"You have an assignment due in one 1 week about the person you look up to." Mrs. Green said, she seemed way to excited about this assignment, however he was not. The class chattered excitedly as she handed out the assignment sheet.
"It has to be someone you know. You have to interview them. And on the day of the presentation they are required to come in." He rose his hand at that.
"Yes Sam?" She asked as the class turned on him.
"What if my person, if I have one, can't come in?" He asked sheepishly. He knew the likelihood of anyone he knew coming in to hear any speech that he had to give would be a good one.
"Well I'm sure your mom or Dad could take an hour to come in just for your speech." She said unaware that his mother was no longer in this world and his father was out hunting a pack of werewolves.
"But what if I don't have one?" Sam asked. That made all the other kids laugh at him. Mrs. Green looked horrified.
"Why would you say that?" She asked almost angry at the fact that he had no one to look up to. At least no one who could come in.
He just shrugged at that.
"Then do it on a sibling or something. And they don't have to show up." She seemed absolutely done with Sam and he didn't really blame her.
But that actually gave him an idea.
And when school ended he stood out side waiting for his ride. A large grin came to his face when he saw the familiar vintage car he had grown up with.
"Hey Dean!" He said running up to the car. Mrs. Green though spotted this and walked over.
"Hey-a Sammy….you got a tail." Dean muttered as Sam turned to see Mrs. Green purposefully walk up to the old car.
"Can you get out for a moment? I would like to speak to you." She said glaring Dean down.
"I'm sorry who are you?" Dean asked his eyes flicking to Sam who shrugged.
"I am Mrs. Green. Sam's home room teacher. Are you his father?" Dean barked out a laugh and Sam looked away. Thinking, basically, in his head.
"No ma'am, I am Sam's older brother." He said.
"Well I would like you to tell your father to come to the school tomorrow. I would like to have a word with him." She said crossing her arms.
Dean narrowed his eyes at her, shut the car off, and got out. He shut the door and walked around to greet her. His arms crossed as he stood protectively in front of Sam.
"Our Dad's away on business. I'm 19. I am looking after him right now. What is it that you need to say?" He said with cold harsh words.
"Sam, dear, please sit in the car." She said looking to Sam who hesitated.
"Sam. Car." Dean hissed out. Sam knew it was better than to mess with Dean when he got like this. So he hopped into the front seat and shut the door. Rolling down the window a bit so that he could listen.
"Speak." Dean growled out.
"I asked my class to do a personal essay and presentation about the person they most look up to. And that the person would have to come in and watch. Sam blatantly replied that he could not do the assignment because he didn't think his person could come in. Then he mentioned that he did not have someone to look up to. I am worried-" Dean raised a hand cutting her off.
"I know what your about to say, and your wrong. I am taking care of him right now. I will speak to him. And just because your a teacher doesn't mean you can-"
"Dean." Sam said quietly his door propped open as he gained his brothers attention. Mrs. Green watched the two have a quiet exchange, wondering how close these two really where.
"He will do the project." Dean said turned on his heel and walked back to the car. Already chatting about what Sam wanted for dinner.
Sam humed that night at the small kitchen table at their rented apartment. Dean had put every cent that Dad had left them into getting this place for two months while dad hunted. He had gotten a job in an auto body shop to pay for everything else.
It was a tiny place one bedroom, where Sam slept, and one bathroom. It had a couch where Dean slept. At first Sam had tried to get them to swap but Dean would always calm it was Sam's turn of he was going to be out late so he would just sleep on the couch so as not to disturb Sam.
Eventually Sam gave up but he could tell Dean was not sleeping well on the couch and often heard him leave, probably going to sleep out in the Impala.
Dean set a plate of take out in front of him before sliding into the seat in front of Sam.
He dug in as Sam picked at his, filling in some math problems as he went, before he built up the courage to speak up. He would have to be really careful about this.
"So about the project…" He started.
"Your teachers an idiot. I will call Bobby. Im sure he would be more then happy to come and watch." Dean said with a small grin.
"What if I don't want Bobby?" Sam asked.
"Sam I will call anyone you want me to. Im sure they would all be more then happy to be a stand in for Dad if you need them to." Dean said shaking his head.
"But I wasn't going to do it on them." Sam said shaking his head.
"Oh? Who then?" Dean asked his eyebrow raised slightly.
"A teacher from the last school." Sam blurted. He needed Dean to come but not know why he was going.
"Well I cant get them to come." Dean said shaking his head.
"I know. That was why I was hoping you would come." Sam asked pushing his noodles around his plate. Dean hesitated and hung his head.
"I don't know if I will get the day of Sammy. You know I can't take time off." Sam nodded. He knew Dean was working hard to make sure they were fed and taken care of. He knew Dean dropped out of school so that he could work when Dad was gone.
"I know, its next Thursday. If you can make it I would really like it." Sam said.
"I will see what I can do alright?" Sam nodded happily and Dena gave him one of those guilty looks and a smile. Sam knew Dean would try. And he also knew Dean wasn't going to make a promise in case he couldn't keep it.
"Thanks Dee!" Sam said jumping up hugging his brother before grabbing his stuff and rushing to his room. He wanted to get a head start on the essay after all.
"Hey Dean?" They were at the garage where Dean worked. The owner liked them and let Sam han around on the weekends.
"Hmm?" Was the reply. Dean was working under the hood of a minivan with a blown carburetor. Sam could ask literally anything and Dean would answer, not thinking twice about it. Sam could ask about their mom and Dean would just talk. He was better at talking when his hands were busy working on a car, weather it was at Bobby's or the Impala.
"Why do you like working on cars?" Sam asked. He was pretending to do math work but was really taking notes of his brother. Interactions with other people. What others said about him. How he handled certain things. Safe to say Sam could write a book about how awesome his brother was.
"They don't talk back." Dean said snorting and Sam rolled his eyes. But he didn't say anything, Dean would continue.
"If you take care of them they will take care of you. They need you no matter what and they may not be able to say thanks but you now they feel grateful. I don't know, I guess it's just nice to work on them. I know them like I know myself, so it's easy to work on them." Dean peeked out from the hood and grinned at Sam, "Plus I don't have to look at your ugly mug."
"Hey!" Sam shouted but he wasn't really angry. As long as he got the information he needed it was fine, he was used to Dean saying things like that, but he knew Dean didn't really mean them. Not like he meant he would tear people apart if they ever hurt his little brother.
With a wink Dean reached down and grabbed a soda and tossed it to Sam. "Come here. Let me show ya a few things. Best you know at least one thing."
Sam loved when Dean showed him things like this, he may never remember but he enjoyed listening to Dean talk about things other than hunting. It always brought a smile to his face.
They were at the grocery store a few days later when Sam had to take out his note book again. After all without proof how was anyone going to know how awesome Dean really was?
"You still owe a dollar." The cashier said. The clearly homeless man in front of them was trying to get a sandwich and a bottle of water. And the cashier had given him all the coupons she could give him and clearly felt bad that she couldn't do more.
"Oh...lets take off the can then." The man said clearly sad about giving up possibly his meal for the next few days.
Sam watched as Dean looked at their items and then his wallet and made a small nod.
"Stay here Sam. Don't let him leave." Dean said and ran out of the line. Sam saw there was no line behind them and spoke up.
"Hold on just a moment." He said gaining both cashier and homeless man's attention. They looked at him confused for a moment just as Dean reappeared with several cans of food in his hands. Setting them down he counted what he had and nodded. Plucking the can from the pile before his he added it to his own stack and nodded.
"What-?" They were both confused on what Dean was doing.
"Continue." Dean said nodding. The homeless man paid confused and Dean held up a finger for him.
All the cans where placed in a reusable bag in which Dean handed to the man.
"It's not much. But I know what it's like to not know where your next meal is gonna be from. So take this." Dean handed the man the bag and Sam saw the man's eyes tear up before pulling Dean into a hug.
"Thank you!" He said and with another quick hug walked out of the store.
The owner must have seen because he came over and voided the transaction. "It's on the house. That was very kind of you young man."
"I can pay!" Dean insisted as he pulled out two 20's and the older man shook his head and looked to the cashier.
"Don't take his money." Then turned to Dean. "I wish I could do more, but I know that we can only do so much. And I appreciate those little acts of kindness. Anything you buy here under 20 dollars is free for the rest of the year."
The cashier handed Dean his bag and left the older Winchester speechless but a shy grin and blushed cheeks showed he really was thankful as they left the store.
"Dean?" Sam looked to his older brother, now able to look each other in the eye it pissed Dean off, as they walked to the Impala.
"Always remember Sammy, just because we have a warm place to sleep right now and food on the table does not mean we always will. He was just having a bad day. I know what those are like." Sam knew what Deaner was talking about.
He remembered there were days when they were younger were Dean would say he would have eaten or he would eat but not right then, and he never really did. He remembered days when their dad would leave next to no money and Dean would have to barter with shop owners and the motel owner if their bill wasn't totally paid.
This hunt they were lucky, Dean had the Impala now, he had a job, and they had a apartment. Sam was in school and Dad wouldn't be drinking away all Dean's paychecks so they were able to put them towards food, gas, and desperately needed new clothes for both of them.
"Ok Dean." Sam nodded and they drove back to the apartment. Sam knew it was only temporary but he loved the little place, it meant Dean could sleep and not worry about Sam. It meant they were sleeping in properly cleaned sheets.
Sam slide into the car and saw that Dean had to take a moment before he to get into the car. Sam understood. And he would let his brother take that moment. When Dad was around Dean never got little moments and Sam felt bad that he couldn't give Dena those moments more often, but not he could even for a moment, even for this one moment, Sam would give it to Dean.
"Why did you dropout of school?" Sam asked two days later, the project due tomorrow and he had already spoken to Dean's boss to allow Dean to have it off. He had said it was alright because Dean never took a day off and worked hard, the owner felt bad about working Deen so hard but couldn't force him to take time off till Sam asked.
"Cause I can't hunt and go to school at the same time." Dean was sitting on the floor messing with the land lords microwave. He was getting 50 dollars for the repair if he could fix it. Dean was just fine with that. He liked fixing things and if he could fix it that was 50 more dollars he would have to save. Being in town for so long Dean had helped Sam open his first bank account.
Dad had always said it was useless to have one but Dean said that if Sam had one he could always put money in and save it. Apparently Bobby had done the same for Dean some years ago and Dean never touched it unless he had to. Dean was going to put 20 into each of their accounts then take the last 10 and put it towards food and gas. Whichever came first.
But with Dean working on something Sam could ask him anything. "But why? Your not hunting now."
It was a sore spot and by the wrinkle in Dean's brow Sam knew that any other time Dean wouldn't answer. It had been agreed that since Bobby was with Dad that Dean would stay to take care of Sam. Dean of course had been outraged by this at first.
"Look I can't work or look after you or make sure everything is safe if Im at school. I can't make money or have a job with school. So just drop it!" Dean said and for the first time in three weeks, Sam slept on the couch.
Dean drove Sam to school the day of the presentation.
"Dean?" Sam asked quietly. "I know you have the day off but could you come to my presentation today? Its at 1:30 in the auditorium. I would really like for you to come."
Their previous argument nothing more than a bad memory as Dean hummed.
"I have some things I have to do but I will try to make it alright?" Dean said and pushed Sam gentally.
"Alright thanks Dee." Sam watched as the Impala pulled out of the parking lot before running into the school and headed to the library to print out his paper.
Sam was nervous as 1:30 rolled around and watched as people filtered into the auditorium. He was looking for Dean, hoping Dean would show up. But he was pulled away.
"Who is coming for you Sam?" Mrs. Green asked.
"My brother, Dean Winchester." Sam said proudly.
"What about your father?" She asked confused.
"My father is away on work. Bisided he's not who I look up to." Sam said stubbornly as he crossed his arms. She sighed and nodded.
Sam sat in the crowd, watching as his classmates brought up their mom or their dad or even a grandparent or uncle or aunt. Since it was alphabetical Sam was last. He was hoping that would give Dean enough time to show up.
"And for our final presentation, Sam Winchester." Mrs. Green said and he stood brushing himself off as he walked bravely to the podium. His fists clenched nervously around his paper. He looked out in the crowded but couldn't even see who was in the front row. "And his guest, his brother, Dean Winchester."
There was a sudden cough in the back and Sam broke into a grin knowing it was Dean.
Moments later a red faced Dean stepped on stage looking to small for the leather jacket he wore. To gruff for this town's stage. To nervous to be in the limelight. Sam thought it was strange to have everyone staring at his brother but by the end he was hoping they would all be watching his brother the way he did.
The others had all talked about how their parents where nurses or firemen or police officers. Dean was a mechanic. Dean was wearing torn and grease stained jeans, an old worn leather jacket nothing compared to the suits and pressed sweaters before him.
He gave Sam a panicked look that said, "What the hell Sammy!?" but Sam just smiled and took his spot. Dean being so used to protecting his little brother from being seen had no idea what to do when the point was for them to be seen and just shuffled from one foot to the other not sure what else to do as Mrs. Green left the stage.
Sam waved Dean to stand next to him earning a few snickers from the crowd making Dean go even redder. And as nervous as Sam was Dean would most definitely be worse then himself.
Dean stepped up and Sam could see him twitching with nothing to do with his hands and unsure what to do. Sam rolled his eyes and reached into his own pocket handing Dean a small cube that Bobby had made for Dean years ago to play with when he was nervous.
He passed it back and Dean took it gratefully as he started his presentation.
"This is my older brother Dean. He is 4 years older than I am yet I am almost taller than he is." There was a chuckle from the crowd and a scowl from Dean.
"But unlike most siblings we don't stay in one place. We move around a lot. And this is my fourth school in the past year. Our Dad is always working and I don't know anything about my mother. Dean doesn't really tell me a lot about her." There was a mumble in the crowd that soon got silenced, probably by one of Dean's more forceful looks.
"And unlike other siblings we very rarely fight. Because we move around alot we don't have very many friends so we are each other's best friend. And Dean is the coolest, most awesome big brother out their. And I will tell you why." Sam shuffled his papers, the slight click of the gears from the cube in the back round nothing more then that.
"Dean takes care of me. Making sure I myself eat enough. He makes sure I do all my homework. He ensures that no matter what happens I am always safe. Normally Dean has to work odd jobs to help dig up money when our Dad doesn't leave us enough. But this time Dean got a job as a mechanic at the local body shop. Because he got a job he was able to show how much he cares about people.
"The other day we went out to grocery shop. As we had enough money to do so. We were in line ready to check out and a homeless man was in front of us. He did not have enough money to pay for his items. Dean upon seeing this went to grab more and paid for the item that the man could not.
"I know we have hit hard times and Dean saw the man and wanted to help. He wants to help everyone he can and when we cant help someone it hurts him. He doesn't like me to know how much it pains him when we cant help someone. Not only does Dean like to help people but he loves fixing cars.
"Our car, a 1967 Chevy Impala, has been nicknamed Baby. At 19 Dean could tell you how to fix anything from a belt to a carburetor. I don't know much about cars, but Dean could change a flat in less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately because Deen dropped out of high school, no one looks passed that when hiring him.
"Though Dean never graduated he is still one of the smartest people I have ever met. He helps me with my homework weather it be Calc or Physics he is able to determine the answer even before I can. He is a quick study and has worked very hard to get where he is today. At 19 he has fixed over 200 cars. He has been to every state but Hawaii. He has gone to both Canada and Mexico multiple times. And just for fun he has passed the Bar examine in several states.
"He rushes into buildings that are on fire and has had several protection details with several different police stations. But through all this I look up to him because he is my big brother. He makes me marshmallow nachos and makes sure we have Christmas every year. He remembers my birthday when our Dad is to busy. And he is always there for me. He never shies away from danger and if this stage was on fire he would be as calm as a cucumber. So I better wrap up because he doesn't like being in the spotlight for very long. Thank you," Sam looked to Dean who just stood there clearly to uncomfortable to do anything more than stand their.
That's when he heard it. Sniffling. He looked confused to Mrs. Green on the other side of the stage to see she whipping her eyes. The lights came on and Sam could see the whole audience was teared up.
Sam looked to Dean and smiled. "Say something." He muttered.
Dean was on robot mode and just waved. Sam once more rolled his eyes as he pushed Dean off the stage. Sam thought his older brother would recover quickly he was wrong.
"That was wonderful! If you would like to go home for the rest of the day that is just fine." Mrs. Green said giving Dean a new appreciation then she did a week ago.
"That would be nice. Dean doesn't handle being in fortune of people very well." Sam looked to Dean who still had his hand up as he slowly blinked. Sam reached up and pulled his hand back down.
She nodded giveing a small smile when she looked to Dean's face. "That seems fair. Have a nice weekend, Sam."
When Dean was sat in the car it was almost like he was never on stage as he continued a conversation that they had been having when Dean dropped Sam off.
"Look I have to work tomorrow…" He drifted off when he looked to Sam. "We are parked." He said.
"Yes. You came in to listen to my presentation." Sam said. Sam had forgotten that Dean blocked out things he didn't enjoy and probably had blocked out the whole even. Which is a shame because Dean had needed to know those things.
"I did? Well how did you do?" Dean asked excitedly the momentary memory loss forgotten.
"Very well. Standing ovation." He said grinning. Dean smiled and punched Sam in the arm before pulling him into a hug.
"I'm glad!" And they went home. The happy feelings only lasting a few more hours when they got a phone call from John, till then they existed in their own little world forgetting about the bad things as they watched reruns of Psycho and The X-Files.
