Chapter One:

It was five minutes past midnight. Outside, everything under the sky that is unsheltered by rooftops and the warm cozy feel of family is drenched by the torrential rain that has blanketed the plains of Lincoln for days. It has been raining non-stop; all day and all night. The occasional drizzling in the morning; while at night---the heavier version takes over; and of course, coupled with the chorus of loud thunder and lightning on the side.

And for the same length of time the weather has been shifting the past days, hearing the sound of scrambling footsteps always following a soft whimper coming from two separate bedrooms in this particular house in Dandelions Street, Lincoln Plains, Lincoln has been a normal occurrence. For both John and Mary Winchester, hearing that soft whimper, then bedroom doors open and close, followed by the scrambling of footsteps outside in the hallways is no cause for alarm on their part.

They both know that all the noise they have been hearing for the past days is just Dean, their eldest, as he is offering solace to the younger; namely Sam, the baby brother; since the latter is terrified of thunderstorms. And since it has been raining for ages in the Plains, the former has been the ever watchful big brother to the younger; being there to offer comfort in the form of having his presence around whenever the thunder gets too loud for Sam's comfort. To wit, both John and Mary can't help but fondly muse at this spectacle and not to mention bask in it proudly for, since they can see just how much their boy has grown up responsibility-wise with regards to a person besides himself. Not to say that the boy has been selfish and irresponsible to others; but having been an only child--he didn't have the chance to be responsible for other people before--apart from him being careful with his mom; that was until Sam came.

Mary cuddles closer to her husband; John in response hugs her tighter to his side. And then they both give out sleepy but warm happy smiles on their respective faces. Seconds later and they both go back to sleep.

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The soft whimper came again. But this time, a warm comforting hand on his arm hampers the whimper from gunning for a thirdsy. Fluttering eyelids gave way to brown eyes as they parted open altogether. A relieved sigh came next from the owner of said brown pair as he was looking up at the green pair that serves as its counterpart.

"Dean...I woke you up again. I'm sorry..."

"Nah, don't worry about it, kiddo." came the spunky response from Dean, hair standing on his head from the position he was sleeping in awhile ago, "Besides, I needed to get up to get a glass of water anyways. You want me to get you water too, Sam?" he asks while taking a spot on the kid's bed.

"Dean..." Sam starts to say as he was sitting up and swinging his legs to the side of the bed next to the older boy. "...it's been days I've been doing this to you. And I just know that mom and dad are---I know I wake them up too. I'm really sorry?"

"Oh those two?" Dean snaps in reference to their folks, "Sammy---they're tubs of disgusting lard when it rains and pours like this! Dude, they wouldn't even wake up to a fire alarm ringing in front of their faces that it's crazy beyond words! Looking at them when they sleep through all the thunder and lightning like this? One word, disgusting! So don't you worry about them, alright?" he says, nudging the kid lightly on the side with his elbow who was softly chuckling at the brief description involving lard.

The kid gives him a sidelong wary glance after, "Really? I didn't wake them? I haven't been waking them up this whole time?"

"Trust me."

"What about you though?" Sam added, "I do wake you up, Dean. And it's been days. I mean, I tried not to wake you earlier---I just...I just can't help it, Dean."

"Sammy, like I said I needed to---"

A loud thunder clap interrupted their conversation just then; it broke Dean's heart when he actually witnessed just how terrified the younger boy is of the thunder. Sam turned into nothing but a shivering curled up ball next to him.

'Sammy...' Dean gasps in his head; the next thing was his arm opens up as he grabs the kid to his side. "I'm right here, kiddo. I'm right here."

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14-year old Sam Winchester is sitting at the porch steps watching the first ray of the sun in days beaming through the leaves of the tree in front of their house. He smiles appreciatively to this. His heart is happy. For days he has been feeling bad the longest whenever he wakes up to Dean falling asleep on the swivel stool beside his bed; the older boy watching and waiting for him--offering comfort because of his fright of thunder. When he saw the sunshine when he came out of the house this morning, it made him happy; he knows he won't be bothering Dean any longer.

It's been 6 months. 6 months that he has been officially a Winchester. No longer of Peter and Celine Winchester's little boy but John and Mary's; no longer the middle child to his big brother and little sister, he's only Dean's baby brother now.

And he can't be any prouder and grateful for that.

The whole time he was recuperating from the tumor in his head---he was never alone; his new and improved family was by his side. John, Mary and most especially Dean; they were there. Always. Every second of every day. Their presence contributed enormously to help make him get better faster.

It may have started out as a hopeless case, but according to the team of doctors he was under, they may be experts in their field---knowledgeable even, but when patients of hopeless cases bounce back as opposed to their earlier diagnosis, they leave it up to higher powers. THAT they have no control over --- neither would they question it -- ever.

Sam's case, had been one of them. Thinking about it, made Sam smile. Again.

The door opens, making the kid look over his shoulder at the identity of the newcomer. He was thinking it would be their dad leaving for work; only it wasn't. It was a yawning big brother.

"What are you doing up early, dude?" Dean starts, finding a spot on the steps next to the kid. "Did you even get a wink of sleep, Sam?"

"I did, Dean. Thanks to you." Sam replies. Then he flinches while looking at his big brother, "Did you?"

"Sam, I'm good." Dean says assuredly, ruffling the younger boy's fully grown hair playfully. "If you're worried about me not getting any sleep again--like you've been doing for the past week---don't, okay? Cause I am really good."

Three beats later, Sam turns to Dean, "Thanks, Dean." he says.

"You're welcome, kiddo."Dean replies. "So---the lady's enslaving big brother for some groceries in a few. Wanna come with?"

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Sam, grocery list on hand, is tagging along with Dean who is pushing the cart next to him. The second they came in the grocery store earlier, their presence have not been unfelt. Teen aged girls in close proximity of wherever the boys head off to within the confines of the vicinity---their eyes never left Dean, not even for a second---and in relation to the kid being doted around by the older boy, Sam too gets attention from them.

Dean doesn't seem to be bothered by this being use to the attention; he is carrying on with the errand like normal. Sam though feels like he's under the microscope as he was walking alongside his big brother. It wasn't long before Dean noticed Sam being all quiet next to him; he catches him looking all pale. When he realized what the cause of such reaction was, he could only smile.

"Aw, kiddo..." he says with an amused look on his face. Sam looks up and saw Dean looking. He pouts.

"What?" he muffles.

"Dude, that is really lame, kiddo!" Dean laughs at the reaction from the kid--he flicks him in the nose playfully before he resumes walking ahead with the cart in front of him. Sam frowns even more to this, but only for a second. But after awhile---his brow smoothens out and he jogs after the older boy.

"Dean, can we get these?" Sam turns to Dean after picking up a box of cereals in his hand. "I hear it's lucky!" he says in reference to the cereal brand.

"Tell you what, anything you want to get for us, Sam---all aboard!" Dean says. The look on his baby brother's face after he said this to him, made the older boy's heart smile the widest. And as he suggested, Sam did just that. Dean never missed a second watching the kid grab items off the rack and stuffing them into the cart. He knows their mom's gonna be grill him for it later----buying junk food, but the look on Sam's face made him shoot the thought of concern right out. He sees Sam coming back with a dingdong box and putting it at the very top of the items in the cart. The older boy's eyes went from the things inside the cart to Sam. "That it? You sure? How about the lil pretty chick over there looking at you since we came in earlier?" he juts Sam's towards the direction over his shoulder.

Sam, after turning to Dean again, leans in and whispers. "She's not for sale, Dean."

That made Dean laugh heartily. He grabs Sam around the shoulder with his free arm as they both start towards the direction of the cash register; with Sam pushing the cart this time around.