Nick and Bobby carried the box of books and Bobby's other stuff inside and after that Bobby went to check on Dean.
He had gotten quite some work done and was in the midst of cleaning up when Bobby arrived.
"Hey." Dean threw a wrench in the toolbox. "You've been out for hours, is Nick okay?"
There was honest concern in his voice but Bobby could reassure him.
"He's fine. Better than fine, actually." He looked over his shoulder to make sure that Nick hadn't followed him for some reason.
"Yeah?" Dean raised an eyebrow at him.
"We were at Adela's first and she made a comment that she could use help with a collection she just got in. And believe it or not, Nick offered to help her." Bobby leaned at the work bench and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I did my errands and he stayed with her, sorting books, for hours. And he wants to go back tomorrow."
"Wow." Dean leaned next to him, absently cleaning his hands with a rag. "That's good, right? I mean he has to start doing things on his own again." He thought about that for a moment. "And he's fine? No panic attacks, nothing?"
"Adela paid him and he bought a book." Bobby informed him. "And he was grinning like an idiot on the drive back. So I guess he's fine."
Bobby gathered a few tools he usually kept in the basement.
"I'll bring these in and then I'm going to start dinner." He announced. "Don't leave a mess behind."
"When have I ever …?" Dean started but ducked his head when he saw Bobby's face. "I'll be in in a few minutes."
On his way to the basement Bobby didn't really pay attention to Sam and Nick sitting on the couch in the study but when he came up again, he heard Nick talking.
"I kicked you out of his bed." Nick said angrily, frustrated, but Bobby couldn't make sense out of that. He was in the middle of he hallway when he heard Nick's clarification.
"You are sleeping on the couch, Sam." Nick stated and so far the deeper meaning was still lost to Bobby but then Nick dropped the bomb. "Dean is your boyfriend and you sleep on the damn couch while I've taken over your place in his bed. And now this."
Bobby must have misheard that part. No way Nick had just said what he thought he had, had he? There was some sobbing and Bobby dared to peek around the corner. The back of the couch was facing him but he saw Sam's head and shoulders standing out over the back and a bit of Nick's mob of hair. It looked like Nick was crying in Sam's arms while Sam rocked him like he was a kid. Bobby retreated to the kitchen before Sam could spot him but then he was stuck there. There was nowhere else to go without risking to get seen and if he was honest to himself Bobby didn't want to leave now. Sam and Dean? Boyfriends? That couldn't be. He would have noticed.
Like you have noticed that Dean has a boyfriend for a year now? That both of them look at men, too? You haven't noticed much lately, haven't you? A mean little voice in the back of his head mocked him but there wasn't much he could say against it. So he stayed where he was and hoped for Sam and Nick to clear this up. Somehow. There had to be another explanation.
Then they talked about damaged donuts and at that point Bobby was sure they'd lost their minds. Both of them. That was the explanation, plain and simple.
The next noises he heard Bobby couldn't place at first but when it dawned on him, he had to sneak another peek just to confirm that they weren't doing what it sounded like they were doing.
There wasn't much to see, though. Both their heads were below the level of the back of the couch now but at one end Nick's feet stuck out and then Sam's feet and shins appeared and closed around what looked like Nick's back. It didn't take much imagination to figure out their position but if it was still unclear Sam saying things like: "No hands. You are going to dry hump me until you come in your pants." left little room for interpretation.
Face bright red and a little unsteady on his legs Bobby somehow found his way back to the kitchen. His first thought was to down a bottle of Jack, hoping for a blackout, so he could pretend the last few minutes had never happened. The noises coming from the study assured him that, yes, it was happening right around the corner and it wasn't even Dean and his boyfriend, something he wouldn't have want to run into but something Bobby could have dealt with.
This was Sam with Nick, humping each other like teenagers on the couch, and if Bobby had understood their earlier conversation right, this wasn't even Nick cheating on Dean. Or Sam cheating on Dean, because apparently Sam and Dean was a thing as well. No, this were only two parts of a three-way thing.
Bobby needed a drink. But he feared the slightest noise would give him away. Busy or not, Sam was a hunter and at some level he probably had his ears out to not get caught by Bobby. Too bad that Sam didn't seem to be on top of his game today otherwise he would have noticed Bobby on his way down to the basement.
Bobby tried to block out the moans and the keening and the sharp little yelps coming from Nick which sounded suspiciously painful. Then Sam started with the dirty talk.
Bobby just wanted this to be over. So it was some kind of relief for him too when Nick, wordily encouraged by Sam, finally came, chanting Sam's name. Then there was a moment of nearly silence, just heavy breathing, and Bobby really hoped that this was it. But Sam murmured something and then it was unmistakably him moaning before he came with a bitten back scream.
First there was more heavy breathing, then some shifting and mumbled words and then Nick burst out laughing.
When Sam said that they should get cleaned up before Bobby caught them, it was Bobby who had to hold back the hysterical laughter bubbling in his chest.
Then, finally, they were gone and Bobby poured himself a generous drink. And a second one which emptied the bottle and he didn't have a spare one. Damn Earl. But he needed it so he drank what he had at hand. Bracing himself at the counter Bobby shook his head as if he could shake off the unpleasant thoughts running circles in his mind.
Sam and Dean, together like this? Should he consider himself lucky that it had been only Sam and Nick he'd walked into? That it was sheer luck he hadn't found Sam and Dean like this? They were brothers for Christ's sake.
Or you could have found all three of them, the mean little voice provided.
A part of him wanted to call them in, all three of them, and demand an explanation. That part of him sounded suspiciously like John Winchester which was one reason he didn't do it.
The other reason was Nick. Bobby liked the boy, he really did, and Nick had been through some traumatic stuff lately and getting yelled at and maybe kicked out of the house could have fatal consequences for him.
Sam and Dean? That was a whole different can of worms, one Bobby wasn't sure he wanted to open just yet. They were brothers.
Bobby took a deep breath and made a decision. For now he would act like nothing had changed, like he was still the oblivious idjit they could fool. He would sleep over it. In the heat of the moment this could only go wrong, he'd had to pick up the pieces after one of John's outbursts a few times too often to make that mistake. After all, Sam and Dean were like sons to him and Bobby was well aware of the fact that their relationship with him, or his with them, could get damaged beyond repair if he wasn't careful. And he wasn't ready to risk that based only on the few words he'd heard.
It shone a new light one the question of why Dean hadn't told him, though.
Bobby stuffed the raging John Winchester part of his mind somewhere deep and started dinner.
When Dean strolled in a minute later everything looked like always and Bobby had his features under control again.
"Set the table, would ya?" Bobby put Dean to work but observed him out of the corner of his eye, searching for something off. And found nothing.
During dinner Bobby stayed mostly quiet but nobody noticed because Nick was babbling nonstop about his day at Adela's. Bobby couldn't help but notice the affection and love in both Winchesters' eyes while they listened to Nick. However, he also noticed the way they looked each other in the eye from time to time. Bobby had seen that look between them a million times before and he couldn't even remember if there had been a time they hadn't looked at each other this way but now there was a whole new layer of meaning in those short glances.
Another thing he noticed was that Nick now wore one of Dean's button-down flannel shirts over his own shirt. The high collar covered most of his neck but not enough. Bobby didn't want to stare but that was a hickey if he'd ever seen one. Still blooming with the imprints of teeth. Sam's teeth.
Dean had noticed it too and he threw his brother a questioning look but with Bobby around they said nothing and the glare Sam shot back could only be interpreted as Dude, not now!
It was such a brotherly thing to see it warmed Bobby's heart.
With the excuse that he wanted to read in peace for once Bobby turned in early but he didn't read and he didn't sleep either.
The sadistic part of his mind wondered what the three men in the house would do now with him out of the way.
Bobby lay fully clothed on his bed and stared at the ceiling until it was swallowed by the increasing darkness and tried to wrap his mind around the new information.
So, Dean was with Nick. That was nothing new and Bobby was fine with that.
Obviously Sam was with Nick, too. That was new and it had taken him by surprise but as long as Dean knew about this and was fine with it, Bobby guessed it was none of his business. And Dean had seen the hickey he hadn't placed on Nick's neck and his first reaction had been to look at his brother, so yeah, Bobby was pretty sure Dean knew about the Sam and Nick thing.
Then there was the whole Dean and Sam thing. For that Bobby had only a few words out of context he'd overheard. And c'mon, they had been talking about damaged donuts at the same time, so that wasn't exactly what Bobby called a reliable source.
Even if Nick was with both of them that didn't mean that Sam and Dean had a thing running, right?
Okay, Nick had clearly stated that Sam had been Dean's boyfriend first and Bobby couldn't think of any other way to interpret that.
Bobby considered himself open-minded and if three men wanted to be together, why not? As long as they were all okay with that kind of relationship and played with open cards he couldn't see anything wrong with that. But Sam and Dean were brothers.
No matter how he twisted and turned the situation, in the end it came down to that.
Bobby had chased a butt naked three-year-old Sam who didn't want to take his bath through the house.
Bobby had trained Dean at the shotgun.
Bobby had taught Sam to read Latin.
Bobby had had an open ear for a devastated Dean when Sam had left for Stanford.
Bobby had been more of a father to them than their actual father and he loved them like his own.
"You're brothers, dammit." He whispered into the darkness surrounding him.