When Sam woke up it was still dark outside. The faint vamp of infomercial bed music became clearer as his brain booted with every blink and stretch. Soft white light cast shadows around the motel room: the table near the window, the couch in front of the television, and the two twin beds near the bathroom, one of which Sam occupied. Tracing the shadows of his surroundings, his gaze found his brother and Castiel asleep on the couch. It was one of the most innocent positions he'd caught them in.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and without a hunt, Dean had the idea of treating his family to a proper day of bonding, beer, and football. Most of the day was spent with Sam searching for a diner that would serve a Thanksgiving Day meal as Castiel watched football with Dean, the human explaining the plays and rules in-between swigs of beer. The angel's eyes would narrow ever time he needed Dean to explain something; Dean would prick up the side of his mouth, set his beer down and point toward the screen, talking over the commentators to give his own account of what happened. The eventual lean of Castiel's head would earn him a regretful smile and kiss, punctuated by "It's okay, maybe next play, babe." Castiel smiles, Dean smiles wider, Sam huffs a grin from behind his computer screen.
After turkey sandwiches at a diner 5 blocks away- "It's the only thing open!"-, the three men settled back into their motel room with two bottles of whiskey and free cable.
Dean flopped in front of the TV and picked up the remote, "Hey look, there's a Charlie Brown movie marathon on!"
"Really? Charlie Brown, Dean?" Sam almost giggled as he set the couple boxes of pie they brought back from the diner on the table.
Dean was almost offended, "Come on, Sammy! The Great Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Christmas: it's like the trifecta of classic holiday movies. You can back me up, right Cas?"
Castiel took his place next to Dean on the couch while Sam dragged his laptop over to his bed, "I've never had the pleasure of seeing these films." His naturally stoic face turned to Dean, then to the television, "If it's the holidays, why does this boy look so sad?"
Dean laughed and poured himself a glass of whiskey, "Well, that's just Chuck," slinging his arm around Castiel's shoulder.
"I thought his name was Charlie…"
The Great Pumpkin continued with only mild confusion from Castiel- "I don't think she's qualified to be a licensed psychiatrist"- making its viewing mostly quiet. Near the beginning of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Somewhere between glasses of whiskey and slices of pie, Sam had joined the couple on the couch part way, sitting as comfortably close to the armrest as possible. The three sat beaming at the TV, brothers laughing in near unison with the angel taking four extra minutes to repeat the action earnestly. Light piano jazz filled the motel room as the men drifted into an easy drunkenness.
Sam was the first to get up to use the bathroom. Over the sound of rushing water, he could hear the muffled banter from in front of the television, and it soundly mostly tame. Re-entering the motel room, he found Dean and his boyfriend had rearranged themselves on the couch, Castiel watching the movie from Dean's lap with the blonde planting Kentucky Gentleman kisses in the crook of his neck and arms draped around his waist. "See, this is why I said we should start getting separate rooms."
Dean lifted his head just enough to see his brother out of one eye, "Shut up, Sammy, we aren't even doing anything."
"Well, you're doing enough. I was going to join you guys back on the couch but now-"
"But now, you're going to grab your computer and let us watch the movie."
Sam threw back an eye roll, joking, "Yeah, like you're watching A Charlie Brown Christmas with Cas' beard in your mouth."
Having been watching the movies the best he could through half-lidded eyes, Castiel finally piped up, "Its not as distracting at it seems, Sam. Also, are all Christmas movies this sad or is that just another "Chuck" thing, as well?"
A huff of defeat left Sam. Dean handed him his laptop with a self-satisfied grin and made sure to look as if he was watching the movie, if only for a few minutes. The younger brother begrudgingly sat back on his twin bed to pretend to research. Pretending because: there was nothing to research at the moment, he actually wanted to watch the movie, and his brother's liquor-induced sweet talk was too loud to ignore when unfiltered by a bathroom door. The movie's pretty good, huh? Not as good as you, though. You know, Sam stopped paying attention to us. Why don't we… get ready for bed? He reached for a pair of headphone and his bottle of whiskey before tuning his brother and the movie out completely.
Sam remembered reading that A Christmas Story played all day on Christmas, and then he woke up: quickly blinking himself into a hangover, searching for the remote so he could zap the white film from his vision. When the younger Winchester saw his older brother and his boyfriend, it felt as if he was regressing from an early on-set headache to only dizzy and warm.
They were almost in the same position Sam had left them in, Cas on top of Dean on top of Cas, but the huddle had slumped horizontally until Castiel's head rested on the armrest of the couch and Dean's head rested on the angel. They were half clothed. Both lacking pants and Castiel stripped of his trench coat, it seemed Dean was almost successful in getting his boyfriend to bed, but for whatever reason they had stayed on the couch. Sturdy arms anchored themselves around lean torso; one leg slung over the edge of the couch, knee nearly hitting the floor; the light beard beginning to grow on the hunter's face sat heavily against his lovers chest: without soreness and ache, Dean slept.
And even outside of the action, Sam felt warm in the moment. He staggered to his feet. The remote was on the floor next to the couch. One foot drove the other toward the couch, glancing at his feet so he didn't trip. A distracted glance at his brother and his partner cut through his stupor and Sam pivoted around, grabbing the comforter from off their bed. It shook loose from the bed and flew open in the air, spreading thick warmth over the couple. He smiled to himself.
Castiel reached for the blanket, pulling it up to Dean's shoulders, "Thank you, Sam."
"No problem, Cas," he was used to the angel not sleeping, especially when he thought the brothers had gotten too drunk.
Blue eyes, now open to look up at Sam, turned to the television. Sam reached for the remote, and instead of turning it off found a new movie to watch. His wakefulness was beginning to wane slowly. A brief yawn and Sam went back to his bed, taking off the comforter and wrapping it around himself before returning to sit in front of the couch. The television was turned down to a reasonable level for falling asleep to, the dialogue of the film matching the volume of Dean's soft snores and Castiel's audible curiousness. Dean let out a heavy sigh, sinking into the enveloping heat of the comforter and Castiel. Sam exhaled content. Lilo & Stitch was playing on the Disney Channel.
A/N: Hey all, this is my first fanfiction I've published in a while. I'm really rusty, but I'd love to hear from anyone who reads this. Good reviews, bad reviews, feed them to me so my writing muscles can grow stronger!