Chapter Text
Sam folded himself into his chair, knees bumping into the table. He gripped the edge of the table and smiled gratefully at his mother when her hand shot out to stop the coffee cups from jostling.
“The tables are a bit small, but this is a cute little patio! You said Dean recommended this place?” Mary asked, picking up the breakfast menu.
Sam nodded. “Yeah, it doesn’t really seem like a ‘Dean’ kind of place, but he said they had good breakfast tacos. Apparently he comes here a lot,” he said with a shrug.
Mary glanced around, taking in the crowded patio seating area, the bakery inside the restaurant that advertised 17 different donut flavors for takeout orders, and the large parking lot off to the left.
“I wonder what he’s up to this morning,” she mused. “You don’t think he’s working on weekends again, do you?”
Sam hummed, focused mostly on whether he would order the Eggs Benedict or an egg white omelet. “I don’t know, he’s usually the one having to remind me about the Sunday brunches. But all he said this morning was that he couldn’t make it.”
“Maybe if we had told him where we decided to go this week, he would have—.” She paused, staring over Sam’s shoulder. “Is that the Impala?”
Sam turned to look and sure enough, where a large truck was pulling out of its parking spot, he could just make out Dean’s beloved Baby parked behind it. Only—that wasn’t Dean. There was a completely strange man sitting cross-legged on the hood of the Impala. He had a book rested open on his lap, but he was currently focusing his attention on a bee hovering around his shoulder.
With raised eyebrows, Sam turned back to his mother. “I hope that guy figures out that’s not his car quick and gets lost before Dean catches him. I don’t want to have to make plans to argue his aggravated assault case before breakfast.”
Mary craned her neck for a better look and shot Sam a small, amused glance. “No, we certainly wouldn’t want that. Maybe if Dean’s here we can distract him until that man leaves.”
Their attention was diverted when a teenager came to take their order. Just as their waiter let them know she’d be back with drinks, Sam spotted Dean. He stepped out of the restaurant, carefully balancing a box of donuts and a carrier of two travel coffee cups on one arm as he returned his wallet to his back pocket. Sam almost shouted across the patio to get Dean’s attention but decided against it. Instead, he nudged his mother and pulled out his phone.
“Mom, Dean’s heading back to the Impala.” He unlocked his phone, momentarily forgetting about the strange man on the hood of the car as he deliberated the funniest way to send a creepy “look behind you” text.
“I hope we don’t actually have to worry about your brother confronting that young man,” Mary reminded him, squinting a bit to watch Dean from afar as he neared his car.
Hitting send on “I see you, bitch,” Sam jolted around in his seat to watch Dean get the text.
Whether or not Dean heard his phone was still unclear as Sam observed him walk up to the car with an easy smile and take one of the coffees out of the holder to hand to the strange man on the Impala’s hood.
Huh. Not a stranger then.
The man stood to accept the coffee and take the donut box while Dean dug the car keys out of his pocket. Dean found what he was looking for and then, instead of reaching for the box back, he slotted a finger through one of the man’s belt loops and pulled him gently forward, placing a slow and firm kiss right on the other man’s lips.
Huh. Really not a stranger then.
Leaning towards each other, they lingered in their kiss for a moment before Dean pulled back to walk to the driver’s side. Sam could still see the little smile on his brother’s face as the two men got into the car. Astonished, he turned back towards his mother.
Mary’s eyes were wide, her eyebrows lost in her hairline. She snapped her eyes back to Sam as he faced her.
“Did you--” She briefly covered her hand with her mouth, dragging it downward. “Did you know Dean was seeing someone? Seeing another man?”
Sam’s eyes narrowed at her. He’d been surprised too, but he wasn’t sure he liked his mom’s tone. “No, I had no idea, but I mean he looks happy so who cares, right?”
Mary didn’t say anything, eyes darting back over Sam’s shoulder, presumably to stare at Dean again. “Did you know he was…”
“Queer?” Same supplied, raising an eyebrow. “Nope.”
Mary flinched. She leaned forward towards her youngest son, whispering, “Can you say that?”
“Yeah, I mean when Dean wants to tell us, he might have a different term he wants to use, but it’s sometimes just a catch-all. It’s a reclaimed word.”
“You seem in the know.”
“I’m studying to become a human rights lawyer, Mom. It’s my job to know. Are we going to have a problem here?”
Sam’s phone dinged with a new text message.
“I mean, about Dean,” she continued. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“I am surprised. Just not bothered.”
“I’m not saying I’m bothered—”
“You’re not acting like you’re not bothered, either.”
His phone dinged again.
As his mother sat back and sighed, Sam rolled his eyes and reached for his phone. He had two new messages from Dean. As he was about to open them, Mary countered, “Sam, I’m not against gay people, I’m just going to need a bit of an adjustment here. I thought Dean was straight. There’s never been any indication—”
“Maybe he never said anything because he knew you’d act like this.”
“Excuse me? It’s normal to need a bit of time here.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Sam, I’m just surprised. That’s all.”
“Then process through your surprise and get over it before Dean does decide to tell us. If he decides to tell us. I, for one, won’t be doing anything to jeopardize my relationship with my brother.”
A third message notification caused Sam to finally glance down at his texts. Oh shit.
>>wtf what does that even mean
>>if this is a prank its lame and doesnt even make sense
>>wait sam are you serious? are you here?