likethegun | On the Road Again, Friday Morning (Reply)

Dean was humming under his breath along with the tape playing as he drove down the highway. He glanced over at his brother and grinned.

"Relax, Sammy," he said. "You're gonna enjoy this, I promise."

"And you're not going to give me any clue about where we're going?" Sam asked. "That'll help me relax a lot, thanks."

	"Don't you trust me?" Dean asked giving him a wounded look.
	"Almost completely," Sam said. "It's just that your idea of a good plan is a lot more broad than mine. At least tell me we're not going to be doing anything legally questionable?"
	"Of course not!" Dean paused thinking about it. "Well, nothing major, though I suppose technically..."
	"Dean, I swear, if I end up spending my birthday in jail..."
	"Oh ye of little faith. Just trust me, okay? I wouldn't ruin your 16th birthday, okay?"
	"Okay," Sam said, agreeing reluctantly. "For the record, whatever you've got planned here? You didn't have to do it."
	"Yeah because I should totally let my little brother turn 16 without any acknowledgment." Dean shook his head. "Course I was going to make a big deal of it. It is a big deal."
	"It's not that big of a deal," Sam said. "No bigger of a deal than any other birthday, at least."
	"Dude, you can now officially drive legally with a non-fake license," Dean pointed out. "That's huge."
	Sam laughed. "That's not as big of a deal for me as it was for you. You and Dad do all the driving."
	"Yeah because you've been underage. Which you're not now. Which means you might just get more time behind the wheel. If you don't piss me off."
	"Maybe with Dad. I don't expect you to let me behind the wheel of your baby," Sam said, giving the Impala's dashboard a little pat.
	Dean just smiled at Sammy.
	The smile made Sam stutter for a second as he watched Dean. "Wait, is that--are you taking me somewhere to drive?"
	"I'd let you drive now except you don't know where we're going," Dean said logically. "But the way back? My baby's all yours."
	"Really?" Sam said, suddenly looking a lot more excited. "I'll be careful, I promise."
	"I know you will because if you're not I'm so taking it out of your hide," Dean told him.
	"Yes, the fear of getting my ass handed to me is on the list of reasons to drive safely."
	"Damned straight." They passed a sign for the turnoff for the park and Dean moved the Impala over into that lane.
	Sam looked at Dean, and then glanced back like he could glean some info from the back of the sign. "Dude, where are we going?"
	"Didn't you see the sign?" Dean teased.
	"Yeah, but...we're going to an amusement park?" Sam asked. The surprise in his voice was clear.
	Dean grinned. "Don't have time to take you to Disneyworld, what with the girls graduating tomorrow, so figured this would be a good substitute. Besides they have imps at Disneyworld."
	"You--Dean, you shouldn't have," Sam said, but that didn't mesh very well with the fact that he was grinning.
	"Yeah, I know it messes with your plans to complain about how your brother totally blew off your birthday," Dean teased. "But suck it up."
	"I wasn't going to complain about that," Sam said. "I just wasn't expecting you to make a big deal out of things."
	"You have met me before, right?"
	Sam laughed, and nodded. "I feel like I haven't been making a big enough deal out of your birthdays now."
	"You've been doing fine with my birthdays," Dean told him. "It's Gracie's birthdays you have to make a huge deal out of."
	"Oh, so this is a big brother thing?" Sam asked.
	"Sort of, yeah," Dean said with a shrug. "It's a pay it forward kinda thing."
	Sam sat back a little in his seat and grinned. "So, what's the plan?" he asked.
	Dean grinned. "We ride all the rides, clean out the games of all the prizes, eat ourselves sick on junk food, and possibly make fun of their haunted house if they have one."
	"If cleaning out the games involves me beating you, that's a completely perfect plan."
	"My generosity for the birthday boy only goes so far," Dean warned him.
	"I didn't say you'd let me win. I'll win naturally," Sam said.
	Dean snorted. "In your dreams."
	"Hey, if a guy's dreams can't come true on his birthday, then when can they?" Sam teased.
	"Gotta save some for the next birthday," Dean said.
	Sam grinned. "I want to focus on this birthday instead, and how cool you're making it."
	"That's because I'm awesome," Dean said, reaching over and ruffling Sammy's hair as he turned into the parking lot.
	"As much as I don't want to help your ego, you're right about that today," Sam said.
	Dean just shot him a happy grin as he slid the Impala into a parking spot. "Whatever you want to do when we get in, we'll do."
	"Are there any kind of rides you don't want to go on?" Sam asked, thinking about Dean's flying fear.
	Dean shook his head. "It's your day, Sammy. You get to call the shots."
	"It really needs to be my birthday more often if this is how you act," Sam said, smirking.
	"No it doesn't," Dean said. "Can't have you catching up to me in age."
	"Or being older."
	"You're not allowed to do that."
	Sam laughed. "You would flip out, it would be awesome."
	"It would be messing with the natural order of things," Dean countered. "Ain't right."
	"You just like being in charge, and it freaks you out to think of having to take the orders for once," Sam said.
	"I take orders all the time from Dad."
	"Yeah, but you'd have to take orders from me too," Sam said, "just like I do from you."
	"Never going to happen Sammy," Dean said with a confident shake of his head.
	"I can dream though," Sam replied.
	"Might as well throw a unicorn you can ride into that dream too," Dean advised. "It's just as likely."
	"Nah, that's way too girly," Sam said. "Maybe I can picture myself taking the Impala for a spin."
	"If you play your cards right, that could happen now and then," Dean said as they climbed out of the car.
	"Am I allowed to ask what's involved in playing my cards right?" Sam asked, getting out and following Dean. "Do I have to act like the car is a girl with feelings and everything?"
	Dean just gave him a look. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
	"Not bad," Sam said. "Just crazy."
	Dean patted the hood of the impala. "Don't listen to him, baby. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
	Sam laughed and gave the car a little pat as well. "I'm sure it'll drive just fine if I don't talk to it."
	"She."
	"You know, how do you know it's not a he?" Sam smirked. "Did you check underneath to see what kind of parts it has?"
	"It's a she," Dean said. "You've been riding around in her your whole life. You should know that by now."
	"You know what? It's only because it's my birthday and you're being super nice to me that I won't get into this argument with you right now," Sam said. "That, and I want to get into the park to see what they've got."
	"And you know I'm right," Dean threw in, as they started walking towards the entrance. "Even if you won't admit it."
	"I know you're very, very attached to your car, and as a good brother, I should just keep my mouth shut," Sam said.
	"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Solid plan."
	"Especially when it could cause me to be left at an amusement park by myself," Sam replied.
	"Don't want that. Amusement parks aren't much fun alone." Dean paid to get both of them in and then looked around. "So what do you want to do first?"
	"We could start walking and see what we hit first?" Sam suggested.
	"Whatever you want, Sammy."