"Casanova, get up! Today's the day you're going to go to that tattoo place, right? I hear the guy there is hotter than hell, maybe my little brother will finally get laid."
Castiel moaned, not wanting to climb out of the warm comfort of his bed. He wondered why he chose to share a dorm room with his brother Gabriel, who was now swatting him with a pillow. Sure he loved his older brother, but he left dirty laundry all over the floor and candy wrappers everywhere. And binge watched Desperate Housewives like it was going out of style.
And to Gabriel's defense, it was.
Today neither of them had classes, so in theory they could do whatever the hell they wanted. Same thing for a lot of college students there today, as most of them just picked the same classes as their friends.
For years Castiel had been wanting a tattoo on his back, a pair of dark gray angel wings that extended from his shoulder blades to the edges of his arms. His parents refused to let him before he left for school, and now that he was 18 and not under their reign, he could do rebellious things.
But this tattoo wasn't something meaningless at all, not something to say 'Hey, Mom and Dad, I can do whatever I fucking want and you can't do anything about it.'
Castiel always loved wings, particularly on Biblical angels. Feathers unfurling and the colors they could be always mesmerized him. They were powerful, and made angels look like they were supposed to: commanding yet noble.
He had worked for hours on his design beforehand, hoping to get it right. At first he had wanted the feathers to be ebony, thinking those would look best on him. But he thought it would look too contrasting on his pale skin, so he went with a slate gray instead.
After getting smacked in the face with his pillow, Castiel finally surrendered and clambered out of bed and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Looking at his alarm clock, he saw that it was only ten o' clock, and probably could have slept for another hour or two before really needing to get up.
"...Gabriel, I could have slept for another hour before you needed to pull me out of my comfortable bed," Castiel muttered tiredly.
Gabriel frowned in mock hurt, "But Cas, early bird gets the worm! You need to make yourself pretty before you go. I heard the tattooist is Dean Winchester, you know...the guy you've had a crush on since ninth grade?"
Cas' mind went blank for a minute, Dean Winchester? The school punk that didn't even know Castiel existed. With his dyed deep red hair, impossibly green eyes, charm oozing out of those damn freckles that Castiel would have no problem spending hours counting, and piercings galore...Castiel fell in love instantly.
The only problem then was that Castiel was the school's nerd, who wore wire-framed glasses and sweaters even in the summer, always in the library reading anything he could get his hands on. He had zero chance of ever even talking to Dean.
And that's what happened, only small smiles, if anything, passed between the two during their four years of high school. One time they were lab partners in Chemistry class, but only engaged in small talk, not really learning too much about each other.
They never saw one another after that, and Castiel pushed Dean Winchester out of his mind, deeming it a high school crush and nothing more. Something to just fade away.
But it never did, and now he was here, working in a tattoo parlor that Castiel was going to in a few hours. What a lovely coincidence, Castiel thought.
"So, lazy ass...you going to get up or not?" Gabriel asked, signature smirk on his face, knowing he was going to get his way.
Getting off his bed and grabbing a towel and other bathroom supplies, along with some clothes, Castiel pushed past Gabriel and walked through the hallways to the showers down the hall. He didn't really care that he was in nothing but his boxers.
The showers were empty, much to Castiel's relief. He didn't really like to shower in the presence of others, too awkward and unnerving. He hung up his towel so it wouldn't get wet and stripped down, wishing that the showers were more sanitary.
He sighed in content as the warm water sprayed onto his body, and grabbed his bottle of shampoo and scrubbed his hair clean, making sure that it smelled decent. If he was going to be near Dean Winchester, he didn't want to look like unkempt. But for him, it always did.
Drying himself with his towel and putting on a t-shirt and jeans on and pressing his glasses to his nose, Castiel exited the showers and headed back to his dorm room, trying not to pay attention to all the...unpleasant sounds coming from the neighboring rooms.
At first he thought he was going to get used to it, the smell of weed leaking from the dorm to his right or the blaring music from the dorm on his left. Castiel was only a college freshman but he felt like an exasperated senior, who couldn't wait for it all to finish.
And it was only the first semester.
He entered his dorm room, finding Gabriel already plowing through a bag of Skittles and watching Netflix on his laptop. He probably wouldn't move for a couple of hours, maybe taking bathroom breaks and looking for more snacks. Then a friend of his would call for a party and Gabriel wouldn't be back until late that night, smelling like alcohol and occasionally sex.
The tattoo parlor didn't open for another two hours, so Castiel did some of his homework.
For the sheer fun of it of course.
The clock read twelve, so Castiel threw his shoes and a sweater on before heading out the dorm. He didn't bother to say goodbye to Gabriel, he wouldn't be able to hear him anyway over the sound of housewives fighting one another on his computer.
Campus was reasonably busy, students either choosing to form into their social groups or go to the various stores for something; that they in their minds, desperately needed. Some probably chose to take advantage of no classes today and slept in. That's what Castiel would have done.
It was chilly, as he predicted, but the sun was shining and puffy white clouds drifted across the sky. Leaves were turning into either a vivid red, burnt orange, or a brilliant shade of gold. Soon enough snow would start to fall and everything would turn into ice.
After ten minutes of walking down the sidewalk, brushing past people in a hurry for whatever reason, Castiel finally found the short, dark-bricked building fondly by the locals as 'The Bunker'. It was at the halfway point of being cozy and slightly run-down. Or lovingly worn, depending on who you asked.
There wasn't a sign saying it was open, though the lights inside told Castiel he was welcome. It wasn't until he reached to open the door that he realized that he was going to see Dean Winchester again, the guy out of his league that Castiel was head over heels for. The typical high school crush that everyone had, whether or not they would admit it.
He scolded himself, Honestly, why do I still care? It's not as if my whole life depends on this, it's just an appointment for a tattoo. He might not even be the one who does it. Suck it up and get it over with.
And so he did, taking a deep breath and heading inside.
Tell me what you think and if I should continue this or not! Also, for those of you reading my other SPN work in progress fics, sorry for the hiatus...my muse sort of went but now it's coming back! So expect an update sometime soon! The idea for this fic is inspired for my love of Punk!Dean and college/tattoo parlor AU's. Feedback is welcome!
