Chapter Text
The weeks turned into months and, to his own surprise, Dean was doing quite well.
It wasn’t an easy ride. Some moments were harder and the whole thing remained flimsy but time would fix that, they said. Besides a few hiccups, he hung on.
The rewards were nice too. The meetings with Sam were now a weekly thing, and he realized how much he’d missed his brother. That was a weird thought : he had always been in touch with Sam, besides those few weeks after their argument. But now he was really there. With him, right there, in the present time, and not somewhere inside his mind, struggling with himself and barely alive. Sammy seemed more into it too : the worry lines on his forehead had disappeared and he laughed more willingly.
They had lunch with Eileen twice. Whenever Dean saw her, he couldn’t stop wondering how such people could exist (and how Sammy managed to find, date and marry one ?!). She never looked down on him, never took pity. She was exactly the same as usual, genuinely happy for him to get better, not avoiding the subject but not digging either. He couldn’t have asked for better. No wonder his brother was head over heels for her. Must be kinda sweet to live with someone you get along so well with.
Sam even invited him to come home and see the kids, two weeks ago. Old habits die hard, Dean instantly opened his mouth to refuse with a false pretext. Then he shut it. Opened it again. Well, new Dean was maybe better than the old one but he would never be one to talk openly about his feelings and he struggled to find words he was comfortable to say without lying.
He went for a short “Maybe later, okay ?”.
However, he couldn’t turn down Eileen’s offer. Before he could process what was going on, she had switched seats with her husband and took Dean’s hands on her baby bump. There was nothing funny, so why the hell did he feel like laughing ? The baby was kicking like crazy; it was so weird to...feel it ? Through another human being. It should feel gross. It should. Dean had to try really hard to keep a straight face and not start babbling to his sister-in-law’s belly like an old nutcase. When he got his hands back, they were slightly shaking.
Damn, that was sweet. Dean had forgotten how the little things could enlighten the day.
They dropped him off at the community center 10 minutes before the AA meeting and he was on the sidewalk across the street, chatting with Sammy when the Universe decided to rebalance this perfect day.
The backlash appeared in the form of a tousled guy in a trench coat, exiting the building.
- Oh no. No. Not today, Satan.