Sam hung onto his brother, feebly grasping the back of Dean's shirt. He didn't have much strength so Dean hefted him to get his head up enough for his chin to hook over Dean's shoulder.

It was pretty clear Sam was still fuzzy, still moving without motive or awareness. The only thing Kevin could be certain about was how positively Sam had taken to Dean's hug, shuddering in under his brother's hold like Dean was shelter, his shield.

Some things never changed. Sam used to have these seizures as a kid. Dean had seen Sam like this before. Kevin deduced Sam had always wanted his brother's contact like this after a seizure. It probably used to comfort him when the world didn't make sense and he could barely string two words together.

Sam grappled with the back of Dean's shirt, keening and squirming around.

"Sam you're okay. You're with me, okay?" Dean whispered. "You're safe, I gotchya. It was just a seizure. You're disoriented but everything's going to be okay," Dean explained.

Kevin found himself edging closer to them to hear Dean's reassurances better because he was fascinated to see Dean like this. And also they were working. And not only on Sam.

"You just have to let this pass, just relax..." Dean murmured into Sam's ear as he rubbed his brother's back. "C'mon little brother I know you're comin' out of it... C'mon, you're okay, Sammy..."

Sam shivered and tucked further into his brother.

"You cold?" Dean asked his brother lightly. When Sam didn't answer Dean looked around for a minute before glancing up at Kevin. "Kev will you get another blanket?"

Kevin nodded and jogged his way through the bunker for another one in Dean's room. When he got back, Dean was wiping drool of Sam's face. He'd shifted so Sam could sit on the floor between his legs.

Dean glanced up and nodded. Kevin returned the gesture and draped the blanket over them. Dean worked with it as he maneuvered Sam to sit up higher.

"C'mon Sammy, wake up, bud," Dean said calmly as he pulled and tugged the blanket to cover Sam's shoulders and neck. He pulled his arms out from under it though so he could wrap it around Sam more efficiently. He kept repeating the situation to Sam with the same tone of voice: you had a seizure, you're disoriented, it'll pass, just ride it out, you can do it, I've got you, you're safe, nothing's wrong, just take it easy…

Kevin knelt in front of them, worried but now more innocently curious about how this would play out. Dean wasn't treating this like an emergency anymore. He was just being... affectionate now. It was weird and shocking and Kevin couldn't tear himself away from the sight. It was working too. Sam responded to Dean more than he was responding to anything.

Kevin could see perfectly Sam's shakes against Dean, only his mop of brown hair visible against Dean's shoulder and neck moving around restlessly. Sam was in a constant state of discomfort but Kevin could just tell Dean was making it better.

Kevin wanted to help in some way too. While Dean's methods were above and beyond anything Kevin could do, maybe he could still just...

Kevin reached his hand out to touch Sam's blanketed back. He halted a few inches shy, realizing Dean had stopped talking. He looked up to find Dean staring at him. It was like the bucket thing all over again. Just like last time he was holding Sam protectively and just zeroing in on Kevin, so Kevin froze. He bit his lip, unsure, and silently asked for permission with honest, sympathetic eyes.

Dean glanced upwards in thought for a second, then nodded to Kevin at the same time he twisted the hand against Sam's back to put his index finger up, signaling Kevin to hold on a second.

"Kevin's here too, Sam. He's right behind you, making sure you're okay with me," Dean said evenly, then glanced at Kevin and nodded. Kevin nodded and put his hand on Sam's back.

"Hey Sam," Kevin whispered, totally embarrassed to sound so soft in front of Dean Winchester. But when he looked at Dean, the man just lifted his eyebrows and nodded encouragingly at him, completely open and somehow nonjudgmental as he kept Sam secure in his arms. "You... gonna... be okay?" Kevin asked hesitantly. He glanced at Dean who was giving him a surprisingly charming sideways smile of doubt. Kevin knew Dean was telling him not to expect Sam to answer him. Kevin laughed softly and shrugged. It was worth a try.

But as expected, Sam didn't respond, even when Dean picked it up. "Sam, bud, Kev just asked if you're gonna be okay. What do you think, huh?" Dean repeated gently, tilting his head to see if he could catch Sam's eyes. Sam gave a huffed whimper and burrowed into the crook of Dean's shoulder again. The combined gesture and sound seemed like a perfect mix of pain and impatient irritation. "Okay, okay, Sammy," he chuckled.

Kevin tried to smile at the exchange but he was still too nervous to laugh along. He swallowed and started to rub Sam's back up and down his spine. Sam really was shaking: his muscles tight and his vertebrae probably sore from having seized on the hard surface of the kitchen floor.

Sam exhaled loudly with a grunted hum over Dean's shoulder. He shifted his face to line up with Dean's.

"S'rry..." Sam said. It was barely a whisper, more like a tiny breath, but Kevin immediately stopped what he was doing to grin hopefully at Dean. Dean froze for a second, still holding Sam tight, then tried to keep a burst of relieved laughter from erupting. It came out a sneezy snort as he moved his hand up to cup Sam's head. "M'fine..." Sam grumbled as his head rolled under Dean's hand, "Fine..." he repeated vaguely. His trembling hands started moving up to touch where Dean had his head.
Dean sighed loudly in relief and Kevin couldn't help but laugh with schadenfreude when Dean squeezed Sam tighter and Sam let out a high-pitched whimper. He wasn't going to forget Dean hugging Sam so hard he'd made him squeak.

Dean didn't even care though, he just hefted his brother up and hugged him tighter. In the moment of elation he kissed the back of Sam's head. Sam just moaned into Dean's shoulder in response, still sounding like he had a ways to go before fully understanding what was going on

In the midst of his own quiet and relieved laughter, Kevin realized he had to rub his own teary eyes. Sam was back with them. Talking and reacting and...

Well, maybe that was all. That was enough.

"M'fine... M'okay... sssorry..." Sam muttered groggily, still hunched over Dean's shoulder in the hug.

"I know, I know," Dean said quietly, still grinning from ear to ear, "I know you're okay. Don't apologize, Sammy."

"Sss..." Sam started then just trailed off as Dean gently admonished him for apologizing again. "'kay..." Sam finally said dully. Dean waited in silence, allowing Sam to continue gaining his bearings. Kevin watched as Dean propped Sam up a little bit more which for some reason prompted more apologies to fall from his lips.

"Sorry... sorry," Sam started up again, sounding casual , even reasonable, too. He was drooling again though, which betrayed his insistence he was fine. Additionally his tone didn't match the situation. He apologized like he was backtracking in an argument. It was such a context mismatch that it was actually kind of funny. Sam had had a seizure, not a debate.

"It's okay, man, relax, just relax, Sammy," Dean coached.

"'kay... M'fine. But I'm sorry. I'm... fine..." Sam stuttered out. Dean wiped drool from his chin and lips. Sam didn't seem fazed by it.

Kevin listened. Dean was letting Sam repeat himself... and Dean kept repeating himself in his reassurances that there was nothing to be sorry about. It seemed like a stupid, redundant conversation until it dawned on Kevin that Sam wasn't processing what Dean was saying, so he was stuck on a loop until he did and Dean just had to keep meeting him where he was at.

Kevin adjusted his understanding of the moment. Even though he was talking more, Sam still wasn't a hundred percent. But he was saying stuff that only Sam would say like apologizing for having a seizure. So that was good, sort of.

Dean rubbed Sam's back faster this time as if in preparation for something. "Okay, you okay to get up? We're gonna move you," Dean said.

"'M fine-m'fi...nnn..." Sam slurred, woozily nodding and straightening his posture in Dean's arms. He swayed and as much as Dean tried to prop him up to hold his own weight, Sam's balance was too unstable.

"Okay, um," Dean shifted around into a crouch, keeping Sam balanced, "yeah, I'm..." he pushed a hand under Sam's knees, "just gonna carry him," Dean finished distractedly.

Kevin jumped up. "Where do you wanna-"

"My bedroom."

"You can make it?"

"Yeah he's lost a lot of weight," Dean huffed as he stood up, Sam dangling in his arms.

"Dean," Sam yelped and Dean hoisted his brother higher against him.

"It's okay, it's okay, Sam," Dean said lightly and took a step forward. "I gotchya," he promised and Sam relaxed marginally, his arms and hands vaguely falling against his chest.

Dean took a steady step forward and Kevin got out of the way, willing to let Dean take the lead. Instead the older brother stopped and turned to him.

"Kev, you wanna do me a favor?"

"Uh, sure," Kevin replied immediately, surprised. "Of course." Dean heaved Sam up again a couple times more as he spoke.

"You ah... you still got the car keys, right?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah."

"Yeah," Dean grunted, maneuvering so Sam's head lolled forward instead of backwards over his arm. Sam smacked his lips as drool tracked down his chin. "There's a McDonalds 'bout four miles south of here. Get the twenty McNuggets pack with Sweet 'n Sour sauce and anything else for yourself, okay?"

Confused, Kevin still nodded along to the instructions. "Okay, I just. I need cash-?"

Dean slanted his head. "Back pocket."

Kevin rolled his eyes with a smile and moved around to Dean's wallet out of his back pocket, trying to touch him as little as possible. Dean hefted Sam again. "I'm not gonna make the joke I wanna make right now."

"Got it," Kevin announced, opening the wallet now to look at the bills available. It was definitely enough.

"Okay," Dean took a steadying step forward, "don't be too long," he said and without a backwards glance, started walking and left the kitchen.

Kevin watched after them and took another mental snapshot of Dean carrying Sam around like a bride. He grabbed the Impala's keys from the kitchen table and in a sudden flash of inspiration, he rushed out into the study hoping he'd catch Dean.

"Dean!"

Dean stopped at the hallway's threshold and managed to angle himself towards Kevin, Sam still limp and drooling and muttering apologies and 'I'm fines' in his arms. "Yeah?"

"Um... what about a milkshake?"

"What?"

"Like... For Sam. For his..." Kevin gestured to his mouth and stuck his tongue out. Slight irritation transformed into a smirk on Dean as he looked at him.

"Yeah, good idea, that's nice," he said, turning back to the hallway, thinking the conversation was over.

"Wait, Dean," Kevin interrupted. Dean stopped and turned his head towards Kevin again. "What... what flavor does he like?"

Dean snorted with laughter. "Strawberry," he said conclusively. "He'd never admit it but that's his favorite," he added. Kevin grinned and flipped the keys into his hand.

"Okay, got it," he said excitedly. He turned on his heel and jogged his way up the stairs.

Dean turned back to get into their room.

"Sam I think you've got your own PA now," Dean muttered, amused by Kevin's enthusiasm as he walked in. Sam writhed in Dean's arms before blowing a bubble of saliva and looking up at his brother.

"What?" Sam said severely, like Dean had just said something abominably offensive.

"Kevin's gettin' you a strawberry milkshake, dude," Dean replied cheerfully, nonplussed. Unpredictable moods could happen after a seizure. Ignore them or address them with patience and they went away. Sam blinked up owlishly at him, obviously trying to understand. "Relax, Sammy," Dean said and Sam sighed angrily but indeed relaxed. As Dean lowered Sam onto the bed, Sam spoke up again.

"I like Kevin," Sam slurred. Dean raised an amused eyebrow in response to Sam's approval of the kid. He didn't prompt his brother though, busy with finally getting his hands back so he could wipe Sam's drool away again. He noted with no small measure of happiness that Sam's drool was clear, meaning the cut on his tongue had stopped bleeding awhile ago. That boded well for them. Sam writhed on the mattress to get more comfortable as Dean pulled the covers out from under him.

When Dean was done, he said, "I like Kevin too" and he realized he was telling the truth. In just this one day Kevin had endeared himself to the eldest brother. He wasn't going to dig deep on it but he knew it had to do with how he'd been with Sam.

"De... Dean?!" Sam suddenly sounded worried. Dean stopped fixing the sheets.

"What's up?"

Sam swallowed nervously, that panicked look coming over his eyes.

"Sam, what?!"

"I can't talk!"

"Huh?"

"I need..." Sam swallowed again and licked his lips, "I need the comp...uter."

"Why?"

"Because I can't... talk!" Sam yelled, furious.

Dean was dying with laughter but he had to roll with the punches on this one. He clamped down on it and sat beside his brother.

"Sam, Sammy, you can talk. You're talking to me right now," Dean said patiently, brushing the kid's hair back.

"No!" Sam whined, like he didn't think Dean understood and everything was unfair.

"Yeah, Sam, relax. You're talking to me and I can hear you. Can you hear yourself too?"

"Yeah!" Sam raged, then stopped, a look of utter bewilderment flooding his expression. Dean bit his lip trying so hard not to laugh at his little brother's expense.

Slowly, Sam got it and sighed. Slightly embarrassed, he glanced up then away from his brother's face.

"Don' laugh. S'mean," Sam said petulantly. Dean finally let go as he leaned in to give Sam a kiss on his forehead. Dean's conflicting actions further confused Sam but he registered Dean's affection over the laughter. His most cogent thought since the seizure was that maybe he'd let Dean laugh at him as long as it was fond.

Writer's Note: Originally published 4/23/2014, revised 8/16/2019. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys're liking Kevin's POV. Please comment/review if you can spare the time! xoxo Alex