I posted this fic on Thanksgiving and am just now getting the opportunity to post it here too! I was honored to write this fic for @peach-coke's beautiful artwork as a part of the @spnreversebang! I'm so proud of the way this work turned out and I'm so happy for how well-received it's been thus far! See the Art Masterpost.
______ Deanās never at peace, not even in the midnight hours where he tries to steal minuscule crumbs of sleep. Itās never deep enough, never free of the thoughts he tries to keep at bay during the day, never without the constant reminder of the endless void that is always beside him. The one where his Brother used to be, where his purpose and direction existed. Heās spent the last five years trying to find ways to soothe the emptiness, trying to glaze over it, numb it, or forget it altogether. And yet, every night, itās the same fight, the one where he tries to stumble across the landmines of his thoughts and find small pockets of rest.
Heās in one of those pockets when a knock on his hotel door has him conscious in seconds. His fingers instantly wrap themselves around the butt of his gun underneath his pillow, every inch of him on full alert.
Heās up and out of bed within seconds, pacing himself slowly to the motel room door. When heās close enough, he looks at his watch and notices itās just after three in the morning. And he knows, nothing good ever comes at these hours.
Another thirty seconds pass before the rapping at the door sounds again, more urgent this time.
Dean positions himself mainly behind the door, his gun and hand at his side, as he peers through the peephole on the door to get a good look at who (or what) is on the other side. And when his eyes focus, the breath in his chest evaporates at the image in front of him.
āSam?ā He whispers to himself, his heart pinching in a way that almost has him doubling over. The weight of that hole in his chest, the one that heās patched over a dozen times over the last few years, comes ripping off, and it almost tears him in half with the agony of it. āIāve lost my fucking mind.ā He squeezes his eyes shut and braces himself against the wood framing of the door. {Keep Reading on Ao3}














