"Sam, you've got to be kidding me," Colby muttered darkly through clenched teeth.
Sam looked reproachingly at his friend, shaking his head. "Not at all. He's super smart, and—"
"Sam, he's reading Busty Asian Beauties! His type is the kind who beats up nerds like us! I know he's your brother, but I can't believe you expect me to believe that he's—"
"Just trust me," Sam insisted, rising from his seat at one of the many study tables in this library and heading towards the couch where Dean was lounging.
He and Colby were doing a collaborating assignment on analyzing the metaphors and symbolisms of Shakespeare's King Lear. They had to write a two-paged essay on what Shakespeare's message about humanity was, and how it was applicable today. Then, in addition, they had to write and perform a skit using old modern English as Shakespeare had based off of the play. And, man, this project sucked.
This was the only afternoon Colby was free, so they'd decided to meet up at the library to do the project together. But, if Sam came to the library, then so did Dean. He'd hoped that his older brother would be enthralled by the multitude of books surrounding him, but was appalled when he saw Dean bringing his whole collection of skin mags along with his Walkman loaded with some heavy metal tape. He would leave Sam alone to study, if Sam left him alone to his dirty fantasies. It was a win-win situation.
However, he and Colby needed help. No matter how many times they read a certain segment of the play, they could glean nothing of its meaning. So, Sam suggested asking Dean if he could shed some light on the situation.
They walked up to Dean and Colby grimaced. "He's listening to Metallica, Sam," he whispered in distaste, as both boys could hear the music blasting at unsafe levels. "He won't be able to help."
"Give him a chance," Sam hissed, before tugging Dean's headphones off. Dean jumped, a near-feral look in his eyes as he reached instinctively for a gun in his waistband, but calmed down as he recognized the "threat" as Sam.
He paused the music player and said, "What is it, Sam?" He looked imploringly as if to ask if something supernatural was going on, but Sam shook his head.
"We just, uh…" He found himself stuttering, unsure how to ask Dean to give up his naked women for Shakespeare. "We wanted to ask if you'd help with our homework."
Dean raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Homework on what?"
"Shakespeare." Sam held his breath in anticipation.
Dean pursed his lips momentarily, before nodding. "Sure thing. Just don't expect me to do the whole 'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou, Romeo?'"
They'd studied Romeo and Juliet a few weeks ago, so Sam smirked when Dean perfectly quoted the play. He saw Colby's jaw tighten as he came to the same realization. "We have to write an essay about King Lear," Sam said. "Then we get to write a short drama of our own based off of it."
Dean made a little "huh" sound, the rose from his seat. "All right, kids, let's see what I can do."
Sam mentally stuck out his tongue at Colby. He knew his big brother would be eager to help, especially since it involved books. No matter how much he tried to hide it, Sam knew he loved reading. Since last year, he'd been constantly bringing home books to hide around the motels for Dean to find and read. Dean had read almost all of them, excluding some young adult novel that Sam had been sucked into due to its "touchy-feely" vibe.
As they walked back to where Sam and Colby had been studying earlier, Sam noticed Dean's eyes flitting over to a stand filled with Stephen King books, before he instantly looked away. Sam made a mental note to pick up a few of those books before they went home; Dean had made Sam watch Cujo, Pet Sematary, The Shining, and Carrie last summer. All at night. While Sam knew about the real monsters and ghosts, horror movies never failed to freak him out. Maybe Dean would like to read some of King's books instead of merely watching the movies…
"So, Shakespeare," Dean said, taking a seat next to Sam and across from Colby. "They're still teaching that old man in schools, huh?"
Colby shifted in his seat. "Uh, yeah," he responded, clearly uncomfortable with his friend's brother.
Dean cracked his knuckles. "Wonderful," he murmured. "So King Lear… That's the one with the screwy old guy who surrendered his kingdom to his two hot daughters, banished his not-so-hot daughter, then hell broke loose and all of them died?"
"Uh, it never specifically said if Goneril and Regan were…hot…," Colby said.
"C'mon, man, I had to make English class interesting!" Dean exclaimed, a cocky grin painted on his face. "And by the way, the evil chicks are always hot." He clicked his tongue in an appreciative manner. "Always…"
Sam cleared his throat before Dean could fall into a daydream about King Lear's daughters. "Dean," he said pointedly.
"Right." Dean grabbed the paper that listed Sam and Colby's assignment. "Let's get this thing started."
"He has to be a prodigy," Colby insisted once their homework was one-hundred percent completed, thanks to the help of Dean. "I mean, no way a guy like him can be that smart."
Sam smiled. "He tries to hide it, but he really loves to read."
"But the way he made sense of it when even we couldn't was amazing!" The excitement and admiration on Colby's face was hysterical, considering the boy's previous contempt for Dean and his "type."
"I told you so," Sam said in a sing-song voice.
Colby rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Can you bring him along whenever we need school help? I'll never get a B again with Dean Redford up my sleeve!"
Sam chuckled, knowing that they'd probably be moving two states over in a week or so. "We'll see," Sam said. "He's twenty-one, you know. He's got better things to do than help a couple kids with their homework."
"Well why's he not in college then? He could so be a Lit major."
"It's just never been his thing, I guess." Sam shrugged. "He'd much rather be a mechanic, I think. Like our dad."
Colby's eyebrows skyrocketed. "Really?"
"Yeah." It was all lies, obviously. Dad hadn't been a mechanic in seventeen years, and while Dean knew all about cars, hunting would always be his life.
On his way out of the library, Sam grabbed Cujo. Flipping through it, he saw f-bombs on nearly every page and graphic depictions of the demon-dog tearing people apart. His smile reached his eyes; Dean would enjoy it, especially after finding it in his duffel buried underneath his underwear.
This chapter's idea was sent by ArtistKurai, and I couldn't resist. Hope you liked it! :)