Dinner and a Movie
Dean has this worked out, he's gonna meet Becky at the theater, sneak Sam into see the Lion King and then he and Becky are gonna go see Dumb and Dumber. He's been planning it since he got up this morning, crawled out of his bed in the motel room and walked Sam over to the nearest elementary school. He had intended to go to the junior high up the road, but it was such a nice day he'd spent it wandering around town instead.
"We're leaving," Dad says, of course, as soon as Dean has brought a chattering Sam back to the motel, after Dean has already mentioned the movie. Shit.
"But Dad!" Sammy says, all baby and little kid like, even though Dean knows he's not quite that much of a baby anymore, "Dean was gonna take me to see The Lion King."
"Oh really?" Dad says grumbling. "I wasn't told of this development."
Dean stares at his feet for a moment. "I was gonna ask when we got back," he mutters.
"Look at me when you're talking to me," Dad says and Dean looks up immediately.
"Sorry," Dean says, unsure of why he's saying it. "I just thought Sam would want to see it."
"Aren't you both a little old for that?" Dad asks.
"No," Dean answers, even though he'd been thinking it earlier.
"Huh," Dad says. "Pack up," he says. And that's that. End of conversation. Dean reaches under his bed for his duffel bag and starts to fill it with the few things that he's left out over the past two weeks. Sam, who's deflated and is no longer chattering, starts to do the same. Dad nods carefully and then goes through the door to his adjoining room.
"I kinda liked this school," Sam says. "Mrs. Edwards was nice."
Dean shrugs. "All of your teachers are nice," he says. "We never stay long enough for them to know what a brat you are."
They're in the car driving, Sam curled up with a book in the back seat, Dean riding shotgun. Dad speaks up.
"So what movie were you going to, Dean?"
"Sir?" Dean asks, he'd thought this discussion was over.
"I know you're too old to be going off to a Disney move with your kid brother," Dad says gruffly. "What were you going to see?"
Dean can see Sam pretending not to listen in the back seat. "Dumb and Dumber," he mutters.
"And what, you were just gonna leave Sammy alone?" Dad's voice carries that angry tone that Dean dreads.
"Sam's eleven!" Dean shouts at the same time Sam says calmly, "I'm eleven."
Dean can't help but think, bitterly, about when he was eleven and Sam was seven, Dean was certainly considered capable of taking care of Sam. But at eleven Sam can't even take care of himself?
"It's our job to protect him," Dad says softly. Dean thinks he hears Sam snort derisively in the back seat, but then he hears a page turning. It's hard to be sure.
And the disappointment radiating through Dad makes Dean feel like shit. All he'd wanted to do was see a movie with a girl and do something nice for Sam. "Sorry, Dad," Dean says and his father nods.
Dad pulls through McDonald's for their dinner, passes Sam chicken nuggets, Dean a burger, has two burgers and fries himself. Dean grumbles when he and Sam get milk to drink instead of pop, Dad says something about growing boys that's been said a hundred times before. They sit in the parking lot, eating quietly, watching the sun fall down.
When Dad starts the car towards town, instead of back towards the freeway Dean starts to question him. He thinks better of it, figures he's probably disappointed his father enough for one day. The drive has been quiet and Dean has had plenty of times to think of things that may have happened to Sammy, left alone in a dark movie theater. Things that would have been his fault.
Dad pulls the car into the movie theater parking lot before Dean quite notices where they are.
"Really?" Sam says from the back seat, his book turned down on the seat beside him.
"Yeah," Dad says. "You boys did say you wanted to see this?"
"Yes, sir," they both answer and Dean's surprised to find he's excited about a kid's movie. Not that he'd ever tell anyone.
"Whatever," Sam mutters while they're standing in line and Dad is buying them popcorn. "You totally wanted to see this one the whole time." Dean shrugs. Even if that were true, he certainly wouldn't admit to Sam.