I Will Carry You Through It All
Chapter Four
The next morning Dean shuffled his way into the kitchen, to find his step Mom and his Dad cooking breakfast, Sam sat happily at the table and Castiel sat next to him, arms hanging by his sides and head resting on the table.
John whipped around with a grin on his face and threw his arms out to the side in greeting.
"MORNIN' BOY HOW'S THE HEAD?" John yelled loudly, laughing just as loud when Dean groaned and clutched his head in pain.
"Figured as much" He said with a final laugh, whispering to Sophie.
Dean flopped into the seat beside Cas, Sam grinned in amusement and Dean pulled tongues at his annoying little brother.
"Ah man, I love this song" John declared, turning the radio up full blast and singing along very badly.
He heard a groan from beside him and Dean looked down to see Cas' fists clenching by his side, clearly feeling just as hung-over as he was.
Dean mirrored Cas' actions, trying to ignore the loud music and his Dad's awful singing, he placed his forehead on the table and let his arms swing by his sides.
He cracked an eye open to peer over at Castiel who had his eyes closed tightly, trying to block out the sounds around him no doubt. Dean watched Cas' face as it scrunched up every time the music got louder or the smell of bacon wafted in the air and he couldn't help the smile that threatened to tug at his lips, memories of last night flooding back to him.
Cas finally opened his eyes, noticing Dean in the same position as he was with their heads on the table and only inches apart. Cas' eyes found Dean's and he managed a small almost secret smile, which Dean happily return before they both sat up, groaning in unison as pain thrashed around in their heads.
Sophie raced over to them both with determination, a plate of greasy food in hand and came to a stop beside her son, placing one hand on her hip and an almost too bright smile on her face.
"How about some breakfast boys?" She said cheerily, putting the plate right under their noses
Dean could feel the alcohol from last night working its way back up and he balked slightly at the smell & sight of greasy food. Cas' hand shot up to cover his mouth and like lightening, he was up out of his seat and racing out of the kitchen. Dean winced in sympathy and Sophie took the plate away with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Dad, since Dean is GROUNDED…"
Sam said, making sure to emphasise the word 'Grounded' as much as possible and throwing a smug grin in Dean's direction.
"…are you gonna take me to Garth's house for the sleepover?"
"Sleepover?" Dean mumbled, frowning at his little brother.
"Yes Dean, Garth is having a sleepover with a few classmates and I'm invited, we're gonna play games and have pizza, watch some movies."
"Sounds like a riot, shame I'm missing out." Dean scoffed, folding his arms across his chest.
Sam rolled his eyes and looked over to his Dad with pleading eyes.
"Yeah don't worry son, Soph and I will drop you off on our way out."
Dean perked up at his Dad's reply and sat forward with questioning eyes.
"On your way out…are you guys going out?"
"Yeah, Sophie has an important gala for work and we have been invited along…"
"Awesome" Dean said with a smile, which immediately fell when his Dad pointed accusingly at him.
"…Don't get any ideas. Both you and Castiel are still grounded boy, Bobby isn't around tonight and this gala is too important for us to miss. Mrs Harvelle next door is gonna call round later, check up on you two and I'll be taking the Impala so don't even think about sneaking out. If I find out either of you two are getting up to no good, there will be hell to pay, got it?" John warned his eldest son.
Dean sighed and nodded in defeat.
"Yes Sir."
"Good, now hangover or not you are still gonna help me out in the garage for a couple of hours today, so go get ready."
He nodded once more, groaning slightly as he stood up and made his way out of the kitchen. The thought of being cooped up in the garage working was making him feel even worse, but the thought just occurred to him that he and Castiel would be alone tonight and Dean felt a strange mix of fear, nerves and excitement bubbling up.
Neither of them had spoken so far this morning but judging by the small smile Castiel gave him earlier, it proved that they were OK at least and Dean really wanted to push the situation to see what Cas had really made of last night.
He felt a smile tugging his lips, although he didn't understand why given the dangerous situation they could potentially be headed towards and yet Dean found himself not caring, wanting to explore a little more. This was completely new for both boys and maybe Cas was thinking of it as a drunken mistake, Dean on the other hand really enjoyed their drunken fumble and was suddenly feeling more and more curious.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
In short, Castiel was avoiding Dean.
He had spent a couple of hours helping his Dad fix up a car, before John finally gave his eldest son the sympathy vote and let Dean off the hook, told him to go and sleep off his hangover.
Dean had bumped into a still clearly hung-over Castiel upstairs, it's fair to say that Cas panicked slightly realising they were alone and he met with Dean's eyes briefly, before carefully shuffling around him and locking himself away in his room.
So maybe things weren't as OK as Dean initially thought.
He put it down to Cas still feeling 'delicate' and hoped to talk it out with him later once they both felt better.
Dean sighed and followed suit, locking himself away in his own bedroom.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Around 5pm Dean managed to drag himself out of his bedroom, getting a quick shower and thankfully feeling a lot better after some rest.
He headed downstairs to see Sophie and Castiel having a discussion in the hallway by the front door.
"I am sorry Mom, it won't happen again." Cas muttered, ducking his head.
Sophie smiled and ruffled her son's hair affectionately.
"I know sweetie, just save the drinking until you're 21 yeah?"
Cas chuckled lightly and nodded, letting his Mom pull him into a hug.
Dean sat down quietly on the staircase, watching the scene between mother and son through the banister with a smile.
"You and Dean need to stay on our good side, so best behaviour tonight."
Castiel pulled back from the hug and Dean seen his eyes go comically wide.
"Tonight is your gala, are you both going?"
"Yes sweetie, it might run a little late."
"But…Sam is staying out tonight isn't he?"
Sophie frowned and nodded, not quite understanding Castiel's worry.
"But that means it will just be Dean and I…we're supposed to be grounded but you're leaving us alone?" Cas asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"You are grounded and Mrs Harvelle will be checking on you both, although she can't stay. But we are giving you boys the chance to redeem yourself tonight and behave."
Cas nodded quickly, shuffling nervously on his feet and Dean could feel the worry radiating off his step brother from where he sat on the step.
"I will, we will…but do you have to go?" Cas mumbled, puppy dog eyes coming into play.
*Shut up Cas* Dean thought to himself, hoping he wasn't going to screw this up for them. They needed to talk things over and tonight was the perfect time to do that.
"Yes Castiel, this gala is very important to me, you know this. Why? do you not want to stay alone with Dean?"
Dean held his breath for a moment, expecting the 'no' to fall from Cas' lips and for his heart to sink a little, but it never came.
"Of course I want to stay with Dean; I was just surprised you were leaving us alone so soon, after last night's events."
He let out a breath of relief and took that as his queue to stand up and continue down the stairs.
Cas' eyes immediately darted to Dean as he bounded down the stairs, looking a lot more alive than he had earlier.
"Hey Cas, feeling alright?" Dean asked, reaching out to squeeze Castiel's shoulder.
He felt his step brother jump slightly under the touch, but he relaxed almost immediately and stiffly nodded at Dean.
Dean waited for a moment to hear an actual response, when he got nothing back other than wide blue eyes staring back at him, Dean shrugged and let go of Cas, moving past him into the living room.
Tonight was going to be more difficult than Dean anticipated.