Time After Time (Sam Winchester MiniFanFic)

Chapter Four

Tomorrow, it seemed, was a long time coming.

Elizabeth had upcoming tests and Sam had to deal with a family issue. Two weeks went by without a single glimpse of one another, but that did not mean that they did not think of each other constantly.

Yawning, Elizabeth stood up from her bed. She had been slouched there for hours, alternating between highlighting texts and playing games on her phone. She couldn't help it; she was easily distracted. It didn't help that she felt that she shouldn't have been studying, for she thought she knew the context. She saw no point in studying things she already understood, but she studied nonetheless, not prepared to take any chances.

A knock came at the door. Elizabeth glanced to Scarlett, who had her headphones covering her ears. Deciding not to bother her roommate, Elizabeth answered the door.

"Hey there," a boy with slight scruff said, smirking. "You must be Elizabeth." His apple green eyes sparkled when they caught the light, much like Sam's. "I'm Dean, Sam's brother."

Elizabeth bit her lip, holding her hands behind her back. "Hi, Dean," she responded. It was a bit hard to believe they were brothers, but they had the same caring look and same amazing jawline. "What's up?" She tried to be friendly, but she did not particularly want to make conversation in that moment.

"Sam wanted me to check in with you, for some reason." He braced his arm against the doorframe.

Her cheeks heated. "Oh."

"Winchester!" Scarlett shouted from within the room, removing her headphones. "Get your ass in here," she demanded.

Elizabeth moved aside as Dean entered the room. She kept herself from eavesdropping as the two engaged in conversation as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Maybe they hadn't. When Elizabeth thought about it, though, she wished she could be like that with Sam: natural and affectionate. She constantly cursed herself for either being too forward or too guarded. She had yet to find a good inbetween.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth interrupted. Scarlett looked her way as well as Dean, the two leaning closer. They seemed attached, in some way. Elizabeth shook the distraction from her head. "Do you, uh, know where I can find Sam?"

"Oh, yeah." Dean laughed, shaking his head. "He wanted me to tell you to meet him downstairs."

She nodded, slipping out the room with fuzzy socks and no shoes. She forgot about shoes; she was genuinely excited to see Sam. She hurried down the stairs, disregarding the elevator entirely.

"Sam?" Elizabeth asked, noticing him from the back of his head. She fixed her ponytail subconsciously, needing something to mess with in order to not seem too anxious.

The mentioned turned around, smiling. His eyes were red, but he wasn't crying then. He just looked tired. "Hey," he said. "How are you?" He asked politely.

Elizabeth hesitantly walked up to him. "It looks like I should be asking you that, huh?" She  placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"My eyes are that bad?" He chuckled softly, shifting his weight but not so much that Elizabeth felt she had to remove her hand. "I'm just..." he searched for the right word, like he was figuring out what he wanted to say. "Hungover, I guess."

"Really?" She furrowed her brows. He didn't have a hangover, no. That was not it. Something was different about him. His whole demeanor had changed: slumped shoulders, staggered breathing, weak posture. He was not the Sam she met only three weeks earlier.

A single tear slipped out the corner of his eye, and he broke down. His whole body shook uncontrollably and his eyes clenched shut. No matter his height, he looked smaller. Weaker. He leaned in to Elizabeth, wrapping his arms around her torso. His cries muffled in her shoulder and water soaked her shoulder.

Gingerly, she wrapped her arms around his neck. She wasn't sure what was amiss, but it didn't matter. He was, for some unknown reason, terribly upset. She would have comforted anyone, she told herself. But he is not anyone, a small voice pointed out.

They stood there, at the base of the stairs of the dorm room building, for what felt like hours. Wrapped in each other, holding the warmth. Her arms grew tired along with her legs, but Elizabeth would not give up on him.

—-

A/N: Sad!Sam makes me sad. Ugh. Either way, it will be a big turning point in the story and for the two characters. You'll learn fairly soon what's happened to Sam (and Dean). It's kind of huge, but also a bit expected. And just a bit intriguing.

Do not forget that this is AU! This will have no paranormal events in it, as the show does, but something will happen that is (sort of) devastating, just as it is in out normal, everyday life. No, neither of the main characters (Sam and Elizabeth) will die. Dean won't either. Or Scarlett. But, yes, someone else is dead. Can you guess? ;)