Dean was about to let Sam sleep after getting him settled until he caught sight of the blood on his hoodie. "Hold up, Sam," Dean murmured, reaching to pull the sweatshirt up.

Sam grumbled but went with it, weakly lifting up to let Dean do whatever he was doing.

When Dean pulled it over Sam's head it made a whoosh sound that echoed around in Sam's head. Sam moaned and went limp, Dean catching him just in time for a slow and controlled fall to his pillow.

"Okay, cool, you're good," Dean said, patting his brother's chest before covering him up with the blankets.

"Tired," Sam breathed.

"Yeah. Go to sleep."

And Sam did, clocking out at record speed.

Dean bit his lip and sighed as he gazed at Sam, brows furrowed. He cracked his neck and tried to loosen up after the scare. Getting up, he threw Sam's hoodie in the pile of laundry he'd created by the door. He walked around the room and folded a few stray blankets, hid the antiquated medical equipment under the bed, ordered stuff around his desk. With nothing else to do, he finally decided he could leave Sam, grabbing a change of clothes and heading to the bathroom for a much-needed shower, promising himself he'd only be five minutes.

The water's spray was blissfully hot and Dean just stood under it for awhile, soaking it up, getting lost in his own thoughts consisting of a mental roll call. Kevin was safe and soon he'd be working on the tablet to decipher the final trial. Cas was gone, searching for Metatron to possibly interrogate him for the details of the final trial. And Sam... Sam was still hanging in there. There was nothing more that anyone could do, nothing more that Dean could do.

Dean moved on and wondered just how much Sam's seizure was related to the trials. Since Sam used to have them as a kid it could've just been a fluke hold-over from the childhood disorder. Some other trials symptoms could've triggered it though.

It might not have happened if it had been Dean.

Dean sighed, frustrated, and pressed his palms against the tiled wall in front of him. He let the steamy warmth cascade down his head and body. He wished more than anything that he could take his brother's place.

It was too late for these wishes though. The die was cast. He could only do the next best thing and take care of him now.

On the heels of that thought, Dean hurriedly washed his hair and ran soap around the important areas before stepping out and drying off. He changed quickly, throwing on an old Iron Maiden tee he hadn't worn in ages and a pair of faded green sweats before padding out into the hallway back to his room.

He checked his watch and realized he'd only been gone for eight minutes. At a loss of what to do, he decided to take his side of the bed and rest. He didn't bother about being quiet: as he climbed into bed he leaned over Sam to see how deeply the kid was sleeping. Satisfied Sam was out for the count, he let out a heavy sigh and got comfortable on top of the covers, lying down against his pillow, arms crossed over his chest, ankles idly overlapping.

Kevin returned bearing a massive McDonalds bag: four double cheeseburgers, four cartons of fries, chicken nuggets, chocolate and strawberry shakes. He was still tense, his unsteady hands spoke well enough to that as he made his way to the kitchen. He dumped the bag and shakes onto the kitchen table and looked around. It was a mess so Kevin decided he'd clean up. It would give himself some time to decompress and the brothers a few more minutes alone.

Dean had kicked the stools away so Sam wouldn't hit them while he seized so Kevin upturned them, set them back where they belonged. He eyed then side-stepped the bucket of blood and spit to focus on putting the bacon and stir-fry away. The stir-fry was actually ready, Kevin discovered. The wok's heat must have finished its contents' frying even without the burner. He grabbed a plastic Tupperware and used the spatula to get everything inside. He placed it in the fridge and moved on to the bacon. He wasn't sure if Dean would still want any so he placed some paper towels onto a plate and dropped the strips onto it to go in the microwave if he did.

Kevin turned back to face the bucket and made a face. The repressed the urge to say 'ew' over and over again as he washed it out. After the rinse it was fine and Kevin used the dish detergent to sanitize.

The small hand towel Dean had been using on Sam's mouth had been left on the floor too. Heavy blotches of red and pink all over it, Kevin called its demise and threw it out.

Just when he thought he was done, he noticed small specks and streaks of blood on the kitchen floor. He grabbed some paper towels went over the area. He found disinfectant spray from a cabinet and used that too.

When he was done, he washed his hands and came back to the giant McDonalds bag, the milkshakes, and the plate of cooling bacon. He chewed a strip. His nerves were finally settled. It was time to go see Sam and Dean, see if they were ready for food.

Kevin stopped just outside Dean's door. It was cracked open slightly. He gripped the handle so he wouldn't open the door further and gave it a few light knocks.

"Dean-?"

He heard a sharp inhale, the kind made when someone's waking up abruptly, and then a small cough before Dean's crackly voice responded. "Yeah."

Kevin opened the door hesitantly and stopped at the sight of them. Dean was blinking awake, lying in bed next to Sam, who was sleeping and positioned more along the middle of the mattress so his back could line up along his brother's side. Kevin pressed his lips together, trying to hide his bafflement over the strange intimacy of it.

"Hey, Kevin," Dean whispered as he rubbed his face, still trying to wake up. He looked at Kevin tiredly. "What?" He looked down around him to see what Kevin was looking at, finding his brother had moved up against him. He smiled crookedly back up at Kevin. "Don't judge," he deadpanned.

"What? No... I..."

"Don't have siblings," Dean finished Kevin's sentence pointedly. Kevin nodded and made sure to conceal whatever phantom sense of loss that had pulled out of him.

"Of course, you're right. I don't," Kevin shrugged and moved further into the room. Dean sat up a little further and fixed Kevin with an easy gaze.

"You also didn't grow up poor," Dean chuckled quietly.

"What... does that have to do with anything?" Kevin asked as he sat down at the chair by the desk.

Dean shrugged. "Privacy's a luxury."

"So why don't you let Sam be in his own room?"

Dean's features darkened inexplicably. "We tried that."

Kevin thought better than to ask further.

"'Sides, I think he likes the company," Dean grinned and let his hand flop heavily against Sam's ribs. Sam grunted and tried to roll over onto his back, hit his brother's body, then gave up and settled again. The older brother huffed in amusement, his hand still on Sam. He looked back to Kevin. "So, food's ready?"

Kevin nodded. "Yep."

"Need help bringing it in?"

"What... in here?" Kevin asked, surprised. Eating in bed wasn't an option. It was never an option.

"Yeah. What? Why not?"

"Uh..." Kevin struggled to explain decorum without coming off badly. "Ah, no, nothing. Okay..."

Dean glanced at his brother. "Sam's still gonna be out of it when he wakes up. I don't wanna move him," Dean added. Kevin nodded. That made sense. You had to eat in bed at hospitals, Kevin rationalized.

"Do you want to wake him up?"

Dean bobbed his head side to side indicating he was going back and forth on it. "I mean, no. Technically we shouldn't but he really can't miss a meal - he's lost enough weight as it is," Dean said quietly, a tinge of sadness to his words as he rubbed Sam's ribs. Dean blew out a breath and turned to Kevin. "Upside, we get to play around with him," Dean said with a smirk.

"'We?'" Kevin asked.

"Yeah bring your food in too, man."

Kevin tried to crush the elation he felt at being included. "Okay," he said, just a dash too perky.

"Are you sure you don't want help bringing the food in?"

"Nah I got it. Be right back," Kevin said, rising from the chair and heading out.

Sam woke up slowly even though he was getting rocked back and forth by a heavy hand on the side of his ribs.

"Sssstop..." Sam said, his voice getting muffled every time his face pressed against his pillow. He reached over and, unable to push the hand away, just weakly gripped the arm attached to it.

"Dean," Sam whined but Dean had already stopped when Sam had reached out.

"-ake up Sammy," Dean said evenly, "time to wake up. Wake up. Waky waky eggs and bakey. Foodtime, Sammy. Food. Food. Food."

"I get it!" Sam grunted back, annoyed.

At that he heard Dean chuckling, his hand landing on him again. Sam moaned comically as he let Dean roll him around like a rag doll.

"Dean," Kevin's voice cut in somewhere in the room.

"What?"

"Kevin?!" Sam called out, surprised and slightly embarrassed Kevin was witnessing this. Dean messing with him waking him up like this was one thing, in front of others was sort of different.

"Yeah dude Kevin's here, wake up," Dean replied. "Wake up. Wake up... Wake up."

Sam flopped over onto his back. He landed uncomfortably over his brother's stomach and flung a lazy, uncoordinated hand up in an effort to smack Dean in the face. He felt the back of his hand hit Dean's nose and grinned in triumph as Dean let out a shocked, pained yelp as he recoiled and hit the back of his head against the headboard.

Sam's laughter was crackly with sleep but came deep from his lungs.

"You..." Dean grabbed Sam, scheming grin plastered on his face as he pulled Sam up against him and went for a particularly ticklish spot along Sam's ribcage.

"Ge' off me ge' off me go 'way," Sam slurred groggily but he was smiling, his dimples deepening until he burst into laughter and folded into the spot in his side Dean had found.

"Stop, stop, please!" Sam cackled before it turned into a cough. Dean let go immediately. Sam hunched over, getting through it. When he was done, Dean looked at him and quickly wiped any drool away from Sam's mouth with one of the blankets. Sam's eyes wandered.

"Oh, McDonalds," Sam drew the name out with relish. Dean finished and Sam got to lift his head up to look around. He found Kevin at the desk, pulling cheeseburgers and french fries out, the scent permeating the entire room.

"Yup," Dean said simply, resting his hand against Sam's back.

"Did you get Chicken McNuggets?" Sam asked, hazy hopeful. Kevin pulled them out of the bag and Sam blinked as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "Oh my god," Sam said, drunkenly reaching out over Dean to get his food. Dean leaned back indignantly while Kevin handed Sam the twenty-pack of nuggets. "You're awesome, Kevin, thank you."

Kevin grinned. "Dean I got you some double cheeseburgers, is that okay?" He asked. "Dean?"

"Dude!" Dean grabbed the carton of nuggets out of Sam's hand, "Stop crushing them. You're gonna make a mess, man," he said, annoyed, as Sam whined for his food back. He was still foggy but energized by the fast food. Dean spread the blankets out so there was a smooth surface for the carton of nuggets.

"Dean, I want... cats," Sam breathed, leaning in and smelling the nuggets as Dean opened them.

"What?" Dean laughed, looking at Sam for a second before turning to Kevin. "You got any napkins?"

Kevin nodded, smiling, and handed him a pile from the takeout bag.

"Cats," Sam repeated as he plucked a nugget from the package. A string of drool fell from his lips and Dean snorted with laughter as he caught it with one of the napkins. Kevin politely ignored it.

"Sam, you want sweet 'n sour sauce?"

"Oh. Yeah...sss," he dragged out. The 's' sound seemed to be a particular challenge for keeping saliva in his mouth and Dean, snickering, tilted Sam's head up this time as he drawled the sound out until he was done.

Sam laughed and Dean let go. Kevin couldn't ignore that. "It's like he's drunk," he whispered to Dean, grinning, passing the sweet and sour sauce. Dean nodded and pointed at him in complete agreement.

Sam was dead set and focused on dipping a nugget into the sauce when Dean asked, "Sam, cats?"

"Casss," Sam clarified loudly, surprising them. Dean and Kevin tried to stifle their laughter but Sam wasn't paying attention anyway.

"Why do you want Cas, bud?" Dean pressed, hoping for more entertainment.

"Cas likes burgers."

"Oh," Dean gestured to Sam and looked at Kevin. "Well that actually makes sense."

"Cas... Castiel, the angel? Likes burgers?" Kevin asked haltingly.

"Yeah, he does. Those mini-burger things. White Castle." Kevin made a face and Dean shrugged. "Swear to God."

They were both blown off course when Sam randomly burst into laughter. Dean wiped his mouth, chuckling too. It was great to watch Sam like this. The kid never smiled or laughed this much.

Sam popped a chicken nugget in his mouth. "Angels don't like normal-sized burgers," Sam cackled through his full mouth. Dean made a face somewhere between disgusted and amused and alarmed Sam would choke.

"Easy, dude. What?"

"Angels. Big burgers scare them," Sam said with a snort.

"Okay," Dean said, shrugging at Kevin before looking back to Sam. "Sure."

Kevin chuckled. Sam focused on handling his food properly. Dean had his double cheeseburger but snuck some of Sam's nuggets. It irritated Sam but he was only cognizant enough to yell 'hey' at Dean about it and then he'd forget about it seconds later. Kevin chowed down on his own double cheeseburger, idly watching them for entertainment.

None of them had realized how hungry they'd gotten but Sam especially seemed to need the sustenance, wolfing down his chicken nuggets much to Dean's approval. Eventually his enthusiasm waned though, fatigue setting in again and getting the better of him.

"How many more do I have to eat before I can go back to sleep?" Sam asked slowly, sounding out the words so he wouldn't slur, his eyelids fluttering under the weight of impending sleep. For a second his hand, still holding a nugget he'd dipped in sauce, dropped but Sam jerked back awake to keep from getting it on the blankets.

Kevin smiled guiltily at the sight and even beyond that, he smiled over how Sam sounded so young asking Dean for eating and sleeping parameters. Dean didn't miss a beat with the exchange either. He just leaned over to assess how many nuggets Sam had eaten and replied. "Finish that one and you can pass out."

"Okay," Sam agreed and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed and thumped himself against Dean, totally oblivious to Dean's gasp of surprise and quick moves to get his food away lest he wanted to taste Sam's hair too.

"Seriously?" Dean murmured, exasperated. With the food safely far from Sam, Dean eventually relented to Sam's breach of personal space by resting his arm over Sam's back. "He's like a dog that doesn't know his own size," Dean informed Kevin.

Kevin snorted and nodded, finding the analogy well-suited to Sam's current state of mind. And the drool. He grabbed a second double cheeseburger and handed it out to Dean.

Dean took it and as he unwrapped it, crane over to check Sam.

"Sammy, you still chewing?"

Sam made a sound that neither confirmed nor denied but rather suggested he'd vaguely heard another sound and thought he'd respond in kind.

"Sam, open your mouth."

Sam opened his mouth slowly. Empty.

"Cool dude, good job, you want your milkshake?"

"No, thank you," Sam said drowsily.

"We'll save it for you later."

"Oh yeah, okay, thank you sooo much," Sam slurred.

"Okay. Go to sleep."

Sam nodded but he didn't move.

"Sam?"

No answer.

"Sammy? Go to sleep."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. Sam apparently hadn't gotten the memo that 'go to sleep' meant 'get off me.'

"I think he's asleep," he laughed quietly, angling to see Sam's peaceful expression lying on Dean's stomach.

Dean hummed in vague dissatisfaction, rolling his eyes. He Sam be though, opting to unwrap his second double cheeseburger over Sam's head instead.

Kevin re-evaluated. Earlier he'd been thinking it was weird to share a bed with your brother and even weird to eat in bed but he was getting it now. Sam was devastatingly ill or injured or both at any given moment. He needed round-the-clock care, he needed a bed, and as much of a grown man and hero as Sam was, he clearly wanted Dean close. Dean was so obviously on the same exact page as Sam too.

Dean took another bite and shifted, getting comfortable. He rested his hand holding his burger on Sam's back.

Kevin took in the tableau of the two of them and then looked away to stare at the floor as he thought. Neither brother had ever really talked to Kevin about how they'd grown up. The exception was earlier when Dean had said they'd grown up poor, meaning no privacy. They'd also said in passing once they'd grown up 'in the life.' Kevin didn't know exactly what that had meant but an educated guess would suggest a lot of accidents and injuries hunting. Stuff that would have them near and helping each other often.

Dean had told Kevin he didn't have any siblings so he didn't understand but after watching them today, Kevin would disagree. He knew siblings. He'd seen his friends with their older or younger sisters or brothers. They didn't compare to what Kevin was witnessing between Dean and Sam. These two had their own language, their own complementary patterns of behavior that seemed so effortless even though Kevin knew it was complex and layered and so multifaceted with decades of practice perfecting every single look and gesture and decision made between them.

Kevin was sure it felt natural to them. Kevin was equally sure it would come off foreign to most siblings just as much as it did to him.

As weird and unknown as Kevin found it though, he liked it.

"Oh!" Kevin jerked, just remembering.

"What?" Dean was just finishing his burger.

"We- Sam made bacon. I didn't put it away. I can go get it and you can add it to…" Kevin trailed off, noticing Dean had maybe a single bite left. Deflated, he looked at Dean's expectant face. "I was gonna say add it to the burger, but-"

"What do I need to add bacon to anything for?" Dean asked indignantly with his mouth full. "Bring it in! I love bacon."

"Me too," Kevin agreed excitedly, feeling like a kid again now for some reason, treating themselves to just a plate of straight bacon strips to feast upon. Kevin grinned. "Okay, one minute. I'll be right," and he hopped off to get it for them.

It was so inappropriate but Kevin couldn't deny this was starting to get just plain fun.

A/N 1: Originally published 5/1/2014, revised 8/17/2019. I hope you guys liked this chapter! More kinda sweet lazy feels+dialogue, I feel like, haha. Please comment/review if you can spare the time - I love you guys so much! ~ Alex

A/N 2: Oh also I may be dating myself/Sam here but his laughter about angels being afraid of normal-sized burgers is a reference to the 1987 comedy 'Date with an Angel.' There's a scene where the angel tries to eat a burger and she doesn't hold it properly so when the burger opens and the ingredients fall out onto her lap, she freaks out. Punchy Sam was superimposing that scene onto Castiel & cracking up in his own little world.