I Could Be Happy the Rest of My Life by traveller.

Het.

Yeah. Catch me reading a Het story, but this one I found on my “other” rec list, the one I stumbled across and am hoping to get through by the time Amalthia’s list comes back up again. Page down, and just when I needed it most! So anyway, this story. Not a story, but a series of scenes. I am of the opinion that a series of scenes is a lazy way to go, and maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. I’ve always preferred a story where the writer shows her seat work and I get to go through all that to get to the payoff. I think maybe stories like these are called drabbles or ficlets, and usually, you know, no. Too short to get into for me. But, if the story is not marked with how many words, then I’m on my own and in I go.

This story is a series of scenes about Dean visiting this woman some place down south. He has sex with her, barely knows her name, but these visits fill him up, make him whole, give him some rest. Sam never knows why they are going down south, and either must be waiting in the car or the hotel, I don’t know. He never asks questions. In the end, Dean decides to be honest with Sam and introduces him to the woman. Pretty simple, yes.

The story/drabble/ficlet has some beautiful language.  And, at the same time, the writer seems to understand the pressure that Dean is under. Here’s an example:

“Dean keeps picking up his phone and putting it down, wanting to dial but not sure of whether or not he should. The trees are green and the temperature is high and Sam is dozing with the window halfway down. He wonders if he should be taking Sam there, if he’ll have to offer explanations where he’s never done before.

He wonders if he should’ve been telling the truth all along.”

I think the important thing here is what this says about the character of Dean. Of how he gets what he needs, never by asking or by taking, but by finding out what’s there and what’s being offered and making that enough. For Dean, this little spot in the south is home, a home in addition to Sam, in spite of Sam. For all the stories about how the brothers are so intertwined, it was nice to see one where there is an independance in Dean. More by this writer please.