Supernatural does not belong to me, although I wish it did. I am simply playing in Kripke's sandbox for a bit. All rights and ownership are the property of Kripke and the CW network. I am not making any money from this; it is for my own personal pleasure. No copyright infringement intended.

Synopsis: Sam Wesson is trying desperately to get home to his not so perfect life for the holidays, but when a freak snowstorm stands him in a tiny airport in Jackson Hole, Wyoming he may find a new reason to celebrate the season. Dean Winchester doesn't believe in miracles and he has never stayed in one place for more than a few months. But when he meets Sam Wesson during the most festive time of the year, he might just have found something worth believing in.

NOTE: This story focuses on un-related Sam and Dean as they find one another on a blustery Christmas night. It is a romantic Christmas story. Very light on the SLASH action, but it is there.

Rated T.

Don't like? Don't read it. SLASH M/M relationship!

Please keep in mind that I do not have a Beta, all grammatical errors are my own.

Please Review: So I know there's interest

Chapter Six

Cars and Snow Storms

Dean glanced at the closed door to the bathroom. He'd debated about slipping in there and helping Sam shower, but then he figured he'd better work on getting everything squared away for the upcoming drive. He was already having a hard time focusing his drifting thoughts. All he seemed able to focus on was Sam's amazing body and the tenderness he'd seen reflected in the man's face when he'd ghosted his fingers down Dean's cheek and smiled. There was that crazy little beauty mark to the left of Sam's nose and he couldn't seem to think of anything else.

"That was…" Sam had glanced up at the ceiling of the room and then down at Dean. "I don't have the words to explain what that was. But thank you." He finally said in a soft satisfied voice that sent shivers racing up and down Dean's spine. He'd smiled simply and then grabbed Sam's hand, kissing the palm.

Then he'd nodded and pulled Sam's face down into a languid kiss that had quickly turned into something else. Hence the shower for Sam. He'd fallen asleep after and Dean had gathered his things and cleaned up.

He glanced around the room and couldn't help the evil little smile when his eyes landed on the bed. The covers were everywhere and it was very obvious that no one had been sleeping in that bed. Not that Dean cared what other people thought. That was part of his problem and part of why he should stay the hell away from Chicago.

Sam's cell phone rang on the table, pulling him from his musings, and Dean grabbed it answering in a swift and practiced motion. He didn't even think about it, he just didn't want Sam to miss a call from son. He assumed that that was who was calling. Oh how wrong he was...

"Sam's phone." He said simply.

There was a surprised gasp on the other end of the line and then a curt female reply. "Who is this? Where is Sam Wesson?" Yup, definitely a woman's voice and she sounded royally irritated that she had not gotten Sam on the phone.

Dean raised an eyebrow at the tone. "Doesn't matter and Sam stepped out for a minute. Who shall I tell him called?" He did his best impression of a snotty butler. Her tone was grating enough that he debated on just telling her that Sam was washing off several hours of mind-blowing sex. But he refrained.

"This is Meg Masters. And can you have my fiancé call me when he gets out of the shower?" She hissed out and hung up on him.

It didn't settle in at first. That she'd called herself Sam's fiancé. Dean set the phone back exactly where he'd picked it up and let his eyes flicker to the bathroom when the water turned off. Sam's engaged? He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. One that seemed to affirm his initial thoughts...and being that he was a bit cynical, that really wasn't a good thing. Sam hadn't been honest with him and Dean felt used…again. Not that Sam would know any of that, but still.

If Sam was having second thoughts about this chick, then why not just come clean with Dean about it? Dean slumped down onto the bed and shook his head in disappointment. There had been a chance at something real and special with Sam, but he wasn't going to break up the man's previous life to have it. He'd seen what happens when someone was in a marriage, in this case engagement, and another person destroys it with their simple presence. He wouldn't do that to someone else...he just wouldn't.

Plus there was Adam to think about. Dean hadn't met the kid, but Sam had talked about him as they'd laid in bed after the first time. He couldn't keep the affection from coloring his voice and Dean found it endearing that he loved the kid that much. He'd never seen what a real father-son relationship should look like. His own relationship with his father had been nothing like that. It had been bloody, violent, and ended in tragedy. He knew that wasn't the norm, but still, that was his perception of family.

At least now Dean didn't have to try and figure out how to stay in Chicago after he dropped Sam off. He'd just enjoy this trip. Have world altering sex with Sam and then he'd quietly slip out of the city before there were any questions about him. He figured he could deflect Sam's curiosity for the two-day drive. They would be long days, but he knew from experience that he could make it in less than three if tried.

He'd drive the man to Chicago and he'd keep his mouth shut about what he'd learned. Maybe Sam would bring it up? At least that way Dean wouldn't feel as though he'd just had his heart ripped out. Which was strange, considering he barely knew Sam. The only thing that Dean knew for certain at the moment, was that Sam made him feel in a way to no one ever had. So he did what he did best, he put on a show worthy of an Oscar. The masks that he'd perfected over the whole of his life were readily available and he picked one as Sam stepped out of the steamy bathroom.

He was toweling his hair dry and he grinned when he saw Dean watching the television like nothing was wrong. He didn't notice that Dean's back was ramrod straight or that his hands were clenched into fists inside his pockets. The tiny signs that things were not the same as when he'd entered the bathroom went completely unnoticed. There had been a complete shift in the room, but as Sam stared at Dean and his heart started to race, he didn't notice.

XXXX

Sam glanced over at Dean as he drove. The weather was not great, but he seemed to handle the nasty roads with a skill that spoke of many hours behind the wheel of this car. He'd been dually impressed when Dean had showed him what was obviously his pride and joy. A 1967 Chevy Impala that had been babied and well cared for. The engine had purred to life as the V-8 roared with the flood of fuel as Dean pumped the gas. The chains were already on the tires, which led Sam to assume that Dean had been getting ready to leave anyway.

The roads were only visible maybe fifteen feet in front of them as the car pushed through the slush on the highway. Dean hadn't said anything since they both climbed into the car. But he kept throwing sideways glances over at Sam. "Are you against talking in the car or something?" Sam finally asked when the silence was too much.

"Just concentrating, Sam." Dean answered without looking over.

Sam swallowed the confusion and turned slightly toward him. "You haven't said a word to me since we left the hotel." He glanced at his watch. "And that was an hour ago… Did I do something wrong?"

Dean shook his head. "Nope. Just trying to keep the rubber on the road."

"That's cryptic." Sam shot back without thinking.

A snowplow passed them and threw a whiteout of snow across the hood of the car. "Shit!" Dean swore as he grabbed the wheel with both hands and the tail of the car slipped to the right and then to the left. Sam's arm shot out and he grabbed the dashboard with one hand and Dean with the other.

"Ahh…come on." He groused. As the snow cleared and Dean was again able to see the road. He looked down Sam's long arm where it rested across his chest. Sam let it drop without thinking and it landed on his upper thigh. The feeling of his hand on Dean, left a burning sensation from the pressure and he swallowed his desire to take that hand and pull it up to his lips for a kiss. He kept his hands on the wheel instead.

Dean tilted his head, but didn't say anything when Sam didn't immediately remove it. He did, however, reach over and turn on the radio. Classic rock filled the interior of the car as they continued to move at a steady pace down along the deserted mountain pass between Jackson and Palisades. The snow was still falling in heavy wet sheets, but the wind had died out. The tiny sparkles that reflected back from the sunlight was enchanting and Sam found that he was actually enjoying the ride.

He left his hand on Dean's leg; a part of him wondered if the other man would reach down and intertwine their fingers…God I hope so. He thought in silence. Without meaning to, he'd developed feelings for the strong silent man driving him home for the holidays.

When another hour passed and Dean neither said anything, nor took Sam's hand he finally pulled it back and folded his arms before looking back out at the trees. Huge pine trees lined both sides of the two-lane highway.

"I need to stop for gas in the next town." Dean said without looking at him. "We can find something to eat if you're hungry."

Sam frowned. When had they gone from 'can't-keep-our-hands-off-each-other' to barely speaking? He didn't understand what had happened. He shook his head and then pulled his phone out. "Food would be great." He said simply as he looked at his emails. He thought about calling Adam, but he might lose the signal out here and he didn't want to scare the kid. Instead he pulled up his call list to find Ellen's number so he could text her that he was on his way.

That was when he saw Meg's call and a missing piece of the puzzle fell into place. She must have called while he'd been in the shower and Dean had answered. He wanted to groan at that. How much had she said? What did Dean know? He hated to think of the way that the kind man sitting next to him might be feeling. Meg had a biting tongue when she felt slighted and Dean answering Sam's phone would have done exactly that. But he also didn't want to tell Dean something that he might not know yet.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he debated. Twenty minutes later Dean pulled into a little gas station with a diner attached and climbed out as soon as the car was off. He stretched his back and lifted his arms toward the sky. There was a swath of tanned skin that peeked out when his jacket rode up. Sam swallowed his reaction to just seeing Dean's naked torso and lower back. He quickly climbed out of the car and followed Dean inside the small ma and pop place.

It smelled like coffee and there were several other travelers taking a meal in the place. Sam glanced around and smiled at the festive little Christmas tree and the colored lights that had been strewn across the long counter. There were several booths lining the wall where the window was and Dean grinned suggestively at the woman behind the register when she waved them through.

"Find a seat, hon. I'll be right with you." But she wasn't immune to his handsome face or his piercing green eyes.

"Thank you, darling." Dean said easily. She flushed and her face brightened at the friendly response from the handsome patron.

Sam slipped in across from Dean and flipped over the coffee mug in a silent request for the black brew. He glanced over to make sure that there was plenty of cream and sugar, there was. "So do you stop by places like this a lot?" He managed in a lame attempt to break this all consuming silence between them.

Dean shrugged. "Best food is always the tiny dives along the highway." He winked at the waitress when she filled his coffee mug. "Thank you." He looked at her nametag. "Wendy…what's good in this place?"

The woman beamed. "Pretty much everything. Any preferences?"

Is she flirting with him? Sam wondered as the pretty brunette sidled up toward Dean and leaned over his menu pointing out several burger options. Is he flirting with her?!

"If you're suggesting the double slam, I'll take one of those...extra onions." He smiled and his green twinkled. She blushed again and turned to Sam.

"And for you?" She was still friendly, thought not as interested in what Sam had to say.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw Dean's gaze drop to the woman's shapely backside. "I'll just have coffee, thanks." He'd lost his appetite anyway.

The blonde man on the other side of the table tilted his head. "Aren't you hungry? It's gonna be a while before we stop again. Especially if you want to make to Chicago by Christmas." His expression darkened a bit, but there were no other signs that he was concerned.

Sam snorted. "I'm fine." He dumped a fair amount of cream into his coffee mug and reached for the sugar. Dean lifted an eyebrow in question. "What?" Sam asked defensively. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, was playing in the background and for the first time Sam wished they'd change the station.

"You're going to ruin a perfectly good cup of coffee." Dean said flatly with an arched eyebrow.

"Like it matters." Sam shot back. Dean's cheek muscle twitched, but that was his only response to the snarky comment. Sam took a sip and held back a grimace at the strong coffee flavor. He generally drank lattes, not normal coffee…he was missing his lattes at the moment. He set the mug down and lifted his gaze to connect with Dean's. He was drinking his coffee black and seemed to be savoring the bitter brew. "How long do you think the drive will be?"

Dean inhaled slowly and thinned his lips as he thought. "Um…another twenty some-odd hours. It depends on the roads between here and there. We should make up some time when we drop further to the south, but we could still hit some pretty gnarly weather."

It was the most Dean had said to him since they left the hotel. "So are you talking to me again?" Sam asked innocently.

"I was never not talking to you, Sammy."

Sam swallowed his knee jerk response. "You've been really quiet." He pulled his lower lip between his teeth as he debated on asking the next question. In the end, he decided to just go for it. "Does this have anything to do with my missed call from Meg?"

He expected some sort of reaction from the other man. But Dean shocked the hell out of him when he burst out laughing. "You mean the call from your fiancé?" He shook his head. There was no humor to the laughter and Sam wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. He knew that if their positions had been reversed he wouldn't have handled it as well as Dean had. He'd be angry and confused…and looking for a fight. Which as he looked into the sparking green eyes of the man across from him, he guessed Dean was. "Why would I be upset about that?"

"Dean…"

"No, Sam. Look…it's fine. It was one night. Okay, it was one day and it didn't mean anything. I get it. So don't worry about us. There is no us. There's a you and there's a me. And we just happened to spend several fantastic hours in bed together. No harm no foul." Dean finished with a shrug. His stomach was twisting painfully and he was pretty sure that even if he managed to eat this burger, it wouldn't be staying down.

Sam felt as though Dean had just pulled his heart out of his chest and stomped on it with his heavy work boots. He'd assumed, wrongly apparently, that there was something special happening here. But as he stared at the blank expression on Dean's face he supposed that he must have been reading more into it than was really there. "Oh…okay then. I'm glad. That'll make the trip easier. Just two guys heading in the same general direction."

Dean nodded and sat back as their food arrived. Sam dropped his gaze and missed the flash of hurt that raced across the green depths of Dean's eyes as he watched Sam dig into his coffee again.

"Will there be anything else, sweetie?" The busty brunette asked. She was not being subtle and Sam found that he was clenching his fist around his spoon he poured more cream into his coffee.

"No, darling. Thank you." Dean said with a smile. It didn't reach his eyes though; he didn't feel much like smiling at the moment. His heart had been shredded that morning in the room and Sam had just finished off the job. So they were just travel companions? Fine. He could do that. At least he was pretty sure he could do that…all right, he was positive that it would suck out loud, but he would try. Particularly when all he really wanted to do was rip Sam's clothes off and make wild passionate love to him right here on this table.

TBC…

Author's Note: Next chapter…Thank you for the reviews. They were awesome! You guys are awesome!

Please Review: It makes for a great holiday present…just saying.