04-1. Fade to Black, Epilogue
Arriving back at the Endless Sleep hotel, Dean unlocked the door of their room and stepped inside. He let Aiden walk inside while Sam closed the door. The older brother stretched as he groaned audibly. "Damn, kid, you know how to hit," he said rubbing at his neck and chin. The blond man stood in the center of the room before looking down.
"...Sorry."
"Dean'll be fine," Sam told him sitting down on his made-up bed. "He whines, but he's tougher than he looks."
He grinned once the dark blond man scowled at him before taking off his boots, kicking them at the foot of his own bed. Aiden glanced around the room as he murmured softly. A small efficient television was near the window; the curtains themselves closed and lit by the blaring lime-green neon light outside from the sign. Dean looked over at the blond as he sat down.
"Hey, you can sit down. We're not gonna bite you." He watched his eyes widen and quickly scampered to sit on the gaudy green floor. The dark-blond man stared at Aiden. "I meant on the beds or at that table."
"Now that you mention it, we could've gotten Aiden a room," Sam said taking off his shoes.
The blond man shook his head quickly. "No... it's fine. I'm just...nervous, that's all." He rubbed at his arms before listening to his stomach growl loudly. That's right... He still hadn't eaten anything. He whined as he pulled his hood over his head. The Winchester brothers looked at Aiden then at each other.
"Hey... you hungry?"
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Later, at a diner, Aiden sat at a booth with the two brothers as he chomped down on a large cheeseburger. The diner—affectionately named the Eat and Meet-was designed in the 1950's soda shop fashion. It even had a fully functioning jukebox against the back wall. Sam stared at the younger man practically swallowing his meal before chuckling to himself. He looked up at the brown-haired man, sipping on his Sprite before frowning.
"What's so funny?" he asked munching down more fries.
"I've never seen someone eat like you do. Well, besides Dean, but you have a good reason to eat like that."
Dean turned his head to stare at the side of his younger brother's head dismissively. "Hey, when I see a really good burger like that, I have to eat it. The same goes for pie. Fricking love pie." He rolled his blue eyes and drank his beer, motioning Aiden to continue to eat. "You go ahead an' eat to your heart's content, kiddo."
He smiled slightly before finishing off his cheeseburger and attacked the fries. Sam shook his head as he drank his beer also. "So," the blond man spoke with his mouth somewhat full. "What pies do you like?"
"Too damn many to count," Dean grinned widely. "Why, you want some? Does this place even carry it?"
Aiden lifted his head, pointing to the menu card near Sam's left hand. "It's in here. I always come here whenever I get a chance," he said before frowning gently. He drank his Sprite then pushed his plate away. "But after tomorrow, I guess I won't be here so often." The brothers looked at him silently; Dean eventually tearing his gaze away to look through the menu.
"Hey, come on. You want some ice cream? With sprinkles?"
"...Dean, he's not little," the brown-haired man irritably. The dark-blond man raised an eyebrow before pointing at Sam. "That's why you're not getting any dessert." Aiden watched them for a moment as they began to argue and smiled slightly. He looked down at his plate only to jump back against his seat, stopping the brothers' argument over ice cream. Sam looked at Aiden's plate then back at the blond's face. His face had gone pale; eyes wide as dinner plates.
"Aiden? You alright?" the brown-haired man asked in concern.
"Bet he ate too fast," Dean muttered under his breath, drinking his beer again.
Aiden suddenly gagged and leapt out of his seat, running to the bathroom. Sam stared after him as his older brother looked at him again. "See?"
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Back at the hotel room, Aiden laid on Dean's bed spread with a towel over his closed eyes. He mewled tiredly before letting out a soft groan. The older Winchester looked back at him over his shoulder before turning his gaze back to the television. He flipped through a couple of shows—one about four middle-aged women in the city and another about a kid trapped in an alternate dimension—as he settled on softcore porn. He stared at the screen before tearing his gaze away once Sam walked inside with a small paper bag.
"About time you got back," the dark-blond said. "I was gettin' bored."
The taller man set the bag down on the nightstand, taking out a bottle of antiemetic—Dolasetron—and looked to Dean with a raised eyebrow. "So I'm assuming you guys didn't talk while I went to go get medicine and watched porn?" He saw a huge grin come over his brother's face only to shake his head in exasperation.
"Forget I even asked," Sam sighed.
"But you did," Dean pointed out. "So yes, Sammy. Me and Aiden watched porn while waiting for you."
Aiden murmured in his slumber as Sam shook his shoulder gently. He whined, turning his head to the side. He looked down at him for a moment and shook him again; getting an annoyed grunt in response. "Aiden, I got some medicine for you." The blond man curled up, making a sort of mewling noise in his throat. Dean looked back at him in surprise. "...Aiden?"
"...hnn?"
Moving the towel away from his face, he looked up into green eyes that stared down at him. Aiden sat up somewhat as he looked to the older Winchester. Why was he staring? He rubbed his face tiredly; taking the pills Sam had already shook out from the bottle. He murmured before taking the pills and downing a quick gulp of water from a bottle of water Dean got from the vending machine outside.
"Did you sleep alright?" Dean asked. He leaned forward to poke Aiden in his cheek. "You made a cat noise just now."
He stared at the dark-blond man, a wide grin coming onto his face. Sam simply sighed and shook his head. The blond turned his gaze up to the other man with a startled look. "Did I really?" The younger Winchester nodded as Aiden—embarrassed-fell back against the pillows; Dean laughing heartily. "Oh god, please tell me I didn't."
"You did. I mean, I tried to wake you up to take the medicine and you..." Sam scratched at his own cheek, looking off to the side. "...well, you mewled, dude and curled up."
"I thought it was kinda cute," the dark blond said making both Aiden and the brunette man stare at him in surprise. "What?" He watched the blond's cheeks turn pink and covered his face with his hands. Sam sighed again before sitting down on his bed. Aiden murmured softly as he pulled his hands away from his face; the three of them sitting in awkward silence.
"Hey... if we leave tomorrow, are we gonna do this? Like sit and stare at each other?" he finally asked.
Dean scratched at the light stubble on his chin before standing up. "After something like this, we usually just leave. I figured you needed to...y'know, cope with leaving." He shrugged once Sam looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, I'm taking a shower. You two—obviously looking like nerds—can talk." With that said, Dean waltzed to the bathroom as the two younger men stared after him; the bathroom door closing.
"Is he always like that?" Aiden asked the younger Winchester.
"He can be a jerk, but he means well. I guess."
Sam shrugged before looking at the blond sitting in his brother's bed across from him. His face seemed really pale, and the dark rings underneath his eyes seemed to have come back. The brunette man found himself staring a bit too long as he turned his head to the floor. "That was your first run in with a monster, huh? I'm still surprised you super-charged her."
The blond shrugged his shoulders slightly. "She... called my mom a whore. I wanna find out the truth, but..."
"But what?" the younger Winchester asked, curious.
"I won't be here to see her funeral," Aiden whispered. A lone tear ran down his cheek before he quickly wiped it away with his jacket sleeve. Sam had to look at the blond only to look down. He knew the pain he was going through; he was still getting over his girlfriend's death and had left suddenly, not attending her funeral.
Aiden sniffed before looking over at the brunette. His face had a detached look, green eyes glazing over somewhat; his shoulders were somewhat slumped downwards. The blond moved a hand through his hair slowly as the two sat in silence. Briefly, they could hear the water running in the bathroom while Dean showered. Aiden huffed. Sam lifted his head once the blond man climbed out of his older brother's bed and moved over to him.
"Something wrong?" the brunette asked looking up at him.
"Well... I was curious." He sat down beside the younger Winchester, looking at the floor. "Do you guys have any strange dreams? Or waking dreams?" Aiden saw Sam fold his arms before looking at him in concern.
"So, back at the diner," the brunette began to say.
"I thought I saw maggots in my food," the blond said with a disgusted look. "That's why I threw up earlier."
Sam nodded gently as he looked down at the floor. He rubbed the back of his neck before continuing to speak. "I have dreams too. Weird ones." His green eyes narrowed slightly. "I had a dream about my girlfriend's death... and she died not too long ago."
The blond man looked at the brunette who lowered his head and glared at the gaudy green floor. Aiden moved his hand towards Sam's only to jump once the bathroom door slammed open. They both looked up as Dean sauntered into the room-wearing only a towel around his waist-and rummaged around in his duffel bag. He looked over at them before standing up, holding a pair of boxers. "Ya'll wanna take a picture? It'll last longer."
Sam rolled his eyes and stood up. "Are you done already? I hope you didn't use up all the hot water."
"No, princess, I didn't. It's all there," the dark-blond said pulling on his boxers underneath his towel. "Maybe." He grinned at Aiden who looked away as he changed. "Hey now. We're all men here."
"Well, I was being polite, and I don't really know you—"
"Not to mention nobody needs to see all that," Sam stated standing up. His older brother scoffed, taking off his towel to throw it back into the bathroom. He flexed his muscles, grinning all the while. "Says Sammy, kiddo. I'm fricking sexy."
Aiden blinked at the older Winchester and burst out laughing once he was hit in the face with the younger brother's shirt, nearly falling over. Sam looked over at the younger man as he grinned.
"You're laughing."
The lighter blond looked to Sam with a startled look, his laughter and smile vanishing. He looked down at his lap before closing his tired cloudy blue eyes. He looked back up to look at the brunette once more. "...Thank you. I—" Aiden looked away from Dean when he began to get dressed in his night wear—a simple t-shirt and sweatpants. "...I needed a laugh after all this—after all that, I mean." He shrugged lightly.
"Well, kid," the older Winchester said sitting down on his own bed. Near his bed and the nightstand was a small red cooler. Opening it, he reached inside to take two bottles of beer. "You'll need a bunch of laughs if you're coming with us." Dean handed a bottle to Sam—who took it with a small nod-before reaching inside to grab another. He handed the third one to Aiden.
He pouted lightly, staring at the foreign object—cold and wet with melting ice—in the man's hand. He glanced up at Dean's face. Blue eyes stared at cloudy ones passively before being startled by Sam opening his bottle. Aiden reached out to grab the bottle, feeling the light perspiration already forming along the bottle's neck.
"I'll do what it takes," he murmured snapping off the metal cap from the cold bottle. "I'll do what it takes in order to learn the truth." Turning up the bottle, he drank from its contents slowly before groaning at the slight burn of the aftertaste. Sam looked at Aiden with a quiet stare then drank from his own bottle.
He understood what the younger man was going through.
The death of his mother, nearly being killed that night... everything. The brown-haired man took another swig of his own beer.
The truth would come.
He hoped.
Notes from the Author: I didn't think I would get this done, in light of the circumstances—work and many other things. But I am happy to say that Chapter 5 is in the works. Now, if only I can find the transcripts... *skitters off*