The kiss was sweet and urgent, claiming her mouth fully, melting her insides to syrupy goo. Dean's hands were still around her face, guiding her gently to match his rhythm. Steph wanted it to last forever but the realities quickly wormed their way back into their consciousness.
Sam cleared his throat, whether out of embarrassment and awkwardness caused by having to watch them blatantly making out, or plainly because he was sick and needed to was unclear to them. Still it was enough to get Dean snappy.
"Get lost, Sammy," he muttered hoarsely through a smirk, barely breaking contact before kissing her again.
Sam needn't be told twice, he pushed himself off the floor, coughing and staggering lightly as he managed the precarious stairs leading to the hallway that would eventually guide him back to his room.
For half a moment Steph wanted to speak up and suggest that Dean went and got himself comfortable in bed too, but her worries were quickly overshadowed by expert tongue action. He was so damn distracting!
But like aforementioned, realities and hard facts were difficult to ignore. And Dean was sick, that was a fact.
A few seconds later Dean had to break away, not being able to breathe through his nose, and to make matters worse an insistent tickle decided to invade his sinuses too. Steph noted the change in his expression, first starting to worry if he was having second thoughts about her, or he thought she was a terrible kisser, or something, going by the displeasure and irritation reflected in the crow's feet around his eyes, but then the barely audible hitches in his breath explained everything to her. She actually giggled at the annoyed face he made at her as he desperately tried to avoid sneezing. He ducked his head slightly to his right, sneezing into his shoulder barely out of the way since somehow he just forgot to let go of her face.
"eh… HEHH'gkshshshsh" his head bobbed, the sneeze wet and harsh. She could practically see the spray and was glad that she was already through this shit, because otherwise she didn't see how she could have avoided catching it. Well, what with the kissing and constantly getting sneezed on.
Steph guided him into an embrace so that he could lay his head on her shoulder. He didn't protest, fatigue on the brink of overtaking him, but soon his shoulders tensed again, lungs expanding with the reflexive need.
"hksh… hgdnxt… *cough*cough… heh'SHYUUH…" he shuddered against her with each, Steph just rubbing circles soothingly into his back while the fit lasted. He snuffled hard to keep nose from running, and Steph wished she had tissues on her. Well, closer than in her car.
"Bless you, baby," the girl murmured, pressing a kiss to his warm temple, the endearment rolling off easily from her tongue. It felt right. Everything felt right, as if all her emotions just clicked into place suddenly. And the need to take care of him just increased tenfold.
He needed to be in bed, under covers, not on the cold, hard floor. She let him have a moment of respite to catch his breath, then slid off his lap to stand, offering her hand to help him up. Dean stared at it for a moment, as if deciding whether his pride allowed him to be pulled off the floor by a woman or not. He gave in finally, letting himself be guided into a standing position, swaying a bit because of the head rush. God, he hated to be sick.
Dean leaned heavily against the railing, shoulders sagging, thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache. He felt like a hundred times worse than just ten minutes ago. True, the adrenalin and worry for Steph was propelling him forward then and now it all but drained from his system.
Steph waited patiently, rubbing the side of his arm affectionately, although he probably barely felt anything of it through the layers and layers of clothing. She was elated to note that he at least tried to be smart about going out when he was this ill, bundling up to avoid getting chilled. She just wished they could have avoided the whole thing altogether.
"Come on, let's get you to bed, okay?" Steph nudged gently, eliciting a muffled groan of agreement, and almost something resembling longing at the mention of fluffy pillows and blankets.
Dean opened his eyes, looking around morosely, as if suddenly remembering something.
"Let me help you with the bags first," he said brusquely, like a man on a mission, undeterrable.
Who knew? Dean had a gentleman lost in him it seemed.
"Dean. I can take care of it. You need to lie down," she tried softly, though she could see there wasn't really any stopping him.
"Nonsense," Dean muttered, or something along those lines as he moved with heavy steps towards her car, shifting through the bags to see which were the heavier ones, then just picked them up and made his way towards the stairs.
Stubborn men, Steph shook her head to herself. Although at least this way everything could be taken inside with one trip. She sighed heavily as she closed her trunk. So not worth it if he collapses because of it.
Following the sound of muffled coughs and her common sense, Steph found Dean in the kitchen hunched over as he tried to get his lungs to work. She definitely did not like the sound of those, they seemed to be getting worse – wetter and chestier by the minute – making her believe that the infection was starting to settle into his chest. She wondered vaguely if she should have gotten tiger balm.
Setting down her bags quickly she moved to his side, supporting his weight some as she guided him to one of the chairs, patting him lightly on the back. Slowly he eased back to a normal breathing pattern, looking exhausted.
Steph quickly looked through the bags to see which kind of cough syrup she got, and was pleased to see that somehow – even through her haste and panic – she managed to get both the ones for dry coughs and productive coughs. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same, considering her conflicting moments of luck for this day.
She dosed out the prescribed amount into the tiny cup offering it to Dean. He glanced between her and the vile looking syrupy brownish liquid with a look of abhorrence.
"Come one, don't be such a child. It's…" the cast a quick glance at the box. "Cherry flavored."
That didn't seem to convince him. Alright, two can play at this. If he insists to be infantile, she will treat him like one. She took a teeny tiny sip of it. Actually it wasn't that bad.
"Mhm, you know, it kind of reminds me of cherry pie," Steph lied with an appreciative smack of her lips. Okay, it wasn't that good, but it got Dean's attention immediately. So predictable. Stephanie quickly decided that once the boys were feeling better she would bake a pie for them.
He took the cup and downed the stuff, only making a small grimace. That was something at least.
"Liar," Dean huffed, trying to seem pissed by being tricked, but couldn't quite keep a straight face as he pulled Steph closer to himself by the waist, burrowing his face into her belly. He frowned first when his head hit something hard, and extracted the gun from her front pocket, placing it on the table before returning. He loved that she wasn't all skin and bones and sharp edges, that he could bury himself in her softness.
"Who knows? Maybe I just had terrible pie my entire life," she giggled, playing with his hair.
"We must rectify that situation right away," he mumbled barely audibly, having to cough again.
"Can I please drag you off to bed now?" Steph pleaded, her hands never stopping their soothing rounds. She had to wonder how he wasn't about to ignite under all these layers of clothing though. She just had that hoodie on over her loose top and she was sweating.
"Depens– ehkshoo… depends on what we are doing once we get there," the older Winchester wiggled his eyebrow at her, unfazed by the unexpected sneeze that snuck up on his midsentence, just keeping up the flirting, seemingly unable to stop once he allowed himself to start.
Steph laughed out, getting a sudden urge to feel his forehead to see just how feverish he was, but honestly this was just plain Dean.
"Always the charmer," she huffed lovingly, kissing the top of his head.
Steph moved to quickly put the chicken and the other perishables in the fridge, then held her hand out invitingly to her sick man and finally dragged him to her room with any words of protest from him, as if that was naturally his place to be.
After peeling him out of his outside clothes, and some failed attempts on his part at wooing her, she finally got him to lie down. He was seriously out within seconds of his head hitting the pillow. Steph would have loved to get his temperature and see if there was need to stuff more meds in him, but maybe rest was actually better for now.
She decided to check in on Sam too. He was totally conked out, still fully dressed, and sprawled over his bed above the covers as if he just passed out right there. Steph's brows creased and she worried her lips at the sight of that as she entered the room.
The girl placed the back of her hand against his forehead. He was burning up. Good thing she bought Advil because they have been taking NyQuil so far, which essentially contains Tylenol and it didn't seem to be doing anything for their fevers. But that would have to wait some more time too, only about two hours had passed since she gave him pills earlier.
"Sam…" Steph coaxed him awake. "You need to get out of these clothes, you are overheating yourself."
His face scrunched up in discomfort at being woken, but listlessly tried to comply with the instruction given, albeit attempted to do so without actually sitting up. It would have been immensely adorable hadn't he been so sick. Steph helped, snorting half in amusement, half in horrification when she realized just how many layers he had on. Worse than Dean. One utility jacket, a hoodie, then the plaid shirt, and a Henley over which he had added a T-shirt for good measure. Jesus Christ, no wonder he was like a furnace. She didn't even bother with trying to get his cooperation with the boots and jeans, he was so out of it.
"Cold…" he mumbled through clattering teeth, shivering slightly when Steph had him down to just the Henley and boxer briefs, ushering him to get under the covers. Now she had such a guilt trip over letting Dean fool around with her when Sam was so ill.
"I know, I'm sorry," she fretted, relieved that at least she already had the water basin and cloth prepared by his bed from earlier.
She placed that over his brows, only making him shudder. Shit, she knew letting him bundle up with the blanket wasn't a good idea, but shivering was just as much elevating his temperature. She compromised with having the cover up to his shoulder.
Worst of all she was in no position to try and get him into a cooling bath alone, she just wasn't strong enough, so wiping down his forehead, the side of his face and neck, and his upper chest with cool water had to be enough. The most heartbreaking aspect about the whole thing was that he pliantly let her do whatever she saw fit, no matter his discomfort.
Steph stuck the thermometer into his mouth too, desperately wanting a number, while she continued her ministrations to try and get him to cool down. When it beeped finally, she eagerly took it from his mouth to see, as if those mere fractions of a second counted. Holy schlamoley… 104.3.
Fuck drug interactions, she decided, and ran out of the room to the kitchen to get the Advil from one of the shopping bags and rushed back to Sam, sliding an arm under his neck.
"Come on… work with me… that's it…" Steph managed to get him to half sit up, making him to swallow two pills along with half a glass of water, then let him settle back down.
She continued with the sort of sponge bath for half an hour, wondering if Sam was conscious for any of this, his breathing hasn't exactly leveled out, and whimpered almost inaudibly now and then. After a while longer he seemed marginally cooler, maybe even asleep, so she didn't want to wake him by checking his tempt for real again. She let him rest with the washcloth parked on his forehead.
Steph sighed heavily as she stepped back onto the hallway, pondering on what to do. The boys were obviously really sick, and they got so much worse so fast. She was willing to give them 24 hours, but if they were not at least marginally better by then… Her train of thought was interrupted by another idea, as she remembered Dean's move. Suddenly it made complete sense to her why he had called Cas.
She checked her pocket, finding that her phone wasn't in there. Oh fuck, she just now realized why Sam and Dean were so freaked out. She didn't even take her phone with her to the store! How could she be so stupid?
Quietly she entered her room, instantly spotting her cell on the nightstand, grabbing it and exiting before she could disturb Dean. One missed call from him, with which he probably realized that she didn't have the damned thing with her.
Moving back to the kitchen to finally start the chicken noodle soup – the source of all of this turmoil – she dialed Castiel's number. It went straight to voicemail. Dammit… she sighed, before starting to speak after the tone.
"Hey Cas, uh, it's Stephanie. Look, I know it's very hypocritical of me, and it's asking a lot… but if you can, please, stop by the Bunker. Sam and Dean are really sick. With the same thing what I had probably…" she exhaled again, rubbing her eyes that started to tear up from the stress. "It just hit them so fast… their fevers are really high… and I'm not sure I'm enough… anyway… if you can't come that's okay too, just let me know so that I know to just take them to the doctor's if they get any worse. Okay. Bye."
Steph let out a shaky breath as she hung up, cursing herself for being so weak, emotionally and physically at the moment. She had taken care of her brother and sisters a ton of times in the past when they were young. She was the oldest, with a ten year gap between her and Peter, and twelve between her and the twins, Charlotte and Evelyn, so it posed her no problem whatsoever to haul them around sitting on her hips to the bathroom to take baths or wherever when they just felt clingy. Their parents had to work a lot so it often times became her responsibility to stay home from school when the little ones were sick. Money was tight, so this was the next best option.
Yeah, that won't work with two over six-foot-tall guys, however hard she wanted. If they weren't at least partially conscious and cooperating there was no way she could move them.
She flicked through her music player on her phone, looking for some pick me up as background noise as she worked on making soup. Her lips curled into a tiny smile as noticed one of the titles, and she instantly knew this was what she needed, quickly putting it on repeat.
Ramblers in the wilderness we can't find what we need
We get a little restless from the searching
Get a little worn down in between
Like a bull chasing the matador is the man left to his own schemes
Everybody needs someone beside em' shining like a lighthouse from the sea
She had heard this song many times in the past, on the radio and everywhere, but it has never been more meaningful to her than now, after meeting the brothers.
Brother, let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother, let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Not to mention after having read the Supernatural books. Those cleared up so much regarding their dynamic that had Stephanie baffled at first.
Face down in the desert now there's a cage locked around my heart
I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were
Now my hands can't reach that far
I ain't made for a rivalry I could never take the world alone
I know that in my weakness I am strong, but
It's your love that brings me home
Okay, she might have misjudged the "pick me up" quality, because she was struggling to keep from crying, and no it wasn't the onions. Damn the feels.
Brother, let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother, let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Sam and Dean had been through so much together. Steph honestly believed she would never understand that level of devotion. She loved her family dearly, but it just wasn't like this.
And when you call and need me near
Sayin' where'd you go?
Brother, I'm right here
And on those days when the sky begins to fall
You're the blood of my blood
We can get through it all
She also didn't believe that family ended in blood. She might not have had such a bond with her family, but the Winchesters had wormed themselves into her heart like no one else had. Maybe she understood after all. Yeah, together they could get through it all.
A/N: Song is NEEDTOBREATHE ft. Gavin DeGraw - Brother. Truly awesome full of SPN feels. Check it out.