Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters, I do however own Autumn
To say Autumn was shocked to see a tall, shaggy-haired man standing in her kitchen the next morning would be an understatement.
"Jesus Christ!" She yelped. Letting out a deep breath, she smiled softly when the man turned around. "I forgot you guys were here."
"Sorry." Sam apologized sheepishly. "Didn't mean to startle you."
Autumn waved him off and made her way to the counter to start a pot of coffee. "Nah, it's fine. If I'm up after 2 am, I never remember anything. I would have probably left a ghost stay had it asked." She laughed.
Sam however let out a forced chuckle. "Yeah."
"Sorry, bad joke." Autumn shook her head. "I'm even less functioning when I wake up, than I am past midnight."
Sam gave a genuine smile this time. "Sounds like Dean."
"What about me?" Dean rasped out, scratching at his head, making his hair stand out in every other direction even more.
"You're non-functioning when you wake up." Autumn told him as she poured a cup of coffee for each brother before pouring one for herself. "Hope you like it nice and strong."
Dean took a big gulp of his coffee and grinned. "I am fully functioning when I wake up, Sweetheart."
Sam scrunched up his face while Autumn rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Dean." They replied at the same time.
"So what's the agenda today?" Dean asked Autumn, taking in her black slacks and white lace top.
"I have work." She looked over to her stove and sighed. "In like 20 minutes."
"20 minutes? Antique shop opening earlier now?" Dean asked.
Autumn shook her head as she placed her coffee mug into the sink. "No, I work at the pre-school until lunch, and then go over to the shop until 6, and then I have to drop my car off at Dodson's."
Dean grimaced and shook his head. "Have fun with that."
Autumn laughed, grabbed her bag and keys and made her way to the door.
"Hey, Autumn, that wouldn't be the pre-school over on Maple, would it?" Dean closed his eyes and waited for her to tell him 'no'.
"Uh yeah, Dean. Unless you know of another pre-school here." Autumn chuckled.
Dean shared a look with his brother. The last disappearance had been on Maple Street, two weeks ago. Whatever it was, seemed to be attracted to young women. Dean sat his coffee cup down onto the counter and started for the living room.
"Hey, why don't I just drop you off? I'll come back and take a look at your car and fix it up. Save you some money and it'll give us time to catch up."
Autumn gave him an odd look before shrugging. She did need the money, and catching up with Dean would be great. "Sure." She agreed and the two headed out the door, Dean sending his brother a look.
***************************
Autumn frowned and looked at her watch, she should have never agred to letting Dean look at her car. She was to be at the shop fifteen minutes ago.
"Miss Manns!" Hanna, a small blonde, called out, running over to her teacher. "Miss Manns, there's a man standing outside the door!"
Autumn stood from the desk and opened the door. "What took you so long?!" She scolded Dean in a low whisper.
"Sorry, lost track of time. It's gonna be a bit till your car is fixed, found a few things wrong." He spoke casually, shifting uncomfortably when Hanna crossed her arms and frowned at him.
"Oh no." Autumn frowned. "How much is it going to cost?"
"It's okay, I'll take care of it." Dean waved it off, feeling bad for making Autumn think her car was practically dying, but he needed to keep an eye on her until this hunt was done.
"Dean, no." Autumn shook her head. "I can't let you do that, it'll make me feel worse, I mean you're already fixing it on your time off."
Dean went to tell her not to worry about it when a Barbie connected with the side of his head.
"What the He--"
"Dean!" Autumn cut him off and picked the fallen Barbie up from the floor. "Hanna? Did you throw this Barbie?"
Hanna crossed her arms again and frowned at Dean even more. "He made you feel bad! It's not nice to make people feel bad, right Miss Manns?"
Autumn sighed and stooped to Hanna's height. "Hanna, sweetie, Dean didn't mean to. I'm fine."
The little girl stared at Autumn for a little while before taking the Barbie back and laying the doll on her desk. Hanna focused on her feet, waiting for Miss Manns' scolding to come.
"Don't you think you should tell Dean you're sorry, Hanna?" Autumn asked softly. "I think he might feel bad."
Hanna looked up at the older woman, before looking at Dean. "I'm sorry." She spoke quietly, and a little forcefully.
Dean frowned and crossed his arms as well. He shifted again when the little girl continued to stare at him, she would be cute, had she not had that scowl on her face.
"Dean." Autumn scolded him again.
"It's okay." He forced out. "Apology accepted."
Autumn nodded and stood her to full height again, grabbing her bag and jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow, Hanna. I'm out, Kathleen!" She called to the teacher.
Kathleen nodded and waved her way before going back to scrubbing down the blackboard.
"So where's Sam?" Autumn asked once they were in the Impala.
"He's back at your place reading. Geekboy, I swear." Dean chuckled and shook his head.
Autumn smiled but shook her head. "Just because he likes to read doesn't make him a geek, Dean. I love to read."
"Yeah," Dean nodded. and pulled out onto the road. "And you're full-on nerd, Manns."
"I am not a nerd, Winchester." She smiled.
"Nothing to be ashamed of, some dudes actually dig that." He winked Autumn's way.
"Yeah, well, keep your eyes on the road, Winchester."
*********************
The little bell above the door gave a ting when Sam walked in. He looked around at the old furnishings that were set up in a pretty arrangement.
"Hey." Autumn smiled as she came out of the back. "What are you doing here?"
Sam turned and smiled. "Dean told me to come and pick you up, he's...out, said something about getting take-out or something."
Autumn arched a brow and looked out the window. "He got my car working? I thought he said it'd be a bit yet?"
"Oh." Sam cleared his throat and tapped his fingers on the glass of the jewelry case nervously. "He told me to give it a test drive...still not working right."
"Oh." Autumn sighed. "I have shit for luck when it comes to vehicles."
Sam chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Dean will get her up and running soon."
"I know, I still feel awful for making him work on it while you guys are supposed to be relaxing." She told him as she flicked off the lights and the two headed for the door. Once outside Autumn locked the door with her keys, and then the two walked to her car.
"So where'd Dean go for food?"
"Umm...this Italian place..."
"Angelo's?" Autumn spoke.
"Or maybe it was that pizza place..."
"Roger's?"
Sam laughed and back the car out of the spot before steering it in the direction of Autumn's small house. "You know, I don't really remember. Who knows with Dean."
Autumn laughed as well and nodded. "God, that's so true. I'm half afraid to drink the coffee he makes, that man has the weirdest taste when it comes to food and beverages."
"Don't I know it." Sam mumbled.
Sam was shocked that the ride back to Autumn's house wasn't filled with awkward silence, he could definitely se why his brother was good friends with Autumn. She was a chatter box, and while her taste in music wasn't exactly Dean's liking, she reminded him a bit of his brother. He looked over at her and smiled slightly as she sang along with a song that played on the radio, though as he looked at her he wondered just how close Dean was with Autumn. She was beautiful, funny, and had brains. Not usually what his brother went for, but Sam wouldn't put it past him.
"You okay?" Autumn asked, caught off guard when she looked over and found him staring at her.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam gave her an amusing grin. "Just trying to figure out how my brother is friends with you. He doesn't usually hang out with girls with brains."
Autumn gave out a loud laugh and ran her fingers through her hair. "That's his story to tell."
Sam nodded, figuring it to be personal and didn't want to pry.
Once back at the house, Autumn gave a heavy sigh as she shed her coat and tossed her bag onto the table by the door.
"Long day?" Sam asked as he kicked his shoes off, not wanting to dirty her floor.
"Change into a pair of sweats and a cold beer, and I'll be good." She smiled and walked across the living room to her bedroom, disappearing behind the door.
Sam looked around the living room for the first time and smiled slightly, there were pictures of who Sam assumed were family, sitting on the entertainment stand. He moved over to the couch and plopped himself down, making sure he put his Dad's journal and some of the books he had out, back into his duffel.
Autumn came back out into the living room shortly after he sat himself down. Sam chuckled at her shirt. She was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a yellow shirt, in black letters it read: "So There I Was Spittin On My Goldfish, Trying to Keep It Alive."
The sound of the front door opening and footsteps let Sam and Autumn know Dean was back, but when he walked into the living room they frowned. Dean was holding his nose and wincing.
"What the Hell happened?" Autumn rushed forward and pulled his hand away from his nose, gasping when she seen it was slightly purple and was bleeding. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean winced again when she ran her fingers over the side of his nose. "Just a little slip."
"You slipped?" Autumn's brows shot up. "Did you fall on your face?"
She hadn't meant for it to be funny, but Sam laughed nonetheless. "Sorry." He coughed when she looked back at him.
"I'm fine." Dean pulled away from her wandering hands. "Just a small bruise, it'll be gone in a day or two."
Autumn shook her head and stepped back from him, she frowned soon after as she looked around. "I thought you were getting dinner?"
Dean frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry?"
"Sam said you were out getting take-out for us." She told him.
"Oh right, that. Yeah, I was going to get it, but after I tripped I decided to come back here and clean up before going in somewhere. Imagine the looks I'd get." Dean gave a chuckle and rolled his eyes at Sam when Autumn turned to look at Sam. "I'll just got and get us something now--pizza sound good?"
Autumn nodded and when the front door opened and closed, signaling Dean had left, she turned back to Sam and shrugged. "What was that about?"
Sam shrugged as well. "Never know what's gonna happen with Dean." And that wasn't a lie, you never did know what was going to happen with Dean.
"I need that beer, do you want a beer?" She asked, making her way to the kitchen.
"Sure. Sounds good." Sam called and when he was sure she was out of the room he tossed his head back onto the couch and sighed.
How his brother kept hunting a secret from Autumn was amazing, truly amazing. The girl was smart, Sam was surprised she hadn't figured it out yet, but he was also glad that she hadn't figured it out. As long as she didn't know, she'd be safe. Or at least he hoped...
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