Discovering Castiel

By HappyLlamaSadLlama

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words I have written. I do not own the characters or claim any of the actual TV series as my own, and the story is with thanks to .com and .com

Any reviews woule be much appreciated :)
Thank you

Castiel was fed up of the city.

He didn't know why he'd bothered to move there in the first place. Perhaps it was his dream to work in a bustling city at one point, live the life he'd seen in TV shows and films. But the fact of the matter was that it was no longer his dream.

Castiel hated the city.

With a passion.

Perhaps that was the reason he'd moved away. Sold his tiny apartment for a larger cottage in the middle of absolutely nowhere (It wasn't really nowhere, he had moved to a small village on the outskirts of the next major city along. It wasn't nowhere in reality, but it felt like it in comparison to his previous home), switched his daily routine of coffee and alarms for a job at a local shop. It wasn't much, but it would be simple. And that's exactly what he needed. He needed simplicity and an easy life spent amongst people who weren't so demanding, and away from deadlines, well at least for a while.

Unfortunately, it seemed that people in the country were more demanding than he'd expected. The taxi driver alone had charged a small fortune, which had caused an argument in the middle of the town square of his new village, which in turn had called out what seemed like a majority of the population of the settlement. So much for good first impressions.

He paid the driver dutifully and skulked away, his multiple suitcases dragging behind him along with half the town's people grumbling their complaints more to themselves than anything else. Not that he really cared; the city had made him less aware of the feelings of other people. They could think what they wanted, and he could ignore them, it was as simple as that.

After a few minutes of walking he was disrupted from his thoughts by the shrill voice of a woman. "Castiel, is it okay if I call you Ca… C- Castiel, slow down a second. Please?" She babbled as he stopped walking and turned his head to face her. She was short in stature, a business-like suit covering her upper half and a matching skirt covering the lower- Not that the skirt was covering very much of her lower half. Good Lord, had she no decency? Her brown hair was tied back in a tight bun which only accentuated the sharpness of her features. She wasn't beautiful, though nor was she ugly, her expression was calm but bubbly and gave her a stern but cheerful demeanour, if that was possible.

Her quick pace slowed as he stopped, and she was clearly out of breath as she leant down to adjust the straps of her heels.

Dear God, the woman looked like a prostitute.

"I'm so glad I caught you, Castiel?"

"Castiel." He confirmed with a curt nod of acknowledgement, though he'd have preferred it if she'd called him by his surname. Overfriendly people made him uncomfortable. Overfriendly women in short skirts made him uncomfortable.

"Brillaint, absolutely perfect." She murmured as she began to ramble once again, pausing only momentarily to glance down at the clipboard hugged to her chest. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I believe we've spoken over the phone."

He had no recollection of talking to a woman over the phone, but he politely nodded in encouragement for her to speak.

"Wonderful." What was it with her and positive adjectives? "Well, I'd have caught you at the taxi but I wasn't expecting you this early. I was hoping you'd phone when you were closer so I could greet you as soon as you arrived." She paused for a breath, had she really just got through the whole of the previous speech without breathing? He was impressed. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling to myself, I'll stop." She let out a high pitched giggle and Castiel flinched lightly. God, she was insufferable. "Anyway, the house is the other way; you're heading in the wrong direction entirely. Here are the… Oh, here are the keys." She exclaimed, drawing a set from her pocket and tossing them to him, all too cheerfully. "I'm a phone call away if you need me, Castiel. I won't walk you to the house, you should be able to find it easily enough, it's not rocket science." She giggled once again, giving him a brief wave and turning from him, beginning to walk back along the tarmac of the sidewalk. He was about to wave back, but she'd already turned, and in reality, he saw no point.

Of course, the estate agent… He groaned at his incompetence, they'd talked many a time on the phone, but she sounded utterly different in real life. More… Irritating.

With an extended sigh, he took hold of the baggage again, trundling it behind him as he set off at the same impatient pace as before, only this time, in the correct direction.

It took him exactly seventeen minutes to locate the house, and yes. He was fairly impressed. Having grown up in the city, large houses had always given him a warm feeling inside his stomach. Maybe living in one would finally give him the peace he needed to unwind.

The doctors and therapists had told him that he needed to unwind.

Frequently.

Easy enough for them to say, they were practically paid a large sum of money each time they told him to relax. It was always the same. They'd tell him he was too tense, that his job was slowly and surely winding him up like a spring in a machine. An automatic machine; with no way of stopping the build up except to jam a spanner into the cogs and make a run for it.

Of course, his church group had always been supportive, even if they didn't understand his pain. Each Sunday afternoon, they would meet for the coffee and smile with their beaming eyes at him as he told them what he was going through. Those smiles had kept him going for much longer than he'd have been able to go if he hadn't seen them each week. If anything, they'd helped him through it all much more than the doctors and the drugs they'd tried to force down his throat.

But eventually, the time had come when even Christ and his support groups had failed to help. It wasn't as if they hadn't been trying, they honestly had with all of their hearts, it was the machine which had crushed him. And so, he had finally taken the advice of the therapist. He'd thrown a spanner into the cogs and legged it to a place he'd never been to. A place where could start anew. A place where he could take some time to uncoil the tight wires which made up the spring he had become.

He was dragged out of his thoughts as a voice called out. Though this time, it was a man's shout which snapped him out of his tormented thoughts.

"I hate to break it to you, but you've been standing there for at least the past…. Five minutes? You alright?" The voice had asked.

And in response. Castiel had turned.

In front of him stood a man. His brown sweatshirt covered his top half and stubble lined his chin, along with the cheeky half smile he wore on his lips.

He was of course attractive,

But that was irrelevant.

"N- No I'm fine, I think I just blanked out for a moment." Castiel shook his head, the smile from the opposite man's lips spreading to his own as if it were an infection. It had been a while since he'd smiled at all.

"If you're sure." The man shrugged, making his way closer to Castiel before stopping at the white picket fence, surrounding the garden he was standing in, and leaning his right arm out. "Dean Winchester. Pleasure to meet you…" He trailed off, asking for his name without saying anything directly.

"Castiel." He answered, dumping the bags on the sidewalk and closing the distance, and taking his hand firmly in a handshake.

A warm feeling filled his chest.

"Pleasure." Dean nodded, releasing his hand and letting his arms fold tightly. "So you're the newbie. Need any help with your bags?"

"No, I can manage, but thank you for the offer. They're not too difficult to handle when you get the hang of it." Castiel nodded, his arms falling awkwardly at his sides. He had never been one for conversation, but this man made him feel comfortable.

"Well if you're sure. Tell you what; you're invited to dinner at mine tonight. It's the least I can do to welcome you to the community."

"I don't think that's really necess-" Castiel started before he was interrupted by a now extremely enthusiastic Dean.

"Of course it is. Just be here at seven and I'll make sure there's something edible in."

And with that, it was decided for him. Not that he really minded. It would be nice to spend an evening with someone new, and Dean seemed like a friendly enough man.

They spoke their brief goodbyes, Castiel turning for one last glance at the man after he'd picked up his suitcases once more, and Dean returning with a strong wave, the mischievous grin still on his face, almost threatening a loud laugh to burst through and escape. Castiel's smile widened briefly in reply before he turned away and unlocked the door to his new house, almost stumbling through with his baggage. He leaned back and closed the door, sliding the latch in place, but not before he'd heard the cheerful chuckle from Dean.