Dean awoke with a particularly painful and stiff shoulder. He sat up in bed and carefully pressed down on his bandaged wound and was instantly rewarded with a dull ache; the kind of dull ache you get from a possibly infected bite wound.

Two nights before, he crossed paths with a seemingly stray vampire. One kill led to another, and before he knew it he had taken on a small nest single-handedly. He was lucky to be alive. Thankfully, getting bitten by a vampire wasn't enough to turn him into one; contrary to one of the many misconceptions of moviegoers across the globe.

The hard part was cleaning up. It was never fun, but when you're sticking around town for a while after clearing out a nest, it's best to cover your tracks. Despite the somewhat serious wound to his shoulder, Dean toughed it out and buried nine bodies in a mass grave right outside the barn the vampires called home.

Being a hunter sure was a lot of work; another reason to miss Sam.

...XoXoXo...

"Dude did you see those test results?!" Sam practically jumped into the air when he got home to his rental house. He'd been at Stanford for a year now. Due to circumstances out of his control, he hadn't seen Dean for just as long.

"I know. Congrats. You're second highest in the class now." Austin smiled, obviously happy that Sam was doing well in school. Austin was getting good grades as well, but in a different major; he switched to veterinary science less than half a semester in, deciding that law was not for him. But he and Sam were sort of a thing now. They lived together in a rental house and shared living expenses between the two of them. Weirdly enough Sam felt it was like living with his brother again; sharing everything.

It wasn't really a relationship, but they occasionally kissed during movies or at night when they were bored and tired and their judgment was impaired by lack of sleep. And Austin got really adventurous this one time and gave Sam a hand-job in the movie theater, laying a jacket nonchalantly over his lap just in case someone were to look.

Sam really liked Austin. He was a great guy; he just wasn't Dean.

And he remembered Dmitri. He'd thought about Dmitri a lot. When he first got to Stanford he tried to find him; made every effort to find him. He looked up the high school and inquired about him, only to find out that Dmitri never graduated; he dropped out shortly after Sam left town.

He couldn't find him listed in any towns in California; and it made Sam worry. What if Dmitri was dead?

...XoXoXo...

"Any hard limits?"

"Umm… like what?"

"That's why I'm asking you."

"No I mean… What are some common ones?"

"Well… we have some people who are into bloodplay, but for others that is a hard 'no,' then there's the real nitty-gritty, like scat, watersports, sound-"

"Yeah, those are a definite no." Sam flushed a beet red upon hearing the woman mention those things.

Matilda smiled amusedly at Sam's hesitant and nervous nature.

"But I mean… I guess bloodplay is a maybe. It depends on how much I trust the guy."

The woman smiled again.

"Don't you worry, Sam. You'll soon find out that you can trust everyone here. We're all just here to have fun. So relax. Meeting and rehearsal are at seven tomorrow. I'll look over your information tonight and find you a good partner."

Sam let go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Was he really doing this? It all seemed ridiculous just a year ago. Now it was starting to make some sense. Damn, it must be California. Small town Sammy was really starting to get an education now; in more than one facet of life.

And for some strange reason, despite his nerves, Sam couldn't wait to start.

...XoXoXo...

"Are you kidding me, Sam? The Show?"

"Yeah. What? You're making it sound so dirty now. I thought you liked it."

"I do. Sorry. I just thought you had a guy back home, and you were saving yourself."

"What gave you that idea? I've told you since the beginning that we're not monogamous."

Austin gave Sam a hurt expression, and it was all Sam needed to connect the dots: Austin had feelings for him. And Sam, until now, had no clue.

"God, I'm sorry Austin. I didn't think this would affect you and me… I mean we haven't done anything… you know…"

"Oh I know. I've been wanting to. I've wanted you since our first semester together."

Sam knew Austin was talking about more than just sex. He wanted a relationship. It was probably a good thing they hadn't gone too far physically; it would make things all the more complicated.

"I can't. I'm sorry. Dean-"

"Dean? You mean that sorry-ass guy you haven't seen for an entire year? Yeah, sure. It must be true love, Sam. I've never even heard you talk about him!"

Sam knew Austin might never truly understand; especially not if he knew that Sam and Dean were brothers.

"Do you want me to leave? If you don't want to live with me anymore, I understand. I really do."

Austin softened. He titled his head up higher so he could look into those brown puppy-dog eyes.

"No. I want you to stay. And I'm sorry I pressured you; God I can be such an asshole."

Sam smiled. "It's okay. And just so you know, as far as fights go, I think that was the mildest I've ever been in."

"Wow. Your Dean must be ten times the asshole as me."

"He is."

"But you love him." Austin said a little mournfully.

"I do."

"Okay. You know… I think I'll come and see you at The Show Thursday. Just don't be too surprised if you see my hands in my pants pockets, if you catch my meaning…" Austin gave a scandalous wink and turned to leave, making his exit as dramatic as always.

...XoXoXo...

The Show's meeting was nothing like Sam expected. Everyone was clothed, smiling, eating sub sandwiches and talking as casually as could be. He wasn't sure exactly what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. It almost looked like a community city hall meeting, except all dudes; and one woman; Matilda, the one who managed the shindig and made sure everyone behaved.

Apparently her parents owned the building. It was meant to be a fancy clothing store, but it was defunded at the last minute and never completely finished. Matilda "fixed it up" so to speak, to make it look like an eerie abandoned building with real, non-simulated sex taking place wherever you turn.

But with the normal lights on, and a table and chairs set up it looked like any other place you might have a meeting at. It was a pleasant surprise.

Sam looked around the room a little, trying to shake himself out of his anxiety-induced tunnel-vision. He didn't get a good look at everyone, just a few guys; all unfamiliar and equally hot.

He wondered if perhaps he should have asked more questions during his orientation interview. He really had no idea what the "rehearsal" would entail.

But he was prepared; for everything. Just in case.

"This is Sam." The middle-aged Matilda broke the ice for the new arrival. "He's a law student. I've paired him with Deemee for this week's show."

Sam thought the name Deemee was a little weird, but it must have been a pet name. He hoped the guy was more masculine than his name let on. He wasn't too picky at this point; he hadn't had sex in a year. But he really did need a good hard fucking. He hoped this "Deemee" fellow could deliver.

"He's not here yet." Matilda put in once she noticed Sam scanning the crowd of young guys expectantly.

Sam relaxed a little, and someone handed him a cup of what looked like water, and he drank it cautiously at first, half expecting it to be alcohol. It wasn't; just plain water.

Matilda read his mind. "Don't worry. We don't perform or rehearse under the influence. It's a strict rule here, by the way, so you'd better stick to it."

"Is that why Austin doesn't come here anymore? Did you guys kick him out?" Sam had been dying to ask for a whole year now; Austin never seemed in the mood to talk about it.

The woman's eyes shifted nervously. "No. He didn't tell you? Last year some homophobic asshole beat him up on the street after the performance; broke his eye socket and a couple of ribs. He was in a coma for three days. It didn't exactly inspire him to continue; understandably so."

Sam gulped a little, starting to realize that he might be putting himself in danger by joining the performers in their art.

But it was obviously nothing a Winchester couldn't handle… Right?

Dean held the phone in his hand for the fiftieth time that morning. He wanted to call Sam. His dad went out on a hunting trip, and Dean held down the fort at their semi-permanent residence in Kansas, keeping ears and eyes open for any demon activity.

One phone call wouldn't hurt.

He and Sam didn't get together for Christmas that year because an important hunt got in the way. Then Sam had more school obligations. It just didn't work out. Now he hadn't seen Sam in a year. A whole fucking year. But he could still feel his touch. He could still feel that tall, warm body spooning him on the bed and putting wet kisses on his neck like he did on their last night together.

Or maybe he was just imagining things.

He would never admit it, but he sometimes cried at night. In bed, when he was alone and not with some random woman, he would cry until sleep finally overtook him. Self pity was an indulgence that he occasionally allowed himself to wallow in, and he realized a little too late that it was getting out of hand.

Missing Sam, and leading a stressful hunting life… it was all culminating to a dangerous peak that would no doubt end in self destruction. And Dean knew of no way to stop it.

Except to go see Sam; talk some sense into him and get him to come back.

Dean considered it. He considered it a lot.

...XoXoXo...

Sam watched as three pairs of guys talked over how they were going to manage their "scene" during The Show. It was utterly surreal how they spoke so plainly and shamelessly about things like blow jobs, rimming, and nipple clamps, almost as if they were talking about how to format a chart or sort the recycling. It was a whole other world for Sam, and he was still not sure if he liked just how seemingly casual these people spoke about the most beautiful act on earth. He expected more reverence, or maybe some more trepidation.

He was abruptly drawn away from his thoughts when one of the large metal doors swung open and a tall, dark figure walked into the building.

Because of the burst of setting daylight coming through the door, Sam couldn't see the guy's face at first. But as he walked closer, a lump developed in his throat. His instincts and subconscious knew who it was before he even fully laid eyes on-

"Dmitri."

The tall figure stopped dead in his tracks. The door swung to a close and the impeding rays of light were no longer obscuring Sam's view of the man he hadn't seen in four years.

"Sam?!" Dmitri sounded baffled, but happily so. He rushed over to greet the now equally tall, long-lost friend. He stopped short of a hug, not really knowing if it was moving too quickly, after all those years apart.

"Oh God. I thought I'd never see you again. You're going to Stanford?" Dmitri's voice was husky and a few notches lower than Sam remembered. He was muscled (but not too muscled,) and wore tight fitting jeans and a t-shirt that left little to the imagination.

Sam would never have guessed that this guy was a vampire. And it surprised him that Dmitri's body drastically matured, since he wasn't sure how the aging process worked for vampires, exactly.

"Yes." The Winchester answered Dmitri briefly, since his mind was still reeling from the shock of it all.

"I tried to look you up when I got in town, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

Dmitri shrugged, and his eyes wandered to Matilda, who was walking towards them with a big grin.

"I see you two know each other. What a small world we live in."

"Yes. We dated, back in high school." Sam explained. "I had to move away though, so we lost touch."

His mind was still stuck on an endless loop, trying to figure out how the hell Dmitri ended up in a sex performing show, and seemed to be doing really well. Really, really well. It was almost as if he was another person entirely. The previously tangible troubled spirit and hungry nature that Sam had come to know Dmitri for was completely gone. He seemed…. At peace.

"God there's so much I want to tell you." Dmitri gushed warmly. "Have you eaten dinner yet? I could take you to the shop down the street. They've got great food."

Sam shrugged, looking to Matilda as if he needed permission.

"Don't look at me." Matilda threw up her hands in mock surrender. "If you guys want to skip out I can always have you in next week's show."

Sam nodded. It was plain to see that the "Deemee" mentioned earlier was Dmitri. What an incredible act of fate this was. As happy as Sam was to see Dmitri again, and to perhaps pick up where they last left off, he wasn't exactly ready to talk about performing public sex with him. And at this juncture he wasn't really sure where either of them were emotionally, so it was best to wait.

They left together to get dinner.

It was just dinner. Dinner and talking, right?

Right.