𝒮𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝓌𝑜𝑜𝒹 - a Supernatural Fanfiction

chapter 22

families who take care of each other

I let Nat take the bed, and soon I heard her breathing get slower as she fell asleep. Without waking her, I snuck downstairs and sat outside with mom's letter, the porch light barely enough for me to see the words on the page.

Dearest Alexandria. She wrote.

I read the whole thing, pausing at the parts that Malthus left out and reading twice, the second time very carefully. It was all I had left of mom right at that moment and I wanted to treasure it. Wiping away the tears that seemed now to always fall, I finished it for the third time and sighed. I set it down next to me and pulled my knees up to my chest, putting my hand over my face.

I sat there, crying softly, for who knows how long until the door creaked open. Brushing my tears away quickly, I sniffed as the person sat down next to me. I looked up into Dean's green eyes and I was crying again.

"Hey, Alex, it's okay." He wrapped his arms around me as I cried harder and harder until I was leaning into his chest, snot and tears soaking his shirt.

"No, no it's not! When I g-go home, I won't ha-have a family! I'll-I'll be an or-orphan! What are Nat and I gonna d-do?" I wept.

"You'll be fine, I know you'll be fine, alright?" Gently stroking my hair, Dean cooed. "You're tough, Nat seems like she's tough, too. I believe you two will be okay, okay?"

"But... but..." I trailed off, deciding on bawling instead of talking.

"Can I tell you something?" I heard Dean say after a long while of me recovering, though his words were muffled as I was still pressed into his chest. Slowly, I pulled away and looked at him, his arm remaining around my shoulders. I sniffed again, wiping my snotty nose on my sleeve.

"Y-yeah." I answered finally. Dean took a moment to study me, his eyes looking over my face with a strange sincerity and admiration. I was suddenly aware that maybe I meant more to him than just an acquaintance. To me, he was like Jason, my older brother I needed so much in my life, especially now.

"You are incredibly brave to have come this far. With everything that's happened, normal people would probably have jumped off a cliff by now."

"You're saying I'm not normal?" I said, my voice with an edge to it. Dean's face grew full of horror, his eyes enlarging.

"What? No, I'm just saying-"

"I'm kidding." I gave him a slight shove. "I know I'm not normal."

"But what's wrong with that? You're far more impressive and strong than the average human." He bit his lip, thinking. "Sammy and didn't grow up with a lot of love, our home life was fucking terrible, and I know what it's like to lose everything, but I was sort of raised to get through it all. I saw dozens of monsters and people die, before I was probably old enough to really understand it. Sammy grew up without a mom. We lost our dad. And look at how we're still going."

Dean continued and I realized not all of what he said was true. He wasn't as okay as he pretended. In fact, he might've been worse off than I was, but he had something to help him go on. I knew it was Sam, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Our job, Sam and mine, is to save people and keep each other safe. Not only that, look at the kinds of people we get to befriend and save." Dean bumped my shoulder with his own.

"I just... I don't know how to get back to everyday stuff, after all this." I sighed, but I paused and grimaced, whispering, "we have to bury them." Giving me a look, it was Dean's turn to exhale heavily.