John awoke with a start the dream still so fresh in his mind , he could still smell Mary the lingering smell of jasmine was tickling his nostrils. So many things had happened in the past years that John wasn't sure just how much more he could take , and now he was being visited by his dead wife. He wiped a hand tiredly across his face the dream replaying through his mind. So Mary was sending an angel to help them, an arch angel no less. How the hell was he supposed to deal with it ? Should he tell the boys the truth about Michael who he was and why he was there? When was he going to turn up? Now ? In a few weeks ? Years ? Its not as though Mary had been specific in the details on this and how was he supposed to recognise this angel?

" God I need a drink " he said quietly, he climbed out of bed and walked downstairs it was still very early and he was the only one up, instead of heading for the whiskey which he was craving he made his way to the kitchen and made himself a cup of steaming black coffee, he took it onto the porch to watch the sunrise. The colours spreading through the sky in a beautiful warming glow, he closed his eyes and leant back in the porch swing the sound of the screen door opening quietly alerted him John cracked an eye open to see Dean watching him rubbing at his eyes and peering at him owlishly.

" Hey kiddo what you doing up at this time ? " he asked

" I heard someone moving around , are you okay dad ? "

" Sure I am. You sleep well ? "

" Not bad. Dad ? "

" Yeah what is it Dean ? "

" Do I still have to go to school ? " , John looked to his bleary eyed son who was now sitting beside him on the porch swing and laughed. It was a deep rumble that he couldn't help and the curious look that Dean was shooting him wasn't helping matters at all,

" Yeah son you still have to go to school, sorry but your mom would have wanted you to "

" Oh " Dean looked to his feet and furrowed his brow as if he was in deep concentration then he looked to his father again

" But how will we explain why I haven't been in school ? Won't they ask ? "

" Its ok son Pastor Jim and I have something planned they won't ask too many questions " he placed an arm around Deans slight shoulders and pulled him in, Dean settled into his fathers embrace they both sat there in companiable silence watching the sun rise together.

The months passed quickly and with no sign of Michael appearing John forgot about the dream where Mary had spoken to him. The Winchesters carried on as normal leaving the comforts of the Pastors house after the summer so John could start to pursue some hunts, things where as normal as they could ever be for the family, Dean returned to school with Sam and without the responsibility of bringing up his baby brother his grades flourished, at some of the schools he attended over the coming years his teachers referred to him as a genius. Dean didn't know about that and often thought they over reacted so he tried to tone down his intelligence for fear that it would bring unwanted attention to him and his family, Deans world fell apart when he was 13 he came home from school being late after baseball practice to what he could only describe as world war 3. His father and brother were once again at each others throats screaming at each other they didn't even notice him stood there, the insults flying out of both their mouths dripping with venom was beyond any other argument that Dean had witnessed and he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

" You can't stop me, I'm going, I'm not a weapon you can use in your crusade to kill this damn demon "

" I never said you where but you can't go its…..its too far "

" Too far ? Is that the best you can come up with ? Face it dad you just can't stand that I won't be here anymore to look after Dean and you're going to have to take some responsibility "

" Don't bring your brother into this Samuel "

" You brought him into it when you decided to go after the demon, why can't you just let us be normal "

They continued on yelling at one another until Dean took a tentative step forward

" What's going on ? " he asked raising his voice to be heard over the yelling Winchesters, Sam span around and faced Dean

" I'm going to college Dean. I got a full ride to Stanford its one of the best schools there is "

" You're leaving ? " Dean looked into the eyes of his stubborn brother and knew that he'd already decided he was leaving the Winchester family.

" Dean I want more than hunting " John scoffed and turned his back away from both his sons " I want a normal life away from killing and worrying whether you're going to make it out alive of the next hunt. I…….I just want to live a normal life "

" Sam, so help me if you leave this house don't you ever you come back " Sam faced his father his eyes bore into him

" Fine, I'm gone " he picked up his duffle and slammed out of the apartment, John punched a wall and stormed into his small study and slammed the door.

Dean took off after his brother,

" SAM !! SAMMY WAIT PLEASE!! " he yelled but Sam was already stepping onto the bus and if he heard his brother he didn't acknowledge that he did he just sat in a seat. As the bus was pulling away Dean was running at the side of it yelling Sam's name trying to get his attention but his words didn't seem to penetrate the glass, defeated Dean dropped to his knees and sobbed, he didn't care that people where staring at him or that his tough exterior had been stripped bare for all to see, all Dean cared about was that his brother, his life had left him. He didn't know how long he sat here but when he finally raised himself to his feet the sky was darkening and he could feel the cold creeping into his bones, wiping his eyes he wandered back to the apartment that his father had rented.

The room was dark when he entered, there was no sign of his father and Dean hadn't seen the impala in the parking lot, he sighed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He looked in the mirror to find red rimmed eyes staring back at him he looked away quickly washed his face and went to his room to lie down. The room seemed empty without Sam there, Dean felt empty. He didn't blame his brother for wanting to go to college he remembered conversations from before he'd been taken by the demon even though Sam had been so young he'd always wanted to go to college so why should now be any different. A voice at the back of his mind told him that it was different now, that the whole situation was different but maybe Sam had left because of Dean. He'd said he didn't want to look after Dean any more at least that's what he'd heard anyway. But Dean could take of himself , had always been able to take care of himself so why would Sam leave ?

" He wanted to be away from you " a voice said " Its you that brings him down and even your father doesn't want you, or he'd be here now "

" That's not true " Dean said aloud " Maybe I can call Sam make him see that I can look after myself, he can come home then and we can be a family again " with this thought lingering in his mind Dean rolled onto his stomach and let sleep claim him.

John entered the apartment two hours later to find his young son sleeping on his bed, he let out a relieved breath, he'd been searching for Dean since he'd heard the young teen bolt after his brother and hadn't been able to find him.

" You keep disappearing on me son and you're going to be the death of me " he said quietly he ran his fingers through Deans short light brown hair and let his hand linger on his cheek. Dean moved into the touch and his eyelids fluttered open,

" Dad ? " he croaked

" Hey, you okay ? Where'd you run off to sport ? "

" I err…………I just went out " he mumbled not wanting to admit to his dad that he'd unsuccessfully chased Sam down

" Can I…………can I call Sammy tomorrow dad ? Please ? " Dean gave his dad a pleading look, that John just didn't think he could say to, and they thought it was only Sam who could do the puppy eyes John thought , how wrong they where. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat in truth he didn't know if Sam would answer his phone he could only hope that he would, for Deans sake.

" Sure son, you can call him if you want " Deans face lit up and a sense of hope shone in his eyes that made Johns chest tighten he could only hope that Sam would just answer the phone.

" You hungry son ? "

" Nah , I'm good. Tired though "

" Get some rest then " , Dean nodded his head and snuggled back down under the covers. His last thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep was that everything would be alright tomorrow, he'd call Sam and Sam would come home, or maybe he could visit him during vacation. Yes tomorrow everything would be better.

Authors note; Okay guys that's it, I tried my hardest to get another chapter out for ya it took me ages to write it and I don't know feel like I'm losing my way with this story, I know where I want to go with it but finding it very hard to put it into words.

But I'm going to persevere. On a different note just watched mystery spot and cried along with Sam…………Man I love this show xxxxxx Go on now and make my day and leave a review make me believe that I'm writing for a reason at least…please……