Long Live BRUCAS- As much as I love writing angsty Dean, we all have our bad days.

Anne- I just made the connection between your signature and your username and thought it was hilarious! I wish my name could be used as a play on words. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. And no, things definitely will not be calm for much longer...

On with the show!

Waiting for that final bell to ring was killing Dean. Summer was finally here and he was stuck in his sixth class of eighth-graders fucking around during the movie Ms. Alden put on because there was nothing else to do.

"Hi Dean," Ms. Alden said, sitting in the seat next to him. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed like he was trying to hide away at his desk. "Got any plans for summer?"

Dean sighed. "Besides bouncing between my parents? No."

"Well, surely, you must have something fun planned."

"Not really."

"Not even a graduation party?" Ms. Alden asked.

Dean smiled slightly. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

"You should be proud of yourself Dean. You had a rough few months but you made it."

The bell finally rang. Followed by students cheering and running as fast as they could out of the classroom.

Ms. Alden walked over to the projector and turned the movie off. She started packing up her belongings and turned around to see Dean still sitting at his desk.

"Dean? You okay?"

But Dean wasn't okay. It was like all at once everything felt wrong. His heart was racing and he felt hot and sweaty. He couldn't catch his breath and could hear ringing in his ears. He tried to rest his head on the desk until it passed, only to feel immediately nauseous in doing so.

"Talk to me, Dean," Ms. Alden half demanded, half begged. She walked over to Dean's desk and bend down next to him. Dean only shook his head, afraid he would gag and hurl all over her if he opened his mouth.

Ms. Alden grabbed a juice box from the emergency kit in the classroom and set it on his desk. Then she went over to the phone and called Mary to come to her room.

John pulled up outside the middle school and parked the truck. Sam had a half-day for his last day of school and he and Adam had been boosting each other's energy levels all afternoon ever since he picked Adam up from preschool. Yes, Kate continued to let John take care of Adam. She did need the help, obviously, and did feel guilty threatening her son from seeing his father. Just because she and John may not need a relationship, didn't mean Adam did.

Anyway, John unlocked the car doors and climbed out. He unbuckled Adam from his car seat and set him down on the grass outside the school to run around with Sam. Sam noticed another kid from his class also waiting and they started a game of tag. Adam didn't care. He found a patch of flowers and started to pull them from the ground.

"Adam. Don't pick the flowers." John ordered from the sidewalk where he was leaning against his truck.

Adam slowly set the flowers back down and hung his head in shame. Then he saw Sam and his friend run by.

"Hey Adam, wanna join?" Sam asked.

"Yeah!" Adam screamed. He didn't quite understand the concept of playing tag, but as long as he got to run and think he was playing too, he was happy.

The three boys continued to chase each other in the grass. Eventually, the bell rang and multiple students swarmed the parking lot.

Sam's friend had to leave. They waved goodbye and Sam started to head back to his dad. As he was running back, he heard crying and turned around. Adam had gotten lost in the crowd of teenagers and sat down on the ground in response.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

Adam whined and looked up at him. "I-I-I turned around and I-I didn't see you and I g-got scared!"

Sam was confused. He was literally like five feet away from Adam the whole time. How did he not see him?

Sam held out his hand for Adam. "Come on." Adam wiped the snot from his face with his arm and took Sam's hand. The two walked back to the truck together and sat on the sidewalk. Adam had stopped crying and contently went back to picking flowers. This time, John didn't say anything.

"Where the hell is your brother?" he asked instead, looking at his watch.

Sam shrugged and turned his attention back to Adam, who now had a whole bouquet of daisies and dandelions.

"What's going on?" Mary asked quietly, showing up in the classroom.

"He was fine and then he started acting weird," Amanda, or Ms. Alden, explained. "I got him to drink some juice and calm down."

Mary set her belongings down by the doorway. She grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to Dean's desk.

"Hey you," she said playfully. "What happened?"

Dean took another sip of the juice. "I don't know."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," Dean said, starting to feel embarrassed over the situation. "I'm fine."

"You sure? Cause you don't look fine."

Dean chewed on the straw. "I dunno. It's hot outside," he mumbled, "maybe my blood sugar dipped." He continued playing with the juice box while both Mary and Amanda watched him. They exchanged a look and Mary turned back to her son.

"Alright, well, we better get going. I'm sure your dad is outside wondering where you are."

Another wave of nausea hit as Dean stood up and he turned pale. Mary held her arm out to stop him from falling again.

"Dean?"

"I don't feel so good," Dean said quickly.

"Want me to call an ambulance?" Amanda asked.

Mary didn't take her eyes off Dean. "Baby, do we need to call an ambulance?"

Dean started tearing up. "I don't know," he answered. What was happening to him?

John was growing impatient. He looked at his watch again. School let out almost twenty minutes ago and Dean was nowhere in sight.

"Sam, any idea where he might be?"

"Bathroom?" Sam suggested, not aware that it had indeed been twenty minutes.

"Maybe your mother knows," John said, pulling out his cell phone. He started dialing when it went off. "Hello... What... What do you mean he's sick... Where is he... Fucking hell."

"Who was that?" Sam asked when John hung up.

"You know where Amanda's classroom is at?"

Sam nodded and led the way, John carrying Adam behind him.

When they reached Amanda's classroom, they found Mary sitting on the floor rocking an upset Dean back and forth.

"Sit," John ordered Sam and Adam. They shared one of the desks next to Dean's and watched in silence. "What the fuck happened?" John asked, hoping his tone didn't sound as pissed as he felt. His annoyance at the situation trumped the concern he had for his son.

No one answered him. John sighed and joined them on the floor. Dean was still crying, even if he didn't have the tears to show it. Mary continued rocking him and humming quietly to soothe him. That's when John realized the severity of the situation.

"Bud, what's going on?"

"I don't know," Dean repeated for the umpteenth time. "I just wanna go home."

"Well, sure bud. I got your bags in the truck. We can leave right now."

"No! I wanna go home with Mom." Dean hated how babyish he sounded right now. Especially with his baby brothers watching him.

"Dean, remember, you're going with your dad for the week?" Mary asked gently.

"I don't want to. I want to go with you."

"Dean-"

"I want to go with you!" Dean screamed. His voice cracked and he started to get upset again. He gripped Mary's shirt tighter, as if she was going to disappear if he let go, and cried into her shoulder.

Mary and John had another one of their silent conversations. John eventually stood up. "Come on boys," he said in defeat. Adam jumped up immediately but Sam remained frozen.

"Is Dean going to be okay?" he asked, terrified for his brother.

"He'll be fine," John answered. "You'll see him in a few days."

Sam got up and ran over to Dean, attempting to give him a hug on the ground. Dean didn't seem to even notice.

"Bye Mommy," he said, following John and Adam out of the classroom.

"Bye Sammy," she said over her shoulder. She turned back towards Dean. "Are you okay to go?"

Dean nodded into her shoulder. Mary pushed his hair out of his face and wiped what little tears remained. They slowly stood up and Amanda helped them out to Mary's car.

someones-big-sister