Back to Stanford

"Jesus, Sam, give it a rest," Dean groaned, collapsing down onto the seat, but facing Sam, his expression irritated, "You lost your girl, I get that. But moping isn't going to bring her back."

Dean knew he was going to regret saying that, but he couldn't help but find Sam's depressed emo thing annoying as hell. Hadn't he got it out of his system last night? Probably not, by the looks of it. It was just weird, how different Sam's coping mechanisms had been to dad's when their mom had gone. From what he could remember their dad's included consuming vast quantities of alcohol and a whole lot of demon hunting.

Sam didn't expect Dean to understand - it wasn't like he had lost anyone he had been with that long. But he could at least stop bringing it up straight to the point.

He started to eat, wondering if maybe he could figure out why it cost so damn much for so little. He couldn't. He knew that Dean wasn't going to stop much when they were back on the road, though, so he ate it anyway.

Dean started eating as well, though he felt he couldn't enjoy the pie to the full extent that he normally would. He could feel the guilt pooling in the bottom of his stomach, sucking away any pie derived pleasure. He had gone to far there with Sam.

"Sorry," he apologised, after a few minutes silence. He looked at the floor awkwardly, "I crossed the line there." He barely registered that he was fidgeting with the spork. He sighed, leaning back in his chair. Things would be so much simpler if this hadn't happened.

((haha now whos makin' typos. TOO with 2 o's... jerk))

Sam took a sip of his coffee. He was too tried to hold a grudge now. He couldn't really hold one against anyone... (unless they were demonic or something) especially not Dean. Why bother, anyway? When the demon could so easily come after him...

His other hand on his lap tightened into a fist. "I don't care, man." he said truthfully. He didn't.

((you're such a grammar nazi. and it's 'tired' not 'tried', bitch.))

Dean nodded, unsure whether he believed Sam or not, but more then happy to accept his answer. He took another bite of his pie, eyeing Sam. The kid really needed a good nights sleep, Dean could see the bags under his eyes. He'd had too many late nights, and nightmare interrupted sleep. Combined they didn't make for a good nights sleep.

"So, how long do you planning on hanging around this place?" Dean asked cautiously, trying to gauge what they were going to do from here. Did Sam not want to see his old college friends? Wait for details on Jess's inevitable funeral?

((erm. yes, dean. overuse of the word sleep there.))

Sam gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "We've gotta get on the road and find dad. Starting with Forks." He really didn't understand what Dean was getting at. What would be the point in hanging around in Stanford when they had work to do? This would just be wasting time... time that their dad might not even have. What would he say if he knew him and Dean were 'hanging around'?

((3 times doesn't count as an overuse of the word, quit looking for mistakes that aren't there.))

Dean hesitated for a moment, looking at Sam with uncertainty, "So you don't want to hang round for her funeral?" He would have thought Sam would that at least, but apparently not. He was worried about their dad, for sure, but for all they knew he could be fine, and Sam would have missed the funeral for nothing.

He finished off the pie, and pushed it to the side. Why did all of these things have to happen at once? His father's disappearance, Sam's girlfriends death.

Sam said nothing. In truth, he hadn't even thought about the funeral. He wasn't even sure when it would be... it wasn't like they would have a body... It would be kind of weird. But no, Dean was right. They probably should stay for the funeral.

"Yeah." he said after a few moments. "I hadn't thought about it."

Dean looked away from Sam, out of the window. They would have to stay for the funeral, it seemed only right that Sam should get some closure from after her death. It was only right. They'd definitely have to get a new motel though. He wasn't staying at the one with the m&ms on the bed, and the place probably stunk of smoke after their use of it the other day. They'd have to find another one in the area.

"You should go," Dean commented after a while, glancing briefly back up at Sam, and then away again, "We can afford to put dad on hold for a bit." He wasn't all that sure if they could, but they didn't have a choice, so their dad would have to wait possibly another couple of weeks.

Sam was looking away from Dean and nodded. He knew that neither of them wanted to put off finding their dad, but this was something Sam had to do. He couldn't just put it behind him - not yet. And besides, the funeral would probably be in a few days. Then he could really say his goodbyes to everyone and tell them he was going away on a road trip...

He groaned inwardly. This was going to be annoying.

Looked like they would be hanging around the area for a bit then. Dean had no idea what they were supposed to do, beyond finding some clothes for Sam. There was nothing to do here, and probably nothing to hunt if whatever it was that killed Jess was out of the area. This was going to be tons of fun for them both.

Dean frowned. As soon as Sam was finished with his muffin, or whatever it was he got they would have to think of something to do till the funeral, Dean didn't fancy sitting around while Sam moped.

Sam finished the muffin and shoved the packaging into the paper bag before standing up with the coffee in one hand and the bag in the other.

"So there's this place where I can get a new laptop." he mused aloud. "A few blocks away."

Dean raised his eyebrows. A new laptop? Trust Sam to think of that first before considering the fact that he had no clothes or anything. Not to mention how expensive laptops were, and running credit card scams were hardly easy.

"A laptop?" he asked, looking at Sam with a questioning smirk. He pushed the remainder of his food packaging to the middle of the table, and stood up, "Come on, geek boy, to the laptop store it is."

Sam smiled. "Glad to see you're so keen to spend money on me." Dean probably hadn't realised that he would be the one who had to pay for it - whether it was stolen money or not.

Sam actually threw his trash away, unsurprised that Dean had just left his. He kept the unfinished coffee, though.

Dean's eyes widened at the implication that he'd just been landed with buying Sam a laptop. Manipulative asshole. Still, it wasn't like Sam had any money left, or any to spare at least, after his apartment went up in flames, so he could hardly hold it against him. But damn, that kid had an annoyingly expensive thing for electronic gadgets. Knowing him he'd probably try and get Dean to pay for the most expensive laptop there.

"Bitch," he grumbled under his breath, following Sam out of the door, leaving his trash where it was.

"Jerk." Sam replied, heading out, already being able to clear his mind of the dark thoughts and think about what he needed - laptop, clothes, cell phone charger...

That reminded him. He retrieved his cell from his pocket and turned it back on. Immediately he was bombarded with messages and miss calls. Awesome.

Dean walked after Sam, looking out for the computer store. Of course getting a laptop would come before clothes and everything else. Typical Sam.

He noticed Sam get out his cell, and he was tempted to ask if any of his friends had any news on what was going on, but they wouldn't. He wondered if Sam would want to meet up with any of them.

Sam replied to one of them, knowing that this was someone who would tell everyone to leave him alone. He really, really didn't want to talk to anyone about it, let alone think about it.

'Are you okay?' said one of the texts. Sam didn't even know. Was he? He didn't feel like it...

Dean could see what looked like the computer store that Sam was talking about earlier coming up. He elbowed Sam, who was still on his cell, and pointed to the shop ahead.

"That the one you want to go into?" he asked, wondering how much this was going to cost him. He hoped that it wouldn't max out his credit card.

Sam glanced up. "Oh, right." he said. He knew that there were two stores, for some reason put next to each other. Dean was looking at the one that looked a lot cheaper, with bulkier tech stuff in the window than the other one, with the slimmer, modern laptops and computers.

Sam couldn't help but smile to himself as he headed over to the second one, pocketing his cell phone.

Dean followed Sam into the more expensive looking place reluctantly, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Trust Sam. He hoped that Sam wouldn't pick something too expensive, not that there looked to be anything of a reasonable price tag as they walked into the store.

He frowned, half glaring at the side of Sam's head. Sam could pay for his own damn laptop if he broke or lost the one they were about to get.

Sam felt a little guilty about this, since he knew Dean wasn't going to complain and risk another bout of 'emo Sam'. "Don't worry." he said to Dean. "I can make this last three years if I have to." Well, that would probably make Dean go crazy, but three years was a long time to have a computer without it dying! It was to Sam anyway...

"Three years?!" Seriously? Was that all these modern computers lasted for? He realized he'd just shouted at Sam, and was getting some weird looks. His eyes flickered to the ground, then back up at his brother.

"Sounds great, Sam," he said, a little quieter this time, forcing a smile onto his face. He probably shouldn't of had that momentary outburst at Sam, but the kid was really pushing it. It seemed ridiculous to him that something with such a large price tag should have such a short shelf life. He'd had the Impala for years without ever thinking of replacing it...

Sam felt pretty bad now. It would be fine for him to spend his own fricking money anyway. "Dude, I was just screwing with you." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can pay for this." Damn it. He was just messing up... again.

Dean shook his head, feeling guilty for making Sam bad, "It's fine, man, I'll pay for it." He smiled up at him tentatively, and then wiped it off. This was quickly turning into a bit of a chick flick moment, and he didn't do those.

"Now quit being such a girl and go choose one," Dean gave Sam a light shove towards the laptop aisle, wanting to get this over and done with.