A/N: Big thanks to sjwmaw and BunnyGirl1520 for reviewing! You guys are awesome :) Keep reviewing my dudes, it's the best way for me to know what you guys think of the story and sometimes you guys give me some cool ideas so the reviews are really helpful. Anyways, back to the story!

-redwoodoriginal

Chapter 37: Still Counting

Morgan looked like she was ready to make run for it. Her hair was pulled back into a tight french braid that fell over her shoulder. Her makeup was minimal, just a little bit of nude eyeshadow, a thin line of eyeliner at her lashes, and some mascara. She was wearing a white cardigan sweater over a light yellow sundress with spaghetti straps. She couldn't sit still for the life of her. Her leg was bobbing up and down without her even realizing it until a shoe nudged her shin beneath the table. She took a deep breath, pulling herself out of the zoned out state she was in. She made eye contact with Liam, who was in a button down and jeans. She took another deep breath and saw her dad looking at the menu in his hands, just like Liam's dad was.

Morgan and Liam were sitting across from each other, both going out of their minds in the presence of their fathers. They were in a Longhorn Steakhouse, waiting for their server to come back with their drinks. So far, their respective father's had only been asking their kids how their day at school went. It was Friday night, and the two of them both had games, Morgan's was first, before the Lacrosse game. That gave her enough time to shower and towel dry her hair a bit, letting it air dry through his game and while Liam took a shower after the Lacrosse game was over, she ran to the girl's locker room to look in the mirror while she braided her hair. She got out just in time to run into Liam, both rather nervous as her forest green eyes met his electric blue.

"You ready?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No, but I'm going anyway," she grumbled, pressing her palm over her cheek, her fingers extending over her eyes. She exhaled before dropping her hand. "Honestly, I'm terrified," she admitted. Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Your dad won't be that bad," he assured her, but she could feel the worry coming off of him in waves. Only when someone's emotions are extremely prominent could she really feel them without reaching out.

"You're lying. You're scared too. Maybe not as scared as I am, but close enough," she told him. Liam looked at her with a smirk.

"Am I really that bad of a liar?" the teenage boy inquired from her. She bobbed her head side to side trying to find the right words.

"No, you're not a bad liar, I'm just really good at knowing when people are lying to me. It's sort of… a talent of mind I guess you could say," she lied. It was starting to become a terrible secret, keeping hidden what she really was. But Morgan knew that if he found out, he may not want to be her friend. Even if he didn't mind, she had his safety to think about as well. Once you know about the Supernatural, you're bound to get yourself killed. Morgan knew that was how she was going to go eventually too.

"Knowing when people are lying is a handy talent. Wish I could do that…" he sighed, looking out into the parking lot and seeing his dad in their SUV, waiting for him. She saw her own father waiting for her in the Impala. Oddly enough, he was passenger side, waiting to let her drive.

"So, Morgan, aside from soccer, what do you like to do in your spare time?" The voice of Liam's father snapped her to attention.

"Oh, you mean aside from getting drunk at parties with your son and crashing in your guest room?" She joked, laughing uncomfortable. Dean shot her a look that made her clear her throat and think things through. "Well, I work out a lot. Mainly for staying in shape for sports but also for self defense," she made up on the fly. "I do a lot of boxing and gymnastics, that kind of stuff. I also draw-"

"She's really good at drawing," Liam interrupted. "She doodles in the margins of her notes during class and she's in the advanced art class," he added. She got this weird feeling like Liam was worried that his father didn't approve of her or something and he was trying to change that, but she also felt like his dad didn't really have much of an opinion of her and just wanted to get to know her. It was just all confusing and stressful with the added weight of her father dancing around the topic of what he really does for a living and why he found and met his daughter in the first place nearly a year ago.

"What can I say, it helps me focus," she looked to her friend for a moment before looking back to Mr. James, Dylan. "I also bake… a lot… I don't know, I don't really do much else aside from that," she laughed again, still feeling awkward, rubbing the back of her head before noticing the server bring their drinks. She just had water, same as Liam, but their dad's were a different story. Dean had a Sam Adams and Dylan, Mr. James, had some sort of Lager, Morgan hadn't really been paying attention.

"Interesting. You know, my son said your chocolate chip waffles that you made from scratch were the best he's ever had," Mr. James commented. Morgan smiled, suddenly having the realization that Liam talks about her to his dad.

"She can cook too. It's not just baking. First day I met her last year, she brought me and her uncle Sam home, cooked us dinner while cleaning the house simultaneously. I've never seen a kid do that without being told," Dean stated, raising an eyebrow at his daughter. Mr. James gave her a look that she couldn't quite read and she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't even think to use her abilities to figure out what he was thinking.

"Dean, what do you mean by 'met her last year'?" Mr. James questioned. Liam looked at the table and took a sip of his water. He knew the answer himself but must've neglected to tell his father. Morgan took a deep breath, sighing as her dad cleared his throat to answer.

"Morgan was conceived at a young age and back then her father thought it was a big deal and thought I was trouble, which back then the man wasn't wrong. But he moved away with his daughter when he found out she was pregnant. I didn't know about Morgan until I got a call meant for her Uncle Bobby. He had recently passed so my brother Sam and I had his phone. She was calling next of kin because her mother was in the hospital and they needed family to stay with her since she's a minor. Morgan's mom died, we moved here, and now we're just a happy family, me, her, my brother sammy and the dog," Dean told them. It was one hell of a negative turn for a conversation to take. There was an awkward silence as the server came back to the table. They all made their orders and off the server went. Mr. James broke the silence.

"That's gotta be hard, just jumping right into being a parent with a teenage girl," he told Dean. Her father looked her right in the eyes and smiled.

"It was hard at first, only because we didn't know each other and it was such a change on top of Michelle dying. But it's a team effort. We all pitch in, including her. Morgan's a great kid and is good at going with the flow. My brother Sam is home for her when I have to go out of town for work, and when Sam and I both have to leave, if it's a weekend and we know we'll be back, she just tags along and does her homework while we're working. Sometimes she even helps," Her dad winked at her. She was so worried about what he was going to say his job is. Mr. James seemed pleased with her dad's response.

"Well it's good that you all take care of eachother. So, Dean. What do you do for a living?" He asked. Her father smiled with beaming pride. Morgan knew right then and there, whatever he was going to say, he was going to sell it.

"Well, I was a marine for about two five year tours right out of highschool. So was Sammy but he's the smart one so he was in intel while I was doing the nitty gritty-"

"And now?"

"A little while back Sammy and I were successfully transitioned into the FBI," Dean told them. Morgan was so nervous, wishing he would've chosen one of the boring jobs that she recited for him on the car ride home from Liam's house on Saturday. Speaking of Liam, his eyes went wide the moment he heard her father's job occupation. Mr. James went wide eyed too, but more-so impressed than nervous.

"Badge and everything?" He asked, and Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge, flipping it open.

"Badge and everything," he sighed like it wasn't exciting for him anymore when people found out he was an FBI agent. He stuck the badge back in his pocket.

"Wow, impressive," Mr. James commented. Dean shrugged and took a sip of his beer as if he wasn't phased.

"Yeah, well. It pays the bills." It was almost scary to Morgan how easily her father could lie to good people. It was for the greater good, keeping their true occupation a secret, she knew that. It was just, how easily the lies crossed his lips was nerve wracking. Either she was impressed or nervous, she just couldn't decide. "What about you, Dylan? What do you do for a living?"

"Well, I'm in real estate. I buy old properties and fix them up to sell or rent them out. That kind of stuff," He informed. It finally clicked in her mind why Liam's house was so nice and why it's very apparent that the James family is very wealthy. Considering everything, lord only knows what their mom does for a living. Morgan was pulled away from paying attention to the conversation when she felt her phone vibrate from under her leg on the booth. She avoided her father's attention by slyly slipping the phone out from under her leg and keeping it low next to her thigh opposite her father.

Liam: [I feel a bromance coming on] Morgan couldn't stop herself from quietly snickering to herself before she texted back.

Morgan: [lol doubt it but hey at least they're bonding right?] She sent the message and waited for Liam to respond. He looked up at her and shrugged slightly before looking back down at his phone.

Liam: [dude your dad is actually infinitely scarier than I thought… why didn't you tell me he was in the FBI?] He looked back up at her expectantly. She flashed him a peeved expression and shook her head slightly as she typed her next message.

Morgan: [idk it just never came up in conversation?] He just stared at her.

Morgan: [okay fine I didn't say anything because I don't want people to think I'm a narc or something. I like to have fun to you know] He smiled this time, almost laughing but he contained himself.

Liam: [alright Winchester your secret is safe with me lol] She sent him a smile, but in her head she wished what he said was true, that she could just tell him everything. The issue with that though was that they were a family of freaks and she didn't know if she could trust him with that kind of secret.

Liam: [btw you look really nice] With just one text message he sent her skin on fire, blushing enough to make her feel even more awkward that she already did at this dinner. Liam sent her a warm half smile, noticing the reaction he got out of her.

Morgan: [thanks you don't look too bad yourself] She definitely wasn't expecting to get the reaction Liam had. There was this glimmer in his eyes as his half smile turned into a whole hearted smile while he was still staring down under the table at his phone.

"So, Liam. Do you do anything else besides lacrosse and getting my daughter drunk at parties?" Dean inquired. Morgan didn't think he was joking and neither did Liam because he nearly choked on his water.

"Hey," Morgan interjected, "I did that on my own volition. There's no way this kid convinced me to do a keg stand-"

"You did a keg stand?" Dean looked confused, aggravated, and caught off guard all at once.

"I did like fo-" She stopped, realizing what she was doing. "Okay, I'm shutting up now," she rushed out, dipping her head slightly in shame. Liam lightly chuckled before answering her father's question.

"I, too, work out. I also study a lot, skateboard… Before we moved from Santa Barbara I did a lot of surfing-"

"He was a surf instructor at his summer camp. He's a junior counselor there," Morgan added, realizing that she interrupted him. He just smirked.

"Yeah, I'm a junior counselor and I play the guitar and ukulele. I learned because it keeps the kids occupied during campfires," he told them. Dean's jaw slackened as his face dawned an impressed look. Morgan slipped her phone out again.

Morgan: [i think he likes you] She waited for Liam to see the message. A small smirk crossed his face.

"Dylan, you're son sounds like a good kid, much like Morgan," Dean stated, looking to Liam's father. Mr. James nodded in agreement.

"You should see the things this kid does with math and science, it puts my high school grades to shame. He's a lot like his mother that way," Mr. James added. Morgan raised an eyebrow. She hadn't heard much about Liam's mother aside from what he's said about her living back in California with his little brother and her new boyfriend.

"How so?" Morgan asked, not realizing it until after the words had already come out of her mouth. Mr. James smiled, like what he was about to say should make them proud of his son.

"Liam's mother, Olivia, is a Biochemical Engineer. So here's to hoping," Mr. James noted before he raised his glass haphazardly before taking another sip. Morgan looked to Liam, noticing how Liam reacted to his father's comment. She saw the pressure weighing him down. He was expected to be just as, if not more, successful than his mother. Morgan didn't have that pressure because her mother was dead, but even then, her mom was just an administrative assistant. It wouldn't be hard to aspire better than that, but that wasn't her mother's fault, she couldn't stay in college longer than two years with taking care of little Morgan so she just went and got her associates before moving onto the working world.

Liam: [you think he really likes me?] He asked, Morgan slyly peeking under the table to check the message before typing out something to send back.

Morgan: [yeah i think he'll tolerate you now]

Morgan: [hey you never told me you played the guitar] She looked up at him, waiting for him to respond. Liam took a moment, maybe the text just hadn't gotten gone through as fast as she'd expected. When he finally looked down, he smirked. He took a moment to text her back.

Liam: [I don't really share that with people. It's one thing thing to play for kids that don't know you're just average at playing and another to play in front of other people] He texted back. Morgan rolled her eyes before texting him back.

Morgan: [I don't care, you're gonna play for me sometime and that's final] She channeled her inner soccer mom that every girl had deep down. Liam looked her right in the eye with pursed lips before he relented with a smile.

Liam: [fine but only if you let me hear you sing] Liam was looking right at her as she froze. She had no idea what he was talking about. No one gets to hear her sing, ever. Well except for her poor saps of parents that have to endure her belting out alongside the music that was blasting from the speaker in her room. But even then, she didn't think anyone outside of that had heard her sing. She never even let Jonah hear her sing and they were really close. Had he not been possessed and things kept going on like they were, she might've let him in on her world. He wouldn't have known her secret had those demons not have attacked that night and forced her to expose her abilities. It would've still been a secret that he wouldn't have had to take to the grave.

Morgan: [I don't sing] She texted back, glad she didn't have to say anything. He might know she's lying or chose not to believe her even if she was telling the truth. Liam quietly laughed to himself.

Liam: [lol I don't believe you. If I play my guitar for you, you have to sing for me] Liam bargained. She sighed, mulling it over briefly in her head.

Morgan: [deal but if you ever tell anyone I'll murder you in your sleep] she threatened jokingly. Liam definitely knew it was a joke, a smile curling across his lips. He winked at her, careful not to let their dads see.

Liam: [deal] It was short and sweet for a text but to Morgan it felt different. Like some security that they were going to still be friends after tonight, that her father wasn't going to scare him off. It gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. They hadn't even gotten their food yet and it seemed like the night was going really well. But it was like there was a penny in the air and it hadn't quite dropped yet.

"So, Morgan, I heard from some of the other parents that you've been labeled as a fighter at the school," Mr. James acknowledged, catching the teenage girl off guard. She coughed slightly, having swallowed her water wrong at his words.

"Uh…" She didn't know what to say. Her own dad was silent, not sure what to say either. But the last person she had expected at their table to speak up, did.

"Dad, I thought we weren't going to talk about that tonight," Liam claimed, his father looking at him like he didn't necessarily care. It must be something important to Mr. James. It was like he he had to know why she happened to get pulled into the office for fighting.

"You talk about my issues with her to your dad?" Morgan sputtered, half surprised, half irritated at the idea. Liam went bug eyed, realizing what she was thinking about him at this very moment.

"No, no I wouldn't do that. He asked me about it in the car on the way here. Apparently he was talking to some parents in the stands while he watched my lacrosse game. I didn't say anything about it and I told him not to bring it up," he promised, trying to give her some reassurance. It did give her a little bit more of a sense of security and trust with him, but his father just had to open his mouth again.

"So you are a fighter? Is that why your cheek is bruised with a cut across it?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. She took a deep breath, finding the words she needed to express.

"I don't intentionally fight, no. You can ask Principal Jeurgens. I have never, nor will I ever, start a fight. It's just one girl who picks on me because she thinks she can. One of the fights? She took my book and stole the picture of my mother, asked me if I killed her like the Jonah kid who saved me so when she started hitting me I broke her nose. I've only ever finished the fight and I made a deal with the principal to not fight anyone and it'll all stay off my transcript and I have. The fight that happened on Monday wasn't even a fight. It was her yelling at me and trying to attack me but I dodged her, made sure not to hit her back, and she got a lucky shot in and her ring cut my cheek before the Principal could intervene. So yes, they may have labeled me as a fighter but I'm only defending myself," Morgan ranted. When she was done, the whole table was silent. As soon as she had finished, she was worried that she had ruined the whole night all because she was defensive on why she had gotten into a few fights at the school. But then Mr. James said something that changed her mind.

"You're very strong willed. I respect that," Mr. James declared as the server arrived with their food, placing their meals before them in a timely fashion. Morgan gave him a smile.

"I get it from my dad," She said, looking right at her father with content and pride.

"Sorry about my dad and all the questions tonight," Liam said to her as they sat on the bench outside the longhorn. The warm arm blew through her hair, enveloping her body with the promise of summer coming. She gave him a smile despite her tired eyes. It had been a long day.

"It's okay, that's what tonight was for. Our parents getting to know us and each other," Morgan told him, her eyes growing heavy. Before she knew it she was putting her head on his shoulder and taking a deep breath, unraveling her braid to release the slight tension on her scalp. Her mahogany tresses spilled out with waves dried into the strands. She picked up a piece in her hand.

"You've had a long day haven't you?" He asked. Morgan laughed, twirling the ends of her long, mahogany hair in her fingers.

"Yeah. You may have seen me last friday night, but I didn't have a game. Our soccer team isn't that great so it's pretty exhausting making sure no one's scored on us," She sighed, still playing with her hair a little bit. But when Liam picked up a tendril of it and mulled it about between his fingers, Morgan had no idea what to do. Boys never played with her hair and she liked it, but she had not a clue about how to respond. She just let him keep up with it.

"And no one's scored on you all season," Liam chuckled, twirling her hair about in his hand. Morgan rolled her eyes instinctively despite the fact that he couldn't see it.

"Not true," she interjected, now braiding a piece of her hair from the underside of her scalp. Liam chuckled.

"Okay, your coaches scoring on you does not count," Liam laughed, reminding her that her team sucks a little more than she lets on. "But hey, at least when your team is getting trampled, they'll probably write about you in the town paper for going a whole season without getting scored on," he shrugged sarcastically. The comment made her smile, so she hid it from him, still angling her head away from his gaze.

"Do you think our dads are squabbling over who wants to pay for the bill when it would be simpler if they just split it?" Morgan wondered, finally lifting her head to look Liam right in his bright blue eyes. His lips pursed as his eyes wandered around the landscape before looking back to her. For a moment, he seemed to be at a loss for words as he looked into her forrest green eyes. In that moment, Morgan was terrified of what the silence meant, good or bad. But then he broke the silence.

"They probably are. They're both perfectly capable of being reasonable, but it's kind of nice for us that they're dawdling," Liam remarked as she gained an expression of happy confusion, a small smile paired with her slightly glazed eyes.

"How so?" she inquired, eyebrows knitting together. In his small small smile, his lip curled for a second as he seemed to be thinking about what to say next. She realized he was trying to tread carefully. She didn't know if it was a good or bad thing, once again.

"I don't know, it just gives us some time to ourselves, to be able to hang out a little bit without them around. It's just nice, I guess," he told her, letting go of the strand of hair he was messing with, still gazing into her eyes. She broke the connection between their eyes by resting her head back on his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's nice," she agreed quietly. She took his hand in hers, not holding it, but fidgeting with it. She was tracing the lines in his palm with her delicate fingers. Liam must not have minded since he didn't pull his hand away. Not even a single twitch of the fingers. She didn't want to stop. It just made her so relaxed to be this close to him, to be even faintly touching the skin on his hand. It made the stress of having this dinner tonight fade away. It was like her own little sanctuary where she could forget about how demons were after her. She could forget about all of her loss. Morgan just let her mind run blank as her thoughtless motions in her fingers continued.

"Morgan?" Liam asked, once again breaking the silence, but not the blissful feeling she had. She didn't even stop messing with his hand.

"Yeah?" She responded, now trancing her fingers over the back of his hand, around the bones and veins beneath his skin.

"I just want you to know that I'm really glad that I met you," he whispered in a low voice. They way he said it, she just knew he was smiling. She didn't even have to look at him to know he was. She let her relaxed, serene expression melt away into a knowing smirk.

"I'm glad I met you too," she whispered back, her hands stopping on his. She let his hand go as she heard the door of the restaurant open. She sat up and looked over, knowing it was their parents.

"You ready to go, kiddo?" Dean asked. She nodded with sleepy eyes as she stood up from the bench. They were heavy and her father gave her a sympathetic glance.

"Bye, Mr. James," Morgan said before turning and walking back to Liam and hugging him. He wasn't expecting it, his arms hovering over her for a second before embracing her. "Bye, Liam," she said into his chest before letting go. He was warm, she didn't want to let go yet, but she did so anyway. She knew she had to get in the Impala and leave, so she did. Morgan walked away from him and followed her father to the car. She slipped into the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, and waited for her father to start the car and drive away, as she was too tired to drive for them. As much as she wanted to practice, she was just too damn tired. Her father started the car, he put it in reverse, pulled out of the parking spot, and drove off. Morgan looked through the window at Liam, who gave her a small wave as he got into his own car with his father.

"Dad?" She looked to him, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" He answered as they turned out of the restaurant parking lot and drove onto the main road.

"Can I pick the music?" She asked, knowing he would probably say no. With him it was always, driver picks the music, passenger shuts his cakehole. She knew that, but she asked anyway.

"Sure, kiddo," he sighed, catching her off guard. She went into her purse, pulling out on of the CD she made on her laptop so she could listen to music in the Impala. She only made them because Sam let her pick her own music when they were driving without her dad.

"Cool," she whispered, putting the CD into the console and pressing play. The intro got going and Dean looked like he was not having it.

"This better not be some teen girl music?" He asked and she put a hand up, trying not to laugh. She had been waiting for a perfect opportunity to show her dad rock music from this century, and this was a funny way to start. The look in his eyes told her that he was going to hold himself to it that he was gonna let her play her own music. It was just slow, but then the words came and Morgan couldn't stop herself from turning up the volume and singing really loudly to her dad.

"COUNTING ALL THE ASSHOLES IN THE ROOOOM! WELL I'M DEFINITIELY NOT ALOOOONE!" She kept singing the intro to her dad and he could not stop laughing as she faced him. Then the heavy metal instrumentals hit and she was head banging like nobody's business, waking herself up enough to be having the time of her life in the car with her dad. He could not stop laughing as she went apeshit in the passenger seat, singing along at the top of her lungs with the windows down, not caring that people could hear her.

"WELL MAYBE YOU THINK YOUR LIE IS SAAAFE… BUT I READ YOU LIKE A LETTEEEERR! YEAH LIKE A LETTER! YOUR CHARM DOESN'T EVEN THE PAAAIIN… IT FEEDS ME WITH RAAGE!" She kept going even after she saw Liam and his dad in the car next to them with their windows down. Mr. James watching her with a confused look and Liam was just laughing with an amused smile. She wasn't embarrassed. She didn't have any shame for being seen doing things like this, but it did make her happy to see Liam smiling one more time before they drove off with her headbanding and singing like nobody's business while her dad just sat there laughing.

A/N: If anyone was wondering, the song at the end is called "Still Counting" by Volbeat. If anyone's interested I think I'm going to make a playlist since if anyone's caught on yet but all of the chapter titles and even the story title are names to songs in my heavy metal playlist called Bitchcraft. Though if I post the playlist somewhere it'll be called Bad Company after the story and the song it was named for ("Bad Company" by Five Finger Death Punch)