Chapter 7

The following morning found the town covered in a light snowfall, a slight chill hanging in the mid-January air. Snow stuck to Sam and Dean's shoes as they walked through the field, making their way to Claire who stood waiting at their traditional spot, a smile on her face.

"Hello!" She called cheerfully, waving to the brothers before crossing her arms.

"Hey Claire." Sam grinned.

"Hello yourself." Claire mussed up his shaggy hair, making him laugh and shove her hand away playfully.

Dean smiled at the sight before him. "Aren't you cold in a dress?" He teased.

Claire turned her hazel gaze to meet his bright green gaze with a gentle smirk. "I'm wearing tights, dumbass." She shot back, similar to what she had said the previous day, clutching her jacket closer.

"Still," his eyes quickly slid over her petite form. "You're not cold?"

"Maybe." Claire relented, her face faltering.

"Cummon, let's go inside." Dean nodded towards the school.

Biting her lip, Claire looked between Dean and the building before shaking her head. "There's still half an hour or so before classes start," she looked to the tree she had been sitting in yesterday. "Mind if we sit up there for a bit?"

Sam and Dean looked at each other worriedly before looking back to their friend, immediately knowing what was causing the stall for what she dreaded. "You won't have to deal with those girls alone, Clairey." Dean said quietly, carefully taking her small hand in his.

Claire's gaze flickered from their joined hands to Dean's eyes before she nodded slowly. "Okay." She whispered.

Smiling at her, Dean tugged softly on her hand, encouraging her to walk with him towards the school. With Sam on her left, and Dean on her right, Claire began to gain more confidence as they walked, content to know the brothers would never abandon her.


For most of the day, they encountered no problems. People would still cast glances and glares at Claire and Dean, but it was not beyond the norm. This time however, the bubble had been penetrated, and Claire was aware of the stares, her cheeks flaring a vibrant red each time she felt their weight. However, each time Dean would simply nudge her foot lightly, giving her a slight encouraging smile.

Too soon though, final period was upon them, now leaving the two around the corner from the girl's change room saying a temporary good bye. For a long while, they stood to the side of the passing crowd, simply staring into each other's eye wordlessly before Claire was the one to break her gaze away to look behind her. Sighing, Dean put a hand on her shoulder and tentatively took her chin into his hand to turn her face towards and to look up at his. Looking down into her watery hazel eyes, he smiled gently. "Hey, I'll meet you after class, okay?"

Claire's lower lip trembled as she looked up at him, looking away for a slight second before throwing her arms around his neck, standing on her tip toes as she hugged him tightly. Immediately Dean wrapped his arms around her waist in response, holding her close to him as he buried his face into the crook of her neck, her long chestnut hair soft against his face. "I've faced things far worse than them," Claire mumbled into Dean's chest. "So then why am I so scared of them?"

Dean sighed sadly into her neck. "Because people can be cruel." He weaved his fingers through her curls, the smell of vanilla enveloping his senses. "But hey," Dean said, pulling away to look at her and smile. "I'll always be there for you. "

Claire tilted her head to the side, studying him with wide eyes before blinking away the unshed tears and slowly nodding in agreement. "I'll see you after class." She said slowly, bowing her head as she refused to meet his gaze.

Looking down at her, Dean hesitated for a moment before reaching around to place his hand on the back of Claire's neck to bring her head to rest against his chest. Gently, he placed a kiss on the top of her head, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. All too soon however, the moment was over. Dropping his hand, Dean stepped away and smiled. "I'll see you soon." He promised. Slowly Claire raised her gaze to shyly look at Dean, a blush creeping along her cheeks that made him smile. With a final nod, Dean walked away, looking back one last time as he made his way down the hall. The sight behind him made him grin even wider; Claire was still blushing, a small smile of her own dancing across her lips.


The moment the bell had rung, Dean had bolted down the hall, walking as fast as he dared towards the school gym. Once the gym doors were within sight, he focused on them, looking, searching. Immediately he saw her, biting her lip and hiding behind her dark hair as the "popular" girls stood around her, laughing and pointing. Without a second thought, Dean rushed over, pushing his way through the circle to the center, and intertwining his fingers with Claire when he reached her side. Her hand hung limply in his, her hair forming a curtain as it hid her face from view. The moment Dean reached her side, the laughter died down, the occasional snicker taking its place.

"I told you before, Dean." The blonde from yesterday stepped forward, an unattractive smirk on her face. "Ditch that loser and come hang with us."

Dean simply glared at her. "And I told you, I'm not interested."

There was an unimpressed grumble coming from the ring that circled around them. The blonde looked to her friends offended before sneering at Claire. "Wow, Shanahan. What did you do to make him so loyal to you?"

"She was nice to me, you crazy bitch." Dean said loudly, his face clouding over in rage.

The girl looked at him in shock, her eyes glinting before she turned her venomous gaze back to Claire. "Nice, huh? How many times you let him into your skirt, Shanahan?" She shot.

Dean stepped forward towards her with a fierce glare. "Hey-" he thundered before Claire tightened her grip on his hand, gently pulling him back.

"About as many times as you ever have and ever will, Jay." Came Claire's soft and cool response, lifting her head to lock her tear-stained, but challenging gaze with the blonde bully.

Jay's jaw dropped in shock before her face evolved into an expression of fury. "How dare you!?" She screeched, lunging forward.

Immediately Dean dropped Claire's hand and stepped in front of her, protecting her from harms away. "I don't think so." He said lowly, feeling Claire's small hands grasping the left sleeve of his leather jacket.

Shoulders hunched and eyes narrowed, Jay stepped back to glare at the two. "You're making a big mistake, Dean." She warned him.

"I'll take my chances." Dean said before turning around and throwing his arm around Claire's shoulders, pulling her close into his side as they walked away. Both were silent as they made their way through the halls and finally to the front doors where Sam stood waiting, looking out the window before hearing the approaching footsteps and turning around.

"Hey guys, what took so long..." Sam said when he saw his brother and their friend, trailing off when he saw their facial expressions. "What happened?" He asked cautiously.

"Later, Sammy." Dean told him, glancing at him as he continued to walk. Opening the door to the outside, a frigid gust of wind blew on to the three, and Claire, who was already quivering like a leaf, shook even worse, except this time from the cold. Noticing this, Dean opened his coat to tuck her into his side within his warm jacket. With her arms hugging his torso, Claire melted into Dean's side, making him constrict his arm around her shoulders tighter. Looking down at her, Dean thought for a moment before speaking. "You're going to come with us back to our motel room, okay?" While it sounded like a question, the words that had fallen from Dean's mouth were more so statement than anything else, resulting in a silent nod of agreement from Claire. "You ready, Sam?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded, zipping up his jacket.

"Alright then." Dean sighed before the three of them stepped out to the white flurry awaiting them outside. Snow and ice was immediately flung against them as they stepped out of the building and begun to walk, bowing their heads as they tried to protect their faces from the sharp wind. While they walked through the snow blurred streets, Claire flinched deeper into Dean's side and embrace as the knife that was the wind that fought against them while he could simply pull her closer.

Once they had reached the motel, the door flew open as the cold wind swept in from the outside after Sam had unlocked and opened it. Quickly they scurried inside and the moment Sam managed to force the door shut, Claire burst into tears, her knees giving out beneath her as her bottled up emotions took over. Her body barely had time to slump to the floor as Dean caught her and held her to his chest, anticipating her fall. One glance was all Sam needed from his brother to send him hurrying away across the small room, busying himself with whatever he could. For a minute Dean stood there, holding Claire tight to his chest as sobs wracked through her body which she was unable to hold up herself. Then, keeping a firm arm around her torso, he bent down to hook the other arm behind her knees, effortlessly picking her up and cradling her close to his chest, her head resting above his heart as he carried her to the couch. Sitting down himself with Claire in his lap, he kept an arm around her waist and put a hand on the back of her head as she buried her head into the crook of his neck, her tears wet and cold against his skin. His face hard, Dean simply sat there with his arms around Claire as she cried, her muffled sobs filling the suffocating silence.


What Claire was next aware of was the sound of cartoon violence and voices, with a light warm weight on her body. With a slight moan, she shifted her body slightly before cracking her eyes open slightly, the glow of the television screen bathing her in a dull blue light.

"You okay?" Sam's quiet voice floated through the room.

Turning her head, she found him sitting on the opposite end of the couch, staring at her with a wide eyed concern. Claire squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head, as though to clear it. "Better than before, thank you." Then, she looked around the room worriedly and confused. "Where's Dean?" She asked.

"He went to go get food." He shrugged returning his attention to the TV.

"Okay..." Claire sighed before focusing her gaze on the bright TV screen. "So what are we watching?"

"Rocky and Bullwinkle." Sam shrugged, his eyes glued to the characters on the screen.

"Oh..." Claire said as she repositioned herself into a more comfortable position, rearranging the light blanket that had been tucked around her. It was silent in the room for a moment as the two watched the cartoon characters run across the screen, but eventually that silence was crushed. "Go figure they'd call the moose Bullwinkle." She snorted.

This earned her a look from Sam. "Why?"

Claire snorted again. "Bull."

"Might be stupid, but he and Rocky make a good team. They always stick together, no matter what." Sam defended.

"Like you and Dean?" The room immediately went quiet save for the TV at her words.

"We don't get into half the stuff they get themselves into." He shrugged.

"But together until the end." Claire didn't miss a beat, taking Sam back.

"Yeah, I guess so." He smiled.

There was a click at the door as the lock came unhitched, making both Sam and Claire's hand flinch, Sam's towards a hidden gun, Claire's to her concealed knife. However, when the door swung open to reveal Dean with three bags of take-out, the two relaxed back into the sofa. As he closed the door behind him, he glanced to the sofa and smiled when he saw Claire's wide, gentle eyes watch him. "Hey, you're awake."

"Hey Bullwinkle." Claire said, a teasing but wicked smile on her face.

Dean's brow wrinkled in confusion at her greeting. "Bullwinkle?" he repeated in confusion.

Claire simply pointed to the TV screen. "Rocky and Bullwinkle. They're there for each other no matter what, like you and Sam." She shrugged.

One look at the two characters on the screen set Dean's mouth in a frown. "Why do I have to be the moose?" he asked.

"You're the tallest." Claire looked at him.

"Not to mention the stupidest." Sam muttered.

"Bitch." Dean threw at him.

"Jerk." Sam tossed back.

"Whatever," Dean shrugged out of his jacket before he set to unpacking the food. "I don't like flying anyways, so I'm cool with not being the squirrel." Once all the food was out, he grabbed it all and made his way to the couch, passing Sam his food before making his way to Claire who stood up from where she was tucked away by the arm of the couch. "I didn't know what you liked, so I just got you the same thing I got for me." He said sheepishly.

Standing on her tip toes, she peeked at the food in his hands before smiling widely. "A man after my own heart." She teased, paraphrasing his statement from last night, graciously taking food from him before stepping aside. "Here." She indicated to where she had just been sitting.

Dean rose an eyebrow. "You sure?"

Claire smiled gently at him. "Yeah." She nodded.

Together they sat next to each other, the two Winchesters digging into their food as Claire simply sat back and watched the cartoon. She was unaware of what was happening around her until a nudge in her side brought her back to reality. "I thought you were hungry." Dean said to her, referring to her untouched food on the coffee table in front of them.

She stared at it for a long moment before frowning. "I thought so too…" she mumbled before shaking her head. "You go ahead." she said, waving a hand to the food.

"You sure?" Dean asked slowly, worry written clean across his face.

"Yeah, go." She told him. Their eyes connected as they watched each other, Dean watching her as he reached for the food inch by inch before Claire rolled her eyes. "Go ahead, Dean. Just go."

Taking it, he quickly ate it before leaning back himself to watch the show. As soon as he leaned back there was a warm weight on his side. Looking down he saw Claire warily lean against his arm, her eyes fixed on the screen but caution evident in her deliberate actions. At this Dean took his arm out from behind her, making her freeze before he put that arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her back into his chest. Almost immediately she relaxed back into him, her head resting comfortably landing on his chest. There was a slight scuffling noise and bounce on the sofa as Sam shuffled over to sit closer to the two.

And for a while, the world was perfect as it stood still in that single moment.


Early the next morning, long after Claire had left for home and as Dean and Sam got ready for school, their Dad opened the garbage to throw something out when he suddenly spoke. "Three burgers, Dean?" he asked, looking to his eldest son once he spotted the wrappers in the trash.

Dean froze for a moment, meeting Sam's wide eyes before turning to look at him expressionless. "We were hungry." He shrugged.

John looked between his two sons before shaking his head and letting the subject drop. Sam and Dean's eyes met, both letting out silent sighs of relief at dodging the bullet.


A/N: Next chapter is where things start to go downhill. I apologize in advance. XD Thank you for all of your kind words and for following this story, it means the world and so much more to me! More to come soon, and please do leave me with your thoughts!