Sam sighed as he walked through the cafeteria and sat down at a table in the corner- on his own, as usual. The entire place was buzzing with people and it was far too loud for anyone to hear anything, which only made people talk louder and increased the volume in the room even more. Sam glanced over his shoulder when he recognised his brother's laugh cut through the general noise around him and, not at all to Sam's surprise, he saw Dean already surrounded by a bunch of giggling girls. Sam sighed and turned back around but jumped suddenly when a tray of food landed in front of him. He looked up to see Nick, the kid who had practically saved his life earlier that day, sitting down opposite him. Sam stared in shocked silence as he sat down, took a bite out of his sandwich, then smiled brightly at him.

"So, how's your first day been so far?" Nick asked casually.

"Pretty okay" Sam replied slowly, unsure of what to do.

"Well, you're still here so I'm guessing Ms Wright didn't completely bore you to death" Nick joked and Sam found himself laughing.

"Not quite, though I'm pretty sure I almost fell asleep at least twice"

"Only twice?" Nick raised an eyebrow, causing Sam to laugh once more. The two sat in silence for a while as they ate and Sam wasn't sure if he was imagining it but he was certain the noise around them wasn't as deafening as it had been before.

"So, why are you joining a new school half way through the year?" Nick suddenly asked, his words slightly muffled by the food still in his mouth.

"I rarely get to stay at one school for very long since we move around a lot. My dad's a mechanic"

"I know the feeling," Nick smiled slightly and Sam tilted his head in confusion "I've only been here about a year and a half myself. My parents both died a couple of years ago, so now I live here with my Aunt Marie"

"I'm sorry about your parents," Sam said quietly "I lost my mom too but I was only six months old when she died so I don't really know much about her apart from what my dad and brother have told me"

"Is that your brother over there?" Nick asked, pointing towards Dean in the middle of the group of girls.

"Yeah. He's only got one year of school left so he's kinda past caring about it now. But I still hate always being the new kid" Sam replied and Nick nodded in agreement. The two of them continued to eat until Nick caught sight of a badge on Sam's bag. Sam noticed him looking at it and he instantly pulled it off to show Nick properly, a huge smile on his face.

"This is possibly the greatest tv show ever made" Sam stated proudly, handing the badge over to Nick.

"It looks cool, what's it called?" Nick asked, taking in every tiny detail he could from the image the badge showed.

"X-Files!" Sam beamed "It's about aliens and government conspiracies and the two main characters, who are FBI Agents, they try to uncover all of this stuff and-"

"It sounds awesome" Nick said, already hooked.

"I could lend you the box set. I mean, it's technically Dean's- my brother's- but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I 'borrowed' it for a while" Sam suggested and Nick nodded enthusiastically. The rest of lunch flew by and before either of them knew it, the bell rang for class.

"Do you know where you're going this time?" Nick lightly teased.

"I think so" Sam replied, sticking his tongue out at Nick.

"See you later?" Nick asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Sam promised as he turned and started to walk down the hall. The rest of the day dragged on for both of them (more than usual, that is). But that only made them even more grateful when they saw each other after the day had finally ended. Sam spotted Nick waiting for him by his locker and a smile instantly spread across his face.

"I thought you could use this" Nick said, handing over a piece of the paper to Sam. It took him a moment to realise it was a less faded version of the map he had seen on the wall on his first day.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Sam rolled his eyes but took the map and put it in his bag anyway.

"Of course not!" Nick joked, nudging Sam playfully. The two of them walked out of the school's door since the majority of the frantic students had already gone by this point. Sam quickly spotted Dean leaning against a tree waiting for him.

"I should probably get going" Sam said and Nick nodded his head.

"See you tomorrow" Nick called out as Sam walked away.

"Bye!" Sam waved back before turning and walking towards his brother.

"Who was that?" Dean asked once Sam reached him. Sam said nothing but Dean couldn't miss the huge grin on his face. The two of them walked back to the motel they were staying at in comfortable silence, though Dean could tell Sam seemed slightly less miserable than he usually was after another 'first day'. Once they arrived, Dean opened the door to their motel room and stepped inside. Sam quickly followed him.

"Dad?" Sam called out hopefully. But as he had expected, no answer came. Their father rarely seemed to have a problem with leaving them alone for days on end. But for once, Sam wasn't as bothered about it as he usually was.

"So, how was your day?" Dean asked, dumping his bag on the floor and flopping down onto the couch.

"It wasn't that bad. I actually sort of made a friend" Sam smiled, sitting down next to his brother.

"That kid you were sat with at lunch and waved to as you left?" Dean asked as he turned on the television.

"Yeah, he's the year above me. I got lost going to class this morning and he showed me the way then at lunch he just sat down opposite me and started talking like we already knew each other. Not that I minded"

"See, I told you it wouldn't be that bad" Dean smiled and nudged Sam's shoulder playfully.

"Shut up" Sam laughed, elbowing Dean's stomach in reply. Maybe being left alone with nothing but his brother, $10, and uncomfortable motel beds by their dad wouldn't be as bad as usual tonight.