A/N: Excuse the overuse of the word 'said'. You'll see why it was kinda necessary.
"Dean, you can fuss all you want but you are going to come down and at least be pleasant." His mother said. Dean could tell by the look on her face that her tone was serious. He sighed, slumping down on his bed. He knew there was no point in arguing with Mary. She tapped his shoulder so he'd look at her. "Sam's so excited for you to meet her and you know how much she's helped him." Dean simply scowled. He wasn't like Sam.
Mary ruffled Dean's hair, but unlike usual, he didn't brush her off.
"I know you don't like telling people about it, but it might help." With that, Dean let his eyes drop to the floor as his mother left his room. He felt the door close and he kicked his feet up and swung round so he was lying down. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering what it would be like.
'Meeting Sam's mystery friend today. Yay.' He typed, then sent the text to his best friend Anna. A few moments later he received a response.
'Don't be mean to her! I'll bet she's rice.' He cocked an eyebrow at the last word, almost laughing. Another text followed closely. 'Damn you speech to text!' He smiled, shook his head, and shoved his phone under his pillow.
He wondered about Sam's friend. Sam had told him plenty about her, they'd met in the park and despite their individual difficulties, they somehow managed to be friends. Part of him already liked her for being good to Sam, a lot of kids simply avoided him because they didn't want to deal with him. He knew it was important to have friends that understood your struggles, his best friend appeared in his mind.
The second the thought of the loneliness Sam had experienced entered he felt himself becoming angry. He frowned, then picked up his phone and checked the time. He had ten minutes to get dressed before she was here. He shucked off his pyjama pants and slipped on some ripped jeans and a faded, black t-shirt. He ruffled his hair the way he liked it, then skulked downstairs.
Sam was waiting by the door, his expression brightened even more when he saw his brother.
'You're here' He signed. Dean nodded.
"Sure am buddy." He grabbed some shoes and yanked them on. "And what have I told you, I can lip read you kiddo." He flicked Sam in the nose playfully to which he responded with a middle finger.
"Any reason why you're just standin' by the door?" He snorted. Sam shoved him.
"I'm waiting for her to get here."
"Someone's eager." Sam nudged him, staring at him pointedly. "I know I know, I won't act out." He waved him off as he moved to go to the living room, but he paused when he felt a knock on the front door.
Before Sam answered it, he paused, then rest a hand on Dean's shoulder, the gesture he'd always used to ask Dean if he was okay.
"Cool your beans kid. I'll be fine." He scoffed and nodded at the door. Sam flung it open, nearly smacking himself in the face.
Standing at the door was a tall, tanned girl with long, brown hair. At her side was a golden retriever who barked excitedly.
"Shut up, Pizza." She sighed. Dean was trying to take in the other aspects of her appearance but the second he saw her shocking, white eyes, it was impossible to stop looking.
She had a very concentrated expression on her face, as if she were listening to something quiet. She began visibly clicking her tongue, turning her head this way and that, it was quite unsettling.
"Where are you?" She said. Dean glanced at Sam, who stepped forward and gently took the girl's hand in his.
"That's Maria, she's blind." He explained to Dean.
A wide smile spread across her face.
"Hey Sam." She grinned. "For a second there I was scared we got the wrong house and I was gonna get nabbed." Her lips moved so fast it was hard to catch what she said, but Dean could have laughed. "Is your brother here? I can feel another person." She asked.
"Hi." Dean said finally, the girl jumped. "Sorry." He added.
"He has a nice voice." Maria said to Sam as if Dean wasn't there at all. He didn't know what he sounded like, but it was nice to be complimented on his voice.
He watched as Sam led her into the living room and sat her down. Mary joined them, an excited look on her features.
"Hello Maria! It's so good to finally meet you!" She said.
"You too Mrs. Winchester." Maria replied politely. Dean hated when he had to look back and forth between two people having a spoken conversation, trying to catch everything.
He watched as Mary went off to get drinks, Maria began waving her hands around in front of her.
"Where is he? I want to feel his face." She demanded. Sam shot Dean an apologetic look.
"Crouch in front of her and let her feel your face." He did a double take at this request, but heeded the pleading look in his brother's eyes and did so. He knelt in front of the girl, who inhaled deeply.
"He smells like... Motor oil." She placed both hands either side of Dean's face and he sucked in a breath at the touch. He wasn't used to this kind of close contact with people he didn't know. He felt awkward looking at her while she felt around his features, then remembered she was blind. He studied her face as it twisted into a smirk. "He's gorgeous." Dean's face heated up. "And he's blushing."
Sam nudged Maria, making a series of taps on her shoulder.
"Heh. I'm embarrassing you both." She chuckled.
"How exactly are you two communicating when she's blind and you're mute?" Dean asked, hoping he didn't sound as incredulous as he felt.
"Morse code." Maria replied simply. "Works out pretty well."
"Ah. Well in any case, was nice meetin' you Maria." He moved to leave but Maria held onto his face tightly.
"I haven't finished feeling your face." She said, her expression determined. She ran her finger softly across his lips, tracing the shape of them until Sam nudged her, looking irritated.
She let her hands drop and burst out laughing.
"Calm down princess."
"She's taking advantage of you." Sam said, rolling his eyes. Dean shrugged to irritate his brother even further, he didn't mind all that much, she was kind of cute despite her slightly scary eyes.
The girl then began running her hands through his hair, testing the length and thickness.
"What colour is it?" She asked.
"Uh, dark blond I guess." He answered. "You weren't born blind?" She shook her head.
"I vaguely know what dark blond looks like." Dean nodded, knowing she could feel it with her hands on his head.
"I like him." She said finally, letting her hands drop.
*
After meeting Maria for the first time, she began coming over almost every day after school, Mary insisted on it. She was always gushing about how her and Sam were so cute but Dean wasn't so sure it was like that, besides, anytime Anna came over, Sam would drop everything he was doing to help the girl with dysmelia in both arms.
Not to mention the stunts Maria would pull at any given opportunity. For example, misplacing her cane and asking Dean to lead her around the house by the hand, or 'tripping' in Dean's presence so he'd catch her. While at first it believable, there came a point where Dean no longer bought it. This girl had been blind since she was eight, that was nine whole years to adjust. He saw her around school functioning with little to no help. She was certainly devious.
But Dean wasn't particularly bothered by it. She had a crass and sarcastic sense of humour that Dean enjoyed very much, he only wished he could truly hear the hilariously rude things she said.
