"Well, it's about damn time you two pulled your heads out of your asses," Ellen Harvelle smirked at the intertwined fingers on the tabletop with the girls' orders in her hand.

Deanna ignored her comment, "Just give me the damn burgers, Ellen." She blushed and didn't meet Ellen's eyes. The Harvelles were old family friends and Ellen never missed a chance to tease Deanna if she found the opportunity.

Cassie just rolled her eyes at Deanna and smiled at Ellen as she placed Heaven in front of her, "Thank you, Mrs. Harvelle."

"Cassie stop with your too good manners and call me Ellen for christsake! You make me feel old callin me Mrs."

Deanna laughed and looked like she was about to comment on how old Ellen really was, but Ellen's glare told her if she wanted to keep her limbs intact she should shut her cakehole.

"Sorry, Ellen. Force of habit, I guess. I was raised very strictly," Cassie made a sad face not meeting anyone's eyes. People always told her she was too uptight and needed to pull the stick out of her ass. The mannerisms she was disciplined to learn, though, were hard to let go.

Deanna knowing Cassie's upbringing was taboo and totally a mood ruiner tried to change the topic, "So, Ellen, Jo working tonight?"

"No, actually, Ash took her out. They went to the movies or something."

"He finally grew the balls to ask her out, huh?" Deanna chuckled.

"Like you're one to talk," Ellen said without missing a beat.

Deanna narrowed her eyes at her, but Ellen just laughed and walked away. Deanna turned to Cassie to see a small smile on her lips. "What are you smirking at, Cas?"

"I just find it amusing how everyone scolds you for taking so long to ask me out and they just smile at me. When in reality, I made the first move. So, actually, Deanna you really never did grow the balls to ask me out. I'm guessing that's in a figurative sense, since you're anatomy wouldn't allow you to physically grow male parts. It's probably an insult somehow," Cassie trailed off, her eyebrows scrunching together, confused by the phrase. Deanna always thought it was cute how Cassie never understood sayings and pop culture references.

Deanna just smiled back at her, automatically returning the smile, not really knowing how to respond to that. It was true, Cassie had made the first move. When they had told their friends that they were now dating over a week ago, no one had been surprised. They just started exchanging money because of some bet on how long it would take for Deanna to tell Cassie how she felt. That should of annoyed Deanna, but she didn't really care. She did wonder why no on had even considered Cassie confessed to her first. She guessed it was because Cassie didn't seem to have that kind of courage in her, if you didn't really know her. She wasn't necessarily quiet, but she wasn't loud either. She looked mousy in her formal clothes and long tan trench coat. She sat well posed and was well mannered. Deanna guessed that made people think Cassie was cold and unpassionate, which was crazy in Deanna's opinion. Cassie was the most intimidating and impassioned person she knew.

Cassie distracted Deanna from her thoughts with a very arousing moan. "These make me very happy," she grinned with a mouthful of burger. Deanna chuckled and started in on her own burger.

After a moment Cassie stopped her inappropriate sounds and asked Deanna, "So, are caught up on all of your studies?"

Deanna groaned, "Yes, thank god, last week was hell." None of Deanna's teachers had welcomed Deanna back to class with a smile. Deanna apologized over and over, something she hated doing and promised to never treat them so disrespectfully by not showing up to class. She had practiced that line over and over with Cassie before hand. In Deanna's mind, she shouldn't have to apologize, she was the one paying for all the damn classes and the teachers still got their paychecks whether she showed up or not. Cassie had said it was the prinicple of the thing.

"Well, hey," Cassie squeezed Deanna's hand lightly, "Worst is over, right? Break starts in a few days. We get to go home."

"Yeah, Cas, we get to go home," Deanna smiled at her. Home. Cassie didn't speak with her parents and only talked to a few of her siblings, so she never spent holiday with them. She had always tugged along with Deanna back to the Winchester's. It had been hell the first year, trying to convince Cassie that she wouldn't be a burden and she was practically family. Mary had to threaten Cassie that if she didn't come for the next break, she'd just kidnap her. Cassie never argued again and it was always assumed that she was going as the Winchester siblings showed up at her apartment to pick her up at the start of every break. Cassie never outright said it, but Deanna knew she saw the Winchesters as much as family as Deanna herself did, especially when she let it slip like she just did calling it home. It was mutual, though. There was a saying in the Winchester household, "Family don't end with blood." It was as much expected for Cassie to show up as Bobby Singer and the Harvelles.

"What do you mean you're coming separate?" Deanna asked into the phone, "We always ride over together."

"Well, uh," Sam spoke nervously, "I'm bringing someone so..."

"Oooooh, Sammy, you sly dog," Deanna whooped, "Who's the lucky girl? Is it that hot nurse?"

Sam sighed, "You know she's not really a nurse right?"

Deanna rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know, but it's all I've got to associate with her."

"I've told you her name a thousand times, Deanna."

"Yeah, well I forget."

"No, you just like to make me feel embarrassed."

"What's embarrassing about having hot nurse as a girlfriend?"

"She's not," Sam started but heard Deanna's snickering on the other line. "Whatever. Just don't reference her as the hot nurse. Her name's Jess."

"Yeah, yeah, Sammy. I won't embarrass you."

"Sure, you won't."

Deanna laughed, "Later, bitch."

Sam hung up after the instant reply, "Jerk."

Deanna walked to Cassie's room where she was currently deciding if the weather in the upcoming weeks would call for her blue scarf she was so fond of. "Cas, sweetheart, take it, don't take it. Can we just go?"

Cassie sighed at Deanna's impatience, but her cheeks turned pink at Deanna's pet name for her and folded the scarf into her suitcase. She turned off the lights, locked the door, and followed Deanna out to the parking lot. It was a short drive to the Winchesters', as the house was just on the other side of the city from the university.

Cassie noticed something was missing, "Wait, where's Sam?"

"Wow, Cas, nothing gets by you. He's gonna catch a ride with his new squeeze. He's bringing her home."

Cassie felt herself smile, "That's great! Jess is a nice girl."

"How do you know her? I've never even met her."

"She's in my neuroscience class. She's quite intelligent for her age."

"Neuroscience? Damn, Cas, how many classes are you taking?" Cassie never stopped surprising her. Cassie took a variety of classes from religious studies to linguistics.

"I just love to learn. I want to study everything. Besides, if I get bored with a career in religious studies, I have other majors to fall back on. If Gabriel is willing to pay for my education, I might as well learn all I can."

Gabriel, like Cassie, didn't speak to their parents. When he left at eighteen, he invited Cassie to join him and she gladly went. She was seventeen so if her parents even cared, there wasn't much they could do about her running away. Gabriel opened his own bakery, Sweet Treats, and Gabriel soon grew it into a great food chain with his business majors. He was now very well off after ten years of success. He made sure Cassie knew that she could use the money for college or whatever else she needed. He was a really good brother to Cassie, so Deanna put up with his cocky attitude. He was a fun guy, nevertheless.

"Yeah, that makes sense. What's Gabriel up to for the holidays, anyways? He coming down?" Deanna asked. A few times, he had come down to the Winchesters' for a few days, if he hadn't seen Cassie in a while and missed her.

"He's taking his fiance, Kali, to Italy, I think. You know, Gabriel. He's not much for the holidays. I think they remind him too much of home. When we first moved out, sure we spent the holidays together but we just treated them like vacations. We didn't put any decorations up or had holiday feasts. He'd usually take me on trips like he does now with Kali. Gabriel had it real bad at home, he was forced to stay home for the holidays by father, so with no escape they just became bad memories for him. He grew to hate the traditions and he tries to avoid anything that can bring those memories back."

Deanna sat there silent. Cassie didn't really talk about her family much, so she didn't know all the details. What she did know, was that Cassie's father was an extremist with his Christian beliefs and confined his children from the outside sinful world. Cassie and her siblings had been home schooled all their lives. He was an abusive asshole, too. Gabriel had been a rebellious teenage, Cassie had told her, and their father saw it as God's will to punish his son for his sins. Gabriel had scars covering his back in the shape of crosses, Deanna had saw them once when they went swimming and shuddered. Cassie was clearly scared of him amd had her own imprint of a cross burned on her lower back. Deanna doesn't know how they survived that house as long as they did, but was thankful Gabriel had rescued her angel before she got seriously hurt.

Deanna reached out and grabbed Cassie's hand instinctively, "Well, neither of you have to go back to that house. You both found your own homes. Gabriel with Kali and you with me. That man can't hurt you now, Cas."

Cassie leaned over and kissed Deanna's cheek, "I know, because I have you to protect me." Deanna felt a warmth in her stomach as she glanced at Cassie, just inches from her face.

Though Cassie was half joking, the seriousness of Deanna's tone when she replied, "Yeah, you do. I won't ever let anyone hurt you," still rang in the air when they pulled up to the Winchesters'.

Cassie wasn't out of the Impala for twenty seconds before she was met with Mary's open arms, "Cassie! It's so good to see you."

Cassie laughed, "You, too, Mrs. Win - Mary."

Mary smiled at her, "Well, ya'll come on in. Sam and Jess have already arrived."

"She's here? I can't wait to embarrass Sammy!" Deanna squealed from the trunk getting the luggage.

Mary smacked her on the back of the head, "You will do no such thing!" and walked back inside the house.

Cassie chuckled as Deanna rubbed her head. "Oh, shuttup, and get your ass over here and help me carry this shit inside."

Cassie kissed Deanna's head making her blush, before grabbing her suitcase inside. Deanna shook her head, had she just blushed at a kiss to the head? Was she already that far gone? She watched Cassie walk through the front door and felt her heart flutter. Yeah, she was and she was totally screwed.

Cassie tugged her suitcase over the threshold, and then John Winchester was there taking from her hands. He simply said, "Welcome home, Cassie," before turning to take the luggage upstairs to Deanna's old bedroom. Cassie felt her smile widen ear to ear. She would never get over the love and warmth she felt when she was in the Winchesters' home. It was so different from her childhood home that had felt more like a house than an actual home. Cassie would forever be grateful to the Winchesters for accepting her into their family.

Deanna came up behind her and sat her suitcase down, before tugging her to the kitchen. The only explanation to Deanna's haste being, "I wonder if Mom has any pies already made for the holidays."

With a triumph grin, Deanna pulled out two plates and served her and Cassie a slice of her favorite apple pie. Cassie sat down with her at the table as they ate, when something occurred to her.

"Deanna?"

Deanna didn't look up from her pie, "Hmm?"

"Does your family know?"

Deanna looked at her then. "Yeah, I already told them. Thought it's be less awkward over the phone."

Cassie stared at her waiting for her to continue and when she didn't, "And?"

Deanna paused for a minute before reluctantly elaborating on the most embarrassing phone call she had ever made, "Well, you know Mom, she was all happy and congratulating me. And John..."

Deanna's tip of her ears turned red and she dug back into her pie. "John?" Cassie probed. Had he been upset? Cassie remembered John's comforting welcome and tried to detect any falseness in his smile.

"He, uh, he thought we were already dating. He was really confused and continued to point out all the reasons why he thought that."

"What'd he say?" Cassie asked now curious and Deanna went beet red.

"Um, I don't really want to repeat it. That man seriously has no filter and finds nothing awkward discussing."

"Deanna, tell me what he said. Why are you blushing so red?"

She sighed defeated and imitated John in a gruff voice, "Well, you always invaded each other's personal space and the way you stared at each other like you were stripping the other with your eyes. God, the sexual tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. You made every excuse to touch each other. And one time I walked by the bathroom, Deanna, and over the running water I heard," Deanna abruptly stopped talking remembering she was going to leave that part out. The red had now spread to her neck and Cassie thought she looked so adorable all flustered.

Cassie held back a giggle, "And? What'd he hear, Deanna?"

Deanna stood up, "Ah hell, you know, Cas! Let's just never talk about that again." She dropped her dishes in the sink and went ahead and washed them as an excuse to not meet Cassie's eyes. She heard her chuckling quietly to herself and swiftly turned around to tell her to shuttup, but a blonde woman walked into the room.

"Are you Deanna?" she held out her hand to Deanna and Deanna shook it.

"Yeah, are you the hot nurse?"

She flushed but recovered quickly, "I'm Jess. How do you know about that?"

"Well, I remember how Sammy wouldn't shuttup about this hot nurse he met at a Halloween party for weeks. He was such a girl crying bout if he never met her again he'd just die. Looked up at me with theses big puppy dog eyes describing you down to the freckle between you're eyebrows, asking me if I knew you cuz he didn't catch your name or number. He was so smitten."

Then Sam walked in to find Jess kneeling over with laughter and groaned throwing his head back, "Oh my god, what did you tell her?"

Deanna and Cassie chuckled and watched Sam's eyes fill with terror as he went over embarrassing things in his head that his older sister could have told his new girlfriend.

Jess looked at him and laughed harder, "Oh my god, he does look like a puppy"

Sam looked at Deanna confused but Deanna just chuckled at his expense and grabbed Cassie and left the room.

She heard Sam digging his own grave as the door swung shut, "Did she tell you about -" She didn't even have to embarrass him, he was going to do it himself. Deanna chuckled again as they entered the living room and Cassie looked at her with a scolding look but Deanna saw her lips tugging into a smile, "You're horrible, Deanna."

Deanna just swung her arm over Cassie's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Yeah, but you love me anyways."

Cassie pecked her on the lips, "Yes, I do."

Deanna was about to lean in and deepen the kiss, when Sam came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, Deanna, I don't think you've realized something."

Deanna reluctantly turned away from her beautiful angel to Sam standing there, red tinting his cheeks, but a smug smile on his lips. Jess was behind him silently laughing at something and she looked winded.

"Oh, yeah? And what's that, baby brother?" Deanna smirked.

"Now that you're dating Cassie, I can embarrass you."

Deanna's smile faltered a little and there was a slight fear in her eyes, but she replied smoothly, "There's nothing you could say that would embarrass me. Cas already knows all of my deepest secrets."

"Oh, really?" Sam challenged, "What about that time when you came home from a field trip to the science museum wearing nothing but- "

Deanna let go of Cassie and tackled Sam to the couch. "Oh my god! Shuttup, you giant moose!"

Sam laughed under her, "No way in hell. You've tormented me for years. Put itching powder in my underwear and Nair in my shampoo! Told Ruby I wore women's clothes when I was little and Maddison I like to wear pink lace underwear. Now that you're finally in a serious relationship it's time for revenge, sister!"

"If you finish that story, I'll tell Jess about what really happened the night you turned twenty one."

Sam sat up, "Okay, but this isn't over."

Jess turned to Cassie where they were watching with amused expressions at the siblings' squabble, "Are they always like this?"

Cassie laughed, "You've no idea."

Bobby walked into the living room headed for the kitchen carrying a peach cobbler when he saw the siblings wrestling on the couch, "Oh, cut it out, ya idjits! Haven't been here five minutes, already breakin up a fight between ya."

Deanna got up and hugged Bobby in greeting, "Man, it's good to see you, Bobby," she then noticed the dish, "Hey, is that peach cobbler?"

Bobby rolled his eyes, "Are you a bottomless pit?" and turned to Cassie, "How ya doin, Cassie? Still puttin up with this one I see."

Cassie nodded at him and Deanna mocked hurt, "Hell is that supposed to mean? I am a catch, Bobby."

Bobby ignored her and held out his hand to Jess, "You must be this Jessica I keep hearin about?"

Jess shook his hand, "Yes, you must be Uncle Bobby?"

Bobby glanced at the Winchester siblings with a slight smile, "Yeah, nice to meet you." He then sauntered into the kitchen.

John bustled into the room with Mary following behind him. "Got you all set up; new sheets and fresh towels in the bathroom," he said to Deanna and Cassie.

"Thank you, John," Cassie replied sweetly.

"Yeah, I thought since you two are together now, I don't have to wear myself out blowing up an air mattress," John sighed gratefully sinking into his armchair, but then he turned seriously to Deanna, "But I don't wanna hear no funny noises in the middle of the night. Keep it quiet or keep it in your pants, Deanna."

Everyone laughed at the mortified face on Deanna, "Dad, oh my god!"

Sam snickered and Mary turned on him, "That goes for you, too, Sam. And use protection, I'm too young to be a grandmother."

Laughter filled the room as both siblings put their faces in their hands, embarrassed as their parents gave them the sex talk in front of their lovers. Cassie wrapped her arms around Deanna in comfort, but giggles still slipped out. She really loved this family and was glad she was home.