Sam Winchester tried to keep his eyes reading the words of his book, Sense and Sensibility, as to ignore the shouts coming from the other room. Ever since John had gotten home, he'd found every reason to knock Dean down. Sam suspected that he was a little drunk, because he pointed out the overflowing trash bin and yelled, "See, you can't even manage to take out the damn trash!" Sam hated the yelling, hated how Dad couldn't see how much Dean tried, but most of all, he hated how Dean never fought back. It was always "yessir" or "no sir." John yelled "Jump!" and got an ever-obedient "How high?" Sam hated Dean's blind loyalty to the man, even though he was clearly the world's worst father.

Sam jumped when there was a loud crash, then a slam, and then quiet. He looked towards the door of the adjoining bedroom to the main livings area. Had John done something? Hastily, Sam bookmarked his spot and jumped through the door.

Dean was just standing by the table, jaw clenched and unmoving. Sam saw the turmoil behind his eyes and the way his fists were clenched in too-tight balls. "Dean?" he asked placidly. "Are you all right? Did Dad do anything?"

Dean sighed, running a tense hand over his face. Once his face was uncovered again, that cocky grin was back into place. "Nah, he's just two sheets to the wind. I told him he needs to cool off. He's probably out set on banging some girl." Dean shrugged. "No big deal."

Sam dutifully studied Dean's face, but if there had been any hurt there, it was gone, covered by his skillfully-placed mask. "I heard him yelling," Sam pushed. "You know you didn't do anything wrong, right? You were just reading."

Dean cringed at that final word, and Sam knew he wasn't fine. The whole screaming fest had been set off by John returning home to see Dean transfixed by a book. He'd flipped, going on a tangent of how Dean needed to focus on hunting now that he was out of school and nothing else. John had told him a few days ago about a hunt in Topeka that they needed to take with orders to research it. Dean had done the research, but when John got home and saw Dean not researching, he assumed his eldest was skipping out on duty. Books were petty, he said, and that if he ever caught Dean reading while he should be working, he'd disown him.

John was drunk, so he obviously didn't mean the harsh words. No way would he ever disown Dean. Ever. However, Dean had clearly taken it as a serious blow to his character.

"Reading's stupid," Dean muttered darkly. "Don't know why I was even doing it in the first place. I've gotta save all the books for my geek brother, yeah?"

Sam chewed on his lower lip, not liking Dean's new persona. "What were you reading?" he asked casually, expecting some low reading level action novel with pictures or, God forbid, a porno.

Dean shrugged listlessly once more. "Dunno, some post-wartime thing. Voggenut, I think his name is?"

Sam reeled at that. "You mean Vonnegut? Kurt Vonnegut?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sam smiled to himself without letting Dean see. Judging by his nonchalant appearance, Dean thought that reading Vonnegut was no big deal. However, Sam knew that it was heavy reading if you were to read it and understand it. He'd read Slaughterhouse-Five last year, and still didn't get most of the imagery in it.

"Did you like it?"

Dean glared at Sam. "Drop it. It's just a dumb book." He sighed wearily, rolling his shoulders back. "Now, what do you want for dinner?"

So much for Dean thinking books were stupid and geeky. He took every opportunity he could to help Sam with his English homework, especially when it was something related to a well-known classic. He tried to act casual about it, but Sam knew what he was doing. If he was helping Sam with his homework, he could freely talk about books. He acted as if it were his duty as a big brother, but Sam saw the way his eyes lit up at the sight of Sam's tattered copy of Cat's Cradle and how passionately he spoke about it.

"Never read it," he admitted, "though I'm sure it's good. If you're into geek stuff like that."

That's how Sam developed his own version of hide and seek.

A week before he was supposed to turn the book into the library, Sam "forgot" his book in Dean's toolbox that was sitting out by the Impala. Dean was inside getting a drink after tuning Baby up for an hour, so Sam casually dropped the book in there under a few tools where he knew Dean would find it. Then, all he had to do was wait.

Six days later, the book was returned to him. "Found it in my toolbox," Dean said as he gingerly proffered the book. He looked unwilling to part with it, though he eventually handed it to his brother. "You need to keep better track of your books, kiddo."

Sam muttered a "thanks," then started flipping through it. He smiled when he saw minuscule pencil marking that hadn't been there before. Dean had read it, obvious by the tattered dog-ears that Sam was certain he hadn't made. Dean had underlined phrases, jotted down notes in the margins, and starred some paragraphs. While Sam was appalled to the idea of ever writing in a book, he grinned as he read the thought-provoking words Dean had so-dutifully left.

In the weeks that followed, Sam kept "forgetting" his books everywhere try went. In the shower, in Dean's pillowcase, on top of the radio in the Impala. Each time, he always got them back, but it took a few days. When Dean returned the book, he would cajole Sam on his carelessness, but not seem particularly angry. Each time a book was returned, it looked more read than it had before and always bore the light pencil notes that signified Dean reading it.

But Dean won't read in public, lest he risk the anger of John. The only way Sam knows he's reading the books are by these tell-tale signs. He doesn't know when Dean finds the time to read them, because he doesn't even let Sam witness the feat.

John never saw Dean reading again. Sam wished that Dean would for once stick out his neck and do what he wanted to do instead of shrinking under John's ruling. But somehow, with just the assurance that Dean was reading, Sam didn't really mind.

I've decided that this will be a quick mini-series, since there was a good response. :)

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!