A/N: So I'm relatively new to the Supernatural fandom and I though I'd contribute a little. I have a thing for outside POV while Sam is at Stanford stories, so that is what this is. This is a plot bunny that wound't go away.
Danny didn't know very much about Sam Winchester.
The first time Danny learned about Sam he was more focused on what he was going to say about himself. They met each other in their dorm room, exchanging pleasantries and smiles. Danny didn't care to comment on the fact that Sam only had two duffle bags.
It wasn't until a few days later that the two stepped out of aquaintences and into friends. Danny asked a casual, "So, what's your family like?"
Sam responded with a vague, quiet, "Ya know, just like anybody else's family." Then a quick, louder, curious, "What about yours?"
Danny was grateful for the quick response and words about his family tumbled out of his mouth quick, hot, and a little jumbled in a desperate attempt to drive out the ache of missing his family. Trying not to think about them sure as hell wasn't working.
Later he wondered how Sam could possibly stop himself from doing the same thing.
The second time Danny asked he was a little drunk but genuinely curious. "C'mon Sam tell me about your family, none of that bullshit like last time." He put on a false voice, harsh but not maliciously so and said, "'Just like anybody else's family.' What the hell does that even mean? I want facts."
Danny earned a small, sad smile from Sam. "It's not that interesting, you don't really want to know."
"Uh, yeah, I do, Sam. Why do you think I asked? Do you think it's just an excuse to get in your pants? Well, sorry pal, I don't swing that way. We're just friends and friends know about each other's families. Hell, you've even met mine!."
Sam let out a small sigh and gave Danny look that meant he was being obnoxious. "Fine. I lived with my dad and my brother, Dean. We moved around a lot. Do you want another beer? On me?"
Danny took him up on it happy with the small victory and free beer (it's the small things in life Danny often said) and didn't notice that the conversation had been directed away from Sam's family on purpose.
The third time it isn't Danny who asks but Jess and it's more than a year later. The three of them (and some of their other friends) had gone on a day trip to the beach to celebrate the end of the second semester. They sat together, laughing, and talking, glad to be away from the stress of life. Jess leaned on Sam and he leaned into a little (they are into each other Danny thinks) and she looked up and asked, "Can you tell us a story about your family Sam? Everyone else here has." She laughed a little, high and sweet, at Sam's annoyed face and hits his arm softly. "It's your turn."
Danny looked away from the ocean (he's always been fascinated by it- how it can seems to go on forever, and the mystery of it-it's kind of Sam he realized not that he would ever tell him) and looked to Sam, interested in what he has to say.
Sam talked quietly and gave only small, meaningless words. "I've told you guys before, my family isn't that interesting, you don't want to hear about it."
Danny looked at Becky next to him, they were both curious. Sam was a nice guy and funny but he was a mystery and it was a little strange and it worried Danny and his friends- they cared about Sam.
Becky tried by coaxing him out of his shell with teasing and specifics. "Tell us about how your family reacted when they learned you got into Stanford, Mr. Full Ride."
Sam started to look uncomfortable and Danny could tell Sam was breaking under his friends steady gazes. He put on a smile and tried to look happy. Danny didn't really think it worked. "My dad and brother were really happy."
Sam offered no more and the conversation moved on and if anyone had noticed he was lying (Danny had) they didn't have the heart to call him out on it.
Danny was upset to know he had learned more about the Sam before Stanford with a lie than with any information Sam had given up willingly.
The fourth time Danny and Sam were at a dirty, dingy bar that Sam had not wanted to go in. Some of the neon letter's had burned out and old rusty cars sat in front of it. Danny wasn't sure if it had to do with the fact that they had a test tomorrow and they were still outside of Palo Alto or that this place didn't look all that safe.
Though, Danny did notice that Sam kept would glace, or more like stare, at the best car in the place (a '67 Chevy Impala, holy shit did Danny want that car) like it was going to eat him. But Danny finally talked Sam into the bar with pleas and promises. Sam followed Danny in.
They sat in a table in a corner and talked about nothing, both knowing that their test tomorrow probably wasn't going to go over well. Danny looked around the bar and saw a lot of big, buff men that could take him out in a second (maybe not Sam though, he was huge). He saw one guy get up and leave. He got into the Impala and never noticed that both Danny and Sam had been watching him leave.
Sam looked a little like he was going to cry and a little like he was going to go after the guy. The latter one out when Sam stood up and walked out calling back to Danny, "I'll be back in a minute."
Sam came back with his face crumpled, looking upset and exhausted, and asked if Danny wanted to leave.
It wasn't until the next day when Sam had avoided him all day that the guy could very possibly be Sam's brother (Danny wasn't pre-law for nothing).
The fifth time was at Jess' funeral when it was confirmed that the guy from the dingy bar so long ago actually was Sam's brother. Sam's brother, Dean, stuck by Sam's side the entire time and stood behind him like a body guard when Danny came up to talk to him. Sam said was leaving with Dean to go on a road trip for a while and he would try to keep in touch.
Danny never saw Sam again and he realized he really didn't know much about Sam at all. Only that he had a brother and a dad and they were upset when Sam left for college. He was funny and smart and he sometimes put salt on the window. Not everyday but enough for it not to be an accident. He was vast and mysterious like the ocean.
And later when he saw Sam and Dean Winchester's faces on the news reported as being dangerous criminals, he found maybe he was glad he didn't know very much about Sam Winchester.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews would be awesome :)