Previously:
This time, he hears Ben say "I want Mom," and his heart sinks.
"I'm not awesome enough?" he deadpans. "You've got to admit, I'm pretty awesome." When that doesn't raise a smile, he sighs and digs his cell phone from his pocket. He turns to face Ben as he dials Lisa's number from memory and nods his head towards the other end of the couch. "Scoot over a bit." He settles himself in the gap between Ben and the arm of the couch while he waits to see if Lisa will pick up. It's three minutes past eleven and Lisa should be between classes. She picks up after the fourth ring and Dean can hear voices in the background screeching with laughter.
"Hey, sweetie, what's up?" She's slightly breathless, as if she's had to run to answer her phone. "Hey, yourself," he replies, as Ben burrows under his right arm and settles himself against Dean's chest, his head tucked into the curve between Dean's neck and shoulder. "Ben isn't feeling well. He's asking for you." His hand comes up to cup the back of Ben's neck and he feels Ben shift just that little bit closer to him. "Can he talk to me?" Lisa asks, and Dean relinquishes his phone. He can hear Lisa talking to Ben in the gentle tone she uses when he's over-tired and trying to pick a fight and she's attempting to make him see reason. Ben hands the phone back to him a minute later looking, if possible, even more miserable than before. "Dean," he hears Lisa saying, "Do I need to come home?" He snorts before he can stop himself. It's not like this is the first time he's had to look after a sick kid by himself. "No," he tells her. "We're gonna hang out, watch a movie or two. We'll be fine, won't we, Ben?" Ben is staring, glassy-eyed, at a spot on the wall above one of his school photographs. "Okay," she says, "Call me if you need anything. "
He presses a palm to Ben's forehead and winces at how hot he feels. He feels around on the side table for the thermometer that he dropped there not ten minutes earlier. His hand finds cool plastic and he turns back to Ben, brandishing it like a weapon. "C'mon, dude. I need to see how high you're running." He gives Ben a soft nudge when the display shows 103.6 and Ben uncurls himself from around Dean's right side. In the utility room he grabs a washcloth and wets it with tepid water before liberating the bottle of Calpol from the kitchen.
He puts a DVD into the DVD player and watches to make sure Ben swallows all of the medicine before he sits down and pulls Ben towards him. Ben's hand comes up to clutch at Dean's t-shirt and he nuzzles into Dean's chest as his breathing evens out and Dean feels his own breathing hitch and his heart swell. He drops his chin to kiss the top of the boy's head and is forced to blink hard to chase away tears that he will deny ever existed.
Lisa stops at the entrance to the living room to see Ben fast asleep, folded tightly into Dean's side and Dean running his fingers through the wispy strands of hair at the base of Ben's head. He doesn't see her and Lisa stays hidden in the shadows, taking the opportunity to watch them interact. She smiles to herself when Dean sighs and shifts, bringing Ben closer before turning his head so that her son is tucked under his chin. She wipes briskly at her eyes and she feels her throat constrict when she realizes just how much she wishes Ben was Dean's.
A/N: The idea for this came from Romeo and Juliet where Juliet says: "What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,"
It got me thinking about Dean's relationship with Ben and how he seems to treat Ben as his own even though he knows he's not Ben's real dad.
I'm not sure if I like the ending. I must have rewritten it four or five times before deciding on the one I did. What do we all think?