(Ok, new chapter one, this has been looked over by the wonderful Ashrash44.

I don't own Supernatural and I don't own Guess how much I love you.

If you would like the back story to why Sam and Dean have Guess how much I love you please look at chapter 3 of my story 'Everything but the kitchen sink.')

The man knew that the person he once called a friend was keeping the monsters whereabouts from him. He overheard him talking on the phone to the monsters brother some time ago. He didn't know where they were at, but he knew he could track them down, then it would be over.

OoO

The January sun had long since set on the city and yet there were still lights on and cars honking and other noises of New York though it was early in the night. In one of the many apartment buildings, eighteen year old Dean Winchester was at the dining room table books spread out as he worked on his homework. He was so absorbed in his work that he didn't hear the door open or footsteps shuffling across carpet and hit linoleum.

"Dean?" A voice whispered from the kitchen. Dean looked up startled. His fourteen year old brother, Sam was standing in the dark kitchen half covered in shadows blinking sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey squirt, what are you doing up, I thought you went to bed an hour ago?" Dean asked rubbing sleep from his own eyes.

"I couldn't sleep." Sam said through a yawn and made his way over to his brother.

"Why not?" Dean inquired as he shut his books and stacked them neatly on the table ready to grab in his mad dash out the door for school tomorrow.

"I had another nightmare about John finding us." Sam admitted looking at Dean with worried eyes; searching for reassurance from his brother. Dean sighed. Sam had been having theses nightmares about John finding them since the New Year started and Dean didn't know what to do about them except to try and comfort the younger boy the best he could.

"Sammy, listen to me." Dean said pushing himself away from the table so he could look at his brother "John will never find us here ok? Even if he did and if he took you, I'd search all the buildings, back alleys, waterways, parks, homes, cars, trucks, everywhere to find you. I'd leave no stone unturned. I'd go to the end of the earth and beyond to get you back. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe." Dean finished and getting up he stood slightly on his tip toes and impulsively planting a kiss on Sam's mop of blond hair.

"Come on, let's get back to bed." Dean led Sam back to Sam's room and flicked the light on to navigate their way to the bed.

"Up you get." Dean said and Sam scrambled into his twin bed and pulled blue flannel sheets up over him while Dean flicked on the bedside lamp and turned off the ceiling light.

"Ok, there we go, snug as a bug in a rug." Dean smiled as he pulled the covers over Sam and tucked the overhang under the mattress.

"Dean?" Sam asked as Dean made to turn out the light.

"Yeah Sam?" Dean turned around looking Sam in the eye.

"Can, I know it's babyish, but can you may be read to me?" Dean looked at Sam with a blank expression. He had not read to Sam since the kid was twelve, Sam clamming that he was too old to be read to.

"Read to you?" Dean repeated. Sam nodded.

"Well, yeah, I guess I could. Any book in particular?" Dean asked as he wondered over to the book shelf.

"Guess how much I love you." Was Sam's automatic response. Dean nodded and pulled out the worn book. He had gotten it for Sam when Sam had turned ten for his birthday. By the looks of it Sam had read it to himself a lot. Smiling, Dean made his way back over to the twin bed and sat down with his back up against the headboard. Sam snuggled up the best he could to Dean, laying his head on Dean's arm. Dean took a deep breath and read out the words he had memorized from reading it so often to Sam before he argued that he no longer wanted to be read to.

"Little nutbrown hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to big nutbrown hare's ears. 'Guess how much I love you'?" Dean did the voices and everything, much like he did when he first read to Sam when he was eight and Sam was four. Soon the book was over and Sam was asleep on Dean's arm. Dean chuckled quietly and slipped his arm out without waking Sam up and shut the light off, made his way out of Sam's room, leaving the door open a crack and into the hallway. He locked the door and put a line of salt down, old habits die hard, and put the door jam bar up as well. Then he made his way into his room and quickly changed out of his jeans and tee-shirt into pajamas and crashed onto his bed thinking.

Rolling over onto his back he stared up at the pop corned ceiling. In away Sam had every right to be worried, Dean still had not gotten custody of him and it was still a very real possibility that John could come and take Sam away. He'd have to call the county tomorrow and talk to someone there and see if he could do something to help speed the process along.

'Maybe getting a second job would help,' Dean thought to himself as he rolled over onto his side 'I guess I could try it and see if I can handle both the job at the school and the new one, plus my schooling. If I can't then I'll drop out of school until I get custody, Sam is more important than some stupide degree anyway. With a plan for tomorrow Dean closed his eyes and fell asleep.