Dean didn’t like Sam’s dismissal but he was still glad that his brother felt well enough to be alone.  He really had to learn, all over again, Sam’s pain thresholds again, and what injuries he needed to worry about versus which ones Sam just slept off.  It had been a while since he had really noticed Sam’s scrapes and bruises, unless Sam needed him to stitch him up or fix an injury that required an extra set of hands.  He smirked and muttered, “Well that’s your loss…”

As Sam answered his question about the grilling that Dean knew he wanted to do so badly, Dean narrowed his eyes, both glad that he could read his brother’s faces so well, but also nervous, because he and Sam hadn’t talked much in the past several months.  So, there was no telling what he wanted to ask.  Dean started to protest Sam’s wanting to wait until the next morning, when Lexi spoke up.

“You don’t have to step…”, Dean protested to Lexi instead, reaching his hand out to her as she stepped around the table toward the kitchen.  He sighed, not honestly wanting to be alone with Sam, if he was getting ready to ask any sort of awkward question.  As she left the room, he followed her footsteps silently with his ears, and turned his eyes back to Sam with a sigh, “So…”

As Sam’s eyes turned back to his, Dean sighed at his words, and he nodded, turning his coffee cup in a circle with his fingers, “She’s pretty fun to be around.  Reminds me of…happier times, I guess.  But smitten?  I don’t get smitten.  I don’t date.  I just…exist.  But I will say I don’t mind her company.”