Supernatural House Arrest (Supernatural Fanfic)

Chapter 109

"Can I go yet?" Dean asks, tapping his foot impatiently.

"You said you'd give him until noon," Castiel reminds him. "It's not noon yet."

"There's, like, ten minutes," Dean whines. "Come on. He's always up at the crack of dawn. It's not like he's still asleep."

"You don't know that," Castiel says. "He doesn't have a window in there. He might not be keeping track of time."

"He's always keeping track of time," Dean says. "He's always keeping track of everything."

"Yesterday was hard on him," Castiel reminds him. "Maybe he decided to take a break from keeping track of everything for once."

"Then something's wrong, and that's even more reason to go check on him," Dean insists.

"Dean, give him a few minutes," Castiel says calmly. "You said you'd wait until noon. You can wait the last few minutes."

"Why?" Dean asks. "It's practically noon already. What's it going to hurt to go now?"

Castiel sighs. "How about we go get him something to eat, and you can bring him that when we're done?"

"Well, I guess he's probably hungry," Dean says. "He hasn't been out in a while. I doubt Mr. Health Nut has a secret stash of snacks in his room, right?"

"Exactly," Castiel says. "So let's make him a sandwich. I remember sandwiches tasted amazing when I was human."

"Well, it's not quite a luxury meal, but sure. Whatever works."

~~

Sandwich in hand, Dean heads off to Sam's room. It's where his father said he'd probably find him. He pauses when he gets there, listening to make sure there's nothing going on in there. When all he hears is silence, he knocks on the door.

There's a pause, followed by a hesitant, "Yeah?"

Dean takes that as his cue to come in. John wasn't wrong when he said Sam was just sitting in the dark. The lights are off, and he can faintly see the shape of his brother sitting on his bed.

"Go ahead," Sam says, his voice hoarse. "Say it."

"What?"

"Say it," Sam repeats. "You were right, I was wrong. Lucifer's still a piece of shit. Come on. Get your 'I told you so' in."

"Yeah, actually, I..." Dean holds up his plate to show Sam his sandwich. "I just came to bring you something to eat."

Sam looks at him skeptically, then says, "Thank you?"

"Uh, here." Dean flicks the light on, then walks over to the bed and hands him the sandwich.

There's a moment of awkward silence, and Dean feels like this is his cue to leave, but he didn't just come in to give him a sandwich. He just doesn't know what to say.

"Is that it?" Sam asks.

"Uh, no, I..." God, this is a hard conversation to have. How is he supposed to sympathize when he's happy that Sam finally hates Lucifer again?

Sam pulls his covers up, almost snuggling up in them. He looks down, avoiding his brother's gaze. Apparently, Dean isn't the only one finding this awkward.

Dean gestures to the bed. "Can I sit?"

Sam sighs softly and shifts to give him space.

"Thanks." Dean sits down next to him. "I just want to say..."

"That you're sorry?" Sam guesses. "That you wish it didn't go down like that? You don't have to lie, Dean. I know this is the best thing to happen to you since... well, maybe ever."

"You really think that, don't you?" Dean shakes his head. "Sam, this is the last thing I would have wanted. I —"

"Look, Dean, I don't really care what you wanted," Sam says. "I'm really not in the mood."

"But, what, you're in the mood to just sit here in the dark all day?"

"Yes."

Dean is a bit taken aback by that. He's not sure what he expected, but Sam taking that in stride was definitely not it. He'd really rather sit alone in the dark than talk to him?

"Look, Sam, I know this is —"

"No, you don't."

Dean sighs. "Sam —"

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Sam says. "About anything. Just leave me alone."

Dean sighs. "All right." He stands up, but before he leaves, he says, "You know, if you need anything — anything at all — just tell me."

Sam just shakes his head.