AN: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! : ) So, this new story is a redo of 18 Days basically. I didn't like the way I had skipped the very beginning of their stories, so for the past few days I've worked on this. Hope you like it, it's about 8 pages long. : ) I don't own Sam or Dean, or any of the Supernatural characters. I do own Ashley, Taylor, and whomever you don't know. I don't own the song either!

Someday soon,

I'm gonna pull myself together,

Win or lose,

I'm starting over again..

-"Starting Over" by Salvia

Chapter 1: Starting Over

My Dad once told me that life is full of choices. Bad ones, good ones... they all lead to the person you become. I was 18 years old when I left my only family. Maybe I should have stayed, but I knew that I was better off for leaving. I figured that Taylor would resent me for this, but she didn't know what it was like for me. She didn't understand what I was going through when I was with Dad and her.

My father was a simple man. He liked three things: beer, hunting down the demon that took my mother's life, and beating me. Only, Taylor didn't know about the latter of the three. He kept it a secret, as did I. Taylor was my big sister and I loved her... but she didn't get that our father was basically equivalent to one of the monsters that we hunt. In my eyes, he was as evil as evil can get and he enjoyed watching me squirm. I put up with it for 18 years before finally I got my ticket out of that Hellhole.

Oh. In case you were wondering, I'm Ashley Nicole Harding.

My acceptance letter from Stanford couldn't have come at a better time. My father was abusing me more than usual and Taylor was bitching about how she didn't have a car. I loved my sister, believe me, but sometimes she just didn't know how good she got it. Taylor was, obviously, my father's favorite child. He thought that she was heaven sent because she was a much better hunter than I ever would have been.

I sighed as I sat my bags on the ground. I looked up and smiled. Finally, the place I was meant to be. Stanford. Nothing could bring me down now. So, this is what starting over really felt like. I took a deep breath; I couldn't stop grinning. For months I had dreamt about going to Stanford and now it was finally happening.

I made my way to my apartment, which I had managed to find a roommate to split the cost. I made a mental note to check out the on-campus jobs. I opened the door to my apartment and sighed. It was tiny, even tinier than the motel rooms I've been accustomed to living in since the age of four. I put my bags on my sofa, which the landlord was nice enough to throw in. I didn't bother looking at the rest of the apartment. I needed to get my schedule for classes.

As I locked the apartment and made my way to campus, I briefly wondered what my roommate would be like. I hoped she wasn't a classic neat freak. After getting lost, several times, I managed to find where I could sign up for classes.

I looked through the list of the classes. After several minutes, I finally decided to research which ones would be best and come back later. Being the classic nerd I am, I was reading over the information of the classes and accidently ran into someone.

I groaned as I tumbled to the ground. Way to be classy, Ash.

"I'm so sorry," I exclaimed, "I was reading and not watching where I was going—"

"It's okay, I was doing the same thing."

And that's about the time when I noticed this boy was cute. I don't just mean, 'oh, he's pretty'. I'm not superficial or anything, but this boy was hot. Yeah, and I got accepted into an ivy league school, go figure. He had gorgeous hazel eyes, brown hair, and was ridiculously tall.

He reached his hand out to help me up and I realized that I ran into him and yet I was the only one who fell over. I blushed and took his hand.

"Well, I should probably—" We said at the same time.

I laughed and said, "See you around."

I gave him a small wave before walking towards the library. I was mentally kicking myself, but I couldn't help it. I looked over my shoulder and saw him staring right back at me. I blushed and kept on walking.

It was around five o'clock when I got out of the library. My stomach grumbled in complaint of me forgetting about lunch. I frowned to myself as I reached into my purse to get my wallet. Crap. I didn't bring my purse. I sighed and made my way towards my apartment.

I put my key into the lock of my apartment just as the door swung open.

"Whoa." I exclaimed and jumped at the sight of a girl opening the door of my apartment.

"Oh," the girl exclaimed, "Ashley?"

I looked at her, a little creeped out that she knew my name, "uhh-"

"It's me, Jessica Moore. We went to middle school together in '96." Jessica exclaimed with a grin on her face.

"Jessica!" I grinned and pulled her into a hug.

In 1996, Dad, Taylor and I moved to Palo Alto just a few months into my 7th grade year. I met Jessica and we instantly became best friends. When I had to move again, just a few months later, Jessica and I vowed to keep in touch. It didn't happen, my dad had made sure of that.

"Let's go to lunch!" Jess exclaimed.

I laughed and followed her out the door.

Turns out, I had missed Jessica more than I thought. It had been several years since I moved from Jessica's hometown, but I felt like we were back in middle school.

"I can't believe you were a cheerleader!" Jessica laughed, making me blush.

"It was freshman year, I wanted to fit in." I explained shyly.

I smiled as Jessica told me what all she had been up to over the past few years. In the middle of the story, I saw past Jessica and right at... that boy from earlier today. I nodded at Jessica to let her know that I was listening, even though I really wasn't. Not at all. The boy was buying his lunch, too, it seemed. He paid with cash and sat at a nearby table. I blushed as he looked up and almost caught me staring.

"-then monkeys came and took over the entire high school. It was different, but they made school a lot more tolerable." Jessica was saying.

"That's hilarious." I said and took a sip of my water.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "You haven't been listening to a word I was saying. I saw that boy you were looking at. He's cute."

I gawked in embarrassment as Jessica took a bite of her hamburger.

"What boy? I wasn't looking at any boy." I tried to be nonchalant, but Jessica saw right through it.

"Mmhm. Sure you weren't. What's his name?" Jessica was smirking.

I groaned, "I don't know. We ran into each other today."

And I haven't stopped thinking about him since, I sighed to myself.

"Dude," Jessica exclaimed, "you're totally in love with him!"

"Shut up! I am not!" I protested and told her to be quiet, "He might hear you."

"Maybe he needs to so he can get up the balls to ask you out." Jess said loudly, causing people to look at us.

"Jess," I whined, "I've missed you and all but come on. Let's talk about you. How's your brother doing?"

"Nice subject change. Very subtle," Jess laughed, "He's doing great—if you don't stop staring at that boy, I'm going to rip those pretty little eyes of yours out of your head."

I blushed, "Sorry. I'll listen this time..."

Jess gave me a look, "I promise!" I exclaimed with a laugh.

Although it was a challenge, I actually did listen to Jessica. I let out a laugh and realized that starting over wasn't so bad.

"Come on, Ash. It's the first party of the school year!" Jessica whined, "You have to go."

I rolled my eyes, "Uh, no. I don't. You're just whining because you want to go meet hot guys and I just want to lounge around eating ice cream and watch Golden Girl reruns."

Jessica grinned, "Someone's a little upset that mystery man didn't come over during lunch the other day."

"I am not." I whined, putting another spoonful of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough into my mouth, "Besides, he's probably fallen in love with some other girl by now. It's already been three weeks."

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Stop being so melodramatic. You've moped long enough. Let's go to this party and meet hot guys!"

I sighed, "I—"

"I promise not to talk about mystery man while we're there." Jessica bribed, obviously crossing her fingers behind her back.

Oh, what the hell.

I groaned, "Fine, fine. I'll go."

Jessica squealed and said, "Make-over time!"

I groaned louder, wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into.

The party seemed like it had been going on for hours before me and Jess got there. There were guys doing belly shots off of half-naked girls and girls making out with other girls.

I looked at Jess with a face and she sighed and yelled over the music, "Just give it a chance, Ash. You look great; I look great. Let's have some fun!"

I just nodded and followed her to get a beer. That's when I saw Mystery Man. He was using his hands as he told some sort of joke. I found it to be really cute, especially when his dimples showed when he started laughing.

"Stop creeping." Jess said and handed me a beer.

"I wasn't doing anything." I replied quickly and took a large sip of beer.

"Whatever you say," Jess laughed and winked at some guy she had obviously been flirting with.

"Go." I smiled.

Jess looked at me, innocently, "What?"

"Go get your flirt on, I'll be fine." I laughed and pushed her to the guy.

Jess laughed and did as I said. I watched her flirt for a minute and laughed. I took another sip of beer as I looked around the party.

"You come here often, sweet cheeks?"

I flinched as some guy came up behind me. Creeper, much?

"Uh... yeah. I go to school here." I replied, looking at him like he was an idiot; he was obviously a drunken perv who liked to hit on freshman girls.

"Well," his words were getting more slurred by the second, "it's rare to see a angel so far away from heaven."

Then he smirked like had just given me the best pick-up line in the history of pick-up lines. I almost gagged.

"Sorry, buddy, it's not gonna happen." I smirked and patted him on the chest in mock sadness.

I started to walk away when the creepy guy pulled me back. He held onto my arm and tightened his grip.

"Uh, Ow. Let me go." I exclaimed.

"Not a chance," the creeper growled, "you. Me. Upstairs. What do you say?"

"As appealing as that sounds, I believe I said let me go." I growled back, not liking this guy at all.

The guy held on tighter and tears started to form in my eyes. This guy just wouldn't let go. Memories of my dad filled my mind as I tried to fight creeper dude off of me.

"Just let me go!" I cried, tears slowly running down my face.

I couldn't go all Kung Fu on this asshole in front of everybody without a logical excuse, so I tried playing the damsel in distress. No one could hear me over the loud music playing and I was so close to kicking this loon in the balls.

"I think she said to let her go." A voice said from behind me.

I couldn't see anything anymore, the tears taking over. Great. Wait a minute, I recognized that voice. Mystery man!

"I don't think so," the creeper slurred, "She's all mine. Get lost."

I started to cry harder because this was really bringing up bad memories.

"Alright then."

Just when mystery man started to walk away, and I thought I was a goner, mystery man pulled back his hand and punched creeper right in the face. Creeper fell hard onto the ground, finally releasing my arm from his grip. I held onto my arm. Dude had a strong grip.

"Thank you," I muttered trying to get the tears to go away so I could at least see mystery man's gorgeous face.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry that dude was such a jackass."

I let out a watery laugh, "It wasn't your fault. Yeah, I think I'll get feeling back in my arm at some point."

"Let's go put some ice on it." He suggested, putting his hand on the small of my back and let me lead towards the kitchen.

I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach that erupted when he touched me. Unfortunately, he moved his hand off of my back and opened the freezer door.

I sighed and sat on a bar stool, still holding my arm.

"I don't even know your name," I blurted, "I mean..."

Mystery man smirked and handed me a towel wrapped in ice, "Sam Winchester."

"Oh." I took the ice and carefully put it on my arm.

"Yours?" Mystery man—err, Sam, asked with a grin.

I looked up at him and smirked, "Ashley Harding. Thanks again for the rescue back there. He was really creepy."

Sam smiled, "No problem, seriously."

Neither of us said anything for a few seconds.

"Ashley Nicole, if you're not out there dancing with a hot guy- what the hell happened?"

I looked and saw Jessica with the guy she was flirting with in the kitchen doorway.

"Nothing, Jess." I smiled, praying it was convincing.

Jess rolled her eyes, "Wanna try the truth? Your mascara is still running."

I look in the toaster and gasped, "I look like a raccoon!"

Jess smirked, "Ohhh. Mystery Man."

I glared at Jess as Sam asked, "Who?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, "Sam this is Jess, my roommate, Jess this is Sam. He saved me from a creepy dude trying to get some."

"Nice to meet you," Sam smiled.

"You too. Oh, that's always good," Jess smirked then frowned, "You okay, Ash?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm fine. Good as new."

I tried to pretend like my arm was feeling better by moving it around but it was kind of a fail.

"Ow," I muttered under my breath.

"Maybe we should go home." Jess frowned as she saw the swelling of my arm, "or the emergency room."

"You're worrying too much," I rolled my eyes, "I'll be fine. Go dance."

Jess frowned and opened her mouth when Sam interrupted her, "I'll keep her company."

Jess smirked, "Alright."

Jess and her man went out to the 'dance floor' as I looked at Sam.

"You don't have to sit here, you know." I smiled and patted Sam's arm.

I blushed and started to pull my hand away, but Sam put his hand on mine.

"It's okay, really, I wanted to." Sam smiled, causing me to blush, "besides, you're much better company than those idiots."

I smirked, "You were having a good time with them."

Sam shrugged, "Maybe, but I'm having a great time with you. Well, besides the fact of your arm."

I looked at my arm and realized the swelling had gone down a little.

"Look! It's not all huge!" I said excitedly.

Sam laughed, "I see that."

That's about the time I realized he still had my hand under his. I blushed with a grin on my face.

"So, Ashley Harding," Sam grinned, "tell me something I don't know about you."

I snorted, and then pointed out the obvious, "You don't know anything about me."

Sam laughed, "Not true. I know you hate creepy guys and that your name is Ashley. Your middle name is Nicole."

I laughed, "My bad. You do know some things about me. I bet you didn't know I can sing."

Sam's surprised expression made me laugh, "You can? That's cool."

I nodded, "Yeah. So, Sam, what're you majoring in?"

Sam and I ended up talking for over two hours, when most of the party had died down. People were passed out all over the place.

"Wow. There's creeper dude by the window." I laughed.

Sam looked and let out a laugh. Creeper was leaning against the window with his face smudged against it. I grinned, somehow Sam already had a hold on me and I had only known him for a short amount of time.

"Just leave me alone, you jerk!"

I froze and heard Jess arguing with that guy she had been so fond of a few hours ago.

"Jess," I muttered and got up.

I walked into the living room and saw Jess on the ground holding her cheek.

I angrily walked up to the guy, "What the hell did you do?"

The guy shrugged, "I didn't do anything."

I snorted, "Yeah, right. Jess, what'd he do?"

Jess sniffled and said, "He.. he slapped me."

I growled, but someone got to the jackass first. Sam.

"Did you hit her?"

The guy shrugged and backed up, "I..."

"It's a yes or no question." I snapped.

The guy's eyes went wide when Sam glared at him. Sam was a tall and very muscular guy. He could whip this guy's ass in a matter of seconds. The jackass finally just ran out the door. I dropped to the floor by Jess.

"You want to go home?" I whispered.

Jess nodded with tears in her eyes. I sighed and helped her get up.

"We're gonna go." I whispered to Sam.

Sam nodded, "I'll walk you girls home."

I argued but Sam continued to insist and I could tell Jess really just wanted to be home. I caved and Sam walked us out of the party.

"Thanks for tonight, Sam. You really didn't have to walk us home." I said after Jess went inside.

Sam put his hands in his pockets and said, "Ashley, it really wasn't any trouble. I'm just glad your arm's doing better and Jessica is okay."

I smiled softly, "Thank you. I, uh, will see you soon then?"

"Coffee?" Sam asked then realized he didn't complete a sentence and blushed, "I meant to ask if you wanted to get some coffee sometime."

I laughed, "I'd love that, Sam. When?"

"How's tomorrow at around twelve? My first class isn't until two." Sam grinned.

"Twelve is perfect,"

Oh, boy. What had I gotten myself into?

"Goodnight, Ashley." He grinned.

I kissed his cheek, "Goodnight, Sam."

"Ashley? You're grinning like a lunatic. It's scaring me." Jess joked.

I sighed happily and sat down on the sofa with her, "Tonight was perfect."

Jess raised an eyebrow, "Besides you getting hit on by a creepy guy."

"And you getting slapped by an asshole," I replied, "how's your face?"

"How's your arm?" Jess retorted.

We both laughed and watched reruns of Golden Girls until we were both asleep on the couch.

AN: SO, I hope it wasn't lame or anything. I'm really excited to be starting this! : ) Review please! Btw, I'm starting to do videos (to put on YouTube) for these characters, so make sure to check out my YouTube. Happy Turkey Day! =]