Inside I was dying to give it a try and you begged me so I stayed;
I knew you were different from the way I caved.


"You're stupid," Sam muttered.

"No, you're stupid," Dean muttered back, chocolate glaring at emerald and emerald glaring at chocolate. They sat at opposite ends of the table, dinner untouched. John had been out on a hunt and for whatever reason, he didn't take the boys. It had been three days since John had left and the brothers were at each other's neck. Dean wanted to go after John, just to see where he had gone off to, but Sam didn't want to. He wanted to stay put and enjoy the time off, which seemed so rare ever since he found out that their father hunted monsters.

"Shut up, Dean," Sam countered, picking up his fork and stabbing into his SpaghettiO's. Dean frowned at his brother but quickly covered it up and allowed his gaze to fall to his own bowl of SpaghettiO's. They ate in silence, and when they finished, they waited for the other to finish washing their respective plates before taking their turn.

When Sam had finished, he walked into the room that held the king sized bed. Dean watched him shuffle into the room. The way Sam's brows pulled together when he was upset made Dean rethink the past two days. Maybe he shouldn't have brought up going after their dad. Sam was still a kid and was still trying to wrap his head around what their lives really were.

Dean stayed in the tiny space that could be counted as a living room, watching cartoons. Although he was watching, he wasn't paying attention. His gaze constantly flickered over to the bedroom, where the lights were off. He bit his lower lip and looked back at the TV. The cartoon he had been watching finished and some boring talk show began. He took that as his cue and he pushed himself up off the couch. He turned off the TV as he made his way into the room.

"Sammy?" Nothing. Dean stepped into the room, steps as quiet as possible, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Sam's back was to him and his side was slowly rising and falling, indicating he was asleep. Dean silently cleared his throat and fiddled with his fingers. "I'm sorry," he whispered into the dark. "I didn't mean to get you mad… I just wanted to make sure Dad's okay." He paused, looking down at Sam's sleeping figure. "But you're the one I'm taking care of and nothing'll change that, okay?" Again, there was no response. Dean shifted and leaned down to place a soft kiss to Sam's temple before turning to leave.

"W-wait," Sam whispered, barely audible. Dean wouldn't have known if Sam hadn't reached out to grab his arm. He could feel his ears and neck burn with blush. Had Sam heard him? "Stay with me?" Sam requested, turning to face Dean. "I can't sleep…"

Sam hadn't been able to sleep properly since finding out about what kind of jobs John had been doing and especially when John put Sam to train the way he had Dean. Sometimes Sam would wake up in the middle of the night and cry. The only way Sam would have been able to go back to sleep was if Dean climbed into his bed and slept with him, keeping him safe during the night. Dean stared at his brother in the dark for a moment before nodding.

"Sure Sammy. I'll stay." Sam scooted over on the bed and Dean slid in next to him. He protectively wrapped his arms around his brother and Sam did the same, curling into Dean and nuzzling his face into Dean's neck.

"I love you, Dean," Sam mumbled into Dean's neck, feeling himself drift off already. Dean smiled lightly and pulled Sam closer to him.

"…I love you too, Sammy."