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Sam lay on the lumpy motel bed and willed himself to fall asleep. Unfortunately, all the willing in the world didn’t seem to do any good since Sam remained awake. It was getting ridiculous, this was the third night in a row that Sam had been unable to sleep. He was trying, really trying. But his brain was traumatized from the fiery nightmares that plagued him in sleep, so instead it decided to just stay awake.
Sam knew it wasn’t healthy. The human body needs sleep, but his wasn’t willing to do so. It was also extremely dangerous considering what he and Dean did for a living. Sam didn’t really care if he was injured, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Dean being hurt from a foolish mistake Sam made cause he wasn’t sleeping.
Sam tried everything he could think of. He’d tried meditating, different breathing patterns, listening to soft music. Hell, he even went out and bought camomile tea. Dean teased him for drinking something as girly as tea, but Sam didn't really care. He just wanted to sleep.
When the sun started to rise, Sam rolled out of the shitty bed and made his way into the bathroom. He took a speedy shower and left the room to go find some sort of food for him and his brother to eat. Sam knew his brother wouldn’t likely be up for at least another hour, so he stopped at a cafe and ordered a black eye: black coffee with 2 shots of espresso. Sam may have preferred what Dean referred to as frou-frou drinks, but he was past the point of being able to function off his favored vanilla latte.
Sam slammed the coffee as he sat at the corner table, hoping the caffeine would kick in quickly. Once his cup was empty, he ordered another for himself and a drip coffee for Dean as well as an assortment of pastries and a couple breakfast burritos. The thought of consuming any food made his stomach churn, but he knew Dean would make him eat something when he returned to the motel. Dean wouldn’t buy that he ate while he was out anymore. Honestly Dean probably never bought it, but up until recently, Dean had let it slide.
Dean, surprisingly, was in the shower when Sam returned to the room. Sam booted up his laptop at the table as he began drinking his second cup of coffee in the day. Dean joined him less than 10 minutes later, muttering his thanks for the breakfast and coffee. Sam continued his research on the laptop in relative silence, the only sounds in the room being the tapping of the laptop keyboard and the eating sounds coming from Dean.
“Hey Sam, have you found us any new cases?”
Sam looked up to respond to Dean, but before he could even open his mouth to respond, Dean gasped. “Dude did you sleep at all last night?”
Sam sighed, but shook his head. No point in lying to Dean anyway.
“Are you even trying?”
“Yes, Dean! I can’t sleep! I’ve tried. I really have. I’m exhausted Dean. This is the 3rd night in a row I haven’t gotten a single minute of sleep. I’ve tried everything I can think of, but nothing is working. That tea I drank last night, that you said was girly, was supposed to help, but it didn’t do shit.”
By the end of Sam’s rant, Dean could see Sam’s eyes get a little watery and his breathing had picked up some. He looked as if he was about to have a breakdown. It threw Dean back to when Sam was only 4. He used to staunchly refuse to take a nap and by the time bedtime rolled around, he was left with an overtired Sam. When Sam got to that point, he always got emotional, crying at the drop of a hat. Even though 18 years had passed, Sam was acting exactly the same. Dean was in luck. He knew exactly how to handle an overtired Sam.
“Alright, Sammy. I believe you. You’re trying, but it’s just not working.” Dean said softly. Dean stood and walked slowly over to his bed. It was important not to spook an exhausted Sam. He sat down on the bed scooting so his back was up against the headboard.
“Come here, Sammy.” Dean called out, making sure to keep his voice gentle and calm.
“What? No. You were just asking me if I found a hunt. I’m looking for one.”
“It’s fine Sammy. We can find one later okay? Just come sit down with me for a while.”
Sam closed his laptop and trudged towards Dean, but made no move to actually get on the bed. Dean simply reached out and grabbed Sam’s wrist and gently pulled him onto the bed with him.
“Lay down, Sammy.”
An annoyed sound fell out of Sam, but he listened anyway, and laid down, curling up on his side. Dean pulled Sam’s head up onto his lap and began running his fingers through Sam’s shaggy hair. Dean began humming a Metallica song quietly. After several minutes, Sam finally began to relax, his tense muscles slowly loosening. Dean kept up his ministrations until Sam’s breathing deepend, and he felt Sam go completely limp. Dean couldn’t help the small smile and the feeling of pride that he could still soothe an overtired little brother to sleep.