A/N:This is for a prompt challenge. ~Prompt: "It was growing late, and though one might stand on the brink of a deep chasm of disaster, one was still obliged to dress for dinner." (April Lady - Georgette Hayer)~

Overcoming Death

Chapter 1

Things were never easy for Castiel. His family was a chaos; he had almost no friends, and the only person he truly cared, his girlfriend Meg, died.

There was nothing he wanted to do more than just let his emotions crush him, while he lied down in his bed. But he couldn't. The two members of his family that weren't as messed up as the rest of them, asked him to have dinner with him.

Castiel was tying his shoes, while his heart hammered against his chest. Do I really need to go? But the answer was obvious. Balthazar had told him that he had an announcement to make, and he requested that his little Cassie was present for the occasion. Castiel must go.

Upon deciding which clothes he would take, he felt like he was sick. The last time he wore those clothes was when he took Meg out for the last time; using those clothes again hurt him a lot, especially now that she wasn't there to tell him how funny they made him look. Those shoes were the ones she chose for him. The memories about the clothes were too much. But would Castiel attend a family dinner without his formal clothing? Not in a million years. Even if those clothes were the last memories he had shared with his late girlfriend.

Standing up and looking at the figure in the mirror, Castiel noticed that he still needed to add a tie. He went for his closet and reached for the first one he saw, not really caring which one it was. He returned to the front of the mirror and placed the deep blue tie around his neck. Tying his tie was easy, an absentminded movement. It didn't matter if he was lost in thought because he was so used to the mechanism of it that he could be sleeping and the result would still be the same: not perfect. He had never been able to do it exactly right, there was something that made it look like he had been taking the tie out many time without undoing the lace.

The mirror showed him his dark messy hair. He could never control it before, and surely now wasn't going to be the time he actually could so he grabbed his tan trench coat and left his apartment.

-Break line-

Getting to the restaurant wasn't easy. In fact it was the most difficult thing he had ever been trough. Castiel kept walking around places he had so many memories with Meg. He passed the park where they first met three years before; he passed the clothing shop where she used to work; he passed her old apartment; he passed the spot where she was hit by a car three days before.

Walking around town had never been harder. Why, Meg? Why!? Why did you have to die when we were so happy? I was going to propose! Why did it have to be three days before the New Year?!

By now this was a usual thing; Castiel felt the tears trying to escape his eyes, his breathing was uneven, he could feel his heart racing. There was no worse feeling than passing where she had been hit. Castiel was almost falling to the floor when someone grabbed him, pulling Castiel's arm against his neck.

"Are you alright buddy?" A male voice asked him.

Castiel tried to focus on the voice, but it was impossible. He couldn't control his body. There was too much pain in himself for him to stop his body from shaking.

"Oh my god. You're crying!" The stranger muttered as he pulled Castiel in a warm embrace.

It was something unexpected, but it wasn't unwelcomed. Feeling someone else's body against his own made Castiel feel a bit more comfortable, though the tears were still rolling down his cheeks, his anxiety attack started decreasing and his breathing evened. But that didn't make him move from the stranger's embrace. He even hugged him back, as tight as he could. His eyes fluttered shut and he just hugged the stranger. He needed someone to help him, and when this person helped him, he didn't want to be let go again. He wanted someone to be there for him.

"Are you better now?" The guy asked Castiel.

Castiel thought about the question. He wasn't all that better… He just felt that it wasn't as bad as before. Maybe that could be considered better?

"I think so." Castiel replied, still not letting go of the stranger. Any other person would try to get free of him, but this guy just kept holding him, never once questioning if he was going to let go.

"I'm glad." Was the only answer that person gave him.

Raising his head from the stranger's neck, Castiel looked at the face of his savior. A jovial face, with the most vivid green eyes he had ever laid eyes on, was full of concern.

Suddenly looking at his face, Castiel got shy and let go of him. Why were you hugging him? You don't even know the guy!

"Sorry about that." Castiel said whilst looking at the ground embarrassed of his attitude.

A light chuckle filled the air.

"You don't need to apologize. I know what it feels like to have an anxiety attack, and I know what it looks like well enough to try and fight it when someone is showing the symptoms." The stranger told him, a smile gracing his features.

"Yes. But I still held on to you. I should have let go." Castiel said, his eyes glancing slightly at the man in front of him.

"Whatever it takes to make you feel better, man." The other said simply.

The stranger was starting to walk away when Castiel grabbed his arm.

"What's your name?" He asked.

The green eyed stranger smiled.

"I'm Dean Winchester." He said as he offered his hand.

"Thank you, Dean Winchester, for helping me." Castiel said, accepting the other man's hand. "I'm Castiel Novak."

They shook their hands for a few seconds, before collecting them again.

"There was no problem." Dean told him with an easy smile.

Castiel had to go. He had to keep moving if he wanted to reach the restaurant on time, but he didn't feel like he could walk those streets by himself.

"Do you have something to do right now?" Castiel asked him. He didn't want to ask Dean, the guy he met just a few minutes ago, but what other choice did he have? Crash to the floor next time he saw a significant place? He needed company if he really wanted to go to the restaurant.

"I was going home." Dean said, not knowing what Castiel wanted from him.

After a few seconds, Castiel continued talking.

"I can't walk around this city by myself. Could you please walk with me to where I need to be?" The blush crept to his face, and he just wanted to hide his face away from this guy, but he couldn't. He needed Dean to help him.

"I don't mind, and I really don't want you falling to the floor when you try walking." Dean told him, trying to be as nice as he could. He could feel the other guy was uncomfortable with asking him to walk him to where he needed, but he had asked, so Castiel must be desperate to go somewhere.

They walked in peace, for a few seconds, before Castiel spotted one of Meg's favorite places – The florist shop. His world came crashing into him once again, but this time, before he could start hyperventilating, Dean was already placing a comfortable arm against his, to remind him he wasn't alone; there was someone next to him, ready to try and prevent another attack.

That helped Castiel to reach the restaurant without further problems.

Castiel was about to head inside, when Dean called him.

"Cas…" He stopped, not really remembering the rest of the other guy's name. "Can I call you that? Your name is kind of weird…. Anyway, if you ever find yourself with problems walking down the street call me. It's better if you have someone else walking beside you." Dean told him, while handing him a card with his name.

Castiel nodded.

"Thank you, Dean." He said, taking the card from Dean's hand. "Thank you for everything. Goodbye."

And so Castiel walked inside the restaurant, while Dean walked in a completely different direction.

Once he got inside, Castiel looked around the restaurant for his brother and his cousin. He saw Gabriel and Balthazar in one corner, and he walked up to them, ignoring the waiter that was asking him if he had a reservation.

"Sir… You can't just go inside." The waiter told him, a bit confused with Castiel's attitude.

Castiel rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to my family's table." He stated as he kept walking.

The waiter didn't look convinced, so he followed Castiel.

"Cassie!" Balthazar said loudly as soon as he spotted his cousin's trench coat. "You're finally here!"

Castiel smiled meekly at him.

"Sorry it took me so long." His eyes focused on the floor, not really want to think about the fact he had to walk outside.

Gabriel got up and pushed his brother forward to sit with them.

"Cassie! We know you're still shaken up because of Meg, but we want to let you know we're here for you." Gabriel said seriously as soon as he sat down. Gabe meant every word he said, he hated seeing his brother in such an awful state, especially because he didn't like Castiel's girlfriend all that much.

"I make Gabe's words my own!" Balthazar said as he patted Castiel on the shoulder.

Castiel was grateful that this part of the family was so nice. He hated when Michael and Lucifer were bickering with each other; he hated when Anna spoke like she was better than everyone else; he hated when Crowley tried to rule them all… His family was so crazy that he wasn't sure how he didn't catch any of that weirdness. He was very unique in his weirdness… Always knowing that he couldn't control anyone else, he limited himself in just watching and not commenting anything. Some said he was cold, others said he just didn't care; the truth was that he cared so much that it hurt him seeing his family behave like that.

"Should we start ordering?" Castiel asked, giving Gabriel and Balthazar a warm smile.

Ordering was easy for everyone except for Cas. He wasn't hungry. He couldn't hold much food in his stomach without it coming all out, so he settled for bread with butter. His brother, as usual, skipped the real food as went for the dessert. Balthazar on the other hand, decided to eat the best steak they had in the house with their finest bottle of wine.

Everyone's food came quickly. That was, of course, except for Balthazar's. They were waiting for his food to arrive to start eating –at least Castiel was- so Balthazar decided it was time to make his big announcement.

"Cassie! Gabe! I have something important to tell you guys!" The brothers stared at him, until he resumed speaking. "This year, I decided to find myself a girlfriend… -or a boyfriend. You know I'm not picky with that…- and help you guys find someone new! Gabe," Balthazar started looking at Gabriel specifically. "It's been too long since Kali… It's time to search for someone new…" Gabriel huffed and Balthazar turned his attention to Castiel. "And Cassie… I know Meg's death is still fresh, but you need to keep moving. I'm going to make you see that life isn't over just because she's gone. I need you to live your life, and keep going. I won't force into a relationship, but you need to meet new people."

Gabriel and Castiel didn't want Balthazar to do that, but they knew that when their cousin decided something, it was going to happen until he figured it was enough… They had no say in the matter.

They kind of agreed with him by saying nothing, which made Balthazar happy with himself. His food arrived soon after and they just ate their food, recalling their times together in the past.