Secret Santa for PuddinPop (SPN Dean)

[LeadaAlexys52]

This story is for the Wonderful Talented Lovely PuddinPop. My apologies for the late submission, this time of the year is always a bit frantic for me. But here it is. I tried my best to avoid the things you are not a fan of but I must admit I may have slipped a few times please forgive me. There is no specific timeline for this fic and there are no pairings. I hope you enjoy!

Tea is best when brewed in a pot.

"Dean are you sure you're ok?" Sam asked his brother as he opened the door to their motel room. It was around the third or fourth time Sam had asked him that. Dean sighed heavily.

"For the last time Sam I'm fine." he growled. They had just come back from a cut and dry salt and burn. It was time for a small amount of R&R and trolling for their next case. Dean sat heavily on his bed and began taking off his boots. He had to stop mid way because

"U'shhew!" he sneeze into his wrist.

"Bless you." This was why Sam had been hounding him for the last hour. For whatever reason, Dean didn't know, he could not stop sneezing! He had had two full on fits before they had finished burning the body. Before he could go back to kicking his boots off the frustrating tickle came again "Huh'ehcshhew!" He looked up to see Sam looking at him, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What?" Dean said defensively. Sam shook his head.

"Nothing."

"Damn straight nothing," Dean muttered under his breath as he scrubbed at his rebellious nose.

Sam decided to take a shower before crashing. Dean was thinking along the same lines so he stretched out on his bed and turned on the tv while he waited. He hadn't intended to fall asleep at all but when he woke up it was already morning. He glanced over at the other bed. Sam was still sleeping. Dean figured he would get his shower in now. As he came more awake Dean began to notice that something didn't feel right. His head felt heavy and fuzzy. He couldn't breathe through his nose, and his throat was dry and scratchy. He groaned inwardly. At least now he knew what the sneezing had been about. He sighed and got up to shower. The hot water felt good and it helped clear the cobwebs of sleep from his brain. What it also did was get his nose acting up as well.

"U'shhew! Hu…hu…hu'shhew! U'shhew!" he sniffed heavily. He hopped that he hadn't woken Sam. Once he found out that Dean was sick, Sam would go into full mother hen mode so Dean decided to do his best to lay low and deny everything.

Sam woke when he heard the shower turn on. He heard the harsh sneezes launch their way out of his brother. Sam sighed. He had started to suspect that Dean had caught a cold when he couldn't stop sneezing at the graveyard last night. He knew Dean hated it when he tried to take care of him so Sam decided to fight against his instincts and just let Dean ride this out on his own. He wouldn't say anything. He got up and got dressed. By the time he was ready Dean was out of the shower dressed and ready to go.

"Breakfast?" Dean asked his voice a few tones lower than usual.

"Sounds good." They headed out to a small dinner just down the road. Sam kept an eye on his brother. He saw his breath hitch a few times but by some miracle Dean managed not to sneeze on the way there. But it seemed when the warm air and food smells hit him, Dean couldn't hold it back.

"U'tchh!" he stifled the sneeze into his hand.

"Bless you," Sam said quietly. Dean glared at him and scrubbed at his nose. They took a seat and waited for a server. She came by quickly. A cute petite blonde.

"Hi, my name is Sara. What can I get for you boys today?" Dean flashed her a winning smile. Sam rolled his eyes and ordered. The server looked to Dean.

"I'll have a short st-stack, s-side of bacon… U'shhew!" Dean just managed to bury his face in his arm. "U'shhew! E'shhew!"

"Aww, bless you hon." said Sara. "Maybe I'll bring you some tea too." Dean's face had gone completely red. Sam couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thanks, that’s probably a good idea," Sam said Dean seemed to be having a harder time in the dinner than he had in the car. He was sniffing a lot and constantly rubbing at his nose. Sam examined his brother. Other than the obvious Dean didn't look too sick. But Sam couldn't help but ask the question.

"Dean, are you ok?" The look he gave Sam said it all. 'If you ask me that again I will knock you out.' Sam put up his hand in defeat. "All right, all right. Sorry I asked."

Dean felt like shit. His nose was running and itchy. It felt like his head was full of cotton wads and his throat was starting to burn. He knew that all he had was a stupid head cold, but it didn't keep him from feeling miserable. Then to top it off, he was mortified that he had sneezed in front of the waitress. And she had been hot! When their food came with Sara, Dean wanted to crawl under the table and disappear. She put down a steaming pot of hot water with a plate that had a tea bag and two honey packets. Dean gave her a small smile and grunted a thanks. He ripped open the tea bag and put it into his mug. He was about to pour the water into the cup when Sara stopped him.

"Wait." She said taking the tea bag out of his cup. She opened the pot of water and put the tea bag in. "Now, you let that sit there for at least two minutes then you can pour it into your cup."

"What's the difference," Dean asked noting the congestion in his voice.

"Trust me, you will taste the difference. Tea brewed in a pot is always better." Both boys looked at her curiously. She grinned slightly embarrassed."I grew up with British parents…they taught me how to make tea right. Enjoy your meals boys." She let them be. Dean watched her go puzzled. He shrugged and tucked into his pancakes. After the prescribed two minutes he poured his tea. He had never been a huge fan, but for whatever reason he did like it when he had a cold. It was oddly soothing. He added the honey, stirred and took a sip, and sighed contentedly. Sara had been right. Tea brewed in a pot was way better.

Sam had brought his computer into the dinner with them. Dean ended up finding a case that wasn't far away. They decided to hit the road right away. At first Sam was hesitant because of Dean being sick, but he knew Dean would just deny everything and make them go anyway. They finished their meals, thanked the server and hit the road. Not five miles out Dean started sneezing.

"U'shhhew!"

"Bless you," A minute later.

"Hu'shhew!"

"Bless you," Five minutes later

"Hu…hu'tshhh! U'shhew! U'tchhew!!"

"Dean?"

"I'm fine Sam." Three minutes later

"U'sheew! Hu, HU, U'Chshhew!"

"Dean, pull over."

"I said I'm fine Sam!" Ten minutes later. New record.

"U'shhew! E'shhhew! Uh, Uh….Heh'shheww! T'shhew! T'shhew! U'Shhew!! Son of a Bitch!" Dean scrubbed roughly at his nose.

"Dean,"

"Sam,"

"Pull over or you are going to crash the car."

…silence…

"Dean,"…more silence… "Come on Dean you know I'm right." Dean sighed.

"Fine Sammy, you win." He pulled the car over and they did a Chinese fire drill.

Sam was glad he managed to convince Dean to give up the driver's seat. He figured the threat of hurting his baby would be motivation enough. Sam was really happy when Dean fell asleep, curled up head against the window breathing through his mouth. Sam grinned to himself. When they got closer to the town they were aiming for he pulled into a grocery store. He was amazed that Dean didn't wake up when the car stopped. It gave him a small twinge of worry but he pushed it down. He went into the store and bought tissue, decongestants, tea and honey. He smiled slightly and thanks Sara for her tips on tea. When he got back to the car Dean was just waking up.

"U'shhew!" he sneezed as Sam got into the car. "We here already?" he said roughly.

"Just a few miles out." Sam replied handing him the bag of supplies. Dean looked in the bag and said nothing.

Sam found a slightly higher end motel than usual and pulled in. His hope was there would be a tea pot, or at least a coffee pot he could make tea in for Dean. Dean unloaded the car, while Sam checked them in. He walked in to his brother having a violent sneezing fit.

"…T'shhew! T'shhew! U'chhew! E'shhhew! HU…hu… HU'shheeeww! Son of a- e'shhh! Bitch! U'shhew!"

"Holly crap Dean. Bless you."

"Shud up," Dean said. He grabbed the box of tissues out of the grocery bag and retreated into the bathroom. Sam shook his head and went looking for a tea pot. He found one and smiled. He put water in the kettle and went about making tea. When Dean came out of the bathroom there was a steaming mug waiting for him on the table next to his bed. He looked up at Sam who just ginned at him. Dean sat on his bed and took a sip. He let out a long sigh of happiness and stretched out on the bed. He glanced over at Sam.

"Hey Sam,"

"Yea Dean?"

"Thanks for the tea. It really is better from in a pot."

[Lace Butterfly]

So cute, love sick Dean and the subtleness of Sam's caring, and the waitress? What a nice little thing to add. Thanks for writing this 'cause with Christmas and all I've been missing my Supernatural fix a bit haha. Oh and you did a great job on the characterization and sneeze spelling by the way, I hope to see more of your fics on the forum.

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

The spelling of your sneezes is wonderful <3 . Stubborn Dean <3 sick dean I love this !

[PuddinPop]

Firstly, there is no need to apologise for the late posting. I completely understand that people have other commitments

Also, it was worth the wait! This is wonderful!!

Sick Dean trying to hide it from Sammy but just feels too miserable

I love how he gives up driving the Impala and Sam sat grinning at him when he has made him tea

You didn't include anything I don't like, this is just perfect.

Thank you so much

*goes back to re read several times*

[Sawyer]

Dean always preferring tea when he gets sick is such a nice detail. This was really nice. You did a great job with it.

[telltale]

Yesss sick!Dean, my darling! <333 This was great.

[Anilkex]

I loved the timer in the car between Dean's sneezing. It's adorable.

[ProfessorBiscuit]

This is phenomenal. You did a really good job writing Sam and Dean in-character and I thought the whole thing was really cute. Keep up the good work!

[angelica]

Very sweet! As the evil Supernatural writers don't give us sick Dean, the nice and kind fanfiction writers do the job! Thanks, I enjoyed it very much.

But...

Why was Dean so desperate to hide his illness from Sam? We all know he likes to keep his feelings for himself, that's a fact. But he has a reason to do so. If he talks about how he feels, and he feels miserable about something, that will only make him remember his sadness and feel even worse. A cold, however, is just a cold... He could talk about it, right?

My theory is that Sam has a sneeze/sick fetish and has a crush on Dean, So every time Dean gets ill Sam "goes crazy" and Dean notices it. Sam tries to hide it a little bit, but it's hard. I can feel his pleasure when he " bought tissue, decongestants, tea and honey. He smiled slightly...". Dean probably doesn't feel confortable about it LOL.

[LeadaAlexys52]

Aww thanks everyone! So nice to get such awesome comments!

@Kaida Lake - So glad you liked! I have also been in need of a Supernatural fix and this is usually how i get it when it's missing. As for more fics, now that I've started I doubt I will ever be able to stop. Fear not.

@DeathNoteOwner - Thanks, never been complimented on my spellings! Glad you enjoyed!

@PuddinPop - Yay Yay Yay!!! Soo happy you liked it! I do love the torturing of Dean and I am glad there are others like me out there!

@Sen Beret - Thank you for the lovely comment! Small side note I am a huge fan of your work!

@telltale - Glad you liked!

@Anilkex - Thanks! It just felt like something Sam or Dean would do in there head.

@ProfessorBiscuit - Thank you so much, I am so flattered! Character loyalty is something very important to me and I'm glad I managed to do it justice.

@angelica - The writers are evil for not bending to our wills I agree! The why? Truly a lot of that is inspired by several fics I have read on this forum. I didn't even watch Supernatural until after I had been on here for a while (it was these amazing people that inspired me to watch it and I admit I became totally obsessed) and it seems to be a running theme so I just went with it. I love your theory, not exactly what I was going for but I foresee a fic in the making perhaps??? Lol Glad you enjoyed it!

[AngelEyes]

Awesome. My favorite? Dean swearing at his fits. So believable! Love it!

[crazy_cat_girl]

So so hot! I love Dean sleeping the car (and Sam being worried when they stop and he doesn't wake up) and I love Dean being embarrassed to sneeze in front of a hot girl and his crankiness and the fits!

This is an awesome fic!