*21 Years Ago*
Dean was slowly making his way across the school carpark, not caring that he was one of the last ones to leave the school.
He preferred to take his time after the bell rang even if it was only a few minutes, it was still a few minutes that he didn't have to spend at home.
He knew other kids weren't like that, most kids sat through classes just staring at the clock wanting to go home and wishing for the weekend. But, Dean was the opposite and wished for weekends to be over quickly.
It wasn't that he liked school, he actually hated it and thought it was pointless with the stupid shit his teachers would teach. But he'd rather sit through bullshit classes than sit through bullshit with his family.
He thought he was the last one to leave the premises, but then he spotted Castiel standing in front of his car in the middle of the empty parking lot with the hood up.
Dean quickly glanced around wondering if any of Castiel's brothers or friends were around to help him, but they were alone.
For a second, he thought about just walking off and pretending like he never saw him, but he couldn't just leave someone with a broken-down car, especially not Castiel.
He began to make his way over to the other guy, not saying anything as he reached Castiel's side and glanced between him and what was under the hood.
Castiel exhaled deeply as he looked over at him. "I don't know much about cars unless the tyre needs changing, but I turn the key and nothing happens."
Dean nodded diverting his attention back to what was under the hood as his eyes scanned the engine trying to find the source of the issue.
"Think this is karma? Payback for being party to the honking the other day?" Castiel asked causing Dean to snort.
"Reckon the universe dished out swift justice." He responded, staring at the engine as Castiel laughed and Dean couldn't help but smile hearing the man laugh.
"Oh, he speaks. He's sort of funny."
Dean could feel his cheeks blushing slightly as he leant over the hood and reached out towards the battery that had been disconnected as he reconnected it and took a step back.
"Try it now." He said, pointing towards the drivers seat.
Castiel walked around the car and opened the door as he leant through and turned the key as his car roared to life.
"Thank you." Castiel responded, a wide smile spread across his face.
Castiel leant against his open door, resting his arms over the top as he stared at Dean who shoved his hands into the pockets of his ripped jeans.
"Your battery got disconnected. Not major. It happens."
He closed the hood and took a couple steps in Castiel's direction not really knowing what else to say or do.
"My friend thinks you were trying to talk to me the other day." He wasn't entirely sure why he said that, but it had been bugging him ever since Jo said it.
"I was." Castiel nodded, an unreadable expression on his face as he stared at him.
"She thinks I blew it."
"You did." Castiel admitted, leaning against his car door as Dean dropped his head and stared at the ground, not really knowing how to respond to that causing Castiel to frown. "Okay, maybe I'm reading the situation wrong, but are you... are you gay? If you're not then forget I even said anything and I won't bother you again, but-"
"Yeah." Dean cut him off and immediately shut his mouth straight after, shocked that he just said that out loud.
Why the hell would he tell him? Nobody but Lee and Jo knew and he did not want that little bit of information to get out.
If his father ever found out that he was also into guys... he didn't even want to think about how he'd react.
"That's a relief, otherwise what I'm going to ask next would have been really awkward." Castiel chuckled causing Dean to snap his head back up towards Castiel in confusion. "Do you want to grab a drink with me? Maybe Saturday at the Roadhouse... 6 o'clock?"
Dean stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds before he began to shake his head.
They couldn't just go out on a date to one of the most popular places in town, even if it wasn't popular they couldn't just go on a date together. If people saw the two of them on a date, all hell would break loose.
Yes, Castiel's family was highly respected in town and people might not care about his sexuality. But if word got back to his father or his cousins that a Winchester had been seen on a date with person of the same sex... it would be a totally different story and Dean would be lucky to live to tell said story.
"I-I can't... We can't just..." Dean stuttered tripping over his words as he struggled to say what he was trying to, rubbing his face with shaky hands. "Can't be gay in this damn town. We can't just go on a date like normal people, man."
"We're not normal people? I'm not normal?" Castiel questioned and Dean quickly shook his head.
Shit, that's not what he was trying to say. Why couldn't he ever just say what he meant?
"That's not what I meant, it's just-"
"Relax, I'm messing with you, I know what you mean. But, why can't two friends go out and have a drink together?" Castiel suggested a small smile on his face as he watched Dean slowly process what he just said. "Gabriel and I go to the Roadhouse all the time together to hang out. We can do that too, nobody has to know that it's a date or something."
"You're asking me out on a date, Cas?" He asked because he couldn't figure out why he would even want to be seen with him, let alone ask him out on a date.
"Well, I'm trying to." Cas chuckled nervously and Dean stared at him for a few seconds trying to figure out if he was being serious before he nodded. "Is that a 'yes'?"
"Yeah." Dean replied with a slight smile causing Cas to smile too as he nodded, relief evident in his features.
"Alright, I'll see you then. Thank you for fixing my car too." He said, climbing into the drivers seat.
"No problem."
Dean couldn't stop himself from smiling as he watched Cas drive off before he turned around and began walking out of school, hoping his family weren't home to ruin his now good mood.
-
It took nearly 20 minutes before he turned off the bitumen road and down the dirt driveway that lead into the Winchester's property.
There were a couple old rusty trailers parked off to the left where any of his fathers friends stayed when they were over, while Dean and his cousins live in the small rundown cabin in the centre of the property with his father.
He spotted his fathers black pickup truck parked out the front, but no others vehicles were in the area indicating that his fathers friends had left while he'd been at school and he sure as hell wasn't going to complain about that.
He hoped his father was already passed out on the couch since he was already two beers down before Dean even left for school this morning, but as he opened the broken flyscreen door to the house he knew that wasn't the case.
He could hear his father and cousins in the lounge room, laughing and shouting at each other, no doubt playing some sort of card game which Dean had no interest in joining.
Quietly, he closed the door behind himself and silently walked down the hallway towards his bedroom, hoping none of his family would see him.
He didn't want to deal with any of their shit, not tonight. For once Dean was actually in a good mood and he didn't want his father to ruin it. But, of course, life always had a different idea.
"Where you running off to, Dean?" His fathers voice suddenly questioned.
He froze where he stood as he stared at his bedroom door that was a few metres too far away. Damnit.
Slowly he walked back a few steps until he was in line with the lounge room door and looked in spotting his father sitting on the couch while his two cousins, Adam and Christian, sat on foldout chairs around a small table between them covered in playing cards and booze.
"I expect you to say 'hello'."
"Hello." Dean replied with a small nod, not wanting to say anything else in case it might set his father off because for once he seemed to be in a relaxed mood.
"Come on in here. Sit down. Let's play a hand of cards or something." His father suggested motioning towards the card table in front of him while Adam started to shuffle the deck of cards from where he sat.
"No, I'm... I got stuff to do- I got homework." Dean lied.
"He thinks he's smarter than us. Is that true? You think you're smarter than us? Think you're too good for this family?" His father questioned a slight edge to his tone that made Dean quickly shake his head.
"No, sir."
"That's good, because this is where you belong. Here."
His father pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and tossed it towards him. Dean caught them easily with one hand, his other holding the strap to his backpack over his shoulder.
"Why don't you go out back and tune up the Impala. We got a delivery upriver tomorrow night and you're going with us." His father explained and Dean froze looking up from the keys in his hand.
He couldn't go tomorrow night. He was meeting Cas at the Roadhouse tomorrow night. He couldn't just ditch Cas and tell him that his father forced him to do a drug delivery with him and his cousins. He didn't want to do any deliveries, he wanted to spend time with Cas.
"I can't go tomorrow night. I got something to do." Dean answered, but as soon as the words left his mouth he instantly regretted them.
His cousins had learnt from an early age to just agree and do whatever John says, but Dean had never seemed to learn that.
Suddenly, his father slammed his half drunken bottle of beer down on the card table. He stood up from the couch and marched towards him.
Despite the amount of alcohol running through his fathers blood, the man didn't even look drunk. Fucking seasonal drinker.
"You didn't listen to a goddamn thing I said, did you?" John questioned, taking a few more steps towards him until they were practically face to face before he slammed his fist into the side of Dean's head.
Sudden pain erupted across the left side of his face as he stumbled back a few steps. His hands instantly reaching for his left eye that he could already feel was starting to bruise.
"I'm not-"
"I'm not what?" John challenged, taking a step towards Dean who's hand balled into a fist by his side, but he forced himself to stay calm.
He might not have learnt how to shut up and just agree to whatever his father says, but he'd never fought against his father before and he did not intend to see how well that would end.
Yes, Dean had started to get stronger over the past couple of years, his muscles slowly getting bigger while his father just kept getting older, greyer and fatter. The alcohol and smokes doing nothing but adding an extra ten years to his appearance.
"I'm not what?" His father repeated.
Dean just glared at him, knowing it was best not say anything and piss his father off even more. But, apparently not saying anything also seemed to piss him off as he punched him across the face again.
"Hey, hey, come on, Pop. Let's play some cards." Adam suggested, trying to get John's attention away from Dean.
He might not like Adam much, the guy was an asshole and drunk more often than not. But the two of them always looked out for each other whenever John was in a violent mood.
Whereas Adam's brother, Christian, was the total opposite and egged John on whenever he was in that mood.
"I swear to God, Dean, you are a slow fucking learner! You still got someplace to be Saturday night?" John questioned.
Dean knew this was a test, but he was beyond the point of caring at the moment because he was done with this.
He was done with his fathers bullshit. He was done with letting his father drag him around and doing runs or deliveries for him. He was done with it all.
"Yes, sir."
He hated how his voice trembled as he forced himself to stand up straight and his fathers eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched and Dean knew exactly what was about to happen.
But, as his father took another swing about to punch him again, Dean quickly took a step back and caught his fist before it could connect to his face.
The look on his fathers face was priceless as Dean's hand tightened around John's fist before he pushed it away. John stared at him in disbelief before a grin slowly broke out across his face.
"You wanna hit me? Hit me, you see where that'll get ya." John warned.
Dean just stared at him for a few seconds before John chuckled and walked back into the lounge room, sitting down on the couch as Adam passed him another beer.
Dean took that as his cue to leave and rushed down the hallway to his bedroom and shut the door behind himself.
He couldn't stay here anymore. He could barely hold himself back from punching his father and all his father had done was hit him twice. John had done a hell of a lot worse than that over the years, most of which involved belts and cigarettes.
Dean knew if his father so much as reached for his belt to whip him then he wouldn't be able to hold himself back and he might end up killing the old bastard himself.
Quickly, Dean began to throw the little belongings he had into his backpack. A few pairs of jeans that weren't completely torn to shreds along with a couple flannel shirts.
He grabbed his old leather jacket, putting it on over his long-sleeved shirt before throwing his backpack over his shoulders.
Kneeling down beside his bed, he lifted his mattress up off the floor and grabbed his bolt-action rifle, along with the box of ammunition beside it.
Once satisfied that he had collected what he needed, he opened his bedroom door quietly, peaking his head out to make sure nobody was in the hallway.
He sighed with relief hearing his father and cousins talking from the lounge room. The coast was clear.
Silently he made his way further down the hallway and sneaked out the back door, wincing when the door squeaked as he closed it. But, luckily his family were too loud to hear the noise before he took off jogging through the woods out the back of the property.
Dean knew the woods on the outskirts of town like the back of his hand. The only thing he liked about the Winchester property was that it was literally located on the edge of the woods and none of his family ever went out there except him and Sam when they were kids.
The woods was his escape, his safe place. It was the one place he could disappear to where his family wouldn't be able to find him.
He had taken Sammy out to the woods for the first time when he was four, to get away from their fathers wrath after he broke a dinner plate.
They ended up laying on the forest floor and watching the stars above the trees for hours. Sam loved it and didn't want to leave when Dean had said it was time to go back.
It become a common occurrence, whenever their father was in a bad mood and their mum wasn't home, they'd disappear into the woods for a few hours. It was nice just the two of them alone with Mother Nature around them.
But, after the fire... after his baby brother died, the woods weren't the same. Nothing was the same anymore without Sammy and Dean knew it never would be.
He wasn't really sure where he was going to go as he slowed down to a walk and glanced around the woods to get his bearings.
He knew if he kept going straight he would eventually reach the town, but he didn't really want to go into town.
He thought about going to Lee's house or even Jo's. He knew Jo wouldn't mind having him over until he figured out what to do nor would Lee, but he also knew that Lee's parenrs probably wouldn't want a Winchester in their house and Ellen definitely wouldn't want that either.
Plus, he knew how much danger he'd be putting his friends in if he stayed at their houses.
He knew his father would eventually find out where he was and would try make him come back home and he didn't want the Webb or Harvelle family in any danger or on his fathers radar.
However, when it started to rain, he knew he needed to make a decision.
Dean could easily outlast the light shower of rain in the woods, but when the rain began to get heavier and heavier, he knew he needed to find shelter somewhere unless he wanted to get cold.
He jogged through the woods until he reached the outskirts of the town.
The sky now dark after the sun had set, thick storm clouds covered the sky as he continued running down the street, relieved that his family property was on the other side of town and none of them would be out driving in this weather.
He continued to jog down the bitumen road. His clothes and hair absolutely drenched as thunder echoed through the sky followed by flashes of lightning in the distance.
The faint street lights lit up the road as he jogged until he had to stop, unable to run any further as he tried to get air back into his lungs.
He glanced around the street, spotting a dirt driveway to his left that lead to a fairly large house and a wooden garage. He figured that was a good place as any to camp out for the night or at least until the rain died down a bit.
Making his way over to the garage, he glanced over at the house, but couldn't see any lights or cars parked out the front, so he figured nobody was around.
He tried to open the sliding door before he saw the padlock connected to it. But, he spotted a window on the side of the garage and jogged over to it and to his relief it wasn't locked.
He slid the window up, throwing the bag and rifle inside before climbing in.
It was dark, but a couple work lights were on inside, lighting the garage up as Dean took in the area and quickly realised it was some kind of work shed if the vintage Chevrolet Chevelle parked in the middle of the room was any indication.
He walked around the garage for a few minutes, smiling at the framed photo of an older couple on the bench.
he looked around the room again and figured he might as well sit down and get comfortable until the rain stopped.
Dropping his backpack and rifle to the ground beside him, he sat down leaning his back against the front tyre of the Chevrolet Chevelle.
He only meant to stay there until the rain stopped and he'd go back outside and try figure out where he'd go, but he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew something was poking him in the shoulder.
He opened his eyes in confusion to find an older man standing above him with a double barrel shotgun aimed at his face.
Dean's body instantly tensed as he sat up straight, his hands raised in surrender.
Shit, he was in so much trouble.
He glanced down at his backpack to find that his rifle had been kicked away from him
Dean was already regretting bringing the rifle with him. If this guy calls the cops he'd be done for trespassing and he had a weapon with him, that was just a thousand times worse.
He was screwed.