Disclaimer: Eric Kripke owns I'm just playing with the sandbox.

A.N: Nothing to say.

Summary: After S2, ELAC, before BL. Dean had pushed his brother away after their father's death, but Sam had been suffering silently. Will Dean realize before its too late that Sam didn't just walk away from the accident?


Chapter 2: Almost Violent Protest

Sam finally managed to get his raging headache under some semblance of control. What he needed to do was get upstairs and lay down. It seemed nowadays he really valued his sleep a little more than necessary. He didn't need to worry about Dean because since arriving at Bobby's, he made it pretty clear he didn't want Sam anywhere near him, hence the separate bedrooms.

So if he could just get to upstairs without Bobby in particular questioning him he could hide away from the world for another while. A soft warm bed sounded good right about now.

With that plan firmly in place, Sam pushed up and off the car. He stumbled before he managed to right himself. He shut his eyes tightly, feeling dizzy. Once he managed to regain his equilibrium he peeled open his eyes and managed to put one foot in front of the other well enough to make it to the stairs of the house. That dull throb in his head, seemed to be attached to him, it jogged in his head as he walked. Sam sighed before putting on his game face. He went ahead and bounced up the four stairs and his head did not thank him, but he figured it would once he laid down. He opened the door and turned to the stairs.

"You alright?" came a gruff voice.

It took everything in Sam not to flinch. Without turning around he answered, "Yeah, Bobby. I'm fine. Just…gonna lay down." Was that his voice? It sounded rough and scratchy. He cleared it. "I'm fine." he repeated.

Without preamble, or waiting for a response, Sam walked up the stairs, each step jarring his already jarred head. However when he made it to his room, shut the door and fell to the bed, he swore his head breathed a small sigh. He was asleep not five minutes later.

Bobby watched Sam trudge up the stairs, as if in pain. He sighed. He knew that there was something wrong with Sam, he just didn't know what. Every since the brothers came back from seeing Ellen and getting involved in that hunt, both brothers acted differently and not in a good way.

Dean seemed to clam up tighter than Alcatraz. He refused to do any talking whether to him or Sam. If it was, it was minimal, as minimal could get. Sam, on the other hand, seemed to slip further into himself. Bobby began to notice that Sam zoned out at times, a blank expression on his face. Bobby had even caught him stumbling from time to time. One time he eaten a sandwich and ten minutes later he came back for another one.

Problem was that Sam thought he didn't eat the first sandwich. He had literally forgotten he had eaten. Bobby noticed that sometime he seemed to exhibit short-term memory loss.

Not a good thing.

This was falling apart so fast, so much that Bobby worried for both of them. This could not be what John would have wanted for his sons. John Winchester was many things, but even Bobby could not see him approving of the brother's handling of this death:

Separately.

Instead of bringing them together it was slowly tearing them apart. And since John, wasn't here, it was falling to Bobby to do something.

And he needed to do it now.

The door opened and a stoic Dean came wandering in. Bobby tore his glaze from the stairs where he was staring behind a disappearing Sam and followed Dean. Without so much a glance, much less a word, he passed Bobby and went to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, pulled out a beer. Bobby watched as he opened the bottle and threw the cap in the sink before proceeded to walk past Bobby intending to go back outside.

"Dean….."

"Don't want to hear it Bobby." Was all the reply he got before the door slammed in his face.

Bobby twitched. He was two seconds away from going and smacking Dean upside the head. More like beating some sense into the boy. Bobby opened the door and walked out catching up with Dean. When he saw the beat up trunk of the Impala he blinked.

"What the heck happened here?" he asked.

Dean spun around, not realizing that Bobby had followed him. Getting over his momentarily shock he glowered at Bobby and took a sip of his beer. "Nothing." He murmured.

"This don't look like nothing, boy. What happened?" Bobby growled.

Dean leaned on his work station as he answered simply. "It got damaged."

"Really?" Bobby forked an eyebrow surveying the damage, "This looks like a bus load of anger to me."

Dean turned and glared at Bobby. "You got a reason to be here or what?"

Bobby's jaw worked itself. "I live here."

Dean had the good gracious to lower his glaze and look at his beer.

Bobby sighed before speaking. "We need to talk."

"I don't want to talk."

"I didn't ask you."

Dean growled low in his throat.

"It's Sam."

"Oh, heck no!" Dean cried pushing off the work station, "I'm not talking about him!"

Bobby was surprised at the almost violent protest Dean was having. He growled as he got over his surprised. "Dean, something is wrong with your brother! Can't you see it?"

Dean gave a sarcastic laugh, "When is it not?"

Bobby looked at the younger male incredulously, "How can you say that about your own brother?"

"Bobby, why do you defend him? Everyone defends him! The one time I need some time to myself and everyone wants to harp on me. What's with that, huh? I'm not gonna put up with Sam's emo-ness right now."

"Dean…." This boy was trying Bobby's patience, "Something is seriously, wrong with his your brother."

"And again, thus I shall reiterate, when is it not?" Dean turned and began to stalk off.

"Don't you walk away from me boy!" Bobby yelled.

"Watch me!" Dean called over his shoulder.

Bobby gave a loud growl before turning and walking back into the house.

Apparently, this would be harder than he thought.

TBC….


A.N: I know we want to smack Dean upside the head. I feel for Bobby. Amazing he has such restraint.