Disclaimer: Eric Kripke owns I'm just playing with the sandbox.
A.N: Awww, last chapter, I'm afraid! Once again thanks for all the reviews/favs/alerts! I'm glad people were interested in the story!
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?
Epilogue: Beginning to Heal
Two and half weeks later:
"D'n? W-whatcha….d'ing?" Sam asked.
Dean looked up from under the hood of the Impala. When he saw Sam come trudging towards him he shook his head and laid his tool aside.
"No, no, Sam. You need to be resting. You heard the doctor." Dean met him halfway and gripped Sam's bicep trying to turn him back around towards the house.
Sam made a face but wouldn't budge. "…'ired of being in…h-h-house."
Sam had progressed quite nicely after he awoke. He could walk okay, except sometimes he stumbled here and there. His muscles ached from falling. His memory was alright too, except for the day he passed out; that day was hazy and Sam only remembered snippets here and there. Dean was secretly glad that he didn't remember all that happened, mostly concerning his bad conduct. The most problem Sam had was his speech. Sam took twice as long to complete a sentence and often stuttered. With some therapy, his speech improved. He still stuttered but slowly his speech was making it's away to regular complete sentences. The doctors released him a mere three days ago under the pretense of taking his meds and continuing to rest and don't stress out. Dean had taken that to heart and had be hovering like crazy ever since. Normally it would drive Sam up the wall but he secretly relished in the attention and it seemed to make Dean satisfied as well, as if he needed to do this.
"Rest, Sam. I'm not taking chances this time." Dean tried to move him.
Sam stood his ground. "..H-h-heck no. 'isten, just let me…s-s-stay out here. Fresh air does….g-good. J-j-ust …'it and….w-w-w-wa…t-tch ya."
Dean glared at Sam before sighing. He had a point and he would be sitting after all. "Fine...", Dean snorted and pulled up a lawn chair before easing his brother into it, "...but, I'm telling you, you move to the left or right in any way, and I'm taking you back in and you will lie down."
Sam snickered. "….D-deal."
Dean stared at his brother a long moment before returning to his work up under the hood. A moment later he paused and looked at Sam, confusion on his face. "How the heck did you get past Bobby anyway?" he asked the troubling question raising an eyebrow.
Sam cocked his head and gave an angelic smile. "I still g-g-got m-mad skills, ya 'now."
Dean busted out laughing. "Rrrrrright. You mad alright." he grinned.
"S-shut up."
Dean rolled his eyes and returned to his work. There was a comfortable silence as Dean alternated between working and glancing at Sam who had by now picked up a car magazine that was laying around and was flipping through it. Sam blinked at the page before he finally shut it and toss it back on the workbench. He looked up and looked around the junkyard. It was a few moments before he noticed the trunk; it looked as if it was never the object of pure wrath. Sam mentally winced at the memory of hearing the slams. He glanced at Dean before deciding to take the chance. He tread cautiously, afraid to shatter the peace they seemed to have found with each other again.
"….Hey…..y-you fix the….'runk", Sam spoke softly his observation.
Dean stilled and glanced at Sam before continuing his movements under the hood. "Uh, yeah, it was easy to fix. You know, just…pop the dents up and all that. Took about a day to do."
Sam nodded. "Good, dat it's fixed. Looks like it was n-n-never dama'ed."
Dean nodded in silent agreement.
Sam couldn't help it. It kept echoing in his head, and he felt he needed to get it out. So a few seconds later it came, "….'orry….though."
Dean looked over at Sam downcast face. "Sam, what did I tell you? You have nothing to be sorry for."
Sam glared up at Dean. "Right…and….if I h-h-hadn't…p-pushed you wouldn't have….ssss…napped. I heard it, D'n. It was…p-pure rage. E-e-even y'u can't de-n-ny that."
Dean sighed. This was getting into territory he so didn't want to go into.
Sam noticed and quickly tried to rectify his mistake. "…I'm g-g-gonna go back….i-in-sssside", Sam stood so quickly, he almost lost his balance but Dean was ready for it and was at his side steadying him.
Dean eased his younger brother back into the chair a soft command following, "Sit down, Sam."
Sam closed his eyes and fought the dizziness. He forgot he couldn't get up so fast. It messed with his equilibrium. He rubbed his temples and focused his breathing.
"Sam….", Dean voice was soft as his hand rested on Sam's shoulder, "I'm only going to go over this once and then I'm done with it. It wasn't your fault, so quite blaming yourself. I shouldn't have gotten as angry as I did. I don't even know why I got so angry. I just looked up and realized I blacked out and had caused excessive damage to my baby. Why, I don't even know, but I don't want you to take that as a sign not to come to me anymore. I want you to. These last couple of weeks, was proof of that. Do you understand me?"
Sam had finally managed to get his dizziness under control. When he did, he looked up at Dean's solemn face. Sam stared at him for a long moment before finally he slowly nodded. "…'lright."
Dean nodded slowly before smirking. Then he picked up the car magazine and dropped it back into Sam's lap. "Now...educate yourself on something useful." He moved to go back under the hood.
Sam crinkled his nose. "…..'oring to me. I didn't m-make it…..pas'...s-second p-page."
Dean gave a fake gasp. "What you speak is blasphemous!" he cried faking a heart attack.
"Jerk", Sam sniffed opening the magazine again.
"B****", Dean shot back fondly.
Comfortable silence drifted between them again. The most peaceful it had been between them since their father's death. It had been so long since they could even enjoy each others company without words.
And it was here to stay.
From the door window, Bobby had the curtain pulled back a little. He smiled at seeing them. He had hoped that this day would come, where both would truly began to heal.
FIN.
A.N: Yay and awww, the end! Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed! It was fun writing this story. =D
