Author's Note: Today's prompt comes from jensensgirl3 who asked for, "My prompt is Sam is hurt on a hunt by protecting Dean from being killed, which pisses off the older brother that Sam would endanger himself. When Dean gets him to the Bunker to fix him up, is when he notice how bad off Sam's injuries are. With Christmas a few days away Dean even being angry with Sam, gives his little brother the Christmas he always wanted with tree, presents, lights and dinner. What hunt and how Sam is injured will leave that to you." One overprotective Dean story coming right up! Thank you so much for this prompt! So I guess let's set this during early season ten, but no spoilers.

"Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells

All seem to say throw cares away

Christmas is here bringing good cheer

To young and old, meek and the bold."

—Barlow Girl, "Carol of the Bells"

Sam knows Dean better than anyone else in the world. As the little brother, the youngest Winchester knows what every movement of Dean's body means, what the inflection of his voice could imply and most definitely, how to read his moods. Most people, for example, might think that when Dean gets furious, he's the type to scream and holler until he's blue in the face.

And sure, they'd be right if Dean was only angry. When angered, Dean could swear as much as a sailor, shout until he was about ready to pass out from oxygen deprivation and even, if called for, throw some punches.

But Sam knows better.

When Dean is furious—past the point of no return—his brother goes silent. He doesn't scream. He doesn't hit things. He just sits there, quietly stewing. Maybe this is his way of preventing himself from saying something he'll regret later, but for Sam, it's the worst punishment in the world. When Dean stops speaking, that's how he knows he screwed up majorly.

And tonight, as they drive back to the Impala, Dean is white-knuckling the steering wheel and saying absolutely nothing.

"Dean—" Sam starts, but his brother shoots him a withering glare and instantly, Sam abandons his sentence. He presses on his side, wincing as the blood begins to soak through the makeshift bandage his brother made from extra material from his shirt.

Sam supposes, maybe, just maybe, Dean is upset at his actions tonight.

But what had his brother expected? For Sam to just sit by and let the wendigo take a bite out of his big brother? Dean was a fool if he even remotely thought that was an option. And really, wouldn't Dean have done the same thing if the situations had been reversed?

They're brothers and they save each other. Sure, maybe it's their Achilles heel, but this is what they do. They protect one another, care for one another. And if Dean thinks that means Sam will just sit by and let a monster get him instead of pushing him out of the way, well, his brother has another thing coming.

So, they drive back to the bunker in silence.

Really awkward, heavy with tension, silence.

Great, Sam thinks, just great.

Dean patches him up without saying a word.

With a steady hand, his brother stiches up the gaping side wound and wraps a bandage around it, applying just enough pressure to make sure the bleeding stops. Sam wonders if Dean realizes that he may of lied about how bad the cut was. Judging from the fury swirling in those green irises, he guesses that Dean knows.

"Dean, I'm sorry."

His brother doesn't reply.

It's eerie, almost. Sam's pissed off his brother plenty of times before, but he's never remained silent for this long. Usually, after an hour of cooling off, Dean would start screaming, but it's been almost two hours and Dean has said absolutely nothing.

Three hours later, his brother silently checks the bandages on his side to make sure they aren't bleeding through and then slams the door to his room. Sam honestly is at a loss what to do. He's never been in this situation before. Dealing with a shouting Dean, that he could handle. A silent one though? Therein lies the rub.

So, Sam resolves to wait. It's all he can do right now.

Sam just hopes it will be enough.

It's two days until Christmas and Sam hasn't heard one word from his brother since before the hunt went south almost three days ago. Sure, Sam's tried to initiate a conversation, an argument, something! Yet, Dean has remained silent, just shaking his head and storming off to his room.

Honestly, it's starting to unnerve Sam. He doesn't know how to handle a furious, silent Dean. He's never been in this situation before—unless you counted Stanford, but he'd been angry too so maybe that didn't count—and he's not sure how to fix this.

So, he calls for back up.

"Put him on the phone." Jody orders, her voice usually hard and unyielding. "I'll knock some sense into his thick skull."

Sam supposes he should feel bad for tattling to Jody, but he honestly doesn't know how to get through to his brother. So, he knocks on Dean's door and at Dean's puzzled expression informs him, "Jody wants to talk to you."

Dean takes the phone and the door shuts once more. Sam strains against the door, trying to make out whatever his brother is saying, but to no avail.

When he emerges an hour later, Dean takes one look at him and says—

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

So much for that.

It's not until Christmas morning that Dean speaks and in typical Winchester fashion, it's not through his words that his message is conveyed.

The bunker is decked out with garland and lights and a fully decorated, real Christmas tree with newspaper wrapped presents under the tree. On the dining room table, there are fresh pancakes and bacon and even fruit.

Dean bought him fruit?

The floorboard creaks and instantly Sam spins around to see his older brother standing there, a small grin tugging on his lips.

"Dean, what is this?"

Dean doesn't say anything—simply crosses to him and throws his arms around him, hugging him, forgiving him, reminding himself that yes, Sam is still alive.

And then, when they finally break apart, Dean beams and says, "Merry Christmas, Sammy."

In that moment, all is right in Sam Winchester's world.

Author's Note: I really didn't want Dean to speak in this chapter. I feel like his feelings could be conveyed more through his actions and I think it came across stronger emotionally through that route. I hope you all enjoyed! Please review if you have a moment. Thanks!