When It's All Over • short story

Happy Birthday

Sam parked the Impala and looked out the window. He took a deep breath, stepped out of the car and walked with Cas to the graveyard. Every year, on January 24th, the two of them would head back to Lawrence, Kansas. Castiel followed Sam to the headstone.

DEAN WINCHESTER
1979-2016

Cas knelt beside it and smiled sadly. It had been 5 years since his best friend had died. Sam had stopped hunting a long time ago, but he had stayed friends with Cas. Unlike Sam, Cas didn't come to the cemetery to talk to Dean. Since he was an angel, he could talk to him whenever he wanted, in heaven. So Cas just placed his hand on the ground, making the grass greener and the flowers brighter. He then nodded to Sam and with a flutter of wings, he was gone.

Sam looked around the empty area, sat on the wet grass and cleared his throat.

"You know, I promised myself I wouldn't cry this year. No chick flick moments, right?" Sam laughed half heartedly with tears in his eyes, and reached into his coat pocket. Sighing, he pulled out the picture of him and his brother laughing with Cas, at Bobby's house.

"I miss you, Dean."

Sam was alone now, so he did his usual routine of laying down on his back, with his head on the stone like it was a pillow. He told his brother about his life this year. Dean could hear what he was saying in heaven, but Sam could never hear Dean's response. It just didn't work that way.

"So! Big news: Eileen and me are having another baby, and if it's a boy I promise I'll name him after you. Charlie's already a handful, I don't know what it's going to be like with two kids. Eileen's also thinking about moving to Texas. But I'd still come back here once and a while, don't worry. Charlie's two now... can you believe that? She's always asking about you. Dean, you'd love her. She's so sassy. She reminds me of you sometimes."

Sam ignored tears that stuck to his cheeks. For a while, he just closed his eyes and rested in the field, vividly replaying the night he couldn't save his brother.

"I think I've stopped feeling guilty about your death, Dean." Sam said quietly, after a while. "I know you wouldn't want me beating myself up."

Sam sighed again. He couldn't stay much longer. The sun belonging to a pink sky was quickly disappearing behind the field of forgotten names on rocks, and Sam had a family to get back to. The shine of the Impala reflected the sun, slowly shaking Sam out of his thoughts. "You know, with you gone, no one calls me 'Sammy' anymore."

Sam stood and with a smile muttered, "Happy birthday, jerk."

Sam knew it was impossible. Cas had told him that Dean couldn't communicate from heaven, but he could have sworn he heard,

"Miss you too, bitch."

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