Dean maneuvered through the bushes like his life depended on it. Well, maybe it did. Throwing a glance back he saw a couple of the angry mobsters still hot on his heels.
It was always difficult protesting and rallying during the night. No one coordinated the candles and the signs with colours didn't shine out well. The only positive was that they could be more boisterous with the slogans and taunts. And Dean was the best at both.
So it was only obvious that the opposing mob had turned on him the most tonight. He really hated it when a bunch of homophobic morons chased him like dogs on heat. It made irony such a bittersweet bitch.
He saw his car parked right around the corner of the building and charged towards it as fast as his legs could.
Almost there. 20 steps. 15 steps. 5 steps..
"Fuckity mother of racoons!" Dean could feel the sting of gravel on his backside as he fell on impact with some damned idiot who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh! OH! Sorry sorry..God I'm terribly sorry..I just came out for a .." Dean cut off the ramble of the bumbling boy now hovering over his head with a frantic wave of his hand. He had no time. Not when he could still hear the roar of those bloody cavemen chasing him.
Scrambling to his feet, he pushed the guy aside and opened the door when he felt the first sting.
"Mother F.." Dean saw the blood smear on his palm and cursed every bit of luck he had inherited. The cut across his right palm was definitely deep and his left elbow was pricking like his grandmother's needles. He could try to steer the car with the bloody hand but the thought of a blood streaked steering wheel and a possible accident due to inability to steer made him reconsider. The footfalls behind him were rising with every tick and Dean made up his mind.
"Get in and drive" he threw the keys blindly in the direction of the other guy and jumped into the passenger seat. For a moment he saw no movement making him look out to see the guy staring at the keys in his hands.
"Anytime today would be nice. You know, unless you want to die with me at the hands of a murderous mob? Would be romantic, but I'm not in the mood to die yet. Soo.." Dean clucked with his tongue making the other guy snap back to reality. He seemed to notice the mob coming closer and it set him into motion. Scrambling into the driver's seat, he revved up the engine and bolted out of the blasted campus.
"Why are they following us?!" the stranger in a dark shirt and trousers drove straight, the perfect sign of panic setting his voice squeaky and his hands clammy. Dean would have given him credit for not taking his eyes off the road if he wasn't too busy trying to find the wad of cotton and bandages he usually kept in the glove compartment.
"Hello? What are..Excuse me?!" the guy was sounding exactly like his Uncle Bernie and Dean snorted at that before grabbing the bandage from the cramped compartment.
"Oak Street, 3rd alley to your left." Dean continued wrapping the gauze strip around his stinging palm, trying to tear it right with his teeth.
It didn't help when the car came to a screeching halt and he was thrown forward.
"Hey! I can have only so many broken organs!" Dean grumbled, rubbing at the spot on his forehead where he hit the dashboard.
When he turned to look at the driver's seat, he found a pair of electric eyes the shade of a frozen lake glaring at him. For a minute Dean was stunned by the ice sharp flecks in the startling focussed irises. He had seen tonnes of pretty eyes before, some downright exotic. Blue was hardly an exotic colour compared to the molten gold, cognac brown or hyacinth violet. But the eyes in front of him were downright exquisite.
Dean saw the eyes flicker down to his hand for a moment before he felt the sternness replaced by a hint of exasperation. He would have loved to boast that he was quite confident and controlled about his body but when he saw the stranger lean forward and grasp his hand lightly, he couldn't stop the silent gasp.
It must have been truly silent or the guy was deaf because he continued to pull the hand towards him. For one mad moment, Dean thought he wanted him to move forward for something. But of course, that was just madness, because he saw that his new car companion was only trying to tie the bandage properly.
He saw the long musician's fingers work swiftly, wrapping the strip of gauze precisely over the wound and tying a tight yet not stifling knot. When the hands left his, Dean felt a twinge of sadness as though he missed the print of them on his skin. He knew that the questions would start pretty soon and tried to stall them by inspecting the neat job on his palm.
"It isn't Rapunzel's magical hair to heal you up quickly." the deadpanned comment from the aristocratic stranger made Dean look up with a quizzical expression before he understood the reference.
"Ha! You know Rapunzel?" he didn't know why he found it funny but the image of this falcon nosed brooder watching a Disney movie curled up on a sofa with gummy bears to eat made him chuckle.
"Apparently, so did you." The pointed remark made Dean shut up as quickly as he had begun laughing. Clearing his throat distinctly, Dean tilted his head towards the road but the stranger didn't budge, simply raising a dark eyebrow.
"Ok, so you have questions" Dean started, turning completely to face the guy whose frowning forehead was now crease-less.
"Why were crazy people following you?" the first question wasn't so bad, considering the ones Dean was expecting.
"I was in a rally that they didn't like. I said somethings, they got angry. Apparently their anger management courses were mixed up with fencing and javelin throw training." Dean shrugged like it was a daily occurrence, which it probably was.
"Did your rally hurt someone?" Dean was intrigued by the question. Normally, people would ask what he was doing or why he was in a rally in the middle of the night. Or better, they would simply walk away. But this guy was sitting calmly, asking questions like they were in a café.
"No! Not really..nobody intentionally" the answer was honest because Dean really didn't count the self-defence by his mates as intentional hurting. Apparently, it was the right answer because the guy simply nodded.
"Will you be safe in..Oak street?" the stranger mouthed the address like he didn't trust it. Dean was genuinely confused by the question, a frown creasing his forehead.
"Yeah, as safe as I could be I guess." He didn't know why he was answering the question to a total stranger but he felt like he owed it to him if he was going to be driven back home.
There was a moment of absolute silence in the car where Dean could hear the occasional dog bark from some corner and the calm breathing from the man before him. The blue eyes seemed to be assessing him in some way, which made Dean feel like he should straighten his hair or pull down his shirt. He didn't know how or why but he could feel the exact second the stranger made his decision to trust him.
"Ok."
The rest of the drive was pretty much silent, with Dean still trying to get over the awkwardness of the situation and realizing that he had given his car to a stranger. He thought he should make some conversation or lighten the atmosphere but one look at the stoic guy beside him and he gave up on the idea. He had enough experience with ticking human time bombs to know that talking would get them nowhere. So, he decided to resort to another idea.
I don't need no dreams when I'm by your side..every moment takes me to paradise..
Dean let his body sway to the tune and even lifted his hands up to snap and clap at the right beats. He knew he heard a choke to his left but he ignored it. Nobody could resist the King of Pop and Dean wasn't going to let someone be deprived of some good old MJ.
So baby be mine baby you gotta be mine
And girl I'll give you all I got to give
He knew that he wasn't always in-key but Dean didn't give a damn as he crooned in an atrocious imitation of Jackson. This time he was sure he had heard a chuckle and caught the other guy's smile at his stupid antics. In that moment Dean saw the laugh lines soften the rigid pale skin of his cheek bones and the arrow-straight posture bleed into a more relaxed zone.
"Are you always this crazy or did the bump get to your head?" the mocking tone didn't hide a hint of genuine amusement and Dean made a face in response.
"Well, it could be the present company that's responsible" he teased back only to realize too late that it was an obvious flirtatious. He tried to come up with a witty retort to cover it up but his thinking facilities must have left him when he decided to feel attracted to damned azure eyes.
"Michael Jackson does make people go crazy." The quip with a serious face made Dean sigh in relief and crack a smile to match the teasing look from his companion.
You're everything this world could be ..The reason that I live
Won't you stay with me until the mornin' sun
Dean's laughter at the pathetic karaoke from the poker-faced stranger could be heard all through the street as the car turned around the corner onto Oak Street.
As the car came to a halt a few paces away from the crumbling men's hostel, Dean didn't remember ever laughing so much before. It was stupid really, how there was no joke or funny thing involved. Just two guys imitating a cheesy MJ song and silently competing in the Worst Jackson Impression contest.
"Sooo.." Dean never thought that he would ever fiddle with his shirt or rub his neck nervously when talking to a guy but here he was, doing just that.
"Should I do it or are you gonna try?" the amused look from the stranger did nothing to ease the tension and Dean cocked his head in confusion.
"Do what?" there was nothing that made sense till now from the moment they started the drive, but this one was taking the cake.
"The bubble-burst." The answer sounded so confident and obvious sounding that Dean honestly thought he was going senile.
"What bubble burst? Which bubble?" he was tempted to look around him for a mysterious bubble but something in the widening of the cerulean eyes before him told him that he wasn't getting the right meaning.
He saw the seat-belt getting unbuckled and the lean body turn completely towards him. He saw the soft smile on the chapped pink lips come closer to his own nervously licked ones. He felt the first huff of warm breath on his right cheek as the intense blue eyes commanded him to close his own. But he didn't breathe. He didn't dare breathe, lest the bubble broke too soon.
Finally, finally he felt a rough touch of ghosting flesh over his tight closed lips. It was like the first feel of Lychee, the moment before the burst of its sweet juice coated your tongue. It was only when he sensed the second touch of lips brushing across his stunned ones did Dean dare to breathe. The warm breath from his mouth must have misted over the chapped lips, because on the third touch, he felt a moist heat loom over his face. They didn't push further, didn't touch beyond lips but Dean knew that this was the most intimate touch he had felt in his entire life. When the warmth stopped and he felt a cool breeze tease his bereft mouth, he opened his eyelids to find the ultramarine eyes transcending into a more cobalt tinge and the intense stare fixed on his own open lips.
If there were questions of insanity and screams of suspended reality in the back of his head, Dean simply brushed them away. This was too surreal for him to break with doubts. He tried to push in some oxygen but his lungs seemed to have stopped working with his heart.
"What..why..how did you know?" Dean would have cringed at the squeak if he could but he was still trying to tear his gaze away from the hypnotic look before him.
"You were heading a LGBT rally, your eyes have been pretty much undressing me ever since I bandaged your hand and you flirted with me in the corniest way possible. It was really cute though." The soft smile at the end of the remark made Dean want to blush but somewhere in his kiss-infected brain, he could hear warning bells.
"Wait..how did you know about the rally? I didn't tell you what it was about!" Dean didn't want to panic but he leaned back involuntarily, putting a safe distance between them.
"Because.." the sexy stranger reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a shiny object. Something that Dean recognised immediately and with no less trepidation.
"You're a cop!" the accusation didn't faze the stranger who simply raised an eyebrow and nodded.
"And you're a professor. Strange combination huh?" the stranger didn't get to finish his sentence before Dean hopped out of the car and began marching towards his hostel.
"Hey! Hey, c'mon, where's the drill?" the joke fell flat as the guy hurriedly locked the car and jogged up to a furious Dean. "Hey, it's just my job." Dean stopped at that and turned his head slightly to meet the confused man.
"Of course, a job that's cost me the most humiliation and assaults ever. Did you know" Dean now advanced on the man with a finger pointing at his chest "did you know why I had to rush out from the rally today? Why I have to run away from every protest march, meeting or gathering? Cops! You guys! Every fucking time, you guys pick on us instead of the real culprits and why? Just because we're not 'normal'. Just because we ask for our fucking rights. It's the fucking 21st century and we live in the fucking land of the free but I still have to run from every place because of you fucking cops!"
Dean was standing so close to the guy by now that every single blemish on his face looked like a map. His heaving chest almost brushed against the calm and rigid frame of the resilient stranger. It was ridiculous to even think so but for a moment, for just a fraction of a moment, Dean thought he saw the ice blue eyes burn like blue flames. For that one moment he thought that the cop guy was actually turned on by his rant, by him. But then there was the cool ice again and Dean backed away.
"And yet I saved you from an angry mob that would have had fun with a helpless and attractive young professor tonight." There was no scorn or smugness in his tone but the calm fact felt like a virtual slap to Dean.
Turning on his heels, he began walking back to the hostel "No you didn't. I would have saved myself. You simply bumped into me at the wrong moment." Dean huffed out his retort, not bothering to look at the guy following him close behind.
"I'm not sure about that. Didn't you wonder why I drove a complete stranger being followed by a mad crowd, ..Dean?"
The answer brought Dean to a screeching halt for the second time. His stalker took advantage of the pause and quickly came forward to face him.
"You knew." It wasn't a question. Dean knew that he knew.
The short nod from the guy made Dean scrunch up his face. He didn't understand anything now.
"My brother, Balthazar Novak, is one of your colleagues. I came to take him home and he said that one of his colleagues was missing. 'A tall, bow legged, green eyed dish' to quote him. Said you would get 'hunted' by the crowd." The blue eyes were now as soft as buttercream icing and Dean didn't know if he wanted to thank Balty or hit him with a hammer.
"So what, you just found me and decided to save me?" the sardonic hint to the question wasn't lost on the guy, now standing with his hands dug into his pockets.
"Nah, I just came there for a quick fag." He shrugged with a small wink.
"And you found one helpless?!" Dean felt outraged at the comment causing the other guy to chuckle and shake his head.
"No genius, a faaaag" the action of lighting a virtual cigarette made Dean mentally kick himself. His brain was conditioned to insults and crappy nicknames.
Dean rolled his eyes in frustration and started to walk past him "You're crazy" he murmured loud enough to send the hint.
"I know" the amused voice followed "But I prefer Cas. Crazy sounds less sexy when said..you know, at times." The blatant flirtation made Dean almost lose the fight against smiling.
"Alright Cas, you can kiss my ass." The poetic alliteration brought out a guffaw from the guy who was now attempting to enter the hostel.
"I would, but I think I prefer another part of you right now" Cas answered, grabbing Dean's wrist lightly and pulling him closer. The street light wasn't working well and the flickering bulb caught snippets of Dean's shock before he saw the intense fire in those sharp eyes. He wanted to pull away, to accuse Cas of lying or anything that would stop his reaction to the intensity. But somewhere, somewhere in those piercing eyes, he saw a sincerity that said that he was here just for Dean. Not because he wanted to tease him, not because he had to save a 'weaker' person and not because he was Balthazar's friend. Cas was here because he wanted to be with Dean. Somehow, as he let himself get pulled closer to the lean muscular body now leaning against a wall, Dean knew that Cas was as attracted to him as he had felt himself. It didn't make sense, but when Cas captured his lips for the second time that night, Dean felt the questions melt into the shadows around him.
If the first kiss had been a delicious feast of senses, this was the rich dessert of passion. It was slow on the lips but frantic with the tongue. There was ice on their hands but fire blazed behind every touch. Dean didn't know that his wrists were erogenous zones till he felt Cas rub languid circles on them. Cas found that his knees buckled when Dean gripped his waist at that spot just above his jeans. There weren't words in their moans or thoughts in their teasing caresses. It was like the first time you discovered that your hands would join perfectly between your fingers. Intoxicatingly wondrous.
"Cas..this..oh..this isn't normal." Dean hated that he had a brain that didn't agree with his heart or groin. He felt rather than heard Cas groan into his neck before the azure eyes met his own frenzied green ones.
"Dean, I have never driven a stranger's Impala, singing a bloody Jackson song all the while wanting to kiss a pair of fucking tempting lips till I stop breathing. I haven't ever wanted to just kiss someone till you can feel my taste every time you lick your bloody lips. I have NEVER needed to see anybody's eyes and just look at them till I can see it behind closed eyelids. I know this isn't normal. And I don't fucking give a damn." The whispered proclamation should have scared the logical mind of the professor but it only seemed to make him lean in for another of those breath taking, heart stopping kisses.
"Ok" he whispered back before giving one last peck and turning to go.
"You know where the station is, right?" Cas asked trying to hold on to his wrist, his eyes now gentle yet fiery.
Dean nodded, before smiling "And you know where the University is."
"I also know where your hostel is." Cas grinned while lightly bouncing on his heels.
"And I know Balthazar who knows where you live." Dean quipped back, moving up the stairs with every answer.
"I'll find out where your next rally will be." Cas' theatrical whispers were bearing a smile now and Dean couldn't help but smile back.
"And I'll find out a way to get into trouble for someone to save me." He shot back now reaching the top stair.
"I'll be there." Dean wanted to say something more to the last comment, but found that it wasn't getting any better.
"I'll be there" he voiced back before climbing up to his room.
He knew that this was madness and that he would probably get into a mess that would put Scarlett O'Hara to shame, but Dean also knew that he had finally found the perfect reason to continue with his rallies. He flipped out his calendar and marked out the closest free date he found.
Dean had a station to visit now. As frequently as possible.