Supernatural short stories

GWH shell

John grabbed his older son by the neck of his shirt and yelled into his face, "YOU'RE WASTING YOUR LIFE."

Dean's voice was small, "It's important."

"BULL SHIT."

There's a harsh slap and a body hits the floor.

9-year-old Sam backs away from the closed door. Dean had told him to hide in the closet when he heard the car pull up.

Sam had been listening through the door but now it was too much.

Dean was getting hurt. Dad was hurting Dean. Dad was drunk. He couldn't control himself. Dean wanted Sam to hide so Dad couldn't hurt him too.

Dean and Dad kept arguing but Sam covered his ears. He hummed to himself as time ticked by.

The door opened and the closet filled with light. The left side of Dean's face was red along with his eyes.

Sam jumped up and hugged his brother. Dean placed his arms around Sam, but he didn't really hug back. This never happened. Sam got worried.

"What's wrong Dean? What happened?" He hugged Dean tighter.

"It was stupid. Don't worry about it."

"Dean?" Sam pulled away and looked up at Dean's face. It was strange. Dean didn't look happy or sad. He just looked... blank.

"Dad was right it was dumb for me to even bring it up."

"What Dean?"

Dean sighed, "the middle school is having a graduation ceremony, but it's one of the nights I'm working so I can't go."

"You can't just skip work?"

"No, it's not worth it. Working is important. I don't want to waste my life on trivial things."

"But you seemed so excited before! You're going into high school now Dean, you're so smart and old."

Dean shrugged, "I changed my mind. Now that I'm older I gotta make grown-up decisions. Like choosing work over a silly party."

Sam frowned, "you're not that old."

"No, but work is important, money is important. It's just middle school," Dean smiled, "Now come on, let's go to bed."

"O-ok," Sam could tell Dean wasn't really smiling, but he didn't know why. They went to the bathroom and brushed their teeth. Sam looked over at his brother. He was moving the toothbrush up and down, but it was like he was moving in slow motion.

Sometimes Dean got like this after he and dad fought. But he seemed really upset this time. But that was the thing. What was he feeling? He wasn't sad. He wasn't crying. Sam hopped a good night's sleep would help his brother. It always helped Sam.

But Dean didn't get better.

He just didn't do anything. He walked Sam to school and then picked him up. He went to work and made dinner. He finished his responsibilities.... but nothing else.

No matter how many times Sam tried to engage Dean in a conversation. It never lasted. Dean would give short answers, sometimes only giving a nod in response.

 If Dean would only do his obligations then maybe...

Sam called out to his brother right away, "Dean! Can you come here?"

Sam was doing his math homework on the kitchen counter. Dean entered the room and looked at Sam expectantly.

"I need help with this math problem and it's due tomorrow so I have to do it."

Dean sighed, "I don't-"

 "I need your help!" Sam turned the paper around so Dean could see it.

It was a word problem. Sam knew how to get an equation from it, but he wanted Dean to help.

"Alright," Dean sat down next to Sam, "So every day Billy gets 75 cents from his mom, every 5 days his dad gives him $8, and every month his grandma gives him $25.50. How much money will Billy have after a year? Do you know where to start?"

Sam shook his head, "this one is too complicated."

"Don't worry, you can do it. So let's break it down. First, we know that there are 365 days in a year, and every day he gets 75 cents from his mom. So write down 365 times .75. Then he gets $8 every five days. Now we have to see how many 5 day segments are in a year. Any guess on how to do that?"

"Divide 365 by 5?"

"Right!" Dean smiled, "See? You're getting it. Write that down."

Sam did the math. It came out to 73. He then wrote down 73 x 8.

"Next, how many months are in a year?"

Sam laughed, "twelve obviously."

"Yup! So write down 12 times 25.5. You think you know what the next step is?"

"Um add them all together?"

"You're killing it! See?" Dean's excitement waivered, "you don't even need me."

Of course I need you! Sam wanted to yell. That would be too awkward. Dean would probably talk less. Sam needed to think quickly. Dean had smiled and was talking, he couldn't let him stop.

"You helped me think through it. That made it make sense. Can you help me with the rest of the worksheet?"

"Sure, Sammy. Of course."

Dean never said no to helping Sam with his homework. It forced him to talk and explain the problem. Eventually, the talking became smoother and it was easier for Dean to talk in everyday situations. He became more expressive and regained his energy.

Sam was glad that things went back to normal. Whenever Dean got shut in like that, he would ask for help on his homework. This coaxed him into talking and feeling better.

A response to a comment asking about Benny/Dean's relationship I want everyone to see:

Dean and Benny are old friends. They hooked up once at the beginning of their friendship but decided they were better friends. Sam never knew (Dean was still closeted). When Cas ran by he heard them laughing because they were reminiscing and cheering each other up (not hooking up). There will be no future Benny/Dean. Dean told Sam not to come back to the house, not because they might hook up, but because Sam and Benny have a rocky relationship and Benny was in a bad place mentally. Sam was originally cold towards Benny because he didn't like Benny and Dean doing drugs together and Sam thought he was a bad influence (Benny's a good guy, just an addict). Sam was only awkward at dinner because he really wanted to talk about Cas (no sexual tension between Dean and Benny). Sam thinks something bad has happened between Cas and Dean so he doesn't want to confront Dean about it in front of Benny (because Dean might not be honest, Benny doesn't know the whole story, and Benny's still grieving).