Dean chewed his burger thoughtfully as he waited for Sam to get out of class. He had stopped at Burger King on the way. A greasy bag holding a truckload of fries and another burger for Sammy sat patiently beside him in the passenger seat. Another bag containing cough drops, dayquil, aspirin, and a cheap plastic thermometer sat on the floor beside Dean's discarded burger wrapper. He had picked them up at the gas station across the street from the school. As Dean shoved the last bite into his mouth and started to reach for the fries, he tried to figure out exactly what to do with the sick junior now occupying their couch, other than shoving over-the-counter medication down his throat. The cough seemed like a good place to start. If they could get him to stop hacking up his lungs, maybe he would be able to heal. In truth, his fever was the most worrisome part of whatever illness Gabe had contracted. Once they got back, Dean would make it his first order of business to try and bring the fever down. The squeak of the car door opening jerked him from his thoughts. "Fast-food again, Dean?" moaned Sam, swinging into the passenger seat and peeking into the bag. Dean pointedly grabbed another handful of fries and started the engine. "Shut up. It's good for you. You've got all the main food groups there. Meat, bread... uh – vegetables?" he said, holding up a fry to justify his point. "See? The whole shebang. No complaints allowed." Sam just rolled his eyes and dismally searched through the pile of fries in the bag for the hamburger underneath them. "What's this stuff?" he asked, bending down to examine the contents of the bag from the gas station. Sam pulled out the thermometer and raised his eyebrows at Dean. "Are we preparing for some kind of a pharmacy strike?"

"Close, but no. I uh-" Dean struggled to find the best way to explain the situation back home. "Do you know Gabriel by any chance?"

"Gabriel Adamson? The junior?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, him." Dean replied rather blankly. He realized with a twinge of self-deprecating ignorance that he didn't actually know Gabe's last name. Well, now he did, but that was beside the point.

"He's in physics club with me, but he hardly ever comes anymore. What about him?" Sam asked, unwrapping his burger and taking a bite. Physics club? Dean snorted to himself. What nerdy club doesn't that smug little snot belong to? He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. "Well, he may be staying with us for a bit." he said lamely, trying too hard to keep his eyes focussed on the road in order to avoid looking at his brother. Sam stopped chewing and looked at Dean, curiosity painting his face. "Why?" Dean sighed. Because I'm an idiot. He thought about saying, but held himself back. "He's just not doing so well right now and I think he needs a break. He's really sick. Poor guy was going to drag himself to class when he could barely stand. It was pretty pathetic. I had to help him out." he explained, wondering why he suddenly sounded so defensive in his mind. Sam didn't mention it though as he absorbed the information, staring out the windshield at the road racing by.

"He's really that bad?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what he's got, but it's nasty. He's like a snot factory." Sam grimaced briefly at the description.

"Why didn't you take him home?" Dean thought for a moment about how exactly to answer that question.

"I don't think home is the right place for him right now, Sammy."

"Why's that? Shouldn't his parents know that he's sick?" Dean winced inwardly at the mention of Gabe's family. Sam was four years younger than him, so Dean was not surprised that Sam didn't know about the Adamson family, seeing as how Gabriel was the youngest and therefore Sam wouldn't have had much experience with any of his siblings. But Dean had. The Adamsons were a notorious family among the upperclassmen of Lawrence High. They were all horrible bullies. The oldest, Michael, had terrified most of the senior class of two years ago. Dean had been a freshman at the time, but he had heard the stories. He held back a shudder as he remembered one of Michael's particularly monstrous feats. Michael had become upset when a senior from another school had stolen his chance at an athletics scholarship. Only one athletics scholarship in soccer was being awarded that year in their district. Michael and the other student both played on their respective schools' soccer teams. When the scholarship was awarded to this kid instead of him, Michael broke his leg. He didn't do it out in the open where it would have been obvious that it was him. No, Michael was too smart for that. He waited until the last match before the end of the season. Everybody at Lawrence knew that Michael had kicked the kid on purpose, but it looked like it could have been an accident. The field was soggy from the spring rain the night before. Michael "lost his footing" as he attempted to steal the pass and hit the kid instead. The refs fell for it, the spectators fell for it, even the kid probably fell for it too, it was so believable. The kid's leg was broken in two places. People who had seen the game said that his knee had buckled completely the wrong way. Injuries like that never heal correctly, not exactly. The kid had to go through a year of physical therapy before he could even walk right again. College soccer was out of the question. He would probably never play again. Since he was no longer eligible for his scholarship, they had no choice but to award it to the next runner-up in the district: Michael. As far as Dean knew, Michael was now attending Penn State with a full ride. And good riddance. Dean thought to himself with a scowl. However, as bad as Michael had been, his younger sister Lucy had been just as much of a terror.

Lucy had been one of the most popular girls in school, but exactly why Dean had never known. She was gorgeous, sure. Like an exotic snake. She drew people in with that beauty that dumb people just aren't able to resist. She was also the smoothest talker Dean had ever seen. Michael's junior by one year, she had manipulated her way to the head position of every organization she had ever joined. She was the top soprano of the school choir for years as well as the lead role in every single play. Lucy dominated every talent show, every beauty pageant, every debate meet. And she treated her "friends" like trash, using her popularity to humiliate and disown them if they ever displeased her. She never had a boyfriend for more than a week before getting bored and dumping him for a new one. There was never a shortage either. The entire football team was lined up to date her, gladly willing to break their hearts just for the chance to "be her man" for the week. She sweet-talked all of her teachers into giving her A's and she sweet-talked her way right into Stanford too, where she currently attended. Also good riddance. Dean mentally added to his thoughts.

The second youngest Adamson was Raphael. During his two-year attendance at Lawrence high, he had claimed the title of National Chess Champion each year. He decimated every test and had received a perfect score on his ACT and SAT. He rose up through the grades like a brainy hot-air balloon, graduating when he was only fifteen, summa cum laude. But he sure never aced any personality tests, that's for sure. Dean remembered that the guy barely spoke, as if anybody with an IQ lower than 150 was a waste of his breath. When he did talk, whatever he said wasn't very nice. Even though he was a nerd, nobody in the school ever tried to mess with him. They were either too intimidated or too creeped out. He never even had any friends, as far as Dean knew. But who would want to be friends with a stuck up, conceited brainiac anyway? Dean thought to himself. At any rate, the high and mighty Raphael was now pursuing medical school at Harvard, leaving only one Adamson still attending Lawrence High.

Dean realized that he kind of lucked out with having to share a grade with Gabriel, considering how his siblings had been. Gaberiel was by far the most normal of the Adamson siblings. Sure he had inherited a few elements of his siblings' personality traits, Michael's temper, Lucy's razor-edged silver tongue, and Raphael's brains, but other than that he was nothing like them. Gabe was quiet and kept to himself mostly. He even had a few friends. Nobody real close, of course, but they would catch movies together sometimes or pair up on partner projects. It wasn't Gabe's fault, really. He was a good kid once you got to know him, but the trouble was that lots of people didn't want to give him that chance. His siblings' reputations had preceded him and this naturally made people shy away from him before he could have a chance to say hello. It was a shame, really. Dean sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, turning back to Sam who was still waiting for an answer.

"Let's just say that his family doesn't seem to do very well in the area of TLC. He just needs somewhere quiet where he can rest up right now." Dean looked at his brother. "Okay?"

Sam silently turned the thermometer over in his hand absent-mindedly. "Okay." he said. A smiled lightly and turned back to the road, a Kwik-Trip catching his eye as they passed it. With a slightly guilty feeling he realized that they still had nothing for Gabe to eat at home. "Hey, Sammy," he began, reaching to pluck another fry from the bag and popping it in his mouth. "If you were really sick, what would you want to eat?"

"I dunno. Soup?"

"No, not that." Dean said quickly.

"Uh, well maybe something soft, easy to eat. Ice cream?" Dean grinned and pulled over to perform a U-turn.

"Ice cream! Yeah, that's awesome! Who doesn't like ice cream?" he said happily, rerouting towards the Kwik-Trip. "Time for a pit-stop."