December 4, 1998

Here it was. She knew it was coming. It still hurt like hell.

She threw her bags in the trunk and slammed it shut. She didn't want this. She didn't want to leave. She had a friend here.

It seemed pointless to argue leaving when she'd only made one friend in this town, but she had somebody. She didn't have that in her other schools. Sure, she knew Sam and Dean would be there for her when she needed them, but what about when she didn't need them? What about when she just wanted to talk about that cute guy in science class? What about when she wanted to talk about the fact that now she would never see said cute guy again?

She needed a friend. A best friend. A sister. Her brothers were great, there was no doubt, she'd go to hell and back for those two, and she knew they'd do the same for her. But she needed somebody to have those chick movie moments with and her family wasn't the place for that.

"I had friends here too Gracie, you gotta just move on," Sam told her.

But he couldn't understand. He made friends easily, even when he was trying to concentrate on school. Hell, he even beat up the bully. So he couldn't possibly understand how it felt to go to a new school every few months and have the same thing happen every time. He couldn't possibly understand how it felt to get his hopes up about maybe, just maybe this place will be better. And there was no way in hell he'd understand how it felt just when she'd made a friend, just one friend who would talk about anything with her, and then just be expected to leave. Sure, she was being dramatic, but she had every right to be. It was the same thing every time.

Just for one day, she wanted just one day that she could live a perfect, apple-pie life with her mom and John and the boys. But in her apple-pie world, she couldn't have John and the boys. She'd be living with her mom in some shabby apartment in a shady part of town. And, she thought, maybe she'd be okay with that.

December 4, 1998

"Mom," she yelled. "I'm home!"

She threw her bag down in a chair and headed for the fridge. As per usual, all that was in the refrigerator was cheese, butter, and leftover pie from the diner where her mom worked. She got herself a piece of pie and settled down in front of her laptop. When she took a bite, she wasn't surprised to find that it was apple.

Apple pie. So boring, so normal, so safe and so fake. She'd tasted pie before. Pie was good, but this wasn't it. It was too sweet. It wasn't sticky enough. Something was missing.

She resumed her browsing of the town's 'new and improved' online newspaper. Nothing seemed interesting. There were sports, politics, hell, she even looked through the personals for giggles. But one thing stood out.

New information on the Grafton grave robberies.

Witnesses claim to have seen one man in the Bailey Hill Cemetery late Sunday evening. Authorities have a suspect in custody, but cannot release any more information on the man right now. There is doubt that this suspect is the culprit, so we have been warned to be on the lookout for a man in his late thirties to early forties around six feet tall and average weight. He is said to have dark hair and look something like the drawing in this article. We would like to remind you that this man is probably not from here. We understand that it is very hard to see someone from Canaan doing something like this, and even though it is very slight, there is a possibility that the actual suspect is still in town if the man in custody is proven innocent.

Next to the article was a sketch of somebody who looked familiar. She'd definitely seen him somewhere.

"Hey mom," she called, "Come look at this."

Dana walked slowly into the kitchen, dropping a wet cloth on the stove as she approached her daughter. "What is it Grace?"

"You know this guy?" she asked, motioning to the screen.

"He's been in the diner couple of times, John, I think."

John. That seemed right. That seemed easy.

"Does he have kids? I think I've seen him before."

"Boys," Dana nodded. "Two of 'em. Just moved here somewhere 'round September."

Two new students. She could only think of one that she had classes with, but she'd heard him talk about his brother before. Sam, his name was Sam. He was in her math class. Winchester.

Sam Winchester. That sounded right, too. That sounded familiar. She'd known him longer than a week, surely. It felt like she'd known him her whole life.

December 5, 1998

He was gone. Just gone. Completely and utterly not there. He didn't just call and say he was sick, he didn't just skip school, he transferred.

Something didn't feel right. She wasn't supposed to be here, either. She was being over dramatic, surely.

But she didn't think so. If the Winchesters weren't there, she had no business being there either. It was like she belonged with them. Like she was one of them.

She was one of them. Then, she got it.

May 3, 2007

"Dean?" she called out quietly, shaking her brother violently. "Dean wake up. God, Dean, please wake up."

Her brother hung there with a blood bag attached to him, full and hanging with him. She was angry. With Sam for not being here. With the djinn. With him. She was angry with Dean because he wouldn't wake up and somehow he hadn't figured it out yet. Sam came in behind her and proceeded to yell at Dean as well.

Dean awoke with a gasp and looked around. There was no doubt he'd be having trouble seeing. But as soon as he saw the two of them, the Winchester charm kicked in.

"Ahh, Auntie Em. There's no place like home," he breathed.

"You figured it out," she said quietly.

"How'd you do it so fast?" he asked once the Sam had finished removing all the tubes sticking out of him.

"Let's just say I couldn't imagine life without the Winchester charm," she smiled.

May 3, 2007

She never thought she'd be so happy to be in a motel room again. To be honest, cold leftover pie tasted a lot better in familiar surroundings.

"Wait, Gracie, you're telling me your 'haply place' is just me and Sam gone?" Dean asked accusingly.

"No, I thought my life would be easier if my mom was still alive. That was my happy place. And it sucked," she shook her head.

"Yeah, me too," he shrugged, taking a drink of his beer.

"What about you?" she asked carefully.

She knew she wouldn't be in it. Dean and Sam would be happy and they wouldn't have any burdens, including her. Who's to say he wouldn't even have kids?

"The same. I wished my mom was alive. And it was great. But Sammy and I didn't get along, and you weren't there."

It hurt, she'd have to admit. Knowing that her brother thought he'd be happier without her. Knowing that she thought she'd be happier without him.

"Wanna know how I figured it out?"

He grinned, "I thought you just missed me too much."

"I saw your dad in the newspaper. It was the day we left Canaan. One of my biggest wishes growing up was that we stayed there, so when Sam didn't show up for school, I got it."

"Your happy place was when you were thirteen? We've gotta fix that," he chuckled breathlessly. "You really figured it out just because Sammy wasn't in school?"

"I was gonna talk to him about John being in the newspaper, but then he wasn't there. And when you guys left, I just didn't feel right."

She'd never admit that it was the pie that set her off. It was apple pie. She wished for an apple-pie life, and she got one.