|Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters!
Dean tried to remain nonchalant as he unloaded his stuff and lugged it into the bunker, headed toward the room he had claimed. He didn't want to make it evident to his brother that he was excited to have his own room, but he couldn't stop the grin from splitting his face as he dumped his bag on a chair and stood back to look around. There was a fair bit of stuff there already, but with a little reorganizing and some of his own personal styling, the place would be spruced up in no time.
He headed back out to the car and pulled out one more bag, he had his hand on the door ready to shut it, when something caught his eye. A small cardboard box sat nestled in the very back of the trunk, half buried under an old blanket kept for emergencies. Dean frowned and pulled it out, raising one eyebrow at the unexpected weight of its contents. Dean set his bag down and flipped the lid off the box. He stared for a moment before a smile of recognition bloomed across his lips.
1989
"Dean!"
The ten-year-old looked up at the sound of his little brother's call. The youngest Winchester came tumbling over the grass from where he had been sitting on the edge of the nearby lake, fiddling with the rocks that lined the bank. Sam skidded to a halt in front of his brother and held something up in his hands, a beaming smile on his face.
"Look what I found!"
Dean looked down at his brother's hands and saw a small, smooth rock, a perfect white line circling it. Dean smiled broadly back at Sam.
"That's a cool rock Sammy, whatcha gonna do with it?"
Sam clutched the rock to his chest reverently, "I'm going to keep it forever! It can stay in my pocket!"
Dean laughed, "Okay, kiddo. Come on now, Dad wants to get going."
Sam nodded, his unruly locks bobbing as he scampered ahead to the car.
It wasn't long before the one rock turned into a dozen, not all had white lines, but there were a few. Mostly they were ones Sam simply thought looked cool. The kid eventually had to find somewhere else for them besides his pockets. Opting instead for a shoe box when he got new shoes. And Sam quickly filled the new space. Dean even got into it, picking up the odd rock here and there when one caught his eye.
When Sam was twelve, he found a book on rocks at a library and could name some of the types he had gathered. Most were just gravel and nothing special, but he had collected a few more interesting ones. There had even been a faze when Sam had been learning the capitals and started collecting a rock from each state they visited, and labeling them with the state initials.
John had been against it at first, but Sam had promised not to let it get out of hand, and the man had relented, even contributing once, coming back with a small quartz crystal an extremely grateful older woman had given him as thanks for getting rid of a poltergeist from her son's home.
But eventually, the box was filled to bursting, and Sam hit high school, finding other things to peak his interest. The shoe box was pushed to the back of the trunk and forgotten, buried under guns, knives, and bags of rock salt. Not seeing the light of day for many years.
Present day
Dean smiled down at the array of rocks amassed in the worn box, he ran his hand over them, recognizing some of them as memories flooded his mind.
He closed the trunk and picked up his bag, tucking the box under his arm, and headed inside.
He stopped by his room to drop off the bag before continuing to Sam's room. He peeked around the frame as he knocked, seeing his brother sitting on the bed, rummaging through his duffle. Sam looked up at the sound.
"What's up?"
"Look what I found buried in the trunk."
Dean pulled the box into view as he stepped into the room, Sam looked in confusion at it for a moment before he too recognized the box.
"No way."
Dean grinned as he walked toward the bed, Sam pushed his bag aside to make room. The older man sat with one leg tucked up on the bed and set the box between him and his brother.
Sam gently ran his hand over the lid before lifting it and putting it aside. He grinned at the sight of the quantity of rocks before him, he lifted one out and turned it in his hands. "I can't believe this was still in the trunk,"
Dean carefully tilted the box, letting the rocks slide out, he spread them out over the bed and picked through them. Sam put the rock down and joined him. Dean held one up, smirking, "I found this one in my shoe after tromping through the woods one hunt, I would have thought you wouldn't have wanted to keep it."
Sam smirked, and held up another, "Remember I got this one because I thought it was shaped like your head?"
Dean took it and squinted, tilting it, "The women always did like my solid jaw line."
Sam chuckled as Dean tossed the rock back into the pile. The older Winchester suddenly frowned and pushed a few stones aside before holding up a small piece of sea-glass. "Dude, this isn't a rock."
Sam took it, "No, but this was my very first beach, Dad took us down there because we had both just gotten over chicken pox."
Dean groaned. "That was a nightmare!"
Sam laughed. Rifling deeper into the pile, pulled out the small crystal John had given him, his smile fading slightly as he looked at it. Dean looked up at him as Sam turned and set the crystal on the small table next to his bed. He turned and smiled slightly at his brother before running his hands over the rocks again. He started pulling out certain ones with small letters written in sharpie on them. "Remember when you started helping me learn the capitals and came up with the idea of marking one from each state?"
Dean chuckled, "For being uneducated, I was a pretty good teacher, wasn't I?"
Sam shrugged, "You did okay, I guess." He laughed as Dean shoved him, grinning. Sam righted the box and the two men began placing the rocks back in their place, commenting on one here and there, drifting into the nostalgia the collection of memories brought. Sam finally closed the lid and stood, carefully placing the box on the shelve above the bed.
Sam's brow scrunch as he turned back around, "Hold on a sec," He started digging around in his pockets, searching for something. He finally withdrew his hand and sat back down. He held out his hand and uncurled his fingers, revealing a small grey rock, with a perfect white line circling it.
"Well, well, well. would you look at that," Dean smiled at the small stone, now dwarfed in his brother's giant hand. "That was the very first rock you ever kept. You were really proud of it. I didn't know you still had it."
Sam lifted it to his face, "I couldn't even remember where I got it from, until I saw the rest of them. I just knew it had always been in my pocket, so I never got rid of it, it was just kind of a part of me."
Dean gently curled his brother's fingers back over the rock. "You did say you were going to keep it forever."
Sam smiled, putting his hand to his chest, "It can stay in my pocket."
A/N: Guys! You have no idea the warm fuzzies I got writing this! I really enjoyed this one. Please R/R!