A Friend Given by Nature 2/4
Part One
Adam looked with disdain at the… well house would probably be too generous a term, shack would fit quite well. It was a one story building with a rotting porch around the front. You could barely see the steps to the front door for the weeds and grass growing with gusto in the front yard. In the background he could hear a kid crying and sirens and the sound of his senses running urgently away.
He turned his face of disbelief up to Sam who was looking at the house with an air of satisfaction and accomplishment. Adam couldn’t help it when his mouth burst out with: “Seriously?”
“What?” Sam looked down at him in confusion.
“Seriously?” Adam repeated, throwing in a flailing arm movement towards the crumbling abode in front.
“Oh come on.” Sam rolled his eyes, looking back at the house, “It’s not that bad, I’ve definitely stayed in worse.”
“Yeah well… I haven’t. Even Zac’s snoring has got to be better than this place. Looks like the paint is the only thing keeping it up!”
“First of all - Zac’s snoring is atrocious. Second - one of the necessities of letting you stay with me is finding somewhere ‘suitable’ to live. So…” Sam swept his hand towards the house, “here we go.”
“They seriously think this is suitable. I’m gonna need a tetanus shot before even going in there.”
Sam rolled his eyes and hefted his duffle further up his shoulders setting off up the path. Adam stayed on the path alone for a few moments before the sound of a nearby car alarm going of spurred him into movement. He picked his own bag from the ground where he had dropped it in shock at the sight of his new house, and headed inside.
He left his bag next to where Sam had dropped his by the door and followed the sound of Sam’s ginormous feet pounding against the creaking floor boards.
The moment he entered what he assumed was the main room his vision was swallowed in a large plume of dust. Coughing and spluttering he finally made out the image of Sam shaking the dust throws from the furniture around the room; a TV, Sofa, Coffee Table - all about a thousand years old but still standing. It took a while for him to realise Sam was talking to him.
“… furniture was all included. It’s got running water, hot and cold - heating, a garden, and not a million miles from a decent school which I have already enrolled you in.”
Sam rolled the dust sheets into a ball and threw them into a corner, hands on his hips he surveyed the room.
“So?” Sam asked of Adam, a lop sided hopeful grin on his face. Adam tried really hard to say something scathing thinking back to his three bed house in Windom with a porch swing and a basket ball net out back.
Sam smile started to dim the longer Adam stood there in silence. Adam sighed in resignation.
“Fine. But I call first room.”
***
It took a week and 5 different conversations, two of which ended up with Adam locking himself in his room, before Adam convinced Sam that he didn’t need Sam to walk with him to school on his first day.
“Seriously, you’re not my mother and I am not eight. I’m thirteen!”
“But it’s your first day-“
“Don’t you have class on Monday morning?” Adam had argued back, his arms crossed, face in a scowl.
“Yes but I can still walk you there then grab a bus-“
“I’ve been to school before Sam. I’m walking by myself and that’s that!”
That conversation hadn’t ended with slamming doors but with Adam staring sullenly at the fuzzy picture on the TV screen until Sam brought him a plate of macaroni and cheese as a peace offering. They sat in silence eating for a few minutes. Once the plates were empty and their bellies full Sam broached the subject again.
“Fine, you can walk yourself but I’ll meet you at the end of the day.” At Adam’s impending scowl Sam ploughed on, “I will be walking near there anyway when I get off the bus.”
“Fine but you wait around the corner.”
Sam considered him for a moment before giving a small nod. “Alright, done.”
***
Standing in front of the large brick building Adam secretly wished he had let Sam walk him on his first day, he looked around the groups of teenagers around him, all chatting excitedly with each other, groups littering the sidewalk and steps, a familiar face may have been nice.
Adam shook his head and frowned forward. He could do this.
It was not too far into October so Adam skidded into the school mostly unnoticed, hadn't missed too much work and got partnered with an alright guy in lab.
It was strange being in a place where no one knows you. He'd lived in the same town since he was born, the teachers at his school knew him, the kids knew him, the caffetierier lady shopped at his local store. This was strange. But it was oddly liberating knowing that every little thing he did won't be noticed, because he is not.
Until lunch it was a freeing thought, he almost smiled when his lab partner offered up the free chair next to him at the table. He was about to sit down when he got, none too gently, nudged from a passing group behind him. He recovered his balance, and thankfully his lunch, before taking a quick look behind him.
He caught the tail end of a smug look off a guy with too much muscle not enough hair and a letterman jacket on.
His only thought was to let out a resigned sigh and roll his eyes to the heavens. Fan-fucking-tasitc.
***
Life, inevitably, moved on. Maybe not forward, but on. In the blink of an eye Adam had been with Sam for almost two months and the leaves crunched under his feet as he walked the pavements to school and back again.
He had made some friends, not best buddies, but people he felt comfortable enough to sit next to at lunch and people he could stand around chatting to before the bell.
He knew how he came off to them. Strange new kid, mysterious even. He didn’t talk about where he had come from or why he had moved, it wasn’t any of these people business, and he didn’t want their pity. He didn’t mention that he lived with a half-brother he had only known for a few months and didn’t take on any of Sam’s unsuccessful attempts to get him to invite people to the house if he wanted. He wasn’t afraid to admit he was ashamed of it. It was falling to pieces, cheap and in a crap neighbourhood.
So these people could just carry on thinking he was the son of an ex-spy or any of the other multitude of strange rumours he had heard. That was fine by him.
Adam carried on past the corner Sam usually met him on. Sam wasn’t there waiting today, he had started an afternoon job at the local coffee shop a few weeks ago.
It was no secret to Adam that money was tight, even a full Stanford scholarship didn’t cover the unexpected arrival of a teenage charge.
So when Adam’s only pair of shoes he had brought with him started to fall apart and his coat didn’t stave of the worst of the cooling weather, Sam had no choice.
“It’s not too bad,” Sam had argued after coming in the door at just gone seven, “My boss is alright, lets me do work behind the counter if it’s not busy, and a free supply of coffee.”
Adam didn’t comment when Sam yawned all through dinner and fell asleep on the sofa. Adam just slipped out the room belatedly finding an old blanket and throwing it over the long body draped over the sofa.
The crunch of footsteps behind him roused Adam from his thoughts, he was still a few blocks from home and now passing into the quiet part of his journey where foot traffic was unusual.
From the sounds of it there was more than one person and Adam would have happily ignored them. Increasing his pace he carried on looking straight ahead, only faltering when a large hand gripped onto his shoulder.
“If it isn’t the new kid.”
Ah. Big muscles, no hair, letterman jacket, Jared. The largest and most possibly stupidest member of the school football team. Had definitely received one too many blows to the head.
But intellect aside he was large, and flanked by two nearly-as large mates, and currently blocking Adam’s path.
Adam just stopped and glared. He didn’t have time for this, he needed to get home start his homework before Sam got in cause then Sam would occupy the table with his textbooks. If Adam hadn’t witnessed Sam exercising almost every morning he would have sworn the guy got his muscles from dragging them books around cause, man, they were heavy.
When Adam failed to make any kind of response to his statement Jared scowled and prodded him hard in the shoulder with a beefy finger.
“Hey. I’m talking to you. You dumb or somethin’?”
“Sorry.” Adam raised an eyebrow, “Did you ask me a question.”
“Oh, new-kid thinks he’s funny. A comedian. Let’s see if we can kick some laughs outta him.”
Adam gulped.
***
Sam ached.
Not and I’ve-run-ten-miles-then-killed-a-banshee ache, but I-am-operating-on-about-5-hours-sleep,-had-a-full-day-of-classes,-then-went-to-work-and-now-have-to-make-dinner,-clean-the-house-and-finish-my-reading kind of ache.
The front door swung open and he unceremoniously dumped his book bag by the door. He would probably berate himself for it later but he couldn’t care too much at the moment.
He wished the boiler could handle more than one bath full of water a day cause he could really do with a soak. But then there would be no water for Adam’s shower or the washing up.
He was still feeling mildly sorry for himself when he walked out of the small hall to find Adam sat, his head tipped back against the sofa, and a bag of peas balanced on his face.
“What the-“ Sam started, stopping when Adam’s face snapped up, allowing the peas to slid off revealing the purpling bruise developing on his cheekbone. “What the hell!”
“I’ll buy more peas.” Adam started weakly but Sam had already crossed the room, his own ache’s forgotten, grabbing Adams chin and turning it into the light.
“Like I give a shit about the pea’s - What happened to your face Adam.”
“Just some jerk at school. I’m fine.”
Sam scoffed. “Yeah you look fine.” Sam twisted and turned Adam’s face in the light, gently probing at the cheek to make sure there was no bone damage. When he had determined it was just a cosmetic issue he let go “Did you at least give him a matching one?”
Adam gave Sam a sardonic eyebrow. “The guy’s like twice my size, I legged it as soon as something shiny distracted him.”
Sam let out a short chuckle and picked up the discarded pea’s. “You stay there, I’ll get you something cooler, these have already started to melt.”
When he returned the coach Adam watched him warily as he reapplied a bag of frozen veg to his cheek.
“What?” Sam asked after a few more moments.
“Are you just gearing up for my lecture?” At Sam’s confused stare he continued, “You know, the patented ‘fighting is bad’ speech”
“Please this wasn’t a fight.” Sam peered under the veg before reapplying it, “This was a mild slap contest. Whoever this guy is can’t punch for shit.”
Adam chuckled, then winced when he moved his cheek. “Well, he’s definitely got the muscle mass.”
“Muscle mass doesn’t matter if don’t know what to do with it. You could floor any guy with the right training.”
“And I suppose you would know about that?”
Adam thought back to Sam with his head in his books, the blush that ran up his neck whenever someone mentioned that pretty blond girl in his psych class, Sam who rolled his eyes when Adam watched late night slasher flicks, and couldn’t help but keep the incredulity out of his voice.
*
Adam wished he’d kept his mouth shut when he was being dragged out of bed at seven on Saturday morning.
“Dude!” he did not whine, “What’s your issue.”
Sam herded him into the bathroom and stuck a toothbrush in his hand.
“I don’t have class, you don’t have school and I don’t have work till twelve. It’s training time.” Sam chirped. Way too fucking happy for seven on a Saturday morning.
It wasn’t until Adam was dressed in sweats, freezing his ass of in the overgrown back yard before his brain caught up. “Training for what?”
“So that next time Jared gets bored he’s the one that will walk away with a shiner. And a proper one too, not the pansy ass one’s he hands out.”
For the next hour Adam fell on his backside more often than when his mum had taken him ice skating one winter. Then Sam was standing over him, an inane grin on his face telling him ‘good, now get up and try again’.
After the upteenth time Adam lay back panting on the ground and refused to get back up.
“Nah-ah. I’m done!”
Sam considered him with his hands on his hips for a moment before acquiescing. “Alright, we’re done for today.” Offering down a large hand Sam pulled Adam from horizontal straight up to standing in one go.
Adam stood panting, bracing himself for a moment he felt like he’d run a mile. “How are you not even sweating.” He asked incredulously at Sam who looked just as fresh as he had an hour ago.
“Knocking you over isn’t really that much hard work.”
Adam swiped out with a fist, only clipping Sam’s bicep as he dodged out the way. “See.” Sam grinned as he trotted back into the house, “You’re getting better already.”
“Bite me!” Adam called out after his retreating back, but Sam had already disappeared back inside with a wave over his shoulder.
*
Christmas was rather anticlimactic.
Sam broke for his Christmas break a little before Adam and spent his days pulling extra shifts at the coffee shop and evenings hauling crates and boxes in a department store warehouse for the busy Christmas period, and in his spare time, doing odd jobs around the house.
It was by no means now a palace but Sam had tidied up the front yard so there was no longer the worry that a family of small children were hiding amongst the weeds, gave the porch a rub down and paint. So the place was no longer a complete disaster zone.
But the arrival of the festive season sparked a renewed interest in Adam’s grief, that he had thought was getting better.
It had by no means disappeared, Adam feared, and hoped, that it never would. He loved his mum, and missed her, every single day. But he had thought it had been getting better, maybe slightly easier to get through the day without being crippled by it.
So he was surprised when he woke up in the night gasping for a breath, a nightmare lingering in the back of his mind, his mothers name a whisper on his lips.
*
Sam had always been a light sleeper. The slightest shift in position from his brother across a motel room enough to wake him from even the deepest of sleeps. So when he heard soft footsteps creep past his room to the kitchen he roused straight from asleep to awake, one hand on the knife hidden down the side of his mattress. When the footsteps hadn’t returned to their bedroom after a few minutes, hissing at the cold when his bare feet touched the wooden floor he grabbed a pair of socks before investigating.
*
“Adam?”
The fluorescent light flicked on in the kitchen and Adam blinked his eyes in the transition from dark to light. The large shape in front of him was still blurry, he didn’t know whether it was the lights or his unshed tears, but he would recognise that frame any where.
Working evenings in the factory had added bulk to his brother already wide shoulders, added to his 6’5” frame made him over shadow everything in his path. It could be intimidating if you didn’t know what a pansy he was.
Said pansy curled his long legs up and slid down the wall to sit next to Adam. They sat in silence for a while before Sam tried to hide a yawn in his t-shirt clad shoulder.
“You should be asleep.” Adam said, taking in his brothers dark bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin.
Sam snorted softly and wriggled his limbs to get more comfy crouched on the cold lino floor. “Well… so should you.”
“I’m not the one who’s got work all day followed by work at night”
“Who is the guardian and who is the younger brother here?” Sam asked, a smirk to his lips which Adam reluctantly returned. “What you doin’ up Kiddo?”
Adam looked down at his hands, where his too long pyjamas sleeves covered his knuckles. “I miss her.” He whispered. Not even bothering to add any context because Sam would know exactly who he was talking about.
“I know.” Sam replied softly. And Adam couldn’t even get angry and snarky at him for consoling him because Adam knew that Sam understood what it was like to be without a mother.
“Do you remember her?” Adam asked, finally looking up to see Sam smile slightly, but it was a sad smile.
“No.” he whispered, “Dean used to tell me stories, of places we went and things we did. Dad showed me a picture of her once, he kept it in his journal. He caught me sneaking a look at it so many times he just gave it to me. I treasured that thing. I still have it but it’s so faded and worn now…. I had her eyes, but Dean looks just like her.”
“My mum worked a lot.” Adam found himself responding, “She was a nurse, she worked long hours and we needed the money. But whenever she had a day off she would take me to the park, and we’d sit and play for hours. She must have been so tired but she never complained or said we couldn’t go. She just smiled and pushed my higher on the swings.” Adam hastily swiped a tear that had fallen down his cheek. If Sam noticed he didn’t say anything.
“She loved you Adam, spending time with you wasn’t a chore.”
Adam swallowed past the lump in his throat
“Come on, bed.” Sam announced, heaving himself to his feet. “You’ve got three hours before you have to be up for school and - as you helpfully pointed out - I’ve got a day full of manual labour.”
**
Adam didn’t feel like celebrating his first Christmas without his mother and Sam, unspokenly, seemed to get it. There was no tree, or tinsel, or fairy lights. They had a quiet day around the house, watching old movies playing on TV before a meal of burgers and fries, Adam’s favourite.
In the evening Sam sheepishly pushed a messily wrapped box across the space between them on the sofa.
Adam flicked confused eyes down at the newspaper wrapping and back up to Sam who smiled strangely.
“It’s kind of a Winchester tradition… Go on open it.”
“Sam-“ Adam hesitated, “I didn’t - I mean, I wasn’t expecting-”
“Dude it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting any presents. I just saw this and thought you might like it.”
Adam returned his gaze to the package and gently lifted it into his lap and started unwrapping it. It was quite long and once the newspaper print was removed he found… one of their bath towels.
“Thanks man.” He said sarcastically, “Just what I’ve always wanted.”
“It’s wrapped in the towel smart ass. It’s not brand new, I got it from that second hand store by the coffee shop and I didn’t want it to get damaged.”
Adam, seeing Sam’s rambling as something he did when he got nervous, decided to put the poor boy out of his misery and quickly removed the towel to reveal… a skateboard. His eyes widened and darted back up to Sam who was biting his lip.
“Like I said. It’s second hand and it had some pretty awful stickers and stuff on it but I gave it a good sand down, you can do whatever you want with it.” Adam ran a hand over the smooth under belly. “And I when I saw you at the park the other week all your friends had one so I thought…”
Adam tried and failed to be surprised that Sam had been checking up on him and suppressed a smile, that may have been fond. “You stalking me dude?”
Sam must have heard his smile and answered in turn. “Just watching out for you. Making sure Jared and his goons weren’t buggin’ you.”
“Nah. He learnt his lesson.”
The two shared a grin at the memory of the story Adam had whirled into the house with one afternoon after showing Jared just what a Winchester could do when he and his mates tried to gang up on him again.
“So…” Sam ventured after a while, “Do you like it?”
“Dude! It’s awesome. Seriously, thank you!”
“It’s no problem. It’s what Christmas is supposed to be for right?”
Adam watched Sam for a moment. “I didn’t get you anything.”
“You don’t need to get me anything, I swear.”
“But still…”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. It’s not that unusual for a Christmas to go by without any presents.”
Adam frowned and then thought back, he had been so caught up in his own grief, and what this Christmas was signifying that he hadn’t stopped to look around but now he did he couldn’t help the surge of… anger he felt towards his wayward father and Sam’s brother.
He didn’t know what exactly had happened between the three Winchesters, didn’t know what had happened that meant they never spoke. All he had managed to get out of Sam when he questioned if he knew where their Dad was, was that they had parted on bad terms. But still… it was Christmas. He couldn’t think you a single thing he could have done ever that would have meant his mother ignoring him at Christmas. Not a card, a phone call - nothing.
And he didn’t get it. Sure Sam could be annoying, and OCD about the washing up and keeping his text books neatly on a shelf, but then left his massive shoes all over the place for people to trip over, and if he ate something that didn’t agree with him he stunk the house out for the rest of the day. But he was a good guy. A guy that turned his life upside down to take in a half brother he had never even heard of let alone met, a guy that weeded Miss Elberts garden when he did their own just because, and a guy who used, probably what little spare money they had, to buy his half-brother a present just because he thought he would like it.
Adam fought hard to not let his anger seep onto his face and instead granted Sam with a mischievous smirk.
“Oh I don’t think you got no presents. What happened to the basket I saw you bring in before winter break started?” He knew he had struck gold when Sam started to blush. “Where those, or were they not, home baked goodies from the beautiful Jessica.”
“She gave some to everyone.”
“But you were the only one who got a big batch wrapped up with a bow.” Sam grunted and sulkily turned back to the black and white movie playing on the TV. Adam couldn’t help his cackle, “Oh your so in there. Just man up Sammy and ask her out.”
“I’m not taking dating advice from a thirteen year old.”
“Well I’m a thirteen year old who’s had more action than you in the last few months.”
“Jennifer Price accosting you under the mistletoe does not count as getting lucky.”
“It’s luckier than you!”
Sam responded by throwing the rolled up newspaper wrapping back at Adam who batted it away easily. They sunk into a gentle silence, Adam’s present still sat in his lap. After a while he turned to Sam, the most earnest face he could muster.
“Sam - Thank You.”
It covered a multitude of things he would never say. But Sam seemed to get it and gave Adam a full smile that reached his eyes, showing his dimples. They passed the rest of the night in silence.
Next Part
Adam looked with disdain at the… well house would probably be too generous a term, shack would fit quite well. It was a one story building with a rotting porch around the front. You could barely see the steps to the front door for the weeds and grass growing with gusto in the front yard. In the background he could hear a kid crying and sirens and the sound of his senses running urgently away.
He turned his face of disbelief up to Sam who was looking at the house with an air of satisfaction and accomplishment. Adam couldn’t help it when his mouth burst out with: “Seriously?”
“What?” Sam looked down at him in confusion.
“Seriously?” Adam repeated, throwing in a flailing arm movement towards the crumbling abode in front.
“Oh come on.” Sam rolled his eyes, looking back at the house, “It’s not that bad, I’ve definitely stayed in worse.”
“Yeah well… I haven’t. Even Zac’s snoring has got to be better than this place. Looks like the paint is the only thing keeping it up!”
“First of all - Zac’s snoring is atrocious. Second - one of the necessities of letting you stay with me is finding somewhere ‘suitable’ to live. So…” Sam swept his hand towards the house, “here we go.”
“They seriously think this is suitable. I’m gonna need a tetanus shot before even going in there.”
Sam rolled his eyes and hefted his duffle further up his shoulders setting off up the path. Adam stayed on the path alone for a few moments before the sound of a nearby car alarm going of spurred him into movement. He picked his own bag from the ground where he had dropped it in shock at the sight of his new house, and headed inside.
He left his bag next to where Sam had dropped his by the door and followed the sound of Sam’s ginormous feet pounding against the creaking floor boards.
The moment he entered what he assumed was the main room his vision was swallowed in a large plume of dust. Coughing and spluttering he finally made out the image of Sam shaking the dust throws from the furniture around the room; a TV, Sofa, Coffee Table - all about a thousand years old but still standing. It took a while for him to realise Sam was talking to him.
“… furniture was all included. It’s got running water, hot and cold - heating, a garden, and not a million miles from a decent school which I have already enrolled you in.”
Sam rolled the dust sheets into a ball and threw them into a corner, hands on his hips he surveyed the room.
“So?” Sam asked of Adam, a lop sided hopeful grin on his face. Adam tried really hard to say something scathing thinking back to his three bed house in Windom with a porch swing and a basket ball net out back.
Sam smile started to dim the longer Adam stood there in silence. Adam sighed in resignation.
“Fine. But I call first room.”
***
It took a week and 5 different conversations, two of which ended up with Adam locking himself in his room, before Adam convinced Sam that he didn’t need Sam to walk with him to school on his first day.
“Seriously, you’re not my mother and I am not eight. I’m thirteen!”
“But it’s your first day-“
“Don’t you have class on Monday morning?” Adam had argued back, his arms crossed, face in a scowl.
“Yes but I can still walk you there then grab a bus-“
“I’ve been to school before Sam. I’m walking by myself and that’s that!”
That conversation hadn’t ended with slamming doors but with Adam staring sullenly at the fuzzy picture on the TV screen until Sam brought him a plate of macaroni and cheese as a peace offering. They sat in silence eating for a few minutes. Once the plates were empty and their bellies full Sam broached the subject again.
“Fine, you can walk yourself but I’ll meet you at the end of the day.” At Adam’s impending scowl Sam ploughed on, “I will be walking near there anyway when I get off the bus.”
“Fine but you wait around the corner.”
Sam considered him for a moment before giving a small nod. “Alright, done.”
***
Standing in front of the large brick building Adam secretly wished he had let Sam walk him on his first day, he looked around the groups of teenagers around him, all chatting excitedly with each other, groups littering the sidewalk and steps, a familiar face may have been nice.
Adam shook his head and frowned forward. He could do this.
It was not too far into October so Adam skidded into the school mostly unnoticed, hadn't missed too much work and got partnered with an alright guy in lab.
It was strange being in a place where no one knows you. He'd lived in the same town since he was born, the teachers at his school knew him, the kids knew him, the caffetierier lady shopped at his local store. This was strange. But it was oddly liberating knowing that every little thing he did won't be noticed, because he is not.
Until lunch it was a freeing thought, he almost smiled when his lab partner offered up the free chair next to him at the table. He was about to sit down when he got, none too gently, nudged from a passing group behind him. He recovered his balance, and thankfully his lunch, before taking a quick look behind him.
He caught the tail end of a smug look off a guy with too much muscle not enough hair and a letterman jacket on.
His only thought was to let out a resigned sigh and roll his eyes to the heavens. Fan-fucking-tasitc.
***
Life, inevitably, moved on. Maybe not forward, but on. In the blink of an eye Adam had been with Sam for almost two months and the leaves crunched under his feet as he walked the pavements to school and back again.
He had made some friends, not best buddies, but people he felt comfortable enough to sit next to at lunch and people he could stand around chatting to before the bell.
He knew how he came off to them. Strange new kid, mysterious even. He didn’t talk about where he had come from or why he had moved, it wasn’t any of these people business, and he didn’t want their pity. He didn’t mention that he lived with a half-brother he had only known for a few months and didn’t take on any of Sam’s unsuccessful attempts to get him to invite people to the house if he wanted. He wasn’t afraid to admit he was ashamed of it. It was falling to pieces, cheap and in a crap neighbourhood.
So these people could just carry on thinking he was the son of an ex-spy or any of the other multitude of strange rumours he had heard. That was fine by him.
Adam carried on past the corner Sam usually met him on. Sam wasn’t there waiting today, he had started an afternoon job at the local coffee shop a few weeks ago.
It was no secret to Adam that money was tight, even a full Stanford scholarship didn’t cover the unexpected arrival of a teenage charge.
So when Adam’s only pair of shoes he had brought with him started to fall apart and his coat didn’t stave of the worst of the cooling weather, Sam had no choice.
“It’s not too bad,” Sam had argued after coming in the door at just gone seven, “My boss is alright, lets me do work behind the counter if it’s not busy, and a free supply of coffee.”
Adam didn’t comment when Sam yawned all through dinner and fell asleep on the sofa. Adam just slipped out the room belatedly finding an old blanket and throwing it over the long body draped over the sofa.
The crunch of footsteps behind him roused Adam from his thoughts, he was still a few blocks from home and now passing into the quiet part of his journey where foot traffic was unusual.
From the sounds of it there was more than one person and Adam would have happily ignored them. Increasing his pace he carried on looking straight ahead, only faltering when a large hand gripped onto his shoulder.
“If it isn’t the new kid.”
Ah. Big muscles, no hair, letterman jacket, Jared. The largest and most possibly stupidest member of the school football team. Had definitely received one too many blows to the head.
But intellect aside he was large, and flanked by two nearly-as large mates, and currently blocking Adam’s path.
Adam just stopped and glared. He didn’t have time for this, he needed to get home start his homework before Sam got in cause then Sam would occupy the table with his textbooks. If Adam hadn’t witnessed Sam exercising almost every morning he would have sworn the guy got his muscles from dragging them books around cause, man, they were heavy.
When Adam failed to make any kind of response to his statement Jared scowled and prodded him hard in the shoulder with a beefy finger.
“Hey. I’m talking to you. You dumb or somethin’?”
“Sorry.” Adam raised an eyebrow, “Did you ask me a question.”
“Oh, new-kid thinks he’s funny. A comedian. Let’s see if we can kick some laughs outta him.”
Adam gulped.
***
Sam ached.
Not and I’ve-run-ten-miles-then-killed-a-banshee ache, but I-am-operating-on-about-5-hours-sleep,-had-a-full-day-of-classes,-then-went-to-work-and-now-have-to-make-dinner,-clean-the-house-and-finish-my-reading kind of ache.
The front door swung open and he unceremoniously dumped his book bag by the door. He would probably berate himself for it later but he couldn’t care too much at the moment.
He wished the boiler could handle more than one bath full of water a day cause he could really do with a soak. But then there would be no water for Adam’s shower or the washing up.
He was still feeling mildly sorry for himself when he walked out of the small hall to find Adam sat, his head tipped back against the sofa, and a bag of peas balanced on his face.
“What the-“ Sam started, stopping when Adam’s face snapped up, allowing the peas to slid off revealing the purpling bruise developing on his cheekbone. “What the hell!”
“I’ll buy more peas.” Adam started weakly but Sam had already crossed the room, his own ache’s forgotten, grabbing Adams chin and turning it into the light.
“Like I give a shit about the pea’s - What happened to your face Adam.”
“Just some jerk at school. I’m fine.”
Sam scoffed. “Yeah you look fine.” Sam twisted and turned Adam’s face in the light, gently probing at the cheek to make sure there was no bone damage. When he had determined it was just a cosmetic issue he let go “Did you at least give him a matching one?”
Adam gave Sam a sardonic eyebrow. “The guy’s like twice my size, I legged it as soon as something shiny distracted him.”
Sam let out a short chuckle and picked up the discarded pea’s. “You stay there, I’ll get you something cooler, these have already started to melt.”
When he returned the coach Adam watched him warily as he reapplied a bag of frozen veg to his cheek.
“What?” Sam asked after a few more moments.
“Are you just gearing up for my lecture?” At Sam’s confused stare he continued, “You know, the patented ‘fighting is bad’ speech”
“Please this wasn’t a fight.” Sam peered under the veg before reapplying it, “This was a mild slap contest. Whoever this guy is can’t punch for shit.”
Adam chuckled, then winced when he moved his cheek. “Well, he’s definitely got the muscle mass.”
“Muscle mass doesn’t matter if don’t know what to do with it. You could floor any guy with the right training.”
“And I suppose you would know about that?”
Adam thought back to Sam with his head in his books, the blush that ran up his neck whenever someone mentioned that pretty blond girl in his psych class, Sam who rolled his eyes when Adam watched late night slasher flicks, and couldn’t help but keep the incredulity out of his voice.
*
Adam wished he’d kept his mouth shut when he was being dragged out of bed at seven on Saturday morning.
“Dude!” he did not whine, “What’s your issue.”
Sam herded him into the bathroom and stuck a toothbrush in his hand.
“I don’t have class, you don’t have school and I don’t have work till twelve. It’s training time.” Sam chirped. Way too fucking happy for seven on a Saturday morning.
It wasn’t until Adam was dressed in sweats, freezing his ass of in the overgrown back yard before his brain caught up. “Training for what?”
“So that next time Jared gets bored he’s the one that will walk away with a shiner. And a proper one too, not the pansy ass one’s he hands out.”
For the next hour Adam fell on his backside more often than when his mum had taken him ice skating one winter. Then Sam was standing over him, an inane grin on his face telling him ‘good, now get up and try again’.
After the upteenth time Adam lay back panting on the ground and refused to get back up.
“Nah-ah. I’m done!”
Sam considered him with his hands on his hips for a moment before acquiescing. “Alright, we’re done for today.” Offering down a large hand Sam pulled Adam from horizontal straight up to standing in one go.
Adam stood panting, bracing himself for a moment he felt like he’d run a mile. “How are you not even sweating.” He asked incredulously at Sam who looked just as fresh as he had an hour ago.
“Knocking you over isn’t really that much hard work.”
Adam swiped out with a fist, only clipping Sam’s bicep as he dodged out the way. “See.” Sam grinned as he trotted back into the house, “You’re getting better already.”
“Bite me!” Adam called out after his retreating back, but Sam had already disappeared back inside with a wave over his shoulder.
*
Christmas was rather anticlimactic.
Sam broke for his Christmas break a little before Adam and spent his days pulling extra shifts at the coffee shop and evenings hauling crates and boxes in a department store warehouse for the busy Christmas period, and in his spare time, doing odd jobs around the house.
It was by no means now a palace but Sam had tidied up the front yard so there was no longer the worry that a family of small children were hiding amongst the weeds, gave the porch a rub down and paint. So the place was no longer a complete disaster zone.
But the arrival of the festive season sparked a renewed interest in Adam’s grief, that he had thought was getting better.
It had by no means disappeared, Adam feared, and hoped, that it never would. He loved his mum, and missed her, every single day. But he had thought it had been getting better, maybe slightly easier to get through the day without being crippled by it.
So he was surprised when he woke up in the night gasping for a breath, a nightmare lingering in the back of his mind, his mothers name a whisper on his lips.
*
Sam had always been a light sleeper. The slightest shift in position from his brother across a motel room enough to wake him from even the deepest of sleeps. So when he heard soft footsteps creep past his room to the kitchen he roused straight from asleep to awake, one hand on the knife hidden down the side of his mattress. When the footsteps hadn’t returned to their bedroom after a few minutes, hissing at the cold when his bare feet touched the wooden floor he grabbed a pair of socks before investigating.
*
“Adam?”
The fluorescent light flicked on in the kitchen and Adam blinked his eyes in the transition from dark to light. The large shape in front of him was still blurry, he didn’t know whether it was the lights or his unshed tears, but he would recognise that frame any where.
Working evenings in the factory had added bulk to his brother already wide shoulders, added to his 6’5” frame made him over shadow everything in his path. It could be intimidating if you didn’t know what a pansy he was.
Said pansy curled his long legs up and slid down the wall to sit next to Adam. They sat in silence for a while before Sam tried to hide a yawn in his t-shirt clad shoulder.
“You should be asleep.” Adam said, taking in his brothers dark bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin.
Sam snorted softly and wriggled his limbs to get more comfy crouched on the cold lino floor. “Well… so should you.”
“I’m not the one who’s got work all day followed by work at night”
“Who is the guardian and who is the younger brother here?” Sam asked, a smirk to his lips which Adam reluctantly returned. “What you doin’ up Kiddo?”
Adam looked down at his hands, where his too long pyjamas sleeves covered his knuckles. “I miss her.” He whispered. Not even bothering to add any context because Sam would know exactly who he was talking about.
“I know.” Sam replied softly. And Adam couldn’t even get angry and snarky at him for consoling him because Adam knew that Sam understood what it was like to be without a mother.
“Do you remember her?” Adam asked, finally looking up to see Sam smile slightly, but it was a sad smile.
“No.” he whispered, “Dean used to tell me stories, of places we went and things we did. Dad showed me a picture of her once, he kept it in his journal. He caught me sneaking a look at it so many times he just gave it to me. I treasured that thing. I still have it but it’s so faded and worn now…. I had her eyes, but Dean looks just like her.”
“My mum worked a lot.” Adam found himself responding, “She was a nurse, she worked long hours and we needed the money. But whenever she had a day off she would take me to the park, and we’d sit and play for hours. She must have been so tired but she never complained or said we couldn’t go. She just smiled and pushed my higher on the swings.” Adam hastily swiped a tear that had fallen down his cheek. If Sam noticed he didn’t say anything.
“She loved you Adam, spending time with you wasn’t a chore.”
Adam swallowed past the lump in his throat
“Come on, bed.” Sam announced, heaving himself to his feet. “You’ve got three hours before you have to be up for school and - as you helpfully pointed out - I’ve got a day full of manual labour.”
**
Adam didn’t feel like celebrating his first Christmas without his mother and Sam, unspokenly, seemed to get it. There was no tree, or tinsel, or fairy lights. They had a quiet day around the house, watching old movies playing on TV before a meal of burgers and fries, Adam’s favourite.
In the evening Sam sheepishly pushed a messily wrapped box across the space between them on the sofa.
Adam flicked confused eyes down at the newspaper wrapping and back up to Sam who smiled strangely.
“It’s kind of a Winchester tradition… Go on open it.”
“Sam-“ Adam hesitated, “I didn’t - I mean, I wasn’t expecting-”
“Dude it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting any presents. I just saw this and thought you might like it.”
Adam returned his gaze to the package and gently lifted it into his lap and started unwrapping it. It was quite long and once the newspaper print was removed he found… one of their bath towels.
“Thanks man.” He said sarcastically, “Just what I’ve always wanted.”
“It’s wrapped in the towel smart ass. It’s not brand new, I got it from that second hand store by the coffee shop and I didn’t want it to get damaged.”
Adam, seeing Sam’s rambling as something he did when he got nervous, decided to put the poor boy out of his misery and quickly removed the towel to reveal… a skateboard. His eyes widened and darted back up to Sam who was biting his lip.
“Like I said. It’s second hand and it had some pretty awful stickers and stuff on it but I gave it a good sand down, you can do whatever you want with it.” Adam ran a hand over the smooth under belly. “And I when I saw you at the park the other week all your friends had one so I thought…”
Adam tried and failed to be surprised that Sam had been checking up on him and suppressed a smile, that may have been fond. “You stalking me dude?”
Sam must have heard his smile and answered in turn. “Just watching out for you. Making sure Jared and his goons weren’t buggin’ you.”
“Nah. He learnt his lesson.”
The two shared a grin at the memory of the story Adam had whirled into the house with one afternoon after showing Jared just what a Winchester could do when he and his mates tried to gang up on him again.
“So…” Sam ventured after a while, “Do you like it?”
“Dude! It’s awesome. Seriously, thank you!”
“It’s no problem. It’s what Christmas is supposed to be for right?”
Adam watched Sam for a moment. “I didn’t get you anything.”
“You don’t need to get me anything, I swear.”
“But still…”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. It’s not that unusual for a Christmas to go by without any presents.”
Adam frowned and then thought back, he had been so caught up in his own grief, and what this Christmas was signifying that he hadn’t stopped to look around but now he did he couldn’t help the surge of… anger he felt towards his wayward father and Sam’s brother.
He didn’t know what exactly had happened between the three Winchesters, didn’t know what had happened that meant they never spoke. All he had managed to get out of Sam when he questioned if he knew where their Dad was, was that they had parted on bad terms. But still… it was Christmas. He couldn’t think you a single thing he could have done ever that would have meant his mother ignoring him at Christmas. Not a card, a phone call - nothing.
And he didn’t get it. Sure Sam could be annoying, and OCD about the washing up and keeping his text books neatly on a shelf, but then left his massive shoes all over the place for people to trip over, and if he ate something that didn’t agree with him he stunk the house out for the rest of the day. But he was a good guy. A guy that turned his life upside down to take in a half brother he had never even heard of let alone met, a guy that weeded Miss Elberts garden when he did their own just because, and a guy who used, probably what little spare money they had, to buy his half-brother a present just because he thought he would like it.
Adam fought hard to not let his anger seep onto his face and instead granted Sam with a mischievous smirk.
“Oh I don’t think you got no presents. What happened to the basket I saw you bring in before winter break started?” He knew he had struck gold when Sam started to blush. “Where those, or were they not, home baked goodies from the beautiful Jessica.”
“She gave some to everyone.”
“But you were the only one who got a big batch wrapped up with a bow.” Sam grunted and sulkily turned back to the black and white movie playing on the TV. Adam couldn’t help his cackle, “Oh your so in there. Just man up Sammy and ask her out.”
“I’m not taking dating advice from a thirteen year old.”
“Well I’m a thirteen year old who’s had more action than you in the last few months.”
“Jennifer Price accosting you under the mistletoe does not count as getting lucky.”
“It’s luckier than you!”
Sam responded by throwing the rolled up newspaper wrapping back at Adam who batted it away easily. They sunk into a gentle silence, Adam’s present still sat in his lap. After a while he turned to Sam, the most earnest face he could muster.
“Sam - Thank You.”
It covered a multitude of things he would never say. But Sam seemed to get it and gave Adam a full smile that reached his eyes, showing his dimples. They passed the rest of the night in silence.
Next Part