Probably should have said this before, I don't own Supernatural or any of it's wonderful characters, just the plot-line for this story!

So here's a rather short chapter and I'm not entirely sure yet where I'm going with the whole school thing, but will try and update soon with Charlie's first day! Thank you to all those who are following and have favourited this story. Special thanks to EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester and WaywardDaughter18 for taking the time to review. I would love to hear more feedback, as it's good to know what I am doing wrong and right with the story and it really motivates me to write if I know people are actually reading and enjoying it! Please read and review!

Chapter 4

To school or not to school

Charlie was on her best behaviour following her spanking from Dean. Partly because she didn't want to go through that again; it really hurt and she didn't like being in trouble. But also because she didn't actually want to be trouble for Sam and Dean. She was grateful to them for all they did for her and for not sending her away and she didn't want to make them regret their decision. Of course, she was 8 years old and she wasn't a saint but she was determined to try her best. Sam and Dean had been discussing the idea of her going to the local school. She didn't complain about staying home and studying with Sam, although he was pretty strict and made her work hard, but Sam and Dean were worried that she was lonely and that she wasn't getting to play with any kids her age. She was based at the bunker full-time, even if Sam and Dean came and went according to the case they were on, so she could easily attend the local elementary school. They weren't dragging her all over the country with them, determined to give her a more normal childhood than they had had. Sam and Dean had discussed the idea, but they had yet to tell Charlie about it. They decided to broach the subject at breakfast one sunny morning in early August.

As usual Sam was up first and Charlie followed soon after, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she entered the kitchen. Sam smiled at the sight, she was always so cute in the mornings when she had just woken up and was all sleepy.

'Morning sweetie.'

'Morning Sam.' Charlie said suppressing a yawn.

'Lucky charms or do you want me to make you some pancakes?' Sam asked.

Charlie looked surprised, it was normally Dean who did the pancakes or scrambled egg or bacon. Basically anything that required more than pouring it from a packet or putting in the toaster.

'Maybe we should wait for Dean…' Charlie suggested.

Sam scoffed 'I'm glad you have such faith in me, I think I can manage some pancakes, it's not rocket science!' and he proceeded to whisk up the batter. Somehow it looked a bit lumpy when he was done, but he had followed the instructions, so it must be right. He glanced over at Charlie, who was watching him with a small smirk on her face. He raised his eyebrows at her and she tried to straighten her face.

'Looks good Sam.' She said with a smile, trying not to smirk.

'Huh!' Sam herumphed not convinced by her comment. 'Well here goes' he said pouring the mixture into the pan and giving it a shake. The mixture stayed pretty much where it had landed in one big gloopy lump and was less pancake, more volcano. Sam vigorously shook the pan in the hope of flattening it out, but to no avail. Charlie stifled a giggle and Sam glared at her.

'Try squashing it down.' She suggested coming to stand next to Sam and handing him a flat wooden spatula.

'Ok.' Said Sam taking her advice and trying to squish the mixture down, looking more and more defeated by the whole process. Then smoke began to rise up from the pan and there was a distinct smell of burning.

'I think you need to turn it over.' Said Charlie with a cheeky grin.

'Shit!' Sam said, 'Sorry, I mean, shoot!' and he quickly removed the pan from the gas and tried to turn the gloop over, but it was stuck fast to the pan. Just then Dean came in, fully showered and dressed, looking more perky than anyone had the right to early in the morning.

'What the heck?!' he asked, as he came into the kitchen. 'Charlie! Get back from the stove!' he ordered as he smelt the burning.

'It's ok Dean, Sam has it all under control.' Charlie said with a smirk at Dean.

'I said, get back from the stove Charlie.' Dean repeated firmly as he took her by the shoulders and gently manoeuvred her to sit on a chair at the table. She rolled her eyes as he went back to the stove to help Sam.

'Sammy, Sammy, Sammy.' He said shaking his head. 'You should leave the cooking to the experts dude. I can honestly say I don't know anyone with your skill to ruin good food.'

Sam scowled at Dean 'Yeah, yeah.'

Dean laughed and shoved Sam to the side. 'Go put in the pan into soak and I'll get to work on some more pancakes. Seriously man, stay away from the stove. It's like your nemesis or something.'

Sam snatched up the pan and grumpily took it to the sink to fill it with water while Dean whipped up a new batch of beautifully smooth pancake mix and began to cook in a fresh pan. Charlie just watched from her seat at the table.

'You're really good at that Dean.' Charlie commented.

'Well, I had a lot of practice growing up, I used to cook for Sammy and me all the time when our Dad was off working.'

'Can you teach me to cook too?' Charlie asked eagerly.

'Yeah, one of these days Kiddo.'

Charlie sighed, she knew that probably meant some time never, but she wouldn't give up on the idea and resolved to keep on asking until he gave in eventually.

'Voila!' he said putting a perfect pancake down in front of her.

'Thanks Dean. Can you pass the syrup Sam?' She asked the younger brother, who had sat down in the chair opposite hers, having finished clearing up his mess.

He passed her the syrup 'Have some strawberries too Charlie or some banana, you need some fruit in you.'

Charlie rolled her eyes. Sam was so obsessed with what she ate all the time, he didn't nag Dean so much and he was much less healthy than her in what he ate.

'Hey!' Sam said sharply. 'Don't roll your eyes at me, it's rude.'

Charlie looked up and caught Dean giving her a stern look as well, so she quickly muttered 'Sorry.' And chopped some banana onto her pancake. It was delicious and she moaned with satisfaction as she chewed her mouthful.

'Good huh?' said Dean proudly, placing a pancake down in front of Sam and putting a whole stack in the middle of the table.

Charlie just nodded. Sam rolled his eyes. Okay, so Dean could cook, but he didn't have to be such a bighead about it!

'Don't roll your eyes Sammy, it's rude.' Said Dean with a smirk.

'Yeah!' Charlie agreed.

'It's rude for you to do it to me, but not for me to do it to Dean, there's a difference.'

Charlie really wanted to roll her eyes at that ridiculous and unfair statement, but she resisted. Dean just laughed and sat down to tuck into his own pancake. Charlie helped herself to a second one, this time loading it with chocolate sauce and some strawberries. She only got halfway through before she was completely full.

'Can I be done? I'm really full up!' she groaned rubbing her tummy.

'Okay, give it here I'll finish it.' Said Dean, the eternal garbage can.

Charlie got up and started to leave but Sam called her back.

'Hold on Charlie, come back.'

'Sorry, can I leave the table?' she said, thinking he was calling her back because she left without asking permission.

'No, no it's not that, Dean and I just need to talk to you about something.'

This sounded serious and Charlie wasn't sure what to expect, so she sat back down in her seat feeling nervous. She saw Dean and Sam passing glances between each other, also looking slightly nervous, which only made her feel worse.

'It's nothing bad is it?' she asked.

'No Sweetie, nothing bad, don't worry.' Sam reassured her.

Dean cleared his throat. 'We've just been thinking that a kid your age shouldn't be spending all their time with 2 fully grown men, or overgrown men in some cases.' He said smirking at Sam who raised his eyebrows. 'We think you should go to school Kiddo and be with kids your age, make some friends, be a bit normal.'

Charlie was surprised, she hadn't expected that and she wasn't sure what she thought of the idea. She liked being with Sam and Dean and she liked Sam being her teacher too, he was so smart and he explained things really well and they did fun stuff that they probably wouldn't learn about in normal school.

'But I like being here and Sam is teaching me everything I need to know, I don't need to go to school.'

'It's more so you can make some friends Charlie, not for your learning. You're so smart I know you'll be just fine learning at home or at school, but you ought to be having fun with kids your age and socialising. You're gonna get sick of me and Dean and you're gonna be much happier if you have some friends.'

'I am happy.' She protested 'I won't get bored of you guys and I do have fun. I don't care if I have any friends. I never had many friends when I used to go to school anyway. I don't miss it, I promise.'

'Well, we're going to give it a try Charlie.' Said Dean.

'We've enrolled you in Lebanon Elementary school, in grade 4, since your birthday is next month and I know you'll cope with the work just fine.'

'You enrolled me already, without asking me?!" Charlie yelled, her face turning red with anger and her arms folded tightly across her chest as she glared daggers at the two men.

'This ain't up for discussion girlie. We just wanted to let you know this is what's happening.' Dean said sternly.

Sam gave him one of his 'Dean really?' looks and said more calmly 'Look Charlie, we just want you to give it a go and if you hate it and it's not working then we'll go back to the way things are. We think it'll be good for you.'

'That's because you aren't the ones who have to go.' She pouted. 'Please, just let me stay here and you be my teacher Sam. I promise I'll be really good and do all my work without complaining.'

'Charlie, you're going, end of story.' Said Dean flatly.

'Well, I won't do it!' she said stubbornly, standing up from her seat and stamping her foot in defiance 'And you can't make me!'

'You wanna bet?' Dean said in a steely tone. 'Let's just see about that.' And it had more than the air of a threat.

Charlie turned on her heel, realising she had lost and there was no way she was getting out of this. She flew into her room and slammed the door. Kicking over a stack of books and muttering to herself about how unfair it was and how she didn't want any stupid friends. Eventually her anger gave way to tears and she lay on her bed, hugging her pillow and crying softly.

Back in the kitchen Dean and Sam were not too surprised at her reaction. They had a feeling she may not like the idea of going to school, as she never said she missed it or her friends and she seemed to be content with just them for company. She was not what you'd call a social butterfly.

'Well, that went well.' Dean said with his usual sarcasm.

'Yeah.' Sam said with a sigh and ran a hand through his unruly hair. 'I hope a week is long enough for her to come to terms with the idea.'

'Well, she's going whether she comes to terms with it or not.' Dean said with about as much stubbornness as Charlie.

'Yeah okay Dean, calm down on the dictatorial bit. You know she doesn't respond well to just being told what to do.'

'Well, that's tough for her then, cause she's gonna have to get used to it sometimes.'

'Yeah, but she has a right to her opinion. I know we're the adults and we've made what we think is the best decision for her, but she does have the right to disagree, even if it changes nothing.'

Dean rolled his eyes 'Yeah okay since when did you become the expert on child psychology?'

'I'm not I just know how I felt about Dad always dictating everything to us. There are different ways of doing things.'

'So you're saying I'm like Dad?' Dean growled.

'No Dean, I don't mean that. I'm saying we need to talk to her and explain things, not just tell her that's the way it is, like it or lump it.'

'I thought we just did explain things.'

'Yeah, we did, but it may take her a while to digest, it's the first she's heard of it. We need to give her time to get used to the idea, that's all.'

'Yeah, we'll see. I'm not putting up with too much of this attitude regardless.' Dean grumbled.

'Okay Dean, just remember, she's just a little kid and she's gonna act out sometimes.'

'Yeah alright Mary Poppins, go take a shower and I'll clear up the rest of your attempt at cooking.'

'Shutup Jerk!'

'Bitch!' Dean called after him as Sam went off to get dressed. He could hear sniffling coming from Charlie's room as he passed by, but thought he'd leave her alone for a bit. After his shower he decided to go and check on her. He tapped gently on her door and heard a muttered 'Go away.' Before pushing the door open.

Charlie was lying on her bed reading Charlie and the chocolate factory and she glanced over at the door to see Sam's towering figure in the frame as he stepped into her room.

'I said go away.' She grumbled looking away from him and down at her book. She knew she was being rude but she didn't care. She really didn't want to talk to Sam or Dean. She knew they would only be trying to convince her that going to school was going to be the best thing since sliced bread and she didn't want to hear it. She was mad that they had planned the whole thing without asking her opinion and she was sure she did not want to go. The whole social aspect of being at school just plain scared her and she didn't want to face it when she was perfectly content with Sam and Dean for company. Suddenly she felt her book being snatched out of her hand as Sam came and removed it.

'Hey!' He said in a warning tone. 'I know you are mad about the whole school thing, but there is no need to be rude.'

She made no reply but just stared down at her hands.

'Talk to me Charlie.' Sam said more softly, perching on the edge of her bed. 'What's so bad about school?'

She looked up and met his eyes 'I just don't like it Sam. I don't want to make friends with other kids, none of them ever want to be friends with me anyhow and I can learn more being taught by you. I don't want to go, please don't make me!' She felt her eyes refilling with tears and angrily banked them away.

Sam sighed and gently stroked her face. 'We don't want you to be unhappy honey, we just want to give you the chance of being normal. It's not normal for you to spend your life holed up in the bunker with only Dean and me for company. Won't you just give it a try? You may like it this time, there may be some kid there just like you who is just waiting for someone like them to come and be their friend. You don't know Charlie until you try and you could be missing out on so much!'

'I really like you being my teacher, you make things so fun and you make it interesting. I know it's probably a pain for you….'

'No Charlie, that's not it. I love teaching you, you're so smart and it's fun for me seeing you learn new things. That's not why we want to put you in school. I'll still help you with your schoolwork and we can still work on your Latin together. We just think it'll be good for you to make some friends your own age.'

'If I hate it and if I don't make any friends, can I drop out again and go back to being home-schooled?'

'If you really give it a try and it's still not working out by Christmas, you can leave then'

'Christmas?! That's ages away!' Charlie whined banging a fist down on her mattress.

'It's one term.'

'What about if I try for a week?' Charlie tried to negotiate.

Sam shook his head and gave a small smile. 'A week is not long enough, let's say Halloween. If you really hate it and you still want to leave by then, you can leave, deal?'

Charlie nodded slowly, it seemed like that was the best offer she was going to get 'Ok, deal, but I won't like it, so you may as well get used to the idea that I'll be leaving at Halloween.' She said lifting her chin haughtily.

'Charlie!' Sam admonished gently, she really was beginning to push the limits with her cheekiness and he secretly found her quite funny sometimes, but he couldn't just let her cheek them all the time.

She gave him a coy smile, acknowledging his admonishment and Sam just raised his eyebrows before giving her a quick tickle on her tummy. She curled away from him giggling and Sam couldn't help laughing too.

'Ok cheeky, no more sulking and complaining about this okay? The deal is, you give it a go until Halloween and I mean a proper go.'

Charlie nodded 'Okay Sam.' She agreed and without warning she knelt up and flung her arms around him. After getting over the initial surprise Sam returned her hug and gently rubbed her back. 'You're a good kid Charlie.' He said.

'Hey, what's the hugfest all about in here?' asked Dean, who had arrived, looking for Sam.

Charlie giggled and Sam just turned to look at Dean 'Charlie has agreed to give school a go.' Sam explained.

'But only till Halloween…' Charlie hastened to add.

Dean looked quizzically at Sam 'That's the deal.' He explained. 'She has promised to give it a solid try until then and if she still hates it she can go back to home-schooling.'

Dean frowned, thinking it over. He would rather not be making deals with Charlie about this, he thought she should just go and do as she was told, but on second thoughts he realised that was his John-side coming out. Their Dad would never have given them a choice about anything like this and so he immediately expected things to be the same for Charlie. But he and Sam, especially Sam, had often resented their Dad for that and he didn't want Charlie growing up resenting him. Sam was right, he wanted to do things differently than their Dad had. Charlie was a little kid, not a soldier and she had a right to her opinions. He supposed he could go along with the little deal Sam and her had made.

Charlie was softly biting her lip, staring up at Dean anxiously, waiting to see if he would tell her, no way, no deal, she was going and that was that. She sighed and smiled when Dean's reply finally came 'That sounds fair enough Kiddo. But you have to give it a real solid try, got it? No deciding before you even get there that you hate it and not giving it a chance.'

Charlie smiled 'Got it Dean, I will try.'

'Good girl.' Dean said going over to the bed and stroking her hair. 'Now how about a shopping trip to get you some school stuff?'

Charlie smiled again, maybe this going to school thing did have some upsides to it. She nodded enthusiastically and jumped up grabbing Dean's hand and practically dragging him out of her room.

'Hold your horses, kiddo, no rush!'

'Come on Sam!' Charlie yelled back from down the corridor.

Sam laughed and shook his head, getting up from the bed and following after them. At least she wasn't miserable any more, he hated to see her upset.