Mute 𖤐 Sam Winchester

NINE

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WATER flowed over Joyce's feet as she stood on the shoreline. The lake water was cold, but it didn't bother her. The wind blew at a calm rate, allowing her hair to flow in the wind behind her as she stared at the calm current.

It had been a week since they were able to exorcise Dean, returning him to himself. Since then, things were quiet, and Joyce couldn't help but feel like she was intruding on the brother's time together.

Sam and Dean sat in their folding chairs, staring out at the lake behind their sunglasses. Dean took a swig of his beer as Sam watched Joyce.

"You said her mom was killed by a demon?" Dean asked Sam.

"Yeah, only a few years ago." Sam said. "She's been trying to track it down, but she was in an abusive relationship and everything just took a turn—"

Dean whistled quietly. "Girl's been through hell. You know, I remember seeing her dad's name a few times in dad's journal. He seemed to be a good friend according to dad."

"Yeah, too bad we'll never know." Sam said. He watched as Joyce walked down the beach, her hands stuffed inside of the pocket of her rolled up jeans.

Joyce stopped walking when she noticed something in the sand. Kneeling down, she began brushing the wet sand away from the small object, digging it from its place. It was a shell.

She placed it into the water and brushed it clean with her fingers before standing up. As she walked towards the Winchesters, Sam smiled at her.

"What you got?" Dean asked.

Joyce revealed the shell, and Sam's eyebrows rose.

"Nice." He said. "That's a good one. No cracks or anything."

"Hornsnail." Joyce said.

Dean looked at Sam. "What'd she say?"

Sam chuckled. "Hornsnail. Dean, you really gotta start learning sign language."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said, watching Joyce smirk.

"He's only looks and no brain?"

Sam laughed, and Dean looked between the two confusedly.

"What'd she say?" He asked. "Did you make fun of me?"

Joyce shook her head as she patted Dean's shoulder. Sam sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"So, what's going on with her?" Dean asked.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well, she's been with us for the last several days, and she was with you while I was running around being Crowley's bitch. . . Is there uh, is there something between you two?"

Sam clenched his jaw as he attempted to shrug it off as nonchalant as he possibly could. "What? No— Dean, she's a friend. I mean, she literally helped me save you. She's been nothing but helpful and I'm grateful for her. It's just that she doesn't really have anywhere to go, so I was going to let her stay with us. We have plenty of room for her and she's a hunter, we could always use the extra help. And besides, she feels bad ever since I found her. Like she owes me."