So I wrote this for my roommate as a reward for actually updating one of her stories. I hope you enjoy!
"You know, this place sure has changed since I went here."
Dean glanced at his brother, who was staring at the campus buildings with a hint of longing in his eyes.
"This building wasn't here when I went here," Sam continued on. "And that building must have gotten added on."
Dean shrugged.
"They're just buildings," he grumbled. "No need to get so attached."
Sam rolled his eyes.
"You don't understand," he said. "Stanford always reminded me of how free I actually was. I didn't have to worry about demons or angels or ghosts or whatever bogeyman was out there. I could be myself for the first time. Even the acceptance letter…That was really the first time that I really felt free from everything."
Dean clenched his teeth together. You don't understand. That phrase really dug under his skin.
"University of Kansas," he said bluntly. Sam gave him a strange look.
"What about it?" he asked in slight confusion.
"I got an acceptance letter to University of Kansas the day before you ran away to Flagstaff." Sam's eyes widened.
"Seriously?" he asked. "I never knew that."
"Because I never told anyone about it," Dean said. "So don't tell me that I don't know what it feels like to hold an acceptance letter and to dream of freedom. I know exactly what it feels like."
Dean stared down at the letter in his hands, eyes wide, unable to process the words on the page. Was it all a joke? Or had he actually gotten in?
The young hunter had never imagined that he would have been able to get into a college, even a small local one, with his mediocre grades, long list of detentions, and huge list of schools. But somehow he had managed it.
Dean could practically taste the freedom that was being offered. A college life, complete with drinking and girls. A chance to get away from his family and the constant fighting and the monsters that invaded their world. It would be the life he had always wanted but never actually considered having.
Applying to college had been a mere whim for Dean. There had been a few hours in the high school dedicated to filling out college applications and the teacher had been practically breathing down Dean's neck to fill out at least one application. So he had complied, if only to get assistance from the hot brunette that sat a few rows down.
He had never imagined that he would actually be accepted. To an actual university, nonetheless, not some two-year community college. Sammy was going to be impressed when Dean told him.
Dean tucked the acceptance letter into his pocket before heading to the nearest gas station to pick up a box of cereal and a couple of burgers. Sammy was still at the motel, finishing up his homework. His father was somewhere, probably exorcising a demon or slaughtering a ghoul. The usual.
"I'm doing this for our family! I'm doing the best I can!"
"Why do we have to move again, though? Why can't we just stay in one place and actually try being normal?"
Dean sighed as he opened the door. Definitely the usual. The eighteen-year-old glanced between his father and his younger brother, who were glaring at each other from across the room.
"Because I'm not putting you at risk while I'm traveling around the country hunting. I already lost your mother. I'm not going to lose you and Dean, too."
Dean sighed again. The mother card had been played. The eighteen-year-old shut the door loudly, gaining the attention of the other two.
"I have dinner," he announced, not wanting to play mediator at the current moment. The argument was almost over anyway. It usually ended soon after the mother card had been played.
As Dean had predicted, his announcement ended the argument for the night. There was no time for it to resume after dinner because John had a new lead on the current hunt he was working. Sam was still silently fuming but Dean thought nothing of it. He was used to his brother's moods. Sam was a teenager after all.
When Dean woke up in the morning, Sam was gone and had taken all of his things. John had been furious at the discovery. It didn't matter to him that Dean had been asleep when Sam had left. Sam had still run away and John was under the impression that Dean should have stopped him. Nothing Dean said could convince him otherwise.
"Dammit Sam!" Dean growled, kicking at the tires of the Impala. His father had remained in town but had given Dean orders to find Sam and bring him back—kicking and screaming if he had to.
Pacing around the Impala, Dean thrust his hands into his pockets. Upon hearing a crinkling noise, Dean pulled a letter out of one of the pockets. It was folded and bent but Dean could still recognize the University of Kansas logo.
He had forgotten all about the letter. He had meant to tell Sam but his brother had run off before he had the chance. Now he wondered if it even mattered.
Dean's phone rang, drawing his attention away from the letter.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I got a hit on Sam," Bobby's voice came through the phone, loud and clear. "He's apparently in Flagstaff." Dean heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Bobby," he said. "I'll head there right now."
"Dean—" Bobby said before the teenager could hang up. "Did you ever consider just letting Sam live on his own?"
"He's fourteen, Bobby," Dean pointed out. "He's too young."
"You're eighteen now," Bobby countered. "If you go off on your own, either to get a job or to do whatever, he's basically going to be on his own either way. Your father's a good man and all but he can't be around all the time."
"What are you trying to say?" Dean asked, voice sharp. "Whoever said I was leaving?"
"You're eighteen," Bobby said. "It's only natural to want to leave and experience the world on your own."
"I'm not leaving Sam," Dean declared. He could hear Bobby sighing on the other end of the phone. "I don't want to leave." It was a lie but Dean wouldn't abandon his brother. He was well aware that he was the only person in the world that Sam could completely trust.
"Dean—" Bobby said but Dean quickly hung up. He had a location and that was all he needed. Glancing down, Dean remembered the acceptance letter. After taking a deep breath, he crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and dropped it on the ground. Bobby had brought up a good point. If he left for college now, Sam would be on his own. John would drop him off at a location and leave him to fend for himself until the hunt was done. Then it would be on to a new town and a new hunt.
Without a second thought for the acceptance letter, Dean stepped into the Impala and drove off, never looking back to the future that he could have had.
"Why did you never tell me that you got into a university?" Sam asked a few hours later. Dean kept his eyes trained on the road.
"Because it was something I was forced to do at school. I never actually considered going," he replied. "It only proved that they would let just anyone in. Besides, it's not like Dad would have let me."
Sam frowned.
"So you really never wanted to go to college?" he asked. Dean hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"Nope," he said. "There were more important things."