Hello again, everyone! This chapter took a lot longer to get out than I had hoped for, but I put my all into it, so I hope you enjoy!

Ages:

C: 22

D: 35 (Demon)

S: 31

Takes place before season 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural

AN: Pinnella Pass is a fictional place that I made up. If it bears any similarity to a real place, it is by pure coincidence.

Night time was for families. For eating dinner and watching tv and finishing homework. Maybe playing a game, doing one last round of basketball, or getting started on an old book. Night time was not for traveling alone down rushing highways with fast food in your hands. It wasn't for wiping away escaping tears, hoping no one saw them. And it most definitely wasn't the time for pushing family out of your brain. But then again, when was the last time Carter was normal?

The clock in the car shined 8:17 when Carter pulled into her new place. It was a brown, two story house with a porch out front. A small garage accompanied the house and the yard was adorned with one old apple tree next to the road. According to the landlord, the neighborhood was quiet and everyone was friendly. Driving through the development, the quiet part was evident.

Carter parked her car in the driveway and looked up at the place. It was her's, more or less. She could finally live in a proper house. One not covered in Men of Letters memorabilia or dusty, old books. She could decide exactly what she wanted and where she wanted it without any complaints or decisions made by older brothers. And it would be clean. There would be no more creepy motel stains, bruised mattresses, or spiderwebs the size of heads. A real, proper house.

Carter hopped out of the car (her new, used car she bought while she was stopped in Chicago) and shut the door behind her. Her eyes continued to gaze happily up at the house. But a few seconds later, the slap of a basketball on pavement stopped her. She turned around and noticed a teenaged boy dribbling a basketball towards the tall net under the glow of his garage light. She watched him swoop the ball through the net and continue dribbling it around by himself.

Carter turned and retrieved her bags from the trunk. An old duffel bag and backpack landed in Carter's hands and she started walking towards the door of the house. Her eyes kept gazing up and around at everything she could feast her eyes on. As she walked up to the door, she pulled her key out twisted it into the lock. The door spun open and Carter peered into the vastly empty room. She stepped in and plopped her bags on the ground, shutting the door behind her. The setting sun cast a low light through the windows, creating more silence in the room. Carter reached to turn the light on and the room lit up, magnifying the living room and kitchen. The stairs stood to her right, heading up to the two bedrooms and bathrooms.

Her heart palpitated with thoughts of all she could do with the place and her mind

whispered how happy she was. Later that night, while she was laying on the floor of her bedroom, she would think of nothing but the fact that she was at least half normal now. And if that was as far as she could go, then it was good enough for her.

It was the next day, when Carter was leaving her house for essentials, that she met her first neighbor. Her backpack slapping her back, she shut her door behind her and headed towards her car. She unlocked the car door and was about to open it when a voice across the street stopped her. She recognized the house it came from, as it was where the boy was playing basketball last night.

"Hey there!" The guy shouted as he shut his mailbox and put up the flag. He looked quickly both ways and walked across the street. "Hi!" He laughed and waved a little, "I'm Toby, I live across the street." Carter watched the man with cautious curiosity.

As he got closer, Carter gave him a little smile and stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Carter." Toby shook her hand and put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, my wife would kill me if she knew I met you before she did. Ever since we found out the Stevensons were renting out this old place, my wife dreamed about meeting the family that would move in and she wanted to bring them cookies or some other baked good. In fact, I think she's in the kitchen right now cooking some blueberry muffins to bring over," Toby rambled, leaving Carter a little winded. Sure, she expected to have neighbors and she expected to have to talk to them. She just didn't expect them to be so Mister Rogers. "My son has been asking and hoping for a kid his age but I told him not to get his hopes up, you know?" he laughed and Carter chuckled out of politeness. "Anyway, I have to get going. The wife is making me clean out the garage. It was nice meeting you. I'm sure I'll see you around sometime." He stuck his hand out and shook Carter's again.

"Of course," Carter responded softly and Toby turned back and headed into his house. Carter licked her lips and turned towards her car. She opened the door and threw her bag into the passenger's seat. She took one last glance at her neighbor and got into the car.

Driving through town, Carter smiled. Her mind started to spin of all the things she would need to get at the store just to survive well enough to not fall apart in her new place. She was in no way getting any furniture or decorations for a long time. She was living off a teacher's salary and money won from hustling pool. No more could she run credit card scams or anything of the like. She had to be completely legal for now and going forwards. The last thing she needed was to be fired from her job for being her old self.

Turning into the store parking lot, Carter parked the car and hopped out. She walked into the super store and headed towards the food section first. She grabbed all the essentials: milk, eggs, bread, large container of salt, ramen noodles, cheese, canned food, a couple cases of beer, and some little snacks. Then she headed to the paper aisle and grabbed paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, and plastic silverware; along with a hop over to grab detergent and dryer sheets. Next, she headed to the camping aisle to grab an air mattress, as she wasn't going to have a regular mattress for a while. Then she grabbed bath towels, a pillow, bed sheets, a shower curtain, and some important kitchen utensils. Lastly, she headed towards the school supplies section. Since school was starting in a week, she desperately needed to get some supplies. She wasn't all that worried about lesson plans and assignments because she had been planning them ever since she got the job back in June. Carter just held off on moving because she knew she couldn't leave Sam alone and desperately searching for Dean. Carter grabbed a planner, a couple packets of pens and pencils, one packet of highlighters, a pack of sticky notes, and a bunch of other little items. She thumbed through the sale items and collected cheap notebooks and folders. Satisfied with everything she got, she headed towards checkout and then out to the car.

The ride home was short and she found herself parked back in her driveway. Distractedly, she grabbed her backpack and hopped out of the car, heading to the trunk. She popped the trunk and was about to grab her bags when a voice cried out from across the street. Looking up, she muttered a little curse as a woman in flip flops walked the yard across the street carrying a container of what she could only assume were blueberry muffins. The woman, no doubtedly, being Toby's wife. Carter turned towards the woman and decided this was her only chance at making nice with her neighbors. She didn't have the chance with Toby, seeing as he talked enough for the both of them. Her mind figured word would travel fast in a community like this, and bad words would not work good for her reputation; both at home and at work.

The woman had crossed the street by now and slapped onto the driveway. She wore a smile and denim shorts, her hair up in a bun and makeup done. Carter then realized what she must look like. She hadn't been able to use the washer and dryer at her house because she didn't have anything to wash with; therefore her clothes hadn't been washed in almost a week. She was pretty sure there was a blood stain and rip on one of the knees and she was damn near sweating through her tshirt. In hindsight, she realized it would have been smarter to wear her shorts instead, but habit forced her to wear pants. Carter wasn't even going to start thinking about her hair; it always preferred knots, anyway.

As the woman got closer, she smiled again and stuck out her hand, "Hi, I'm Stella from across the street." Carter smiled politely and shook her hand. She stated her own name back and crossed her arms across her chest, her backpack slung across one shoulder. Stella held up the container in her hands towards Carter. "As a welcome to the neighborhood, I've baked you and your family some blueberry muffins."

Carter uncrossed her arms with a smile and accepted the muffins. "Thank you, they look great. But, um, it's just me living here," Carter responded softly.

Stella hardly missed a beat. She still smiled and waved her arm dismissively. "Well, all the same!" She smiled and continued, "Also, I have taken the honor of inviting you to the neighborhood's end of the year block party. It's in two days at noon down the road at the French's house. They have a pool, a sprinkler, the annual water balloon fight, a basketball hoop, and a bunch of fun games to play. It's a bbq, and a lot of people like to bring food, but it's definitely not required. Festivities tend to last all day, but certainly not everyone stays that long."

Carter blinked in surprise as the woman in front of her went on about the party. One day into her new life and she was already being invited to a party. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been invited to a party. As the woman stopped talking, Carter smiled and thanked her for the invitation. Stella bid her adieu and left back across the street to her home. Carter placed the muffins in one of her shopping bags and set about bringing them all in. All the while, her mind thought of the block party and her heart swam of nervousness and happiness.

The next two days consisted of getting her house organized, lesson planning, getting ready for school, visiting her new school, and exploring her new town. It wasn't as small as some of her previous schools she'd been to, but it wasn't as large as some others. It was the perfect size for her.

Five minutes after noon, Carter walked down the street towards the French's house. She didn't know exactly which one it was going to be, she just figured she'd watch where everyone else went, and then whichever one was the most crowded. It turned out to be just three houses down from Stella and Toby's house. Carter turned onto the driveway and followed a couple walking to the back of the house, where it seemed most of the noise was coming from. The couple's three kids took off towards a group of kids once they reached the back and Carter slowed her speed as she took in the scene. People and their families were everywhere. There were kids and teenagers jumping in the pool, little kids and toddlers hopping the sprinkler, moms surrounding the food table, dads with beers working the grill, and other people were sitting down at the tables under a canopy. Carter stood where she was, not quite sure where she fit in. She hadn't brought a swimsuit (mostly because she didn't own one), she wasn't a mom, she most certainly wasn't a dad, and everyone sitting down had someone to talk to. Deciding to go with the lesser of the evils, she headed towards the moms at the food table.

As she neared the table, Stella looked up and noticed Carter heading her way. "Oh, good! You made it! Everyone, this is our new neighbor, Carter," Stella cried as Carter reached the table. Stella went around the table and introduced everyone. They said their hellos and two women walked back off towards the kitchen, leaving Stella and two other moms.

"So tell us about yourself, Carter. What do you do, where are you from?" One younger looking woman trailed off, biting into a carrot and watching Carter. The other two women looked over and wondered themselves.

But suddenly Carter felt like she was 16 and starting a new school all over again. The nervousness of her first day, of hoping she doesn't make a wrong move and have everyone hate her or have everyone think she's weird. It happened way too many times before and this time it would be permanent. She was actually looking for a life here, not a pitstop.

Carter licked her lips and smiled, "I moved here from Kansas and got the job as the new mythology teacher at the local high school." The woman that asked nodded her head.

"Any reason you picked Pinnella Pass, New York?" The other lady asked snarkily, chuckling and looked at her friends, "I mean, we aren't exactly a 'big dreams' kind of school."

Carter's mood lessened and she crossed her arms. "There was a need for a mythology teacher, and I just so happened to qualify for the job. The fact that the job was in a small town in New York had nothing to do with me accepting the job offer." Carter failed to mention that the fact that it was nearly 20 hours away from her brothers helped all that much more.

Changing the subject, Stella spoke up. "My son, Mason, is taking that class this year, I believe," She smiled and Carter looked over at her, happy for the change of tone. "He told me he really enjoyed the class last year and was looking forward to taking level two this year. I'm sure he would love to meet you sometime today."

Carter nodded, "I would love that, too."

A middle aged lady walked out from the kitchen carrying a covered dish and announced, "Food is ready!" Everyone started their way towards the food table and grabbed everything they wanted. After grabbing her food and a beer from a nearby cooler, she headed towards an empty seat at the far side of the yard. She watched all the people in between her bites. She took mental note of who talked to whom, who's child belong to whom, and who avoided whom. Many of the older kids and some younger ones took the seats by the pool. One woman walked around carrying a baby and two teenaged girls had a five year old watching their every move. A couple not much younger than Carter sat near a group of much older adults and two old men sat next to each other gabbing.

Nobody was acting suspicious. Nobody exhibited characteristics of any kind of monster. Everyone was doing what they normally did at parties. Talked, ate, had fun, and appeared to not have any care in the world. It was simple. It was homely. It was welcoming.

It was not Carter.

Later that night, long after the sun had kissed everyone goodbye, Carter made her way back to her house. A beer in her hand, she walked down the road. She was a mere three houses away from her own, yet the walk seemed so long. Her left hand in her pocket, she watched the dark sky. So many stars blinked in and out, screaming, calling for the attention of a little human on a little planet. Carter gleefully accepted the show.

Her mind inched back to a time when her brothers parked next to an abandoned field and drug Carter from her sleeping state. They had been traveling for hours and clearly needed a break from the cramped quarters. The brothers grabbed beers from the trunk and sat down on the Impala. Carter nestled in between them and watched as the sky talked. There had been a lot more stars at that time due to the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere with hardly any light pollution. None of them said any words that night; nothing had to be said.

But Carter wasn't in the middle of nowhere on a lost highway. She was alone in a big, busy town. She had nobody for herself despite everyone being around her.

When she accepted the job offer, she expected to have a million instant friends and a community behind her. It just made sense to her that the part of her that was holding her back from real friendships was that she didn't have a permanent home. And that when she got a permanent home, all new friends would just fall in line. Add to that the fact that hunting was no longer a priority in her life. She was real, she was permanent, and she was finally free.

But nothing was going her way.

So as she stared up at the glittering sky, she couldn't help but think back to when she had everything she needed, despite not knowing it at the time. She just knew it was too late to get it all back again. Isn't that how things went in her family?

She took the last sip of her beer and sighed. At least she could say she was normal now.

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I answer all comments and PMs and am trying to get to all my requests. I'm not sure which will be posted next, but it may take awhile to get it up. Thank you and talk to you next time!

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