Days in Heaven

Eighteen

The hall started filling and Castiel's throat started blocking up and the air around him felt stuffy. He started panicking, his pupils dilated and he started frantically looking around the room. Dean stood up and ran into the stage
"Are you okay?" He whispered, patting his arm.
"No Dean. I'm facing my biggest fear right now!" Castiel whispered angrily
"Second biggest, actually. Remember what I said, ignore everyone and pretend it's only me. Make me proud" Dean smiled
"I have to go" he whispered. Dean ran back down the stairs to his seat and sat, he winked at him and gave him a thumbs up with a cheesy smile. Cas giggled.
"Take it away Novak" his teacher said

Castiel took a deep breath.
"My name is C-Castiel Novak. Today I'm doing an assembly about C-Child Abuse and Bullying." He stammered a little.
"God dammit Cas" he mumbled to himself. He looked up and cleared his throat. He started talking about how wrong it was and showed statistics of suicides from these topics
"I have my own story" Castiel said, worried. He had done so much without having a mental breakdown. Dean was concerned, he wasn't expecting any personal story's.

"My father was always verbally abusing me. He called me many explicit names and always told me I was going to perdition...which is hell. He sometimes even hurt me." He muttered into the microphone. The sound of his own broken voice made him panic. A few minutes later he said his last words

"Thank you" he said breathlessly. People clapped as he ran of the stage, he grinned and ran into the hallway. He jumped in happiness and squealed. Dean stood up
"HEY! SIT DOWN!" A teacher shouted, Dean ran towards the door and jogged to Castiel with his arms open.
"I'm so god damn proud of you Cas" he said, embracing him.
"I can't believe I just did that" Castiel squealed
"That was amazing Cas!" Dean gushed, squeezing him tighter.
"When we get back to the dorm I have something to tell you. It might ruin the mood a little. I decided not to tell you before the assembly" Dean sighed.
"What's wrong Dean?" Castiel asked, worried, breaking the hug.
"How about we go back now?" Dean said, putting his right arm around Castiel's shoulder.

back at the dorm

Dean sat on his bed and patted next to him, Castiel sat down.
"Castiel. My dad got fired and that means he can't pay for my university funds, which means I can't stay here with you. Luckily graduation is only in one month so hopefully he can hold on until then." Dean sighed, smiling.
"Dean. Don't do that pretend smile. I know you're not happy about this. I'm not either." Castiel squirmed a little.
"Look. If I get a job soon I could maybe make it to March, which is our graduation for some reason." Dean shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm gonna get such a bad grade from all my classes because you always made me skip. I really wish I could go back in time!" Castiel moaned
"Well. You'd need 1.21 gigawatts to do that. And a DeLorean." Dean laughed, Castiel stood with his head to the side a little, like a confused puppy.
"I don't get the reference." Castiel said casually.
"You've never watched Back To The Future!" Dean said bewildered, Castiel shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Dean face palmed and stood up
"This is not good Cas" he announced, Castiel laughed.

the sound of Castiel's phone ringing

Castiel picked up his phone
"It's my father." Castiel sighed
He accepted the call
"Hello father." Castiel said, reluctantly
"Castiel. As you know it is your brother Gabriel's birthday next week and we want you to come and celebrate with us. Well I don't really care if you come or not but Gabriel wants to see you" his father said unfiltered. Castiel's heart starting pounding
"Uh- sure." He muttered
"And bring your boyfriend. We need to chat" his father growled
"O-Okay. Bye father." Castiel stammered. He ended the call

"Dean, my father wants you to come to Gabriel's birthday dinner with me." Castiel said, trying to hide his worry behind a smile.
"That would be nice." Dean smiled.