Skylar feels better after about six days. It's a nasty cold, but the fifty pounds of medicine manage to work pretty well. Nothing much happens the next couple weeks. A few hunts, which we allow Skylar to come on. Nothing nearly as dramatic happens, and it's a little disappointing for her, but my main thing is that she needs to stay safe. I don't care if she gets bored, or if she complains, but she needs to say safe, no matter what. I'm not going to let what happened to Kevin happen to her.

The relationship between Skylar and Sam is improved, which is definitely a good thing. I hated when Sam and her disliked each other. By the end of a couple weeks, they even became friends. They found something in common that Sam did not have in common with me-they liked running. Sam, of course, is in a lot better shape than Skylar, so he can go longer. But one thing that has helped her get better is that Sam only pushes her a little farther than she thinks she can go, and makes her stronger that way. That sort of helped their bond strengthen, which was good, for sure.

Skylar had avoided calling me anything since that day where she accidentally called me 'dad.' I knew that she was just trying to cover it up, and that she didn't actually call me by my name. I was just trying to make things easier on her by not pointing that out. Still, I felt kind of bad for putting that kind of decision on her shoulders.

One day, out of the blue, Sam comes up to me after Skylar's gone to sleep, and brings up something. "Dean, now that the demon who killed Skylar's family is gone, do you really think it's best for her to stay here?" he asks me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask him, trying to dismiss the subject.

"Dean, I know you've grown attached to her, but do you really think she'll be safe here? Everyone around us dies, no matter how hard we try to keep them safe. Hell, we've died more times than we can count. Keeping her here any longer isn't going to do anyone any good," Sam points out.

"Do you have a point?" I ask him, a little bit hostile. I don't like where this is going, and I hate what he's saying.

"I called Garth," Sam says. I shoot him a death glare. "Listen. He's in a stable home and he's perfectly willing to take care of Skylar. She could go to school, Dean. She wouldn't have to sit around and do research for us. She could have an actual life."

I hate to admit it, but he's actually right. There is one thing, though, that I need to bring up. "She'd be living with werewolves," I point out.

"They're the nicest people we know," Sam tells me. I hate this with every fiber of my demented soul, but he's right. "I know that you love her, Dean. But it's what's best for her."

I hesitate before talking. I'm so angry, but at the same time, so sad. I don't want to lose Skylar-she's the best thing that's happened to us. But, I'm also worried that she won't like living with Garth, and a little fearful that she will. "We need to ask Skylar what she thinks. I'm not going to force her to go with them," I tell Sam.

"Yeah, I think that's definitely fair. But are you actually willing to let her go if she agrees to it?" Sam asks. I don't answer, and head off to bed.

The next morning, when we're all eating the breakfast I made, Sam keeps looking at me to bring it up. Skylar's just eating her french toast like nothing's wrong, but I have a giant hole in my heart. If I bring this up, I could lose her. But I still have to think of what's best for her, and going to Garth's is going to keep her the safest. Also, Sam's right. She could go to school, have friends, make a life for herself. Here, she couldn't do that. Not unless her idea of a life is training to become a hunter and dying repeatedly.

Eventually, I realize that I have to say something, even if it feels like I'm ripping apart my insides. It's going to be better coming from me. "Hey, kid, can we talk about something?" I ask her, not really sure what to say right now.

"Shoot," Skylar says, her mouth full of food.

"It's actually kind of important," I tell her, kind of grimly-which is not my intention. It just sort of comes out that way.

Skylar puts down her food and looks directly at me. The piercing stare that her icy blue eyes gives me makes me somewhat uncomfortable. I feel like she's looking directly into my soul, which she is, I guess. "I just got a question-can you still do that whole soul seeing thing?" I ask her.

"Of course. I mean, it's started to wear off a little. I actually have to focus to be able to see what someone's feelings, but I can still see souls. I just don't mention it often because I've gotten used to it," she says, shrugging. Okay, well that explains everything. "What's going on? You're upset," she says, completely sure of herself.

I try my best to calm myself down before talking. I don't want her to think that I'm upset, even though it's almost impossible for her not to know. "Being here…with Sam and me…it's not safe for you. You can't have the life that you used to have-nothing even close to it," I tell her, trying to get up the courage to tell her what I need to say.

Skylar acts all snarky, but I can tell from the look in her face that even she knows what's going on, or at least has an idea. "Obviously. Ever since my family was killed, that's been a given," she says.

I hate what I'm about to say, and I look over at Sam, begging him to not make me say this. "Skylar, I think it would be better if you didn't live with us anymore," I force out. Saying those words feels like I'm sliding a knife up my throat. Skylar looks down, not meeting my eyes, which hurts even more than what I just had to say. "We have a friend named Garth who is willing to take you in. He's got a stable home, and you can go to school."

"Skylar, we just think it would be better for you if you went to live with him. You could live the life you were always meant to have," Sam says.

Skylar looks up for a second and looks directly at Sam, avoiding my gaze. In a way, I'm glad that she's not looking at me. I don't think that I could deal with her looking at me right now. Everything about this conversation is painful and it's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. "You know what? You're right," she says, her voice quaking just a little. Part of me hopes that she has an immense amount of self control, and that she's making herself seem stronger than she is. But a larger part of me suspects that she's not as upset about this as I am.

I try to say something to her, but Skylar interrupts me. "I'm going to go pack up my stuff," she says, a little bit hostile, but surprisingly calm. She gets up and leaves, heading to her room.

"She took that pretty well," Sam says, really happy, but also surprised.

"She left her plate," I murmur. Sam just looks at me with a confused look on his face. He doesn't see how that's relevant. "Since when has Skylar left her plate without at least taking it to the sink?" I ask him. That's the thing about Skylar-she never leaves her plate on the table. She's too polite for that. She may be a bit harsh with things that she says on a daily basis to people, but she's polite when it comes to dishes.

"Maybe she just forgot," Sam suggests. I half hope that's the case, but I don't say anything. I don't want this to be any harder on her than it is on me.