Dean picked up his money from the high chair beside the pool table. He smirked as he pocketed the cash and headed to the bar for a drink.

He didn't plan to stay long, he had already had two beers while playing. And Sammy was waiting for him at the hotel room.

The older hunter just wanted a minute to himself. It wasn't that he needed to get away from his younger brother, but they did spend nearly every minute together, particularly now that their relationship had taken a turn toward the romantic.

Frankly, Dean mostly wanted to reflect on his good fortune. Sam had always been Dean's life. It was caring for his brother that had brought Dean out from under the trauma of their mother's death.

When they were growing up everything had been about Sammy, about taking care of him and keeping him safe. He had never thought about his little brother romantically. When Sam had left, it had broken Dean's heart. He had wanted to be glad for his brother. After all he wanted Sam to be happy, to have everything he ever wanted.

Asking Sam to help find Dad had been the most selfish thing Dean had ever done and he still didn't know whether he should regret it or not.

Seeing Sam again had been a revelation. When his younger brother had left, he was already huge, but the added years away had given Sam grace, like he was finally comfortable in his own skin. He had found a self-sufficient man where his baby brother had been.

It was then that Dean had discovered this desire. Sam was the only person he saw as an equal. Of course, Dean still tried to control and comfort and protect Sammy, but that was just because he loved his brother, now he just loved him a little differently.

Dean looked up, unsurprised that a man had come to sit beside him. The hunter had felt eyes on him all night, but that wasn't unusual. As much as Dean tried to stay in the shadows of life, people always noticed him, the way he looked. In his teens, he had learned how to endure the attention, even how to use it to his advantage. His beauty had become just another shield to hide behind.

The man who sat beside him was about as tall as Dean but heavier built with dark eyes and hair just like Sam. But the man looked nothing like his brother.

Dean admitted the man was attractive though. He had looked at guys as long as he could remember, as long as he had looked at girls certainly. But Dean had never done anything with another man until Sam. He just couldn't be vulnerable like that with a person as strong as himself.

Until Sam. Sam really was the exception to all his rules. Dean liked it that Sam was bigger, stronger, liked it when Sam took control. At least during sex, the rest of the time…

"So you're good at pool…?"

Dean stared puzzled for a second, unsure what the man was talking about until the man waved a hand at the pool table.

"Oh, yeah. Guess it's a hobby of mine."

The man laughed, deep and genuine. Dean couldn't help but smile himself, impressed that the man knew that he had hustled his opponent.

"I'm Matt." The man reached out a hand towards Dean.

Dean took it, still smiling. "Dean," he introduced himself.

"What're you drinking?" Matt gestured towards Dean's empty pint glass.

The hunter hesitated only a moment. He knew that the man was interested in more than a drink. He could practically feel the heat in Matt's gaze, but it was only a drink. There was nothing wrong with a little flirting, it wasn't like he was planning to cheat on Sam. Ever.

"Shiner Bock," he answered.

Dean couldn't help turning to look at the door, thinking of Sam. Drinking with Matt wouldn't take any more time than drinking by himself, though, and it wasn't as if he and Sam were connected at the hip. At least Dean was trying not to be, trying to keep some perspective and give Sam some room. Room to make sure that this thing between them was what his brother really wanted.

He had only looked away for a moment, but if he hadn't, the hunter would have noticed that Matt put something in his drink. Dean would have noticed that his beer had an oddly large head on it. But he didn't and when he turned back around, Dean drank deeply trying to quell his rising panic, that panic that froze his insides when he thought about Sam leaving again, rejecting him.

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Sam was livid. He had been waiting for Dean to come back from the bar, but it had gotten later and later. Before he would have known what Dean was up to, his older brother would probably be in some alley with his hand up some bimbo's shirt and her hand would be…

He tried to stop those thoughts. He believed that Dean would never consciously hurt him, but Dean was used to sleeping with a new girl in every town. What if his brother just didn't regard sex the same way Sam did, didn't think it would be a big deal.

Finally Sam had stomped off to the bar, his anger only increased that he had to walk there. The fact that Dean was not inside when he made it to the bar didn't help his mood either.

Walking up to the bar, Sam proceeded to ask the bartender if she had seen Dean, describing his brother as about six foot, blondish…

"Really handsome?" the lanky brunette finished for him.

Sam scowled. He knew it wasn't his brother's fault that Dean looked the way he did, but his brother didn't have to play it up as much as he did either.

"That would be him."

"Yeah, he left about an hour ago with Matt, one of our regulars."

Sam was speechless. He'd never thought that Dean would actually hook up with someone, especially a guy.

The bartender kept talking though. "Yeah they were pretty friendly, if you know what I mean." She winked a heavily made up eye at him.

The younger hunter didn't respond, simply turned back toward the door abruptly. Outside, he noticed that the Impala was still there. Briefly, Sam considered doing the car irreparable damage, but he knew that that wasn't the answer for the awful pain of betrayal he felt.

Dean had always been there for him, whenever, whatever he needed. His older brother had been his mother when their own had died, his father when John couldn't be bothered, his friend when Sam had had to leave all of his others behind, his training partner, his mentor, his supporter.

He had idolized Dean as a child, and then hated his older brother for it as a teen. And after running away, Sam had now realized that Dean was the love of his life. But now it was all gone, Dean obviously didn't love Sam, not romantically, not like Sam loved him.