Did I forget my tradition of responding to reviews? No...

Dask1507 - Welcome! I love writing happy Sammy. For now...

Long Live Brucas - Again... For now...

Deangirl1996 - Welcome! This story is kind of an AU, kind of canon? It will follow some of the same plot points as season 1, but with a twist. I'm hoping to start introducing some of the storylines from the show. Right now I'm just building backstory, context, blah blah blah. But I'm glad you're enjoying it! Here's the update!

On with the show!


"Dean! Get out of the bathroom!" Sam screamed, pounding his fist on the bathroom door in his room. How he had forgotten the joys of living with his brother. He had been trying to shower for the past hour but Dean had locked himself in there, doing God knows what, and wouldn't open the door. Annoyed, Sam left his bedroom, running into his mom in the hall. "Mom, please tell Dean he can go back to his place today," he begged.

Mary chuckled. "What'd he do now?"

"Holding himself hostage in our bathroom."

"You know you can use ours if you need to."

Sam whined. "I just want to take a shower. My hair feels gross."

"What's going on out here?" John asked, joining the conversation.

"Dean's hogging the bathroom," Sam complained.

John groaned and walked over to the bathroom door facing the hallway, banging on it hard. "Dean! Quit jerking it off and let your brother in so he can have a turn."

"John!" Mary scolded.

"What?" John asked innocently, making his way towards the stairs. "It worked back then, it'll work now."

Mary rolled her eyes in disbelief at her husband. She looked back at her son, who was now aggressively rubbing his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

Sam yawned. "What? Nothing. Why?"

"Cause you should have laughed at that."

Sam rubbed his eyes again. "I'm tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It was like anytime I did fall asleep, I would start having weird dreams that would wake me up."

Mary hummed in sympathy. "Honey, maybe we should take you to talk to someone."

Sam threw his head back and groaned. "Noooooooooo!"

Mary continued anyway. "What you went through was traumatic. It's okay to need some help to process it."

"I don't need help!" Sam continued to whine. "I need to stop eating tacos when you make them for dinner."

Mary smacked him on the arm and Sam let out a laugh.

"Dude!" Dean cried out, emerging from his bedroom dressed with wet hair. "You tattled on me!?"

Sam shrugged. "You locked me out of the bathroom."

Dean gasped in shock. He took the wet towel and threw it over Sam's head, proceeding to give him a noogie with it.

"Okay, that's enough," Mary said, breaking her sons up after letting them struggle for a second. "Sam, go take your shower."

"Better have left me hot water you jerk."

"Bitch."

"Hey!"

"What? It's a term of endearment," Dean explained. "Brotherly love and shit."

"I know, but that still doesn't mean I think it's nice," Mary admitted.


Later that day, John and Dean went back to the auto shop. While John was technically retired from the physical labor aspect, he would still check in on the finances and paperwork and make sure everything was okay. Not that he didn't trust Dean, but Dean didn't know how to run a business. He just knew how to fix up the cars and charm the customers.

"Dad, I'm telling you, everything is fine," Dean repeated annoyingly for the umpteenth time. "I got this."

John flipped through some receipts. "I just want to double-check some numbers is all."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Why? Because you don't trust me to do it?" Dean snapped.

"I trust you," John semi-lied. "I just want to see things for myself."

Dean grinded his jaw to stop himself from snapping back. Every couple of weeks or so, John would do this. Usually, Dean would hide out back with the cars to avoid him, but his jumpsuits were at the apartment and he wasn't completely back at work yet.

"I'm kicking you out," John said suddenly, hoping the change of subject would prevent a screaming match with his son over work.

"Whoa, flashback," Dean joked.

John ignored his little quip. "I know your mom asked you to stay for Sam, but now it's becoming an issue, wouldn't you agree?"

Dean was confused. "Are you talking about this morning?"

John let out a harsh sigh. "I'm talking about my adult son living at home point blank period."

"And what is Sam?" Dean retorted.

"Sam doesn't have his own place. But best believe, as soon as he's able to, I'm booting him out too."

Dean bit his lip and laughed. Unbelievable. "Fine! Soon as we're done here, I'll get my shit from the house and I'll go back to the apartment."

John's only response was to grunt in agreeance.

Dean left the small room and went out to the back lot with the cars. He should have been there from the beginning anyway.


Mary went about her day cleaning up the house as usual. She did some laundry, tidied up the kitchen, vacuumed, dusted, etc. Sam even helped her with some of it by cleaning up the bathrooms and changing the sheets on his and Dean's beds.

When Mary had finished, she grabbed a new James Patterson book she had been reading and went out to the living room. She found Sam passed out on the couch as an episode of Maury played in the background. Carefully and quietly, she turned off the television and reached for a throw blanket draped over the back of the couch. She did her best to lay it on top of Sam, even tucking him in a little. She settled in a chair on the other side of the living room, reading her book as Sam slept.

One chapter later, Sam started to stir and mumble in his sleep. He talked in his sleep as a child so Mary didn't think much of it. She found it cute and flashed back to memories of younger Sam sleeping on the couch. Her flashbacks were interrupted by Sam sitting up on the couch gasping for air.

"Sam?" she asked, throwing her book and crossing over to the couch. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Sam tried to catch his breath. "Yeah... just another weird dream."

Mary looked at him quizzically, hands on her hips. "Are you sure? Because you look kinda freaked out."

"Yes, Mom, I swear, I'm fine!" Sam yelled. Mostly because he was crabby from lack of sleep.

Mary opened her mouth to ask another question, only to be interrupted by the sound of the front door being swung open and her son and husband bickering with each other. "What the hell is this?" she asked instead.

"Dad's kicking me out!" Dean yelled from the doorway. "Again!"

"John!"

"Oh come on, Mary, there's no reason for him to keep staying here!" John argued in defense.

"Don't you think you should have talked to me about this first?" Mary ran over to the doorway. "Dean, honey, you don't have to go."

Dean turned around at the top of the stairs. "Why would I want to continue to stay here when he's just gonna keep ragging on me anyway!?"

"Dean! Wait!" Sam called. He jumped off the couch, brushed past his parents, who continued to stand in the doorway arguing, and followed his brother up the stairs. "Please don't go yet."

"I can't do it, Sam," Dean said, throwing what little items he brought over into his overnight bag. "I promised to stay until you were better, and you are, you're doing a lot better and I've overstayed my welcome so I'm gonna go."

"Please don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"Justify Dad's reasoning for being a jackass!" Sam screamed. "You always do that when you two fight and it drives me insane."

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, well, no offense Sam but Dad's been driving me insane since you called them from California. And I've had it!"

Sam sighed. He walked over to Dean and wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on Dean's shoulder. Dean put his arms around Sam's back in automatic response.

"Thank you," Sam whispered, "for staying and putting up with him anyway."

Dean felt himself immediately soften. Stupid older brother guilt.

"You know," he said, after letting Sam pull away from the hug first. "On the bright side, if he goes after you next, you can always come run off to my place."

Sam smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."

Dean tossed the overnight bag over his shoulder and went back downstairs with Sam right behind him.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Mary asked, waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's time, Mom," he said, giving her a hug goodbye. "Don't worry; I'll call later."

Mary gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, sending him on his way.


coffeeaddict13