SEVEN

For the past few days or so, Eric's been teaching Morgan how to help him pick up girls when he takes her out. "Hi, I'm Morgan and this is my brother, Eric. He's very shy." She recites, and Letty shakes her head.

"Good girl." He chuckles as he rubs her head and then puts candy in her mouth.

"Eric, what are you teaching her?" Their mother questions as she walks over to where they're sitting in the living room.

"Nothing." He lies.

"I get to help Eric meet girls." Morgan tells her mom.

"No, you don't. She doesn't." He shakes his head, afraid he's gonna get in trouble. "You don't."

"My brother thinks you are so cute." She says and then opens her mouth for more candy.

"So, this is why you've been taking her to the mall." Their mom nods.

"I had no part in it." Letty quickly interjects. "While he was taking advantage of Morgan's willingness​ to spend time with her big brother, I was at work." She tells her.

"Well, I think it's great." Mrs. Matthews says as she sits down on the arm of the couch.

"You do?" The brunette questions, and Eric laughs as he gives Morgan more candy.

"I think it's a perfect way for you and your sister to spend quality time together." She tells Eric.

"Well, you know, some guys use a golden retriever. I figure, why not use the weasel here?" Eric​ says, and Mrs. Matthews nods.

"And that's why I don't date." Letty says.

"Hey, Weez." The teenage boy gets his sister's attention, then he whispers something in her ear when she moves closer to him.

Morgan turns to walk over to Letty, and the older girl raises her eyebrows as she looks down at her. "Eric says you're too pretty for any of the losers at your school." The little blonde says, and Letty looks over at Eric again to see that he's smiling as he looks at her.

They suddenly hear a car horn outside playing La Cucaracha, and the teenage girl's smile falls because she knows what that means.

"It's Grandma!" Eric yells as he gets up off of the couch and runs for the front door.

"Hey, it's Grandma!" Morgan quickly follows after him.

"Yeah, it's Grandma." Mr. Matthews says as he walks into the living room.

"And I should probably be leaving now." Letty says as she stands up from her place on the couch.

"Why?" Mrs. Matthews asks as Eric's parents look at her, obviously confused.

"She doesn't exactly like me." The brunette reluctantly tells them, but before either one can ask why that is, Mr. Matthews' mom is standing in the doorway.

"Okay, open up a lane. I'm coming through." Grandma Matthews says as she walks inside the house, and Eric closes the door behind her. "I have been sitting on my keister for ten hours in that Winnebago. I need some stretching room." She says as Letty turns around and walks into the kitchen. She leans against the island counter and takes a deep breath.

Eric walks into the room a few minutes later and looks at his best friend. "Look what I got." He holds up the bullwhip that his grandmother gave him, and Letty nods as she looks over at him.

"That's nice, Eric." She nods. "A little weird, but..." She takes a deep breath as she shakes her head and looks down at the floor.

"Hey, come on. I bet she's forgotten all about it."

"Eric, she called me a gold digger." Letty reminds him as her gaze meets his again. "I haven't forgotten." She tells him.

"We were kids then, things are different now." He says as he walks over and grabs her hand.

Eric pulls the very reluctant brunette back into the living room, and she sighs, knowing that this isn't going to go well. He then sits on the back of​ the couch and refuses to let go of his best friend's hand. Probably because he knows that the second he does, she's gone.

"Grandma!" Cory yells as he runs into the house.

"Kiddo!" His grandma smiles as she hugs him. "Finally decided to show your face, huh? What'd they do, let you out of detention early?"

"Yeah, well, I heard​ La Cucaracha from all the way down at the park." He tells her, and she nods as she looks down at him. "How long are you staying?"

"Oh, just the weekend." She says. "Hey, speaking of which — hey, you two kids, cancel all your plans for Saturday." She walks over and sits on the couch near her granddaughter. "'Cause, Morgan, you and I are gonna go shopping. We are gonna buy so many clothes, you won't know what to do with them all."

"I'll wear them, then I'll throw them on the floor." The blonde says, and Letty smirks.

"Why not?" Her grandma laughs and then turns to Eric. "And then I thought we'd take in the auto show."

"Cool. Can I bring a friend?" He asks, and she looks up at Letty for the first time since she got to the Matthews' house.

"Oh, Charlotte. I didn't even see you standing there." Grandma Matthews says as she looks at the brunette. The teenage girl forces a smile, knowing that the woman sitting in front of her knows full-well what her name is.

"It's Scarlett, Grandma." Eric corrects her.

"You probably won't want to bring her with us, Eric, I hear they got some pretty hot babes sitting on the hoods of those hotrods." His grandmother says as she glances at their hands, seeing that their fingers are intertwined.

"There's something I might enjoy." He nods, a wide smile on his face, and Letty then pulls her hand out of his.

"I should really be going now, I have to go to work. Don't want my boss to fire me." Letty says.

"I don't think I scheduled you to work today." Mr. Matthews tells her, eyebrows furrowed.

"It was nice seeing you, Ms. Matthews." The brunette continues. "As always."

"Letty, wait—"

"I'll see you at school, Eric." She cuts him off and then leaves their house.

A couple days later, Letty goes back to Eric's house​ and sees that his grandma's car isn't in the driveway. That must mean that she's out with one of her grandkids. Letty walks in the back door with three boys following right behind her, and Mrs. Matthews looks over at them.

"Hello, Scarlett. Here to see Eric?" She asks as Cory looks at all of the baking ingredients on the island.

"Oh, uh, just here to get out of my house, really. My dad has his friends over, and I don't like being around them. I hope you don't mind." Letty says, and she shakes her head.

"Of course not, you're always welcome here. As is Miller." She tells her. "Who are your friends?"

"They're my dad's friends' sons — Miller's brothers." The brunette tells her. "This is Dean and Sam." She motions from Miller's twin to their little brother, before telling them that they can sit at the table. "Guys, this is Mrs. Matthews and Cory."

"It's nice to meet you both." Her best friend's mom smiles at them. "Scarlett, you wanna help me bake muffins for everyone?" She asks.

"Uh, sure."

"What's the matter?" She asks, confused.

"Nothing, I just... I don't really know how." The teenager tells her. "I've never done it before."

"Well, I'll teach you." She says with a smile, and Letty walks over to where she's standing as Eric makes his way down the stairs. "You boys can help yourselves to anything in the fridge." Mrs. Matthews tells Miller, Dean, and Sam.

"You hungry, Sammy?" Dean asks his brother as he walks over to the refrigerator.

"So, how long do you think I could go without taking a shower before my arm gets all gross and disgusting?" The older Matthews boy asks as he pulls up his sleeve. There's writing on it, some girl's autograph from the auto show that he went to with his grandmother the day before.

"Is this what's gonna happen to me when my hormones kick in?" Cory asks his mom, making Letty laugh as she walks over to Dean.

"Yeah, like I don't have anything else on my mind but girls." Eric says sarcastically.

"You don't." Letty argues, and his mom chuckles as she glances over at the brunette. "Mrs. Matthews, is it alright if they have the leftover pizza?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"Hey, I got a lot of other things on my mind besides girls." Eric argues.

"Liar."

"Can it, Scarlett." He says, and she holds up her hands in mock surrender. "Like, who's the guy you're feeding my family's food?" He questions as Dean takes the pizza over to his brother. "And why did you bring the demon-spawn into my house?"

"Eric." His mother scolds.

"How's it going, Matthews?" Miller smirks, always amused by his disdain for him, and Letty places her hand over her housemate's face and pushes him.

"They're family friends." The brunette tells her best friend before turning her attention back to the Winchesters. "I can heat up the pizza if you guys want."

"That's okay. I like cold pizza." Sam says, and she nods.

"Smart kid. Cold pizza in the morning — breakfast of champions." She says, to which his older brothers agree.

"Girl! Girl!" Eric yells suddenly, making Letty jump. "Right there! Right there!" He points out the window over the sink, looking into Mr. Feeny's backyard.

"Where?" Cory asks, and they all turn around.

The older of the Matthews brothers rushes over to the door to look out the window. "It's Feeny's niece. She's unbelievable. I gotta think. I gotta think. I gotta take her to a world she's never been to before." He's talking fast. "Dinner. Movie. Movie. Dinner. This has to be perfectly orchestrated, or else it's gonn— Weasel!" He yells, and then runs into the living room to get his younger sister.

"That poor child." Letty mutters as they watch Eric carry Morgan back into the kitchen from the other room.

He quickly starts talking to her about what they've​ been practicing at the mall, and Letty ignores him. She turns back to the counter so that she can help Mrs. Matthews bake.

Dean walks over to the brunette, and she glances up at him. "Your friend is spastic." He says, and she nods.

"Oh, yeah — one track mind, that one." She tells him. "Hey, Morgan."

"Yeah?" The little blonde looks over at her.

"Do you remember what you and I talked about for when you help Eric pick up girls?" Letty asks, and Mrs. Matthews looks between the two of them curiously.

"Make him take me somewhere fun."

"There's a carnival tonight." The brunette tells her, and Mrs. Matthews laughs.

"Yay!" The youngest runs out the back door when the timer that Eric set dings.

"So, is he really so stupid that he hasn't realized he's in love with you yet?" Miller whispers as he wraps his arm around Letty's shoulders. She shrugs out from under his arm before nudging him away from her, telling him to leave her alone.

Dean's helping his younger brother with his homework as Miller does his best to get on their nerves, and Letty's making the batter for the first batch of muffins. She sets it down by the oven; and then Eric pushes his way into the kitchen; he pins Letty against the counter with his hands resting on the tile on either side of her hips.

"You sabotaged me." He accuses, and the brunette smiles as she looks up at him.

"Would I do that?"

"You're evil."

"And you're conniving." She dips the tip of her finger into the muffin batter and then wipes it across his cheek.

Cory and Letty spend the day with his mom, baking a ton of muffins. He's not exactly thrilled with it, but she's actually enjoying​ herself. Miller and Dean leave their brother with her, so that they can go out and Miller can show him around town — Letty doesn't mind them taking off for awhile. And they're now surrounded by muffins with even more finishing up​ in the oven.

"Okay. Now, remember to take those out in a couple minutes so they don't stick." Mrs. Matthews tells Cory as he takes the muffins out of the oven.

"Yeah, Mom, I kind of got the hang of it in the last four batches." He tells her, and Letty feels really bad for him. "Is Grandma lost or what?" He was really counting on spending some time with her today. They were supposed to go and get a baseball card signed, and he was looking forward to it.

"I don't know, Cor. But, hey, you know what? I was gonna bake a cake next. You wanna help me out?" She asks as she gets the mix from a cabinet.

"You guys bake a lot of sweets." Sam whispers to Letty, who's sitting across the table from him.

"Shh. Do your homework, Sammy." The teenager tells him.

"Look, Mom, I know you're trying to do this to distract me and all, but what if something happened to Grandma?" Cory asks as he walks over to her. "Maybe we should call the police."

"No, I don't think so." Mrs. Matthews tells him.

"Why not?" He questions.

"Because I'm sure that she's fine."

"Then why isn't she here yet?" He asks.

"Maybe we'd better take off. This sounds like a family matter." Letty says, standing up. "But thank you for letting us spend the day here, I really appreciate it. And I had fun."

"Why don't you take a few with you? I bet your dad would like one." Mrs. Matthews says, referring to the muffins.

"Thanks." Letty smiles, and she and Sam each grab a couple.

"How many do you think we should take for Dean and Miller?" He asks, and the teenage girl smiles as she looks down at him.

"However many you want." Mrs. Matthews tells him.

"Two each?" Letty suggests, and he grabs another. "Maybe three. They didn't eat much during lunch earlier." She says as she grabs an extra. "Thanks, Mrs. Matthews."

"Thank you." The ten-year-old smiles at her, and she waves as they head out.

Letty and Sam are walking back to the trailer park when a few guys suddenly start moving toward them. It's getting dark, and they're all acting really weird. She thinks they're drunk.

"Sam." The brunette reaches for the younger boy and pulls him into her side. "Stay close, alright?"

"Hey, sweetheart." One of the boys says as they get closer.

The guys all start to circle around them. "How are you doin'?" Another guy asks.

"She's cute."

"Hey, be nice. She's got a tyke." One of them says as he messes with the hood of Sam's jacket.

"Get away from us." Letty says as she tries to move around them, pulling the ten-year-old with her.

"I like her." The first one says.

"I think we should have some fun with her." One of them laughs, tugging her sweater off of her shoulder.

The teenage girl drops the muffins that she was carrying for Miller and shoves one of the guys. "I said, get back." She punches another of them, and that pisses them all off.

"You're gonna regret that." The one that she punched says as he rubs his jaw, and they all move in even closer on her and Sam.

—

Letty and Sam walk up to the back door of the Matthews' house, and she knocks. Then the brunette turns her back and gets the kid to look up at her. He has a cut on his cheek and a fat lip, but he also has bruised knuckles from fighting back.

"Are you alright?" She asks, and he nods.

The door opens behind her, and she turns to face whoever answered. "Hey— Oh my God, Letty, what happened?" Eric asks.

"We-We were walking home, and these guys showed up. They surrounded us. I hit one to get them to leave us alone, but they just got mad." She tells him as his dad walks up behind him.

"I'll get Amy." Mr. Matthews says before turning away from them. "She can help you two get cleaned​ up."

"Are you guys okay?" Cory asks, and the brunette nods. He's standing in the kitchen, and he heard everything that she told his older brother.

"I'm fine." She lies, and a tear runs down her cheek.

Letty's obviously more shaken up from what just happened than Sam is, which bothers her even more. It makes her wonder what exactly he's seen that would make this not scare him quite as much as it should. She knows what his father does for a day job, but she just assumed that he'd shield his kids from it better than her own father has for her all these years.

Eric quickly pulls Letty to him, wrapping his arms securely around her, and she starts crying even harder. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews rush down the stairs quickly, and she has their first-aid kit in hand.

"Oh my goodness." Mrs. Matthews' eyes widen as she looks between Sam and Letty. Eric pulls away from her then.

"What's going on in here?" Grandma Matthews asks as she walks into the kitchen from the open back door, and Letty looks over at her. She looks surprised when she sees the teenage girl. "Oh my... What happened?"

"Some guys beat them up while they were walking home." Eric tells her.

"Come here, sweetie. Let me take a look at you." Mrs. Matthews says, and the brunette looks over at her.

"Help Sam first." Letty says as she wipes tears from her cheeks.

"I'm okay, really." The kid insists, and she shakes her head.

"I'm gonna go call your brothers and have them come back over so that they walk to the trailer park with us." She tells him, and he reluctantly sits down next to Mrs. Matthews at the kitchen table.

Eric follows Letty into the living room then, and she reaches for the phone. He sees that her hands are shaking and quickly takes hers in his own. Her fingers immediately curl around his, and she clutches his hand tightly, fighting back tears.

"What happened, Letty?"

"Do you have any idea how wrong it is to be glad that a ten-year-old was with me when this happened? That he was there to help fight them off?" She asks as she looks up at him. "They weren't just gonna beat us up, Eric. They kept pulling at my clothes, and the things that they were saying to me..." She chokes back more tears, and he pulls her to him again.

"I'm so sorry, Letty." He whispers as she buries her face in his shoulder and wraps her arms around his torso. "You're safe now. Nobody's ever gonna hurt you like that." He promises as he holds her tight.

"I was so scared." She tells him. "What if they had hurt Sam even worse?"

"They didn't. That's what matters." He says as he leans to the side just enough for him to pick up his house phone, then he quickly dials the number to the Black's trailer.

"Thanks for calling Plucky Pennywhistle's Magic Menagerie. Can I book your reservation?"

"Miller? It's Eric." He says, shaking off his confusion. "Letty and Sam are okay, but they were attacked by some guys on their way home earlier. They're back here now, and—" He's met with a clattering noise before there's nothing but silence on the other end.

"Honey?" Mrs. Matthews walks into the living room from the kitchen, and she looks at the two teenagers as her son tosses the phone onto the couch. "How are you doing?" She asks, and Letty lifts her head just enough to look at her over Eric's shoulder.

Tears well up in her dark eyes again, and she squeezes them shut as she turns her head toward her best friend. She buries her face in the crook of his neck as she chokes back a sob, and Eric takes a deep breath. He rubs her back as he holds her tightly.

"Everything's gonna be okay." He whispers as his hand moves up and stops between her shoulder blades. "Those guys can't hurt you now. Okay? And Sam's gonna be fine. Nothing can hurt you guys while you're here... I won't let anyone hurt you. Not ever."

Mrs. Matthews is tending to Letty's injuries a little while later, and then they hear a commotion coming from the kitchen. Eric sits up straighter at Letty's side as he looks toward the door, but when it bursts open, they see that it's just Miller barreling through.

The older woman ducks out of his way as he jumps over furniture, and then Miller's in front of his best friend. He sits on the coffee table as he leans over and looks at her face. He's asking questions, talking a million miles a minute as he tries to figure out what exactly happened and whether or not she's okay.

"I'm fine." Letty says as she grabs his hand and pulls it away from her face. "I was pretty shaken up before, but I'm good now... Is Sam okay?"

"Uh, yeah." He nods. "I'm a good brother. I definitely looked... Sam?! Dean?!" He turns his head toward the door, and Letty chuckles as she shakes her head at him.

"How is she? Is she okay?" Dean asks when the door swings open a second time.

"Says she's good." Miller nods. "Sam?"

"Says he's good." He tells his twin. "She lying?"

"Totally. He lying?"

"Mostly."

"Alright." Miller nods before looking back at Letty. "Sounds about right. You wanna walk home with us..? Bum a ride?"

"Anybody ever tell you two that you're barely functioning at a normal level?" Letty asks as she looks between the twins, and Miller shrugs as he looks over at Dean, who quirks an eyebrow as he looks at the brunette.