It was when Dean was four that he laid eyes on his younger brother for the first time. Even though he wasn't entially keen on having a sibling, he took to Sam easily. They went through everything together growing up. Dean was the only stable family figure in Sam's life. He was always there for his younger brother. There were often times when they were left alone in a dingy motel room for days on end. Dean made it his job to comfort the younger Winchester as neither of them had anyone else. Of course, there was always Bobby, but they didn't get to see him as often as they would have liked. Sometimes they were left in his house. se while John went hunting. Bobby was really the only father Dean had, even though he tried desperately to win the approval of John. It never worked though. John was never happy with Dean, no matter what he did, and it hurt the eight year old boy. Sam wasn't oblivious to this fact.
When John left during the night to go to a bar, Sam would crawl out of his motel bed and climb in beside Dean and pat his head trying to comfort his older brother. He hated to see Dean upset. The green-eyed boy smiled to himself when his four year old brother tried to make him feel better. Sam was adorable to Dean, who loved him greatly. Sam would offer to let Dean hold his stuffed bear at night to make him feel better. This was the only toy Sam had ever been allowed keep after their mother died and it brought him great happiness. The bear went everywhere with him and never left Sam's arms for any reason. Dean always fell asleep holding his baby brother tightly as the younger Winchester listened to his slowing heartbeat. Dean swore to protect his brother from monsters at all costs, and he did.
Every morning, Sam would wake up earlier than Dean, but lie there patiently as to not wake his brother. Dean then made him the best breakfast he could with whatever good was in the small, filthy fridge. Sam would always insist on sharing the food as there often wasn't enough for the both of him. John only gave them fifty dollars every two weeks because it was all they could afford. They boys didn't know a life where they didn't have to move around, or stay in motels every night. All they knew was that they needed each other because they wouldn't be able to survive alone. Sam loved his eight year old brother, who had to act as if he was at least eighteen at times, and Dean loved him little Sammy because he had no one else in his life. At this stage, they didn't know the depth of their relationship, but they would soon find out