[ON HOLD] Amor Vincit Omnia (Firefighter/Dean & College/Cas AU)

Chapter 1: 𝘌𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮 𝘔𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘰 [Although changed, I arise the same.]

"Dad's gone again." Sam muttered in a tone so horribly disappointed it pulled at Dean's heart strings. Dean shifted where he stood uncomfortably, that tugging at his heart floating all the way down to his toes.

Good, Dean didn't think he could handle their father on top of everything else tonight. Dean sighed as he looked down at Sammy with sad eyes, "He'll be back soon Sam."

Sam averted his eyes from Dean's and began making his way up the driveway and into the house. Dean stood in the same spot at the end of the driveway for a moment. What now? Getting into that program was the only good chance Dean had at getting Sammy the hell out of this house. He could get a job sure, but not one good enough to be able to afford to move out of Lawrence. Dean fidgeted with the strap of his back pack that was slung over his shoulder. Fuck.

Dean's jumbled thought process was interrupted as he felt a buzz in his back pocket. As he pulled his phone out the name Benny Lafitte lit up on the screen. Dean sighed as he cleared his throat and answered hesitantly, "Hey Benny."

"Dean!" Benny said cheerfully.

Dean winced, "What's up buddy?"

Benny let out a small chuckle at Dean's lack of enthusiasm, "You know what's up. Did you hear back yet? I've been waiting all day to hear from ya bud."

That feeling crawled back into Dean's gut again at thought of failing Benny like he had failed every other godforsaken thing that he cared about.

Benny spoke again, a part of him wondering why Dean was being so damn quiet. This wasn't like the Winchester that he knew so well. "Dean-"

"They rejected my application Benny." Dean spit out, interrupting his best friend mid sentence.

Benny allowed a long pause to wash over both of them, "Dean, man I'm sorry. I know how much getting in meant to you."

Dean bit his lip and looked down at his feet, shaking his head slowly to himself. "I wasn't ever gonna get in Benny."

"Now why would you go and say something like that."

Dean bit his lip and laughed awkwardly, "Man you know I've got a record."

"Dean that bullshit was before you were even eighteen-"

"You think they care? You think they want some nineteen year old with a misdemeanor under his belt running into fires?" Dean snapped, raising his voice and then quickly lowering it in case Sam could hear him from the house, "I was too hopeful Benny I should have known better, I-" Dean trailed off, and cleared his throat before Benny could even open his mouth to rebuttal. "Listen, I gotta go....dad left again."

Benny went to argue with Dean but immediately stopped and stayed silent for just a moment. He knew what this meant for the Winchester boys. It was a filthy cycle that Benny had seen the two go through for years now. Then something occurred to him, "Dean why don't you call Charlie."

Dean let out a questioning chuckle, "Why so she can be disappointed in me too?"

At this point Benny was rolling his eyes into his head so hard he was surprised Dean couldn't hear it through the phone. "No you idiot her girlfriend is a Lieutenant at one of the fire stations in Lawrence." Benny took a deep breath, "It may be a long shot but maybe she can help get you into a different program." Benny's voice was now soft and encouraging.