Comment fic: T-shirts and Greyhounds
Title: T-shirts and Greyhounds
Author:mamapranayama
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen, slight angst, a little humor
Summary: It's way too tight to fit anymore and he hasn’t tried to wear it in over a year, but he just can’t bring himself to throw it out.
A/N: Written to fill strgazr04's prompt at the Anything Goes: SPN Hellatus Comment-fic Meme : Sam's greyhound tshirt post s1. "Dude, why do you even still have that thing? There's no way it'll come close to fitting you now, Sammy." Dean doesn't notice the sentimental look that passes over Sam's face.
"Dude, why do you even still have that thing? There's no way it'll come close to fitting you now, Sammy." Dean doesn't notice the sentimental look that passes over Sam's face as he carefully folds the t-shirt and places it inside his duffel bag. It's way too tight to fit anymore and he hasn’t tried to wear it in over a year, but he just can’t bring himself to throw it out.
“Shut-up … you still have that stupid Metallica concert tee you got in the 10th grade.”
“Yeah, but that’s an awesome shirt and it got me more tail in high school than you’ll see in your entire lifetime. But that thing …?” Dean points to the t-shirt with a look of contempt, “Is a travesty against testosterone. I mean, c’mon … it’s got a dog on it.”
“Greyhound.”
“Whatever … it’s purple, Sam … Purple.”
“Is not, " Sam comes back defensively, "it’s dark blue.”
“Purple … like My Little Pony purple, only gayer. Really, Sam, inquiring minds wanna know why you still hang on to that thing.”
Sam sighs and rubs a hand through his hair, “God … can we just drop it already. It’s just a shirt.”
“Alright … fine.” Dean mumbles as he flops down on his bed and pillows his head under his hands. Sam thinks for a moment that he's in the clear, that Dean really has decided to drop the whole shirt issue, but five minutes go by and, “So … what was it … a gift from Jess or something? ‘Cos if it is …”
Sam looks up sharply. It still hurts to even hear her name spoken aloud even though she’s been gone for two years, but Dean is asking the question gently and with sincere concern. Sam realizes that he might as well explain.
“Well … not exactly. I actually bought the shirt.”
“You bought that God-awful piece of crap. Why?”
“It’s not crap, okay?” Sam shot back defensively, “I bought it because of Lena.”
“Lena? Who’s that? Another girlfriend? Sammy, you dog, you.”
“Actually, she was the dog, not me."
"What?"
"Lena ... she wasn't a girl, Dean.” Sam shakes his head emphatically, “Lena was our dog.”
“You had a dog?”
“Yeah. When Jess and I first moved in together she really wanted a dog to ... I dunno … make our home complete, ya know? So she dragged me down to the humane society one day and there was Lena. Jess fell in love with her instantly, especially after she learned that Lena had once been a racing greyhound and was rescued at the last minute before being put down because of a hip condition. Jess wouldn’t let us leave the shelter without her, so we brought her home. Unfortunately, Lena wasn’t very well trained on the leash and one day Jess was taking her for a walk and Lena must have seen a squirrel or a rabbit or something because she suddenly just bolted and Jess couldn’t hang onto her,” Sam sighed sadly, “She ran right into traffic."
“You must have really loved that dog to buy a shirt that reminded you of her, especially that butt-ass ugly thing.”
Sam made a guilty face, “Actually … Lena and I didn’t really get along. She growled at me whenever I tried to pet her, she chewed up our furniture, peed in the floor, ate my underwear, and she barked constantly. But after she was gone, Jess was brokenhearted and I saw this shirt that looked kinda like Lena at the mall and yeah, I’ll admit that it’s a horrid color, but it was the only one there, so I bought it because I knew it would make her smile … and it did every time I wore it, so … well … now you know the story. Satisfied?”
“Yeah. Hey, man …" Dean replied honestly, "I get it.”
Sam nodded and they didn’t talk again about the shirt ever again.
What Sam didn't tell Dean was that in all honesty, he didn’t keep the shirt so much to remind him of Jess; he kept it because it reminded him of the normal life he had wanted so much while growing up, about how much he wanted that kind of future with Jess. He kept it to remind him about how having that dog had been a part of his search for normalcy and safety, and of how much it had all been such a lie.
It reminded him that having a dog was for normal people, and Sam was never going to be normal.
The End
Author:mamapranayama
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen, slight angst, a little humor
Summary: It's way too tight to fit anymore and he hasn’t tried to wear it in over a year, but he just can’t bring himself to throw it out.
A/N: Written to fill strgazr04's prompt at the Anything Goes: SPN Hellatus Comment-fic Meme : Sam's greyhound tshirt post s1. "Dude, why do you even still have that thing? There's no way it'll come close to fitting you now, Sammy." Dean doesn't notice the sentimental look that passes over Sam's face.
"Dude, why do you even still have that thing? There's no way it'll come close to fitting you now, Sammy." Dean doesn't notice the sentimental look that passes over Sam's face as he carefully folds the t-shirt and places it inside his duffel bag. It's way too tight to fit anymore and he hasn’t tried to wear it in over a year, but he just can’t bring himself to throw it out.
“Shut-up … you still have that stupid Metallica concert tee you got in the 10th grade.”
“Yeah, but that’s an awesome shirt and it got me more tail in high school than you’ll see in your entire lifetime. But that thing …?” Dean points to the t-shirt with a look of contempt, “Is a travesty against testosterone. I mean, c’mon … it’s got a dog on it.”
“Greyhound.”
“Whatever … it’s purple, Sam … Purple.”
“Is not, " Sam comes back defensively, "it’s dark blue.”
“Purple … like My Little Pony purple, only gayer. Really, Sam, inquiring minds wanna know why you still hang on to that thing.”
Sam sighs and rubs a hand through his hair, “God … can we just drop it already. It’s just a shirt.”
“Alright … fine.” Dean mumbles as he flops down on his bed and pillows his head under his hands. Sam thinks for a moment that he's in the clear, that Dean really has decided to drop the whole shirt issue, but five minutes go by and, “So … what was it … a gift from Jess or something? ‘Cos if it is …”
Sam looks up sharply. It still hurts to even hear her name spoken aloud even though she’s been gone for two years, but Dean is asking the question gently and with sincere concern. Sam realizes that he might as well explain.
“Well … not exactly. I actually bought the shirt.”
“You bought that God-awful piece of crap. Why?”
“It’s not crap, okay?” Sam shot back defensively, “I bought it because of Lena.”
“Lena? Who’s that? Another girlfriend? Sammy, you dog, you.”
“Actually, she was the dog, not me."
"What?"
"Lena ... she wasn't a girl, Dean.” Sam shakes his head emphatically, “Lena was our dog.”
“You had a dog?”
“Yeah. When Jess and I first moved in together she really wanted a dog to ... I dunno … make our home complete, ya know? So she dragged me down to the humane society one day and there was Lena. Jess fell in love with her instantly, especially after she learned that Lena had once been a racing greyhound and was rescued at the last minute before being put down because of a hip condition. Jess wouldn’t let us leave the shelter without her, so we brought her home. Unfortunately, Lena wasn’t very well trained on the leash and one day Jess was taking her for a walk and Lena must have seen a squirrel or a rabbit or something because she suddenly just bolted and Jess couldn’t hang onto her,” Sam sighed sadly, “She ran right into traffic."
“You must have really loved that dog to buy a shirt that reminded you of her, especially that butt-ass ugly thing.”
Sam made a guilty face, “Actually … Lena and I didn’t really get along. She growled at me whenever I tried to pet her, she chewed up our furniture, peed in the floor, ate my underwear, and she barked constantly. But after she was gone, Jess was brokenhearted and I saw this shirt that looked kinda like Lena at the mall and yeah, I’ll admit that it’s a horrid color, but it was the only one there, so I bought it because I knew it would make her smile … and it did every time I wore it, so … well … now you know the story. Satisfied?”
“Yeah. Hey, man …" Dean replied honestly, "I get it.”
Sam nodded and they didn’t talk again about the shirt ever again.
What Sam didn't tell Dean was that in all honesty, he didn’t keep the shirt so much to remind him of Jess; he kept it because it reminded him of the normal life he had wanted so much while growing up, about how much he wanted that kind of future with Jess. He kept it to remind him about how having that dog had been a part of his search for normalcy and safety, and of how much it had all been such a lie.
It reminded him that having a dog was for normal people, and Sam was never going to be normal.
The End