In Jerusalem Next Year and St. Peter’s Bones by peripheralsight.

Slash.

 Hard to discuss when I’m pumped fill of turkey and stuffing, but rather than face a midnight turkey sandwhich, I plowed my way through a discovered rec list, and found this gem. Meets all the criteria, except for the fact that the boys have a pre-existing relationship, except in this case, it’s just teenage fooling around, and the boys don’t consider it. Much. What drew me into these stories (more companion peices than sequential stories) was the insight into the characters, and the lack of maudlin-ness, if that’s a word. What does that mean? Well, it means that the story rings true, characters do things they regret, or say things they wish they hadn’t, but they don’t wring their hands and sob over it. The thing they did or said that they regret comes back to them from time to time, and they let it, let themselves feel bad, and then they move on, but they don’t forget.

Story includes one of my favorite ideas, that of how on earth Sam told Dad he was going away to college.  And then Dean’s reaction to it. Some nice on the road stuff, which always rubs me the RIGHT way, with lines like this:

“This was one of Dean’s favorite times, when the only real certainty in front of them was the nebulous lull of a destination. The Impala ate up the heat-shimmer infinity of the highway and purred under his hands, wrapping him and Sam in a private universe of fast food and AC/DC that never felt like limbo and no one else could touch.”

Cause in my mind, that’s how road trips are for me. The destination. The isolation. The road. Music. Landscapes passing by. On the road. Perfect.

The story, however, is mostly about Sam and Dean coming together, literally and figuratively, before Sam left, after he left, and after Jess died. It was nice to come to this good style of writing after about 10 dull stories in which the sex doesn’t mean anything, and the characters seemed off, and I was bored silly. This was GOOD. Want more from this writer.