her feel more guarded and yet simultaneously more sensitive.

"I'm sorry," Sam offered, tilting his head down just a little to try and see Alex' face. "We knew he was military. I thought he might have come with you for the move."

Alex shook her head and gave Sam a tight-lipped smile. "No, he didn't have time," she said. "He's... got an important job."

More important than me.

Anna knew what that felt like.

"Well, you know," Dean started in a voice that Anna knew meant he thought he was funny. "If you ever start feelin' lonely, we have this kid livin' with us. She's a handful. A total nuisance. And you could take her off our hands for a night or two."

Anna player her part in shaking her head at Dean with an expression of disapproval. "You could take him for good if you want," she said.

Alex snickered at their banter, seeming to finally relax a little bit. "Thanks," she said sincerely, though. "I'm used to the quiet, though."

Anna glanced up at her brothers to see if they were going to head home now or what. But they were exchanging a look that she recognized as one of concern. Sure it probably sucked for Alex living alone, but why were they worried about her? She was clearly doing alright for herself.

"Hey, Alex, if you ever need anything– anything– why don't you call?" Sam suggested.

Alex looked a little startled by the offer. Anna was too, if she was being honest. "Oh," Alex said, tossing a questioning look over to Anna. "Um. I mean... I don't really..."

Anna didn't know what to say. So she just gave the boys a look of what the hell are you doing?

"Alright, look," Dean said, gentle but firm. "Alex, you're what, seventeen? You shouldn't be livin' all by yourself. And, you know, we're not judging. No one here has had the easiest life, ya know? But... bein' alone is tough on people twice your age."

"I'm used to it," Alex repeated, her voice quiet.

Anna was fascinated at the version of Alex that had appeared in the face of her brothers' compassion. Maybe Alex really did need an emergency contact with the last name Winchester. Well... actually they were going by Campbell here but whatever.

"Okay," Dean relented easily. "But, just, get our numbers from Anna, and if you're ever in any trouble or anything, you know you got somewhere to go."

"They're better than 911," Kate said from Anna's other side. She looked a little small too. But less timid than Alex. And the timidity looked strange on Alex, especially when she was standing in a group of more comfortable people.

"Okay," Alex said. Anna suspected that she just wanted to get the guys off her back. "Thanks," she said again.

"Alright," Dean said. "Good deal." He let out a breath like he hadn't enjoyed any of that either. Then he turned and looked at Anna. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"How many laws does that mean I can break?" Anna quipped.

"All of 'em," Dean grinned.

"None," Sam corrected, giving each of his siblings a stern look in turn. "Be safe," he told Anna. "Nice to meet you, kiddo," he said to Alex and gave her a friendly wave goodbye.

Once both boys were in the car and the engine roared to life, Anna looked at Alex. "Sorry, they're really protective," she said. "It's just... you know, after our dad and everything..."

"They're like that to me too," Kate said. "It's actually... really nice. If you let them, they'll help you."

Alex just looked uncomfortable. "Okay," she said again, still awkward. "Can we... hang out?"

"Yes," Anna breathed in relief. "Please."

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something," Kate said as she pulled the front door open and held it until Alex could catch it.

"What?" Alex asked, running her fingers through her short hair with one hand and holding the door for Anna with the other.

"What's my vibe?" Kate asked.

Anna laughed maniacally gestured for Alex to go inside ahead of her. "Katie, she'll say something scary accurate," she cautioned. "Are you sure you wanna know?"

The door closed behind them, the little bell on the other side calling out a soft greeting for them. Lebanon's streets bustled sullenly, a gentle breeze caressing everything in sight. In the window of the cafe, warm lights outlined the shadows of the morning crowd. Among them, three teens. And a fourth who ran down the sidewalk, swung the door open, and let it close on the sound of young voices cheering, "Ethan!"

La Fin