A/N 4: Back to the OC perspective here, hope you guys enjoy! I love reading reviews so feel free to send them my way! c: This story is likely going to continue to have monthly updates to cope with my other obligations, just a heads up~ Enjoy!

Already looming with dark, glistening silver clouds poised to shed snowflakes over the town, the autumn sky was a boring wash of grey. It had been that way for the better part of a week, so it was nothing new. And yet, as she strode quickly across the damp sidewalk to the diner, Melody sensed something different about the sky. About the leaf-bare trees, the dead and frozen grass poking out over a thin layer of frost and ice from the previous night's late-autumn, early-winter snowfall. About the town residents shuffling by with bowed heads to escape the chilly winds that teased the hair out from under Melody's scarf. Ever since yesterday, when the Winchester brothers first came into town. She was hopeful, too. Hopeful that they'd return to the diner for a meal, or a chat, or both. But in a rinky-dink town like the one she had resided in her whole life, Melody knew better than to let her hopes rise too high, lest she bruise her ego and pride and wishful spirit. There were many better sights to be seen in the bigger cities a few hours out in any direction.

The bell above the diner chimed brightly as she pushed her way in. When she finally pulled the door shut, against the will of the gust of wind trying to play tug-of-war, Melody shed a few tiny icicles from her boots onto the entrance rug. Once she was satisfied that she wouldn't leave puddles behind, she greeted her friend and coworker at the back to get the diner ready to serve breakfast to the town.

"Tell you what, it's going to be a long couple of hours," Greta said with a hmph as Melody tied her apron around her waist. Clearly the same thoughts racing and tugging at Melody's active imagination were at work within Greta's own head.

Melody gave her a short, hardly-amused laugh in reply. But Greta was right. Their morning chores would go by slower than ever until the usual crowd (and hopefully a certain pair of new faces) rolled in.

She didn't even notice them the first time she passed by. Hidden behind their menus and brooding expressions, Melody didn't recognize Dean or his brother conversing in hushed tones until she reached the table by habit to take down their meal order.

"What can I get started for-well if it isn't the pie aficionado and the brother who puts up with him," she said, a smile sliding across her lips. "Coffee?" She held up the carafe in her hand, tucking away her notepad and pen for the moment inside the folds of her apron.

As she filled their mugs, she couldn't help her curiosity. "Well, seems as though nobody scared you boys off. Really are here for the festival, then?" she inquired with arched eyebrows. It was Dean who responded while Sam sipped his coffee.

"Uh, yeah. That and the pie, of course," Dean said bluntly, giving her another charming smile. She had a feeling he weaseled his way into and out of trouble with that grin.

"Wouldn't miss it. Can't wait," Sam replied with a milder enthusiasm. It wasn't hard to see that staying for the festival was Dean's desire, and Sam was just along for the ride. It was nice of him, Melody thought. She hadn't met too many siblings that close. She scoffed a laugh.

"Right. Well in that case, can't have you boys on an empty stomach. What can I get for you?" Melody asked them, retrieving the pad and pen from the folds of her apron.

Three plates, eight pancakes, ten slices of bacon, two slices of buttered toast, and four sunny-side-up eggs later, Melody returned to the Winchesters' table with the check.

"I suppose it would be rude of me not to offer you boys an escort for the festival," Melody began with a sugary-sweet smile. "Someone who knows the town to...show you the full festival experience."

Dean nodded immediately, and Melody didn't miss the less-than-subtle expression in his eyes. Neither did Sam, snorting into his mug of coffee before proceeding to glare at his brother and likely kicked at his knee from beneath the table's surface, given Dean's immediate jerked reaction.

"Back in a mo'," Melody told them with a wink, repressing a dramatic roll of her eyes as she turned on her heel and retreated to the kitchen to find Greta. She smirked at the confusion that swept across Dean's previously smug facade.

"You what?"

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun," Melody pleaded, batting her eyes.

"Last I checked, you didn't even *like* the festival. And now you've volunteered us as tour guides?" Clearly, Greta wasn't impressed with the offer from the disdain laced through her comment.

"You didn't even let me tell you who for," Melody rebuked, crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk. "Guess."

Greta's manicured eyebrows nearly left the surface of her pale forehead, they rose so high. "No," she breathed in disbelief. She rushed to the peep window from the kitchen to the bar counter, searching for the familiar faces from that morning. She squeaked as she wheeled to face Melody again, her blond ponytail bobbing over her shoulder.

"Why didn't you say so? What are you waiting for, get me out there!"

Melody giggled and shook her head as she took Greta's hand and led her out of the kitchen. They'd have to make things quick, she noted, as she caught a curious glance from their manager who had just walked in for the morning.

"Sam, Dean, this is Greta, my coworker and best friend. What do you say we make this festival a double date?" she offered unabashedly, beaming at the brothers while Greta grinned sheepishly.

[To be continued]

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