Despite what Sam thinks, his brother is not an uneducated idiot. It's not until Dean gets caught up in a longer than usual hunt that Sam finds out just how wrong he was. They've been based with Bobby for several years, trying to give Sam a bit of stability with school to give him a chance. Dean comes and goes as the hunts require, and doesn't seem to care much about school.
He had been held up an extra week on a hunt when one of the high school teachers approached Sam. "Sam, is Dean ok?" he noticed the confusion and continued to explain. "He's a week overdue on an extra assignment I gave him and…well, he's never been late before. I'm worried about him…"
Sam stared at the man for a minute before snapping out of his shock. "Uh, he's been held up helping dad with something, but he should be back in another couple of days. Can he get an extension on the assignment?"
The teacher shook his head. "It's not technically due for another three weeks, but Dean has a habit of running early." He smiled at Sam. "It's not overdue; it's just late by Dean's standards."
Sam nodded and watched him walk away. Not only was Dean submitting assignments, he was submitting them early. Not only was he submitting them early but they were extra assignments! Everything he had said to Dean in the past few months rushed through his head.
He was often telling his brother that he wasn't book-smart, that he didn't know how to do research or get a passing grade. If a teacher was giving him extra work, he would have to be passing the normal work with flying colours. Dean had never once hinted at how wrong Sam was. Just shrugged his shoulders and said something sarcastic about Sam's nerding abilities.
x x x
Two days later Dean arrived home without their dad – he had another hunt to track down. Sam left it a few hours, wondering if Dean might bring it up himself. Maybe the extra work was a new thing…but when Dean didn't mention it Sam got fidgety.
"Alright Sammy, what's got you all hyped up? Got a big test tomorrow or something? A book-a-thon?" he teased while he made dinner. To make up for the fact they were living with Bobby, Dean helped out whenever possible. He took care of himself and Sam, made extra dinner so Bobby could eat with them, and helped out with the garage whenever the older man would allow him to.
Sam shook his head. "Ah, no. Mr Haversham came up to me the other day…" Dean froze at the kitchen bench. "Said you were late for you on handing in an assignment…" Sam waited quietly for a minute, hoping Dean would tell him about it of his own accord. "Dean, why didn't you tell me you were doing extra work?"
Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Dad's angry enough that one of us is excelling in school with a straight track to college. How do you think he'd be if he found out about this? He'd drag us both out of school and we'd hit the road like never before. I do what I can, when I can, but I don't tell anyone about it. Because if dad finds out, it will ruin your chances for college."
xxx
Sam was ignoring the boy behind him who was calling him names. He was too busy watching Dean interact with the boy's older sister. The girl who, according to most of the guys, was the hottest girl in school. Sam had learnt long ago that Dean had a habit of shocking everyone with his reactions to certain things; he had a feeling this was going to be one of those times.
"Hey baby, we should go out sometime. Have a good time…" she fluttered her lashes up at Dean and pouted her lips. Her first mistake was stepping between and the pie he was about to load onto his plate.
Sam could see the minute Dean decided the girl wasn't worth his time and sat forward eagerly. "How about, you teach your little brother not to be an asshole instead, hmm?" he smiled neutrally at her, stepping around her so he could get to that pie. God he loved pie day.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw what was happening between their two younger brothers before turning back to Dean. "It's not my fault he's a little snot. What am I meant to do?"
Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, be a better role model, spend some time with the kid…be a big sister instead of the school whore?" he walked away from her before she could respond, heading for Sam's table.
Her little brother took off and Dean chuckled, taking a seat across from Sam. "Yo Sammy. How's it going?"
Sam chuckled. "Wonderfully entertained by the exploits of my older brother, thank you. Also, she hasn't given up on you yet – she's coming over…" Dean scowled; he hated it when people wouldn't take a hint.
She tapped Dean on the shoulder and he took his sweet time in turning around to face her. Rolling his eyes and winking at Sam as he did so and making the younger boy smirk. "I am the hottest girl in school, when do you think you'll get another chance like this?"
Dean chuckled. "Sweetheart, if you paid attention to more than your reflection, you would know that I'm bi. I therefore have a hell of a bigger pool to fish in…" he grinned at her. "And you are one measly little fish in that pool. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was talking to my brother." And he turned back around. "So, studies are good? Interesting?"
Sam nodded, watching in amusement as the girl's face turned red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, no one turned her down, before she stormed off. "Yeah, studies are good and interesting, thanks." He smiled when she walked away. "Now, are you going to talk to Castiel today or do I need to get Jo to introduce you two?"
Dean shook his head. "Prim and proper is not my thing, Sammy. Besides, what am I gonna do? Spill my guts about why I'm always missing from school? No thank you. I'll stay single and that way no one gets remotely curious."
Sam shook his head. His brother was stubborn and loyal to a fault. It was just a pity of where his loyalties lay – namely, their father. Well…it was more an illusion of loyalty, Sam had started to realise over the last few months. Dean was loyal to Sam, then Bobby, and until Dean could take custody of Sam he played nice with their dad. "They're always curious; they just don't have the guts to ask."
Dean nodded. "That will do. Just as long as no one thinks they have the right to be curious. A boyfriend would think he had the right. Not gonna happen Sammy."
Sam frowned into his food, hoping this next part would go better than he thought it would. "You turn 18 in a couple of weeks…"
Dean nodded tightly. "And what are you gonna do about it hey? I'm not leaving you there Sammy…" his eyes darkened with thoughts Sam would rather have not dredged up for him.
"Uncle Bobby and Aunt Ellen offered to file for custody of me, joint custody with you…if you wanted to…" he watched as Dean thought it over, glad that his brother was actually considering it. "Bobby said we can stay in the granny flat out the back, and he won't bother us unless we need bothering."
Dean nodded slowly. "That might work. I'll go see him this afternoon and get the paperwork ready. If we submit it now, maybe it'll get processed in time for my birthday…" Sam watched in fascination as Dean slammed a door on the dark memories and grinned at him. The carefree grin. The one that made everyone else think he was a cocky shit with no worries in his life. The one that almost convinced Sam that all the beatings he had witnessed were all in his head. The scars on Dean's body proved otherwise.
xxx
It had been several months since then. The custody paperwork had gone smoothly, though Dean didn't know how on earth he got so lucky. He'd finally met Castiel, when Sam decided mutiny was the way to go and brought him over to learn about cars…from Dean.
Collette stepped in close to Dean, almost rubbing up against him. "Dean, we still haven't gone on that date we talked about…" she whispered.
Dean stepped back from her, grabbing Castiel's hand and turned to face him. "Did you want to come to my place tonight Cas?" he asked in a quiet voice, stepping into his personal space.
Castiel smirked and leant in closer, taking advantage of the situation. He had been trying to grab Dean's attention for weeks but the guy seemed hell bent on keeping his distance from people. Dean was happy to be his friend, but nothing more. Even his friendship was guarded, hidden behind sarcasm and half sentences. "Hmm… your place sounds nice. Sam's staying at his friend's place tonight, isn't he? We'll have the house to ourselves…" he was waiting for Dean to pull back and tell the girl behind him they were just mucking around.
Instead, Dean leant forward and brushed his lips against Castiel's. "Sounds good, Cas. Gabrielle had things to do this afternoon so do you want me to drive you? You still have clothes at my place from last time…" Last time he went over to continue his education about cars and had taken a spare set of clothes in case he got ridiculously grubby…but Collette didn't know that and Cas knew she would think something far more…intimate had occurred.
Cas leant closer, running his nose along Dean's jaw. "Alright, I'll meet you in the car park after second last period? We've both got spares this afternoon…" he could see Collette over Dean's shoulder getting angrier by the minute.
Dean put a hand on Cas' hip, pulling him closer. "Or we could play hooky and leave now. I know for a fact that we have whipped cream at home…" before Cas could respond Dean kissed him again. Properly this time, his tongue tracing Cas' lips.
"Hooky and whipped cream sounds excellent, let's go." Cas mumbled when Dean finally pulled back. Dean smirked down at him and caught his hand to lead him to his car. Collette was left standing in the hallway.
"So, what are we really going to do this afternoon?" Cas asked when they were off school property, relaxing into the passenger seat of the Impala.
Dean shrugged. "I do realise that whipped cream is a bit presumptuous. I thought maybe we could start working on leading up to whipped cream." He didn't look at Cas, too worried about being turned down.
Cas stared for a moment before smiling shyly at Dean. Sam had warned him several weeks before that Dean wasn't very good at emotional things. That he would appear gruff but you had to listen to the words, not how they were said.