DorkFish 3- Alls Fair in True Love and War

Semper Fi, Mac

Friday 
6:00 A.M.

Jared rolled over in bed and slammed the button on his alarm clock to silence it.

The alarm hadn't woken him.

After spending an entire sleepless night attempting to dislodge it from his soul, the brand-new mantra still glowed on, resplendent with the light cast by the endless fire of hope.

He loves me.

He loves me. He loves me. He loves me.

It matched its beat to the hammer of his heart, where the words took root and swelled with life.

But his calculating mind knew better than to believe Jensen Ackles' bullshit, as it ripped up the germinating seeds of newfound possibility and scattered them to the icy winter wind howling like a banshee outside.

Jared lifted his eyes to the windows across the room.

Now that the leaden light of dawn had begun to penetrate January's deep darkness, he could see the fat, heavy snowflakes showering down upon the City, the ghost of a smile graced his face.

How many times as a child had he woken in his cozy bed on the farm in Montana to meet a snowy morning just like this one? To drag his sleep-warm blankets to the kitchen that smelled of fresh coffee and toast, to incite his brothers into epic snowball fights and then savor cup after sweet cup of hot chocolate afterward?

Word was the snow would be falling all day, he found peace in the knowledge that today, just like those carefree days as a little boy, he had nowhere to go, nothing to do, except stay inside while the squall wrapped the world in a thick blanket of white. Jared pulled the comforter tighter around him, after so many hours awake, he began to drift away, lost in the hypnotic swirl of the storm.

Thus, Jared wasn't sure whether seconds or minutes had passed before his phone rang on his nightstand that had started him back into sleep-deprived consciousness.

He made a clumsy grab for the phone, dropped it, and reached over the side of the bed to snatch it from the floor. "Hello?"

"Buon Natale, Fratellino!" shouted two merry voices in unison, Jared's face split in a wide smile at the sound of his brothers' laughter.

" Buon Natale, miei Fratelli!" he gushed. "Where are you? It's loud as hell!"

"The bar for some Christmas cheer," Sam replied "Did we wake you up?"

Jared propped a few pillows against the headboard.

"No," he answered. "You know, it's funny you chose this moment to call. It's a blizzard here and I'm wrapped up in my blankets, all safe and warm, just watching the snow fall like we did when we were kids."

"You lucky brat, we never get snow here in Okinawa," Dean said. "How much are you supposed to get?"

"A good ten inches, maybe more."

"Wow. You City folk must be shitting yourselves."

"Ah, but I'm not a City folk."

"That's true," Sam laughed. "I taught you well on those snow-packed roads in Montana, didn't I?"

"Fuck you with the "I" shit!" Dean cried. "That was a "we' job, asshole. How's that R8 hold up in the winter for you, Jay?"

"Just fine," Jared beamed, "so long as you know what you're doing. All-wheel-drive isn't all-wheel-stop. Thank you both for the literal crash course."

"Aww, you're not still sore about that, are you?"

"You two making me crash that junk S10 into the snowbank outside Pronto Market? Oh no, not at all."