A/N: Guess who's back from the dead! I am sorry it's been so long since an update on anything. Exams. I have several projects in the works which I am hoping to get up over the coming days and weeks. For now, enjoy this short ficlet. It was written for the Rare Ship Creation Challenge on Tumblr and my prompt was sunny day. You wouldn't think I'd be able to squeeze angst out of it but, if you know me at all, you'll know that I can and I will.

Thanks to Tuesday Too, cmr2014 and Dragonsrule18 for their recent reviews!

The first thing Sam learned when he left for Stanford was that it was always sunny in California. It was sunny the day he arrived, and it was sunny the day he met Jess, and it was sunny the day they moved in together, and it was sunny (until) the day she died.

(That day she was the sun, burning brighter and hotter than he ever thought possible)

Even years after that night he still dreamt of her. At first, it had mostly been the same not-dream he'd been having for weeks, but later, as he started to heal, it was memories that assaulted him in the darkness - memories of sunshine and brightness and happiness. Sometimes it was those night he'd fear the most because they only reminded him of what he had loved and lost. There was one day in particular that featured often, but he never really knew why.

It was a Saturday, so neither of them had classes to go to. The sun was shining brightly outside (it was always sunny in California) but neither of them really wanted to go outside because they were perfectly happy staying inside in the shade where it was cool, thank you very much. Besides, they'd been planning a Star Wars marathon ever since the new one had come out a couple of weeks ago and it was as good a day as any.

She was lying with her head resting on his chest, her fingers idly playing with the hem of his t-shirt. The sun streamed through the window and turned her hair to gold thread as it set. He remembered the plain walls being painted in an orange glow and he remembered her asking him a question about his opinion on the movie, but he hadn't been able to answer because he hadn't been paying attention for the past ten minutes, instead studying her face and trying to count the freckles splashed across her tanned skin.

She smiled up and him and he thought – knew – that this was where he wanted to be. He wanted the sun that seemed to chase away all the things that hid in the shadows, he wanted lazy afternoons spent doing nothing at all, he wanted this golden girl who inexplicably wanted him too.

In his dreams she'd sometimes lean close and whisper that it was all his fault, before bursting into flame and laughing as the sun – his sun – burnt away into dust. Sometimes she'd pull him towards her and kiss him softly, and he'd wake up still feeling the ghost of her weighing down his chest and the touch of her lips on his.

He didn't know which was worse.

Dean often complained that monsters never once picked the sunny states to terrorise(I freaking hate this weather. Why can't we ever find a hunt without mud and rain, huh?) and Sam would laugh and nod (I hear you man) but a part of him was glad for it, especially at first. Welcomed it, even, because he never forgot the first lesson he learned.

It was always sunny in California.

A/N: Thanks for reading and please leave a review if you have a moment! I'll try and update as soon as I can. Bye!