Dean always hated libraries. He preferred watching TV to reading books. He'd much rather spend time playing outside during recess, but he was on a mission. Sam had been begging him to braid her hair, but whenever he did, she'd just say, "No, the pretty braids." Dean wasn't quite sure what that meant, but if Sammy wanted it, she'd get it. He found a book called "How to Braid" and flipped through it. The book was much thicker than he'd expected, who knew there were so many different kinds of braids? Thankfully, there were pictures so Sam could flip through and tell him what she wanted, and the instructions seemed fairly straightforward.

He'd never actually checked out a book from the library before and he wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Dean looked around to see if he could find the librarian. She was helping the only other student in the library, so he quickly hid the book in his backpack and went to put it back into his classroom. He felt a little guilty stealing the book, but he would probably have ended up keeping it anyway.

Dean checked the clock after he put his backpack away. There was still enough time for him to play outside for a bit, so he ran out the door. He saw Sam playing in the mud, laughing and holding out a worm towards the other girls, who recoiled in disgust. He smiled at the sight of his little sister, splashing in the muddy water, not caring how wet or dirty she got. She waved at Dean enthusiastically when she saw him and he waved back. The bell rang, signalling the end of recess, and all of the kids started running towards the school.

/

"De!" Sam exclaimed, running to give him a hug when he came to pick her up at the end of the school day. "I drawed this for you!" She thrust a piece of paper into his hands. It was a picture of the two of them watching TV.

"Oh, wow, thanks, Sammy," Dean replied, folding the paper and tucking it into his backpack. "It's really nice. So, guess what I got?" he asked as he took his sister's hand.

"Uhh, candy?" She guessed, peering up at him through her messy bangs.

Dean laughed, "No, but we can go get some if you want. I got a book so I can learn how to braid your hair! We can go get some snacks and then we can go back to the hotel and you can watch TV while I try to braid your hair. How does that sound?"

"Can I pick the candy this time?" She giggled before jumping into one of the puddles on the sidewalk.

"Of course!" Dean responded, leading his little sister up the stairs into the convenience store. "Pick whatever candy you want."

She grinned and ran to look at all of the candy. Dean already knew what she was going to choose. Sam loved two things: chocolate and gummy worms. So after she had picked out the chocolate she wanted and ordered Dean to put as many gummy worms as possible into one of the bags, he grabbed something for himself and brought the items up to the counter to pay. After his dad had fallen asleep last night, Dean took a ten dollar bill from his wallet.

They got back to the hotel room and Dean pulled the book of braids out of his backpack. "Okay," he said, setting the book down on the bed and flipping through it, "which one do you want?"

Sam took the book and flipped through it, looking carefully at the pictures. "Uhhh… this one!" She decided, pointing at the page. She chose the Dutch braid, which didn't look like it would be too difficult.

"Alright, let's try it," Dean grabbed a brush and a hair band and climbed onto the bed. He sat on the head of the bed, putting the book on the pillow beside him. "Come here," he motioned for Sam to sit in front of him and turned on the TV to the channel she liked. She happily obliged and plopped down between his legs, watching her cartoons and munching on gummy worms.

Dean scanned the instructions before he started, brushing Sam's hair as he did so. He grabbed a chunk of her hair and held it as he read the rest of the instructions more thoroughly. He crossed the sections under each other like the book said, but it didn't look like the picture. It was too loose and it was flopping all over. Dean sighed and took the braid out so he could start over. This time he held the hair tighter when he was doing it.

"Ow! De, you're pulling my hair!" Sam cried, trying to slap his hand away.

"Sorry, Sammy!" Dean exclaimed, loosening his grip on her hair. Sam went back to watching TV and Dean continued braiding, this time when he finished, it looked exactly like the picture. "I'm done. Go look in the mirror," he suggested, gently nudging her forward.

Sam looked into the full length mirror and turned her head so she could get a better look. "It's so pretty," she sighed. "Can you try another one?"

"Sure," Dean replied. "Which one?" he handed her the book.

She flipped through again before holding the book up to her brother, "This one."

Dean took the book back and looked at it. This one looked a lot harder than the last, and there were so many more steps. It wrapped around the head. Dean didn't know if he was going to be able to do it, but he'd try.

"Dean, stop," Sam demanded after he'd been pulling and tugging on her hair for an hour. "Just wait 'til you're better at it. Then you can do this one."

Dean laughed, "Yeah, I think I need a bit more practice before I can do this braid. Come here." He scooped her up and pulled her closer to his chest. "Let's just watch cartoons for now."

"Okay," Sam smiled. "Do you want a gummy worm?" She turned to look at her brother and held out a blue and red candy. Dean opened his mouth in response and she giggled and fed it to him. He chuckled and kissed her cheeks.

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean replied. Sam didn't say anything, just cuddled closer to him and turned her attention back to the TV. He wrapped his arms around his baby sister and held her. He wished she could stay this way forever, that their dad wouldn't teach her how to fight, that she wouldn't have to know about all of the monsters out there. He knew that their dad would tell Sam about everything. Dean would just have to make sure he was always there to protect her.