A/N Sorry the last few chapters, (including this one) are kind of horrible, I've hit a wall writer's block and I've been trying to power through it to get to the next big plot idea I have in my head. I hope anyone reading this still likes it. I'm doing my best to keep it interesting.
The plan was to live on the Gulf until Mid-August before packing up again. There weren't any pressing hunts, and it didn't seem worth it to pull the boys away from this vacation to spend another summer in South Dakota now that they knew about the beach. They'd head up to Bobby's for Christmas, John decided. Both boys were sporting various shades of pink all summer; Sam's turning to a golden tan, Dean's bordering on sun-burnt most days and slowly turning into a freckly mess as the summer dragged on the way it does when you're too young to notice how short it really is. Sam fell in love with the ocean, its power and beauty, which meant Dean spent most days sitting on the sandy shore watching his little brother have the time of his life. He outright refused to go back into the water after that first day. He wasn't going to die like that, with salt water up his nose struggling to breathe, but Sam like it, even found himself a little Styrofoam boogie board to ride waves on.
John found odd jobs around town to keep them stationary for the summer. He worked part time at an auto body shop and as a handy man for the local hotel. He was able to keep the fridge stocked and get the boys some much needed new shoes and school clothes that actually fit that weren't from the racks at the Goodwill but from an "actual store", as Sam like the call Kmart, even had enough to give the boys some pocket money most days. Even though Dean knew it wouldn't last long, it was nice, stable, he felt happy, actually happy, for the first time in a very long time. His dad was calm, unstressed, to Dean this was the best gift the summer had given him.
While sitting against the cement wall at the beach absentmindedly building sand castles and watching Sam read, a boy about Dean's age approached holding a basketball.
"Hey," the kid called over. "You play? We need another guy for three on three."
"Kinda," Dean answered. "But I gotta keep track of my kid brother."
"The courts on the other side of the playground," the kid said. "My little sister's up there if you want to join us. My parents are always all up in my business about watching my sister; the playground's all fenced in and stuff."
Dean looked over to Sam for permission.
"You should," Sam nodded. "We've been doing what I want all summer."
"You don't mind getting off the beach?" Dean asked.
Sam shook his head. "I can read anywhere."
"Yeah, I'll play. I'm Dean."
"Chris," the kid answered while Dean pushed himself up out of the sand and wiped his sandy hands on his shorts. "The court's just over there," he pointed beyond the in closed playground on the other side of the cement wall. "Come on."
Sam shadowed close behind as Dean and Chris walked side by side to the courts getting to know each other.
"I'll be in sixth grade in September," Chris said. "Are you living here or just here for the summer? I've seen you at the beach a bunch of times."
"I don't know," Dean answered. "My dad moves us around a lot. I don't know if my dad has plans for when school starts up again or not."
"Oh," Chris nodded. "My friend, Eric, he's gonna play with us, his mom's in the army, he moves around all the time too."
"My dad's a marine," Dean offered. "So… umm… who else is playing?"
"Just some guys from school," Chris said. "Usually we play three on three: towies versus vacationers but a lot of the vacationers have already gone home, so it's just guys from school."
"Cool," Dean said nodding.
"I've seen ya hanging around the beach," Chris said. "I was gonna ask you to play with us a few weeks ago when you were all by yourself, but then I saw your little brother running up and I figured you were busy."
"We've never got to live on the ocean during the summer," Dean said as they reached the courts. "So Sammy's been a little bit excited about it."
"Don't worry," Chris smiled. "If you end up sticking around, it's not as awesome after you lived here for a while."
"I think that's why my dad likes to move so much," Dean said. "He gets bored being in one place to long."
"Hey Dean," Sam called from behind. "Can I play on playground while you're playing basketball?"
"Yeah," Dean nodded. "Sure, just don't do anything dumb and do not wander off."
"Okay!" Sam called as he turned and ran toward the chain link fence surrounding the playground.
Chris introduced Dean to the other boys; Eric, Billy, Ryan, and Charlie, all boys that went to the local middle school with Chris. They split into two teams, and flipped a quarter to see who got the ball first. It was weird how easily Dean fell right into step with these boys, like he'd known them forever. He wasn't very good at basketball, he'd only really played in gym class, but he fit in well, none of the other boys were superstars either. It was fun, running, laughing, feeling like he was a part of something. Dean hadn't felt like that, ever, now that he thought about it. He's always been on the outside looking in. But that was what the life their dad chose for them was like. He'd never been around long enough to matter. No one really kept score, when the game was over both teams claimed victory.
"Are we grabbin' ice cream?" Eric asked as the boys stood around one of the hoops passing around a water bottle after the game was over.
"Yeah," Charlie answered. "You in Dean?"
"Umm, sure, yeah," Dean nodded. "I just gotta bring my kid brother.
"Chris's sister tags along too," Billy said. "It's cool."
"Alright," Dean smiled. "I'll go get him."
Dean and Chris ran together over to the chain link fence surrounding the playground.
"How old is your brother?" Chris asked. "Amanda's nine."
"Sammy's eight," Dean answered.
"So they wouldn't be in the same class then," Chris said. "I don't think."
"He'd be in third grade this year," Dean answered. "Sam, come here!" he called.
"Amanda!" Chris yelled. "Ice cream time."
Sam and a blonde girl a little taller than him, presumably Amanda, came running over from the swings.
"Are we getting ice cream?" Sam asked excitedly. "Dad said we could after lunch. He gave you money right?"
"Yes," Dean nodded. "If you want, we're gonna go to the ice cream place up the block with the guys I played basketball with."
"Are you going?" Sam asked the little blonde girl.
"Yeah," Amanda answered.
"Then I guess so," Sam half smiled.
The gang of kids walked down the block to the ice cream stand, after ordering they all gathered around one of the picnic tables and talked.
"I got the letter from the school yesterday," Billy said. "I'm gonna be in Mrs. Travis's class. You guys here anything?"
"Travis," Chris said high fiving Billy.
"Travis," Charlie said.
"Travis," Ryan said through a mouth full of ice cream.
"Brown," Eric sighed.
Ryan pushed Eric's shoulder and laughed. "Figures, put the brainiac in the other class so we can't cheat off him."
Eric rolled his eyes. "I'm sure that's exactly why they did that. Do you know whose class you're in Dean?"
"Umm…" Dean started. "I don't even know if we're staying in town when school starts."
"Weird," Charlie laughed. "School starts in, like, a week and half."
"My dad gets restless," Dean shrugged. "It depends if he finds a job nearby or not. We move around a lot."
"How do you do school if you move around so much?" Ryan asked.
"Same way I did, genius," Eric teased. "Probably end up in a couple schools a year, right? Then sometimes you're in a place for a while and you start to settle in then your dad uproots everything? That's how it is when my mom was in active duty. Moved allover everywhere every couple of years."
"Kinda," Dean shrugged trying to be mysterious. "My dad just travels a lot for his job, so we go with him."
Dean kept watching Sammy out of the corner of his eye, laughing with the little girl he'd just met, chocolate ice cream all over his face; how he laughed at her jokes and talked about school things, normal kid things that Dean rarely got to do. Sam seemed to be such a natural at it, just being a kid and not caring about what came next. The group stayed at the ice cream stand until the sun started to go down.
"Probably should head home," Chris said pointing up. "Street lights. Meet up tomorrow at noon?"
Each of the other boys nodded and waved as Chris grabbed his sister's hand to take her home.
"You game Dean?" Chris asked before leaving.
"Uh… yeah," Dean nodded. "I can hang out tomorrow."
"Cool," Chris smiled. "See ya then!" He waved to his friends as he started to walk down the sidewalk back home. The rest of the group went on their way soon after, each promising to meet up the next day at the basketball court.
"We can go the beach in the morning before all the people get there," Sam stated as they walked back home. "Then eat lunch, and then, I'll play on the playground while you play basketball."
"You don't mind?" Dean asked.
"Dean, did you have fun today?" Sam sighed.
"I guess," Dean shrugged.
"You never have fun," Sam announced. "You're always too busy worryin' if I'm having fun. Or if I ate my whole sandwich. Or if I still have all my limbs. Or worrying about somethin'. You get to have fun too, sometimes. It's allowed."
"I just don't want you to be bored all day while I'm havin' fun, is all," Dean shrugged.
"Because sitting on the beach all day gettin' sunburned while I play in the water isn't boring," Sam scoffed. "Seriously, Dean."
Dean chuckled. "How'd you get so smart?"
"I think I got it from Mom," Sam smiled, showing off a gap from a missing tooth.
"Funny," Dean laughed, pulling Sam into a head lock as they reached the walk way. "Now go wash up, I'll put something dinner-like together for us."
John was in front of the television when they got home, cold beer sweating in his hand.
"Where have you two been all day?" he asked, not turning from whatever he was watching.
"We got some ice cream with some local kids," Sam said flopping down next to John as Dean went to the kitchen. "Dean was playing basketball and stuff. There's a playground near the courts. Got off the beach for while."
"Sounds fun," John said taking a long slow drink off this beer.
Dean dug around in the kitchen finding leftovers to microwave for him and Sam. Judging from the dishes in the sink, John had already eaten before they got home. He half listened to his dad and Sam talking in the next room.
"Hey Dad," Sam asked softly, like he didn't want Dean to overhear. "Do you think we could stay here for the school year?"
"Why?" John asked. "You're not getting bored yet?"
"No," Sam answered. "Well, it's just, Dean has friends. Dean never has friends. He played basketball with a group of kids his age and it… he just was havin' fun."
"Yeah," John said. "So you wanna hang out here for a little longer?"
"Til, Christmas break at least," Sam nodded. "I mean, if you want to, cuz you're the boss, but Dean has friends. He never fits in, and he fit in here. He's always sad, and I don't want him to be sad."
"I'll see what I can do," John answered. "I don't like taking this much time off from my real job, but there's gotta be some jobs nearby. I'll talk to Bobby, see what he's got."
"Really?" Sam said excitedly. "You'll really try to let us stay."
"Why not," John shrugged.
"Thanks," Sam said softly. "Don't tell Dean I told you. He doesn't like it when I do that. He likes to think that he's all hard and doesn't care, but I think he really does."
"Alright, little buddy," John said, ruffling Sam's hair. "No problem."
Dean leaned against the fridge looking at the back of their heads on the couch while he waited for the microwave to finish up Sam's dinner and smiled to himself.
He tried so hard to not let anything bother him, to be strong for Sam when he got upset about having to move around, getting ripped from another place. He didn't think Sam ever noticed or cared about how it affected Dean. But that little boy, wise beyond his years, he picked up on everything.
The microwave sounded and Dean pulled out last night's fried chicken and mashed potatoes and shoved a second plate in. He brought Sam over his dinner and left it on the coffee table.
"Eat up kiddo," Dean said, half smiling up at him.
He knew he couldn't say that he overheard what Sam said to their Dad, that the kid would get mad at him if he knew Dean heard, but he was grateful that Sammy had stood up for him. Dean would never have the guts to ask his dad something like that.