Sam and Dean had not spent this much time together since the younger brother had went back to college. It has been a week since Sam arrived in South Dakota to visit his brother and Dean still was not ready for him to leave.

The two have been catching up on the past year or so. Sam tells him how college is going, and asks about what Dean is doing for work. Dean talks about working in Bobby's old salvage yard and how he has not been getting out as much as he used to.

It was odd for them at first. For the first night or so, it seemed as if they were each being careful to tip-toe around talking about what happened to all of their friends and family. They did not discuss hunting or ghosts or demons or any of the hardships that they had faced together. This of course made it difficult for either of them to find common ground for them to talk about.

But after a couple of days had passed, conversation became easier. They managed to bond over other things. They even watched football together for the first time since they were kids.

The week had gone by so quickly, and now it is time for Sam to say goodbye. The younger Winchester has been strangely quiet all morning, not saying much through breakfast. Even now as he is about to leave, Sam remains fairly reserved.

"I'll see you again soon, right man?" Dean asks, pulling his brother in for a brief hug and patting the taller man's back.

Sam nods quickly, followed by a quick, "Yeah, of course Dean. I'll come see you after um... After my finals for this semester. I'll drive up again."

Dean nods slightly in affirmation as they walk out to the porch. The blonde reaches down to grab one of Sam's duffle bags from its place on the floor by the front door.

"Hey," Sam says a bit quickly, "No man, I can get it." The brunette's hand goes to the strap of the bag quickly, trying to tug it gently away from his brother.

The blonde's eyebrows furrow at the sudden movement from his brother. It seemed to be too quick and too desperate for the insistent pull to simply be a polite gesture for him to carry his own things.

"Whatcha got in here, porn?" Dean jokes doubtfully, pulling the bag away from his younger brother. He forces a quiet, unsure laugh as he steps toward the door.

Sam steps forward with him, not able to keep a calm expression as he reaches for the bag again.

"Why don't you go ahead and grab your other bags from upstairs," Dean says with his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, "I'll go put this in your car."

The brunette stares down at his brother for a moment, looking as though his is doubtful on whether he should do as the other says or not. After a moment's thought, he turns on his heel and heads up the staircase quickly.

Dean does not waste any time. He grabs the keys to Sam's car and heads outside, making his way to Sam's car. He sets the bag down on top of the trunk and unzips it quickly.

He was not sure what he was expecting to find, but this was not it. The bag was mostly full of Sam's clothes and other essentials, but other than that there were about eight different monster lore books that had quite obviously been taken from Bobby's library. One other book though, Dean noticed, was the book that he had found the section about angels in. This particular book had been in Dean's room for the past few weeks since Castiel had awaken there.

The ex-hunter cannot help the panic that is slowly boiling inside of him. He feels as though he is going to be sick. He tosses the duffle bag to the ground and uses the car key to unlock Sam's trunk, pulling it open quickly to reveal the equipment inside.

Bags of salt and iron, shotguns and silver rounds, wooden stakes and candles; all of which line the inside of the trunk. An anti-possession symbol is drawn in chalk on the inside of the trunk.

"Dean."

The older brother turns around quickly to face Sam. "You're going on a hunt?" His voice comes out angry and accusatory, but the tone is only present to mask the fear of his brother putting himself into danger again.

"Dean," Sam repeats, "I can explain. Really, just give me a minute-"

"When were you going to tell me?" Dean yells, only to be followed by an ashamed silence from his brother as the younger Winchester lowers his eyes. The blonde stares at Sam dumbly for a few seconds. "You weren't going to tell me?"

No response.

"Why wouldn't you tell me? Where are you going?" Dean asks the questions quickly, shouting in frustration.

"It isn't your business," Sam declares stubbornly, narrowing his eyes as he walks forward, grabbing his duffle bag from off the ground.

"What do you mean it's not my business?" Dean asks angrily, "It is my business. You're my brother!"

"And I don't have to tell you everything!" Sam finally yells back, throwing the bag into his trunk and slamming the it shut loudly. "I didn't want you to worry! This is something I have to do!"

"And not tell me about it?!"

Sam runs his fingers through his hair in frustration, looking everywhere but at his brother. "You have your secrets and I have mine," Sam says, lowering his voice to try and bring the conversation back down.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean does not let up, his voice still hostile with mistrust. "When was the last time I kept anything from you?!"

Sam's mouth drops open slightly as he thinks back to the events of the past week. How Dean would say that he was going to sleep very early in the evenings at the same time each night. How he would sneak out of the house every night when he thought that Sam was not looking. How one night, when Sam's curiosity got the best of him, he followed Dean out to the shed, only to hear his brother talking to someone through the tin walls.

"What's in the shed, Dean?"

Sorry for the cliffhanger. Please let me know what you think.