I CANNOT WAIT FOR FINALS. Then I'll be free for the summer and have all the time in the world to write!
sandycub- Yay! No more Dean and Kelly! For now... And I'm glad you loved Bobby calling John out lol
Stormysea-breaks- I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Thank you for commenting about Sam's silence being a nod to canon. This story is pretty far from canon (mostly cuz of the way I write the characters sometimes) but I do try! And I was in a very "fluffy" mood that night I wrote the last chapter so it makes me happy that you enjoyed it so much!
And now, on with the show!
Ah February.
The absolute last thing the boys needed right now: a month dedicated to romance.
John disappeared again onto another hunt. Once he realized his boys were okay at the moment, he was out of there, but still promised to keep in touch.
And Bobby promised to be a bit more involved as well. Even though the boys were living under his roof, he had no idea Dean was considering dropping out and Sam was more heartbroken than he thought about Brooke.
"So who wants to talk about their day first?" Bobby asked, desperate to put an end to the silence as the three sat around the table for dinner. Between the drama and fighting and hunting, it had been a while since they all ate together and Bobby was done with it.
"I had a good day," Bobby announced after realizing neither of them were going to jump at the opportunity. "I went to the auto parts store so I can finish that freaking Volkswagen finally. Rufus stopped by to talk through some lore. He says hi by the way. And I got a phone call from someone's school."
"My test is in?" Dean asked, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.
"You sure you still want to take it?" Bobby asked him. "Mr. Matthews said it's not a problem if you changed your mind."
"All that man keeps waiting for is for me to change my mind. I'm taking it."
"And then you're going back on the road with John?"
"Wait," Sam said, "you're going back with Dad?"
"W-well y-yeah... I mean... eventually," Dean told him, trying to come off casually. Truth was, he thought about going back out with John but wasn't sure he could just leave Sam right away like that.
"What does that mean eventually?" Sam asked, starting to get upset at the situation.
"Relax Sammy. I'm not leaving tomorrow."
"But you are leaving? Why? He's just going to make us go with him at the end of the year anyway."
Dean was speechless.
"You know what kid," Bobby said, interjecting himself in their conversation, "if I had the chance to drop high school early, I would have done it. It's not for everyone and that's okay. What's not okay is trying to pick a fight with your brother instead of supporting him on his decision."
"Just... Do you have to go back to hunting?" Sam whined.
"There's not much else I can do out here," Dean told him.
"You could get a job?" Bobby offered. "Plenty of shops in town hire kids your age anyway."
"Did you miss the part where I was dropping out because I hate the kids my age? Why would I want to work with them?"
"So you can stay here with Sam," Bobby whispered in his ear. "John won't take ya back if you're being productive here."
Dean sighed and looked back across the table at Sam, who had pushed his plate to the side and was resting his head on one of his hands pouting.
The conversation pretty much ended there.
Dinner was done and the kitchen was cleaned. Dean went out to the den to watch tv. Sam tried to go back upstairs before Bobby stopped him.
"I got a call from your school today too," Bobby said, gesturing for Sam to sit back down at the table.
Sam reluctantly sat back down. He knew what this was about.
"You missed your afternoon classes? Why?"
"Cause I felt like it," Sam answered.
"Did something happen?"
"No."
"Where did ya even go?"
"Just to the park around the corner. I promise I wasn't messing around or anything. I just sat on a bench and did homework."
Bobby stared at him. Sam started to nervously pick at a hangnail to avoid eye contact.
"Sam?" Bobby asked gently. "Wanna try that again?"
Sam sighed, admitting defeat. He stood up from the table and went to the walkway where their backpacks hung. He got out a folded piece of paper and came back to the table, handing the paper to Bobby.
Bobby unfolded the paper and read it. Word got back to Sioux Falls about Brooke and her family being mysteriously murdered and the school was hosting a candlelight vigil in their honor.
"Where'd you get this?" Bobby asked.
"They passed them out in first period. Everyone in our grade got one. At lunch, everyone was talking about it and I couldn't take it anymore so I went out the back fence to the park."
"Would you like to go?"
Sam shrugged.
"Wouldn't it be weird?" he asked.
"She was your friend Sam. I'm sure all your classmates will be there."
"Yeah but..."
Sam trailed off. He knew, he knew, Dean shooting Brooke was an accident. Everyone told him all the time. But that still didn't change the fact that it happened.
"I think it could be good for ya. Some sort of closure, ya know? Hell, we could even go with you."
"Can I think about it?" Sam asked nervously. Bobby nodded.
Sam got back up from the table and went to go join Dean in the den.
"Wait!" he said suddenly, quickly spinning around. "Please don't tell Dean about any of this."
"Your secret is safe with me. Besides, why would I go tattling on you for anyway?"
Sam smiled and left the room this time. Bobby watched him sit next to Dean on the couch, who didn't even hesitate to throw his arm around him and put him in a playful headlock. Bobby chuckled to himself as he witnessed Sam do everything in his power to wriggle free as Dean just continued to watch the television.
Dean woke up in bed the next morning. He made his way downstairs, stopping to watch Sam still passed out on the couch. The two were up late when he fell asleep halfway through their movie marathon. So Dean just left him.
He went out to the kitchen and started the coffee maker. As he waited for the machine to start brewing, he noticed a pink piece of paper just sitting on the table. He picked it up and read it.
"Morning," Bobby said, coming out to the kitchen.
"What the hell is this?" Dean asked, shoving the paper in his face.
"Good morning to you too Bobby," Bobby said in a mimicking tone.
"Bobby, would you quit mocking me?"
"Would it kill ya to have basic manners?"
"Fine, good morning," Dean responded quickly, "now what the hell is this?"
"Sam's school is doing a thing for that Brooke girl."
"He's not going to go, is he?"
"I told him that was his decision."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because it is?"
"Bobby, he can't go! I killed her!"
"Would you two stop with that already?"
"He's not going," Dean said, shoving the paper in the waistband of his pajama pants. He poured two cups of coffee and went out to the den.
Sam woke up on the couch. Why did Dean and Bobby have to be so loud so early in the morning?
Sam pulled the blanket over his face and rolled over, screaming into the pillow. Tonight was the candlelight vigil for Brooke. Sam still couldn't decide if he wanted to go or not and he hoped the answer
would have come to him in a dream.
"Morning sleeping beauty," Dean said when he entered the room and noticed Sam was up. He handed one of the cups of coffee to Sam.
"What did you do?" Sam asked. Dean usually didn't just offer him coffee when he woke up.
"Nothing."
"Then why are you being nice to me?"
"I'm always nice to you."
"No you're not."
"Fine. I found this," Dean said, pulling the paper out of his waistband.
"I don't have to go," Sam suggested nonchalantly.
"Yeah, damn straight you're not going!" Dean snapped. His attitude took a big 180. "Do you not get how sick that is?"
Sam was very shocked at Dean's reaction. If anything, he would have expected Dean to encourage him to go, saying exactly what Bobby said the night before about it being a good thing and some sort of closure. And knowing Dean was going to attempt to forbid him only made him frustrated.
"You can't make me!" he tried to argue back.
"Sam, the girl is dead because of us-"
"You mean you," Sam said coldly. "And she's not 'a girl'. Her name was Brooke and she was my girlfriend!"
"Dean, that's enough," Bobby said sternly while standing in the doorway. He was watching the whole thing play out.
"I hate hunting!" Sam screamed, starting to run out of the room. "I wish none of this had ever happened! I hate that my friend is dead! I hate that you shot her! And I hate you! Just... go back out with Dad."
Sam stormed upstairs and slammed the bedroom door shut.
"Why'd you have to start something?" Bobby asked Dean.
"He just got over this."
"Did he? Or is he pretending like he did because you two 'talked it out' the other week?"
Dean didn't respond. There were no words for how he felt about the situation. It was like when they had finally moved past it, something got dug up and brought it all back in their faces. He secretly wished the whole thing had never happened too.
"Lemme tell you something Dean," Bobby said, walking over to him. "Not one person who isn't hurting inside would react like that."
"Sam would tell me if he was hurting," Dean said, his tone sounding like he was trying to convince himself of that.
Bobby gave Dean a slight smile. He picked up Sam's cup of coffee and went upstairs to go talk to him.
Dean remained in the den feeling like the world's biggest fucking idiot.
RosewoodGirl13