Okay, wow, I have been absent for quite a while. I started a new job and had to live with my brother for two months while I was looking for my own apartment. But now I moved into my own place and finally have time for fanfiction again. This is just a little something I wrote to rekindle my muse. I will start working on updating my stories again soon. And now, I hope you'll enjoy this piece.
On his first day of his vacation he had gone to the beach and he had noticed him. He had felt like he was being watched but not many people had been there this early in the morning. Just a few families with small children that probably didn't let their parents sleep in, because they wanted to build sandcastles. None of them were interested in a lone guy, reading a book at the beach.
But then he noticed the lifeguard on his tower, watching the beach. Maybe that explained the feeling. The lifeguard had to pay attention to everything that was going on. Castiel watched him for a bit, noticing the nicely tanned, muscular body, only clad in swimming trunks. It was quite a nice view and now Castiel regretted not having chosen a place closer to the tower.
He was now openly staring at the sexy lifeguard, trying to see more of his face but the man was looking in another direction at the moment, holding binoculars up to his eyes. Castiel couldn't really see more than his dirty blond hair. Then suddenly the man turned toward him, looking directly at him. Castiel immediately turned away, raising his book to hide his deep blush behind it. God, how embarrassing to be caught staring.
But now he really couldn't shake the feeling of being watched anymore and he couldn't stand it much longer. It felt like the lifeguard was mocking him and he just managed to finish reading the chapter he had started before he closed his book, grabbed his stuff and left the beach for the day.
Dean smiled when he saw the dark haired man who'd been staring at him blush a deep red and hide behind his book. But his smile faltered when the guy suddenly packed his stuff and quickly left the beach, his face still red. He didn't look in the direction of the lifeguard tower again while he hurried away. But hopefully he would return to Dean's part of the beach another day because he was definitely more interesting than all the families that were usually there.
But Castiel didn't return the next day. He had thought about it but in the end had decided against the beach and went to a museum. But he couldn't really concentrate on the paintings and sculptures he was looking at. His mind kept wandering back to the beach and to the lifeguard he'd seen there. It had been a while since anyone had captured his attention like that but there was something different about this man. He couldn't explain it, he hadn't even seen his face yet but he couldn't help thinking about him. But he knew without a doubt that he would return to the beach on the next day.
So on the next morning Castiel showed up at the beach again and deliberately chose a place right by the lifeguard tower so he would be able to see the man's face. He didn't have to wait long till he had that familiar feeling of being watched and when he looked up at the tower he saw the handsome lifeguard looking down at him. He was glad that the face was just as attractive as the body and he kept looking up until the lifeguard eventually looked away, wondering where he had found the courage after practically running away the last time.
Dean had to look away. He felt that he was getting lost in the piercing blue eyes of the man who had settled right by his tower. He had been thrilled when he had seen the guy walking up the beach towards him but he hadn't expected his own reaction to be so intense. If he hadn't looked away when he did he wouldn't have been able to look away at all again and that would have been really bad for his job.
This pattern continued for a few days. Castiel would find a spot close to Dean, they would stare at each other until one of them looked away and then Castiel would read and Dean would watch the beach and help the people with their little problems, like a sunburn or a bee sting. Nothing serious happened although Dean caught himself thinking that if a swimmer got in trouble and he would save them it would really impress the man he hadn't yet had the courage to talk to for some reason. He didn't even know the guys name. That needed to be changed. Taking a deep breath he slowly started down the stairs and leaned against the handrail right next to the reading man.
"Hey, you really like this place, don't you?" he addressed the guy and startled him.
"Uhm, yes. It is the perfect place for reading, with the shade," Castiel answered, quickly recovering from his surprise.
"Yeah, makes sense," Dean agreed. But before he could say anything else and finally introduce himself, there was a piercing scream from a few yards away. Dean looked up but couldn't see what had happened. "Sorry," he said quickly and then ran down the beach to where the scream had come from.
He only hoped that it was just another bee sting but when he reached the scene he knew he'd be there for a while. A few teenagers had been swimming too close to a bunch of rocks and one of them had been thrown against them by a strong wave. His friends had already gotten him out of the water when Dean arrived but it looked like his leg was broken and he was in shock. Dean helped him as well as he could while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. By the time he returned to his tower Castiel was long gone and Dean couldn't blame him. He would have to try again the next day.
The next morning when Castiel arrived he didn't sit down to read. Instead he put his things down and immediately went to the ocean to go for a swim. He couldn't really go on a beach vacation and not go swimming at least once. And also he was pretty sure that the lifeguard would be watching him the entire time, which was exactly what he wanted. He turned to look at the lifeguard once more before he waded into the ocean and started swimming into deeper waters.
It felt great. The water had exactly the right temperature and Castiel enjoyed the weightless feeling of swimming in the ocean. He couldn't believe he hadn't gone swimming sooner. But he was soon reminded of why he didn't go swimming much. He was pretty far from the shore when his leg suddenly hurt like hell, the muscle cramping and not following his brain's orders anymore. Castiel tried to fight the cramp and to concentrate on keeping his head above the water but it was difficult and he didn't quite succeed.
Dean had indeed been watching the blue-eyed man change his daily routine and go for a swim. The guy wasn't a bad swimmer and Dean completely forgot about all the other people he was supposed to be watching. Which turned out to be a good thing because he immediately knew when the guy was in trouble. His movements changed and then he seemed to have trouble keeping his head above the water.
He didn't wait any longer and sprinted into the water, swimming as fast as he could, reaching the struggling man very soon. He put his arms around the other man from behind, holding him steady and above the water, while at the same time talking to him to keep him calm.
"My leg," Castiel gasped, the pain obvious in his voice.
"I know. Let's get you to shore and we'll take care of your leg," Dean soothed as he swam towards the beach.
When they reached the shallower water, Dean simply picked Castiel up and carried him to the beach where he gently laid him down on the sand to take care of his leg. When the cramp stopped he sat down heavily next to Castiel.
"No reading today?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"I finished my book," Castiel explained and Dean chuckled at that.
"I'm Dean by the way," the lifeguard finally introduced himself to the men he'd been staring at for days.
"I'm Castiel," Castiel responded and then took Dean's offered hand to let the lifeguard help him get up. Together they walked back up to the lifeguard tower in silence, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
"Thank you, Dean. For saving me out there," Castiel said, looking directly into Dean's green eyes.
"Just doing my job," Dean mumbled in response, mesmerized by the blue eyes staring into his.
Castiel smiled and then suddenly leaned forward, closing the distance between them, softly pressing his lips on Dean's. It lasted only a second before Castiel stepped back again.
"Thank you," he repeated and picked up his things, ready to leave.
"Cas, wait!" Dean called after him. "Will I see you again?"
"I will be back tomorrow," Castiel answered with a smile. "With a new book."