The half-brother Chapter 6
Title: The half-brother
Fandom: Supernatural
Summary: AU: John left when Mary got pregnant with Dean. Few years later he came back with a new family. Now, almost 17 years later, Sam and Dean learn what it means to be brothers.
Beta’d by: Lotrspnfangirl and Renversermonmonde (Trickstermoose67 on tumblr)
AN:
A big thank you to both Lotrspnfangirl and Renversermonmonde (Trickstermoose67 over att Tumblr) for spending their time on going over the chapter for me. They both bring different things to the story, which makes it so much better!
Chapter 6
“I hate my life!”
Dean was not in a good mood by noon on Tuesday when he sat down at the end the cafeteria table next to Benny. All of his friends were already there, except for Ash -- though that was nothing new. He was probably sleeping in a corner somewhere.
Ever since he showed up to school after the weekend, Sam’s friends had been making his life hell. Stealing his stuff, disturbing the class and then blaming him for it, and pushing him around -- into lockers, doorways, the girl’s bathroom -- when no one was looking.
The worst thing was probably the fact that Sam must have told everyone he knew about Dean being gay. For the last day and a half, Dean must have been called every name in the book. Of course he had been called that in the past, too, but it was worse now. Before, they had just said it to make fun of him. Now, however? Now they meant it.
Dean had been able to keep that little fact about himself a secret from Sam ever since he came out to his friends, but no, one evening with Sam and now the entire school knew. Of course, Sam had had no trouble convincing Castiel that he had nothing to do with the rumors and that he was just hearing them for the first time, too.
Apparently, Sam and Cas had worked out whatever it was that had been going on between them and were now spending every waking hour together. And Sam was not taking the fact that he had to share Castiel well.
Before Dean could even reach the school on Monday morning, The Golden Trio had gotten in his way. Lucifer and Alistair quickly got a hold on Dean that he couldn’t get out off and dragged him behind a work shed that was on the school grounds. Sam followed behind looking like he was on top of the world. After Dean had received a few well placed punches in the stomach from Alistair, Sam told him to stay away from his best friend or he would make Dean regret it. Then Sam turned around and walked away.
Alistair hit Dean one more time, just for good measure, before Lucifer dropped him and the two followed after Sam. That punch had been so hard that Dean had a hard time catching his breath afterwards. He’s woken up with a bruise the size of Texas along his right side and pain every time he inhaled deeply.
As he sat down, Dean tried his best to hide that he was hurt, but he had a feeling that Charlie had seen right through him.
“Why? What happened now? Do we need to go kick some ass for you?” asked Jo as she played with a plastic knife from the cafeteria.
“Lets see, you know how when I showed up to school yesterday someone had broken the lock on my locker so I couldn’t get it open?” There were collective nods around the table so he continued, “I found out that my essay I’d left in there was due today and now it’s missing! Because I was looking for it, I was five minutes late to Mr. Roman’s class, so he tore me a new one in front of everyone. Of course he didn’t believe that my essay had been stolen, but because I told him he could ask the office about my locker, he agreed to give me until tomorrow to turn in my essay. It took me a week to write it the first time!” He sighed, frustrated, before banging his head on the table.
“I can help you rewrite it, if you want,” offered Charlie as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Besides, it’s always easier to write it the second time.”
“Thanks, Charlie. I have an hour detention after school today, but after that I’m free whenever.”
“Great, I will wait for you in the library,” Charlie said before greeting someone behind Dean. When Dean turned around to look who Charlie was talking to, he saw Castiel standing with his food tray.
“Hi! You mind if I join you guys while I wait for Sam to show up?” asked Castiel.
“Sure, take a seat,” Benny replied as he moved over to make room for Castiel in between himself and Dean, even though there had more than enough space everywhere else.
“Hey, Cas,” Dean greeted in a low voice.
Dean hadn’t really talked to Castiel since Castiel gave him a ride home. In fact, he’d done everything in his power to not run into Cas. Sure, whenever Dean had seen Cas smiling at him in the hallway, he had smiled back, or when Cas greeted him, he would say ‘Hi’ before taking the first turn he could, even if it took him twice as long to take that way. He wasn’t trying to be rude. Mostly he did it because whenever he saw Castiel, Sam was next to him, and he was still recovering from yesterday’s beat down.
“Hi, Dean. How are you? I’ve hardly seen you since Saturday,” said Castiel with what Dean would have described as a disappointed look on his face.
“Yeah, I know. I have just been really busy.” Dean gave him a small smile and then cleared his throat. “In fact I need to go,” he said as he started gathering his stuff before standing up. “See you later!”
He was five steps away from the table when Castiel said, “You sure? That’s too bad… Oh well, more pie for us then.” Dean turned to see him digging through his backpack.
“Pie? Why do you have pie?” asked Dean as he walked slowly back towards the table as if the pie would disappear if he went too fast.
Dean noticed that Castiel sent Charlie a slightly panicked look before saying, “Yeah, Gabriel and I were talking to Charlie yesterday and she mentioned you liked pie. Gabriel is always experimenting in the kitchen, so he offered to make one. He ended up making five before he was convinced he had made the best pie in the whole world.”
‘Damn, you Charlie Bradbury!’ thought Dean as he glared at Charlie.
“So I told him you would come running if he brought pie. What was I supposed to do? He thought you were avoiding him!” Charlie defended herself. With an eyebrow raised she added, “But of course you’re only avoiding Sam, right?”
“I hate you,” said Dean as he sat down and snatched the plate Castiel had just put in front of Charlie before she could take a bite.
“Hey! That one was mine!”
“Guys, there is enough for everybody! Didn’t you need to leave?” asked Castiel with laughter in his voice as he put the last piece on a plate for Charlie.
“It can wait!” said Dean. ‘Specially since I had nowhere to be,’ he thought to himself. When Dean noticed there was no pie left and all of his other friends were too busy stuffing their faces, he said, “That was the last piece! Aren't you going to have any?”
“No, I don’t like pie!” The silence that followed was deafening as everybody at the table looked at Castiel, some with forks mid-way to their mouths, like he was from another planet.
Jo was the first to break the silence. “You don’t like pie?”
“It’s official, we can’t be friends anymore, Castiel!” said Dean still in shock. ‘How can he not like pie? Pie is the greatest food on the planet!’
“Why? Because I won’t eat the pie which means you get more pie?” asked Castiel with his head tilted to the side as he looked into Dean’s eyes. It was almost like he could find out how Dean’s mind worked if the looked hard enough.
“Huhh, I didn’t think about that,” said Dean before rolling that thought in his head. After thinking it through for a little while, Dean turned to his friends and said, “I can’t be friends with you guys anymore. You always eat my pie," before finally starting on his slice.
Dean almost melted when he tasted the pie. It was by far the best pie he had ever tasted! If the sounds he was making were the same as the sound from his favorite porn film, then he didn’t give a flying fuck. His bad mood was gone and as far as Dean was concerned, the only thing that mattered right now was finishing his slice, then finding Gabriel and marrying him. It took Dean a little time to realize that everybody at the table had stopped what they had been doing and were now laughing at him.
Before Dean could tell them to shut the hell up, “Castiel!” was heard called out over the room. Dean, Castiel, and Benny all had to turn around to see Sam standing on the other side of the room and he did not look happy.
“I guess this is my cue to leave,” Castiel said and Dean wondered if there was really disappointment in his voice or if he imagined it. “I hope you enjoyed the pie. Bye!” And with that, Castiel was gone. He had gone over to the dark side, as Charlie would put it.
For the next half an hour, Dean could feel Sam staring at him every time Castiel wasn’t looking.
- Supernatural -
“We should just go, I mean they probably won’t even notice we’re missing.”
“Suck it up, Winchester. We’re going!” said Jo as she dragged him towards the changing rooms.
“In all the time I’ve known you, brother, I have never seen you run away from anything,” said Benny as he walked behind them. “Don’t start now.”
“It’s not running away if I never show up!” Dean muttered his argument, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He had been dreading this moment ever since he found out that John would be taking over the class.
“Sorry dude, you’re going. Now if we hurry, we can be ready before the others show up. See you in a few Jo!” With that, Benny took hold of Dean’s shoulder and steered him towards the boy’s changing room while Jo went to the girl’s.
Dean had just finished getting changed into his gym t-shirt and shorts when he heard Uriel say, “Hey Losechester, we don’t like fags in our changing room.”
Of course, all the other boys except for Benny cheered him on.
Dean had had just about enough of their crap, but before he could tell them to stick it where the sun don’t shine, Benny dragged him away.
“It's not worth getting another detention for. Just try to ignore them,” said Benny.
“Do you think I can talk Principal Crowley into letting me change in the girls changing room from now on? Jo is the only girl in class and I know she wouldn’t mind me being there,” asked Dean.
“And leave me all alone with them? You would have to take me with you. Jo can just blindfold me,” Benny joked before getting serious again, “ No, somehow I don’t think he will allow that.”
Benny patted Dean on the back and both boys took a deep breath before walking through the doors into the gym. Thankfully, it was still empty, so they went and found a seat on the benches while they waited for class to begin. Jo joined them five minutes later and then the rest of the class came in one by one. The last ones to show up were Alistair and Lucifer, who made a beeline towards Dean the moment they located him. He didn’t know if he was relieved or not when they stopped halfway because John had just showed up.
“Attention everyone! Today, I want you all to prove to me that you really belong in this class.” Dean tried not to grimace at the rough tone John used or let it show that the man’s voice made his stomach clench. “I believe some people are more deserving to be here than others.”
“Gee, I wonder who he’s talking about,” whispered Benny and Jo and Dean couldn't help but chuckle.
“Something funny, you three?” asked John, storming over to the benches as he got in their faces. For some reason he didn’t seem to notice Lucifer fooling around at the same time. “Ten laps around the gym. Now!”
John talked the entire time while they ran the laps. Dean didn’t catch everything John said, but at times, he couldn’t help but think that John was talking about him and his friends. Every now and then the whole class would start watching them and start laughing. Thankfully, Dean quickly found a way to distract himself by counting how often his friends told him to ‘let it go’ or something along those lines.
On the fourth lap Jo was at seven and Benny was at twenty-two. If this kept happening then Benny really should just save himself the trouble and give Dean an iPod with ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen playing on repeat. Come to think of it, Charlie could probably find a rock version or something for him. Not that Dean was ever going to suggest that.
Since Dean still wasn’t feeling 100% after the beating he got the day before, he didn’t run as fast as he could. Normally, Dean was a pretty fast runner and had the stamina to run for a long time if he felt like it or needed to. Dean knew for a fact that he could outrun everyone in this class on a good day, most of them even on a bad day. But today, he mostly just stayed with Benny and Jo. Both of them were pretty good runners, especially Jo, so he knew she was slowing down a little bit for him and Benny to keep up.
Of course, even though the three of them were running faster than Dean knew some of the boys in the class could run, it wasn’t good enough for John. Every time they finished a lap, John would tell them to run faster, that his ‘grandmother could run faster than that’.
“Jo twelve, Benny forty-five,” Dean said his count out loud when they had one fourth of a lap left.
“What was that?” asked Jo.
“Nothing. Just let it go,” said Dean in a singsong voice with a small smile on his face before picking up the speed so he was in front of them for the first time.
Benny slowly leaned towards Jo and asked, “Do you think he finally lost it and will start bursting into songs now?” in as low voice of a voice as he could while still running.
“I don’t know, but I’m taking a video camera with me tomorrow just in case,” answered Jo without even trying to keep her voice low. It wasn’t the reaction that Dean wanted, but it didn’t surprise him that all his friends did was laugh when he gave them the finger.
When they finished the lap, John was finishing telling the rest of the class that they would be playing basketball for the remaining time. Dean wasn’t surprised when John picked Lucifer and Alastair as team captains and told them to pick six people each for their teams.
It also wasn’t surprising that Dean, Jo, and Benny were the last three to be picked. Since Alastair had gotten to pick first, Lucifer ended up having to choose two of the three of them for his team. To say that he was not happy with that would be an understatement. Especially since he knew that he would end up with Dean.
Lucifer looked over the three of them like they were all beneath him, contemplating with a grimace on his face. After a few minutes and a “Hurry it up, we don’t have all day!” from John, Lucifer crossed his arms before he spat out, “I’ll take the chick!” He turned to the rest of his team, his back to Benny and Dean. As everybody knew would happen, Alastair called for Benny right after Lucifer picked Jo. The three of them exchanged glances, knowing Lucifer wouldn’t call Dean’s name even if he was paid.
Now that the two teams were ready, each captain walked over to their side of the gym and started giving out positions for everyone. Benny took his time going over to his end and made it clear he wasn’t all that happy with having to be ‘alone’ on the other team. “Think anyone will notice if we just stand in one corner the whole time?”
“Maybe the two of you could have gotten away with it, but I have a feeling I won't and I’m probably going to drag the two of you down with me,” answered Dean while watching John who was busy going over something on his board. Before any of them could say something more, John looked up and noticed them.
“What the hell are you people waiting for? Go over to your teams!”
After sending Benny a ‘I told you so’ look, Jo and Dean made their way over to their team and Benny did the same. Jo and Dean were in no hurry when they made their way over. Dean’s other teammates were all huddled together and when Dean came closer he heard Lucifer say “...just follow the plan and do as Sam said,” before the group broke up. All Lucifer said to Dean and Jo before the game started was to ‘stay out of their way’ and ‘don’t fuck up’.
It became quite clear early on in the game that the other boys in the class were more interested in getting Dean in trouble then they were in winning. The only time Dean even came close to getting the ball was after Jo had stolen it from one of the guys and sent it over to Dean. He had been in the perfect position to score, and he knew he would have made the shot if Lucifer hadn’t run into him.
It didn’t seem to matter to John that it had been obvious the body slam wasn't accidental or the fact that Lucifer was on the same team as Dean: it was Dean’s fault. He ‘shouldn’t lose the ball just because someone lightly bumped into him’.
“Basketball is a man’s game, so be a man!” John had yelled and the rest of the class --save his friends-- laughed and high fived one another while John conveniently turned his back.
It was also Dean’s fault when Uriel ran into him and ended up on the floor, gripping his leg.
“You think being cheap and trying to injure the offense is going to get you anywhere in life? Fifty, in the corner, now!” Dean moved to the side to do his push-ups while Uriel stood up and kept playing like nothing had happened.
Dean lost count of how many times he had been pushed over, tripped, or run into before the class was up. All he knew was that he was hurting all over and he couldn’t wait to get home. Jo and Benny also had some scrapes and bruises after the class, but they hadn’t had it as bad as Dean.
“...good jobs with your teams today Mr. Novak and Mr. Heyerdahl,” came John’s voice as everyone made their way towards the doors to the changing rooms, Dean and his friends trailing behind. “Miss Harvelle and Mr. Lafitte you need to practice teamwork better, you let both of your teams down.”
“Yeah, we were the problem,” said Jo sarcastically under her breath so John wouldn’t hear.
“You!” said John while pointing at Dean, “You have detention with me today.”
It took everything in his power to bite his tongue and nod without glaring. Of course, Jo had to open her mouth. Dean loved her like a sister, but there were times he wished she would just let things go and not make a big deal out of them, especially when Dean suffered for it.
“You would think of all the names in the class he would remember yours, at least your last name since he has the same one!”
“Miss Harvelle, go get changed! Dean you can start cleaning this room by putting everything back where it’s supposed to be,” John snapped before he stormed into the coach’s office.
Dean looked over the room. It was one giant mess. There were all kind of balls everywhere, jumping ropes tangled together here and there, and the weights were all on the floor on the opposite side of the room from where they were supposed to be. John had most likely been planning for a while, knowing the detention would be starting today and he could force Dean to clean up. He must have let all his classes be as messy as they wanted.
Still beside him, Jo said, “Sorry? It just slipped out,” while avoiding eye contact.
Dean bent down to pick up one of the balls that was on the floor next to him. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow. That is, if John doesn't kill me.”
“At least we know whose backyard we should dig up if you don’t show up tomorrow. See you, brotha!” Benny called to him as he and Jo made their way out. Jo sent a small nod in Dean’s direction before looking away.
Having to bend down over and over again and then walk back and forth was starting to take it’s toll on Dean who was already tired and hurting. But Dean kept going, mainly because he didn’t want John to have one more thing to hold over him. As much as this sucked, Dean was thankful that John left him alone. The only exception was when there were fifteen minutes left of detention and John came out of his office just to tell Dean that he better not forget to wipe the benches too.
Dean finished putting the last of the weights back in their rightful place before going to get something to clean with. After years of helping both his mom and Bobby clean up at work, Dean was quite used to it, so it didn’t take him all that long to finish.
“I’m done,” said Dean from the doorway to the office when there were two minutes left on the clock.
John looked up from a old journal he was reading and glanced at his watch. “You finished all of it?” he asked before standing up and entering the gym to take a look for himself. When he couldn’t find anything, he groaned out, “Fine, you can go. You have detention with me tomorrow as well. Meet me here after school.” Dean had barely managed a nod before John had turned and gone back inside his office, closing the door behind him.
When Dean walked into the changing room, he found it completely empty. By that he meant all of his stuff was gone. All of it, gone! The old leather jacket he loved that he had gotten from his mom two months earlier, gone! His phone and keys, gone! There wasn’t anything left in the room that wasn’t bolted to the walls or the floor.
Dean slipped down the wall he had been standing next to and closed his eyes. If he remembered correctly, it was supposed to start raining right about now and after meeting with Charlie in the library for his essay it would be dark. He was in no state to walk home, tired and wet, in only a t-shirt and shorts.
“Sorry I’m late! Something came up.” When Dean open his eyes, he saw a guilty looking Charlie standing there with all of his stuff. At the confused look on Dean’s face, Charlie added, “Didn’t you see Benny’s note?”
“What? No! There’s no note here,” said Dean as he double check if he had missed something.
“Oh. They must have taken it.” When all Dean did was lift an eyebrow, Charlie explained, “Benny thought the other boys might try something from the way they were whispering and looking at your stuff, so he took it for you instead and left a note saying that he would leave it with me. Of course, he asked me to already be here when you were supposed to be done, but, uh, something came up.”
“Oh! Thanks, Charlie. Remind me to thank Benny tomorrow,” said Dean as Charlie handed over his stuff. “You mind waiting while I take a quick shower?” asked Dean, who was already half naked.
“Of course not! Besides, you stink Winchester.”
“Bite me!” called Dean over his shoulder as he walked over to the shower stalls.
“Sorry pretty boy, you’re not my type!”
Dean chuckled to himself as he turned on the hot water and stepped under the spray. The heat was doing wonders on Dean’s sore body. If Charlie wasn’t waiting for him, he might just stay there for hours and wash all of his worries away.
“Hey,” Charlie’s voice came through the sound of the water, “Maybe you can get Castiel to bite you.”
‘Cold shower it is then,’ thought Dean before calling back, “I hate you!” only to receive laughter in return.
They made quick work of re-writing Dean’s essay in the library, Charlie having spent Dean’s gym period pulling up resources and making an outline for him. It was probably a lot better now since Charlie was a genius when it came to research and she had been able to find a bunch of useful information. It was just before six when Dean and Charlie finally made it out of school. It was raining, just as Dean thought. The rain wasn’t all that bad, but it looked like it had been raining for a while since some puddles had started to form on the streets, especially in the corners where the drains were blocked. If they hurried, they would hopefully make it to Dean’s without getting completely drenched.
As Dean’s luck would have it, the two of them were just rounding the last corner when a sports car sped past them and right into a big puddle that Dean was standing next to. Dean had just enough time to push Charlie out of the way before he got sprayed. As Dean stood there, completely drenched from head to toe, he could hear Lucifer and Alastair laughing as the drove away.
‘I hate my life.’
- Supernatural -
At the same time Dean’s detention had started, Charlie was sitting by herself in her favorite place in the school's library reading ‘The Hobbit’ for the thousandth time. She was just getting started on chapter two when Benny walked in with an armful of stuff Charlie was pretty sure all belonged to Dean.
“Hey, Charlie! You mind taking this back to Dean for me before his detention is over? I have to be home before my mom gets there. I left the kitchen a mess this morning and if she sees it like that? She will have my head.”
“Sure,” she said as she put her book down and accepted the armful of stuff. “But why do you have it?”
“I had a feeling Sam’s friends were planning to do something to his stuff, so I took it all when I left. I left him a note telling him I would leave it with you since I don’t want Dean to think it was all stolen. I just... don’t know if the note will still be there when he gets there.”
“Don’t worry, I will be there when he gets out of detention. After all, I’m only here because I’m waiting for him.”
“Thanks, Charlie! You’re the best. See you tomorrow!” With that, Beny turned around and pretty much ran out the door.
Charlie picked her book back up and continued reading. Just as Charlie was flipping to the next page, the stool in front of her moved and someone sat down on it.
“I thought you needed to go,” said Charlie as she memorized what page she was on and then put her book down on the table in front of her. She didn’t find Benny sitting in front of her like she thought she would. Instead, she found none other than Sam ‘frigging’ Winchester.
“What do you want?” demanded Charlie, as she pulled all of her’s and Dean’s stuff away from Sam.
“I have a proposition for you.”