Title: Cute?

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: PG

Pairing: Sam/Dean

Disclaimer: for goodness sakes, do you think someone would actually pay me for this like I owned them? No. No way.

Summary: Sam's cute. That's all there is to is.

Cute?

Dean stared at the steaming mug. Did you add cream to tea? He’d ruined the first mugful when he’d split open the teabag trying to squeeze it out, and from the sound of Sammy sniffling in the other room, he didn’t want to ruin this one and have to make a third cup. So he just added a little sugar and honey and hoped for the best. Why couldn’t this be as easy as making coffee?

He carried the mug down the hall to the living room, navigating around the piles of dusty books Bobby had everywhere. No wonder Sam was sneezing so much. Maybe he’d do better in the bedroom after all? “Here’s your… tea…” Dean trained off, standing in the doorway, looking over at Sam. When he’d left, Sam had been settling onto the couch to rest, as Dean had ordered him to do. Amidst the couple blankets and couch cushions, it seemed a good enough place to put his cold-ridden brother. But now he saw how Sam had surrounded himself in comfort. He’d propped the cushions up behind and around him. He’d swirled the blankets around himself and wrapped one around his head so that only his face was visible, the tired eyes and bright red nose.

Sam looked up at him, nostrils flaring with a strong sniff. “What?”

Dean smiled and leaned against the doorway. “You look cute.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “Excuse be?”

“You even sound cute.”

“I’b dot cute,” Sam said. “I’b sick.” He lifted his hand, trapped under the blanket still, and rubbed at his nose through the fabric.

“Aw, see, even that’s cute.”

“Cute?” Sam gave a cough accompanied by his incredulous look. “You thidk by extrebely ruddy nose is cute?”

Dean shrugged. “Kinda, yeah. When you do that.” He settled on the couch next to Sam. “Here’s that tea you wanted.”

Sam nodded. “You’d better hold odto it. I… huh… I cad’t… huh!” He reared back, mouth opening wide, eyes closing, breath hitching. “hah-H’tshhhhhhhhhhh! Uhh… huh… ‘scuse be.”

Dean chuckled. Sam really had no idea, did he?

“That was dot cute,” Sab insisted. He sniffed hard and bent his head down, rubbing it on the blanket again.

Dean didn’t answer, but he did hold the mug of tea up to Sam’s face so Sam could take a few cautious sips at the hot liquid. He was careful to tilt the mug only slightly so Sam couldn’t drink too much.

Sam pulled back, hissing in pain.

“What’s wrong?”

“I buwded by todg.”

Dean had to laugh. He couldn’t not. Sam looked pathetic—so utterly pathetic. And as Sam looked at him, hurt and hurting, with a little pout to his lips and those gigantic, sad puppy dog eyes, Sam had never been cuter. It was almost painful how damn cute he was like this. “Oh Sammy, you’re too—“

“Cute?”

“That’s the word.” He set the tea down to let it cool a little.

Sam shook his head. “Doe. Sniff!” Even his sniffs, which would have bugged the crap out of Dean if they’d been driving right now, sounded cute. “I’b dot.” He shifted around under the blanket and suddenly the television turned on. It cycled through a few dozen stations before ending up on some nature station where two lions rested under the shade of a tree, nuzzling lazily. “See? That’s cute.”

Dean moved the cushion that separated them and tenderly pulled back just a bit of the blanket covering so much of Sam’s head. He leaned close, eyes close, and nuzzled his face against Sam’s, feeling the warmth of Sam’s skin against his, taking in the curves, the rough and the smooth, and the bit of long hair as it fell free of the blankets. His nose nuzzled its way from jaw to cheek to nose, where it pulled back only when something under the blankets gave him a warning shove to keep his distance.

Swaying back for only a second, Sam then pitched forward. “H’Tishhhhuhh!” He settled back with another little sniffle.

“Not as cute as you right now.”

Looking mildly frustrated, Sam flipped through more channels. He finally stopped at the Animal Planet channel where half a dozen golden retriever puppies were rolling and flopping about on top of each other. “Dow that’s… cute…. huh… eved you cad’t… huh… huh-HUHTshhhh!”

Sam was tossed forward again by the sneeze, but this time Dean took advantage of this position to slide his arm around Sam’s back. When Sam leaned back, Dean hugged him so close he was practically on top of him. He could feel Sam snuggle into him. As Dean watched the drooling, shedding animals on the screen, he shook his head. “Nope, you’ve definitely got them beat.”

Sam cleared his throat, and Dean didn’t make a move to pull away. He tried flipping through the channels again, desperately hunting for something. But he was fighting a sneeze at the same time. His nostrils twitched slightly. His face wiggled around his flushed red nose. His eyelashes fluttered. His mouth kept drawing down at the corners. Finally, he gave up and just let it happen. “huh-IHTSchhhhhhh!”

When he opened his eyes, sniffling helplessly and rubbing his nose on the edge of the blanket, he looked up to see where he’d left off with the television set. Dean was frowning at the screen as a commercial played. A commercial for a car. A commercial for the all-new Chevy Impala. Dean had to admit it was good looking, smooth, clean lines, a sweet curve at the front, a delightful purr to its engines. Dean nodded his approval. “Okay, okay. That is pretty cute.” He pulled away from Sam just enough to pick the mug back up from the coffee table. “But you’re still cuter.”

“Eved all sick add—“

“Especially all sick and sniffly and sneezy.”

“Sniff! ‘Cause I ledt you sduggle close lige this? ‘Cause I let you take care of be?”

Dean found himself flushing a bit at those words. “Yeah, but not just because of that.” His hand dove under a loose bit of blanket, felt around, and discovered the remote control. He turned the television set off. Reflected in Bobby’s old TV was the image of the two of them. How could he explain? “You’re just cute like this, Sam. So stop fighting it and drink your damn tea.”

Sam sat there for a few seconds, nose all red and chapped, strands of hair in his face. Then he leaned forward a little and let Dean help him drink the tea.