Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sam was curled up on the couch with a book in his hands, eyes intently scanning the pages. Six years old and he was already reading through Lord of the Ring books all on his own. Dean watched Sam from the other side of the couch with furrowed eyebrows. Dean abruptly stood up and knocked the book out of Sam's hands, sending it flying to the floor with a soft thud. This evoked a whine from the younger Winchester.

"Dean!!" He whined with a pout, as he stood up to retrieve his book from in front of the fireplace. Dean caught his wrists in mid-air, just as his fingers were about to close around the novel. "Stop being such a little nerd for a while. Were building a pillow fort." Dean demanded. Sam furrowed his eyebrows and frowned up at Dean. "Why?" He asked. Dean plucked the book out of Sam's reach and held it near the fireplace. "Because I'm older than you, and I say go get all the pillows and blankets out of our room or I'll send your book down in flames." Dean said with a smile. Sam gave him a stubborn, challenging look and Dean pretended to drop the book into the flames below it.

"No!" Sam whined, and Dean caught the book just as it hit the fire. Sam huffed and stood up, practically stomping away to get the pillows and blankets with his bitchface at full power. Dean smirked triumphantly and tossed the book on to the coffee table. Only a few pages had touched the fire, and they were at the very end of the book. Who cares? Probably didn't do too much hurt to the thing. Sam came back out of their room a few minutes later, carrying every pillow and blanket they owned. With a pointed glare, he dropped them at Dean's feet. Dean shot him a smile and picked up a pillow before he started building the pillow fort. The two of them worked together like that for a while. Dean handing Sam pillows to put on the bottom, while Dean built up the top half of their fort. When Sam couldn't reach any higher, Dean snuck up behind him and lifted him up by the waist. Sam made a soft surprised noise and Dean chuckled as he put Sam back down. Sam had long ago stopped bitchfacing, and had a cute six year old grin on his lips. Dean smiled back at him and took a step back to admire the fort. It was tall, sturdy and would fit at least three medium sized people. Dean hadn't realized that Sam had moved, but after a moment Sam was tugging at the bottom of Dean's shirt. Dean looked down at him to see that Sam was holding up the partially burned novel. He wanted Dean to read to him. Dean smiled warmly at his brother and ushered him inside of the pillow fort, then they snuggled up together in a corner of their little pillow fortress. Dean took the book from him and opened it to the page Sam had been on. The page was burned, half of the words unreadable, along with the last few pages of the book. Sam's eyes widened, brimming with tears.

"Dean," He sniffed, a tear rolling down his cheeks. "M-my book," He whimpered softly. Dean's chest ached and he felt guilty as he stared down at the remaint's of the last few pages. He gently reached up and wiped away the tears that were running down Sam's cheeks. "I'm sorry Sammy..." He said softly. Sam sniffled abit and shook his head, hugging Dean. "Its okay De.." He whispered back.

Dean picked the book back up and held Sam close to his chest. "How about I make up the rest of the story?" He suggested. Sam smiled warmly and nodded, closing his eyes as Dean stared to read. And they fell asleep like that, locked together in a warm cuddle, only to wake to the scent of gingerbread men and cold milk. John had left the plate in next to them, and next to the plate the entire Lord of The Ring series. Movies and all. Taped to the books was a sticky note that read:

"Merry Christmas --xx Dad"