In which there's a party and Anna comes clean.

[hitchhiker_girl]

All the Ranghettis who lived in New York City lived on one block of apartment buildings in Brooklyn. There was an Italian restaurant, a bar, and several other businesses, and family owned and operated, which were really just to make the well-known hunting family look legit, as oppose to like criminals, the way the rest of the world seemed to view hunters these days. Either way, they were a loud proud Italian family, all headed up by the patriarch, Nonno Ranghetti, who managed to keep the family together, despite their far reaching hands across the country.

And when the family threw a party? It was either go big or go home.

They had taken over one of the alleyways between the restaurant and the bar, and had filled it with tables, chairs, kegs, whatever they needed in order to feed the neighborhood. There were a few grills cooking on the fire escapes, but most of the real food was coming from the restaurant, and the booze was coming from the bar. They had moved the speakers out into the back exit of the bar and were blasting music out into the streets, while the rest of the family just milled around, talking, laughing, and just generally having a good time, while the guest of honor was seated towards one of the back tables with his grand children and great-grandchildren, telling tales of his hunting days, albiet slightly embellished.

Anna stopped in front of the mouth of the alleyway, looking over the people with a bit of a grin, before turning to Maddie. "I hope you're hungry."

Maddie raised a brow to Anna. "Did you really just say that?" Maddie didn't know the word full.

"Just checking," Anna laughed, before turning around at the sound of her name.

"Anna, sweetheart, there you are," Gina grinned as she made her way over. "I was wonderin' when you were gonna get here." She turned slightly to give Maddie a smile, then did a double take. "Oh, damn -- you can't be Dean's little girl."

Maddie smiled politely and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"Good Lord," Gina sighed. "When I last saw you, you were barely out of diapers. How is your old man, anyway?"

"He's good," she said quietly with a nod. "Mom's keeping a pretty firm lock on him."

"That's good," Gina nodded, before gesturing towards the food. "Well, you guys go on in -- there's plenty to eat and drink, and I think Blake's around here somewhere. Look for either a guitar or a piano and you'll find him."

"Can I just have the guitar or piano?" She asked dryly.

Anna gave her a look, before starting to push her towards the food as Gina headed off to talk to another member of the family. "He's not really that bad."

"He's annoying. Boys suck anyway. A lot." She looked over the food and picked up a plate.

"All of us? Really?" Bobby Ranghetti looked over the table at them. "I'm hurt, little lady. You haven't even met me yet."

"Leave her alone, Bobby. She's jailbait," Anna teased, and he shot a hurt look at Anna.

"You wound, Anna. You cut me deep."

Maddie just snorted. "It's true though."

"That you're jailbait, or that boys suck?" Bobby sighed, before flashing her a cocky grin. "Because if you're talking about the second, I happen to suck very, very -- " He was cut off by Anna's hand catching him upside the head. " -- the hell?!?"

"Dean Winchester's sixteen year-old daughter."

Bobby paused for all of a moment, before pointing another direction. "I'm gonna be over there."

Maddie laughed. "Now I know who to call to keep the guys away."

Anna shook her head. "They're not all like him. Some of them know to keep their dirty minds to themselves."

"So what do you do with the ones that are just idiots?"

"Say 'Do you know my dad? His name's Dean. Dean Winchester.'"

"Doesn't really work for all situations," she muttered, taking her plate of food to an open seat.

"Maybe," Anna shrugged as she followed her. "Still a good place to start."

Maddie nodded. "Guess so." Anna nodded, settling down into the set, digging into the food and looking around for any sign of Randall and Frankie. Maddie watched her. "Who're you lookin' for?"

Anna shrugged. "Just people I know." Maddie nodded and went back to her food quietly.

A little while later Randall rounded the corner to the alley with Frankie at his side. He looked around a bit until he spotted Anna, and pulled Frankie that way. When he walked up behind her, he leaned over her shoulder to kiss her cheek. "Hey, gorgeous."

Anna's head snapped up, and she turned around, flashing him a big grin. "Hey, guys."

Randall held out a bouquet of flowers. "These are for the birthday girl," he said. "Frankie picked 'em out."

Frankie gave Anna a shy grin. "Hi Anna." Maddie just watched, her mouth hanging open.

Anna paused for a minute, before cringing slightly. "The birthday girl is actually a guy."

He frowned slightly. "I could have sworn...wait..." he shook his head. "What I meant to say is these are for you." He offered them to her with a little smirk.

"Right," she laughed, before turning back to Maddie, and smirking slightly. "Randall, this is Maddie, Maddie, this is Randall."

Maddie nodded. "Uh huh," she said slowly.

Randall gave her a grin. "So you're the infamous Maddie? I've heard a lot about you." He reached out to shake her hand, and she slowly held hers out to shake his. "Maddie, this is Frankie." His arm dropped around Frankie's shoulders.

Anna watched her with a grin for a minute, before tilting her head to the side slightly. "You okay, Maddie?"

Maddie looked over at Anna with a brow raise. "We really don't talk enough," she said.

Randall quietly watched back and forth, not really sure what was going on. Anna gave her a bit of a look, before turning back to Randall and Frankie for a minute. "You guys help yourself to whatever food's around. You aren't allergic to anything, right?"

"Nope. We're good." Randall patted Frankie's back. "C'mon, lets go get some food so the girls can gossip." He led Frankie away.

Anna sighed slightly, before glancing back at Maddie. "I didn't really tell anyone about me and Randall. So it wasn't just you."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't you tell? He's hot."

"Because I'm not that kind of girl?" Anna said with a shrug. "I don't tend to let my relationships hang out all over the place."

"Telling me isn't hanging it all out. I would've kept it secret."

"I wasn't really sure if it was going anywhere. Do you want to know about all my sexual exploits?"

Maddie made a face. "No, but it must be more than sex if he's here."

"Could be," Anna said, glancing back towards the two of them. "He still doesn't know about the family business yet, though, so -- "

"Yeah, yeah. I won't say anything." She followed Anna's eyes. "You really like him, huh?"

Anna nodded, before turning back to her. "He's more than just hot, you know."

Maddie smirked. "Like really hot?"

"Like actually a nice guy," Anna said, giving her a look.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. He must be old though if he's got a kid that age."

"He's thirty-two," Anna replied. "And Frankie's not biologically his kid."

Maddie shrugged. "Biology doesn't matter."

"I'm aware. But he's not that old."

"Uh-huh." Maddie went back to her food. It was best to just be quiet.

Anna leaned back in her chair and said hello to the people as they made their way around them, talking to the ones she knew better more than others. Frankie and Randall came back soon after, both sitting between the girls and across from each other. "Looks like a great spread," Randall commented.

"You guys think it's good, you should come back when they're actually in business," Anna said with a nod. "They're open all year round."

"I like angel hair with meatballs," Frankie announced.

Randall grinned. "And canoli?"

Frankie nodded. "And canoli. But not at the same time."

"Well, then you should definitely come back when were open, ah?" a thick Italian accent said as an elderly man came up behind them, placing a hand on Frankie's shoulder. "Because my Maria, she makes the best canolis in the city. Fresh every morning."

"Hey, Nonno," Anna said with a grin. "Happy birthday."

"Anna, bella, so glad you could make it." He leaned in, kissing the top of her head lightly, before sitting down in a chair across from the group. "Who are your friends, I ah, I don't think I know them."

"This is Randall McMann, and his son, Frankie MacKenzie," Anna replied, pointing to each person in turn. "And this is Maddie Winchester."

Randall grinned and nodded to the man. "Happy Birthday, we appreciate being able to tag along. And, you let this one near fresh canolis they'll be gone in the blink of an eye." Frankie blushed. Maddie chuckled, but kept quiet otherwise.

"Oh, it's nothing. When you're celebrating, it's good to have lots of people around, no? Lots of laughter and good food, and talking," Nonno gave them a warm smile. "Besides, new friends are good to make. You can tell them stories that you have told your family a thousand times, and they're brand new, eh?"

"Of course," Randall nodded with a laugh. "Can't really beat a nice day with nice people."

"Exactly," the older man smiled, before turning back to Maddie. "Now, Winchester -- you related to a Dean and a Sam Winchester?"

Maddie nodded, used to this question. "Yeah, my Dad is Dean. But I'm Maddie." She wasn't being rude, wasn't meaning to at least, but sometimes it got old being 'Dean Winchester's kid'.

He chuckled lightly, before pointing a finger in Maddie's direction. "You father -- he has a big heart. So did your Nonna Mary. You, ah -- you have her eyes."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You're welcome," he said with a nod. "Poor girl --died so young at the hands of that figlio-di-a-femmina demon. You listen. You ever want to hear stories about your nonna you come and find me. I will tell you."

"Okay," she nodded, looking down at her food.

"Maybe there's a happier story, Nonno?" Anna suggested. "Something to make us laugh, rather than making us cry?"

"Oh, now, let-ah me think," he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sure that I have an old war story that I can tell ya."

Randall glanced back and forth a bit. "Who was Mary?"

"Mary Winchester is Maddie's grandmother," Anna replied. "She died when her dad was four."

"She was a spitfire that girl," Nonno murmured. "She wouldn't back down from a fight if you gave her a million dollars."

"I'm gonna walk around and check things out a bit," Maddie said, suddenly getting to her feet. She turned and walked off. Randall glanced over at Anna with his brows raised.

"She's a bit of a touchy subject," Anna sighed softly, before turning back to the elderly man in front of her. "Why don't you tell them that story about the ghouls in Clark County?"

"Oh -- a-ha! That was a good one. Me and my brother Carmine -- we were out in Las Vegas for a vacation, n -- "

***
Maddie wandered around with her arms crossed and looked things over. She didn't really want to stop and talk to anyone. She was getting tired of hearing stories. She sighed and kept walking, stopping when she heard piano playing. She tilted her head and tried to figure out where it was coming from.

Blake was sitting at the piano in the bar, running his fingers over the keys softly, before picking up the pace and launching into a rowdy version of "Bad Leroy Brown," singing along as he went. "On the south side of Chicago, is the baddest part of town, and if you go down there, you better just beware of a man named Leroy Brown."

Maddie walked in and stood there, head tilted with a slight smirk on her lips. Blake felt her there on the edge of his mind, but he didn't acknowledge her at first, just continued to play, singing along with the song. "Now Leroy's more than trouble. You see, he stand bout six foot four. All the downtown ladies call him treetop lover, all the men just call him sir. And its bad, bad Leroy Brown, the baddest man in the whole damn town. Badder than old King Kong and meaner than a junkyard dog."

Maddie moved a little closer and spotted his guitar. She considered picking it up, but wasn't sure how he'd feel about that. She knew she'd hurt anyone who tried to touch her guitar. But her itch to play won out and she picked it up, then sat down and started strumming along and finding her way into the song with him. He glanced over at her with a grin, slowing down until she found her way in, before picking up the song again and finding it way back into the chorus again. She didn't have a lot of faith in her singing voice, even though it was pretty good, so she just stayed quiet as she played along.

He finished the song with a flourish before turning back to her with a smile. "Not bad, darlin'. Now long you been playin'?"

"Since I was twelve," she nodded. "That's when Dad finally gave in to my begging."

"You're good," he nodded. "Angeline taught me piano when I was four, and I worked my way up from there."

"Yeah..I've been learning piano this year. I really like it. Lessons are...kinda on pause right now though. And I don't know how easy it'd be to get my parents to buy me one."

"Piano's a lot more expensive than a guitar is, plus you need the space fo' it." He paused for a moment, before pushing himself up from the bench. "C'mon -- let's see what ya know."

"I...really don't know much," she shook her head.

"Awww, c'mon. Maybe I can teach ya somethin' new."

"I don't want to," she said a bit shortly.

Blake looked at her for a moment. "Then don't give me excuses, darlin'," he sighed, sitting back on the bench again, and placing his fingers back on the keys. "Just tell me so." She sighed and set his guitar down. He paused for a minute, before nodding to her. "Whadaya know on guitar?"

"I know a lot of different stuff." She shrugged. "Sometimes work on my own stuff."

"Anythin' I might be able to accompany you on?"

"I don't know. What else do you know?"

"I know a lotta stuff," Blake said for a minute. "Angeline raised me on jazz, my momma taught me Springsteen and my daddy introduced me to Zeppelin. So pick a song, an' I probably know it."

She thought it over for awhile, then slowly started the intro for one of her favorite Beatles songs, "If I Fell". She hadn't really wanted to sing in front of him, but she started to anyway. He let her play on the guitar for a moment, before slowly edging himself into the song. It was one he knew well -- the Beatles collection was something he'd taken time to learn on his own -- and he managed to add himself in seamlessly, softly at first as to not spook her.

She was lost in the song and only barely registered him joining in, though she did hear the music flow sweeter. He just played along with her, not pushing her and finishing the song when she did. Once the song ended she bit her lip and nodded, not looking up at him.

"You got a great voice," he said softly after a minute.

Maddie's cheeks flushed. "It's not that...-thanks. You're...really good on the piano."

"Thanks," he said with a nod. "An' you do. Angeline woulda loved to teach you. Ya got great tonality."

"I've always been more interested in playing than singing, but..." she shrugged.

He nodded a bit, before starting something a little jazzier -- "Stormy Weather" by Ella Fitzgerald. "Angeline was always a firm believer in both. She always said that if you can play an instrument, you can carry a tune. Otherwise, ya ain't very good at the instrument."

Maddie just sat back and listened to him play. "Makes sense."

"Ya teach yourself?"

"Pretty much," she nodded. "I don't know...I guess music's always kinda been my thing."

"Always good to have soemthin', especially with our background."

"It's not my background," she shook her head.

"Hate to break it to you, darlin', but even if you don't wind up in this lifestyle, you're still always gonna be a hunter's daughter." He stopped playing for a moment, before turning to face her. "You're still always gonna know about stuff other people don't. You can't deny that -- it's still a part of you."

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter what I know. It's not my life. It's...my Dad's life. My uncle's life....Anna's, yours...not mine," she looked down again.

"It does matter what you know. Maddie, all we are are what we know. It's what makes us human -- what makes us different. If we all knew the same things, we'd just all be mindless robots with no sense of self." He leaned forward slightly resting his elbows on his legs. "You got a legacy of strong, smart, interestin' people behind you who lived the lives they did, so that you could be here now. Even if you're not huntin', they're part of you. You gotta hold onto that, because otherwise -- who are ya?"

She shot a glare up at him. "I'm not..." She shook her head, looking down again. "I'm not them. I'm not a part of their 'legacy'. I'm here because a piece of all of that...met my mom." She chewed her lip and put the guitar down. "I'm just...Dean Winchester's little girl."

"No, ya not. You're always gonna be part o' all this, because everywhere you go, you're gonna have a friend. And maybe ya haven't done great things yet, but you're only sixteen. Ya got a lotta time to go."

"Yeah," she said softly. "And maybe by the time I'm thirty I'll know half the things that everyone else seems to know about my family that I don't. You just...you don't get it." Her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

Blake let his arm rest on top of the piano for a moment, letting his finger brush against his bottom lip lightly. "You're right, I don't. But I don't get it because I usually know everythin', whether people want me to or not. And dependin' on what you want to know, I'm pretty sure that if ya just asked, your dad'd tell ya." He paused for a moment, before turning back to the piano. "But if you want, we'll drop it."

"I should go find Anna anyway," she said, standing up. She knew she was being rude, but she didn't really care. She really just wanted to get away from the conversation and any awkward from it.

"Right. You do that," Blake sighed, leaning into the keys and starting to play something hard and classical.

Maddie didn't say anything else, she just headed outside and walked around a bit, before finding a quiet spot to sit down and pull out her iPod. Anna wandered by a few minutes later, before sitting down next to her and nudging her shoulder lightly.

"Hey -- you alright?"

Maddie pulled the buds from her ears and nodded. "I'm fine." She sighed and glanced down towards the tables. "Randall and Frankie having fun?"

"Yeah, they seem to be. Nonno regaling them with a tale of a Trickster in Newfoundland, which I'm pretty sure they don't believe a word of."

"Let's hope they just consider him a senile old man," she smirked slightly.

"Either that or he likes to tell big fish stories."

Maddie nodded. "Don't worry, I don't think he'll scare 'em off."

"Yeah, hopefully," Anna nodded. "So what have you been up to?"

"Just hangin' out. Ran into Blake."

"How'd that go?"

"I was my sweet self and argued with him," she said with a cute smile.

Anna sighed slightly, before looking over at her. "Look, I know he can be a little difficult sometimes. But he's really not that bad."

"Not like I planned on arguing with him."

"I know you didn't."

"Whatever," she shrugged. "I don't hate him or anything, it doesn't matter."

"Whatever you say," Anna sighed. Maddie sighed and dropped her head to Anna's shoulder and just watched the party go on around them. There was a lot to watch. Anna sighed softly and curled in closer, just relaxing and taking everything in.

After a bit, Frankie came running over and dodged down behind Anna. "Hide me!"

Randall came after quickly, marinara sauce on his face and shirt. "Where's the short one?" He had a slight smile on his lips, not really angry.

"I have no idea," Anna shook her head. "Haven't seen him."

Maddie looked up at Randall. "Y'know...you got a little somethin' on your face."

Randall frowned playfully. "Do I? I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah," Anna chuckled. "Just a little bit."

Randall put his hands on his hips and looked around. "He couldn't have gotten too far. Eh," he shrugged. "I'll look for him before we leave."

"Hey!" Frankie shouted, popping from behind Anna. He was frowning.

"Whoa!" Randall said in fake surprise. "Where did you come from?"

"You weren't gonna look for me."

Anna just had a confused look on her face. "I had no idea he was there."

"I see how it is, you're all teaming up against me. Every one of ya." He may have thrown in a mafia accent.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't start with that." He grinned and lunged at her, his arms opening to grab her up in a hug, with plans to kiss her cheek as well. Anna shrieked slightly, hand going to his chest as she tried to hold him back. Maddie shrieked as well, jumping out of the way. Frankie's head fell back in laughter. Randall continued trying to get closer to Anna.

"No, Randall, c'mon -- tomato sauce won't come out of this shirt."

He had a thought, but wasn't going to say it in front of the younger crowd. "Okay." He stepped back, hands held up in surrender.

Frankie sat next to Anna. "You can't hurt me either, cuz I'm sticking by her." He grinned.

Anna smirked slightly, before sliding an arm around Frankie's shoulders. "Looks like you're out of options."

"Well I'm not spending the rest of the party looking like this. I'm gonna find somewhere to clean up." He shook his head, smiling, and walked off.

Frankie smiled up at Anna adoringly. "Thank you."

"You're lucky he didn't actually get to me, or you would have been out of luck."

Maddie smirked. "Yeah, you're cute kid, but not cute enough for her to forgive losing her a shirt."

Frankie shrugged. "I'd blame it on Randall."

"Uh-huh. And who got the sauce on him in the first place?"

"It was an accident!"

"Oh, really?"

"I swear!" He looked at her with his large brown eyes.

"Mmmm-hmmm."

Before long, Randall came back. His face was clean and his shirt was damp and still stained, but not really messy anymore. He sighed and sat down on the other side of Frankie. Maddie looked around at everyone for a couple beats, then got up. "C'mon, Frankie. Let's go find some dessert." She held out a hand to him and he jumped up to go with her.

Randall watched them walk off and looked over at Anna. "Come here often?"

"Every once in a while," she said with a smirk.

He scooted closer to her. "Haven't really gotten a kiss yet today."

"You haven't?"

He shook his head. "Well...Frankie's grandmother kissed me, but...didn't really do anything for me."

"Mmmm, guess I should fix that, huh?"

He leaned a bit closer, his hand moving to rest on her back. "Only if you want. No pressure." A slow grin was spreading on his lips.

She smiled slightly at that, before leaning in to kiss him gently. The kiss lasted only a little while, but she gave him a small smile when it was over. "Better?"

His eyes kept closed as she pulled away and he nodded. "Very." Then he sighed and opened his eyes to look at her. Not that he really had anything to say. He just wanted to look at her.

"Good," she said with smile.

He sat back a bit and took her hand, watching the people around them. "So Maddie seems like a cool kid."

"She is," Anna nodded. "In more ways than one."

Randall nodded. "I...didn't say anything wrong earlier, did I? The way she...kinda took off?"

"No," Anna sighed slightly, biting her lip a bit. "It's complicated. Maddie feels -- a little out of place with her family, because -- they're a bit of underground legends, if that makes any sense."

He nodded. "Most teenagers feel out of place with their families."

"Yeah, I know. I just -- her situation isn't exactly normal, and that kind of makes things worse."

"Ahh. More of that stuff you're not ready to talk about?" He tilted his head to her. He wasn't saying it in any accusatory tone or anything, just understanding.

"I will. Eventually," she said softly, running a hand through her hair. "I just -- don't want you to call me crazy."

"I wouldn't. Well, not out loud," he said with a little smile. "And I'd probably still keep you around. I've been told sex with crazy women is awesome."

"Randall," she said softly, giving him a look. "This isn't a joke, okay? This is my life."

He sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her close. He rested his forehead to the side of her head. "I know. I'm sorry. It's...I love you. It would take a hell of a lot to scare me away from that. I don't want you to worry too much, and I'm not pressing you to tell me before you're ready to." He kissed her head softly.

"I know," she swallowed slightly, just leaning into him for a moment, before pushing herself up from a chair and taking his hand. "Take a walk with me." He squeezed her hand and got up with her. She started to lead him out of the party and back onto the streets. Once the crowd thinned out a bit, she turned back to him, keeping his hand in hers. "What if I told you that Nonno's stories weren't exactly fish tales?"

His brows wrinkled a bit. "The ones about Mary or...the outlandish ones?"

She swallowed slightly. "All of them?"

He chewed his lip a bit, looking down as he thought this over. "What do you mean?" He looked to her face again.

"I mean that it's all real," she sighed. "Ghosts, demons, wendigos, poltergeists -- hell, even angels."

It processed slowly in his head. His fingers ran through his hair. "But..." He didn't know what the but was. He was quiet some more as he tried to picture it all being real.

She started to let go of his hand, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Look, if you don't believe me, it's okay. You wouldn't be the first."

He blinked out of it and watched her for a moment, before sliding his arms around her and attempting to pull her to his chest. "I didn't say that," he said. "I'm just...absorbing. Trying to make sense of it."

"Randall," her arms landed on top of his and she kept looking at the ground, "don't patronize me, okay? Either you believe me, or you don't."

He stepped back and let her have her space. "I'm not trying to patronize you. It's...it's just a lot. I'm trying to wrap my head around it. That doesn't mean I don't believe you."

Yeah, she knew what happened when people tried to rationalize it. Either they rationalized it away and pretend it never happened, or they believed it, and the latter rarely ever happened without first hand experience. She took a deep breath, before looking up at him again, running a hand through your hair. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

He watched her, suddenly feeling even more mixed up. The last thing he wanted was to upset her. "I want to be given the chance to not...be like everyone else," he said slowly. "And...I don't think you're crazy. Just..." He bit his lip and sighed. "I've just...never been the kinda guy that believes in ghosts and stuff. Doesn't...mean it can't exist." He was chewing his lip again, watching the ground as he continued thinking it all through.

She took a deep breath as she turned back to him. "Look, Randall, it's okay. I'm just used to bracing myself for the inevitable. Sometimes people who see these things face to face still don't believe it -- I don't expect you to believe me off the bat without proof." He was quiet for a bit, then sighed and took a step closer. His hand reached out for her cheek, not wanting to be pushed away this time. She looked back up at him, before closing her eyes. "This isn't just something we believe, alright? This is my life. My family hunts these things. So if you can't wrap your head around this -- "

His thumb brushed her cheek lightly as he watched her. He took another step closer. "Anna," he said softly. "Look at me." She sighed, before looking up at him. He looked back down at her, thoughts still running as he began to speak. "Look...I know all of this, us...it happened fast. Even so, I care about you so much. And...for me...if you say this is all real...I'll believe you. Even if it doesn't make sense yet. I trust you."

Anna sighed, before nodding. "Okay."

He sighed as well, dropping his lips to her forehead. "I don't want to go anywhere."

"I don't want you going anywhere either," she replied. "But I also don't want you to see crazy girl when you look at me."

He pulled up again. "I don't. I just...see my gorgeous Anna."

"Okay," she said softly.

"Do you believe me?"

She looked up at him again, before nodding with a small smile. "Yeah. Of course I do."

He leaned down and kissed her gently. She kissed him back, moving her arms around his neck. His arms went around her waist tightly and he pulled her close. She stayed close, breaking the kiss after a minute and resting her forehead against his shoulder. He kept her close and rubbed her back slowly.

"Why don't you come over tonight?" He asked softly. "I'd...I'd like to hear more about your family. If you want to tell me."

Anna paused for a minute, before nodding a bit. "Sure. Well, I have to get Maddie home, but maybe."

He nodded. "I have to take Frankie home later, too. But after that. It's up to you."

"I'll see what I can do," she nodded. His arms tightened around her and he just fell silent for a moment. She was quiet too, just letting things settle. After a while, she pushed back and ran a hand through her hair. "I better go see how Maddie's doing."

"Okay," he nodded. "I'll come see if Frankie's still with her." He held out a hand to her. She took his hand with a slight squeeze, before starting to follow him back to the party.

***
Maddie walked quietly beside Anna as they headed home from the party, and glanced over at her again. She knew Anna and she knew something was off. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Anna glanced over at her for a moment, before sliding her hands in her pockets. "I told him."

Maddie's brows went up. "As in...told him that the monsters in his closet are real?"

"Yeah," Anna sighed. "As in that."

"How'd he take it?" She asked gently.

"Well, he didn't call me crazy."

"But...?"

"He said he had to process," Anna replied. "And processing usually ends in people telling me that it's not going to work."

"And now you think it's gonna happen again?"

"No reason why it shouldn't," she sighed. "I mean, he even said that he never thought he had reason to believe the things out there are real."

"Yeah," Maddie said slowly. "But...it looks like...he really likes you."

"That's what he says," she sighed. "I just -- this has happened to me too many times."

Maddie slid an arm through Anna's. "Well...if he's gonna be stupid like all the others...then he's not worth it."

"Know he's not," she murmured. "Just wish that I had sorted all this out before I fell for him."

"Well...like I said earlier, boys are stupid. They make us fall for them then...act like jerks."

Anna nodded for a minute, before nudging her slightly. "What's wrong with your boy now?"

Maddie frowned. "I thought we were talking about your problems."

"Hey, I talked. Now it's your turn."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "It's no big deal. He's started hanging out with this girl, and..." she shrugged. "Not like we were anything or were going to be anything."

"Did he know how you felt about him?"

"Yeah," she said, not elaborating.

"Then he's still a jerk, and you're in the right to be upset about it."

"Thought he liked me, too," she muttered.

"I know," Anna sighed softly. "But boys are gonna be doing that your whole life." She paused for a minute. "Doesn't mean you can't fight back, though."

"How?"

Anna smirked slightly. "Just act like you're over it. Flirt with other boys, be happy -- he may not like seeing you miserable, but he'll be insanely jealous if he thinks you've moved on."

She rolled her eyes. "Flirting and moving on requires boys. I'm not exactly Ms. Popularity at school."

"Who says you need a boy from school?" Anna replied. "I happen to know of a fairly attractive older Southern boy who has no qualms with being used for fiendish purposes."

"One, he's annoying. Two, try running that past Mom and Dad. I'm not allowed to hang out with older guys."

"Yes, well, with your dad, he's not an older boy. He's Gina Walker's son, and he's known Gina since before he ever met your mom. Also, Blake can reign in the annoying, and who says your parents have to know. You don't have to actually date him, he just has to think you are."

"Maybe," she shrugged.

Anna shrugged as well. "Just an idea."

"I just wanna focus on my guitar. It's a lot easier to understand."

"Makes sense," she nodded. "Just try not to let it get to you too much, alright? He's not worth it."

"Yeah. Okay. And remember what I said about yours."

"I will," Anna nodded.

"Good."

"Good," Anna nodded as they finally arrived back at the Winchesters' building, turning them so that they were headed inside.

Maddie wasn't in the mood to see her parents, so as soon as they got inside she headed for the stairs. "I'll talk to you later. Thanks for taking me to the party and letting me meet Randall."

"No problem," Anna sighed, before her phone started to buzz in her pocket. She studied the text message for a minute, before sighing. "I'm going out for a bit. I'll check in later, okay?"

"Okay." Maddie nodded and went upstairs. Anna sighed before turning and heading back out the door, waiting for her ride to come and pick her up.