Dean’s gotten pretty good at hiding the times he doesn’t feel so good. It’s usually nothing serious- the common cold won’t kill him- and letting Dad know he’s sick is just a whole lot more stress that the guy doesn’t need to deal with. He hunts monsters; he’s got bigger and better things on his plate than a case of the sniffles.
Sammy, though- Sammy always seems to know.
Dad’s out of town and Dean’s nose has been stuffed up for three days. The coughing starts not long after that, and then the achiness, and then he’s just doing his best to put on a brave face and keep going about his business without making a big deal of it. It’s going just fine, too- nobody at school seems any the wiser, and Dad hasn’t picked up on anything over the phone.
“You’re sick.”
Dean’s baby brother doesn’t get the memo.
It’s a weekend, and Dean might be taking his sweet time to get out of bed. It’s hard to convince his body that it’s worth the effort when everything hurts more than it has any right to, but he’s got Lucky Charms to pour and TV to watch. Important big brother stuff. Sammy’s too old to be sleeping in the same bed as him, according to Dad, but they get away with it more often than not, and that’s what’s got Sammy curled up all close first thing in the morning. Dean’s not about to let it go, though. Not that easily.
“What?” He wrinkles up his nose and gives Sam a half-hearted shove. Sammy doesn’t go anywhere, and Dean doesn’t make a second attempt. “Am not. You’re crazy.”
“You’re all warm.” Sam isn’t easily deterred. He gets right up in Dean’s space, pressing both tiny hands to Dean’s cheek and watching him intently. “Really warm. Toasty-warm!”
Dean shakes his head and huffs. “S’cause it’s hot outside. Duh.”
“And you’re all-” Sam pauses to sniff dramatically. “You’re sick!”
Dean considers pushing it a little longer, then abruptly decides that he doesn’t have the ambition. “Maybe. So what?”
“So you gotta…” Sam makes some vague gestures towards the bed. “You gotta get better!”
“I will.” Dean huffs once more and finally decides to just sink back down into the pillows. They’ve got nowhere to be today, and he knows that Sam won’t tell if they skip training for the day. “Just gotta wait.”
Sam wrinkles up his nose and then cuddles in close to Dean again, pressed right against his chest. Even with Dean’s overheated skin, Sam still feels warm in his arms and it’s nice. “You gotta sleep and stuff. And be cozy. And- and medicine!”
They’re short on that part, but Dean decides to stay quiet about it. “Fine. I’ll sleep a bunch. Okay?”
He’s rewarded with a beaming smile, and Sam hugs him tight. “Nap time?”
They haven’t even gotten up yet, but the heaviness of Dean’s eyelids makes it easy to agree. “Yeah, okay. Nap time, Sammy.”
It’s easy to settle down again, and Dean’s head already feels a little better just for the extra bit of rest. He’ll be over this bug in a few days, hopefully before Dad gets back, and they’ll be ready to go and leave it all behind them again.
Sam might be able to see through his little charade in these moments, but at least he tries to jump in and make things better, too. What else could a big brother ask for?
177/365
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