They pulled up to the house they'd been renting for a few months, and both John and Sam got out. As soon as they got in the door John said, "Go sit down on the couch, we're going to talk."
Sam sat, and John crossed his arms and said, "Tell me about last night. Why didn't you study?"
Sam was determined not to give up his brother. Sure, this was mostly Dean's fault, but he wasn't going to snitch. "Nothing happened, Dad! I got home, did a little studying, then I, uh, fell asleep and there was no time to memorize the fucking equations!"
John said with sarcasm, "If the equations were fucking, you'd probably have a lot less trouble remembering them. Cut the swearing, cut the attitude, and tell me how you cheated since you've decided to lie about last night."
Sam swallowed hard. Shit. Dad knew he was lying. He was soooo busted. "I-I wrote the answers on my arm," he held out his marked forearm to demonstrate. "So I could look at them during the tests. Dean said..." He trailed off, knowing he'd just made a tactical error.
John's face was grim. He walked up to Sam, and took his wrist, inspecting what was written on his arm. Still holding the wrist, John looked at Sam and said, "What did Dean say?"
Sam flexed his hand, but didn't try to pull away. "Nothing... he just, um, mentioned at one point that, you know, it might not be such a big deal..." Sam was sweating now, wishing that the interrogation would end or that Dean would come back to take a little of the heat off.
"That cheating wouldn't be a big deal, or that getting a bad grade wouldn't be such a big deal? Because one of those would be good advice, and the other would not."
"He didn't think EITHER ONE was a big deal, Dad. And he doesn't have anything to do with this! I'm the one who messed up, so just punish me already and leave him out of it!" Sam burst out.
John pulled Sam to his feet and swatted him hard. He let go of Sam's wrist and said, "Go wash that garbage off your arm, and then go to your room."
Sam supposed he had been, literally, asking for the smack, but it still hurt and it didn't seem to have gotten their Dad off Dean's case, anyway. He rubbed the sore spot on his butt and muttered a sullen "yes, sir," hurrying away before his Dad saw fit to swat him again.
Once Sam was in the bathroom and John heard the water running, he rubbed a tired hand over his face. He'd only gotten three hours of sleep the night before after a difficult hunt, and then coming home to this mess really didn't help. He'd been looking forward to getting off work, sipping on a beer while making dinner, and then calling it an early night.
He looked at the clock. He had half an hour before he had to go pick up Dean. He seriously doubted he'd get anymore information out of Sam about what had happened the night before, and wanted to talk to Dean about it before he went through with any punishment.
Once he heard Sam going into his room, John walked in after him. He leaned against the doorframe and said, "I'm going to go pick up your brother. I want you to stay in your room until we get back. Understand me?"
"Yes, sir," Sam said, knowing there wasn't anything else he could say. He just hoped Dean wasn't going to kick his ass as soon as dad was done with him. He definitely hadn't been a smooth talker, and now their dad was more than suspicious. He sighed, waiting until his dad was gone to pull out his algebra book. 'No time like the present to learn this stuff,' he thought, especially now that his grade was going to plummet from having a zero on the test and a three day suspension.
John went out to his truck and drove back to work. As he waited for Dean to come out, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to decide how to best get a confession out of his eldest son.
Dean had been sweating bullets for the remainder of his shift. What could he say in Sam's defense? He hated lying to his father, but this whole thing was his fault, and that guilt alone made him feel ill.
The remaining two hours flew by faster than he would have liked, and true to his father's word, John was sitting outside in the parking lot waiting for him to get off. Dean frowned at the way his dad's face was contorted into a grimace. He was pretty sure Sam must have said something about his involvement, but then again his dad could just still be pissed about the whole event. Either way, he wasn't absolutely sure if his dad knew what had really happened last night, and he didn't plan on incriminating himself if he didn't have to.
He hoped into the car and gave his father a small smile, "Hey dad."
John gave Dean a small smile and said, "Hi Dean. Hey I wanted to say I'm sorry about jumping on your case earlier. Sammy told me what happened, and I know it's not your fault."
Dean smiled in relief thinking Sam didn't rat him out and their dad must not have taken the incident too badly. He slouched back in his seat responding casually, "It's okay dad; I realize you were stressed out when you left earlier. So… what did Sammy say?"
John started the truck up, headed for home, and kept a straight face while he lied. "He told me that he decided to talk to some girl on the phone all night instead of studying. And then when he realized how late it was, he brought up cheating on the test to you. You told him in no uncertain terms not to, because he couldn't pull it off without getting caught. Now normally I wouldn't like the fact that he was cheating, but I wouldn't be too upset. But to do it after you already said no?"
John shook his head and sighed in disappointment. "I'm sorry to say that's a spankable offence. Sam needs to follow your orders when I'm not here. I know it's not something you like to do, but since you're the one he disobeyed, you're the one who's going to need to spank him once we get home."
Dean's jaw dropped in disbelief, "What? Spank him? Don't you think he's a little too old for that dad?" Dean visibly squirmed. How could his dad ask him to spank Sammy? Things had gone horribly awry, but Dean thought about it, he could pull this off. He would tell his father he would do it, and when he went in to Sam's room to 'punish' him, Dean would just slap his hand and have Sam yell out like he was actually spanking him. This could work out without either one of them getting into any real trouble and their dad would never be the wiser!
John didn't have to think about that one. "Too old? Of course not. I seem to remember the last time for you was only two years ago, and you were older then he is now. I think someone is too old to be spanked when they start showing that they are trying to make mature decisions, even if those decisions aren't always the ones they want to make. Like you, telling Sam not to cheat. I have to say there was a time when I would expect you to actually encourage that behavior. But by telling him not to, you're showing me a more mature side of you. I'm proud of you Dean."
John put a hand on Dean's shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze.
Dean blushed at being reminded of the last time his dad spanked him. He had taken off in the Impala to meet up with some friends at the river. His dad had been waiting for his arrival, and the fact he'd been drinking before driving home was the last straw to having his dad bring out the belt. He hadn't taken the Impala without permission since! Although he had been drinking and driving last night… 'It was only a couple miles,' he thought to himself.
Then his dad said he was proud of him, and that revelation was almost too much to take, but Dean swallowed his regret determined to pull off his latest concocted idea as he responded, "Thanks dad; you know I don't really feel comfortable having to punish Sammy, but if it's what I have to do, then that's what I'll do."
John quietly thought about it for a few minutes while they drove. He was disappointed in Dean's behavior. Not only did he not confess, like John thought he would, but he seemed to be willing to spank Sam for something that he was sure Dean had encouraged if not planned.
As they pulled up to their house John turned and said with disappointment on his face, "I can't believe you'd rather spank your brother then confess."
The color drained out of Dean's face at the knowledge that his father already knew the truth. He was so stunned that he was momentarily unable to find his voice again knowing that he was in a world of trouble.
It wasn't supposed to go down like this; Dean realized he should have confessed to his father and that his hair-brained scheme wouldn't have worked. It was too late for that now though. It was time to stop lying.
Dean hung his head at his father's disappointed glare unable to take the piercing eyes any longer as he responded, "I'm sorry dad; I should have known you already knew the truth." He glanced back up at his dad again stating in all earnest, "And I know it was wrong to let Sammy take the heat… I just figured I could have pretended to spank him, so that he wouldn't have gotten spanked by you." Dean added as an after thought, "I mean we really are too old for a spanking dad…" He figured the comment probably wouldn't save either of their asses from getting blistered, but it was worth a try.
John scoffed, "Too old to get spanked? Your behavior tells me you're not."
John said with authority, "Tell me your version of the night."
Dean sighed regretting his actions right away; his father's response guaranteed painful repercussions to follow. He mumbled regretfully, "My version? Does it matter?"
He shook his head deciding if he was going to get it now anyway, the least he could do was take the blame off of Sam, "I asked Sammy to go out with me last night… he wanted to study, and I begged him to study later. We stayed out all night, and by the time we got home, Sammy didn't have enough time to study, so I told him he could write the equations on his arm as a guide. I'm really sorry for telling Sammy it was a good idea to do it. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I know you're mad, but you really shouldn't punish him, it wasn't his fault."
John took a couple of calming breaths and then said, "Thank you for the honesty Dean. You should know better then to tell Sammy to cheat. He's horrible at lying, and you know it. He's gotten better, but he's still not good at it. That and he actually likes school, so the guilt would make him even worse at it."
John shook his head and then, even though he had a pretty good idea of the answer already, he asked, "Where did the two of you go last night?"
Dean lowered his head as he answered, "Only up the road a few miles… Melissa was having a BBQ pool party. She invited me, and I knew you wouldn't let me leave Sammy behind, so I asked him to tag along."
"Okay. In the house."
John got out of the truck along with Dean who appeared to be moving slower then usual as they went into the house. Once they were in the living room John pointed to the couch and said, "Park it."
He called out, "Sammy, come here."
Sam cautiously poked his head out of the door to his bedroom, then hurried to obey. When he got downstairs he gave Dean a searching look, then turned his attention to his father's stony countenance.