'Catch,' Sam called as he lobbed the orange at his brother. 'Don't say I don't look out for your health.'

'Huh' Dean answered as he caught the projectile with one hand. 'Apples and oranges are kinda your line of business, Sammy,' he grunted, scrunching up his nose at the fruit in his palm.

Sam rolled his eyes in a long-practiced way and laid the rest of his veggie and fruit supplies on the table.

'Vitamin C's good for you, Dean. Remember what happened when Patrick turned you into an old timer. Your heart nearly gave out with all those hamburgers you'd pushed down during the years. From now on I'm gonna make it my brotherly duty to get you to eat more fruit and veg,' Sam declared convinced.

'Dude,' Dean objected testily. 'I'm not a kid who needs to be told what to eat.'

'Yeah, Dean. That's it exactly. You're not a kid any more. You turned 33 last birthday and you gotta start taking better care of yourself; so just...eat the orange okay!'

:

'Sam, what's going on with you? Are you sure we're just talking citrus fruits and broccoli here?'

:

Dean knew his brother better than himself and the eating fruit and veg crap was just the tip of the iceberg. His little brother was brooding and a brooding Sam had to be contrasted as quickly as possible!

'I'm fine,' Sam shrugged with what Dean recognized as his 'I'm not really fine but if you insist, I'll tell you what's worrying me' shrug.

'Out with it, Sammy,' Dean ordered as he advanced purposefully into his brother's personal space. 'Whatever it is, you're gonna end up telling me anyway; might as well cut short the time!'

'It's nothing, man. I...I just wish you'd take better care of yourself, is all. Monsters and demons aren't the only thing that can take you out.'

'Oh, come... on... Sam! That man-witch made me grow old through a spell. It doesn't mean that I'm going to die from an overdose of hamburgers. I've always told you that old-age isn't going to be an option for us anyway. We'll probably go out with a claw-slash to the chest. Why take it out on the poor burgers!'

'Dean, it's just... I don't want to be the one who gets left behind. You've gotta take better care of yourself. I've been on my own without you before and look how freaked up that turned out! I just want us to go out together,' Sam pleaded, his puppy eyes glazed with unshed tears.

'Aw, Sammy, it's not gonna finish up like that,' Dean answered clapping a consoling hand on his brother's shoulder. 'I'm not gonna leave you, and even if the worst happens, you'll be fine on your own. Go for the apple -pie life, become some big-time lawyer. It's what you've always wanted.'

'No, Dean,' Sam answered vehemently. "Once I thought so, but that was in another life-time. I'm not that guy any more. You and me, that's all we've got Dean, and that's all I want or need."

:

Dean sighed. Sometimes he wondered how he managed to put up with his emo little brother but he knew the answer. He loved Sam more than life itself, in fact he'd willingly given it up to save his sibling, just as Sam had jumped into the Cage to save him. Their bond of brotherhood was now forged with chains of steel.

'Sammy,' Dean murmured, moved by his brother's words, he already knew the depths of Sam's love for him but hearing it expressed made him nearly as emo as Sam.

He placed both hands on his brother's shoulders. 'Listen, Sam. I promise not to leave you if you promise the same, okay?'

Sam nodded tremulously and the beginning of a smile appeared on his lips.

:

'Bring on the fruit and veg, dude,' Dean bitched. 'I'll eat it as a side plate to my burger if that's what it takes to keep you from brooding.'

Sam's smile grew into a full-blown grin as he emptied the bag of fruit on to the table.

:

He had the puppies down to a fine art, at least where Dean was concerned and if he used them at times for a little brotherly manipulation, well, there was nothing wrong with that, at least where Dean's well-being was concerned.

The End.