big man in town | sabriel

3 | dean's in town

sam.

"saaam! saaaaaaammmm!!!" i woke up with a pounding headache to a loud noise coming from outside my door. i rolled over in bed and rubbed my forehead. then once i realized who's voice i was hearing, panic surged through me.

"dean?!" i said incredulously.

"come on sammy, i'm not waitin' all day out here." i threw open the door to find none other than my brother outside. he gave me a knowing look and a smirk. he was wearing a beige leather jacket and ac/dc t-shirt, and his hair was spiked up as always. he looked so different here, like he didn't belong.

"i think you have some explaining to do." he said and looked at me sideways.

"that i do." i sighed. "wait. are mom and dad here?"

"no, i came on my own." he said. i let him in and quickly closed and locked the door behind him.

"why?" i asked.

"i just wanted to see how my favorite brother was doing! is that so bad?" he shrugged and started looking around the place. judging the state the apartment was in, most likely.

"dean, first of all, i'm your only brother. secondly, you've never dropped by once in the 10 months i've been here in california. what's going on?" it was way too early for this. i didn't even know what time it was, but it could've been four in the afternoon and it would've still been too early. dean met my eyes again and raised his eyebrows as he shrugged.

"just figured now would be a good time." he said. i narrowed my eyes at him, not believing a word he was saying. but i guess i wasn't in a place to be questioning.

"how did you even find me?" i asked.

"well, when i went to the college and they told me you dropped out, i decided to message that broad of yours. jessie?"

"jessica." i corrected. "and she's not my broad."

"yeah, that, whatever. anyways i messaged her on facebook and she gave me your address. uh, nice place by the way. the ride here was lovely." he said sarcastically, looking around once more. i rolled my eyes.

"it's a dump." i said, bitchfacing him.

"yeah, i know. why do you live here? and why do you look like you just got out of a fistfight with barney the dinosaur?" he stared me up and down and my eyes followed his gaze. i had purple paint up and down my arms and a little on my shirt from the graffiti.

"uhh." i tried to think up a good lie, but nothing useful came to my sleep-drunk brain. "global warming." i said, joking. i hoped he wouldn't prod further but who was i kidding. it's dean, he's always nosey.

"yeah right." he scoffed and went to sit on the only recliner. "come on, baby brother. talk to me."

my face cringed at that. "please don't call me 'baby brother' that's literally awful." i sat down crisscross applesauce on the floor in front of him and sighed deeply. he already knew i dropped out of law school, i guess that was the worst of it. no harm in telling him the rest. i looked up and he was staring at me with a polite smile, waiting patiently. "i tried to like law school dean, i really did." i looked down at my hands in my lap. "but i just couldn't do it anymore. it's not me, it was never my first choice. jess was feeling the same way, so we dropped out. i pursued art and she got a well-paying insurance job."

it was silent for a few seconds. "wait..." dean finally said. "are you telling me you're some kinda fancy artist now?" i looked up at him, confused. "sammy, that's awesome! you always were a nerd for that kinda stuff." he clapped my shoulder and my face turned from confusion to a smile, accompanied by a bit of a blush. i didn't know dean would be so supportive. he continued talking. "so the tuition mom and dad are paying..."

"it should be getting sent right back to them. i guess they just haven't noticed." i said, shrugging.

"sam, you know it won't be long before they figure it out. what are you gonna do?"

"i don't know." i stood up, making a move towards my dresser in the back room. "i'm just kinda going with the flow." which wasn't smart, i know. but it is what it is.

"okay well... keep me updated i guess." he said from the other room. i got some clothes together and started getting dressed. i heard shuffling in the living room but i didn't pay any mind to it. it wasn't until i walked back in there that i noticed something was wrong.

"uh, sam? is there something else you're not telling me?" at first i was confused but then i saw that he had my phone in his hands. my eyes widened. he held the screen out for me to see. "three notifications from grindr!?"

my breath hitched. i didn't know what to say, i completely totally wasn't prepared to have this conversation for at least another few years. "i downloaded it as a joke." i said quickly. he shook his head.

"no sam, these are all people you've had conversations with. interesting conversations, i'll say that." he said with a chuckle.

"stop looking through my shit!" i basically screeched as i snatched away my phone from his hands. his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"sam, really. it's okay. actually i wanted to tell you i'm--" he started, but i was already gone. out the door, as far away from there as my feet would carry me. i finally had a new life, one where i could be the truest version of myself. and it was ruined. how could i face dean when he knew my biggest secret?

i ran down the sidewalks of san francisco, dodging around the people that were minding their business. i felt like i stood out among them like a sore thumb; like i didn't really belong. i kept running until i was out of breath. i ran into this alley and kept following it, making all kinda of twists and turns until i made it into a clearing. i had no idea where i was. it was midday and the sky outside was bright blue, but it wasn't too hot thank god.

i looked at my surroundings. i seemed to be leaning against the wall of some kind of warehouse. it was completely silent, even the city sounds had vanished entirely. i was breathing super heavily and holding my chest. it had been awhile since i sprinted like that.

"you running from the cops?" i heard a voice say. it scared the shit out of me. i yelped and jumped, frantically looking around for where it could have come from. "over here." they said again. i finally saw him. a short man in a black suit and tie. he had brown shaggy hair like me. he seemed to have stepped out of the shadows.

"um, no." i finally answered his question. he kept looking at me though, as if that answer wasn't enough. "i just had a rough day." i got out between wheezes (still trying to catch my breath, artistry doesn't exactly keep you in shape).

he nodded his head slowly, looking away. when i finally caught my breath, i took in my surroundings. the clearing was small but the warehouse was huge in comparison. there was a small parking lot with a few cars in it, but nothing else. "where am i?" i wondered out loud.

"nowhere that you need to know about, kiddo." he said ominously. he took a few steps closer to me, he was about arms length away now. i noticed more about his features. like his eyes were sunken in and his lips were a bit uneven. he looked a lot older than he probably was. "what's all that?" he asked, gesturing vaguely to my purple splotches.

"i'm an artist." i said simply. his face showed no emotion, he just nodded.

"to get out of here, you follow that road and take a left, a right, and then another left." he said, meeting my eyes. his were honey colored and narrowed a bit from the sunlight.

i nodded, taking the hint and making my leave. before i left i looked behind me to find his eyes following me. not knowing what to do, i waved awkwardly. amusement flashed over his eyes and he cracked a hint of a smile before waving back. i felt satisfied with that and made my way back to the sidewalk.