"Sam. Sammy, come on, man, wake up."

Sam grunted incoherently and brought his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. "What? I'm awake, quit shaking me." He pushed Dean's hand off his shoulder and turned on his side to face him.

The look in his brother's eyes was that of a five-year-old on Christmas morning. "Get up," Dean enthusiastically commanded. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes."

Sam's face was a mixture of confused, annoyed, and a little amused. "Where're we going?"

Dean grinned. "Not telling." Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to Sam's, holding them there for a good five seconds or so before pulling back.

Sam stared up at him for a moment, horrified, before remembering that their father had left the night before and wouldn't be back for a couple of days. Once the realization set in that they were alone, he pulled Dean down for another, quicker kiss. And then it hit him. Their father was gone. Their father was gone, but they were leaving. That never happened. And wherever they were going, Dean was excited about it. Dean. Excited. That didn't happen, either. Sam sat up and asked, more firmly this time, "Dean. Where are we going?"

"I already said I'm not telling you, Sammy. Come on. Get dressed." Dean pulled a pair of swim-trunks out of Sam's bag and tossed them to him.

Sam caught them, and then blinked, his eyes falling on Dean. He hadn't noticed until now that his brother was clad in swimwear as well. "Swimming?" Sam asked, pulling back the blankets and placing his feet on the floor. Why wouldn't they just go downstairs if Dean wanted to swim? When Dad left, they would occasionally sneak into the motel pools and hide the evidence before he returned, but even that was rare.

Dean shrugged. "Something like that."

Sam eyed him suspiciously, but didn't argue, and quickly traded his boxers for the shorts that Dean had given him.

Dean told him to go get in the car while he grabbed some money from his wallet, and slid into the driver's seat next to him a couple of seconds later. He still seemed elated, and Sam couldn't help but smile. Whatever was making Dean so happy, he was glad. It wasn't something he got to see too often, and damn if he wasn't even more beautiful like this.

"Alright," Dean said. "Do you trust me?"

Sam met his gaze evenly, automatically responding, "Of course."

Dean leaned across Sam and opened the glove box, pulling out a dark blue bandana. Sam's mind immediately flashed to some pretty kinky sex that they'd had in the Impala a couple of weeks ago, in which Dean had tied his hands together with said bandana, and he blushed.

Dean let out a small chuckle. "Don't worry, Sammy. Not gonna tie you up... yet." He winked and then continued. "I'm gonna blindfold you."

Sam shot him a classic bitchface. "Seriously? Dude, can you not just tell me what's going on and, like, let me act surprised when we get there?"

Dean shook his head. "No can do. Sorry."

Sam sighed in defeat and allowed Dean to secure the bandana around his eyes.

About ten minutes into the drive, he felt Dean take his hand and squeeze.

"Are you okay?" he asked, twining his fingers more tightly through his brother's. Dean had been acting very out of character all morning, and, sure, Sam was glad to see him so upbeat for once, but he was still a little concerned.

"I'm awesome, Sammy," Dean replied, and Sam could tell from the tone of his voice that it was the truth. "Just excited. Mostly for you. Can't wait to see the look on your face."

Sam felt his heartbeat speed up a little. Mostly for you. So this was something that Dean was doing specifically for him. Should've guessed as much. Everything Dean did was for him.

Dean let go of his hand to turn on one of his infamous tapes, ACDC this time, and then grasped it again more tightly.

They didn't speak, both lost in thought (Sam wondering where they were going, Dean anxiously anticipating their arrival) and after thirty or so minutes, Sam felt the car slow. Dean took a right turn before taking a much sharper one, to the left this time (Sam guessed he had pulled into a parking space) and turning off the engine.

"Can I take this off now?" Sam asked, fingers already fumbling with the knot at the back of his blindfold.

Dean caught his hand. "Not yet. Get out of the car."

Sam silently cursed, but did as he was instructed, and, a moment later, felt Dean's hand in his again, guiding him forward. He could hear now, and it sounded like there were people everywhere, talking, laughing, screaming. The more they walked, the louder it all became.

Dean pulled him to a halt for a moment, and Sam heard him murmur a quick, "Thanks," to someone before picking up the pace again.

They walked a little further, and then Dean stopped him again, giving him a moment to take in his surroundings with all senses but sight. There were, without a doubt, tons of people, he could tell that much, and they all sounded extremely pleased. He thought he heard the rush of water, and the air smelled a lot like chlorine. He felt moisture on his skin, as if the atmosphere had suddenly become more humid, and when he swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, he could almost taste it. All of this just had him more confused than he'd been from the beginning, and he tilted his face to what he assumed was where Dean was standing.

"Yeah, Sammy," Dean said, answering his unspoken question. "You can take it off now."

Sam untied the bandana as quickly as he could, and when he finally saw the view around him, he gasped, standing completely, utterly, one-hundred-percent still.

Dean's eyes took in his expression, trying to make out exactly how he was feeling. "Well?"

Sam felt tears rapidly pooling in his eyes and didn't even bother trying to keep them from falling. Once he found the ability to move again, he turned, wrapped his arms around Dean's waist as tightly as he could, and, not caring that they were surrounded by thousands of people, kissed him, soft and sweet, letting his salty tears fall between their lips.

Dean pulled away first, gently caressing Sam's cheek. "Is this... Is something wrong? We can leave, I just thought-"

Sam cut him off. "No. God, no, Dean. This... You remembered?"

Dean looked down, a light blush forming on his cheeks. "'Course I remembered. You lit up like you'd won the damn lottery, Sam. Looked like you'd never seen anything you wanted more in your life. And then the way you went on about if for days... I knew I was gonna have to take you to one. Couldn't do it then, obviously, but there was no way in hell I was gonna let you miss out. Sorry I'm about a year late."

Sam thought back to last year when they'd driven past a water park in Indiana. He didn't know why it had been so appealing to him, exactly, but he'd never forgotten about it. He was sure that Dean had, though. He assumed it was part of his complex of wanting a normal life, and feeling like it was something that normal kids were supposed to do. Whatever the reason, Sam had been drawn to it. But he didn't think his fixation with it was anything that his brother would hold onto. This, whether Dean would ever realize it or not, was a huge deal to Sam. They never got to do things like this. Never got to do anything but hunt, and nothing but images of blood and guns were seared into Sam's memory. Which, he understood, was just how they lived. But he thought he could very possibly go crazy without a release once in a while. "Thank you, Dean," he whispered. "Thank you so much."

Dean wrapped his arms around Sam again, placing a tender kiss on his forehead, which had begun taking slightly more effort for him to reach after six or so months ago, around when Sam had turned sixteen. "You're welcome, Sammy," he replied. "I love you."

Sam raised his head, which had been resting in the crook of Dean's neck, and his eyes were filled with astonishment. He knew Dean loved him; it was a fact of life, but unless they were in the middle of some really hardcore sex or there was an eminent fear that one of them was about to die, he didn't say it. "I... I love you, too, Dean."

"I know I don't tell you enough. But I do. So much. And when I get to do shit like this for you..." He paused. "It makes me so damn happy to see you happy, Sam."

Sam blinked rapidly, entirely speechless and fighting not to cry again.

Dean squeezed him painfully hard for about half a second and stepped away, still not letting go of his hand. "Come on. This is pointless if the whole day's just a big chick-flick moment. We did come here for a reason."

Sam nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "Yeah, okay. Let's go."

Dean allowed himself to be led around the park by his overly-enthusiastic little brother, letting Sam's thrill wash over him in waves. It felt so fucking good to just take Sam out and do something that would actually be fun for both of them, especially in a place as liberal as Massachusetts, where, as long as no one knew who they were, Dean could openly show Sam as much affection as he wanted.

Sam pulled him to a halt in front of a massively tall set of steps that, when Dean looked up, he saw was attached to a water slide. He laughed. "Wanna?"

Sam nodded his head rapidly and began ascending the stairs, dragging Dean up behind him.

Once they reached the top, they were instructed to seat themselves on light blue inner tubes at the mouth of the slide. Dean let Sam go first, and pushed him off, watching as he kicked the side of the slide to spin himself in circles as he quickly traveled downward. Dean grinned.

"That your boyfriend?"

The sound of the lifeguard's voice startled Dean, and he jumped a little before looking up at her from his position on the ground and responding, "Yeah, he is."

She smiled and nodded her head once. "I could tell by the way you looked at him. He's a cutie."

Dean's grin grew wider, and he felt his chest swell a little with pride. "Thanks," he said, before bracing one hand against the concrete behind him and giving it a light shove to gain momentum.

In the next moment, he was splashing into a pool of cool water at the bottom of the slide, and Sam, already standing outside, offered his hand to help Dean up. Dean took it and Sam pulled him out of the water, eyes grazing his stomach and chest.

"What?" Dean asked, and then, sure to be quiet enough so that only Sam could hear him, he added, "Turn you on when I'm all wet, baby boy?"

Sam shivered despite the warm summer air. "Shut up."

Dean chuckled and gave Sam a playful swat on the ass before twining their fingers together again.

Sam began smiling like an idiot, and Dean raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Sam shook his head and blushed, automatically casting his eyes downward.

Dean stopped him. "Hey. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"You'll make fun of me. It's just more chick-flick crap, Dean. Nothing."

Dean placed a finger under Sam's chin, lifting his face. "I'd never make fun of you for telling me how you feel, Sam."

Sam sighed, but met Dean's eyes after a moment. "I like it when you can hold my hand and hug me and kiss me and stuff in public. It... I dunno, I guess it just feels good for people to know. Even if they don't really know. Ya know?"

Dean knew exactly, and placed his hand on the back of Sam's neck to pull him down for a soft, quick kiss. "I understand, Sammy."

When Sam pulled away, the love in his eyes was enough to actually make Dean's knees weak. They stood still for a few more seconds, just taking one another in, before Sam broke contact and seemed to suddenly remember where they were. "Okay, so there was this thing I saw when we first came in, and it was like a roller coaster, but with water. Can we go?"

Dean ran his fingers through Sam's hair, already starting to dry from the sun. "Absolutely. Anything you wanna do."

Sam beamed and turned toward the direction of the entrance with Dean on his heels.

After at least a solid three hours and having gone down every slide and ridden everything in the entire park at least once, if not more, on Sam's insistence, Sam finally seemed to be wearing down.

"Tired, sweetheart?" Dean asked, wrapping an arm securely around Sam's waist and rubbing his thumb in a small circle.

Sam nodded leaning his head against Dean's shoulder. "But I don't want to leave yet."

"Then we don't have to," Dean assured him, turning his face to press a gentle kiss to the top of Sam's head. "Just tell me when you're ready."

Sam began to respond, but stopped, his eyes fixated on something to his right.

Dean followed his gaze, which fell on a sign bearing the words, "Lazy River."

"We haven't been here yet, have we?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. "Nope. Don't think so."

"Well, I dunno how we missed it, but I said we were going on every ride before today was over. I wasn't joking. Come on."

Dean sighed, but smiled, once again letting Sam take the lead.
Not many other people were on the ride at all, and the boys ended up with a raft all to themselves. Once they'd begun slowly floating down the "river" Sam leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Dean dipped his fingers into the water and swirled them around for a moment before bringing his hand back up and stroking Sam's hair.

Sam let out a small, contented sound. "Feels good. Kinda like when you wash my hair in the shower."

Dean said nothing, just leaned over and brushed Sam's cheek with his lips.

They remained silent for a while, just enjoying being in each other's presence, and then the words fell out of Dean's mouth without his consent or prior knowledge that they were going to do so. "So, Sammy, I've been thinking-" Sam opened his eyes, which instantly locked onto Dean's, and that was usually enough to stop him from saying something stupid, but it didn't. Not this time. He just kept right on going. "-and, I mean, I know we can't do it legally or anything since we're brothers and all, but we could, uh, we could do a marriage ritual in a couple years, you know, after you're eighteen, if that's something you'd be into." It took Dean a moment to realize what he'd just said, but when he did, his face flushed the deepest shade of red Sam had ever seen it. "I... shit, Sam, I'm sorry, I wasn't even-"

Sam kissed him. Hard and soft, urgent and patient, desperate and slow, composed and unhinged, and completely unyielding to Dean. It was like the first time all over again.

When Dean tasted tears, he wasn't sure if they were his or Sam's, but decided he didn't really care when Sam whispered an almost inaudible, "Yes, Dean. God, yes," against his lips.

Dean held Sam as closely as humanly possible without actually being inside him, and they sobbed and laughed and kissed until the ride ended, and then even a little more after it was over.

As they made their way back to the Impala, they stopped at a small ice-cream stand just inside the entrance gate, and Dean bought two cones: chocolate for himself and strawberry for Sam.

Once they were inside the car, Sam placed his left hand on Dean's thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Best day of my life," he stated honestly.

Dean looked over at him, a smile still playing on the corners of his mouth. "Mine, too. Believe me."

Sam leaned across the seat and pressed his ice-cream chilled lips to Dean's. "I love you, Dean."

"I love you, Sammy," Dean replied, brushing Sam's bangs out of his eyes. "More than you'll ever know."