Sam opened the curtains and a shaft of sunlight sent an exquisite bolt of pain through Dean's temples. Cursing, he flinched away and the bottle fell from his shaking hands, shattering on the floor and splashing whiskey onto his boots. "Hell."

Hesitant, Sam approached, crouching down over the broken glass. "I'll get it – "

Dean's lips thinned. "Leave it!"

Sam rose instantly. He sat down at his laptop, staring fixedly at the screen.

Dean swept up the glass and sopped up the booze into a threadbare towel. Then, without another word, he left.

Hollow-eyed, Sam bent his head and prayed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay, maybe it was a little bit cheaty to use one of the challenge words as the title, but it couldn't be helped. It TOLD me it was the title and I've learned not to argue with my titles, storylines, characters, whatever. They are bossy little fucks.