Sam woke up slow, still woozy from the medication, as the past few hours came back to him. He stretched carefully to test the waters, and when his foot throbbed only a little, he smiled.
Dean.
Sam didn't know what he would do without his overbearing big brother to obsess over him. He'd have to remember to let Dean know that somehow over the next few days. Things had been so tense between them since the cemetery, and this newfound peace was a lovely respite. He chuckled softly to himself and rolled carefully onto his side to see if Dean was still taking up space in the bed beside his.
No snoring brother greeted his perusal, however. But there was a small, giftwrapped box resting on the blanket beside him. Sam gave it a second look, and his smile became a grin.
Dean.
Again.
He shifted himself until he was sitting up, and he shuffled around a bit to get nice and comfortable, and then he took the small gift in his hand and inspected it.
It was wrapped in childish birthday paper that sported large, colorful clowns in various poses, and Sam had to snicker. Definitely something Dean would find and buy, and Sam's name was written on the box in thick, black marker.
Again – Dean. Anyone else would have bought a sticker or a card.
He admired it for all of 30 seconds before he was eagerly tearing it open. Beneath the colorful wrapping lay a plain, gray box that had swirly patterns in the silk.
Looked expensive, was his first thought, and he frowned then.
Dean didn't have money to buy anything that came in a box this nice, and if he did, he certainly shouldn't be spending it on a birthday present for Sam – not when the insides of Dean's own boots were lined with cardboard to cover up the holes in the soles.
Sam almost didn't open it, thinking he would convince his brother to return whatever it was and get himself a decent pair of footwear in return.
He debated, setting the present back on the bed. That's definitely what he would do.
He wouldn't open it.
But would that hurt Dean's feelings though?
Should he at least open it first to make sure it was something extravagant that Sam had always wanted but didn't really need?
What could Dean have … ?
And Sam's eyes went wide as he suddenly remembered the glasses.
Dean couldn't have!
Could he?
He picked the box back up and glared at it.
It was the right size.
It COULD be a glasses case.
Dean wouldn't!
Would he?
Maybe Dad had something to do with it. Maybe Dean and Dad were both waiting in the bathroom right now to jump out and surprise him when he opened it. He glanced toward the bathroom, but the door was open, and the light was off.
No Dad or Dean huddling there, snickering into their hands.
Sam felt guilty and ecstatic at the same time. If it WAS the glasses, no way in hell could he keep them because either they were stolen or someone had sold something major to buy them.
Sam's heart stopped as an image of Dean's Impala imprinted itself on his brain.
No!
Dean! No!
And that was the deciding factor. Sam picked up the box and clicked it open.
His jaw dropped.
###
Dean sighed. Grocery duty was wearing a bit thin, and he wondered how much longer Dad would be gone. He pulled the two paper bags from Baby's trunk and balanced them in his arms, smiling when the box of Happy Charms shifted.
Sammy's favorite cereal, and quite the extravagance at nearly $3 a box.
That was okay, though. The kid needed some cheering up.
Dean smiled and shook his head as he jingled his keys in his hand to find the one that fit the motel door. Kid sure was resilient, and Dean knew as soon as he was awake, he'd be all grateful and trying to go out of his way to do nice things for Dean.
Sam was a good kid, better than either he or Dad deserved, and he had the sudden, sad thought that he didn't tell Sam that nearly often enough.
And Dad sure as hell didn't either.
And that thought sobered him up and wiped the smile right off his face. He would do better by Sam, starting today, starting right now.
He would, he vowed, as his key turned in the lock, and he swung the door inward. He stepped inside and saw Sam then.
His brother sat up in the bed, wide awake and grinning. He had a pair of what looked to be purple reading glasses in his hands and he raised them toward his face.
And on the bed beside him, a curse box covered in what looked like a dark-red fabric with lighter lines of red outlining the protective sigils.
On the bed beside him, a curse box.
Open.
Empty.
As Sam raised a strange pair of glasses to his face and put them on.
Dean's heart stopped in that moment, and the bags in his hand fell to the floor. He lunged for the bed, screaming.
"Sam! Don't!"
But it was too late.
Sam looked up at him through lenses of light purple, and the kid's face exploded into the biggest smile Dean had ever seen him wear.
It matched the size of the sudden, all-encompassing fear that nearly caused the older boy to vomit.