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Chapter Text

Claire Novak had a problem, a big problem.

But not one like the ones you see in teen films, where the desired popularity turns the girl into a bitch; nor those in which the excluded girl falls in love with the captain of the football team and becomes the target of a bet, which ends up making her go through a transformation and, bang, she becomes super hot just taking off her glasses. No problem at that level of futility.

It was also no serious problem, let's face it. She didn’t suffer bulliyng from classmates, nor from assaults at home; he had no depression, no eating disorders or suicidal thoughts.

Her life was, in reality, boringly common; like that of many seventeen-year-olds. She had her group of friends, with whom she went out on weekends to enjoy; he liked french kisses, listen to music, eat junk food and live her intense feelings intensely. Had difficulties in some subjects, were moderately good in others and still didn’t know what she’d do after leaving high school. Her only certainties at the moment were: 1) she had a problem and 2) Alex Jones's mouth was definitely the most beautiful mouth in that school and she couldn't wait to finally win over the brunette, who smiled shyly at her while the teacher spoke any thing about an event that she had no idea which. Her problem was also not her World History note, though.

So, what was the problem?

“Mss. Novak, Miss. Jones, I hope I am not disturbing this exchange of looks and smiles with my tedious story about how Germany lost World War II", the professor's serious voice caught the blonde's attention, who took the pencil out of her mouth and stopped smiling the same time she turned to look at him. The teacher smiled.

He was the problem.

“Actually, you’re”, she replied smiling back, the man rolled his eyes and didn't bother to refute the girl's speech, too used to her personality to even pay attention.

Claire liked the teacher, he was a nice man and she knew that he had suffered a lot during his life. He was a widower for seven years, losing the only woman he was able to love in a car accident and he had to take care of their daughter alone (and we're not going to go into details about his childhood, but let's say his parents are very lucky that he still visits them in Illinois after everything they did to him). But in addition to the suffering man who came out on top, he was also a great advisor, knew how to be friends with students and had a heart of gold (as many ladies like to say).

So why was he a problem for his student?

“I hope you know that I don't give a free note to anyone, even if these people are my beautiful daughter and my dear future daughter-in-law”, he smiled, making the rest of the room laugh as Alex blushed and Claire hit her head on the table, grunting.

I hope this has answered your question.

***

Claire's hands moved slowly up Alex's waist, kneading the purple shirt she wore, while the brunette's pulled her by the nape of the neck to be as close as possible. The teenage bodies rubbed at Crazy's slow rhythm, which echoed loudly enough through Novak's room and drowned out the sound of the outside world, leaving them immersed in each other's presence. Claire held Alex's bottom lip gently between her teeth, making the girl laugh before they kissed again.

“Claire, wait”, the brunette held her by the shoulder, prevented her from following what she wanted: taking off the rumpled shirt that was between them. “Are you sure your father is not at home?”

“He said he’d stay at school to correct some work, or something like that”, Claire replied with a sigh, Alex looked at her without much confidence making her sit on the bed. “Alex, we can be worried about my father or worry more about knowing about anatomy, we will have a test next week”, she joked, an easy smile stretching on her face.

Alex seemed uncertain for a few seconds, as if wondering whether the risk was worth it or not; Claire removed her own shirt, encouraging the other to continue where they left off. Alex ran her tongue over her mouth as she stared at Claire, then followed suit. They kissed again with intensity, belly and breasts touching, increasing the temperature of the bodies. Claire's index finger played on the edge of Alex's bra, ready to slip under it when the bedroom door opened abruptly.

“Claire, did you see my black folder?”, Castiel's voice came before him, making the girls jump away from each other. Alex ended up on the other side of the room, shirt in hand, already halfway to being dressed. “Oops, sorry”, he asked as soon as he understood the situation, which didn't take even a second.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Novak", Alex greeted with her head down, red cheeks covered by dark hair. “See you tomorrow, Claire, bye.”

And without giving the blonde time to shout an answer, the girl left the room with the speed of someone who remembered that she left something in the fire. Castiel raised his eyebrows, standing against the door, and then looked at his daughter, still shirtless and sulking. He came over, picked up the garment on the floor and handed it to the girl, who put it on while snorting; when she was finished, the man sat down next to her and made a popping sound with his mouth, patted his knee a few times and then opened his mouth.

“Doesn't even begin" Claire asked covering her face with her hands.

“Claire, you know you can talk to me about these things", Castiel spoke almost as if he had to defend himself, the girl made an exasperated sound.

“Yes, I know. I still have fresh, in my head, the day you talked to me about masturbation”, Claire said, she shivered just remembering the embarrassment she felt.

“It is a healthy practice that should be encouraged, especially among girls. It is important that you know your bodies” he explained using the didactic tone of a teacher. “Besides, I was a teenager."

"So you know how embarrassing it is to talk about it with your parents", Claire countered, her voice still muffled by her hands.

“I don't know, because you know that my parents were never open to any subject. And believe me, Claire, it's very important to have that kind of openness with your parents.” Castiel touched her on the shoulder and then continued “Let me know the next time you are with a girl, so I will know that I should not come near to your room”, joked.

Claire threw herself on the bed, stifling a cry of shame. Castiel laughed, patted his daughter on the leg and left the room. Alone and after asking someone up there - anyone - to hit with a lightning, she started to think what she did to deserve this kind of thing; not that she didn't like her father's way or preferred him to be the strict type, in fact she knew that in relation to other people, she had been very lucky to have the father she had. However, sometimes she wondered if all those years studying the history of mankind did not end up affecting his psychological.

***

Honestly, Claire was not a naive girl, but she liked to keep high hopes in some situations. So when the night came, she imagined that she had already reached the quota of embarrassing situations that a father could pass his teenage daughter through and was sure that nothing else would happen. So she was quiet watching a suspense movie that was playing on some channel that she had no idea which, lying on the couch and with a bucket of popcorn in hand. Pure peace and satisfaction as she watched Hugh Jackman disfiguring a boy, looking for answers about his daughter's disappearance.

“Claire, what do you think of this photo?”, a shiver of concern went up the girl's spine when the father's voice reached her ears, the man came from the kitchen with his cell phone in hand and handed it to her, while he sat beside her.

“Interesting”, she replied after seeing the image of his father on his back, fiddling with some pots. “How did you manage to take these photos?” asked, frowning at the next images in the gallery, all of the man doing something in the kitchen.

"I programmed the camera" he replied, taking the phone back, speaking the hashtags he would use while typing.

“Ok, someone needs to create a law for the amount of hashtag allowed in a photo” Claire said taking the object from her father's hand, who let out a “hey” in protest. “Hashtag sugardaddy? Do you even know what that means?!” she asked, her voice getting thinner with indignation at the same time that her face twitched, trying not to laugh.

“Something good, isn't it? Someone commented on one of my photos once, I thought it was a compliment.” Castiel looked at his daughter in a way that made her lose her composure, laughing at the confused puppy expression.

"In a way, it’s" said back, drying the tears that escaped from the corner of her blue eyes. “But believe me, you don't want to be one of those men”, handed the phone back to the man, with the caption of the photo properly edited, and got up to go to the kitchen.

“And what does that mean?” Castiel followed, still looking at the phone, confused.

"They’re older men who go out with younger people and kind of "invest" financially in these people", she explained without looking at the man, too busy to see what was in the pots, because she was hungry and popcorn was not a meal.

" Well, the only investment I can have is you", he laughed and then added: "But how much younger?", Claire turned to him quickly, only to see him leaning over the island while smiling provocatively, making her grunt and turn her attention to the pots.

"Where's the #instafood you made?”, asked looking at him again, Castiel opened one of the drawers on the island and held out a colored paper for her, which caught it suspiciously.

“Cheese, please”, the cell phone vibrated in his hand. “Look, I already have five likes and three comments.”

Claire saw her father come out of the kitchen, laughing at his cell phone as he probably responded to the comments cited. She looked down at the paper in her hand and sighed when she saw the menu at a pizza place. It was official, her father was crazy and with plenty of time to the point of pretending to be making food just to post pictures on the internet. For heaven's sake, she was the teenager in the house, she should be doing that kind of thing, not a man in his late thirties!

Things couldn't go on like this, she had to do something to make Castiel stop taking up his time by disrupting her love life or being famous on the internet. But what could she do? What would take all of her father's free time and keep you far enough away? Claire took out the cell phone that was in the pocket of the sweatshirt she wore, maybe researching would help her come up with ideas.

However, as soon as she unlocked the screen, an unseen message from Alex popped into view and soon a brilliant idea appeared. That was what her dad needed! Someone who texted him asking how he was and what he was doing, someone who invited him to go to the movies and, best of all, someone who kept him intimately busy. Claire was determined, she was going to do something for her father, for the sake of their relationship.

She would get him a boyfriend.

Chapter Text

“I'm not sure about this”, Claire looked over her shoulder and frowned, saying with her eyes that she wasn't giving him many options. Despite that being a lie.

“Let's do a test, if you go out with at least one guy from this site and don't like it, then we can delete your profile”, she proposed and looked back at the man's notebook screen. 

“I'm an adult, you can't make me do anything I don't want to do.”, Castiel leaned over his daughter's shoulder. “I never read 50 Shades of Gray.”

“This is just to create a loophole, someone will ask what you think, but they have no real interest in knowing if you read the books, only if you like something in that vibe " Calire replied, choking on the last word, because she was not interested in to know what was her father's vibe , even less if he had one.

"Well, I never read it, so I don't know what the vibe is . Is it something I would like?" Claire groaned, images invaded her mind in a brutal way.

"Okay, I'll delete it." and before he could say anything, the girl erased the information. "'Kay, now let's choose a photo."

She opened his father's image folder, which was connected directly to his cell phone. They took some time to choose the top three and discussed for five minutes whether or not he should put one where Claire was with; Castiel ended up winning in the arguments and a photo of them, with him smiling and her rolling her eyes, ended up on the site. With the job done, the blonde smiled at the page and then at her father, patted his shoulder twice and said "Congratulations, Mr. Novak, you're back in the dating market." 

"Still have my doubts." he sighed.

***

Claire didn't like Physical Education classes, even less when the coach decided to give a bunch of teenagers some balls to try to hit each other - it was almost like giving terrorists weapons or the power to control an entire country to a crazy old man. That is why, whenever she could, she used the “women problems” card to be excused from class; sometimes she was even sent to the infirmary, which allowed her to take a good nap after the break.

That Wednesday, however, the coach was absent and the physics teacher was there to replace him, which would not be a problem if last week she had not, in fact, been excused from her class due to the infernal cramps she felt. Then, there she was with her hair tied and vowing to strangle the first idiot who hit her, she had already dodged many balls and was beginning to feel her face heating up, she must be red and sweating. Claire hated to sweat.

"Novak! Get off the court, your dad wants to talk to you!" the teacher's voice sounded loud and the blonde turned to look at her near the door, from where the smiling figure of her father came out, waving at her.

On Wednesdays, Castiel only had two classes in the morning and usually went home after them, resolved any pending issues that required him to be physically present or else, most of the time, spends the day making delicious foods for Claire to get fed up with when she arrives from school (and that lasted until the night of the next day). So it was a surprise to see him there, especially taking her out of a class without an emergency.

"You're too happy to be an accident," she said as soon as they left the gym, she took the hem of her T-shirt and rubbed it over her face.

"There was no accident, I'm here because I need your help." he replied, looked around checking if they were alone and then pulled her by the arm until they were further away from the court. He took his cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans and offered it to the girl, who took it with one eyebrow raised.

"Congratulations, Mr. Novak, four days later and you already have a beautiful specimen interested in your culinary skills" Claire praised while smiling at the pictures of the man in question, handed the cell phone back to her father. "And what do you desperately need my help with, exactly? I imagine you've had dates before." Although I do not want to imagine it, thank you , concluded mentally.

"I need you to help me with a simple question.", Claire frowned, not very confident if she wanted to know the answer. "What is the possibility that there is something in my closet that is conducive to this situation?". She laughed.

"Wear those pants and that shirt you wore on Uncle Gabe's birthday last year." Castiel thanked his daughter with a hug. "Okay, okay, I know I'm a great daughter."

"h, another thing." he said as he walked away. "This guy works as a bartender in a nightclub, so he only has time to go out today and I thought it would be interesting to have a date at home" Castiel began to explain, making a face that Claire knew indicated embarrassment ahead.

"Oh, god…"

"... so, if you can arrive after nine or sleep at a friend's house, I would be very grateful" continued as if she had not interrupted him. Claire lowered her head and scratched her forehead.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do" she replied and was once again gained a grateful tight hug.

Castiel didn't stay long at school, leaving Claire still not knowing what to think about her father having a date at their home. At least I'm not going to take anyone by surprise , she thought, because at least he had told her about his plans. She shook her head, not wanting to imagine what could happen so that he had to say she could sleep at a friend's house. Well, it was her idea, in the end she had to deal with the consequences and if that was going to bring peace, great.

"Okay, I swear to God that if someone hits me, I will make their life hell until graduation!" she shouted as she opened the gym door, returning to class.

***

Alex had a beautiful bedroom, a nice bed and everything smelled wonderfuly like her. But best of all, Alex had busy adoptive mothers who were not at home and would only arrive late. Say that Claire's afternoon was perfect would mean so little, they started doing homework and then, when they noticed, they were already lying and hugging on the bed, covered only by a navy blue sheet. Everything was going very well, she ran her hand over one of the brunette's arms, bringing her close to her own chest while Alex's head touched her chin, allowing her to feel the girl's essence.

Until her cell phone rang.

"Who is it?" Alex asked in a low voice, cradling Claire's chest who had turned to pick up the device on the nightstand.

"Message from my father, it looks like the meeting ended earlier than expected," Claire explained. "I think it's my time" she sighed.

"Why? Didn't he say you could sleep in a friend's house?"

"Yes, but I'm sure that if I don't go now, he'll be texting all night wanting to gossip" she joked making the girl laugh, Claire got up and collected the clothes thrown around the room.

"You'll regret leaving me alone here, Novak" the brunette threatened with a smile on her face and not taken her eyes off the other, who had just fixed the green jacket over her body.

"I'm already regretting it" Claire said, then came over and placed a chaste kiss on the girl's lips, saying goodbye. "See you tomorrow?"

"We have three periods together, I'm sure we'll see you tomorrow." they laughed.

***

Claire came home a short time later, torn between curiosity and frustration, only she had known how long she had waited for the opportunity to be with Alex and now her own ideas were cutting her opportunities. Sighing, she stopped at the entrance to look for her keys inside the backpack, but the door was soon opened and she was pulled inside by a wounded Castiel.

"Okay, can you tell me what happened in the last seventeen years when I was too busy being a husband and father?" he asked indignantly and without giving Claire time to understand what was going on.

"What?" she looked at the man, confused. Castiel shook his head and went to the living room, being followed by her. He sat on the couch while the girl remained standing.

"When the courtship was eliminated from the dating world and casual sex with someone you barely know became the flagship?" he questioned again, this time making the girl laugh. It wasn't every day that you had a man in his late thirties asking a teenager about sex and stuff.

"You're the historian here, you should know that better than I do," she replied, still laughing at his father's face. "So you mean it didn't work out very well?" said sitting beside the man and putting her arm around his broad shoulders.

"No, it worked very well , only that I invested a lot of time in a food that was not even appreciated." Claire laughed again. "Are you hungry?" she nodded and he went to the kitchen, where the dishes were probably waiting to be heated.

"So are you going out again?" Claire asked screaming, hope flowing through her body as the microwave said the food was ready.

"No way!" the man replied when he returned to the living room with two plates in hand, placed them on the coffee table and sat down next to his daughter.

"But I thought that…"

"I like the conquest routine, Claire, but I have nothing against casual sex." She moaned. "The problem is that he is not very good for that."

"Okay, I'm going to eat in my room." And with the hot plate in hand, she ran for the stairs.

***

"I don't know what else to do!" Claire exclaimed after the classroom was empty, leaving only her and her American Literature teacher.

"About what?" The man asked amused by the desolate face of the teenager, who pulled a chair closer, throwing herself at it next.

"My dad, Samuel! My dad!" she hit her forehead, making the older man laugh. 

Samuel Winchester joined the school faculty a little over a year ago, he was a young and cool teacher, which allowed him to have a closer relationship with the students, often being sought for advice and listening to problems. He didn't complain, in fact it was one of the things he loved about his profession: being a model and inspiring confidence in young people who suffered so much from the lack of it.

"Are you sure you can't go out with him, Sam?" she asked after a long sigh, resting her face in one hand and looking at the professor as if he were her last hope. He laughed out loud, tossing his head back, making his hair stick out.

"Yes, I'm sure," he replied. "Your father is my colleague, besides I have a girlfriend, Miss. Novak." she grimaced, Sam didn't know whether by refusal or by calling her by last name.

"You're handsome, intelligent and it would be great to have you as a stepfather, you'd do me a big favor if you went out with him, please?" Claire pleaded, putting her hands together in front of her face. 

"I have a girlfriend, Claire" he said again, emphatically. She snorted. "But I think I can help you with your "problem". I know someone who may be interested in going out with your father."

The girl's blue eyes shone, hope had not died!

***

Hope was dead, buried and in a state of decay.

Claire Novak was outraged, frustrated and one step closer to return to her childhood self, where she threw herself on the floor and started screaming for her parents to give her what she wanted. Yes, she found herself at that level of despair while her eyes never left the man in front of her, sitting quietly while correcting the tests of the 12th grade students. 

"I already said I have no interest, Claire, please" he said without looking at her.

"But why?!" Her voice came out loud and squeaky, surely the students passing by the corridor would have heard it. Castiel sighed and finally deigned to look at the girl.

"I already did what you wanted, I already had a date and I didn't like it." Claire looked at him skeptically. " That much", amended. 

"Okay, I get that, but this guy isn't from that site and Sam said you could like him, you know Samuel would never get anyone in trouble", Castiel raised an eyebrow, the girl continued to look at him steadily, determined to not receive no as answer.

"Claire, what happened to you?" The man asked, pulling the girl onto his lap, so they could talk like father and daughter.

"Mom left seven years ago, seven years!" She spoke after a short moment in silence, her head down making the blond hair cover her face. "You haven't dated anyone since she died."

"Claire, I…"

"I know you say you'll never fall in love with another woman, but the world is also full of men who can make you happy", continued interrupting him. Castiel hugged her and rested his head on her shoulder.

"I already have everything I need to be happy, you are my joy, Claire", he tightened his grip on her when he heard her sniffle. "What's his name again?" asked with a sigh, Claire jumped from his lap.

"Ah, you'll love it!" celebrated openly, leaving the man with the feeling that he had been deceived.

Who said that the dead can't revive?

Chapter Text

Claire was never a religious type, despite knowing that her parents came from Christian families - fanatics, on her father's side - she wasn't created to believe in something specific, only in the mystical force that surrounded the universe. However, this didn't mean that she knew nothing about anything, because she certainly knew that only a divine being had the ability to give life to someone who died. And, well, she was no goddess, and that meant exactly one thing:

Hope had not risen from the grave.

Or maybe, and Claire wanted to believe in that possibility, hope was just hiding, afraid of what her father's lack of interest in going out with other people might do to her. That, that was it. That Claire could understand, since she was shocked by Castiel Novak's inability to show real interest in anyone too.

Okay, it had only been two guys and, jeez, just two meaningless fuck, but in neither case did he come home with plans for a second date, not even for a "repeat". Yes, he seemed content with the update after seven years of celibacy, however, Claire wanted her father to have something more substantial, something deeper and to keep him busy for at least two years - time she would have to graduate and go to college, so she wouldn't have to worry about parental embarrassment anymore. Much.

Castiel had gone out with the guy Sammy (he hated it when they called him that, she thought it was funny) indicated and the meeting took place on Saturday night, a normal day for this type of event. Once again she helped him with what to wear, wished him luck and stood at the bottom of the stairs, near the front door, waiting for him to arrive to say how it was and when would be the next date. The delay was so long, and she took this as a good sign, that the girl ended up sleeping on the sofa; however, she was still able to hear him coming.

"So, how was it?" she asked sleepily, scratching her eyes as she got up to see the man still at the entrance door, locking it.

"Cool, it was like living in high school again", he said, then came over and greeted her with a kiss on the top of the head, sitting on the arm of the couch. "I didn't imagine that so much had changed in the life of my classmates."

"It's been almost twenty years, Dad, of course things have changed", she said in reply. "Why didn't you keep in touch with them?"

"I tried, after your mother and I got married, we met with them for a few months, then she got pregnant and because it was a pregnancy risky, we had a lot of care to deal with", Castiel sighed. "Eventually we distanced ourselves from everyone, I still meet some of them from time to time, greeting, but it's not the same."

"And Sam's brother? He lives nearby, doesn't he?" Claire saw her father bite his lower lip and it took him a while to respond with a nod.

"He's a mechanic and I've run into him about three times since your mother died, but… We were never very close, I helped him with history in the twelfth grade, but I believe that before that he didn't even know who I was." He laughed, however, didn't seem that he find it funny. "But he was Benny's best friend, and from what we talked about today, they still are." He smiled.

"Oh, right, Benny." It was Claire's turn to smile, more animated and no longer sleepy. "Tell me, you had a lot of fun, right?" she said casting a look of who knows things.

"Yes, it was interesting to see him with new eyes. When we were teenagers, I used to call him asshole behind his back." The two laughed, then Castiel continued "And, maybe you don't want to know, but he was definitely better than the other guy."

"Ew, I really didn't want to." Claire grimaced, but the smile on her face indicated that she was happy for him. "But, tell me, this time there will be a second date, right?"

"Wrong," he replied without hesitation, laughing at the girl's puzzled face, whose mouth was open. "He told me that he received a job offer in New York, but that he was not sure if he accepted, even if he was unhappy with the place where he works now."

"And you convinced him to accept." It wasn't a question, Claire knew her father's philosophy of seizing any good opportunity. He nodded. "You let the perfect man slip through your fingers", she accused.

"Believe me, Claire, Benny isn't the perfect man." He laughed, he always liked the intensity of being a teenager, always being all or nothing. "Nobody is perfect."

"He could be, but you missed the chance to know."

"Good night, Claire." He kissed her on the head again and headed for the stairs, going up to his room.

"I hope you can't sleep with that doubt!" She wailed screaming, managing to get a last laugh out of the man.

God, he didn't make it easy!

***

Castiel Novak, like his entire family, was born in Illinois and grew up within the walls of the church his father pastored. He received an extremely rigid christian upbringing, being beaten with thin branches when he disobeyed them or for apparently nothing, until he arrived in his teens and discovered that he was beaten for not having a “typically male” behavior. On the first opportunity he had, he moved with his older brother, Gabriel, to another state. And perhaps his philosophy of life would come from there.

Still, despite everything he lived, adding there when his parents confirmed that he was not totally into girls, Castiel continued to visit them and cared about them. Every week he called Anna, wanting to know how they were doing and during the holidays the two of them traveled there, at least until Claire had her first girlfriend. She wanted to hide it from them, to pretend she liked boys, wanting not to bring her father any further problems, yet he firmly refused.

“You’re smart, strong, determined, stubborn. Has blue eyes, blond hair and fair skin. Your smile is beautiful and you are the most precious thing in my life, and I will defend you as necessary.” He said. “Neither I nor your mother would want you to go through the things I wenT, but that doesn't mean you have to hide who you are, because like everything I said, Claire, being a lesbian is just another feature of you and you never, never ” he stressed “must be ashamed of who you are.”

At fifteen she stopped visiting her grandparents, and her father never told what he had said on the matter; in fact he never said what they said when he commented on her. However, that did not stop him from going to Illinois to take care of his parents and tell how proud he was of his daughter. She still did not understand how he managed to do these things, whether it was for love or an unreal obligation of gratitude to those who placed him in the world; she believed that love was earned, not something imposed just because they shared the same blood, but she never questioned it about.

“You know where you have money.” Her father's voice brought her back to the planet, she looked at him and nodded. “Great, call if you need me and be very careful if you use the car” warned for the tenth time.

"Don't worry, dad, I'm hardly going to use it anyway" she said.

Castiel dropped the suitcase and put his coat over it, approached the girl and hugged her tightly, as if he feared she would disappear when he released her. Claire hugged him back with the same intensity, felt the man kiss the top of her head, as usual, and only then did they move away.

“I'll be back Sunday night, don't wait up.” A shout alerted him that it was time for  leave. Do your homework, Mrs. Harrison told me that you are sloppy this semester.” Claire shook her head. “Don't eat too much junk food, I left enough in the fridge.” Another shake of the head. “And for the love of God, Claire, if you are having a party put the things that break in my room and lock the door.”

“Come on, brother, you're taking all the fun out of the kids.” Gabriel's voice came from behind the man. “Hey, shorty” greeted, Claire hugged him smiling.

“Uncle Gabe, help me, he'll end up putting cameras at home”, she joked clinging to his uncle, who laughed.

“Don't overdo it, Claire.”

“Okay, it's a lot of talk, but old Mr. Novak isn't getting any younger while we're here.” Gabe said taking his brother's suitcase. "If you're going to put me through these tortures, Cassie, at least we'll be home early so we can leave as soon as possible," he asked, said goodbye to his niece and then went to the car.

“You’ll end up missing the flight” Claire warned.

“Okay, I'm on my way.” he hugged her again, the girl laughed, because they were always like that. “I love you, don't forget that.”

"I love you, too," she replied. “Tell Aunt Anna that I said hello.”

“I will.” Another kiss on the head and then he walked away, going to Gabriel's black car, which had started honking.

When the car pulled away and Claire entered the house, alone, she smiled at the possibilities. She could throw a party, call Alex, go naked or go to someone's house and only come back on Sunday; there were so many things! But despite that, she knew that she would eventually end up in her father's room, watching a movie hugging his pillow until he was back. It was always like that.

Ah, she missed him already.

***

Neither she nor her father really liked to use the car to go out, they usually used it for shopping or when they needed to go further afield. In addition to the obvious discomfort caused by the trauma of losing the woman in their lives, there was the fact that they lived in a place close to many things so they preferred to save money and save the world from polluting gases. However, for important things, like going out with Alex, she even managed to make an exception.

It was a Saturday night, the best day to be seventeen, and the two were on their way to a diner near downtown, to meet some friends. Alex practically begged Claire to let her choose the song and now she heard the brunette sing Taylor Swift as if her life depended on it, laughing at the faces and mouths she made when she performed the lyrics.

“ You belong with me!” , Alex sang the last part, using her fist as microphone and pointing at the blonde, who just shook her head and blew a kiss.

In a short time they were already with their friends, playing and talking loudly at one of the tables at the back of the cafeteria, which was full of teenagers in similar situations. Ben was talking about something that had happened during basketball training, where Aiden - the major son of a bitch from school - had been slapped in the face by the girl who, until then, he was dating.

“What I wouldn't pay to see that asshole's face right now” Krissy commented full of rancor, remembering the ex brought her worst side. "I told Josephine he was disgusting", she continued, now with her mouth full of hamburgers.

“I hope he learns after that.” Alex said, snuggling in Claire who surrounded her with one arm. The other three laughed.

“You’re very naive, Lexy.” Claire protested while getting a nudge in the rib after saying that. 

"You can't teach an new dogs old tricks," said Ben, the blonde choked on the potatoes she had just taken in her mouth, while Alex just groaned and laughed.

“It's the opposite, genius.” Krissy teased. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” 

“Whatever” he shrugged and went back to eating.

“I'll get more napkin.” Claire said when she noticed that their table was empty, got up and before leaving she kissed Alex on the cheek, making her friends boo her. “Jealousy” she gave them a middle finger, laughing, and then walked away.

At the counter, Claire asked Donna, an employee and one of the owners of the establishment (in addition to Alex's mother), to give her napkins so she could replace the one on her table. Smiling at the girl, the woman just asked her to wait a while, as she had to pick them up from the stock. Drumming her fingers on the wood to the rhythm of the music playing in the background, she watched the environment until her eyes fell on a table closest to the door, where she could see some schoolmates. And Siobhan.

The blonde girl saw her too, Claire knew that from the smile she gave when their eyes met. Fortunately, Donna appeared at once to save her, but she was still upset when she arrived at the table where she was with her friends. She filled the napkin holder and tried to pretend it was okay, but apparently her anxiety was very clear, as Krissy soon made a comment about.

"Jeez, Novak, stay calm, your dad won't know you passed curfew," she teased, but Claire just looked at her with a frown.

“What happened?” Alex asked, the blonde bit the inside of her cheeks before nodding toward the door.

The group then saw who had left her like that and everyone let out a low exclamation of understanding, remembering how Siobhan had only used Claire to make her ex-girlfriend jealous and, moreover, ended up with the girl in a humiliating way in front of everyone. Alex took her trembling hands and then gently pulled her by the chin, kissing her softly and whispering "it's okay" right after.

“Why don't we go to my house? I want to see a tv show.” Ben offered, his house being the closest of the four.

They all accepted the boy's offer and were quick to settle the bill, each paying what they had eaten. Claire's hands were still shaking when they left the cafeteria towards the car, the four of them entered the vehicle in total silence that was brutally broken by Novak's cell phone. Her heart pounding and her breathing heavy, she read the message she had just received and threw the device into the back seat, being caught by Ben and his gambler reflexes.

“I can't believe this…” she couldn't finish the sentence, unable to think of a curse good enough. She put the key in the ignition and started, listening to the roar of the engine.

“Claire, I think one of us better drive, you are too nervous.” Krissy advised on her friend's shoulder.

“I'm fine!” she shouted, shifting into reverse and stepping on the accelerator angrily, forgetting to look behind.

A sudden and sudden sway made the teenagers scream inside the car. Krissy cursed Claire for hitting her forehead in the driver's seat, however she was completely ignored, as the blonde hurried out to see what had happened, being accompanied by the other three.

“Fuck!” she shouted angrily when she saw the car twisted around the back of the iron that was used to secure the chain of the small parking lot.

“Calm down, Claire, it was nothing serious” Ben tried to calm her down, but he received a death glare that made him take two steps back.

“My father will die when he knows what happened, then he will resurrect and kill me!” she groaned. “And he'll be back tomorrow!”

“He doesn't need to know.” Ben spoke again, now receiving his friend's sincere and hopeful attention. “I know a guy who can fix this, he lives nearby…”

“It's past eleven, Breaden, there's no way he wants to help.” Krissy mocked.

“He's my godfather, Chambers, I'm sure I can convince him.” He smiled smugly at the brunette, who crossed her arms and grimaced at him.

"Okay, we better get going now," Alex said, dragging everyone back to the car. "But I'm going to drive," she completed, pushing Claire into the passenger seat. “Show me the way, Ben.” He nodded.

“What his name, that godfather?” Krissy asked, shortly after.

"Dean” he replied. “Dean Winchester.”

Chapter Text

Claire had heard of Dean Winchester, the older brother of her dear teacher and her father's former schoolmate, yet she had never seen a photo of him. So the whole idea of what he looked like came from her imagination, sparse information and Sam's own appearance. In her head, Dean was bigger than his brother, had the posture of a soldier, big hair and was well centered, in addition to having food as regulated as Samuel.

Yes, in the girl's head, he was just like Sam, only blond. And of course, she couldn't be more wrong.

Okay, in her defense he was a tall man, yes, but if he stood next to Sam he would look like a dwarf - but in his defense, few people wouldn't look like, close to that titan. However, in everything else she was completely mistaken. Dean had short hair, lived on the basis of beer and frozen meal - as far as she can tell from the packaging next to the trash - and, despite the serious expression he kept while talking to them, he had air of casanova seen the smile of cheap conqueror that he dedicated the woman who left his house when they arrived.

“It wasn't such an ugly damage.” He sentenced, crouched down and analyzing the dent with the help of the cell phone flashlight, as the street lighting was not very good. “Today I can't do anything to help…”

“No, please, my dad comes home tomorrow!” Claire interrupted him, eyes wide and voice trembling with despair. Dean raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, his lips together in a straight line.

“You came here very late, I need to sleep.” He spoke again, still with an expression of reproach, Claire frowned. “But…” The girl's expression softened and he uncrossed his arms. “If you come back tomorrow, very early, I promise to resolve this quickly.”

The girl was so excited that she shouted a thank you and hugged him, being followed by her friends who became infected with her excitement. Dean just stood there, stuck and slightly annoyed by that teenagers sudden action; it didn't take long to stop, pushing them slightly away and repeating that he had to go to sleep, threatened Claire saying that if she wasn't there at the first hour she couldn't do anything, and then sent the children home.

From there the group went to Ben's house, they stayed up until one o'clock in the morning, when Lisa left the room to send them to sleep; Claire programmed her cell phone to wake up as soon as possible, before settling on the couch that fit her and Alex with some comfort. The next day, she left alone and her head was pounding from the lack of good sleep, but relieved that she would have one less problem in her life to deal with, her father would be able to sell the car just to keep her out of it.

Arriving at Dean's house, which Ben had said the night before that he was a mechanic and tinker, owning a mechanic near their school, she found him standing in front of the garage. The strong arms crossed and the expression closed, making her think that, of two, she was either arriving late or he was as sleepy as she was. As soon as he saw her, Dean motioned for her to park in front of the garage and as soon as he did, he opened the gate while Claire got out of the car.

"Good morning," she greeted, saw him come in and pick up the tools he would use.

“Good Morning.” he replied returning to her. “It won't be long, you can wait here if you want.”, she nodded.

Claire sat for a while while waiting for work to finish, alternating between fiddling with her cell phone and looking at the man, who was too focused and seemed to have forgotten her. At one point the blonde got up and went into the garage, looking at the tools there and wondering what they were for, her curiosity making her ask Dean every now and then; she would take one, analyze it and then ask. Until the clear eyes finally noticed the black car that was parked there, not that she hadn't seen it, but from a distance it didn't look so interesting.

“What car is this?” she asked crouched seeing her reflection in the bodywork, then stood up and looked into the vehicle through the glass.

"This isn't just any car, girl, it's an Impala 67," he replied proudly, walking over to her with a beautiful smile on his face. He rested his hand on the car and looked at it with love overflowing his green eyes. “She belonged to my father.”

“It's very beautiful.”

“Yes she is.” Claire laughed and then Dean finally took his eyes off the vehicle, leading them to her. “The car is ready, I would polish the area to get a better finish, but your father doesn't usually do that, does he?” she replied shaking her head. “It would be weird.”

“Dude, you saved my life…” she didn't finish the sentence, because suddenly the instrumental of Highway to Hell started to play and they both took the cell phone out of their pocket.

Dean hung up on the call he had received without even answering, it probably wasn't anything important or someone he wanted to avoid, Claire thought. However, she found it curious that they had the same ringtone for calls, which made her smile and remember a time when Samuel had commented that she resembled her brother a lot.

“You're Claire Novak, aren't you?” Dean asked, looking like he had just stopped to think about it. “Sammy's student.”

“Yes, and you studied with my father.” He nodded.

"Looking now, that's kind of obvious," said the man, raising an eyebrow as he looked her up and down. “You look like your mother, minus the eyes, they are blue like Cas's.”

“Cas?” she laughed, being accompanied by Dean.

“He didn't like it, I started calling him that after he became my tutor in history.”

"I thought you weren't friends," he commented, beginning to find strange the intimacy the nickname brought.

“We weren't, I think.” he shrugged and looked at the Impala again. "I'll send the bill later, through Ben," he said, avoiding the subject. Claire nodded and thanked him for the help.

With a brand new car, Claire drove to her friend's house, owing Dean Winchester her life and smalling a rat that could well end up becoming a pack.

***

Sunday went away with peace and tranquility, in the opinion of the young Novak - not that she wanted more excitement than smashed car, but we will take into account the insatiable desire for adventure that girl had.

There is no denying, however, that her father's arrival made her have a very significant adrenaline rush and, come and agree, quite unnecessary. Castiel would never be a monster with her due to an accident (or anything else), in fact he would treat her like a crystal glass for a month or two, which alone bothered her since she hated being treated like fragile or weak; however, what would really be a problem would be the guilty look of the father, who would look at her as if it were his fault for not being present, and this she could not accept. But he didn't suspect anything at all, which saved her from having some white hair early.

Who didn’t want to spare her that, however, was her professor’s dear brother, savior of the motherland and definitely one of the hottest guys she’s ever seen in her life: Dean Winchester.

The teen's suspicious-meter* blew the whole week, as the bill that was supposed to be handed to her through Ben never reached her hands and if that didn't mean a problem, she was a maiden. And as Claire knew that only in a past life could that be true, the problem came to his door the following Sunday afternoon, dressed in three layers of clothing and a pair of jeans that definitely hadn't been the first thing he picked up in the closet .

“Why are you here!” she asked incredulously and with some desperation, which made her look over her shoulder to make sure that Castiel was not around.

“I thought it would be safer to hand the bill in person.” he replied raising his head in an unobtrusive way, which led her to close the door behind her.

"Well, I should have kept the deal and sent it through your godson," she said irritably, the whispered and altered tone that came out of her mouth made the man raise an eyebrow.

“Your father doesn't know you dented the car.”

“Congratulations, Sherlock, you've discovered the mystery.” Dean frowned at the mockery, Claire ignored it and held out her hand to the eldest. “Now give me the bill and let's pretend nothing happened.”

“Listen, girl…” the wooden door opened and Castiel's voice interrupted the blonde.

“Claire, with whom…” her father's voice also died in the middle of the sentence and a small smile appeared on her full lips when he noticed who was present. “Dean Winchester.”

“Castiel Novak.” Dean said back, a smile similar to his father's spread across his freckled face, big enough to make small, charming folds appear in the corner of his eyes.

An intense silence dominated the porch, making Claire look from one to the other several times until the rat that she smelled started to stink. She disguised an easy smile biting the inside of her cheeks, and cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself again.

“Sorry, Dean, but what are you doing here?” Castiel asked clearly awkwardly and, fearing that he had offended his former colleague, amended: “I mean, we hardly see each other, nor did I know you knew my address.”

“My godson is a friend of Claire's.” Dean replied, his hands inside the leather jacket moving in order to make the other shirts he wore, a plaid and a black one, more visible.

“Ben?” the brunette looked at his daughter, who nodded. “Is he in trouble?”

“He crashed his mother's car these days and I was to pass the bill through Claire.” Dean replied before the girl could even think of a convincing lie. The two men looked at her when a weak laugh escaped her lips. “Here it is.” he held out a small piece of paper to teenagers, his green eyes saying that she should shut up not to put them in a complicated situation. “Say he can pay me anytime.”

“Okay.” she put the paper in his pants pocket and looked at his father, who seemed puzzled but not suspicious. “Dad, what about that pie you were making?” she asked innocently, avoiding the subject.

“Actually, I was looking for you to eat.” Castiel replied, clear eyes left the daughter and fell on Dean. “Would you like a piece?” Claire knew her father extremely well, to the point of noticing the vein that popped whenever he was tense to disappear when Dean's smile spread.

Interesting.

“You know me, I never refuse a good piece of pie.” the Winchester replied.

***

“I remember very well the day when you finally booed Benny.” Dean commented between laughs making Castiel laugh at the memory.

Claire remained silent, just enjoying the interaction. The three were sitting on the high stools that were on one part of the kitchen island, the men facing each other while she volunteered to stay on the edge, to get a better view.

“He caught me on a bad day, if it weren't for the problems at home that I was going through, I certainly would have put up with his provocations throughout high school.” her father explained, Dean shook his head as if he understood exactly what he was saying.

“Yeah, that sounds like the Castiel we all know and love.” the brunette blushed slightly with the compliment, but disguised his shame with a thank you and another piece of pie. It was the third one that his father put on the plate in front of the Winchester, if she did not know him well, she would think that he was trying to make the other stay longer. As she knew him, she stated with absolute certainty that this was the goal.

“Wasn't Benny the guy you went out with a while ago?” Claire asked curiously, her father had said that the man had been an asshole in high school, but not that they had fought. Castiel looked at her daughter with a mixture of rebuke and shame.

“Yes, it was with him” he replied, Dean made a sound with his mouth closed, catching the attention of Novak, and when he finished swallowing the piece of pie, smiled sideways bending over the top of the island.

“Yeah, Benny told me about the little adventure they had.” the way the tongue and teeth passed through the blonde's pale lips, made even her shiver.

The brunette gave a nasal laugh and imitated the other's movement, supporting his arms on the island and taking his head further. In a tone she had never heard in her life, Castiel asked "And what else did he tell you?"

“Interesting, very interesting things.” It was the answer of the Winchester, who took the last piece of the pie slice on his plate and ate it slowly.

Claire's eyes widened, caught in a whirlwind of sensation; embarrassment, anxiety and disbelief. It was not possible that she was witnessing everything here, nor was it possible that it was all in her head.

They really were….

***

“Flirting!” shouted with the enthusiasm of those who win tickets to the favorite singer's concert.

“For the last time, we weren't flirting, Claire.” Castiel sighed, water splashing over the sink as he washed the dishes.

Dean left a little over twenty minutes ago and during the first five she remained silent, until she couldn't contain herself and bombard the man with questions and statements (accusations, according to the brunette's view).

“Of course they were! Those looks, smiles and the hug you gave when he left! If there was no sexual tension in that, I don't know what else there could be!”

“You don't even know him, I don't even know him anymore. We didn't talk for years, there is no way you can say that Dean was flirting with me.” he argued, Claire held out the dishcloth when he turned to dry his hands and took the opportunity to look at him with one eyebrow raised and an easy smile.

"But I know you," she replied heartily, Castiel sighed as he rubbed his hands over the dishcloth.

“When we studied together I may have had ... A momentary crush on him” he said turning his back on his daughter, leaving the kitchen before she could say anything, but he was followed.

“Momentary how much?”

“…Three years.” Claire let out a high-pitched scream, the smile spreading across her pale face. “But then we graduated and I fell head over heels in love with my best friend, with whom I had a dizzyingly stubborn daughter.”

"Praising me won't make flirting any less concrete, Professor Novak," she teased. “And nobody is talking about mommy here, but about your high school crush who returned from the ashes and finally can come true!”

“Twenty years have passed, Claire, I don't feel that way about him anymore!” the man insisted, the girl rolled her eyes in disbelief (and he still had the courage to say that she is the one who was stubborn). “And if the case is closed, I will go to my room to correct the lessons of your class” he said at the same moment that Claire opened her mouth to protest, turned his back on her, who this time did not follow him.

If he didn't want to admit that he still felt something for Dean, fine, let him die in denial. However, she was an adolescent expert in body reading and would not have her gift questioned in this way, she would prove to her father that Winchester also felt something for him and would bring the two together or she was not called Claire Novak.

Chapter Text

Although she felt obligated to help her father find a boyfriend, Claire did not make this her priority. After all, she had her own life to manage and her chemistry teacher did not seem to be in the mood to help her pass the year, which it just made life difficult. So, the story with Dean was on standby for a few weeks, long enough to study for the final exams, which were just around the corner, and to focus on Alex - it was with great pride that Claire sported a beautiful silver ring, just like of her girlfriend , and with immense joy that she said that her (future) in-laws, Jody and Donna, loved her. However, it was time to get back on track, the summer holidays would come soon and she needed the space that a boyfriend would create between her and her father. 

So, thinking exclusively of Castiel's good, she went to one of the rooms on the second floor of the school and knocked on the door, which was already open. Inside, Sam looked up from a pile of papers and stared at her, giving her permission to enter with just a nod. Claire smiled at the teacher and dragged one of the chairs up to the man's desk.

“I believe you are not here because you need extra credit.” Sam spoke shrewdly, probably already having some idea of the subject she would address.

“Luckily for me, your subject is one of the things I care least about” she joked, Samuel laughed back and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over the table in a typical “go straight to the point” sign that ended up being created between they conversations. “Well, I have a question for you, Sammy.”

"Say it," he encouraged, ignoring the nickname.

“What are the chances of your brother to be interested in a beautiful and rare specimen: singaes faethers ?” Sam laughed again.

“Well, since my brother works with cars, I believe that very few.” he provoked making the girl roll her eyes.

“Come on, Samuel, this is serious! He and my father would make the perfect couple,” she said euphorically. “And there's no use saying that your brother doesn't like men, that I know it's a lie!” he threatened, pointing a finger at the professor's face.

“I don't know how you know that, but it's none of your business.” he lowered the girl's finger and then added: “Although it is not a lie.”

“I knew, he was really flirting with my dad!” Claire celebrated, thought about  the moment when she could rub it in her father’s face.

“But…”

“No but!” the girl protested already contorting her face in a tearful expression.

"I don't believe they would work," he added, receiving a grunt in response.

“Why? Do you think my father is not enough for your brother?” she asked, offended, her eyebrows furrowed in a way that bordered on an attempted threat.

“No, your father would be perfect for him” he replied laughing and added “if Dean was looking for a serious relationship.”

"Well, it's not like I, I mean, my dad was looking for someone to marry," she said. “But think so, if they were together I could call you Uncle Sam ” she joked, the Winchester laughed.

“Did you really believe it would work?”

“It didn't hurt to try.” she shrugged. “But seriously, I'm sure they are perfect for each other” she reaffirmed as she put her backpack over her shoulder and stood up, she knew when a battle was lost.

“I thought I was perfect for him.” the man joked, Claire stopped near the door and winked at him.

“Missed the opportunity, Winchester” replied and then left.

Sam wouldn't help her and that was nothing new, unfortunately. However, even with the teacher's disheartening words, she wouldn't give up anytime soon, after all whether or not wanting to be in a relationship was a matter of point of view, and there is always the possibility of this changing, isn't it?

***

Claire hardly created debt, not because she knew how to manage her allowance well, but because she was the worst person to deal with it. The young Novak had no debts, because she forgot them and probably the person she owed, too; therefore, if she did not remember, it did not exist. However, knowing that there was an account to be settled with Dean was the best - and only - excuse she had to show up at the man's house without looking crazy.

Although frantically pressing the bell was not a sign of sanity, but she could ignore it for the moment.

When the door was opened and the dark blue-eyed figure of a woman she had never seen in her life appeared, a feeling of betrayal came over the girl's body - she also ignored that Dean and her father were not together, in case she hadn't it became clear. The nameless woman called the Winchester and went back into the house, disappearing at the end of a corridor just as the blonde appeared.

“Claire, did something happen?” he asked adjusting the hem of his gray shirt, implying that he wore it on the way to the door. “Did you break the car again?”

“No, I just came to pay my debt” replied holding out the money, Dean looked at the small amount of money and pushed it away with one hand. 

“Spend on something else.” he smiled. “Do you want to take something?” asked turning his back to the girl, who followed him closing the door. 

The walk to the kitchen was short, but Claire can observe a few things. First: the house was very clean and organized, which went against her image of men who lived alone; second: the smell of whiskey was present, but it was not very strong or that indicated an extreme problem of alcoholism; the clearest was the perfume of men and hamburger. Third, it was a smaller one-story house than she imagined, but it seemed to be cozy. And fourth: what was that strange woman still doing there?!

“You are sure you will not take the money, I mean, this is no attempt to send me to a reformatory, is it?” Claire asked ignoring the female figure who was sitting at the small round table that was near the back door. Dean laughed as he opened the refrigerator, turned to her with a bottle of beer in his hand and a bottle of water in the other.

“I have no plan to send you away, scout word.” Dean replied handing the bottle to her, who raised an eyebrow and laughed.

“Were you a boy scout?” Dean took a sip of his drink and laughed back.

“No.”

The woman, who until then had remained silent, got up and went towards Dean, kissing him warmly on the lips and saying goodbye with "it was great, dear, see you later" that made Claire want to throw up throughout the room. Having the offspring of being embarrassed, Dean accompanied her to the door, leaving the teenager alone for a few moments. Taking advantage of the cue, she eavesdropped on the small kitchen and confirmed the man's terrible eating habit; luckily, when he and his father started dating, his food it would improve a lot, which would make him live for so many years, that her children would meet “grandpa Dean”.

It may be necessary to clarify that Claire considered herself a realistic person, who accepted the natural rhythm of things and was not at all idealistic and anxious.

“I'm sorry you had to witness this scene.” Dean's voice brought her out of her daydreams, which included her grandparents' home in Illinois (the only good thing they had besides their children) and the Novak-Winchester couple pampering the Novak-Jones children.

“It's all right, far from me to disturb a couple in love in their PDA” she said in a serious tone. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was what her father called fishing.

“We are not a couple.” he replied promptly, bordering on despair in her opinion. A small smile broke out at the corner of her lips, forcing her to take a sip from the bottle in her hands.

“Ah, really, Sammy told me that you are not “looking for something serious ”” she commented as if she wanted nothing, the man's golden eyebrows gathered in a frown that could frighten anyone.

“Did you and my brother talk about my personal life?”

“Ah, Dean, me and your brother talked about many things ” Claire replied, sat down at the table and Dean did the same, facing her.

“I would be grateful not to be the topic of these conversations.” he demanded, fingers closed tightly against the dark glass of the beer bottle that wet the wood on the table.

"Okay," she agreed, and then, in a falsely whispered tone, amended: "but it's a shame you didn't want to."

“What?”

"It's really a shame that I didn't want to be in a serious relationship," she declared, sweeping away any expression from the blonde's face, who remained silent for long seconds.

“I'm flattered, but you're too young for me.” Dean spoke finally, when recovering. Claire frowned, confused by the statement, and then her face happened in disgust when she processed the information.

“Ew, no!” she exclaimed, deeply horrified. “I have no romantic interest in you, weirdo! You're old, you're old enough to be my father! In fact, you are my father's age! ”

"The old man's part was unnecessary," he complained, offended. “And if you are not in love with me, then what is the point of this whole scene?”

"Again: disgusting," she began.

“Rude!”

“And there is no scene” concluded ignoring the comment, Dean laughed scornfully.

“Spare me, your eyes deliver your intentions.” Claire looked at him and soon the two were in a little fight of looks, Dean took a last sip of his drink and hit the bottle on the table, making her blink.

“Damn it!” she swore, really annoyed at the defeat. “Okay, I'm interested in you.”

“But you-”

“Only not for me” said interrupting him, a golden eyebrow raised questioningly and with a sigh she continued “It's for my father.”

Claire was relatively fortunate that day, because if Dean hadn't already finished his drink he would surely have choked to death after her speech. Because the fright was so great that the green eyes opened in a way that, for her, was not something very common or natural. But he still had a chance of dying from his own laughter, with the crisis that hit him in a fraction of a second.

And people still had the audacity to call teenagers dramatic and exaggerated.

“Okay, girl, you almost got me” Dean said recovering from the laughter. “I hope your YouTube channel will be very famous one day, with these pranks” he wished with a smile that said the opposite. “Now leave my house.”

“I have no channel and this is not a prank!” she xplained while being pulled by the arm and taken out of the kitchen. “Come on, Dean, I saw the way you look at my dad!” he rolled his eyes and opened the door with his free hand. “He flirted back!” shouted the phrase that was her last hope of not being expelled.

"...He did?" Dean asked with barely contained interest.

"Let's stop the scene," she teased provocatively, but rethought her attitude when the look in his eyes said she could still be thrown out of the house. “I know my father very well and I can say with a hundred percent certainty that he flirted back” a smirk broke out on the man's lips, making her roll her eyes.

“Well, but it makes no difference.” he spoke soon after, contradicting everything he had shown.

“How not?!” she asked indignantly. 

“Well, it's like Sammy said: I'm not interested in something serious.”

“Then just have sex casually!” she spoke desperately, regretting right after imagining the scene.

“Your father is the type of man made for marriage, Claire.” Dean sighed heavily at the end of the sentence.

"I know stories that say it's not like that," she said back, but was ignored.

“You are a great girl and I am sure that one day you will find the perfect person for your father, but that person is not me.” Claire growled at the condescending voice and the hand that rested on her shoulder.

“Will you just let him go without a fight?!” Claire asked angrily as she was guided again to the exit, this time in a more peaceful way.

“Keep trying, don't give up on your dreams.”

“Come on, Dean!”

“Bye, it was great to see you again!” and saying that he pushed her out of the house, closing the door before she could do anything again.

Adults are so complicated!

Chapter Text

Claire looked at the television and sighed in deep frustration, Alex moved to look at her with concern and irritation. She understood and feel pity for her girlfriend, Claire was the one who chose the movie and was the one who insisted to watch a very old one too, so be sighing every five minutes was not pleasant. But she couldn't help it, it was frustrating to see on the screen two brats joining her parents when she herself couldn't even find a boyfriend for her father. Damn Lindsay Lohan!

“Okay, Claire, what's the matter?” Alex asked pausing the film at the time the twins are in London. 

“Why couldn't I be like them and join my dad with Dean right away?” she confessed frustrated, throwing her hands up.

“This is a movie, for God's sake!” Her girlfriend laughed, which made Claire frown. “Come on, Claire, you know things should happen naturally” she said pulling the blonde for a hug.

“If I am going to wait for these two to resolve themselves, I will need to reincarnate. Twice.”

“Don't be dramatic, you said that the two feel something for each other and, if you want to know, it shouldn't be something new. So it's just a matter of time.” Alex said trying to calm her girlfriend.

“How is it not new?”

The brunette shook her head and murmured something about slowness and beauty. 

”Your father was in love with this guy when they studied together, I'm sure Dean also fell in love with him at some point.” Claire looked at her with furrowed brows, as if she still didn't understand. “The way you described the day at your house and the conversation you had with Dean does not seem to be a casual interest, but rather a repressed one begging to leave.”

Stopping to think about it, maybe Alex was right. All the tension that existed between them couldn’t be the result of that day's meeting, in fact Dean could have sent the bill through Ben, but he preferred to go to her house in person. The smiles, the words, the gestures... It was definitely not a recent interest.

“You are wonderful, did you know that?” asked while placing several kisses on the face of her girlfriend, who laughed at the attack.

“What can I say, you are very lucky, Novak.” was Alex's response, moments before pulling her into a passionate kiss.

Lindsay Lohan who went to hell twice, she would put these two idiots together.

***

The unfortunate heat that insisted on showing up over the summer had long since become the biggest enemy in Claire's life. She hated feeling sticky with sweat, her makeup melted making her look like a panda and the worst part is that for a few days in the three months of pure hell, she had to deal with cramps and menstruation. The imbecile who had created this function for the womb could very well suffer for the rest of eternity and still be little.

Fortunately, Castiel already knew how to deal with his daughter when that time of the month arrived; ice cream jars, lots of sweets and air conditioning were often part of the solution package. So they were at the market, with a cart full of junk food and walking side by side in silence. Claire became a quiet girl when she was with PMS and the most sensible thing was to keep quiet too, so as not to get into a fight that would make her cry in anger. They were on their way to the frozen section, when suddenly she separated and went back to the path they had taken, Castiel let her go without question.

Claire had remembered, after strong stitches in the abdomen and a strange feeling, that the packet of tampons she had at home was almost over and that it was better to take advantage that they were there to buy another one. The path to the personal hygiene section was relatively long, since it was at the opposite end of where her father was now, however it would be better for her to stay a few minutes away from him or set up a colossal shack in view of her indignation at Mr. Novak’s last action. 

As they both went on vacation at the same time, it was obvious that they would have even more time to stay together at home and enjoy each other. However, what she would like was to spend a month on the farm that Alex's family had and her father, the false open mind, had denied … Okay, saying that he would think about it was not really denying and this trip would happen in the last month on vacation, which started a week ago, so there was nothing urgent. However, it had taken her seriously and made her realize that she couldn't waste any more time, she had to find Dean and get him out with her father as soon as possible!

How her brain always came up with this solution was a mystery that didn't bother her.

But it was with this in mind, in bringing the two together, that she returned to where Castiel was. She spotted the man as soon as she turned the corner of the section and stopped at the same moment she noticed that he was accompanied. Claire felt a growing irritation in her stomach and walked on stomping, thinking with herself that wouldn’t be a random guy who would ruin her plans; God maybe, but never any man. It was halfway there when the guy stood aside and she could see who it was, suddenly the anger passed and a small smile formed in the corner of the girl's pink mouth, which slowed down to appreciate the way they moved their bodies in a way to get closer. They probably hadn't noticed that they were doing it, Dean bending over to say something and Castiel letting their arms touch, but the body said it all and anyone could see how they were attracted to each other.

“Claire, I'm glad you're here, I was already wondering if you left without me.” her father said when he noticed her, Dean greeted her with an easy smile and she just deigned to put the packet of absorbent on the cart, in the most obvious way to making the blond man uncomfortable.

She liked him and wanted him to be with her father, but she would not forget the way he treated her or the things he had said so soon, in fact she planned to throw this in his face and make him uncomfortable as many times as he felt necessary. Or until herr tpm has passed.

“So, Dean, you were telling me about the last time you and Sam went to the market together, when you still lived in the same house.” Castiel spoke, resuming the previous subject, for a few seconds leaving her daughter feeling ignored, but she revealed it because she knew what it was like to be in love.

“Oh, yes, at the time he was still in college and we came here, in that same market, because we had forgotten that it would be our turn to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.” Claire did not understand what was funny, but both Dean and his father laughed at the phrase. “We were completely lost in what to do, until I saw a beautiful woman choosing some pumpkins. And you know me, I had to approach and ask if she could help me.”

“I think you would have asked the same question even if you knew exactly what to do.” the oldest Novak commented, he pushed the cart while Dean went to his side with two baskets, the corridor was big enough for the three to stand side by side, but she preferred to stay behind. Claire wondered if she should let them know they were going around the section without picking up anything new.

“Yes, but the opportunity came spontaneously, but…” he extended the pause, trying to create tension in a story that she could only find boring, his father however seemed very entertained by the way the mouth of the tallest one moved. “She smiled at me and started making some movements with her hands.”

“And it took you awhile to realize that she was communicating in signals, because she was deaf.” Castiel deduced with an amused smile on his face.

“Exactly, and I did the worst thing anyone could do in this situation.” Dean ran a hand over his face, hiding his eyes as he raised his head in shame. “I started to speak loudly and make gestures as if she were a foreigner”. This time she didn't even stop and laughed next to her father, the man's freckled face turned red, but he laughed too.

“So, what happened next?” The brunette asked.

“Sam arrived and solved the situation, luckily he learned ASL in college which allowed him to apologize for my behavior”, he replied. “They spent a lot of time talking and she ended up offering to help us make dinner, because she would spend alone otherwise.”

“And you allowed a stranger in your house?”, this time the question came from her, which made Dean look over his shoulder and smile.

“After all, Sammy and I were never very wise, and he fell in love with the girl, so it was too much to ask us to be rational.”

“In the end your brother stayed with the girl, didn't that bother you?” Castiel asked curiously, the Winchester shrugged.

“Not at all, I got some good food and he had a new love, fair enough for me” he explained, then moistened his lips and said “But maybe, next time I’ll be the one to find someone in these corridors.

Claire rolled her eyes as she watched her father hold his breath while they did not take their eyes off each other, it was great to have even more proof of how they felt, but knowing that neither of them would make any moves beyond these, she would rather interrupt them than let them in that game. And that is exactly what she did.

“This girl is his girlfriend, isn't she?” her voice came out rough, strong enough to get them off the gravitational axis that seemed to be for each other. 

"Eileen, yes," he confirmed, looking over her shoulder again.

“How long have they been together?” the question was raised by his father, Dean stopped a moment to do the math.

"Seven, eight years," he replied with a little uncertainty. “Sometimes it seems that they have been together for a long time, other times it seems that they started dating now.”

“I suppose you now know something about ASL.” Castiel said smiling, the blond man nodded and then made a series of gestures that none of them understood.

First he pointed at his father and then he passed his hand over his face, then he pointed at himself and pointed at Castiel again, but with a hook-shaped finger and ended up tapping the hands that formed a "b" and a “d”, only the indicators raised *.

“I have no idea what you said.” his father confessed, his face lost between enchantment and confusion.

“Nothing important.” Dean shrugged, Claire crossed her arms and faced him. She didn't know exactly what he had said, however Sam had already taught one sign or another to his class.

"How beautiful, " she said, emphasizing the word, her clear eyes telling the man that she had picked up part of the message and that he should either go ahead or give it back for good, as he had made clear in their conversation, making him feel uncomfortable.

“Well, I think I already took  a lot of your time.” He finally spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was great to see you… two again," he said, looking initially at Castiel and then corrected himself and looked at her too, who smiled forcedly.

“See you any day.” Castiel almost seemed to suggest that they have to see each other another time. Dean nodded and walked away, his father kept his eyes in the direction Dean went until after the Winchester disappeared from their view.

“Dude,” she started calling the attention of his parents “you’re so in there”

***

“I won't speak again, Claire.” Castiel threatened in his paternally rigid tone of voice.

"I won't stop even if you saying five hundred thousand times," she replied, equally irritated. The two were in the supermarket parking lot, on their way to their car and argued about the interest that existed between him and Dean (and that his father insisted on denying).

“You look just like your mother!” He accused. “When she put something in her head, there was no person in this world capable of taking it out.”

“And she always got what she wanted, besides she was right in everything she said” she replied convincingly, Castiel sighed and stopped in front of their car. The battle was won.

“I still don't understand your fixation for Dean.” the man confessed exhausted from the discussion.

“It's just that she's in love with me.”

If Claire hadn't jumped by surprise, she certainly would have laughed at the shocked face that her father had when the blonde's hoarse voice sounded next to them. The girl turned to him, ready to ask what he were doing there, but Castiel had gone faster.

You have very heavy bags in this cart, I thought it would be good to turn you into my good deed for the day” he replied smiling, her father returned the smile and thanked him while opening the trunk.

Her father was very naive, Claire thought as she watched the men store their purchases. There wasn't a lot of heavy stuff, her father and she would deal with them on their own, so that's definitely not the reason it got there. But what could it be?

“So, Claire, on the subject of you being in love with me” he started talking again after almost all the bags were in the car.

"I'm a lesbian and I have a girlfriend", she replied, showing the ring.

“It's not gonna happen”. Dean completely ignored her, which made his father laugh. “In addition to all this age difference thing and you are minor…”

“And do not like men” Claire added, his father laughed again as he closed the trunk and Dean ignored her again.

"I was kind of thinking about..." He cleared his throat and turned to Castiel, who raised an eyebrow. “Well, I kind of thought to ask if you wouldn't like to go out any day, maybe dinner?”

Okay, she didn’t see that coming.

Chapter Text

At this point, everyone should know that there are very specific things that can get Claire Novak off the hook. The heat, for example, that makes it unbearable and adds something else that she hates: sweat. There is also Siobhan, who was a tremendous bitch with her and is now at the top of her black list. And, sometimes above all that, it was his father and the stubbornness that made him the most stupid person on earth.

At that moment, while slamming the car door and walking hard to her house with few bags in hand, she could only think of how stupid a hypocrite her father was. Grab all the opportunities?! Lie, he just said that to pay for good people when in reality he was someone afraid of the unknown.

"Hypocrite," she murmured, placing the bags over the sink.

“Sorry, what did you say?” her father, who was right behind her and she hadn't even noticed, asked.

"I said hypocrite," she repeated, turning to face him.

“Well, I hope you're not referring to me.” he said with a frown.

“But that's exactly what I'm doing!” she replied, raising her voice, her body shaking with anger and disappointment.

“Then explain it to me.” Castiel asked, his tone restrained, but his face showed that he was starting to get irritated by his daughter's attitude.

“You say that we must seize the opportunities that appear in our life, but when it is yours, you simply turn your back!” accused, Castiel shook his head and started to save the purchases.

“You have no right to judge me.” he started, tired of ignoring his daughter. “My decisions are none of your business, Claire.”

“Of course it is, you are my father and I can't see you throwing the chance to be happy out the window!”

“I'm already happy, Claire!” he countered smiling and raising his arms, indicating to her everything he had. “I have a wonderful daughter, own a house and I work with something I love, how could I be unhappy?”

"I didn't say you're unhappy, but it could be a lot more if you had someone with you," she explained, crossing her arms. “Soon I will go to college and you will be here alone, dad.”

“Amazingly, I have no problem being alone.” Claire sighed.

“But what's wrong with dating someone?”

“I do not want.” he shrugged.

“He likes you, you like him, it makes no sense for you to refuse to go out with Dean!” she practically shouted, she was indignant as she has never been in her life. “Doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn't have to make sense, Claire. That is my decision and that is the end of it.”

In answer the girl just grunted and left the kitchen, her face red with anger at her father's stubbornness. It was unbelievable, even unacceptable, that anyone could make as little sense as he was doing at the time.

And that was another thing that took her seriously: people who went against logic and common sense.

***

Living in the same city all your life had its bright side, knowing your friends forever and not having to go through the process of building trust was one of them - Krissy, for example, was your best friend since she was six, when the two got together to scare some bullies on the playground. The downside was that you also knew all the pain in the ass and there was no way to avoid them, as they were neighbors, classmates and frequented the same places as you.

And in addition to being a pain in the ass who lived next to her, Aiden was also an item on the list of "Things / people that make Claire Novak really pissed off". She still couldn't understand how a boy so shy as a child, became the biggest asshole in history; he and his little friend, Siobhan, competed to be who was the stupidest and drew. For just as the girl had been a bitch to her, Aiden had done basically the same thing to Krissy, but with less humiliation and more broken nose.

Annoyed but wanting to avoid confusion, Claire chose to cross the street and pretend she didn't hear her name being called when she found him two blocks after her home. It would be healthier for everyone if they did not speak, however, Aiden did not seem to have noticed the consistent aura of danger that she emanated, as the provocations continued.

“Come on, Novak! I know you're listening to me.” he said closer and closer, Claire increased the pace of the steps, almost running to get away from him. “Let's talk, I just want to know how Krissy is!”

Just as her friend's name came out of that hateful mouth, Claire stopped on the sidewalk. Aiden was already very close, smiling and with a basketball in his hand, when she turned to face him.

“Finally you paid attention to me.” A smug smile spread across the boy's lips.

"Never speak her name again, Dimarco," she said in a threatening tone, which made the brunette's smile extend even more, almost predatorily.

“Come on, Claire, I know she misses me.” Claire rolled her eyes and laughed mockingly. “Although the rumors say that she and Breaden are together now, right?”

"I don't understand how you can believe that this is remotely your business," she replied, her irritation rising with the sweat that ran down the back of her neck, even though her hair was stuck.

“In my opinion this is a lie.” Aiden continued to speak, the ball passing from hand to hand in an old habit. “You know, Ben seems to be the type who likes to be fucked more than the other way, fag as it is.”

Castiel had already instructed her on how to act in the face of silly comments like Aiden's, which emanated poison and a desire to demean others. Never remain silent, do not ignore, but also do not lower yourself to the same level as the other person; be didactic, if possible. And with the six o'clock sun burning on her back, Claire had acted in the most didactic way possible.

After all, who doesn't learn something when their nose is broken by the basketball ball itself?

***

The Roadhouse was a small bar that was close to the city center, the place where most teenagers, deluded by the glamor of alcohol, wanted to go. The owner, Ellen, and her daughter, Jo, had a strict rule regarding the presence of minors in their establishment: prohibited, and because they have lived in the city for as long as anyone, they never fall under false identities. However, there was a rumor that if you were lucky to go on a day when only Gordon, one of the employees, was taking over the place, you would be able to get by without even having to present documents. Apparently the man didn't care what others did with his life, it was none of his business.

It would be a big lie to say that Claire had just entered the bar in search of air conditioning. It would also be a lie to say that she was not one of those deluded teenagers. Of course, her father had already taught one or two things about drinking (it was difficult to find something he didn't have), and he was also present most of the times when she tried something. Castiel believed that the aid was better than the ban, of course he would not want her to consume alcoholic beverages being so young, but he was also not naive in thinking that the opportunities and wants would never reach her, so for him it was preferable to teach her how to get through this phase without ending up drunk and addicted.

But to tell the truth, Claire didn't even like the taste of alcohol and knew that it wasn't the drink that made her a nice person, nor that she had the magical power to make problems go away. However, had the illusion that there was some use in a bottle of beer or glass of whiskey, otherwise nobody would consume it; people just had to find the one that best suited her. For Claire, the moment she walked through the door of the Roadhouse, it was to make her father as pissed off as she was. Don't get her wrong, the girl knew she had the best father in the world and that he didn't deserve it, but she was in no position to rationalize anything.

“What will you want, girl?” the black man asked as soon as she sat facing the bench.

"The strongest and cheapest thing you have," she replied, taking her wallet out of her shorts pocket. Her cell phone vibrated instantly, Alex's name flashing on the screen, but she ignored it. 

Her pale eyes fell on the silver ring that weighed on her right hand, surely her father had spoken to Alex and now they were both worried. Claire had been out of the house for over an hour, had not texted Castiel telling her what she was doing and it should be killing him. Which finally made her wonder if it was worth disappointing the man just because she was frustrated, in the end her father was right to say that it was just something that concerned him.

The sound of the glass cup brought her back to reality, Gordon placed it in front of her and opened a dark bottle. She was going to tell him that she didn't want anymore, that she didn't actually have any money, she really was, but a thick voice stopped her.

"I hope you don't serve her anything but water, Gordon, or Ellen is sure to know you're serving minors." Claire turned to the man who said that, meeting a pair of green eyes that sparkled irritation.

“She doesn't seem to be underage, Winchester.” Gordon replied with barely contained anger. In fact, she believed there was no intention on either side to hide their mutual disgust.

“Which just shows that you do not ask for the identity of the people who arrive here, do you know that selling drinks to minors is illegal?” Dean spoke placing next to her, arms supported on the counter. A smile spread across the freckled face, totally different from the ones she had seen at home. “I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose this job, after all, Ellen was the only person with the courage to hire you.”

Apparently with nothing more to say and with an expression of clear hatred, Gordon picked up the glass and the bottle, moving away from the two of them to serve another customer at the end of the counter. In a mixture of relief and shame, Claire kept her eyes on her hands. Dean should have thought she was just another inconsequential teenager and this time he was sure to tell his father what he was about to do.

“Come on, kid, I'll take you home.” the blonde man announced, his tone saying that he wasn't giving too many options.

Claire hated being called a kid, but at that moment she preferred to remain silent.

***

From the center to her house, by car, the road was fast; twenty minutes maximum. However, with only the sound of Led Zeppelin filling the silence, it felt like a two-hour drive. Claire just looked at the orange sky through the Impala's window, and as it was summer the colors only indicated that it would soon be nine o'clock at night. Her father must have been worrying, blaming himself for his daughter's disappearance and imagining all the worst possible scenarios; she hadn't even dared to look at her cell phone, which had several missed calls and messages.

When she decided it was time to at least look at Dean, to try to guess what he was thinking, Claire just saw a neutral expression of those who drive alone on a quiet road. Was he judging her attitudes? Thinking about how ungrateful she was? Probably yes, or maybe those were just her own thoughts.

“What did you have in mind, girl?” finally Dean's voice sounded beside her, Claire bit her lip and shrugged.

“Anger” she replied softly, Winchester said nothing until she felt comfortable to continue. “Anger at Aiden, who was an asshole with my friends; angry with the heat, with me... And angry with my father for not accepting your invitation.”

“That's a lot of anger for someone your size.” Dean said laughing, the corner of the eyes crinkling as his lips extended. “But you don't have to be mad at your father.” Claire snorted.

“You don't understand, I get mad because I know he likes you” explained, Dean raised an eyebrow and looked at her sideways. “Seriously, he was in love with you in high school and I know my dad well enough to know that, somehow, he still feels something.”

“Your parents were together for a long time.” Dean shook his head, not believing what she said.

"This has nothing to do with my mother," Claire replied. “A person is completely capable of feeling something for two people at the same time. I know they really loved each other, but that doesn't mean that what he felt for you is gone.”

“Look, Claire, from what I could tell your father is not in the mood to get seriously involved with anyone at the moment.” he said in response to her look, which begged him not to give up. A knowing smile appeared on the corner of the girl's lips at the end of his speech.

“I think you didn’t either.”

Shortly after that, Dean parked in front of his home. Already outside the car she saw when her father looked out the living room window and ran out, the front door was wide open and in a matter of seconds Claire felt her father's heavy body against hers. His arms held her with a certain strength and fear of letting her go, she knew that Castiel was saying something repeatedly, but the position she was in made it difficult to understand, as the man's chest and one hand covered her ears. Suddenly all the anger she was feeling was gone, as magical and instantaneous as any drink promised, but would never succeed.

Claire, awkwardly, returned her father's hug and apologized as many as possible in a short period of time. He apologized for everything, for the things she said and did; he even apologized for breaking Aiden Dimarco's nose, even though it had nothing to do with them. One was talking about the other, between requests for forgiveness and thanks, the voices were getting tangled in each other making understanding almost impossible. They were so immersed in each other that they only remembered the third presence when Dean couldn't help laughing.

“Sorry” he said and laughed again. “It's just that I've never seen such an exciting reunion, even though she was only gone for two hours.”

Castiel moved away from his daughter, the vein of pulsating tension as usual. The girl's clear eyes traveled from one man to another, feeling embarrassment settling between them; after all, a few hours ago Dean had invited his father on a date and he had refused. With a clearing of her throat, Claire announced she was going inside, had to talk to Alex before she showed up with Jody after her.

Leaving the two alone, she closed the door and stood there, watching them through the cream-colored curtain that covered the glass of the door. Picking up her cell phone, Claire saw that not only was Alex sending several messages, but Krissy and Ben, including some about Aiden's broken nose; the news ran fast. Alternating between replying to messages and spying on them, the girl did not want to miss any details of what was happening outside; something in her chest told her to consume every second of the two together. Perhaps it was her intuition, or just the absurd curiosity that was as inherent in her as the survival instinct.

And it was just a matter of seconds, just like an adult who bends down to pick up something on the floor and when gets up he sees that they kid is missing. In an instant they were talking, she lowered her eyes to answer Alex, and when she looked at them again...

They were kissing.

Chapter Text

Claire saw, through the door, what she had been waiting for weeks. It was like watching your favorite TV show and cheering for a couple, so they finally share the first kiss; the one who takes your breath away and makes you want to scream, such is your happiness. In this case, the emotion was even greater, since they were Dean and Castiel; it was the fruit of her work that she gathered with her eyes. Her father’s hands pulled the tallest man by the back of the neck, while Dean did the same with her father's waist.

My father , she thought and remembered that fact, which made espionage embarrassing. Feeling her cheeks burn, but with a big smile on her face, Claire turned away and went to the kitchen to drink water. On the way she celebrated with Alex and made a post on Twitter talking indirectly about the joy of her achievement. Taking advantage of the fact that she was already in the kitchen, she set up a snack while humming some pop music that her girlfriend forced her to listen to (and that she secretly liked).

The sound of the front door slamming was what burst the little bubble of happiness, making it fall into reality. Her father appeared in the kitchen and Claire was unable to hide her smile at the man's breathless image, with unruly hair and reddened face. The two stared at each other in silence for a while, until the girl decided to take the first step.

“S o?”, a sked wiggling her eyebrows, in a subtle code that said she knew about the kiss. Perhaps a code too young for Castiel to understand, for his next words were exactly:

“You’re grounded.”

“What?”, she asked, uncertain if she heard correctly.

“Grounded, two weeks. No going out with your friends”, the man repeated and added, his breathing heavy.

“Why?!”

“For leaving the house without telling me where you were going, for going to a bar and for…”, he stopped suddenly, as if he didn't know what else to say.

“Cuz do you want?”, Claire said defiantly, confused by the situation, but equally irritated with her father, who seemed to be pissed off at something.

“That's why , for being so... Petulant!”

“What animal bit you?!”, she was outraged, all her joy was gone with the outbreak of the man in front of her.

“To your room, young lady!”, Castiel sent pointing up, making her laugh scornfully.

“Young lady?”

“Three weeks and it is better to go up now before I decide to take out your cell phone.”, he threatened.

Offended, Claire took the snack she had prepared and stomped up to the room. When she arrived, closed the door using her heel and all her strength; she threw herself on her back on the bed and placed the plate on her stomach, taking an angry bite of the sandwich. With one hand she held the cell phone and recorded an audio for the group of friends, explaining the situation in the best and most spiteful way possible.

Not long after she decided that it was better to sleep, the colic will bother her again (before she was overwhelmed by the different events) and she was so tired that she felt as if that day had lasted a week. Not to mention that she would like to forget his father's attack, at least until the next day.

Before falling asleep, however, a question popped into his mind. Simple and sure:

What the hell had happened?

***

Claire didn't want to risk missing out on the opportunity to travel with Alex, so over the course of two weeks she obeyed her father more than efficiently, even if inside she was dying to know exactly what happened to the man. The girl noticed, during those days stuck at home, that Castiel had regretted the fight they had in the kitchen, but he was probably so embarrassed that he couldn't apologize. Sometimes this was common among them, in meaningless discussions they ended up acting as if nothing had happened after a while, as they couldn't put into words how sorry they were, and it was okay because none of them knew how to hide what they felt.

When she can finally leave the house, she told her father that she would go to the cinema with her friends and promptly refused the ride offered saying that Krissy would take her, but that they agreed to meet at her friend's house. Castiel by nature was naive, in addition to the fact that he was heavy on conscience, he was unable to notice the half-truths from his daughter. Yes, Claire would go to the cinema with her friends, however she would meet them at night, as before she had to satisfy her curiosity.

Dean's house was a considerable distance from her house, a journey of at least thirty minutes on foot. However, according to Ben, the man never took a vacation and stayed in the workshop until five, which gave her less than twenty minutes to get there. Luckily, the place was two blocks after her school and it usually took her fifteen minutes to get there, taking a little step Claire managed to get to Winchester when he was approaching Impala.

“Wait!”, shouted as she ran to get to the man.

“Hey, girl, what did you do here”, Dean asked, his brows furrowed, but his voice carried no hostility, as she believed it could. “Something happened?”

"Yes", she replied, wiping the sweat from the back of her neck. “You kissed, that's what happened.”

With a long sigh, Winchester asked to be followed and soon they were in a small, messy office that was at the back of the huge workshop. Dean pointed to a black leather two-seat sofa, he sat on one arm and Claire decided to imitate him by sitting on the arm that was next to the door.

“Sam said it's easier for me to become a vegetarian than you give up on something, so let's get to the point.”, he explained, a small smile appeared on the corner of the girl's red lipstick lipstick. “What do you want to know?”

“What happened that day? In a moment I saw you guys kissing and the next my father appeared in the kitchen punishing me.”, another sigh escaped the blonde's mouth, Claire looked at him in silence, just waiting.

“Honestly, I'm trying to understand too”, Dean replied, one of the girl's eyebrows went up. “When he refused my invitation in the parking lot, I thought you had lied to me. Then he kissed me and for a second I believed that maybe it could work”, the Winchester explained, then continued with a confused expression, “But then he walked away as if I were the devil himself.”

Claire remained quiet, this time not waiting for him to speak, but because she was thinking about what all this might mean. This attitude was not common, Castiel was always an understanding man, firm in his decisions and who never shied away from anything. She knew him better than anyone else, but something seemed to be out of place, as she was the living person who knew him best. There were things that only Amelia knew, things from her father's past that he just shared with her; if her mother were with them, she would surely know what to do and why he was doing it that way.

“Did something happen to him when you were younger?”, Claire asked, so maybe she would get the missing piece.

“I don’t know, maybe”, Dean replied with a shrug.

"Well, you would hardly know, since you weren't friends," she said, more to herself than to him.

“I'm not sure about that either”, Claire looked at him puzzled, Dean turned to her, placing one foot on the couch. “I even thought we were friends, or we could be, but I ended up screwing everything up.!

“You know, you could have said that when I asked if something had happened.”

“You wanted to know about him when you asked.”

“But…”, she broke off, pinched the bridge of her nose and continued, “Whatever, just explain it.”

***

Claire spent the next twenty minutes listening carefully to everything Dean said. As he and his father were never very close, even if they did some school work together; how the blonde would have liked to be a better person in his teens, because despite not being a bully he didn’t try to stop anything (the natural flow, he said). But he paid attention mainly when the man started talking about the time when Castiel helped him in history.

“Cas was incredible, he explained everything so easily that it was impossible not to understand what he was saying”, Dean had said with a smile on his face. “We met every weekend to study and I could only regret never having been friends with him before.”

“And how did you ruin everything?”

“I never believed in this conversation that man and woman were made exclusively for each other, you know? I never really thought it mattered if the person had a pair of balls or a pair of boobs, or if they had both. But everyone around me cared and I was a stupid teenager, so when I fell in love with your father I… I was an idiot.”

Then he explained how he treated Castiel when they were at school, he was never with Benny in the teasing, but he believed that what he did was worse. Dean pretended to be indifferent to the presence of the other when they were in public, even taking advantage of private lessons as an excuse every time they saw him together, because he was afraid that someone would notice his feelings for Novak.

“I never knew he felt the same way”, he spoke at the end, fingers curling each other. “Maybe I would have the courage to face everyone if I knew; even though my family had always been open, I was still afraid, but Cas would be worth the effort”, he confessed. 

“My father should think you were ashamed to be seen with him and now he is afraid to get involved again”, Claire pointed making the older man's face tighten, she then took one of the strong hands in hers and smiled. “Then take this opportunity as your second chance to do the right thing.”

For a few moments Claire believed that she had managed to touch Dean enough that he would not give up, the sparkle in her green eyes allowed her to once again feel that she was close to her goal. Even Winchester's shaky, stuttering voice throwing cold water in her goals.

“I... I can't”, he said. “Your father is amazing, Claire, and that's exactly why I can't do anything. I'm going to screw it up like I always do and I don't want to hurt him again.”

Claire jerked away from the blonde, as if his hand was suddenly on fire. Incredulous and angry, the girl gaped at him, she knew she couldn't blame him or judge him for his insecurity, but by now everyone should know that she wasn't very rational when angry. So, just before leaving the office slamming the door, she said:

“You are a coward!”

***

Finishing typing the message that told her friends that she was going to be a little late, Claire walked through the house door fuming. She found her father lying on the couch, watching some old movie, something very common and that she had never stopped to think about before.

“Claire, I thought you were in the movie theater”, Castiel said while getting up, the girl opened her mouth to pour all her frustration on the man, but she stopped when she noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

“I had to do something before, so I remembered that I left my wallet at home”, lied and approached. “What you're seeing?

“Casablanca”, he replied sitting up, Claire imitated him. “What did you do?”

"Talk to Dean," she replied, choosing the truth. Castiel frowned and before he could say anything, she added. “I saw you kissing in the front yard and I thought that finally it was resolved, but I was wrong and I needed to understand everything, so I went to him because you would deny it.”

“Claire, you really need to overcome your obsession with my love life, I don't need…”

“Another person to be happy, I know”, said rolling her eyes. “And it may be true, but I know you need someone else to be even happier.”

“And do you really believe that Dean Winchester is the person for that?”, he asked after a tired sigh, probably exhausted from her insistence.

“If you are willing to overcome the past, yes.”, Castiel looked questioningly. “Dean told me how stupid her were when you were young, and he really made a mistake in ignoring you in public, but a in love and scared teenager is usually stupid.”

“Are you implying that Dean liked me?”, he laughed.

“I'm saying, he said it in all the word and, sincerely, I firmly believe that he still like.Just like you.”

“Claire, what I felt for him died many years ago”, her father's statement made her grunt.

“Well, then Dean can only be God, because his feelings are resurrected”, she countered mockingly.

“I don't feel that way about him, I don't need anyone, much less him”, the man said again, Claire stood up finally succumbing to irritation.

“Okay, keep repeating this and maybe someday someone besides you will start to believe”, she advised with irony. “But the truth is that you don't like being in your room alone and that's why you spend most of your time down here, sometimes even sleeping on the couch. And we both know that it’s not even that comfortable.”

Saying this, the girl turned and headed towards the door, with her hand on the handle she felt she couldn't leave without saying anything else, then in a loud enough voice to be heard, she said:

“You know, Dean may even be an insecure coward, but at least he is not a coward in denial.”

With that she left, leaving behind not only her father, but her desire to continue in this "game". She could be mistaken by saying that she played cupid for her own good, yet it was clear that she really did it for her father's happiness. However, if Castiel himself did not want to be left with an old passion, there was nothing to be done. It was like everyone insisted on saying.

It was none of your business.

Chapter Text

“You were right, I shouldn't get involved in matters that don't concern me”, Claire said as her nails repeatedly hit the wet glass of the cup in front of her.

Samuel looked at her and smiled, not in a presumptuous way that showed that he was always right, but in a comforting way that said he knew it was not easy for her to give up something she really wanted. Eileen passed them, saying something to her boyfriend, but left the kitchen shortly thereafter. Winchester got up and said he would be back soon.

“You can get more lemonade if you want.”, he added before following the same path as the woman.

Claire sighed, briefly and tiredly, and poured herself another glass of the refreshing drink. Taking small sips, the girl looked around and felt a slight tightness in her chest. Most people would not feel as comfortable at the home of one of their teachers, but most didn’t have a relationship like hers with Sam, nor did they have a teacher who lived in her old home, the place that would always be in her heart, for being full of good memories with your mother.

She had grown up and lived between the walls of that house for ten years, was in this kitchen that she lost her first tooth and it was under this roof that she found the happiness of having a close family. At the same time, it was in this house that pain and daily crying dominated her for a year, until the day her father decided to sell it to a young man and his girlfriend. And for her, there was no better person to look after the temple of her nostalgia than Sammy.

“Sorry for the delay”, the man's voice brought her back to the present time. “Eileen needed help with reviewing a case about... You know what, I'm not going to bother you with legal things”, he smiled sitting in front of her.

“One day you will have to tell me why you decided to change your profession”, she asked, finishing her lemonade.

“Sure, put it in the list”, Sam joked. "But you didn't come here just to complain or want to know about my life," he pointed out, looking at the bag that was hanging on the back of the chair she was on.

"I still can't believe you convinced me to do this," she muttered, ignoring the burning in her cheeks, rummaged in her bag and then held out a small cake of papers. “First of all this is just a draft and I didn't have time to review it.”

“That's what I'm here for, Claire.”, the brunet captured the block and looked at it with pride, while she looked at it with insecurity. “You have the potential for that and I just want to help you explore your narrative abilities.”

“Whoever hears you talk like that may end up thinking that I will be the next Mary Shelley”, commented embarrassed, Sammy smiled.

“Maybe even better”, Claire laughed.

"Okay, now you've pushed too hard," she said, getting up, taking the bag and placing it on one shoulder. “I have to go, I still have to pack and Lexy stayed by the house to help me.”

Sam nodded and escorted her to the door, on the way she stopped to say goodbye to Eileen and wondered if any of them would mind teaching her sign language. Outside the house, halfway down the porch stairs, the younger Winchester called to her.

“Claire, about your father and my brother…”, he started uncertain.

“Don't worry, I already gave up and I swear I won't interfere in their lives anymore”, she assured.

“That's great, but what I wanted to say was something else.”, she looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Just stop waiting, that's when things happen.”

“Okay, Yoda”, Claire joked laughing, Sam shook his head and then the two said goodbye.

Samuel had a habit of saying things through mysterious phrases, which she usually stopped to reflect on, however the vibration in her pocket prevented her from even going over the speech in her mind. Running because she didn't want to keep her girlfriend waiting, Claire had no idea how right the teacher was.

***

Claire had forgotten what it was like to be a normal teenager who didn't care about her father's love life. She didn't make it her priority, but playing cupid had taken up so much time and space in her thoughts that her shoulders were now lighter as this problem left her life. It was great not to spend neurons on an activity as useless as this, to know that now she had space to chat with friends. She had space in her mind to remember every detail of the Kardashian life or the latest celebrity gossip, to recite the pros and cons of Jelena. A lot of extremely useful knowledge could be used to fill this void.

Pff, irony.

Claire was going crazy. Let them call her nosy, they could blame her parents, herself, or say that it was because of some star positioned specifically in her birth chart. It didn't matter, she still felt this urge to do something for Castiel, but she really gave up on that goal and just wanted to moving on. Move forward like someone who is out of a relationship, so occupied the mind with trivialities or something really important.

“So, what do you think is going on between Ben and Krissy?”, she asked in a dragging voice, enjoying the touch of Alex who was stroking her head.

Forget one love with another, they say.

“Well, I'm not sure, but I feel that without us around during this month, they will finally resolve themselves”, Alez replied laughing, Claire opened her eyes and smiled. “What?”

"You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen", she declared, delighting in the redness that spread across her girlfriend's face.

Alex bent down, touching the blonde's lips gently. Claire looked at the image of the other, wondered what she had done in this life - or any other - to deserve to have her as a friend and girlfriend. Alex had suffered so much and for many years, until she was adopted by Jody and Donna, and even though she had every right to hate the world, she hugged it with love, smiled and showed everyone how life was worth living. Maybe just because she suffered, she didn't want anyone else to feel the same, and for that and other reasons that Claire believed to be the luckiest person on the planet.

“Alex, I lo…”, the door opened abruptly and Castiel's voice came before him.

“Claire, I need your help.”, he asked and then noticed the presence of the other teenager. “Oh, great, Lexy is here too, more opinions.”, he smiled. 

“What you want?”, Claire asked after huffing, her heart still racing. 

“Black or red?”, the man lifted the two ties, bringing them close to his neck one at a time.

The teenagers frowned and sat on the bed, Claire looked at her father and noticed that his hair was wet. In addition, she also noticed that the jeans and shoes he wore were new, and that the dark blazer along with the blue button shirt was part of the set of clothes that she always said made him good looking.

“No tie”, Alex spoke before Claire managed to get out of her own thoughts. The man walked over to his daughter's mirror and looked at the three options.

“You're right, Lexy, thanks”, he replied smiling at his daughter-in-law. Without saying anything else, he left the room.

“Wait, are you leaving?!”, Claire asked going after him right after exchanging confused looks with her girlfriend, who followed her.

“Yes, I have a date”, Castiel replied leaving his room, now with no tie in hand. The girl caught in the middle of the corridor, making Alex hit her on the back.

“A date?!”, practically shouted, ran down the stairs, still following him. She reached the bottom step in time to see Castiel fix his hair in the mirror on the wall next to the door.

“Yes, a date. I left money in the kitchen, in case you want to call your friends and order a pizza. Do not wait for me”, replied opening the door.

"Wait," she shouted before he left. “Who are you going out with?”

Before the man could respond to the sound of a horn caught their attention, Claire quickly made up for the distance between her and her father, pushed him aside and couldn't help the strange sound that came out of  her throat seeing the beautiful Impala 67 parked in front of the house.

Dean waved at her from inside the car, but the gesture was not returned due to the shock. Claire wasn't sure, but she had the impression of listening to Castiel talking to her and touching her on the shoulder. When she returned to the terrestrial plane, the car and her father were no longer present, Alex called her worried.

“Claire, is everything okay?”, the brunette asked placing her hand on the shoulder of the her girlfriend, who turned to her.

“We need to go after them”, Alex raised an eyebrow, but immediately sighed.

“I drive.”

***

According to her girlfriend, while she was paralyzed by surprise, Castiel said that they would go to a restaurant with a strange French name. A quick search on the internet - which would have been even more quick, if she could write the name of the place - and soon they were already in the right direction to reach them. Along the way, Alex couldn't help but try to convince her to come home, as that would be invading her father's privacy.

“Come on, Claire, I thought you understood that this is none of your business”, Alex said almost begging to turn around. 

After everything she had done and all the stress she had lived through, Claire felt she had the right to meddle a little more; compensation.

When they arrived, Alex parked across the street and refused to go along, joking that she would wait there if they needed a quick escape. Before leaving, Claire searched for them through the restaurant's large windows. Luckily, she found them near one of the most distant windows, perhaps they wanted privacy. Afraid to be noticed, the girl got out of the car and went down the street before crossing it; when she found herself close to the establishment again, she slipped out until was below the window. Claire’s hands were shaking and she couldn't stop smiling, her child part was fulfilled for being the spy she always dreamed of.

“…when you came to me, I was really surprised”, she listened with some difficulty, the ambient music and the distance made their conversation difficult to fully understand.

“I'm sorry about that, Dean…”, her father said, his voice getting very low then, returning to normal a while later. -… so I was afraid, but after everything Claire told me, I couldn't deny anymore”, Dean laughed.

“Your daughter is tough, she also told me some truths. When she showed up at my house…”

Dragging chairs and the thick voice of an employee prevented her from hearing the rest. Then a woman with a squeaky voice started to complain about her boss, while the man compared every thing she said with a story about fishing. Unable to hear the conversation that really interested her, Claire took a deep breath and decided to risk it, slowly lifting her body until she was able to see the interior of the restaurant. The first thing she saw was the complaining couple, who made her roll her eyes; beside them were her father and Dean, laughing at something she had no idea what it was.

The couple continued to complain and talk about fishing, as she climbed higher and higher, trying to hear what the other two were saying. Without noticing what she was doing, Claire suddenly stopped when a throat cleared her attention, only then did she notice that she was halfway into the restaurant. 

“Sorry, good night”, she said smiling at the couple.

“Waiter!”, the woman shouted, her voice getting even more squeaky and drawing everyone's attention.

“Claire!”, she heard her father calling with surprise, in seconds the two men were already close to her, next to an employee.

“Do you know this young lady?”, the waiter asked, Dean shook his head at Castiel and pushed the man away from them, probably explaining the situation.

“What are you doing here?”, Claire opened her mouth to answer, but Castiel interrupted her with a tired and indignant sigh. “You know what, you don't have to answer, just go home immediately.”

“Dad, I…”

“Home, Claire”, he asked again, this time more incisively.

Without options, she moved away from the window, but not without first apologizing to the complaining couple. Claire crossed the street feeling her father's eyes burning on her back and got in the car, Alex started and laughed at her girlfriend's face, the two went home.

***

Back, Claire decided she would wait for her father to come back so she could interrogate him. Alex offered to keep company, but she politely refused; if Lexy were present it would be impossible to get any sordid information out of the man. 

To kill time, the girl curled up on the couch, chose a series on Netflix and relaxed. Having no idea how tired she was, she ended up falling asleep in the middle of an episode. She woke up, however, hours later to the sound of the door slamming and a few whispers.

“Wait, I think Claire is in the room.”, she heard her father say, then footsteps followed where she was. “Claire, are you awake?”

“No”, replied with a tired murmur, Castiel laughed and covered her with the blanket that was on the sofa.

“Good night”, he said and kissed her on the head.

“Dad?”, she called him without opening her eyes.

“Yes?”

“Will you have a second date this time?”, Castiel laughed again.

“Yes, and I hope there are many others.”

The steps then moved away, followed the stairs upwards and, smiling, she let herself drift off to sleep again. Now she could sleep in peace, with the certainty that she had finally found a boyfriend for her father.

Chapter Text

Claire turned on the silver tap and washed her hands without haste, a smile spreading on her painted lips when a pop song started playing. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and adjusted the strap of the black dress she wore. Two knocks on the door alerted her that she should leave soon, so she opened the door and her smile widened when she saw Alexy in a green dress that made her look even more beautiful.

“Come on, I asked them to play our music and they will already put it on”, the brunette spoke while pulling her girlfriend by the arm, dragging her down the corridor whose wooden floor creaked with each step they took.

They passed through some photos on the way to the back of the house, images that made her laugh when she first saw them - like one in which Dean pretended to drive the Impala wearing only a cloth diaper and sunglasses too big for the little blonde head. Mary said, showing the photo, that her son's first passion was the blessed car and no one can disagree, not even Dean.

Upon leaving, the two come across the large backyard completely decorated with lights, flowers and white tables scattered around it. A small platform raised the DJ, the place where the couple would soon make their speech. The guests talked and danced, there were few, but they were extremely important to the couple and she couldn't help feeling proud that she was now part of their family.

“Has begun!”, Alex's voice again took her out of her own thoughts, the first chords of You belong with me in a slow version played and soon the two danced together.

With her arms around her girlfriend, the young Novak just let herself be guided by the feeling of happiness that warmed her chest. They said that high school love didn't last, yet her heart said otherwise; said that her love for Alex would last for eternity. Even if they separated one day, Claire knew that fate would place them side by side again, as she did with her father and Dean. She was too young to marry, they both were, but she was sure they would grow old together.

When the song ended, Mary Winchester climbed onto the podium and took the microphone. The woman was incredible and thanked everything in the universe for having had the opportunity to meet her, she was like the grandmother she always wanted to have despite the fact that she appeared to be too young to have grandchildren. Sam and Dean's mother gave a brief speech, saying how proud she was of her boy and how happy she was that he married such a wonderful person; she let some tears escape when talking about John, honoring his memory and ensuring that he would be very happy with this union. For a moment Claire's blue eyes fell on the brothers, who were next to the platform with their respective partners. Eileen kissed Sam, making him smile and his father shook Dean's hand, who also smiled holding back tears.

“Well, I know you must be tired after so many speeches”, Mary joked drying her eyes gently using a handkerchief “but the best man would like to say a few things”.

And with that she came down from the platform and held the microphone out to her son. Claire came over and took Castiel's hand, who smiled at her, then the two turned to see Dean with a glass of champagne that was gradually served to the other guests.

“First of all, I want to thank everyone who came together today to celebrate the wedding of the best person that exist and my little brother”, Dean joked, making everyone laugh. "Eileen, it's an honor to have you officially in the family," he said at the same time as he was doing the signs. “Although you have been with us for so long, this party only served to end the bet on how long it would take Sammy to propose to you.”

“And I still want my money!”, Bobby shouted in the background, making more laughter echo through the yard.

“Who would have guessed that the nine-year hunch would be the winner, Eileen really admire your patience.”, Dean joked again, the red-haired woman laughed and Sam just rolled his eyes, unable to contain his laughter anyway. “Seriously now, I don't think I was ever so happy to have missed a line as the day we met at the market. That Thanksgiving where our mother made the speech about strangers, as if we were four years old again, not knowing that ten years later you would be marrying her son.”

Mary hugged her daughter-in-law by the shoulders, offering a handkerchief to her too, who accepted it with a big smile on her face. Dean continued:

“Sammy, all these years I felt that my mission was to protect you. Prevent you from suffering and help you achieve each of your dreams, supporting you in all your decisions, even when you decided to quit your career as a lawyer to do literature and become a teacher”, Dean cleared his throat, controlling the voice that was beginning to tremble. “Today I have the honor of being the best man of your wedding and I proudly see the man you have become, but you will always be my little brother and I will always be here to protect you, but now with a little help”, he said, winking at his sister in law. “Now, let's toast the couple's happiness!”

***

After Dean's speech, which made her smudge her makeup a little, Claire once again joined her girlfriend on the improvised dance floor in the middle of the yard. With grace she saw the bride and groom dance next to the speakers, where Eileen could feel the vibration better. She also saw the older Winchester drag Castiel onto the floor, as her father refused to dance; he was never very good at it, Claire still remembered the few times her mother had convinced him and they were all extremely funny. For the luck and relief of the man, Dean was also not very good.

When the girls finally got tired, they went into the house to get closer to the food. With some dishes stolen from the kitchen, the two sat on the sofa in the living room where they talked about what they would do the following year, after the end of the “sabbatical year” they took to travel around the country before finally starting at the University. Alex would go to Washington, where Ben had already started a graphic design course, and study psychology.

“I want to help children like me, those in the system and those who believe they deserve to live in a bad family, because it is the only reality they know”, she replied, years ago, when Claire asked why she chose this course.

Claire would remain in California, despite having dreamed of being away from home so much when she was in college; in her defense the University was hours away from the city where she lived, which would allow for a true university experience with the right to share a room in the campus dormitories. The course she chose could not be anything other than Literature, inspired by her favorite teacher who helped her with the publication of her first book: the story of a girl who decides to get a boyfriend for her father. Without any connection with reality, she claimed.

“I found you”, Mary's voice caught their attention. “Eileen will throw the bouquet.”

***

The meeting of laughing women, more for sharing such a special moment than for tradition, was limited to some of Eileen's colleagues and her husband's family. Claire had never participated in this part at weddings, as the few experienced by the young woman occurred when she was just a child, and she always found the idea a little ridiculous. However, laughing and pretending to be interested in that bunch of lilac flowers, as if something really wonderful was going to happen was a fun part.

To have taken the blessed bouquet was a surprise.

With the small object in hand, Claire approached the table where Dean and her father were, rolling their eyes and pretending to vomit when seeing the blonde give a piece of cake on Castiel's mouth, ending with little kisses. The girl sat down after being congratulated by the men for her achievement, a quick look at the flowers made her think of something. Perhaps the traditions were correct and she had some of the bride's luck in her fingers, so it was worth trying.

“Dean”, she started drawing the attention of the two, who had already started to feed each other again. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, shorty, just say and I do”, he replied drawing smiles from both Novaks. His unconditional dedication was one of the reasons that led Claire to love him the way she did and she was sure that for her father, knowing that Dean treated her with as much affection as himself, was the main reason for wanting to be with the man forever.

So when she opened her mouth to place the order, she knew it was the right thing.

“Will you live with us?”, she released at once, adjusting her tone as she spoke so as not to imply that he had no choice.

“Claire…”, Castiel murmured frustrated. 

“Do not tell me it is too early, you have been together for three years and Dean hardly stays at his house anymore!”, Claire protested crossing her arms. “And our house is closer to the workshop and is much more comfortable, in addition to having a spacious garage”, she argued.

"Well, looking at it from that angle...", Dean started to say with a smile on his face, but Castiel's disgruntled moan hissed him off. "I mean, if you don't want to, I understand," he said directly to his boyfriend, his face getting at least a lighter shade.

“Of course I want to, Dean, don't be stupid”, Castiel replied shaking his head, looked at his daughter, frowning and in a childish whimpering tone continued. “But I wanted to make the request, I had already prepared my speech.”

The two blondes laughed at the disappointed face that the other made, Dean practically begged Castiel to do it anyway, when they returned home.

“And I'm sorry for taking the lead, but I don't want to suffer anymore with your foolishness. Just don't take too long like Sammy to propose and I promise it's the last time”, she joked.

“I can guarantee that this will not happen”, Castiel blushed at the words of Dean, who kissed him while smiling.

“Excuse me, my loves, but I would like a photo of the three”, Mary said approaching with the photographer.

Claire looked at the woman and refrained from calling her grandmother, as she knew it would bring tears to her and she didn't want to portend their relationship by rushing things. The girl stood between the two, who were seated, and smiled at the camera. After the photo was taken, the young woman could not help sharing the news with Mary, who did not contain her own happiness when congratulating them and ended up attracting the attention of the newlyweds.

Watching the exchange of hugs and true happiness between the one who was now her family too, Claire bit her lip and looked up at the orange sky. Closing them, she thanked her mother for helping her all these years and for staying with them.

"We will be very happy," she said and opened his eyes again.

Well, they were very happy.