Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate and Happy Thursday to those who don't! This chapter centers around Thanksgiving and involves the character Grant from the previous chapter. If you don't remember, Grant Anderson is a wealthy senior in high school with brown hair; the rest was pretty much left up to your imaginations. My apologies for not posting last week; this chapter and all of my school work took up my time and I couldn't get another chapter written. Plus, my laptop has been on the fritz for the past few weeks so I've been using my phone to type everything up. Anyway, if this chapter isn't up to par, I'm really sorry.

Additional note: In the pilot episode right before the cops confront Dean about his fake credit cards, he calls Sam and tells him something along the lines of, "5-0, take off." In general, it means the cops are coming. I used this reference in this chapter, so I thought I'd explain for those of you who didn't know/remember.

Disclaimer: Oh boy do I wish I owned them.

Ages:

Carter: 16

Dean: 29

Sam: 25

Takes place somewhere in season 4

Enjoy!

The job had always come first. Not school, not health, not the weather. It was always the job. You broke both your legs? You can still research. You have a major test tomorrow? People are dying, and you're worried about a test? There's a hurricane brewing? Well, there's a monster killing just as many.

The job had always been first, will always be first, and won't ever go away. So it wasn't a surprise when the Winchester's Thanksgiving was being forgotten. No, not forgotten. More like over looked. A nest of vampires were just across the state border terrorizing the travelers. Dean and Sam had been watching them for days, trying to locate their nest. When they finally found it, Thanksgiving had befallen the country. It was already noon time when they finished killing all the vamps. Sam, Dean, and Carter were all cut up and bruised and tired.

Driving back to their motel was silent. Dean's head was pounding so he didn't dare turn on the music. When Carter guessed he had a concussion, he just groaned and ignored her. Sam sat in the passenger seat with his head resting against the seat, sound asleep. Carter was in the back, texting back and forth with her boyfriend, Grant. They'd been together for two months now, upon Carter's requests to Dean. The only reason they were staying in town was because Carter kept finding her brothers local cases. They always moved where the cases were; it's like they followed the buffalo. The buffalo move, they move. She didn't want to leave, she really liked Grant. And for the most part, his family liked Carter and more importantly he liked Carter. What was the point in leaving? But of course, that answer would always lay with their job.

It always came back to the job.

"You still going to your boyfriend's house?" Dean asked when they were almost back to their motel.

Grant had invited Carter to join his family for Thanksgiving. After he'd heard that her family doesn't usually celebrate it, he insisted she join his. Carter became nervous when he said his whole family would be at his house. Whole family as in aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Carter had met his immediate family (two sisters, two parents) last month so they weren't a problem. It was everyone else. She always had a problem with families. They always asked a lot of questions, wanted to get way too personal, and had many inside jokes. Plus, she could never keep track of who was who. Maybe it was just because of Carter's small family; maybe only having two brothers made everything else seem so scary. Whatever the reason, the fact remained that Carter was scared.

"Yeah, I guess so. Nothing else to do, right?" She asked rhetorically.

"Probably won't get to a diner anytime soon with Mr. Comatose over there," Dean nodded in Sam's direction. His eyes were still closed and his arm still laying on his stomach. For most holidays, the Winchesters tried to get to a diner for a big meal. Since they couldn't ever have a homemade meal, diner food was the next best thing. But this year, that didn't look like it was happening.

Dean pulled into the motel parking lot five minutes later. As the car shut off, Sam stirred and awoke. They all got out and grabbed their things, walking into the room. Sam immediately went to his bed and flipped down on it, already asleep. He didn't even bother taking off his shoes or bloody clothes. Carter went to her duffel and pulled out her nicest clothes. She called to Dean that she was going to take a shower and Dean called back for her to wake him when she was ready to go.

"You don't have to drive me, Dean, you're exhausted."

"It's fine, I want to know where you'll be, anyway," Dean replied and Carter shrugged. She walked into the bathroom to get ready for battle. Or dinner, if you prefer.

Carter sat in the Impala and stared up at the giant house. All of the lights on the first floor were on and seemed to glow happily, cheerfully. The driveway was full so Dean had to park on the street. Dean shut the Impala off and looked over at his sister. She looked tiny in the passenger seat compared to Sam who usually sat there. He sat and watched her, every few seconds looking up at the house.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon in the woods, and there were no other cars on the road. The air was cold, but bearable. The weather for later mentioned possible snow flurries and that stuck in the minds of children. Due to the snow, the sky was dark and sunless. The trees around the car were all naked; their leaves had fallen weeks ago.

Carter took a deep breath and turned towards her brother. "I better go in," she said softly, reaching for her purse on the floor.

"You want me to walk you in?" Dean asked, hoping she would say yes. While Carter had met Grant's family, Dean had not.

She took another glance at the house and shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine," she reached for the door handle. "I'll have Grant take me back to the motel."

"You sure? I can pick you up, no trouble."

"Yeah, you need your beauty sleep," she laughed as she took in his bruised face. Dean smiled. "I'll see you later." She opened the door and got out, pausing before shutting the door and walking up the drive. Six unfamiliar cars sat in the circular drive, along with Grant's family's three. Carter weaved in and out, stretching up to the front steps. She climbed them and rang the doorbell once. Dean's car turned on but he let it sit. The white door opened to Grant's smiling face.

"Hey!" He called and gave a kiss to his girlfriend. She smiled and returned the kiss. Grant moved aside so she could walk in and Carter threw a wave to Dean. His Impala roared down the road as she stepped inside.

The first thing to smack her was the heat. It was obviously turned up high; she shed her jacket quite quickly. The second thing to hit her was the noises. Before Grant even led her into the living room, she could hear laughing and lots of talking. Carter took off her shoes and left her bag by the door. She grabbed Grant's hand and they walked into the living room. Nine or so kids stood in the middle of the room all playing some kind of game, two men stood off to the side talking, a young couple sat on a couch directing some parts of the game, and an elderly man sat in a big armchair.

"Carter!" Annie, Grant's 12 year old sister, cried out and gave her a rib crushing hug.

"Hey, Annie," Carter managed to get out and Annie released her. Whenever Carter visited the Anderson household, Annie held a tendency to always be near. She adored Carter, always wanted to do something with her. Most times, Grant would relent and allow his baby sister to join their movie or their snack. Carter never minded so what would be the problem with it? She had always wanted a younger sibling, and a younger sister was even better. Maybe she just needed a little girl time. Who knows?

She ran back over to the game and they all continued to play. They stood around in a crooked circle and the man from the couple on the couch called out "Simon says" moves. Grant found Carter's hand again.

"These are all my cousins; there's nine of them," Grant pointed at the kids gathered in the middle of the room. "The oldest cousin, Dax, and his wife Amelia," Grant pointed at the young couple on the couch. "His sister, Kaylee, is helping out in the kitchen. Those are my uncles, Cliff and Brian," he pointed to the men standing off to the side. "And that's my Grandpa. Everyone else is helping set everything up in the kitchen."

Carter nodded. "You've got quite a big family."

"Yeah, it's actually pretty small compared to my mom's side of the family. She's one of seven. My dad only has three sisters."

"Wow," Carter laughed.

"Yeah," Grant agreed. Carter often wished she could have an extended family. That simply wasn't an option on her dad's side of the family, but it could still be one on her mom's. She didn't know much about her mom, let alone her family. So who was to say she didn't have twenty cousins?

"Wanna go sit down?" Grant asked and Carter agreed. He led her to the love seat next to his cousin and sat down. Carter scooted next to him and pulled in her legs. Grant's arm wrapped around her body and she leaned on his chest.

"Oh, I'm so tired, I could fall asleep right now," Carter moaned.

Grant looked down at her. "What time did you go to bed last night? I know you texted me at one in the morning."

"I didn't."

"What? Why not?" Grant asked with concern.

Carter looked over at the game and pulled her legs in closer, partially laying them on Grant. "My brothers needed my help with something. I couldn't just say no."

Their conversation was cut short by a three year old little blonde girl running up to them. Or rather, she bounced. She had a giant smile on her face. "Grantie, come play with us!"

"I don't really want to play right now, Jojo," Grant declined. Carter looked between her boyfriend and little Jojo.

"What are you playing?" Carter asked sweetly.

Jojo looked over at Carter like she didn't realize she was there. She probably didn't know she was there. "Simon says. But Dax is Simon because we don't have a Simon," she replied enthusiastically.

Carter chuckled. "Sounds like fun. Can I play?" Jojo nodded her head vehemently and cried out happily. She jogged back to the group satisfied. Carter sat up and smiled. She stood up and grabbed Grant's arm to pull him up.

"I thought you were tired?"

"Nah, I always have time for games," she smiled.

The couple walked over to the group and both looked down on the kids. They started playing and it took Carter no time to learn her way around it. Having two older brothers around allowed Carter to play this game in a different context. You know, "Simon says stops bothering me. Simon says be quiet. Simon says do your homework." Poor kid never had real competition. They played three rounds of Simon Says before Grant wanted to quit.

"I'm hungry," Grant pulled Carter aside and they headed towards the kitchen. "My mom put out appetizers before you got here, but there's bound to be some left." Carter nodded and they walked hand in hand to the kitchen. Mrs. Anderson, four other younger women, an older lady, and two men were in the kitchen and dining room. Some of them were picking up silverware and plates and bustling them into the dining room, others were getting food ready. Silently, Grant led Carter over to the breakfast table where a small array of appetizers sat. Grant grabbed a plate and starting shoving everything onto it. Carter gazed out at the flurry of people, mesmerized. She had never had a real, home cooked thanksgiving meal before. And she definitely had never seen the behind the scenes part either. Grant grabbed a small biscuit and handed it to Carter. Drawing out of her gaze, she took it and ate it slowly. She honestly hadn't realize how hungry she was.

Grant finished stacking his plate and turned towards everyone. Mr. Anderson and another man walked into the kitchen empty handed. Mr. Anderson walked to a china cabinet while the other man walked towards Grant and Carter.

"Save some for the rest of us, will ya Grant?" The man chuckled. Grant put down his fork and swallowed.

He laughed. "Hey, you guys had your chances with the food, I came back for seconds." The man smiled and shifted his gaze towards Carter. The first thing Carter noticed about the man was his smile. Wide, bright, and genuine. Genuine as in it wasn't in pain, mocking horror, or anything else she was used to. He was truly happy. Grant put his arm around Carter and pulled her into his warm body. "Carter, this is my Uncle Eddy. Uncle Eddy, this is my girlfriend, Carter."

Carter smiled politely. "Hi, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and he shook it greatly.

"You too," he let go and stood akimbo. "So how'd you two meet? You go to the same school?"

Carter looked up at Grant and noticed he was hesitant. Carter chuckled softly and turned towards his uncle. "We met in detention, actually." She knew everyone thought she was the perfect little angel, as Grant's parents had thought so too. She also knew that Grant hardly ever got in trouble. So what everyone saw was a quiet, goody goody couple. They were right about Grant but completely wrong about Carter. Don't get me wrong, Carter was a good kid. But she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself and her family. And sometimes that meant getting in fights.

Eddy nodded slowly in shock. "In detention?" He finally said. "That's uh, unique."

"I had too many lates, so I just had one detention," Grant explained and Eddy nodded in understanding. Carter licked her lips and looked down, hoping he wouldn't ask why she was in detention. The whole "I got into a fight with a classmate" wouldn't exactly go over well.

Eddy put his hand on Carter's shoulder. "These Andersons," he explained, "hardly ever get in trouble. It's quite unheard of." Carter smiled and nodded her head. She chuckled because she had already figured that out. The whole family reeked of skeleton-free closet. It was a little unnerving.

Eddy nodded his goodbyes and walked off to help Grant's father finish setting the table. Grant picked up his fork and set back to work on his pile of food. Carter stood quietly next to him, allowing him to pig out. After finishing the food, the couple went back out into the living room and sat back down on the couch. They watched all the kids playing and even led a few games themselves. At around five, a call from the kitchen announced that dinner was ready. The whole menagerie of kids and adults streamed into the dining room. The kids were directed to sit at the separate table and the adults sat around the main table. Carter and Grant were permitted to sit at the big kids table, luckily. Carter didn't want to have to chat with three year olds the whole dinner. Grant pulled Carter to the far side of the table and sat down. Next to Carter on her right sat Grant's 20 year old cousin, Kaylee, who seemed nice enough. Grant's grandparents filled up the heads of the table and everyone else streamed in the other seats.

Carter looked around and took a deep breath; this was where she could blow everything. Everyone could start to hate her, they could find out about her past, find out about hunting, find out about anything that she didn't want them to. A little over dramatic, but when you had too many things to not share, sometimes things let slip. And that would be bad; a very hard mess to mop up.

Carter looked back around at everyone and saw they all had begun to grab food. They all scooped things onto their plates and passed the bowls to their left. Suddenly, Kaylee placed a bowl of green beans in her hands. Carter looked over at Grant in confusion, her eyebrows raised.

"It's a tradition," Grant answered once he noticed her scared look. "We grab a bowl and pass all the food to our left; it's how we get the food to everyone."

Carter nodded in understanding. She scooped a small spoonful of green beans onto her plate and passed it to Grant. Another bowl was placed in her hands and continued on until everyone had what they wanted. After all had what they needed, temporary quiet set in. They all set out to take their first bites of the delicious meal. At her first bite, Carter sunk into her chair in happiness; it was the best food she'd ever tasted. She took another couple bites and soft talking erupted over the table. The woman across from Carter took a drink of her wine and looked Carter's way.

"So, Carter is it?" She asked and Carter looked up. "I'm Cindy."

Carter smile politely. Mentally, she took a deep breath. This was her first test and she was damned if she couldn't pass it. "Nice to meet you." Talking began all over the table and the kid's table was much louder. It seemed, luckily, as no one else was listening in on their conversation.

"So, tell me something about yourself. Do you do a sport? Clubs?" Cindy asked.

Carter licked her lips. "Actually, no. My family just moved here two months ago and I haven't had time to get involved in anything."

"Oh," She responded, "Then tell me something else. What about your parents? What do they do?"

Carter cleared her throat and put down her fork. Before Carter could sledgehammer the nice conversation with awkwardness, Grant cut in. "Aunt Cindy, I'm sure Carter doesn't want to talk about things like that." Grant knew that both of Carter's parents were dead. It had inevitably come up after he met her brothers. Carter lay her hand on his leg.

"It's okay," she said to him and turned confidently to the woman. "Both of my parents are dead, actually." Carter straight faced the woman. She didn't want to act upset because honestly she was tired of the sympathy, the pathetic little looks cast her way. She had had enough of it. The woman stopped eating and did exactly what she didn't want her to. Her eyes dropped along with her mouth and her head cocked slightly to the side. The all too familiar words spilled out of her mouth.

"I'm so sorry."

Carter cleared her throat and licked her lips. She set back into her food and let the conversation drop. Everyone around her continued to talk and soon Cindy was pulled into other conversations.

A minute later and Grant's cousin, Dax, asked across the table, "So, Grant, how long have you two been together?" Carter looked up at the man and then smiled softly as she looked at Grant.

Grant smiled and looked down at Carter and then up at his older cousin. "About two months now."

"Huh," He said and smiled. "Did you get to go to any of his games, Carter?" Carter smiled softly in confusion.

"Games?" She asked and looked up at Grant.

"My baseball games," He explained. "I think you went to one of them a long time ago."

"Did I?" She asked but then her face lit up. "Oh yeah! The one against Rockford, right? So I went to one of them, then." Dax nodded and smiled, the conversation over. By then, most of the food on everyone's plates was gone and eating had finished. Carter leaned back in her chair with a content smile on her face: she hadn't eaten that well in forever. Conversations were at a high now, but Carter stayed quiet. Under the table, she gripped Grant's right hand in her left. Carter looked over at the kids table as they all laughed and started pointing at something on the table.

At the ringing of the doorbell, Mrs. Anderson stood up and excused herself. Carter looked after her as she walked away and a sinking feeling set in her stomach. Mrs. Anderson composed herself as she stepped up to the door. She swung it open and smiled. The man staring back at her did not. "Can I help you?" She asked, her smile drooping as she took in the worn man. His clothes looked slept in, his canvas jacket wrinkled and looked just thrown on. His face was all cut up and there was a large bruise forming under his eye. His shoulders were set and his eyes looked alert. His composure completely contradicted his health.

"I'm here to pick up Carter," his gruff voice rumbled out.

Oh. That made sense, Carrie thought, because he completely matched the girl. Carter shouldn't take that the wrong way, she was a very lovely girl. But sometimes she had bruises that didn't make sense and clothes that looked ratty. (Today was a very nice change for Carter in terms of her clothes.) Carrie had often wondered what kind of family would let their little girl walk around with ripped clothing and bruised skin. It made sense, now. It was the family that walked around with it themselves.

"Right, okay, come on in," Carrie stepped back to let the man in, and shut the door behind him. "We just finished eating dinner, you sure she can't stay for dessert?" Carrie turned around and saw the man taking in her foyer. He had a look of pure awe on his face. She guessed he wasn't usually in such a big house.

"Unfortunately not."

Carrie nodded and walked in front of him, heading towards the dining room. "You can follow me." Dean followed Carrie as she led him into the dining room. Before Dean entered, the voluminous chatter hit him in the face. They stepped into the room and Dean immediately sought out his sister. Carter looked up and froze. Dean hadn't even said anything and she knew exactly what it meant.

"Sorry to interrupt," Dean apologized as many of the people were staring at him. "Carter, 5-0, let's go." Carter set her mouth in a straight line as the realization set in. She cleared her throat and stood up.

"Thank you for allowing me to join your dinner. It was very lovely," Carter announced sadly to everyone around her. She bent down and kissed Grant on the cheek and pushed her chair in. Grant stood up behind her and mumbled something about walking her out. Carter walked to Dean and he gave her an apologetic look. She ignored it and walked out of the dining room, Grant and Dean following. Carter walked to the door and grabbed her shoes. She shoved them on and grabbed her bag. Grant turned to Dean and shook his hand. He said his goodbyes and then turned to Carter. She walked two steps and cuddled into his arms. He held her tightly, not understanding exactly why she was so upset and he didn't care. He kissed the top of her head and she kissed him on the lips. Dean turned from them and opened up the door. The cold air rushed in and pulled the couple apart.

"I'll call you later," Carter suggested softly. Grant nodded and Carter turned around. She walked out the door with Dean following closely behind her. Once the door shut, Dean turned to Carter.

"Hey, sorry you had to leave your boyfriend. I know you tried hard to stay together."

Carter shrugged, trying not to think about it too much. "Just a casualty of the job, right? You can't do anything about it." Dean hung his head and mumbled agreement.

Lately, everything seemed like a casualty of the job.

What did you think? Do you have any suggestions for future chapters? Don't be afraid to leave me comments of private messages, I get back to everyone who does!

I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, it might be in two or three weeks. As of today, I haven't any concrete idea of a chapter. I have, however, been laying around with another AU type story still involving Carter. I'll let you know what I plan to do with it if I am to do anything. It could either be a different story altogether, or I'll just post it here.

Anyway, see you all next time!