Stay With Me (Hold My Hand) ⋆ SPN

3. Oranges and the Past

Abby had spent the past thirty-ish minutes trying, and failing, to wake Dean up. Sam hadn't come back to the room after Abby's conversation with him, so it was just her and Dean. Dean was never easy to wake up, and if someone deliberately woke him up he was extremely grumpy. Abby had stomped around the room, turned on the sink as loudly as possible, coughed again and again, and flushed the toilet, but nothing seemed to rouse her brother. 

She was about to throw water on his face and pretend it was from a leak in the ceiling when she heard a voice from the outside of the door. "Hey, Dean, let me in," a familiar voice said, kind of loudly. 

"Abs, go let Sam in," Dean mumbled, his face still half-pressed into the pillow. Of course that woke him up she thought as she went over and opened the door. Sam entered and put a paper bag with a logo on the table in the room. Abby hovered near him, her hunger pains making themselves known incessant at the smell of food. Sam wordlessly handed Abby a takeout container marked with an A and a juice box, which she would have found demeaning if she hadn't been so eager to eat. She sat down at the other chair at the table, so she was now looking at Sam, and Dean, still in his bed, was to her left. 

Inside the takeout container were pancakes, sausages, and an orange. She started eating immediately and the smell of food seemed to wake Dean up. He rolled out of bed and trudged over to the table.

"Here," Sam said, handing Dean a takeout container marked with "D" and a cup Abby figured out was full of coffee due to the strong smell. The siblings ate in silence except for the sound of birds chirping outside the window. Usually in the morning Abby liked to talk to Dean about anything she was thinking about and Dean would half pay attention, but Sam's presence meant Abby was unable to discuss her thoughts, as the subject of them was sitting across from her.

After Dean scarfed his food down he went to pay for the motel room, as the owner had stopped Sam on his way in to tell him they had to pay or they would get kicked out. The remaining siblings sat in silence as they finished their food. Abby had finished her pancakes and sausage and really wanted to eat her orange, she loved fruits, but she had yet to get the hang of peeling one. If Dean had been there, she would have asked him to peel it, but he wasn't, so she began to try and peel it herself, not wanting to ask Sam for help. She attempted to dig her small finger into the peel like she had seen Dean do before, but she couldn't break the skin. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she was interrupted by Sam. 

"Here, let me," he said, holding out his hand. Abby gave him the orange, and he broke the skin easily. Sam didn't just give it back to her then, like she expected him to, but kept peeling it, and once he had one slice pretty much cleaned off he handed it to her. They continued in silence, Sam peeling slices and handing them to Abby for her to eat. It made Abby feel like she did when Dean braided her hair or read her a goodnight story, comfortable and safe, and Abby could feel the wall she had put up against Sam slipping. Sam, unbeknownst to Abby, was lost in a memory that took place over 3 years from the present.

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The sun beat down on the gangly teen and little girl as they sat on a curb, in yet another nameless town. The Winchester family had been investigating a curse on the town, and John and Dean had gone to talk to someone or another who they thought might know something. They had left an 18 year old Sam and 5 (almost 6) year-old Abby in the motel. Despite orders from John to stay put, Sam had decided Abby needed to get out of the stuffy room so they had walked to a street nearby for a change of scenery. Less than three weeks ago Sam had graduated from high school, and two months before that he had received his acceptance letter from Stanford. Sam had yet to tell anyone that he had applied to Stanford, let alone got in.

Sam looked down at his little sister. He had no idea if he was going to go to Stanford. He wanted to. God, he wanted to. But he also wanted to stay with his baby sister. Dean was a great big brother, but he wasn't going to remind Abby to brush her teeth or eat fruits and vegetables.