It's 2am when Dean is woken up, a quick glance to the clock confirming it as exactly 2:06 as his ringtone blares.
He lets his eyes fall shut again and blindly reaches for his phone, figuring it was likely dad just informing him he was heading towards his location after completing his solo hunt. He was going to inevitably give Dean shit for already being done with his, but Dean was still trying to adapt to hunting without Sammy. His dad may be used to working solo but Dean certainly wasn't.
When he answered the phone and held it to his ear though, it wasn't his dad at all.
"Hi, is this Dean? Dean Winchester?" The female voice caught him off guard and he sat up slightly, brows burrowing as his eyes opened properly.
"Yeah, this is him. Who the hell is this?" He questioned, and he could hear a loud noise in the background and the girl spoke again, although it was clearly not directed to him.
"Sam, settle down. You're going to hurt yourself, please."
Dean's blood ran cold, panic filling his veins.
"Sammy?! Look, just tell me who the hell you are and what is going on or so help me-"
"I'm Jessica. I'm Sam's girlfriend." Dean felt a pang in his chest at the idea of Sam dating other people, but he knew that wasn't the main issue right now. "We were asleep and he must've had a nightmare or something and was really freaking out. I managed to wake him up but he's still panicking and on edge" she explained, her voice tight with obvious worry.
Dean forced himself to relax, focus on helping the situation rather than freaking out over it. God, he wished Sam had never left his side. Then Dean could be with him, making sure he was ok and comforting him with their usual gentle touches.
But Sam wasn't by his side. He was hundreds of miles away in a crappy college dorm with his new girlfriend who had no clue how to settle him after something like this. All Dean could do was use his words.
There was some shuffling from Jessica's end, and then the familiar voice of his brother came through the phone.
"Dean?" Sam sounded apprehensive, and it hurt. This was the first time they'd spoken since Sam left, and his brain was overflowing with things he wanted to say.
Not now though. Right now all he needed to do was settle Sam down.
"Yeah, it's me Sammy. I'm here. Your girlfriend says you had one of those nightmares again."
"I- it was horrible. You- you got torn to pieces while I watched but I couldn't- I couldn't s-save..." Sam trailed off with a broken sob, breathing rough as he cried.
"It wasn't real, ok? You know it wasn't. I'm alive and fine, still in the same one perfect piece like when you saw me last" Dean promised, trying to add an edge of humour to distract Sam a little.
Sam didn't say anything, just continued to cry.
"Alright, I need you to do as I say ok? Breath with me" Dean instructed, inhaling deeply then exhaling out slowly. Sam copied, and after a minute or so Dean could tell his crying had stopped at least.
"That's it, that's good Sammy. How we feeling?" Dean asked, keeping his tone as soft as he could manage.
"I- a bit better. I- I think I mainly needed to hear your voice. For a few minutes I really thought it was all real and that... that you were gone" Sam admitted, and if the motel room Dean was in hadn't been completely silent he probably would've missed his brothers words completely.
"I know Sammy, it's ok. I promise I'm alive and breathing. It was just a bad dream" Dean promised.
There was a heavy silence, and even through the phone Dean could tell Sam was holding back on saying something, but then...
"I miss you, Dean. So bad" the words seemed to climb up Dean's throat and suffocate him, because God did he miss Sam.
He missed him so bad it hurt, and nothing seemed to flush him out. Not alcohol or girls or any of Dean's vices, because his biggest vice of all was Sam. It had been his very first one, after all, and the one he always leaned on the most.
And they hadn't talked in weeks, but now here was Sam in the aftermath of a panic attack telling him he missed him so bad, and Dean felt a sick sort of satisfaction that Sam was so reliant on him too. That his baby brother still needed him, and more important, his baby brother still wanted him.
He felt sickeningly happy about the fact that Sam was sitting in his apartment wanting him all the while his girlfriend was likely just a few feet away.
"I miss you too Sammy, you have no idea how much. It's super late though and you need to try and get some sleep, 'kay? You need me I'm just a phone call away."
"Y-yeah. Ok. I'll talk to you soon?" Sam murmured, and Dean swallowed.
"Of course. Night Sammy."
The line went dead, and for a few moments Dean just stared at his phone.
He knew he wouldn't call Sam. He was too much of a coward.