Chapter Text
In the end all of Adam’s hard work had paid off, he’d gotten out of Henrietta and the dirt that surrounded it. He was 41 hours away, across the country and with a scholarship to Stanford University for sustainability and engineering. He knew that his friends had been concerned about his decision for a double major, but Adam was determined to do it. If he had survived Henrietta he could survive college, where there were less dead kings and ley lines to worry about.
He’d arrived to the campus a few days before it was orientation to set up his dorm room. It was a small space, shared with another student. Adam could have chosen to get a room for himself, but then he’d have to pay for it with his own pocket money and while it had been tempting, there was no way Adam was adding even more work to his schedule. If he could get a place to sleep for free he was going to take it, pride be damned. Besides, it had been paid of by his grades, so really he had earned this.
At the time of his arrival there had been no sign of the person who he was going to share a dorm with, so Adam, with the help of Ronan, had unpacked the few bags of stuff he’d brought with him in peace. Adam had only brought the most important things he needed to college the rest of his few possessions had been left at the barns or thrown away. There wasn’t much that Adam had that had that sweet nostalgia attached to it. No, this was a new start and it was going to be done properly. Nothing from his parents trailer, a select few things from St. Agnes and a handful of things from the barns.
There wasn’t much to indicate which part of the 2 bedroom was his, except for the fact that the bed was made and there was one photo on the desk. It’s doesn't feel like that’s how it should be, in Adam’s mind he knows something is missing, there should be something more in the room to make it his. But he doesn’t know what, so he let’s it be.
The night before orientation Adam’s roommate knocked on the door. It was past 9 pm, still light outside but late enough for Adam to start preparing for bed. He knew it was early, but there was only so much he could do before tomorrow. He’d read through the first chapters in most of his course books to be prepared for the lectures, he’d even made notes. But Ronan had practically begged Adam to try to take it a little more chill this semester and not overwork himself within one week, and, well, Adam had promised, and he didn’t want to break that promise this early.
The knock startled him, and Adam scrambled from where was was sitting on the bed with a book in his lap to the door, stopping for a moment to fix his shirt and then opening the door.
The man on the other side is tall, taller than Adam with curly hair and a bag slung over his shoulder. He’s wearing a jacket and plaid despite it being the beginning of september in California and worn out shoes.
“Hi, I’m Sam. Uh Sam Winchester I think this is my room as well?” He has a small smile, awkward in a way that Adam recognizes. So he just nods before stepping aside.
“Yeah, I’m Adam Parrish. Nice to meet you.” He doesn’t mean to cover his accent but he does, it’s a habit not easily let go off.
“You too.” Sam reached out with a hand and Adam took it, both of theirs grip solid. It was a new beginning if Adam ever saw one.
Sam wasn’t sure what to think about the guy he was sharing a room with. He was quieter than Dean could even dream about being and had about as much stuff with him as Sam himself. They both kept to themselves, only really exchanging awkward small talk from time to time before going back to focusing on working. One one hand Sam knew he was lucky, he could have ended up living with someone who’d only gone to college to party and score girls. Adam Parrish seemed more focused on studying than bothering Sam and in return Sam did the same.
Sometimes they would go down to the library together and it was nice, for once, to be there with someone who didn’t complain when Sam had been there for longer than two hours. He missed Dean and their dad, of course, but this was Sam’s decision and he was standing by it. Going to Stanford to study law was where his future was at and he wasn’t going to apologize or go crawling back to his dad. If there was one thing that man had taught Sam it was how to be stubborn.
But what he’d also been taught was how to be paranoid and pay attention to details, and while it was something Sam had wanted to leave behind it was impossible to ignore. After a few weeks at the school he and Adam had gotten closer, Sam wouldn’t consider them friends exactly but they were good acquaintances who shared a room and helped each other study. Because of that it was hard for Sam to miss it; Adam was weird.
Not in ‘I’m possessed by a demon way’, but there was something a bit off with him. He’s not sure exactly what it is, but there’s something. Maybe it’s because Aam sometimes got that look in his eyes when it was late at night with rain thundering against the window, where the rest of the world seemed to matter less to him. But that could just be homesickness, Adam didn’t share much of his past, just like Sam, but there was always something left behind.
That wasn’t Sam’s first clue that he was actually right when it came to Adam’s weirdness. It came in the form of a potted flower.
Adam had brought it to the dorm one day, carrying the half dead flower against his body as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He’d shrugged as answer when Sam had raised an eyebrow at him before sitting it down on his desk.
“Jenifer, you know of her right? She’s going away for something and asked me to keep her flower alive.” Adam shrugged again. “I couldn’t really say no, unless you’re allergic or somethin’?”
Sam shook his head. “No, no allergies at all. Do you know how to take care of a flower though?” It was a simple task but Sam knew how clueless some guys where when it came to simple stuff like that, and if someone gave him a random flower he’d probably overwater it in a day.
“Yeah, I’ve, uh, I’ve never really had any problems with flowers and plants before. They seem to like me.” Adam chuckled and rubbed one of the leafs between his thumb and middle finger. Adam’s hands were slender, with sun kissed freckles covering the back and his fingers as well. They weren’t covered in small scars from fighting supernatural creatures or learning how to defend himself from them, but they were rough like Sam’s own. He knew that Adam had worked as a mechanic, or at least worked with cars, during high school, so Sam assumed the small calluses on his hands came from that.
“Okay if you say so. Don’t come to me when you need to buy a new one three days before she returns back.” He shot back, earning a snort from Adam. He’d been worried in the beginning that teasing Adam wouldn’t go over well, but it turned out that they both seemed to understand each others snarkiness. It wasn’t the same like with Dean, but it wasn’t a bad change.
“I won’t be.” Adam promised and then pulled out his computer from his bag. That was the end of that conversation.
It turned out that Sam had been wrong, because three days later the flower was in full bloom despite not standing in a place where sunlight reached it. When Adam had brought it to the rom it had been alive sure, but it certainly hadn’t been on it’s way to look like a ornament in the window to a flower shop. But Sam didn’t know much about flowers and had never grown up in a family that cared about them, so chances were that he simply was ignorant.
What had been weird was the time when he’d walked back to the room after a long evening spent at the library working on some paper. If anyone claimed that law students had it good Sam would shove his whole course book down that person’s throat, but that wasn’t the important part. When he finally got inside he was greeted with Adam sitting at his desk, talking to the flower, in latin?
Sam knew latin, it was kinda the basis for being a hunter but he didn’t know Adam knew latin. He didn’t seem to be saying anything special, only talking about a forest and Cabeswater? Sam wasn’t sure what it translated to, but he’d look it up later.
“Hey Adam, didn’t know you knew latin?” He tried to sound casual, like it was any other question, he wasn’t sure he succeeded. Adam sat up straight, and looked over at Sam. His shoulders were raised just slightly, and his light eyebrows were furrowed. Sam could recognize defensiveness when he saw it but he didn’t understand why that would be Adam’s reaction.
“Yeah was taught in high school and was friends with the biggest latin nerd ever.” he rolled his eyes but his shoulders reminded raised high. “You?”
It wasn’t a shorter answer than Sam expected, Adam didn’t like sharing anything about himself that hadn’t something to do with the University and he couldn’t really be blamed because Sam was the exact same.
“My dad taught me, thought it was imperative for my life or something.” They both knew that the other wasn’t telling the whole story but there was no way either of them could push for an answer without having to give themselves away. It created a low tension between them that flared up every now and again when they touched upon subjects that could connect to their past. Sam was relieved that at least they both understood this and respected each other enough to not engage.
Adam’s shoulders lowered and he cracked his neck and looked on his watch on his wrist. It was worn out, just like all of his other stuff. “You were out later than expected.” He commented.
Sam sighed and slumped down on his bed, eyelids falling shut. “Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking when I chose law dude, it fucking sucks.” He only got a laugh in response.
But the thing with the plant didn’t stop there, over the 2 week period that Jenifer was away the flower slowly turned from potted house decoration to something that could be found growing deep in the jungle undisturbed for years. It had grown at least 15 inches, leaves curling around the stem and reaching for the white flowers growing at the top and roots spilling out from the pot and slowly climbing down the side of Adam’s desk.
Sam didn’t know what to even make of that, according to google it was supposed to be a Primorse, but it sure as hell didn’t look like it. He’d asked Adam about it but he’d seem clueless as to why the plant was freaking out as well.
When Jenifer returned to get her flower she’d taken one look at it and then turned to Adam with a startled look on her face. “How did… Did you give it steroids or something?”
“No, it just sorta, did that.” Adam answered, scratching his neck and looking away from Jenifer.
“Okay.” She dragged out the word and went past him to look at the flower and the roots that curled around the leg of Adam’s desk. “Okay you know what? Just keep it, I don’t know what you did but at least it’s growing now.”
Ignoring Adam’s startled look and Sam who tried to not to snort at Adam’s face, Jenifer said a quick goodbye before getting out from the room in less than three seconds.
It would have been fine if it had only been one flower, except that it wasn’t. Sam had thought that one overgrown flower was enough for the small space they shared, but then Adam came back to the dorm carrying a small package he’d gotten in the mail and a sheepish smile.
“So, would you mind some more plants? I, uh, I told my boyfriend about that-” he gestured to the maybe Primrose, “and he thought it was a good idea to send me flower seeds from his farm.”
Sam, like an idiot, said yes. Because it was a bit cute that Adam had someone who sent him flowers and he wasn’t against having some decorations in the room, it was still very plain. He did regret it later though, because apparently all plants acted like Adam was their own personal brand of carbon dioxide and sunlight. The plants seemed to reach for the places where Adam spent most of his time, curling around his desk and his bed, big yellow flowers hovering over his pillow and small delicate pink ones growing around his books. They left Sam’s side of the room untouched, thankfully.
He didn’t know much about plants but even Dean, who couldn’t tell a rose from a dandelion, would be able to see that there was something not quite right about the situation. So when Sam arrived to the dorm late another night just a few days after and found Adam sitting in the dark on his bed with only a candle lit, head bowed over a bowl of water and mumbling under his breath, Sam felt the hairs on his neck stand up.
He didn’t know what it was, but there was something not-human about his roommate.