Cough Syrup
AN: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters or affiliates. I do not own Cough syrup either, both of these belong to their rightful owners, I'm just using them for the sake of this story.
Please note: I know that Dean wouldn't have grown up with the song, but I had to make it work so he would sing this song. Don't hate.
~.~.~.~
It was Friday night and I was in the local pub getting drunk. I had had an extremely hard week, hunting demons and all matter of other supernatural beings whilst trying to keep myself and Sammy alive. It was a very difficult job when anyone could be the enemy, but it was a job someone had to do and it was one that befell my brother and I.
I sometimes wished life was simpler, where we could actually trust people and have normal relationships with them without being suspicious of them being a supernatural creature. I tried to think of my childhood, when everything seemed simpler. Now that I think back to then, it wasn't simple, nothing was. My mum died when I was 9, after that my dad became a hunter; this was so he could track down the "goddamn son of a bitch" who had killed her. Sammy and I had got dragged from town to town for the first couple of months until he had decided that we were too much for him to handle; even though we just stayed in the motels and I looked after Sammy. We then got carted off to Uncle Bobby's. He wasn't really an uncle, just a fellow hunter friend of my dad's; but he looked after us as though we were his own, and after a while he became the father figure in our lives. However we got dragged into the hunting lifestyle and that is what brought me here tonight. The thoughts running through my head forcing their way to the forefront of my brain; the voice telling me that I'm better off dead, that some creature should kill me and the whole world would be better off. And my conscience fighting with that voice telling me to stay strong, for if I died the world would be doomed. The need to be intoxicated with alcohol, just to get rid of the thoughts was overpowering enough to lead me here; and this is why I was sat at the bar drinking my ninth beer of the night.
I didn't know what it was about this place that felt so comforting to me. It could have been any number of factors; the alcohol, the 'regulars' who frequented the bar, the band who played on stage every Friday or the atmosphere of the bar in general. This place felt like a second home to me, a place of comfort and regularity; a place where I could be myself, no changes, no regrets. And I think that's what pulled me in even more; there was a sense of belonging when I was here. Friday night was what was known as 'Karaoke night' or as the locals called it 'watch intoxicated people get up on stage and sing really drunkenly and ruin good songs' night. I had always sworn to myself that I would never, ever get up on that stage and sing, but tonight I was so pissed that I just couldn't help myself. I hauled myself up on the stage after my fifteenth beer and walked over to the extremely good looking, blue eyed, trench coat wearing guitar player and told him the song I was going to sing. I then walked over to the microphone and said in a semi-slurred voice "Hi everybody, my name's Dean, I would usually sing something by Metallica or Led Zeppelin or something more rocky with awesome guitar riffs; but I have decided against that to instead sing a song which I personally love, it holds a lot of importance for me as I grew up with it and it has been my go-to song whenever I was down and needed cheering up. I hope you like it. It's called Cough Syrup" I looked at the guitarist and nodded my head once to signal that I was ready. The guitarist started playing the opening notes and when it got to the part where the vocals kicked in I opened my mouth.
"Life's too short to even care at all, whoa; Life's too short to even care at all, whoa; And so I run now to the things they said could restore me, Life's too short to even care about, whoa;
losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control.
These fishes in the sea, they're staring at me, whoa oh, whoa oh;
Wet world aches for the beat of a drum, whoa, whoa.
If I could find a way to see this straight,
I'd run away to some fortune that I should have found by now.
I'm coming up now, coming up now out of the blue.
These zombies in the park they're looking for my heart, whoa oh, whoa oh;
a dark world aches for a splash of the sun, whoa, whoa.
If I could find a way to see this straight,
I'd run away to some fortune that I should have found by now.
restore life the way it should be,
waiting for this cough syrup to come down.
I'm losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control-oh-ol. "
While the guitar solo went on I started to dance on the stage, pushing the microphone down and balancing it on the edge of the base with my foot. I then kicked the base down bringing the microphone back to face. I caught it in my hands in time to start the bridge of the song.
"If I could find a way to see this straight, One more spoon of cough syrup now, whoa,
I'd run away to some fortune that I should have found by now.
So I run away now to the things they said could restore me,
restore life the way it should be,
waiting for this cough syrup to come down.
one more spoon of cough syrup now, whoa, ohhh..."
With that I finished the song and jumped off the stage. I sat down at my seat and asked for another beer, the bar was completely silent; I wasn't too sure whether this meant if I was good and had stunned everyone into silence or whether I was so bad that no-one knew what to do. I was contemplating leaving the bar due to the awkwardness when I heard the sound of clapping right behind me. I whipped my head around to look at who was the source of the applause to see that the guitarist was standing there, his clapping had spurred everyone else in the bar to applaud, causing me to smile. It was good to know that intoxicated or not I could sing quite well.
During the applause and the whistles, the guitarist had sat on the bar chair next to me and ordered a beer. "Great song choice Dean, you were amazing by the way. You should really think about becoming a professional singer." I scoffed at this and he looked at me with a confused expression etched on his face, his head tilted to the side as if he couldn't understand what I was scoffing at. "What is so funny Dean? It's a good profession and you'd be good at it" I looked at him with a sideways glance and slurred "no offense mate but I'm not really the singing type, I only did it because I was extremely pissed and anyway I don't even know your name." He nodded as if he was slowly getting the picture "My name is Castiel, and I understand what you are saying Dean, but you should consider it. You are an amazing singer." I closed my eyes, "I can't. I have a job, and anyway Castiel - may I call you Cas? I am not really comfortable with being up on stage." The guitarist; whose name I learnt to be Castiel nodded and turned back to his beer "do whatever you want Dean, it was just a suggestion. My band needs a singer and we'd be more than happy to have you as a part of the band; but if you don't want to you don't have to. I'm sorry for bugging you." He pushed the bar stool away from the bar to stand up, I grabbed his t-shirt and said "don't leave, you're not bugging me. I just need to think about it okay?" He looked at me with an amused look on his face "as you wish" he smirked and sat back down. We soon eloped into a comfortable silence, just sipping our beers.
After a couple of beers I said "I think I would like to take you up on your offer Cas, as long as my younger brother could tag along; I'm kind of the only person he has left, you know? I would like to keep my eye on him." Cas smiled and said "of course, the more the merrier" he went to stand up again and I said "where are you going?" he grinned "I thought we could get out of here" he replied. I was more than happy to get away, so I stood up, grabbed my coat and walked out the door behind Cas. That night I stayed with Cas, needless to say, sometimes getting absolutely smashed wasn't a bad thing. Getting drunk made me get up on that stage and meet the best thing that would happen in my life since Sammy being born. Life almost seemed worth it again, as the song said life was too short to even care at all. That night I had given up on being a hunter and I had finally found my fortune and my life was restored to how it should have been, and nothing could ruin it.