Humans are despicable, Castiel thought as he read through the disturbing pages of the novel "Lord of the Flies." Castiel had experienced human cruelty first hand. A victim of bullying, he could not get through a single day without being beaten to a pulp. It had started as a sudden thing, really. He had never drawn much attention to himself. He usually just remained in the background with his long, khaki trench coat, comfortable ripped jeans, and a book in his hand. But, when Castiel befriended a boy named Crowley, things changed for the worse. Crowley was a total badass, a trait Cas admired. He had a sort of dark aura to him and constantly wore well-tailored black clothes. Crowley had been getting along pretty well at school. He wasn't what you would call a social butterfly, but he certainly wasn't as invisible as Castiel.
They had met in the school cafeteria. Castiel was sitting alone as usual, his head buried in a book, occasionally taking a bite or two of the food on his tray. As Crowley walked by Castiel's table, their eyes met momentarily. Appearance-wise, Castiel could be described as nothing other than beautiful. He had decided to grow out his hair that year and the long black strands around his face contrasted his blue eyes immensely. Castiel had a thin frame from not being involved in any sort of athletic activities. Between this, his long hair, and his delicate features, he received a lot of taunting referring to him looking feminine.
Crowley stopped right beside Castiel's table with a contemplating expression. After a moment or two, he quickly smirked, shrugged, and took a seat in front of Castiel.
Castiel fidgeted shyly, fiddling with his long hair. "Hello, Crowley."
His knowledge of who he was seemed to delight Crowley. "Hey, Cas." He drawled in his British accent which made Castiel flinch. He'd never heard Crowley speak before. He'd only seen him around the halls.
"Why are you..." Castiel folded the corner of his paper and set his book in front of him, with nervous, trembling hands. "Um, why-"
"Why am I sitting with you?" Crowley finished for him, a wide grin spreading across his lips.
Castiel nodded vigorously in reply.
"You know, I've heard about you but I haven't been able to see you with the whole grade difference." It was true. Crowley was a senior and Castiel was a sophomore so it was unlikely they'd ever get the chance to meet through classes. "'Pretty boy Cassie' they call you."
"They call me worse things than that." said Castiel, not meeting Crowley's gaze.
"They do?" Crowley smiled, boldly snatching a plastic spoon full of mashed potatoes off Castiel's tray. "Like what?"
"Tranny, Cassandra..." Castiel trailed off. "Lot's of things. Not that often though."
Crowley licked the mashed potatoes off the spoon, giving Castiel a lengthy stare out of the corner of his eye. "What would you like me to call you, love?"
"Cas is fine." Castiel muttered, the sides of his face reddening. "Are you..." He began, embarrassed at actually verbalizing this. "are you flirting with me?"
Crowley snickered. "You catch on quick."
Castiel's blue eyes widened. "You know that I'm-? I mean, I-" He fumbled his book and frantically got out of his seat, the metal legs of the chair scraping the floor noisily. "I have to go."
Crowley got up from his chair and stood in front of Castiel in one swift motion. "Slow down there," He blocked Castiel from getting away. "Yeah, I know you're gay, Cas. So am I."
Castiel frowned, trying to retreat from Crowley backward but the other boy grabbed his arm, disabling his escape. "You can't tell people that, okay?" He whispered aggressively.
"I won't, I won't." He held up his hands in surrender.
Castiel paused for a moment and then looked back at Crowley, an innocent expression on his face. "Thank you."
"No problem. Now," The corners of Crowley's lips tilted upward. "How about we hang out a bit after school?"
Crowley's car was the place Castiel received his first kiss. They had just driven to a convenience store and Crowley had picked up a pack of cigarettes. He had offered Castiel one, but he politely declined.
"Suit yourself." Crowley tipped his head back, blowing white smoke out of his mouth.
Cas sat awkwardly in the carseat, his hands folded on his lap. He had no idea what to do. He'd never been put in a situation like this before.
Crowley broke the silence. "You ever have a boyfriend before?"
Castiel shook his head. "No, I haven't."
Crowley held his cigarette out the window, tapping the excess ash off. "You want one?"
"I suppose I'd..." Castiel broke off. He didn't know how to act in Crowley's presence. He never told anyone of his sexuality so these kind of circumstances never happened.
Crowley tilted his head at Castiel. "Does that mean you've never been with anyone?"
Castiel reluctantly nodded.
"Never even a kiss?"
"No."
"Well," That sly smile made it's way across Crowley's lips once again. "We'll just have to change that, won't we?"
Castiel turned to face Crowley, placed his hands on the edge of his seat and closed his eyes. Crowley snickered at Castiel's preparation. He was just too adorably innocent.
"I'm ready." Castiel said, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Crowley gently swept Castiel's hair from his face with his long, slender fingers. The space between them grew smaller and smaller until their lips were merely an inch apart. Crowley slid one hand on the back of Castiel's head, caressing his neck and the other on his slim waist. Their lips met and Castiel's heart skipped a beat. He found his arms unconsciously moving to Crowley's body in order to bring him closer. Castiel deftly hopped over the gap between the seats and sat sideways on Crowley's lap. The further closeness deepened their kiss and Castiel truly did not want that moment to end.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were panting for air. "That was amazing." Castiel whispered.
Crowley let out a breathy laugh. "You're quite a good kisser, love."
At this point, Castiel had felt incredible. He had a new boyfriend who was incredibly attractive and whom he cared about very dearly. But, in his school homosexuality wasn't something that was so easily accepted. And Crowley, being so daring, was not afraid to challenge that.
"Give me your hand." Crowley said to Castiel as they stood at the end of the hall.
It was clear from Castiel's expression that this terrified him. People already teased him for looking feminine so holding hands with his boyfriend that no one knew about would not help him to fit in. "Not here." And then something even more frightening caught his eye. Azazel and Alastair were at the other end of the hall, walking with overly smug smiles on their faces.
Crowley noticed what Castiel was staring at. "Them? That's what you're afraid of?"
"They could ruin everything. You don't understand-"
"Fuck what they think." Crowley intertwined his fingers with Castiel's. "You're my boyfriend and I'm not ashamed of that."
Crowley made confident strides down the shiny tile floor as Castiel nervously tagged along, being pulled by his boyfriend's grip on his hand.
Just as they walked by Alastair, Azazel said something to grab his attention. And they made it past them. Castiel breathed a sigh of relief from going undetected.
Alastair frowned. He wasn't sure what he had just seen out of the corner of his eye but they definitely weren't already gone. Doing a double-take he got a full view of the couple, walking hand in hand.
"Whoa hold on there, Cassie." Alastair grabbed onto Castiel's shoulder. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."
Castiel tried to move away but Alastair's grip was too strong. He was much taller than him and far more athletic.
"Well, we always knew you were a girl," Azazel joined in, taunting Castiel by flicking his long hair. "It's only fitting that you've got yourself a boyfriend."
Crowley smiled sarcastically at the two. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we have to get to class."
"Oh, no problem. We can have a long talk after school." Alastair motioned for Azazel to follow him as they snickered maliciously.
And from that day onwards, Castiel's life had been a living hell. By the end of that school day, Alastair and Azazel had managed to spread the news of Castiel's and Crowley's relationship throughout the school. People had laughed at them and girls had made mocking kissing faces at them. They had been greeted with a severe beating from Alastair and Azazel in the parking lot.
The bullying only got worse. It was the same drill every day and by the time Castiel got home, he was usually in tears. Eventually, it was too much for Crowley. His parents found out what was going on. Crowley switched schools. Castiel didn't.
It was several months now since Crowley left and Castiel hadn't heard a word from him. He supposed they were no longer together. But at least it was summer now and Castiel didn't have to worry about running into Azazel or Alastair.
A sudden loud noise alerted Castiel and he nearly fell from the limb of the tree he was balancing on. His book fell down from the height and landed on the soft bed of grass underneath. Castiel cursed under his breath as he made his way down the branches. His feet hit the grass with a thud and he picked his book up, dusting it off. Peering around the corner, he found the culprit of this loud noise. It was a moving truck. The house across from Castiel's had been sold a few weeks ago. A jeep trailed behind the van and crossed behind it, into the driveway. As the car door opened, Castiel let out an involuntary gasp.
Out stepped a tall, muscular boy about Castiel's age. He had short spiky dirty blond hair, tanned skin and wore ripped jeans, a gray tee shirt and combat boots.
To Castiel, he was beautiful. Possibly even more beautiful than Crowley.
No, Castiel told himself, you can't let this happen again. You're just looking for trouble.
The boy across the street caught Castiel staring at him and gave him a wide smile. Red flushed through Castiel's face as he clutched his book to his chest and ran inside his house.
He slammed the door behind him and leaned his back against it for support.
"Everything alright, little bro?" Castiel's older brother Gabriel gave him a playful push. Gabriel was staying at home this summer since he was a rising sophomore in college.
"Yeah." Castiel replied all too quickly. Gabriel didn't seem convinced.
He smiled knowingly and tilted Castiel's chin upward as if he was a little child. "You're blushing. What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me!" Gabriel joked, giggling at his little brother.
"It's nothing." Castiel insisted, becoming more and more embarrassed.
"You met a girl, didn't you?"
"No, I didn't." It was the truth, though.
"Come on, no one just starts blushing like that."
Castiel's family had never been informed of the bullying that had gone on last year. He had done a good job of hiding it. And to them, Crowley was just one of Castiel's old friends. It hurt him a little not to tell his Gabriel the truth. Every time he teased him about a girl checking him out, it made Castiel cringe. He wanted to tell Gabriel so badly.
The doorbell rang and the brothers frowned at one another. Castiel moved away from the door and swung it open.
In the doorway stood the boy from across the street. One hand was clasped over his palm.
"Hi." Castiel's voice came out nearly as a whisper.
"Hey," He tilted his head up acknowledging Gabriel. "I'm Dean. We're moving into the house across from you guys and I just sliced my hand on a metal table I was lifting. Would you have any bandages?"
"Yeah, no problem. Cas," Gabriel nudged his brother. "Go help Dean in the kitchen"
Castiel's eyes widened. "Um-"
"Awesome, thanks man." Dean stepped through the door.
"I'll be upstairs if you guys need me." Gabriel lightly jogged up the wooden stairs.
Oh God, Castiel thought to himself, I'm going to be in a room with him. Alone.
Up close, Dean was even more beautiful. His eyes were an incredible mixture of green and gold, and freckles decorated his sun-kissed skin. Castiel couldn't take his eyes off of Dean's soft pursed lips which made him want to just grab his face and make out with him right there.
They entered the kitchen together and Dean made his way over to the sink. The water trickled down his palm as it rinsed the blood from his wound.
"This cut is kinda deep." He winced. "You got any peroxide?"
"Y-Yeah." Castiel muttered, grabbing the brown bottle from the cabinet. He took a roll of bandages along with it.
"Thanks," Dean said as he took the bottle from Castiel.
He splashed a bit of it on his cut with his teeth clenched tightly.
"Here." Castiel patted a paper towel on Dean's hand. He then placed some gauze along the cut and wrapped it securely.
Now that they were finished, Castiel didn't know what to say. He felt so intimidated that all he could do was stare at the boy in front of him.
Dean smiled at him knowingly. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" Castiel took a step back defensively.
"Like you..." Dean searched for the words. He smirked, playing with the end of his shirt and lifting it up slightly over his tummy. "Like you want to see more."
"I don't-" Castiel shook his head. "I'm not-"
"Oh, shut up." Dean grabbed Castiel's shoulders and slammed his back against the refrigerator door. "I could smell the gay on you."
Dean lifted his gray t-shirt over his head as Castiel stood against the stainless steel door, terrified. Castiel eyed Dean's bare chest. His muscles glistened with sweat from his recent work outdoors. Before Castiel knew it, Dean was close to him again, running his hands along Castiel's waist and fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Dean ground his hips against Castiel's, their jeans brushing together. Castiel let out a small whimper.
"What did you say your name was, sweetheart?" Dean whispered into Castiel's ear, sending shivers down his spine.
"C-Cas." He said quietly.
"Cas!" Gabriel's voice came from the hallway.
Castiel pushed Dean off of him and stood awkwardly with his arms door opened and trailing behind Gabriel was a small boy with long brown hair.
"This is Dean's brother, Sam. He just wanted to check up on-" He stopped when he noticed Dean's lack of clothing. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
"Hot flashes," He grinned sarcastically. "I've got the menopause. Come on, Sammy."
Sam followed his brother without a word. "See ya, Cas." Dean winked at him.
"See ya."
Just like that, Dean was gone. And Castiel could not stop thinking about him.
The next morning, Castiel lay in bed, his hands folded on his stomach. He had tried to read after he'd woken up but his mind kept drifting. Suddenly, the doorbell rang making Cas flinch in surprise. Gabriel was probably still asleep. He was a heavy sleeper and since it was summer now, he would not give up an opportunity to sleep in. Castiel lazily got out of bed and made his way downstairs and to the front door. The door opened to reveal a stunning middle-aged blonde woman standing on the other side. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave Castiel a wide smile.
"You must be Cas. I'm Dean's mother." She held out her hand and Castiel shook it politely. "Thank you so much for taking care of my son yesterday."
"No, problem at all, Mrs..."
"Winchester."
"Mrs. Winchester." Cas repeated. This woman hadn't said much but she was already making Castiel smile ear to ear. She just had a certain aura to her that exuded happiness.
"Anyway," She continued. "I came here to invite you and your family to dinner at our house tonight. Are your mother and father home?'"
Castiel hated when people asked him about his parents because then he had to tell them the whole story. It made things complicated and the other person always felt uncomfortable. He reluctantly replied. "My father died when I was only one year old," Mrs. Winchester gasped and held a hand over her heart. "And my mother is on vacation right now. It's just Gabriel, my older brother, and I."
Castiel had never really met his father. Gabriel told him stories about him but obviously it just wasn't the same. Gabriel had always told Castiel that their father's death changed their mother. She used to be carefree and happy, but after he died she became absent and didn't pay attention to her two sons. And now that it was summer, she was off with some friends on a road trip with Castiel and Gabriel alone in the house. Castiel didn't mind it too much, though. Him and his brother were extremely close and he couldn't think of another person in the world he cared about more.
"I'm so sorry about your father, Cas." Mrs. Winchester said sympathetically.
"Don't worry about it." He replied. Mrs. Winchester straightened out the pleats on her summery skirt and raised her eyebrows at Castiel as if to ask him if he was able to come to the dinner tonight. "Yeah, but the dinner, I'd love to go. I'll tell Gabriel when he wakes up."
"Wonderful." She turned around and walked down the steps of the patio. "Bye, Cas!"
"Bye, Mrs. Winchester." He shut the door and ran upstairs to his room.
He had to get ready for tonight.