Early morning light slowly filtered into the living room of Castiel's apartment. The dark haired man stood in the middle of the room looking down at his couch. Being a bit of a neatfreak at times, Cas was never prepared for the storm that was his older brother Gabriel. When they were teens, it was pretty common for the elder brother to annoy literally everyone with whoever he decided to bring home for the night and entertain them "loudly" just for the benefit of the sour look from his brothers Lucifer and Michael. That however, seemed like a far cry of the brother he saw lying on the couch in front of him. Gabriel was face first in Cas' couch cushions, hair everywhere, and tissues dotting every available surface of the coffee table. Castiel made a note to buy more Lysol after work today.

"Caaaasssss…"a reedy voice moaned tiredly into a pillow.

The younger man sighed, holding out a cup of coffee to Gabe. Initially, the man thought it would be the Christian thing to do to take in his brother when his sickness hit since Michael immediately threw the blonde man out of their shared apartment the second he noticed Gabriel's sniffling or occasional cough. Castiel felt horrible. His brother was a ladies' man, but even he knew a woman would never find a coughing, wheezing, and definitely whiny man would be attractive. Gabriel had tried in the early stages of this cold to swoon a woman at a coffee shop thinking it was a case of the "sniffles", but by how bad he had failed Castiel was sure any woman he met in this state would throw him out within a day or so just like his oldest brother had.

"T-thanks…." Gabriel groaned, lifting himself up into a sitting position to accept the offering.

Castiel observed his big brother. His boyfriend, Dean often made comments on how his staring made one uncomfortable, but Cas disagreed. He saw much more this way and what he saw he didn't like. Gabe's hair was greasy and everywhere. His skin looked waxy and pale. The only color he got was his face tinting red whenever a coughing fit took hold. The wet sound of his lungs made the dark haired man cringe slightly. It sounded much worse than before. Another thing that Cas had learned while caring for his brother was that he was very poor at self care. Gabriel had tried to sleep through his sickness and only provided himself with water, cold medicine, and trips to the bathroom. He refused to eat claiming that he felt nauseous and rather not "pray to the porcelain gods."

Castiel grumbled under his breath. How could he trust his brother to get better while he was at work when he wouldn't even do the basic necessities like food or a shower? The man was tempted to call in and break his attendance record at work just to make sure Gabriel was cared for. Dean would definitely make fun of him for this. He refused to take off work even when he dislocated his shoulder in a bathroom "accident" that was completely Dean's fault. Although, it was just as amusing as it was horrific to see a screaming Dean dragging Castiel clad only in sweat pants into the hospital that his brother Sam was working part time as a nursing assistant.

"That's it!" Cas blurted out, scaring Gabriel into spilling coffee down his front.

The blonde man jerked the stained cup away from himself, grabbing his half used tissues to sop up some of the hot liquid.

"What the fuck, Cassie! You trying to give me third degree burns?"

Cas flinched, feeling a little ashamed of terrorizing the man. He had the perfect plan to get Gabe onto his feet and still be able to be at work in time for his shift.

"I need to call Dean." Castiel said suddenly. "Stay here."

Gabriel grumbled and flicked the wet tissue at the coffee table. Where was he planning on going anyway? His legs felt like jello since yesterday and to be honest, he hardly could make it to a bathroom on his own now. The older man sighed and ran a hand through his fluffy and knotted hair. He felt horrible and was looking forward to his brother leaving to work. Gabe hated letting Cassie see him like this, but he couldn't help himself. He felt progressively worse since Michael kicked him out and he was seriously close to moving to their dad's couch until he either died from a fever or got better. Truth be told, Dad wouldn't notice his corpse for a few days since the deadline for his newest book was coming up in the next few weeks.

It was probably for the best, after all. He had to tell Cas when he got off the phone and if he was lucky Cassie would be nice enough to give him a ride to Dad's and he wouldn't have to walk or wait on a cab. Either way, he hated imposing on his baby brother and the look in Castiel's eyes made him uncomfortable. It was the same look Dad gave him as a teen when he started doing his own thing.

"Gabriel, I've got some good news!"

Castiel made his way back into the room, slipping his phone back into the pocket of his slacks. A bright smile gracing the man's normally stoic features.

"I spoke to Dean and he told me that Sam would be able to keep a check on you while studying to retake the Bar Exam."

Great…now Gabe felt like worse shit. He was going to take time away from a college kid while he tried to make something out of himself. No kid needed to be stuck with a three inch thick book and a grown man hacking up his lungs.

"No, Cassie. Just drop me off at Dad's if I'm bugging you." He argued. "I got enough cold medicine to last at least two more days."

Castiel's bright blue eyes darkened considerably and Gabe had to refrain from shrinking back. It was the same angry look Dad used to get before his work consumed his life. Heck, even Dean-o got twitchy when he was struck with it.

"No arguing, brother. I have it already arranged and just look at you…"

Cas stopped, seeming to think over his next words as if not to offend.

"Sam will be here around nine to see you. I'm not leaving you with Father. Father can't even take care of a house plant."

Gabe huffed. It was almost seven and he was right. His bruised pride made him want to argue, but the option of not having to move off the couch and having a meal that isn't the half a box of cereal that he swiped from the back of Cas' pantry made a good argument. Stale cheerios sucked ass. Maybe he could talk this Samantha girl into ordering him pizza if he found his wallet. He sure as hell couldn't buzz the pizza guy up even if he tried to get on his jelly legs. Man, he hated this.

"Fine. Can I have another blanket if you're going to hold me hostage? It's colder than a witches tit in here."

Castiel eyed the man, observing the multiple blankets wrapped around him. How was he cold? It's almost hot enough to sweat in here. Must be the fever.