"See you, Winchester." Castiel said, backing away from Dean and turning entirely once he had disappeared around the corner. Finally tearing his eyes away from the older man, he met three pairs of eyes staring at him widely. He felt his cheeks flush.
Damnit.
"So, uh, Castiel." Garth said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked at Balthazar who looked at him, then hesitantly at Cas.
"Yeah," Balth said slowly.
"What?", Castiel said, attempting to diffuse and ignore whatever they were hinting at.
"You really laid it on thick with that guy." Ash blurted out, and all eyes flew to him. "What?" He asked.
Castiel put his face in his hands, letting out a muffled "Jesus fucking Christ.", as he turned his back to them and paced back towards the wall. They all fell silent for a few moments.
"Wait", Garth said, the smile obvious in his voice, "does CASTIEL Novak ACTUALLY have a CRUSH on someone?"
Castiel whipped around, "NO. I do not."
"Oh my god. He does." Balthazar chuckled.
Castiel just hastily unplugged the extension cord they were using for their amps out of the wall and huffed grumpily.
"You guys suck."
~~~~~~~~~
"Dean." Gabe crosses his arms, leaning on his desk. After leaving the band room, he had proceeded to drag Dean down to his office and shut the door, much to Dean's dread. He looked at the floor.
"What do you think you're doing looking at my brother like that?" He incriminated.
"I'm not...I...." Dean sighed, closing his eyes. "Gabe, I didn't mean—"
"Alright, the last thing I want to hear right now is you lying out your ass to deny it because I have eyes, I can see that you're doing it. But if you even THINK of laying a single god damn FINGER on him—"
"GABE, I would never do that!" Dean stood straight from where he was leaning on the cabinets in the office.
"It isn't just that, he's a student. Do you realize how much shit you'd be in if—"
"It isn't anything. Absolutely nothing. I'm not going after your brother, or a student." Dean said, looking Gabe directly in the eyes. Gabe looked back at him skeptically.
"Dean Winchester. If you have any ideas in that fluffy little head of yours, you better squash them right now." Gabe said, eyes burning into him. Dean tried to interject but was immediately shushed.
"You will not dare to lay a HAND on my brother or you will be so dead that nothing in heaven or hell could possibly drag your sorry ass back out, do you understand me?" He said, now very close to Dean.
Dean nodded slowly.
"Okay. But if you try anything—"
"I'm dead, I know. I get it." Dean said, raising his hands in retreat. Gabe patted him on the shoulder and smiled tightly.
"Yes. You are."
~~~~~~~~~
Castiel fell back onto his bed, sighing.
Jesus Christ, what's gotten into me?
His stomach churned nervously, and he felt like he was going to throw up.
He closed his eyes, hoping he could clear away the clouds behind them, and maybe give his racing mind a rest. As his breathing slowed,
Castiel felt himself floating away, his body becoming both weightless and incredibly heavy all at once. Drifting in and out of consciousness, he eventually gave in to the molasses embrace of sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~
Castiel sat up, looking around.
Where am I?
Giant redwood trees towered above him. He lay on a bed of moss and foliage and rich, fertile soil. The air was thick with a wet, heavy mist that coated the back of his throat with every breath. Tiny lights floated through the air; he thought they could be fireflies, but none of them were the right color—they were all different hues of purple, pink, and blue.
He stood, brushing the leaves off of himself and walking down what seemed to be a path lined with large mushrooms that emitted just enough turquoise bioluminescence to be visible in the soft, gray light of the forest.
As he walked, every step left an impression behind on the plush, green carpet of moss. The fireflies swirled around Castiel gently. He reached out to touch one, but it flickered and flew away.
He reached a clearing. A giant stone statue was carved into the hill above him, a face with a waterfall of tears streaming down into a glittering lake, the surface covered in algae and lily pads. Fluffy pink cat tails poked through the water and Castiel could see colorful fish gliding through the pond.
He walked towards the water and crouched, reaching a hand out to touch it. He tapped a single finger along the surface, and it rippled. He felt a sharp prick. He hissed and ripped it back to look—he had a long, slender cut across the pad of his finger; the water seemed to have cut him like glass. One drop of blood beaded to the surface and rolled down his finger, and made a soft "plop" as it immediately diffused in the water, turning the liquid around it red.
As Castiel nursed the cut on his finger, he saw something in the water. It was difficult to make out, but he could see a long, pale object rising up towards him.
It broke the surface of the water, and Castiel could see now that it was-
A finger..??
Now, an entire hand was beginning to appear. It was followed by an arm, that led a hand that grasped around the shore, looking for something to pull itself up. Castiel backed away, not wanting whatever this thing was to touch him. Someone was rising from the water. A man. A tall man. He was covered in flowers and kelp, but rather than just draping over him, they seemed almost to be growing from his skin.
Opening his eyes, Castiel was unsettled by their striking emerald hue. He began to walk towards Castiel, but as he did, his features became less pale and blank, they were beginning to take shape.
The man was now standing over Castiel, their eyes locked as the man tilted his head to the side, studying Cas. He was completely silent.
He reached up, delicately placing a cold hand on Castiel's face. His breath hitched. The man leaned forward, laying a kiss on his forehead. As he pulled away, Castiel suddenly realized who was in front of him.
Dean?
Cas shot up, eyes flying open, breaths short. He reached for his phone, flipping it to check the time. Above the many notifications from the Charlie's Angels group chat, he could see 6:45 in crisp, white font.
Shit, I fell asleep.
He rubbed a hand across his forehead and yawned deeply. The events of the dream still fresh in his mind, he quickly became very puzzled as to what it all meant.
Why did I dream of something so bizarre? Why is my English teacher showing up in my dreams? And why is he kissing me?
Castiel was very confused.
He got up, strolling through the hallway and swinging around the bannister to jog down the stairs. He could hear the sounds of cooking in the kitchen below.
"Hey, look who decided to join us." Anna said, continuing to stir whatever was on the stove.
"Sorry, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Cas said absently, getting himself a glass and filling it with water.
"How was rehearsal today? Did you guys do anything fun?" She asked. A beat went by. "Castiel?"
His eyes snapped up, meeting hers. She had turned to him, wooden spoon in hand.
"Oh. It was fine." He mumbled, taking a sip of his water.
"Just fine..? Are you okay?" She said.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a lot on my mind is all."
~~~~~~
Dean sat at the bar and chomped into a burger dejectedly.
"Son, you've been moping since you walked in here. What the hell is wrong with you?" Ellen said, whipping her bar rag over her shoulder.
"I'm fine." He said as he stuffed a fry into his mouth.
"You are not, boy!" She slapped the back of his head. He flinched and shouted, "HEY".
Dean looked down and sighed. "I-can't. It's not really something I can say."
Her face softened. "Look, you don't have to tell me, but don't go thinking you can't talk about it because you're all grown up. I'm still the closest thing to a mamma you've got now." She patted his shoulder.
"Thanks, Ellen."
~~~~~~~
A few weeks go by without much incident. Besides, of course the excessive staring and incognito flirting.
"Cassie, are you going to that party?" Charlie asked, setting her back down next to his at the lunch table.
"What party?" Cas looked at her.
"Apparently, Ruby is throwing an 'absolute RAGEEERRR' at her parents house next Friday night." She said, using air quotes and a nasal impression of the aforementioned Ruby.
"Doesn't she have a huge ranch house out off of I-70??" Jo asked, ripping open her granola bar.
"OH yeah. It's basically a mansion." Charlie said through bites of sandwich.
"So? You gonna go?"
Castiel shrugged, "I'll think about it. Ruby's kind of a bitch though."
"Okay, yeah, but that's not the point. It's about the experience. You probably won't even see her." Jo shrugged.
"What, are you guys gonna go? Nobody will be playing DND or arm wrestling so I don't think it's really your scene." Castiel asked, confused.
"I would normally say fuck you for that, but I've heard tales of a Super Smash Brawlers Tournament happening in the," she took a deep breath, "FUCKING. MOVIE THEATER. In the basement, so like, how sick is that?" Charlie said.
"I can still say fuck you," Jo leered at him, "so fuck you." Castiel chuckled.
"I don't know, I'll think about it. I guess if you guys go, I'll go." Cas said shrugging.
"Atta boy." Charlie said, clapping him on the back.
"Hey, do you know who wrote the poem Dean was talking about today?" Jo looked at Cas.
"Dean..?" Charlie looked at them quizzically.
"Oh, Mr. Winchester, our English teacher. I just call him Dean because that's what my family has always called him and Mr. Winchester makes him sound so old. It's weird." Jo said, making a face. Charlie nodded.
"Yeah, actually, that one was mine." Castiel said quietly.
"Really? That's awesome, Cassie, it was really good." Jo said.
Charlie looked over at him, "Did your teacher like your poem?"
"Oh, he didn't just like it," Jo said, leaning past Cas to look at Charlie. "He LOVED it. He read it aloud and everything. Cassie got the highest score in the class and Dean said he was going to use it as an example for his classes from now on."
"Shit, dude. Nice." Charlie said, nodding slowly.
"Come on, it's really not a big deal. I didn't even think it was that good, I don't know why he liked it so much. And besides, Charlie, your programming teacher wants to use the software you created in her curriculum. That's way more impressive than my half-assed poem." Cas said, waving them off.
~~~~~~~~
Dean flopped onto his couch and exhaled deeply. Figuring he should get some work done, he reached into his leather satchel, pulling out a large stack of papers to be graded. Beginning with the top of the pile, he began skimming the work of his students and making corrections in red pen as he went.
As the pile lessened, he lifted the last paper he had graded to reveal the next with a drawing of an elegant blue lily surrounded by small, floating lights. He smiled, the warmth flooding his chest as he looked over Castiel's work. He scanned for the note near the bottom of the picture that always accompanied the boy's art.
Inspired by the last paragraph of Chapter 3. The flowers in Julia's garden are supposed to be daisies, but I always picture lilies. Their ties with devotion and humility lend well to her planting them in what was once her mother's garden. Also, just wanted to draw you something. Until next time.
Dean's stomach flipped. The past few weeks, he and Cas had developed a sort of system. Whenever Dean assigned worksheets or other assignments that weren't turned in digitally, Castiel would draw him something. Sometimes it had to do with the assignment, sometimes it didn't, but it always had a little note accompanying it.
He grabbed scissors and began to cut carefully around the drawing and the note, making sure not to leave any of it out. He took the picture and walked over to his fridge. He looked over the other drawings that littered the stainless steel surface.
Here's a cat because I like cats.
The villa from Chapter 1. Good thing I'm not an architect, because I think if anyone lived in this house, it would collapse.
You said you like AC/DC, so I made the logo fancy.
This is what I imagine Phillip to look like. He kind of looks like you, now that I'm seeing it done.
Dean lifted a magnet from the cold surface and placed the newest addition to his collection under it. He smiled.
He walked back and sat down on the couch once more, feeling much more fulfilled than he had been earlier. Though he knew that this may be the beginning of a bad idea, he couldn't care less in that moment. He was on cloud nine, and there was only one thing on his mind these days.
Castiel.