Chapter 13
Dean's POV
For the last month Dean Winchester has lived in his impala. Sometimes, when Gabriel isn't home he sleeps with Cas in their motel room, but most nights he stays in his car. Him and Sammy keep in touch a lot, but Dean refuses to park his car within a kilometer of his house, and he won't even drive past the property. He meets with Sammy every morning, lunch and afternoon, but he still worries, and he knows Sammy worries too. He drives the impala down a road until he finds an empty parking lot to sleep in. As he pulls the car over he gets a call. He knows before he picks up that it's Sammy. He's changed Sammy's ringtone so that he'll know when he's calling.
"Sammy?" His deep voice booms into his phone. He tries not to sound worried, but it's nearly midnight, and Sammy should be asleep. "What's up, lil' brother?"
"Dean?" Sam doesn't sound frightened or afraid, he just sounds lonely. "I just wanted to say goodnight."
"Goodnight, Sammy." Dean smiles into the phone, but he doesn't hang up. He waits for Sam to say something else.
"Dean?"
"Yeah, Sammy?"
"Do you have to leave?"
"Yeah I do, Sammy, Cas and I have already planned everything."
"Can I come with you?"
"As much as I want you to come with us, Sam, you can't, you've got to stay in Kansas with Jess, and Mom and Dad, okay?"
"Okay. . ." Sammy trails off. In the background Dean can hear him tapping the wood of his bedframe. "Dean?"
"Yeah, Sammy?"
"I lo— You'll be there tomorrow, right?" Dean knows what Sam was going to say, but being Sam, he would never say it because he's afraid of what their father would think of him if he said it. "Right, Dean?"
"Yeah, little brother, I'll be there, at the bus stop, waiting for you, like always."
The next morning, like always, Dean waits for Sammy at the school. He sits on the impala and waits for the school bus to drop him off. When Sam gets off the bus he runs straight to Dean and jumps on the impala. "How are you this morning, little brother?"
"Good."
"How's Mom doing?"
"Mom's good. She's sad though. You should call her."
"I can't call her, not when Dad's home."
"Then call her when Dad isn't home."
"Sam. . ." Dean trails off. He really doesn't have a good reason for not calling his mother. He's just afraid that talking to her will make him feel worse about leaving. If he feels guilty about leaving, which he doesn't at the moment, then he might go back home. "You're right."
"I know I am; Mom says I'm always right."
"You're a little Smart-Alek, you know that right?"
"Yeah." Sammy laughs, and Dean smiles. He loves when his brother is happy; it tells him that everything isn't so bad, that things are good even. "So, there's this science camp Jess and I are going to, and it's going to be the coolest thing ever. . ." Sam goes on about the camp, and how he and Jess are excited. Dean listens, but he's not really interested, and he doesn't really understand it. Science isn't his thing, he doesn't know what his thing is actually, he just knows that it's not school, at all. "So it's going to be so fun, and unlike the science fair, Jess and I are going to be learning about all types of things, like light, and elements, and it's going to be so cool."
"Yeah, sounds cool, bud."
"To me it does. To you it sounds boring, doesn't it?"
"No. . . Yeah, actually." Dean pauses and looks down at his brother. Sam better call him all summer, at least once a week. "You still have that phone I got you?"
"Yeah."
"You call me every Thursday, you promise?"
"Yeah, I promise, Dean." Sam looks up at his brother. "Cas is special, isn't he?"
"What?" Dean's not surprised that Sam is bringing it up again. Sam is curious about everything.
"Cas, he's special, right?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
"Dean?" Just then the bell rings and Dean jumps off his car.
"Get to class, kid. Call me if you need to chat before lunch, alright?"
"Yeah." Sammy jumps off the impala, grabs his back pack and hugs Dean. "I'm going to miss you, Dean."
"We're not leaving until next Friday."
"I know. But I'm going to miss you, still. Have fun with Cas, okay? And be safe, don't get lost or mauled by a bear, okay?" Sam pulls away from Dean and runs into the school. Smiling, Dean gets into his car and drives around into the school parking lot.