A/N: This hit me at the end of the episode. Sam walking so dejectedly behind Dean just spoke volumes, and the untied shoelaces bit wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Angst up the wazoo, people.
Summary: There are some things Sam can't understand. Tag to Season 4 Episode 8, Wishful Thinking. So, spoilers up to that.
Never Stop
"And I could never make you understand. So, I am sorry." The finality in the way he says it bites into his own flesh like hooks on the ends of blackened chains, and he looks away.
When he starts walking, he recognizes that Sam is a foot or so behind him, lingering in their conversation before he follows. And for a cruel moment, Dean sees that little kid with the untied shoelaces, scuffing his feet on the sidewalk as he follows his big brother home. Head hung low, unable or unwilling to recognize the weight of everything until it is brutally thrust upon him.
It pulls at his gut, and he clenches tight, holding himself in. Holding everything. He's afraid that if he lets it go, it'll never stop coming.