Ryan slowly woke up. He squinted against the bright light in the room. Collin was asleep beside him. He quickly sat up and ran his eyes over his brother, searching for any injuries he might have suffered because of Dean. But Collin looked fine, so he sighed in relief and leaned back against the headboard. The room suddenly seemed too silent. He scanned the small place for any signs of the Winchesters.
He heard the sound of a shower running. Either Dean or Sam was in there, and the other had gone to get some dinner probably. Now that he noticed it, he was quite hungry. He didn't have lunch this afternoon. His stomach hurt. He hoped for Sam to be in the bathroom and Dean, to be the one out to get food.
But all his hopes were dashed when the door to the bathroom opened, and out walked or limped (to be more accurate), the oldest Winchester. He felt a pang of regret at the pain Dean was in. It was because of saving him that had gotten Dean hurt in the first place. But all that guilt vanished when he met the man's eyes and remembered that he was the one who had hurt Collin earlier. He had broken their trust to never hurt them by beating his brother with a belt. Ryan would never forgive him or anyone else who caused his brother pain.
He stubbornly kept eye contact with the older man and glared at him with all he was worth as Dean changed into some fresh clothes after his shower. He was still glaring at Dean when Sam arrived with food. Dean had stopped staring at him and instead started avoiding him some half hour ago. But Ryan still refused to let the man off the hook so easily.
Sam broke the uncomfortable silence in the room. The moment he had walked inside, he had felt the tension between Dean and Ryan.
It was hard not to. Ryan's face was masked in anger, his eyes blazing. Dean's was the same.
But neither of them was saying anything. He cleared his throat and calmly called to Ryan.
"Why don't you wake your brother up? I brought Chinese." He offered with a smile. He had also bought some ice cream as a conciliation. Though there was no need for one. Dean had done the right thing by punishing Collin. It would take time, but surely, Ryan would come around. At least, he hoped so. He could see Dean was running out of his already meager stock of patience.
"Cole!"
Turning away from Sam, and without acknowledging him whatsoever, he did as the man asked. He shook his brother's shoulders and nudged him awake. Collin woke up with a start and quickly sat up in bed. A second later, he was on his feet and grimacing at the pain in his behind. Memories from this afternoon came lightening fast to him.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at Ryan. Remembering at the last moment that his brother had been pretty upset. His little show of rubbing his rear and grimacing in pain and discomfort hadn't helped the situation any.
He looked at his feet and rubbed his neck. What an idiot he had been. He looked at Ryan again in time to see him shooting daggers at Dean. A talk with his brother was needed asap. But that could wait after they all had eaten something. He was hungry, well, crying, and having your ass beaten with a belt was pretty exhausting. It was so much worse on an empty stomach.
"Come on, kiddo. Let's have some food." Collin gently extended his arm toward Ryan. He was glad when the kid accepted it and climbed from the bed.
"You okay?"
Ryan asked him nervously, and he nodded in reply. Trying to look as confident as possible. But the truth was, he was okay. Yeah, his rear was on fire. But he was fine otherwise. He didn't feel guilty. As hard as it was to believe, but this afternoon had helped him in increasing his trust in the Winchesters. They cared enough about him to punish him. His actions mattered. He and Ryan mattered to them. Dean and Sam were worried about him and his safety. Hell, Dean had said that there was a chance he loved him and Ryan more than even his Impala. And that man loved his car like no one's business. For Christ's sake, he called the car words like 'baby' and 'sweetheart'. The Impala was a 'she'. Never an 'it'.
Ryan watched him all the way to the small coffee table at the corner where Sam was taking out food from the containers. So Collin tried to walk as someone who hadn't had his ass beaten mere hours ago. Noticing the scowl marring his little brother's face, he wasn't that successful.
Sam was about to serve the kids himself when, at the last moment, he remembered what Dean had said. The kids should be able to take food freely from them on their own. With serving them some, he didn't want to seem like he was limiting their diet. That they weren't allowed to eat as much as they wanted. He watched in satisfaction when both kids helped themselves to a decent serving of Chinese. However, his bubble of contentment broke when Ryan started speaking.
"I don't want to eat tasty food when it comes at a cost to my brother." He muttered under his breath. But still, it was loud enough to be heard. Sam didn't know whether that was intentional or not. Then again, judging by the look on the little face, it seemed it was intentional.
Dean clenched his jaw hard and tried to remember he had hated his father himself, whenever he had punished Sam when they were kids. But with time, he had understood. So would Ryan.
No one said anything and instead quietly started munching on their dinner. The Winchesters at the little coffee table, the boys at the bed farthest from the door. Collin had his butt supported by a pillow as he slurped his chicken noodles. He hoped that the rest of the night would go without any hitch. But he should have known better.
After they were finished eating, Collin had started working on Sam's punishment for him. He had to write 150 times each of the sentences the man had given to him. He hated it, but that's essentially the thing about punishments. You loathed them. He started on the task, forgetting that he still had to talk to his brother.
Ryan, in the meanwhile, was fuming on the bed. Collin was hurt, and he was acting like he didn't care. But he did. Ryan cared and loved his big brother. He knew if it were him who was hurt, Collin would feel the same. No one was even blaming Dean here.
Collin was too selfless, Sam was Dean's little brother. Of course, Dean thought no one would blame him. He didn't know Ryan would. He would protect his brother. And even fight for him if necessary.
So, with a rough plan in his mind. He stood up from the bed, the one farthest from the door, and moved toward the table in front of the couch. The puzzle he was solving with Dean this afternoon before all this fiasco took place was resting on the table. They were solving the puzzle on a cardboard that came with the box. He picked it up easily and moved with his cargo back to the bed.
On the way to the beds, however, he paused to throw a nasty look in Dean's direction. The man didn't react. And that more than anything frustrated him the most. Dean was ignoring him. He swiftly moved toward the bed, felt everyone's eyes on him. Except Dean's. Sam looked up from his laptop, Collin from the journal Sam had handed him, but Dean continued to ignore him. The man should be apologizing. Not acting all casual.
Further, angered by Dean's continuing ignorance, he put his devilish plan to action. When he reached Dean's bed, he acted like he just tripped on his feet. But it was such a purposefully bad role play. He was sure he wouldn't fool anybody. Least of all the seasoned hunters. The puzzle fell on Dean's bed, the pieces scattering everywhere. It was one of those with many pieces. He smiled in satisfaction. Turning back to his audience, he pasted a decidedly not guilty look on his face.
"Oops."
He made sure to tremble in fear as he continued, his gaze fixed on the oldest Winchester, whose eyes were finally on him.
"Please, sir. Don't spank me. It was an honest
mistake. I didn't put my life in danger, so you won't hurt me, right?"
Dean's jaw worked, his molars grinding together. The kids were tough. He would give them that. He could feel his temper rising at Ryan's words and his sarcastic tone. What Collin did was no joke. But Ryan was making it into one. The kid had been upset at Cole this afternoon, but as soon as Dean had punished him, that anger was placed on him.
He caught Sam's eyes across the room. His little brother shook his head silently.
"Ryan.."Collin warned.
"What?"
His little brother was a picture of innocence. But he knew that kid better than he even knew himself. He wasn't fooled in he least.
"Pick up the pieces, please. And everyone in the bed. It's late." Dean ordered curtly. His tone demanded obedience.
Collin looked to Sam. He wasn't even close to finishing Sam's punishment. But Sam shook his head with a smile.
"Take it up in the morning, kid."
"Yes, sir."
Collin closed the journal with a sigh and looked at Ryan. He was hoping to have a talk with Ryan alone. May be in the morning when the Winchesters were out. One of them in the shower, the other out to get some breakfast. It would be best for every one of them. He looked to Ryan, hoping the kid was done. He had taken a nap, but he was still ready to drop any moment. Besides, it was late. Close to midnight late.
But Ryan was frozen in place. He wasn't moving to do as Dean asked. Instead, he was looking up at the man in challenge. Collin slapped his palm to his forehead.
"Hey, Rye. Come on, we need to talk. But we will do that in the morning. Now let's clean up and go to sleep. What d'ya say?"
It wasn't a question. It was an order, which he gave in his best big brother 'do as I say' voice. But Ryan didn't move.
"God damn it, stubborn little brothers." He grumbled under his breath. Collin went to clean Ryan's mess. Because his brother had somehow turned into a statue.
Dean's temper spiked at the blatant disobedience, but he swallowed down the anger. He reminded himself the kid was nine and acting out of love for his brother. Again, he repeated the same mantra that he had been repeating since this afternoon, "he would understand."
Seeing, he still wasn't getting anywhere close to Dean. Ryan gritted his teeth. His frustration rose when Collin began cleaning up the mess he had made. Way to make someone guilty, big bro.
"Wait, Cole."
When he had his brother's attention, he said,
"I will clean it up. You should rest. God knows you deserve it after the beating. "
"Ryan, it was a punishment. " Collin began, but Ryan had already turned himself away. He sighed and almost in trepidation looked at Dean and Sam. Dean looked murderous, and Sam, he just looked sad. He didn't know which man's expression made him more nervous.
Seeing his attempt failed, Ryan scrambled to think of something. He was angry, but more than that, he was hurt. He had trusted these people with his heart and soul. He would get back at them for hurting his brother and breaking their trust. He would.
Dean knew what the kid was doing. He was purposefully trying to get back at him for hurting Collin. As if he had enjoyed hurting the kid. Even a snail would move faster than the speed with which Ryan was cleaning.
Finally, after an eternity passed, but it was only half an hour, Ryan was done.
"Your bed is ready, sir. Please don't beat me now."
"That's quite enough, young man. Go to bed." Dean's voice was tight. Sam had to marvel at this rare show of patience from his brother. But Ryan was seriously pushing it. Dean was unhappy with the way this afternoon had unfolded. So was him. But how to make the small boy understand that. The kids had issues that ran way deeper. Not for the first time, he wondered if they were even the right choice for the boys.
A/N: Hi! I missed y'all. I hope I didn't disappoint y'all too much. But I have no excuse except to say, I tried my best to manage everything. But life comes in the way and things happen that are outside of your control. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.
Also, I don't know, but fanfiction wasn't letting me update a new chapter. There was some technical glitch. You guys would have gotten it two days ago, otherwise.
And do review. I was reading some of the earlier reviews dropped on this story and others. They inspire to put in the effort of writing and posting a chapter, believe me.