JARED PADALECKI BIRTHDAY WEEK!!

wc:

Moving into the bunker had felt like a victory. A milestone. Proof that your life had, somehow, stabilised enough to warrant furniture.

What had possessed you to believe you could make an underground bunker aesthetically pleasing to your taste, though, was a mystery you’d yet to solve.

The bunker was beautiful in its own way — all vintage Art Deco lines and brutalist bones, brass railings and carved stone, history humming quietly through the walls. But it wasn’t you. And so here you were, sat cross-legged on the concrete floor of your would-be bedroom, surrounded by cardboard, splintered packing foam, and a bedside table that had actively been ruining your day for the last two hours.

You squint at the instruction manual, certain it’s missing at least three critical steps.

The Allen key digs into your palm as you try again, jaw clenched, shoulders burning. The screw refuses to cooperate, slipping just enough to mock you.

“For fuck’s sake,” you mutter.

The wood goes funny.

Again.

You drop the tool with a sharp clatter and lean back on your hands, staring at the ceiling like it might offer answers. Or mercy.

“This counts as personal growth,” you tell yourself quietly. “It’s a passion project.”

From somewhere down the hall, Dean’s voice floats in, deeply unhelpful. “Looks more like masochism to me.”

You flip him off without getting up.

It’s the fourth time today you’ve nearly lost your mind over this thing, but pride is a powerful motivator. You will not ask for help. You absolutely will not let either Winchester see you defeated by flat-pack furniture.

Your arms ache. There’s sawdust on your jeans. You’re too deep in it now.

You reach for the Allen key again.

That’s when Sam appears in the doorway.

You feel it before you see him — the subtle shift in the room, the sense of being watched. He doesn’t say anything at first. Just leans there, broad shoulder against the frame, arms crossed, taking in the scene with quiet focus.

“…Don’t,” you warn without looking up.

He hums softly. “You’ve been in here a while.”

“I’m fine.”

“You said that an hour ago.”

“I was fine then too.”

He moves closer anyway. Footsteps, unhurried.

Sam crouches beside you, close enough that his knee brushes yours. The contact is brief, incidental — still, you’re suddenly very aware of it. You keep your eyes on the table, jaw set.

“Let me see,” he says.

“No.”

“That’s not a request.”

You glance at him, glare sharp. “I can do it myself.”

“I know,” he says easily. “But you don’t have to.”

That lands somewhere inconvenient.

You scoff, deflecting. “You’re just going to make it look easy.”

He smiles, faint but knowing. “Probably.”

You hesitate, then sigh through your nose. “Fine. But if it explodes, it’s on you.”

Sam reaches out, fingers warm as they settle around your wrist — not pulling, just stilling you. He takes the Allen key carefully, like he’s aware of how close he is, like he’s choosing not to comment on it.

He lines the screw up, shoulders rolling once as he adjusts his grip. Calm. Precise. The screw slides in smoothly, no resistance, no drama.

You stare.

Sam tightens it with one final twist and hands the tool back without ceremony. “Angle was off,” he says. “Happens.”

You look at the finished piece, then at him. Something tight in your chest loosens — or tightens further, you’re not sure which.

“…Right,” you say. “Of course it was.”

He stands, offering you a hand. You take it without thinking, letting him pull you up with an ease that makes you very pointedly not think about anything else.

Dean passes by again, clocking the scene in a single glance. “Wow. Domestic.”

“Go away, Dean,” you say flatly.

Sam huffs a quiet laugh, then steps back, giving you space like he always does. Thoughtful. Careful.

“We don’t have to finish everything today,” he says. “It’s not a race.”

You nod, exhaling. “Yeah. Probably smart.”

He smiles — soft, genuine — and for a second the bunker feels warmer than it did before.

As he leaves, you glance back at the bedside table. Solid. Standing. Done.

You’re not sure why your hands are still a little unsteady.

But you tell yourself it’s just the Allen key.

i don't understand all the hate Dean gets and for what? To give Tristan a pass for being grade A douche? Glorification of Jess and his Devil may care attitude? Matchmaking with Logan? Puh-lease! Even on his worst day Dean is better than these guys combined

A guy that takes a notice of different books that I'm reading is a green flag

He is captivated by Rory and isn't too shy about expressing his feelings

Like getting on a bus to say hi! Cuteeee! 🥰

When Rory doesn't instantly opens up to him, he takes a step back. Clearly the guy can handle a rejection. That's huge! None of that imma chase her until she says yes crap

He gets a job! Boy has his priorities in check

It's obvious that Rory isn't ready for her crush to go public. On Rory's birthday he doesn't embarrass her by approaching her in the cafe. At the same time, he is thoughtful enough to get her a present. A handmade present at that! ❤️

he is not at all intimidated by Rory's mom and neither does he try too hard to win over her. He doesn't grovel at her feet desperate for her approval. I like that in a man

at the grocery store, he doesn't make that exchange between him and Gilmore girls weird

when he goes over at their house for a movie night, he is polite enough to talk to the neighbours

clearly he is interested in finding more about Rory and he is excited to see her room. Again, not for wrong reasons

During the movie when Rory has a stiff back, he places a pillow behind her to help her relax. I bet he grew up to be a man who painted his wife's nails while she was pregnant or massaged her feet after she walked across the town in high heels

he goes to the ball dance for Rory even though he doesn't want to, even if it means wearing a tux and going to dance classes

He puts efforts into going to a school dance with Rory where he steps up for her first when the girls are hitting on him, instead of taking the bait, he pulls Rory closer and second when he engages with Tristan

he picks up her purse when she drops it 💕

at the ballet studio, he reads her a book and they fall asleep. He doesn't try to make a move on her, he's just there for her. Their love was innocent then

and when they fall asleep and Rory runs home, he is willing to explain it to her mom, take the heat

When Rory asks to set Lane up with Todd, Dean tries to warn her that they may not be a good fit

Why is Rory being pissed about Dean appreciating a conventional wife? It's not like he expects her to be one. Why take it so personally?

Notice when she pulls the Donna Reid night, Dean doesn't look like a puppy seeing fireworks for the first time. Ergo, it doesn't say 'oh my dreams have come true'. See, he even tells her upfront he doesn't expect her to be Donna Reid. He offers to help and takes out the trash instead.

He waits for her at the bus stop.. awww

He read Leo Tolstoy because that's her favourite book? Guys these days won't even read instruction manuals to put an IKEA furniture together

He remembers their 3 months anniversary

Gonna take a moment to appreciate Jared in a polo neck tee shirt 😍😍🔥🔥

Awww he took her to a fancy restaurant and ordered her 3 pastas. Pretty sure, he had been saving up his money from the job for this expensive dinner

He is building her a car 😭😭😭

He said I love you... 🥰 And then Rory ruined it.. I don't think him being upset is wrong when she doesn't say it back. It's embarassing when you confess your love but the other person doesn't say it back. What he said is right, there's nothing to think about. If you love someone you know you do, if you have to think about it, you don't love them

Rory getting rid of all the Dean stuff the minute after they broke up is so immature

The way the entire town villianized Dean and moped on Rory getting dumped tells me every I need to know about how sheltered and entitled Rory is

Seriously? Luke shoving Dean and preventing him from getting a coffee? Wtf is wrong with this town?

I just realised a big reason why everyone shelters and herofies (I don't think that's a word) Rory is because of Lorelei's narrative: oh Rory is so sweet and kind to everyone but she is in so much pain. Her break up was really hard. In reality it wasn't. I think her reaction to the break up is pretty normal: she's upset but she doesn't wanna mope. She is avoiding Dean which is also normal. She is not depressed like her mother portrays it to anyone who will listen

And to prove my point she literally called Dean a scum to his face. A grown ass woman called a child a 'Scum' to his face. It annoys me that Lorelei went around the town bad mouthing Dean and the moment she found out the truth she didn't try to fix it

the way the entire town bullys Dean for breaking up with their golden child Rory without hearing his side is absolute bullshit

Dean has her pictures in his room! Awww

Notice how Rory manipulated Clara into sneaking into Dean's room and she made her cry. And she tried to convince her she is a good person. Yeah, right!

see he even drove to her stupid school because he thought she was trying to talk to him. And she lies to him when he confronts about coming over to talk to him

Lorelei you selfish bitch. She missed Dean because she needed a water boy?

The whole dinner at Rory's grandparents is a trainwreck. First, her grandma is cold, then her grandfather literally looks at him like he is a pest and doesn't shake his hand? Really? The way he grills him about grades, ivy league colleges, making a living, all the while belittling him. But Dean is nothing but honest. I absolutely hate it when he implies that Rory is gifted and special and that Dean is not good enough for her when it's the opposite. Sure, Dean may not be academically gifted but he works hard, treats her better, takes care of his sister and already has a job while rich boy Tristan is out there burning his father's money to impress a girl

and then there's classic Lorelei defending her father's behaviour making it about herself and projecting her failures on Rory. If it hadn't been for Lorelei's crap mothering, I bet Dean Rory would have worked

This whole agenda the internet has about Dean discouraging Rory from aiming for Harvard is so misplaced and he is right to be angry and here's why: just before this scene, Dean was humiliated by Rory's grandfather for not being as smart as Rory or sharing her Ivy league dreams. So I'm pretty sure he is sour about the whole 'college prospect'. Now, Dean of course wants to spend time with Rory which is normal and that's what people do in relationship. He is understanding when she goes off to build houses for extra credit (all because suddenly Paris told her about doing extra curricular to look good on college applications) which she didn't know about until she was told by another person. Really, I doubt Rory is smart. She never makes her own decisions, always accepts other people's (or people she thinks are smarter than her) ideas without considering what she wants really. So when Dean gets mad at her for ditching him in the evening when they planned it makes sense to me. Not because I don't support Rory's ivy league plan but because what he said is right: she can't cram in 10 year's worth of extra curricular in one night and she didn't have to start right away

Oh wow! Rory kissed Tristan the night after Dean told her he loves her? And lorelei encouraged her to not tell Dean about it?! And the fandom still villianized Dean??

The audacity of Tristan to go to Doose's market, humiliate Dean for no good reason.. what a jerk!

Awww Dean wants to join Rory's rehearsal.. how often has Rory done something only because Dean liked it? Now imagine, in his free time he decided to go see Rory's rehearsal only for her to shoot him off because she was uncomfortable kissing Tristan in front of him. Two faced much?

he built her a car!! He built her a car!!! A safe car!!

Dean tried to be nice to Jess but I guess you can't level with jerks and it shows

ohh the whole basket thing pisses me off! No wonder Dean got jealous. If I noticed another woman getting to close and friendly with my man i'd be jealous too. So no, Dean isn't super possesive, his concerns about Jess are valid

The way the entire town goes around protecting Rory. Paris for instance lies that invited Jess to Rory's house to save her ass. If makes me sick and Rory lying to his face.. ya, no doubt the man has trust issues about Jess and Rory

She couldnt be bothered to go to his softball game. Wow Dean sure won the girlfriend lottery. Not!

So Rory goes behind Dean's back to study with Jess and lies to him and Dean is somehow the bad guy?

imagine building a car with your own hands from scratch for the woman you love, the woman who doesn't say it back but you still build it for her regardless. You get it checked, ensure it's the safe for her drive. You put your blood, sweat tears in it. Scrounged up money, hunted for the right parts to put it together piece by piece. You give it to the woman you love but it doesn't come without a challenge. No, her rich grandpa makes it difficult to give that gift. So you prove it to the guy that you care about her safety without being disrespectful. Finally she accepts it and what she does? She let's the guy you warned her about, the reckless, dangerous guy drive the car recklessly, gets her into the accident, breaking her arm, trashing the car and Dean is the bad guy? When he didn't even yell at her when she tells him, when he invited her to his house for dinner? Dean is bad?! If I were Dean, I would have kicked her out because go sleep on the bed you made

Rory skipped school, missed her mother's graduation to meet Jess.. wow! If this was Dean, they would have blamed him for her actions

Jess always had the intention of ruining what Dean and Rory had

Rory takes Dean to a wedding and she kissed Jess behind Dean's back??

i don't think there's anything wrong about Dean being real about what happens to the relationship when Rory goes to college. For most part of the relationship Rory has prioritised her studies over relationship (which is ok) but yes, it's very fair for him to ask her what the future looks like. It's not that he is discouraging her from college dreams, he is trying not to overwhelm her with relationship

a lot hate for Dean is around him being angry. Well guess what happens when the bullys and blames you for their golden child who btw is not as innocent as they portray. Rory has always put something else over Dean be it her fixation with ivy colleges of stupid town rituals. And she goes behind his back, hangs out with the one guy he hates. I'd be mad too but at least Dean has always apologised for his anger. Always.

He is nicer to Lane than Rory is

im happy Dean dumped Rory. She deserved it

Dean's feelings about the break up are valid

Jess is a chicken.. he only wanted be macho when Rory was around. He never stood a chance in a fight against Dean. He just provoked him to bring him down in Rory's eyes

ha! Who is jealous now? Suddenly jess wants to go to the carnival when Clara invites Rory with her and Dean. So jealous over snow cones! Oh and he is mean to Clara

Dean enjoying the long order charade of burgers is my favourite 😘

Love how insecure Jess is about Rory hanging out with Dean. Karma is a bitch, sucker!

Jess is mean to Rory's grandma.. Dean was so much better. Oh wow, look Jess is avoiding Rory. U know who didn't do that? Dean.

Dean beating the crap out of Jess was so long overdue. I enjoyed every minute of it

ahh I feel Dean rushed into getting married to Lindsey seeing how he was still not over Rory

they gotta give my boy full size bed, y'all!

He always checked with Rory to ensure she was ok with something like when he took the construction job at Lorelei's inn

The only mistake Dean made was he cheated on Lindsey. Granted she wasn't the most ideal woman and they weren't happy but cheating on her with Rory was not right. Then again, it just like the writers needed a very strong reason to create drama between Dean and Rory so they gave him a cheating arc. If you see the show, cheating is very out of character for Dean who has been sweet, caring and loyal. So yeah, gonna chalk it up to crap writing

The sad moment was when Dean is outside Rory's party and he realises just how out of place he is in her life. No matter what he did, he was never going to be enough for her or her family

Now as much as I hated the writers for the cheating arc, gotta love them for how they wrapped up Dean's character in less than 3 minutes in the revival. Dean is beaming, married life doing him good. He is happy with his wife and kids and still very much the concerned brother that he was to Clara. Rory on the other hands looks like someone still evaluating her pros and cons list and coming to the conclusion that she was so focused on fixable cons that she let go of the invaluable pros. She tells him how first love doesn't go away, how safe and loved and cared for he made her feel. The regret of not realising Dean's value is clear in her eyes. Dean has left her and their relationship in the past and yet he is as chivalrous asking her how she is doing. For Rory, Dean is not the one that got away but the one she threw away when someone new came along.

The last tether, cornstarch, Rory uses it to revive the old bond but Dean's "pay for it this time" is a clear signal that he is done bearing the brunt of the consequences her actions alone

sometimes i see a character and then it would just link with another character in my head and then my mind goes around making big claims:

Dean Forester became the fire fighter Camden Casey. Listen, they both wear the same stupid necklace!

Stanford Era Sam and Tom from Cry Wolf are the same person. Sam just used an alias for the gap semester

Sam Winchester saved Whitney from Friday the 13th as Clay Miller when he was on a break from Dean in early S5

Young MacGyver went undercover as Trey Lipton in New York Minute

Thomas Kinkade is just Sam Winchester visiting Jessica's family after her death to ensure they are ok