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It was such a small thing to notice. It wasn’t until it clicked in my head just who that small change was on that I started to actually wonder. I usually tried to block out most thoughts of my ‘old life’, at least that’s what I called it, but there was one night I would never forget, this one night where every detail stood out to me as though it was happening all over again. It had been the night that I left my family and went to Stanford, and I was certain that Dean had not been wearing this accessory on that night. Most people would look at a new piece of jewelry that someone was wearing and wouldn’t give it more thought than an ‘oh that looks nice.’ But dean didn’t just wear jewelry because he thought it looked nice. Each piece he chose to wear had value to him. The amulet he keeps around his neck, or used to anyways, was the one I gave him for Christmas a long time ago. The bracelets he used to wear were also something that I had given him as various presents throughout the years. The only thing I can ever remember Dean wearing that someone didn’t give him was his watch. It was the one true piece of jewelry that he himself had picked out and bought. This ring was silver and thick. I can’t remember ever seeing it on him before I left for Stanford, but it was there when he came to get me that night and it had been on ever since, until yesterday. Yesterday I noticed that he wasn’t wearing the ring or his watch. Today I can see he still isn’t wearing them. His clothes showed no jewelry whatsoever. The amulet I gave him is in Cas’s possession as he searched for God. The bracelets being gone are no surprise as well as I know they broke and he keeps them in a box in the trunk. The watch was more of a mystery at first but when I asked him why he wasn’t wearing it yesterday he said that it broke and shrugged it off. The ring was a whole different story. Ever since I noticed the ring a couple of days after he got me from Stanford it has kept me wondering why he wears it. I’ve tried to ask him a couple of times over the years but he simply shrugs off the question or makes some smart ass remark. I tried to ask Bobby too but he just says that it’s Dean’s ring and I should ask him. I’ve been quick to let the subject go in the past but now my interest was piqued once again. “Why was the ring gone?” I couldn’t stop the question from escaping my lips and the words flowed from my mouth just as fast as I had thought them. Dean stopped dead in his tracks from walking by me as he heard the question. I heard him sigh and I looked up to him from the bed under the window in Bobby’s living room. He stood for a moment just looking at his hand before he sat down in a chair across the room from me. I waited patiently for him to start his story. I couldn’t help but be concerned about the pained look on his face as he thought about his words. “I don’t even know how to start off this story Sammy.” He finally said. “Just tell me Dean. I’m your brother, what do you have to be scared of?” I tried to comfort him with my words. He sat a moment longer before he started to speak again. “You know a lot of things happened when you were gone at school. I mean Dad and I weren’t always together. I started doing my own hunts shortly after you left and then, well you know, he went missing. But before that I was on my own. Dad and I would meet up about once a month, maybe two if we were caught up in a hunt. I, uh, I did this hunt in Florida, just a vengeful spirit nothing big, but it changed my life forever. This spirit had been haunting a house and there was a girl who lived there alone that it was trying to hurt. I ganked the ghost and saved the girl. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, ever. I planned to pull the hero card grab some tail and be out of town by the next day, but I couldn’t. It just didn’t feel right to do that to her. She invited me over for dinner, as a thanks, and I went. She was so amazing. She didn’t look at me like I was some sort of freak who hunted the things that go bump in the night. She looked at me like I was doing something brave and good. Like I was a real hero and not just some grunt who was doing the job that no one else wanted to do. It made me feel, I don’t know, special, I guess. So, I stuck around for another day, and then a day turned into a week, and that turned into two weeks, all for her. Finally, I realized that I had to get back to reality, I couldn’t stay. I had other hunts to do. I thought that I would never see her again, but then she amazed me even more and asked to go with me. I know what you’re thinking Sammy. That I would never let a civilian come with me, but I did. She didn’t hunt with me. It was more like we were traveling together. So, we traveled for a little while, she met Bobby, she even met Dad.” Dean paused and I could feel my eyes grow wider, as if they weren’t already wide enough at the thought of Dean staying with a girl. I imagine that Dad probably protested the idea like no tomorrow. Dean laughed at my face before he continued. “No Sammy, he wasn’t mad. He actually liked her. Hell, I think he liked her more than he liked me. So, I decided that if she was willing to travel with me and accept me for what I am and still love me as much as she did then why not, so I asked her to marry me and we got married in a little church in Lawrence. The same one mom and dad got married at.” He must have seen the hurt that I tried to keep from reaching my eyes. “Don’t feel left out. It was just us there, no one else. We were married for a whole year before she… before she died.” Dean was no longer looking at me. He was looking at his ring finger on his left hand. I could see the glisten of tears that were waiting to fall in his eyes but, he held them back and continued on. “I know that I should have told you, but I just didn’t want to talk about it. The ring is my wedding ring. I moved it to my right hand so it wouldn’t look like a wedding band. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before Sammy, I really am.” Dean’s face crumpled slightly before he straightened it out again. I could feel my wet cheeks as tears slipped from my eyes. My brother had been in love. He had been married and where was I? I was off at college ignoring them. It was almost as if Dean had read my mind at that moment. “Sammy please don’t be mad at yourself for not being there. You were with Jess. Trust me, it’s better that you met her and had as much time with her as you did. I’m not mad at you Sammy, I’m not.” I tried to compose myself and keep down the choking sob that was waiting to escape my lips. “Did you kill it?” I asked him. “Kill what?” he asked with a sincere look of confusion on his face. “Whatever thing killed her, whatever monster, did you kill it?” I asked again. I saw a slight smile on his lips. “No Sammy. A monster didn’t kill her.” “Then what did?” I asked. “Cancer, she had cancer. I knew from the beginning that she had it. That’s why she was able to just drop everything and leave with me. Her treatments had stopped working. She actually lasted a heck of a lot longer than any doctor had told her she would. She was such a strong girl. She was tougher than anyone I have ever met.” I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. My whole life I had always found comfort in knowing that I knew Dean like the back of my hand. Suddenly I realized that I didn’t know everything and I didn’t know how to comfort him about this. “What was her name?” was the only question that could come to my mind. “Margaret. I used to call her Maggie for short.” He smiled as I could see memories flood his mind. “Do you want to see a picture of her?” he asked me. My face lit up immediately. “Yes! Of course, Dean.” He smiled and got up out of his chair. I followed him with my eyes, watching where he was heading for. He picked up an old looking book from one of the bookshelves and started flipping through the pages. “This book is her families. Her parents both died when she was young and her grandmother raised her. She added all of our pictures to it and when she died I kept it at the only place I knew it would be safe.” He handed me the book and I saw a beautiful girl with wavy blonde hair that came down to her shoulders and baby blue eyes. She was smiling as she took the picture of her and Dean in a field somewhere. I continued through the pictures seeing their wedding in the church and their travels in the impala. “I don’t understand Dean.” I said. “What’s that?” he asked. “Why did you take the ring off?” It was the question that had started this whole trip of emotions. He let out a light chuckle. “Would you believe the damn thing broke? I guess if you open too many beer bottles with it on it tends to break.” He wandered off and left me flipping through the pages of a life that I didn’t know he had. Dean had been married, happily married. As I flipped the last page it felt heavier and once it was turned I could see why. The ring had been put into the last page along with the last picture in the book. It seemed as though there was something stuck to the picture underneath. I pulled it out to see what was causing the obstruction and heard a ‘plink’ on the ground. I picked up a ring and noticed writing on the back of the picture. ‘My dearest Dean, I know that my time here is getting shorter. I can feel it and I’m sure you know it too. I don’t want you to be sad that I’m gone. Please just remember the happy times that we had. I love you forever and always. Love, Maggie.’ Examining the picture showed that the ring was Maggie’s. It probably had rolled under the picture from shuffling around the book. I put the picture back and positioned both rings next to it in the page. A voice from behind startled me, it was Dean. “She died the day after we took that picture.” He said quietly. I turned around to see him. I handed him the book with the rings placed in it. “This fell out.” Was all I could say. He smiled as he looked at the ring through the plastic holding it in place. “I haven’t opened this book in so long until I put my ring in there yesterday.” He paused once again eyes locked on the ring and the picture. “I should probably look through this more, ya know. It just hurt too much at first, but now it’s nice to look through it and remember.” His finger traced Maggie’s ring through the plastic. I could tell he was thinking of memories. He closed the book and seemed to return to the present. “I’m gonna go grab some lunch. Do you want something?” he asked. “Sure.” I replied. My mind was still reeling from all this new information. He set the book down and headed out the door, keys in hand.