Chapter One: Brother

Sam's POV

Jess has been excited about Halloween. I, on the other, hated that holiday. When your entire childhood was devoted to monster hunting, Halloween lost its appeal. Not only that, but the anniversary of my mom's death was two days after, making this time of year hard. Dad would drink heavily and Dean would be...well Dean. He would make horrible jokes and be more obnoxious than usual.

Speaking of Dean, I hadn't talked to him in a long time. When I first left for Stanford, not seeing and talking to Dean was rough. I hadn't realized how close we were until he wasn't around, but I couldn't talk to him. While I loved my brother, we didn't agree on one thing. Life.

He was fine with hunting forever, following Dad's orders like a soldier, and I wasn't. I wanted normal and Dean didn't get that. He didn't understand why I didn't want to hunt forever or why I didn't 'just get along with Dad'. Well, I don't understand why he hunted and blinded followed Dad into danger.

Also, Dad and I just didn't click. Maybe it was because we were so different. I wanted one thing and he wanted another. Dean and Dad were alike. Both loves hunting, rock music, and the Impala.

Therefore, while I missed Dean terribly, I didn't think it could work. We were complete opposites and now we lived in two different worlds. He lived in the hunting world and I lived in the normal world. And I was happy.

I had everything I could want and more. I was going to college and making something of myself, unlike Dean who was content to just doing nothing. I had friends, a girlfriend, and a life. I was paving my own way in the world without Dad and Dean.

"Sam!" Jess calls. "Get a move on, would you? We were supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago."

I groan. I don't really want to go out to a Halloween party and drink.

"Sam!" She calls again.

I poke my head around the corner and I see her standing in her sexy nurse costume, ready to go.

"Do I have to go?" I ask.

"Yes! It'll be fun."

I walk closer to her.

"And where's your costume?" she asks.

I laugh and look at the ground. I should've known she was going to fight about this.

"You know how I feel about Halloween," I remind her.

"I know, babe. I was just hoping you would warm up to it."

She knows nothing about the Supernatural and my mom's death. So, she doesn't understand my disdain for Halloween.

"I don't know. Let's go. You said we're late."

"And you aren't gonna dress up?" She pouts.

"I am dressed up."

"As what?" She says putting a hand on her hip.

"A college student."

"Ugh. Fine. Let's go," she smiles.

We meet up with Luis, who is dressed up as a ghoul. I try not to think about hunting and how to kill ghouls, but I fail. Luckily, Luis' stupid jokes are a great distraction. All of us make it to the bar and start to drink. As Jess and I talk about school, Luis runs around. He makes it back to our table with a drink.

"Here's to Sam and his awesome LSAT victory," Jess says, raising her glass.

"Alright, alright. It's not that big a deal."

We all clink glasses.

"Yeah, he acts all humble, but he scored a 174."

Luis and I throw back our shots.

"Is that good?" he asks.

"Scary good," Jess replies, looking proud.

Jess drinks her shot.

"So there you go," Luis says. "You are a first round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want!"

"Actually, I got an interview here. Monday," I tell. "If it goes okay I think I got a shot at a full rise next year."

"Hey. It's gonna go great," Jess reassures me.

"It better."

"How does it feel to be the golden boy of your family?" Luis questions.

"Ah, they don't know." They didn't care.

"Oh no, I would be gloating! Why not?"

"Because we're not exactly the Bradys," I say to him. And because we are Supernatural hunters that kill things you can't imagine, but I can't tell him that.

"And I'm not exactly the Huxtables. More shots?" He suggests.

"No! No," Jess and I yell.

Luis gets up anyway and stumbles to the bar.

"No, seriously. I'm proud of you," Jess says to me. "And you're gonna knock 'em dead on Monday and you're gonna get that full ride. I know it."

"What would I do without you?" I ask in awe of her.

"Crash and burn."

She smiles and kisses me.

Luis gets back with the drinks and the three of us throws them back quickly, then we go home. Jess and I both take a quick shower and lay down. Warm and happy I fall asleep.

I awake to the sound of someone breaking in. I leave the bedroom and look around the apartment. I hear them pass the string of beads at the end of the hall and I wait for them. A man walks in I lunge at him, grabbing his shoulder.

He roughly shoves me away and goes to punch me, but I duck. The man grabs my arm, swings me around, shoves me. That confuses me, but I don't hesitate. I try to kick him, but he blocks it. It is like he knows my moves. I am pushed into the next room and I barely see him, but he looks familiar. He elbows me in the face and I try to kick him in the head. The man ducks and swings at me. I block it, but then I am knocked to the ground. The man's hand is around my neck and the other is holding my wrist. Gasping, I worry about Jessica. Then, the man talks.

"Whoa, easy, tiger."

I would know that voice anywhere.

"Dean?"

He laughs.

"You scared the crap out of me!"

"That's cause you're out of practice."

Oh, really? I grab his hand yank. I slam my heel into his hand and take him to the floor.

"Or not."

I tap him twice.

"Get off of me," he says, annoyed.

I roll off of him and get up. I pull Dean up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask.

"Well, I was looking for a beer," Dean teases.

He puts a hand on my shoulder, shakes once, then lets go.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask, madder.

"Okay. Alright," he sighs. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Uh, the phone?" And preferably not at 3am.

"If I'd'a called, would you have picked up?"

Before I could lie, Jess turns on the light and comes in.

"Sam?" She asks tiredly.

"Jess. Hey. Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jess."

"Wait, your brother Dean?" She says, excited to meet a family member of mine.

I nod. Dean steps closer to her.

"Oh, I love the Smurfs. You know, I gotta tell you. You're completely out of my brother's league."

I roll my eyes. I hate that about Dean.

"Just let me put something on."

"Okay," Dean says, surprising me. I thought he would've taken that farther. "Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business. But, uh, nice meeting you."

"No," I say. I walk over to Jess and I put an arm around her. "No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

"Okay," Dean turn towards us. "Um, Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So, he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Dean looks down and when he looks up, he has an expression I wasn't used to seeing on his face.

"Dad's been on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days."

I keep my facial expression the same as I take that in.

"Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside."