Samifer Week #5: Sunday, October 14, 2012
Married Since The Old Days
Pairing: Samifer (SamLucifer)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 6266
Summary: Sammy and Luci have been bestest friends since Sammy was born. But preschool can be hard. (Wee!chesters)
Extra Note: Based on PreschoolGems tweet on Sept 19, 2012: "Me and him have been married since the old days, since dinosaurs were on the earth. We used to hunt them. They were easy to kill." If you don't know, PreschoolGems tweets actual quotes by preschoolers, and I thought this was too cute to pass up.
It was a week before the first day of pre-school, and Sammy Winchester was crossing the monkey bars at the playground across the street from his house. The four-year-old's hands were callused, and he learned to cross them earlier that summer. They were his favorite. He had to swing himself to reach the landing – he was too short to reach a foot out and touch like Dean was – but he made it and turned back to grin at his companion.
"C'mon, Luci. The stegosaurus is getting away!"
Luci was not as good at the monkey bars.
Sammy could see the fear on his face before he reached toward the first bar – the bars seemed deadly for a four-year-old; another boy had broken his wrist falling off it earlier in the summer – but Luci would do anything Sammy asked, and he set off. He couldn't use the momentum behind the swing like Sammy could, he hadn't quite figured it out yet, but he made his way dutifully across the obstacle. He undershot his dismount – landing on the edge of the platform, teetering dangerously toward the pit below – but he always did and Sammy was there to grab his shirt and pull him toward him.
Luci stumbled toward Sammy, breathing a sigh of relief against his friend's neck before straightening himself up again. He glanced over his friend's shoulder, back in character after the moment's slip, and said, "Look it. He's over there."
Sammy turned around. This time, he let Luci take the lead. The blond boy slid down the slide – Sammy crashed into his back behind him; Luci turned to throw a look at his friend, but Sammy offered a smile as an apology and all was forgiven – and together they made their way from the woodchips of the playground to the grass.
They were quiet as they crept toward the dinosaur – they picked up sticks to use as weapons on their way – and the row of trees between the playground and the elementary school morphed into a prehistoric forest. They weren't wearing ripped shorts and t-shirts, but were caked in mud, wearing the pelts of the animals they had killed previously. Their hair was long and dirty, and when Luci turned to signal the attack to his friend, there was no verbal communication needed.
Cavemen didn't have words.
Despite the stegosaurus' size and armor, the kill was quick. The boys ambushed, jumping from behind trees to slice and stab, and the animal fell at their feet. It let out a groan – a death rattle that upset Sammy every time, but Luci made every time anyway – and it stopped moving.
The boys panted, dirty chests heaving at the sight of their success. They didn't cheer, though, not like Dean and Mikey did when they played their own version of war games. Instead, they crouched and started gathering the materials they could use from the dinosaur – the spikes could make weapons, the scales could help their shelter protect them from the rain, the meat they could eat – and they walked their spoils back to their cave.
It was a bit darker under the rock wall, and usually their game didn't go much farther than this. The boys only had brothers, they didn't know how to play house, but this time, Luci started pantomiming adding the scales to the wall and so Sammy helped.
Then they sat in the shade and let their breathing return to normal. Despite Luci's attempt to hold on the game, Sammy was getting thirsty. He could look out from the rock wall cave and see Dad and Mr. Shurley with Gabe, talking as the toddler drank from a juice box. Maybe if he asked nice, they would let them drink their juice from the cave.
"Mikey says school is fun," Luci started, drawing his knees to his chest and turning his head to look at his friend. "He said he and Dean have lots of fun in school."
"They get in trouble a lot," Sammy reminded him. "I don't want to get into trouble."
"Me either," the boy looked down, picking up a handful of woodchips. "But, I'm afraid. It won't be just you and me anymore. And what if somebody else is better at killing dinosaurs?"
"Nobody will be," Sammy shot instantly, a frown coming to his face at the implication.
"But what if…"
"No," Sammy shrieked, standing up. "Nobody will be better. We are the best and nobody can beat us because we…" Sammy tried to remember what Dean said every time they got in a fight like this – and it had been happening more recently lately with the prospect of school and new playmates on the horizon – and Sammy crossed his arms and finished, "Because we have history."
Luci looked back down into the woodchips again, and Sammy walked over to Dad, Mr. Shurley, and Gabe so he could get a juice box and maybe some crackers.
Sammy Winchester had known Luci Shurley since the day he was born. Not that he remembered knowing him that early on. Not that Luci remembered knowing him that early on, either. But some nights, when Luci would push too hard and Sammy would push back until one of them broke, Dean would sneak into his little brother's room and remind him of their history.
Sammy would cry into his arms, face down on his pillow, and his older brother would rub his back, talking about the day he was born. Mr. Shurley, their neighbor across the street, brought his two young sons to see the newest addition to the Winchester Clan. Mikey sat in the corner and listened to Dean go on and on about his new responsibilities as a big brother, even though Mikey was the one who told him everything he knew about being a big brother to begin with. Mr. Shurley gripped Mom's hand with a smile, his five-month-old son clinging to his side. Luci's wide, blue eyes took the newborn in with fascination, and Mom shifted on the bed. Mr. Shurley sat Luci down next to her. The baby tottered unevenly for a moment before he leaned forward, reaching with a chubby hand. His hand rested over Sammy's blanket but pulled it back when the infant's eyes opened.
"Sammy," Dean swore that Mom said. "This is Luci and he will be your bestest friend." But Sammy didn't really believe him. Dad didn't say things like bestest and even though Sammy couldn't remember Mom, he assumed she wouldn't say things that Dad wouldn't say. But Dean insisted that they were born to be friends, and that he should cut Luci some slack.
Sammy would sleep poorly knowing that his best friend was upset, but every time he would wake up in the morning after a fight with Luci, his best friend would call before breakfast in tears. He would say he was sorry, that he didn't mean it, and beg Sammy to be his friend again. Even if it was Sammy's fault to begin with. And Sammy would apologize too. After all, it took two to fight.
So the next day, when Dean and Mikey had their fight, Sammy assumed it would be the same. True, Dean and Mikey fought this time in a way that he and Luci never did, but they were bestest friends. They'd known each other since they were born, too. Mikey was born just minutes before Dean – they had boxes in the baby room next to each other – and so they had more history. Even though their fight was worse, their history should have made up for it.
But it didn't.
Dean wouldn't tell Sammy why he went from playing with Mikey one minute to punching him in the mouth the next, but by the time Sammy and Luci made it to their brothers, Mikey had punched back and Dean tackled him to the ground. Dad was already grabbing Dean by the arm and pulling him off his friend. Mikey stood, growled, and started storming toward Dean like their fight wasn't over. Mr. Shurley said, "Michael," in that warning voice he had, and the oldest Shurley boy stopped. Dean and Mikey were fuming, red-faced and shaking, and Mr. Shurley handed Gabe to Luci. The boy put his brother down and took one of the baby's chubby hands – Sammy took the other – and they walked him from the fight to the slides.
Gabe would climb up the metal bars with Sammy behind him to make sure the boy wouldn't fall. It took a moment to situate them at the top – the baby on the four-year-old's lap – and they would slide together into Luci's waiting arms. Five minutes later, Dean stormed past Sammy with his arms crossed in front of him. Dad was yelling out to him to wait – to not cross the street by himself – and when he told Sammy it was time to go, the boy shot a look at his blond friend. Luci looked upset and worried, but Sammy didn't have a choice. He chased off after Dad and gripped his hand.
That night, Sammy went to Dean and tried to tell him about history and hospitals and to cut Mikey some slack, but Dean yelled at him until he left the room.
The next morning, Mikey didn't call before breakfast. Mikey didn't call again.
Sammy could see the school from his front porch and so could Luci. Their streets intersected with a T: Luci's house was across the street to the left and the school was to the right, but a road ran between them. Sammy waited on the porch for Dad, but Dean shoved his backpack over his shoulder and stormed toward the school. At the last minute he remembered he couldn't cross the street by himself, so he waited on the grass between the sidewalk and the street.
Dad came out a moment later, already dressed in his work clothes, and he grabbed Sammy's hand and walked his boys across the street toward school. The second Dean's feet hit grass, he took off running toward the school. Dad called out to him, but it was no use. Dad let him go. He was in third grade and could find his classroom on his own.
Dad had a hard time finding Sammy's classroom. By the time they got there, Sammy was a shaking, nervous mess and Dad was upset too. They stood outside the classroom for a moment, Dad told Sammy to breathe, and they pushed into the classroom filled with parents and their four-year-olds. A handful of the kids were crying – more parents were choking back tears – but the second they walked in the door they were approached. Luci was probably as scared as Sammy was, but he hid it significantly better. The boy slid his hand easily into Sammy's and tugged him away from his father. Sammy looked upset, looked up at Dad for guidance, but Dad just nodded.
"Sammy, your seat is at my table," Luci proclaimed. "I'll show you where it is."
Mr. Shurley approached Dad after their sons were distracted. Their hands didn't leave each other's as they walked to their table, but it wasn't abnormal behavior from them either. Mr. Shurley sighed, bouncing Gabe in his arms. The baby was fussing, near tears as if he knew his brother wouldn't be around to play all day anymore, and Dad offered to take him. Gabe stilled as he was passed to the other man, and Mr. Shurley glanced at the door.
"Michael and Dean have the same teacher. Should we warn her that they aren't friends anymore?"
Dad shook his head, "I'm sure they'll be friends by the end of the day. Mikey tell you why they were fighting?" Mr. Shurley shook his head. "Yeah, Dean didn't tell me, either."
The fathers said goodbye to their sons before they left the building together.
Despite everyone calling him Sammy, the teacher insisted that when he wrote his name he should only write Sam. Likewise, despite the fact that everyone but Mr. Shurley called Luci Luci, the teacher insisted on calling him by his whole name and said the class should do the same.
Sammy could write the first three letters of his name – Dean had taught him over the summer – and Luci could write the first four in his. That's when the problems started. They were holding crayons and writing their names, but the pair of them couldn't agree on how Luci's whole name went.
"Say all of your names," Sammy insisted, and Luci did. "See that's your three names? Luci is your first, Fur is your second, and Shurley is your last. So you would write it like this." And Sammy wrote the seven letters with a space between the two, the second capitalized. He wrote it at the bottom of his paper, under five attempts at Sam. "How do you spell your last name?"
Luci shrugged.
"I don't know how to spell mine either," Sammy admitted, trying to make his friend feel better. In the end, despite Luci thinking it was all his first name and should go together, he wrote it separate like Sammy said. When the teacher saw their work, she offered a smile and sat down beside the boys.
"These are very good letters, boys, but when you write your name, write it like it is on your nametag," she pointed at the tags on the back of their chairs. After checking, Luci held the crayon in his hand once more and wrote Lucifer just like the nametag said. She praised him – even ruffled his hair – and Sammy grinned at his friend.
"Good job, Luci."
"Remember to say his whole name, Sammy," the teacher gently reminded him.
Sammy frowned. If Dean's stories were right, he had been introduced as Luci. Surely Mom knew the boy's name better than the teacher. "Why? I have always called him Luci."
Both boys looked up at her, not really noticing the way the teacher's cheeks got red at the question. Neither of them had a mother or sisters – they couldn't remember interacting with girls on the playground – but Dean had taken them aside earlier that summer to warn them that girls were different than boys, but wouldn't elaborate.
"When he grows up, I think Lucifer would like… um… people to remember his full name. It is very hard sometimes for children to grow out of their baby names."
"I'm not a baby," Luci hissed.
"Exactly," the teacher tried again. "So wouldn't you like people calling you by your grown up name?"
Luci thought about it for a second, looking at Sammy like he had the answer. For a moment Sammy thought about their last fight – about people being better at catching dinosaurs – and he felt his stomach tighten thinking that this somehow related to that. If Luci was using his grown up name, but the teacher wasn't using Sammy's, did that mean they couldn't catch dinosaurs together anymore?
"Everyone else," Luci decided, picking up the crayon once more. "But Sammy can still call me Luci."
The teacher frowned, but left them alone. Meanwhile, Sammy grinned.
Before lunch, the class had playtime. However, they didn't go outside so the boys had to choose something else to do other than their favorite dinosaur game. Sammy noticed two girls playing house with a fake kitchen, and he took his friend's hand, dragging him toward them.
The girls let them join in their game, but they were the mom and the daughter and insisted one of them had to be the dad and the son. When no decision was made instantly, Luci frowned at the girls, "Couldn't we be the kids and you be the parents?"
"No," the dark haired girl, Ruby, snipped. "A mom and a dad is a girl and a boy not two girls."
"Then we…" Luci started, but the girl got angry.
"No, not two boys either. Don't you have a mom and a dad?" She put her hands on her hips and the boys looked at each other for a moment before shaking their heads.
"We don't have moms," Sammy started. Ruby's face softened at the information. "Mine died and his…"
"I never had a mom," Luci finished.
The blonde girl, Lilith, sighed and patted Ruby's shoulder. "Then you need us to be your moms. I have a mom and I know exactly how to be one. We have the same hair, so you can be my son," she pointed at Luci, "And Ruby is Sammy's mom. And we are baking cookies together and our husbands are out because they are cheating dicks anyway."
"Lily," Ruby hissed, shooting a look behind her. "She said you can't say that word."
"But it's true! It's what my mom says about my dad," but she drops it when she looks at the confused looks on the boys' faces. "But this time we will play house and you'll be our kids. But you have to play our way next time."
The boys agreed, then sat down and let their pretend moms feed them pretend food.
The first problem presented itself when the teacher was telling them where their rest areas were. All eighteen students ended up spread out over the class – some between desks, others behind the cubby – but Lucifer was at the door that led to the closed-in play area outside, and Sammy ended up by the bookshelves.
They weren't too far away – five feet or so between them – but when the teacher turned the lights out and put on sleepy time music (by Sam recognized it as Bach, Mr. Shurley liked music without words,) he couldn't help but look at his friend and five feet felt like twenty miles.
The two of them were born to be friends, Dean always said, and they had slumber parties often. Sammy had his own room, so when Luci spent the night there, they would make a fort out of sheets and blankets and curl up together, hidden in their creation. Luci shared a room with Mikey, and so they either slept on the living room floor or curled together in the blond boy's bed. At first, it never was a problem. Once and a while, they would overhear their fathers talking about how they needed to learn some space.
Sammy looked over at Luci and didn't want space.
The teacher was on the computer, getting activities ready for after nap time. Quietly, Sammy shifted his mat closer to his friend. They didn't curl together, but when Luci held his arm out, and Sammy held out his, their hands could clasp together. Luci's hand was cold – his friend was always cold – so Sammy draped his blanket over his friend, held his hand, and closed his eyes.
When they woke up, the teacher was sitting on the floor next to them. She was gentle, as soft as she could be when she said, "Boys, you need to stay at your rest spots tomorrow, okay?" She placed her hand over theirs for a brief moment, before standing up and walking away before they could respond.
Dean picked up Sammy at his classroom, completely ignoring Mikey when he stopped by a minute later to get Luci. Sammy's hand was tight in Dean's, though he wasn't sure who was comforting who, and Dean led them to the street. John was waiting there for them. He took Sammy's hand, and together the Winchesters went home.
Days turned into weeks, and it was mostly the same thing.
Despite their promise to play house with the girls their way, Luci would get upset and threaten not to play anymore if Ruby insisted she was married to Sam. The teacher had to intervene twice, and ban the four of them from playing with the kitchen for the rest of the day after Luci and Ruby got into a yelling match about it.
Once it got so bad that Luci had to sit with his head down at the table, and Sammy tried to sit with his friend, but the teacher told him that time out meant no visits with friends and after that Luci's shoulders shook up and down. The teacher noticed rather quickly, and she sat down next to him, and spoke with him.
Sammy expected her to tell him something that Dean would say – boys don't cry – but after listening to whatever his friend said, her eyes grew wide and she patted his back when he put his head back down. Luci was quiet for the rest of the day after that, the tears dried as streaks on his face.
Then the teacher called Mr. Shurley.
Sammy wouldn't have known about it at all, but he was sitting in the living room, rolling a ball back and forth to Luci while Gabe crawled after it, laughing. The phone started ringing and Mr. Shurley left his laptop on the stand next to his couch to answer it with, "Chuck Shurley speaking."
He listened for a moment before chuckling, "Lucifer? Surely, you mean Michael." There was a pause before he went on. "Oh, just a talk? He isn't in trouble then?" And then he was quiet for a long time. He nodded, and Sammy watched him watch Luci and him play with the ball. After a few moments, the blond boy was bored and suggested they play house.
"The girls aren't here. Who will be the mom?"
Luci shrugged, "There doesn't need to be a mom. We don't have moms. We are okay. How about we be the dads – because we both have dads – and Gabe can be the son." Gabe crawled to his brother at the mention of his name. Luci stood him on his feet and looked him in the eye. "You wanna play house, Gabey?"
Gabe laughed, putting his hand over his brother's face, and Luci smiled around it. Sam went to the both of them, holding his arms out to their pretend son. Gabe took a step, but fell into Sam's waiting arms. He pulled the toddler close and kissed his forehead. Gabe's chubby fingers clenched around Sam's shirt, his other hand reached for Luci. Together, they helped the toddler stand, and helped him walk around the living room.
"Yes," Mr. Shurley said. Sammy had forgotten he was there. He turned to look at him and the man was watching over the game with a smile on his face. "It is alright with me for you to embrace my son. However, you would have to ask John about Sam." He chuckled into the receiver. "Yes, I suppose boys will be boys. Thank you for your concern, and for being so sensitive toward my son."
When Mr. Shurley regained his spot in the armchair, Luci and Sammy let Gabe go and the toddler walked on shaky legs toward the man. Mr. Shurley beamed with the accomplishment, and when Gabe gripped his father's legs, he lifted his son and placed him on his lap. "I guess if they are your dads, that makes me your grandfather. I never thought it would happen so young."
Luci grinned and climbed up in the armchair next to Mr. Shurley. Sammy didn't hesitate. He climbed up and nestled next to Luci. The man's lap wasn't big enough for the three of them anymore, but he had them hold Gabe and it was bearable.
"Tell us a story," Luci begged, resting his chin on Gabe's head, smiling when he felt Sammy's head drop to his shoulder.
"Okay," Mr. Shurley said, then started, "Let me tell you about a brave boy named David, and his best friend Jonathan."
If the teacher called his dad, Sammy couldn't tell. And if the topic was going to come up, it was put on the backburner when the gym teacher had to break up a fight between Dean and Mikey during the middle of a soccer game. They had gym early in the morning, and the dew was almost like frost in the chilly October air. It made the ground slippery, and the kids had been falling over themselves to get the ball.
Nobody was falling over themselves more than Dean and Mikey.
They were good at hiding their slide tackles, too. They ended up in a pile together twice before the actual fighting broke out. The first time, Dean completely missed the ball and hit Mikey's shin. He landed hard on Dean, both boys groaned in pain for a moment before Mikey rolled off him and started pushing himself to his feet.
The second time it happened, Mikey was on the bottom, and Dean had hurt his ankle on the way down.
The third time, the ball wasn't even near them. One minute Dean was limping up the field – running as fast as he could on the bum leg (but wouldn't sit out despite the teacher's demands) – the next minute, Mikey had him by the collar of his shirt and full out punched him in the face.
By time the boys were separated, Dean had a bloody nose and Mikey had a black eye and was holding his hand at his stomach like he was babying it.
"Usually when boys fight," the teacher told Dad when he had to take off work to come and get his son, "once they get separated the fight stops. Not these two. They kept lunging at each other the whole way to the nurse's office. They couldn't even be in the same room. Do you have any idea what has them at each other's throats?"
Dad didn't know, and Dean wouldn't talk about it. And that meant it was up to Sammy to find out. When Sammy knocked on the door, Dean didn't answer, but the youngest Winchester pushed his way in the room anyway. Dean was laying on his stomach on his bed, arms under the pillow, face turned to stare into the small fish tank on his bedside table. There was a blue beta in it – Mikey had gotten it for him for Dean's seventh birthday – and it was one of the few things left of their friendship that Dean hadn't either destroyed or hidden in his closet or under his bed.
Dean didn't move when Sammy opened the door or when he sat down on the edge of his brother's bed. He did roll over onto his back when Sammy climbed up the side of the twin, and he opened his arm, letting the four-year-old rest his head on his shoulder. Dean wrapped his arm around his brother and held him in a way that didn't seem to bring Sammy as much comfort as it did Dean.
Sammy felt the way his brother sighed into his hair, and he let his hand clench around the material at Dean's chest.
"Does your nose hurt?"
"Just a little," Dean said, but Sammy figured it was a lie. "'Sides my nose'll be fine soon. He'll have a black eye for a week so I win."
"It's about winning?" Sammy asked. Dean wouldn't answer and Sammy could feel his brother shutting him off, pulling away, so the smaller boy launched into a different story. "Today in school, I got in trouble too. We were in library and the teacher was reading us a story and she got really mad when Luci took my hand and put his head on my shoulder. She said we aren't supposed to touch our friends but that is stupid. Dad hugs us sometimes, and we hug each other, and I hug Gabe. Why would friends not touch each other?"
Dean shrugged, patting his brother's hair, "She's stupid."
"She isn't the only one, Dean. When we play house outside and the other teacher watches us, she yells at us too. But they don't yell when Brady and Jess hold hands and I think it's cause we were friends from forever and they hate our history. They want us to make new friends but they suck. I have you and Luci and Gabe and Dad and Mr. Shurley…" Sammy is careful to leave out Mikey. "… and I don't need anyone else."
Dean sighed and pushed at his younger brother. Sammy took the hint and sat up. Dean sat up across from him. They sat criss-cross-applesauce in front of each other on the bed, knees touching. The older boy reached across the gap, touching the younger boy's knees.
"You listen to me, Sammy, cause this is important. Screw what everyone says about you and Luci, okay? You freakin' cling to him because someday he will be gone. Your friends will always leave you – not me, because I'm your brother – but some day, Luci is going to grow up and he's going to start liking a girl and he is going to want to hang out with her and not you. And you're going to punch him for ignoring you. And you're going to throw everything away he ever gave you. And one day, you're going to try and steal that girl from him because you just want him to be your friend again and when he realizes what you're doing, he's going to give you a bloody nose." Dean growls, and Sammy's barely holding the tears in. If Dean sees how badly he's upsetting his brother, he doesn't seem to care. He just laid back down, turning his back to his brother and finished his warning.
"Girls suck, Sammy. Hang out with Luci for as long as you can, because someday soon, a stupid girl will come between you."
When Sammy ran down the stairs and clung to Dad's leg, all Dad had to do was look at him to get tears streaming down his face. Dad yelled up a warning to Dean, but Sammy didn't tattle on what his brother said. Instead, when Dad sat down with an Alex Cross novel, he read parts aloud to his youngest son as he curled up on his lap.
Sammy hadn't sucked his thumb for a while – it had been a comfort thing, something he did after his mother died that brought him peace – but as he stared at the words on the page, his thumb never left his mouth.
Mikey didn't call, but the next day when Sammy came down to eat breakfast, Dean was on the phone. Dad said that Dean had manned up and made the phone call for once.
When Dean said that Sammy should cling to Luci because a girl would come between them, he thought they'd have years. But two weeks later, the first day of November, Ruby grabbed Sammy's arm and tugged him toward her. He was shorter than the girl, and when she stuck her arm out, she effectively hid him behind her, facing Luci with a scowl on her face.
"You said you would play our way. Sammy is my husband now. You can't keep him to yourself always."
Luci had a confused look on his face for a split second – like he wasn't sure how to react to that statement – but when Sammy saw starting of tears fade for the baring of baby teeth and a growl bigger than the four-year-old, he stepped out from behind the girl to see what his friend would do.
"No," Luci yelled. His face twisted, his mouth opened like he wanted to say something else, but couldn't think of the language to convey his feelings, and reached out with his hands and pushed. He cried out, "No," one more time as Ruby's hands flailed and she landed on her back on the carpeted floor.
Ruby started crying the second she touched the ground. Luci spared a glance at Sammy before his tears fell too.
The teacher was at them in seconds. The rest of the children hadn't learned tact yet, and for the most part they stopped playing to see what was causing the commotion. Ruby was sitting up now; she drew her knees to her chest and put her face in her knees, wrapping her arms around her head. She didn't look hurt as much as she was startled, and the teacher rubbed her back and calmed her down easily.
Luci was far less consolable.
Between the tears, Ruby was able to get out that Luci shoved her and she was mostly okay. The teacher got her up and playing before she guided Luci to his seat. He put his head down, still sobbing into his arms while the teacher told the rest of the students to keep playing.
Sammy stayed close, but he pretended to be reading a book so the teacher wouldn't send him away.
The teacher got on her knees on the side of the boy's table. Luci didn't lift his head to look at her, his back still rising and falling with angry sobs. Their teacher had been very kind to both of them since she called Mr. Shurley – she was the only one who wouldn't tell the pair of them to stop holding hands or stop playing together and make new friends – and after a moment or two, Luci looked up at her, running his hands over his cheeks to dry the tears that still fell.
"Lucifer," she asked, but then said again more softly, "Luci?" and Sammy had never heard her call him that before. Her hand kept rubbing circles on his back and he looked at her. "Luci, we are all friends here. And remember we talked about being nice to our friends. Why did you shove Ruby?"
Luci looked for a moment like he was going to going to start crying again and it took all of Sammy's power to not go to his upset friend. He felt the tears tickle his eyes too because Dean was right and a girl had come between them.
"She said Sammy was her husband," Luci lamented, gesturing wildly to kitchen area, as if her crime had a capital offence.
"Sometimes when we play pretend," the teacher started, "We pretend in our relationships too."
Luci gave a little whine, like he still couldn't think of the words that explained why it upset him. The teacher nodded her head a little bit, giving him the courage to try, and he opened up his arms to her, saying, "Me and him have been married since the old days, since dinosaurs were on the earth. We used to hunt them. They were easy to kill."
The teacher smiled and ruffled his hair the same way Mr. Shurley did from time to time to show he was pleased with his son. The boy smiled – his point had been made – and the teacher dropped her hand. "And that's fine, but if you are frustrated with Ruby, you need to talk to her about it with words. We cannot shove each other, okay?" He gave a sad nod. "Also, even though you've been married since the old days, you have to let Sammy do what he wants, too. If he wants to pretend to be Ruby's husband, you can't force him to do anything else. Does that make sense? Do you understand what I mean?"
Luci gave another nod, but he looked even sadder. When the teacher walked away, he turned to look at his friend before putting his head back down for the remainder of his time out. Sammy watched as the teacher walked over to where Ruby and Lilith were putting together a puzzle. She didn't say anything, but just watched to make sure the girl was okay. When she wasn't paying attention, Sammy walked over to his bestest friend and touched his forearm. Luci turned his head and held out his hand. Sam grasped it tight with his fingers.
"I'm sorry I didn't ask you if you wanted to be her husband," Luci admits, tears filling his eyes again.
"I don't," Sam whispered, dropping to his knees so he was hidden behind the book shelves. "I don't want to be married to Ruby. Dean told me to hang on to you because a girl is going to come between us, but I don't think that's true. I think what he said before was true – we were born to be friends – and I think what you say is true, too. About how we have been married since the old days. I never want to hunt dinosaurs with anyone but you."
Luci smiled and his hand shifted, so their fingers thread together. They sat there for a moment, palm to palm. The teacher smiled at the display from across the room. She let them have a moment, but with a look at the clock, she walked over to the boys and tapped Sammy on the shoulder.
"You can play with Luci when he gets out of time out," she offers them a smile. "In three minutes we're going out to the playground. Sammy, will you be our line leader?"
In three minutes and a half minutes, Sammy was walking down the hall with his lips closed and his hands behind his back like he was supposed to. The other children were excited to go outside – it was a rare treat for November – and they try to run and push each other to get outside the quickest. When she held the door open, Sammy stepped to the side and let his classmates run to the playground. Swings and slides were taken quickly, but the boy's face lit up when Luci stepped out of line, too, and grabbed his hand.
"I think the stegosauruses are extinct, Sammy. But I heard that there was a Triceratops hiding from extinction near the slides."
It was hard not to smile as the two boys ran off together, to hunt the dinosaur like they did in the old days. The teacher only hoped that it would be easy for them to kill.