"Okay Dean, quiz me."
Dean looked at his brother annoyed, setting down the guns he had been busy oiling. Dad would be pissed if he didn't get these done by tonight. His gaze turned from his younger brother's eager face down to the massive book being offered his way. Was that a book or a freaking dictionary? My God, it had to be at least 10 inches thick.
"I know Dean. Wow a book. Can you just take it please?" Sam sighed, "And don't lose my place!" He added, his eyebrows creasing in worry. The crisp pages of the book were opened neatly to the middle.
"You got to be kidding me," Dean grumbled, extending his hands out for the massive atrocity. He took it, his arms dropping under its weight. Yeah, it had to have weighed a ton!
"What the hell is this thing Sammy?"
He had seen his brother sticking his noise in this thing for the past week, but never thought much of it. Hell, Sammy was always reading. An Encyclopedia of Weirdness through and through.
Sam huffed, "It's my SAT Study Book Dean," he whined, "the test is this Saturday!"
"Test, smescht," Dean sighed, rolling his eyes. "You have more important things to be worrying about. If dad doesn't see the guns cleaned by today both our asses are on the line."
Dean knew he was in for a long Sam rant as his brother's face set into that stubborn expression, his eyebrows sinking down into a hard line and lips pursing into a pout. He could hear it now. "This test is my future Dean!" and "I, unlike some people, care about going to college!" Dean inwardly winced at his brother's accusing tone circling around his head. Before his brother could so much as open his mouth, Dean gave in.
"Alright, alright Einstein," Dean said, shifting the book in his hands, "What do I need to do?"
Last thing he needed was to get Sam started on his tirade about education. Dad had already expressed his disapproval several times, and the resulting explosion was never good. After many harsh words and slammed doors, Sam's stony expression and dad's pointless yelling left Dean standing middle ground, fighting to pull things back together.
Sam's expression turned to eager anticipation, "I need you to quiz me on the vocabulary," bouncing towards Dean and jabbing at a point on the page. He quickly stepped back, eager for Dean to begin.
Dean's eyebrows sky rocketed as he tried to even begin to comprehend a random word on the page. Who the hell came up with words like these?
"Periodicity…" Dean stated dryly. The word rolling off his tongue felt foreign to his lips. Sam's droning answer left Dean sinking back in his chair, his eyes glazing as the list of words blurred. So this is what his brother wanted? Long lists of useless vocabulary to memorize. Mile thick books to study. Would his brother speak these words? Spend all day reading these books? Would he even know his brother anymore if he continued on like this? Going away to some big college? Sam leaving was a bitter idea for Dean too, not just his father. How would he be able to take care of his little brother then?
Sam's eager expression brought Dean back to the present. Dean continued listing off the words of a life he would never have. With each word spoken, a crack forced its way into the bond Dean clung onto as much as life. The bond both brother's had shared since Dean had carried Sam out of their burning home. With each word a splinter of Dean's reality shattered, every single one digging into his soul.