I hope to have the next chapter up in a few days. It is being rather difficult. Big thanks to everyone reading and reveiwing this. I'm glad you all like it so much.

Chapter 24

I stopped mid page turn and stared at him. He told me he missed dad and Sam. That he wanted to go back with them and he wanted me to go with him. I shook my head and told him no. He sat down across the table from me and asked me why. I told him the same reason I'd been giving him for years. I wanted dad to come get me because he wanted me, not because he felt guilty.

I could tell by the look on Dean's face that he was getting mad. He told me that was a stupid reason. I told him that the other reason was Laura. She'd waited her whole life for dad and it didn't feel right to me.

He just looked at me. He was waiting for me to tell him the main reason. We stared at each other for a second, then I went back to scanning the papers. Dean told me to look at him and I wouldn't. When he slammed his hand down on the table my head snapped up immediately.

He started to yell at me then. Telling me there was no way he was leaving me alone and I needed to stop being so stubborn. He reminded me of the promise I had made Laura and he said that he and Sam needed me. He also said that the reasons I had given him were completely selfish and I should be thinking about the family.

That did it. I yelled right back at him and told him I couldn't go because of him. I told him that dad and Sam fighting all the time made his life miserable and adding me to the mix would only make things a hundred times worse. I said there was no way I'd be able to keep my mouth shut to either of them and he knew it. I told him that with Laura gone he was the only real family I had left and the best way for me to keep my promise to her was to stay out of the way.

He sat there looking at me for a second, then said I shouldn't worry bout him so much. I told him I had to do exactly that because no one else did. He didn't know what to say to that. Part of him knew I was right. Dad just dumped everything on him and Sam was still a kid.

He sat there for what seemed like forever, then he just said ok. He asked me what I planned to do after he was gone. I told him I was gonna keep doing the same thing we'd been doing all summer. He asked me about school and I said it didn't matter. I went to college to find out a few things and I already got the information I needed.

He asked me what I'd found out about dad. I didn't answer at first, then told him everything. He listened intently and then said that now a few things made sense. He said dad probably never told Sam about Laura and me cause he convinced himself that he was never gonna see his girls again. I just nodded; Laura had said the same thing.

After a few more minutes, Dean said the last thing I expected. He wanted me to finish college. I told him I didn't want to, but he insisted. He said that he thought I was way to smart too waste myself hunting. I knew what he was really after.

Dean figured that if he could get me to finish school, I wouldn't be hunting by myself. If I finished all my schooling and got my medical license, by the time I was done Sam would be out of high school and he knew I'd let him tell Sam everything about Laura and me then. I figured I owed it to him because he'd made so many promises to me, so I told him I'd do it. It wouldn't have been fair of me to make him worry about me more than he already did.

We spent the next few days packing and getting everything settled in town. We had bought the cabin a few weeks into our stay and decided were we just gonna hold on to it. We figured it'd be good to come back to in case we were hurt or just needed a break. We paid off all the bills and Dean moved into the small motel in town.

When dad showed up, I was already gone. Dean told him that I'd left the day before to go back to college. Dad didn't believe Dean until he called Missouri and found out that I had gotten to her place an hour before.