The eleven-year-old sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. His little brother had finally fallen asleep after much haggling and wheedling on Dean's part.
He wondered if Sam had overdosed on sugar back at school that day or if the kid was just nervous and skittish but it had taken all of Dean's expertise in getting Sam under the covers.
The little shit looked so angelic now, his eyes closed in sleep, smoky lashes curtaining the hazel irises, his hair a tousled mass around the cutie-pie face.
:
Dean remained where he was.
He'd give Sam a few more minutes to make sure he was deep in sleep before sliding off the bed. The last thing he needed was for his little brother to wake up and for the process of getting him to bed to start over.
:
The older kid's face was strained and white, the freckles peppering his skin like a random map of the countless motel rooms the little family had passed their nights in.
Their father had been away for a week now and although Dean tended as best he could to Sammy, he was little more than a child himself, just as needy of someone to take care of him as he did of Sam.
An image of his mom came to mind. He tried constantly to hang on to the memories of his mother as they seemed to become ever more faded with the passing of time.
He didn't want to forget her. Sometimes beneath the covers, he'd dream of being held in her arms, of her smile, of the warmth of their home, of his dad, content when he came home from work to play with him and baby Sammy.
That life was over, Dean was well aware; all that was left was a dad who'd undertaken a crusade to find his wife's killer and like two lost puppies he and Sammy followed behind.
:
Sam made a snuffling noise and Dean stilled but his brother was only snuggling down under the covers.
As he stepped under the shower, however, Dean gave thanks for his sibling. Even if Sam was a responsibility that kept him on his toes twenty-four hours a day, he shuddered at the notion of being an only child.
Raising Sam kept his mind occupied, less time to dwell on the monsters his dad had explained really existed and how important it was to protect his sibling.
:
Drying himself off, he pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a tatty tee.
When he joined his brother beneath the sheets, leaving the other bed empty in case his dad came back during the night, he felt his heart swell with emotion when Sam burrowed into him with a barely perceptible. 'Love you, Dee.'