Burnt and Broken
7. The Trouble With Novaks
Cas stayed over Tuesday night, too, still not wanting to go home. He called Rachel to tell her where he was and she was understanding but sad, and he was in a dark mood after calling her, a mood that Dean had to coax him out of with cheeseburgers and video games. Sam and Bobby didn't question Cas staying with them, which Cas was grateful for, and he was even more grateful for the fact that they didn't ask about the temporary living circumstances Cas and Dean had arranged for themselves.
They shared Dean's bed, figuring it was simpler that way, and pretended that it was no big deal they woke up snuggling again Wednesday morning when really Dean was having self-identity issues and wondering why seeing Cas wearing his boxers seemed to turn him on and Cas was trying to decide why he had a sudden affinity for anything that smelled like leather and gasoline. Cas borrowed Dean's clothing, which he was perfectly fine with since he liked the way Dean tried to his obvious reactions whenever he saw Cas wearing his band tees and loose jeans slung low on his hips.
"You don't have to come," Cas said.
"I'm not going to let you walk into that house without some back up," Dean replied as he fixed Cas' bowtie that he'd borrowed from Sam. "Besides, I promised Mikey I'd come."
It was the night of the Novak pre-Thanksgiving dinner and Cas was absolutely terrified. And although he was trying to hide it, Cas could tell that Dean was nervous too. Things were bound to be tense, with Cas not having been home for a couple days, and neither of them entertained any illusions of hope for the night to go well.
Cas blanched at the nickname. "Please, for the love of God, don't call him that to his face."
Dean grinned. "No promises."
Cas stepped back to survey himself in the mirror and Dean took the opportunity to sweep his eyes over his friend. Cas wore a dark blue pinstripe dress shirt (which brought out his eyes, not that Dean cared) tucked into black slacks. He also had on a matching black bowtie and vest. Dean's throat suddenly grew dry as he stared at Cas and realized how good Cas looked, especially his -
Dean Winchester don't you dare look at his ass, he told himself, forcing his eyes somewhere else.
Dean himself was dressed in a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a dark gold tie, and black slacks. Of course, he was also going to bring his leather jacket. Cas eyed him appreciatively using his peripheral vision and tried not to smile at the fact that Dean had just been checking him out. It was no big deal, friends checked each other out all the time, right?
"Come on," Cas said after failing to control his messy hair.
Dean nodded and walked ahead of Cas as they went downstairs so Dean wouldn't be tempted to check out Cas' ass. When they got to the living room, Sam let out a low whistle, a teasing glint in the teenager's eyes. Dean glared at him.
"Well aren't you two just the prettiest princesses in the kingdom," Bobby grumbled from his armchair.
Dean laughed while Cas blushed and fiddled with his vest.
"We'll be back...well, I don't know," Dean said as he and Cas headed for the garage. "Later if it goes well, earlier if it sucks."
Sam leaned over to Bobby and whispered, "20 bucks he loses his temper and comes home in less than an hour."
"I bet less than half an hour."
"Deal."
Cas shook his head in amusement at the bet being made and closed the garage door behind him. He put his left arm up on the center console and began absentmindedly drumming his fingers on it. He didn't even realize he was doing it until Dean curled his fingers around Cas'. Cas looked sheepishly over at him.
"Sorry," he said.
"Don't be," Dean replied. "Tell me what you're most nervous about."
Cas let out a breath. "Naomi."
"What about Naomi?"
"Everything."
Dean's eyes flicked over to Cas. Cas' tone was dark and bitter and fearful, and it concerned Dean greatly.
"Alright, so I'll protect you from Naomi," he said as he began subconsciously rubbing his thumb comfortingly over Cas' fingers. "What else?"
"Michael and Lucian fighting," Cas answered.
"So what are you going to do if they do fight?"
"When."
"What?"
"It's not if they fight, it's when they fight," Cas clarified. "And normally I don't do anything."
"You don't do anything?" Dean asked. "You just sit there and let them duke it out?"
He nodded. "Generally, yes. Naomi steps in if it gets too vicious, but I think she likes it when they fight."
"She sounds like a bitch."
Dean glanced at Cas and saw that Cas had smiled a little bit.
"Don't worry, Cas, it'll be fine," Dean said. "I won't let them get to you."
Cas' eyebrows pushed together and his eyes got big and grateful. "Thank you, Dean, really."
They didn't talk for the rest of the drive, just relished in this time they had alone together before they had to face Cas' family. Dean didn't let go of Cas' hand until he had to use both his hands to park. Neither of them moved to get out of the car and they both turned to look at each other.
"You sure about this?" Dean asked. "We could go home and tell Rachel you got the flu. You don't have to go through with this."
"It's not flu season, and they're my family," Cas replied quietly. "I'll have to face them sooner or later."
Dean nodded and got out of the car, hurrying quickly around to open the passenger door for Cas like the goddamn gentleman he was. He pulled the squeaky door open and bowed with a ridiculous flourish which made Cas giggle as he stepped out, bowing thankfully back to Dean. They grinned at each other, feeling a little giddy and a little less stressed about what they were about to face.
As they walked up to the front door, Dean had the urge to take Cas' hand again, but he figured that giving Cas' family the impression that he and Cas were gay - which they weren't - wouldn't be the best way to start the evening. So instead, he stood as close as was respectable to Cas and waited on the doorstep as Cas rang the doorbell.
Thankfully it was Rachel who answered.
"Castiel!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug. She didn't release him for several minutes. "Why didn't you just come in? You still live here."
Cas shrugged. "Figured it was respectful, since I haven't been here."
She nodded understandingly and greeted Dean with a hug. Then she invited them inside and closed the door. She took Dean's leather jacket and hung it on the hooks in the entry hall and led them to the living room.
"Castiel!" Hester and Inias chorused when they saw him. They both hugged their brother and politely said hello to Dean.
Michael came over and shook both their hands, squeezing Dean's much harder than necessary.
"Perfect timing, we were just about to start," he said. "Dean, have you met our step-mother?"
"I haven't yet had the pleasure," he replied.
"She's in the kitchen. Follow me."
Dean looked at Cas with a questioning expression that asked, Where's Lucian? Cas shrugged and looked pointedly at the ceiling, replying, Probably upstairs.
They turned a corner to see a woman with auburn hair pulled into a bun was arranging plates of food on the counter that separated the kitchen and the dining room. She wore a white blouse and gray slacks. She looked up when the boys entered the room and Dean saw that her eyes were silvery blue.
"Naomi, this is Dean Winchester. Dean, meet our step-mother Naomi."
"Pleasure to finally meet you," she greeted warmly as she shook his hand. "Castiel has been talking about you nonstop since you two became friends!"
"Has he now?" Dean said amiably, turning on his charm. He turned to look at Cas, who was blushing and refusing to look at him.
Naomi faced Cas, and as soon as their eyes met he appeared as lost and scared as a ten year old boy. Dean frowned, wondering why the woman elicited such a strong reaction from Castiel. She stepped forward to hug him and he stiffly returned it, clearly going through the motions and putting no effort into it.
"It's so good to see you, Castiel," she told him, but Dean felt there was something weird about the way she spoke to him. "If it weren't for your calls to Rachel I would've thought Dean kidnapped you."
She released him and he strained a smile. Dean saw how uncomfortable and scared Cas was and his protective older brother instincts snapped into action. He stepped halfway between Naomi and Cas and put a hand on the small of Cas' back. Cas relaxed into the touch and looked thankfully up at his best friend. Naomi noticed the intent of the action and her eyes narrowed dangerously at Dean.
The tension was only barely diffused when another person entered into the equation.
"I gather this is Castiel's new boyfriend?"
Dean turned to see that another man had entered the kitchen. He had spiked blonde hair the color of Rachel's, and so from the shared paternity Dean assumed that Mr. Novak was most likely blonde. The man had a pointed chin and a condescending look in his pale blue eyes. Dean instantly understood why the Michael and Lucian didn't like each other: they were exactly alike.
"He's not - " Cas tried feebly.
"Really, Lucian, must we resort to third grade level teasing?" Michael asked darkly.
"I don't know, Michael, you're the expert on immature behavior, being a lawyer and all," Lucian replied, his tone icy.
Dean cleared his throat and the half-brothers looked at him. He stepped over to Lucian with his hand extended.
"Dean Winchester," he said.
Lucian shook his hand heartily. "Lucian Novak."
"Right, well, let's get this dinner started, shall we?" Naomi asked. "Grab your plates off the table then come in here and serve yourselves."
The family was silent as they shuffled along, piling food on their plates. Naomi had put out place cards, denoting who sat where, and Dean had ended up between Cas and Lucian. He tried to inconspicuously scoot his chair as far away from Lucian and as close to Cas as possible. Across from them were Rachel, Inias, and Hester. Naomi and Michael sat at the ends of the table: Naomi by Rachel and Cas, and Michael by Hester and Lucian. Dean thought Cas must be right about Naomi liking it when Lucian and Michael fight since she put them basically right next to each other.
Once they were all seated, the small talk began. Rachel and Michael traded stories from their colleges and the twins talked about high school. Lucian gave short answers to questions he was asked, but otherwise didn't say anything. After a little while, Naomi switched her focus to Dean.
"So, Dean, Castiel tells me you also are a student at UCV. What are you studying?" she asked conversationally.
"I'm undeclared," he replied. "'M only taking classes because my uncle is making me."
"Well I'm sure he's just looking out for you," she said. "And you're also maintaining two jobs I hear?"
"I work part time at the auto shop and Ellen gives me spare shifts at the Roadhouse," he answered.
She nodded. "That must keep you busy. I'm surprised you find time to study and keep Castiel away from us."
There was something acidic in her tone. Dean took a bite of turkey to keep from answering for a bit while he analyzed Naomi's bitterness towards him. Was she really that protective of Cas? Did she not like him spending time with Dean, or did she simply not like it whenever Cas was out of her sights?
He swallowed. "I'm working to raise money for my little brother's college fund. Cas helps me study. He makes the whole college thing bearable, really."
Cas blushed and played with his green beans. Lucian snorted and Michael glared at him.
"Oh, yes, your little brother," Naomi murmured. "Sam, isn't it?" She turned to the twins. "He's the one you two are friends with, correct?"
Hester nodded while Inias said impatiently, "Mom, you met him and Bobby at the open house, remember?"
"Oh, yes, I remember now," she said.
Dean furrowed his eyebrows together. Neither Bobby nor Sam had mentioned meeting Naomi. He made a note to ask them about it later.
"The tall boy with the mop of hair and the gruff hillbilly, right?" She looked at Dean and gave him a fake smile of apology. "I'm sorry, no offence meant."
He almost opened his mouth to snap back an insult, but under the table Cas put his hand on Dean's thigh and squeezed warningly. Instead he smiled back stiffly. "None taken."
"You moved to town at the end of August, right?"
He nodded and swallowed his mouthful of potatoes. "That's right. From South Dakota."
"That's a long ways away," she commented. "What spurred the move?"
"Our dad died."
Cas squeaked, not expecting Dean to be so blunt, and dropped his spoon, sending his stuffing flying. Everyone stared at him with shock.
"Castiel!" Naomi said sharply.
"I - I'm sorry," Cas said, voice quivering, and there it was again: he was acting like a scared ten year old boy rather than a grown twenty year old man. He scooted back his chair and went to clean up his mess.
Dean turned to look at Naomi, who was watching Castiel furiously. Then she morphed her expression into one of casual concern as she met Dean's stare.
"I'm so sorry to hear about that, I didn't realize - "
"'S fine," he said, shrugging. "Speaking of dads, where's your husband? And your other sons?"
"Raphael chose to have Thanksgiving with his girlfriend's family and Uriel stayed with his father," she replied. "As for my husband, he got swamped with work and wasn't able to come, but he will try to make it for Christmas."
"No he won't," Lucian muttered, speaking without being spoken to for the first time since they'd sat down to eat.
Michael's eyes turned hard. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that he's never around," Lucian replied. "We haven't seen the guy in years, Michael, do you really still think he actually cares about us?"
"Maybe he would come around more if he didn't have the devil for a bastard son, Lucifer," Michael snarled.
"Or maybe he found out you're considering a sex change, Michelle."
"Transgender jokes, now? Very mature, Luci, I commend you."
Rachel looked as scared as a deer caught in the headlights. Castiel slumped in his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible. The twins kept eating as if nothing was wrong. Naomi watched the pair with a sick delight in her eyes.
"Father cares more about this family than you do," Michael snapped.
"Oh, gee, that makes sense since I'm here and he's not." Lucian rolled his eyes.
Rachel tried to step in. "My friend told me this funny story - "
"Haven't you realized, Michael, that if dear old dad was really the family man you believe him to be then I wouldn't exist?" Lucian asked, venom in his voice.
"He made a mistake and he knows it," Michael replied calmly. "That's why he kept you and your whore mother a secret for so long."
Lucian let out a feral growl and rose from his chair. Michael stood too, his stance a fighting challenge. Rachel looked like she was about to cry and the twins were blank faced.
"Guys, can't we just - " Cas started.
"Castiel, be quiet!" Naomi shouted lividly, eyes flashing dangerously.
He shrank back, petrified, and that was the last straw for Dean.
"Don't yell at him!" Dean screamed at Naomi as he exploded out of his chair, shocking even Michael and Lucian into silence. He glared at everybody except Rachel, and the older half-brothers slowly lowered themselves back into their chairs.
"Cas warned me that you guys were fucked up," he said, "and I thought 'Hey, no big deal.' But shit, you guys are the definition of a dysfunctional family. You wanna know what the trouble is with you people? Do you?!"
They were silent, staring down at their plates.
"First off, you two got a list of daddy issues longer than the list of girls I've slept with, and trust me it's long," Dean started, glaring at Michael and Lucian. "You think you're the only one with a bastard half-brother?" he asked Michael. "Think again! I've got one too. Get the fuck over it and quit tearing your family apart. You two've got poor Rachel over here tearing her hair out trying to come up with something she could say to get you guys to stop arguing!"
He looked at Naomi. "And you. Well you're the definition of a psychotic bitch. You've clearly brainwashed the twins into thinking this is the way families normally behave, judging by the way they acted like nothing was wrong when Michael and Lucian started ripping each other new ones. And you've got Cas so fucking terrified of you he reverts to acting like a child when you're near!"
Dean shook his head in frustration. "Fucks you people, we're leaving."
He yanked Cas up, causing Cas' chair to fall over, and paused, glaring at them all (except Rachel) again.
"And by the way - worst pre-Thanksgiving dinner ever!" he shouted, dragging Cas with him as he grabbed his leather jacket and stormed out of the house.
He was so focused on angrily pulling on his jacket as they walked to the Impala that it took him a few moments to notice that Cas was crying. He was sniffling and hiccupping, trying to resist crying, but the half-broken sobs escaped him unwillingly as the tears rolled down his cheeks.
Dean took him into his arms and held him tightly against his chest. Cas pressed his face against Dean's neck and curled his fingers into the leather jacket. Dean placed one hand firmly on the back of Cas' head and wrapped his other arm around Cas' waist.
"Cas, I'm sorry," he whispered after a few minutes. "I shouldn't have - "
"No, I - I'm the one who should be sorry," Cas hiccupped. "They're - "
"You don't have to apologize for your family," Dean said. "I'm just sorry you got stuck with them."
That got Cas sobbing again and Dean looked up to see Naomi watching them from the living room window. He glared and used the hand that was on Cas' head to flip her off. She shook her head and closed the curtains. Dean gently pulled away from Cas but still kept his arms around him.
"Cas, I'm sorry, but we should probably go now," he said.
Cas nodded and let Dean guide him to the car and buckle his seatbelt for him.
Dean held Cas' hand the entire drive back to his house - in a completely platonic and friendly way, of course, since their fingers weren't interlaced. Cas eventually stopped crying and as he did so his death grip on Dean's hand loosened. When they got to the house Cas sped up to Dean's room and Dean lingered downstairs.
"What happened?" Sam asked worriedly, sitting up on the couch.
"Shit hit the fan, Sammy," Dean said tiredly, undoing his tie. "I'll tell you about it later."
As he went upstairs he heard Sam and Bobby start to argue.
"Pay up, Bobby. 20 bucks."
"You're shittin' me, boy, it's been over an hour. We both lost."
"No, that's what I bet. Over an hour."
"I may be old, but I still got my wits about me, ya idjit. You bet he'd come home in less than - "
Dean closed the door to his room and saw Cas sitting on the edge of his bed, a blank expression on his face. Dean quickly changed into his sleeping clothes and then went over to Cas. He kneeled in front of him and slowly took off Cas' bowtie, vest, and shirt. Then he made Cas stand and took off his pants for him. A tiny voice in the back of his mind said that undressing his best friend was weird, but Dean ignored the voice and focused on Castiel. Once Cas was standing in his underwear, Dean put him in boxers and his favorite Metallica shirt.
He gently laid Cas down underneath the covers and then got in next to him. For the first time, they didn't fall asleep with their backs to each other. Dean curled himself around Cas' body, wrapping his arms around his best friend's waist and holding him close, tangling their legs together. He put his forehead against the back of Cas' neck and - he'd blame this on being delirious if he was ever asked - tenderly pressed his lips to Cas' shoulder for a brief moment.
And he told himself that he was only doing this for Cas, and not because of some subconscious desire to hold Cas for the rest of time. This was what friends did for each other, he told himself, even though he knew he was lying. He told himself he was only being this intimate to comfort Cas because of how broken he became tonight, because of the mystery behind Cas' relationship with his step-mother.
Then he realized that Cas' whole family was shrouded in mystery, and he thought maybe that was the trouble with Novaks: they were enigmatic black holes, sucking you in until you couldn't turn back even if you wanted to.
That, and most of them were dicks.
I had a lot of trouble writing this at first, but then I got into it and I couldn't stop and it turned out way longer than I'd expected! I hope you guys like this chapter, especially the bit at the end. I poured my heart into that =)
Please review! Even all you say is "Cool," I still want to hear your comments!
~Ki
