The next day was Sam's worst day of the week. Mondays were his busiest. They started with classes, followed by group projects and ended with helping out his classmates with homework because he was too nice to refuse them. Amy sometimes comes to the rescue, tells the classmates tofuck off and take care of their own shit and drag Sam back home, but this time she didn't show up since she had an assignment and was stuck in the library, so Sam had to pull through all the way until five when he received a message from Dean.
Where are you, Samantha?
Sam smiled at the message and quickly typed an answer.
Study group after class. You?
Sam barely put the phone aside to look over at his book when it vibrated announcing a new message from Dean. He quickly opened it.
What a nerd. Still with Charlie. Keeping me up with the actualities. Did you know there was a cosplay café in town? Girls in costumes, dude. Girls in costumes.
Sam's fingers moved fast to type an answer before any of his classmates could notice he wasn't paying attention to what they were discussing.
Would explain why you made all that trip back here. On a bus.
Dean's answer was in the flash of a second.
Chills, dude. Don't remind me.
Before Sam could answer he received another message.
So me coming over to see you is not enough reason? Right in the feels, man.
Sam snorted and one of his classmates gave him a confused look. He quickly cleared his throat and put his phone away. Five minutes later, it vibrated again, and Sam didn't think twice before opening the message.
Busy? Ditch the nerds and come over here.
Sam didn't hide the fact that reading his brothers' messages made him happy. He was looking forward to meeting him. Yesterday went by without having much time to share their news and Sam spent the rest of the night wondering what kind of stories Dean had in store for him.
I'll be at Charlie's in ten.
As soon as Sam finished typing and sending the message he pushed himself off the chair and gazed over at his classmates. "Sorry guys. I gotta get going. Make sure to use the same method for the rest of the assignments, okay?" He reached for his jacket and bag then spoke a quick cheerful "Bye" before leaving.
Charlie lived close to the dorms which was a ten minutes walk from college. Sam showed up at six o'clock and Dean was the one to open the door.
"Hey. Samantha's here!" Dean announced with a sarcastic grin. Sam rolled his eyes and pushed him aside to walk inside the apartment. Charlie lived in a small well-equipped one-room studio. Her walls were barely visible behind the mountains of figurine shelves of all kind. In the middle of the room were three large flat computer screens and a last gen two thousand dollars desktop. Two laptops sat on each side of the desk and a worn out bed with a lord of the rings-themed cover squeezed next to the window. The room was small but enough for a single woman.
"Where's Charlie?" Sam asked, looking over at the small kitchen tucked next to the toilet door to the right. Dean was alone in the room.
"Working overtime at the shop." Dean said, walking in front of Sam and falling over the old-looking couch in the small living room area. He patted down next to him and Sam took a sit.
"Wow. I haven't been in here for like two weeks and there's already a whole new set of those." Sam pointed out in surprise, scanning the new figurine shelf next to the large TV.
Dean made himself home and went to pick two beer bottles from the small fridge before regaining his place next to Sam.
"You can't just take peoples' beer without asking, Dean." Sam mumbled, accepting the bottle nonetheless.
"Not when it's mine." Dean peeled off the bottle cap and chugged down the beer. Sam followed his example.
"So, how are you doing, Sammy? Life's good?" Dean asked after throwing his arms behind and settling comfortably on the couch. "No wait, I take that back. You look like crap."
Sam understood he was referring to the dark circles under his eyes. It was January and for students that was the winter exams period which translates to less sleep and more coffee in the system. Sam was worn out, especially since Sunday was his only rest day and thanks to Dean he spent most of it stressing over nothing.
"Exams are coming up next week." Sam explained, sipping slowly from the bottle. "Can't afford to choose sleep over studying."
"Oh yes, you will." Dean said. "Think I'll stick around and watch little brother burnout? Nah."
Sam was ready to throw a comeback when he realized Dean's meaning.
"Wait, you mean you're staying until next week?"
Dean blinked at Sam's words and Sam regretted making it sound like Dean's staying was a bad thing, so he quickly caught up by throwing him a dorky smile. Dean seemed to buy it.
"I called Cole, he said he can solo the hunt and insisted I take some time off." Dean glanced over at the black TV that reflected their image. "I couldn't agree more. Man, right now I'd do with some me time."
Dean sounded tired. Maybe something bothered him or maybe he was just really tired. Tired from hunting and chasing monsters day and night. The hunter life was no easy life, one of the many reasons Sam decided to drop.
"You know what, Sam. I think you did the right thing." Dean brought up all of a sudden. "I mean this life, this twenty-seven freaks-hunt is getting real tiring man. I don't blame you for choosing to leave. I don't. I mean I probably did at first, hated you for dropping out of the family business but when I see the life you have here, all those nerds you call friends and all those sleepless nights you probably spend studying instead of burning the remains of some stinking copse I understand. You know, I get it, why you chose this. I get it, Sam. I really do."
Sam was listening quietly to his brother. Dean was talkative today, which if anything it was a rare occasion to get him to talk about his feelings. Yes, it's been months, maybe years since Sam dropped that one favourite question of his. And now was the right time.
"Dean." Sam said after clearing his throat. "Are you okay?"
Dean's lips parted, as if ready to give the answer Sam was seeking but then he quickly closed his mouth and glanced over at Sam with an annoyed stare.
"I give you a piece of my mind and now you want to hold hands ant talk about feelings? Really, Sammy?"
Sam rolled his eyes and quickly regretted thinking he had a chance to get Dean to spill his thoughts. Dean was still the same after all, too thick-headed for his own good and even years of separations weren't going to change that.
The front door's lock twisted open and Charlie showed up. She nearly jumped in excitement at the sight of Sam and rushed to give him a hug.
"Sam! You came!" She squeezed between him and Dean and nudged Dean's side. "Are you drinking my beer?"
Dean cleared his throat and looked away, Sam frowned and gave his own bottle a guilty stare. "I thought you said it was yours, Dean?"
"Well, she bought them, I stored them in the fridge, I was technically the last one to touch them so... What?"
Dean had to deal with Sam and Charlie giving him the cold stare for the next few minutes before the three ordered take-out and Sam announced he was leaving.
"Dude, you just came." Charlie protested, using her puppy-eyes look that obviously didn't work on Sam but it was still fun to watch.
"I just told Dean, next week is exam week and I have a lot to catch up on." Sam apologized. "But I'll make sure to visit when I can. Dean, you're staying here tonight too, right?"
"As long as Charlie doesn't kick me out for drinking all of her beer, sure." Dean showed a bright grin and Charlie laughed.
"Don't sweat it, I missed sharing a beer with someone. It sucks to live alone." She complained with a sigh. Dean patted her head.
"All right, I'll see you guys around." Sam waved his hand goodbye and headed for the door, Dean was quick to tag along.
"Hold on, I'll walk you home." Dean's suggestion sounded more like an order, he quickly picked his jacket and headed out after Sam.
As soon as the door closed behind Sam was quick to react.
"Dude, seriously? Drinking Charlie's beer without asking?" Sam rolled his eyes. "That was a dick move."
"Let me remind you that you were caught with a beer in hand too." Dean smirked.
"No way. I'm not your partner in crime." Sam slid his hands into his pockets and walked alongside his brother. He was smiling, for a reason this whole situation brought back memories.
"Oh hell yeah you are, Sammy. You've always been my partner in crime."
Sam fist-bumped his brother's shoulder and for the rest of the road the two just enjoyed dropping silly jokes and teasing one other. The road back to his apartment was twenty minutes long and Sam wished it never ended. He needed more time to catch up with Dean, and this wasn't enough.
"Hey, Dean." Sam spoke after his eyes landed on the familiar building across the street. "How about you come over tomorrow? I can manage to free my evening by getting out of work earlier.
Dean looked like he was considering the idea for a minute or two before he gave Sam an answer.
"You work?" Dean held back from making fun of Sam but Sam wasn't paying him much attention. "Yeah, fine, you do that." Dean glanced at the door of the apartment building. "The nerds are gonna be around?"
"I don't think so." Sam said, remembering how Amy was still busy with her assignment and Matt told him he had plans with his football club friends. Even Claire who's usually free on Tuesdays had to work extra hours since she was running low on money. "Everyone's busy lately, with the whole exams thing coming."
"So it's gonna be the two of us." Dean concluded. "Just like ol' times, huh. I like the sound of that."
Sam smiled at his brother's comment. He liked the sound of it too. Just him and Dean alone in a room. Okay, that might have sounded a bit wrong but who cares, Sam wanted some alone-time with his brother and he damn as well deserves it.
"All right, well you go do your thing I'll go do mine, we'll catch up tomorrow." Dean announced, he was rubbing his hands together to warm up from the cold. "Good night, Sammy."
"Night, Dean. Oh and thanks for walking me home." Sam quickly added with a smile before Dean gets too far.
"Can't let a girl walk home alone at night." Dean teased one last time before turning his back to Sam.
"Good night, Jerk!" Sam shouted loudly.
"You too, bitch!" Dean replied without looking back, only one hand lifted up to wave Sam goodbye.
Sam watched him walk down the street and disappear at the corner before he decided he was going to freeze if he didn't move away from the cold.
The next day started with Sam waking up to a broken laptop. He couldn't remember using it much but he sure stored most of his studying projects in there and he would be in a deep trouble if he didn't retrieve them.
The event was just the start of a chain of misfortunes, Sam's bike went kaput and he had to rush a thirty minutes walk to college, nearly missing his first class. He later received a call from his part-time buddy, Steve, begging for immediate assistance at the restaurant, and as if this wasn't enough his phone battery died half-way through the call before he could even apologize and explain he couldn't make it.
Sam met Amy on his way out of the last class for the day. She hasn't showed up to class this week and always came back home late. Sam was starting to get worried she might've been tortured by the library monster.
"Oh sweet Jesus, someone is having a real pain-in-the-ass day." That was Amy's first comment after hearing out Sam's tail of misfortunes. They were sitting in the cafeteria having lunch. "And here I thought I was the one with the worst week."
"Can I use your phone? I need to text Dean." Sam asked. Amy was fast at handing over her black skulls-themed phone. Sam always found she had a weird taste.
Hey, Dean. It's Sam. I won't be able to make it today. You could say I woke up on the wrong foot. I'll make it up to you another time. I'll call when I charge my phone. Ps: This is Amy's number.
Sam sent the message and returned the phone back to Amy. "Thanks."
"Anything for you, Sam." She chuckled and gave him a flirty wink. Sam felt uncomfortable whenever she did that. "So you guys had plans?"
"I was going to have him over after work to show him around." Sam explained. "But turns out one of the waiters is sick and I have to replace him during afternoon shift."
"Poor, poor Sammy." Amy sighed. "Talking about your brother. He sure is something else."
"You think?"
"He's not what I imagined. I was expecting an older version of you but turns out he's totally different. You guys are like exact opposites, you know that?"
Amy's words made sense. He got that a lot from Dean's friends back in high school when they'd tell Sammy how boring he was compared to his brother. His brother who was much cooler and bigger than him at the time. Who every girl in school swooned over. At some point in his life Sam was jealous of Dean but he later grew out of it.
"He's more of a bad boy who likes to act tough, but you Sam, you're way too sweet." Amy continued.
Sam wanted to tell Amy how wrong she was but decided to keep quiet. After all, there was only a few who knew the truth behind that tough act of his brother. Under that thick layer of toughness lied a gentle heart, that of a warm person who cared more than he could bear, but that only Sam knew.
"Oh, crap. I'm late." Amy jumped off her seat after catching the time on her watch. "I gotta go finish that shit-ass assignment. See you later sweetheart." She leaned over to press a kiss on Sam's cheek and quickly remembered to add something. "By the way, remember the small party we were planning Friday night? I invited Charlie, you take care of Dean. I do have his number but hey, he's your big brother."
After receiving a nod from Sam followed by "I will." Amy greeted him goodbye and left the cafeteria in haste. Sam found it funny how she always struggled to finish her assignments one week before the due date. Sam's impression of her was that she might be disorganized but she'd make one hell of a lawyer.
The first thing Sam did was to put his phone on charge and his waist-apron on before starting his shift. Sam signed up for this job as a cook but somehow always ended up either cleaning the dishes or serving drinks and meals. He was allowed into the kitchens once or twice a week thanks to Steve, an old worker and also a great cook who taught him how to make a meal or two but the rest of the time he's either assigned as a waiter or a bartender. Sam wasn't one to complain but he would've loved to be given a chance to prove his worth, which by far he hasn't gotten yet.
The restaurant was livelier in the afternoon. Sam had to skip his own break to help Steve, who had left his cook post and was bartending for the group of ten customers who showed up together. It was a stressful shift and Sam was only allowed to take a breath an hour later. He used it to check his smartphone.
He found Dean has attempted to call him four times before he carried on leaving three messages. The first was sent at around one thirty during his lunch break with Amy.
Everything okay? Should I come?
Sam understood Dean's worry after having to cancel on him without a reason. Dean must've certainly thought of all kind of scenarios – maybe even monster-including ones – that could've happened to him. He always found Dean's overreacting side kind of soothing. After all, it was proof he cares about his little brother's well-being.
The second message was sent at three o'clock which was two hours ago.
Charged your crap-phone yet? Answer.
The third and last message was only a couple minutes ago.
If you don't answer now. I'm tracking your ass down wherever you are.
Sam laughed at the last message. He knew Dean really meant it when he said he'd track him down. He would gladly invite him to, but he knew it would be a dick move.
Please don't. Don't need any more embarrassment at work.
The phone vibrated and if that wasn't the fastest response Sam has ever gotten, then he would be a liar.
Sam threw his feet over a table far in the corner of the now less-crowded restaurant. A bonus drink in hand, he was ready to enjoy his fifteen minutes break.
You on break? Dean wrote.
Yep. Ten more minutes to go before night shift. Sam wrote back.
Dude, they work your ass off. Do they even pay well?
Sam agreed on that. Most of the supplementary hours he did were more out of kindness than for money reasons. Steve was a good friend and he helped Sam out more than once by covering his shifts when he had to skip to study for exams. He even taught him how to cook and mix drinks when the rest of his co-workers were too busy to spare him some time. If he went out of his way to help him today it's because he deserves it.
9$/h does the job.
Dean's answer came in five minutes later which drove Sam to wonder what his brother was busy doing.
You're doing pretty well for a broke student.
Sorry. Had to pick up a call from Cole.
How much left?
Sam was glad to hear Dean's and Cole's partnership was still standing, especially after Dean bailed out on him without a warning. He wondered what Cole's reaction was when Dean told him he took the bus to visit his brother. Come to think of it, why was Dean in such a hurry to see him in the first place? Sam believed he should ask him later.
Five minutes.
How's Cole?
Dean went back to sending fast messages again.
He's good. Took care of a ghost case on solo.
When are you getting out?
Cole never ceased to surprise Sam. After all, he was a skilled fighter and if anything he might be a better partner Sam has ever been.
Nine. You coming to pick me up?
Little girl is afraid of walking home alone? Dean wrote.
Sure, I'll come pick you up.
"Sam!" Steve's call was a clear announcement his break was coming to an end. Sam worked his fingers fast on the phone's buttons to send one last message.
Sent you my location. Break's up. See you at nine.
Sam's phone vibrated ten minutes later but he was too busy mixing drinks to read it. The hours flew by and ten minutes before the restaurant's closing time, the door opened and a group of students flooded in. Sam's experience at working in a restaurant for two years has made him hate these kind of situations the most.
"I swear if I had a penny for every time these asshats showed right before closing time…" Steve muttered underneath his breath low enough so that only Sam could hear him.
"It's okay, we're almost done." Sam smiled and patted his co-worker's shoulder. He flashed his professional smile and went on taking orders from the new customers.
One minute before closing time and the door opened again, this time only one man walked in. Steve, filled with rage threw him a glare and waved his hand.
"Sorry, sir. We're closing!" He shouted. The man didn't pay him much attention and carried on taking a sit in front of the counter.
Steve took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "Sir, I said-"
"Dean!" Sam called, turning to face the man who just took a sit in front of him. "It's okay, Steve. I got him."
"Damn well you have." Dean joked, flashing a grin and winking at Steve. Steve rolled his eyes and walked away.
"Want something to drink?" Sam asked, ready to grab the first whiskey bottle on the side.
"I sure as hell wouldn't say no to that, but you've got company." Dean pointed towards the door, Sam could barely see the figure of Claire standing in front of the restaurant, waving at him with a shy smile. "She's a weird one. Said she couldn't come inside."
Sam smiled and waved back at Claire. "Claire's shy. She doesn't do well with crowded places. Anyway, I'll go grab my stuff. You go ahead and drink this."
Dean's eyes shined at the sight of a free drink. He chugged it down in less than a second and watched Sam disappear behind a door. He came out three minutes later with his jacket on and greeted Steve goodbye before heading out with Dean.
Outside, Claire was patiently waiting for them. She was wearing one of her favourite black hoodies and a green skirt. She had a dark blue trench coat on and a green beanie keeping her ears warm. At the sight of Sam she warmly greeted him with a hug.
"Claire, it's good to see you." Sam smiled. "Where did you guys meet?"
"Saw her on my way here. I went to say hi and she stared at me like I just murdered her entire family." Dean explained, Claire chuckled softly. "Turns out it was just her way of greeting."
"Sorry you had to deal with my idiot brother." Sam apologized with a gentle smile and Dean nudged him hard. Sam spent the next minute rubbing the spot.
"Keep your distance, man. I don't need your misfortune to rub off on me." Dean said after Sam explained why he cancelled their plans for today. Claire was walking alongside Sam and looked as much surprised as Dean.
"I think it's a bit too late for that." Sam joked, then turned to Claire. "So Claire, how was work? You had overtime today too, right?"
"Yes." Claire nodded in agreement, she pushed her hands into her pockets and squeezed them in. She wasn't much of a talker and Dean just seemed to notice.
"Come on, girl. Share with us." Dean insisted. Claire looked embarrassingly shy. She looked down at her feet as they walked the street.
"Don't be too hard on her, Dean." Sam scolded.
"Come on, can't a man try and make conversation?" Dean rolled his eyes.
"Sure, just don't push it." Sam explained. "She doesn't like to be forced to talk."
Dean glared at him then threw his gaze elsewhere. Sam knew he was attempting to sulk which he was failing miserably at. Claire's hand tugged on his sleeve and he quickly glanced down at her. She was smiling.
"It's okay." She whispered in a faint voice. Her cheeks were tainted red, at first Sam thought it was due to the cold but then he realized she has been stealing glances towards Dean and that's when Sam understood: She had a crush on him.
Sam wasn't ready for this kind of scenarios. Hell, he didn't even think he'd be introducing his brother to his friends any time soon. Dean had his share of good looks and the kind of personality that leaves quite the impression which gives him high chances on catching the attention of a girl. However, for that girl to be Claire, Sam wasn't prepared for that.
Sam was protective of Claire. That much he was certain of. Since they first met he had always felt he was responsible of her and it carried on being that way for three whole years. Before she met Sam, Claire dated a lot of guys, most of the relationships she started because she was too shy to refuse their advances. When she told Sam, he suggested he'd play the big brother card and scare her dates away and she's never been more grateful.
So, Sam was very protective when it comes to Claire. But when the guy she likes turns out to be none other than his brother, what was he to do?
Conflicted feelings emerged inside of him and Sam couldn't wrap his mind around it. Soon he arrived at the apartment building's door and turned at Dean who stopped by the entrance.
"You're not coming in?" Sam asked, pushing the key to unlock the door
"Charlie's not home tonight so I better get going if I want to catch a free motel room." Dean said while checking the time on his phone.
"You should spend the night over then." Sam quickly suggested like it was the usual way of things.
"As long as I get the bed." Dean smirked, walking past him and Claire to get inside. Sam whispered "Jerk" before he closed the door behind.
Matt was lying on his favourite couch spot watching a random football match on TV and Amy was nowhere to be found. Sam noticed the door of her room closed and the lights on, she was apparently studying.
"Hey, Matt. Amy's in her room?" Sam asked, stopping in the living room. Claire disappeared in the bathroom and Dean invited himself on the couch right next to Matt.
"She's been locked in her room for hours, man. Nothing unusual." Matt joked. "Buddy!" He announced cheerfully at the sight of Dean. They exchanged a quick hand greeting and Sam wondered why he and Dean never had one of those before.
"I told her not to let it pile up." Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'll go see if she needs a hand." He turned his back to the lot and walked to Amy's door.
"Wow wow, hold on right there, princess." Dean pushed himself off the couch with a beer in hand, Sam could swear it wasn't there a second ago. He pointed his thumb towards his chest and raised an eyebrow. "You're not planning to leave big brother here alone and go do your nerdy thing over there, are you?"
Sam simply snorted at his silly comment. "I'll be quick. Try not to miss me."
"You bet." Dean smirked and sat back down on the couch, drinking out of his bottle and enjoying the football match.
Sam knocked at the first door in the small corridor, a Back off bitch sign was hanging on the middle along with a Danger Inside underneath. Amy's sense of humour was really something.
"Sam can come in, the rest fuck off." Amy's voice reached from the other side. Sam hesitated before pushing the door open.
Amy's room was bright. Three wide windows and two lamps hanged on the ceiling. White walls and red carpets, she was more into classic decoration. She had a small olive couch and a twenty four inches TV. A carved wooden desk stood in the far corner across from the bed where Amy was lying head first.
"Hey." Sam said, peeking from behind the door.
"Saaaam." Amy tiredly mumbled. "I'm fucked. I'm seriously fucked."
Sam walked towards her desk then glanced at the scattered papers on top of it, some even made it to the ground. Her laptop was on, a hundred files open at once.
"You need a break." Sam suggested after taking a sit on her chair and faced her. "If you continue like this you'll burnout before next week."
"I didn't learn shit, Sam, I'm telling you. I'm fucked." Amy carried on mumbling, her hair hiding half of her face. She then suddenly pushed herself up and sat straight. "You're here to help?"
Sam nodded with a smile and Amy nearly jumped on him with a tight hug. "You're the best!" She screamed. "I love you!"
"Look, you're going to leave everything and go to bed." Sam said, sliding out of her hold. "Tomorrow I'll give you my notes and we can spend some time in the library, okay?"
"Yes, please." She obediently nodded. "If you weren't already taken I'd fucking marry you." She added teasingly as she stood up and carried on cleaning her desk.
Sam paused for a second, then repeated. "Taken?"
Amy turned over and rested against the desk. "Wait, he didn't tell you?" She laughed, then carried on enjoying the confused look on Sam's face before she decided to explain. "After we split up at lunch Dean called me. He asked me all kinds of questions from how I know you to what kind of relationship we had. I swear for a second back there I thought I was being interviewed by a jealous girlfriend. He's always been that overprotective? Man, he's really something."
Sam was surprised to hear Dean went and called Amy behind his back. Not that he wasn't happy to learn his brother was getting along with his friends but it just never occurred to him that he might take interest in his social life.
However, he couldn't hide the little bit of embarrassment this gave him. It's been three years since he was faced with Dean's overprotective behaviour. He made a mental note to ask Dean to lower it down before anyone gets any wrong ideas.
"He's my brother." Sam stated, not sure what exactly he was trying to justify. Amy rolled her eyes in a 'duh' kind of way.
After he made sure she turned the lights off and slid under her blanket, Sam told Amy good night and closed the door behind him. In the living room Matt was still lying over the couch, only his legs switched from down on the floor to on top of the table, and he had fetched two more cans of beer. Claire was taking a shower and Dean seemed to have disappeared of sight.
"Where's Dean?" Sam asked the only witness who always happen to know where everyone is. Matt looked over his shoulder and pointed towards Sam's room.
Sam's room was right next to Amy's and the last in the corridor. Unlike Amy he hasn't put any signs except from a piece of paper taped on the door that said SAM. Sometimes he seriously reconsidered his personal taste.
Sam's room was bigger than Amy's but had only two windows on the wall across. A bookshelf with all of Sam's favourite romans and a study corner with a cheap desktop and his broken laptop lying on the side. The room didn't have any couch or TV. Just one large bed in the middle right under the space that separated the two small windows.
When Sam pushed the door open his gaze fell directly on Dean. He was lying on the bed, a magazine in hand.
"Sam, be honest." Dean said with a serious stare. Sam felt suddenly self-conscious, a flood of all kind of serious answers flashing through his mind . "You're either gay or you're really good at hiding your porn stash. Which one is it?"
Sam exhaled in disbelief, ignoring Dean and walking straight to the closet to hang his jacket. "Or maybe unlike you Dean, I don't need porn to survive." He then rolled his eyes back on him. "And FYI, gay guys do have porn, too."
"Great, perfect, awesome. Now seriously, where is it?"
Dean was insistent and Sam could only give him one of those long stares that said it all.
"What? Honestly, man? Wow, how do you even—Wait, you know what, never mind. I don't even wanna know." Dean shoved the magazine back into his face, probably looking at the female models posing for the photo-shoots wishing they had less clothes on.
Sam changed into a white top and a pair of shorts before he took a sit behind his desk and turned his desktop on. He carried on thinking about today's events while stealing glances at Dean every now and then.
"Say Dean," Sam brought up after long minutes of silence. "Why did you really come here?"
"It's not gonna be easy getting rid of me, Sammy." Dean talked without taking his eyes off the magazine page.
"I'm serious." Sam insisted, turning the chair over to face him. "You could've just waited until you were nearby for a hunt, or at least you would've told Cole and took the Impala. But a bus, Dean, really? Unless it was something urgent I don't understand why you'd—"
"Wow, slow down, cowboy." Dean interrupted him. He closed the magazine and was now fixing Sam with a serious look. "Just because I decided to drop by without a warning doesn't mean there's anything behind it, okay? Now quit being a drama queen and get to bed."
It took him a couple seconds to fathom what Dean just said, and all he could find to say was a confused "What?"
"What?" Dean repeated, eyebrows raised as if stating something obvious. "I only see one bed in here so unless you were planning to sleep on the floor like a dog, I believe we're sharing."
Come to think of it, Sam didn't even give that a thought. He only had one bed and if he was letting Dean have it then where was he planning to sleep?
Sharing a bed with his brother was nothing unusual, just probably extremely awkward. Even back in their hunting days they've always booked two beds motel rooms so this was never an issue. Sam concluded that if Dean was fine with it then so was he.
"Is that my sweater?" Sam asked once he turned the lights off and the only light was coming from the bedside lamp. Dean was rolled in his blanket, cornering the left side of the bed and Sam was using one of Matt's blankets he borrowed for the night.
"Thought you'd ask about the boxers first." Dean joked, he had retrieved Sam's magazine from earlier and was scanning the pictures.
"Dude, you're wearing my boxers?" Sam nearly shouted, he automatically pulled Dean's blanket off to check. Those were certainly none other than his favourite blue Calvin Klein underwear.
"Woah, at least buy me a drink first." Dean teased, Sam's face had 'unbelievable' written all over it.
Sam didn't add a word, he turned his back to Dean, pulled his blanket up and closed his eyes. And that's when things got complicated.
For the next twenty minutes, Sam kept listening to the pages of the magazine being swapped and turned and now and then Dean would exhale loudly. He couldn't shake off the feeling of uneasiness that settled inside. He hasn't shared a bed with Dean since they were little kids and even back then it was considered a rare occasion. Now they were both grown up men tucked in a small one-person bed. If anything this was awkward.
But Dean didn't seem to mind, hell, he even decided to share his blanket with Sam because Sam's was too thin to keep him warm enough. Sam was confused, he no longer knew what to think of all this. Was it just him or since he showed up Dean has been extra nice? After so many months of separation he expected at least to be scolded for not being in touch, but no, Dean has to discard all of that and share a blanket and a bed with his little Sammy while wearing both his sweater and boxers.
Wow, just wow.
An hour has passed, Dean has long turned off the lamp on the bedside and fell asleep. Sam was still curled up in the same position as he was in sixty minutes ago, feeling his left arm turn numb under the pressure of his side. He felt thirsty and his bladder was going to explode. Listening closely to Dean's calm repetitive breathing he concluded he fell asleep and decided to slip out of the bed at past midnight.
He spent long minutes in the bathroom, most of it glancing at his reflection and mentally preparing for what he was about to go back to: sleeping next to his brother. He passed by the kitchen for a drink, turned off the TV Matt has forgotten and finally headed back to his room.
If anything the situation worsened. Dean has kicked the blanket off and his underwear were clearly showing, his sweater – Sam's sweater—fought a battle to cover half of his upper body leaving his stomach exposed to the air. He was snoring, and his hands were thrown over Sam's spot.
Taking a deep breath, Sam went for the hands, gripping them as gentle as possible to drag them away. Bad news were, even asleep, Dean had his guard up. Sam dodged a fist that aimed for his face and whispered a curse when the other hand slapped him awake. The battle ended shortly after Dean retreated completely from Sam's spot and Sam could finally lie in peace. And then back to square one: He couldn't fall asleep.
He worked his mind for a couple minutes, thought of himself, his roommates, his studies, his exams, even his past and the time when he and Dean were still hunting together. Back then he only slept four hours a day and it felt like enough. Now he could sleep for hours and never feel satisfied. Since they each went their separate ways, Sam has never been the same.
A loud exhale rushed out of his mouth and Sam's eyes suddenly shot open. He could feel Dean shift behind him, stepping over the space they had put between them. The warmth from his brother's body was soon reaching him through the touch of their legs and Dean's arm landed on Sam's pillow, covering Sam's neck and comfortably spooning him close. Dean's breath was calmer, closer. So close that Sam mistook it for his own.
And that was all it took Sam to calm down and allow himself to dive into one of the best sleeps he ever had.