Broken Road Home Epilogue
(See Masterpost for summary, warnings, etc.)
Epilogue
Dean stopped at the door as he waited for Sam to get the key. Sam unlocked and opened the door and looked back at Dean smiling. Dean grinned back, “What? You waitin’ for me to carry you over the threshold or something?”
Sam rolled his eyes, “Jerk.”
“Bitch,” Dean replied automatically as he walked past his brother into the apartment. “Not bad, huh Sammy?”
Sam stepped up next to Dean and surveyed the room. It was a second floor walk-up, above the garage that had hired Dean, and close enough to the Stanford campus that Sam could walk to his classes. It came furnished, though the landlord had offered to put this stuff in storage if the boys had their own. The main room had bare brick walls and an open floor plan. The kitchen was just to the left of the front door, small table and chairs between that and the living area furnished with a worn sofa and coffee table. Sam’s eyes landed on the built-in shelves to either side of the couch and he looked at Dean who was smiling gently.
“Saw those and I thought they would be perfect for you, Sammy. Ya know, for all your school books. You always liked books…never had a place to keep ‘em before.” It was true, with all their moving around Sam’s books were often one of the first things John would insist had to be left behind since there wasn’t enough room in the car.
“They’re perfect, Dean,” Sam whispered.
Dean ducked his head briefly, before grabbing Sam’s hand and tugging him forward. To the right of the living room were two doors, Dean opened the first to quickly show Sam the bathroom, then pulled him to the second. Sam knew this must be the bedroom, and Dean grinned at him as he opened the door.
“Whadya think, Sam?”
Sam looked around; it was just a simple bedroom, double windows on one wall, a large dresser with a mirror over it on another. Sam’s eyes finally landed on the bed and widened. “Dean?” His brother just kept grinning. Sam had not seen the apartment before; he trusted Dean’s judgment when he said it was a decent place and the location and price had been perfect. However, the one thing Dean had warned him about was while it was fully furnished the bedroom came with a double bed. Sam had said it would be fine, they’d make it work, at least they’d have a place and they’d be together, they’d dealt with worse. Honestly though, Sam had worried how his now 6 foot 4 frame would fit onto a double bed…and leave room for his brother who wasn’t a small guy either.
What was in front of him was a huge king size bed, topped with a giant red bow.
Sam turned to look at Dean who was obviously waiting for his reaction. Sam’s pink lips quirked up on one side. “Let’s break it in.”
Dean’s grin turned to a look of surprise, then a laugh. Clearly he’d been expecting a girly, teary-eyed reaction from his little brother. Sam wasn’t about to give him a chance to call him princess. Again. So Sam completely ignored the stinging in his eyes and the flutter in his heart, and tackled Dean onto their new bed.
* * * * *
After the first couple of months the boys settled into somewhat of a routine, which made Sam much happier than he’d ever admit. The bigger surprise was how much Dean seemed to enjoy having a home more stationary than Baby. Sam’s classes were going well, and Dean liked working in the garage, which turned out to get an impressive amount of classic cars.
They had leased the apartment under the name John had given Sam when he’d sent him away to that school. It only made sense for him to keep the name that was attached to his school records and it also allowed Sam and Dean to live as boyfriends without anyone having to know that they were also brothers.
At first they worried John would use the name to track them down, but that never happened. The most they ever heard from their father was the occasional voice mail from the bottom of a bottle of Jack. The content was usually a rant about how sick they were, what a monster Dean was, how weak Sam was for allowing it. A few days later there would be a very slurred, “I’m sorry,” and nothing else. Both brothers learned to ignore it, although neither could deny it still stung a bit.
Though Sam or Dean had not given the address out, the third week they were there, Sam came in carrying an envelope addressed simply to “Dean and Sam” no last names. The familiar handwriting brought a knot to Sam’s stomach as he carefully pulled the envelope open and pulled the single sheet of paper out.
“Whatcha got there, Sammy?” Dean asked as he came into the room.
Sam didn’t say a word, just held the paper out to his brother. Dean frowned slightly and took the letter from Sam. It was short, scribbled in Bobby’s slanted scrawl:
Dean and Sam,
I may not understand everything you boys are doing, but you’re still my boys. I ain’t goin’ nowhere, and your room will still be here anytime you need it.
Uncle Bobby
Dean reread it and then just stood there staring at it. Bobby didn’t accept their relationship, but he still loved them. He wasn’t throwing them away. Dean felt Sam’s hand on his shoulder and looked into wet hazel eyes. His hand cupped Sam’s jaw and he just nodded, they didn’t need to speak to know they were both having all the same reactions to those words.
* * * * *
By the third month in the apartment, Sam noticed Dean was having more and more trouble sitting still. He was quieter, and though no one else might have been able to read Dean’s emotions, Sam could tell he was having mood swings. Sam had a break coming up and he started combing newspapers online.
The day before his first break, after his last class, he came home and dropped the stack of papers in his brother’s lap.
“What’s this?” Dean gruffed.
“These kids all went missing,” Sam said pointing to pictures on several of the sheets, “on the same day different years.” He paused and pulled another paper out of the pile, “They were all last seen headed to this house. Thought maybe we should go check it out.”
Dean looked up at Sam, “A case?” Sam nodded. Dean smiled briefly, before his face fell and he dropped the stack of papers on the coffee table. “It’s okay, Sammy, you don’t have to do this. I know hunting isn’t the life you want. You want a stable, normal life, and you deserve that. You deserve at least that.”
“What I want is a life with you. And yes, college. But who ever said we can’t have a home and still hunt? College has breaks, you get vacation time. Let’s go save some people.”
Dean didn’t say anything, but Sam could practically hear the argument going on in his head. Sam sighed and dropped down on the couch next to his brother. “Dean, you need this. It’s a big part of who you are. Of the person I love. We can make this work, De. We can make our own rules.”
Dean couldn’t hide the hope on his face or in his voice, “Yeah?” Sam smiled and nodded.
Dean’s lips spread into a real smile, the authentic one that meant he was truly happy. The one reserved for Sam. “Alright, let’s do it, Sammy. We always made our own rules, anyway.”