Author's Note: So, this is the sequel to Bright Smiles and Bloody Lips! Unlike that story, this story will not have a summary for every chapter; the reason for this is because I used different formatting on another site for Bright Smiles and Bloody Lips. I hope you enjoy!

"He finally passed out about two hours ago."

Sam stepped into Bobby's library and felt a huge weight come down on his shoulders. Just seeing Liam, wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping on the couch, was enough to send a huge wave of guilt crashing over him. He had made Liam worry. Again.

"Sam, you need to get some rest."

Sam didn't need Dean to tell him that. It had taken them roughly twenty hours to drive from Ilchester, Maryland to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sam had spent the majority of the trip in the throes of withdrawals. Between the searing pain in his stomach and the vivid hallucinations, Sam was running on empty.

"Sam, he'll be fine." Dean put his hand on Sam's shoulder and gave it a shove. "You need to get some sleep. You're no good to him—or anyone—when you're like this."

Sam heaved a sigh and nodded his head. "I know, I know, I just…" He looked at Liam, all curled up and dead to the world, and he felt that guilt come over him again. "I just want to be here as soon as he wakes up."

Bobby walked over to the couch and adjusted Liam's blanket. "As soon as he wakes up, he's gonna come wake you. I'll make sure of it."

Sam gave Liam another long look and then slowly turned away, walking out of the library and down the short hall to the stairs. He slowly started climbing, and then stopped to look at Dean. "I screwed up, didn't I?"

Dean didn't say anything for a moment, but when he did finally speak, there was no hesitation. "Yeah, you screwed up. Every parent does. You're gonna make this right, and Liam is going to be just fine."

Sam looked down at his feet and tried to imagine making things right. He tried to picture what it would look like, and all he could picture was Liam crying because Sam had disappeared again.

"Go to bed," Dean ordered, giving Sam a knowing look. "Just shut down that screwy brain of yours and get some sleep. We'll figure things out in the morning."

Sam nodded his head and continued up the staircase, making his way to the bedroom that had become Liam's over time. He closed the door behind him and looked around at the somewhat cluttered room. He looked at Liam's schoolbooks and half-finished art projects. He looked at the discarded pajamas and Liam's latest Lego creation. He looked at the evidence of his little boy, and he was reminded for the millionth time why he loved Liam so much.

I'll make it right. Somehow, someway, I'll make it right.

And with that thought at the forefront of his mind, Sam tumbled into bed and lost himself to sleep.

"Sorzie!"

Sam jolted awake and grunted in pain, grabbing onto the sudden weight that had jumped on him. "Liam!" He sat up in bed and held Liam in his lap, hugging him tightly. "Liam, buddy, I missed you so much!"

"I missed you, too!" Liam wound his arms around Sam's neck and held on for dear life, straddling Sam's lap. "I was really worried about you! Are you okay?"

"I am now," Sam assured, smiling. "I'm sorry I had to disappear for a little while. There was something really important I needed to do."

"It's okay. I knew you were coming back." Liam peered up at Sam with curious blue eyes. "What important thing did you have to do?"

Sam offered another smile, trying to think of a good way to tell the truth. "Well… you know how Dean and I hunt monsters?"

Liam nodded twice, a solemn expression on his face.

"Well, there was a really bad monster that I needed to take care of. To do that, I had to drink something that made me really sick afterwards." Sam gave Liam a tight smile. "But I'm okay now. And I'm home."

Liam gave Sam a scrutinizing look, his features scrunched up with suspicion. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I am now, buddy. I promise." Sam kissed Liam on the forehead, right over his cigarette burn scars. "I was sick for a while, but I'm better now."

Liam looked at him for a moment longer, but then he smiled. "Okay." He reached out and poked Sam in the ribcage. "Castiel put special sigils on you to keep the angels from finding you."

Sam blinked. "Really? Cool." He poked Liam in the ribcage the same way Liam had poked him. "Did you get sigils put on you?"

"Yup!" Liam gave Sam another hug and then got off of him, bouncing on his toes by the bed. "Dean said we have to go to the grocery store to get food. Are you coming with us?"

Sam smiled widely, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'd love to come to the grocery store."

Liam turned and went to the door, opening it up and hollering, "Dean! He said yes!"

Sam smiled to himself and stood up. He had fallen into bed the night before without even taking his shoes off, so he was already ready to go.

"Come on," Liam urged, leaving the bedroom behind.

Sam followed Liam out, still smiling to himself, and he couldn't help but feel a little lighter. Lucifer was still free, and Ruby had still betrayed him, and he still wasn't on the best of terms with Dean, but Liam was okay. If nothing else, Liam was okay.

That was enough for Sam.

Grocery stores were magical things. How did Liam know this? Well, to understand that, one had to know what Liam knew. What did Liam know? Well, Liam didn't know exactly what was going on with his family, but he knew enough.

He knew Sam was upset about something. He could tell from the way Sam's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He could tell from the way Sam stared blankly at the floor when he thought no one was looking. He could tell from the way Sam couldn't quite look Dean in the eye when they talked.

Liam also knew that Dean was angry about something. It might have been the same something Sam was upset about, but Liam didn't know for sure. All Liam knew was that Dean kept crossing his arms over his chest. All Liam knew was that Dean kept snapping at people and then taking it back, rubbing his face in frustration.

Liam also knew that Castiel felt really, really guilty. He could tell from the way Castiel would offer a piece of information and then immediately withdraw. He could tell from the way Castiel couldn't look anyone in the eye for more than a second or two. He could tell from the perpetual frown that marred Castiel's features, from the lines drawn on his face.

Liam could tell a lot of things about his family, and when he took all of those things into consideration, it became readily obvious that grocery stores were magical.

In what way? Well…

"Hey, Liam, do you want some clementines?"

Liam looked up at Sam in surprise, startled out of his thoughts. "Uh, yes, please."

Sam gave Liam a knowing look, a small smile pulling on the corner of his mouth. "Are you actually going to eat them this time?"

Liam bit his lip, looking sheepish. "Sorry, Sorzie. I won't let them go bad again."

Sam shook his head, that little smile lingering. "Buddy, it's okay. I mean, I don't want you to be wasteful, but there are worse things than forgetting food until it goes bad. I do it, too."

Liam still felt bad, but he really did want clementines, so he didn't try to talk Sam out of buying. He was just going to have to make sure he ate them all.

Sam let out a little sigh, sadness dampening his features. "Should, uh…" He shook his head. "Should we get some vegetables, too?"

Liam nodded his head and did his best not to worry, but that was much easier said than done. For all that Liam did know about what was going on with his family, there was so much more he didn't know. There was so much happening, and Liam didn't know what he was supposed to think of it all.

Why had Sam gone off to face the monster alone? What did he drink that made him sick afterward? What did he mean by 'sick?' Were Sam and Dean able to defeat the monster they had gone after? Or had it hurt them? Was it going to come hurt Liam, too?

Liam was imaginative. He had theories to last him for days.

"Earth to Liam, come in Liam. This is Captain Sorzie speaking."

Liam blinked a few times and dragged himself from his thoughts. "Sorry." He looked up at Sam and blinked again. "Uh, what was the question?"

"Do you want carrots?" Sam asked, holding up a bag of baby carrots.

Liam thought about it for a moment. "Do we have peanut butter?"

"Yeah, we have peanut butter." Sam indicated the carrots with a small nod. "You want them?"

Liam thought about it for another moment, and then he nodded.

"Okay." Sam put the carrots in the cart and glanced down at Liam with a soft smile. "Do you want to tell me what you were thinking about?"

Liam immediately shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

There was no way Liam wanted to tell Sam about his questions. Sam already felt bad about whatever thing was bothering him. If Sam knew how upset Liam was, he would feel even worse. And there was no telling Dean, because if Dean knew how upset Liam was, he might get angry with Sam or Liam or both. And there was no telling Castiel, because if Castiel knew how upset Liam was, he would feel even more guilty.

No, no, no. Liam didn't want any of that.

"Did you clean out the deli, or did you leave them with a single slice of ham?" Sam asked, putting two containers of grape tomatoes in the cart.

Dean walked up to them and dropped several deli bags into the cart, letting out a sarcastic laugh. "Ha, ha. You're so funny." He gestured to the food he had gathered. "I like to stuff my face with a variety of meats and cheeses, and you can't tell me this isn't healthy food."

Sam smiled lightly, actually meeting Dean's eyes for a few seconds. "Yeah, well… I'll give you that." He faltered for a moment, but then he looked at Dean again. "I think we're done in the produce aisle."

"Good." Dean sneered at the fresh fruits and vegetables in the cart. "Wait." He looked around them with a frown. "Where'd Cas go?"

Sam stopped. "Uh…" He also looked around, but Castiel was nowhere in sight. "I lost him, apparently."

Liam pointed in the general direction of the snack aisle. "I think he went over there." He had noticed Castiel wandering off earlier.

"Ooh, snack aisle." Dean clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "It's potato chip time."

Liam looked up at Sam hopefully. "I do really like potato chips."

Sam smiled back. "I know you do, buddy. We can get some chips."

Liam turned to look at Dean and smiled. "We can get chips."

Dean started to walk. "Well, let's get going then."

Liam nodded, grabbing onto Dean's sleeve and starting toward the aisle of junk food. He felt guilty the second he stepped away from the cart, wondering if Sam would think Liam was choosing Dean over him. But he didn't want to run away from Dean and go to Sam, because he didn't want Dean to feel bad, either.

He was stuck.

Thankfully, Sam followed them with the cart, so they were still together as a group. Liam was willing to take that as a victory.

"Castiel?"

Liam pulled himself from his thoughts in time to see Castiel turn toward them with a long strip of Fruit by the Foot hanging from his mouth.

"Thith ith not fruit," he said, holding up the box. "But I like it."

Dean snorted. "It's the only fruit that matters." He walked over and whacked Castiel upside the head. "You can't just open boxes and eat things before you buy them."

"Don't hit him," Liam said softly, biting down on his lip when Dean looked his way. "Please?"

Dean stared for a moment, and then he pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded. "Sure, buddy. I'm sorry. I forgot that…" He shook his head with a sigh. "I just forgot. Sorry."

Liam gave Dean a tiny smile. "It's okay." He scuffed his foot on the floor, hoping he hadn't been too disrespectful or troublesome. "Thanks."

There was a moment of silence, and then Sam pointed to the cart. "Go ahead and put them in."

Castiel cautiously approached the cart, squinting in a mixture of suspicion and confusion. "You're thertain?" he asked, the strip of candy still hanging from his mouth.

Sam gave him a tight smile and a single nod. "Yup. Go ahead."

Castiel looked at Sam for a long moment, and then he dropped the box into the cart. He grabbed the end of the Fruit by the Foot still hanging out and stuck it in his mouth, chewing contentedly.

"Okay, Lee." Dean walked a little further down the aisle and spread his arms, indicating the massive wall of chips. "Time to pick your poison. And by poison, I mean death by deliciousness."

And Liam smiled. Because, thanks to the magical power of grocery stores, he could pretend things were normal for a little while. He knew Sam was still upset about something, and he knew Dean was still angry about something, and he knew Castiel was still feeling guilty, but for a moment, things were okay.

Things were okay.

"I'm the what now?"

Castiel sighed softly and looked at Dean from where he sat on Bobby's couch. He wasn't sure whether or not Heaven's plans were something that should be discussed in front of Liam, but Castiel couldn't put off the truth any longer.

"You're the Michael Sword." Castiel glanced briefly at Liam, who sat on the floor nearby, coloring a picture of a hummingbird. "The Apocalypse isn't the end; it leads up to the end. The end is a prizefight between Michael and Lucifer. For that, they need you and Sam to be their vessels."

Sam, who was standing next to Dean, shook his head and let out an incredulous sort of laugh. "How are we supposed to fight that?"

Castiel hung his head and slowly shook it back and forth. "I don't know." He looked up at Sam and tried to put some conviction into his voice. "But if anyone can do it, I believe you and Dean can."

"Well," Bobby said from behind his desk, "you've already got those sigils keeping you hidden from angels. That's a start."

"Yeah, but they'll find us eventually." That was Dean, sounding less than optimistic.

Sam glanced over at Liam. "Maybe we should talk about this later."

Liam looked up from his coloring project. "It doesn't bother me, Sorzie. I already know you guys are upset about something."

Sam smiled weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess you do. Sorry, buddy."

Liam only shrugged, looking back at his art. "It's okay."

"So," Bobby started, drawing their attention back to the problem at hand. "What do we do?"

"Well, there will be Four Horsemen." Castiel shifted on the couch, pressing a hand to the wound in his side. He was still pretty roughed up from his reeducation. "War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. They will be unleashed on the world."

"Well, that sounds terrible." Dean put his hands on his hips and gave Castiel a disapproving look, like it was Castiel's fault the Horsemen were free.

Which, Castiel supposed, it kind of was. If Castiel had done the right thing from the beginning, he could have prevented Sam from killing Lilith and subsequently releasing Lucifer. Castiel had made the wrong call, and he had to own up to that.

"I apologize." Castiel hung his head briefly, but then he looked at Sam and Dean again. "I don't know how to fight Lucifer without giving in to Heaven's plan. But I truly do believe you can find a way around it, and I'll help however I can."

Sam ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "Well, for now at least, the best thing we can do is keep moving."

Bobby nodded his head in agreement. "Not that I don't love having you all here, but the more you stay in one place, the quicker the angels will be able to find you."

Dean nodded a few times and looked at Liam. "Where do you wanna go, buddy?"

Liam stopped what he was doing and looked at the group, an almost puzzled expression crossing his features. "I dunno. I'd like to go anywhere. I just like traveling places."

Sam hummed and put his hands on his hips, lips twisting as he contemplated what was said. "Well, we could hit the road and see where it takes us."

Castiel wet his lips and looked at Liam to see what he would say. Subconsciously—or maybe not so subconsciously—Castiel was hoping he would be allowed to tag along, but he wasn't sure how Sam and Dean would feel about that. He knew Liam wanted him around, but the brothers had no reason to want Castiel anywhere near them. Honestly, it was surprising they hadn't already kicked him out.

"Can we get ice cream wherever we go?" Liam asked, looking up at the brothers hopefully.

Sam smiled. "After we eat something good for dinner, we can."

Dean jerked his head in the general direction of the kitchen. "What about all the groceries we just bought?"

Bobby waved it off. "Just take what you can. I'll eat whatever you leave."

Dean nodded and looked at Castiel. "You coming with us?"

Castiel blinked in surprise, staring at both Dean and Sam. "You'll have me?"

Dean gave Castiel a hard look, like he was angry about something, which he probably was. "Yeah, well… you helped Liam. You're on thin ice, but for now, you can ride with us."

Castiel blinked again, still staring. He had no idea what ice had to do with anything, but he was pretty sure he understood what Dean was saying to him. "Thank you," he said after a few more seconds of silent staring. "I won't let you down."

"You better not," was Dean's snapped reply.

Castiel fell silent, willing to accept whatever harshness Dean showed. Sam, too. Castiel was grateful to be accepted into the group, and he understood how his actions had made the situation complicated. He wasn't going to complain, and he would take whatever they dealt without reserve. He was going to help them, and he was going to be a part of their fascinating, tantalizing lives. What that would entail, Castiel wasn't entirely sure, but he knew he had glimpsed little pieces of their lives when he had been with Liam, and he wanted to be a part of that. He wanted to see what was so captivating about their concept of family. He wanted to understand. And it seemed, at least for the time being, Dean and Sam were going to allow him to tag along.

So, Castiel was going to get it right. He wasn't going to screw things up. And maybe, just maybe, they would make him a part of their family.

"Take my hand, we'll make it I swear! Ohh-ohh, livin' on a prayer!"

Dean looked in the rearview mirror as he drove, unable to keep himself from smiling wide as they drove down the interstate with their windows down. "Yeah, sing it, Liam!"

Liam did exactly what Dean said and belted it out from the backseat. "Tommy's got his six-string in hock! Now he's holdin' in, what used to make it talk so tough. Mmm, it's tough."

Dean, of course, had been singing along with Liam since the song came on the radio, and he wasn't about to stop. "Gina dreams of running away. When she cries in the night, Tommy whispers, 'Baby, it's okay… someday…' Sammy! Sammy, sing!"

Sam threw his head back and laughed out loud. "We gotta hold on to what we got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We got each other and that's a lot for love." He put his fist up. "We'll give it a shot!"

Dean hit the steering wheel and headbanged as the chorus returned. "Ohhh, we're halfway there! Ohh-ohh livin' on a prayer!"

Liam shouted along, bouncing in his seat. "Take my hand, we'll make it I swear! Ohh-ohh, living on a prayer! Livin' on a prayer!"

"Air guitar!" Dean shouted, immediately letting go of the wheel to strum his imaginary instrument.

Sam, still laughing, reached over and grabbed the steering wheel. "Dean, do you—haha, do you think you could keep your hands on the wheel?"

Dean grabbed the wheel with one hand and pointed at Sam with the other. "Ooh, we gotta hold on, ready or not! You live for the fight when it's all that you've got! Key change!"

Liam was torn between giggling and singing. "Woah, we're halfway there! Ohh-ohh, livin' on a prayer!"

"Take my hand, and we'll make it I swear! Ohh-ohh, livin' on a prayer!" Sam laughed again, the wind blowing his hair into his face as he tried to keep singing. "Ohhh, we're halfway there! Ohh-ohh, livin' on a prayer!"

"Take my hand, and we'll make it I swear—"

Dean whipped his head around, staring at the backseat. "Cas, did you just sing along?"

Castiel blinked those owlish eyes of his as the song faded out. "I… I think so, yes."

Dean put his eyes back on the road and pursed his lips. "Huh." He nodded a few times, contemplating the angel in his car.

Sam turned around in his seat and put his hand on Liam's leg. "Are you hungry, buddy?"

Liam didn't say anything right away, but eventually Dean heard a little, "Yeah," from the backseat.

Sam smiled. "Cool. Where do you want to go?"

"Umm…" Liam kicked the back of Dean's seat. "Oops. Sorry."

Dean waved it off. "Don't worry, bud. You're fidgety. It happens."

"Okay." Liam was quiet for another moment. "I wanna go to Chick-Fil-A."

Dean wagged a finger in the air. "Then to Chick-Fil-A we shall go!" he said, being as dramatic as he possibly could.

Liam giggled, and Dean couldn't help but smile again. Maybe he was the Michael Sword, and maybe Sam was the Lucifer Sword, or vessel, or whatever. Maybe everything was going to literal Hell in and handbasket. Maybe things were bad, but things were also good. Liam was a good thing, and even though the world was on the edge of a meltdown, Dean was going to enjoy that good thing as long as he possibly could. So sue him.

"Can I get a milkshake with my food, Sorzie?"

Sam smiled and turned in his seat. "Sure, buddy. What kind?"

"Vanilla!" Liam looked at Castiel and gave him a wide, gap-toothed smile. "You should try some, Castiel."

Castiel nodded seriously. "I will try some."

Dean didn't say anything. He was still a little sore about Castiel and his hand in the Apocalypse, but he didn't want to break the peace that had settled over the car. It was hard to hold his tongue, but he decided he could get angry with Castiel another day. He was too determined to enjoy the moment he was in. After everything he had been through, he deserved it.

They all did.