A/N: I can't believe it's already the end! Here it is, the final chapter of I Like Me Better! Make sure you look at the end, because I'll have the new installment linked there!

Two days later, everyone was walking to the den about to watch the newest Avengers movie when Ellie stopped in the hallway, grabbing Garrett's wrist and pulling him back. He stopped and looked at her, then quickly glanced back at the three men who were all poised in the doorway of the den waiting for them.

"I just want to talk to Garrett for a minute," Ellie waved them off. Sam and Cass both nodded and entered the den, while Dean stayed in his spot and crossed his arms. Ellie was about to glare at him when her father reached out from within the room and grabbed the front of Dean's shirt, yanking him in through the doorway.

"What's up?" Garrett put his hands in his pockets, looking down at her.

"I just," she sighed, smiling, "I want to make sure that we're on the same page here."

Garrett raised an eyebrow, tilting his head, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Ellie paused, looking at the floor, "I just think we should be friends, you know?"

"Of course," Garrett nodded, pursing his lips out, "We're on the same page."

"Okay good," she sighed as Garrett turned and took a small step towards her.

"Or at least," he said quietly, reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, "We're on the same page for now."

"What?" Ellie muttered, looking up at his bright blue eyes.

"We're too young to be dating," Garrett shrugged, "But it won't be like that forever."

"Well I don't think that I'll ever like you like that," Ellie replied cockily, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Mhmm," Garrett responded, a smirk on his face, "Me either."

"Good," She whispered, clearing her throat when her voice sounded a little squeaky. "Let's um...let's go watch the movie."

"Sounds good," Garrett grinned, moving to the side and extending his arm, giving a small bow as she walked past him. Ellie rolled her eyes and pushed on the back of his head, making him fall forward before she ran into the den.

The next morning, Ellie woke up to the sound of whispering. She moaned and rolled onto her back, stretching her arms above her head. She sighed loudly and dropped her hands to her face, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. Once she was upright she slowly opened her eyes and screamed.

"Happy birthday!"

Ellie jumped so high she almost fell off her bed when she saw her father, uncles, and Garrett all standing in her room. They each had a bright blue party hat on and noise makers hanging out of their mouths, while Dean had a tray of a delicious looking breakfast in his hands.

"What are you guys doing?" Ellie groaned with a smile, grabbing the edge of her blanket and moving to pull it off of her legs.

"No no," Sam rushed over and swatted her hand, stopping her from getting out of bed. "You're getting breakfast in bed."

Dean got the hint and walked over, placing the tray full of her favorite breakfast foods—including a mound of bacon—on her lap.

"Breakfast a la Dean," he bowed as he walked backwards. "Happy birthday, Squirt."

Cass stepped forward and placed a single rose on the tray, smiling down at her. "I may have stolen this flower out of a garden down the road."

"Thanks guys," Ellie blushed as she looked around at them. "This is awesome."

"Happy birthday, baby girl," Sam whispered before leaning down and placing a wet kiss on her forehead. "Now eat and get dressed, we let you sleep in pretty late and people are gonna be getting here in about an hour."

"What?" Ellie shouted through a mouthful of bacon, "I have to take a shower and stuff."

"Don't worry, you'll have time," Dean chuckled. "Don't eat fast, you have to enjoy that amazing breakfast I made you."

They all started leaving her room, but Sam stopped in the doorway. "Oh, and per the tradition, there's a dress from Rowena hanging in your closet to wear today."

Ellie smiled as she stuffed a huge bite of chocolate chip waffles into her mouth. Every year since her first birthday she had spent at the bunker, Rowena had brought her a new outfit to wear for her party. It was always perfect, and Ellie was more than excited to see what style it would be this year.

A little over an hour later, and everyone had arrived for the party. Alex and Claire were sitting on one side of a table, with Mike and Jody on the other side, little Annie sitting on Jody's lap. Garth and Bess were standing along the wall with their arms around each other as they laughed at something Rowena said. Crowley was sitting at the other table next to Cass, discussing the recent vampire incident in great detail. Sam was leaning against the doorway from the library to the war room, watching all of the interactions when Dean walked in with the cake.

"Damn I'm good," Dean said as he placed the cake on the table. It was a simple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, Ellie's favorite. Sam walked over and looked down at the dessert, nodding with his lips pursed out.

"Looks good," Sam reached out and tried to swipe a bit of the frosting onto his finger, only to have Dean smack his hand.

"You ruin this cake, I'll break your nose."

Garrett walked into the library, pulling at the button up that he was wearing. It had taken the three men a while to figure out something nice for Garrett to wear, since he was almost as tall as Sam but much skinnier. They finally landed on one of Cass' plain white button ups, and it was just a hair too short for his abdomen.

"I'm gonna go see how much longer she'll be," Sam smiled at the guests as he walked down the hallway to Ellie's room. When he got to her door he knocked gently, "It's me, El."

"Come in."

Sam turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open, sighing when he realized she was facing the opposite wall, staring at her mirror.

"You ready?" He asked, rubbing his hands on his thighs as he walked closer to her.

Ellie nodded and turned around, a small smile on her face. Sam felt the air leave his lungs as he looked at her, and he swallowed loudly. The dress Rowena had bought for her was navy blue and cut to just above her knees, with small cap sleeves. It was covered in black lace, and there was a black ribbon around her waist and tied off to the side, accentuating her quickly narrowing waist. She had brushed her hair immediately after getting out of the shower, so her usually unruly waves were soft and beautiful. She had even put on a little bit of mascara, bringing out the sharpness in her eyes. As much as Sam hated to admit it, she looked really grown up.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked, looking down at herself, "Do I look stupid?"

"No," Sam answered quickly, rushing forward to her. He grabbed her cheeks and looked her in the eyes, a proud smile on his face. "You look stunning."

"Oh stop," Ellie blushed and tried to pull back out of his hands.

"Ellie," Sam said quietly, rubbing his thumb on her cheek, "You are growing into such an amazing young woman, do you know that?"

"Thanks, Dad," she smiled, reaching up to cover his hands with her own. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"Love you most," she whispered before he leaned down and kissed her nose. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, while he pulled her into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a moment before Sam bent his head and rubbed his chin on her neck, making her squeal.

"I had to, I'm sorry," he laughed as she shoved his chest. "Now come on, birthday girl; let's go."

As Sam and Ellie walked down the hallway talking and playfully shoving each other, they both stopped when they heard a strange noise. Ellie turned her head and saw Garrett standing in the doorway to the war room, swallowing loudly.

"Was that you?" she chuckled, raising her eyebrows.

"Um, yeah, I just..." he trailed off, walking slowly towards her and paying no attention to Sam as he looked her up and down, "You look...amazing. I mean, you always do, but like, as a friend, you know, but right now you look-"

"Just tell her she looks pretty," Sam closed his eyes and shook his head with a small smile, remembering what it was like to be that age.

"Pretty doesn't even do it justice," Garrett sighed, making Ellie blush as she bit her bottom lip with a smile.

"Thanks Garrett," she whispered, glancing down at her feet before slowly allowing her gaze to creep up to meet his, her hazel eyes shining through her extraordinarily long eyelashes. Garrett took a deep breath when they made eye contact, then sighed dramatically.

"Alright, let's go," Sam rolled his eyes and took a step forward, turning Garrett around and pushing him towards the war room before he and Ellie followed.

Ellie enjoyed all of her presents, especially the key to hell that Crowley gave her. Rowena gave her the spell book from a few weeks previous, in addition to a book of love spells which made Ellie blush and shoot a look over to Sam. Jody has bought her some new clothes, as well as a new throwing knife. Claire gave her an empty pistol case, promising that once she got her CPL it would be filled with a new handgun much to Sam's chagrin. Alex gave her some new makeup and clothes, and a 'hunter's first aid kit' she put together. Garth and Bess brought her a funny tee shirt that said 'in my defense the moon was full and I was left unsupervised' which earned a laugh from the whole group.

She couldn't stop smiling after she opened her gift from Sam, Dean, and Cass; it was a duffel bag full of hunter's gear. From a multitude of blades and lore books and even brass knuckles and her very own angel blade that Cass had her name engraved into.

"When you turn eighteen I'll add a grenade launcher," Dean chuckled, making everyone in the room laugh.

Ellie thought that was her last gift, so she moved to stand up but Sam held out a hand, pointing to one more small box on the table that was hiding behind one of the bags she had already opened. She raised an eyebrow and leaned over, grabbing the box and giving it a quick shake.

"Who is this from?" She asked, looking around the room.

"That's mine," Garrett raised his hand meekly from the corner of the room where he was leaning against the wall.

"Oh," Ellie tried to fight the blush that was creeping up her cheeks, carefully pulling the piece of twine that was wrapped around the box. She lifted the top and pushed the tissue paper aside, gasping when she saw what was inside.

It was a simple silver charm bracelet with three charms. Ellie pulled it out of the box, holding it out in her hands as she looked at it closer. One charm had a simple 'W' in a heart, presumably for 'Winchester', the second charm was an eight ball, and the last charm was the Instagram symbol. When she realized this she looked up at him with her head tilted to the side in confusion.

"It's how we first met," Garrett said quietly shrugging as the adults in the room looked back and forth between him and Ellie.

"I love it," Ellie looked back down to the bracelet, tightening her lips together in a smile. She looked up at him again with her eyebrows raised, "Can you help me put it on?"

Garrett nodded and tried not to look too obvious as he rushed across the room, taking the chain from her and wrapping it carefully around her wrist. He clasped it after a few tries and smiled down at her.

"Thanks Garrett," Ellie said quietly, pulling her lips between her teeth as she looked up at him.

"You're welcome," he shrugged, clearing his throat when he saw Dean looking at him with his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face.

After everyone finished their cake, they all started saying goodbye. Ellie stood at the bottom of the stairs in the war room giving out hugs and thanks as the guests walked out. Garth and Bess were the last ones to leave, with Garrett close behind them with his bag over his shoulder. He dropped his bag once Ellie had hugged Garth and Bess, and stuck his hand out. Ellie looked down at his hand, then back up to his face with an eyebrow cocked.

"Glad we're friends," he sighed.

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips before smacking his hand to the side and rushing forward into his chest. Garrett froze for a moment, looking at the three men that were standing behind her. Sam shrugged, Cass smiled, and Dean nodded, so Garrett let him arms wrap around her shoulders and tightly squeeze.

"Text me," Ellie whispered before pulling away.

"I might," Garrett shrugged with a cocky smile.

Ellie shoved his shoulder with a chuckle, "Ass."

"Brat."

Ellie watched as Garrett walked up the stairs, then sighed as she turned around. The three men were all standing with their arms crossed and their eyebrows raised.

"Shut up," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"You're really gonna miss him, huh?" Dean teased, biting his bottom lip to stop from laughing.

"I hate you," she moaned, pushing past him.

"Go change into some pajamas, it's time for your birthday movie night," Sam pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her head.

"Okay," Ellie sighed and walked down the hall.

"I'll go make some popcorn," Cass added, following her. Dean was about to walk behind the angel when Sam reaches out and grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"What?" Dean turned and looked at his brother.

"Garrett told me," Sam slid his hands into his pockets.

"Told you what?"

Sam tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, tightening his lips together. "About the bracelet."

"Oh," Dean mumbled, looking down at his shoes as he rubbed a heel on the floor. "Look, he was just a couple bucks short—"

"Seventy-five?"

Dean pursed his lips and slowly looked up at his brother, "The kid had enough money for the chain, he just needed some help for the charms."

"I just can't believe you helped him," Sam shook his head with a chuckle.

"He really likes Ellie," Dean sighed, looking at Sam with a serious look on his face. "You know we're going to have problems eventually, right?"

"Oh, I knew the minute they started that whole 'brat-ass' thing."

When the movie—The Kissing Booth, which Ellie picked—finished, all of the males stood up except Cass, who currently had a sleeping Ellie leaning on his shoulder. He looked down at her with a smile and reached his head down, kissing her hair.

"You want me to wake her up?" Dean groaned as he got off the opposite end of the couch, stretching.

"No, don't," Sam interrupted, holding a hand out. He looked down at his sleeping daughter and nodded before leaning down and scooping his hands under her knees and behind her shoulders. He pulled her up into his arms, gesturing at Dean to open the door.

Sam walked to her bedroom and carefully walked in, shushing her when she started to stir in his arms. He laid her down on her bed, grateful for once that she hadn't made her bed so he was able to place her directly on the sheets and pull the blankets over her. She rolled onto her side, facing him and rubbing her face on her pillow with her eyes closed.

"Good night, baby," Sam whispered and leaned down, kissing her forehead. He was almost at the door when he heard her sleepy voice.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?" he walked back towards her bed where she still had her eyes closed.

"You know I'm never going to leave you, right?"

Sam took a deep breath and sat on her mattress, running his fingers through her hair. "You'll leave me someday, El."

"No," she murmured, rubbing her face into her pillow again, "I won't."

"Okay, Ellie. Go back to sleep now," he chuckled softly, pulling his hand away from her head. He wanted to believe that what she was saying was true, but he knew that eventually she would want to go out on her own.

"Wait, can you keep doing it?" she asked, her voice so quiet and small it reminded him of when she was little. He let out a long breath and smiled, moving his hand to continue playing with her hair.

"Happy birthday," he whispered.

"I promise Dad, I'm never going to leave the bunker," Ellie slurred as sleep began to take over her once again, "Because I like me better when I'm with you."

A/N: The end! The third installment is called Bird Set Free, the link is below! I'm so excited for you all to continue to follow Ellie's story! A huge THANK YOU to my followers and reviewers, you all make my muse speak to me! : )

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