Hola! I feel like every chapter starts with an apology :( I know I have been awful at getting these chapter out lately, but I cannot thank you enough for sticking with me. Your reviews and adding this to your story alerts is beyond amazing. School is over in 2 weeks, so I should have some more free time then!

This chapter is set up a little different than past ones, but I hope you guys like it just the same. Please drop me a review and let me know if you had a favorite part, liked the ending, or just your thoughts about it in general! You have no idea how much they mean to me :)

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Dean-26

Sam-22 (at Stanford)

Kate-18

Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hated cheap plastic chairs as much as he hated the cheap suit and tie he was wearing. And to top it all off, it was hot. He hated the Midwest during the summer. The heat suffocated you and these stupid schools were built so long ago that they decided to conveniently forget to install air conditioning. And just his luck, he was going to be sitting in this gym for who knows how much longer. The graduation ceremony had started 40 minutes ago and all he had heard was some choir singing, watched a stupid slide show of 'memories', and listened to 2 speeches.

Dean sighed as he looked around at the gym full of people. It was crowded and a sea of people jammed packed together only meant one thing to him—crazy and chaos were sure to follow. But today he just had to deal because today Kate was graduating high school. Dean had been crazy persistent with their dad to make sure both Sam and Kate got to have the graduation ceremony and all, something he never got to have. And in following the tradition, John didn't show up this time either.

Dean couldn't help but think that shortly after Sam graduated, he took off. That was exactly three years ago. Although Dean knew Kate wasn't planning anything like that, he couldn't help but think of how she was growing up. Things were going to change now. They could all travel, didn't have to worry about finding local schools, and it could just be full time hunting.

He reached up and loosened his blue tie and undid the collar button of his white dress shirt. He felt like he was suffocating in here. Dean suddenly sat up straighter in his chair as a mom came plowing through the small aisle and practically took his legs right off. He was about to make some rude remark to Mrs. Soccer Mom, but when he saw the little brown haired girl trailing behind her, he refrained. The mom turned around to her girl, who couldn't have been more than 5. "Come on. Grab my hand," she said as she reached out to grab it.

As Dean watched them enter the main aisle and take off to the back of the room, he couldn't help but drift back…

"Come on, Katie," Dean said as he stopped at the intersection facing their school. Sam and Katie stopped, each on one side of their older brother. "Hold my hand," Dean commanded as he held it out at his side for her to grab.

6 year old Katie looked up at him with a stern face and crossed her arms, refusing to grab hold of his hand. They were on their way to school, and they were late, as usual. So the last thing Dean needed was a stubborn little sister to deal with.

"We don't need to hold hands no more," she said defiantly. Dean didn't have time for this. He reached out to pull her arms apart so he could take hold of it, but Katie quickly threw them behind her back and laced them together. "Dean…I can cross the street by myself. Elmo teached me! 'member?"

Dean let out an audible grunt as he remembered the stupid Sesame Street episode she had watched a few days ago. He didn't feel like arguing with her anymore.

"Fine, but don't you dare leave my side. Let's go, Sammy," he said. He held out his hand in front of her to keep her from walking on to the street as he looked both ways.

Katie suddenly pulled on his pant leg to get his attention. "Dean, you gots to check two times. We gotta be extra safe like Big Bird," Katie persisted. Dean rolled his eyes. He could shoot a shot gun, track down a vampire and kill it, and had perfect aim for throwing knives, but now he was being forced to look not once, but twice, before crossing the street, just to be safe. Something was just so wrong and twisted about that. He grumbled, but willingly complied because he was happy she was at least taking this seriously.

Once they had finally made it safely to the other side, Katie exclaimed, "See? I'm all growed up now, Dean!"

Dean smiled. One thing Katie never lacked was enthusiasm. "Not quite yet, shrimp," he said as he lightly ruffled her curly brown hair as they continued to make their way inside the school building.

Dean smiled softly at the memory. That seemed like lifetimes ago. He wished all his little sister had to worry about was crosswalk safety, but unfortunately too much had changed since then. They had bigger, much bigger, problems to worry about these days.

Dean looked up on the stage and saw Kate sitting there. Some other student was giving a speech right now and Dean was still bored out of his mind, so paying attention was not an option. He never paid attention to anything in a school building, so why start now.

He continued to look around the gym and saw a couple in the row in front of him that were arguing in very low voices, as to not draw attention to themselves. Mission not accomplished in Dean's mind. "What's the matter with you?" the man said harshly. It was barely audible, but somehow Dean had picked up on it, and he couldn't help but drift away again…

Dean had just picked up Kate from school in the Impala and they were on their way back to the motel where Sam had been home sick for the last 2 days with the flu. Kate hadn't said a single word to Dean other than 'hi' when she got in the car, so he knew something was up. She was never this quiet.

"What the matter?" he asked as he looked over at her. Kate continued to stare out the passenger's window, not even acknowledging her brother's question. "Seriously, Kate? Normally you talk even when I tell you to shut up, but now that I'm asking you to talk, you decide to go all silent," Dean said, hoping he could nudge her into opening up.

"You're gonna be mad," she said in a soft voice, still not wanting to look at him.

Dean hated when people started a conversation with that statement, because then it made him mad even before he knew what he should be mad about. And to top it all off, most of the time it turned out it wasn't even something to get mad over.

"Doubtful," he replied, trying to keep calm so she'd continue on, but honestly every worse-case scenario was flying through his head.

"My teacher said I'm gonna become a whore," she said flatly.

Dean was taken so off guard that his hand jerked and the car veered into the other lane, when he then quickly whipped it back over. He took a deep breath; he was in no condition to drive. Kate reflexively grabbed on to the dashboard as the Impala swerved from one side to the other before coming to a stop along the curb as Dean put it in park and cut the engine. He turned to face her. "What the hell did your teacher say to you?!" he voice rose.

"Well I mean those weren't his exact words, but it was pretty much implied," Kate explained as she slowly turned to face him. His forehead was scrunched up in a mix of fury and confusion.

"You mind telling me exactly what he said then?" Dean demanded. He was about 2 seconds away from throwing his car in reverse and going to hunt himself a teacher.

"Um, well, we were in health class today and the teacher was saying how now that we are all teenagers, we are gonna change. And like boys are gonna start to like girls and us girls are gonna like boys. And then I raised my hand," Kate began as Dean slowly rubbed his hand over his face. Nothing, nothing, ever ended well for him when the conversation revolved around something from health class.

"Can we just skip to the part where he said you're a whore?" Dean pleaded.

"I'm getting there, Dean. So he called on me and I said that I didn't believe him bout all of us starting liking each other cuz my big brother said that I was never gonna be like that cuz he, well I mean you, know how to make sure I'm not like that." She looked at Dean directly in the eyes. "Remember? You said that I was never allowed to like boys. Like ever. And you'd make sure it stayed that way. Well, Mr. Smith said that you were wrong!"

Dean took a few seconds to collect himself. "Well I'm not wrong. And you will NEVER like any boys. And that's final. But I still don't understand…"

Kate cut him off. "But he said you're wrong because it happens to EVERYONE, Dean. Every single person! He said it's human nature and that I'm gonna fall victim to…to…," she paused. Dean angrily held his hands out, gesturing for her to finish. "He said that me, just like every other person in the entire world, are gonna be taken over by…by…WHORE-mones!"

Dean turned back in his seat so he was facing straight ahead and he rested his forehead against the steering wheel. He pulled it back a few inches and then jammed it against the steering wheel again. He was not about to have a conversation with his sister about the real meaning of hormones. He refused to believe it. He pulled his head back and let it fall against the steering wheel one last time before just resting it there.

"See? I told you that you'd be mad. But Mr. Jones says we are all growing up and we can't stop these hormones. Dean…Dean…I don't wanna grow up! And I really don't wanna be a whore!" Kate said panicking as she looked at her brother's head resting against the steering wheel, waiting for him to respond and tell her how they were going to fix this.

Dean slightly shook his head at the memory. He still couldn't believe the conversation they had had that day. If only he had kept a list of all the outrageous conversations she had come up with over the years, he was sure he could have sold them to some TV show. The crap she came up with was just too ridiculous to be made up.

He glanced up at the stage and saw that some teacher was now talking. He couldn't believe how long this was taking; he hadn't remembered Sam's being this boring, but then again, Kate had been there beside him, making fun of everyone right along with him. Dean reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out the program. He quickly skimmed along and when he saw that there was still another speech sitting between him and watching his sister graduate, he let out a long sigh.

Out of boredom, his eyes glanced over to the list of graduates and he searched along and found his sister's, second from last. The Wincheter name screwed them over yet again. He then noticed that she had two asterisks after her name. He quickly searched for the key to see what that was for. His eyebrows raised up in shock when he read it. It meant she was graduating with honors. His sister was not just graduating high school, she was graduating with honors. He sat back in his chair and stared up ahead at the stage. He couldn't believe it. He looked back down at the program again, just to make sure he had seen it right. And he had. He was suddenly bursting inwardly with the pride of a very proud parent, but honestly he had no idea she had been taking any of those kinds of classes because last he knew, she strived for the same level of mediocrity that he had...

Dean had just reached the hotel door and he could already hear the arguing coming from inside. Only shocking part was John wasn't even home to be involved this time. "I'm not changing my mind, Sam! I don't want to do it!" Kate yelled at her brother who was standing on the other side of the kitchen table.

"Yeah, well you're being stupid! You should listen to me for a change!" Sam yelled back as Dean came into the room. It was a good thing it was Dean and not some demon because they were too head to head in a Winchester Face Off to realize his sudden presence.

"Listen to you?! What? Because you're older and 'wiser'?" Kate retorted sarcastically, adding air quotes around the last word. "Well news flash, moron, I'm all grown up too!"

"Grown up? You're acting like—," Sam was cut off as Dean came into the kitchen and threw down 2 paper bags on the table, causing both of them to snap out of their argument.

"What the hell are you two arguing about?" Dean demanded.

"Sam won't let me make my own decisions," Kate explained as she turned towards Dean all while pointing an accusing finger at Sam.

"Yeah because they are the wrong ones! Getting accepted into the advanced math class isn't just something you pass up!" Sam argued. They both stared at Dean, just as they used to do when they were younger, waiting for him to take a side and solve their fight. Dean rubbed his hand over his face. He couldn't believe this was what they were fighting about. Of all the things in the world, this was the topic that got Sam all worked up and in a huff. Dean couldn't help but take Kate's side. Advanced math sounded like a fancy way to say torture.

"Well, like she said, Sammy. She can make her own choices. Doesn't want Advanced math? Fine by me," he said as he opened up one of the brown bags and pulled out some fries. Kate threw Sam a victorious smile as he glared at both of his siblings and walked away.

Well, obviously something had changed after that fight and she had decided to take some of those nerd classes. He made a mental note to bring it up later and get the full story. He wasn't upset with her at all, but just didn't understand why she had kept it a secret.

Dean snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the stage to see kids were finally walking across and receiving their diplomas. The end was near. The last row of students stood up and waited as the principal announced their names. Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out the disposable camera he had bought yesterday.

…Katelyn Elizabeth Winchester…

The room was quiet except for the loud cheer Dean let out as he stood up and snapped a few pictures of her accepting the diploma. Kate smiled when she heard his voice. He sounded like a crazy man, being the only one cheering and all, but that made it all the more comforting for her. There was nothing like knowing your brother had your back.

After the ceremony, Kate waited around outside until Dean had made his way out to her. When she finally spotted her brother, her face lit up. She held up her diploma and waved it around, smiling like a maniac until Dean got there.

"Congratulations, Katie," Dean said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"Thanks!" She couldn't take the grin off her face. She was just so happy to be done with school. No more changing from one to the other. No more being the new girl. Or trying to fit in. Or being made fun of. It was finally over. She pulled back from the hug and noticed something in his hand. "You…you have a camera?" she joked.

"Yeah, yeah…shut up," he playfully responded as he looked around for someone to take a picture for him. He saw a man standing nearby and he agreed to snap a few pictures for them.

Dean draped his arm over her shoulders as Kate held up her diploma between them and wrapped her other arm around him. They smiled as the man took the picture. A few shots later, including a few with crazy faces, Dean thanked the man and placed the camera back in his pocket.

As they were making their way back to the Impala, Kate looked over at her brother. "Well, I'm 18, legal, and a high school graduate. Now you can't deny it!" she said smirking.

"Deny what?" Dean asked as they both stopped beside the Impala.

"That I'm all grown up now," she explained as she held her diploma up for extra emphasis.

"Nah, you wish. You're always gonna be little to me." Dean reached out and laid his hand on her shoulders as he pulled her in to his side. "You know I'm proud of you, right?" he asked as he continued holding her in at his side.

Kate took a moment to let the words sink in. There were two words that were pretty much never used in her family: proud and love; even though they went unsaid, each of them knew how the other felt, but there was nothing like hearing it said out loud. She wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a tight squeeze. "Yeah, I've always known," she replied softly.

He placed a kiss on the top of her head before giving her one last hug. "Okay, let's break up this click flick moment before I start growing lady parts," Dean joked as he went to unlock the passenger's side door. Kate just smiled. Leave it to her big brother to have to end things on a sarcastic note. But that's what made him him in her mind.

Dean opened up the door—he could be a gentleman when he felt like it—and turned to his sister who was in the process of unzipping her white graduation gown. "Woah! Woah, zip that back up!" he said in a low voice as his eyes jolted around the parking lot to see if anyone was paying attention.

"Seriously, Dean? I am wearing a dress under this, you know. I think you're confusing porn and reality again," she replied as she finished unzipping and taking it off. She was wearing a light purple fitted—but not too fitted per Dean's demands—dress whose sleeves laid just over her shoulders with a low-ish cut neckline and it came down to just above her knees. She was wearing a silver chained necklace that had a deep purple heart on the end that matched her earrings. Dean had let her pick out the entire outfit and thankfully they had agreed on everything being 'not slutty' in Dean's opinion and 'pretty' in Kate's. For once she felt confident and was excited to take off the 3X extra large graduation gown.

"Oh..uh..yeah," Dean stumbled out as Kate noticed his face turned a little red from embarrassment. Did he really think she was doing to take off her gown in public without any clothes on underneath? Geesh.

Kate reached in and tossed her cap and gown in the backseat and was about to sit down when Dean spoke up and stopped her. "Hey, you, uh, you wanna drive?" He held up the keys.

Her eyes grew wide as she looked from Dean to the keys then back to Dean. "Is this gonna be like last time when I reached out for the keys and you pulled them away and yelled 'psych!'? Because if it is, then no. But if you're being for real…," she trailed off as she silently pleaded it was the latter.

"Hurry up and take them before I change my mind," he said as he pushed them closer to her. She happily snatched them and skipped her way over to the driver's side. Dean couldn't help but laugh as he got into the car.

"So where to, boss?" she asked as she started up the engine.

"Well, I was thinking a special occasion calls for a special dessert," Dean said with a smirk.

"Obviously. Ice cream!" Kate yelled.

"Pie!" Dean yelled at the same time. There was a slight pause.

"Or….pie and ice cream!" Kate said excitedly, like she had just solved the world's largest problem or something.

"At that diner up the road…," Dean began.

"With the crazy lion on the sign!" Kate finished. They looked at each other and just laughed. "Gosh, I feel dumber already," she said as she started driving towards the exit.

"What are you even talking about? You graduated with honors!" Dean said through a chuckle.

Kate paused for a brief moment when she realized Dean had found out about the whole honors thing. She decided not to address that part just yet. That was going to be a conversation for another day, just not today. "Well in case you didn't notice, we were just thinking the same thing. Like on the same wave length and everything. In other words, my IQ must have just bottomed out if I'm thinking like you," Kate explained as she threw a devilish grin over at her brother.

"Ha-ha, well I can't say I've gotten this far in life being a genius," Dean said as he glanced back over at her. "It's clearly from my insanely handsome good looks, something which you, little sister, didn't seem to inherit." Dean had that smirk plastered on his face, you know, the one that says "gotcha, I win".

Kate just rolled her eyes and focused back on the road, but she couldn't help but let out a laugh. Today was turning out to be even more special than she had originally thought. She had a huge decision weighing on her shoulder these last few weeks. She had two college acceptance letters stashed away deep inside her duffel in her tampon box—a place she knew Dean would never look. She hadn't been able to decide what she was going to do. But after today, after hearing that loan cheer at graduation from Dean and spending these moments with him, it just hit her. She felt a huge weight get lifted off of her shoulders and she relaxed a little more. Life had made the decision for her and she knew it was the right one. There was no way she could leave her family. Not Dean. He was the only person in the world who had cared enough to raise her right. Cared enough to go to her graduation. Cared enough to love her. To be proud of her. To be her best friend. And she wasn't going to give that up. She needed him just as much as he needed her. And she wasn't about to walk out on him.