Chapter 10

Sam opened the door for their room and stepped in sitting down his purchases and moving to the bed to plop down. "Man am I beat!" he groaned as he worked on taking off his shoes, moaning as he wiggled his toes. "I never knew that place was so big. I wonder how far we walked today."

"Told you and I asked twice if you wanted to ride the bus any and you were too engrossed in walking so you wouldn't miss anything." Dean commented as he sat down on his bed to take off his boots. They had spent all day at the zoo and Sam had to be sure he saw everything it had to offer and they walked the entire time.

"I must of taken five hundred photos today." he said sliding up on the bed and getting comfortable. "I can't wait to download them and set up a slide show. I'm sure the guys will enjoy it..." he said his voice fading and trailing off until it was gone.

"Oh I think they'll be thrilled to watch them." Dean chuckled already picturing the looks on the guy's horrified faces when Sam tells them about it. "You'll have to be sure and tell them about each one too." he added. "Sammy?" he asked when Sam didn't respond. He looked over at the other bed and saw Sam was asleep curled around his extra pillow. Dean got up and gently pulled a blanket from under his feet and draped it over his still body. At least he got his shoes off, Dean thought before he was interrupted by his cell. He quickly grabbed it and stepped outside so not to disturb Sam. "Hello...Yes...Have you given my counter?...And have you checked on what I wanted to know?...Yes...That sounds even better...I'll be back in Austin probably in less than a week and I'll let you know...Thank you...Yes...Good bye." he said hanging up with a sigh. He wasn't sure how Sam would take what he was going to ask him, but he was going to wait until the trip was over so as not to spoil the rest of it. He slipped inside and grabbed a beer from the mini fridge and went back out to sit on the beach and watch the sunset that was almost gone. The tide was coming in and the lapping of the waves were louder this time of day, but it seemed to calm his racing mind. He sipped on his beer and listened to the sounds around him letting his body relax. He was going to head for bed too because it was a long, tiring day trying to keep up with Sam, even for him.

spn

It was early morning, a little later than Sam normally slept in, when he rolled over and groaned and stretched his long, lanky body. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and just lay there trying to remember last night. They had come back from the zoo and he was talking to Dean and that was it. He looked down and saw he still had on the same clothes from yesterday and guessed he had fallen asleep. Sam looked to the other bed to see it empty and raised his head looking around the room for Dean. A dire need to use the bathroom suddenly hit and he wiggled from under the blanket and headed for the bathroom. Once he was done and washed his face and hands, Sam wandered to the door to check outside for Dean. He didn't see him and looked around spotting a note on the table. 'Gone for breakfast, sleep as long as you want. Down day today. D', Sam read thinking he was glad of that. They needed a day to rest before heading back toward Texas. He found some clean clothes and when back into the bathroom to shower. Sam grunted and groaned when he realized how sore his legs were from all the walking they did yesterday. He hoped a hot shower would take some of the soreness out of them.

After stripping out of his clothes, Sam adjusted the water and stepped into the hot spray thinking it really felt good. He soaked his head and reached for shampoo to wash his hair and then soaped down his body to clean it. After he was done, he stood there and let the water beat on his shoulders and back before finally shutting it off and grabbing a towel to dry his body and hair. He stepped to the sink and wiped a hand across the mirror to remove the steam and looked at himself. His body was deeply tanned and he had a healthy glow. After tilting his head back and forth, Sam decided he didn't need to shave today. He looked toward the door when someone knocked.

"Hey got breakfast when you're done." Dean called through the door.

"I'll be out in a minute." Sam answered and went about finishing up so he could dress and go eat. Now that he thought about it, he was hungry. He gathered his dirty clothes and stepped from the bathroom to find Dean setting out food on the table for them to eat. "Smells good. I'm starved."

"Nice little restaurant a couple buildings down has a great deal on breakfast so I thought we'd give it a try." Dean replied dividing everything out between them. "They have homemade pies there too. Definitely going back before we leave."

"So what are we doing today?"

"They've got a nice pool, we can chill there for awhile, take a long walk down the beach, grab some dinner and plan out the last leg of the trip. We'll get up early and head out in the morning and see how far we can make it tomorrow."

"Alright, fine with me." Sam nodded as he checked out the food before digging in. "Yeah, this is good." he said between mouth fulls.

"You know we can get more." Dean laughed watching Sam eat with gusto.

"Well I did kind of miss dinner last night."

"Couldn't see waking you to see if you wanted to eat."

"That's okay, I think I'd rather slept anyway. I did have a pretzel and root beer float before we left the zoo."

"Along with all the other crap you ate. I mean really, where do you put it all?" Dean teased.

"I'm a growing boy." Sam shrugged with a snicker.

"Let's hope you stop growing soon. Hate to tie a brick to your head to slow you down."

"You're only complaining 'cause I'm taller than you." Sam bantered back.

"You're taller than everyone." Dean laughed.

"That just makes me special." Sam gloated.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. After we eat, we'll soak up a little sun by the pool and go walk the beach one last time."

"I kind of hate to leave..." Sam sighed.

"We'll come back some time and check out some other seaside towns."

"That'd be nice." Sam said liking that Dean was including both of them in that statement.

Dean's cell chimed he had a message and he picked it up to check it. "Check it out, we've got a new Marine." Dean chuckled showing Sam a photo of baby Dean dressed in fatigues with Marines etched across the little tee shirt.

"He's starting out early." Sam laughed softly thinking how cute he looked.

"Do you wanna walk first or do the pool?" Dean asked as he finished eating.

"I think we should walk this breakfast off. It's cooler now so we should probably do it now." Sam surmised as he ate a few more bits before stopping.

"I'm going to change and get ready." Dean told him getting up to throw his trash away and looked in his bag for swimming trunks and tee shirt.

"Maybe I can get some of the soreness out of my legs." Sam mumbled not really talking to Dean. "After you're done, let me use the bathroom and I'll be ready."

"Got it."

spn

The storm from the night before had stirred up the ocean and it was depositing some interesting shells along the beach that Sam decided to pick up. His hands were getting full and he looked around trying to decide if he should ask Dean to carry some too or if that would be rude. Much to his relief, Dean seemed to read this thoughts and stopped at a trash can and found a plastic bag that would suit his needs and placed the shells in it and continued to gather them as they walked down the beach. Neither spoke much, just absorbing the sights and sounds around them, wanting to etch them in their minds as memories. They had gone about four miles when Dean decided they should head back before it got too hot and he noticed Sam trying to hide a slight limp.

"Ready to head back to the motel?" he asked Sam stopping at the water's edge and letting it wash over his bare feet.

"Yeah, sounds good." Sam said looking out across the ocean and watching the gulls soar over it.

"You want some lunch later or do you wanna get an early dinner and turn in early tonight?"

"I think turning in early wouldn't hurt." he said as they turned to head back down the beach toward their motel. "We could call in take out and not even have to go out if you want."

"I'll check with the front desk and see what's good then."

"Thanks for this, I've had a great time and did some things I didn't think I'd ever do." Sam said quietly not wanting to get too sappy.

"No thanks needed. It's always better to share the good times as well as the bad. I wouldn't had near the fun by myself." Dean shrugged reaching down to pick up a shell for Sam.

"So we're heading for the Grand Canyon next right?" Sam questioned wanting to be sure he knew their agenda.

"Yep, I seen it once when I was young and if you haven't seen it...Well its worth it."

"Okay, I'll check it out online when we get back. How long are we going to be there?"

"I'd say a couple of days at least. I've got no set schedule. Somewhere you need to be?"

"No nothing like that. I thought I'd visit my Mom when we get back. She's been on me to come see her and she invited you too."

"That's nice of her." Dean replied not really saying whether he would go or not.

They were nearly back to the motel when Dean's phone began to ring. He pulled it from his trunk's pocket and looked at the caller id. "You go on Sammy, I need to take this." he told Sam as he answered the call and asked them to hold on.

Sam looked at him with a frown but continued on down the beach wondering who was calling Dean. He had been acting really strange for a few days and wouldn't talk on the phone when he was nearby. He wasn't sure how to take that and what Dean might be hiding from him. Sam sat his treasures by the door knowing he needed to rinse them and let them dry before packing the shells to take with him. He knew Dean wouldn't want them to stink up the Impala or he'd never hear the end of it. He might forbid him from riding with him again. Sam stood there a minute picturing Dean taking him to a bus station to ride a bus the rest of the way home and shook his head dispelling the thought. He was sure Dean would be pissed but he couldn't see him doing that. He was sure the Marine in him wouldn't let him do that, they took care of their own, no matter if they screwed up. With a sigh, Sam headed into the room deciding to grab a snack before going to the pool to catch a few hours of sun since this would be their last day at the beach.

A/N: Well guys, one more chapter and that will be it. Yes, we will find out Dean's secret in the last one. I hope everyone has enjoyed their road trip and will hang around for the next journey. Thank you to all who read the story and VG, thank you for being the winning bid and I hope I have given you what you wanted. Reviews brighten my day. NC