I changed my username because I'm on AO3 now! And someones-big-sister wasn't available on AO3 and I wanted to have the same name so now I'm coffeeaddict13, which is honestly very fitting for me. At some point, I will be uploading all my stories on AO3, but obviously because I've been writing so long, it's gonna take me a while lol.

Also: Apparently you now need to have email opt-in ON in order to receive story alerts so make sure that's activated if you're still following this story!

On with the show!


Dean sighed as he hung up his cell after talking to another irate customer he had to reschedule yet again. Since John got sick, he started taking over the family business, a small mechanic shop just off one of the main streets in town. He closed it down to part-time so he could be more available to help Sam and his family. The employees understood. The customers, not as much.

Mary bounced into the kitchen. "Morning!" She grabbed a mug from the cabinet. "Are you going back to work today?"

Dean pointed at the calendar with appointments in front of him. "This is working. I'm calling people who were scheduled this afternoon to reschedule."

Mary filled the mug with coffee and sat down next to him. "Why do you need to do that?"

"Cause we do. Since Dad basically retired, I took a break, Dave had a baby, and that's a third of our staff already. We just don't have the time or manpower."

Mary couldn't help but smile at her son taking leadership. Unlike Sam, who always knew exactly what he wanted to do and who he wanted to be, Dean was more of a mixed bag. Not saying that he was troubled, although there definitely were some moments he would never want to speak of again... No, it was more that he was content being and doing whatever came his way. He tried community college for a while, but realized he was better with his hands than his brain, and signed up for trade school instead. It wasn't a big surprise to anyone when Dean volunteered to take over when John was trying to figure out what to do with the shop.

They both looked up when they heard footsteps approaching the entry to the kitchen. They were both surprised to see Sam out of his room for a change. Realizing they were both staring, Sam stopped in his tracks. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants and rolled back and forth on his heels, ready to turn around and bolt once he realized he made a mistake.

"Hi, honey!" Mary said with a cheesy, but sweet, smile. "Would you like coffee?"

Sensing they weren't about to overreact or anything, Sam nodded and shuffled over to his usual chair at the dinner table.

"Dean, would you make some more coffee for your brother, please?"

"But-" Dean began to protest, gesturing to the calendar and phone in front of him. Mary looked at him, almost begging him with her eyes. You wanted to do something nice to help your brother. Dean sighed, pushed his chair away from the table, and walked over to the coffee machine, switching out the filter and filling it with fresh coffee grounds.

Mary turned back to her youngest. "So, now that we are a full household again, I need to go grocery shopping and I would love it if you could come with me and help."

Sam noticed the hidden message right away. You need to get out of this house.

"Do I hafta?" Sam mumbled.

Mary shrugged. "I just think it might be a good idea for you to get out for a bit. Change of scenery, you know?"

Yup, there it was.

Sam nodded to surrender. No point trying to argue with his mom about that. Dean dropped off a mug of coffee in front of him. "Thanks," he said, blushing. Dean grunted a response and sat back in his chair across the table.

"We can leave when you're ready," Mary said, kissing the top of Sam's head before leaving the kitchen.

Sam and Dean sat at the table in silence for a few moments. Dean scribbled something down, crossed it out, then scribbled again just above it. Sam reached for the tray of sugar packets on the table and started dumping them in his coffee. Dean snorted when he saw how much Sam was using. Sam didn't notice. He was too focused on getting his leg to stop bouncing from anxiety.

"Can we talk?" Sam asked. He cleared his throat. "I promise I'm not going to cry this time."

"Hey, man, I'm not judging," Dean said, flipping through a couple of pages in the calendar. Sam used to cry all the fucking time when they were kids, about everything, and it used to drive Dean absolutely fucking insane sometimes.

"I'm sorry I've been such an ass to you-"

"Sam, you really don't need to," Dean said suddenly, interrupting him.

"I do!" Sam argued. "You were just trying to be nice to me for once in your life and I tried to push you away for it."

A pang of guilt tugged at Dean hearing that.

Sam continued. "I'm sorry."

Dean looked up at his little brother across the table. Sam was hunched over, running his finger over the rim of the coffee mug out of nervous habit. The kid may have said he wouldn't cry, but he sure as hell looked like he might.

"Apology accepted," Dean said genuinely. The two had a moment of eye contact and Dean gave him a side smile. Sam looked down immediately, picking up the coffee and sipping from it. Dean went back to work, dialing the next number into his cell. Sam finished his coffee and went upstairs.


The grocery store wasn't so bad. It was the morning on a weekday so there were hardly any people there. Mostly older couples and single parents with children too small to be in school.

Sam strolled behind his mom as she pushed the grocery cart around the store. Occasionally she would use him to get something off a shelf she couldn't reach.

"Okay, I have a coupon for buy two, get one free," Mary announced, turning the cart down the cereal aisle. "What do you think we should get?"

Sam didn't realize he had zoned out a bit. It was nice spending some time with his mom that didn't involve ranting about school or bitching about Dean or talking about J-

"I know your father has been eating a lot of Cheerios lately," Mary said, interrupting Sam's ruminating and grabbing a box of cheerios off the shelf and tossing it into the cart. "Dean usually likes Cocoa Pebbles. What do you want?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm cool with Cocoa Pebbles."

"Lucky Charms?" Mary asked with a smile, knowing her son's weakness. Sam blushed. Mary took that as a yes and tossed a box of Cocoa Pebbles and Lucky Charms in the cart. "Okay, next stop, bread aisle."

Sam went back to his thoughts. He liked that his family was starting to back off for a bit, even if it was just for today. Sam needed the feeling of normalcy as much as he could get it and he appreciated his family acting like it was just another regular day at home.

They got back a little while later and found Dean still sitting at the table calling people. He was clearly busy arguing with another customer so they didn't even bother asking him to help them unload the car. He had finally hung up when Sam mosied into the kitchen with a Snickers bar hanging from his mouth.

"Where's my candy?" Dean asked.

"You don't get any," Sam explained with a mouthful of Snickers. "This is my treat for helping Mom today."

"Oh, so you came in here to rub it in my face, huh?" Dean joked.

Sam shrugged. "You get Cocoa Pebbles," he teased.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You're in a better mood," he commented.

"Mom was right. I did need to get out of this house." Sam shoved the rest of the candy bar in his mouth, throwing the wrapper in the trash. "Tell her I said that and I'll kill you." Sam reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small bag of M&Ms, throwing them at his brother. Dean was stunned by the candy hitting him in the face. Sam laughed at his brother's stupid face. "You're welcome!" he yelled, walking out of the kitchen.

"You little shit!" Dean yelled back.


coffeeaddict13