A/N: Warning-Sam asks Chloe about what happened to Riley in this chapter. It deals with her feelings of guilt about Riley's suicide. Sam implies that he had some suicidal thoughts of his own when he was that age, leading to a fight between him and John.

Dinner that night was a mixed affair for John. He tried to hide his jealousy at the easy manner in which Sam talked with Chloe, Dean, and Amanda. He knew he'd done it to himself. It was his own fault that he was an outsider in his own family. Chloe was more animated than John remembered seeing her, happily catching Sam up on what she'd been up to since he'd last seen her. With one glaring exception, of course.

"How long are you here?" Chloe asked.

"I have to go back Sunday night."

"Come on! You can't stay any longer? We haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know, kiddo. I'm sorry. I've got a lot of work to do."

"Okay. You're coming back for my showcase, though, right?"

"I don't know." Sam said, face filling with regret.

Chloe looked crushed. "Uncle Sammy, you have to be there…"

Sam smiled, unable to keep up the ruse. "It's just the biggest night of my favorite kid's life. What do you think? I'm gonna miss that for work?"

"Thanks, uncle Sam."

"You're welcome, kid." Sam said, kissing her cheek. "You gonna tell me what you're doing?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes, please. Tell us what you're doing."

"Nope. Sorry. It's a surprise." Chloe grinned.

Amanda groaned. "Ugh. Fine."

Dean, who had been sitting fairly quietly, watching his father and brother and hoping the two of them didn't erupt into any arguments. He could see the tension that seemed to settle in his father's shoulders, and hoped that John would make some effort to make conversation with Sam or vice versa. So far, with the exception of their small talk in the hallway, neither one had said anything to the other.

"Uncle Sam, let's watch a movie tonight."

"Honey, Sam's probably pretty tired…"

"No. It's okay." Sam said. "Hanging out with Chloe's the reason I came."

"I want you to get a shower and in your PJs first." Amanda said.

"Aww, mom…"

Chloe whined a little, but knew she was lucky. She didn't have a lot of strict rules, but bedtime was one her mother had always said would be enforced 'as long as you're in this house'.

"Relax. You can stay up as later as you want tonight and tomorrow since Sam's here. After he's gone, back to normal bedtime."

"Wow, mom. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Amanda said.

"Mandy, I'll get the dishes if you want to go relax."

"No, Sam, that's okay…"

"I'll help him, mom. You go ahead." Chloe insisted. "I kinda want to talk to him alone."

Amanda sighed. "Okay. If you're sure."

"You too, Dean. Why don't you and mom go spend some time together?" Chloe suggested.

Dean's eyebrow raised slightly in surprise. Though the idea of alone time with Amanda was more than appealing to him, he couldn't help but be slightly suspicious that Chloe was pushing for it so hard. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. Why are you so suspicious?"

"Can't help it." Dean said. He turned to Sam and asked, "Do you know?"

"If I did, would I tell you?"

"Good point." Dean said. "Alright, babe. Let's go, as Chloe put it, 'spend some time together'. Don't wait up for us, guys."

"Oh, gross!"

Chloe pulled a face that made every adult, even John, laugh. When Amanda and Dean were headed upstairs, Sam looked at the table. "I wash, you dry?"

"Sure."

Sam turned to his father, who was still sitting there rather awkwardly. "Dad? Would you help us, please?"

"Sure."

John took the dishes off the table and placed them in the sink, then grabbed his cup and poured himself another cup of coffee. Sam was annoyed, but bit his tongue. He had clearly heard Sam say that they were going to wash the dishes, but he chose to dirty another one in the process. Chloe was filling the sink with soapy water, so Sam pulled up his sleeves and walked over to her. After a few quiet moments passed between them, Sam asked quietly,

"So, how you doing? Really?"

Chloe held a plate in her hand that she dried and put into the dishrack next to the sink. "Okay, I guess."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come when Riley died." Sam said. "I really am."

"It's okay. I understand." Chloe answered.

"Really?"

"Why you couldn't come? Yeah. Why he did what he did? No."

"You want to tell me what happened?" Sam asked. "He seemed like such a happy kid."

Chloe swallowed hard. It was still hard to talk about, even weeks later. "Mom, Dean, and I threw a birthday party for him. I thought he seemed off when he got here that day, but he just said he'd been fighting with his mom again and that he would be okay."

"What was he like at the party?"

Chloe shrugged. "Normal. Happy, cracking stupid jokes. The only thing different was that he left."

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever he and his mom had a fight, he usually slept on the couch. I was gonna start a movie about six that night. He said no, said he had to go home and take care of something."

"Oh, kiddo. I'm so sorry."

"I went to bed and mom woke me up about midnight. Said Riley had gone down to the library and jumped off the roof."

"I'm sorry, Chloe." Sam said again. He'd lost people he cared about before, but not by their own choice. "I'm so sorry."

"He left me a note."

"He what?"

"He left me a note." Chloe said again, taking another plate from Sam. "The police opened it and read it, as part of the investigation, but they gave it back to me."

"What'd it say?"

"I don't know. I can't bring myself to read it." Chloe said, wiping a tear away with the sleeve of her shirt. "Mom's got it in her nightstand."

"Why don't you want to read it?"

"I just…I just can't. I'm so pissed at him. I want to wring his neck, but I can't because he's not here."

"I get that." Sam said. "It's not wrong to be mad at him. It's really not. Just read it when you're ready, okay?"

Sam hadn't been looking at Chloe, as he was scrubbing some particularly stubborn stain off of the pan that had held the taco meat, but when he looked over, she was quietly weeping into her hands. Sam immediately turned off the water and grabbed Chloe into a tight hug.

"I miss him so much."

"I know you do. He was a great kid."

"I should've been a better friend to him. I should've made him stay here that night…"

"Shhh. Stop. This is not your fault. You hear me? He knew you loved him. But sometimes that isn't enough. Sometimes the world just seems so dark that you want to escape it, and nothing anyone says is enough to stop you."

John, who had been sitting at the table drinking the cup of cold coffee throughout the entire exchange, couldn't help but speak up. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sam stared at his father in disbelief. "I wasn't talking to you. This isn't about you and me."

"Clearly it is. You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"Maybe I am. But now is not the time." Sam said with gritted teeth, pointing towards the still distraught Chloe, who was squeezing his waist as if she was afraid to let him go.

"What is going on in here?"

Amanda and Dean were back. They had decided to take full advantage of Chloe's offer, and get a motel room for the night. Dean had tried to get Amanda to do it a few times over the previous weeks, but she had been hesitant about leaving Chloe alone in the house with John. She was worried the two of them would end up in an argument. When Dean had pointed out that night that Sam was there, Amanda had decided he was right and jumped at the chance. They had heard Chloe crying and John and Sam beginning to bicker in the hallway on their way into the kitchen to tell everyone their plan. John ignored Amanda's question and tore into Sam again.

"What did you mean by that, Sam?"

"Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on right now. Chloe, why are you crying?"

"We were talking about Riley." Sam said. "She was telling me what happened and Dad jumped in. I snapped at him, and now he wants to bicker."

"Tell me what you meant by that, Sam."

"Enough." Amanda said, taking Chloe's hand and pulling her towards her. "I don't care who started it. Stop it right now." Amanda kissed Chloe's head and assured her, "It's okay, baby. Let it out."

"Sam, why are you even here?"

"If it's that much of a problem for you, Dad, maybe I won't be." Sam snapped back.

"NO!" Chloe suddenly shouted, pulling away from her mom and turning back to Sam. "No, please don't go."

"Chloe, I'll…"

"Maybe you should, Sam." John said.

Chloe turned to John and practically screamed. She hadn't been thrilled when he moved in, but hadn't said anything because him being there seemed to mean so much to Dean. She'd tried to be polite to him, but she knew. She knew how he felt about her. John barely spoke to her, and when he did, it was to make criticisms of her, even though he barely knew her. She'd had enough.

"Stop being such a jerk!"

"Excuse me?" John said, the quiet rage evident on his face.

"Sam's here to see me, and mom, and Dean. You're the only one who has a problem with it, so why don't you leave?"

"Listen here, you little brat…"

"Dad, stop."

Dean stepped between the upset Chloe and the now slowly simmering John. An explosion was coming from one of them, and he didn't want to be there when it did. He held up a hand to each of them.

"Chloe's right."

John looked to Dean with a mix of betrayal and shock. "Excuse me?"

"I said, Chloe's right." Dean said again.

"Dean, you weren't…."

"I wasn't here, and I don't care that I wasn't here. I told you when you moved in, Dad. This is my house and Amanda's house. We make the rules. Sam isn't leaving. If you have a problem with that, you can get a room and come back when he leaves Sunday night."

"Maybe I'll leave and won't come back. How's that?" John asked. "It's clear that what really happened doesn't make a damn bit of difference."

"I'm not having this fight with you, Dad. And I'm not letting you guilt trip me, either. But tell me this. If you leave, where are you gonna go? Pastor Jim's still on vacation in France. Bobby's already told you he won't let you stay with him anymore, because he's not gonna fight with you over not working anymore."

Dean had almost said 'he's not gonna fight with you over not hunting anymore', but stopped himself just in time. Chloe knew nothing of the hunting world, and Dean intended to keep it that way.

"So where are you gonna go?"

John looked to the floor and said nothing.

"Now, and this goes for you too, Sam, you both have some things to deal with. But you do it amongst yourselves. I'm not your go-between anymore. You deal with things on your own time, or you don't deal with them at all. But the problems between the two of you stay between the two of you, and you don't handle them in this house with Chloe around. Am I clear?"

"Clear." Sam said.

John still said nothing, fuming against Dean's laying down the law.

"Dad?" Dean asked. "What's it gonna be?"

"Clear." John said quietly.

"Okay." Dean said, not convinced at all, but choosing to take the words at face value. "Babe, do you still wanna go?"

"No."

"Go where?" Chloe asked, looking from her mom to Dean.

"We were gonna get in a room in town for the night."

"Go, mom." Chloe said. "I'll be fine here with Sam."

"Are you sure?" Amanda asked. "I'll stay if you want."

"Go." Chloe insisted.

"Alright. Don't stay up too late, okay?"

"I won't." Chloe promised. "You deserve it, mom. Go have fun."

Amanda and Dean hugged Chloe goodbye and said goodnight to both Sam and John. Amanda reminded Chloe twice more to call if she needed to, and Sam looked at the sink, still half-full with dishes.

"What do you think, should we finish the dishes or watch the movie?"

"Movie. Definitely. We can do the dishes later."

"Sounds like a plan." Sam said. "You want popcorn?"

John shook his head. Again, Chloe was allowed to get away with being a brat. She'd called him a jerk to his face, and now was skipping out on chores she was expected to do, with no consequences at all. And Sam and Dean, who had been raised much better by John, allowed her to get away with it. John went into his room, packed a bag, and headed out on a drive, fully intending on not coming back.