Living Like This

Nine

"Cas are you okay?" Dean sounded very concerned.

"Dean, c-could you- w-would it-" Cas trailed off.

"Are you crying?" Dean asked.

"I- sorry. I- I-" Cas couldn't make the words come out.

"Cas, calm down. Deep breaths," Dean said. Cas did as Dean suggested, calming himself down.

"Dean, I hate to do this, but is there any chance... I mean... could you maybe... could you keep a cat for me?" He asked timidly. Dean was quiet for a second.

"I... okay," he said. Cas grinned.

"Really? Can I bring her over now?" He asked. Dean agreed and gave Cas his address. When they hung up, Cas started down the street, holding Ginger close.

***

When Dean opened the door, Cas smiled, but Dean didn't smile back.

"What happened to you?" He asked, looking concerned.

"What do you mean?" Cas asked.

"You look horrible, you're bleeding. Did something happen?" Dean asked.

"I'm f-fine. I j-just had an accident, t-that's all. This is G-Ginger," Cas stammered. Dean stood aside and Cas walked in.

"You can't just blow past this, Cas, it looks like you were put through a blender, what the hell happened?" Dean's face changed. "Did Aaron do this?"

"W-What? Why w-would you s-s-say that? Of c-course he didn't! He l-l-loves me!" Cas stammered, holding Ginger a little tighter. Ginger didn't like that and she wormed her way out of his arms. Tears sprung up in Cas' eyes. "He- he does..." he said softly. Dean took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Cas. Cas broke down completely in Dean's arms, crying and holding tightly to Dean's shirt. Dean pressed his cheek against the top of Cas' head.

"It's gonna be okay, Cas," he said.

It took Cas a while to calm down, and when he did, he sat next to Dean on Dean's couch.

"I'm really sorry about that, Dean. I..."

"Don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for," Dean said. Cas stared at the floor.

"I... I should probably go. I'll see you later, Dean," Cas said, standing up. Dean stood up too.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked.

"Home, where else would I go?" Cas asked, confused.

"Home? You're going back to Aaron? Cas, look at yourself! Why would you go back to him?" Dean asked.

"He loves me, Dean! He saved me, if it weren't for him I would've been dead a long time ago! He just gets a little angry sometimes, it isn't his fault," Cas said. Dean stared at Cas, looking incredulous.

"Cas... you can't stay with this guy. Can't you see how horrible this is? You can't even talk about yourself because he has you so convinced that he's the only important thing about you. Do you even know who you are?" Dean took a step forward and Cas stepped away from him.

"You d-don't underst-stand. We l-love each other, he d-doesn't mean to h-hurt me," Cas said.

"Cas, please! Just leave him, you can come live with me. We can get you away from him forever. Please," Dean begged.

"I can't. Thank you for keeping Ginger, I'll pay you back for whatever you need to get for her," Cas said. And with that he walked out. Dean didn't know what he was talking about, Aaron loved Cas and Cas loved Aaron. It wasn't Aaron's fault he sometimes lost his temper. Dean just didn't understand. If he knew the whole story he would know. He would know how much Cas and Aaron loved each other.