onlytobenormal | de-aged [For samefivealbums]

Work got out early for the day and Dean whistled to himself as he headed home. The walk was pleasant, sun warm and the breeze cool. He was looking forward to spending some time with Sam. Maybe they'd take Ozzy to the park or something. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, carrying a pizza box and a six pack.

"I'm home!" He was greeted by an excited furball at his feet. Dean was pretty sure the excitement was 50% love and 50% pizza.

He watched the dog run off to greet whoever came in and Sam peered around the corner and into the living area before ducking back. Crap. He didn't have anything to protect himself with... he was still in his pajamas even. But a kitchen... a kitchen had something he could use. Knives at least... Yeah, just had to find which drawer they were in.

He gave the pup a good ear scratching, holding the pizza high out of reach with the other hand. After a minute or two, he looked around. No sign of his brother. Huh. Maybe he went out?

"Sammy? You here?"

He made a face when he heard that... guy say that stupid nickname of his brother's. He was the only person who he'd even think about letting call him that, tolerating it at least. He peeked back into the living room, frowning cautiously, hands held carefully behind his back because he'd managed to sneak a knife just in case.

"Don't call me that. Who are you anyway?"

Don't call me that? Dean thought they were well past that. Of course, once his brain caught up to the sight of Sam and the sound of his voice, he realized why he was hearing that old admonition again. Holy crap. He hadn't even been gone that long, today! How did this happen?

"Sam? Wha..." He blinked and stood up, pizza in hand and a pulled look on his face. "It's me. Dean..."

Sam made a face at that, looking the man over. It's not that there wasn't a resemblance; there was. A strong one. But still... this was just weird. "Nice try... my brother's only four years older than me. He's not old."

He shifted his weight, trying to square his shoulders, set his jaw just like he thought Dean would do if... he was in a freaky situation like this. He'd be tough at least, not scared- which is closer to what Sam was right now actually.

Old? He was so kicking Sam's ass for that when he was back to normal. Although he did have to bite back a smile as he watched Sam put on his game face. He remembered that face from years ago. "Honest, Sammy. It's me. I dunno what's going on here, but you were twenty when I left this morning. Did something weird happen while I was gone? What do you remember last?"

He was totally old by Sam's standards right now! "Then prove it... if you're really Dean tell me something he'd know."

He does pause, thinking that over. Something weird? Besides waking upin some weirdo room and being told he was actually twenty? "No... I woke up in bed."

"Alright." He sized Sam up to guess his age. Twelve or thirteen, maybe? Well before the squirt hit his last big growth spurt and outgrew him and his father. Should be about the right age, then. "When we were staying in Indiana for a few months while Dad was taking one of his research breaks, he told you to stay home and clean all the guns as punishment after you two got in another big dust up. But, after he left, you took off to a friend's house."

Sammy at this age, he remembered, was still perfecting his rebellious streak. Still building confidence to stand up to their father. Dean had always found it fascinating and stressful, watching him develop into his own person like that. Lots of opinions. "When you got home later, you looked like you were afraid Dad was gonna murder you, but he never said anything when he got home because I had everything cleaned to regulation while you were gone."

Sam was considering it, looking Dean over. That wasn't exactly something someone could ask around and find out or know just from watching them really. It was something small and between them...

This was too weird even by their standards... But he did relax somewhat and reluctantly put that knife he'd kept hidden down on the table between them. "I'm trusting you..."

And if it was Dean? He didn't think he'd betray that.

He shifted his weight a little, looked up. "You got tall."

Dean noticed the knife, glad to see the kid relaxing a little. The last thing he wanted to do was let Sam get hurt because of some crazy curse. Christ, their lives were weird.

He put the pizza down on the table in the living room and took a seat on the couch. Maybe if he didn't loom over Sam, he wouldn't seem so unsettling. "Dude, you should see yourself in a few years. Friggin' Sasquatch." He grinned and nodded at the pizza. "Hungry?"

"Really?" Well, that got Sam to perk up. That meant no more short jokes! He finally ventured toward the couch to take a seat, grabbing a slice of pizza. He was hungry actually...

He took a bite, looking at Dean and then down at the puppy who'd moved over to mooch food. He really couldn't resist slipping him a bite. "Why are we in this place anyway?" It was nagging at him. Even if they got to stay at rented houses or apartments, they were rarely this nice and homey anyway. "And the dog... is he ours?"

But Dad would never let the have a dog...

"Yeah, really. It's pretty irritating." There wasn't any bite to his words, though. He smiled, watching Sam dig in and then smiled bigger when he saw the kid slip Ozzy a bite. Some things didn't change.

"It's uh... it's kind of hard to explain." He picked up a slice and took a bite, giving himself a minute to think. On the whole, he tried to be honest with Sam. Especially now. Sam at this age, though? Would the truth hurt him?

Well, the truth about the hunting life, anyway. Obviously, he wasn't going to spill about them together. "Yeah, dude. You and me are living here. That's our dog Ozzy. I got him for you a few months ago."

"Cool. I was hoping I'd get taller." Or at least as tall as Dean to stop the short jokes all the time. He was pleased with this at least.

He looked over when Dean started to talk, curious. "We're living here?" With a dog, no less. That was just... unexpected. Especially with Dad's insistence that they couldn't live any one place and Dean following along.

"Are we still hunting? What about Dad?"

"We're not hunting. Dad still is." He picked at the pizza slice in his hand. It wasn't really much of a debate what to tell him. If, when this wore off, Sam remembered it, he'd be pissed if Dean lied to him. And it felt weird to lie to Sam, anyway, whatever his age. "You left to go to college several months back. After a while, I came to see you and... I guess after I got a taste of this whole living normally thing... I decided to give it a shot, too."

He flicked a glance at Sam and gave him a wry smile. "Dad's, uh, he's not too happy with us."

"Oh." He nodded at that, a frown tugging at his lips. "I always kinda figure he wouldn't be..."

Not if they didn't do exactly whatever he said. Didn't mean it didn't suck any less though. It really did. It was cool that Dean actually decided to come with him though... surprising as all this other stuff as well though. "So, what do you do? College too?"

"Yeah, sorry dude." Dean wished he could tell his little brother he'd stood up for him right away and backed him up, but he hadn't. It was a big regret now. Something he wished he could go back and fix, but it was too late now.

He laughed at the question and shook his head. "Nah. You're the one with the brains, Sammy. I'm tending bar at a restaurant down by the river."

"It's not your fault he's stubborn." He almost wanted to ask for more details, but... he resisted the urge. For right now anyway, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He snorted at that, tossing his left over crust down for Ozzy and going for another. "I bet you could've done it if you'd wanted, Dean."

Dean wasn't stupid, even if he never did try as hard as he could in school. "So what else? Anything else I should know?"

Dean smiled at Sam's appetite. The beginning of a growth spurt coming on, it looked like. He'd bet on some extra grocery runs if Sam stayed like this very long. Ozzy was in heaven getting all the leftover crusts, too.

"Like what? We still see Bobby sometimes. If we don't call, we get yelled at." He shrugged and sat back, patting the couch for Ozzy to jump up beside them. "You work at a bookstore part-time between classes. Your nerdy nature loves it." He reached over and ruffled Sam's hair playfully.

The ruffle got Sam to pull a face and reach over to nudge Dean's side. And it still totally sucked that Dean had gotten even bigger on him and filled out so much more... even if he apparently had a growth spurt coming eventually. "I'm not a nerd, Dean."

Dean just didn't get it!

"So, Bobby still calls?" That was... good to know too. Not everyone was mad at them then at least. "What do we do for fun around here?"

Getting to go look around was sounding better and better, honestly. Maybe he could convince Dean to take him out or something.

"You are so a nerd." He smirked at his brother and reached for another slice of pizza. He'd kind of missed this. Missed Sam at this age. His brother had been a royal pain in the ass sometimes, sure, but this was the age where Sam still kind of looked up to him. It was a feeling he'd enjoyed, not that he'd ever admit to it.

"Well, there's a bunch of parks around. Ozzy likes those. Sometimes we hang out down by the river. There are a bunch of restaurants and shops and things down there. Downtown is pretty touristy with carriage rides, history tours, and junk like that..."

He huffed playfully at that, rolling his eyes because he was so not a nerd, no matter what Dean said. But truthfully? Even grown up, Sam still looked up to Dean... even if he didn't show it as much and even if he had his complaints about him.

"Really?" He grinned a little wider. "You think we can go out and look around later?"

Damnit. Dean always had a hard time resisting that face... Sam looking all excited and happy. He chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, okay. I'll have to introduce you as my cousin or something if we run into anyone I know, but it should be okay."

"Alright." He got it and he wasn't going to put up a fight if he got to go look around where he and Dean were apparently living now. "So... we really don't hunt anymore or anything?"

"Nope. No hunting. You go to school and work. I work. Ozzy cons us out of food and treats. That's pretty much life." More or less. There were some bits Sam didn't need to know about, of course. "Sounds kinda weird to you, I bet? After all that time on the road."

de-aged [For samefivealbums]

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