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Dean caught Sam two blocks from the bus stop. “Sammy! C’mon, dude, get in the car, would you?”
Sam shook his head, eyes full of tears. Dean could not blame him a bit for it, as much as he wanted to, when Sam turned away and started walking again. “You know I can’t, Dean. I can’t…”
“I know you can’t go back there.” Sam looked back, eyes wide, but arms coming up to wrap himself as tightly as he could. “Even if it weren’t for Dad saying what he said, you couldn’t go back there. That’s what took me so long catching up.” He jerked his head at the back seat, and he watched Sam’s face flicker between hope and grief and shock as he took in the bags back there. Hope won when Sam noticed that it wasn’t just his own bag – Dean’s bag was back there too. “I was gonna head for Sioux Falls. Might be rough at first, not sure how much Bobby’s interested in seeing you or me, but his fight was with Dad. Figure worst that happens is we get told to find somewhere else to go.”
Sam got into the passenger seat, “What did Dad say about you leaving? He pissed at you, or he gonna try to come after us to save you from me?”
“He’s…” Dean shook his head. How did he explain this one to Sam? “First off, I owe you an apology for not speaking up sooner. I’m no innocent victim in all this, seduced by the demon within you or whatever bullshit Dad was spewing. I just thought let Dad shout, you’d take off for a few days, both of you would cool down, and we’d be a family again. Then Dad… well, you’re not going back, and with that in mind, I realized I had to pick a side. So I told Dad he was full of it, threw a couple punches, grabbed our gear, and when Dad told me he’d come save me, I told him I didn’t want saving.”
“You threw a punch at Dad?” Dean rolled his eyes. They had so much else to talk about, and that’s what Sam decided to start with? “You actually hit Dad?”
“Yep. In my defense, he threw one at me first, when I told him you didn’t have some kind of hold on me making me your demon bitch boy or something, we’d just agreed that neither of us gave a damn about the reasons we shouldn’t act on us wanting each other and that we did want each other.” Usually, when Dad was pissed enough to throw a punch at Dean, he’d take it and move on. Usually, it was because Dean had disobeyed an order, or made a careless mistake on a hunt, or something equally stupid. This time, it was because John couldn’t stand the idea that his boys, in their isolation and devotion to each other, had decided to cross the line.
“If you’d known that getting caught meant losing Dad, would you still…” Sam asked, voice trailing off. Dean glanced over at him. “Do you regret it, knowing what it cost you?”
“Us, Sammy. Cost us. I know you were probably gonna end up leaving before too much longer anyway, but you taking off for college would’ve been a huge difference from getting kicked out.” Dean faked a smirk he didn’t really feel. “Good thing Dad’s been having me handle your last few school transfers anyway, huh? I know how to do it, and one semester ain’t much, but it’s more than you’d ever expected to get at one school.”
“Wait, you’re… you knew I was leaving for college?”
Sensitive topic, but… “I didn’t know anything specific. If you’ve been applying and stuff, good for you, but I don’t know what you’ve done. I just know you. You’re brilliant, you like school, you want something that ain’t this life and you see college as your ticket to that life. Maybe not right away, but you were gonna bolt for college in the next couple years.”
“I… I’m waiting to hear from Stanford,” Sam admitted. “I’ve been accepted, but there’s no way I could afford to go unless this full-ride scholarship comes through. The adviser I’ve been talking to there says I’ve got a great shot at it, but there’s no guarantee until the envelope gets to Blue Earth, you know?”
Stanford. Damn. Expensive place to live, so Dean getting an apartment in the area was going to be difficult. “We, uh… oh, never mind. You rather head for Blue Earth instead of Sioux Falls?”
“No. I’d like to see Bobby again, see if he’ll help us out. It’s just that Dad notices calls from Pastor Jim, he’ll just assume I’m doing some research or talking religion. Bobby calls me, Dad’s going to want an explanation.” Dean snorted. Sounded about right. “But this time, even if Dad does wake up tomorrow morning and figure we ran to Sioux Falls, Bobby will tell him to just keep driving. Pastor Jim’s more likely to try to get us to make up with him, even if I’m not ready.”
“What do we tell him about what caused the fight?” The last thing Dean wanted was to have to end their budding relationship, and there’s no way they’d be able to hide it from Bobby if they continued. If they told him the truth, would he run them off? Be disgusted?
Sam agreed with that. “We tell him the truth, because otherwise, we couldn’t be together. I don’t think Bobby will be surprised, and I know he’s going to hate it, but as long as he knows it’s consensual I don’t think he’ll interfere.”
Bobby listened to the story from start to finish without a word. “So, uh… that’s why we’re here,” Dean finished, reaching for Sam’s hand to give it a squeeze. “Could use a place to stay for the night, but…”
Bobby got to his feet, pointing a finger directly into Dean’s face. “If you think for one second that you’re here for one night, you can get back on the road and go. You owe me at least a week’s visit, all these years your daddy kept you from me.” He let his hand drop to Dean’s shoulder, and put his other hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Rather have you boys here through the semester, or even until September.”
“We’d like that too, Bobby,” Sam said in a shaky voice. “Thank you.”
“There is one rule. I’m not gonna stop you two from doing anything, you’ve both been through enough hell that I ain’t gonna try to stop you from finding your comfort where you can, but clothes start coming off where I can see you, you’re getting put to work on the hardest labor I can find you in the salvage yard until you’re too worn out to do anything. Really prefer not to see you kissing or getting too cuddly, but I don’t want to make you feel like you’re walking on eggshells all the time, either. Got it?”
“Yes, Bobby,” the boys said in unison. Really, that was about the best they could hope for. “Thank you,” Sam added.
“Your daddy’s an idiot who can’t handle consequences of his own choices,” Bobby grumbled. “Only been telling him since you were twelve that one day this was gonna happen and he’d better get his head around accepting that, or he was gonna lose you boys. Guess his loss is my gain.” Bobby let go, heading for the refrigerator. “It’s New Year’s Eve, but since I wasn’t expecting company, didn’t bother to get any champagne. Beer good, or I gotta ask Dean to go break into the liquor store?”
“Beer’s good for me. Sammy here might not want one, he’s never had one that I know of.” Dean shot a smirk at Sam. “Such a good boy, not drinking despite having the kind of family situation that would have most kids drunk at twelve.”
Sam shot him a glare, but Dean could see the smile trying to peek through. “Shut up. I’ll have a beer, Bobby, if you don’t mind that I’m underage.”
Bobby rolled his eyes. “You got me and Dean looking out for you, you’re not stupid to begin with, and you’re a hunter. You don’t need to ask or sneak if you want a beer, long as you let someone know we’re getting low so we can go get more.”