Title: Step-Brothers: Blood Doesn't Tie Us

Genres: Family / Friendship / Drama

Rating: T

Summary: Sam didn't want a new mom or brother but couldn't deny his dad happiness. With drama and problems, the Winchesters must learn to get along. Sam/Dean later

Warnings: Sam/Dean, Mary/John, het pairings, slash pairings, incest, cursing, Sam/others, Dean/others, homophobia, no hunting AU, family drama, epic length

SIX

Bobby Singer was one of John's friends, best friends. It was like Dean and Jimmy, or Sam and Andy. It felt surreal to Dean. Somehow he'd gotten it into his head that John didn't have friends, that mom didn't have friends, because adults just didn't have friends. It was a kid thing, a teenage thing, not a grown up thing. Grown ups had families, sons and daughters, wives and husbands, that was it. Anything else and well…it just wasn't possible. But it was. It was and the physical evidence was sitting right here drinking coffee and laughing at dad's ridiculous jokes and sharing inside sports info and talking about what he caught last time he went fishing.

"Now as much as I love that you came to see us early, Bobby, you don't mind if I ask what made you change your mind–because I was pretty sure you said you'd stop by on New Year's," John said leaning his chair back.

Bobby sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Oh trust me, Winchester, as much as I just love hanging out with you, you weren't the sole reason I came here. I just happened to be in the neighborhood this time and then saw this munchkin here." The pat on Dean's back was barely any more tolerable than dad's hair ruffling. Dean scowled openly.

John just frowned like that was the most absurd thing he heard all night, as if the thought that he wasn't the reason for his friend coming over here wasn't possible. "Well now you definitely got me intrigued. Why are you in Lawrence?"

There was a slight pause, then Bobby shrugged and sipped his coffee and then he was leaning back against his seat looking relaxed and at home. "Missouri," he said simply.

John sagged. There was another lapse in silence and Dean became bored and tired when he realized the men weren't going to say anymore, both looking somewhat thoughtful in the dim light, like they were back in some long lost memory that was beyond Dean's reach and understanding. Dean was sure they were. He trudged upstairs and went to sleep for a couple more hours in his room.

He woke up at nine to Sam's yell coming from downstairs. Mom was already dressed in an oversized blue shirt that looked suspiciously like John's, one that came straight from the collection he'd won from attending countless baseball games. She also wore one of his red striped boxers. Mary sat in the rocking chair by the Christmas tree, her legs crossed Indian style. Dad was sitting on the couch across the large flat screened TV, his head sagging to the side from exhaustion but he looked up at Dean with a lopsided grin as he waved him to come down and join everybody in opening presents.

Sam had just started, apparently too impatient for Dean to wake up. Bobby was also still here. Dean thought the man was going to go back to where ever he'd come from, Missouri perhaps. "C'mon, dude. This one's yours," Sam said, holding a present in the air. Dean's gaze shifted back to his brother.

He gulped down the nervousness as his eyes lingered on the box in Sam's hand. "Well? Don't you want your present?" Sam demanded when Dean continued to stay clutching the rails. "This one's from me. You better take it, man."

"Yeah hang on," Dean grumbled once he got his voice back. He stomped down the stairs and walked into the living room. His stomach felt twisted in knots as he snatched the box. The present jiggled. Frowning Dean gave it another shake. "The hell is in here?"

Sam just smiled brightly at him. "Just open it, dude. You'll love it, I promise."

Dean eyed his brother suspiciously. "Swear?"

"Swear."

He opened it. Inside was a necklace. He pulled it out and examined it closely. It was a small figurine of a dragon. It looked pretty cool and that surprised him, he'd been expecting some kind of lame toy you'd get from one of those game machines that cost a quarter to play. It felt heavy, like it was made of metal. The dragon had wings and a long tail and it looked mad as hell, like it was this close to making someone into charcoal. He grinned and put it around his neck, then looked inside the box again because he was pretty sure he'd caught a flash of something in the corner of his eye when he pulled the necklace out. There was a note attached to the bottom of the box. It read like a letter.

Dear Dean,

I hope you like it. I know you have this weird obsession with dragons so yeah…I'll always love you, bro.

Love,

Sammy

Dean still kept the note somewhere in his desk drawer. Sam's present was probably the best that anyone gave him, and that included Jimmy's classic horror collection he'd sent to Dean the following day. He sort of wished he'd given Sam something equally as cool, but the problem was he didn't know what Sam liked. Dean ended up awkwardly handing Sam a homemade Christmas card and thirty dollars in an envelope, that way his brother could pick something out for himself at the mall.

Sam loved the card more than the money, which surprised the hell out of Dean. He laughed at Dean's attempt to draw a Santa and fat reindeers on some poor sap's house. Dean grinned for the rest of the day.

January came and went in a slow drag. During the month that Dean soon called "Hell Month", a lot happened that he could've done without. Bobby stayed until after New Year's. It wasn't all that eventful with the man here but it kept Dean busy while Sam had Andy over. Then they were back in school and first thing in the morning, as he was walking to homeroom, Maddie bumped into him and Dean remembered thinking, 'she'd seen better days.' Which was true, totally true.

Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy, like she'd spent most of the morning crying. Her hands shook as she clutched her purse to her chest. And Dean was speechless, frozen in spot as she uttered the words he didn't think he'd ever hear, "I don't want to see you again." The words of a breakup.

It was inevitable, nothing ever lasted forever. He was more than aware of that. He just thought he'd be the one to break it with her, not the other way around and after he got over the initial shock of it, he skipped denial altogether and went straight to, well, not anger but more worry, suspicion. Really, what was Madison's excuse for breaking it off with him? To not want to see Dean Winchester ever again?

His mind reeled with all sorts of reasons, thoughts and excuses. One that went to the forefront of his mind over and over again was what jolted him to go see Daniel right away. It was the beginning of January that crushed his sophomore year to pieces. Daniel was by his locker as usual. But what wasn't usual was the amount of students gathered around him. Sure he was popular, but he'd never been so popular as to attract not only seniors but freshmen as well.

Dean saw Sam hanging in the back, his face turned to talk quietly with Neil Summers, Michael Kingsley and Andy Gallagher. Then there was a moment where time seemed to freeze and Sam caught Dean's eyes. His brother's expression was unreadable. Then the moment ended and Sam looked away again. Then Dean could hear Daniel talk.

Everyone knew Dean was a queer now. They didn't know about Daniel. Daniel told everyone that Dean asked him out, and then tried to force himself on him when Daniel said 'no'. Daniel betrayed Dean. He felt lower than dirt. It sucked.

One of the worst parts about January was finding out his brother's friend betrayed his brother and not being able to do anything about it. Andy didn't help either. He'd never been around the house when Daniel or Madison showed up. If he had he'd know for sure that Daniel Carter was a big fat liar. Sam didn't know what to do. Dean practically shut him out that whole month. He shut out everyone.

Neil said they should get dirt on Daniel and use it against him. Sam thought it was a good idea except for the fact that none of them ever thought to take pictures of Dean and Daniel's make out session. All they had were words.

"Who would listen to a bunch of sophomore outcasts anyway? Daniel is practically the king of the school," Mike said. As much as Sam hated Mike's matter-of-fact tone as he said those words, he was right.

Suffice to say, school was miserable for everyone.

February wasn't much better. His step brother might as well have been walking around with a billboard sign that said 'queers are backstabbing losers' or something to that effect with all the name-calling and ridicule he had to put up with on a daily basis. It was funny in a twisted way that Daniel was the 'queer that backstabbed people' but Sam didn't laugh. Inwardly he was just glad it wasn't happening to him. And that only twisted his gut more.

Adam. As the months progressed, Mary was thinking of baby names. John tried to help but he wasn't very good with names. At first he wanted to name the baby after him. Mary found it only slightly funny as her husband laid back on the bed in nothing but a bath robe, an undershirt and boxers. He waggled his eyebrows when he suggested it.

"You want to name him John?" Mary asked wryly.

John gave her his best shit-eating grin she often saw on the boys. She shook her head. "Aww come on, Mare. John is a strong and manly name."

"You would say that wouldn't you?" she couldn't help but tease, watching as his grin turned into a frown and looking at her with an expression that silently said 'what the hell's that supposed to mean?' She ignored it and continued over to the bed. "And what if said 'boy' turned out to be a girl? Can we name her Mary?"

It was meant as another joke but John broke into a loving smile and he said, "Of course, Mare, Mary's a sweet name." He looked so serious that Mary couldn't help but smile back.

But somehow Mary knew in her heart the baby was going to be a boy and the name was going to be 'Adam', not 'John' or 'Mary'. Adam. She wasn't sure how she knew this, why the name Adam struck such a chord within her, it just did.

It wasn't just Dean that had bad luck, apparently that just came with the territory with being a 'Campbell-Winchester'. The same months that Dean was forced to come out of the 'closet' were also a walking nightmare for Sam for totally different reasons. After trying to find ways of getting Daniel to admit to the school he'd outright lied and betrayed his 'boyfriend' and failing miserably to produce any physical evidence, Sam never really noticed Andy…until he asked.

"Sam," he'd said his name calmly and Sam braced himself for a serious conversation. "We've been 'going out' for almost a month now. Have you ever done it with a guy before?"

Sam nearly choked on his milk. He spent five whole minutes trying to gather himself back together with Andy watching quietly in amusement. Andy seemed to have this creepy thing for seeing Sam embarrassed, or caught off-guard. "Dude, seriously? Have I ever done 'it' with a guy, like have sex?"

"Uhm, yeah, or like, uh, made out or something," Andy said.

They'd been together since December, before winter break. But all they'd really done was share a kiss here and there, hold hands under the table, cuddle up next to each other on the couch and shared looks. That was it. He wasn't even sure his and Andy's relationship even qualified as 'going out'. "Uhm no, never," Sam said, opted for the truth.

Sadly it was true. Andy was the first person he'd ever kissed and they'd never gone further than that, though he wasn't the first crush Sam had. Not by a long shot.

"OK, then, uh, do you want to?"

The question had Sam frozen in his seat. Did he want to what? Make out? Have sex? With Andy? He wasn't sure.

"It's OK. You don't have to tell me the answer now. I can wait." Andy had smiled brilliantly and Sam believed him.

He found out a few days later that Andy wasn't as patient as he said he was. He caught snippets of the conversation on his way to lunch, hoping to find Mike by his locker waiting as usual for him. Mike wasn't there. Andy was. And he had a lot more friends than Sam. Andy was laughing, throwing his hand around a girl like they were best pals. Sam's stomach was in knots at the sight.

"And you know the best part?" Andy was saying.

The girl shook her head, snickering. There was a boy hovering behind Andy waiting to hear the rest of the story. "Well, what was it?" the girl demanded.

"Calm down, I'm the storyteller here, remember? Anyways, I asked him if he ever done it, and of course the answer was 'no' so I asked if he wanted to do it, and man, you should've seen his face. I'm still waiting on the answer but with the way he looked, I'm pretty sure I already know the answer," Andy said smugly.

The girl laughed and the boy grinned. Sam realized half way through Andy was talking about him, about their conversation the other day. He saw red, positively fuming. Without waiting to hear their responses, Sam stalked into the cafeteria. He sat alone by the wall until the bell rang.

It got worse. Sam managed to avoid Andy for a week before Andy confronted him by his locker after school was released. Sam slammed the locker shut as Andy grabbed him by his collar.

"Get off, Andy. What the hell?"

"What do you mean 'what the hell'? I should be asking you that," Andy said as Sam shoved him off. "What's wrong with you, man? Why have you been avoiding me this week?"

"I don't have to answer you," Sam snarled and started stomping away. "And besides you already know why."

Andy stood stunned for a moment before jogging to catch up. He stepped in Sam's way, trying to look intimidating but Sam was taller. "What do you mean 'I already know'? What the hell do you think I know?" he demanded.

"I heard you talking last week."

"About what?" Still not comprehending, Andy stood like a statue. Then Sam started to laugh, like he'd just heard the funniest joke, which in a way he had. "What? What's so funny?"

"You," Sam said simply. He moved past Andy, only pausing at the door to say, "I never realized how much you liked to share stuff about our relationship to your friends."

He didn't hear any more from Andy until a month later in February.

It was cold and rainy on a Friday and Sam couldn't wait to get home. He was still trying to find ways to help Dean. But Dean didn't want any help. He pushed Sam away. He always sat in the back looking out the window with this expression Sam couldn't decipher. It sucked hard and every time Sam looked back there, his heart clenched tight in his chest. No one ever forgot how Dean 'betrayed' Daniel and Sam found the urge to scream that it wasn't his brother's fault harder and harder to resist. But screaming the truth to a bunch of ignorant people would cause more harm than good. At least that was what Sam told himself.

Sometimes he felt like a coward. He didn't want to be lumped in with his brother and labeled as a backstabber. He didn't want the teasing, the bullying, he didn't want any of it. And he knew it wasn't any of Dean's fault. He was the victim here. Daniel was the bully. And so was everyone else.

Sam was by his locker again. He had Trig homework sadly and had just zipped up his bag after dumping the textbook in. Someone came up from behind him and Sam didn't have the chance to even wonder what was happening. There was a cloth covering his mouth and nose and suddenly he felt himself pitching over and then there was blackness.

Sam came to in his bed. The clock read 8:22 PM. He blinked and tried to recall what happened. The last thing he remembered was getting his Trig book from his locker, then nothing but endless darkness. A shudder wracked through him. He tried to sit up but somehow his whole body ached. He frowned knowing this was far from normal, slumping back on his pillow somewhat reluctantly.

John hated feeling helpless. He felt helpless during Mary's pregnancy, even when talking about names he found he wasn't any good. They finally settled on the boy's name, Adam and if somehow it turned out to be a girl, Elizabeth, because they both agreed that the shortened version 'Liz' was adorable.

Dean wouldn't tell John or Mary what was wrong. John figured it was just a teenage mood swing but one look to Sam and John had the sneaking suspicion it was deeper than that and his son knew what the problem was. Sam didn't share whether he knew it or not though.

John wished that was all the problems. But of course you're not a real Winchester if you weren't riddled with them. Sam had troubles too, deep troubles. 'It' happened in February. No one saw it coming. It was Friday, nearing the end of the month. Rainy and dreary outside, just a disaster waiting to happen really.

Sam didn't come home with Dean on the bus like he normally did. Dean had shrugged it off when John confronted the teenager, saying that Sam was probably staying back for something, no big deal, no need to take things way out of proportions. John let it go, thinking maybe Dean had a point. Only in the back of his mind he knew he was deluding himself. Sam only ever stayed after a few times in his entire life and he called each and every time beforehand. This was different. And John knew it.

When it was past six and then past dinner, everyone knew something was wrong. John called Neil and Mike to make sure though. And then he tried Andy. Andy's phone went straight to voicemail and for some reason John felt a chill on his spine. He grabbed the car and made his way to the high school.