This is part 2...I didn't think of surpassing Dean's pov on the prepilot..until this popped into my head. It's not as angsty as Dean's but, believe me, I tried.

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Chapter 2: The Party, Pre and Post

Sam wasn't the type to go to any Halloween party (or even celebrate the Pagan holiday) , especially since that fateful night when he was three and a half and his dad told him what was really in the closet on dark, stormy nights. Oh, and those noises weren't just "noises".

Despite all those days of chasing down ghosts, spreading salt in circles around him, and doing the occasional exorcism (all before he turned 15), here he was. Standing in a doorway, staring at his girlfriend dressed up like a nurse, and trying to get a decent hold on his environment.

He knew he had an essay on habius corpus and its role in modern divorce courts, but that didn't seem to register in his mind at the moment. He wouldn't forget right away that he had an interview for the Stanford Law School on Monday but for some reason, he had a feeling that wouldn't be so important in the next twenty-four hours.

On this night, he would usually ditch the annual Halloween party, but this year Jess was charismatic enough to convince him to come.

"Sam! Get a move on, would you? We were supposed to be there like 15 minutes ago." Jess paused and looked at Sam through the doorway, "Sam! You comin' or what?"

Sam stuck his head out the door and tried one last feeble attempt to get out, the notorious, "Do I have to?"

"Yes. It'll be fun." She promised, with her playful smile, "And where's your costume?" She put on a mock pout, and pretended to be upset, even though he had told her the answer to that a million times before.

Sam scoffed, he didn't want to get into details right now, "You know how I feel about Halloween."

"Just come on." Jess opened the door and left, Sam following closely behind with a trace of smugness on his face.

They entered the crowded bar, Sam with his hands in his jacket pockets (looking moody as usual) and Jess putting on her smile and going to get a beer.

She put a hand on his arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You okay?"

He didn't answer, but kissed her back.

"My, my." Jess laughed, and looked at him with a worried look, "You know, we can just go back home if you want. Order Chinese, watch all the 'Friday the 13th's' non-stop."

"No, it's okay." Sam told her, even though he could really use that- minus Jason, "You wanna have fun, don't you?"

Jess nodded.

"I'll find us a table, meet up with some friends."

"I've got the beer!" Jess said, elated. She dove into the crowd to get to the bar.

Sam crossed the room to a table on one of the less-rowdier sections of the bar. His friend Matt was there, holding a shot glass and doing a shoddy impression of his anthropology professor.

"That was a pretty good Harolds." Sam laughed.

Matt turned around and took a seat at Sam's table, "Whatcha been up to, Winchester?"

"Nothing."

"Well, Jess must've put something in your drink- you're usually locked up in the library during parties." Matt let out a short laugh, and tipped his shot glass into his mouth.

Jess came and handed Sam his drink, smiling at him.

Sam smiled despite himself. Jess was always the one who would loosen him up when needed, "Yeah, she thought it would be nice to celebrate my LSAT's."

"So here's to Sam and his awesome LSAT victory." Jess rose her glass.

"Alright, alright." Sam protested, "It's not that big a deal."

Jess ignored Sam's humble-ness, "He acts all humble but he scored a 174."

Matt took another drink from his shot, just as Sam and Jess finished theirs, "Mmm," He savored the bitter alcohol, "Is that good?"

"Scary good." Jess told him.

"See there you go," Matt regained some of his poise, "You are first-round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want."

"Actually I got an interview here…Monday." Sam said, "If it goes ok I think I got a shot at a full ride next year." He hoped.

"Hey it's gonna go great." Jess re-assured him.

"It better." Sam answered.

"So, how does it feel to be the golden boy in your family?"

Like they would care. Sam thought inside, Dean's the 'golden boy', following everything Dad says to him.

Sam didn't care to tell the family. It was better them not knowing so that they could all stick to their 'business.' After all, ignorance is bliss, if you define bliss as continuing to shoot rock salt by the day.

"They don't know." Was Sam's feeble response to mask his bitter relationship with the rest of the Winchester clan.

"Don't know?" Matt was confused, "I would be gloating. Why not?"

Gloating. Ha. Sam inwardly remarked sarcastically. Gloating in his family was only acceptable if you had killed some evil flesh-eating monster of legend that you'd been tracking down for days, maybe months, and subjecting yourself to all the elements. Even then, only a "Why couldn't you get it sooner?" would suffice from John Winchester.

"'Cause we're not exactly the Brady's." was Sam's second feeble response of the night.

"And we're not exactly the Huxtables." Matt shot back, "More shots?"

Sam and Jess protested as Matt left the table, but he kept on going.

Jess turned to Sam, "Seriously, I'm proud of you and you're gonna knock 'em dead on Monday and you're gonna get that full ride. I know it."

Sam looked at her, "What would I do without you?"

Jess pretended to think, "Crash and burn."

Sam smiled at her, thinking he had found all he needed in the world and gave her a kiss.

That night, both of them had stumbled into the apartment slightly tipsy, but having enough motor control to get to bed. The night had been good, some drinking, talking, and Jess had even coaxed one slow dance out of Sam.

Now Jess was asleep next to Sam, where Sam was sure he would want to find her every night, and Sam lay half- awake, staring at the ceiling.

Should he have told his family about getting into Stanford Law? Part of him said no…the announcement of his admission into the university itself resulted into quite the reaction from his father. And when he left the family, Sam was as free as a bird and happier still.

Then the second part of him, the pure Winchester itching to get out each day, said yes. His family had probably changed in the past few years. Dean would definitely welcome the fact that he succeeded, but has a hidden remorse that his brother would continue in school. His dad, well, there was no telling on how he would take it. Still, this pure Winchester part of him pointed out, they deserved to know how he was. He was sure they thought about once in a while, even through all the hunting.

Was he happy like this? The pure Winchester part of him didn't cease to say. He had left the house, gone to school, had an almost-normal life, but his past would probably always haunt him. He hadn't even told Jess about what he would do as a teenager as in, instead of football games, tracking vengeful spirits was the main activity of the night.

With a sleepy mind, Sam concluded that he wasn't completely elated that he had left his past, and his family, behind but he was well on his way- starting with his admissions interview that Monday.

He slowly fell into a fitful sleep when a crash from the other room woke him up.

End.