Me again! Sorry for the slight delay, but like I said before, I may take longer updating as I'm currently working on my exams. Don't forget to R+R and enjoy the show. Also, thanks to Morgan Elizebeth Jacobs and babydake93 for your reviews :)

Chapter 4: A Hunter's Funeral

The day of John's funeral was solemn. Through the day, both Sam and Dean barely spoke a word to anyone, each wrapped up in their own grief. Kerry kept herself in her room, out of the way and able to vent her anger and pain for John by punching her pillows repeatedly. The three men in the house could all hear the soft thuds of her fists hitting the pillow over and over again, but none of them moved to stop her. Not until she missed the pillow on one punch and accidentally hit the bed frame instead, a loud crack filling the room as the force of the punch cause a large portion of the already frail wood to snap off completely.

"Damnit!" she screamed, clutching her fist in an effort to ease the pain that jolted through her arm the moment her punch landed.

Less than a moment later, Bobby came into the room, sympathy and amusement both shining in his eyes.

"You okay sweetheart?" he asked her.

She glared at him and he chuckled as she raised her hand that was slowly swelling and turning more and more black and blue.

"Come on, let's get that sorted." He spoke as he nodded towards the hallway.

She followed him downstairs, ignoring both Sam and Dean and their curious gazes as she passed them in the living room, instead focussing on not moving her hand. Bobby indicated for her to get up on the counter and she found that trying to do it one handed was not as easy as she originally thought. After almost falling off twice, she finally got herself seated and turned her gaze to her dad, who was shaking his head, a small grin on his face as he pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it over to her.

"You sure?" Kerry asked.

"You don't think I'd forgotten that it's my only child's twenty-first birthday today did you?" he asked her.

Kerry shook her head. Sure she knew her dad would remember but right at that moment, she couldn't care less that it was her birthday; she just wanted the day over with so she could move on with her life. Sadly, she took the bottle and took her first ever taste of beer, face scrunching up at the bitterness.

"Urgh, how do you guys even stand this crap?" she asked as she put the bottle as far away from her as she could reach.

Bobby chuckled and moved over to her, a bag of frozen peas in hand. He placed them on her injured hand and she hissed in pain. Wordlessly, Bobby handed her his hip flask and she took a drink, letting something burn down her throat.

"And that was?" she asked.

"Whisky."

Kerry took another drink and nodded in approval.

"I suppose this isn't too bad." She commented.

Bobby nodded and removed the peas, wincing slightly at the look of the injury.

"I don't know kiddo, I think you may have broken it"

"Nah, I can tell, nothing broken except my bed. It's going to hurt like a mother though for the next few days"

Bobby had to nod in agreement and set to work bandaging it. It was halfway through it that something wet dropped onto his hand. He glanced up at his daughter in shock to see she was crying.

"Darlin'?" he prodded.

"I hate him." She whispered.

"Who?"

"John."

Shocked, he stopped bandaging her hand and instead reached up to gently grasp her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Why do you hate him?" he asked gently.

"Because, he knew what he was going to do and yet he promised he was gonna take me for a drink when he got out of the hospital! Why would he promise something when he knew damn well that he wouldn't fulfil it!?" she cried, voice growing in volume until she was shouting loud enough for everyone in the house to hear her.

Bobby found he simply didn't have any answer, so moved back to bandaging her hand while she fought to stop herself from crying. Eventually, she fought back the tears and when she spoke again, it was a normal volume.

"I just feel betrayed and lied to is all. He even promised to make more of an effort to be here for us. He lied, dad. He damn well lied." She spoke, her voice defeated and lost.

Bobby finished with the bandage and stood, pulling her into a hug. She leaned into him for a moment before shifting slightly, letting him know she wanted to be let down. She hopped off the side and moved back towards her room, not failing to miss that Dean was no longer in the living room and Sam had clearly heard her outburst as he looked at her with sympathy in his eyes as well as the always present grief that hasn't left since the day John died. Sighing, she moved upstairs and opened her door, jumping when she saw Dean sitting on her bed.

"Dean! What are you doing in here?" she asked.

Dean picked up the broken piece of wood that had once been part of her bed frame and shrugged.

"Thought I'd look and see if it could be repaired, but I think you totalled it."

Though he tried to put amusement in his tone, Kerry saw straight through it, however she smiled and sat next to him, choosing not to comment on it.

"Yeah, I think I may need to buy a new frame. That one was getting old anyway, I've had it since I was six." She agreed.

Dean placed the wood back down on the floor and Kerry found herself unable to speak. There were so many thinks she wanted to say, but most would either make the room very awkward or make Dean very angry. Instead, she settled for leaning back slightly so she was using her elbows for support and tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling. After a few moments silence, Dean looked over at her.

"Did dad really promise to take you for a drink?" he asked.

Kerry sighed and let her body fall back onto the bed so that she was lying down.

"I knew you two heard me in the kitchen." She muttered.

"You were shouting, it was hard not to hear" he argued, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"True" she shrugged in agreement.

Dean continued to stare at her and she felt a tug in her heart at the pain she could see he was trying so hard to disguise in his usually bright and cheerful gaze. It was then she realised he was waiting for an answer to his question.

"Yeah, he did. Just before Sam came in with the Ouija board, I spoke to him and that's when he told me."

Dean watched as her eyes clouded over for a seconds before she closed them. When she re-opened them, they were back to their usual clear blue. She looked over at him and he glanced away.

"Hey, I am really sorry about John. I don't know how you guys must be feeling, but I want you to know I'm always here for you, no matter what."

Dean said nothing, but his hand moved to her thigh and squeezed it, letting her know he was grateful. He then stood and left the room, still not speaking. Kerry watched him go before looking back at her bed frame and groaning once again as her hand throbbed at the memory of hitting it.

That evening, the small group gathered round and the brothers began to cover John in salt. Kerry swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at her dad, who she could see was just as saddened as she was that one of his closest friends was dead. Then she turned her gaze to Sam, who had unshed tears in his eyes and was struggling to keep himself together. Wordlessly, she moved over and stood in between the brothers, taking Sam's hand with her uninjured one and squeezing it. When he squeezed back, she almost winced, but knew that right at that moment, he needed her to be there, so she said nothing. After Dean lit John's body and the flames started to spread, he moved back to stand next to Kerry. She reached out with her injured hand to grasp his, but he subtly moved his hand away, putting more distance between them. It was such a subtle move, most wouldn't have even noticed, but to Kerry he may as well have just jumped over a crater to avoid her touch, and that felt like a punch to her gut. She pulled back, hurt and fresh tears in her eyes as she stared at the flames, afraid that if she looked at Dean at that moment, she'd break down.

After a few moments, Bobby walked past and gently tapped Kerry's shoulder, indicating they should give the two brothers time alone. Kerry nodded and gave Sam's hand one last squeeze before letting go and following her dad into the house. She said a quiet goodnight to him before moving into her room and sitting on her bench by her window. In the distance she could make out the glow from the fire and she lay her head on her arms, her eyes never moving until the glow faded and eventually, vanished. Moments after that, she saw movement amongst the cars and Sam and Dean emerged in the driveway. Sam moved straight into the house, but she saw Dean pause at the impala, staring at the broken and battered bodywork. Kerry moved her gaze back to where the fire had been, wishing that it hadn't come down to this; the yellow-eyed demon was supposed to be killed by John, not the other way round. She blinked away fresh tears and glanced back down at Dean, a surprised squeak coming from her mouth to see he was watching her, a lost look in his eyes that told her he didn't know what to do.

Not knowing what else she could do, she simply smiled, hoping that he would get her message. He simply lowered his head and moved into the house; moments later passing her room and going into his own room, the door shutting with a click that to Kerry, felt like he'd just slammed it in her face. She only hoped that in time, he would be back to his normal self.