The Runt of the Litter

Older (Younger?) Brother

Note: I know I just posted yesterday and it was a bit of a doozy of a chapter. But I have three chapters written rn just waiting to be posted, and it feels strange being that far ahead. Considering that I spent three months AWOL, I think y'all earned an extra chapter or two. So here's one today!

Now.

Oh my chuck. This is chapter 100. How? No, seriously. How?!

Thanks so much for being consistently kind and awesome, babes <3 I couldn't have gotten here without you. 

This chapter was requested over a year ago (pathetic, I know) by two people (silverse and Phoenix_Queen), and it's a tag to 10.12 About a Boy. So, if you haven't seen that episode, here's your SPOILER ALERT!

Anna is sixteen.

My Younger Older Brother

Anna frowned deeply, eyes fixed on the page before her. She had one hand burrowed in her curly hair and the other pressed against the book on the floor in front of her. She leaned back against Dean's bed and felt his leg brush against the back of her head.

"This makes no sense," she murmured.

"Try sitting on a chair like a normal person," Dean suggested. "The oxygen might help."

"That's counterintuitive," Anna murmured, distracted. She stared at the page again.

"What?" Dean asked, his voice so close to her ear that the noise startled her.

Anna turned toward the sound and stopped when her nose was less than an inch from her brother's. "What?" she repeated.

Dean made an annoyed sound and straightened. Anna watched him open up the laptop that had been lying beside him on the bed. Then she turned her gaze back down to the lore book on the floor in front of her. Well, technically it wasn't what one would traditionally call a lore book. It sure was written in the same convoluted, old-fashioned manner, though.

"This is stupid," Anna said decidedly not even a full minute later. "Why can nobody say what they mean? And why do all these people get to talk for God? They don't even know him... Like, what if they're wrong?"

"Anna, this isn't English class, alright? You can quit analyzing the hell out of everything."

"Sorry, it's just... I expected more, you know? It's just a bunch of stories and letters. Sure, I guess there's something cool about it from a historical perspective but..."

"Do me a favor and don't ever get into a debate with a priest, Rugrat," Dean said, and this time he was the one who was only half-engaged in their conversation.

Anna glanced down at the book one more time before pivoting so she was facing the bed and then getting to her feet. "I think I'd win," she told him.

"You would," Dean promised and shot her a wink which let her know he'd still been listening.

"It's still dumb, though. It's the Bible. It's got a reputation to live up to."

"Anna, just read it."

"I don't want to," Anna admitted tiredly and sat down on the foot of the bed. There was hardly enough room, and her legs were overlapping Dean's as she leaned back until her shoulders and head were hanging upside down off the side of the bed.

"Suit yourself," Dean said indifferently. "But you don't get another lore book to study until you get through it."

Anna sighed, feeling the blood rush into her head. It was almost nice for a second, and then it started to make her feel sick. But she didn't have the energy to move, so she stayed there. "Do you think there's something in there?" she asked sullenly. The question had been on her mind for a while, and she figured it was high time she simply ask it.