Claire shuffled into the kitchen the next morning to find Dean at the kitchen table, working through a stack of papers and occasionally sipping from a cup of coffee. She watched him for a while. He seemed okay, like he was part of the furniture, like Castiel hadn't upset him with the truth. Eventually he looked up and smiled as he saw her.

"Morning sunshine," he grinned.

"Dork." She crossed the apartment and started pouring herself some cereal, before taking a seat at the breakfast bar, watching him pour through the papers. "What are you even doing?"

"It might surprise you, but being a principal comes with a lot of paperwork. And technically you're not meant to see it so," he shrugged, and clicked his pen a couple of times, before returning to the page in front of him. Claire chewed happily on her cereal for a few minutes, before Dean dragged her back into conversation. "You disappeared last night, everything okay?"

"Mm-hmm." Claire nodded, and swallowed her mouthful. "Figured you would want to celebrate. Like, you and Dad."

Dean gave a small smile.

"I think Cas wanted his whole family there."

Claire trailed her spoon through the cereal and milk, watching the ripples it created.

"He had a whole evening with nearly all of us, right?"

Dean nodded, biting back a smile, and sipped from his mug again.

"So, getting married," Claire said before shovelling a large spoonful into her mouth.

"How do you feel about that? Me being your stepdad for real?"

She chewed furiously, and gave a hard swallow.

"Okay, I guess."

Dean left his papers alone, and sat back in his chair.

"You don't seem sure?"

"You want me to throw a parade?"

He looked down at the paper in front of him, and tapped the table top.

"It's not been that long since you lost your mom. You've been doing really well lately, and I know what it means to Cas to have that bond with you again. I don't want it to feel like I'm pushing my way in or anything."

Claire concentrated on her cereal again as she responded.

"It's a little late for that, isn't it?"

She heard the chair scrape across the floor, and Dean gently removed her breakfast before putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Cas told me last night that I jumped the gun. That he wasn't proposing; what it was that you had agreed to. Maybe I should have let him finish his sentence."

She looked up and saw him smiling.

"So, you're not engaged? And you're happy?"

Dean's smile froze, became false.

"Actually, once you left, we were dancing together, and talking, and he told me that."

"And?"

"And I said I was sorry, I knew he wanted to take it slow, but I didn't see a future without him. And he said that he didn't want to take it back, that he thought it happened for a reason. So we are engaged. If that's cool with you? We're not going to rush into a wedding, even if I called it wrong."

"My principal was wrong," Claire said thoughtfully.

"Nope, as your principal I am spot on. As your dad's boyfriend, though …"

"Fiancé," Claire corrected. Dean grinned. "Oh, but you are going to have to buy my love."

He laughed, throwing his head back, and she put her bowl down hastily, and hugged him hard. He wrapped her up in a hug.

"Thanks Claire."

"Well, you make Dad happy. Not-fake Dad."

She pulled away and swept her hair back, trying to be casual.

"So, yeah, um. I said I'd help out in the bookstore today. You got the place to yourself. You and your top secret principal papers."

Dean nodded, biting his smile back once more, and Claire ran down the stairs, and into the bookstore. Castiel was just serving a coffee to a customer clutching their new purchase, and Claire slid behind the till. She caught her father's eye and once the customer was settled in the seating area to read their new book, he came up to her.

"Good morning."

"Hey, Dad. How's the morning rush going?"

Castiel gestured at the two people in the sitting area, and the parents with the small child in the kids section who were browsing books and exclaiming over the artwork. He leaned against the other side of the counter.

"So, bit of a mix up last night," she sounded offhand, and adjusted the bookmark display beside the till slightly.

"You might say that."

Claire looked her father in the eye, and he gave a one-shouldered shrug.

"Have you seen him this morning?"

"Yep, and he still thinks you're engaged."

"We are. I'm sorry I didn't clear that with you first, he took me by surprise."

"And you were trying to surprise him," Claire grinned, as the family came up, the small girl holding two books as she sat on her father's hip.

"Give them to the lady, sweetie, so she can tell us how much to pay." The mother encouraged. Claire tried not to shoot her a dirty look for calling her a lady, and focused on the little girl.

"What did you pick out?" She smiled. The girl handed them over, and Claire looked at the covers. "Oh, these are great! My Daddy used to read me this one," she put it on the top to show it. Castiel looked at the book and smiled.

"I'm surprised you remembered that."

"He was bad at the voices," Claire whispered conspiratorially. The girl giggled as Claire scanned them through, and gave the parents the pricing. They swiped their card through the machine, and Claire handed them their receipt. They swapped pleasantries as they left, and Castiel looked at her once they were gone.

"I wasn't that bad at their voices!"

"All the animals sounded Russian. Every single one."

"I did a lot of different accents!"

Claire winced, and he smiled back.

"Love you, Bear."

"Uh-huh."

"Are you okay? About, you know, Dean?"

"Well, you're still both totally gross but I'll live."

Castiel came behind the counter to grab a box of books, and wrinkled his nose in a smile at her.

"You seem very happy this morning," he noted, before disappearing into the stacks of shelves to put stock away. Claire checked her cell phone, but Alex must not have woken up because there were no messages. As she put her phone back in her pocket, some of the guys from her school came in, and made a beeline for the graphic novels. Dean was going to be unbearably smug if they bought something, but Claire was more worried about what they might say to her. She had accidentally made a bit of a name for herself in the short time she had been at the school, after all.

They didn't see her right away, and she pretended to organise the display behind the cash register to avoid their eye contact. It didn't last, however, because they were soon by the counter, laughing and making stupid comments.

"I'm just saying, if it was Rogue against Wonder Woman, it would be no contest!"

"Yeah, because the DC and Marvel worlds would collide like that."

"Either way, they're both hot. Can you imagine a comic where like, Poison Ivy and Storm got it on?"

Claire turned, and gave them all a dirty look.

"You buying any of those?" She asked. One of the boys recognised her.

"Oh my God, you're that girl that slept with the principal!" His voice carried across the store, just as the door opened and closed again. The other occupants of the store seemed to hold their breath while they waited for how Claire was going to react.

"Clearly you weren't at the hearing. And Mr Winchester wouldn't still be at school if it was. So bite me and buy that comic or go away."

"Claire?"

She looked at the person speaking, and then did a double-take. Her grandparents were there, huddled together as though they could possibly be hurt by the residents of Sioux Falls. Her Gram was looking disappointed, her Gampa looking furious.

"What are you doing here? She blurted, as Castiel finally reappeared. He gently moved her closer to them, then rang up the boys silently.

"Visiting you, like your father promised would happen. Why were you being so rude to that boy?" Gram wanted to know. The boys from school left the store, laughing and whooping as soon as they were outside, and Castiel stood behind Claire, one hand on her shoulder.

"Moira, Franklin, you were meant to give us some notice."

"She's still our granddaughter," Gamps spat back. Castiel gave her shoulder a brief squeeze.

"She is, but what if she was visiting her friends? I need some notice."

"And what was that about inappropriate relations with your teacher, Claire?" her grandmother looked upset. Castiel let a sigh escape him, Claire felt it stir her hair.

"It was stupid. And untrue. And those idiots still believing it means they deserved me being rude," Claire stood her ground. Castiel rubbed her arm soothingly.

"You're here now. Claire, why don't you take their things to the apartment? I can handle the store on my own."

He pressed a kiss to the back of her head, gave her shoulder another squeeze and turned to help a new customer figure out the book they were after from the colour of the book jacket. Claire gestured to the back door and took the bag from her grandfather, leading the way through the back of the store and up the connecting stairs to the apartment.

"It doesn't seem safe, living above a book store."

"There's a lock on the back door of the bookstore, and a lock on the stairs, and a lock on the apartment. Dad normally leaves the store door open while the book store's open but that's it. And Sioux Falls isn't exactly a hotbed of crime."

She ran up the stairs and opened the apartment door, stepping back to let her grandparents in.

"I guess you're going to stay in my room," She said, and then heard the beep of the microwave. Her grandparents managed to leap further into each other in fear.

"Is there someone else here?" Her grandfather demanded, just as Dean stuck his head around the kitchen wall.

"Hey, sorry, nuking my coffee. Who're you?"

"My Gram and Gamps, they've surprised us with a visit," she looked at her grandparents. "That's Dean."

"Are we meant to know who Dean is?" Gram wanted to know, not acknowledging as Dean stepped forward with his hand extended.

"Oh, riiiiight, Dad didn't want to say when we visited Pontiac. Dean's my principal-"

Claire didn't get any further before her grandmother seemed to faint, her grandfather barely supporting her. Dean took action straight away.

"Claire, take her legs, and if your grandfather can take her middle, I'll support her head, we'll take her to the couch, okay?"

Claire did as she was told, though her grandfather didn't. Dean took it in his stride and took most of the old lady's weight, carrying her to the sofa and laying her down and then looking for something to help revive her. Claire grabbed a blanket, but found her way back blocked by her grandfather.

"Gamps, I'm going to put this on Gram, okay?"

"You're not going anywhere near that man," he decided. "And he's going to stop touching my wife. He shouldn't be here if he's been inappropriate with you."

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Gamps, it's not like that. You think Dad would let him anywhere near me if it was?"

"Who knows, the way your father left you and your mother."

"This is not about Dad! Geez, you have to stop! I've seen the crap Mom and Dad sent each other, okay? I know Dad tried to see me, and he's been guilty for years about Mom. Stop playing the victim, God! I'm going to go and help Dean help Gram, and if you loved her you would do the same and to hell with stupid rumours or who Dad sleeps with."

She was breathing heavily, aware Dean was craning his neck to see what was going on, her grandmother stirring on the sofa.

"You were not raised to speak to me like that, Claire."

"Whatever. I'm helping Dean."

She pushed her grandfather aside, and put the blanket over her grandmother.

"I'll go make her some tea, okay?" Dean said quietly, though his eyes were sparkling. Claire held her grandmother's hand as she came around, her grandfather hovering in the doorway. Dean returned with a mug of tea, and placed it on the coffee table behind Claire. "I'm almost done with my work, you want me to look out for her while you go back to the store?"

"It's okay," Claire murmured back. "They're my grandparents." She looked around at Dean, and gave him a wan smile. "Mom's parents."

"Ah." Dean nodded. "I'll be in the kitchen then, okay?"

He left them alone, and her grandfather took the armchair once Dean was out of the room, as though he couldn't relax while he was. Even though the room was open plan, and Claire could see the top of Dean's head from over the back of the sofa.

"Who is that man, Claire?" Her grandfather asked, while Claire passed the cup of tea. Her grandmother held it, but didn't drink from it. And once again, she wondered how much she was meant to reveal. No one else knew they were engaged, they hadn't even organised rings - why should her grandparents get to hear it first?

"I told you, my principal." Claire let her voice carry, so Dean wouldn't be excluded.

"Those boys downstairs," her grandmother said weakly.

"Are idiots," Claire asserted. "Dean's Dad's partner, he took me to school a couple of times before anyone knew about them and people thought the wrong thing."

"And he's allowed to teach?" Her grandfather pushed. Claire closed her eyes, appreciating that this was what her father had been putting up with for at least six years.

"Yep. And that's why the education system is going to hell, we let the gays in charge."

Dean snorted in the kitchen.

"It's not a joke, Claire. We knew we should have fought harder to keep you."

She opened her eyes, and saw the way her grandmother's jaw was set.

"Did you really just come here to criticise my dad and play that card again? What's the point?"

"We came to see our granddaughter. We miss our sweet little Claire, not this argumentative, abrasive person you're acting like."

There was another snort from Dean.

"She's a teenager!" He couldn't help but call out. Claire's grandparents ignored it.

"I'm not the little kid I was. And I'm happy here. Dad's great, Dean's … Dean. I grew up and I found a good place with the person who's meant to look after me. It's not going to go how you're picturing it."

Her grandparents traded a glance, before her grandfather put his hand on her shoulder. She resisted shrugging it off.

"How about we go and check into a motel, and then we try this again? Go somewhere and just spend time together, just the three of us?"

Claire looked at Dean, who shrugged.

"Will you tell Dad where I am?"

"Of course. You got your cell?"

"Yeah."

"Call if you need a ride."

Dean turned back to his work, and Claire reluctantly got up, helped her grandmother to stand and started walking to the nearest motel with them.