We made you:
Castiel along with Dean sat at a back table in a busy Italian restaurant as they waited for Tommy and his family to show up. The media was still crowded outside as they continued to shout assumptions and rumors at him as they recorded and took photos of him. It did bother him but this was all just routine. That it would die off in a few days when they found a better story. "You look nervous," Dean said quietly.
"What?," Cas asked not understanding him. Dean shrugged and picked at an unopen sugar packet left on the table. "I mean, ever since, you know," he gestured with his hands," what happened. You've been different."
Cas looked down at his own hands, wanting to avoid what Dean was saying. "I know I'm out of line. I'm just worried about you," Dean sighed. Cas continued to look down and audibly sighed but before he could make a comment of his own, Ruby, his publicist, along with Tommy and his mom were making their way to his table.
He stood up abruptly and shook hands with the woman, Jody, and gave Tommy a light hug. He continued standing as they took their seats next to Dean and looked to Ruby. "Ruby. I wasn't aware you were in town," he said quietly in disdain.
Ruby scoffed and took a seat across from Castiel's, "Of course I'm here, Novak. Someone needs to keep you in line and fix your messes." Cas pursed his lips as he straightened his tie and took his seat. Tonight was not about her or his mother. It was about Tommy. He looked over to Dean and saw the concern etched on his face. He smiled back reassuringly and turned to Tommy who was seated next to him. "So, Tommy, what is your favorite movie?," Cas asked interested as he looked in his eyes to let him know he had his full attention.
After three courses of food and lots of laughs, Cas couldn't feel better. He felt like he was on cloud nine right at this moment. "Jody, you have such a wonderful son," Castiel said sincerely as he smiled.
Jody blushed and smiled brightly at her son and Cas, "I cant thank you enough for this evening. Tommy's been so excited and I know he'll always remember this night." Cas nodded with his grin still on his face. He peeked a glance at Dean who was beaming at their interaction. Cas felt a blush crawl up his neck and spread to his cheeks. Dean watches and gave him a cheeky wink. Castiel looked down at his empty plates and over to Ruby who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow and her arms across her chest. He tried to ignore her as he went back to his conversation but he could still feel the uneasy glare she was surely giving him.
Cas stood up after the bill was paid and gave Tommy one last hug before making his way outside into the cool Summer breeze. Dean stood next to him and opened his door up for him waiting for him to get in. As he put his foot in the door he felt a hand on his forearm pull him back and he turned around to meet dark, hard eyes. "We need to talk, Castiel," she said coldly. Dean felt the tension forming and stepped between them. Cas gave him sad eyes as he placed his hand on his shoulder and nodded slightly, "its okay, Dean. Wait in the car." Dean stepped back and looked between them again before pursing his lips and ducking into the car, closing the door behind him.
"Is he your pet now?," Ruby asked as she rolled her eyes. Cas gave her an annoyed stare and dodged the question, "What is it, Ruby?"
"I'm worried about you. And I know you've been avoiding Jo's calls. We need to talk about what happened among other things," she said as she gave him a fake sincere smile.
It was Cas's turn to roll his eyes, "What happened, happened. I'm not talking about it. The media will be fine, Ruby. It'll all blow over in a couple of days." He turned his attention back to the car where Dean waited and gave a slight smile forgetting where he was. He turned back to Ruby who was now giving him a stern look as she tapped her foot menacingly on the sidewalk. "What?," he asked in genuine confusion.
"You know what," she spit out harshly before continuing. "This," she said gesturing with her fingers between him and the car where Dean was, "is not happening. I'm not letting you go down the path and you know if you cross me, it will be the biggest mistake you will ever make. I made you, Castiel. You are the guy that everyone wants. Women want to be with you and men want to be you and also with you. Don't screw up that image for some little fling that we all know won't work out. Then that will be all over the papers, too."
Castiel looked at her with his own eyebrow raised and scoffed, "are you done?," he asked rhetorically as he started to pull the cars door handle open, signaling the end of the conversation.
Ruby looked around frantically before loudly saying, "Well, if you don't avoid it for your image, do it for his. I will destroy him, Castiel. I will make sure he is blacklisted from any job you can think of."
Cas stopped abruptly and turned his head slowly to look at her, "You can go to hell." And with that he jumped in the car and left her on the sidewalk.
"What was that all about?," Dean asked curiously. Cas shrugged and waved his hand, "nothing of importance. Just media talk to clear my name." Dean nodded slowly and have him a soft smile. He immediately felt horrible for lying to Dean but he couldn't know the truth. Not yet.
They pulled up to the hotel and Cas sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "What?," Dean asked sincerely. Cas shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. "Nothing. Its just, I don't really want to be here right now. I want to be somewhere no one knows my name. I know it sounds stupid." Dean looked like he was in thought for a moment before brightening his face and saying, "Let me take you somewhere."
Cas threw his head back and laughed as he stuck his hand out the window letting all the air from the outside rush between his fingers. He was already starting to feel free. "So, where are we going exactly?," he asked as he smoothed out his 'Beach Boys' shirt that he hastily threw on when Dean asked him to change out of a suit.
Dean laughed along with him and shook his head in secret, "I told you. Somewhere no one knows who you are." Castiel smiled at him and looked around the patrol car they were riding in. He looked in the glove box and found a pair of handcuffs. He held them in his hands and looked curiously over them. They were a lot heavier than they looked and cold. He saw Dean in the corner of his eye lick his lips as he looked at Castiel. He held them up in playfulness and asked, "You planning on using these on me later?"
Dean blushed then regained his composure and replied, "Only if you're a bad boy." Castiel blushed and put the handcuffs back in the glove box and looked at Dean who gave him a quick wink before turning his eyes back onto the road. After a minute of silence, Dean asked, "So, do you like ice cream?"
Cas nodded and smiled, "I do. But don't you think we've had enough to eat for the day?" He patted his full belly for emphasis on his statement.
Dean laughed and shrugged, "True but ice cream is just empty calories. It wont hurt." Cas smiled in agreement as he nodded his head welcoming Dean's suggestion.
A few moments later, Dean pulled up at a small ice cream parlor that looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. "Are we eating here?," Cas asked confused. Dean shook his head and smiled, "Nah. To go. Just tell me what you like and I'll head in there so you wont get ambushed again." Cas smiled warmly before answering, "vanilla."
15 more minutes and a lot of licking the side of the cones to prevent dripping later, Dean pulled to a stop on the side of the road. Cas looked around and furrowed his brow, "were at LAX?" Dean nodded and took his cone out of Cas's hand before swiftly getting out. Cas followed him out still not understanding why they were there. He watched as Dean slid up on the hood and sat up licking his ice cream. Dean looked over at him and patted the spot next to him as an invitation for Cas to sit down. He did so and shrugged as he also began to eat his ice cream.
"Sometimes, I like to come out here. I feel like it's the quietest place in L.A except of course when the planes fly over but that's my favorite part. You never know who's on board and where their going. You know, what their story is," he said longingly as he looked up at the quiet night sky.
Cas smiled to himself and agreed, "That's actually really beautiful." Dean smirked and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. Cas stared at him and suddenly wanted to hear more of what this man had to say. "Tell me about yourself," he spoke confidently. "What?," the officer asked, confused. Cas nodded and gave his own smirk, "Yeah. I mean I've been pretty selfish only talking about myself. I want to know more about you."
Dean took another swipe with his tongue on his ice cream and sighed. "There's really not much to know. I'm a cop. I'm 30 now so I've been one for about seven years now. My dads a cop and my uncle Bobby but he's retired now. My dad is currently chief of police and he's really been fighting for me to become Sargent or something," he shook his head lost in thought for a moment before continuing, "I also have a little brother, Sammy, he is a really great kid. He goes to Stanford here and were pretty close. Then, you have my mom. She's as sweet as can be. Just the real definition of a mom. She's supportive, loving and non judgmental. And she can make a kick ass pie." He laughed to himself and looked back at Cas, "That's enough about me."
Cas saw the ice cream on Dean's cone began to melt and drop onto his fingers. Gently, he picked his sticky hand up and licked the melted chocolate of sensually. Dean stared at him with wide eyes and gulped. Cas did his own wink as he took another finger in his mouth, sucking lightly. "Cas," Dean sighed as he threw head back. Before Cas could do any more, a large plane flew directly above them, the sound nearly deafening. They watched in awe as he took off, going higher and higher into the night sky. Then, they glanced at each other and began laughing as soon as they could hear the world around them once more.
Cas threw his ice cream to the ground next to them and took Deans hand in his, "Nothing is going to make me feel this real. So please don't go home. I don't want to spend tonight alone," he said. All Dean could do was nod vigorously in agreement and take Cas in his arms.
