Yeah, another chapter! I managed to get this done during my holiday, plus homework and actually having fun! Although I ended up with gastro on the day we came back, I still had loads of fun for the time we were away and got to do loads of cool stuff! I love holidays, although now I have to catch up on school! Urgh. Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it! Lots of Dean angst here, thought I'd give Sam a break from it this time. Read, review and enjoy! Hugs!

"Sam?"

Sam opened his eyes slowly, the events of the previous night coming back to him as he sat up. He looked to his left to see Dean leaning against the doorframe, watching him with careful eyes. Sam ducked his head, unsure. He remembered what he'd done last night. He remembered breaking down beside the Impala, leaning against Dean and crying his heart out.

Dean must think I'm pathetic Sam thought Pathetic and weak. He risked his life to save me and spent all that time training me, and then everything collapses and I go so far backwards that he may as well not have saved me.

"We weren't sure if you wanted to go, after what happened last night, but Mary and Dad signed you up for that school..." Dean started, before trailing off towards the end.

Sam looked up. He'd almost completely forgotten about school.

"You don't have to go..."

"I want to," Sam said quietly, wondering when his voice had become so low and scared.

Dean nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off his brother. He wondered if Sam really was ready for this challenge. Returning to school was a big thing, and after the events of the past few days Dean hoped Sam would be able to handle it.

/\/\

Dean looked at Sam as the pair got out of the Impala. Dean had decided to drive Sam to school, hoping he could find out why Sam was avoiding his gaze, and trying his best not to speak to him. But the trip had revealed nothing, and now they were at the gates of the school, Sam ready to leave.
Sam glanced back at his brother for a split second. The unspoken question was burning in Dean's eyes, and Sam felt compelled to answer.

"I'm fine. You can go home."

Sam walked away, leaving Dean watching the crowds of kids around the school yard, his brother disappearing into the building. He waited a moment, just looking around at the other kids. They reminded him of a time that seemed so long ago, when he was just a hunter, fighting the supernatural and then going to school the next day. Then everything had changed when he met Sam. The crowds of kids milling around and chatting, or showing off to their friends, held memories of when he'd met the boy who turned out to be his long-lost brother. It held memories of that day when he'd seen Sam first walk into that school yard, a scared, shy kid.

Dean got back into the car and started the engine. He paused for another moment, glancing once more at the school building, and the door Sam had disappeared through, before driving off.

/\/\

Sam wandered through the school halls, past rows of lockers and groups of chattering kids. There were almost invisible lines separating each group. Some girls in one place, some in another. The geeks down the hall avoiding the inevitable school bullies.

Sam kept his head down to avoid being recognised as a new kid. He could only see his feet and those of the others around him, and he couldn't stop himself in time before he crashed into someone. He stumbled back a pace and his head snapped up, an apology forming on his lips, anger rushing through his head. He'd only been here for less than five minutes and he'd probably already made himself an enemy.

The kid he'd bumped into was an average looking guy. He was a little shorter than Sam, but not by much. He had scruffy, shoulder length black hair, a fringe swept across his face and almost covering one of his green-blue eyes. He was wearing a baggy black t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and fingerless gloves.

Before Sam could get out his apology, the kid laughed. He pushed a strand of escaped hair over his ear and shifted the position of the books balanced precariously in his arms.

"Sorry mate," the kid said with a slight accent and a smile.

"Uh...yeah, sorry," Sam replied cautiously.

The kid held out one hand, the books tipping over further and barely balanced in his hand.

"The name's Damien," he said.

Sam hesitated before shaking Damien's hand.

"I'm Sam."

"You're new, right?"

"Yeah," Sam risked a small smile at the enthusiastic teenager. Damien responded with the same, only larger.

"You seem pretty cool," Damien said, patting Sam on the shoulder for a moment, grinning. Sam couldn't stop the smile that spread over his face – Damien's happiness and excitement was contagious.

/\/\

At lunch that day, Sam wandered out to the school yard alone. He looked around and spotted Damien across the yard with another boy. Damien saw him at almost the same time and waved. Sam hesitated only a moment before going over.

"Hey Sam, this is my friend, Kane."

Damien gestured to the boy with cropped brown hair similar to Dean's, with shattering ice blue eyes. He smiled and lifted his hand in a slight wave. Sam did the same.

"So where're you from, Sam?" Kane asked.

"Kansas. That's where I was born, but I've moved around so much since then I've lost count," Sam replied.

"I'm from California originally. Moved here about four years ago," Kane said.

Sam glanced at Damien, curious as to where his slight accent came from. Damien smirked and spoke.

"I was actually born in Australia. I only came here about a year ago."

"Wow, Australia?" Sam breathed, a little impressed.

He smiled. It was half way through the day already, and so far he hadn't been bashed, attacked, taunted or glared at, and he'd made two new friends. He'd been afraid school would be just like every other, never making friends and always hiding from the bullies of the school to avoid being bashed. But it seemed to be the opposite.

He wondered what Dean was doing.

/\/\

Dean drove around for an hour or so after dropping Sam off. He didn't know where he was going, or if he was even going anywhere at all. All he knew was that he had to find somewhere to go other than home. He didn't want to see his parents just at that moment. They'd want to know what had gone on last night out the front on the driveway, and they'd want to know what Sam had told him about his dreams. Dean didn't know the answers and the ones he did know, he didn't want to tell.

Eventually, he found himself idling outside a motel on the far side of town. He recognised it as the motel Bobby had said he was staying at. Dean sighed, and parked in the car park. He shut off the engine, plunging the car into silence. He sat in the Impala for a while, just staring out the windscreen and nothing else. Finally, he got out, and headed to Bobby's room.

He knocked on the door, and it only took a moment for it to open to reveal Bobby. He took one look at Dean, said nothing, and stepped aside. Dean gave him a quick glance as he walked in.

"What's going on?" Bobby asked.

Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair as he wondered whether coming here was a good idea. In the end, he decided against running out the door.

"Sam..."

Bobby didn't let Dean finish. Instead, he gestured for the teenager to sit down, then disappeared for a moment. He reappeared with two beers. Dean smiled faintly as he took one and opened it,
taking a deep swallow.

"What's happened?" Bobby asked, sitting across from Dean with one eyebrow raised. He'd known him long enough to understand that Dean would never have come if it wasn't something important, or something he couldn't handle on his own.

"I don't know if you're right or not," Dean said quietly, so low Bobby almost didn't hear.

"About what?" Bobby already knew, but asked anyway.

"Hunting, and Sam knowing. I mean, I think there's something... something going on, and I don't know what to do," Dean kept his gaze down, knowing that Bobby would never tell his father about
what they talked about. Bobby was almost like a second father to him, one he could trust to keep his secrets and be the one to talk to when things got so hard that he couldn't deal with them alone or with his father. Bobby was the only one he trusted enough to talk to about Sam.

Bobby waited for Dean to explain, letting him get whatever it was he needed to tell off his chest.

"Sam's been having really weird nightmares. Scary ones. He keeps fighting and talking all the way through. He told me last night that they were about Jason."

Bobby nodded, remembering what John had told him about Jason and how the bastard had abused Sam for three years and almost killed him.

"I don't know what to do. There's signs. Cold spots, the nightmares. I even checked around Sam's bed with the EMF and it's everywhere."

"You think a ghost is haunting Sam."

Dean nodded slowly. He breathed in deeply before speaking again.

"Yeah. Jason's ghost."

"You didn't burn the body?" Bobby looked surprised. Dean glared at him, connecting eyes for the first time since sitting down.

"We got out of there as quickly as we could. Dad wanted to go back and burn it, but I said no. I told him that Sam would be better off if we kept moving away from the place. I didn't think he was going to find some way to haunt Sam from the other side of the country!"

Bobby shook his head.

"That may be the case, but it ain't why you're really here. What's going on?"

Dean hesitated. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to say what he had on his mind. Once something was said, it couldn't be unsaid.

"I can't tell Dad, because...he'll think I'm...weak..."

"John would never think you were weak. You're his son. No matter what, he's gonna love you. You know that, right?" Bobby said gruffly, but Dean could hear the slight worry behind his voice.

Dean glanced at Bobby for a second. They locked eyes, and Bobby saw the fear behind the exterior of indifference.

"I'm scared, Bobby. I'm scared that Sam's gonna get hurt by this ghost. I'm scared that he's hiding everything away from me and not letting me help him. I'm scared that he's gonna find out about the
hunting stuff. I'm just scared, Bobby, and I don't know what to do."

Bobby sighed quietly under his breath and nodded slowly. There was a long pause, where the two just looked at each other, one with desperation in his eyes and the other with hidden worry and trying to reach out to help.

"If you weren't scared, you wouldn't be human, Dean. Everyone gets scared, even Winchesters. And to tell you the truth, I think everyone's scared for Sam. I barely even know the kid, and I'm worried that something's gonna happen to him."

Bobby never took his eyes of Dean as he spoke, watching his reaction. Dean just slumped down into the chair, seeming as if he couldn't care about anything anymore, as if it were all just too hard, and he didn't want to care about it.

"I don't want to lose him. Not again. I only just found him," Dean said, so quietly that Bobby almost didn't hear him.

"Then you have to hold on to him. Don't let him slip away from you. Don't let him get away. Do what you have to do, Dean. You know what that is."

"I can't tell him," Dean whispered.

"Your father tried to keep the past from you. Your mother tried to keep that past from Sam. Look how that worked out. If you don't want to lose Sam, like your father's losing you, then don't do what your father did. Don't lie to him anymore."

Bobby's words stung, but only because they were true. Dean knew he was being harsh on his father. Thirteen years was a long time to be lied to, but John was obviously doing everything he could to win his son's trust back. Dean wanted to tell his father that everything was alright between them, that everything was fine, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. And, Dean realised, he was doing to Sam what his father had done to him. He'd lied, and he was prepared to keep lying for as long as it took to keep the one he cared about most safe.

Dean blinked, the stinging feeling of tears behind his eyes trying to force their way to the surface irritating him. He stood up, knowing he had to get out of there before he completely broke down. He ran for the door, mumbling something to Bobby about being sorry and having to go. Bobby didn't try to follow, only watched as the teenager ran from the room. He heard an engine revving, tyres squealing. The sounds faded away into silence.

/\/\

Dean only drove a street away before he had to stop. He couldn't see anymore behind the budding tears in his eyes. He pulled into a parking space on the side of the road, nearly slamming into the car in front of him. He slumped forward against the steering wheel, choking back tears.

Bobby was right. He had to tell Sam the truth. If he ever found out, Sam would be devastated. Not because he would know that monsters existed, but that Dean had lied to him. After they had stuck together in their distrust of their parents, Sam would be horrified to know that Dean had done exactly the same thing. Dean coughed. How could he do that to his little brother? The one he'd sworn to protect?

Dean drew in a deep breath, making up his mind. When Sam came home, he was going to tell him. He was going to reveal the truth. Whatever damage that did to their bond was something Dean would have to deal with later.

At that moment, all he wanted to do was make sure that Sam would never get hurt again.