Sam and Dean are in the front of the Impala while Maria and Charlie are in the back. They pull up in front of Charlie's house.

"So this is really over?" Charlie asks the Winchesters.

"Yeah," Dean nods, "it's over."

"Thank you," Charlie tells them. Maria hugs her briefly and Sam and Dean each reach back to shake her hand. Charlie gets out of the car, but turns around when Maria calls to her.

"Charlie? Your boyfriend's death…you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen," Maria tells her. Charlie smiles at her weakly and turns to walk into the house. Sam reaches back to nudge Maria's shoulder.

"That's good advice," he says as Dean drives off.

"That's advice that you should take, Sam Winchester," Maria replies, smiling at her baby brother. Sam nods sadly.

"Hey, Maria," Dean says suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret is," he tells her sternly. Maria looks at him sadly in the rearview mirror and sighs.

"I'll tell you," she says softly, "but you have to promise that this won't get back to Dad."

"Maria, what—" Dean begins, but Maria interrupts him.

"Promise me," Maria says more forcefully. "Both of you."

"Of course, Maria," Sam says. Dean just nods, pulling over on the side of the road and parking the Impala. He and Sam both turn in their seats to listen to her.

"It was when we were in Martinsville, Indiana," Maria says, her voice soft again. "That rugaru case. I met this guy James at school. He was really polite and sweet and at first I didn't think anything of it. But we ended up staying way longer than we usually stayed anywhere, so I really got to know James as a person and not just a guy I'd go out with once or twice before we had to move again." She pauses, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You remember. We were there for almost two months before Daddy even knew who the rugaru was. And I know two months isn't really enough time to fall in love, but I was 16, and he was the first guy who actually treated me like a person and not just the new girl.

"I don't know, it was a whirlwind romance or something. But James asked me to marry him. And I said yes. He gave me his grandmother's ring and everything," she continues, pulling on the chain hidden around her neck. On the chain is an antique diamond ring with intricate flowers engraved in the silver. She shows it to her brothers before shoving it out of sight down her shirt. "He wanted me to run away with him, and I seriously considered it; but I knew I could never leave you guys. You need me. So I told him that I couldn't, but I would marry him one day.

"But then I found out that he was the rugaru, and Daddy told me I had to kill him," Maria pauses again, fighting back tears this time. "But he hadn't transformed, and I couldn't kill him. I couldn't. I loved him. So I told him everything: how my family were hunters, and how he was the thing we were hunting, and how I was supposed to kill him," she stops, tears streaming down her cheeks now. "But we made a deal: I wouldn't kill him if he promised me that he would never transform. And he promised me that he would never transform if I would marry him someday. So I promised him; promised that I would marry him, and that he could take my virginity, because I really did love him that much. I only wanted him. So we promised each other. He left the town and I told Daddy that I killed James and that it was over.

"He wrote to me every chance he got. I sent letters to the little house he moved into three towns over, telling him where I would be and when, and he would always write back to me," she stops her story here, wiping at her eyes impatiently. She wills herself to stop crying, but fails miserably, crying even harder. So she continues, her words coming out between choking sobs. "But one night, he was in a bar when he overheard a hunter talking about some stupid bitch who wouldn't put out for him. James realized that the bitch he was talking about was me, and he defended me. He and the hunter ended up fighting outside the bar, and James just lost control and bit the hunter. He was so angry that this guy had insulted me that he completely lost it, and ate part of the guy. So James transformed. But somehow he was still able to write to me and to communicate coherently, but he wasn't my James anymore. He was a monster."

Sam and Dean look at each other quickly before Sam puts his hand on Maria's shoulder, rubbing it in small circles to comfort her. Maria sobs, sniffs, and then continues, her voice a bit stronger.

"Then six months ago, James was captured by another hunter who was avenging that guy James killed. He tortured him for days before finally killing him. That hunter also captured another guy, but it turns out he wasn't a rugaru; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So the hunter let him go. But before he did, James told him to send me this letter," Maria says, pulling out a worn, folded piece of paper from her jacket pocket. She hands it to Sam and Dean, who read the tattered, bloodstained letter together:

'My Maria,

I'm afraid this will be my last letter to you in this lifetime. The hunters have finally caught up to me, and I'm in a torture chamber as I write to you. I am so sorry. For everything. You mean the world to me, and I want you to know that I love you with everything that I am, monster or not. Forgive me, but please, never forget me. I love you.

Yours always,

James'

Dean and Sam look sadly at their only sister. Maria stops crying, thankful to finally get this off her chest. She smiles at them sadly before continuing.

"Dean, Sammy, I'm so sorry. I was so stupid. I should have listened to Dad. If I had, none of this would have happened."

"Maybe," Dean says, putting his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "But I'm glad you told us. And don't worry. We won't tell Dad."

"Yeah," Sam chimes in, smiling at his sister. "You've been through enough."

"Thanks," Maria smiles warmly at them. "I don't know what I would do without you two."

"And we don't want to know," Dean says, starting the car up and driving down the road again.