Hello, I just want to explain that this isn't a "normal" Destiel one-shot. I don't even know if I can call it that.
The other day I had this idea of a one-shot with mechanic!Dean and clerk!Cas, so I started writing it but somehow it got huge *nervously laughs* so I thought: Hey, maybe I could turn this into an actual story. But I don't know if it is THAT good.
So, I'll post what is supposed to be the first chapter here and maybe you could tell me what you think of it, yes?
It doesn't really has Destiel in here, just the introduction of the characters and of their lives, but I really hope to make it soon - if this story goes on.
Ok, enough blabbing. Here, take it, and I hope you like it! :)
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[Dean]
Some people define happiness in materialistic affairs such as money, fame, a grand three-stored house with a pool and barbecue, a fancy and extremely expensive car and an elegant and opulent young lover. In other words, and in a very ironic manner, based on illusions of a poisonous life teemed with greed, avarice and envy towards others. Whatever the case may be, none of those things truly matter to our survival, however, the world keeps running after them like a petty preposterous mouse in a deadly maze.
Dean Winchester never was an example of that. Of course, he was no saint, he, once in a while, would lust over something or someone, yet he never had selfish unrealistic life goals. He knows what real happiness is or, leastwise, he tries to reach it in the small joys of living. It is not of his interest to have a mansion with long green yards with a gigantic new pool, a Jacuzzi, or a vast company who employs thousands of people who make him wealthier one week after another; quite the contrary! His life couldn't be simpler: a modest apartment, with cracked walls, a barely existing kitchen and a cold shower, downtown and a humble family business alongside his uncle Bobby, while his brother studies Law at Stanford. Apart from that, at weekends, he hangs out with his best friend, Charlie, and, during the week, he is a mechanic; simple enough to be gleeful without many concerns.
-
The sun isn't even showing the first signs of coming and the entire block where he lives is still involved in the silence of the dawn of the day, when 'Carry On My Wayward Son' welcomes Dean to a new day of work. Instead of turn it off or mute it, he leaves it there playing, and as the first instrumental hits, Dean, with a sloppy move, gets out of bed and plays air guitar, jamming his favorite song all the way to the kitchen to prepare his morning coffee. While he waits for it to get ready he lazily cleans the rest of the kitchen, he was too tired the night before to do so, and puts the dishes into the dishwasher. A pack of letters is waiting for him to open them, but the sleepiness and the indisposition to deal with more bills makes him do the decision of ignoring them, so he simply pours some coffee into a mug and walks back to the living room leaning on the brown windowsill, absently scratching his left calve with his foot, enjoying the scenery of the desert beach at the very end of the panorama of his window.
He always loved that beach. Mostly because he spent all his summers since he could remember of existing lying on that warm and golden sand, looking up at the sky at the seagulls or making sand castles with his younger brother Sam, while his parents would sit beside them simply watching over them or laughing at something the other would say. When they were distracted, or for some other reason not with them, Dean would prank Sam by throwing sand at him or convincing him to eat it instead, and then John would admonish his older son for that but the sweet smile on his face always betrayed him and, the day after, Dean would keep doing the same. Howsoever, the best part would always be at the sunset time, when most of the beach was already empty and a soft breeze would sing along the waves crashing on the rocks and the seagulls crying in the sky. Sometimes, Mary would even take photos with the boys in the water or with John and after, when it was too cold for the kids to be there, they'd dinner at a small diner at the entrance of the beach.
For as much as he'd like to stare at his childhood place for the rest of the day, the sun's rising was his signal to get dressed and go to work before he gets late. So, after taking one long last sip of his black coffee he hotfoots to his messy room and picks up a clean black t-shirt and some old jeans, hindering up the simple action of dressing a pair of jeans when trying to walk with half of his jeans already dressed and the other foot looking for its hole. Despite that, he made haste, and after brushing his teeth and combing his hair, he finally grabbed the house keys and left for a fifteen-minute walk to Singer's shop.
[Castiel]
Not always plans go as thought, and Castiel knew that better than anyone else. You grow up surrounded by people saying for you to go after your dreams, you can be whoever you want, with enough work and patient the reward will come and take you to the top of the world, and then, life laughs at your sweaty face and exhausted body and yells "Face the truth" at you.
That's what happened to him. All his life was about studying hard and obsessively, preparing himself to do justice to the Novak legacy and become a respectful doctor, and in return he was flung into the cold real world: a planet full of cruel people and shattered dreams. The man who would be king lost the comfort of his home and the chance of following his dream because the same family who raised him left him due to retrograde mentalities and closed minds. Although, he doesn't care anymore. He learnt the lesson that sometimes you don't get to live the life you pictured, yet the alternative can be better, even if you don't see it; he doesn't. Not yet, because to him how can a life as a clerk at a gas n' sip store, completely alone in a new town without any kind of connections be better than a life as a reputable doctor in a big hospital and with a comfortable house at the outskirts?
-
Castiel always starts his day with a long walk in the only place he found some serenity and peace since he moved to that town: the beach. The beach with long sandy plains and beautiful dunes and clean blue water placed in a small bay at the southwest of town. In fact, he spends most of his free time there, sitting on the brick wall separating the beach from the busy street, with his sketchbook in one hand, a pencil in another, and the landscape as his model. Unlike one may think, Castiel isn't an artist at drawing, he wouldn't even consider himself good, he just likes to draw and improve his skills, because besides that, it also calms him and he could use some of that calmness during his daily routine.
Today he decided to walk at the waterline and feel the foam on his feet, shivering at the cold temperature of the water. He kicks the water occasionally as he traipses with his hands sunk deep into his knee-breeches' pockets and a distant gaze at the sea, noticing the fishing boats already leaving the coast to another day of labor with its seamen already chanting orders between each other. Back at his hometown there weren't seamen. Neither there was a beach. He grew up in a rumbustious and bustling metropolis with skyscrapers and ads panels in every corner of the street, the traffic noise to the level of making someone going mad. If you asked him he'd say that the silence is what he likes the most here, alongside the tranquility of living in a quiet town on the shore.
The barking of a dog makes him flinch and he turns around to see a golden retriever running in his direction with his tongue swaying at his pace, and in an instant the dog throws himself at him, almost throwing Cas to the water, wagging its tail.
He hears, "Bad Loki, c'mere!" and looks to see a man running at them with a red sucker in his right hand. "I'm sorry; my dog loves people too much. He just wants to play." He apologizes gripping the lost leash from the sand and putting the sucker back to his mouth.
"It's okay." Castiel simply replies with a shy smile and pats the dog, rubbing Loki's head.
Loki's owner smiles back, "I'm Gabriel." He introduces himself raising a hand and Cas stops rubbing Loki to shake it,
"Castiel."
All the sudden Loki bites Cas's beach slippers he was holding in his hand and tries to run away with them dragging Gabriel with him.
"I swear to God, this dog..." The stranger grumbles trying to hold his dog and that makes Cas chuckle going after them. Gabriel sinks his feet in the sand and forces Loki to stop. "Here." He grabs Cas's slippers giving them back to its owner. "My dog is a complete trickster." He jokes with a blundering smile still with the sucker in his mouth. "Anyway, I got to go, but it was nice to meet you, Castiel, and I'm sorry for the slippers."
Cas nods smiling and Gabriel starts walking away pulling the dog with him and waves one last time at Cas before turning around and continuing his walk with his dog along the beach. He looks down at his hand, seeing two distinctive marks in one of his slippers and shrugs wandering to the sidewalk to walk back home before going to his work at a Gas n' Sip downtown.
[Dean]
The music coming from the radio is, in most days, the only company Dean has during his shift. Part of that is because besides him there's only Bobby there, but mostly because he is a music lover. Whenever a classic rock song starts playing, the shop turns into his stage and he sings its lyrics like there is no tomorrow, not caring with Bobby's complaints or with his out-tuned voice.
"Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo"
"...Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto..." Someone sings behind him and he lets the spanner fall, almost hitting him on his foot.
"You scared me." Dean chuckles cleaning his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a trail of oil instead, smiling at the redhead in front of him.
"You still have-" Charlie motions to his forehead, grabbing a rag and cleaning the oil out of his face, "And you ask why you don't have a girlfriend, look at you, all greasy." She mocks combing his hair.
Dean laughs taking the rag to clean his hands, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, today."
"What, you can't visit your friends, now?" She pretends to be offended, playfully punching his bicep, and sits on an old metal bench. He rubs his arm and returns to the opened capot humming the song that is still playing. "Hey-" She calls examining his work, "do you remember Cassie from high school?"
Dean looks up with a thoughtful expression, "Hm-the black chick, right?"
"That one! I found her yesterday and we started talking and she asked me your number..." She vaguely says squinting her eyes looking for some sign of interest on Dean's face. For months, she was trying to find someone to Dean, but he was always rejecting all her attempts.
"Not interested." He says not even taking a second to think about it while checking the car's engine.
A frustrated sigh comes out of her mouth, "What about Lisa? She's nice... Or Anna, she's trying to take a bite from you since she first landed her eyes on you." She blabs whining.
"Charlie, I already told I'm not into relationships right now, too much drama."
"But you're young... and with good looks, I mean, if I was into boys I'd be crazy about you!" Dean ignores her going to the toolbox to grab a bigger spanner. "I know that your relationship with Bella didn't work out, neither did the one with Michael, but-"
"Charlie-" He interrupts her crossing his arms. "I know what you're doing. Dorothy left and you're using my sexual life as your hobby so you won't think of her."
That makes Charlie look away crossing her arms in a defeated way. Since Dorothy moved to DC Charlie is trying to pair Dean with someone, even after all the times he told her not to do that. Especially because he doesn't want a serious commitment, but also because, after Michael he needs to clear his head.
"What about him?" She abruptly says pointing at the other side of the street to a man cleaning the storefront of a Gas n' Sip. "He looks cute." Dean doesn't even take the effort to look at where she was pointing, simply giving her a stare before leaning on the open capot once more. "You're boring." She finally gives in resting her head against a pillar.
[Castiel]
There isn't much to do was a clerk, so Castiel ends up, most of the time, living the boredom of his life or cleaning the store to, at least, have something to do.
"Don't forget to throw the empty boxes in the dumpster outside." The owner of the store, Mr. Devereaux, chants cleaning his round glasses as he walks to the exit, tripping over his own foot and hitting a stand, "God damn it! And pick up these cans, Steve."
"It's Ca-" Before he could finish, the store's door shuts leaving him talking alone. "-stiel."
He looks at the cans rolling on the floor and grumbles under his breath the luck he has to have Frank for his boss. With a sigh, he decides he can clean the shop window later and drags himself to clean the other's mess.
Nothing much happens after that, and Meg, his co-worker, arrives some minutes earlier to her night shift, saying he was good to go. As he walks out of the store, he sees a red-haired girl laughing while another person is pulling the shop's gate down and then, them both start walking down the sidewalk enthusiastically talking and laughing. He thought of them as a cute couple and dresses his trench coat, walking in the other direction back to his apartment, five streets up.
As usual, the elevator is out of service and Castiel has no other option but do the stairs to the fourth floor. His neighbor next door, an old lady who keeps calling him Charles, waves at him and he smiles back politely, grabbing his house key longing to be finally at home so he can change to his pajama.
"Yo, Cassie!" A familiar voice calls his attention and he turns his head to find Gabriel with a groceries bag between his arms against his chest.
"...Gabriel? I didn't know you live here." Castiel comments unlocking his door, slightly opening it.
His neighbor nods, "One floor above." Loki is sniffing the floor and Castiel frowns,
"I thought they didn't allow animals here."
Gabriel laughs, "Well, the landlord doesn't need to know, does he?" Castiel shrugs leaning on the doorframe. "Hey, I'm gonna have some friends over, tonight, do you-" He stops adjusting the bag in his arms "-do you mind keeping my dog just for a couple of hours? It's just that one of them is afraid of them, so..."
"Oh, okay." Castiel agrees half disappointed. For a moment he thought Gabriel was going to invite him too, but of course he wasn't, they barely know each other, he thought to himself.
"Great! I'll just feed him and after dinner I'll bring him down. Thanks, buddy, you're awesome."
Castiel simply smiles and excuses himself inside, shutting the door behind him and kicks his shoes off and hangs his trench coat on the coat hanger on the front door, going to his kitchen to eat something before starting his 'Dog's keeper' mission.
[Dean]
Dean had some rest from Charlie for the rest of the week. She would either point at girls or boys, from time to time, when she was making him some company at the shop, but they would mostly talk about what they'd do for the weekend. One wanted to stay at home and do a movie marathon, the other preferred to go to the cinema instead. Then one would choose to go to a small bar, and the other would rather go to a nightclub. Dean got the upper hand and it was decided they'd go to a small bar Dean knew since high school.
Dean is sitting on a stool beside Charlie, each one of them with a beer in hand,
"That one." She points at a blonde girl at the other part of the establishment.
Dean rolls his eyes, holding a grunt, "For the hundredth time, Char-"
"I mean for me, dumbass." She interrupts him, she too rolling her eyes, "I already gave up on you, monk. If you wanna live in celibacy, that's up to you. Me, in other hand, I need to have some fun."
Dean looks at the girl she was pointing at and examines her for a few seconds, "Drop it." Charlie, who is about to get up, frowns and gives him a confused look. "She's on a date."
"What?" She looks back at her, seeing her alone. "How can you tell?"
He sighs, taking a sip of his half-empty beer, "The dress, the high wheels, the excessive make-up..." He starts enumerating.
"That doesn't mean she-"
"...The way she keeps checking on her hair and keeps looking around and at her watch like she's afraid it gains wings and flies away..." Dean continues with a knowing tone and as he's finishing his list, a tall guy approaches the said girl kissing her on her cheek and taking the seat in front of hers. "I Told ya."
With a sad sigh, Charlie sits back down palming her chin, looking at her beer, "We are two forever alone, brother. I better start looking for homeless cats and take them home with me."
"You already are crazy enough, I can't even imagine if you had cats." Dean looks at her and she starts laughing, making him laugh too.
Still looking for a new entertainment, Charlie sees a friend of theirs accompanied with someone she doesn't know and pats Dean's shoulder getting up to greet them. Dean follows her with his gaze until he sees Gabriel and another guy awkwardly standing there. It somehow gets his attention, especially the way he is looking around like a confused and lost puppy until someone poking on his shoulder makes him turn his head to that person instead.
An elegant girl with long curly brown hair is smiling at him, "Hmm, I'm sorry, it's just-" She starts with an insecure but still feminine voice.
"I'm waiting for my boyfriend." He simply says the most credibly possible and makes an apologetic smile looking again at where the three were not finding them there anymore. Then it hits him that he said boyfriend but he just shrugs that thought away. After all, his last relationship was with another guy so it is normal that he has the urge to say boyfriend instead of girlfriend, right?
[Castiel]
Gabriel's invitation to go out to a bar to have a couple of drinks was a surprise to him. When he saw him standing on his door he even thought he was there to ask him to take care of his dog again like he did at the beginning of that week, but he was there to pay him that favor and to know him better because, according to his words, Cas seems to be a really nice dude.
So, he said yes and is now sitting at a table with two people he basically knows nothing about. Well, he knows Gabriel a little more than he knows the girl, whose name was the only thing he got so far, Charlie. She also appeared to be the same girl he saw the other day when he was heading back home after work.
"That Dean, I swear to God..." She, all the sudden, grumbles looking at the counter.
Castiel tilts his head confused and Gabriel follows her gaze seeing a girl giving Dean a weird look and walking away, "You know his thing with my brother Michael got pretty rough. I understand if he's standing behind, I'd possibly do the same."
"I know, I know, but he could get some fun either way." That's all she says before looking at Cas who is looking between them two completely without a clue of what they were talking about. "You're that cute guy, from the gas n' sip in front of Singer's, aren't you?"
Not knowing very well how to react to someone who just called him cute, Castiel simply shrugs with a faint nod, "I guess that would be me."
"So, do you have a girlfriend?" She asks curiously.
"...Not really."
"Boyfriend?"
He looks at her widening, "What?" Her only response is a shrug and Gabriel chuckles, drinking some of his beer, "No, I do not have a boyfriend."
She hums something to herself and that makes Cas squint his eyes, unsure of what that questions meant. A waitress comes by asking if they want a refill and Gabriel smiles asking for another beer, which she replies an "Okie dokie, bro" and goes back to the counter, returning a half minute later with Gabriel's request. They do some small talk and Castiel is simply watching as Charlie gets up and goes talk to some other girl at another booth. It annoys him. People always seem to ditch him when they get someone else to talk with, and it makes him feel miserable, because he is also a person, so he thinks he deserves a little more of attention than he gets. Yes, he can be a little shy or not very extrovert like Gabriel and Charlie seem to be, but he can be funny and communicative as well, people just need to give him time and encourage him to loosen up a little.
He looks around examining his surroundings. At his right is a couple of teenagers blabbing about their last party, and at his left two women eye-flirting with another two men some booths down. The music is catchy but not really his taste; he'd rather listen to some old Jazz than these new pop songs. But nevertheless, the bar has the looks of a well-known place in town, considering the amount of people in there.
He loudly sighs, feeling the boredom getting to him. It somehow gets Gabriel's attention and he nudges him with his elbow, "Sup, buddy?"
He responds with a yawn, "I'm just getting tired-" He lies rubbing his eyes. "-I think I'm going home." He actually preferred to be home alone rather than be there just to be ignored.
Gabriel gives him a short smile, "Oh, okay, man. Do you want me to give you a ride there?"
"No, I can walk back home. It's not that far anyway." Somehow he manages an honest smile. He was always like that: no matter how people ignore him, he still feels like he is no better than them and that he needs to be at least polite. "Goodnight, Gabriel."
"Goodnight, buddy."
[Dean]
The day before he went home only warning the redhead with a small text message saying "I'm going home. Tomorrow Sam's visiting so I'll go take some rest before he arrives." He paid his shots and walked himself out, finding the street empty except for this thin man in a trench coat slowly walking down the road. He adjusted his leather jacket, blowing to the thin hair, seeing some of his breathing floating into nothing and paced back to his block of apartments, being the cold wind and the dark sky his only companion.
-
As the sun rises, Dean jumps out of bed with an excitement he didn't have in a long time. He is, after all, seeing his brother again after six months apart. But first things first. He needs to get his house presentable to Sammy's girlfriend, Jessica, who he is going to meet for the first time, today.
While he waits for Sam to arrive, he quickly puts his dirty clothes to laundry, does his bed, cleans some more visible dust, does the dishes, cleans the kitchen, gets the mail, reads the mail rolling his eyes every time he gets a new bill to pay, takes a shower and gets dressed. All being said like that makes him look like a responsible person, but let's emphasize the fact he didn't do the laundry for two weeks already, neither cleaned his house for over a month, his mail was almost like a pile of fan letters to some known celebrity and that he broke two plates while doing the dishes because he couldn't use the dishwasher due to it breaking three days before.
The doorbell makes its warning sound and Dean doesn't even bother to dry his hair and get his shoes put, running to the door and opening it, finding his brother with a very elegant blonde beside him. He hugs them both tightly, first Sam and then the so-called Jessica, and invites them inside.
"God, I missed you!" He says when he gets to look better at his brother, hugging him once more. Sam laughs, hugging his brother back, patting his back with his right hand.
"Yeah, me too, Dean."
"And look at you!" The oldest of the brothers happily says, separating from Sam and looking at Jessica. "You are even more beautiful than Sam said. And he said plenty." He chuckles as Sam rolls his eyes followed with a warm smile.
It was true. Everything Sam had said about Jessica didn't make justice to her. Her curly long blonde hair along with her innocent and sweet eyes and pink lips shapes her like a princess from a monarchy painting. Her smile is bright and shiny like a ray of sunshine and her skin is not very tanned but soft and the light perfectly reflects on her, exalting her perfect cheeks. Dean can see what Sam had seen in her, she has this aura over her of peace, comfort and safety.
"Thank you, Dean. I hope all good, though." She laughs and follows the two brothers to the kitchen, sitting on a stool.
Even her voice is comforting and her laughter is a symphony of soft and warming sound waves. She is very alike Mary, their mother, as far as Dean can see.
Sam is very different from what Dean remembered. He is taller, for starter, much taller. He had the size of a regular teen when he went to Stanford and has now the size of a man able to scare anyone who tries to mess with him. He is stronger too; Dean can see it from the muscles of his arms. But most of all, he seems happier, and that makes Dean the happiest person on Earth.
"How's college going?" His first question comes as he opens his fridge taking some juice out and goes to a cabinet to grab three glasses.
Sam smiles sitting on the stool next to Jessica's, "It's going great! At this pace, I'll be a lawyer in three years. Things couldn't be better."
"Sam's the best of his class." Jessica proudly tells, resting her hand on Sam's knee. "I'm so proud of him."
Dean pours some juice into the glasses and offers one to each one, leaning on the island in front of them with his glass in hand, "That's my boy. How's mom and dad, have you seen them?"
Sam nods, "I passed by their place before coming here. They're good, but they're dying for you to visit them." He softly smiles simply playing with his glass on the table.
"I will. I just need to get things in order first." Dean sadly replies looking at the dozen of bills he has to pay. He wants to see his parents more than anything, but he can't afford a car at the moment and doesn't want his parent's money anymore. He decided to stay behind when they moved back to Lawrence, Mary and John's birthplace, at the time Sam entered college, because he wanted to be independent and do his own life as he pleased. Of course, it all sounded very easy in his mind when he made that choice, but now things were getting somewhat rough. He doesn't regret his choice, no, he loves his life! He has a place to call home, he has a job, friends, all he could ask for! But someday it gets difficult to be away from his family like that knowing he can't just leave his things for a couple of days and head up to Lawrence.
Time flows when you're distracted by something or someone and to Dean that day just flew by. They lunched together at his place and then they decided to show the town to Jessica. Since their first school to their favorite diner; Sam's treehouse to Dean's roof, ending, of course, at the beach.
It was almost sunset time when they got there. The childhood memories were many and both brothers couldn't help but smile and laugh at each other remembering some moments they lived there.
Sam grabs his girlfriend's hand with his and kicks his shoes off, encouraging her to do the same. Dean sits on the sand, his legs up against his chest, watching as the young couple walk mindlessly around the beach. Jessica laughs as Sam hugs her and whispers something into her ear and Dean remembers their parents doing exactly the same, once or twice, when he was around eleven. They both laugh and look at Dean waving at him. Dean smiles, waving back at them. They are happy; his little brother is happy and free. God couldn't have given him a better blessing.
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Yay for continue
Nay for enough is enough