Chapter 4

"Dude, that's a pretty ride you got here." Dean said almost reverently rubbing his hand over the hood of the Impala. He hadn't noticed much the classic Chevy the night before as his mind was focused on getting John patched up. But now he did , he could say , it is no scratch that she is beautiful. Sam rolled his eyes while John grin wide.

"She's a beauty. Ain't she ?" John asked while leaning against the passenger door. It was decided that Dean would drive since John was in no condition to do so. He could see the way Dean talk about the Impala was not far different from the way a person would talk about the girl he had met and fell in love at first sight. He glanced at Sam who rolled his eyes so hard for a moment John worried that they would get stuck inside his head.

"You wanna get a room, Dean ?" Sam asked. His dad loves the car too but even he doesn't talk and look at it the way Dean was currently doing now. It is just a car, why is it that only he was the one in his family to treat it as an object like it should be and not as a living breathing person. Sam was sure that if for some weird reason the Impala does become human because lets face it he had seen some weird shit in his short life so even that can be possible , it would be a witch who lures everyone except for Sam that is.

"Aww, don't get jealous, Sam." Dean smirked over at him before sliding behind the wheel.

"Why would I ? It is just a car." Sam said sliding in the backseat followed by John who slid in the passenger seat. He had argued with his dad that he should sit in the backseat so that he could have more room to lie but apparently sitting in the backseat would hurt his dad's ego.

"Just a … just a-a car." Dean said dramatically and to enhance the theatrics he even placed his palm over his heart. And Sam again rolled his eyes but his lips twitched a little at the corners in the barely concealed smile over Dean's dramatics.

"Don't you insult her." Dean said pointing a finger at Sam while turning his attention towards the steering wheel. While caressing it he said, "Don't listen to him baby. He doesn't understand."

"Ofcourse. –"Boys.." Sam began to reply but was cut off by John.

Sam smiled to himself and leaned back in his seat as Dean started driving. He wondered if this is what is called bickering between the brothers, man it feels nice. Dean is pretty funny, smart and sarcastic as hell before he decides to close in on himself. Before he starts hiding behind his mask. He sighed, a part of him wanted to know about Dean , his past. But other part of him didn't want to. Because its ought to be something bad. After a moment he stopped thinking about all that because it was useless anyway. Dean will tell them when he feels like it and they would cross that bridge when it comes to that. He didn't feel the need to drown himself in his book this time as every other time he does whenever he's on the road. Instead he was contented to watch the passing scenery for awhile.

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"Whats in South Dakota ?" Dean asked after sometime. He had been driving for two hours. They were going to South Dakota but he didn't know why. He felt like he could drive forever if he had a car like this. He didn't have a car of his own he just hotwires old cars in whichever state he is in and then change them for another one after sometime. Mostly they are all crap so its nice to drive something classic after so long. The last he had drove something this nice was his dad's… 'Don't go there, don't go there.' He swallowed because with a lot of good memories came a lot of bad ones too and he didn't want to go there. Not now when it feels right after so long.

John noticed the change in expression and the sudden tension in Dean's shoulder but he didn't comment on it. He wouldn't force Dean to tell them what the hell is wrong even though he was sure that he would die if nothing then out of curiosity. But still it was fine and he was ready to wait.

"A family friend, Bobby Singer, he lives there. He has a house. We can unwind there for awhile." John replied.

Dean didn't comment on it. He doesn't want to know more people. It was enough that he had let John and Sam in. He had been under radar for so long that being alone had became second nature to him. He would stay in a motel instead. It would be better than meeting this Bobby guy. He would tell them about his plan of staying in a motel once they are in South Dakota.

After an hour later. They stopped at a family diner to have some lunch. The diner was small and looked cozy enough. They took a booth at the end of the diner closer to the exit. Dean took a quick once over of the crowd around him before sliding in the booth and he noticed John doing the same. The older Winchester took a seat opposite him with some difficulty as the movement caused the pull at the stitches on his side. He winced in pain but quickly hide it because John Winchester never shows his pain. He glanced at Sam and Dean to make sure they didn't saw him wincing and it looked like they hadn't. But Dean had noticed John's pained expression and him rubbing at his side and then hiding his expression by ducking his head but decided to say nothing. The man didn't want to show his pain so its not like he could do anything. John wasn't a kid, he knew how to take care of himself and besides he had vowed to not get attached more than necessary. But damnit. Once they're outta here , he will make the man take some painkillers , John's stupid ego be damned. It will only be out of courtesy not because he was starting to get attached. They would be hunting together in future so he needs John at his best. Yeah , he was doing this because of his own selfish reasons.

Sam was just about to take a seat next to Dean but Dean grabbed his arm and stood from his seat. Sam looked at Dean in confusion and so did John.

"You sit first." Dean said motioning Sam to sit first. Well maybe he sometimes changes his rules with Sam. But Sam is a kid so that doesn't count. Okay.

Sam raised his eyebrows in question but did as he was told. He was now sitting in the inner corner of the booth with his side pressed to a wall. When Dean was seated beside him. He couldn't control himself and asked the reason for this change in seating arrangement at the last moment.

"Why can't I sit in the corner ?"

"Its safer this way." Dean replied picking up his menu.

Sam looked at Dean for a moment who wasn't even looking at him and was studying the menu with far more interest than strictly necessary and then at his father. John's face was blank but his eyes were soft as he was also looking at Dean. Dean cares about him. Dean cares about his safety. That sure does counts for something. It sure does , Sam was sure of it. It will take sometime but maybe they can become brothers after all. Dean acts like he doesn't care about anyone or he doesn't have feelings but he does. The constant sarcastic and cocky personality was just a way to hide his true self because whatever had happened with Dean had damaged the real Dean. But he wasn't damaged beyond repair. Sam wasn't stupid to assume that , right ?.

After sometime a young brunette who looked barely out of highschool came to take their orders. As soon as her eyes landed on Dean it seemed like they got stuck on his face and refused to leave. Sam wondered how could one write without using their eyes because as they were giving their orders the brunette was writing them in her little notebook but her eyes seemed transfixed on Dean. And Dean , he was basking in all the attention. He had a shit eating grin on his face one moment which changes into what Sam could only decipher as a dirty smirk the other.

"You need anything , you call me." The brunette , Lara, as her nametag said, her eyes still on Dean and Sam was sure that she wasn't even asking about food unless the waitresses nowadays were given permission to take orders from their customers in flirty tones. John cleared his throat and only then she looked at him and his dad as if seeing them for the first time and repeating herself but in a more professional tone and if Sam was honest in a slight bored tone too. He was tempted to say something along the lines like , "Sorry to intrude your little flirty eye staring/occassionally winking/ogling contest but we other poor humans , we gotta eat" but he didn't say any of that. He was a good boy , alright.

"Oh , don't you worry about that sweetheart." Dean said managing to sound flirty and innocent all at once. Sam shook his head as his dad looked at him. And for good measure , he even shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'See now you know how lucky you are to have such an innocent son like me.' Though inside he was planning to ask Dean to give him some tips on how to flirt. Because even when he tries to flirt it always ends with the girls asking him if he was okay as he has a tendency to start babbling without stopping for even breathing which leaves him a little panting and breathless at the end. So you see it ends with him all red in face with embarrassment everytime. Well , who asks a girl who you have a crush on since like forever ( from the first day to the last day your dad decides to stay in a town ) which kind of silverware they love when she finally notices your existence. Apparently , Sam does. He really could use some help in girls department.

John looked at Dean flirting with the waitress and his first thought was 'Does the kid had the bird and the bees talk. ?' He hopes Dean had. Because last year he had the talk with Sam. It was the most fucking embarrassing moment of his whole life and it was damn funny too. He didn't know how to start and he sure as hell wasn't ready to do it alone so he had roped Bobby into it too. To this day , he wasn't sure how he managed to get Bobby agree on that but somehow he had. Bobby was flushing red throughout the whole conversation. He hadn't seen Bobby speechless ever in his life well except that time. He had just grunted in agreement with whatever John had said and almost ran out of the house at the end although it was his house they were staying at. Even thinking about Bobby's expression made him wants to laugh. He wasn't that better but he knew Bobby was even worst and so was Sam. Poor kid's mouth had hung open and he had stared at them wide eyed during the entire conversation. But man as fun as that was , he didn't want a repeat. He would ask Dean later. Somehow.

After eating their food and paying the bill , they made their way out. Sam was inclined to tell his dad that even if they don't tip the waitress it would be fine because she had already gotten what she really wanted when Dean had left during mid meal to follow her to the backroom of the diner. Okay, so he was a little jealous of how confident and cocky Dean could be around girls while all he could do was stutter and embarrass himself.

It was just around midnight when they decided to finally make a stop for the night. They had eaten dinner in another small diner and now they were all just about ready to collapse. Sitting in a car all day and doing nothing was as tiring as being on your feet and working all day. This time Sam was able to convince Dean to share a bed with him since the couch in the room was a really small one with some pretty unexplainable stains. And the motel didn't have a room with three beds or you know even a futon to provide them with.

Sharing a bed with Sam meant that Dean had to spend most of the night being awake. He didn't want to hurt the kid in his sleep. He have nightmares almost every night. And the last thing he wanted was to punch or kick Sam in his sleep. If he hurt the kid even unintentionally he knew he would hate himself more than he already did. So it was no surprise that the next morning , Dean found himself with a sour mood and a throbbing head.

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