10

They didn't even talk about Amelia. It wasn't until Sam opened the apartment door for Dean and saw Amelia's furious face that he realized how serious it was to stand his fiancee up at her own engagement party.

Sam said curtly: "This is Amelia." Turning around to his girlfriend who had apparently been crying, he couldn't think of a delicate way to say it, so he went directly with: "This is Dean, my brother."

Then it all made sense.

"Oh, Dean. That Dean, your dead brother?" Amelia was so taken aback that her tearful expression turned into a surprised one, "What happened?"

"It's hard to explain." Dean was in one of his rare moments of self-conscious. "In short, I'm not dead, there's been a little situation today and Sammy came and helped me out of it. Sorry he ditched you."

Dean rolled up his pants to show her the anklet, he said sincerely: "I'm really, very sorry that I'm going to bother you for some more time. I hope it won't undermine your feelings towards my brother."

"Oh." Amelia stared at the anklet and couldn't think of a seemly way to react, she just tried her best to force her lips into a smile. With a criminal in the house, being jilted by your fiance at the last minute didn't seem that much of a problem in comparison.

Sam pulled her aside, guilty as he was it was evident that he was without regret. He said: "Listen, Amelia, I'm sorry, and I fully understand if you're mad and want to rethink over the engagement."

"What are you talking about? That's your brother!" Amelia said, "I know what this feels like. The joy of redemption after the pain of loss, to see someone you thought you'd never lay eyes on ever again in your life. I'm sure you didn't mean to embarrass me, and our friends are great too, they all know you wouldn't do that unless there's an emergency. So, go, treat your brother well."

Sam flashed her a grin, he paused and then said: "And uh, about the fact that Dean's my brother, we need to keep it a secret for now."

"Why?"

"It's a work thing, our— Dean's work is kinda dangerous, it'll do us both good to keep things discreet." Sam reminded her quietly: "Aren't you always curious about my scars?"

Amelia was clearly frightened: "You didn't say your brother... what is he, mob?"

"Mob, huh?" Dean said, "I think mobs might be a little better in comparison."

"Dean, " Sam shot him a sharp look, "you're not helping."

Dean made a gesture of surrender and grabbed a beer from the fridge. EL SOL, his favorite brand.

Sam continued to assure Amelia: "Trust me, we're the good guys, and no matter what happens we're gonna make sure you're safe. Don't worry, just, don't worry at all"

Amelia nodded suspiciously, she needed to go to her room to clear her head, the beer bottle was swinging in Dean's hands as she walked past him: "I really am sorry, reschedule the engagement ceremony and I promise I won't conjure up anything to screw it up again."

Amelia shut the bedroom door close with a "bam".

Sam put Dean in the guest room, Dean looked ever so tired with both the shadows under his eyes and his stubble indicating the kind of crappy life he had led. Sam took the beer bottle from his hand and gave him a glass of warm milk instead: "Drink some of this and go to sleep first. How long has it been since the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

Five years. Dean thought.

Dean lay down carefully to avoid his wound and at the same time try to avoid it being seen by Sam. But of course Sam noticed that something was wrong with him at once. Dean was still trying to tug down the hem of his shirt in vain so Sam said: "You know you can't keep anything from me right?"

"I've hid it well, for three whole years." He talked tough, "I'm perfectly capable of dealing with these myself."

"Yeah, and that's probably the longest time you've lied to me. Dean, I feel hurt, I feel frustrated." Sam pulled up Dean's shirt firmly.

Dean ceased struggling, he took hold of Sam's hands and looked him in the eyes: "There's no need to."

"Today's the best as well as the worst day in my life." Sam lowered his head and tried to peel off that piece of gauze as gently as possible. "There's nothing better than seeing you. But I— I just let you stay out there alone, this is the fucking worst thing I could think of."

The wound was not tended to properly, it had kept cracking open over and over again and was left with an awful ugly look. It had been such a long time since Sam last saw a real wound that he got a bit afraid, because he knew how much it would hurt but he couldn't remember what it felt like. It's just pain, the kind he couldn't experience anymore.

Sam frowned and turned around for the first-aid kit, it was very well-loaded thanks to Amelia. He put a dressing on Dean's wound and told his older brother: "You're not taking any cases anytime soon." He thought for a moment and added: "Don't go anywhere without telling me, don't act alone, got it?"

"I am your older brother."

"And I am your guardian."

"You've no right to restrain my freedom."

"I'm not restraining your freedom. I'm just, staying with you, us staying together."

"Dude, last time I checked you're a lawyer with a proper job, whilst I always got some, you know, needs, I need to hit the bars and strip clubs, and don't forget you've got a fiancee."

"Your needs... right, I'm guessing I don't want to know when's the last time you slept with someone."

"Three days ago."

"Only three days?"

"Which means I might have to go out and take care of it tonight."

"You're still injured! Can't we just lower the frequency while you're recovering? How about half a month."

"All the girls in New York are gonna hate you." Dean protested, "You can't have your big brother all to yourself, Sammy girl."

"Once a week." Sam said. "And under my supervision."

"Will you be 'supervising' while I'm doing it with the girls?" Dean manually added quotation marks on the word "supervising."

"I'll wait outside." Sam said, "Once you're done, you come home with me. No more cuddly nights with bunny girls."

"Are you being serious?"

Sam's voice softened: "I can't leave you alone anymore, Dean, I'm begging you, don't disappear again."

Dean was lying on his stomach, he tilted his head to look at the pitiful look in Sam's eyes. He could never refuse Sam when he's like that.

Sam took Dean's hands, his fingers skimming through the calluses in his brother's hands one by one, he squeezed his brother's palms tightly in his own hands. Those feelings were real. Sam lowered his head and put his face next to Dean's, he maintained an strange position as their eyes met. Dean moved closer and put his forehead against Sam's, he said ever so softly: "Don't be sad, Sammy. I'm right here. I'm always here."