"I seriously don`t see what your problem is, Anna. My phone is perfectly fine," an exasperated voice said, before trailing off with a heavy sigh. The owner of the deep voice, a teenage boy with scruffy, dark hair and bright blue eyes, was sat in a small nook of space on the corner by a tall, oak bookshelf. "I don`t need to waste good money on a new one. There are far more important things I should be spending it on."
"Let me guess," came his sister`s unimpressed response, "like books or manga."
The boy rolls his eyes childishly. "Manga is books, Anna," he replies touchily, far too used to putting up with his older sibling`s teasing for liking his "geeky, weird shit" making it a bit of a sore topic for discussion.
Anna, a young red-headed woman rolls her own eyes in turn, her thick, painted lashes fanning her face as she tries to hold off an amused smile at her younger brother, knowing he wouldn`t take it too well. "Anyway, back to the problem at hand. Cas, your phone is my problem. It is a relic, like something from the time of the dinosaurs. You are getting a new one."
The blue-eyed teenager frowns, tilting his head to one side. "I don`t think that is quite true," he mumbles, and not for the first time that morning he wished he was better at coming up with smarter comebacks. "The last of the dinosaurs died out long before we humans walked the Earth, some sixty five million years ago. I doubt Tyrannosaurus Rex was fanatical about going to the Carphone Warehouse to pick up the latest iPhone. Or Stegosaurus needed his unlimited texts and minutes. "
Anna groans, gently rubbing small circles over her temples, as if the entire conversation was giving her a migraine. Perhaps it was. While she adored her socially awkward younger brother, he wasn`t the easiest of people to get on with. He wasn`t on the same page as most other kids his age, he didn`t care for the music that dominated the top 40, or for the latest fashion, gadgets or gizmos. This meant he was still carting about an eight year old flip phone, complete with a tiny screen you had to squint at, fiddly little buttons and sluggish internet. She sighs again and lowers her hands from her face, only just resisting the urge to place the tip of her left index finger in her mouth and nibble away at the thin sliver of a nail left there. Looks like her new year`s resolution to stop biting her nails, a bad habit she had picked up when she was six, was not going well, despite the icky tasting gunk she had been religiously applying every morning after breakfast.
"Do you have any idea how many germs there are hiding under your fingernails?"
Anna pulls a disgusted face that just screamed "too much information" and waved a hand at her brother in dismissal. "Zip it, Cas. I so don`t want to hear it. What was your new year`s resolution this year, eh? You never told us. Gabe was going nuts trying to figure it out. You know what he`s like." She pulls a face. "He has to poke his oversized beak into everything," She giggles, mostly to herself as her brother had returned his attention to the heavy, leather-bound novel on his lap, and calls their oldest brother, Gabriel a "nosy bastard."
"You shouldn`t speak about him that way. I don`t know how he does it, but he always finds a way to make your life hellish if you so much as say one cross, but true word against him," Castiel warns her, not lifting his gaze from the tiny, italic print.
Once again, the red-haired woman waves his suggestion off, getting to her feet, wobbling a little in her new shoes. She was still working on her new year`s resolutions from the previous three years, and one of them was to teach herself how to walk in heels. She had been making some progress, for the first time ever, and was now able to comfortably walk in reasonably high wedges, or low regular heels. She struts off through the door, down the boring beige hallway and into the cloakroom, where she collects her favourite winter coat with the faux black fur, and tightly buttons it across her chest. She grabs her usual handbag and slings it over her shoulder, before returning to the living room, where Cas was still hunched over his blasted book. She stops in front of him with a determined look on her face, a red-painted "take no nonsense" smile on her lips and clears her throat loudly.
"Yes?" he questions flatly as he turns the next page, taking care not to tear the wafer thin paper.
"I already told you, you can`t make do with that blue relic any longer. We are going into town and you are going to get yourself a new phone. Gabe already said we can come into the bakery and pick up some lunch from him after we finish. Free of charge," she declares smugly. "I texted him earlier."
Cas snaps his book shut with a soft thud, placing it down of the arm of the chair unhappily. He was right in the middle of a massive plot twist where the hero was finally beginning to unravel the dark truth about his parentage. He was far from impressed with the unwelcome interruption, and it clearly showed. "There is nothing wrong with my phone. And I don`t think Gabriel is allowed to do that." He moves to pick up his book again before she can snatch it from his hands like she did last week when she had wanted his help with the cleaning of the kitchen, despite most of the mess having been left their by Gabriel. Cas couldn`t remember that last time he had seen so many empty sweet wrappers littered about, and when you lived with a sweet-toothed trickster like their brother, that was saying something. "Now if you would please just let me finish my book, then I won`t have to smother you while you sleep later."
Anna, however, was not put off in the slightest. If anything, his sour attitude and reluctance only encouraged her. "Yes there is. When you got that phone, Fluffy was still only a kitten."
She points over at the ceiling high cat tower where their content pet was stretched out on top of the highest platform, lazily grooming herself, making odd little pleased noises every so often. The Novak's overgrown, black fluff ball of a cat mews cheerily as if to back up her human`s statement, causing both teens to look over at her. The large, cuddly house cat certainly didn`t resemble a kitten anymore, and hadn`t for many, many years. She gets to her paws slowly and totters over to Cas, who was obviously her favourite, because he was the one who always fed her up with treats of ham and chicken. She was still mewing happily when she jumps into his lap, narrowly avoiding sending his book tumbling to the floor. Cas shakes his head fondly, and begins to scratch her lightly behind the ears, chuckling when she begins to purr gratefully and rub against him, her soft fur tickling his arms. "I can`t go now anyway," he said, "I don`t think Fluffster wants to move."
"What is your issue? You`ve got plenty of money coming in from your tutoring during lunch and after college, so that isn`t it."
"I just don`t want a new phone, I don`t see the point. I hardly use the damn thing," Cas urges her to understand, fearing for his quiet day off of making a dent in his "to read" list. "There is absolutely no point in wasting something like fifty quid a month of a mobile phone contract for something I hardly even use."
"Maybe if you had a decent phone, or more than one friend you might use the freaking thing!" Anna groans in frustration, before giving up on her quickly sinking mission of persuasion, and just grabs her younger brother by the arm, roughly forcing him to his bare feet. "Put this on," she orders strictly, throwing a royal blue hoodie he had taken off and slung over the back of the couch earlier, in his surprised face. "Get your shoes and come with me. No buts." She storms out of the living room with determination, dragging a reluctant Castiel along beside her, the laces of his well-worn converse trailing behind him.
"Got your key?" she calls back over her shoulder as she checks the contents of her handbag. Phone, purse, cosmetic bag, iPod. Yep, everything was as it should be.
Cas nods and locks the front door behind them, double checking not once, but three times her down the empty driveway. Everyone was at work, including their prankster older brother, Gabriel, who had been working at the bakery opposite the phone shop for a few months, after deciding that going on to university just wasn`t for him. Cas and Anna were still attending the local college. Anna was in her last year studying hairdressing and beauty therapy, while Cas was still in his first and studying a mix of English, history and psychology. He also spent three of the four days he attended the campus tutoring a small group of students during their lunch hour. Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings he also spent a few hours with a larger group at the local library, and once or twice he had even been known to spend an hour or two at the weekend with students who really needed the extra help. Anna had teased him about it at first, before realising it was a steady little earner for him, for not an awful amount of effort.
The four bedroom semi-detached house they called home had been brand, spanking new when they had moved in fourteen years ago when they were all small, and was situated in an ideal spot, right across the road from a colourful play park. When they were younger, it had been a nightmare to try and pull the three kids away from the swings or the slides. It was also only a leisurely fifteen minute stroll from the heart of the town, not that their boring little town was hip and happening area. It didn`t even have a decent bookstore, much to Castiel`s disgust. It was the size of a small corner shop, with only four aisles and rarely seemed to stock anything other than trashy romance novels for bored, middle aged housewives and bestsellers. The new library that had replaced the rundown one a few years ago wasn`t much better. He had read most books at least once, probably twice and had quickly felt his excitement at having a new, supposedly better library fizzle out. Gabriel's only real complaint about the town was that there wasn`t a good place to get hammered anymore, since the town`s best club, Mystery Spot had been forced to close its doors permanently after that one guy went missing a couple of months back.
The walk into the town centre was pleasant enough. The two siblings chattered happily despite Castiel`s reluctance to leave the safety of his cosy, little reading nook, and the unreliable British weather had been kind enough to hold off on the icy rain for the time being. The sky was full of menacing clouds though, and Cas was glad he had warn his warmest hoodie. A small, vindictive part of him rather hoped that they would get caught in the inevitable downpour on the way back, if only to hear Anna`s shrieks and complaints about not having a waterproof coat. Along cracked concrete pavements littered with fallen leaves, litter and mud-caked leaflets from local Chinese and Indian take always, they walk slowly, taking care to avoid getting too close to the edge of the road in case they were splashed with dirty rainwater from the puddles that had formed during last night`s heavy rainfall.
"Remind me to nip into Superdrug afterward and pick up some new nail polish," Anna tells him as they pass the pink shop window displaying various lotions and potions Cas was more than a little confused by. How did girls know what all that rubbish was? It all looked the same to him. He bet half of it didn`t even work. "I want to find something else to put on my nails to stop me biting them. Oh and moisturiser. I`m nearly out."
Cas nods, making a mental note to remind her when they were done. "Unless you want to pop in now?" he offers hopefully, already knowing the answer he would receive.
Anna doesn`t even bother to comment, opting instead to throw him a dirty look, and continues walking towards their destination. A shop with a red banner hung above the door was where Anna finally came to a sudden stop. The writing on the sign was white and under it was a cute drawing of a cartoon owl with big, expressive eyes. The owl was holding a phone to its ear with one of its tawny wings. Inside the shop long white shelves housed several different gadgets, neatly ordered by brand name and price from highest to lowest. Near the front was a counter dedicated solely to tablets and protective cases. Against the back wall near a door into the staff only area stood the pay desk, another gleaming white counter with two young men stood behind it. One had a longish tangle of dark hair and was talking animatedly to a young woman with loose red hair. The other had lighter hair and was ignoring the girl and the other boy completely, playing a game on his phone.
"Let`s go in and get this over with then," Cas grumbles unwillingly, desperately wishing he was still curled up at home with his book. Books were nice, books didn`t need to come with tiny instruction (or as he called them, destruction) manuals, and they didn`t freeze and screw themselves up for no apparent reason. He trusted books.
Surprisingly, Anna puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I said to Gabe we would wait for him. He wanted to help you pick one out. You know what he`s like, I bet he just wants to flirt with one of the shop assistants. I mean, just look at them!" She exclaims with a knowing smile in his direction. "Aren`t they just little cutie-pies?"
Cas was looking at them, that was the problem.
Inside was none other than Dean Winchester, one of the students Cas was tutoring during his lunch break. Dean was two years older and clever, he could easily achieve top marks in everything if he applied himself, and that was where his problem lay. He didn`t. Dean was the kind of person who would get a piece of coursework set, reassure himself that he had plenty of time to get it in by, only to forget it and do it at the last minutes, not before working himself up into a blind panic. He was one of Cas` regulars, and one of the few older student who felt no shame at receiving help from someone younger than himself. He often rewarded Cas for his hard work with a crappy plastic cup of coffee from the college`s canteen. They would sometimes sit together and eat lunch even on the day Cas wasn`t tutoring.
"What`s up with Casandra?" was the first thing Gabriel asked when he found them waiting outside the shop. "Smile kiddo, looks like you`ve just seen a ghost."
He shakes his head. "Worse," he mutters, mostly to himself. He straightens up and turns around. "Does it have to be this phone shop? There is another one just round the corner."
"Ah," his brother gives him a knowing smile. "Nope, it has to be this one I`m afraid. The other one doesn`t have an insanely hot moose working behind the counter."
Both Anna and Castiel give Gabriel a confused, slightly alarmed look before he explains. "The tall one, him with the hair and the legs and the smile and that ass-"
"Gabriel!" Cas chides him.
"What?" he chuckles, holding open the door. "After you, Cassandra."
Cas groans at the horrible, insulting nickname, knowing from experience that if he complained it would only make Gabe think up something even worse. He really didn`t want to face another month of "Cas-Cas" or "Asstiel" ever again.
The inside of the shop was more cramped than it looked from the outside, warmer too, which was a relief. The chilly January air had been started to seep through his hoodie. Cas soon discovered he had left his comfort zone somewhere outside when none other than Dean Winchester wanders over, a bright smile on his face to ask if he needed any help.
Cas!" He seems happy to see him, which Castiel hadn`t been expecting. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asks, patting him on the back like they were close pals, rather than just people who studied together and occasionally shared their lunch. "I like your hoodie. I didn`t know you were a fun of that show as well."
"Um," he gawps unattractively, his sister giving him a squeeze in the ribs that finally gets his words to start coming out again. "I-I`m just looking. For a phone," he explains not so smoothly, earning him a concerned look from Dean and an eye roll from both his siblings. "Apparently the one I have is a little outdated." At the urging of his sister, he pulls out his blue flip-phone from the front pocket of his jeans to show Dean.
"Yeah, err, wow, Cas. That`s pretty old, yeah. Like, they don`t even sell that model anymore." Dean holds his hand out for the mobile and Cas hands it over.
He opens up the phone and laughs when he sees that Cas didn`t even have the right date or time set and the wallpaper was a generic picture of a sandy beach. "Really?" Dean raises one eyebrow, taking a couple of steps closer. "All this time you`ve had it and you couldn`t even figure out how to change the background." He shakes his head, a teasing smile stretching across his full lips.
Cas smiles sheepishly. "I`m not really good with technology."
Dean lets out a soft whistle. "You can say that again, man," he chuckles, but not nastily. He wasn`t laughing at Cas, at least not in a mean sort of way. He returns the phone to him, and Cas dumps it back in his pocket, keeping his hands there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. He didn`t know the first thing about what made a good phone, so he wondered just how he was going to explain to Dean what he was looking for. He is about to say as much, flashing his sister a pleading look, hoping for her help, before the tall man from the till swoops in. Up close you could see the similarities between the two boys clearer. This had to be the little brother Dean was always praising for being a "God-damned genius or something."
"So what kind of phone are you looking for?" His smile is friendly, like he already knew Cas and was best pals with him. It was the kind of smile that lit up someone`s entire face, made their eyes shine and put you at ease right away. He holds out a strong hand. "I`m Sam."
Cas nods and accepts the handshake. "Cas."
"Anyway, it really comes down to what you want to get out of your phone. If you`re more of a big talker, like your loudmouth brother over there, you`ll probably want more minutes, but if you`re like Dean over there, who hates talking on the phone and will avoid your calls even if it`s urgent," he throw him a scathing look. "Then you`ll want unlimited messaging."
Cas nods, thankful that he understood at least that small part. Dean had sulked off into the background, and was now fiddling with one of the devices that was on display. He didn`t look too happy at being replaced. He wasn`t the only one who seemed displeased with the change of events, Gabriel had a pissy look on his face and was huffing and puffing over by the replacement chargers, trying and failing to get Sam`s attention. Anna was eyeing up a glittery purple case for her phone, which Dean was more than happy to ring up for her. She pockets her change, putting a few pounds in the guide dog charity box that was sat on the pay desk, before skipping back over to stand by Dean, a wistful look in her eye Cas didn`t appreciate.
Cas frowns, realizing something. "How do you know my brother?"
Sam looks confused. Gabriel`s eyes brighten as he practically races back over, locking his left arm through Sam`s right, which the taller boy quickly shifts away from. Despite the clear rebuttal, his smile never falters.
"Sammy and me are an item. Like Romeo and Juliet, but with better hair. We`re planning on getting hitched after he finishes college, right baby?"
"Sam?" Dean chuckles, returning to Cas` side with a small tablet. "This true? Why didn`t you tell me?"
The younger Winchester glares at his brother. "Don`t believe a word that comes from this trickster`s mouth. He`s been prancing round the shop for weeks, making obscene gestures and innuendos. It`s been driving me crazy!"
Gabriel throws him a look of mock adoration. "You feel it too, darling!"
Sam groans, rolling his eyes in disgust. "I thought I told you weeks ago, stop bugging me."
"Just admit you like it and I`d be happy too."
Dean interrupts with a cough and a dirty look thrown in Gabriel`s direction, too grossed out to notice Anna staring longingly at him. "So I brought this over so we can have a look at some of the options you have." He quickly opens up a page displaying a list of current offers and other phones they had for sale. "Our current deal of the week is the iPhone 6s, which I can give you with unlimited free texts, one thousand minutes and 1GB of date for only forty pounds a month and no upfront fee. Or there is the-"
"That would be fine, Dean," Cas interrupts, his brother`s antics and Anna`s drooling over Dean very quickly grating on his nerves.
Dean smiles. "Alright. If you`d join me over here then I can sort out about checking your details, setting up the monthly payment and then I`ll get Sammy to go and pick you up your new phone from the back. Black ok? Or did you want silver?"
"Blacks fine, thank you," he said awkwardly, not sure how to react. This was the first time he had actually spent with Dean outside of college, apart from the group study session at the library, which he decided didn`t count.
They all follow Dean over to the pay desk, Sam trying to subtlety edge away from a certain tease, who was now entertaining himself by fiddling with the ends of his dark hair. "How do you get it so soft, sweet cheeks? Do you use a special conditioner or-"
"What I use on my hair is none of your business, Gabriel."
Cas throws Sam a sympathetic look; it wasn`t easy dealing with Gabriel, but at least he had years of practice. To be fair to Sam, the younger Winchester seemed to be doing a fairly decent job at holding off the devious young man.
He pouts. "But if we`re going to end up dating and eventually live happily ever after I want to know more about you. Likes, dislikes, what kind of conditioner you use to keep your flowing mane so shiny, how long it takes you to wash it, if you prefer showering in the morning or at night, if I can help you with it sometime-"
"Enough!" Sam flushes, stepping out from behind the counter and trying to busy himself with some work. "I`m going to go get your new phone," he tells Cas, before turnings to Gabriel, cheeks still a little more colourful than usual. "As for you, just stay over there and don`t touch anything."
Placing his hand on his chest he promises that he wouldn't. "Cross my heart or hope to die."
Sam sighs, running a hand through his hair. He knew that it was pointless to argue with the older boy, but there was just something about him that brought out the moody teenager in him, eye rolls and all. "Your heart is on the other side of your chest."
Gabriel pouts at being caught out, raises his hands in surrender. "Ok, alright. Killjoy," he sulks.
"Shouldn`t you be at work anyway? How on Earth they let you keep your job across the street at the bakery is beyond me. You`re never there! You`re always bugging me."
"Am too!" Gabe protests indignantly. "But if my breaks just so happen to match up with my favourite moose`s, who just so conveniently works across the street from me, well…" he trails off with a smirk.
This earns him another eye roll, and an small, barely there smile, before he leaves to hunt down a black iPhone 6 for Dean`s new friend. By the time he returns, Anna had left to go and browse the health and beauty store, after is became clear she was going to get nowhere with Dean. He had just finished sorting through all the online forms with Cas, who hadn`t been too certain about signing his name on the tablet. It had come out shaky, and just barely legible, but Dean promised that it would suffice.
"Here you go," Sam places the small brown package down on the counter with a smile, where he scans it and hands it over to the blue eyed boy. "Hope you like it. Don`t worry, you`ll get the hang of it in no time."
Cas gingerly opens the brown box, staring at the blank screen of the new phone uncertainly.
"Want me to set it up for you?" Dean asks a little too eagerly, which causes Sam to raise an eyebrow. It wasn`t like him to act so keen, and he was going to greatly enjoy every second spent teasing him about it later. It was only fair, Dean had spent the past few weeks teasing him about Gabriel`s totally unwelcome, inappropriate comments (ok, maybe not totally unwelcome) and Sam was determined to give back as good as he got.
"Free of charge."
Cas`s eyes widen in relief. "Oh would you? Thank you so much. I think I told you before, I`m just hopeless at this sort of thing."
Dean grins. "Yeah, I kinda got that."
Sam takes a seat on one of the uncomfortable stools in the middle of the store, near the iPads. He is soon joined by Gabriel, who sits one down from him. He makes no move to grab his hand, despite Sam having rested it on the counter for that particular reason, instead choosing to play a game of Temple Run. When he loses, he throws the phone down in anger. "Well I`m gonna see if this will take much longer." He walks off to where his brother was sat waiting for Dean to sort out his new phone, neglecting to pick it up. He fails to notice Sam stealthily pushing the phone to the edge of the counter, before letting it fall into his lap silently. He fiddles around with it for a minute or so, before placing it back down where Gabe had abandoned it.
Cas watches the older boy intently as he switches the phone on, going through the irritating set-up and gladly hands over his old one when Dean asks to copy over his contacts. There weren`t very many to begin with and within a few minutes Dean passes the mobile over again with a flourish and a grin. "There you go. All ready to go."
"Oh that`s excellent," Anna beams as she bursts through the door. "Looks like I timed it just right," she says happily. "We all done then? Cas?"
He nods reluctantly.
"Gabe?"
The elder Novak sibling glares, but gets to his feet. "See ya Sammy! Don`t miss me too much."
"Don`t worry, I won`t." He sounds bored, but Dean knew better, as did Gabriel.
"Love you!"
It wasn`t until later that night when Castiel realised something. He had been exploring his new phone, trying to get a feel for it like Anna had suggested, when something caught his eye. Right underneath his dad`s phone number was another one, one he didn`t recognise. His stomach tightens not entirely unpleasantly as he gets up the courage to press dial.
"Hello?" Came the family, low voice.
"H-hello," Cas replies shakily, chewing nervously on his lower lip.
"Cas!" He can almost feel the warm smile he know the other boy is wearing wash over him. "I was starting to think you wouldn`t call. That I`d picked it up wrong."
Cas chuckles, as his doubts begin to ebb away. So it hadn`t been an accident or cruel joke. "You saved your own number into my phone," he accuses.
Dean laughs. "You caught me."
After a long pause in which Cas was starting to worry if Dean had hung up, the other boys breaks it. "So…dinner Saturday night? Say seven?"
Cas nods eagerly, before stupidly realizing Dean couldn`t see it. "I`d like that."
It took Gabriel far less time to notice.
"Sammy, baby!"
A light groan from the other end of the line makes him giggle like a schoolgirl. It was rather cute.
"Why am I already starting to regret giving you my number?"