Then and Now

Fight club

January 29th

Dean

Dean found his brother sitting by an old tree. Sam was doodling in his drawing book with a sad look on his face. 

"Hey Sammy." Dean took a careful seat next to his brother. 

Sam doesn't look up, his eyes stay fixed on the golden haired boy that he was currently colouring in.

"That's a good drawing..." Dean fiddles with a blade of grass. 

Again, Sam shows no sign of having heard him.

"Is that your uh.. friend?" 

Now Sam looks up, his eyes akin to that of an kicked puppy. That look made him feel immediately bad, Dean hadn't realized just how close the two had been. 

"I just can't believe I didn't notice you two were friends, I guess I'm the most oblivious big brother," Dean tries joking.

Sam just sighs, looking down again.

"Were you two close?" Dean didn't expect an answer, of course, but he felt bad that he hadn't spent much time with his brother lately. "He seemed nice."

Sam gave Dean a 'really' look. 

"Come on, I miss our talks... you could write?" Sam was smart and Dean had no doubt that Sam would be able to at write better than anyone else in his class.

Sam hesitates, and Dean stays silent as he watches the smaller boy grab his pencil. 

He was my best friend, Sam wrote in a messy scrawl.

Dean smiles widely. "Really? Where did you guys meet?"

Sam pointed at the tree that they sat under. 

"That's awesome Sammy, what was he like?" Dean shuffles closer to his brother, grateful for the chance to finally have what his mummy used to say 'brother bonding time'.

Funny, he pranks people, Sam smiles fondly as he wrote this. And he didnt care that I dont talk

"That's awesome Sammy!" Dean shares a small smile with his brother. "I'm sorry about him leaving."

Sam shrugs, chewing the end of his pencil. Dean could have sworn that he could see tears in his eyes.

"Uh, do you want to share my peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Dean noted that Sam had no lunch. 

Sam shakes his head and after that the two boys lapse into silence. Dean just sighs and digs into his lunch while Sam goes back to drawing. 

On the plus side, Dean decided looking at his brother, that was the longest conversation the brothers had had in a very long time. 

This cheered him up somewhat, and it was rare that he felt cheered these days. Dean decides that he needed to make more of an effort to be there for his brother. 

Maybe he could take him to the park later that week... yes, Dean knew that Sammy would love that. 

~~~~~~

Dean was the first one out of the class that afternoon when the bell rang. He ran to the cloakroom, grabbing his bag and jacket off the hook. He shrugs his jacket on and is out into the halls before Alastair's class had a chance of also being released. 

His battered body couldn't take anymore hits today.

He heads straight for Sam's class, running along the cheerfully painted corridors. He was almost there, just a corner away. 

Then hands were pulling him into the boys toilets. 

"Winchester! I wanna talk to to you about that stunt you pulled against me yesterday." Alastair was glaring down at him. His friends stood close behind.

"What do you want Alastair?"

"I want to teach you a lesson for always acting tougher than you are." Alastair advances forward.

Dean clenches his fists. "Leave me alone."

"Or what?"

Dean was the first one to throw a punch. He hit Alastair square in the stomach, making the older boy grunt in pain. Alastair growls and tackles Dean. They land heavily on the hard ground, exchanging punches as they rolled around. Alastair's friends just stand to the side laughing 

"Give it up, Winchester, you can't beat me."

Dean doesn't reply, glaring at the boy as they wrestle on the ground. Alastair's elbow catches his mouth, followed by the sharp taste of blood. Not that Dean cared, why cry over a few more bruises being added to his painful collection? Not him, not anymore. 

"Gonna cry?" Alastair grins, having pinned Dean down.

"Are you?" Dean spits blood at the older boy, and then he knees him in the stomach with all the strength he could manage. 

Alastair gasps in pain, his grip on Dean's shoulder growing weak enough that the boy could slip out from under him. He kicks Alastair in the side for good measure, wiping the blood from his mouth as he turns and flees from the scene. 

The corridor was still packed full of kids. Some only just leaving their classrooms as Dean weaved through them. He ignores their looks as he searches for his little brother. Where was his little brother?

Sam wasn't standing outside his classroom when Dean finally reached it, which was unlike Sam since Gabriel had left. He was always there, waiting for Dean to swing by and pick him up.

"Sammy!?" Dean's voice gets lost in the crowd of yelling students. "Sam!?"

Dean pushed his way through the crowd, wincing every time someone knocked against his bruises. 

"Dean! Dean WInchester!" A small boy popped out of nowhere, standing right in Dean's path.

"What?" Dean hoped that this was a friend of Sam's.

"You have to come quick! Sammy's in a fight!" The small boy tugged on Dean's flannel shirt. "Hurry!"

Feeling a wave of worry, Dean let the small boy lead him through the corridor. He felt confused, how on Earth did a kid like his Sammy end up in a fight?