Dean Winchester was living the life. He was on top of the world. His band's music finally got noticed and his brother was right there by his side to enjoy the ride with him but right now, he was happy to just be playing the songs he and his brother had written at The Roadhouse.

Dean's life didn't start as great as it is now. His mother, Mary, died in a house fire when he was only four years old and his little brother, Sam, was just a baby. Dean carried him out under his father's orders and told to protect him. He never did stop protecting his little brother. After that night, their life flipped 180. His father, John, was no longer the Dad who was always there to pick them up when they fell, someone to teach them to throw a baseball around in the park, someone who was proud of them when they came home from school with a good grade. Not once had Dean heard the words "I'm proud of you son" uttered from the lips of his father. No, that was left to their make-shift father, Bobby, when their real father slumped into a drunken lifestyle when Dean was eight leaving Dean fending for him and his brother.

When Bobby came around, a long-time family friend, to check up on the boys on Dean's eighth birthday, what he found shook him to his bones. John was passed out in a pool of vomit on the bathroom floor while Dean was trying to organise a meal for little Sam. On his own birthday, instead of getting to be a kid and enjoy a family meal and eat cake, he had to replace his mother's job of looking after his little brother and his drunken father. At that moment, Bobby took the boys to his own home in South Dakota leaving John a note that said;

Get off the booze. Sort out your life. Then come for the boys.

Sixteen years later, they still haven't heard from him.

-
Castiel Novak was miserable. He was in a dead end job working in his father's company whom he never saw. It had been six months since he had last laid eyes on his father and that was only because his mother had died. The day after the funeral, he was gone again. Some grief he showed. Castiel had no idea as to how his mother had survived without her husband. The love that she felt for him was shown through everything she did and Castiel could never quite understand how she had put up his absence when she was so clearly heartbroken that he was no longer around. Castiel guess he filled the space.

That funeral was the first time in ten years he had seen his father. The only contact his father made with Castiel was through his uncle Zachariah who, yep you guessed it, was a complete "bag of dicks" as described by his brother, Gabriel. If it wasn't for Gabriel, Castiel would've given up long ago.

When Castiel's mother died, the only person who truly understood him was gone. There was no one there to pick up the pieces of his grief, no one to cook his favourite meal with a huge grin that could fill up a room with joy. He was lost. He had no motivation to live anymore. He was so close to tumbling over the precipice but the moment his brother came back into his life after leaving five years prior, his heart had a new reason to keep beating. His miserable life was taking a step towards greener pastures and all because his trickster of a brother came to him, pulled him into a crushing hug and told him "Hold on Castiel. Just hold on. I'm here for you brother. I won't let you go." Castiel broke down on his older brother's shoulder and sobbed until he could cry no more.

In that moment, he found he was no longer alone; he had someone who could pull him out of this rut he called a life and drag him into a lifestyle that he wanted for himself. The only problem was; he had no idea what he wanted. One thing he did know, he no longer wanted to work for his asshole of an uncle.

And that is how Castiel ended up living on his brother's couch with nothing but the clothes on his back.

"Come on Cassie, I'm not letting you sit on this couch a moment longer." Gabriel declared after a week of Castiel doing nothing but sit on the couch a wallow in his sorrows. He only moved to go to the bathroom or to gather food from the kitchen.

Gabriel grabbed Castiel's forearm, pulled him off the couch and dragged him to the bathroom. "You are going to shower, shave, and change your clothes. I didn't go out and spend money on buying new clothes for you to just sit and rot in the ones you already had on. I've set out some nice clothes for you in there" Gabriel pointed towards the bathroom "Once you're done we're going out for dinner. Now go" Gabriel shoved Castiel gently into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Castiel let out a sigh. There was no point arguing. Gabriel would never take no for an answer and he didn't put it passed his brother to physically manhandle Castiel into showering. It was time to put his past behind him and start taking steps towards his new life. Gabriel was trying to help him, and if he continued to push him away, well he would push him away. Gabriel was a persistent little bugger but even he had his limit and Castiel figured he wasn't far away from it. So he did what he was told. He took his time showering, removed all the dirt and grime from the last week of self-pity before he shaved the growing beard and changed into the clothes his brother had laid out. He emerged from the bathroom wearing snug fitting black jeans and a blue button down that matched his eyes.

Gabriel greeted his brother with a grin "Wow, see, don't you feel better already?"

Castiel couldn't help but reply with a small, barely there smile where his lips curled at the edges ever so slightly "I guess so. Thank you, Gabriel. I don't know what I would do without you"

"Hey, no need to thank me bro. I'm your brother, of course I'm going to look out for you. I know the past has been hard on you and I'm sorry I wasn't there but I'm here now and I'm not going to sink that low again." Gabriel smiled a reassuring smile at his younger brother. "So you ready to go?"

"Yes, I believe so. Where are we going?" Castiel queried.

"The Roadhouse. I hear they make a killer burger" Gabriel replied with a grin

Dean was sat on the couch of his shared apartment with Sam, strumming his guitar and writing notes into his song pad as he played with an idea that had been persistently playing around his head for the last few years. He had tried over and over to get this particular idea out of his head and into words to form the last part of the song but for some reason, every time he played it over, it just sounded wrong. Sam had offered to help him many a time but he always sent him away with the same line "This is something I need to write myself" and Sam understood that. He had never disclosed to his little brother what it was that he was trying to write out but Sam knew it was something close to his heart and needed to be written.

The lyrics began to form in his mind as he dug up the feelings he had towards his father and how after sixteen years, he still hadn't come to find them. He wasn't angry, not anymore, he was hurt and he just wanted his Dad to come back. With their mother's death, they hadn't just lost their mother, they lost their father at a time when they so dearly needed the strong hold of their father's embrace to just tell them that it's going to be ok. He's there for them but no. He turned to the drink and left them to fend for themselves. Dean sometimes wondered how they would have turned out if Bobby hadn't have shown up that day. Would they be where they are now? Or would they still be struggling to find food to eat? Dean shuddered at the thought as he wrote lyrics on to the paper and then sat back closed his eyes as he strummed his guitar and sang out the words softly into the empty room.

"I have heard that winter's cold
Will give way to summer's warmth
Oh no, like salt in the snow
I'm melted and left all alone
On the side of the road

And I will wait for you to come again
And I can't pretend like I'm confident
And I can't pretend like it makes much sense
When it doesn't"

Dean opened his eyes and smiled. He'd finally had a break through. It sounded exactly as he wanted it to. The words spoke of his want of his father to return to him and the hurt that he's felt through the long period of his father's absence.

He played it through once more before he closed his notepad and stood up from the couch. He placed his guitar back into his case, closed it and took it over to the corner where they kept their many guitars.

Dean walked through to the kitchen and saw Sam sitting at the table with a bowl of lettuce in front of him. Dean grimaced at the sight "Dude, how can you eat that rabbit food? Seriously, it's gross"

Sam looked up from his bowl to look at Dean with his 'we-are-not-doing-this-again' bitch face before he replied "There's nothing wrong with it. It's called looking after your body. Maybe you should follow my example, you're getting a little pudgy round the mid-rift there Dean"

Dean glanced down at his stomach with a frown as he ran his hands over himself before he looked back up at Sam "There's nothing wrong with my mid-rift thank you very much" Dean moved over towards the refrigerator to rummage through for some real food.

"Whatever you say Dean" Sam said dismissively "So," Sam began changing the topic "We need to go over the set list for tonight."

"Mm, that we do" Dean agreed as he eyed out left over lasagne from the night before. He removed the plastic lid and walked to the microwave to nuke it before he leant against the counter to look over at Sam as the microwave hummed. "I think I might do a solo tonight. Just a little acoustic song I've been working on at the end of the gig if that's cool with you?"

Sam beamed at him "Yeah man, course that's cool with me. Is it the one you've been working on for a while now? The one you haven't let me hear?"

Dean glanced down at his feet suddenly embarrassed by his brother's eagerness. He rubbed the back of his neck as he replied "Yeah, yeah it is. I don't think it's quite ready yet but I think I just want to play it to our regulars and see what they think of it. They're quite good with their feedback"

The microwave dinged to signal Dean's lasagne was done heating up. He opened the door and grabbed the plastic container before he sat down opposite Sam at the table who had grabbed a pen and paper to write down the set list.

They spent the next 20 minutes deciding on what songs they were going to play that night before moving to get ready. It was their first gig for a month and Dean was a little nervous especially seeing he was going to reveal a new song which he was going to sing by himself. Sure it was only The Roadhouse but he knew the regulars there and they knew him. They may not know his exact backstory but they would know enough that this song was close to his heart.

With that final thought on his mind, he got into his black jeans and black button down and headed to the living room to collect his and Sam's gear to take to The Roadhouse.

"I'll meet you out front Sammy" Dean called out "Don't take too long with your hair or we'll be pushed for time to set up." He opened the door of their apartment before he picked up the two guitars and headed out the door. He made his way down the hall to the elevator pushing the button and waiting for the doors to open. He stepped inside and pushing the 'B' button to make his way to the car park where his beloved Impala was parked.

The elevator dinged and he stepped out seeing his baby in perfect condition shining under the fluorescent lights of the basement car park. Dean moved round the back to open the trunk and placed the guitars carefully inside before sliding into the driver's side. He put the keys in the ignition and turned hearing the motor start with a purr. It never ceased to put a smile on his face. It was the only thing they had that was their Dad's. Bobby had taken it with him when he picked Sam and Dean up on that night not trusting John to look after it. When Dean had turned 16 and had got his permit, Bobby handed over the keys. It was the second best day in Dean's life right after the day he received his first guitar.

Dean put the Impala in gear before he drove up the ramp out of the car park to the street where thankfully Sam was stood waiting. He slowed to a stop as Sam jumped in the passenger side before he put his foot down and speed off to The Roadhouse.

A/N The song is 'Salt in the Snow' by The Classic Crime