Struggle - A Destiel High School AU

Chapter Four

It's Friday night and Dean Winchester is coming over for dinner at the family Novak. Not to see Cas, but to see Anna. Dean and Cas had had short, awkward conversations at school, but unlike last time, they didn't regret the kiss. Cas is nervous and sure that it's going to be weird, sitting at a table eating his older brother's home-made food, and when Dean and Anna talk, Cas will just have to quietly sit there and pretend that nothing ever happened between Dean and him.

Sad and slightly nervous, Cas grabs his laptop and decides to have a Doctor Who marathon until the doorbell rings at seven.

 Dean isn't bothering getting all dressed up and ready for this dinner. He doesn't really do parents, but Cas will be there, and he needs to set some things right with Anna, because he's kind of been a douche to her. Also, he heard that they have a big family and an alcoholic writer as their dad, so how bad can it really be?

 ---

Dean parks his dad's car on the impressive driveway. Cas and Anna have a big house and they obviously are part of a pretty rich family. He walks up to the door and rings the doorbell. Dean feels his heart pumping in his chest as he hears footsteps inside. The door opens and Anna smiles when she sees her guest. "Hey Dean, come in."

The sound of the doorbell makes Cas feel nauseous. He turns off his laptop and debates whether to just stay in his room or not. Castiel just decided he'd stay upstairs until dinner is served when he hears his brother Gabriel's voice shouting: "DINNER TIME!" Cas walks out of my room and sees that two of his other brothers, Michael and Balthazar, also got the message.

The entire family, and Dean, sits around the table in the modern dining room eating the food cooked by Gabriel and Chuck. Cas eats his food in silence while he sees Anna constantly talking to Dean on the other side of the table. Castiel feels miserable and he regrets coming downstairs, he should've just faked a headache or something.

"We have a very big family, but we're all adopted. There's Gabriel and Michael, they're freshmen, blood-related and the youngest, but they can be very mature when they're not being complete idiots. Samandriel's a sophomore and Castiel's real brother. Also, I'm convinced my dad was tripping when he named them. Balthazar, Castiel and I are also the same age. Then you have Uriël and Raphael, they're seniors and they think they're better than us. Oh, and there's Luke, but he's not here tonight. Luke likes to be called Lucifer for some reason and it's kind of creepy. He sucks, and a couple of days ago he punched Gabriel in the face because Gabe called him a 'great big bag of dicks', dad kicked Luke out of the house and we haven't heard of him since. And dad, dad's a writer but he has only one successful book so when he broke up with his girlfriend, and constantly got knocked down my critics, he started feeling lonely and depressed, so he adopted all of us. He's still kind of lonely and depressed though, so that didn't really work out well." Anna explains, she keeps talking and talking and Dean has a hard time keeping up. Every now and then, Dean smiles at Anna to not seem uninterested, and he did laugh at Gabriel's quote. But Dean just can't concentrate with Cas sitting on the other side of the giant table with nothing but emptiness in his bright blue eyes. Dean takes his eyes off Anna and looks at Castiel. The boys make eye contact for a brief moment, but then Cas quickly turns his head away. Dean glances at him one more time and notices how different this Cas is compared to the Cas he kissed a few days ago.

"Are you alright?" Samandriel asks as he stands up. Cas nods, not completely lying since everyone has finished eating so he can escape this hell and go back to his room. "I'm just going to my room now, I have a headache." He tells his brother, who is not surprised by his brother's anti-social behavior, in fact he's the only person in this house that understands his need to be alone so often. Castiel can feel Dean's stare burning into his back when he walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

---

Dean's sitting in the living room with Anna, Gabriel, Balthazar and Chuck. It's been at least half an hour since Cas left and most of his brothers went upstairs too as time passed. Gabriel is sitting in the biggest black leather sofa all by himself, watching TV while stuffing his face with candy. Balthazar and Anna are discussing Titanic and their dad just keeps asking Dean questions. Dean just wants to leave, but he's not leaving before he has spoken to Cas, so he asks Anna: "Where's the bathroom?" Dean doesn't really have to go to the bathroom so he doesn't listen to what she says next, but when she's done talking he walks through the living room and dining room and opens the door he saw Cas leaving through earlier this evening. Climbing the stairs, Dean realizes that this house is huge and he has no idea where Castiel is right now.

Cas lets his troubles drift away as he lays on his bed with his eyes closed. He's been laying here for a while now, and he feels slightly less miserable thanks to the comfort of soft pillows and rock music. When the silence between two songs gets interrupted by the sound of combat boots stepping on the wooden floor of the hallway upstairs. Castiel opens his eyes, praying that one of his brothers decided to start wearing combat boots. He stands up, incredibly annoyed, and opens the door. Dean Winchester is standing in the hall with a stupid grin on his face. "Hi." He greets. "Can I come in?" Castiel doesn't say anything, he just steps aside so Dean can pass.

"Are you ok?" Dean asks, looking at the boy who hasn't said anything to him since he first arrived.

"Absolutely not." Cas says, with a weak, misleading smile on his face. As he speaks, Dean looks up at him with a worried face-expression.

"I'm sorry." Dean whispers while stepping closer to Cas. There are hundreds of things Castiel wants to say right now, but because he's too scared, he shuts up and puts his arms around Dean. They hug for what seems an eternity, and even though Dean normally hates chick-flick moments, he wishes that moment could've lasted forever. "I need to go now, but I really..." Dean smiles and he doesn't know how to finish that sentence.

"Wait. Are you doing anything tonight? I want to take you into town." Cas surprises Dean with this question, Cas didn't seem like the type of person that would go into town when it's dark outside.

"Sure."

"Meet me at Harvelle's diner at ten."

And with that, Dean walks out of the room with a feeling of both joy and confusion.

After telling Anna he's leaving, she leads Dean to the front door. Just when Dean's about to walk through the door, Anna  presses a hurried kiss onto Dean's lips and Dean can't stop thinking of how different and better Castiel's lips tasted.