Chapter Fifteen
It was only two days after Christmas that John Winchester came to pick up his boys again. Dean and Sam collected their gear and threw it in the back of the car, Dean taking the front seat and Sam the back. The two of them were quiet, as if they had just woken and were lost in their own minds. While the first part was false, the boys had been awake for a few hours, the second couldn’t be truer. Sam was more than excited to see Jessica again, who he had been texting since the minuet they left school, and Dean was running through what he was going to do when he got back into town. Dean had a plan, or the start of one, but could he pull it off? And would it work?
“So how was Christmas?” John asks, slipping into the car and giving them both a smile before starting the car. Dean couldn’t help but be impressed by the fact he wasn’t wasted or near the temper point of screaming at the boys; he could only assume the hunt was going well or at least better than it had been the past month. Dean couldn’t help but rub the cut on his arm from that mess.
“It was alright,” Sam finally spoke up from the back with a smile. Dean, snapping out of his thoughts, nodded in agreement. “Actually… good.”
“We got a lot of research done,” Dean added, glancing over at his dad. “Sammy worked hard. Did double duty with the homework he had plus the research.”
“It’s Sam.” The youngest spoke up from the back seat, narrowing his eyes.
“It’s Sam,” Dean mocked, grinning at his sibling over his shoulder. He jerked back, narrowly avoiding a flick aimed for his face. “Missed me!”
“Alright, alright, you two clearly need some time apart,” John chuckled, shaking his head at the pair of his sons. “Lets get home.” He pulled out of the driveway and the boys sat back into their seats, knowing better than to goof off.
“So how was Christmas for you?” Sam asks after a while, shocking Dean a little. He normally wanted nothing to do with their father.
“Good. We’re close on the case.” John stated. Short and sweet. Little humanly emotional contact as possible; if the boys didn’t know any better, they’d say that was his motto. “You boys up for helping out? Could get a lot further a lot quicker with the entire Winchester family.”
“Maybe,” Dean says so Sam won’t have to respond. He didn’t need to look behind him to know the disappointment that would be on his brothers face, and he didn’t need to see it inorder to feel the sadness it would bring.
The car fell into a much Winchester-like silence, but thankfully without the tension that normally lingered within it. Dean, who hadn’t gotten much sleep over the past week or so, finally shut his eyes and passed out in the front seat of the car. Sam, however, was left to his own thoughts. Thoughts about leaving Jessica, who needed anything but someone ditching out on her without an explation. It already had happened with her father, and her brother; Sam couldn’t do that too her again. As if watching his brother struggle to go against every nerve and do the exact opposite of what he’s been trained to with Castiel-follow orders, do what they ask not what you want-he now had to decide how many orders he was going to break. Sighing, the teenager dropped his head into his hands. This was too much for a freshman to handle.
Castiel enjoyed cooking, as odd as that may sound for a teenager. He enjoyed the smell of food, the crackling echoing in the pots and pans, spreading throughout the room. Most of all, Castiel enjoyed the solitude. It was different than being alone, there was the food there to care for, to listen to. It sounded odd, maybe even crazy, but it almost always brought a smile to his face. The best part was the fact his parents allowed him to be alone. His father despised cooking and his mother refused to even enter the room when he was cooking due to his refusal to follow the recipe. He wasn’t quite sure why; going step by step and having little to no room of mistakes made plenty of sense, more than his taste and guess system, but he just had an issue following instructions.
“Kiddo!” Gabriel grinned, walking into the kitchen at a far too early time for a collage student to be up when on break. “Mm, smells great. Whatcha making?” He asked, pulling himself up onto the counter.
“Breakfast.” Castiel mumbles, lifting the lid to check on his eggs and stired them a little, then check on the bacon. “Why are you up so early?”
“What, a man can’t want to spend some time with his brother?”
“No one else does, so I don’t see why you would want to.” Cas mumbles, moving to start making toast so he missed the frown Gabriel got.
“Yeah, well, I’m a bit different than anyone else, incase you haven’t notice.”
“I think everyones noticed, Gabe, even the ones who haven’t met you yet,” Cas grinned, leaning against the wall facing his brother.
“Then my job is done.” Gabe stated with pride, smiling back at Castiel. “You alright, Little Brother? You’re really down lately.”
“You would be too if you were locked away in an attic and babied because you acted your age for once.” Castiel grumbled, obiviously bitter. It shocked Gaberial, seeing as his younger brother was usually the peacemaker of the family.
“Come on, Castiel, the attic can’t be so bad. Harry Potter lived in one and looked how he turned out!”
“That was a cupboard. Under the stairs. Did you pay attention at all during the movies?” Castiel scoffed, rolling his eyes and turning back to his meal, clearly wanting nothing more to do with someone who didn’t know the simplest thing about Harry Potter.
“Dang, okay, note to self: Harry Potter is a sore subject.” Gabe tried, looking at his youngest sibling for a smile, but got nothing. “Aw, come on Castiel!”
“I’m sorry Gaberiel..” Cas finally said with a heavy sigh, turning back to his brother. “I’m just.. having some issues right now.”
“With what? Let your big bro help. Is someone picking on you? Do I need to whip Lucifers ass again?”
“No well… that would be nice. But that’s not what I was talking about.”
“What were you taling about then?” He demanded.
“Nothing…” Cas muttered. The grin that spread across Gabriels face was pretty obivious what message it sent across-Castiel needed to say no more. By the way the teenagers eyes darted around the room and the pink blush filled in his cheeks, Gabe knew exactly what it was.
“You’re dating someone!”
“Not so loud!” Castiel hissed, neither denying nor confirming his statement, but attempting to avoid it. But as with most people, Gabe didn’t care and pressed on.
“Who is she? What’s her name!” He said, much like an excited child. Castiel watched him, his heart sinking at the female pronoun. He would be a disappointment to Gabriel just as he was to the rest of his family, he knew it when they found out. But at least he had the chance to tell his older brother himself. He thought back through all the things Gabe had done for him. Protected him from both Lucifers and his parents wrath, saved his ass more than once, and made sure he woke the hell up when he started slipping in classes. Gabriel Novak had saved his brothers ass countless times, and all Castiel could hope was that he wouldn’t regret it.
“He. I’m dating a guy, Gabe.” Castiel said, glancing up at his brother before quickly spinning back around to attend to the food cooking on the stove.
“Alright, what’s his name?” Gabe says, not more than a moments pause between the statements. There wasn’t any change between the boys preivious question and this one besides the gender-no tone change at all.
“Dean. Dean Winchester.” Castiel says immeadly, seeing no point in stressing the subject of gender, although he was rather surprised by his brothers reaction, or lack thereof, to it. It was a plesent surprise though, which he decided he needed more of in his life.
“Winchester eh? That sounds oddly fimular.” He shrugs after a moment and looks back to his brother, a smirk wide on his face. “How far have you guys gotten yet?”
“Oh my god, Gabriel!”
“Ah, you better be safe, little brother,” Gabe smirks, sliding off the counter and ruffling Castiels hair, getting his hand smacked in the prossess.
“Gabriel!”
“Oh god, don’t tell me I need to buy you condoms. I will, little brother, you just wait. In fact I think I have some extra-“
“Gabriel! We’ve only kissed!” Castiel explodes, his face bright red as he tries to only focus on the food cooking in front of him.
“Really? That’s it? Aw Cas come on! It’s your senior year! Live it up a little!”
“I caught him kissing another girl.” The words come out heavy, and shift the entire air of the kitchen to one of somber regret.
“Oh man.. that’s rough, little brother. “ Castiel wouldn’t have excepted it from him, but his older brother sounded upset at the news. Sympathetic.
“It was my Ex. Right before winter break, he told me to skip the last class and come to an old tech room with him. So I did and I got there and him and Anna were… making out. In a corner of the room. So I-“
“Wait,” Gabriel stopped him, holding his hands up and waving them like a referee making a call. “Anna Milton? Like Naomi’s younger sister?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, Cassie, you can’t trust them!” Gabriel threw his hands up shaking his head. “Come on, did you learn nothing from when I dated her sister?”
“You said she turned out to be okay!”
“SHE did, not her sister! God damn, Castiel!”
“Watch your language, Gabriel,” Lucifer lectured as he entered through the kitchen, grabbing the plate that Castiel had just set aside for himself, piled with food. “Or you’ll end up like Castiel here, having to come to work with me.”
“Speaking of which, Lucifer, let him go to the bookstore today,” Gabriel said, spinning to face his sibling with a stern look on his face, not the slightest hint of a question in his voice.
“No can do, brother dear, parents said I had to keep an eye on him. He’s gotta stay with me.”
“He won’t get in any trouble in a book store Lucifer. If you’re really so worried, I’ll tag along.”
“You really don’t want to do this with me, Gabe.”
“Said the younger sibling.” Castiel didn’t need to turn around to hear the smirk in Gabriels voice. He scooped food on to each plate for his family, grateful that the eldest, Michael, had already left for something else this morning-him and Lucifer in the same room was quite a.. problem.
“Fine, whatever, the brat can go to the bookstore. But if he gets in to anything, you’ve gotta take the fall.”
“Of course.” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes and stuffing his face full of egg, which Castiel had only handed him moments before. It sometimes shocked the teenager how much his family could eat.
Castiel appeared at his brother elbow, the stove now off and the plates set out for his parents and Zachariah, with his plate in hand. “So what were you saying about Namoi and Anna?” He asked, softly, as if afraid for Lucifer to hear.
“That you’re an idiot for dating Anna,” Gabe spoke around the food in his mouth, holding up his index finger and adding the next finger with his second statement. “And that you should figure out who you trust more.” He left it at that, turning back to his plate, alright half empty while Cas had hardly picked at his.
“Alright, come on Castiel. Money calls.” Lucifer said, getting up and dropping his plate in the sink, heading straight for the door. Sighing, his younger brother shoved food into his face before following Lucifer, grabbing his jacket on the way out and silently thanking himself for remembering to put on shoes beforehand.
Dean and Sam woke up at what they felt was way too fucking early, taking in to consideration the time they got in the evening before. However, it was their dads booming voice that got them out of bed, so they hurried without a moment to waist, appearing with straight backs but sleepy eyes in the living room.
“Whats wrong?” Dean spoke up, trying to judge if he was going to hall him and his brother out to a new house, a new life. The thought of leaving without apologizing to Castiel made the teens stomach twist into knots.
“Whats wrong is you boys haven’t gotten your Christmas presents.” The words coming from Johns mouth shocked both his boys, and it was clear on their face the confusion they felt. Christmas presents wasn’t a common thing. On occasion from Bobby or a hunter dad was working with, but their dad had stopped handing out presents a long time ago, as he was never quite sure if he would even be home for the holiday. However, he didn’t leave much time for the sibblings to be shocked, or try and understand the words as he was already pulling the gifts out of his pocket.
Sammy was first, two fifty dollar bills dropped into his hands. “Woah, Dad. I can’t-“
“You can, kid, and you will. I didn’t really know what to get you so I figured you could buy yourself somethin’. I herd there was a bookstore around here.” John shrugged, giving a small smile before he turned to his elder son. Into his hands dropped a set of keys which made Dean Winchesters eyes go wide as he regonized them.
“Dad! Holy shit! These are to the Impala?”
“I was gonna wait until your birthday, but an old friend gave me a truck and I figured now was as good of time as any. Just don’t mess her up.” He warned, narrowing his eyes.
“Never.” Dean laughed, stairing at the keys with awe. “Could I go for a spin?”
“Take your brother.”
The two boys, who were in pjs only seconds before, were out the door, dressed and throwing on coats as they exited. Dean practally ran to the drivers side, pausing only to marvel in what was now his.
“She is beautiful.”
“Dean it’s cold. Unlock the car.” Sam demanded, rolling his eyes at his brothers awe with the car.
“Shut your pie hole, Sammy.” He said, but unlocked the car and slid in, dropping the present he was carring in the back seat. Sam slipped into the passangers side and slammed the door, grumbling about how cold it was as he did so. Dean, being the classic older brother, couldn’t help but laugh at his complaints, as he took as long as possible to turn on the heat and pull out of the driveway. It got to the point where Sam had wacked him a good ten times before they were on the road.
“At least I don’t have to freeze my ass off in the morning anymore, even if you are a shitty driver.”
“Hell of a better driver than you!” Dean said, taking his eyes off the road and hands off the wheel long enough to flick his brothers temple.
“You wish! Now what are you gonna do with this Cas thing?” Sam asked, motioning to the present in his brothers back seat. The heavy sigh that echoed told him that his brother was flat out nervous. “You’re not just gonna walk up and hand it to him?”
“No, no, you’re actually gonna help me.” Dean said, after a moment of trying to decipher from his voice of Sam thought directly handing it to Castiel was a good or bad thing. “That bookstore you’re going to is one of Cas’ favorites, so you’re gonna put it in the middle chair of the reading section behind the mysteries.”
“Why me?”
“Because I’m gonna go talk about getting my hours back at work.”
“Dean, that’s not fair! You should have to do it.”
“Sammy, come on. If you do this, I won’t be pouting anymore,” Dean bargained, glancing over at his brother hopefully.
“No way. You’ve got to do it. You can’t bribe me out of this Dean, you’ve gotta get yourself out of your own shit.”
“You are a horrible younger brother.” Dean muttered, parking and getting out of the car where it was parked at the front of the shop. He, despite his temptation not to, sent Sam off to the bookstore and went into the shop. As expected, Lucifer was standing there, going to town on a bike, the bike Dean had taken over the week prior, with a grin that spread across his face as soon as he saw the teenager. Rolling his eyes, Dean ignored him and went into the office instead.
Half an hour later, he had extra hours written out to make up for the ones he lost, all paid, despite the Winchesters request otherwise. The shop owner, however, told him he was allowed to take breaks, and had been close to being forced into one anyway. Dean took the hours happily, thanking him for the pay that came along with it, and left to go find Sam in the bookstore that was only half a block away. He had the rest of the week off, which, sadly, gave Lucifer the bike he had wanted, but gave him enough time to fix this mess with Castiel.
Taking the wrapped present from the back of his car, Dean walked the half block in what felt like only seconds, his mind occupied with the plan he had formed the last night at Bobbies. It was a long shot, he knew, but Dean was hopeful for it to work out. Maybe a little too hopeful, yes, but that was the Winchester way.
He found Sam easily hanging out in the history section but didn’t bother his nerd brother from the book he was absorbed in before making his way back to the Mystery novels. His mind set on nothing but his plan, he almost walked right out of the row of books without realizing the seat he had planned to set the present down in was in fact taken but Castiel Novak.
Scooting back into the row and turning to face the stacks and stacks of books, Dean bit his lip, trying to come up with another plan before Castiel looked up and spotted him. Sighing, he finally gave in to his last ditch effort. Setting the present down on the ground, he slid it across the floor, straight into Castiels feet before hurring three rows down into the next section of books and ducking down in a hope not to be seen. He pulled out a random book, figuring he could pass as someone else with his face in it, and cursed his younger brother for not doing this; no one could be mad at that asshole if he did that puppy look. Damn him.
“Uh, Dean?” The deep, gruff voice of Castiel Novak reached Deans ears and froze him in his spot. He let the book that was blocking his face move down and gave a weak grin at the boy across from him. “Nice choice you have there. The Joy of Gay Sex, Third Edition. Herd it was a gripping final addition. I figured you’d know how that all works though.” Dean cheeks turned bright red with the teenagers words, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty, hearing the lack of emotion in his voice.
“Castiel.. I’m sorry.” Dean says lamely, mentally wincing and feeling the guilt worsen. All of the things he had to say and that’s all that comes out? “Listen, I know you hate me but… please, just open that, read the letter-it’ll explain everything.”
“Dean…” Castiel sighed, sounding regreatful and even annoyed, which gripped at Deans heart.
“Castiel, come on. Please. For me. For…” Going on the Winchester way, Dean did something stupid. Really stupid. He closed the gap between the pair of them and pressed his lips against Castiels. To his pleasant shock, Cas kissed back, the both of them relaxing and letting the kiss fall back to before the shit. To the two of them skipping class, running away, staying out too late and making out in the back of the movie theater…
“For that,” Dean finished, pulling back with quickened breath, having lost his in the kiss. “Please Castiel, I don’t want to loose this.” He didn’t elaborate further, too concerned about having a ‘chick flick’ moment.
“Alright, I will. I’ve gotta go.” Castiel Novak, without allowing the teenager he had fallen so hopeless in love for another word, left the book store, trying not to think about how badly he wanted Dean back. Dean stood there, frozen to the spot for a minuet before Cas’ words sunk in. His plan was still on, so he had to get a move on part two. Slightly on impulse, he bought the book that he held in his hand, hoping Cas would see it as a joke instead of an invitation to try what was in the pages of The Joy of Gay Sex, along with the book he had planned to buy (a new set of Castiels favorite series, the one Lucifer had abused) before going to find Sam in the History section. He had hoped that after delivering the gift, his nerves would be calmed, but they were worse than ever, balled tightly in the pit of his stomach to the point Dean felt as if he was going to be sick. He tried not to think about it though, as he helped his brother carry a stack of books to the front counter.
Castiel sat at home that night, a stack of books beside his makeshift bed that he had bought not for himelf, but for Dean Winchester, of all people, and a present in his lap. He was still in love with Dean Winchester. Every inch of him, his heart and brain, which didn’t normally agree, screamed to hate him, but he just couldn’t. His heart still sped up when he saw him, his breathing stopped and every thought disappeared, every weight floated from his body when he spoke. God forbid those green eyes sparkle because it made his skin prickle like a thousand needles, hitting just the right spot. He couldn’t describe it, that cloud nine feeling that came over him whenever Dean Winchester was near, but Castiel wanted it with him every moment of his life. He wanted Dean with him, his stupid messy brown hair and perfectly made face, like something out of a romance novel with the way his eye glowed as he rambled about a passion. Castiel knew he sounded like a girl, and he hated it, but didn’t bother stopping, because it was too hard, and not worth it. He had to suppress enough around his family, why keep quiet in privet?
Sighing, he looked down at the poorly wrapped present in his wrapped, and smiled as he pictured the gruff, hardedged teenager trying to wrap something a simple as a box. Finally, he tore into the wrapping paper, leaving it to rest on his floor as he opened the box. Inside he pulled out a letter, which he expected, and a coat, which he didn’t. The tan fabric folded out to a long treachcoat with a tie that was knotted in the back to keep out of the way and four brown buttons down either side. The same style of buttons fassened mini belts around the wrists, which was more for show than any funcality. As he pulled it on, the bottom of the coat reaching to his knees, he realized the best part of the coat-it kept warmth. Castiel couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he realized Dean had bought him the perfect gift, the one thing Castiel needed. After walking around the room for a moment, he took a seat back on the bed and took the letter up from where he had set it behind him, feel more keen to read it.
It started off like a note passed from one fifth grader to his friend, with the warning that if anyone else opened the note, they were not to read it’s secrets or would be serverly punished. Castiel couldn’t help but grin at the childish threat, knowing that if the words had come out of Deans mouth, they would actually be frightening.
Moving on, the note, two pages in length, was filled with Deans tiny, messy script running through exactly what happened on Friday before the teenagers were let out for winter break. After that, it went into a graphically detailed account of how sorry Dean Winchester was, and even some mushy stuff about how he had fallen in love with Castiel.
Castiel enjoyed every word of it, and even ended up folding it away, slipping it in the pocket of his new jacket.
As he got ready for bed, he tried to figure out if he would be able to make it to the Winchesters request-meeting at the sight of their first date. While that date had actually been spread out over a few different places, Castiel knew exactly where to go. The only question was how he would get there.
AN: Woo!! In all honesty, I kinda think this chapter sucks, but I have great news! I have offically reached and broken 50,000 words!! How awesome is that! I've never done this in a story before so.. yeah. I'm pretty happy. But anyway, that's all. :)