Waiting for Christmas

"Ahh, this is pure torture!" exclaimed Dean placing a pillow over his head dramatically as he sprawled across his bed.

Seth raised an amused eyebrow at his brother. Seth was in his own bed reading but Dean, who usually enjoyed reading, could not focus tonight. This was Dean's first Christmas that he could remember where he was with family and friends, a real Christmas tree complete with presents underneath and he didn't understand how anyone could go to sleep with that knowledge.

Dean was a naturally curious person and he was desperate to go downstairs and open up his presents now. It was Christmas Eve, close enough in Dean's mind. Why did he have to wait until tomorrow? It baffled him how Seth could just calmly sit in his bed and read like it was any other night.

Seth wasn't really reading though. He was gazing over the top of his book at his brother who was now tapping and twirling a pen in his fingers. Dean right now was just a bundle of nervous energy and Seth couldn't help but smile at him.

"Seth why can't we just sneak downstairs and open our presents now?" asked Dean as he sat up in his bed and gazed across their bedroom at his bro.

"Absolutely not, Dean," said Seth with a stern gaze, "I did it once when I was younger and believe me it takes all the joy out of Christmas morning. It won't kill you to wait until morning."

"It might," grumbled Dean as he got up and started to pace the room.

"Just go to bed and it'll be morning before you know it," said Seth trying to be helpful.

"Seth I can't just go to bed," said Dean incredulously, "I've never received a Christmas present! I would be excited over the prospect of getting one present but you said that there would be more than one downstairs waiting for me. Right?" asked Dean again, it was still hard for him to wrap his brain around the possibility that he would be getting actual Christmas presents.

"Knowing Dad, yes, you most definitely will be getting more than one. Plus presents from Roman and I," said Seth barely able to keep himself from laughing. Even though he had now been living with Dean for about a couple months, it still surprised him how his brother could get worked up over the simplest things.

"How about if I just go down and open half of the presents?" asked Dean as he made his way to the door leading out of their bedroom.

Quick as a whip, Seth scrambled out of bed and blocked Dean from opening up the door. "Na uh, no way," said Seth firmly as he gently pushed his brother back.

"But Seth…" whined Dean pouting his lower lip.

"No 'buts', you'll thank me later," said Seth trying to think quickly of a way to distract Dean, "hey why don't we watch a movie? There's still a bunch of Christmas movies that you haven't seen yet."

"I guess," said Dean scratching his head looking longingly at the door, "but Dad doesn't like it when we're up late watching movies."

Seth rolled his eyes at Dean, "It's Christmas Eve, Dean, and he doesn't like it when we do that on a school night. Plus, why do you care all of a sudden about the rules, Mr. I Want To Sneak Downstairs And Open My Christmas Presents Early?"

Dean gave Seth a sheepish grin.

"Come on, it'll be fun," said Seth taking a handful of DVDs out from under his bed. "You haven't seen Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer yet. Or there's Elf, The Homecoming, and Frosty the Snowman." Seth laid out the choices on his bed as he spoke.

Sighing deeply, Dean walked over to Seth's bed and chose Elf.

"Good one," said Seth approvingly and popped it into his laptop. Seth scooted over on his bed to make room for Dean and the two brothers settled beside one another to watch the hilarious Christmas movie.

Dean discovered that he loved the movie and for about an hour and a half it took his mind off the presents lying in wait for him downstairs. Dean also really wanted to try spaghetti with maple syrup, some time in the future, he wondered how that combination tasted. But as soon as the movie ended, Dean was still wide-awake and Christmas morning still seemed so far away. Seth, for his part, could barely keep his eyes open and couldn't believe that Dean didn't look even slightly tired.

"So…time to open presents now?" asked Dean edging toward the door.

"No, time to go to sleep, Dean," stated Seth as he pointed Dean towards his bed.

"Not sleepy," protested Dean looking at his bed with disdain.

"Well I am."

"Okay then I'll just open them without you."

Seth's eyes shot open at Dean's words and he caught Dean around the waist just as he was about to walk out their door. As quietly as he could manage, so that he wouldn't wake Dad up, Seth wrestled Dean to the floor and shut the door with his foot. Dean was taken by surprise at Seth's attack. He wasn't expecting his little bro to resort to such measures to prevent him from opening presents. Dean quickly got over his surprise and tried to gain the upper hand.

The two boys were evenly matched. While Dean was physically stronger and he had more experience when it came to real fights, he didn't actually want to hurt Seth and it was different when you were trying to throw someone off you but you didn't want to seriously hurt him.

Seth was quicker than Dean and had some tricks up his sleeve. Plus with his football experience, he was good at grappling. However, Seth's leg was still a little weak from the break he experienced back in September and that led to Dean ultimately getting the upper hand as he pinned Seth to the ground.

As soon as he did that, Dean pushed himself off the ground and bolted for the door. In a desperate move, Seth dove and wrapped his arms around Dean's legs. Dean glanced down at Seth both annoyed and amused that he would do such a thing.

"Seth what are you doing?" said Dean in a loud whisper.

"Saving you from yourself," said Seth whispering back.

"You're being ridiculous," stated Dean thinking that Seth was making way too big of a deal about this. He just wanted to see what he had gotten for Christmas.

"No, you are!"

"No, you are."

"No, you are!"

"Seth, let go of my leg."

"No."

"Seth, I swear to God…"

"Why can't you just go to bed like a normal person?" Seth furiously whispered.

"Why can't you be a normal little brother and help me break the rules?" Dean said indignantly as he struggled to get his legs free from Seth's grip but it was no use. Seth was hanging onto his legs like an anchor.

The two stayed like that for a while. They were at a standstill. Dean was trying to get Seth off his legs and get out the door towards the living room while Seth was holding on to Dean's legs for all it was worth.

Dean huffed out when he realized that Seth wasn't going to give up. "Well what now?" he asked of Seth.

"How about we listen to Christmas music and tell Christmas stories?" suggested Seth looking ridiculous as he was sprawled over the ground, his glasses askew from the wrestling bout, his hair sticking out every which way and his arms continuing to give Dean's legs a big bear hug.

Dean sighed in resignation and nodded in agreement with Seth's plan. He closed the door and took his hand off the doorknob. Seth carefully let go of Dean's legs although he was ready to pounce again if Dean showed the first signs of bolting towards the living room again.

"Let's put our mattresses together on the ground," said Seth as he got his laptop out again and started to play his Christmas playlist that he had meticulously put together a few days ago. Dean nodded again and did as Seth suggested.

The brothers did this sometimes when Seth had trouble going to sleep or when Dean had nightmares, it made them feel safer knowing that the other one was just an arm length away. They dumped all of their blankets on the mattresses and plopped down beside one another. They traded stories back and forth for some time until they finally fell asleep.

"Seth…Seth…Seth…. Seth…come on, Seth…Seth…WAKE UP!"

Seth jolted awake as Dean shouted right in his ear. "Dean I'll kill you!" Seth groaned as he put a hand over his ear.

"Come on, it's Christmas!" exclaimed Dean as he jumped up and down on the mattress right by Seth's head.

"Tired," mumbled Seth as he pulled his blankets over his head. Dean just pulled the covers right off of Seth completely.

"Come on, Seth," grunted Dean as he began pulling on Seth to get up, "Dad's already up and has the coffee going, he's waiting for us downstairs. Don't you want your presents?"

"No," said Seth in rebellion as he stubbornly refused to open his eyes, "What time is it anyway? I bet it's awfully early."

"Guess again," said Dean starting to get frustrated, he felt he had been more than patient and wanted to experience Christmas morning already! "It's almost nine o'clock. Come on, Seth!"

"You can just go and open your presents," said Seth grumpily.

"But you won't be there," said Dean softly, "and I really want to give you your present."

Seth opened his eyes and looked at his brother who had a serious look on his face. "Is that what you're really excited about? Giving someone a Christmas present?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders, "Kind of, I've never had any loved ones so there was never a reason to get anybody a Christmas present."

"Okay I'm up," declared Seth as he pulled his tired body out of the warm comfort of his blankets and turned to Dean to give him a big hug and a lopsided smile.

"Merry Christmas, big brother."

"Same to you, little bro."

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!