Author's Note: Kept Nat's beater ambiguous. Most people say it was his dad but I heard rumors it was Amber o.O
Nathaniel was out of breath by the time he reached the door, having run the entire way from his house to this one, and with throbbing ribs to boot. He supposed running hadn't been completely necessary, but he'd frankly just wanted to get the hell away from his own home as fast as possible. As his pants eased into steady breaths, he straightened himself and knocked on the door.
The knocks were met by the deep barking of a large dog. Nathaniel hoped the human occupant of the house was home too, but if not he'd have to think of something else, somewhere else to go. Maybe he could just sleep at the school again? No…That wouldn't be good. Teachers noticed his exceptionally early presence and questioned it on a few different occasions. But where else would he go? It wasn't like he didn't have friends, but of course those friends had parents who would also questions.
"The fuck are you doing here, Mr. President?" Castiel answered the door and stared at the blonde suspiciously. He was clad in just his boxers and a loose-fitting tank top, and idly Nathaniel wondered if he'd woken him up. It was late, after all. Two, or three in the morning. Something like that, he wasn't too sure. "Yeah, uh…Hi. Can I come in?" he asked awkwardly.
The redhead quirked an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" Nathaniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's late, yeah I know. I'm sorry, can I just come in?" Castiel studied Nathaniel questioningly, but gave a small nod. "I guess so. You're already here." He opened the door more and allowed the blonde entrance, shutting it immediately after he stepped inside.
A black and brown canine barked excitedly up at the visitor, happily wagging his tail. The blonde took a step back or two. He was far from the biggest fan of dogs. "Uh, hello dog. No, no please don't sniff me..."
"Hey, his name's Demon, and let him sniff you. This is his house you know, he has every right to-" Castiel broke off as his turned to Nathaniel, expression darkening seriously. The blonde uncertainly glanced behind himself and then back to the redhead. "What is it?"
"You're bleeding."
"Still?" Nathaniel muttered in disbelief, lifting a hand to his temple. The blow there had been the only one that drew blood, the only one that was an accident. It had been an accident, right? His aggressor only threw the can opener for an intimidation tactic, right? It wasn't supposed to hit. Either way, Nathaniel had thought that it stopped bleeding awhile ago. But sure enough, his fingertips came back slick with liquid crimson. "Oh…"
"Idiot," Castiel said without the usual bite behind the word. He wordlessly grabbed the blonde by the wrist and tugged him off to the bathroom. Nathaniel didn't protest at all. This situation not exactly foreign to him. It wasn't really routine either, but this wasn't the first time he'd escaped to Castiel's house when things with at home got exceptionally difficult. It was a good place to go, considering it was the last place anyone would ever expect him to go.
The redhead wet a washcloth in the sink and motioned for Nathaniel to come closer. "Um. I can do that myself, you know," the blonde protested, though he stepped closer anyway.
"You didn't even notice you were bleeding, I don't think you're capable of actually doing something about it." Castiel grunted and gently dabbed at the wound, sighing through his nose. "Well alright," Nathaniel mumbled awkwardly, "Thanks." He could feel his cheeks heat with embarrassment and was all the more grateful when the redhead dropped the bloodied washcloth back in the sink.
Castiel opened the cabinet above the porcelain throne, rummaging through it and shooting several glances to the blonde as he did so. "Come here," he muttered when he stopped rummaging, a small cardboard box in hand. Nathaniel obediently stepped over. Brushing back the blonde's hair, the redhead silently applied a square of gauze and taped it on with a couple bandaids. "Thanks…Again."
"Yup. Again." Castiel replied and stepped back. Facing the blonde fully now, he folded his arms across his chest. "Anyway, are you gonna tell me what's going on?" Nathaniel sighed and uneasily looked to the floor. "Nothing's going on…"
"Bullshit."
"I just locked myself out of the house, that's all. And I didn't want to wake anybody up, You stay up late, so I figured I'd just come here." The blonde internally winced, all too aware how lame this sounded. How utterly and pitifully false it sounded.
"I'm not stupid, Nat."
"No, that's really what happened. I swear."
"This is the third time you've showed up here like this. What's going on?"
"Why can't you mind your own business?"
"You make it my business when you knock on my door at three o' clock in the morning."
Nathaniel jerked his golden gaze back to the charcoal one, frustrated and pleading, "You said yourself you're not stupid, you can put two and two together! Why do you have to make me say it!?"
Castiel's expression softened and he unfolded his arms in defeat. "I'm gonna go grab my pillow." The redhead sauntered off to the bedroom and Nathaniel followed. Whenever the blonde stayed the night, he always got the bed. This was pretty backwards, but the supposed reasoning for it was because Demon slept on the couch and Castiel couldn't have Nathaniel bothering his precious dog.
"So you're going to sleep in that?" the redhead asked, eyeing Nathaniel's school outfit. "It's not really like I have anything else to wear," the blonde said quietly, sliding under the covers. "Not like I'd mind lending you anything at this point," Castiel grunted, leaning over and reaching for the pillow he planned to take with him. "But okay, I guess I'm gonna go crash now. See you in the morning."
Nathaniel took the redhead's hand just as it brushed the pillowcase and looked up to him hesitantly. "Could you…Not go?"
Unusually soft charcoal eyes met the tentative golden ones and the redhead nodded. Shifting the hand now grasped in the blonde's, Castiel slid onto the mattress and loosely intertwined their fingers. "Of course I'll stay, moron. It's my bed." Nathaniel relaxed and scooted just a bit closer to the other male, before closing his eyes and allowing himself to sleep.