"Here, take this," Sam said, holding out a wrapped package. "No. No, it's for Dad," Dean replied. "Dad lied to me. I want you to have it," Sam explained, eyes expressing the continual disappointment their father put them through.
"You sure?" Dean asked. "I'm sure," Sam assured. He was not going to give this to Dad, not after what he did, and it would look good on Dean. Dean took the gift and unwrapped it revealing a brass amulet with a human head and bull horns on a black string.
"Thank you Sammy, I...I love it," Dean said, smiling up at Sam. Sam relaxed and smiled back. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I can't believe you're still wearing that," Sam laughed as he got out of the car. "Never take it off," Dean said. "It's important to me, okay," Dean added at the look Sam gave him. Dean looked uncomfortable, so Sam didn't pursue the subject further and sighed as he sat on the hood of the Impala. Missing fathers aside, it was a nice night. The sky was perfectly clear of all clouds, which caused all the stars to shine brightly, reminding Sam of nights like these where instead of sleeping in a cheap motel room their father would bring out sleeping bags and they'd spend the night under the stars. Dean would make a fire and their dad would pull Sam to his side and point out constellations. Sam felt a happy warmth in him that he hadn't felt in a long time and, with his brother's warm body next to him and a beer in his hand, Sam almost didn't want to go back to Jessica and a stressful interview. Almost. He still found it funny that Dean was still, after all these years, wearing that amulet.
Sam glared at the amulet on the bedside table. It had been three months since he watched his brother die. Two months since Sam had given up on saving him from hell, one month since he had started really trusting Ruby. But that damned amulet served as the one perpetual reminder of Dean, of a brother, a friend, and the love that Sam had lost. It's been three weeks since Sam stopped expecting Dean to walk through the door, five days since Sam stopped praying to whatever deity was there that Dean would do just that. A month and a half since Sam accepted that Dean was actually dead. But that damned amulet. It was like adding salt to a cut, but Sam couldn't stop looking at it. Sort of like when you have a sore in your mouth and continually touch it, even though the result is always pain. Two hours since Sam last cried, but that damned amulet still could make tears bubble to the surface.
Sam thought it odd that Dean's throwing away of the amulet hurt Sam as much as it did. Sam knew it was a logical move on Dean's part, what with the amulet not being useful, but it still stung Sam. He had gotten over his hard feelings towards the amulet almost the minute Dean had burst into Sam's life again. Now it stood for what it always had; love and the special bond him and Dean had. It was like Dean was throwing that away rather than just a hunk of metal on a string. Though it certainly wasn't as bad as when Sam found out Dean had given the amulet to Castiel. That was like Dean had taken what he and Sam had and given it to another person. Which was absurd; what Dean and Sam had was...what, exactly? Well, it was complicated to say the least, and it couldn't be transferred to another person. Even if it was Castiel. Maybe it was because Dean's casting away of the amulet was just confirmation to Sam that him and Dean could never go back to that complicated thing they had had for so many years, but it still hurt like a bitch. Both times. Damn amulet.