Kate got in the car when Sam picked her up. She sat her backpack in the back seat and an envelope caught her eye. "What is this?" She asked, pulling it from Sam's binder.

Sam pulled it from her hand. "None of your business."

Kate frowned. "Fine."

Sam drove away but decided to pull over beside the road. "You can't tell anyone."

Kate shifted in her seat. "What is it?" She was excited to be involved in something secret.

"I applied for a few colleges." Sam said.

Kate side eyed him. "Why is that a secret?"

Sam sighed and rubbed his face. "Dad doesn't now and he isn't going to be happy."

"That is stupid. I thought it was good to go to college." Kate said.

Sam looked at the envelope. "I probably wont even get in."

"You are the smartest person I know. Of course you are going to get in." She said.

He sighed and set the envelope back in the backseat. "Just, keep it to yourself for now. I don't want to have that fight with Dad and wind up not even going."

Kate made a zipping motion across her lips. "Your secret is safe with me." She knew that Sam and John could butt heads over nothing.

Sam put the car back in drive and headed to Bobby's house. The school guidance councilor had been a huge help and he felt fairly confident that he would get into at least one of the schools he applied for. However, he wasn't looking forward to the fall out that would come from stepping away from the hunting life.

Kate wasn't surprised that John's truck was nowhere to be seen. He had been gone on and off for a while. She had a note in her backpack that he needed to sign but she reasoned that he would be okay with her signing for him so he wasn't distracted from his hunt.

"Hey you two." Bobby said from the kitchen. He walked into the hallway. "Why the long faces?"

Kate put on a smile. "No long face here."

Bobby raised a brow but didn't say anything. "Dean is on his way back and should be here any minute now."

Both Sam and Kate perked up at that.

Sam put his backpack on his bed and asked Kate if she had any homework.

Kate groaned. "Yes."

He winked at her. "Get started on it."

Kate rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs. She was over having to go to school and do homework all the time. She was tempted to look at what was in the envelope that Sam had but knew he would get mad about it. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her own binder. She read the note that her teacher had sent with her and chewed on her pencil. She dug through a desk and found a pen. She looked at something else John had signed and did her best to copy it. Satisfied, she put the pen away and put the note in the back of her binder. She got started on her homework but couldn't focus. Math was easy for her so she did that first. The impala's rumble snapped her out of a daze and sent her running down the stairs.

Sam narrowly caught her as she lost her footing. "Slow down, your leg is still stiff."

Kate wiggled away from him and ran out the door.

"Hey, kiddo. Did you have a good day?" Dean asked.

Kate schooled her features. "Yeah, did you?"

Dean ruffled her hair. "I did but now I am exhausted."

Kate helped him carry a few things from the car. "Did you get them?"

Dean nodded his head. He had been on a hunt with John and taken out a djinn. John had parted ways on another lead. "What did you do today?"

Kate shifted her feet. "School."

Dean noted her lack of explanation but remembered that he never wanted to talk after school either.

Sam clapped Dean on the back. "Any word on when the old man is coming back this way?"

Dean gave him a look. "As usual, no."

Sam scoffed. "Of course not." He was getting irritated with John as the days went by. He had went back to hunting like the entire year before hadn't happened. He could never understand how his dad could just ... leave.

Kate was quiet the rest of the afternoon and worked on her homework.

Dean went upstairs to put his stuff away and check on her. "Is everything okay?"

Kate mumbled a yes but kept her head down.

Dean sighed and shut the door. She was hiding something. He stopped Sam in the hallway and asked if he knew what was up but Sam said he didn't.

The next week or two was much of the same. John was gone most of the time and Dean went on a few hunts but was around most days.

Kate hung out with Ellie while she was at school. Ellie was cheerful and liked to talk. She asked Kate about her family and how her leg got hurt but Kate struggled to give her answers that satisfied the questions. Kate turned in most of her work but some times she just didn't have the energy to do it. She liked school but she often found herself not paying attention during class. She had gotten a note sent home for behavior although she felt like the teacher was being unfair. The boy she had yelled at was indeed an asshole and that wasn't even that bad of a word. She knew that John wouldn't want to be bothered so she had signed the note. She was annoyed with everything and if she was honest with herself, she may have acted in ways that she shouldn't. School was stupid when there was a world of monsters that needed to be dealt with. She wanted to be on the road with Dean. She had another note that needed to be signed but wasn't too concerned. The teacher bought the last forgery so she could just do that again.

Dean noticed a shift in Kate's behavior and had been watching her intently. She was sulking and had been pushing the boundaries more lately. He picked her up at school and frowned when she got in the car without saying anything. "Is everything okay? Are they picking on you again?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "God, no. Everything is fine. I am just tired."

Dean eyed her. "I don't think it is. There is something you aren't telling me and your attitude is crap."

Kate sat up. "It was a long day and I'm sleepy."

He parked at the house. "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?"

Kate sighed. "If there was, I'd tell you."

Dean could feel a migraine forming.

The next day at school, Kate let her temper get the best of her and she threw a book at someone. The teacher wasn't impressed since she had sent a letter home the day before. Kate talked to the teacher and apologized. She told her that her dad was on a trip and she had just been really stressed out after a long year. The teacher seemed to take a small bit of pity on her. Kate made it through the rest of the day without ripping anyone's head off but silently cursed when her teacher mentioned wanting to talk to her guardian when they picked her up. She reasoned that Sam would be picking her up and he would have to keep everything a secret since he was keeping college a secret.

"If your dad wont be picking you up, I would like to call him." The teacher said.

Kate's eyes got big. "He is on an important trip and doesn't like to be bothered. My older brother will pick me up and he is on my school paperwork for my secondary guardian."

At pick up, Dean parked the car and waited for Kate to meet him. He searched the crowd but didn't see her. He got out of the car and stood in front of the bumper. He finally saw her and was confused by the look on her face.

Kate felt herself grow faint. Sam was supposed to pick her up, not Dean. She calmed her breath and hoped that the teacher wouldn't say too much.

Dean saw the teacher walking with Kate and sighed. "There's the other shoe." He mumbled to himself. He smiled and shook the teacher's hand when she introduced herself.

"You must be Kate's brother."

Dean smiled easily. "Yes. Is everything okay?" He looked at Kate but she was obviously avoiding him.

The teacher was soft spoken. "I know I have sent two notes home with her but she told me today about how hard the last year was."

Dean glared at Kate. "Two notes, really?"

"Yes." She pulled them out of a folder. "I know your father signed them but I think Kate should talk to someone. She threw a book at someone today and I think that what ever is on her mind is effecting her behavior. She really is a sweet girl."

Dean's jaw jumped. "I didn't see the notes. What exactly were they for?"

The teacher put her hand on Kate's shoulder. "She has missed a few assignments and has been disruptive. She has spoken rudely to me at times. I didn't know about her accident and as long as she can work on her behavior, I see no reason that this should go into her record."

Kate looked beside her and wondered if she could make it under the fence fast enough to escape.

Dean spoke to the teacher for a few minutes and assured her that Kate would talk to someone and would be on her best behavior from then on. He opened Kate's door and pointed at the seat.

Kate still didn't look at his face but complied.

Dean thanked the teacher again and folded the notes and put them in his pocket. He got into the car and turned it on.

"Dean." Kate tried.

"Nope. Save it."

The ride back to Bobby's house was awkward and Kate wanted to disappear.

Bobby was going to say hi when they got back but Kate sprinted by him and ran up the stairs. "What is wrong with her?"

Dean pulled the notes out. "She landed herself in it."

Bobby looked at the notes and rubbed his chin. "I wouldn't expect her to act like that at school."

Dean tapped the signature at the bottom of the page.

Bobby pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, at least she did a pretty good job forging it."

Dean took the notes back and read them again. "She lied to me. I asked her if something was wrong yesterday and she flat out lied to me."

Bobby gave him a sympathetic look. "I was wondering when she was going to break."

Dean gave himself a while to cool off and collect his thoughts. He wondered if Sam knew about it.

Kate was laying on her bed with a pillow over her head. She was angry. Her teacher just had to stick her nose in Kate's business. Dean couldn't be mad at her, he did stupid stuff at school.

Dean opened the door to the room and sat down on his bed. "Sit up."

Kate didn't move right away.

"Sit up and look at me." He said, resting his elbows on his knees.

Kate reluctantly sat up but stayed on her bed. "What?"

He held up the notes. "You know you can't act like that at school. You aren't that kind of kid."

"You did." Kate shot back.

Dean rubbed his temple. "I did, and later regretted it. You know, if you had come to me when you got the first note I would have signed it and we could have talked about it. I wouldn't have been mad."

Kate grimaced.

"Instead, you forged dad's signature twice. You lied to me when I asked if anything was wrong and I'm guessing you were expecting Sam to pick you up and have him lie about it as well." Dean added.

Kate didn't look at him. Why was he always right. "A lot has happened and I get tired of school."

Dean bounced his leg. "I didn't like school either. You could have talked to me. We have to fly under the radar and acting like that is like putting a spotlight on yourself."

Kate slumped. She forgot about not standing out. "He wasn't here to sign them."

Dean sighed. "I was. You know that you have Bobby and you have me. You should have handed these to one of us."

Kate shrugged. "Oh well."

Dean put the papers down. "Not oh well. This isn't okay. This isn't a habit that I want you to keep."

Kate laid back on her bed. "Okay. I'll be good at school."

Dean shifted. "We aren't done talking about this."

Kate huffed. "I am. It isn't a big deal. I told my teacher that I was stressed and you heard her, she wants me to talk to somebody."

Dean bit his cheek. She reminded him of Sam as a young teenager. "I think talking to someone like Missouri would be a good idea so that you can speak freely. However, for right now you and I are going to talk about this."

Kate rolled over and glared at him. He wouldn't. "We are talking about it."

Dean gave her an incredulous look. "Kid, you lied to me."

Kate shook her head. "I'm sorry. I wont do it again."

Dean pointed to the spot in front of him.

Kate shook her head again. "You can't."

Dean furrowed his brows. "I absolutely can, now come here."

Kate backed up on her bed. "After everything that has happened, a note home from school is nothing."

Dean sighed. "Your attitude has been horrible for weeks. It doesn't surprise me that it showed up at school."

Kate balled up her fists.

Dean gave her a look. "I know that losing your dad was hard. I'm not pretending it wasn't but I can't let you run wild."

Kate glared at him. "I'm not running wild. It is a stupid school note. I don't even want to go to that school."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, the school part is annoying and if you had given me the first note, I would have let it go. You threw a book at someone."

Kate crossed her arms.

"That isn't even the big issue. The big issue is that you lied. You hid that you were having problems and lied to my face when I asked you about it last night."

Kate looked away from him.

He snapped his fingers and pointed to the floor where his feet were.

Kate didn't move. She tried her puppy dog eyes. "Dean, I get what I did was wrong. We talked about it. You aren't my dad."

Dean pointed to the floor again. "No, I'm not but I promised him I would take care of you. Part of that is keeping your head screwed on right."

She frowned. "But... but .. I thought.. maybe."

Dean looked at her. "You thought that I would let it slide or you thought I wouldn't spank you again?"

Kate blushed. "Both."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, kid but that is exactly what I'm about to do." He didn't like being the parental figure but she needed stability.

Kate put her back against the wall.

Dean sighed. He didn't want to fight her. "Kate... let me level with you.. You are real lucky that dad isn't here right now. Do you really want to wait for him to get back?"

Kate shook her head.

"I don't want to fight you and I'm not going to wrestle you over here so you can either get off the bed and come here or I can go downstairs and borrow Bobby's spoon."

Kate gasped. "Dean!"

He shook his head.

She forced herself to walk over to him.

He gave her a firm hug and asked her why she was in trouble.

Kate looked at the floor and repeated what he had told her. "Please just let it go."

Dean hugged her again and put her over his left leg. "How does your leg feel?"

Kate huffed. "Oh, now you are concerned."

Dean smacked her once. "I'm asking if putting pressure on it hurts."

Kate headbutted the bed. "It is fine." She second guessed just how fine her leg felt when he started swatting. She was under the impression that he would go easy on her.

Dean monitored her reaction but wanted to make sure she got the point. He stopped. "We are still a team. Lying to each other does nothing but cause issues. I can't wrap my head around why you would lie to me, of all people."

Kate felt the guilt resurface. "I'm sorry."

Dean thought for a minute. John had blistered him each time he did something like that. He wasn't John but didn't like being lied to. "Give me your hand."

Kate's heart dropped but she reached behind her.

He grabbed her hand and swatted her backside until his hand was on fire. "Are you going to lie to me again?"

She shook her head but couldn't respond through tears.

He let her up and hugged her.

She melted into his arms and let herself crumble. "I'm sorry."

He hushed her. "I know. I forgive you. Just breathe." He rubbed her back and let her cry. After she had calmed down a little he spoke. "I want you to talk to me. If something happens, even if you think I may be mad, talk to me. I promise I will listen to your side of it. I don't like doing this and I would rather deal with things before they become a problem."

Kate sniffled. "I will from now on."

Dean thought about how he was going to handle things. He told her to stay there and ran down stairs.

Kate was confused.

Dean returned and held out what looked like a ruler.

Kate eyed him suspiciously.

Dean put his hand up. "From now on, if you lie to me, I'm going to tack on a few at the end with this."

Kate squeaked. "What? Why?"

Dean sat back down. "Because it works. Trust me. I want you to avoid lying to me. I can't help if I don't know what is going on and I don't want you to get hurt again. I don't want you to suffer in silence so this will give you something to remember. Plus, my hand hurts."

Kate scoffed. "Your hand hurts?"

He grinned. "Yes, so if you could just behave yourself, that would be nice."

Kate looked at the ruler. "You.. you aren't going to use that now... right?"

Dean shook his head. "Just from now on, although... maybe you need to know what it feels like." He tapped the back of her leg with it causing her to screech.

"You are mean." She rubbed her leg.

He laughed. "I didn't hit you with it."

"You touched where it already hurts." She said with a pout.

He hugged her. "If I let you hit me with it will you forgive me?"

Kate squealed excitedly. "Yes!"

Dean gave her a look. "You are a little too giddy about that."

Kate clapped her hands. "Gimme."

Dean laughed but handed it to her. He grabbed the back of his leg and hissed. "Son of a bitch. Hey! I didn't hit you that hard."

Kate giggled wildly. "I was making up for the other million times you have hit me."

Dean took the ruler away and put it on the shelf. He threw her over his shoulder and spun around. "You are lucky I am not a mean person."

Kate laughed. "We are even!"

Dean sat her down. "By the way I didn't hit you."

Kate rolled her eyes. "That means I didn't hit you either and you are being a whiny baby."

Dean smiled. "Brat."

Bobby walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Food is ready."

Dean lifted Kate over his shoulder and carried her to the table. "Hey Bobby, toss me that spoon."

Kate kicked wildly. "Nooo we are even!"

Dean sat her down and ruffled her hair. "For now."

Bobby raised a brow but didn't ask. "Idjits." He said with a crooked smile.

Sam got back to Bobby's late and Kate could hear voices downstairs. She tiptoed down the stairs and stopped at the bottom.

"Sam, he is going to flip out." Dean said.

"I know he is but this is my life. I'm not meant to hunt. I could have a future, a normal one." Sam said.

Dean sighed. "Sammy, it is the family business."

"It doesn't have to be, Dean. Why does it have to be us?"

Kate turned to go back up the stairs but her ankle popped.

Dean sighed heavily. "Kate, get your butt in here."

Kate side stepped into the kitchen.

"Eavesdropping now?" Dean said, giving her a look.

She put her hands behind her back. "I heard voices and I wasn't meaning to eavesdrop."

"It is okay Dean. She knows." Sam said.

Kate sent him a glare.

Dean tilted his head. "Oh, you knew?"

Kate squeaked. "Yes but Sam asked me not to say anything because he might not get in and he didn't want to argue when it may not even happen."

Dean smirked at her. "Relax."

Kate let a breath out.

Dean grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it. "Why are you both hiding stuff from me?"

Kate hung her head.

Sam rolled his eyes. "All I did was talk to the school councilor. I'm telling you now because I'm serious about it." He looked at Kate. "What did you do?"

Kate blushed. "I.. I uh had a few notes sent home from school and I may have wrote John's signature down."

Sam almost laughed. "Why would you do that?"

Kate scoffed. "Obviously because I didn't want to get into trouble."

Sam grinned. "How did that work out for you?"

Kate hid her face. "Not well. My teacher ratted me out to Dean."

He looked at Dean.

Dean took a drink of his beer. "It wont happen again, right?"

Kate shook her head. "Never."

"No more lying either."

Kate nodded enthusiastically.

Sam raised a brow.

Dean smirked. "You know that wooden ruler Bobby usually has on the top of the fridge?"

Sam grimaced. "The one you tried to break over me?"

Dean laughed. "Yeah, that one. I figured it helped your lying problem it might help hers."

Kate crossed her arms and huffed.

Sam gave her a sympathetic smile. He walked over and whispered in her ear. "Stay on his good side and I'll burn the thing the first chance I get."

Kate giggled.

"What did he say?" Dean asked, amusedly.

Kate shook her head and hid behind Sam. "I'm out."

Sam followed her up the stairs and went to brush his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn't like John or Dean. He could be normal.

Dean finished his beer and went upstairs as well. He turned off the bedroom light and rested his head.

Kate cleared her throat. "Dean.. hey..if you lie to me, do I get to hit you with that thing?"

Dean rolled over and looked at her. "Not the way it works, kiddo."

Kate sat up. "Do you lie to me?"

Dean thought about it. "I have I'm sure. If I lie to you it is to protect you. There is a difference. How about I swear to never lie to you unless it is for your own good?"

Kate laid back down. "Deal."

Dean smiled and rolled back over. He hoped that things would be back to normal and she would avoid lying to him but he also knew that he was going to have to talk to her about it again at some point. If she was anything like Sam, the attitude was just starting. He put his arm over his eyes. What was he going to do if Sam ran off to college? He spent most of his life taking care of Sam and although he wanted a better life for Sam, the thought of not having him around was enough to turn his stomach. He glanced at Sam's bed and sighed. He rolled and looked up at Kate's as well. What was Kate going to do without Sam? He watched her breathe as she drifted off to sleep. He understood why Sam wanted an education but his heart hurt. Regardless of how he felt, he realized that he would have to be on Sam's side against John. He closed his eyes. Kate had forged John's signature and although Dean had taken care of it, he was sure John would have an opinion. He rubbed his face. He said a quick prayer to what ever god was out there. He was going to need an extra helping of patience.

Author's note: Thanks for sticking with me. I'm thrilled that this already has reviews. As always, I'm open to suggestions. I see a lot of angst ahead.