Author's Note #1:
Hello to all of you guys that are following my story and welcome to all of you that are just now joining us! I forgot to mention a while ago that this fic is named after a song by Yellowcard from their album "Paper Walls" I spent a few weeks trying to name this thing and one day, I recalled this song and the title and realized that it was a perfect fit. I suggest y'all listen to it if you haven't. Enjoy! :)
Chapter Six: Liquid courage
Later that night, Dean is at the bar he works about an hour into his shift when Sam walks in. "Hey, Sammy, what're you doing here?"
"Just thought I could come get a drink, I needed a break from all the grading I've been doing. Some of those kids are not cut out for this stuff and they're giving me a headache."
"Well I've got just the thing for you, little bro," said Dean as he placed an ice cold beer in front of Sam on the counter. "On the house," Dean added with a wink.
"Thanks, dude."
Over the next half hour, Dean was attending to his customers while talking with Sam some more about Castiel and what he knows about him since he has had more opportunity to get to know him than Dean.
"Well, he's a pretty reserved guy at first. He kinda needs some time before he acts a little more open. He is definitely one of the smartest people I've ever known, dude. Not just in History but in a lot of other things as well. He's also a really sweet guy. He takes care of Gabriel in a round-about way and it's really nice to see. But I don't have much info on him, really. We've only talked a few times and it was always on random topics."
"Wow, great, Sam. You're supposed to be my wingman and instead you're just having nerd talk." Dean should have known this was going to happen.
"You know what, Dean? Why are you so attracted to nerds but hate when I act like one?" asked Sam exasperatedly.
"'S easy. You're my little brother. Everything is annoying about you," answered Dean with a smirk.
"Oh ok, thanks for that clearing that up for me, dude," retorted Sam sarcastically.
"Not a problem," answered Dean with a wink and a chuckle.
Just then, amidst a crowd of college students, two people caught Dean's eye. The first was Gabriel and right next to him was Castiel in a pair dark blue jeans and white button down shirt. Dean couldn't keep the shiver that racked through his body upon seeing Castiel. Castiel looked stunning in anything he wore but seeing him in white and remembering that he was named after an angel gave him such an ethereal look to him in Dean's eyes. Sam, having noticed that Dean was no longer paying him any heed, turned around and rolled his eyes before turning back around and downing the remainder of his beer.
"Hey, boys! Fancy meeting you here," exclaimed Gabriel as the pair approached the bar.
"Hey, Gabe. Hey, Cas. What're you guys doing here?" inquired Dean as he filled up another customer's glass.
"Gabriel insisted that we get drinks today and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer," answered Castiel in a slightly annoyed tone as he glared at his brother.
"Well, you guys came to the right place!" said Sam, "My brother's the best bartender there ever was."
"Howdy, my name's Dean and I am bartender for the night. What can I do you for?" said Dean as he "introduced" himself with a wink and smile that lead all the way to the crinkles of his eyes. He leaned forward on the bar towards Castiel and continued, "I make a mean 'Flirtini' if I do say so myself," Dean managed to make his smirk even sexier by lightly biting his bottom lip and resuming the eye fucking that was going to become commonplace amongst the two of them. The two were still lost in each other when Sam coughed rather loudly.
"Uh, hey, guys?"
"Yeah, Sammy?" answered Dean without breaking eye contact.
"Gabe just remembered that we have some tests to grade so we're just going to leave, ok?" The only acknowledgement they received was a nod from each of their brothers. Sam and Gabriel slowly backed away and left the bar. They barely managed to contain themselves before they got outside and Sam was the first to break the silence. "Oh my GOD those two! The thing with eyes! Gah! It's annoying and cute all at the same time!"
"I know what you mean, Samsquatch. I don't think I've ever seen Cassie this infatuated with someone...EVER," said Gabriel as he turned to face Sam.
"Yeah, well, my brother tends to do that to people. The surprising thing for me is that I've never seen Dean act like this either. I think introducing them to each other, officially, was the best idea ever, Gabe."
"Definitely. Hey, when did you start calling me 'Gabe'?" asked Gabriel.
"Well…uh well, since…today. Saying 'Gabriel' all the time is quite the mouthful."
"Oh, honey, you don't know how much of a mouthful I can be," said Gabriel in a seductive voice.
"…..I walked right into that one so I won't yell at you for saying that, but no more freebies for tonight," Sam added, annoyed.
"Don't worry, Sammich, I didn't take you for a cheap hooker anyway." Before Gabriel could wink, the back of his head was met forcefully with Sam's palm. "Anyway," continued Gabriel as he scowled and rubbed the back of his head, "What are you and I going to do now that we've left our brothers to their own devices?"
"Well, we did say that we were going to grade papers and we don't need them getting suspicious of us yet so we can go back to my place and do that."
"We're at that point in our relationship where you're taking me back to your place?" asked Gabriel excitedly.
"No, Gabe. If I'm going to be alone with you in private then I want to be in a place I'm familiar with that my brother will eventually be coming back to." He said matter-of-factly.
"Ouch. Well, that totally ruined the image I had in mind," said Gabriel dejectedly.
"Good."
"So, Dean," starts Castiel a bit tentatively. He's not sure where to start, he just knows that he wants to know more about Dean, in a strictly friendly way, of course. They didn't talk much about their personal lives at brunch earlier in the day so that was a good place to start if any, "What made you decide to come live with your brother?" Castiel internally cringed, that question came off a little rude. If Dean took it offensively, he made sure not to show it.
"Well I guess you could say that I've invested in him." It was Dean's turn to cringe. He could have handled that a little better.
"And how is that?" Castiel had his elbow in the bar and his chin in his palm.
"Well, I practically raised the kid. When I was four, there was a house fire and my mom didn't make it out. After that, my dad was never the same and I was always having to look after the two of them. I made sure that Sammy had food, did his homework and went to bed at a decent time, usually before my dad got home. Those two were so alike that they clashed all the time and it was really bad when Dad was drunk which was pretty much all the time. I had help, though, growing up. My dad's best friend, Bobby was always there for us when my Dad wasn't. I feel like he was more of a father figure to me and Sam than our own flesh and blood.
"It got to be too much though when I was in my junior year of high school and I had to drop out. I was never much of an intellectual anyway, that had always been Sam's department. I got my GED a couple years later though with Sam behind me every second of the way and he was always a lot of help when I was stuck. That kid is so smart," Dean had a proud glint to his eye when talking about his brother that made Castiel feel something warm begin to grow in his chest, "I'm telling you the proudest day of my life was the day that Sammy got his letter to go to Stanford with a full ride. We packed up my dad's car that summer and moved to California without looking back.
"Being on the road with my brother is definitely one of the best feelings in the world. Nothing but fresh air and freedom on the road, man. The next four years were some of the best, it was like a weight was lifted. Sam graduated last May and we took the road here and settled down again. Some people might think that we're a little co-dependent, but really, I just want to be close enough to make sure that somebody is near when something happens to him; good or bad," finished Dean. He surprised himself, he'd never told someone that much of his life story before but looking into Castiel's eyes, Dean knew that he wanted to be in this for the long haul and if that meant that he was going to have to do things differently than normal, so be it. Any questions that come his way he's going to answer with absolute honesty.
"Wow, I don't even know what to say to all of that. Dean, you must really care for your little brother to sacrifice so much for him. I can tell you with certainty that your brother appreciates it. He talks about you with much affection during our interactions."
"Aw, that kid, I love him...but don't tell him that, it'll ruin my image," Dean couldn't keep the smile off his face, "Alright so, question for a question."
"Fair enough."
"What brings YOU to these parts?" Dean almost immediately regretted asking that question when he saw the hint of a shadow makes its way into Castiel's eyes, "Listen, I didn't mean to-"
"No, its fine. I'm just not ready to speak about my past but I think that the best way for me to answer your question would be to say that I am clinging to the one person that I can trust other than myself. I didn't have the best childhood in the world and Gabriel was the only person that ever took care of me."
Dean would really like to know what kind of childhood someone could have that could make them like this. Sure, he and Sam didn't have a great one but it wasn't one that he couldn't talk about but he can relate in a way. "Listen, I know what it's like to be the older brother that takes care of his little brother because daddy can't make the time to care but let's talk about something else, shall we? It's your turn to ask."
"Alright…hm…what's your favorite thing to do?"
"'S easy. I like to get into my Baby and drive down the open road, little brother optional. My girl and I have never let each other down. She lets me know when she needs fixin', I fix her, and she takes me wherever I need to be."
"I'm assuming you're talking about your car?" Castiel couldn't help but chuckle. He's never met anyone that could talk about their car like this.
"Damn straight! She's absolutely gorgeous. You should hear her purr as she makes her way down the road. She just about roars when we're going down the highway; it's where she and I belong."
"Wild and free without a care in the world?" Castiel couldn't help feeling a bit jealous at the thought that someone could find escape that easily.
"Yep," Dean was glowing with pride and Castiel was still amused, "It's not funny, Cas," he said while chuckling, "I could take you for a ride, if you'd like. You know, when you're ready to," Dean ran his hand through his hair as a nervous tendency as he finished.
"I'd like that very much, Dean," Castiel gave him a very sincere smile that Dean couldn't help but reciprocate.
Before Dean could speak, he was cut off by someone yelling, "Dean! What are you doing? Get back to work!"
Dean sighed and answered, "Yes sir, sorry sir," before returning to his duties. By the time he got back to Castiel, he was finishing his drink.
"Listen, Dean, I'll be back here soon, ok? But I think I should leave for now since I am keeping you from your duties. It was nice getting to know you," said Castiel as he smiled genuinely. "Oh and the change is your tip," he said before getting up.
"But that's fifteen dollars in change, Cas. Here, let me just get it for you real quick," replied Dean as he tried to make his way to cash register but stopped when Castiel brought his hand up.
"Think of it as recompense for getting you into trouble," said Castiel with a smile while walking away.
Dean couldn't deny that he hated to see Castiel leave, but definitely loved to see him go; those jeans were hugging him in all the right places. Dean sighed to himself and made sure to be extra diligent the rest of the night and made sure to apologize profusely to his boss before leaving to go home after his shift. By the time he came home, he found Sam knocked out on the couch with a sticky note on his face that read:
Dear Sammykins,
Sorry for wearing you out with "grading"
for the past few hours. ;P
-Gabe
Dean chuckled as he woke Sam, sleeping on the couch was no good for his back. "Sam? Sammy? Come on, wake up."
Sam woke with a start; his eyes wide open and blood shot, "Oh my God, what's wrong? That bastard didn't roofie-me and have his way with me, did he?"
"Well…I can't say for sure. This note sure isn't helping," said Dean as he handed it to Sam while laughing.
"Son of a bitch. I'm just going to assume that nothing happened and I'm going to go to my room and knock right again. Good night. Oh wait! How did it go with Cas?" asked Sam through a yawn.
"It went great…I think…we mostly talked about me. Didn't get further than that 'cause I kinda got yelled at for talking too much. He stayed a little bit past that and then left me a big tip-"
"Dean, I told you I don't wanna hear about your sexual conquests. How did you get to third base with him already? He seemed more reserved than that."
"You know, Sam, if you would just let me finish a story all the way through before you make assumptions I wouldn't get so mad at you all the time. He literally left me a fifteen dollar tip, douche."
"Oh…sorry. Well goodnight."
"'Night, Sam."
Author's Note #2: We finally get to see some interaction between Dean and Cas! What do you think? R&R :)
