❛ CHAPTER FOUR ━ WHAT DADS DO ❜
𖤐¸𓍢 ━━ ❪ ACT ONE OF SOULBOUND ❫ ˖ ୧ 。
◟ ✦ PLEASE DON'T STOP LOVING ME! ❞
The theme was space and Dean was slowly losing his mind, secretly regretting that he didn't ask for help when it came to planning Olive's six birthday, claiming that he could do it all himself and make it the best party that any snot-nosed child and adult has ever seen.
If only he knew about the balloons, and the cupcakes, and the placements and the food, would be so much of a hassle to get alone. Apparently, the Dollar Store didn't have space-themed things and because of it, Dean was about to pop a blood vessel.
"Five! Five different places didn't have space-themed balloons. How stupid is that?" Dean says as he walked into the kitchen from the back door, kicking the snow from his boots before setting the cake box on the table.
Lisa laughs from her seat, putting down the magazine she was reading.
"What party store doesn't have balloons shaped like planets?" He pecked her lips before leaning against the countertop, exhausted. "Why couldn't she pick sparkly pink things like every other little girl?"
"Because our little girl liked space princesses, and you," She poked his chest before wrapping her arms around his waist, "Promised to make the living room look like a space ship castle. So you better start now."
"I'm about to just wrap everything in tinfoil and call it a day." He mumbled.
It was only a week into December and the snow was already sticking to the ground which made it difficult for Dean and Lisa to get everything they needed for Olive's birthday but by some miracle, they managed to check everything off the list.
It had now been seven months since Dean and Olive moved in with Lisa and Ben and everything was smooth sailing.
For the most part.
The more Olive became self-aware, the more Dean couldn't hide his depression with forced smiles and piggyback rides.
Olive slowly started to notice that Dean drank more than the average human being. She noticed the way he would space out with a frown and glossy eyes, or stay up hours in the garage fixing things that were never broken, to begin with.
She never asked him about it. Olive never pushed. She would just sit with him and put her head on his shoulder or lap and listen to him cry in silence or space out numbly when there were no more tears left to cry for his brother and the things he's lost along the way.
There was never a time, when Dean was feeling under the weather, were Olive wasn't there just to stand around and make sure he was okay.
She didn't have to say anything, she just had to be there.
Those moments were never one-sided either.
Whenever Olive woke up from a nightmare Dean was there, staying up with her at odd hours of the night until she fell back asleep against his chest.
Whenever Olive had one of her panic attacks Dean seemed to know when they were happening before it happened. He would take her away from everyone else and sit with her, telling her stories to make her forget.
Lisa had been there for most of it. She tried to lift their spirits up as much as she could but it didn't have the same effect as it did for each other.
Like that one day, when Dean and she were at the grocery store and ran into some neighborhood friends, Lisa wasn't surprised when Dean referred to Olive as his own.
Yeah, my daughter loves Scooby Doo but I won't let her watch it without me.'
Olive had no idea that Dean thought of her that way but because she only referred to him as Dean it felt awkward for him to call her that when she was listening.
Lisa understood this because she felt the same way.
There had been a few times that she almost slipped and called Olive her child when introducing her to new people. It was a topic that wasn't ready to be brought up.
"Is that the cake?" She seemed to come out of nowhere. She wore a green paper crown on top of her tawny curls, that now swayed to her lower back. Her dark blue eyes were solemnly trained on the big white box on the table.
She dashed around the table but wasn't quick enough to move away from Dean's grip.
He lifted over his shoulder. "Nope. Not happening."
She tried to wiggle out of his arms but it was no use, the crown drops from her head and onto the floor. With a dramatic groan, she slumped her weight and allows Dean to carry her into the living room.
"You can't see it until tomorrow."
"But by the time I get a good look, all the other kids are gonna grab at it!" She states, raising her arms before dropping them to her side.
She was wearing a small pink bed robe over one of Dean's band shirts. It was practically her trademark because she wore the robe so much.
Dean scoffed. "I went to three different shops for that cake, if anyone's getting first grabs it's me."
"Birthday girl gets first to pick, everyone knows that," Lisa says as she throws herself on the love seat. Dean sits at the edge of it with a mocking eye roll.
"I heard cake." Ben runs down the steps and pops his head into the living room. Everyone he cared about was here and it made him smile. "I get first pick."
"What's with everyone trying to eat my cake!?" Olive sassed.
Lisa's eyes widened. "You are not eating that cake by yourself."
"Not all by myself. ." Olive mumbled. "At least not all in one day."
"I'll help you," Dean says. They high-five each other with matching grins.
"No."
"This sucks." Olive huffs. "Why do kids from school have to come? I don't even talk to them."
Olive started school in September and she made it everyone's problem.
On the first day, Dean had been called down to the office where the principal explained Olive's muteness— the only problem is, Olive wasn't mute. Apparently she refused to speak in school and it was causing problems with her education.
Dean had to handle his very first temper tantrum and it made him question everything he stood for.
He hated seeing Olive cry but Lisa said she needed to be discipline properly. Lisa locked Goob in a desk in her room, she thought taking something away would make Olive want it back and listen, but all it did was make the girl scream her lungs out until she got it back.
Five year olds were evil.
So, Dean tried it his way and told her if she didn't start speaking that the voice monster would take her voice away forever and he couldn't help her.
Olive spoke every day at school since.
Doesn't mean she liked the kids any less.
"Because it'll be nice for you to make some friends, Olly," Lisa explains.
"Yeah, and because my friends from school have little siblings and I want them to come so we can play on my PS2." Ben chimes.
"Which you aren't going to be doing during Olly's party." Dean gave him a look. "Right?"
Ben straightened. "What? Yeah of course not! I'll be there the whole time." He reassured. Olive nodded.
"I'm going to be six." She says giddily. Dean and Lisa smile at her expression.
"Speaking of," Dean tugged at her curls. "What do you want for your birthday?"
Olive pretended to think. "A planet!"
"Should have seen that coming," Lisa says.
Dean rolls his eyes. "Something I can fit in the house."
Olive actually takes a moment before blurting her answer. "A smaller planet!"
"That's- I-" Dean spluttered before slowly turning to Lisa. "I'll just think of something later."
‧₊ ❁ཻུ۪۪.;:୭̥.┊
"Let's play a question game," Olive says as Dean moves around the kitchen making lunch.
"Peel potato's instead." He says. "That's fun."
"Lisa says it's a fun game." She pressed.
"Lisa says."
Olive lifts her head. "Yeah. But it doesn't really make sense because you don't win anything and sometimes it gets sad.."
"Then it's not fun." Dean laughs.
"That's what I said."
They go silent for a moment before Dean speaks up, stirring the saucepot. "What's your favorite song?"
"That song that you hum to me all the time." She says.
Dean smiles. "It's called Hey Jude. My mom used to sing it to me."
"Yeah, that one. It's my favorite." She says. Dean glancing back at her as she continues. "What's your middle name?"
"I don't have one. Pie or Waffles?" He teases.
She kicks her feet with a burst of excitement. "Both."
"Adda-girl."
"What's the best thing that's ever happened to you?" She asks.
Dean softly smiles at the strawberries, knowing exactly what he wanted to say, "Good question-"
Lisa walks into the kitchen right as Dean goes to speak and seconds before Olive reaches for a cookie on the table, "Olly." The little girl freezes in place. "You know better."
Olive shrinks back. "It's only one cookie."
"Yeah Lisa, it's only one cookie." Dean snickers.
Lisa rolls her eyes and grabs the plate of cookies, putting it on the counter. "One cookie turns to six when it comes to you two. Besides, you'll have so many cookies tomorrow you might go into a coma."
Olive sighs and continues peeling potatoes.
Lisa stands beside Dean as he cooked, smiling at each other in a loving manner as they chatted about everything under the sun. Olive continued peeling, thinking about the cookie.
"I really wanna cookie." Olive mumbles. She continues mumbling to herself. Her body begins to heat up from the inside almost like the opposite of the chills, and without her knowing one of the cookies on the plate behind her hovered up.
Dean sees this in the corner of his eye, the spoon clinks onto the stove, making Lisa turn her head.
He wasn't quick enough like all the times before. When Olive gets mad and the things around her shake he can easily hide that and blame something else. Or when she levitates in her sleep. Or even when she unknowingly walks inches off of the ground. He can hide it all from Lisa and Ben. Not this.
He snags the cookie seconds before it hits the back of Olive's head. She turns around with wide eyes as Dean shoves the cookie in his mouth. He smiles forcefully.
"Did. .you just eat a cookie?"
"No." He slugged, mouthful. She narrowed her eyes, nose scrunched.
"Dean." Lisa breathes out, horrified.
"Lisa I can explain—"
"Is she a—"
"Olive go upstairs," Dean says firmly.
Her eyes widened. "But—"
"Now." He never broke eye contact with Lisa, who was staring at him with fearful eyes.
Olive puts the potato down with a sigh and slides off of the stool, running to her room.
Lisa takes a step back, "Is she a demon?"
"There's nothing wrong with her—"
"Bullshit," She breathes out. "She lifted that cookie with her mind, Dean. It was her."
"She doesn't know. You can't tell her." He clenched his jaw.
"That she's one of those things you hunt?"
"She isn't!" Dean bellows, trying to compose himself with a deep exhale. "She's the same little girl from this morning."
"Except with supernatural powers." She breaths out. "How long have you known she could do things like that?" He hesitates. "Dean?"
"Since the day I met her."
"And you brought her into this house. With Ben." She laughs bitterly. "You couldn't bother to share that information?"
"There's nothing wrong with her." He repeats. "She's angelic, not demonic."
"The demon in the woods. You told me once that she saved you. .did she kill him?"
Dean bows his head, eyes closed. He can't fix this. Not now.
Her eyes burned with rage, "Did she kill him, Dean?"
"Yes. She did."
"Oh my, god."
"She doesn't know it was her, Lisa."
She throws her hands up. "That doesn't make it any better! That makes her even more dangerous! She has powers and she doesn't even know?!"
"She's just a kid. My kid. We wouldn't have stayed here if I thought she was a threat to you and Ben." Dean explains. "Lisa you have to believe me. Olive is the same kid from day one. You know that."
Lisa breaths out heavily. She knows that, deep down, there wasn't a bad bone in Olive's body. She was still the little girl who sat down and allowed Lisa to braid her hair.
But she was a mother, and at that moment she was selfishly worried for herself and her son. Dean had dealt with these things before, she didn't know how to process this information the way he did.
Olive was angelic. That was a good thing, right?
Lisa didn't believe in much before she met the Winchester's but anything after this didn't surprise her anymore.
"Lisa. ."
"I love her," Lisa states firmly. "I love you." She grabs his hand and he studies her face for any sign of disgust or anger, but there was nothing but an understanding smile. "I've gone this long without knowing we can wait one more day. .she deserves this party and we both deserve a win." Dean smiles at this. "And when the time comes. .we'll talk about it. .together."
"Together."
‧₊ ❁ཻུ۪۪.;:୭̥.┊
Olive sits in a circle on the floor surrounded by children from her school, most of them also living in the neighborhood. She never spoke to them before, never having a reason to because they all acted the way Olive never could.
Unaware.
Her party was a success, the living room looked as close to a spaceship castle as Dean could get it. Hanging planets and blow up aliens, and Olive's space throne that only she could sit on. She was having the best time of her life and thanked Dean thousands of times in one breath when she saw it.
"Let's playhouse!" Karla Anderson says, pulling out her endless amount of rag dolls from her backpack. "I'll be mommy, Lori will be the daughter, and Joey can be the puppy. Olive, you can be the daddy."
Olive takes the doll with a frown, she's never played house before and she's definitely never played with dolls.
She plays superheroes with Ben and Dean.
"I...I don't know how to be the daddy." She says, trying to hand it back.
Lori's eyes widened. "Why not?"
"Well because I don't know what dad's do. .because I don't have a daddy. ." Olive replies.
"But everyone has a daddy," Joey says. "Who ties your shoes?"
"And takes you a bath?" Karla adds.
"Or gives you hugs and tells you stories." Lora pipes in softly.
Olive's eyes water.
"My daddy makes me breakfast." Joey smiles.
"My daddy chases away the monsters under my bed." Lora laughs. Olive doesn't.
"I have two mommies but when I see my daddy he likes to pick me up and give me the biggest hugs." Karla wraps her arms around herself with a smile.
"What's wrong, Olive?" Joey frowns. "I'm sorry if we made you sad on your birthday."
"Yeah, we didn't mean to."
"It's okay if you don't have a daddy," Lora says.
Olive sniffles. "I–I don't have a dad. .but I have a Dean. .does that count?"
"I don't know. .does he tie your shoes and gives you bath time?"
"Yes. ."
"Hugs and stories?" Joey tilts his head, face scrunched.
Olive's eyes begin to widen, the realization hitting her quick. "Yes. . He does!"
"He chases the monsters away?" Lora whispers, looking around for any signs of closet monsters.
Olive smiles brightly. "He does! Since the second I met him he's chased all the monsters away. He's a hero." She frowns once more, slumping back. "But he's not my real daddy."
"That's okay! Tori's not my real mommy but I love her loads." Karla shrugs.
"I love Dean too. .but. . I thought you only get one daddy." Olive says.
Lora shakes her head. "My therapist says that you can have more than one. You just have to pick which ones your forever daddy."
"Forever daddy?" She repeats.
Olive never understood the concept of parents. She has one mom and one dad. When Sophia adopted her, she knew that Sophia was legally her mommy now, so that's what she called her.
But Dean hadn't adopted her, in fact, she's only known him less than a year.
But he felt like a dad, Olive thought. He did everything a dad is supposed to do, he loved her like a father. So that's what he must be, right?
"Is Dean yours?"
Olive looks towards the door where Dean stood in the astronaut suit. He was frowning, tapping his fingers against his plastic sword as his green eyes swept the sea of faces before landing on her hazel ones.
In an instant he lights up, smiling and giving Olive a wave. Olive grins, waving back.
"Yes," She agrees, taking Karla's doll back with a smile, "Dean's my dad."
‧₊ ❁ཻུ۪۪.;:୭̥.┊
"Thanks for coming, Bobby." Dean greets at the door.
Both hunters grimaced at the shout of squealing children and Dean lets out a chuckle before allowing him inside. Bobby took note at the home Dean stayed in, his eyes scanning the pictures on the wall that most would see coming inside.
A perfect little family.
Bobby was genuinely impressed.
"I'm surprised you let me," He says, looking at Dean in amusement. The young man was wearing an astronaut suit, a plastic sword on the hip, and a paper red crown. "What are you supposed to be."
He gestured to his clothes like it was obvious. "I'm an Astro-knight." He then gestured to the crown. "I just finished saving the princess and marrying the queen."
"I missed a lot then." He says sarcastically.
Dean smiles. "It's good to see you, Bobby."
Bobby nods, "You too, son. You too." He looks around, "You went all out with the theme, I see."
He smirks, "Go big or go home."
"Dean!" Olive shouts.
The hunters turn towards the kitchen where Olive emerges. She was also wearing an astronaut outfit and a green paper crown. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement like she was going to tell Dean something before her eyes drifted to Bobby.
Before Dean can warn Bobby about her obsessive need to hug people, the little girl charged forward and wrapped her arms around one of his legs.
Bobby has hunted monsters for a long time, he never fumbled in his life, he seemed like the type of guy who wasn't scared of anything.
But six-year-olds was a whole different story.
"I'm soooo happy that you came!" Olive says. "Look, Dean, it's Bobby!"
"I see." He smirks at Bobby's panicked reaction.
"Ok. ." Bobby drags. "You can get'd off me now."
Olive released him, bouncing. "You came just in time for cake!" She doesn't say anything else before running back into the kitchen.
Bobby's wide eyes turn to Dean. "That's the powerful angel kid? She seems.."
"Absolutely adorable and not like an ax murderer?" Dean grins. Bobby nods. "We're trying our best." He shrugs simply.
"You seem...really happy here, Dean."
Dean sighs. "I'm trying my best." He repeats, tone softer.
"You got out, Dean." He nods.
"Yeah. ." Dean trails, looking around at the place he's beginning to call home. "Yeah, I did." He sighs. "I just hate how I got it. I—Sam."
Bobby cursed Sam Winchester in his mind. He knew that they couldn't tip-toe around Dean for long, not when Dean was still hurting. He'll never stop hurting.
"You know what hurts more than anything?" Dean says. Bobby waits patiently. "Is that she reminds me of him every single day."
They both turn to Olive, who was throwing streamers around innocently.
"She's curious. .and kind." He smiles mindlessly. "Lost Sam and got Olly. .and I'll never know if it was a miracle or a cruel joke."
"Dean, there's something I should tell you—"
"Cake time!" Lisa shouts.
Dean throws on a smile and kicks off of the wall he was leaning on, "Hold that thought," He says, going over to Lisa and taking the large cake from her hands.
Bobby watches as Olive runs past him, she skids to a stop and turns to him. He didn't even think that she knew he was there, so he was surprised when Olive waved him over. "Come on, Bobby!"
His heart swelled as he smiled at the child.
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." He grumbles in defeat.
"Whoaaa." Olive drags when the tray is placed in front of her. It was a squared vanilla cake, cream cheese frosting, strawberry filling, and planets scattered across the top.
Her name was in the center. But it wasn't the same name that she's always known. There was something added at the end that made her eyes water.
"Olive. .Winchester?" Her head shoots Dean, who appears nervous. "R-Really?"
"Only if you wanna be." He mumbled awkwardly, preparing for her blunt rejection.
"I'd love to be." She says, wrapping her arms around his waist. He instantly hugs her back, both of them ignoring the claps from the friends around them.
Bobby smiled contently, bittersweet happiness for the boy he adopted as his own. Watching him do the same thing that he did when Dean was around her age.
In that moment, Bobby knew he couldn't tell Dean about Sam. As much as Dean was hurting, he was happier than ever. He had a life now, he's moved on from the hunting life, just like he always wanted.
He couldn't tell Dean that Sam wasn't dead.
"Candles are melting." Ben teases.
Olive pulls back, and Dean quickly wipe away stray tears. "Right." She laughs softly, sniffling. "Forgot."
She leans forward and blows out the candles and the small group of friends clap. Lisa dishes out the cake, making sure to cut Olive's piece first with a wink.
"What'd you wish for, squirt?" Bobby asks.
Olive turns to him. "I didn't wish for anything."
Dean frowns. "Why?"
"Because I already have everything." She says simply.
The hunters smile.
‧₊ ❁ཻུ۪۪.;:୭̥.┊
Later that night Olive is sitting on the floor, back pressed against her bed as she read the journal in her hands. She read John's entries, reading about his life and Sam and Dean from when they were younger.
It was all the things that Dean brushed over in story time, all the things that he never wants to remember.
Olive knows them now. Reading them through John's eyes and learning about the monsters they hunted.
It was a family business and Olive didn't know if she was horrified or wanted to be apart of it.
What she did know however, was that John Winchester scared her and she was glad she never met the man.
Footsteps echoed in her ears, they were quiet but to Olive, they rang like a warning bell.
Quickly, she covers the journal and shoves it in the open panel on the ground, grabbing the wood and popping it back into place just as Dean walked into the room.
She smiled largely, too large, "Hi."
Dean smiles softly. "Hey, O."
"Do you need me for anything?" She asked, getting back on her bed.
"Did you enjoy your party?"
Olive's face brightened. "I loved it. You were the best Astro-Knight in the galaxy."
"I thought you were a pretty convincing Astro-Princess, yourself." He sighs. "I was hoping you'd come downstairs so we could talk. ."
"Am I. .in trouble?" She frowns.
Dean steps into the room, hands in his pocket. "Nope. No, we just wanted to address some things. ."
"What kind of things?" She pressed.
Dean took another step forward. The floor creaks.
Olive's eyes widened when Dean steps onto the floor again, frowning at the obvious open panel. "Did you break the wood on the floor?"
"Don't!" Olive shouts.
Dean freezes.
"Olive. ." He says slowly. "What's under here?"
She hesitates in fear, voice wavering with tears, "Nothing."
"That's not convincing."
"Please don't!"
Dean pulls out the wood, his eyes widening at the familiar journal that stared back at him. Slowly, he pulls it out, inspecting it. It was his father's. Why did she have it?
"Where did you get this." He asked lowly, carefully.
Olive hated that voice. It was the same one he used with the demon at the motel. She couldn't respond, she just stared, eyes watering.
"Answer me!" He snapped, loud.
She flinched, "From the Impala!" Olive cries out.
"Damnit Olive!" He waves it in front of her, "Do you have any idea what kind of things are in there? things you should never read about! Horrible things—"
"I wanted to know!" She screamed. "I wanted to know more about the monsters. In case they come back!"
"I told you that I didn't want you in that life!" His face reddens. "What were you thinking?"
"I'm so-o-rry!" She sobs. "I just wanted to be like you!"
"And I wanted you to be better than me!" He screams. "I was going to raise you different. I was going to raise you right. Because everyone who's in this life dies! You'll die Olive! Just like Sam! Like Ellen and Jo!"
"But you didn't!" She yells.
"I'm already dead anyway!" He throws the journal on the bed.
They both heaved from their screaming match. Faces red with hot tears. Olive quivered her lips as Dean clenched his fist. They stared at each other.
"Do you know what would happen if I lost you too?" Dean whispers. "Any idea?" She doesn't know how to respond. "Because I'm too scared to think about it."
"I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry." She cries.
Lisa emerges. "What is all this screaming?"
"I can't be here," He grabs the journal, "I need a drink I'll be back later."
The second he walks away Olive feels like she can't breathe. She hyperventilates, holding her chest.
To Olive, it only takes three steps for someone to stop loving her. They get mad, then they decide they don't want to love you anymore, then they leave.
To Olive, Dean just did all three.
"Dean!" She screams, voice breaking.
She runs out of the room, ignoring both Lisa and Ben as she ran down the stairs and slammed open the front door.
"Dean!" She was out in the snow now, bare feet and pajamas. He was pulling out of the garage. He was leaving. She panics. "Dean no! No!"
Lisa screams out.
That's what Dean heard first. Olive trips on a snow pile, right in front of the truck, crashing into the floor with a loud cry.
Dean's eyes widened as he pulled the emergency. The car comes to a stop right in front her. With the music still blaring from the car and the headlines painting shadows of them on the snowy driveway, Dean rushes to her.
"Olive! What are you doing?!" Dean screams.
Her arms were completely scrapped but she didn't care. "Please don't stop loving me!" She claws at his pants, pulling hard, "Please! Please! I'm sorry I took the journal, I'll never do it again, just don't go!"
"What are you talking about?" He breaths and grabs both her arms to try and calm her down, "Hey! Breathe, O, breathe."
She sniffles, breathing slow. "You got mad. .so you decided not to love me anymore and you left. You didn't say goodbye. You didn't even say goodbye." Her voice breaks, she grabs onto him. "Please don't leave me. You're my forever daddy."
Dean was stunned. "Olive. .I do love you." He says slowly. It was the first time those words ever left his mouth. "I love you so much. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing. Not even the stupid journal."
"But you were so angry. ."
He sighed, looking back to Lisa and Ben, "I got her, you guys you inside." She hesitates, "Lisa, I'll talk to her."
Lisa nods, going back inside.
"It was more at me." He admits to Olive the second they were gone. "I was just scared."
"Why?"
He drops down in the snow next to her, not caring about the cold as they sat across from each other in the driveway.
"'Cause if you knew everything then I wouldn't have a reason to protect you," He admits, "You'd get sucked in the way I did. .and I never want to lose you the way I lost Sam. Or my mom."
She pinched her lips together, "I didn't know.."
"Yeah, well we can't all be brave like you." He smiles.
Olive shakes her head. "I'm not brave."
"You're the bravest kid I know."
"And you really weren't gonna leave me forever?"
He shakes his head. "No...I'm your, uh, forever dad." He squints at the title. "Where did you hear that from anyway?"
"Lora Martin said I can pick my forever daddy." She explains.
"You picked me?" He asked, "I'm honored. I could've killed you, you know."
"I tripped." She muttered bashfully.
Dean rolls his eyes. Suddenly, the music in the car switched with a glitch of the radio, the sound Hey Jude by the Beatles playing from the car.
They share a knowing smile.
Olive grins. "It's Hey, Jude!"
"The song..." He says softly.
"Our favorite." Olive hums. Dean nods with the music. "You said you wanted to tell me something. .before. ."
He sighed, "No backing out now. Remember the night in the woods?"
"I can't forget it," She grimaced.
"Remember when I said Cas came down and saved us?" She nods. "Well, I lied."
Olive tilts her head. "What do you mean?"
Dean pinched his lips together, "Cas. .he didn't come down and save us. .It was you, O. You killed the demon."
Olive swallowed thickly, her eyes shinning fresh tears. "I-I killed a man."
"He was a monster." Dean reminded, "He hurt you, he hurt a lot of people. You did what I would've done."
"The motel. ." She realized, "Did I. ."
"I think it was you. .I'm not sure." He says honestly. "The necklace I gave you might have something to do with it. It could've channeled it, but all I know is that neckless hides your powers from everything that goes bump in the night. It hides you."
She touches her star charm. "I'm. .like a superhero."
He scoffs. "You're taking this well."
"I'm very scared." She admits in a mumble.
"I got you," He wraps his arm over her shoulder and she leans into his side as they listened to their song. Olive becomes calmer when he hums it.
"We never finished our game." She says.
Dean smiles. "What is the best thing that ever happened to me?" She nods. "Is it cheesy if I say you?"
She laughs. "Yes."
"At least you're honest." He says. "But it is. .you're my kid now, Olive."
"It's me?"
"It's you and all the crazy shit you put me through." He laughs.
Olive smiles, looking up at the snowy sky. "Thank you."
He looks up too, frowning, "Who are you thanking?"
"God." She states.
He scrunches his face, "Why are you thanking him?"
"Cause if it wasn't for him, I would have never met you."
"Now you're being cheesy."
Olive smiles and lays back into his side. Dean rolls his head back and closes his eyes. They stayed there. Hoping nothing would change.
PUBLISHED, 05/23/2020 !
EDITED, 3/16/2021 !
WORDS, 5290 !