tarotgal

Summary: Scenes of hurt/comfort from before
Sam figures about about Dean's care-giving kink...
and scenes set afterward.
Pairing: Dean/Sam | Rating: Various (G through NC-17)

17. An After

“eh-heh… Oh not now!” Sam pinches his nose tight, tries valiantly to hold his breath. “D-duh-Dean?” he gasps. But Dean’s across the room, rummaging through his bag for something and doesn’t hear. A sharp breath inward makes Sam wince. He braces himself for the inevitable. “ehhh-ITTTTChhh!”

Dean’s head snaps up. “Sammy! You were supposed to call me if you felt a sneeze coming on.”

So much pain is rushing through Sam that he can’t speak for a moment. He grits his teeth against the pain then straightens up. “Tried to.”

“Try harder next time.”

Weak, tired, and in immense pain, Sam glares at his brother.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one who came down with a bad cold when I already had two broken ribs.”

“You said… you’d help me.”

Dean leaves his bag where it is, but he pulls out a bandana in a smooth movement as he walks away from it. He settles as carefully as possible onto the bed, leaning back against the pillows and headboard. “Okay.” He slips the bandana into Sam’s hand.

“I have… tissues…” Sam says, every word, every breath a pain.

“And you’ve got a sore, red nose.” Sam takes it. Then he slowly moves into Dean’s arms. He cries out a few times as sharp pains strike him. Every breath is torture and moving around is worse. But he settles in, lying back against Dean at an angle where Dean can wrap arms tightly around him to hold him firmly in place. Sam takes a short, quick, sudden breath. “Too tight?”

Sam shakes his head. Dean’s embraces are perfection. “No, I… I have…”

“You have to sneeze?” Dean guesses.

Sam nods. “Yeah, I… can feel… hehhh… hehhh… it coming…” He rubs his nose with the cloth, knowing it’s not going to do any good. “Can’t… hah-can’t s-stop snehhh… sneezing.”

“I know. Just let go.” Dean’s words are soft into Sam’s ear. And even though he knows it’s going to hurt, he trusts Dean to make it hurt less. That’s what Dean does.

“eh-heh-heh-hah-UHHH…” There’s a pause, where even Sam’s twitching nose isn’t entirely sure the sneeze is going to come out. But, of course, it does. “hehhhhKTSchmmphhh!”

Dean holds him. Sam shakes from the force the sneeze, but not much. His body tries to snap forward and rock back. But Dean’s too strong for it. There’s a sudden, small pain in his ribs from the deep breath, but that’s all. His body is immobilized thanks to Dean’s arms and legs which wrap around. There’s so much relief in the improved situation. And Sam’s got to admit how nice it feels, sneezing into Dean’s bandana instead of those tissues; with all the pain at his ribs, he hadn’t even noticed his nose getting sore. “That was so much better,” he breathes out, relaxing back against Dean.

He feels Dean’s breaths quicken at those words. His brother’s face is buried against Sam’s back, and so are other things. It’s an awkward position for Sam to do anything but be held. He can’t reach around and encourage Dean’s hard-on. He can’t even turn his head enough to kiss Dean, not that he’d want to risk spreading his cold.

But that doesn’t seem to matter to Dean. He doesn’t need to be touched or kissed. He just needs to know he’s helping.

“Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m-hahhh-gon… gonna-sn…”

Dean holds fast, bracing both of them. “I’ve got you.”

“Y-you ehhhhh-ehh! You do.” Sam feels Dean’s heart rate pick up speed. But he also feels Dean holding him. So he lets the sneeze come. “ehhh-HIHShhmmphhh! Ohh… sniff! Sniff! Dean… thank you. This sniff feels so good.”

“To me too,” Dean says, his words muffled into Sam’s shirt. His hands close around the fabric of Sam’s shirt.

Sam understands all too well. “When you come against me, try not to shake too much, all right?”

Dean’s head bobs in a nod. “Of course. You won’t feel a thing.”

“I wouldn’t mind feeling it a little.” Sam smiles to himself. As Dean gives a soft, needy grunt, Sam’s never been so happy to be both hurt and sick. He’s glad it happened now, and not a few years back before he realized the extent of Dean’s kink.