Chapter Two

Rain dripped down the Impala's windows in a steady stream, obscuring the burger joint the car was parked in front of. Sam sat in the front passenger's seat, the radio turned off, waiting silently for his brother to return from getting dinner.

Sam drew his jacket closer to his body and shivered even though he wasn't cold. He was exhausted, mentally and physically. All he wanted to do was sleep. He'd tried to get Dean to just keep driving but his brother insisted they get some food before checking into a motel and Sam had been too tired to argue.

Sighing, Sam ran a hand through his hair for a moment before reaching into the back pocket of his blue jeans and pulling out his wallet. With only the light from the yellow and red sign for the burger place to guide him, Sam found what he was looking for; a creased and folded, coffee-stained picture. He pulled the photograph from its pocket in the wallet and stared at the lovely face of his late girlfriend.

Months had passed since Jessica's death and the grief was still as fresh as though it had happened only yesterday. Sam didn't think he would ever feel relief from the pain he was feeling, didn't think he should ever feel any sense of release from this agony. It was his fault Jess was dead, anyway. He'd been having nightmares of her dying, burning up on the ceiling just like his mother had when he was a baby, for weeks before the actual fire. He should have said something, told her to stay with her parents for a while at least, until the nightmares went away, to keep her safe. But he hadn't. He hadn't believed the dreams meant anything, that they certainly weren't some sort of glimpse into the future. And Jess had been the one to pay the price for his foolishness.

Dean had been trying to get him to talk about Jessica's death but Sam refused. There was no way he could tell his brother about the dreams, about his guilt, how it was basically his fault his girlfriend was dead. Sam was afraid of how Dean would react if he told him he'd known Jess was going to die before she had.

Besides, Dean had other things to worry about right now. Their Dad had been missing for months and they had no idea where he was. Sure, he'd led them to a few cases but always seemed to vanish before they'd arrived. It felt like their father was always one step ahead of them, stringing them along. If Sam was honest with himself, he didn't really want to find John. They did not see eye-to-eye and hadn't done so for a very long time. But Sam stayed with his brother. He would support him while they searched for their Dad and when they found him; Sam would go back to Stanford and finish his law degree.

Carefully folding Jessica's photo, Sam tucked it back into his wallet and shoved his wallet into his pocket. Just as he was getting comfortable again, and wondering what was taking Dean so long, Sam felt his phone vibrate and trill out in his jacket pocket.

Fumbling around for a moment, Sam finally found the cell phone and glanced at the screen. He didn't recognize the number but decided to answer in case it was their father calling from a payphone or something.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sam Winchester?" a slightly effeminate male voice asked.

"Yes? Who is this?" Sam replied.

"It's Brett!" the voice replied happily.

Sam frowned, "Do I know you?"

The voice laughed, "Westville High School? In Washington? We were classmates for, what? Three weeks and then you disappeared."

Sam said nothing, wracking his brain to recall this young man who seemed to know him.

"I gave you that book of poetry," the voice said and Sam suddenly remembered.

"Brett! How are you? It's been ages!" Sam exclaimed.

"I'm doing really good, Sam," Brett replied, almost purring the words.

"How did you get this number?" Sam asked, glancing out the side window of the Impala at the burger place, hoping Dean would return soon.

"A friend of a friend of a friend," Brett replied with a chuckle, "You were a hard man to track down."

"What's up?" Sam asked, sure that Brett wasn't just calling for a quick hello.

"I was thinking," Brett began, "That if you were in the area, we could get together, reminisce about old times, you know?"

Sam chuckled this time, "Reminisce about old times? Didn't you just say I was at Westville High School for three weeks? It's not like we've been friends since Kindergarten or something."

"True," Brett replied, sounding hurt, "But I was asked to go on this retreat thing with a group of friends and everyone is bringing a plus one and I thought it would be the perfect time to catch up."

Sam frowned slightly. Surely Brett had other friends who would want to go with him?

"I don't know," Sam hesitated.

"It's just for a weekend," Brett added, "I can pick you up Friday night and have you back wherever you need to be by Sunday morning."

"Come on," Brett wheedled, "You'd be doing me a huge favour."

Sam looked up as Dean came through the door to the burger place and started towards the car.

"Can I think about it? I'll call you back," Sam told Brett as Dean opened the driver's side door.

"Don't wait too long," Brett said and ended the call.

Dean sat down and held out a greasy paper bag and a cup tray to Sam. Sam sat his phone of the dash before taking the items onto his lap.

"Who were you talking to?" Dean asked as he closed the car door and raked a hand through his damp hair.

"You remember Brett? When I went to Westville High in Washington?" Sam asked.

Dean smirked, "Your boyfriend, right?"

Sam scowled, "We were just friends."

"Sure," Dean replied sarcastically.

"Whatever," Sam muttered mutinously and stared out the side window.

"Yes, Sammy, I remember him," Dean said, "What about him?"

Sam didn't say anything for a moment.

"Oh come on, Sam, I was just kidding," Dean sighed, "You had a freaking girlfriend!"

Sam closed his eyes for a moment before turning back to Dean.

"Brett invited me to some sort of retreat thing he's doing. It's just a couple of days and they were encouraged to bring friends."

Sam waited for Dean's response. He was hoping that Dean would tell him not to go, that they were in the middle of searching for their Dad and didn't have any time to go hang out with friends they hadn't seen in years.

"That's nice that he was thinking of you," Dean replied as he searched the motels they passed for a VACANCY sign.

Sam shrugged.

"I think you should go," Dean told him.

"What? Seriously?" Sam stammered, astonished that his brother would agree with Brett's idea.

Dean nodded, "Why not? It might be fun, relaxing, and God knows you need some time to unwind after… after everything that's happened."

"But what about looking for Dad?" Sam asked, curious.

"He hasn't given us any clues about where he is recently," Dean reminded him, "So until we find something or he contacts us, we're stuck. Besides, you said you'd be away a couple of days, right? I'm sure Dad can wait two more days before we show up."

They pulled into the parking lot of a nearly empty motel and Dean parked in front of the office.

"Besides," Dean smiled, a devious look in his eye, "You might rekindle your relationship with Brett out in the woods."

"Dean!" Sam snapped angrily.

Dean just laughed and exited the vehicle.

Author's Note:

The action begins in the next chapter.

Please leave a review if you're enjoying this story.