A few weeks had passed since Abby had gotten her sprained her right ankle and she had decided it was all better because it didn't hurt except when she tried to bend it one way or the other, but now Dean yelled at her to "slow down" whenever she tried to run. It was unfair, if he didn't want her to run, why did he and Sam walk everywhere so fast? How were Abby's nine-year-old legs supposed to keep up with them?

The Winchesters had spent the weeks in a town in southern Iowa where Dean and Sam had been hunting a ghost in an abandoned school. They stayed for a few days longer than they needed to, however, because Abby had begged and begged her big brothers not to make her leave.

"Please, please don't make us leave yet Dean," Abby had said when Dean had told her they were leaving in the morning. "Just let me stay until the end of the week! That's it I swear," she had said, looking up at her big brothers with wide eyes. Like countless times before, Dean gave in to her puppy-dog-eyes act.

"Okay, okay. Just until Friday then we're out, alright," Dean had grumbled.

"Why do you want to stay so bad?" Sam asked Abby later that night. 

Abby hesitated, biting her lip and looking down at her pajama-clad legs. "I... kind of made a sort of friend," she said quietly.

Sam wasn't sure how to respond. In the years before he went to college but after his mother's death, Sam had always tried to not make friends because he knew they would leave eventually and Sam would never see them again. But when that had happened Sam had already done plenty of growing up which Abby hadn't gotten the chance to do quite yet.

"I'm sure we can stop by here some other time, to say hi," Sam offered, lightly bumping his baby sister's shoulder. She grinned up at him.

"Ya think?"

"Definitely," Sam said, pulling her into his side.

~

Abby was writing in her notebook when she was jolted out of her thoughts by her brothers getting into the car.

"We've got a hunt in Wisconsin," Dean said as he started the car.

"Oh. Okay," Abby said quietly, trying to pick her train of thought back up as the car started down year another road.

"What are you writing?" Sam said, turning around in his seat so he could look at Abby.

"A letter," Abby replied. Sam peered at the page of writing which was surprisingly neat for a nine-year-old, especially one related to Dean.

"Pretty long letter."

"Mhm," Abby replied, still trying to focus on her writing.

"Is it to your friend uh... Haley?" Dean said, recalling what Abby had told him about the girl she had become close with when they were staying in Iowa.

"Yeah. You think we can send it when we get to Wisconsin?"

"Course we can kiddo," Dean answered, grinning at his sister through the rearview mirror. Abby gave a small smile in response and went back to her letter. She was glad she could send the letter because she really wanted to tell Haley she loved the book Haley had lent to her, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. She also missed her friend, because though Sam and Dean were alright to talk to, she knew they weren't quite as interested in what Abby wanted to talk about as Haley was.

~

The Winchesters spent what was, in Abby's opinion, way too long in Wisconsin. But they saved a kid who Abby thought wasn't the absolute worst so she couldn't be too grumpy about it. Just a little. Sam and Dean had quickly found another hunt, by way of a man Dean and John had helped before calling Dean up to tell him about a mysterious airplane crash. Abby's response to this information, though, was something that Sam and Dean were surprised by and unsure of how to handle.

"Please? Please? It's only a little out of the way and then you guys can hunt so much better without me tagging along." Abby begged Sam and Dean as Dean drove. Abby usually didn't really mind following Sam and Dean on a hunt. She liked seeing new places and she didn't exactly have a ton, or any, other options. But now she did.

"Her parents okay with that?" Sam asked.

"Mhm. She lives with her dad 'cause her parents got divorced and he's never home so it's just Haley and Sarah, her big sister, and she's super responsible so you don't need to worry and she really likes me and said I could stay with them anytime I want, without even tellin 'em beforehand" Abby blurted out in one long breath, wanting to convince her brothers so badly. She watched Sam and Dean roll the information she had given them around in their head, slotting parts away and figuring out what to make of it.

She knew she had won them over when they exchanged the look that Abby knew meant "I'm fine with this if you are."

"But this is not a regular thing, you hear me?" Dean said, glancing in the rearview mirror at Abby.

"Yes sir," Abby said

"And don't call me sir," Dean said. 

Over the past few weeks, Abby had noticed the differences in hunting with John and Dean versus Dean and Sam. John liked being called sir but Dean and Sam both hated it. With Dean and Sam, Abby could talk all she wanted about the book she was reading or the cool bracelet she found, and as long as they weren't focusing super hard on their work, they would let her talk and even sometimes listen. The thing that had been tripping Abby up the most, though, was that Sam and Dean, especially Sam, seemed like they wanted her to do little kid things. 

Sam had told her just the other day that it was okay if she cried, but Abby knew that was just him sucking up to her because he was worried she was still holding a grudge against him for leaving. And to be fair, while her anger towards him was no longer as obvious, her stomach still hurt a little whenever Sam talked about his college friends or Jessica.

~

"It's the house on the left, 943. It's got a blue door and- It's that one!" Abby almost squealed in excitement as Dean pulled into the driveway of the house. 

She was moving to get out of the car when Sam said "Hey, wait a minute." He reached into the bag near his feet and pulled out the handgun that Sam usually carried when they were hunting. Abby's eyes widened as he handed it over to her. 

"You want me to have this?" Abby knew how to use a gun, of course, but she had never been given one to keep. The lessons were just so if she needed to she could.

"Not forever. Just while you're away from us."

"I don't think Sarah would want me to have a gun in their house," Abby said. She really didn't want Sarah to be mad at her for bringing a gun around.

"Well, you don't have to tell her. Just put it in your duffel bag for emergencies." Abby still hadn't reached for the gun Sam was holding out to her over the seat, despite the brothers' encouragement.

"Abs you need to have this with you, or we can't leave you alone." Abby wanted to say that Dean's reasons were shitty and she wouldn't be alone, but from the look in bother her brothers' face that was completely devoid of any joking atmosphere, she knew this was an ultimatum. So, reluctantly, Abby grabbed the handgun from Sam and stuffed it int her duffel bag in one of the empty zip-up side pockets under his and Dean's watchful eyes. 

"Good?" She said after zipping the bag back up.

"Good." Sam and Dean said in unison.

The siblings all got out of the car, and Sam and Dean grabbed the backpack and duffel back from the back seat which contained everything Abby would need, and now a gun, as Abby was already furiously knocking at the door of the house they were parked in front of. The house was well kept to a degree, with some peeling paint here and there and leaves still on the roof from the autumn which had ended just a few weeks ago. 

It only took a moment for the door to be opened by a teenage girl. The 16-year-old's face lit up when she saw who the visitor was and she called her sister's name into the house before turning back around to greet Abby.

The sound of kid footsteps running through the upstairs hallway and down the stairs could be heard as she turned around. She could only get out "Well, what are you doing he-" before being cut off by a young girl pushing past her and throwing her arms around Abby. 

Looking down at the young girls head, each leaning onto the other's shoulder in a very tight, childlike hug, blonde hair contrasting with brown, Sarah Balcom laughed lightly. Noticing the two men awkwardly standing in her driveway, she stepped around the girls embracing on the porch.

Abby didn't even notice Sarah's movements, too ecstatic that her plan had actually worked. She tuned out the sound of Sarah and her brother's talking as she and Sarah quietly discussed all the things they wanted to do together. It was a long list, but Abby figured they had at least a few days and what else were they going to do?

"Hey, Abs, we really got to get going," Dean's words prompted Abby to turn around from where she had been facing Haley. Her book bag was now slung across Sarah's right shoulder and her duffel was held in her left hand. Abby's stomach started to turn. She had never spent very long away from Dean before, certainly not without either her brothers or father, and she knew all too well it only took one moment for everything to be over. In a moment of childish weakness, Abby ran towards Dean, hugging him fiercely around his waist. Dean rested a hand on the back of her head, rubbing slightly with his thumb.

"We'll be back soon, okay kiddo?" Dean said softly enough only she and Sam could hear his words as she buried her face in his shirt. Abby looked up at him with big eyes that were only slightly shiny from tears and nodded, biting the inside of her lip.

"Have tons of fun with Haley and Sarah okay?" Sam said, kneeling down next to his sister, disregarding the way the damp driveway from morning dew soaked his jeans. Abby threw her arms around Sam's neck, and as he rested one hand on her back and the other on her head, Sam tried to remind himself that she would be okay without her protectors for a few days. After a few moments, Abby released her tight hold on his neck and Sam let her step back. Before leaving, Dean kissed Abby's forehead one last time before the men got into their car and Abby went to stand next to Haley and Sarah.

As Sam and Dean drove off, Sam waved to his sister until she was well out of sight. She waved back, leaning against Sarah's side, standing on the driveway. As she watched the car leave view, Abby forced the nervous feeling in her stomach down.

As the girls entered 943 Cedar Drive, the first snow of the year began to fall on the small run-down suburb with three young girls watching it fall.

~

The low buzzing sound of the microwave heating up milk was unheard by the girls talking happily in a pink-filled bedroom just up the stairs from the kitchen.

"And Johnny said he didn't mean to, but everyone knows he did because he's not that stupid," Haley said as she helped Abby take out the important things from her bags. She was explaining a story that had happened at the elementary school Abby had attended, and Haley currently attended.

Abby's heart jumped into her throat when she saw Haley's hand move over to the front pocket of her duffel bag, the pocket containing the gun Dean had given her.

"Oh, uh, I think we've got everything out," Abby said, moving over to where Haley was quickly.

"Oh okay! So are you sure you're okay with the bottom bunk?"

"Yeah, I don't really like heights," Abby said with a sheepish grin, her heart still beating fast from the close call.

"Sarah's scared of heights too!" Haley said. As if on cue, Sarah's slightly scratchy voice called them to come downstairs. Before following Haley out of the room, Abby glanced over everything once more. 

Haley's room was covered in trinkets of a life spent loved. She had pictures, both drawn and taken, stuck up with tape all over the pink walls. It was by no means a fancy room, and it matched the run-down but well-kept appearance of the rest of the house, but to Abby, it seemed perfect.

Abby trailed behind Haley into the kitchen, where Haley sat at the counter as if she had done it her whole life. Which, she supposed, Haley had.

"Okay, we've got whipped cream and I think some marshmallows but I've got to check..." As Abby climbed onto her stool, Sarah looked through the cupboards for marshmallows. Abby copied Haley's movements, picking up the silver spoon next to the mug of milk places in front of her and stirring. As Sarah  rummaged through cabinets Abby watched the white milk turn brown as the choclate-flavored dry mix was stirred into the steaming milk. 

Each of the young girls took a handful of the marshmallows Sarah placed in front of them and put it on top of their respective mugs of hot chocolate. Abby eagerly lifted the mug up to take a sip and was shocked at how hot it was. She supposed her face must have shown her surprise because Sarah laughed and said "Oh, you might want to wait a bit for it to cool down!" Abby sheepishly put the mug down. She felt the embarrassment pit grow in her stomach as she chewed the inside of her lip. Sometimes, when she was around Sarah and Haley, she felt like there was a rulebook to being a person that she had just somehow missed. Maybe they taught it during one of the many school lessons Abby had missed to go hunting, or maybe her mom was supposed to teach it to her.

~

After hot chocolate, Haley and Abby went upstairs to draw because Sarah told them she had schoolwork she needed to do, and she wanted it to be quiet. Once they were in Halye's room, though, Haley whispered to Abby conspiratorily that it was really because Sarah was going to call her boyfriend their dad didn't think she should have. 

"Why wouldn't she have a boyfriend if she's not supposed to?" Abby asked.

"Because she's a teenager and teenagers hate to listen to their parents. Especially their dads." Haley said, very confident in her statement. Abby nodded. She still didn't really understand but she filed it under the list of things that she just didn't understand. 

Later, once they had gotten Haley's pack of 60 crayons out and were drawing on the desk shoved into a corner of her room, Haley informed Abby of many details about her sister's boyfriend that Abby figured Haley probably wasn't supposed to know, and Abby definitely wasn't. 

Haley's boyfriend was named Jake, he was almost 6 feet tall, which Haley said like it was very impressive, but Abby internally disagreed, and he was a "hoodlum" according to Haley and Sarah's father. He wore dark clothes and listened to loud music. 

"One time, a few weeks ago, Haley came home super late at night from a hangout with her friends, but it wasn't actually a hangout with her friends, she was at a party with Jake and when she came home she was talking weirdly and when my dad told her to walk in a straight line he couldn't and that's why she's not supposed to be dating Jake anymore." Abby really liked it when Haley told her stories about her life, it seemed so happy. Even the sad parts weren't that sad. In Haley and Sarah's world, the biggest problem was that Sarah was dating a guy who was older and a "hoodlum" and there were no demons or monsters and certainly no dead mothers, just one who decided she didn't want to be a mother anymore.

"So what's your house like?" Haley asked. Abby chewed on the inside of her lip as she thought of an answer. She had been really vague about her life with Haley, because she knew she had to keep her guard up around people who weren't family because the wrong word could mean she got taken away from Sam and Dean. 

"I don't have one. I mean, I guess I had one when I was a baby but I don't remember it." Abby decided to go with the honest answer. Haley had told her about Jake, so it only seemed fair to share a secret of her own.

"Well then we can share mine," Haley said definitively, like it was something that simple. Abby watched from her chair as Haley took the sign off her door that said 'Haley's Room' and brought it to the desk. The sign was really just a piece of construction paper with the words and a few flowers drawn on it, but Abby still thought it looked very cool. In pink crayon, Haley added 'and Abby' in childish handwriting below 'Haley's Room.' Haley used the same tape to stick it back up, stepping back to look at it, satisfied before sitting back down to keep drawing.

~

The first thing Abby noticed as she woke up was how cold it was. It was the biting kind of cold that only comes from the beginning of winter when your body hasn't quite gotten used to not being warm yet, and putting on a coat before leaving the house still seems like a huge chore. In the warm glow of the kitchen light, Abby was able to see who was lying next to her on the couch. Haley's long blond hair had mostly fallen out of its braid as her face was pressed against the opposite arm of the couch and her pajama-clad figure was covered by a fleece blanket. Abby got up and could feel the stiffness in her bones she was all too familiar with, being used to sleeping in unconventional places.

Abby's throat was dry as she walked through the house, looking for Sarah to help her get a glass down from the high cabinet. When she reached the back door of the house, she found the source of the biting cold; the door to the Balcom's back porch, half open.

As she pushed the door open, the cold air engulfed Abby as she stepped onto the porch. She wished she had put on some shoes as the fine layer of snow on the wood soaked her socks almost immediately. The brunette teenager turned around at the noise of the door opening and with her movement Abby was able to see why she was out there in the middle of the night. The cigarette's bright orange end burned a hole in the darkness of the night and Sarah's face was momentarily obscured by the smoke she let out with a breath.

"Oh hey Abs," Sarah said, "You need something?" Abby shook her head, suddenly nervous at the thought of asking the teenage girl for something. Sarah turned back around, putting the cigarette to her lips once again and breathing in. Abby debated going back inside, but her curiosity got the better of her and she padded over to where Sarah was standing, leaning against the railing. As Abby stood next to Sarah, both girls looking out into the dark yard covered in a thin layer of snow, Abby could see the box of cigarettes and a lighter sitting on the railing in front of Sarah.

Sarah's voice interrupted Abby's staring at the items. "You ever smoked a cigarette?" Abby shook her head furiously. She had seen John smoking a few times but had never even considered doing it herself. It seemed so grown up, something Abby knew she was not, even if she felt like she was sometimes.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure, y'know with..." Sarah trailed off, seeming to assume Abby could fill in the rest of the sentence.

"With what?" Abby's voice was scratchy with thirst, but Sarah didn't seem to notice.

Sarah took a deep breath and looked at Abby before continuing her thought. "Your brothers, they aren't exactly... friendly-looking." Abby knew this was true, even though to her they were just Sam and Dean, she had realized a long time ago that the rest of the world saw her brothers in a different light. "And how many nine-year-olds carry a pocket knife with them all the time?" Sarah said, laughing lightly. Abby didn't know what to say, she hadn't realized Sarah had been paying such close attention to her habits. so she just kept watching Sarah as she took another breath in of the cigarette.

"Promise me something, Abby," Sarah said as she looked at Abby with the expression of someone not quite all there.

"Promise me you'll never smoke. No matter what." Sarah's words were serious, they reflected the harshness of the cold more than the warmth of the home now. Abby nodded solemnly, looking back into Sarah's hazel eyes with her own.

"What if... the apocalypse happens and the world ends?" Abby says, trying to make Sarah laugh to diffuse the suddenly heavy mood that had fallen over the duo standing on the half-frozen porch.

"Alright fine," Sarah laughed and Abby felt her chest get a bit lighter, "You can smoke if, and only if, the apocalypse happens and the world ends." Abby felt her own face mirror Sarah's infectious grin. Sarah's words seemed to linger in the air, mixing with the cigarette smoke and bitingly cold air as a silence fell over the two. Abby turned to stare into the dark of the yard, trying to make out the unmoving shapes of trees and houses in the distance. She could feel Sarah's eyes watching her as she took another drag of the cigarette.

It was a long time and Abby could feel her feet begin to go numb before either spoke again.

"You gotta put it down sometime, y'know that right?" Sarah said, quietly enough that the sound of the heater inside of the house almost drowned it out.

"Put what down?" Abby asked, looking into Sarah's eyes once again. There was no longer any laughter in them, they were now full of something that Abby was still too young to understand.

"All that anger. You're carrying it around and it's gonna destroy you. You need to put it down." Sarah said. Abby felt like she was drowning. She felt like she had been standing in an empty pool, watching it fill up with water as it reached her ankles, knees, waist, shoulders, and now, just as it was reaching the bottom of her chin someone had pointed out that she should get out, but it was too late because she was already so close to being totally underwater, what was the point? Even if she got out she would still be soaking? Wouldn't she?

"Okay," Abby said. What else could you say to that? Sarah nodded, satisfied enough with Abby's confirmation she didn't push harder.

"C'mon, it's too cold to stay out here," Sarah said, placing a hand on Abby's back as she led them inside. Just before walking over the step into the house, Abby turned her head and looked back at the porch. The two pairs of footsteps, one larger than the other, traced the girl's steps. Abby's eyes registered the lone cigarette with its end still orange sitting on the porch railing replacing the box of cigarettes and lighter that had been there just minutes before.

~

The snow had melted and another layer had fallen, this time thick and perfect for snowmen and snowballs, by the time Sam and Dean came to pick Abby up. As Dean drove away from the 943, Abby stared out the window with tears in her eyes. She was happy to be back with her big brothers, but she was going to miss Haley and Sarah a lot.

What Sarah had said that night on the porch had stayed in Abby's mind. As did the way Sarah had looked at her like she knew something about Abby that Abby wasn't quite ready to know yet. With Sarah's words weighing her down like a gun in a duffel bag full of children's clothing and stuffed animals, Abby felt a bit heavier leaving the Balcom's home.

A/N: Next episode we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming (Winchester sibling angst) but I wanted to introduce the best sisters ever first!!

Also, I'm so sorry for the slow updates, this chapter took so long to write for no reason :/