~~~~
The office building that housed the hellhole that Dean would be visiting every month from now on was cold and quiet. The air was somewhat stale and the only sound other than the low hum of the air conditioner was the sound of his father, John, his brother, Sammy, and his own footsteps, on the tile floor. They finally stopped at the door marked 401 and John turned to him.
"When you're finished up, text Sam so he can come get you." He nodded. John had only dropped him off because he was going straight to the airport after this. He worked away from home most of the time, and was often gone for several weeks at a time. John walked away after clapping him on the shoulder. Sammy, who had only just turned sixteen followed after him, pausing to wave back to Dean. He waved back before turning back to the door.
Dean didn't want braces. Not at all. The idea of having all that metal in his mouth was terrible. It was the end for him. He wouldn't be able to chew gum, wouldn't be able to make out with his girlfriend, Lisa, without having to worry about braces getting in the way. And to make matters worse, during his senior year. All of his homecoming and prom pictures would have the wires and brackets showing. He used to make fun of people with braces, and now he was going to become one of them.
He opened the door and sighed, looking at the waiting room. There were a few angsty looking teenagers sitting with their parents, probably reading fanfiction on their phones. IDean walked over to the front desk and cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward.
"Hi, is there a place I'm supposed to sign in?" He asked. The lady at the desk looked up and smiled widely at him.
"Oh, there's a computer over there. Just enter your full name and take a seat!" She said, a bit too brightly for his grumpy mood.
Dean walked over to the computer monitor and entered his first and last name. The picture they had taken for Before and After pictures popped up and he cringed.
Closing out of the page, he went over to the waiting room and flopped into one of the chairs, pulling out his phone and opening Instagram. After almost five minutes, he heard someone call his name, and he looked up. A woman was smiling at him, and he got to his feet.
"Right this way, sweetie," She led Dean into another room, where rows of dentist chairs were, teenagers sitting in almost all of them. "My name is Pamela, I'll be the one putting your braces in. If you could sit here..." Pamela gestured to an empty seat, and he took it.
Putting the braces in was horrible. He almost bit Pamela five different times, and nearly got himself stabbed when she was putting the wire in between the brackets. By the time he had chosen the colors for the brackets, (orange and black, not like Halloween, but like tiger stripes), his teeth were so sore, he half expected them to fall out.
"Okay, you're all done!" Pamela said, handing him a Ziploc bag with a small mirror, a bag of little rubber bands, and a tiny toothbrush. "Use these whenever you brush your teeth to get a around the wires, and use these bands all the time, except for when you eat. Also, remember, you can't eat any corn, popcorn, hard candies, or caramel."
At this cruel reminder, Dean could feel his soul dropping out of his chest. He could eat nothing he liked. It was a sheer miracle that pie wasn't on that list, although he had a feeling that pecan pie was out. Why was life so cruel?
As he got out of the chair, Dean noticed Pamela was offering something else to me. He looked up and noticed that it was an ice-cream sandwich.
"Here, I imagine your teeth probably hurt like hell. This will probably help." She said, smiling when he took it. "Have a good rest of your day, sweetie, and make sure you set up an appointment for next month."
With the ice cream in one hand and the little bag of supplies, he walked back to the front desk, setting everything on the counter. "Hi, again, I'm supposed to set up another appointment for next month."
"Alright, well, we have an appointment time available at 12:30 pm on September 5th. That's a Saturday. Will that work for you?" The receptionist asked, her nails clacking on the keyboard.
"Yeah, that should work for me." She handed me a pencil.
"If you could grab one of those cards behind you and write it down, that'd be great."
"Wha? Oh, right, yeah, okay." He turned around too fast, almost stabbing another boy in the chest with the pencil.
The boy jumped back a bit from the office supply turned weapon. "Easy there, I was just signing in!" He sounded kind of amused. Dean could feel a redness rushing up his neck and to his face, tossing his pencil to the side, still shocked at the near impalement.
"Oh his god, sorry, sorry." He muttered, turning red even further. The other boy smiled, looking very amused now.
"Ah, don't worry. Slow down a bit on the turn, maybe. Point sharp objects at the floor, probably." He laughed, looking over at the pencil he had thrown to the side. "You probably need that."
Before Dean could even open his mouth to agree, the boy had walked over and picked up the pencil. The boy turned around very slowly and cautiously handed me the pencil.
"Don't want to cause another accident, do we?" Finally, his embarrassment subsided, and Dean was able to answer.
"Hilarious." If the stranger picked up on his sarcasm, he must have ignored it, because a little grin appeared on his face.
"Yes, I am." Now that Dean was done staring at his shoes, he was able to pay a little more attention to the boy in front of me. And he took his breath away.
His hair was jet black, sticking up from all angles, as if he had just fallen from the sky. A trenchcoat, a little too large for him, so probably his father's, hung from his shoulders. Underneath that was a button-up and dress slacks, which was probably a school uniform. He must have just gotten out.
But what shook Dean to his very core, what gripped him tight and raised him from his hetrosexuality, was the eyes. They were easily the bluest color he had ever seen. They made the sky look white, made the ocean look black. It was like looking into pool. Every shade of blue he could imagine, and even the shades he couldn't imagine, inhabited those two glittering eyes.
If Dean didn't know better, he would have said he was an angel on earth.
-----------------
The boy who had almost stabbed Castiel was now staring at him. He tried not to shift under his gaze, and decided to stare back. Maybe it was good that he did, because the other boy's face was enough to make an angel fall.
His hair was a light brown, spiked up a bit, with barely noticeable streaks of blonde mixed in. A brown leather jacket was the top out of many layers, with a plaid shirt and a black undershirt underneath all of that. Not that Cas was one to talk, with all of the clothes he was wearing in the middle of August. The boy was tall. Taller than him, even though he was pretty tall himself.
On his nose there was a dusting of freckles, like stars in the sky. But his eyes were another story in their own. If Cas turned his head a certain way, they looked like the color of an evergreen tree. If he looked a different way, they were the color of spring grass. It was as if he had drained every emerald dry of their brilliance, they were that green. The type of green you could only ever read about in stories. He was beautiful.
Which meant Cas had to play it cool. The cold tingling feeling rushing to his face meant that he was starting to blush. Taking a deep breath, he blinked, and it was like someone had broken a spell. He smiled again, showing off his braces, tan and blue, before heading back to the waiting room, his entire body feeling like he had just drank five Triple-Red-Eyes in a row.
Well he was sexy.
Hi inner voice, which he had nicknamed Jimmy, chimed in.
Shut the fuck up, Jimmy.
What?! He is... You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.
Yeah, but we need to play this cool.
Yeah... We could...
Jimmy...
But wouldn't it be a shame if...
No.
You were to...
Why are my own thoughts so traitorous?
Trip into your chair?
As if on cue, his legs, clearly in cahoots with himself, failed, and Castiel staggered into his seat, making a sound similar to that of a whale as he caught himself, whirling into the seat. Just in time to lock eyes again with the green eyed beauty.
Bye bitch!
Fuck you, Jimmy.
The boy was smiling as he took the seat across from me, so Cas decided to turn the tables again, putting him on the spot.
"So, you. I'm getting the feeling that you're a popular boy. Jock too, based off of your jawline."
What the fuck was that?
"Plus you, uh, erm, you're still wearing tennis shoes." Nice job noticing that, saved our bacon. "Let me guess, everyone loves you. Pretty boy, probably gotta hot girlfriend too, huh?" He hoped his voice didn't sound as bitter as it felt. Based off of the look in the other boy's eyes, he was right on the dot. "But, you look like you actually have a brain. Smart, get pretty good grades, the teachers love you too. Everyone loves you. Makes you a Righteous Man, yeah?"
"Actually his name is Dean." The Righteous Man said, frowning.
"Nice to meet you, Dean. his name is Castiel." He said.
"And let me guess, you're a demon." There wasn't any real menace in his voice, so Cas scoffed.
"I'm an angel, you ass." He laughed. Cas noticed the ice cream in his hand.
"Just got braces, huh?"
"What? Oh, yeah."
"You look good."
"Oh, uh, thanks."
Seriously, Cassie? 'You look good?'
"Yeah, they usually give ice creams to people who just got them on. How do they feel?" Cas added, trying to move away from the compliment he had given.
"Eh, okay, I guess. I'm still not entirely sure what I'm gonna need to do with the bands and stuff."
"Well... Why don't you give me your number and I can give you advice?" That was iconic.
"Uh, yeah, alright. 866-907-3235."
Cas entered the number into his phone, just as Dean's phone rang.
"Yeah, hey. Yeah, alright, I'll meet you downstairs. And seriously, Sammy, start texting instead of calling. Alright, whatever, see ya in a sec."
He hung up as Castiel watched him, interested.
"So I gotta go, his brother is here, so bye." Dean said, getting up from the chair.
"See ya, Righteous Man!" He called after him.
Although he turned away, Cas couldn't miss the little grin that appeared in his face.
----------------------
After the appointment, where Cas had changed the colors on his braces from tan and blue to black and blue, he hopped into his '78 Lincoln Continental Mark V, otherwise known as the Pimpmobile by his three brothers. Blasting Fall Out Boy from the speaker, he started driving home, singing along to the lyrics as he went.
"Fall to your knees, bring on the rapture! Blessed be the boys time can't capture! On film or beneath the sheets, I always fall from your window to the pitch-black streets!And with the black banners raised, as the crooked smiles fade. Former heroes who quit too late, who just wanna fill up the trophy case again..."
He cranked up the volume as the song hit the chorus, rolling down his windows as he pulled into the suburban white neighborhood he lived in.
"AND IN THE END! I'D DO IT ALL AGAIN! I THINK YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THE KIDS AREN'T AL- KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT?!!!"
Some kid walking on the sidewalk told him to shut up as he pulled into his driveway, still humming along in the silence as he got out. Lucifer's red '70 Pontiac wasn't in the driveway, so that meant that he, Balthazar, and Gabriel weren't home yet.
Cas unlocked the door and stepped in, dropping his bag off. his appointment had meant that he got out of school early, which had been nice. He went up to his room and put on a t-shirt and some sweatpants, heading downstairs to watch TV.
However, he froze when he reached his living room. His ex-girlfriend, Meg Masters, was semi-seductively draped across his couch.
"Hey, Clarence."
"Meg, what the fuck are you doing in his house?"
"Stealing your food and the love of your pets. Your dad let me in." She waved an open bag of Doritos
Meg and Cas had dated for almost a month, both testing to see if their sexualities were merely phases as others had believed, or if they were true. By the end of their stalemate relationship we knew for sure that she was bisexual (with a preference for chicks, not dicks) and he was gay. We ended our relationship, and became best friends. Queers in Comradery, she had said.
"When you say 'stealing the love of your pets'?"
"Bumble and Bee still try to bite me, yes." Bumble and Bee were his two Guinea Pigs. Since their adoptive father, Chuck, was making a great deal of royalty money from his books and the albums his college band, Louden Swain had sold, he was able to provide a good life for them all, and was able to get them all their own pet a couple years ago.
Lucifer, technically the oldest, and the first to be adopted, had gotten a black cat and named her Lilith, and spoiled her rotten, buying her cushions and toys with his paychecks.
Balthazar, the second one to be adopted, only a few months younger than Luci, had gotten a fish tank with three fishes, Jack, Rose, and Fate. Rose ended up eating Jack, and Balthazar had cried of laughter.
Gabriel, his twin, older than him by ten seconds, had gotten a Golden Retriever-Dachshund Mix puppy and named him Trickster. Originally his brother didn't know what to get, at least until he found the little pup in his backpack, having crawled with still-closed eyes.
Cas had gotten two Guinea Pigs, brother and sister. he named the brother Bumble, and his sister, Bee. The only person they didn't try to bite was him.
"But yeah, all the other ones love me, even Rose and Fate. Especially Lilith, ain't that right?"
She asked the cat, who was perched on the table. Lilith meowed in what sounded like disappointment before hopping off the table and leaving. Meg turned back to him.
"Besties." She said to me. He nodded, smiling.
"So, you wanna watch Cupcake Wars?" Cas asked, sitting on the couch and leaning on Meg's knees, using her hips as an armrest.
"Yeah, sounds good. Oh, by the way, there's this fuckboy who won't leave me alone. Could ya catfish 'em for me?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Mm, thanks babe."
In between watching cupcakes and catfishing, Cas put Dean into his contacts under Dean The Righteous Man, and shot him a text.
Hey there Righteous Man!
How goes braces?
Pretty good, I guess.
Still figuring out how to eat.
Yeah, that can be a pain. I didn't eat for almost two days when I got mine.
How did you know it was me?
Well, no one else calls me 'Righteous Man', so...
Tru
So, whatcha up to?
My brother ordered pizza, so I'm having some, as best I can.
You?
Watching Netflix. Probably should do homework at some point. IDK
Yeah, probably.
"Who ya texting, Clarence?" Meg sat up long enough to be nosy and look at his phone. "Dean the Righteous Man?" She questioned, flopping back onto the couch. "Who's he?"
"This guy I met at the ortho."
"Ooh, how'd you meet? Oh god, you didn't make a pun about teeth, did you?"
"What? No. He almost stabbed me with a pencil, actually."
"Huh. Romantic. Did you make a pun about that?"
"No, Meg, I didn't make any puns."
"Clearly, otherwise he wouldn't have given you his number."
"Your fucking hilarious, Meg." Castiel said, rolling his eyes.
"Me and Hilarious are just friends, I've told you that."
The pair glared at each other.
"So, anyways. This Righteous Man a keeper?"
"I don't know. He looks pretty straight to me."
"Bitch, puh-lease. You almost made me straight. If anyone can make a straight guy go homo, it's you, Clary. Right, Chuck?"
Castiel's adoptive father, Chuck, came from the kitchen.
"What was that?"
"Do you think that Cassie could make a straight guy gay?"
"Yeah, I guess, probably."
"Dad!"
"I don't know. Follow your dreams, Cassie." And with that inspiring speech, he went back into the kitchen.
"Told ya."
"He's my dad, Meg. He's obligated to say nice-ish things."
"Like he said, follow your dreams."
The sound of the door opening interrupted a probably stinging retort.
"Heya Cassie! How was the appointment!" Gabriel's voice rang out. At the sound of his voice, there was the sound of running footsteps, and Trickster came running up, leaping into his owner's arms.
Gabriel laughed at his dog's affections, scratching Trickster's ears, as the mix licked his face.
Lucifer walked in with his boyfriend, Michael, and Balthazar. They all tossed their stuff aside, and Chuck's voice could be heard from the kitchen, saying: "Don't make a mess at the door! If I nearly die tripping over your crap again, I'm gonna be pissed!"
Everyone picked up their bags, grumbling as Chuck came back around the corner.
"Alright, so I tried making dinner, but I burnt everything, so I'm going to go get some Olive Garden, and..." He stopped as he noticed Michael, who had his back turned. "Okay, you're not one of mine, 'cause I count 'em daily, and there isn't five." Michael turned around, looking confused. "Oh, you're just Michael, okay. I'm honestly not surprised anymore."
"Don't forget me, Chuck!" Meg called from the couch.
"Right, Meg's here too. Everyone's here. I ought to start charging rent for you people. I take it you're all staying the night, and you want me to feed you. Your parents better be okay with okay with this, because I don't want to get arrested for housing a bunch of teens."
He was muttering this to himself as he opened the door, and the bunch of teens started calling out orders.
"Get me a salad!"
"Order dessert!"
"GET BREADSTICKS!"
"Meg, you can't tell me what to do! You're not even my kid!"
"DAD, GET BREADSTICKS!"
And with that, Chuck sighed and closed the door behind him. A moment later, the door opened again, and Chuck looked in.
"I know you kids have homework. You better have it done by the time I get home."
"Okay!" The six teens called out in unison.
The second the door closed again, Cas and Meg put Cupcake Wars back on and everyone gathered in the family room to watch. Since Meg and Castiel were taking up the entire couch, Gabe sat on the floor, playing with his dog, Balthazar sat on the arm of the couch, and Michael sat on the armchair, with Lucifer sitting in his lap.
----------------
Dean was having a hard time eating the pizza his brother had ordered for dinner. After he had gone home, he had worked on homework and texted a little bit with Lisa. Their dad had called just before the pizza to let them know that his flight had come in okay. Eating was painful. Everytime he took a bite, he winced. It took a few minutes to chew each bite, and everytime he did, Sam would give him a look of pity.
Eventually Castiel, the boy from the otrtho had texted him, and they texted for a bit before the messages stopped completely. Even though Dean knew that the boy was probably busy, he kept checking his phone, at least until Sam had snatched it up to see what was so interesting.
"Cas the Actual Angel?" His brother questioned, frowning when Dean took the phone back. "Who is he?"
"Just some guy I met at the orthodontist." Dean said, trying to act dismissive.
"Uh-huh, sure. And he gets the nickname 'Angel', while your girlfriend is just 'Lisa'?"
He blinked. Sure that guy had been cute, but he did have a girlfriend he actually loved.
"I can't just openly have a boyfriend. Dad would be pissed."
Dean had found his bisexuality when he was sixteen, but when he came out, his dad had been furious and claimed it was either gay or straight. After a lot of fighting, Dean had convinced his father that it was just a phase, and that he was actually straight. But he ended up believing the lie himself. Well, at least until now.
That night, Dean got another text, and checked his phone.
Sorry, would've texted you sooner, but my brothers got home, and then we had dinner, and homework, and it was sorta a mess.
Don't worry about it.
So, how did eating go?
Terrible, my brother had to buy me some Tylenol
Yeah, it was the same with me.
After a couple of days it'll get easier.
I hope you aren't lying to me.
I will track you down.
No need, I'll make it easy.
I go to Edlund Academy, you can find me there.
Isn't that a super lame private school?
Nah, Charter School, actually.
And it isn't lame if you do it right. ;)
Woah, what did Cas mean by that?
Anyways, I got to go, g'night.
Night.
Now, in the dark of night, rather than waiting to see if Lisa would send him a goodnight text, Dean Winchester, the illusion of his hetrosexuality burnt away on the ceiling, smiled, his braces glinting.
A/N: If you guys can't tell, I just got my second phase of braces on a couple days ago. This idea actually came to me at the ortho. Also I hope I scared you lot with Megstiel. I actually didn't even like Meg, at least until I realized she was actually pretty cool without being the whole Cas love interest stuff. And as a final note, in honor of Gabriel's dog, Trickster, Happy National Dog Day!