So Tired Chapter 3
Title: So Tired
Author: Crowley_Gal
Characters: Dean, Sam, John. Some names you may recognize but AU, for example Benny is Dean's math teacher.
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: Teen for swearing
Word-count: ?
Spoilers: none really
Warnings: Dean likes to swear.
Summary: The boys settle down for an extended period while John's away on hunt. It might be all fun and games for Sam but Dean's having a hell of a time trying to keep everything together.
Disclaimer : I don't own anything and I'm not making any money from this. I do it because Dean whumping is fun. I enjoy exploring the psychological make up of Dean's character.
Chapter 3
"Peanut butter again! I hate peanut butter," Sam complained when he sat down at the breakfast table the next morning.
Feeling the tension creep up along his spine and his hackles starting to rise, Dean tried to concentrate on the toast he was making for himself. He'd been tempted to skip breakfast but he'd barely eaten all day yesterday and his stomach was growling. It was seven damn thirty in the fucking morning. He did not need to get into things with Sam. "Then have the left over KD in the fridge," he suggested. That was where most of his dinner went.
"That's not KD. It's store brand crap. It's disgusting. Why can't we have real breakfast food."
"When you get a job," Dean snapped back as he tried and resisted the urge to stab the knife he was holding through the counter. Seriously, he was getting pissed off. Both Sam and his father both complained about the food he brought back. Let them do better. He had 20 fucking dollars. Not 200.
"Ha Ha. Very funny jerk. I wish for once we could have bacon and eggs. "
"The school has a breakfast program. Why not sign up for that if you're so disappointed with the food we have here."
"No way. I don't want people to know we're poor."
"We are poor," Dean mumbled under his breath. He picked up his plate and took it over to the table and slammed it down. His appetite had all but vanished but he knew he had to eat something. He picked up his toast and took a bite.
"Shut up, we are not. I know dad gave you money and I saw Caleb slip you some."
"That's for emergencies," Dean tried to explain calmly.
"You're going to be working," Sam reminded his brother.
"It's not going to go far Sam. Dad's taking half, remember?"
"Why do you always have to do what he says?"
If he took one more bite, the toast was seriously going to make a reappearance as his stomach started jumping around. He was NOT getting into an argument with Sam about their dad. It was stupid and it always escalated into a full blown shouting match. Even though it killed him to do so, Dean threw a slice and a half of toast in the garbage. "I'm going to take a shower," he said as he left Sam sitting in the kitchen.
----------------
Turning on the shower as hot as he could stand it, Dean stood under the spray and wished he could wash away worry and doubt as easily as dust and grime. The heat and stream helped somewhat to loosen his tense muscles and he felt marginally better as he stepped out and toweled off.
After dressing, he checked the duffel bags for the first aid kit. He knew there were some left over pain killers in there. He needed aspirin for both his stomach and head. He wasn't sure why, but his stomach had really been acting up lately. Sometimes the pain got so bad it made him throw up. He kept it to himself though. No point in whining about nothing. This was shaping up to be a good day, he thought sarcastically when he realized that his father had it. Plus, there was a very unpleasant odor coming from both their clothes. They were going to have to do laundry. There were facilities in the basement which was good because they didn't have to drag a pile of dirty clothes down town to find a Laundromat. The bad part was that it was a 1.25 a load. Dean figured they had two loads each. That was 10 bucks to wash and dry all their clothes. That was about 40 bucks a month that he was going to have to put aside if they didn't want to smell. He was going to have to pick up soap at the store plus toiletries and cleaning supplies.
So when he went back to the kitchen with every intention of starting his homework but when he walked back into the room only to be greeted with Sam asking him, "Can we go to the movies, later?" Dean inevitably lost his temper.
"I already told you we don't have money for extras," Dean snapped.
"Alright, don't get your panties in a twist. It's just gonna be boring since we have nothing to watch on TV. There is no library in town. So what am I supposed to do."
"I really don't care," Dean said honestly as he grabbed his backpack and took out his math book and slammed the textbook down on the table with much more force than he intended.
"Can I go to my friend Brady's house this afternoon? Soccer practice starts Monday after school."
Technically Dean wasn't supposed to let Sam go out unsupervised but if he could get downtown without him it would make things go that much smoother and the dollar stretch that much further.
"I need my money on Monday too," Sam reminded his brother. "I can't practice with the team until I pay and if I don't pay by the end of the week I can't join the team. "
"Fine, Sam," Dean said dismissively. He had already earmarked Caleb's hundred for it. Rather than Sam constantly bring it up all weekend, Dean went and fished it out of his hiding spot and went back to his homework.
"It's a $175."
The pencil Dean was holding suddenly snapped in half. "What the hell Sam?" Dean ground out. "I'm not stupid. You told dad it was a hundred."
"I need $25 for my uniform and $50 for a team jacket. I can't be the only kid without one."
"Maybe it can keep you warm after the power gets cut off," Dean mumbled.
"Come on, I know that dad gave you some money and Caleb gave you extra."
"I'm not arguing any more. I'll give you the money for the uniform but we can't afford the jacket. I'm sorry Sam."
"No you're not. I'm going to be the only guy on the team without one. Just once, I'd like to not be the freak. Nevermind. I'm going to go get ready and go to Brady's house." Sam got up and walked down the hall and slammed the bathroom door.
Dean felt bad that he couldn't give Sam what he wanted but he couldn't waste $50.
"Whatever. I just don't give a damn," Dean mumbled as he tried to concentrate on his assignment. "PROBLEM 1 : Find two nonnegative numbers whose sum is 9 and so that the product of one number and the square of the other number is a maximum."
This should be an easy problem. They were working on them in class and Dean was nailing them, but he was drawing a blank and he couldn't figure out where the hell to even start. He heard Sam walk down the hall and mumble that he was going to his friends house.
Dean managed to make it to the bathroom before he puked. Then he decided to go back to bed. His stomach was killing him.
------
The rest of the weekend was pretty much a repeat of that mornings events. Dean couldn't go shopping without Sam because his brother didn't have a key to the apartment and there was no way of knowing when he'd be back. So he had to drag a protesting Sam with him and all his charming little brother did was bitch about everything Dean bought. Dean bought him a box of expensive Lucky Charms just to shut him up. Dean figured that Sam was still pissed over his jacket.
He'd gotten his homework done, but he knew it was all crap. He hadn't been feeling that great all weekend. Getting sick was the last thing he needed. He had managed to palm a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of vitamin C and he was feeling much better this morning, except for the fact that he could probably sleep for a week. The problem was that he couldn't shut his mind off long enough for him to get 7 hours. He just hoped working would make him tired enough to just pass out.
His English teacher sent his homework back to Mr. Lafitte for Dean to redo that day in Inclusion. So instead of tackling today's work he ended up redoing Fridays. That was just peachy. The only good part of his day was that Cas sat with him in the library again. It made lunch time less lonely.
After dropping Sam off at the soccer pitch (thankfully he remembered to have a key made) he headed off toward work.
------------
Dean had always hoped that his first real job would have been his dad's full time hunting partner. But here he was sitting in orientation at FoodWorld with 8 other new hires. There were two other service clerks besides himself, 4 cashiers and 1 each for the bakery and the deli.
FoodWorld was apparently a really cheap ass organization. They did not give their employee's discounts of any kind and Orientation was 3 four hours shifts that they didn't get paid for until they passed a 3 month probation period. So he wasn't going to get paid for another week and when he did it would most likely be for about 8 hours. He made 4.95 per hour. That meant he'd earn about 40 bucks for his first two weeks of work.
Fuck.
They did a general orientation the first day. It involved a tour of the store and being introduced to all the big bosses. Then they went back and signed their life away. They filled out contact and banking information. Then they went through all the store policies and procedures and watched video's on the proper way to help and great customers. Dean was bored out of his mind. He'd noticed that everyone else was trying not to yawn as well.
By the time Dean got home, it was almost 9. He threw a can a spaghettios in microwave and settled in for schoolwork.
"Dean, I have no clean clothes for tomorrow."
Was he fucking kidding? "I gave you money and told you to make sure you get it done."
"We went out for burgers and cokes after practice. I didn't have enough left over."
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! "I told you we don't have money for stuff like that," Dean said trying to keep his voice calm. He did not need to fight with Sam.
"But everyone else was going. I'm already the only one without..."
"Don't say it," Dean cut him off sharply. "I've heard it before. Just take five dollars out of my wallet and go wash your panties."
"I have to study."
"You don't think I do?" Dean asked in disbelief.
"But when is it going to get done?"
"When you decide to do it," Dean shot back. "Smell for all I care." He slammed his history book shut, knowing he'd never be able to concentrate.
"I wish I wasn't part of this family," Sam yelled back and went to his room and slammed the door.
Double Fuck. Dean grabbed his and Sam's duffel bag and headed toward the laundry room. He knew he'd end up doing it.
By the time he washed and dried one load of his and Sam's clothes it was almost midnight. Most of his assignments were unfinished because he'd been right about his concentration. He was too worried about money. Something was going to come up. It always did.
One piece of good luck was that he saw an advertisement for a paper route pinned to the bulletin board. He'd have to get up an hour earlier but since he wasn't sleeping much anyway, he really didn't figure it would make much difference. It was $30 dollars a week, plus tips. The route was for this building and the one across the street so he wouldn't have to go far out of his way. He pocketed it and decided to call in the morning. He was kind of hoping he could split this with Sam. He wanted Sam to be the one to actually apply. He'd deliver them in the morning and hopefully Sam could collect the money in the evening and they'd divide everything 50/50. It would give the kid some pocket money and he could save up for a jacket. Maybe he'd bribe the kid and let him keep everything for the first week. He'd earn the money in a couple of weeks.
At least that part worked out. Sam was receptive to the idea but he wanted to keep all the tips. He said he had the hard part of trying to get the money out of people. Some didn't like to pay. Dean agreed because that was true, and he'd have a little extra for his own. Feeling a little better Dean managed to get four straight hours of sleep.
---------
School was a nightmare . Because he was in Inclusion unfinished work was a much bigger deal. There were lectures and notes sent home for his dad to sign. He'd have to be really careful because after 3 notes they requested a conference with your parents. Dean could fake his dad's signature but actually faking his father was a whole other matter.
He had twice as much homework tonight because of it. Seriously, was he ever going to be able to catch a break?
------
The 2nd day of training was every bit as boring as it was yesterday. They watched more video's but this time on food safety and safe food handling. Then they had to take a quiz so they could earn food handlers certificates. Then they took a WHIMIS course to safely learn how to use the chemicals that would be required in the job. That ended with another quiz.
When Dean got back to the apartment he was not please to find a stack of dishes in the sink and Sam and a group of about four others sitting at the table, eating sandwiches and working on homework.
"Hey Dean," Sam greeted his brother. "This is Brady, Tom, Michael and Eric. They're on the soccer team. We decided to hang out."
After issuing a polite greeting and attempting to bury his anger, they were not supposed to have people here when their father wasn't home. It invited too many questions from nosy parents. Plus, it looked like they ate a whole loaf of bread and all the sandwich stuff, plus the bag of chips that Dean had relented and bought as a treat for him and Sam. Sam better not whine about peanut butter in the morning.
After dry swallowing four aspirin and telling Sam that it was time for his friends to go, Dean tried to complete his tasks. He'd leave the dishes for tomorrow and ask Sam to do them but it was still almost 1 am before he finished.
-----
Work was the last place Dean wanted to be tonight. He wished they were back in the training room because they he could pretend he was paying attention. Tonight, however, they were on the floor. Dean didn't think it was a good omen when he was introduced to his training partner and the guys first words to him were "Runaway Dude. Run far, run fast."
It didn't take very long for Dean to figure out what he was talking about. The service clerks seemed to be a politically correct term for slaves. Hunting wasn't this demanding. He was supposed to shadow his partner for the entire shift but it got so busy they pulled and stuck him on his own register to bag groceries. It seemed every time he turned around he was sent somewhere to do something else. He cleaned bathrooms (yuck!) swept and mopped floors, restocked the carts, cleaned up spills and tried to help customers find things. That was fun since he was so new he had no idea where anything was yet.
Hunting wasn't that draining. When Dean was finished he wanted to fall right into bed but when he got home, he found that nothing had been tidied or put away and the apartment was sort of resembling a disaster area. Sam had apparently decided it was okay for him to go to a friend's house. He hadn't been home when Dean got there, leaving the elder Winchester to pace frantically and wonder if something happened to his baby brother. Dean's stomach bounced around so bad, once again he threw up and wished he could stay home sick tomorrow. It wasn't a happy moment when Sam came home.
"Where were you?" Dean asked frantically.
"We went to Eric's house. You said you would rather I not have people over. I just want to live my life Dean."
"You could have left a note or called the store and left a message. I was worried something happened to you."
"I'm not a little kid anymore. I wish you and dad wouldn't treat me like one. I can handle myself."
"Just leave a note. Plus, I asked you to do the dishes and clean up."
"I'm not your servant," Sam protested. "I was busy."
"I'm just asking for a little bit of help Sam. It's not too much to ask."
"Fine, whatever. I'll do them tomorrow. I got a loan of a really good book and I want to start it before I go to bed. Stop being such a worrywart would you.'
Since he didn't have the energy or the strength to argue with Sam further, he just sat down at the table and tried to finish his school work so that he could just go to bed.
It seemed that no sooner had he closed his eyes he felt himself being shaken awake.
"Dean!!!! James Dean Winchester, you better answer me boy."
Resisting the urge to groan, Dean cracked an eye. What the hell did Sam want this time? He found himself starting not into the brown eyes of brother, but his father. What the hell was he doing here?
"Dad!" he said in surprise. "What's wrong? Is everything okay? Is Sam okay? Is Caleb okay?"
"You tell me. Where the hell is your brother?" John said angrily as he pointed to the empty bed.
Where was Sam? Oh God, something happened to Sammy! His sleep addled brain wasn't completely functioning. He felt something grip his arm so hard it hurt.
"Ow!"
"I give you one task and you screw it up. Where the hell is Sam?"
"I'll find him dad, I swear," Dean said frantically as he looked around for his jeans. "He was just asleep in the other room. I'll go look for him right now."
The other room. John hadn't even looked there since the boys usually shared. He turned and ran to the other room and felt his heart skip a beat when he opened the door. He was relieved to find Sam sleeping peacefully. John placed a light kiss on his forehead and pulled up the covers. He turned to find Dean standing in the doorway, rubbing his arm from where John had grabbed him with a strange expression on his face that John couldn't interpret.
"What the hell is he doing in here?" John asked.
"He wanted his own room," Dean said trying not to sound like he was saucing his father.
"If something happened to him, you would never know it. Next time you will do as your told."
"Yes, sir," Dean ground out.
"And this place is a pig sty. I expect you to look after things and this is how you show responsibility?"
"I was at work, and I had school and...."
"Excuses. The lead was a bust so I decided to come home for a couple of days. It looks like I made the right decision since I obviously can't rely on you. I'm going to catch a nap. This place had better be spic and span when I get up. Do you understand me? I'm going to think long and hard about sending you both to Bobby's."
"But Dad..."
"Do you really want to test me on this?"
"No sir," Dean said dejectedly. He tried to fight the tears he felt prickling at the corner of his eyes, to his horror, one slipped out of his right eye as he turned on the water and started filling the sink.
TBC
Author: Crowley_Gal
Characters: Dean, Sam, John. Some names you may recognize but AU, for example Benny is Dean's math teacher.
Genre/pairing: Gen
Rating: Teen for swearing
Word-count: ?
Spoilers: none really
Warnings: Dean likes to swear.
Summary: The boys settle down for an extended period while John's away on hunt. It might be all fun and games for Sam but Dean's having a hell of a time trying to keep everything together.
Disclaimer : I don't own anything and I'm not making any money from this. I do it because Dean whumping is fun. I enjoy exploring the psychological make up of Dean's character.
Chapter 3
"Peanut butter again! I hate peanut butter," Sam complained when he sat down at the breakfast table the next morning.
Feeling the tension creep up along his spine and his hackles starting to rise, Dean tried to concentrate on the toast he was making for himself. He'd been tempted to skip breakfast but he'd barely eaten all day yesterday and his stomach was growling. It was seven damn thirty in the fucking morning. He did not need to get into things with Sam. "Then have the left over KD in the fridge," he suggested. That was where most of his dinner went.
"That's not KD. It's store brand crap. It's disgusting. Why can't we have real breakfast food."
"When you get a job," Dean snapped back as he tried and resisted the urge to stab the knife he was holding through the counter. Seriously, he was getting pissed off. Both Sam and his father both complained about the food he brought back. Let them do better. He had 20 fucking dollars. Not 200.
"Ha Ha. Very funny jerk. I wish for once we could have bacon and eggs. "
"The school has a breakfast program. Why not sign up for that if you're so disappointed with the food we have here."
"No way. I don't want people to know we're poor."
"We are poor," Dean mumbled under his breath. He picked up his plate and took it over to the table and slammed it down. His appetite had all but vanished but he knew he had to eat something. He picked up his toast and took a bite.
"Shut up, we are not. I know dad gave you money and I saw Caleb slip you some."
"That's for emergencies," Dean tried to explain calmly.
"You're going to be working," Sam reminded his brother.
"It's not going to go far Sam. Dad's taking half, remember?"
"Why do you always have to do what he says?"
If he took one more bite, the toast was seriously going to make a reappearance as his stomach started jumping around. He was NOT getting into an argument with Sam about their dad. It was stupid and it always escalated into a full blown shouting match. Even though it killed him to do so, Dean threw a slice and a half of toast in the garbage. "I'm going to take a shower," he said as he left Sam sitting in the kitchen.
----------------
Turning on the shower as hot as he could stand it, Dean stood under the spray and wished he could wash away worry and doubt as easily as dust and grime. The heat and stream helped somewhat to loosen his tense muscles and he felt marginally better as he stepped out and toweled off.
After dressing, he checked the duffel bags for the first aid kit. He knew there were some left over pain killers in there. He needed aspirin for both his stomach and head. He wasn't sure why, but his stomach had really been acting up lately. Sometimes the pain got so bad it made him throw up. He kept it to himself though. No point in whining about nothing. This was shaping up to be a good day, he thought sarcastically when he realized that his father had it. Plus, there was a very unpleasant odor coming from both their clothes. They were going to have to do laundry. There were facilities in the basement which was good because they didn't have to drag a pile of dirty clothes down town to find a Laundromat. The bad part was that it was a 1.25 a load. Dean figured they had two loads each. That was 10 bucks to wash and dry all their clothes. That was about 40 bucks a month that he was going to have to put aside if they didn't want to smell. He was going to have to pick up soap at the store plus toiletries and cleaning supplies.
So when he went back to the kitchen with every intention of starting his homework but when he walked back into the room only to be greeted with Sam asking him, "Can we go to the movies, later?" Dean inevitably lost his temper.
"I already told you we don't have money for extras," Dean snapped.
"Alright, don't get your panties in a twist. It's just gonna be boring since we have nothing to watch on TV. There is no library in town. So what am I supposed to do."
"I really don't care," Dean said honestly as he grabbed his backpack and took out his math book and slammed the textbook down on the table with much more force than he intended.
"Can I go to my friend Brady's house this afternoon? Soccer practice starts Monday after school."
Technically Dean wasn't supposed to let Sam go out unsupervised but if he could get downtown without him it would make things go that much smoother and the dollar stretch that much further.
"I need my money on Monday too," Sam reminded his brother. "I can't practice with the team until I pay and if I don't pay by the end of the week I can't join the team. "
"Fine, Sam," Dean said dismissively. He had already earmarked Caleb's hundred for it. Rather than Sam constantly bring it up all weekend, Dean went and fished it out of his hiding spot and went back to his homework.
"It's a $175."
The pencil Dean was holding suddenly snapped in half. "What the hell Sam?" Dean ground out. "I'm not stupid. You told dad it was a hundred."
"I need $25 for my uniform and $50 for a team jacket. I can't be the only kid without one."
"Maybe it can keep you warm after the power gets cut off," Dean mumbled.
"Come on, I know that dad gave you some money and Caleb gave you extra."
"I'm not arguing any more. I'll give you the money for the uniform but we can't afford the jacket. I'm sorry Sam."
"No you're not. I'm going to be the only guy on the team without one. Just once, I'd like to not be the freak. Nevermind. I'm going to go get ready and go to Brady's house." Sam got up and walked down the hall and slammed the bathroom door.
Dean felt bad that he couldn't give Sam what he wanted but he couldn't waste $50.
"Whatever. I just don't give a damn," Dean mumbled as he tried to concentrate on his assignment. "PROBLEM 1 : Find two nonnegative numbers whose sum is 9 and so that the product of one number and the square of the other number is a maximum."
This should be an easy problem. They were working on them in class and Dean was nailing them, but he was drawing a blank and he couldn't figure out where the hell to even start. He heard Sam walk down the hall and mumble that he was going to his friends house.
Dean managed to make it to the bathroom before he puked. Then he decided to go back to bed. His stomach was killing him.
------
The rest of the weekend was pretty much a repeat of that mornings events. Dean couldn't go shopping without Sam because his brother didn't have a key to the apartment and there was no way of knowing when he'd be back. So he had to drag a protesting Sam with him and all his charming little brother did was bitch about everything Dean bought. Dean bought him a box of expensive Lucky Charms just to shut him up. Dean figured that Sam was still pissed over his jacket.
He'd gotten his homework done, but he knew it was all crap. He hadn't been feeling that great all weekend. Getting sick was the last thing he needed. He had managed to palm a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of vitamin C and he was feeling much better this morning, except for the fact that he could probably sleep for a week. The problem was that he couldn't shut his mind off long enough for him to get 7 hours. He just hoped working would make him tired enough to just pass out.
His English teacher sent his homework back to Mr. Lafitte for Dean to redo that day in Inclusion. So instead of tackling today's work he ended up redoing Fridays. That was just peachy. The only good part of his day was that Cas sat with him in the library again. It made lunch time less lonely.
After dropping Sam off at the soccer pitch (thankfully he remembered to have a key made) he headed off toward work.
------------
Dean had always hoped that his first real job would have been his dad's full time hunting partner. But here he was sitting in orientation at FoodWorld with 8 other new hires. There were two other service clerks besides himself, 4 cashiers and 1 each for the bakery and the deli.
FoodWorld was apparently a really cheap ass organization. They did not give their employee's discounts of any kind and Orientation was 3 four hours shifts that they didn't get paid for until they passed a 3 month probation period. So he wasn't going to get paid for another week and when he did it would most likely be for about 8 hours. He made 4.95 per hour. That meant he'd earn about 40 bucks for his first two weeks of work.
Fuck.
They did a general orientation the first day. It involved a tour of the store and being introduced to all the big bosses. Then they went back and signed their life away. They filled out contact and banking information. Then they went through all the store policies and procedures and watched video's on the proper way to help and great customers. Dean was bored out of his mind. He'd noticed that everyone else was trying not to yawn as well.
By the time Dean got home, it was almost 9. He threw a can a spaghettios in microwave and settled in for schoolwork.
"Dean, I have no clean clothes for tomorrow."
Was he fucking kidding? "I gave you money and told you to make sure you get it done."
"We went out for burgers and cokes after practice. I didn't have enough left over."
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! "I told you we don't have money for stuff like that," Dean said trying to keep his voice calm. He did not need to fight with Sam.
"But everyone else was going. I'm already the only one without..."
"Don't say it," Dean cut him off sharply. "I've heard it before. Just take five dollars out of my wallet and go wash your panties."
"I have to study."
"You don't think I do?" Dean asked in disbelief.
"But when is it going to get done?"
"When you decide to do it," Dean shot back. "Smell for all I care." He slammed his history book shut, knowing he'd never be able to concentrate.
"I wish I wasn't part of this family," Sam yelled back and went to his room and slammed the door.
Double Fuck. Dean grabbed his and Sam's duffel bag and headed toward the laundry room. He knew he'd end up doing it.
By the time he washed and dried one load of his and Sam's clothes it was almost midnight. Most of his assignments were unfinished because he'd been right about his concentration. He was too worried about money. Something was going to come up. It always did.
One piece of good luck was that he saw an advertisement for a paper route pinned to the bulletin board. He'd have to get up an hour earlier but since he wasn't sleeping much anyway, he really didn't figure it would make much difference. It was $30 dollars a week, plus tips. The route was for this building and the one across the street so he wouldn't have to go far out of his way. He pocketed it and decided to call in the morning. He was kind of hoping he could split this with Sam. He wanted Sam to be the one to actually apply. He'd deliver them in the morning and hopefully Sam could collect the money in the evening and they'd divide everything 50/50. It would give the kid some pocket money and he could save up for a jacket. Maybe he'd bribe the kid and let him keep everything for the first week. He'd earn the money in a couple of weeks.
At least that part worked out. Sam was receptive to the idea but he wanted to keep all the tips. He said he had the hard part of trying to get the money out of people. Some didn't like to pay. Dean agreed because that was true, and he'd have a little extra for his own. Feeling a little better Dean managed to get four straight hours of sleep.
---------
School was a nightmare . Because he was in Inclusion unfinished work was a much bigger deal. There were lectures and notes sent home for his dad to sign. He'd have to be really careful because after 3 notes they requested a conference with your parents. Dean could fake his dad's signature but actually faking his father was a whole other matter.
He had twice as much homework tonight because of it. Seriously, was he ever going to be able to catch a break?
------
The 2nd day of training was every bit as boring as it was yesterday. They watched more video's but this time on food safety and safe food handling. Then they had to take a quiz so they could earn food handlers certificates. Then they took a WHIMIS course to safely learn how to use the chemicals that would be required in the job. That ended with another quiz.
When Dean got back to the apartment he was not please to find a stack of dishes in the sink and Sam and a group of about four others sitting at the table, eating sandwiches and working on homework.
"Hey Dean," Sam greeted his brother. "This is Brady, Tom, Michael and Eric. They're on the soccer team. We decided to hang out."
After issuing a polite greeting and attempting to bury his anger, they were not supposed to have people here when their father wasn't home. It invited too many questions from nosy parents. Plus, it looked like they ate a whole loaf of bread and all the sandwich stuff, plus the bag of chips that Dean had relented and bought as a treat for him and Sam. Sam better not whine about peanut butter in the morning.
After dry swallowing four aspirin and telling Sam that it was time for his friends to go, Dean tried to complete his tasks. He'd leave the dishes for tomorrow and ask Sam to do them but it was still almost 1 am before he finished.
-----
Work was the last place Dean wanted to be tonight. He wished they were back in the training room because they he could pretend he was paying attention. Tonight, however, they were on the floor. Dean didn't think it was a good omen when he was introduced to his training partner and the guys first words to him were "Runaway Dude. Run far, run fast."
It didn't take very long for Dean to figure out what he was talking about. The service clerks seemed to be a politically correct term for slaves. Hunting wasn't this demanding. He was supposed to shadow his partner for the entire shift but it got so busy they pulled and stuck him on his own register to bag groceries. It seemed every time he turned around he was sent somewhere to do something else. He cleaned bathrooms (yuck!) swept and mopped floors, restocked the carts, cleaned up spills and tried to help customers find things. That was fun since he was so new he had no idea where anything was yet.
Hunting wasn't that draining. When Dean was finished he wanted to fall right into bed but when he got home, he found that nothing had been tidied or put away and the apartment was sort of resembling a disaster area. Sam had apparently decided it was okay for him to go to a friend's house. He hadn't been home when Dean got there, leaving the elder Winchester to pace frantically and wonder if something happened to his baby brother. Dean's stomach bounced around so bad, once again he threw up and wished he could stay home sick tomorrow. It wasn't a happy moment when Sam came home.
"Where were you?" Dean asked frantically.
"We went to Eric's house. You said you would rather I not have people over. I just want to live my life Dean."
"You could have left a note or called the store and left a message. I was worried something happened to you."
"I'm not a little kid anymore. I wish you and dad wouldn't treat me like one. I can handle myself."
"Just leave a note. Plus, I asked you to do the dishes and clean up."
"I'm not your servant," Sam protested. "I was busy."
"I'm just asking for a little bit of help Sam. It's not too much to ask."
"Fine, whatever. I'll do them tomorrow. I got a loan of a really good book and I want to start it before I go to bed. Stop being such a worrywart would you.'
Since he didn't have the energy or the strength to argue with Sam further, he just sat down at the table and tried to finish his school work so that he could just go to bed.
It seemed that no sooner had he closed his eyes he felt himself being shaken awake.
"Dean!!!! James Dean Winchester, you better answer me boy."
Resisting the urge to groan, Dean cracked an eye. What the hell did Sam want this time? He found himself starting not into the brown eyes of brother, but his father. What the hell was he doing here?
"Dad!" he said in surprise. "What's wrong? Is everything okay? Is Sam okay? Is Caleb okay?"
"You tell me. Where the hell is your brother?" John said angrily as he pointed to the empty bed.
Where was Sam? Oh God, something happened to Sammy! His sleep addled brain wasn't completely functioning. He felt something grip his arm so hard it hurt.
"Ow!"
"I give you one task and you screw it up. Where the hell is Sam?"
"I'll find him dad, I swear," Dean said frantically as he looked around for his jeans. "He was just asleep in the other room. I'll go look for him right now."
The other room. John hadn't even looked there since the boys usually shared. He turned and ran to the other room and felt his heart skip a beat when he opened the door. He was relieved to find Sam sleeping peacefully. John placed a light kiss on his forehead and pulled up the covers. He turned to find Dean standing in the doorway, rubbing his arm from where John had grabbed him with a strange expression on his face that John couldn't interpret.
"What the hell is he doing in here?" John asked.
"He wanted his own room," Dean said trying not to sound like he was saucing his father.
"If something happened to him, you would never know it. Next time you will do as your told."
"Yes, sir," Dean ground out.
"And this place is a pig sty. I expect you to look after things and this is how you show responsibility?"
"I was at work, and I had school and...."
"Excuses. The lead was a bust so I decided to come home for a couple of days. It looks like I made the right decision since I obviously can't rely on you. I'm going to catch a nap. This place had better be spic and span when I get up. Do you understand me? I'm going to think long and hard about sending you both to Bobby's."
"But Dad..."
"Do you really want to test me on this?"
"No sir," Dean said dejectedly. He tried to fight the tears he felt prickling at the corner of his eyes, to his horror, one slipped out of his right eye as he turned on the water and started filling the sink.
TBC