"Your dad's out there waiting for you," Sonny informed the young man, a wry tone to his voice.
Dean stilled, hands on the tie he was adjusting. He'd been hoping for weeks to hear such news but now he didn't know whether to be happy or pissed.
He was aware this day would arrive but he'd matured from the boy he'd been when John had abandoned him here. He'd begun to make a life for himself and he didn't know if he was ready to give it up.
A curious sensation gripped him. He felt like the protagonist of one of those fantasy movies where two roads and two choices were open to him, the silvery smooth path to enlightenment or the overgrown, thorny one which led into darkness.
As he pondered his options, it seemed to the teen that hours had passed, but it was only moments.
Still undecided, he took the few steps which separated him from the window.
In the obscurity, at first only the outline of the Impala was visible, its exhaust pumping out petrol fumes into the cool evening air as it stationed outside the Boy's Home like some sinister Cinderella's coach, ready to whisk him off, not to the Ball, but back to the world of the supernatural where claws, fangs and talons lay in waiting.
Dean was tempted to look away, to leave the darkness at his back and embrace the new path that Sonny was willing and eager to offer him, school, a diploma, a normal life, perhaps one day a wife and kids.
He tottered on the brink, unsure of which choice to make, until the moment his night vision kicked in and he could make out his little brother's head.
Sam was leaning out of the car's rear window, brandishing what looked like a toy plane.
In that precise instant Dean realized there was NO choice to make. There never had been.
Tears of happiness and anticipation filled his eyes as he studied the sibling he hadn't set eyes on for months, eager now to leave this place and embrace his little brother.
He turned to Sonny, a rueful expression on his face.
"Thanks for everything, man. But I gotta go. My baby brother's out there waiting for me and I gotta look out for him."
Sonny merely nodded.
Dean had given him his answer and the teen Sonny had come to know and respect, never went back on his decisions.
" If you ever need a place to hang out, my door will always be open for you, kid."
Dean nodded his thanks and quickly gathered up his few belongings.
Soon he'd be back with his baby brother, soon he'd be home.
The End