A/N: Howdy folkes! I know it's been a little while again since I posted, but I promised a christmas chapter, and so...

Christmas chapter!

I actually think I like this one! It's toooo crappy haha

Christmas is going to be manic in my house, and when I go back to college, I'll be swamped with exams, so this might be the last update I make for a few weeks :( But I promise, after the end of January, I'm going to post so many things to make it up to you lovely people, you'll probably get sick of me haha I will update Things that go bump in the night over the next few days to complete the 'episode' but the same goes for that story too...I hate exams...

I'm thinking of doing a one-shot tag to Bloody Mary, because it's been in my head all day (it doesn't fit in here because it's not pre-series, but I don't think it will flow properly with the main story either, so it'll be on its own), so if I get time I might make a start on that one tomorrow. If anyone wants me to message them or something when/if I decide post it, let me know!

Right, I'm going to be quiet now... please R+R! Let me know what you think!

If I don't get chance to say it again...

Merry Christmas!

xoloveJBox

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet- Vietnamese proverb.

Dean: 21 years old

Sam: 17 years old

Lena: 11 years old

Dean spotted a few of the kids he recognised from Lena's class, and slid from the front seat of the impala, leaving Sam to carry on looking through the homework he had been given for over the holidays. Dean honestly didn't know why Sam was bothering; by the time they had to return to school, they'd have moved again, probably several times, but he let the kid think it was going to make a difference. Lena eventually trudged out of the doors, bundled up in a large coat, a grey hat, a purple scarf and fluffy gloves, stomping footsteps into the thick, white sheet on the ground. Dean noticed immediately the stormy look on her face, and he started walking up the path to meet her.

"What's up kiddo?" he asked cheerfully. Lena simply shrugged and waited semi-patiently while Dean adjusted her hat to cover her ears.

They drove to the motel in relative silence, with only the gently thrum of the radio as a distraction. A few times, Dean shot a glance at his sister in the rear view mirror. He could tell that something was bothering her; but that was nothing new since the vampire incident a few weeks before. Since then, Lena had become quiet and subdued, often waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares. Dean really wished there was something he could do to make things easier for his little sister, and he would have given anything to take away the hurt she was feeling. But there nothing he could do or say to change anything, and that infuriated him to no end.

Sam still had his face in a book when Dean unlocked the motel room door and let them all in. Lena tossed her bag on the floor with a thump, stripped of her coat, hat, scarf and gloves, and Dean watched her curiously as she snatched up her bag, walked across the room and emptied the contents into the trash.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Dean exclaimed as he noticed the glitter and drawings as they tumbled from her bag "what are you doing?"
"They're Christmas decorations that we had to make." Lena grumbled dismally, shaking out her bag to rid it of the last sparkles that danced downwards.

"Why are you throwing them away?!"

Lena looked at her eldest brother with an irritated glance "Dean, we don't have a tree."

Dean often wondered how his eleven year old sister could make his feel like a complete moron, even when he wasn't being one. As if he hadn't noticed that they didn't have a tree.

"I am aware of that, thank you Elena," he replied sarcastically before softening his expression "but we can still put them up."

Lena rolled her eyes and shrugged "Whatever. Do what you want, I don't care. It's all going to suck anyway."

The spectacle had caught Sam's attention by this point, and he and Dean watched, bemused, as Lena grabbed her duffel bag and stomped over to the bathroom. They stayed silent, watching the closed door for a second before the shower started up.

"I thought we at least had until she was thirteen before we had to put up with the attitude." Dean pondered out loud, making Sam scoff.

"Dude, since when does anything we do play by ordinary rules?"

A few hours later, long after the sun had dipped below the skyline and blanketed the world in night, Lena had barely said two words to her brothers. Dean and Sam left her alone, but Dean's mind was whirring with so many thoughts, he actually considered the possibility that there might be steam coming out of his ears. Sam was sat at the table, reading a textbook-again - and Lena was watching tv across the other side of the room. Dean wandered around restlessly, trying to think of a way to set his plan in motion.

Then it hit him.

"Sam," he said suddenly, making both his siblings jump "why don't you take Lena and get some food, huh?"

Sam seemed like he was about to protest, but Dean shot him the 'don't argue with me, just do it' look, and Sam nodded obediently. Lena grumbled and muttered to herself, but she stood up and started piling on her coat again anyway. Dean handed Sam a few notes from his wallet, and Sam scrunched up his face a little.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked curiously.

Dean shrugged nonchalantly "Nah. You guys go ahead though, get whatever you want."

Sam nodded again, confusion etched into his features as he pulled on his jacket. Lena stalked out the door, barely throwing a 'see ya later' over her shoulder. Sam went to follow her, but Dean put out a hand to stop him.

"Sam, take your time, ok?"

Sam had to think for a second before a flicker of recognition crossed over his features. He didn't know what his big brother was planning, but from the cocky grin on Dean's face, Sam knew he was planning something.

Dean watched Sam and Lena cross the parking lot and round the corner. Then he gave it a few minutes, just for good measure, before grabbing his own jacket and going out the impala. He had two or three stops to make before he was done, with a lot more to do afterwards, and an unknown time to do it in. He just hoped that Sam had got the message, and would keep Lena occupied for a little while.

Lena was getting irritated. First, Sam had dragged his feet getting to the diner, making a five minute journey last almost fifteen. Then he spent so long deciding what he wanted to eat- finally choosing burger- that Lena could have made it from scratch, including rearing the cow, in less time. After that, Sam had apparently decided it was necessary to make a long comment after each bite, so Lena polished off her plate before Sam was even halfway done with his. There hadn't been many people in the small diner when they'd arrived, but by the time Lena was finally being permitted to put her coat on to leave, they were the only ones left. Before she managed to get to the door, however, Sam started to consider whether or not to take a slice of pie back to the motel for Dean. Lena agreed, just to get him to hurry up so they could leave, just so that she could fall into bed and pretend her crappy day at school hadn't happened. She had to sit and pretend to be excited about Christmas all day, listening to the other kids talking about how much they were looking forward to Christmas day, and about all the traditions they had and how much fun it was going to be. The closest thing to a tradition the Winchesters had was being in a different place every year. It had only gone from bad to worse when they'd all been asked to share with the class what they were hoping to get, and Lena knew that her cheeks had flushed violently when she'd made up her Christmas list, because honestly, where was she supposed to put a bike, or a playstation, or a keyboard like all the other kids were asking for?

By the time she and Sam stepped out of the diner, a few flakes of snow were falling daintily to the ground, filling in the holes that shoes had made in the already white concrete. Sam tried to drag his feet on the way back too, but Lena ploughed ahead, and Sam hurried to keep up with her. She noticed Sam chewing his lip anxiously as the approached their room, but she ignored it because she couldn't quite bring herself to care why he was doing it, so instead she simply grabbed the door handle and let herself in.

Lena couldn't suppress the little surprised gasp that escaped her mouth when she walked in. If Dean hadn't been sitting on the end of one of the beds, she might have believed that she'd walked into the wrong room by mistake.

Delicate paper snowflakes hung at various lengths from the ceiling, twirling gently from the movement of the door opening and closing again. The room's main light was switched off, but the place was illuminated by small fairy lights that twinkled along the walls. The furniture was adorned with tinsel, and large, elaborate streamers were strung up wherever there was space. Spotted strategically around the room so that they were hard not to notice, were the decorations that Lena had made at school, and it was obvious that Dean had taken care to prioritise them. The television hummed gently with the sound of 'Miracle on 34th street', and on the table was a stack of other festive DVDs that Dean had rented just as the store was closing for the night.

"Wow." Lena breathed as she took in the warm atmosphere of the room, and even Sam had to admit that he was impressed.

"Well," Dean grinned, noticing the broad beam on his baby sister's face "are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come and watch this with me?"

Lena happily shrugged out of her coat and bounded across to the bed. Nothing was more obvious than the increase in Lena's mood. Dean playfully pulled Lena's hat, still on her head, over her eyes, and she shoved him cheerfully as he got up and wondered over to Sam.

"How'd you put all this together so fast?" Sam asked quietly, still surveying the room.

"It's amazing what crap you can get from a gas station four days before Christmas." Dean chuckled proudly before clapping his little brother on the chest "Come on Sasquatch; if I've got to sit through these, so do you."

Usually, Sam would have objected, but Lena's good mood was infectious, so he followed Dean over to the bed, and followed Lena's lead of clambering under the covers. Lena snuggled in-between her brothers, the three of them only just fitting on the bed, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.

For the first time in her life, Lena realised that it didn't matter if they had a tree. It didn't matter that she wouldn't wake up on Christmas morning with presents to unwrap, and it definitely didn't matter that they didn't have the strange great-aunt that always drank a little too much and ended up crashed on the couch and snored. The pretty lights were irrelevant, the decorations were a nice touch, but still not necessarily needed, and the movies were neither here nor there.

Lena had all she needed- they were right next to her- and that was never going to change.