Chapter One
The door creaked open and Dean peered inside the dark motel room. He squinted at Sam's bed, but was unable to make out the figure he expected to be under the covers. He took a cautious step inside, and a lamp in the corner of the room switched on with the audible tug of a chain. Startled, Dean looked towards the white glow to see Sam sitting in an old armchair.
Sam had dark circles under his eyes, giving his face a sunken expression of worry. His usually voluptuous neck-length brown hair seemed disheveled, indicating deep depression. "Out for a drive?" he asked quietly.
"Uh, yeah," said Dean. Shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, he sat down on the edge of the bed and began to take his shoes off, pretending–for his brothers, sake–that it was just a normal night. "There's a twenty-four hour gas station just off the highway. I wanted to pick up some pie."
"Dean, we already have pie," Sam said, gesturing towards the mini fridge. "I bought some yesterday, don't you remember?"
"Yeah, I mean, more pie."
"More pie?" Sam narrowed his eyes. Dean shrunk away from the eye contact, training his own gaze on the stained carpeted floor. Sam got up from the chair and walked toward him, but even when the younger man sat down next to him, Dean wouldn't look up. When he finally risked a glance at his sad, yet handsome brother, despite everything that had happened, Dean's feelings of attraction for the younger man began to reappear; with a wave of nausea, he fought them back.
"Well, where is it? Where's the pie?"
"The store was all out."
Sam sighed softly and shook his head. "But Dean, you've been gone for almost two hours."
Dean shrugged, trying to act casual, but Sam's piercing hazel gaze made it clear that this guise wasn't working. The other man knew him well enough to spot a lie.
"Dean, is that engine oil on your flannel?"
"What? No," said Dean hastily, looking down at the previously unnoticed stain.
"Were you… in the parking lot?"
"Sam, I was getting pie. That's it." A long silence passed and Dean looked away. He knew that deep down, he still had feelings for Sam. But things could never be the way they were before he found his way to her. Dean wasn't brave enough to tell him that.
Sam seemed to understand this without being told. "Dean, are you seeing someone else?" he asked at last, breaking the silence.
Dean quickly snapped his head up, his face flushing with the fear of being found out. "What? No!"
"Don't lie to me, Dean." Sam rested his face in his hands for a moment, covering tearful eyes. When he looked at Dean again, his face bore the expression of a wounded moose. "I thought we were happy together."
Dean sighed. "I don't want to keep doing this, Sammy."
"And why not?" Sam asked, defensive. "Whatever it is that's wrong, we can fix it! That's what we always do! We love each other, don't you remember that?"
Dean looked away. "I can't love you anymore, Sam," he said softly, knowing how much his words must have hurt him. He guiltily ignored Sam's brokenhearted stare. He slipped his shoes back on, not bothering to tie them, and headed for the door. "I'll find somewhere else to stay tonight."
"Dean, wait!" Sam cried. "You can't just leave like this. Where'll you go?"
"I don't care. I'll sleep in the car if I have to."
"You can't just sleep in the…" Sam's voice trailed off. He looked again at the greasy black stain on Dean's flannel, staring contemplatively for a long time, and his face creased with pain. "Oh," he said, his voice filled with spite. He stared bitterly down at the floor. "It's the car, isn't it?"
"No, its…" Dean's voice cracked weakly as he tried to come up with another explanation, one that would hurt his brother less, but found none. "Stay out of it, Sam," he said hurriedly.
"I can't believe this. You'd give up being with someone you love over…" his voice trailed off. "It's a car, Dean. It's wrong," he finished.
"I need her, Sam! You don't understand!" Dean interrupted. Without hesitating for a second thought, he hurried out the door and slammed it behind him, ignoring his brother's protests. Outside, he leaned against the motel wall for a minute, a combination of sadness and frustration forming tears in his eyes. He wiped them away and looked up.
Dean's car was in the same place where he'd left her. Drawn to her beauty, he slowly stifled his crying and made his way towards her. The moonlight reflected on her black paint, and her polished windshield seemed to glow along with it. Dean stroked her metal surface and opened the door, sitting down in the driver's seat. He shut the door softly and started up the engine. He pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, the vibration making his body ache with desire.
"He's gone, Baby. We can be together now. No one's gonna stop us."
Not looking back, he shifted the gears and put his foot on the gas pedal, driving out of the parking lot and away from Sam as quickly as Baby would take him.