Fic: About a Girl

[jedisapphire]

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: So here's the little bonus story I promised you. Something I wrote a while ago that's been sitting on my hard drive. Enjoy!

Many thanks to nygirl7of9 for the beta.

Summary: Pre-series. Sam's first crush doesn't turn out very well. No plot, just a bit of fun.

About a Girl

"Thanks, Sam," Eva says, and Sam's heart hammers when she smiles at him.

Sam doesn't like Eva because she's a beautiful girl, although she is. She's got dark gypsy curls and eyes that sparkle in the sunlight like jade. She's a cheerleader, too. In any other high school, a girl like Eva wouldn't even notice the weird kid who lived in a rundown cottage on the edge of town and wore his big brother's castoffs.

Sam first met her when she came up to him in the library asked for his help with Calculus. They spent an hour going over that day's homework, and Sam discovered she was sweet and funny in addition to being pretty.

Of course, Sam's not made a move because Sam never makes a move on girls.

He looks at Eva now and thinks this is the moment. He should ask her out. How bad can it be? They're friends, at least, and he knows that even if she doesn't like him, she'll let him down easy.

Would you like to go to a movie?

He tries to imagine himself saying it, and his stomach plummets. He simply can't. Dean makes this look so easy.

Do you want to have dinner with me?

Sam bites back a sigh and forces himself to smile at Eva. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure," Eva agrees. "I'm bored of the library, though. Your place?"

Sam nods, and flees.

"So how'd it go with your girlfriend?" Dean asks as soon as Sam walks in.

"She's not my girlfriend," Sam says automatically. Then, "How come you're home so early?"

The mechanic's shop where Dean works has long hours, and he's normally back right before dinner time. Sam hates that Dean's out that long, but he knows it's necessary. Dad doesn't leave them more than a small emergency stash of money, now that Dean's an adult and out of high school.

"But you want her to be your girlfriend," Dean shoots back, ignoring the question and grinning at Sam. "That's why you waste all that time sitting in the library taking two hours to do homework you could finish in fifteen minutes."

"Dean!"

"Don't get so defensive, Sammy. It's cute. You're like one of those little puppies that wants to make friends and doesn't know how."

"I'm not a puppy," Sam hisses.

"Sure you're not." Dean's grin broadens. "Anyway… We're ahead on our jobs, so we got off early today. How about we rent a movie and order some pizza?"

Sam laughs, forgetting about Eva and Calculus and high school at the idea of spending a relaxed evening with his big brother. "Sure."

Dean rents Dirty Harry although he's seen it approximately four million times. Sam protests half-heartedly, they bicker about what to get on the pizza, and it feels so familiar and comfortable that Sam wishes the evening could go on forever.

Clint Eastwood is followed by some Japanese horror movie Dean finds on cable. Sam's long past being scared of anything on TV - except clowns - so it just makes him roll his eyes and point out that you can't actually scream at a pitch high enough to shatter glass.

Sam's not quite sure when their easy bickering turns into him falling asleep on Dean's shoulder, but the next thing he knows, Dean's shaking him awake, laughing at his bewilderment, and sending him to bed. Sam hears Dean moving around in the living room, shutting off the lights and throwing away the empty pizza boxes, and then he's back, settling into the bed next to Sam's, muttering to Sam to stop gawping at him like a creeper and get some sleep.

Eva hugs Sam as soon as she sees him, eagerly waving a big red B+ in his face.

"It's my first B+ this year!" she squeals, and yeah, Sam takes back what he said about the human voice not being able to shatter glass, because his ears hurt. But he's willing to put up with throbbing eardrums for the sake of her bright smile and laughing eyes.

"Not the last, though," Sam says.

"No! Absolutely not. We're going to own that Calc today."

They only have one class together that day, and different lunch periods, so Sam doesn't see her again until he's at his locker collecting his things to go home.

"Remember," she whispers, standing on tiptoe, "your place in an hour."

Sam watches her go with what he's sure is a sappy smile. He's… well he's not confident, exactly, but she must like him a little, right? Why else would she be so eager to spend a couple of hours a day with him?

He's going to ask her out today. He's going to go home and practice. Dean's not going to be there to call him a dork, so he can rehearse. Just like a play.

It's going to be easy.

Well, no. It's not going to be easy. But Sam's going to do it anyway.

They're halfway through their assignment when Sam finally gathers up the courage to say something.

When he opens his mouth, though, what comes out is Meeeep.

"What?" Eva asks, not looking up from where she's managed to turn a simple equation into a tangle of variables that look like they should power the space shuttle. "Did you say something, Sam?"

"I - um. Yeah." Sam takes a deep breath and tries again. "Soda!"

"What?" Eva finally looks up, an amused smile on her lips.

"I - do you want soda?"

"Sure."

"Great. I'll just go get some."

Sam's in the kitchen when he remembers that he and Dean finished the soda last night. It doesn't matter; the store's just around the corner, and going there will give him time to calm himself down and maybe think of a way to ask Eva out without making an idiot of himself.

He gets delayed at the store, helping the sweet old lady who runs it get some things down from the high shelves. Normally her son's around to do the heavy lifting, but he's on vacation in Florida with his family, so this week it's just Mrs. Harris. She pats Sam's arm, throws in an extra bag of cookies for his help, and sends him on his way.

All in all, Sam's feeling pretty cheerful when he opens the door and goes in.

And then there's Dean, sitting on the couch with Eva straddling his lap, hands on her shoulders, kissing her.

Sam's not quite sure exactly how long he stands there gaping. It can't be long; it's certainly not long enough for either of them to notice him.

He's vaguely aware of dropping the shopping bag and backing out of the room. Someone's yelling for him, probably Dean, but he can't - he can't -

Sam runs.

He doesn't go towards the road, heading for the wooded area behind the house instead. He needs to be alone, he especiallydoesn't want to see Dean, and Dean might be able to catch him in the Impala but he hasn't been able to keep up with Sam on foot ever since Sam shot up about two feet over one summer.

He's out of breath and panting by the time he stops. He isn't sure where he is - definitely not somewhere Dad's brought them for training - but he's obviously alone.

He's not going to make a big deal out of this. He's not. After all, why would Eva notice him? Sam's just… Sam's a dork, the weird kid, the outsider. He always has been. He was just being stupid, thinking he had a shot with one of the most popular Seniors in school.

But Dean knew.

Sam bites his lip. That's what hurts. He's not an idiot, he didn't think he and Eva were going to get married or anything. He didn't even think they'd last beyond whenever Dad made them move. But Dean knew Sam liked Eva, and Dean has no trouble charming any girl he wants.

Sam wants to yell about how it's unfair, childish as that is. Dean's never been the weird outsider. He's been the outsider, yeah, but he manages to pull off a rakish bad boy image that has girls practically lining up to have him break their hearts.Dean never stumbles over his words and ends up going out to buy soda when he actually wants to ask a girl to a movie.

Sam sinks onto a fallen log.

He can't stay here forever. He knows that. At some point he's going to have to go back. But he needs time.

What he gets is about half an hour, before he hears Dean calling for him.

Sam huddles in on himself. He's tall, but he's still skinny, and if he stays really, really still there's a possibility Dean won't notice him.

Yeah, right.

Of course that doesn't work out either, because Sam's life is like that, and a few minutes later Dean's sitting on the log next to him.

"So you going to punch me?" Dean asks, going for a teasing tone.

Sam scowls. He's not going to cry. He is not going to cry. "Go away, Dean."

"Sammy."

"I don't want to talk to you Dean. Please go."

"Sammy, it wasn't like that. Come on, man, you really think I'd do that to you?" Sam shakes his head, not looking at Dean. "At least let me explain, Sammy. You owe me that."

Sam shrugs. Dean's stubborn. He's going to talk whether Sam wants him to or not.

"Chet's had a family emergency. He shut the shop down for the day. I thought we could do something fun - anyway, I came back, and Eva told me you'd gone for soda. I just wanted to talk to her… You know, sound her out, see if she was good enough for my baby brother. She practically jumped me as soon as I sat down."

"And you let her."

"I was trying to get her off me without hurting her. You didn't wait to see." Dean's hand closes around his upper arm. "Come here."

Sam resists for a moment, but in the end he gives in and lets Dean tug him in. There's an arm around his back and Dean's shirt under his cheek.

Sam squeezes his eyes shut. He's not going to cry.

"What did Eva say?" he manages to ask.

"Shhh," Dean murmurs, rubbing his head.

"Dean. I deserve to know. What did she say?"

Dean sighs, his arm tightening around Sam's shoulders. "I don't think she's interested in you, Sammy."

"She hugged me this morning," Sam says dully. "I thought she liked me. She just wanted me to help her with her papers and tests, didn't she?"

"Probably," Dean admits. "Some people are like that."

"It was stupid. I should've known I didn't have a chance -"

"Hey. Watch what you say about my little brother." Dean squeezes Sam's shoulder. "You know Dad's going to make us move soon anyway."

"Yeah."

"And you know a girl who's supposed to be your friend and would lead you on and then try to make a move on your older brother when she knows you like her doesn't deserve you."

"I guess."

Sam feels Dean smile into his hair. "Fortunately for you, little brother, I have the perfect cure for being turned down by a girl."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Letting your big brother sneak you some beer and getting drunk and watching crap TV."

Sam can't help laughing. "Really?"

"Trust me." Dean gives him a light shake. "Come on. No moping. Lucky for you, Dad's not going to be home for a few days, so he won't notice if you're hungover in the morning."

Sam lets Dean pull him to his feet and keep an arm around his shoulders all the way back.

THE END