Not really wanting to confront a raging giant, Dean casually made his way inside and sat on the bed, taking off his boots. Sam stormed into the room, trying his best to ignore Dean.

Dean went about his normal night, glancing at his brother as much as he could without being caught. Sam wasn't letting this go and he knew it. Any second now he would start freaking out.

"Dean we need to talk." There it was.

"Oh yeah?" He spit toothpaste into the sink and walked back out into the room. "Cuz I'm really tired and we gotta get an early start tomorrow. Breakfast is already sounding awesome."

"No." Sam set Dean with a very serious look. A little too serious for his liking.

"No what? You know you want a waffle."

"No you aren't going to bed yet."

Dean stripped off his pants, leaving himself in boxers and a wife-beater. "It's over Sam, it's done. Yeah yeah I'm sorry I made her cry and that was really shitty of me but it's done and we can't dwell on it."

Sam had his mind made up. It was going to take everything in him, even if he felt he had all the reason in the world, to do what Dean needed him to do. He took a deep breath, studying his brother who thought his premeditated nonchalance was actually fooling someone.

"This is what's gonna happen. I'm stepping outside for a minute. I'm gonna head over to the row of trees on the far side of the parking lot. I'll cut a small thin branch and bring it back inside. As soon as I close the door and turn around I want you there" he pointed at the dresser, "waiting for me."

Dean took a second to clear his head and take it all in. Was Sam really saying what he thought he was saying? Well it wouldn't work and he couldn't make him do a god damned thing. "You and what army are going to get me to do this, huh Sammy?" Dean plastered up a smirk to try and hide his nervous swallow only moments before.

"Oh I can tell you what army." Sam stood up and headed towards Dean. He got within inches of his face and kept his voice low and dark. "The army of guilt, Dean. I know you better then you know yourself, come on man, you can't stand it. It's eating you alive, knowing you hurt that girl. And I'll take all that pain away, but you have to go through this first. Because you messed up today. End of story." Sam turned and walked out, letting the door swing closed behind him.

Dean's mouth was dry. He closed his eyes slowly and turned to look over at the dresser.

Sam found what he was looking for and began to strip it with his pocket knife. He watched the sky as he thought about his older brother. Really Dean had it harder then he ever let on. He was always the one that had to set an example, to protect Sam, to lead and have someone follow him. Tonight he was gonna help him relinquish control. And he was also going to show him that no matter how much more superior you think you are, everyone makes mistakes. Even the infamous Dean Winchester could get his ass whipped every now and then.

Sam nodded and strengthened his resolve, stepping down off the curb and heading back across the street, a wicked switch in hand.

He stared at the ground as he opened the door, turning quickly and closing it behind him. He held his breath as he glanced over at the dresser.

Dean was there, bent over just as instructed, with his arms crossed out in front of him, his head buried in them. Sam couldn't help but steal a small smile over the triumph, it was good to be listened to for once.

He came beside Dean, noticing how his brother tensed as he moved closer. It was ok, he wanted him to feel some fear. He was going to throw his empathetic self into the back of his mind tonight and prove to Dean that certain things wouldn't be overlooked. He gave the switch some practice strokes, making sure he could control its strength. Satisfied he spoke.

"We're going to 50. You wont move out of position." There was no room for further discussion and so Sam put a hand on Dean's back and brought the switch down hard. Dean ground his teeth so hard he felt like they were about to shatter in his mouth. He had only been switched one time before. And curiously, his father hadn't been involved.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*Flashback-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Dean was in high school. He was in his junior year but none of that really mattered. They only stayed in a town for a couple weeks or so, a month maybe at the most. School was just something you attended because society said it was right. And the boys needed to blend in as much as they could. It was a way for some normalcy to be included in the Winchester way of life. Dean hated it. Everything but the girls, that is. Sam loved it. School was just something he always took to, knowledge was his ultimate power. Giving him a research paper was like feeding sugar cubes to a horse. And of course while Sam was over at the library, reading up on his latest assignment after school, Dean had other plans. He was in detention for something minor, ignoring his teacher to draw hearts on some girls hand or something. The teacher was for chemistry, his name was Mr. Matthews. He was one of the younger teachers, mid thirties or so, and he had stepped out to run some copies for a test while leaving his mostly behaving delinquents sitting quietly at their desks.

A couple of the girls brought out their phones and started texting when he left and the others started talking, taking the opportunity to loosen up a bit. Dean stood up and headed up front.

"Hey what are you doing?" A kid, Marty, asked.

"Ah, nothin you need to worry yourself about, Martster. Just havin some fun." Dean casually slid across Mr. Matthews desk and fell into a crouch, opening his file cabinet. Ah! Just what he had suspected. He had spied Mr. Matthews over at his cabinet before and had sworn he heard the sound of a dial turning. It was a safe. And the contents would be more then exciting. He only opened it when they were at their labs, conducting experiments with hostile liquids. He would handle those specific chemicals himself and give each student exactly the right amount and pair them up in non-toxic mixes. Today would be the day Dean was in charge of experimentation. And it was going to be awesome.

It only took him a second to open the safe, he was an expert after all, and he brought the delicate vials to a lab nearby. At this point every head was turned his way and as he took out various beakers and unstopped the vials, every kid was out of his or her seat, staring wide eyed over his shoulder.

"You know you could get in a lot of trouble for this."

"Yeah, I mean, it's illegal or something..."

"What if you start a fire? Oh my god, my parents would kill me!"

Dean wasn't hearing a thing. His eyes were fixed on the prize and his mouth was turned up in a sinful grin of pure delight. He didn't really pay attention to what the mixtures were called, they were in that weird code anyway, and he never studied for the periodic table quizzes. So he was leaving it to intuition. He poured two of them together and then stepped back.

Nothing happened at first and it was really a little disappointing. But after a second the mix started to bubble. And then it started to hiss. And soon a light haze of smoke was billowing out the top. He let his infamous grin slide back onto his face and turned to face his peers.

"You see? Chemistry doesn't have to always be boring." He began to laugh until something made him duck down. It was an explosion, at least it sounded like one. Really all that happened was the glass of the beaker was under so much pressure from the battling chemicals inside it that it burst apart. Glass went everywhere but really didn't cause too much damage. Just a mess to clean up.

Just as Dean was about to make the evidence of his tampering disappear, Mr. Matthews showed up. He froze. And so did everyone else. He looked slowly to the mess, Dean wincing, the wide eyed students, very familiar looking test tubes, and then the open filing cabinet. He set his jaw and locked eyes with the one he knew was guilty.

"Mr. Winchester." Dean scratched the back of his head and shrugged. Mr. Matthews pointed at the door. "Everyone else out!" The kids were more then happy to leave, scrambling out the door one after the other.

Marty shook his head and patted Dean on the shoulder. "Good luck." And then he was gone too.