A Different Cinderella Story
Castiel, named for the angel, lived in an apartment with his step-mother, Anna, and two step-brothers, Gabriel and Michael. Anna had married Cas' father a year ago, after the seventeen year old had pestered him for weeks about marrying the kind grade school teacher. Castiel hadn't known Mrs. Milton had two sons at home, both of whom were older than him by a year or two. Shortly after the wedding, Anna had moved into the small apartment and her two boys, a eighteeen year old named Michael and a nineteen year old named Gabriel, moved in with her. The apartment only had three bedrooms- one for Cas' father and Anna, one for Cas, and one for Gabriel and Michael to share. About two months afterwards, Castiel's father had gone off on a road trip and hadn't been seen since. With Jimmy Novak out of the way and Anna working two jobs until the wee hours of the morning, Michael and Gabriel had free reign on the younger sibling.
The older boys made Castiel do all the chores and the cooking. They made Cas clean the kitchen and bedrooms over and over again, each time dramactically pointing out spots he had missed- even if the rooms were so clean you could see your reflection in their surfaces. Though the young teenager scrubbed and scrubbed until his fingers bled, his step-brothers would still taunt him. Eventually, the elders would become frustrated and lash out at him, hitting him and shouting at him. Castiel would bite his lip and clean harder, unphased by the abuse. He knew he deserved it for slacking off. He would clean until he heard Anna's car out side at two in the morning-long after his tormenters had gone to bed. He would hurriedly put the cleaning supplies up and run to his room, pretending he was asleep when Anna checked in on him.
One Friday afternoon, Michael and Gabriel recieved text messages inviting them to a party at the mayor's house. The boys could barely contain their excitement. The mayor was the richest man in Lawrence and he had the best house. Mayor Winchester had two sons, Sam and Dean, who went to school with them. Castiel had gotten a message inviting him also, but his step-brothers forbade him from going.
"You have nothing to wear!" Gabriel exclaimed outraged that his younger brother would even think about going. It was true though, Castiel had only some discount clothes from a thrift store. They were stained and had holes in them from past use by their previous owners. Michael and Gabriel on the other hand wore designer clothers from around the world. They had thrown out all of Cas' good clothes after it was clear their step-father wasn't coming back. Cas sighed, knowing there was no way he could go to the Mayor's party dressed like a bum.
"Go fetch us our suits. The ones that just came in from Paris." Michael demanded. Castiel nodded and retrieved the designer suits, freshly ironed and pressed, from the bedroom. The elder boys snatched their respective suits from his dainty hands and swept off to change. A few hours later,their hair freshly styled by Cas and being dressed to go, Gabriel and Michael left the small apartment building on foot for the center of town where the Mayor's house was located- leaving Cas behind to scrub at the kitchen floor.
"Why don't they ever let me out?" Cas wondered to himself. They had made him stop going to school altogether in favor of cleaning the house and he was only allowed to leave the apartment building to go to the store or take out the garbage. The teenager sighed and stood to take out the trash. He grabbed the black plastic bag and walked out the back door. He dropped it in the bin and was just about to go back inside when he noticed a strange man.
"I've seen how your step-brothers treat you and I know you want to go to the party. Here," The strange man held out a black tuxedo and black shoes. Cas could've sworn his hands were empty before. "Take these and go." The man disappeared once he had finished speaking and Cas had taken the clothes. He took the tuxedo and shoes inside and took a quick shower before getting dressed and fixing his hair. He looked in the mirror and could hardly believe what he saw. He looked like he had before his father disappeared, he was nice and clean and well dressed. His clothes covered the bruises from his step-brother's abuse. Since he could barely recognize himself, he figured his step-brothers wouldn't either. Confidently, he left the apartment and walked down to the Mayor's house.
As soon as he stepped in the door, he took off his jacket and laid it on a chair. He spotted Gabriel and Michael dancing with a few ladies from town and decided it was best to get lost in the crowd. He wandered around the ball room for a few minutes before someone tapped him on the shoulder. Castiel whipped around and came face-to-face with the Mayor's oldest son, Dean.
"Care to dance?" Dean asked, holding out his hand. Cas nodded eagerly and accepted his hand. The dance floor seemed to clear out as the music played. The two teenagers danced together for hours and each time anyone tried to snatch Castiel away from the Mayor's son, Dean turned them away saying that Castiel was his partner and nobody was going to take him from him. It was close to midnight before Castiel seen his step-brothers leaving.
"I'm so sorry, Dean. I need to go." He apologized, breaking away from the other boy. Dean tried to stop him but he was faster than him. Castiel ran out the door and didn't stop until he was at the apartment. He hurriedly changed out of his clothes and his them under his bed. It wasn't until he was back in the kitchen scrubbing at the floor and his step-brothers were back that he notcied he had forgotten his jacket in his haste.
The next day, Dean drove around the whole town of Lawrence with the jacket. He went to every house and tried it on every man, searching desperately for the handsome stranger he had danced with last. He was about to give up, but decided to knock on one last apartment door. He knocked and waited for two minutes before Gabriel finally opened the door. During those two minutes, Michael and Gabriel had wrestled Castiel into the coat closet.
"What do you need?" Michael asked, appearing behind his brother.
"To find the man I danced with last night. I want to marry him. Each of you will try on this jacket and if it fits, I'll marry you." Dean stated. Now, Gabriel and Michael absolutely weren't gay, but Dean was rich so they each tried on the jacket. The dainty jacket didn't even fit onto one of their arms before it was clear neither of them were the man Dean was looking for. The Mayor's son sighed in disappointment. "Is there anybody else here?" He asked. Gabriel and Michael both shook their heads no. Dean was just about to leave when a muffled cry came from the closet. He swung the door open and Cas came tumbling out.
"I'll try it on." The boy volunteered. Dean gave it to him doubtfully, surely this dirty homeless-looking teenager couldn't be the man from last night. He slipped the jacket easily on his body and it fit perfectly, much to his step-brothers outrage. As Castiel was taking off the jacket, his shirt slipped down on his shoulders, revealing the bruises. Dean noticed them and demanded to know who had given them to him. Castiel pointed at Gabriel and Michael, who smiled sheepishly and made up excuse after excuse.
A few months later, Gabriel and Michael were in prison. Dean had called the police after he took Castiel away from the small apartment and they had just finished with all the court hearing, where Castiel testified and told the tale of his abuse and neglect. Jimmy Novak was found held hostage in a shed, courtesy of the Milton boys' confession. Castiel and Dean were married the day after the tormenters where taken to jail. Anna sat in the front row and cried in joy next to her husband who looked on proudly at his son and son in law.