Author's Note: Alright, LONG chapter ahead! Sorry i haven't really been updating The Only Exception. I keep meaning too but I'm OBSESSED with this story. I have big plans for it ;). Please enjoy this super, duper long chapter. Happy reading!

Friday morning came and the whole school was buzzing with excitement for the first football game of the year. Renee stood at her locker, taking out her textbook and holding it in her arm.

"Hey," John said, coming over to her.

"Hey," she greeted, shooting him a friendly smile. She laughed, seeing John's locker door. "It looks like a Bengal tiger threw up all over your locker… and then threw up all over it again."

"Oh this? Yeah… you know the cheerleaders decorate the team's lockers on game days. It's… kind of stupid, isn't it?" John asked.

"Yeah," Renee said.

"What's up?" John asked, changing the subject.

"Not much. You excited for the big game tonight?" Renee asked, casually.

"Yeah, I guess," John shrugged.

"What?" Renee asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" John asked back, looking around.

"You've got that look on your face when you want to say something but you're not going to because you're afraid someone's going to make fun of you," Renee replied simply. John shot her a funny look and she returned another one. "Oh come on! You used to make that all the time when we were kids."

"I can't believe you still remember my looks," John said, perplexed.

Renee shrugged, "We were best friends then and, well, you haven't changed much since then."

"What? I have to," John declared.

Renee chuckled, "Well yeah… now you have the maturity of a twelve year old," she teased.

"You better watch that mouth of yours, Walsh," John warned, playfully, moving closer to her.

"Oh yeah? What're you going to do about it?" Renee challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There are a lot of things I'd like to do,," John smirked.

"Ew, John!" Renee exclaimed, hitting him playfully.

"Hey, watch the arm. I've got a big game tonight," John exclaimed, rubbing his arm. She actually had hit pretty hard.

"So you were saying… you know, that thing you were not going to tell me, that now you are going to tell me," Renee said, pulling away from him and shutting her locker.

"Oh… yeah, I don't really want to talk about it right now," John said, scratching the back of his head, attempting to avoid the current subject.

"Oh come on, John. We used to tell each other everything," Renee said back.

"I-, I don't know… I'm a little nervous, that's all. Okay?" John admitted

"Why? What do you have to be nervous about?" Renee asked, in disbelief. She always thought John's ego was so big so to see him second guessing himself was so strange for him.

"I don't know… what if I fuck it all up?" John asked.

"You won't," Renee comforted.

"John, what're you doing?" they both heard a voice ask. John and Renee sprang apart, only to find Jamie standing in the hallway right in front of them. She had a sneer on her face as she looked at Renee. She returned her glance to John, a fake smile plastered to her face. She sauntered over to John, tilting her head to the side in a flirtatious manner. "I thought you were going to meet me by my first period class."

"Oh, was I? Sorry, I guess I forgot about that," John said, almost mumbling it to himself.

"That's cool. Good luck at your big game tonight," Jamie said, pulling him in for a big, showy kiss, with tongue. Renee averted her eyes, uncomfortably.

"Jamie, what're you doing?" John asked, pulling away.

"Hey, I should get going. I'll uh, see you around, John," Renee mumbled, quickly hurrying in the other direction. Jamie looked Renee's way, a satisfied smirk on her face. She turned back to John to see John looking at her with a questioning look on his face.

"What was that all about?" John asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to wish you luck. That's all. Do you like what I did with your locker?" Jamie asked back, changing the subject quickly.

"Uh… yeah… it's… bright," John stammered, trying to find the right words to describe his locker.

"The Bengal tigers are our mascot, John. We have to stick with their colors since they're our team colors," Jamie replied.

John coughed, "Uh yeah. Yeah, it's great."

"Thanks," Jamie smiled, content with herself. "Are you going to Chris' party after the game?" Jamie asked.

"Um, I don't know," John said, watching as Renee walked down the hall, eager to get away from John and Jamie. He wished she could've stayed longer.

He wished that Jamie hadn't interrupted them. He loved being with Renee and ever since they had reconnected, he couldn't stop thinking about her. When funny things happened, he wanted to tell her about it. His family loved her too. He liked when she stayed for dinner after their first tutoring session because he saw how well she fit into his life. Not that he was even thinking about that right now… John was the relationship type. That's what Jamie was so good for him, right? And God, Renee was hot. He had lost count of the many times that his mind wandered where it shouldn't be. He hated that he sounded like such a girl, but it was true. Snap out of it, John. Come on! He thought to himself.

"John? John, what is up with you today?" Jamie asked. What she had meant was what was up with him all week. John had been weirdly distant all week and now he was even worse.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" John asked back, finally snapping out of it.

"I was just talking about Chris' party," Jamie replied.

"Oh, yeah. I don't know. Maybe," John said.

"Okay," Jamie replied, trying to hide her frustration.

"I've got to get going. See you later though," John said, before parting from her.

"You too," Jamie said back, not hiding her disappointment as John walked down the hall, away from her. Jealousy burned inside her. Ever since John started hanging out with this Renee girl again, he had been so distant. Jamie wandered whether Renee really was a threat to her? Guess so.

Down the hall, Cole was walking towards his first class as soon as he spotted light brown, wavy hair paired with that all too familiar black leather jacket. Cole jogged over to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. He was about to say something, when the girl whipped around and threw a punch in his direction. Cole ducked and her eyes widened as she stood up and saw who it was. A blush ran across her cheeks and she chuckled, embarrassed.

"Hi. I'm so sorry… it's just out of habit," Greer replied.

Cole chuckled, "It's fine. I understand. I just say you and figured I'd come say hi. Wasn't quite expecting that."

"Again, sorry," Greer blushed.

"Again, it's okay," Cole repeated. They both shared another laugh before beginning to walk together.

"So how are you?" Greer asked, still reeling from what had just happened. She felt bad that she had almost punched Cole but was glad that he had good enough reflexes to dodge her before she actually did hit him.

"I'm well. How about you?" Cole asked. He didn't want her to feel embarrassed but he knew by the color of her complexion that she was still flushed.

"Fine, thanks," Greer answered. "Hey, don't you guys have some big game today?"

"Oh, yeah. How'd you know about that? Sorry. I hope you don't take offense to this, but you just don't really seem to be, well, you know… the school spirit type," Cole started, anxiously. He hoped she didn't take it the wrong way. He was relieved when she didn't.

"Me? Oh, no. No! You've definitely got that right. I am not the school spirit type. No, I mean, I pay attention. Besides, it looks like a Bengal tiger's thrown up all over this place. Could this school have chosen more obnoxious colors? I mean, orange and black?" Greer asked.

Cole chuckled, "Well, they're also the same colors as Halloween, which I guess is pretty fun."

Greer shook her head, "Not in my family. Every day is Halloween so after a while, it starts to get pretty old."

"Right," Cole coughed. This time it was his turn to feel embarrassed. He hadn't even thought about the fact that every day was Halloween for her.

"Look, it's cool," Greer said, picking up on Cole's awkwardness.

"So you thinking about coming to the game tonight?" Cole asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I thought about it," Greer shrugged.

"And?" Cole asked.

"And what?" Greer asked back with a small laugh.

"You only thought about it? You should come! It's our first game of the season and everything… it'll be fun. Everyone always gets so excited and everything," Cole said.

Greer hesitated, "I don't know. It's not really my thing. Besides, aren't football games supposed be things you go with your friends to?"

"I'll be there and we're friends, right?" Cole replied.

"I-," Greer started. She smiled at that. Yeah, they were friends. "I mean, you're playing though."

"Yeah, but my whole family will be there. I mean, I have a little sister and brother but John's on the team so the cousins are coming too, and even family friends of ours. I'm sure they'd be glad to sit with you," Cole suggested, perking up at the idea himself.

"I don't know. That would be weird. I don't even know them!" Greer exclaimed.

"My family loves meeting new people. Besides… wait, you have Mer-, I mean, Mrs. Winchester for English right?" Cole asked.

"Yeah," Greer answered.

"She's my aunt and she's a total badass. She'd love you. Just… thinking about some more, okay?" Cole asked.

"Okay," Greer blushed. She wasn't used to this kind of persistence. No one had ever wanted her to go a football game so badly in her entire life. No one had invited her to meet their family or even wanted to spend time with her like that in her entire life. She liked the feeling. She felt wanted… and hell, she loved feeling wanted by a guy as hot as Cole. "Yeah, I'll thinking about it a little more, but I'm not making any promises, okay?"

"Okay," Cole smiled.

Later that night, at the football game, all of the Winchesters and Walshes had gathered to watch the game, taking up a good portion of the center of the bleachers.

"Hey, I hope we didn't miss too much," Kitty Gallagher said, as they found their neighbors sitting on the bleachers and watching the game.

"Oh, you're just in time. Comes it with us," Meredith invited, warmly.

Bryan and Kitty filed in, sitting next to where Meredith and Dean sat, while the Gallagher kids sat with the twins. Paige sat down next to Flynn on his left side, kissing him on the cheek softly, while Tyler sat next to Victoria, in between Flynn and her.

"Hey, you," Paige smiled.

"Hey, glad you made it," Flynn smiled back, his fingers intertwining with hers as they held hands.

"What's the score?" she asked.

"It's one to zero. We're winning," Flynn said.

"By one point," Tyler mumbled to himself.

Victoria laughed, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Hey, where's your team spirit guys?" Flynn asked.

"Yeah, guys!" Paige added. They then exchanged glances and shared another couple-y laugh. Victoria and Flynn exchanged glances, rolling their eyes.

"Ooh, that looks like it hurts," Tyler gasped, watching as one of the team members wiped out on the field in the middle of the play.

"Woah, this game is actually getting good now," Victoria said, turning to watch the game. She leaned her elbow on her lap, watching the game more comfortably. Flynn and Paige exchanged glances.

"Is it just me or-," Flynn began.

"No, I totally get it. It'll happen soon," Paige completed, practically reading his thoughts.

"Hey, I'm going to get something to drink. Does anyone want anything?" Haley offered, coming down the bleachers that the twins were sitting on. She had previously been sitting up on the bleacher above them, just talking to her mom.

"Oh, do you mind getting me a water?" Flynn asked.

"Sure," Haley replied.

"Alright, let's go!" Jackson, Haley's younger brother, urged. "But we have to quickly because I don't want to miss anything. What if someone makes a touchdown and I miss it?"

"Okay, okay. I'll be back, guys," Haley said, smiling politely before hurrying off with her brother to go buy some waters for everyone.

"You seem to be really into football these days, kiddo," Haley noticed as she and her younger brother walked together.

"Hey, only Mom can call me 'kiddo'!" Jackson protested.

"What? Cole calls you 'kiddo' all the time!" Haley said back.

"Yeah, but Cole is sixteen. You're only fourteen meaning you're only two years older than me," Jackson argued back.

"Yeah, but I'm still older than you. Come on, kiddo," Haley said, ruffling her little brother's hair up and shepherding him towards the concessions stand.

"Hey!" Jackson protested, trying to fix his hair but Haley only laughed as they both walked further. They got the concessions stand and waited in line behind a couple of people. She couldn't imagine what this line was like during halftime.

"You never answered my question. What is it with you these days? Whenever there's a game on, you're there. You can't wait to get back to watch the games here. I mean… I hate to break it to you, but our football team isn't that good," Haley started.

"I want to play football like Cole and John," Jackson admitted simply.

"Hey, who's saying our team's not that great?" a voice asked. A guy turned around to face Haley and Jackson.

"Me," Haley replied, sassily.

"And who might you be?" the guy asked back. Haley gave the guy a good look. He had dark hair and dark brown eyes. He was tall and had tan skin. He was cute – there was no denying that.

"A girl who knows her football," Haley said back.

"Oh yeah?" the guy asked, intrigued by the dark haired beauty that stood before him. She wasn't afraid of a little challenge either. This girl had spunk.

"Yeah," Haley answered.

"Fine. Who won the first Super Bowl game?" the guy asked, interested to see if she got it right.

Haley smiled smugly, "Easy. Green Bay Packers. Bart Starr was named MVP."

"Year?" the guy asked.

"'67," Haley answered. She always remembered that one easily since her uncle's car was a '67 Chevy Impala and she loved that car.

The guy whistled, "Seems like you do know your stuff. I'm Owen Whitt" He offered out his hand for a handshake.

"Haley Winchester," Haley replied, taking his hand and shaking it.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Haley," Owen smiled, finally letting Haley's hand go. He then turned around. "Yeah, I'll just get two sodas. Thanks." The woman at the counter went to fill up some paper cups with soda and Owen turned back to her. "You here all by yourself?"

"No, this is my little brother, Jackson. We're all here with our parents. My brother's on the teams and so is my cousins so his family's here too," Haley replied.

"Well, sounds like you've got yourself a lot of company. It's too bad. I was going to ask you to join a buddy of mine and I. We're both on the JV team," Owen answered.

"Oh, so's my cousin," Haley replied.

"Oh yeah? Winchester… Flynn, right?" Owen asked.

"That would be him," Haley answered.

"Your sodas are up," the lady at the counter said. Owen turned around, took them in his hands and then turned back to Haley.

"Hope I see you around, Haley. It was nice meeting you," he said.

"You too," Haley replied, hesitantly. She wasn't even quite sure what had just happened. She had just impressed a guy with her football knowledge and now she was pretty sure he was hitting on her. It was weird, and she was starting to think that she liked it. The guy walked away and Haley just watched as he went, still trying to process it all.

"I think that guy likes you," Jackson said, bluntly.

Haley laughed, "Jackson, your guess is as good as mine. Come on. Let's get back. You don't want to miss anything, do you?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jackson said. Haley bought the bottled waters and then she and Jackson headed back to the bleachers.

"How's seventh grade? Treating you right?" Haley asked.

"Yeah. My social studies teacher is kind of scary though. She's this crazy new teacher…" Jackson admitted.

"What? Like 'Mom lost her glasses' scary or 'Dad freaking out at Uncle Dean' scary?" Haley asked.

"Definitely 'Dad freaking out at Uncle Dean' scary," Jackson replied.

"Ouch. Well, you like social studies. Focus on the actual work instead of your crazy, angry teacher," Haley advised.

"Yeah… I don't know. Hahah that's the perfect way to describe it. Dad does get really angry when he freaks out at Uncle Dean," Jackson chuckled. Haley and Jackson finally reached the bleachers. Haley gave a water bottle to Flynn and handed one up to her mother.

"Hey, Flynn, do you know an Owen Whitt?" Haley asked.

"Yeah. What about him?" Flynn shrugged.

"He's hot for Haley," Jackson chimed in.

"Jackson!" Haley exclaimed, widening her eyes at him.

"Sorry, but it's true. They met in the concessions line just now and he was all over her," Jackson said, making kissy faces.

"Jackson, stop!" Haley exclaimed, shocked at Jackson's wild behavior. She hit him playfully. "It wasn't like that at all. I-, I said something about our football team not being that good and then he kinda challenged me to a football knowledge thing and-."

"And you kicked his ass at it, right?" Flynn asked, an amused chuckled escaping his lips.

"Yes!" Jackson exclaimed.

Haley laughed, "I guess you could say that."

Flynn shrugged, "He's a pretty cool guy. We talk sometimes. But if he said something to you and you need me to kick his ass-."

"No, that's won't be necessary," Haley said. Flynn shot her a look and then looked over at Jackson.

"Hey, you might be on to something here, Jackson, only I think you're sister's hot for him too," Flynn teased.

"What? No! I just met the guy!" Haley exclaimed.

Victoria rolled her eyes, "Haley, do not listen to my dork of a brother. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Thank you!" Haley exclaimed.

"But if you are hot for him, I want details," Victoria whispered, leaning over Tyler so that she could talk to her cousin.

"Not you too," Haley groaned.

"Alright, I think the girl's had enough," Tyler chimed in.

"You're right," Victoria sighed, sitting up straight.

"Aren't I always?" Tyler teased.

"Shut up," Victoria mumbled. Tyler returned his attention back to the game and Haley took that as a chance to glance over at Victoria. She widened her eyes and nodded towards Tyler before giving Victoria a thumbs up. Victoria made a signal to cut it out just as Tyler looking back at her. Tyler looked from Haley to Victoria and then shook his head, laughing.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get this family," Tyler chuckled.

"Good. It leaves an air of a mystery to us," Haley joked before she and Victoria burst into another fit of laughter.

Greer spotted the normal crew of kids that Cole always sat with at lunch. During lunch, Greer usually just grabbed a good book and searched for a quiet place to be but she had every now and then, popped into the cafeteria and seen the people that Cole was with. He was always with that group. She could see the age differences and assumed it was his family. She was right. She stood there for a moment, before starting to walk away.

"Hey," she heard a voice say. She turned around to see a petite girl with dark hair standing behind her.

"Hi," Greer said back.

"You're my brother's friend, right? I see you guys together a lot. I saw you sitting by yourself and wanted to know if you wanted to come join us or something," Haley invited.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose," Greer started.

"It's really up to you, but you wouldn't be imposing at all," Haley said.

"You sure?" Greer asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Haley chuckled. "Come on. You don't want to miss the game."

"Thanks," Greer said. She went over to sit with their family and she was amazed at how welcoming and kind Cole and his family were. She mainly just talked to Haley. They talked a lot about music since they had a lot of bands in common. She was perplexed at how welcoming the Winchesters were, especially after the stories she had heard from her dad and from her brother. Then again, her brother always blindly believed whatever their father said. She was starting to think they were so wrong about the Winchesters.

After the game, the Sioux Falls Bengal tigers had won and everyone was congratulating their team. It was the first game and first win of the season! All of the Winchesters and Walshes were down on the field, congratulating Cole and John.

"You came!" Cole exclaimed, surprised.

"Oh… yeah," Greer answered.

"I'm glad," Cole said back.

"Thanks," Greer replied, not knowing exactly what else to say back. This was going against everything she had ever learned. Don't get to close. Don't get attached. Don't let anyone in. Don't trust anyone, especially anyone with the last name Winchester. Yet here she was. God, if her father could see her now, he'd freak! She had enjoyed her talk with Haley on the bleachers earlier. This whole thing was making her nervous. Her brother would freak if he knew the company she was in. She knew she had to get out of there quickly. "I've got to go so I'll see you at school on Monday or something."

"Wait, where are you-," Cole started.

"I'm sorry, but I should go," Greer answered. "Thanks though. Your family is really kind."

"Greer, is something wrong?" Cole asked, worriedly.

"Kind of… I mean, no. Nothing's wrong. I've got to go," she said, before hurrying off, leaving Cole speechless.

"We're proud of you, son," Sam said, as he and Sawyer came over to greet their son. Cole scanned the crowd for Greer, but she was gone. There was nothing he could do right now but pretend that nothing was wrong. Was there even anything wrong.

"Thanks," Cole said, forcing a smile on his face, as he hugged both of his parents.

"Hey, don't stay out too late, okay? Curfew is at one thirty," Meredith reminded.

"I know, Mom," John groaned. Then again, he couldn't complain. His parents were pretty lenient when it came to staying out late. Most parents only let their kids stay out till 12.

"Come on, babe. Let's leave him alone. He wants to go celebrate with his friends," Dean said, wrapping his arm around his wife and kissing her gently.

"Woah, guys! Can't you not do that here?" John asked, shielding his eyes.

Meredith chuckled, "Bye, you goofball."

"Bye, Mom," John said, laughing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Renee and her younger sister, walking away. "I'll see you later guys. I promise I'll be back by one!" John sprinted towards Renee, grabbing her by the shoulder as she spun around, alarmed by the contact.

"Oh my God, you scared me!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," John chuckled.

"Good game. Congrats," Renee said.

"Oh, thanks," John smiled.

Renee turned to her sister, Iz, "Hey, I'll meet you in the car, okay? I'm parked really close but be careful." She handed her sister the keys and Iz took them, mumbling something, before walking away. Renee turned back to John.

"Listen, do you want to hang out?" John asked, mustering up all the nerve he had. He never got nervous when it came to girls but with Renee, it was different. He knew he could sweet talk most girls, turn on the charm, and they'd say yes in an instant, but with Renee, well, there was the possibility that she would say no.

"What?" Renee asked, caught off guard.

"I don't know. I just thought we could do something besides tutoring. I mean, we get so off topic anyways and when we got a burger that other time you didn't seem like it was torture and… I don't know. Just thought we could hang out," John rambled.

"I-," Renee started. She examined the nervous look on John's face and was surprised that she made him nervous at all. Wasn't John the over confident lady killer that everyone that he was? "When?"

"I don't know… whenever. Now?" John suggested.

Renee opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. She wanted to say yes but she couldn't help but think back to the awkward encounter with Jamie this morning. Of course he was still seeing her. Like he would actually dump her for Renee. Renee hated that she even thought that that was a possibility, "Look, I… I don't think that would be a good idea. I think maybe we should just stick to tutoring for now."

"Wh-," John started.

"Look, my sister's waiting in the car for me. I've got to go, John," Renee started, desperate to get away from him. If she let him get another word out, she knew he'd convince her to go with him, but she couldn't do that because she was starting to develop a crush on him and she knew that would only lead to heartbreak. Hanging out with him would only make her want him more and that was the last thing that she wanted to happen.

"Okay," John said flatly, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

"Sorry," Renee mumbled, before turning her back on him, and walking away. "Shit," she mumbled to herself. She got to her car and sat in the driver's seat, letting a sigh escape her lips.

"You okay?" Iz asked her older sister. Renee seemed distressed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go home, okay?" Renee asked.

"Sure," Iz replied, still a little worried for her big sister.

John ended up going to Chris' party that night. He just wanted to get his mind off of Renee. Everything had been so much simpler two weeks ago, when he hadn't reconnected with her. He was having fun with Jamie and he was careless. Now, he couldn't stop stressing about her. He knew he had feelings for her but she was constantly putting his wall between them. John had tried all of his moves but yet she brushed them off to being a joke or something. It would be simpler to just stick with Jamie and then in a week, find something else, but he was starting wonder whether that's what he wanted.

"Hey, you," Jamie said. "Glad you came to the party. It wouldn't have been much of a party if you hadn't."

"Yeah, guess not, huh?" John asked back, cockily.

"Listen, it just so happens that there's a spare bedroom upstairs. Most of them were taken the minute people got here but uh, I pulled some strings and got one," Jamie started, batting her eyes at John. She was hot and she wanted him. That's all he needed right now. "And I've got some condoms in my purse. You game?"

"Yeah," John smirked.

"Cool," Jamie said, taking his hand and leading him upstairs.

She wants you, dude. Renee doesn't. Stop thinking about her for one night and let yourself have a little fun. You deserve it after the game tonight, damn it! You're not the relationship kind of guy and you never will be so just fuck around for the next couple of months. You'll forget about Renee, John kept repeating to himself, but it was useless.