Hey guys. A little overdue, but I'm finally updating! I JUST answered your reviews, and thanks for all reviews, alerts, faves, etc. I'm just going to get right to it: Here's the next chapter!
Year Ten: I Do
Dean checked the bedroom he shared with Sam one more time in hopes the boy had been hiding and decided to resurface, but it was futile.
"Sam?" He called out again. Pastor Jim was performing a wedding downstairs and the two were to be respectful and quiet so as not to interrupt. As he was about to walk out again (after checking the salt lines, of course) he noticed something he hadn't seen before.
He stooped down in the corner and picked up the cloth. It was the shirt Sam had been wearing all day. "Sammy!" He called. Now he was worried. Seriously worried.
No matter what Pastor Jim had said, this was important. He flew down the steps to the bottom level, out the side door and into the large chapel, organ music surrounding him like fog the instant he stepped into the room.
It was a large wedding, so Dean barely even noticed the ten-year-old sitting alone in the back row. His hair was slightly less messy and his usual jeans were coupled with his nicest shirt and an incorrectly tied tie that must belong to John.
"Sam!" Dean hissed. Sam peeled his eyes from the service as Dean joined him in the pew.
"What're you doing down here?" Dean whispered. Before Sam could answer, or refuse to answer, everyone stood up and Dean followed suit, smoothing out his shirt. He didn't know the bride personally, but he knew Pastor Jim considered her a close friend.
"Does she know what you do?" Dean had asked the pastor when Sam was brushing his teeth upstairs that morning.
"No. She doesn't, actually. But I don't let that define our relationship. I am protecting her by keeping her away from my, uh, other job."
"Okay..."
"Katrina has a loving fiancé, a strong belief in God, and a beautiful future void of-"
"Vampires, murder, and demon possessions?"
"Well, yes." Jim answered. "Though the whole 'murder' thing is hopefully never a problem, death is a part of life that everyone needs to accept."
"Yeah, we just get to deal with it sooner and more violently..." Dean had muttered. Then Sam had come down and it had been so soon after they'd failed to save a werewolf victim from the last case that he shut up about killing immediately.
"...Until death do us part." Katrina spoke softly, interrupting Dean's thoughts. Sam's face was stern and solemn. Dean knew he was thinking deeply based on his expression. Squinting eyes and scrunched lips were a common sight on Sam's face, especially leaning against the couch with a notebook and a pencil doing his homework.
The bride and groom kissed and everyone except the two brothers stood to clap and cheer as the happy couple was followed outside by their friends and family.
Sam withheld his steady gaze on the wall behind him as the room slowly emptied. Even Pastor Jim failed to notice the scrawny boy with the tie and jeans and the leather-clad teen beside him as he closed the doors behind himself.
Sam sat with his elbows on his knees and his head resting in his hands until the last celebratory noise had finally drifted away. He stared at the rose petals marking the flower girl's path down the aisle silently.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Dean spoke up.
Sam shook his head without looking up.
"Okay," Dean nodded and put his hands on the bench to stand up.
"Do you ever think that'll be us?" Sam blurted. Dean's arms relaxed again.
"What'll be us?" He asked.
"The bride and groom. I mean, not the two of us together, but do you think we'll ever find someone to marry? Go through with it? Not watch them die?" He added, causing Dean to wince.
The older boy sighed. "Honestly, Sammy? I don't think so. This line of business just poses too many risks. I would never put anyone I loved in that risk."
Sam sat back and looked Dean in the eyes. "Doesn't Dad love us, then?"
Dean cussed under his breath. He'd painted himself into a corner. "That's different. He's doing this for us, just like we'll do 'till the day we die."
"Which at this point won't be long..." Sam muttered.
"Sam!"
"Well, you know what Dean? I'm gonna get away from here when I grow up, wherever 'here' is. Go to college, meet a girl, and settle down! Not even Dad will be able to stop me!"
"Sam-"
"Don't you wonder?" His voice was calmer, but wavering as if it took a great deal of self control. "Don't you wonder if it'll ever happen? Meet a girl worth quitting for?"
Dean sighed and made a sound, gaining Sam's eye contact. "What, Dean?"
"I-I said... Yeah, Sam, I do. But I can't. Because the job is important. But, uh, if you want to... try to have a normal life, I can't stop you. Do you want that?"
The ten-year-old licked his lips and stared at the large cross above the door. "I do." He finally answered, the same words playing in his head, but in a different scenario. "I do."
See you next week!