Ellie sat at her desk, flipping aimlessly through one of her school books when she heard a soft knock at the door. She turned and sighed when she saw her father in the doorway.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, just checking in," Sam held up his hands defensively.

"Did everyone leave?" She asked, turning back to gaze at the page, although she wasn't really reading it.

"Yeah."

"Even Garrett?"

When Sam didn't reply right away, Ellie whipped her head to glare at him. "Dad, do not tell me you're letting him stay here."

"Ellie listen—"

"Oh my god," she moaned, throwing her head into her hands.

"He's here to help protect you," Sam spoke softly as he walked closer to her desk.

"Oh good," Ellie responded sarcastically, "So the guy I had a crush on is now my babysitter?"

Sam sighed, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow at her. "No. You guys could end up being good friends, you never—"

"No," Ellie stood up, pushing her way past Sam as she walked over to her closet, mindlessly looking through her clothes. "He's here to 'protect' me, not to be my friend."

"El, listen," Sam walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around. "Just be nice, okay? It's not permanent."

"Whatever," she mumbled, crossing her arms.

Sam closed his eyes and shook his head, ruffling the top of her hair before he turned to leave. Ellie reached up and flattened her hair, grunting as she fell onto her bed. As Sam walked down the hall, he saw Dean leaning against his bedroom doorframe.

"Didn't tell her, did you?"

"Shut up," Sam muttered, shoving past his brother to enter his room.

"You don't want her to know that Garrett is single," Dean chuckled, "Because you don't want her to like him."

"I said shut up, Dean."

Dean held his hands up, shrugging, "Fine by me. I'd rather the kid suffer while he's here."

Sam shook his head as he chuckled, "We're not good people, you know? He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Sure he did, Sammy," Dean walked forward and slapped Sam's shoulder, "He liked the wrong girl's picture on Instagram."

"Do you ever think that maybe we're too protective?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, she's living with three guys, she's lucky we even let her talk to anyone."

The brothers turned as they heard someone clearing their throat in the doorway. Garrett was standing with his hands in his pockets with Cass directly behind him.

"Hey Gar," Dean smiled sarcastically, "What do you need, buddy?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you guys wanted me to do anything?" Garrett shrugged.

"The toilets could use cleaning."

"Dean," Sam groaned, turning to give his brother a disapproving look. They stared at each other for a moment, giving looks to have a silent discussion. Dean finally rolled his eyes and turned back to the door, sighing.

"You know how to cook?"

Garrett looked up from the floor, his eyebrows raised, "Uh, yeah, actually."

"Let's go then," Dean walked to the doorway and wrapped an arm around Garrett's shoulders, pulling him roughly down the hall. As they walked into the kitchen, Garrett made a choking noise when he realized Ellie was standing at the fridge. She turned around and rolled her eyes when she made eye contact with him.

"Squirt, get out of the fridge," Dean walked over to her, gently shoving her away, "We're making dinner."

"You're," she pointed between the two males, "Making dinner? Together?"

"No," Dean clapped his hands together, gesturing between Ellie, Garrett, and himself, "We're making dinner together."

"Oh I don't think so," Ellie moved to walk around him, only for Dean to grab both of her shoulders and place her back in front of him. She groaned and looked up at him with a glare. "Uncle Dean."

"Only way for me to keep an eye on you is for me to keep an eye on you," he pointed with two fingers at his own eyeballs, then over to Ellie. "And if it means I can also watch this kid," he crooked a thumb behind him at Garrett, "Then that's a bonus."

Ellie sighed and narrowed her eyes at him before shrugging out of his hands and shaking her head. Dean smiled down at her and winked before opening the refrigerator and rummaging through the food.

When Sam entered the kitchen twenty minutes later, he saw Ellie standing at one end of the counter, preparing bell peppers to cut while Garrett stood at the other end, finishing up chopping some onions. Dean was at the stove, stirring something in two different pots.

"How's it going in here?" Sam asked, clearing his throat.

Dean turned around, smiling. "Oh hey, good timing. Come here and stir, I gotta take a piss."

Sam nodded and walked over as Dean rushed from the room. He stood at the stove, glancing back at Ellie for a brief moment. She was cutting the peppers slowly, and kept randomly hissing when the knife nicked her fingers. Sam was about to turn around and help her when he heard a noise from the other end of the counter.

"Um, you're…you're holding it wrong." Ellie's head whipped sideways, her brow furrowing when she realized Garrett was looking at her.

"Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow.

Garrett sighed, wrinkling his lips as he struggled internally with whether to speak or not. "The knife. You need to…like this."

He held up the knife in his own hand, showing her where he had his thumb and forefinger placed on the blade. Ellie continued staring at him for a moment before she looked down at her hand and moved her fingers into the correct position. She went back to the peppers and tried it this new way, fighting back a smile when the knife slid through the food without fighting back.

"Thanks," she mumbled, sneaking a quick glance over to him. He was still looking at her, with a small smile on his face. Ellie went back to the peppers, forcing herself not to look over again although she could feel his eyes on her.

Sam managed to turn his head just enough and use his peripheral vision to see that Garrett was still watching Ellie, a soft smile on his face. The hunter went back to the stove smiling when Dean walked back into the kitchen. The elder Winchester narrowed his eyes as he watched Garrett staring at Ellie, walking over and swatting the back of the boy's head.

"Eyes on your own work there, Gar," he muttered, moving next to Sam at the stove.

As they ate dinner, Dean kept watching Garrett and glaring at him every time he caught him looking at Ellie. Sam would kick Dean under the table, giving him a disapproving look. Cass would tilt his head and glare at Garrett, earning a kick from Sam as well, Garrett would look down at his food before lifting his eyes to look at Ellie, and the cycle would begin again. Ellie eventually caught on when she looked up and caught her father giving Dean a look.

"Okay what is going on?" she dropped her fork onto her plate, looking between the three adults at the table.

"Nothing," Cass cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Ellie shot him a quick glare before turning to look at Dean, her eyebrows raised as she folded her arms on the table.

"Don't worry about it," Dean mumbled before shoving a large bite into his mouth.

Ellie pursed her lips before turning to face her father, who was sitting directly next to her. Sam continued chewing his food, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Ellie continued staring, her eyes narrowed.

"Dad."

"Yeah?" he turned his head just enough to make eye contact, licking his lips. "What's up?"

"Seriously?" she moaned, shaking her head. She slid off of her seat and grabbed her plate, walking over to the sink. As she was rinsing her dish, the three men at the table started silently arguing, all pointing to each other and making angry faces. Garrett sat still, his face confused as he watched the exchange. Just as Ellie turned around, they all stopped suddenly and looked at her innocently.

"Oh come on," Ellie said loudly, throwing her hands out to the side. "What is happening?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam cleared his throat as he stood up and grabbed his plate. He walked past Ellie, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as she glared at him.

"I could just ask him, you know," she pointed to where Garrett's eyes were widening and his face reddening.

"No!"

Cass and Sam both shouted at the same time, while Dean just leaned back in his seat with a grin and linked his fingers behind his head. Ellie raised an eyebrow as she looked at her father, then turned back to lock eyes with Cass, who had moved to the edge of the kitchen. She took a deep breath and slowly began walking towards him.

"Uncle Cass," she said quietly, looking down at the floor as she neared him. The angel took a step back, only to have his back hit the wall. He jumped, his breathing coming much more quickly. When Ellie looked back up at him, her brows were turned down and her eyes large as she fluttered her eyelashes briefly. Her bottom lip pouted out before she continued her assault on her uncle.

"Please tell me what's going on?" she said quietly, coming to stand about a foot in front of him. He looked all around the room, trying not to catch her gaze. When she performed a fake sniffle, he couldn't help it and finally looked into her eyes. "Please?"

Cass closed his eyes, and Sam groaned from across the room when he recognized that the angel was toast. Dean chuckled from his seat, crossing his arms as he watched the interaction. Garrett continued to blush, putting his head into his hands.

"Okay, I think it's time for bed, kids," Sam clapped his hands together, effectively startling Cass out of the intense stare from Ellie.

"It's seven o'clock," Ellie spun around and crossed her arms.

"Then it's time for homework," he shrugged, smiling smugly as he walked over to her.

"I already did it."

"Doubt that," Dean scoffed.

"Shut up," she hissed, throwing him a glare.

"Watch it, squirt," Dean pointed a finger at her.

"Let's just go watch a movie," Sam grabbed her shoulders and turned her, pushing her towards the hallway. "Anything you want. Go get it started."

"But Dad—"

"No 'buts'," he tilted his head, hating how much of a lame dad it made him sound like. Sam turned and sighed, looking at the young man who was currently sitting with his head in his hands at the table. "Garrett, can you go with her?"

"What?"

Dean and Garrett both responded at the same time, their heads popping up. Dean shot Sam a glare, who sighed and gave him a bitch face.

"Um, sure," Garrett slowly stood up, trying to ignore the hateful look he received from Dean and Cass as he moved to the hallway.

"Dude," Dean hissed, jumping off his chair and rushing over to his brother. "What are you doing? Letting them be alone watching a movie together?"

Sam rolled his eyes, "I'm gonna go in there in a minute, I just wanted to tell you two to cool it."

"What?"

"What did I do?" Cass asked incredulously. Sam turned and tilted his head at him, raising an eyebrow. Cass crossed his arms and looked at the floor. "I thought I was subtle enough."

"If we keep treating the kid like crap, it's only going to make this whole thing worse for Ellie," Sam sighed. "She already doesn't like him very much."

"Yeah," Dean snorted, "Because you won't tell her that he doesn't have a girlfriend."

"She doesn't need to know that," Sam mumbled, looking at the ceiling. "Anyway, I'm going to make popcorn and then we are going to have a nice movie night."

"I leave in the morning," Dean shook his head, "I'm going to go clean my guns and get to bed early."

"Fine," Sam huffed, turning to Cass, "You coming?"

The angel narrowed his lips and shrugged, "I would actually rather do some reading in my bedroom."

"Cass," Sam moaned, dragging a hand down his face. "You can't leave me alone with them."

"Hey," Dean slapped his shoulder, "It was your idea. Suck it up, buttercup."

"Jerk," Sam muttered as Dean left the room.

"Bitch," Dean called out from the hallway.

Ellie was sitting on the couch, scrolling through the Netflix movie titles when she heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway. Garrett had his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet as he looked at her.

"Can I help you?" she asked bitterly, raising her eyebrows.

"Your dad told me to come in here," Garrett tightened his jaw.

"Well sit down then, I guess," she mumbled and gestured to the other side of the couch.

Garrett nodded slightly and walked over to the edge of the sofa, sighing before he plopped down and rested one arm over the back of the couch. Ellie shifted so her legs were pulled up onto the couch, tilting so she was leaning as far away from him as possible.

"You want to watch Inception?" Garrett asked, pointing to the screen where she had landed on a title.

"Yup," Ellie responded, keeping her eyes staring ahead of her.

"That movie's stupid."

"Just because you aren't smart enough to follow along doesn't mean it's stupid, Garrett."

He turned and looked at her, his jaw dropped. Ellie fought the urge to smile, biting on the inside of her cheeks.

"Brat," Garrett whispered.

"Ass," Ellie responded, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as he sunk lower into the couch and brought his ankle up to rest on his knee. She looked back to the TV and pressed play, wiggling a little to get more comfortable. Sam walked in with a bowl of popcorn and looked at the space between Ellie and Garrett, deciding to sit in one of the lounge chairs at the side of the room instead of being squished between them.

"Dad?" Ellie tilted her head and looked at him, her brow furrowed. Sam shrugged and reached over, handing her the bowl of popcorn. She took it slowly, still looking at him with a confused look.

Sam looked back to the TV screen, sighing. He watched secretly as Ellie silently offered Garrett the bowl of popcorn and he took a handful with a smile. He didn't like the idea of Ellie becoming friends with a boy, especially one who she had previously developed a crush on, but she did need some sort of friends her age and if this one just so happened to be of the male species, then so be it.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it so much! : )