Saturday morning Sam was completely hung over.

He wasn't used to drinking - at all - and it didn't help that he'd started with what apparently had been vodka. Still, despite of his lack of experience, how, for heaven's sake, was it possible he hadn't noticed he'd been drinking alcohol the entire evening?

"No, seriously, how did you not notice?" Dean asked him the next day for like the twentieth time.

"I don't know, Dean," he yelled, pissed because his brother wouldn't believe him. "It tasted like water, I swear, I had no idea!"

"Sam, I could almost smell it from ten feet away."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I told you I didn't know, what else do you want me to say, Dean? Somebody just spiked my drink, that's it!"

His brother laughed. "That wasn't a spike, Sammy, that was one glass of pure vodka."

"Can we just drop it?" he sighed. "It won't happen again. I'll be more careful next time, okay?"

Dean shrugged but Sam could still see the worry in his eyes and that made him smile. He knew that if his brother was being a jerk, he only did it because he cared about him and Sam couldn't be angry about that.

"Want to get ready for lunch?" he suggested as a peace offering.

"Yeah, sure," Dean agreed and then gave him a reassuring smile.

Lunch at the Roadhouse was amazing. Jess and Lisa really liked their dad and the feeling was mutual. John almost considered the girls his own daughters. Of course the three of them in particular liked to mock the two brothers but Sam didn't care. He'd got all the people he loved at one table, so he couldn't be happier.

The fact that Ellen, the owner, and her daughter Jo joined them after a while made it all the better. Sure, for a couple of months there had been some tension between Lisa and Jo, because Jo and Dean used to have something going on between them before he got back together with Lisa, but in the end the girls had resolved their differences and now they actually got along really well. And that sure as hell was a good thing, because Sam didn't think Ellen and Jo would ever disappear from their lives.

Speaking off hell, Sam had decided on something. He was going to find out who had been tricking him for the past few days. It had to be one and the same person, because there was no way all the incidents had just happened coincidentally. Sam was sure of that. So he was going to bust whoever it was and confront them with it. The fun had been taken out of it as soon as they'd gotten him drunk.

And on Monday Sam realized he would have to act quickly if he wanted to survive the rest of the week. It wasn't an easy task though. Whoever was doing this, was hiding their traces very carefully. He tried everything, kept an eye on the places where something might occur (and where eventually something did occur indeed), asked his friends to watch out for anything suspicious, he even started checking his every move twice in case some trap was waiting for him. To no avail of course. If Sam didn't know better he would have thought it to be magic.

"I don't think I can take this anymore," he sighed during the lunch break on Tuesday. Today had been the worst day of all and he couldn't wait to get home. "Who would do this to me? And why?"

"Did you piss of the Trickster or something?" Lisa said and they all looked at her in surprise.

"Who?" her boyfriend said.

"The Trickster," she said as if it was obvious. When no one responded, she looked at them incredulously. "Really? Am I the only one who knows all the gossip around here?"

They all gave her a shrug or a look of indifference. She let out a sigh and explained, "It's supposed to be one of the Shurleys who has this amazing gift for tricking people, as the nickname suggests."

Sam was dumbfounded. One of the Shurleys was doing this? What had he done wrong towards them? He hadn't even talked to any of them yet, since most didn't seem very eager to start a conversation and he was too shy to do it himself. "So which one is it?" he asked Lisa, still shocked from the revelation.

"I don't know," she confessed. "I'd think one of the older ones but that's just rumors."

"I could ask Michael," Dean proposed and now everyone was staring at him in astonishment.

"What did you just say?" Charlie managed to get out after a few seconds.

"Michael," Dean said casually. "Michael Shurley, I met him at the party."

"You met Michael Shurley?" Lisa gasped out.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?" his girlfriend asked.

"Well, Sammy here was having a small breakdown, so I was a little bit preoccupied, you see," Dean joked and while patting Sam on the shoulder. "Thinking of it, I promised to fill him in on how things ended Friday night."

"You're becoming friends with him already?" Benny commented.

Dean raised his hands defensively. "What, so now trying to make friends is a crime?"

"'Course not," Charlie interfered. "But let's be honest, he'd be the first in his family."

"Friends or not, if one of them is doing this, I'll let them have it," Sam concluded.

"Oh, if they're the ones bullying you, they're gonna get it from me too, believe me," his brother agreed, immediately becoming protective of him.

He smiled thankfully at his older brother. With Dean by his side Sam knew he'd always be okay, no matter what.

It was Thursday when it happened.

Dean was driving them to school like every other day. There had been nothing special or different about that morning, nothing that could have foretold the tragedy that was about to occur. Sam was simply staring out of the window while Dean was humming along with the music.

Sam saw the smoke even before he heard the sirens. He quickly nudged his brother, a ball of fear tightening in his stomach. It couldn't be...

"Holy crap," Dean said, looking at the grey fumes. "Something's on fire."

Then Dean looked him in the eye and Sam could see realization kicking in.

They didn't need to say anything. They both knew who lived in the street the fire seemed to be situated in. So instead Dean took a turn in that same direction.

With every second they neared their destination Sam could feel his heart beating a little bit faster, his breath becoming a little bit heavier, his thoughts jumping back and forth but always coming back to the same one: it couldn't be her...

And then he saw it. The same house he'd visited at least twice a week for over a year now. The house that had welcomed him like a son. The house he'd gotten to know as well as his own.

Now it was ablaze.

For a moment Sam thought his heart had stopped.

The fire fighters had already arrived and now tried to gain control of the fire. In the back of his mind he could hear Dean swear but the words didn't really sink in. When the car stopped, he immediately got out, took a few steps towards the house, then suddenly came to a halt again. His thoughts were racing through his head but he couldn't think. He didn't know what to do. So he just stood there, frozen in space and time.

It can't be her, it can't be her...

He didn't notice Dean coming up to him or the tears running down his face.

She's already left for school, she wasn't at home anymore...

He'd offered to give her a ride to school a million times but she always used to say she liked the short walk, not wanting them to have to make a detour, as short as it may have been. At this hour she should already have left to make it in time. But who knew how long the house had been on fire before they arrived?

She's okay, she has to be okay...

Some of the firemen took a couple of steps back when a part of the second floor collapsed. Sam knew what was behind one of those windows right before the foundations gave in. He remembered the blue walls, the messy desk he tried to put straight every time he came over, the double bed her parents hadn't yet allowed him to spend the night in. It was all gone now. But he didn't think he would even care if she was okay.

He saw his brother heading to the fire fighters to talk to them but he doubted if he wanted to hear what they had to say.

Then suddenly a second car stopped right in front of the house and two familiar people got out. Mrs Moore's cry when she ran towards the house pierced right through his heart. Her husband caught up with her quickly and stopped her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly with a pained look on his face. She burst out in tears and clung to him desperately, while a fireman approached them. When Mrs Moore started crying even harder Sam knew enough and it felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. He frantically gasped for breath, a throbbing pain spread through his chest and it took him all of his will power to not have his legs give way.

He only realized Dean was talking to him when his brother put a hand on his shoulder. "... okay? Sam? Sammy? Hey, you listen to me, Sam, it's gonna be okay, alright? I know it hurts but you're gonna be okay. I'm right here for you, Sammy."

Somewhere during his words Sam had started to feel like he couldn't breathe. It was like the air was stuck in his lungs and he was choking on his own tears. He desperately tried to inhale but he just couldn't and suddenly he was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hey hey hey," he heard his brother say and then Dean clasped him in his arms. Sam clutched to him like grim death.

"Deep breaths, Sammy," Dean kept repeating. "It's gonna be okay, just take deep breaths."

Eventually he managed to do what he was told but still he couldn't stop crying his heart out. The pain in his chest was beyond everything he'd ever experienced. The truth was like a needle slowly piercing itself through his heart, no matter how hard he tried to fight it and deny what was right in front of him.

When Dean finally let go of him, he turned to Jess' parents. They'd noticed them too and were now making their way towards him and his brother, Mrs Moore a few steps ahead of her husband. As soon as she reached Sam she hugged him as well. He didn't know what to say to her but apparently there was no need to say anything at all. They were both just crying silently, holding each other in an attempt to comfort one another though they knew they couldn't. This pain was way too severe to be swept away so easily.

Somehow they eventually parted and Dean got him in the car, heading back home. Sam supposed he wasn't going to go to school today. Somewhere between Jess' house and his own he finally ran out of tears and the excruciating pain was replaced by a numbness. This he liked better. It prevented him from thinking and he didn't want to think, afraid this one thought might coincidentally pop into his mind. He really didn't want to think that one thought.

They got home, Dean got him to their room and into his bed, going down afterwards to talk to their dad. Sam just lay down in his bed. Waiting. Waiting for this nightmare to be over.

~~~

Tbh, I always liked Jess. And Lisa. I'll go kill myself now...