The night is black. The water beneath the stone bridge is still. Castiel leans his stomach against the cold wall of the bridge, staring emptily down at the running water below. His gaze lifts to the darkness above him, waiting, watching. He lets out a soft sigh, blinking as his breath causes a puff of white air to billow across his mouth. The teenager raises his piercingly blue eyes to scan the area once more, before letting it fall back to the water. It's been almost half an hour since he ran from home. Why hasn't anyone come after him, yet? Dean knows he had left, too. Cas is sure of it, because Gabriel will have told the Winchesters already. So where is he? Where is his best friend?
"I thought that you'd be here by now," Castiel murmurs, watching again as more wisps of cold air waft at his chapped lips. A light drizzle begins that soon turns into rain, but Castiel doesn't move. He just stares down into the stream underneath him, watching and waiting. "Isn't anyone trying to find me?" he whispers, hurt filling his tone. Does no one care? Do they really not care that he just ran off during a fight with Lucifer, in the middle of the night, during this weather? Castiel felt unshed tears sting at his eyes, and he hung his head, choking through the hard lump in his throat as he forced back the whimper that threatened to escape his lips.
"It's a damn cold night," a voice erupts from behind Cas, startling the teenager. He whips around, heart pounding in his chest as blue eyes meet green.
"Dean," he manages to choke out before he feels himself lose it.
Castiel Novak begins to crumple over, hands covering his wet eyes as he starts to sob. Dean is at him in an instant, arms wrapped protectively around his best friend's waist, pulling him close and allowing Cas to bury his drenched self into Dean's warm and firm body. Castiel's hands leave his eyes and curl around his closest friend's neck, pushing his cheek into the Winchester's chest.
"Dean, it was Lucifer," he weeps. "He got drunk again, and he got angry at me for taking his beer, but I didn't want him to drink anymore because he was scaring Anna, and-"
"Cas," Dean silences, voice gentle, "I get it. It's okay. You won't be in trouble, I promise. Michael, Gabe, and everyone are worried sick, though. So are Sam and my folks." He nuzzled his cheek into Castiel's damp hair, before pulling away slightly to smile down at his friend. "We don't have to go straight back if you don't want to," he offers. "We could just walk. That's what we'll have to do, anyway, since I didn't bring the Impala." He blinks slowly, expression affectionate as he gazes down at his best friend.
Castiel nods slightly, staring up at Dean. He's acting strange, Cas notices. He's acting so… kind and serene. Usually, he jokes and makes snarky remarks about everything, but right now… He's gentle. Almost like a completely different person, if it weren't for his gloriously green eyes that Cas keeps getting lost in. Dean chuckles, which is something incredibly distracting that Castiel realizes then and there.
"How 'bout we do that, then?" he suggests, pulling back more and fully breaking their embrace. Castiel feels himself somewhat disappointed as Dean's warmth leaves him, and the cold shoots right through his skin. But the teenager's disappointment doesn't last very long as his companion reaches over and takes Castiel's hand in his. The Novak's eyes partially widen at the freely intimate gesture, but Dean shows no sign of awkwardness or hesitation, so he just smiles and tightens his partner's hand. Dean glances at him, his relaxed smile widening as they walked along the bridge, to nowhere in particular. Castiel scooted closer to the Winchester, leaning his head against Dean's shoulder as they continued on into the darkness, listening to the dying rain sizzle the world around them.
"Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new. I don't know who you are, but I… I'm with you."