The seconds on the clock tick by at the speed of molasses Sam thought. He was drumming his fingers on his desk and waiting impatiently for the ringing of the school bell to pierce the sound of his teacher's geometry notes.

Just as Sam was slipping into another day dream the blaring alarm rang and everyone got out of their seats and started to pack. It was Friday and you could hear weekend plans being made around the room. However, Sam was as quiet as a mouse. His desk was in the back of the class so he didn't usually talk to anyone. He didn't see the use of it. All he wanted was to go home and read while Dean makes burgers. He packed his things and headed straight for the door. Just before he passed the front row of desks right by the exit, he heard his name amongst the chatter.

"Sam! Sam wait!" It was a girl with blonde hair and probably the most enticing mix of blue and grey eyes. A few seconds passed before Sam realized that this beautiful girl standing in front of him was trying to actually talk with him.

"Uhm, hi. It's.. Jessica, right?" Sam hadn't gotten too familiar with his classmate's names but this girl raised her hand a lot and was always right. Sam subconsciously remembered her name ever since her first correct answer. "Can I help you with something or do anything for you or.. Uhhm," What would Dean do Sam thought, "what's up?"

"I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to grab a bite to eat sometime, maybe?" Her words came across as confident and fluid until a slight pause before the word "maybe" as if she finally realized what her mouth was saying. "No, no, wait. That sounded weird. Let me try again," she said while looking down and smiling. Sam noticed her blush slightly, but didn't say anything about it.

He laughed, "No, no. Not at all. Oh uhm I meant it didn't sound weird at all. Not that I was saying no to going out with you. Uhm, I meant, going out to eat.. with you." He was rambling like an idiot. He could hear Dean's voice in his subconscious telling him to slow it down and take a breath. "Do you have a cell phone? We can arrange something." Good. That was calm and cool.

Jessica's eyes lit up and she smiled while watching Sam pull out a pen from his backpack. She recited her number and the pen scribbled away on his palm. "I'll wait for your call.. Or text. Whatever you feel like," Jessica said nervously. She felt a weight in her stomach and the back of her neck getting warm.

"Yeah, I will. Alright well, see you soon, Jessica." Sam flashed a smile.

"By the way, you can call me Jess, if you want."

"Jess." With one last wave Sam finally headed out the door. His eyes were fixed on the tiled floor as he walked down the hall and recited the entire conversation in his head. Did that really just happen?

Suddenly, he took one step too many and smashed directly into someone's back. A junior. Sam's seen him around before. Spiked hair, ear pierced. He didn't know his name, and still didn't want to find out. Sam wasn't that big (yet) and definitely couldn't do enough to hurt the guy, but there was enough force to push the heavier boy off his balance for a second.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." With that, Sam attempted to walk around him and go on his way.

"You think you can just walk away after shoving me, kid?" He caught Sam by the back of his shirt and yanked him around so that they were face to face. "You've got some nerve for a freshman."

"Look, I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."

"Yeah yeah save it, tiny. I'm sure my fist doesn't mean to run your jaw either." Sam really wasn't afraid. Dean's been training him in his self defense and Sam knew what to expect.

The taller, stalkier boy raised his fist near his ear. Sam was ready to deflect. The fist started to swing towards Sam's face. With perfect timing and placement, Sam's left forearm caught the punch by the wrist and forced it towards Sam's left side. Without a second to spare, Sam's right fist made a blow to the junior's ribcage. Seeing that his attacker was stunned and unable to retaliate, he made a run for it.

He flew through the crowds of people and burst out the front doors.

"Hey Sammy, where've you been? You're usually the first one out here!" It was Dean, casually sitting at the bottom of the stairs facing the parking lot. Castiel was sitting to his left and they were holding hands. Sam usually took this opportunity to say something to embarrass Dean in front of his boyfriend but now wasn't a good time.

"Hi Dean. Hi Cas. Let's get to the impala now!" Sam started down the steps and jumped the last five. "I'm not kidding lets go!"

The two seniors had confused looks on their faces but followed Sam to the car anyways. Sam had already buckled in his usual shotgun seat as the two older boys got in. They pulled out to the street and Sam could finally breathe again.

"Alright, Sammy now that we've sprung your getaway can you tell us what's going on?"

Sam finally caught his breathe and began to explain the bully and bruising his ribs.

"Sam, you could have gotten hurt," Dean finally said after hearing the whole story, "you know how to get out of someone holding the back of your shirt. Why didn't you get loose and book it?"

"But I didn't get hurt Dean! And I did what you said. I did run. Just after I swung at him. But then I ran right away!"

"You still could have gotten hurt." Dean's voice was authoritative and concerned. His eyebrows scrunched together at the thought of some jackass with a piercing taking a swing at his little brother.

Sam was sitting back in his seat and twiddling with his fingers in his lap. He didn't say anything more. He looked ashamed, as if what he did was wrong and he let Dean down.

Dean looked over to the passenger seat and knew he had to cheer the kid up some how. "You punch hard? Thumb on the outside like I showed you?"

The edge of Sam's mouth started to curl into a smile. "Open fist and upwards to the ribs. Just like you taught me."

They were both smiling now. "And how'd you stop the punch?"

"Deflected by the wrist outwards to leave him with his bad arm to protect his weak side," Sam cheered. His eyes were bright and the entire car's mood lightened up.

"That's by brother!" Dean raised his hand for a high five which Sam gladly met.

Castiel, who has been quietly sitting in the back seat finally piped in, "Sam you should be proud of your abilities to defend yourself at the age of fourteen. It is quite impressive."

"Thanks, Cas. Maybe I'll teach you sometime."

"No no no. Nuh-uh. Cas, you're not gonna be fighting anyone."

"Why Dean? What if I need to defend myself?" Castiel argued.

"Then I'll be there to beat the snot out of whoever is trying to lay a finger on you."

Castiel blushed in the back seat. "That's sweet, Dean

but-"

"No buts. Anyone who even tries to hurt you is dead meat. And you," Dean turned his attention to his brother, "if this guy ever gives you trouble, call me up and I'll be there. Alright?"

"Alright," Sam replied obediently.

They pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and headed up to the third floor. Sam plopped down in his favorite arm chair and Dean and Cas took the couch.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Sam beamed in the middle of a shark documentary playing on TV. He displayed his palm to the couple on the couch. When they made out the scribbles they both cheered.

"You got a girl's number? Wait wait, you beat up a junior AND got a chicks number in one day?" Dean asked with disbelief.

"Sounds a lot like someone I used to know," teased Castiel while looking at Dean.

"Shut up. That was a long time ago." Dean said defensively.

"That's true. I haven't been sweeping up piles of paper with random seven digits off the floor for a while now." Sam joked. Sam and Castiel laughed and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah. But that was before you Cas." Dean smiled at Castiel's blushing cheeks.

Sam got up from his chair and made a fake barfing noise at the two lovebirds on the couch. Dean hit his brother's shoulder as he passed by. "Go call up that girl and plan something for the weekend. Go get her, tiger."