chapter ten
au: shorter chapter (sorry, just wanted to publish another one this week) and lots of fluff :))
Rosie turned on the water and let it run over her body, as it started to leave red marks on her skin. She took a deep breath, exhaling and inhaling as she thought back to the events of the morning so far. Her behind was burning from her father's spanking and she couldn't help but wince as the hot water kept making contact.
Eventually, the young girl shut off the water and wrapped her towel around her body. Realizing that she forgot clothes, Rosie carefully partly opened the door and called out to Dean.
"Hey bubba, will you please bring me some clothes?" She said, not seeing where he was in the motel room.
"Coming now!" He yelled back from the living room. Dean went into the one bedroom and found some of his clothes knowing that they brought her some comfort. He picked out a large AC-DC shirt and his only pair of sweatpants. Walking over to the door, he turned away and slipped them through the slit in the door, handing them to his sister.
"Here kiddo," He said gently.
Rosie smiled as she saw the clothes Dean had picked out for her and accepted them thankfully.
"Thanks Deano." She responded, taking the clothes into her hands.
Rosie quickly dried her hair and got dressed, once more wincing as the sweatpants made contact with her butt. She also let out a hiss as the shirt made contact with the stitches on her arm.
"Hey, you okay in there kid?" Dean asked, obviously hearing the noises of pain she had made.
"Y…yes Dean, I'm … I'm okay." Her small voice responded.
"You got two minutes Rosie." Dean answered, matter-of-factly.
"Yes sir," She replied respectfully, unsure as to if he was upset or not. A couple minutes later, Rosie emerged from the bathroom with still damp hair and a sad smile etched on her features.
"Sorry," She mumbled, "The shirt just caught one of my stitches and it kinda hurt."
Sam immediately walked over and took her wrist into his large palm. "It looks okay, didn't rip anything. Are you sure you're okay? Want an ibuprofen? Tylenol? Or something —"
"Sam," Rosie interrupted, putting her hands on top of his, "I'm okay. You don't need to worry, it only hurts a little."
Sam nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently. "I know Petal, I'm just always gonna try to make sure that you're okay."
"Thanks Sammy," She smiled up in his direction.
He ruffled her hair and took a step away, "Always Rosie."
Dean came up behind her and tapped the top of her arm, "Come eat kiddo, it's been a while since you last ate and after all that's happened earlier; it's important."
Rosie sighed and looked down at the floor. "Do I have too? I'm really not too hungry."
Dean raised an eyebrow and looked down at her sternly but gently, "Yes, you do need to eat because it's been a while and cause I said so."
Rosie's eyes widened at her brother's tone and nodded slowly, "Yes Dean," She said quietly.
"Good." He replied simply, "Then come on." Dean walked over to the fridge and pulled out some eggs and toast. "This okay?" He asked, holding up the items he had picked out. Rosie nodded, internally groaning at the idea of putting food in her body. Turning on the stove, Dean cracked some eggs for Sam, Rosie and himself and popped a couple slices of toast in the old motel toaster.
Rosie laid her head down on the table tiredly as Dean cooked.
"Petal?" Sam asked, taking a seat across from his sister. "I know you are tired and probably don't want to do this right now, but dad wanted me to give you these to work on while he stepped out." He handed over another small piece of paper and a pencil with a sentence John had scribbled on the top of it.
"Lines?" Rosie groaned as her body slumped.
Sam nodded, "He wrote it at the top, said to copy it a hundred times and he'll look it over later."
"Okay," She sighed and picked up the pencil, starting to copy the phrase:
I will not drink. I will not abuse painkillers. I will not run away. I will obey orders from Dean, Sam and Dad.
"Sam this is so much…" Rose complained, once more slumping into the seat. "Did dad really say one hundred times, cause this is gonna take me forever."
Dean chirped up from the kitchen, pointing the rubber spatula in her direction, "Rose just do it. Do you really wanna get in more trouble with him then you're already in kiddo?"
Rosie sighed, "No sir," She said sadly.
"Good." He said simply once more, shrugging his shoulders and turning back around to face the stovetop.
Picking up the pencil again, she began to copy the phrase for the second time. About ten minutes later, Dean placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of his sister and sat down next to her.
"Eat up," Dean said, sounding like a suggestion, but it was definitely an order. Rosie nodded, pushing the paper and pencil away and picked up the fork, playing with the eggs on her plate.
"Rosie, food is for eating, not playing around with. Come on." Sam said, taking a bite of his own food from Dean. Sighing, she brought some toast to her mouth and took a bite, cringing a little as she ate.
Rosie finished about half her plate and then looked up at Dean in question, "Can I please be done? I'm full."
He raised an eyebrow and pointing his fork in her direction, "No. Finish up and keep working on your lines before dad gets back."
After a couple minutes, Rosie cleaned her plate. Standing to her feet, she grabbed Sam, Dean and her own plates, set them in the sink, washing them off and putting them on the drying rack.
"Thanks Petal," Sam said, coming behind her and wrapping his sasquatch arms around her shoulders.
"You're welcome Sammy," She smiled, placing his hands on her brother's arms. He placed a kiss on her the crest of her head and walked back over to the table, opening his laptop.
Rosie sulked back over to the table, took a seat and picked up the pencil, continuing to copy the lines from her father.
"Okay," Dean piped up, putting both arms on the table and leaning over to her, "What's wrong, kid?"
"Nothing." She replied quietly, not looking up at her brother.
"Look at me, Rose." Dean ordered, putting a hand under her chin till her eyes met his own. "I know it's been a hard morning and you have every right to be sad, but if dad comes home and sees you sulking around, he might wanna go for another round." Rosie's eyes widened in fear as she unconsciously sat up straighter. "It's okay to be this way for a while around me and Sammy, but please don't be this way when dad comes back, okay?"
"Yes Dean," She answered immediately, nodding her head. Dean nodded and released the light grip he had on her chin and stood up from the table, taking a seat on the couch.
"When you're done, come on over and we'll watch some Scooby Doo or something." He smiled, patting the couch next to him.
Rosie smiled genuinely for the first time that day and nodded, "Okay bubba!" She said encouragingly, writing a little faster, making sure that they were still nice and neat or else John would make her re-do them.
About half an hour later, Rosie was half way done and looked up at Sam, "When will dad be back?"
"I don't know Rosie, maybe another couple hours?"
"Where did he even go?" She asked, turning her head to the side.
Sam looked away for just a moment and then back at his sister, wanting to lie. "He went to meet with another hunter about a possible werewolf." He decided to be honest.
"Oh," She said quietly, continuing her writing.
Sam made a face, turning his lip in a small frown, but choosing to not follow up at the moment.
Eventually Rosie finished up and handed the paper over to Sam. "Here ya go Sammy," She smiled sadly, rolling the pencil to him with a little whoosh.
Sam smiled and looked over her lines, "Good job Rose, dad'll be happy with these."
Rosie gave her brother a thumbs up, and popped her lip, making a small sound, "O-kie dokie, Thanks Sam."
Sam rolled his eyes at the sound, "Go watch your cartoons," He let out a small chuckle.
Rosie smiled and walked over to Dean, snuggling under his arm as he gave her a small squeeze as she fit like a puzzle piece under his arm and close to his torso.
Dean flipped on their cartoons and let his body relax into the couch, closing his eyes. Sam shut the laptop and grabbed his notebook and books from the table.
"I'm gonna go return these books before the library closes for lunch. Do you guys need anything while I'm out?" He asked.
"No thanks," Rosie answered, shaking her head.
"Pie." Dean replied simply, not even opening his eyelids.
Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed some cash from the jar on the counter. "Alright, be back in an hour or so."
"Bye! Love you!" Rosie called out as the door closed.
"Love ya too, Petal!" Sam said back before letting the door close behind him.
Rose looked up at Dean and saw that his eyes were closed. She rested her head on his chest and he pulled a blanket over the two of them.
"Comfy kiddo?"
"Yes," She replied quietly, letting her own body melt into her brothers.
"Rosie?" Dean's voice questioned.
"Yes?" Rose replied, looking up at him.
"I'm proud of you, Rose." He said as if it was the most casual thing in the world. She looked up at him confused by the random compliment.
"Wha— why?" The young girl asked, confused.
Dean opened his eyes and looked down at his little sister. "Rosie, you were very brave. You didn't fight dad or try to get out of his punishment, you just, you behaved — like a true Winchester does." She blushed at his compliment, looking down at her hands. "Hey, don't be embarrassed Rosie, I just wanna let you know how far you've come in just a few days. You were so nervous about him finding out, but you handled it, better than I would have." He smiled, nudging her shoulder. "Dad's hand isn't something that's easy to take."
"Boy do I know it," She mumbled and Dean ruffled her hair.
"I remember when you were little," Dean began, changing the subject, "You ran off to a park just across the street while we were at the library researching. It was dad's fault really, cause he thought a six year old would be okay to stay at a motel alone for hours…" Dean sighed, rubbing his free hand over his face, "I told him that you could just come with us, but he didn't wanna have any distractions cause the hunt was pretty intense."
"I was six?" Rosie asked, "I don't remember that."
"You probably blocked it out," Dean laughed, "Cause your little brain," He teased, "decided to leave the motel and run across the street to the park to play with the other kids."
Rosie's eyes widened, "I did?" She scoffed, "that was pretty stupid. Why did I do that?"
Dean shook his head, "I have no idea," He laughed, "But I do know that when dad found you, he climbed the slide where you were, grabbed you by the scruff of your neck and basically dragged you back to the motel."
Rosie swallowed the lump in her throat and looked down again. "I really don't remember that."
"Well, I defended you, even though you were being a dumbass little kid," He said jokingly again and Rosie elbowed him gently in the ribs. "He grounded me for trying to stick up for you and gave you a spanking, like he tends to do."
"Deeean," She whined, "This is embarrassing, why are you telling me this?"
"Because, after dad was done and he left the motel, you climbed into my lap just like you're doing now." Dean said affectionately. "I'm pretty sure you were wearing my clothes too." Rosie smiled and leaned closer into him, if that was possible. "I guess some things don't change, huh?"
"I guess not," She grinned, looking back up at him. Suddenly, Rosie had a horrible thought. "Dean? Are you … are you still gonna punish me for trying to take Baby?" Her voice was almost a silent question.
Dean sighed and looked at his sister seriously, "Do you think I need to?"
Rosie swallowed the lump in her throat and started to twiddle her thumbs. "I will never do it again Dean, I swear." She began, "But, I know that I deserve it. I won't fight you." Once more her voice was basically a whisper.
Dean smiled sadly and looked at the TV momentarily as a laugh track for the cartoon played in the background.
"How about we talk about it later? I'll think about it, okay? But I appreciate you being so honest, kiddo I just want to enjoy this time." He replied almost thankfully.
Rosie nodded and brought her knees into her chest, snuggling into her brother's body, facing Dean. "Yeah Dean. I just don't want you to be upset at me bubba."
Dean smiled at the nickname and gave her shoulder another tight squeeze. "Love you, Rose."
"I love you too, bubs." She smiled, closing her eyes as the sound of the cartoons played in the background.
Rosie didn't even notice that she had drifted off until the rumble of the Impala was heard outside and Dean promptly opened his eyes in unison with his sister.
The door slammed open and in walked a very disoriented John. Rosie gasped at the sound of the door and instinctively moved closer to her brother.
"Dean," She whispered fearfully as John pointed a finger in their direction.
"It's okay Rose, it's okay. Just move behind me." Dean said, standing to his feet and gently pushing Rosie behind his back to protect her.
Dean's eyes winced as he could practically smell the liquor coming off of his father. "Dad?"
"Shut up, boy." John growled and stumbled into the table. Dean gulped and pushed Rosie's farther behind him.
Dad was home. Dad was angry. And dad was drunk.