God, this kid can’t just keep showing up like this.

It’s a quiet night in Lebanon, especially since what happened with Jack (Him being the new God, and all) and his near death experience (a rusty nail, really?) everything else— Dean has room to breathe. Except, he doesn’t. He never does, at least not for long.

He walks. To clear his mind of things, whatever is on his mind. Taking a break from the alcohol has been… tough, of course, but it’s not like he’s going cold turkey. Miracle helps, too, like a scruffy little comfort animal. But there’s one thing stuck in his mind this past week.

Walks, right. He takes Miracle on a midnight walk whenever his thoughts feel too loud and overwhelming, y’know, instead of cracking open a cold one. On one of those unfortunate nights, he was walking (per usual) around the park, nice and quiet how he likes it. Until he stumbled upon something sleeping on a park bench, small, shivering. A kid. He never quite got a name, because as soon as he poked at the kid to wake them up, they were already escaping with their ratty bag to avoid him— the big scary man with a big ol’e scruffy dog. He thought that was that, honestly.

But he kept seeing them. Fleeting moments around Lebanon in both daylight and night time, searching through dumpsters or buying something at the gas station with the little money they had. He needed to do something, but he never got the chance to. Until now.

He nudged them gently, using his free hand to give their shoulder a little shake. Once he saw their fearful expression, he spoke gently. “Kid- hey, listen. Y’aint running away from me tonight, okay? I won’t hurt you, promise. Sit up, relax, take a deep breath. I ain’t gonna hurt you.”