Learn To (Live Together And) Like It
Learn To (Live Together And) Like It
Dean Winchester was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at his hands. His head shot up at the sound of his children entering the room.
“What did you want to talk to us about?” his daughter Dawn asked as she sat down on the chair next to him.
Dean didn`t answer, but silently watched the kids seat themselves. He looked at his daughter. The pretty twelve-year-old had long, blonde hair and dark hazel eyes. She was watching her father, raising her eyebrows when he didn`t say anything.
Then he turned to his son. Will, a boy of ten years with a dark, curly head and blue eyes that shone like crystals in the middle of his freckled face.
“Dad?” Dawn`s voice ripped Dean out of his thoughts. “Don`t keep us in suspense, we`re dying to know what-“
Dean clearing his throat made the girl break off.
“I, uh... wanted to talk you about… Actually, there`s something I need to tell you,” Dean began slowly. “We need to prepare the guestroom.”
“We`re getting a guest?” Will asked. “Who`s coming to visit?”
“Many years ago I had… a girlfriend,” Dean said. “I recently found out that she has a son.”
The silence around the table was crushing Dean`s heart, threatening to break him, so he decided to just blurt it all out. “His name is Ben. He`s coming to live with us. He`s my son. Your half-brother.”
“How old is he?”
The hidden, implied question in Dawn`s words did not go unnoticed by Dean.
“Older than you. He`s fifteen.” Dean paused, stretching a hand out towards his daughter`s face. “Dawn.”
She turned away from him, quietly refusing to let him touch her.
Dean turned to Will, watching in pain as a kaleidoscope of human emotions crossed the children`s faces.
“When is he coming?” Will asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Way to give us time to adjust, Dad!” Dawn spat.
“Hey, this isn`t exactly easy for me either!” Dean snapped back. “I had no idea Ben was my son. Not until now. So when he arrives tomorrow, I want both of you to give him a warm welcome and be on your best behavior.” Dean looked at Dawn. “Try keeping the swearing to a minimum.”
Dawn turned her head, avoiding her father`s gaze. Her painted fingernails tapped irritably against her elbows as she sat with her arms crossed.
“Does Ben like to play football?” Will asked.
Dean chuckled, giving his little boy a grateful smile. “Wait until tomorrow, and you can ask him yourself.”
“They`re here!”
Will jumped up from the sofa at the sound of the Impala pulling up in front of the house. “Dawn!” he called to his sister, who was in the kitchen.
“Oh, goodie,” Dawn muttered as she walked into the living room and approached the front door. “Another boy in the house. Lovely.”
“Would it feel less awkward for you if Ben was a girl?” Will enquired.
His question caught Dawn off guard, but before she could say anything, the front door flew open, and her father stood there, with a teenage boy next to him.
The boy was wearing a grey hoodie and light blue jeans. He had short dark hair and brown eyes.
“Hi, Ben!” Will said, excited to meet his half-brother. “I`m Will.”
“Hey,” Ben said curtly as he stepped inside.
“And this is Dawn,” Dean said, making signs to the girl, reminding her to be nice.
“Hi,” Dawn gave Ben a smile and a formal handshake.
“Hi, I`m Ben,” the boy said, although everyone was well aware of his name.
“Welcome, Benjamin,” Dawn said politely, earning a smile from her father.
“It`s Ben,” the teenager said.
Dawn shrugged. “Benjamin is prettier.”
Dean grabbed the teenager`s luggage. “Come with me, Ben. I`ll show to your room.”
After having settled in, Ben was sitting in his room, playing games on his mobile. He was bored out of his mind. This whole thing sucked. To the teenager, this whole situation felt bizarre. He was suddenly living with the man who was his father, but had never acted like one, not to mention he suddenly had two younger siblings. For Ben, who`d always been an only child, that change in particular was one difficult to grow used to.
His fingers were moving rapidly across the buttons on his phone, but soon Ben snarled in frustration as the battery died and the small screen went black. He rolled off the bed and went into the hallway, intending to ask Dawn if he could borrow her mobile charger.
Upon reaching her bedroom door, Ben threw it open, not bothering to knock. Inside the room, Dawn was in the middle of changing clothes. She was only wearing jeans and a BH, and upon hearing Ben utter an embarrassed apology, she spun around sharply to face him. The next thing Ben knew, Dawn was screaming at him, her voice loud and shrill like a whistle being blown.
“Get out! Get OUT!”
“I`m not in, you stupid girl!” Ben yelled back.
“I`m half-naked, you perv!” Dawn yelled as she moved quickly towards the door, preparing to slam it in Ben`s face. But before she could do so, her father, who had come running up the stairs at the sound of the kids’ loud voices, appeared next to Ben, and he held a hand on the door, preventing Dawn from closing it.
“What`s with all the yelling?” Dean wanted to know.
“Tell that dirty perv to stop looking at my boobs!” Dawn said, glaring at Ben while trying to cover herself.
Ben scoffed. “What boobs?”
His remark made Dawn explode. “JUST GET OUT!” she shrieked, slamming the door shut so hard it made everyones ears hurt.
Dean sighed heavily, then looked at Ben. “Well, I`m gonna hit the grocery store and pick up some dinner. How about you tag along? Give Dawn some privacy and alone time?”
Ben shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”
At the store, Dean tried to make small-talk with Ben as they were browsing the aisles.
“So, anything special you want me to make? Any favorites?”
Ben shrugged. “You can make whatever you want.”
This didn`t make the choice any easier for Dean, so he tried to narrow it down further by asking the boy if he had any allergies.
“I`m not allergic to anything, except bad cooking,” Ben replied, earning a grin from Dean.
As they were moving towards the tills, Dean turned to Ben and said: “You can grab a soda or something if you want. I`ll go and start putting the items on the belt.”
Ben nodded. “OK, sure.”
He moved to the back of the store and grabbed a small can of Cola from the fridge. There was however one beverage that tempted the teenager more than soda. Moving quickly, Ben walked over to the section holding the more interesting choices for quenching your thirst.
Taking a quick glance this way and that, making sure no one was looking, the teenager grabbed a can of beer and slipped it in the pocket of his sweater. Then he rejoined Dean at the tills, who gave the boy a smile and a nod when he saw the can of soda in Ben`s hand.
“Good choice. Do you want anything else, or are you ready to go?”
Politely refusing Dean`s generosity, Ben simply smiled and shook his head. “Nope, I`m good.”
When the man and the teenager returned to the house, Ben immediately retreated to his room, gruffly refusing when Dean asked for help with dinner.
Dawn and Will were both in their bedrooms. With a small sigh, Dean decided to leave the kids alone and get started on cooking.
In his room, Ben made sure to hide the bottle of beer he had lifted from the store. He wished he could have been able to store it in the fridge. Warm beer wasn`t very tasty, but the boy knew he couldn`t let Dean find out that he was drinking, never mind shoplifting.
Upon hearing Dean`s voice calling him and the other kids from downstairs, Ben slowly exited the bedroom and went down for dinner.
The meal was a quiet and awkward affair. Ben wasn`t hungry, so he just sat poking at the food with his fork.
The Winchesters all ate with healthy appetites. Dawn and Will mostly made sure to always have something in their mouth, so they wouldn`t have to make conversation. Dean had always taught them it was rude to talk with your mouth full. The two younger kids had no idea what to talk about anyway. What do you say to a sibling you never knew you had, but who`s suddenly come to live with you?
Dean finally cleared his throat, deciding to end the silence.
“So, Ben.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “Do you like the food?” he asked lamely.
“It tastes like shit,” Ben replied, though he`d barely bothered to try it.
“Ben, swearing is not allowed in this house,” Dean sternly informed the boy.
Dawn finally found her voice. “How would you know what shit tastes like?”
The girl kept her eyes on Ben, ignoring the scorching glare her father was giving her. The teenager didn`t look up, but Will put a hand up to cover his mouth, both to conceal his snigger, and to prevent himself from spraying his food all over the table.
“I think it tastes great, Dad,” Dawn said to Dean, who gave her a nod and a strained smile.
“Thank you, Dawn.”
After listening to Will nag about playing football for what felt like forever, Ben finally agreed to kick the ball around with the kid for a little while.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Ben actually enjoyed himself. A little. Normally, he took no interest in any kind of sport, but Will`s enthusiasm about football was mildly contagious, and soon both boys were running around on the lawn, competing about being the one to kick the ball against the garage door.
The game had been going on for a while. Will was very excited to be playing his favorite game with his new half-brother, but his joy was short-lived.
Ben kicked the ball too hard and too high. It smashed a window.
The sound of the glass breaking felt sickening to Will. It wasn`t the first time his ball had broken something, but it was the first time Will`s foot had not been the one kicking it.
Dean came running the second he heard the crash. He found both his sons standing on the lawn, looking stupidly at the damage they had caused. Dean didn`t bother asking who was responsible. He felt certain that it was his youngest, who had a record for being clumsy and breaking things, with or without the help of his football.
Normally, Will breaking something would have earned him a trip over Dean`s knee, but with the special circumstances Dean decided to go easy on his little boy.
“Will!” he barked angrily, making the ten-year-old jump in fright. “How many times do I have to tell you-“
“But it wasn`t-“ Will tried to explain, but Ben cut him off.
“I told him to be careful,” Ben shrugged.
That settled the matter as far as Dean was concerned. “Will, your football is confiscated for a week. Go to your room.”
Tears appeared, making the blue eyes of the young boy shine.
“But Dad, I... That`s not-“ he spluttered desperately trying to make his father understand that Ben was the one to blame for the broken window, not Will.
“I`ll deal with you later, now stop talking and start walking,” Dean growled.
Will quickly brushed past his father as he ran across the lawn and into the house.
Dawn, who had heard her brother come running crying up the stairs, quickly exited her bedroom and entered Will`s, finding the boy sitting on the bed. His head spun around at hearing his door being opened, fearing his father had come to punish him.
“Will, what`s wrong?” Dawn asked kindly, approaching the bed.
“Nothing,” Will sniffed, hastily rubbing his eyes. He didn`t want his cool big sister to see him crying like a baby.
“I can see that something is wrong,” Dawn pressed as she sat down next to the boy. “Now spill it.”
And Will told her how he`d been playing football with Ben, and how the older boy had broken a window and stood by and let Will take the blame when Dean had come to investigate.
Dawn was livid. “What the fuck? How dare that shithead….fucking!” The girl always swore like a sailor when she got angry. “No one but me makes my little brother cry!”
“What about Dad?” Will sniffed.
Dawn was silent for a moment. “Oh yeah, him too. He makes you cry when he spanks you.”
Fresh tears spilled from Will`s eyes. “That`s not what I meant. Do you think he`s gonna-“
His big sister put her arm around the boy`s shoulders, giving him a reassuring smile. “I`ll make sure he won`t.”
Will sniffed again. “I mean, he already took my football away and sent me to my room, but I don`t know if he plans on spanking me as well. Dawn, I didn`t do it, I didn`t break that window! And now Dad is mad, and...” The boy sobbed, and Dawn pulled him closer to her.
“I know you didn`t do it. I`ll talk to Dad, don`t you worry, little brother.”
Will smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Dawn.”
After cleaning up the glass pieces and covering up the broken window, Dean decided to go and have a talk with Will. He obviously needed a reminder to be careful. Dean had already decided not to spank the boy. Under ordinary circumstances he would have, but the lives of the Winchester family was anything but normal right now after they had gained a teenaged member, so Dean wanted to let his youngest off easy. Just this once.
When Dean was walking down the hallway towards Will`s room, he nearly crashed into Dawn, who suddenly came bursting out from her own bedroom upon hearing her father`s heavy steps on the stairs.
“Dad!” she said urgently, but Dean tried to walk past her, brushing her off.
“Not right now, Dawn. I need to talk to Will.”
“Yes, now!” the girl exclaimed, standing in front of her father so he couldn`t enter her brother`s bedroom. Her fists were clenched, and her face wore a look of determination, fierce protection and loyalty to her young sibling. “Dad, you`ve already taken away Will`s football and sent him to his room. Running around outside like an idiot chasing after that ball is his favorite thing to do, so there`s no need to punish him further. You can`t spank Will. I won`t let you!”
Dean was so taken aback by Dawn`s intensity, he completely forgot to inform her that he had in fact no plans to give Will a spanking.
“You won`t let me?” he asked, surprised.
“Damn straight.” Dawn`s gaze was fixed on her father. “I`ll throw myself across your knees if that`s what it takes!”
Dean didn`t even scold his daughter for swearing. He was completely baffled by the girl`s sudden need to protect her brother. But he also felt a surge of pride. Looking at his twelve-year-old girl, she reminded him so much of himself and how he had sometimes tried to talk John out of spanking Sammy. Not that he had ever been successful.
Dean smiled to himself, and Dawn gave him a confused look. “Why are you smiling?”
“You just remind me of myself.”
Dawn huffed.
“What?” Dean asked, puzzled. “It`s a compliment,” he added, with a crooked grin.
“The hell it is!” the girl spat.
“Dawn!”
“Saying that is the same as saying I look like a man!” the girl exclaimed.
Dean rolled his eyes. “I was talking personality, not appearance.”
Dawn crossed her arms. “Whatever.”
“Just so you know, Dawn, I`m not going to spank Will. I just need to talk to him and make sure he learns to be more careful about where he`s kicking that damn football.”
“Will didn`t do it. Ben broke the window, not Will.”
Dean looked his daughter in the eyes. “Will told you that?”
Dawn returned her father`s gaze. “You know he doesn`t lie.”
Dean nodded. He knew Will was an honest boy.
“He`s sitting in his room right now crying because you got mad and punished him for no reason.”
Dean felt guilty. He hadn`t allowed his son to explain himself. Instead he had jumped to conclusions and just assumed Will was the one to blame for the broken window.
“You know how sensitive he is,” Dawn continued. “And how much he respects you. I swear, you give that kid a stern look and he starts to cry.”
“I`ll talk to him,” Dean promised. “I`ll apologize for punishing him unfairly, and let him have his ball back, how`s that?”
Dawn nodded, but she was still not content. “What about Ben?”
“What about him?”
“Aren`t you going to punish him for breaking the window?”
Dean felt uncomfortable. He didn`t answer.
“He`s your son too, you know,” Dawn said coldly.
Dean gave no reply, just a curt nod as he walked past his daughter and reached for the handle on the bedroom door of his youngest.
Will had calmed down by the time his father entered the room, but upon seeing the man opening the door and coming in, he nearly broke down again.
“Will, we need to talk,” Dean said seriously.
“It was Ben, not me,” Will sniffed. “Please believe me, I don`t want a spanking!”
Dean approached the bed and sat down next to his son.
“No, of course you don`t.” He gave the boy a reassuring smile. “And you`re not getting one either, unless it`s deserved. Which it`s not. This time,” he added, raising his eyebrows, giving an implied warning to Will about remembering to be careful with his football.
“I owe you an apology,” Dean continued. “It was wrong of me to assume you were the one who broke the window, just because the ball belongs to you and you`ve had accidents in the past. I should have let you explain yourself. Also, it was very wrong of Ben to put the blame on you like that. I will talk to him about it.”
Dean delighted in seeing the huge grin that spread on Will`s freckled face.
“Thanks, Dad,” the boy smiled.
“So you`re getting your football back,” Dean promised, “And you can come out of your room.”
Will threw his arms around his father, hugging him tightly.
Dean chuckled and patted his son`s curly, dark brown head. “Well, I guess that means I`m forgiven.”
In his room, Ben produced the can of beer from its hiding place. He moved over to the window and sat down. He opened the can and took a deep swig.
It was in that moment Dean came into the room, ready to have a talk with Ben regarding the broken window.
“What the hell is that?” Dean pointed to the can of beer in Ben`s hand.
“What does it look like?” Ben retorted.
“Where did you get it?”
“At the store.”
“I can`t remember seeing you put that particular item on the belt when we were at the tills.”
Ben shrugged. “Who said anything about this particular item ever being in the hands of the cashier?”
Dean clenched his jaw. “You stole it.”
Ben shrugged once more, and took another sip from the can.
Dean approached him slowly. “Give me that,” he said, holding out his hand.
Ben snorted. “Fuck off!”
“Ben!” Dean barked angrily. “I`m warning you! I`m your father, and I-“
“You`ve never been a father to me!” Ben snapped. “You`re just some guy who fucked my mom!”
Dean moved so quickly, everything happened so fast that Ben barely had time to register that the man had moved. All of a sudden, Dean ripped the can of beer out of the teenager`s hand, grabbed the boy`s arm, and pulled him towards the bed. Presently, Ben found himself lying face down across Dean`s lap.
Dean had been on the receiving end of spankings from John Winchester more times than he could count, and he`d learned his lessons well. Over the years, Dean had handed out many a butt warming to both Will and Dawn, so when he had his teenage son sprawled over his lap, he wasted no time in beginning to swat Ben`s jeans-clad ass. Coming down hard and fast, Dean made sure to cover every inch of the boy`s backside, trying hard to keep him still as he squirmed and struggled, and trying to close his ears to the yells and various profanities coming from Ben`s mouth.
Ben, being on the receiving end of Dean`s hard hand, couldn`t believe what was happening, and how much it hurt! His mother had never given him a proper spanking, just occasional swats when he was a kid and refused to listen to her. Now as he was lying across Dean`s knees with his butt in the air, having it relentlessly paddled, he yelled bloody murder, cursing Dean`s name in every way he knew.
The heat of the burning sting quickly grew on Ben`s behind, making him struggle and wriggle even harder.
“You can`t do this!” Ben yelled, kicking his legs and struggling in vain to escape.
“Seems pretty clear to me that I can,” Dean replied calmly, not even halting the swatting as he spoke. “I`m your father, and I have every right to punish you when you break the rules, not to mention the law!”
As he spoke the last words, he laid down a flurry of thunderous slaps, making Ben wail loudly. The boy was breathing quickly and shakily, feeling an intense throb and sting in his rear end. He did however stop struggling when he suddenly felt Dean halt the blows, only to reach under the boy and unbutton his pants.
“What are you doing?” Ben asked, suddenly feeling scared. He understood what was going to happen, he just found it difficult to believe. This whole scene was just too weird. Here Ben was, a fifteen-year-old, having his butt spanked like a little kid, by the man who was his father, but never had been there for him before.
“Just making sure you learn that when you choose to act like a brat, you`ll be treated like one!” Dean replied coolly.
Ben lay stiff across Dean`s lap as his pants were pulled down, and his underwear with them. But the second the teenager felt air on his hot skin, he resumed his struggle and attempts at getting away from Dean`s punishing hand.
He kicked and bucked so forcefully that Dean had to pin the teenager`s legs down with his own before picking up the spanking where he had left off. Dean stopped alternating between cheeks as he`d done earlier. Now that he had Ben`s naked (and already red) bottom presented to him, Dean began bringing his hand down on the same cheek, smacking hard and fast, quickly turning the boy`s left butt cheek crimson. He repeated the movements with the other cheek, Ben`s pitiful wails falling on deaf ears.
Ben was now struggling very hard to hold back tears as the heat and sting on his ass rose to an unbearable level. The difference between being spanked clothed and naked was immense. He couldn`t believe that a few smacks from Dean`s open hand could hurt so bad.
“Are you ever going to shoplift again?” Dean asked, still managing to talk and spank at the same time.
“Oww! Fuck!”
“Not quite the answer I was looking for,” Dean said, giving Ben a few extra hard slaps.
“Noo, never! Ow! I promise!” the boy wailed, and tears of pain began rolling down his face.
“And are you going to let someone else take the blame when you do something wrong? Such as, breaking a window?” Dean inquired, getting satisfied with the shade of red being displayed on the teenager`s bottom.
“No! Oww! Shit, it hurts!”
“Kinda the point, Ben,” Dean said, and asked the teenager another question: “Are you going to drop the attitude and follow the rules from now on?”
“Yes, yes! I promise! Oww, please! Just stop!”
“Do you have anything else to say?”
Dean was still slapping Ben`s ass, and he could feel the heat radiating from it. He knew that he had been hard on the boy, but it was damn deserved too.
The teenager sobbed hard. “I`m sorry! I`m so, so sorry!”
“Yes, I really think you are,” Dean said quietly, finishing the spanking with a last onslaught of slaps to the tops of Ben`s thighs.
Then Dean stopped at last, and Ben went limp, breaking down completely. His upper body shook as he cried, and he put his hand back to rub at his very sore bottom.
Dean decided to let the boy cry out before soothing him. He knew better than anyone what an important emotional release crying provided. He understood that through crying, Ben could let go of all the emotional stress he felt regarding moving in with a family he`d never known, and the guilt he was (hopefully) feeling at breaking both the laws laid down by Dean and society.
After several minutes, Dean helped Ben off his lap. The teenager was still crying, but not so hard anymore. The boy was quick to pull up his underwear and jeans, though he regretted it once the fabric touched his sore, burning skin. Still, he wasn`t going to stand bare in front of Dean. Ben had endured enough humiliation for one day.
“Ben,” Dean tried to get his son`s attention, but the boy kept looking at the floor, a few tears dripping down on the carpet.
“Not in a chatty mood right now, Dean,” Ben replied, his voice shaky.
Dean allowed himself to grin, considering the boy wasn`t looking at him. Then he made himself look serious as he touched two fingers to Ben`s chin, forcing their eyes to meet.
“Unless you want to find yourself over my knee again, you`ll listen to what I have to say,” Dean said seriously.
The boy gulped, but said nothing.
“Ben, I am your father, and I`m going to take care of you from now on. But this relationship is a two-way street. I except you to follow my rules, and that includes treating me, Dawn and Will with kindness and respect. I promise we will do the same to you.”
Dean paused for a moment, checking that he had the full attention of his son. “No more stealing, no more drinking, and no more disrespect and shitty attitude, you got that, Ben? You do understand what will happen if you break the rules?”
“You`ll beat my ass again?”
“I`ll spank you if you deserve it,” Dean replied simply. “I do use other forms of punishment too. I reckon you`ll find that out soon enough,” he added, giving Ben a wink and a crooked grin.
The teenager barely returned the smile.
“What I`m trying to get at here,” Dean continued, “Is that I care about you, Ben. You`re my son, and it`s my job to take care of you, that includes teaching you the difference between right and wrong. I hope the lesson I`ve given you today sticks.”
“Well, it sure did sting!” Ben muttered.
“Hey, Ben.”
Ben was lying on the bed, making sure to lie on his side. He turned around carefully to find Dawn and Will standing in the doorway to his bedroom.
“Hey, yourself,” he replied, then caught Will`s eye. “Kid, I`m sorry about earlier. The window. I didn`t mean to put the blame on you, that wasn`t fair.”
Will smiled. “Thanks. It`s OK.”
“We good?” Ben asked.
Will nodded. “Yeah, we`re good.”
“Are you OK?” Dawn asked. “I mean...” she twisted her hands. “Will and I couldn`t help overhearing your talk with Dad earlier.”
Ben`s face turned nearly as red as his ass. He gave a curt nod, clearing his throat awkwardly. “I`m fine,” he muttered.
“Lie on your stomach,” Dawn suggested kindly. “It helps.”
Will nodded.
Ben looked at them, and Dawn giggled.
“Let`s just say we know how you feel,” she said.
“Been down this road before, huh?” Ben asked.
“Welcome to the Winchesters,” Will chuckled.