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Steam Showers and Not Gay Brothers
Things just kept getting weirder and weirder for Sam. Every since he found out how Dean really makes a living, the images of what he saw in that alley that night continued to plague him. It was bad enough having unwholesome thoughts about your own brother but it seemed the entire town was in on it.
Twice since they'd entered the open house, they were mistaken for a couple. To make matters worst, Dean played along. He called Sam honey and gave him a playful pat on his butt that sent a bolt of lightning straight to Sam's groin. On the drive back home, Dean opted to stay in one of the abandoned houses up for sale. Despite Sam's protests about squatting, Dean insisted saying he wanted to try one of the steam showers.
Sam busied himself arranging blankets and pillows stolen from previous motel stays, while Dean stripped in front of him. Sam tried to look everywhere but up as his older brother bent over sifting through his backpack for mini soaps also lifted from previous motel stays. Mercifully the older Winchester found what he was looking for and headed for highly touted shower.
Sam ventured a peak as his brother padded across the hardwood floor towards the bath. A small appreciative smile broke out across the younger Winchester's lips as he watched the taut cheeks of his brother vanish down the hall.
Dean in the steam shower was just one more place Sam didn't need his mind to go and yet twenty minutes into his brother's never-ending shower, that's exactly what it was doing. Not keeping a look out for local police who might spot their car parked outside one of the newly constructed homes they were squatting in, not trying to figure out what kind of a demon they were facing now. No, Sam kept glancing at the bathroom door as if he had x-ray vision imagining Dean naked and lathered up in a steamy shower stall.
The younger Winchester's mind flashed to his brother's favorite movie Dressed to Kill and the sexy shower scene with Angie Dickinson. He wondered if his older brother would mind if he snuck in and joined him. Hell, knowing Dean as well as he did, the marathon shower was probably an elaborately engraved invitation.
Both boys knew there was something between them; they just hadn't bothered to define it yet. The closeness was always there but when Sam had hit puberty it had evolved to something else. Slipping into Dean's bed late at night when dad was asleep, Dean would wrap a protective arm around him and snuggle close. Quick morning and goodnight pecks on the lips, all part of their relationship.
Sam remembered when he left for college, how Dean had leaned in for a goodbye kiss and he had flinched away. The hurt he had seen in his brother's eyes still lingered there today. An invisible barrier had entered the intimate space they used to share. Even now Sam was aware of how self-conscious Dean was whenever they were in close proximity. And for all of his swagger, Sam knew Dean was just as unsure about their relationship as Sam was, careful not to invade his younger brother's personal space and risk rejection again.
As Sam moved closer to the door he wondered if Dean would use an invasion of his privacy to reject him. It was clear to Sam if they were going to be close again, he would have to make the next move. After all, Dean had taken the first step by coming back for him. Sam often wondered if Dad was really missing at all, if this was Dean's bizarre way of reconciling with him.
Getting up his nerve, Sam rummaged through his duffle bag and fished out a tube of toothpaste and a tooth brush, stripped of his shirt and headed for the door under the guise of wanting to brush his teeth. The door was unlocked. That was a good sign. He was just about to step over the threshold when the police scanner broke his concentration.
"Fuck," he blurted out as he heard the call come in about another death.
"Sammy?" Dean called out slightly startled.
"Yeah, who else would it be?"
"Something I can do for you?" Dean laughed.
"There's been another death. I heard it on the police scanner."
Sam slipped on his discarded tee before his brother emerged from the bathroom. It was another minute or so before Dean poked his head out of the door. Sam wanted to smile at the stupid towel wrapped like a turban on his head and leer at the amazing physique hid only by a towel. Instead he growled at his brother to move his ass, the word pretty nearly slipped out but didn't. On the drive to the site of the latest in a string of deaths Sam's mind kept going back to earlier that afternoon.
"All right, what's eating you now," Dean said glancing at his brother before focusing his attention back on the road.
"You think it's funny that they thought we were gay?" Sam asked.
"Who? Oh, the realtors," Dean smiled. "Did it bother you?"
"Well yeah," Sam nodded emphatically. "You're my brother."
"But they didn't know that. They just saw two hot guys house hunting together. Besides," Dean continued with a wry smile, "I'd be proud to have a good looking kid like you as my lover."
"You're so superficial," Sam huffed.
"And you could do worst than having a guy like me for yours," Dean stated with pride.
"Unlike you, looks aren't everything to me," Sam spat out.
Dean turned to face his brother. "So you do think I'm attractive," Dean smirked.
"I...I didn't say that. Keep your eyes on the road," Sam protested. He hated when Dean baited him like that.
"Then you think I'm a hideous freak."
Sam slowly glanced over every inch of his brother before answering.
"I wouldn't say you were hideous either," Sam answered blushing slightly.
"So if you were gay and I asked you out you'd say..."
"If I was gay and we weren't brothers?" Sam couldn't believe how far off track the conversation had gotten.
Dean was smiling and giving his brother sideways glances. "Absolutely, if you were gay and we weren't brothers."
"I'd say yes," Sam conceded, "If you weren't my brother," Sam added for good measure.
"And if you weren't my brother, I'd ask you out." Dean nodded as if that settled the matter.
"But we are brothers," Sam felt compelled to add.
"That we are," Dean chuckled.
"And we're not attracted to each other."
"If you say so."
"I do say so."
"Fine," Dean said.
"Fine," Sam replied.
"But you would be if we weren't brothers."
Sam was about to respond but thought better of it. Instead he stared out the passenger side window and pondered the possibilities of not being Dean's brother.