Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor do I intend on making a profit from this work of fiction.

Author's note: Sorry if this feels a bit disjointed but my computer froze and I lost a chunk of this when the word program refused to recover the document.

Summary: Just a quick little completed (it's a miracle, I know) one-shot to commemorate the holiday.

On with the story…

This was one of those days when Sam felt every hour, every minute of his age—plus about fifty years. He'd been slammed into walls and taken a tumble over an end table and all he wanted to do was take a hot shower and sleep for maybe a century. As he stood on the porch of their latest case's house he closed his eyes and waited for Dean to appear.

"I hope you're not too tired," Dean said as he exited the house behind his brother. "I want you to help me get ready for tonight."

Sam cracked an eye open as he turned his head towards his brother.

"Tonight? What's tonight?"

"Date night, Sammy!" Dean announced gleefully and Sam wondered who he had a date with until Kira, the damsel-in-distress du jour, popped her head back out of the house they had just cleansed of a nasty poltergeist. His heart dropped to his feet.

"Bye, guys, and thanks again!" she called out.

"I'll see you later," Dean said with a wave, confirming Sam's suspicions. He frowned to himself as he made his way to the Impala, rationalizing that it was his own fault. Ever since he and Dean started this—whatever it was—he hadn't brought up the issue of whether or not he and Dean were strictly, well…he and Dean. So he resolved to just suck it up (or not, as the case looked like it was going to be) and let Dean have his date and then tomorrow he'd bring it up.

He just wished that Dean had chosen a day other than Valentine's Day to do this on. It's not like he mentioned to his brother that he had wanted to do anything for Valentine's Day anyway, he further rationalized to himself as he leaned his head against the window and tried not to fall asleep as Dean navigated the streets of the quiet little town out to the local mall. It's just that they hadn't been together all that long—since Thanksgiving, actually—and when they were on a case they sort of had this unspoken rule about not getting distracted by doing other stuff. And honestly it wasn't like it was unspoken it actually was unspoken, having been something they had never discussed. But Sam had thought that since they'd been on this case for a little less than a week combined with another case right before this one that lasted well over two weeks that maybe Dean would be missing him like he was missing Dean, and maybe he'd have wanted to release some pent up frustration tonight. After the shower and nap, obviously.

And apparently Dean did…just not with him.

St. Patrick's Day. They weren't celebrating Valentine's Day so maybe Sam should begin looking forward to St. Patrick's Day, knowing he'd have to exert little to no effort to convince Dean to go out? Plus Sam kind of thought St. Patrick's Day could be their holiday. At least, he was going to consider it as such, and was probably not going to say anything to his brother about it for fear of Dean not only saying he was crazy (which would be one of the nicer things Sam could imagine him saying) but also dismissing Sam's desire for such an event to happen completely out of hand. Sam decided that was what he would do and hoped the decision would help him hide his disappointment at not getting to celebrate with Dean tonight.

"So what are we doing here?" Sam asked as Dean negotiated the Impala into a parking space far out from any entrance to the mall. Sam wasn't surprised by this he just wanted to park a little bit closer, knowing he was going to feel all the pulled muscles as he took each step out.

"I want to try some new cologne," Dean announced.

Sam thought about what Dean had just told him and he frowned as he got out of the car.

"Cologne?" he repeated, surprised to see Dean's skin flush the lightest pink.

"Nothing wrong with me wanting to smell nice, right?" he responded, shrugging a shoulder and hunching down into his jacket slightly.

"No, nothing wrong," Sam told him, wincing slightly as his hip gave a particularly painful twinge.

"You okay?"

Of course Dean had noticed, Sam thought with a grin. Heaven forbid he gets away with being injured and have Dean remain oblivious.

"Just landed wrong one of the many times I fell inside Kira's house," Sam said, smile fading as he realized that saying her name had undoubtedly brought back her image to Dean's mind, which he definitely wasn't trying to do.

Dean nodded and held the door as they entered the department store. They made their way to the men's department and took a few minutes to look at the dress clothes although Sam wasn't sure Dean needed a new shirt, tie, or suit. He could definitely understand wanting to impress Kira but she hadn't struck him as the type to be overly concerned with appearances. Not to mention Kira was a potential one-night stand…right?

"Which one do you like?" Dean asked, dragging Sam out of his thoughts.

He looked at each option his brother was holding up. One was a green shirt and the other was blue. He gave them each their due consideration before he spotted a black shirt just to the left of where Dean was standing.

"The black one," he said and Dean looked to where he was pointing.

"Black? Really?"

Sam shrugged.

"I know that the main point of the shirt is for date night," he told him, averting his gaze, "but if you get black then you can clean it for other occasions easier than you could with one of the other colors. Plus…you look good in black."

He looked up to gauge Dean's reaction and was pleased to see him smiling.

"Right back at you, bro," Dean said with a wink, "maybe that's the color we should get for you, too, then?"

"Me?" Sam asked, not sure he'd heard right.

"Did you want a different color?" Dean replied and Sam could tell that not only was Dean serious but that his brother wasn't going to just let this go. So he took a moment to bring up his wardrobe in his mind, thinking over his options before voicing his selection.

"White, maybe?"

"Oh right, your last one got torn doing that thing with the thing in the swamp, I remember now," Dean said with a nod, already looking through the racks for a shirt in Sam's size.

Sam had to smile at that, as he had no doubt Dean indeed did remember what had happened, it was just the details weren't readily called to mind unless they were really important. As soon as Dean had finished finding them both shirts they went to look at ties. Although Sam insisted he didn't really need a new one Dean would not be deterred and so Sam found himself spinning the tie racks, idly glancing over the selection until one caught his eye. It was black with a tiny green diamond pattern sparsely adorning the face and he pulled it off the hook thinking it would look great on his brother.

"Find one you like?" Dean asked as he came over, picking up the end of the tie Sam was holding and looking it over. "I like it, Sammy."

"I was thinking of it for you, actually," Sam confessed and he would deny that his ears went red at the admission to his dying day.

"Yeah?" Dean said, smiling as his gaze went to Sam's ears but to his credit he didn't say anything, "You've got good taste, I think I'll get it."

Once they had paid for the clothes they ambled over to the fragrance department and stopped in front of a middle-aged woman who was cleaning the glass top of the counter in front of her.

"Hello," she said with that same smile every salesperson wore, "How can I help you gentlemen today?"

"I'm looking for a new cologne," Dean said.

"Well you've certainly come to the right place," she replied, smile becoming more genuine, "What are you wearing now?"

"Just aftershave," Dean confessed and Sam had to hold back his shock as he saw Dean's skin pinken slightly in embarrassment, "but I thought it was time I tried something else."

"Okay," the saleslady said, face becoming serious as she quickly took inventory of the bottles available to her. After a few minutes of silence she nodded to herself and pulled out six tester bottles, placing them one after the other on top of the glass. "If you've never had your own scent before then we need to start you with the basics. Namely, what sort of scents appeal to you. The bottles in front of you have a variety of scents so you smell them and let me know which ones you like and then we can go from there."

And for the next ten minutes or so Sam and Dean occupied themselves with spraying cologne on the tester strips the woman held out for them and then smelling them, creating piles of 'yes' and 'no.' And the process continued until they both had two scents they each liked, Dean insisting that Sam participate in the process as well of course. Once they had it narrowed down to those few the saleslady retrieved the actual bottles and set them in front of the brothers so they could see what they were called and make note of it.

"If you're serious about this I'd suggest dabbing some on yourself and then letting it set for about ten to fifteen minutes," she said, "Take a lap around the mall, don't think about it and then once you have smell them again. That way you'll get a truer sense of how they're going to smell with your particular pheromones affecting it."

"Let me get this straight," Dean said with a smile as they both followed her instructions and applied cologne to the inside of their wrists, "You're actually advocating people leaving?"

The saleslady laughed and nodded.

"I know it sounds counter-productive but it's not—not when you consider it from my perspective. If I have you do it my way then chances are you'll be happy with your purchase and therefore more likely to become a repeat customer."

Although he could see her reasoning Sam felt a bit guilty at the knowledge that they were really unlikely to become repeat customers, no matter the stellar customer service they might receive.

"So I guess we'll see you back here in a bit," Sam offered, picking up their clothes bags and waiting for Dean to lead the way.

The saleslady waved them off and Sam let himself breathe in deep as Dean walked by, it was only a few moments but Dean already smelled terrific. Plus by letting Dean go past Sam got to check out his ass, which he'd never turn down the chance to do. As they made their way out to the front of the store they passed the cosmetic section which consisted primarily of lip glosses. There were so many colors that the display caught Sam's eye for a moment. When Dean noticed the direction his brother's attention had wandered he smiled.

"Pick a shade," Dean said, "go ahead."

Sam looked at the smug grin on Dean's face and knew what his brother was thinking—that Sam would get embarrassed and want to leave the store. He looked at him for a moment, considering his options quickly. Dean wanted to play? Well that was just fine with Sam…he could play, too.

"Which one tastes the best?" he questioned, head tilted just slightly enough towards the salesgirl standing nearby so she would know it was to her the question was directed, but his eyes never left Dean's. His brother's smile froze for a moment before becoming even wider than it had been, and Sam couldn't help but return the gesture, pleased that he'd managed to surprise Dean.

Meanwhile the salesgirl sputtered for a moment before she recovered admirably, even going so far as to laugh.

"Well I guess that depends on your personal preferences. We have three different taste families in our glosses so the first step is to choose your family: so…would you rather taste mint, fruit, or something sweet like a cookie?"

"Sweet," Dean interjected before Sam got farther than opening his mouth to answer. "Definitely sweet. Want to lick my lips and think of you and sweet is definitely for sure the way to go."

And Sam blushed although he smiled at Dean, and the salesgirl chuckled as she watched their expressions play off one another.

"All right well we have vanilla frosting, cinnamon stick, bubble gum, cotton candy or caramel chocolate twist," she explained, "Which would you like to try first?"

"Vanilla frosting," Sam replied, "Definitely."

Dean just chuckled as he followed Sam to the counter where the girl was fishing out a couple of tiny plastic spatulas for them to apply the gloss. Sam felt like an idiot as he applied the sticky substance to his lips, even more so when Dean started to laugh.

"It does taste like frosting," he said, turning to smile at Sam, "but I'm not sure I could get used to this texture. How do you girls do it?" he finished with a grin at the salesgirl.

"Practice," she said with a grin of her own, "although at least as far as I'm concerned I rarely if ever forget I've got gloss on. It's just not something that disappears the way lipstick does."

"We should take a lap before we come back, make sure we're not just reacting to the scents in here," Dean suggested and Sam simply nodded, content to follow his brother's lead, especially since it meant they were spending more time together, a fact he was enjoying. Dean twisted back to the salesgirl. "Thanks for letting us try this."

She nodded and smiled at them both and they proceeded to walk out into the mall's interior, quickly getting swept up in the surprising number of shoppers out. Sam was happy to window shop, pointing out amusing displays to Dean or laughing at his brother's smartass comments about their fellow shoppers. They were a short distance away from the store they had begun their journey in when Dean suddenly stopped.

"Let's find a bathroom," he said and headed off toward the nearest sign without giving Sam a chance to do much else than trail after him.

Sam followed Dean into the bathroom, surprised when his brother took his arm in a gentle but firm grip and guided him into the handicap stall. He frowned and opened his mouth to say something, probably question why they were sharing a stall, but Dean put a finger to his lips and twisted the lock on the door. Sam fell silent, not knowing what they were waiting for until he heard the toilet flush in the next stall. Man, he must really be out of it to not have noticed there was someone in the next stall over. As soon as the hand dryer kicked off Dean undid the latch and took a quick peek outside, making sure there was no one else in there. Satisfied they were alone he redid the latch and turned to Sam, reaching out and pulling his surprised brother into his arms, catching him off guard.

Suddenly Sam understood why they were in there. And yeah, he might be a little slow on the uptake but now that he knew what the plan was he was totally behind it.

"I know you don't like the way the gloss feels, let me get that for you," Sam whispered, both hands coming up to frame Dean's face.

He took one quick kiss, licked his lips to get the taste of the gloss, before returning to softly suck on Dean's lips, working the plump flesh between his own lips in order to kiss his brother as thoroughly as possible.

Dean may be going out with Kira tonight but that didn't mean Sam was not going to do his damnedest to make sure his brother had some fresh memories of the two of them together that would hopefully remain in his conscious for a long time…at least throughout the date, if Sam was lucky.

"Now, now," Dean said, pulling back for a moment, "as much as I'm enjoying this—and I am enjoying this—we do have a reason for being in here."

And what possible reason could they have for being in there that didn't involve what they were currently doing? Sam couldn't figure it out, not that he was really interested, far more interested in getting back to the kissing thing.

"We're supposed to be seeing how the pheromones have affected us, remember?" he said and he pushed Sam back against the wall. Luckily he followed quickly and pressed himself against Sam or else there was going to be some serious complaining.

Sam watched as Dean picked up each of his hands, gently pushing back Sam's sleeves to expose his wrists before bending his head so he could press his nose to the skin.

"This one," Dean said, hovering over Sam's right arm and pausing to take in another deep breath, "this one is awesome. You smell fucking amazing."

Either it really had been a long time since Sam had gotten laid or else Dean really was just that erotic, making the simple action something that sent the blood singing through Sam's veins. He knew if he opened his mouth he was going to make some girly noise or maybe beg for Dean to do something so instead he just snaked his free arm around Dean's waist, hoping that remaining nonverbal would be alright.

And apparently it was as Dean's head lifted as he felt Sam step in closer and he pushed himself up just enough to kiss Sam, who happily tipped his own head down in order to encourage the movement.

"That gloss didn't taste too bad but it's got nothing on you, Sammy," Dean said as they pulled apart, allowing them to breathe for a moment before he moved his hands to Sam's ass. "Want to open you up right here…fuck, I wish I had something."

"Back pocket," Sam whispered, near ecstatic at the possibility of getting to engage in sex with Dean. And sure, he wasn't really thrilled with the locale but beggars couldn't be choosers and Sam was a step away from begging as it was.

"Oh really?" Dean said, going for taunting but coming out more breathlessly excited instead. "Hoping to get lucky, were you? Or just the Boy Scout in you?"

"Not hoping for a boy scout in me, just you," Sam said and Dean laughed.

"Well I just want to use my hand for a while, watch my fingers going in and out of you—that okay?"

Sam nodded. It wasn't like he wouldn't be able to come if Dean first wanted to play with him instead of fucking him. Plus he loved knowing that his brother was so enthralled with what they did together that he just wanted to watch, wanted to take in what he was doing, how Sam reacted, stuff like that. Not to mention it had just been too damn long since he was with his brother and any sexual contact between them was likely to result in him climaxing…and relatively quickly, too.

He turned around so Dean could reach his pocket more easily and quickly undid his pants, letting them pool to the floor once Dean had managed to retrieve the lube and grope Sam's ass a little while he was at it, of course. Sam smiled as he braced himself against the wall and waited for Dean to start the proceedings.

"We may need to put an ice pack on this," Dean murmured as he skimmed his fingers over Sam's hip and what was obviously becoming a rather prominent bruise.

Sam didn't say anything, knowing Dean was talking to himself as much as he was talking to him. He contented himself with the feeling of Dean's fingers on his skin and when he felt the coldness of lube against his hole he flinched and gasped, having missed Dean getting his other hand ready, apparently.

"Sorry, Sammy," Dean said as he began to work his finger inside Sam him, "it'll warm up soon…can't see how it won't what with you feeling so fucking hot inside like this."

Sam could only wait until Dean had managed to make it two fingers before he gave in and started to thrust back against the digits, wanting Dean to be able to only watch like he wanted but being unable to keep himself from responding anymore. He was so hard already and it wasn't going to be a marathon sex session, he knew that for sure.

"Yeah, that's good, Sammy," Dean praised, "fuck but I love watching you like this."

And Sam felt his desire ratchet up a bit at the words, and it was all too soon before he was warning Dean that he was about to come. When Dean's hand came around and gently wrapped around his dick Sam was lost and he shouted out uncontrollably, spraying the wall as he released. He let the cement blocks support his weight for a bit but then he turned and reached for Dean, letting his hand go to his brother's fly, wanting Dean to get off, too.

"No, Sam," Dean said, stilling his hand, "If I get off now I'll be too sleepy to drive."

Sam dropped his head to his chest. Was this a pity fuck from Dean who had somehow picked up on Sam's mood and was trying to make him feel better? Perhaps he'd gone a step further and had even guessed at the cause of Sam's lack of enthusiasm earlier and was really pitying him, knowing that he was leaving Sam alone when he didn't want to be alone at all?

"But…" Dean continued, "When we get back to the room I'm going to want a shower. Think maybe you'd be up to joining me?"

Sam nodded, spirits suddenly lifted. If Dean was in no hurry to get rid of him then Sam was going to take shameless advantage of that and stay with him until his brother actually stated in no uncertain terms that he wanted to leave.

"Okay. Why don't you head to the food court and get us a couple of pretzels to tide us over?" Dean suggested, tugging Sam in and kissing him before he could answer.

"Besides," he continued, letting his hand run down the length of Sam's torso, smiling wickedly when the motion made his brother moan softly and arch into the touch. "I know how much getting off makes you hungry."

"Only when it's really good," Sam assured him.

"And?" Dean questioned, leaning back slightly to look up at him with a smile.

"I'm starving," Sam whispered, pulling him back in for another kiss.

Once they parted Dean helped Sam rearrange his clothes so they both looked presentable before leaving the stall. As they walked out Sam considered what Dean had asked him to do.

"You want a salted or an unsalted pretzel?" Sam questioned and Dean smiled.

"Unsalted is fine."

"Look at you being all healthy," Sam said, pushing Dean up against the sink and angling his head down for another kiss, "Love when you do that."

Dean cracked up but gave in to Sam's silent demand for a kiss nonetheless and he was still smiling when they separated and both washed their hands.

"The sooner you get the pretzel the sooner we can get out of here and go back to the room," Dean said, returning to his brother's side for another kiss before pushing Sam away with a grin and a swat on the ass. "Now go and get my healthy choice."

But just when Sam was about to leave he realized he hadn't told Dean which cologne he preferred. And since Sam would maybe get to experience it more often than anybody else (he hoped) he decided to speak up.

"Um hey," he said, moving back over and mimicking Dean's actions from before, picking up his brother's arms and pushing back the sleeves so he could nose along the wrists and pick up the scents, "I never told you which one I liked."

"Lay it on me," Dean said, and Sam was pleased to note his voice sounded a bit huskier than it had a few moments ago.

Sam took his time although he already knew the answer, just enjoying the softness of his brother's skin.

"This one," he finally admitted, holding Dean's right arm up.

"Good to know," Dean said, "I'll get that one, then."

And Sam smiled and nodded, pleased that Dean was going to make the purchase based off of his recommendation. He walked alongside Dean until they had to part ways so Dean could go back into the department store.

"I'll meet you at the car, okay?" Dean said and Sam nodded and quickened his pace. It shouldn't take him too long to get the snacks and get back out to the Impala.

When he arrived back at the car he got in and handed Dean his pretzel, taking a quick glance around to see the bag with his brother's new cologne nowhere in sight. That was probably for the best, he decided, since its current invisibility meant Sam could pretend this whole outing was just for them alone. He happily munched on the last bit of his own pretzel as Dean drove them back to the motel room.

Once they were inside the room though Sam watched as Dean stripped down in preparation for their joint shower, and as he did he decided he was going to change things up, assuming it was alright with Dean, of course. Because usually Sam was more than happy to have Dean top. Dean topped the hell out of him actually and Sam loved every minute of it. But today Sam wanted something different.

"I want to fuck you. Can I be inside you, Dean?" Sam asked as they walked into the bathroom and he held his breath as he waited for his brother's response.

"Yeah, Sammy, whatever you want," Dean replied almost instantly, smiling as he stepped into the bathtub and turned on the faucets before stepping back to make room for Sam to join him.

"But I want to go slow," Sam persisted, knowing he was pushing his limits but wanting this to be exactly what he wanted since he didn't know if he'd ever get to have it again.

"Ok, we can do that," Dean assured him, "now come on and let's get clean so we can get all dirty again."

Of course the shower ended up being a rather slow affair, too, since Sam couldn't seem to keep his hands off of Dean, and his brother appeared to be suffering the same malady. So it wasn't until the water began to go cold that they reluctantly parted and got out of the tub, drying off before heading out to the beds. Once there Dean grinned at him.

"So how do you want me?" he asked, fluttering his eyelashes comically.

"Every way," Sam told him, smiling at his brother's antics, "but for now how about on your back for me so I can prep you?"

"Missionary style, eh?" Dean chuckled as he complied. "Should have known you'd want to stick with a classic."

Sam took a moment to just look at Dean all spread out on the bed for him before he retrieved the lube and joined him on the mattress. He took his time prepping Dean, not knowing and not having enough courage to ask how long it had been since Dean had done this. But Dean seemed to be enjoying himself, Sam was pleased to note, and in fact was making a good deal of noise during the process. Once Sam had deemed him prepped enough he sheathed himself quickly in latex before lining up and beginning a slow push in.

"Oh fuck," Dean whispered as he moved his legs apart just that little bit farther, "keep going, Sammy."

And Sam listened not stopping until he was buried as deep as he could get. He had to take some really deep breaths once he had come to rest, the feeling of being so close to his brother threatening to overwhelm him. He had to say something tomorrow about wanting them to be exclusive, he decided, because the thought of someone else getting to have Dean like this was too much to bear.

"Get out of your head," Dean suddenly piped up to say and Sam snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at him, "Come on and give it to me just like you want to."

Sam nodded and began to fuck Dean with long, slow strokes that felt so good but also made him long to pick up the pace. But he wanted to remember this, wanted them both to, and so he kept it slow and steady, surprised when he felt Dean come between them. Feeling and watching Dean so caught up in the pleasure made Sam lose it as well and before he was ready for it he found himself coming.

They both ended up on their sides facing each other after Sam had pulled out and taken care of the condom. He was pleased to simply bear witness to his brother's happiness, seeing the content smile on his face as he lay there with his eyes closed. But it only lasted a few more minutes before his brother suddenly got up and out of bed. Sam watched Dean get dressed in silence, feeling his heart plummet as he realized he was at the part of the night he'd been dreading all day. And it was still relatively early, too, just past 5:00 and Dean was already leaving.

"Gonna go get you some ice," Dean said with a smile as he grabbed the bucket and went to the door, "be back in a jiffy."

And Sam smiled, realizing he still had a bit of time to spend with Dean.

Dean came back in with the ice bucket and set about getting Sam a washcloth filled with it, which he placed on the bruised area of his brother's hip.

"That feel okay?" he questioned and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, feels good," Sam told him, shifting slightly so he could lay more comfortably on the bed with the added bulk.

"You just want to sleep until I get back?" Dean asked and Sam nodded.

That sounded like a great idea. He could sleep and then when he woke up Dean would be back from his date and he could pretend like the whole night never happened. Well at least the part where Dean left him alone so he could go on a date. Sam closed his eyes and barely registered the sound of the door opening and closing. Even more distantly was the sound of the Impala starting up. It seemed like only moments later when Dean was gently shaking him awake.

"What time is it?" Sam wondered sleepily and Dean smiled down at him from where he was sitting next to Sam on the bed.

"8:30," he answered.

"In the morning?" Sam wondered and Dean laughed.

"It sure felt like it but no, at night. They just took a little longer with the food than I thought they would, that's all."

Sam sat up and frowned until he saw the bags of food from what smelled like an Italian restaurant of some sort.

"You brought me food?"

"Well technically I brought us food."

"What about your date?"

"What about it?"

"Aren't you going to be late?"

"No, I don't think so since we never decided what time we were going to eat. Not to mention the fact that I've been on the date pretty much since we went to the mall."

"You have?"

Now it was Dean's turn to frown.

"Well, yeah. I mean I guess we could have actually gone out to the restaurant but I just figured that what with it being Valentine's Day and all it was going to be pretty rough to get a table at the last minute so I went ahead and just ordered take out. Plus you seemed so sleepy I thought it would be a good idea to let you get a nap in."

When Sam remained confused Dean's frown deepened.

"Was I wrong? Should I have tried to get us into a restaurant?"

"What about Kira?"

"Kira? What about her?"

"You said you were going to see her later."

"Oh, well yeah…I need to drop off that book she loaned us about her family history. I just haven't had a chance to copy the stuff into the journal before so—wait a minute," he broke off with a wide smile, "you thought I was going to go on a date with her tonight, didn't you?"

And Sam shrugged although really it was pointless to try and deny it.

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy," Dean chided, trying to sound chastising and failing spectacularly, "I thought you were my one and only Valentine?"

"Damn straight I am," Sam growled, reaching out and pulling Dean down on top of him, laying them both on the bed.

"So all day you helped me choose all that stuff thinking I was doing it for someone else," Dean mused as he arranged himself so he was comfortably sprawled over Sam's body, "Why would you do that?"

"I figured it was my fault for not mentioning something sooner and so I had no right to interfere, especially since you'd said you were going to see her. I thought it would be pretty selfish of me to try and convince you not to go out with her. I mean she seemed pretty nice and who am I to begrudge her a date with you, especially considering all the crap she just went through?"

"Man, Sammy," Dean said, sounding choked, "no wonder I'm crazy about you."

"Right back at you," Sam whispered, leaning in and kissing his brother gently for a moment before deciding they should go ahead and have sex again. So he put his hands on Dean's shirt and began to move it up and out of the way.

"The food's going to get cold," Dean warned even though he didn't actually take any steps to remove himself from Sam's embrace.

"But if we don't have sex now then we'll have to wait for a couple of hours so we don't get wicked heartburn," Sam countered, far more interested in getting naked.

"Ah, there's the romance that the day's been lacking—talk of heartburn."

"So you want romance, hmm?"

"It wouldn't hurt you to practice your wooing skills."

That made Sam laugh and shake his head before deciding that since Dean had gone to all the trouble of getting them food, had waited hours for it, actually, that he could wait a bit before ravishing him again. Plus if they ate he would have more stamina which could only be a good thing for his plans of staying in bed with Dean all night long.

So he got out of bed and reached a hand down to his brother who quirked an eyebrow but smiled and let himself be tugged up. As soon as they were seated at the small table with the food divided between them Sam grabbed Dean's ankle and settled his foot snugly up against his crotch, moaning as his brother flexed his toes against him.

"Goddamn it, Sammy," Dean murmured, hands gripping the table tightly.

"Told you I wanted sex," Sam reminded him, "Did you think I was kidding?"

"I taught you better than that," Dean said with a wink, "never joke about wanting to have sex with me."

Sam grinned and they dug into their food. He was pleased to discover the meal was really tasty, especially considering it had been in the Impala and then out on the table for a fair bit of time.

"Let's go get ice cream," Dean said as they finished throwing away the empty food containers.

"What?" Sam replied, unable to believe Dean wanted to do something which would prevent them from having sex in the near future. And sure, he himself had said they would need to wait a few hours after eating but that didn't mean they couldn't fool around in other ways while they waited for their food to digest, did it?

"I want to walk to the store and get some ice cream for dessert," Dean told him and okay what?

"You want to walk to the store?" Sam repeated.

Dean nodded.

"We need to digest some before we move on to any truly athletic feats," he said with a wicked grin, "so I figure a walk is just what the doctor ordered."

Sam shook his head but managed a smile for Dean anyway, knowing that he was going to cave in. He wasn't losing his brother to anyone else tonight so he figured he could afford to be generous and do whatever Dean wanted now that they were actually celebrating Valentine's Day like Sam had wished for. As he looked for his clothes his eyes passed over the bags of new things they had gotten previous.

"It's a shame we didn't get to use all that stuff we bought, I'm sorry I spoiled that part of the night," he told Dean.

"You didn't spoil it, there'll be opportunities to wear it at some point I'm sure."

But the opportunities in question would most likely be for the job, on a hunt. And Sam didn't want that to be the next time they wore them, let alone their first time.

"What about now?"

"Now?" Dean repeated and when Sam nodded he shook his head but smiled. "You want to get all dressed up to go for a walk to the convenience store to get ice cream?"

"Yeah, why not? It can be one of those crazy things we did, another story for us."

"Okay. Toss me the bag," Dean said as he shrugged out of his clothes.

Sam did as he was asked to and he went to find himself some boxer shorts while Dean pulled out their dress slacks and handed Sam's pair to him. Dean made quick work of removing their shirts from their bags and pulling out all of the pins, asking if Sam would get the ironing board set up for him.

And good goddamn was his brother sexy. Sam couldn't help but stare as he watched Dean iron their new shirts. Standing there barefoot wearing only dress slacks he was almost preternaturally attractive and Sam wondered just how pissed off his brother would be if he suddenly got jumped for another round.

"Keep looking at me like that and I don't think we're going to leave this room," Dean announced without looking at Sam. But the smile he wasn't even trying to hide gave away how he felt about Sam's gaze on him.

"Can't help it, you're fucking gorgeous," Sam admitted, taking a step closer to Dean, "Would you be horribly upset if I said I wasn't exactly in the mood for ice cream anymore?"

"Oh, well…" Dean trailed off and Sam was surprised to see disappointment in his brother's gaze.

"Wait a minute—you actually would be. Why?"

"It's no big deal I just thought…"

"Thought what?" Sam gently pried when it looked like Dean wasn't going to tell him.

"I thought maybe we could have a Valentine's Day tradition. And since we don't know where we're going to be on any given day let alone years in advance I thought maybe something like eating ice cream would be good because no matter where we are we're bound to be close to someplace that sells it—even if we have to rely on questionable items from a convenience store."

Years in advance…if Sam hadn't been in love with Dean before that speech would have surely turned the tide.

"I want ice cream," Sam stated with all the sincerity he could muster.

"But you just said—"

"Never mind what I said. I want ice cream—I want all of it," he said and he could see that Dean understood he was no longer talking about ice cream.

"Ok then, let's get on that," Dean said with a nod and a wide smile, "but first why don't you open your Valentine's Day present?"

"But you're not dressed," Sam said in amusement, "how can I unwrap you when you're not done getting dressed?"

Dean laughed, setting the iron back on its stand before going over to his duffle and retrieving a small wrapped box.

"I like the way you think," he told him as he handed him the box and Sam's mood dimmed as he took it.

"I didn't get you anything," he said lowly, feeling bad.

"Hey, we both got something, alright?" Dean said, coming over to pull Sam into his arms. "Maybe you should open it before you decide to pout the rest of the night, hmm?"

And Sam frowned at his brother's teasing but opened the package nonetheless, smile returning to his face when he saw it was a bottle of cologne.

"You got me some too?"

"Of course," Dean said, leaning up to receive the kiss Sam was clearly angling for, "we both got some, like I told you."

"Is it the one you liked?" Sam asked as he opened the box and pulled out the bottle.

"Yep," Dean assured him, "Gonna put it on?"

"Yeah, so long as you put yours on too."

Sam insisted on using his cell phone camera to take some pictures of Dean as they prepared to leave, making his brother laugh which only added to the need to get pictures of the event, as far as Sam was concerned.

The walk to the convenience store was spent recalling their childhood Valentine's Days, none of which were anything short of amusing for them both. When they walked into the gas station the bored clerk barely spared them a glance before going back to his hunting magazine. They jostled each other playfully as they stood in front of the meager frozen section, and Dean laughed at Sam's inability to choose between the scant selection of items there were.

"Go ahead and get more than one if you want," he finally said with a laugh, "they're not so big that you'll have trouble eating them, I imagine."

Sam stuck his tongue out at his brother but did finally choose two small things. They walked slowly on the way back, stopping at a playground to sit down and finish their desserts before continuing their walk. Once they had thrown away all the wrappers they headed back into a small section of woods near where they were staying. There was a y-shaped tree with a smooth trunk coming up and Sam grabbed Dean's hand and pulled him over to it, sitting down and tugging Dean into his lap.

"I want to open you up here, watch you fuck yourself nice and slow on my cock but somehow I don't think the bark would be conducive to that enjoyment," he whispered into Dean's ear, relishing in the breathy sigh that acknowledged his words.

"Yeah there are a lot of things I want to do with your ass, picking splinters out of it doesn't even come close to the top one hundred," Dean snickered.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to be thinking about it all the way back until we can get naked again."

"So anything in particular bringing out this topping thing in you tonight?" Dean wondered aloud and Sam lifted a shoulder.

"I guess it's a response to thinking you were leaving me all alone and then realizing you really weren't. Two different emotions but the same response, I guess."

Dean nodded and got up from Sam's lap, turning and offering his hand to his brother.

"I can't believe how close I came to never having this," Sam said as they began walking and he refused to drop Dean's hand, "Would you have ever said anything if I hadn't?"

"Probably not," Dean admitted, sighing when he saw Sam's frown. "When it comes to you I'm willing to take whatever I can get…I always have been."

And that hit Sam like a sucker punch, driving all the air from his lungs.

"You deserve better than that, Dean. You shouldn't accept less than what you deserve."

Dean shrugged.

"It's you, Sam."

And Sam knew that it now fell upon him to be worthy of Dean's devotion, that his brother would indeed always be willing to take whatever Sam wanted to give him, even if at times that wasn't what he deserved.

"I'm going to do right by you," he promised, "I swear I'll be who you ought to have, someone you can be proud to be with."

"I've never had a problem with that," Dean assured him, "I don't need you to be anyone other than who you are."

And while Sam appreciated Dean saying that—really appreciated it, actually—he knew that he couldn't just let it go. Not when doing so might cost him Dean someday. And if he didn't change his way of thinking and make himself more aware of how he was treating Dean then he could lose the best thing that he had ever been blessed with. That was a completely unacceptable outcome, and Sam promised that he would make Dean happy he was with him every day.

"You're thinking too much, Sam," Dean teased as they walked through the parking lot and came up on the Impala, "Less thinking, more kissing."

As Sam pushed Dean up against the Impala's door and proceeded to kiss him slow and sweet he vowed to be someone he'd be proud to have Dean claim as his own.

"The ties were an excellent idea," Sam praised him as he used his grip on it to keep Dean near.

"Mmm, I'm thinking there are all sorts of things these ties can do."

"Like restrain bad guys?" Sam teased.

"Not exactly bad guys I'm thinking of restraining."

"Who'd you have in mind, then?" Sam asked with a smile, leaning down to steal a kiss.

"You."

"Me? You think you'd want to tie me up, tie me down, tie me to the bed, and leave me helpless before you?"

"Hell yeah. I'd spend hours on you, just hours upon hours worshipping you."

And what Sam was going to say in response might possibly destroy everything they had. But he couldn't not say it, couldn't fall back on some joke, not when he was so serious about Dean. He needed to make sure Dean knew just how invested Sam was in this, in Dean, in them. So he let himself feel all those feelings he tried to hide away and made sure not to dampen them when he looked at Dean but instead let him see just what it was Sam held within his heart.

"You're the one who should be worshipped," Sam assured him in a whisper, "I want to spend hours on you, too. Want you to get just how much you have me."

Dean's expression had been amused—affectionate, even—but as soon as Sam looked at him and started talking his brother's face became stunned. And Sam couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing unfortunately so he was going to have to ask.

"You okay?" he questioned and Dean nodded but Sam could tell it was done absent-mindedly, not that his brother was really paying any attention to him.

"What is it?" he prodded, wanting Dean to confess one way or another.

"The way you're looking at me."

"Yeah? What way am I looking at you?" and Sam waited, held his breath to see if Dean was going to continue and tell him what had put that look upon his face.

"Like one day maybe you really actually will love me back." And he suddenly seemed to realize what he'd been saying for his eyes widened and he hastened to try and backpedal. "I mean like me."

But one look at Sam's face confirmed that his brother had in fact heard everything he'd said and Dean slapped his palm to his forehead and groaned.

"You're turning me into a total girl, making me say things like that to you."

"Oh Dean, I'm over the moon about you. Don't you know that? Can't you see it?"

"Over the moon?"

"In orbit, even."

"You're not just saying that, are you?"

And instead of getting mad Sam just felt saddened that Dean was so insecure about not just their relationship specifically but relationships in general.

"Not just saying it to have something to say, or to fill a silence or avoid one or because I'm afraid of what'll happen if I don't."

"Then why?" Dean whispered.

"Because when I look at you? All I can see is the lifetime we get to share together. And the way that makes me feel just fills me up to the point where it overflows and I can't do anything other than tell you."

"Yeah?" Dean questioned although the gentle smile on his face told Sam more than anything else that his brother not only believed him but was okay with how Sam felt.

And Sam nodded, letting his forehead come to rest against Dean's.

"Do you see how you're making me a mushy girl, too?" he murmured.

"I can see that. I'm actually pretty embarrassed for you, bro."

"So do you maybe want to show me how much you're not a girl? Or maybe you can do that after we take a nap?"

"You need a nap?" Dean wondered with a smile and Sam shook his head, his own smile coming out as well.

"Not me, you. I know how you're allergic to chick-flick moments and since we just had one of the biggest ones in the history of forever I figure you might be pretty drained and need to hibernate for a while to recover your tough guy exterior."

"Nah," Dean said, "feeling pretty good, actually. Maybe once we get inside I'll show you just how manly I'm feeling, hmm?"

"Yeah, anything you want."

And when Sam made to pull away Dean stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Maybe I can show you I meant what I said earlier, too?" Dean said softly and when Sam tilted his head in confusion he smiled, "when I said I was crazy about you."

"Absolutely," Sam told him, pulling on the tie to get Dean to follow him. "That's something I'm never going to object to. Now let's go before someone tries to steal you away from me."

"Never going to happen," Dean assured him, "you're pretty much stuck with me."

Sam's smile felt like it would split his face.

"Good, because you're never going to get rid of me, either," he promised as they came up to the door, "so let's go inside and see what we can come up with to do for the rest of the night."

"Oh I've got some ideas," Dean said as he followed him inside, "buckle up, Sammy, it's going to be a long night."

And that was all the talking there was for a very long time indeed.

~Finis~